#I can’t believe this is considered a controversial take!!

[randomlifex]

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ‘♡’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

✧*ૂ༄How’s being in a relationship with…

- Night has come headcanon -

Go Kyungjun

When he sees you he KNOWS he wants you

And since he always gets what he wants be sure that, sooner or later, he’ll get to your heart

At the beginning he’s just always around you and you wonder why

He may tease you and go too far sometimes

But he’s just trying to understand how you work so he’ll find the right way to court you

He doesn’t give a shit in giving hints cuz he knows that when you want something you gotta go for it

He flirts A LOT and his flirting is EXPLICIT

When he’s sure you reciprocate his feelings he will go straight to the point and ask you to be his partner

Dating a bully sounds controversial but for you he got only the princess treatment

He barely says “I love you”

But shows it through gifts and even acts of service

Ties your shoes

Never lets you drive once

Dinner must be always on him

Great kisser:his kisses are passionate

His favourite spots must be your neck and collarbone

He hates to see you sad so he always finds out what’s the source and tries to make you feel better

But if the source is a person he’ll make them regret all their life decisions

He’s cold with everyone but you

He considers you his whole world and will take care of you everyday

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ‘♡’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Kim Junhee

Probably he’s already your best friend or your school tutor

You fall first but he falls harder

He understands he has feelings for you in the most random moment ever, probably the two of you are studying together

At the beginning he hides everything,so you believe he sees you only as a friend, but don’t worry, his attention is fully on you

He buys you a necklace to confess his feelings when he’s sure you love him

Rarely says “I love you” but constantly shows it through his actions

Daily random kisses on forehead and cheeks

Cooks your breakfast

Spends hours helping you studying to make sure you get good grades

He’s the best at comforting you when you need it

He listens to you mumbling and crying

And gives you the best hugs

He takes you out for a date at least once a week

It happens to fight but the two of you talk through it and make it up

He’s got a lot of girls around but he reminds them he’s in a relationship

That’s why in class he always holds your hand and kisses you in front of everyone

Shares his lunch with you

Changes his lockscreen every time you take a new picture of yourself

He treats you like a queen

He knows that no one can replace you

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ‘♡’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Jang Hyunho

At the beginning he loves you from afar

His eyes are always on you,that’s why he pops up anytime you need help

You don’t immediately understand his feelings because he’s extremely discreet, but you’re naturally lead to him

You become close and stay friends for a while

He acts cocky and often goes “be careful or you’ll fall for me”. The truth is that he’s already whipped and can’t wait for it to happen

Once he’s sure you love him, he brings you a rose and declares his feelings

His love is soft and healing

He cuddles you on the sofa

Brings you daily flowers and small gifts to see you happy

When you’re stressed he notices it immediately and holds your hand

His love language is quality time

He takes you to your favourite restaurant every week

He always has a jacket with him so when you’re cold he hands it to you

Always carries your bag

He hugs you while sleeping

And wakes you up with soft kisses

Definition of golden retriever boyfriend

You are his most prized possession

No one makes you feel loved and seen as much as he does

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ‘♡’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Jin Dabum

Too shy to approach you but has a crush on you since first year

You eventually become friends after you stood up for him against his bullies

Now he has been following you around all day

Music is the thing you two have in common and spend hours talking about it

Share headphones and playlists as well

His crush turns into love when you help him during a breakdown caused by Kyungjun

But you fall for him later on

You give him the strength to bite back at Kyungjun anytime he bothers him

His love language is words of affirmation

He tells you that you are the love of his life 24/7

And that you are the prettiest person he has ever met

He tells everyone how amazing you are and how lucky he is to have you

When he listens to a song which makes him think about you he sends it to you

The gallery of his phone is full of dumb pictures of you

And he looks at them anytime he needs to feel better

He’s a loner but nothing makes him happier than spending his time with you

He takes you anywhere you want to go

He’s a little bit jealous

And sometimes he’s afraid to lose you

But you are his world and he will do anything to make you happy

#night has come #night has come kdrama #headcanon #night has come hyunho #night has come kyung jun #night has come x reader #cha woo min #cha woomin x reader #night has come junhee #kim junhee #kim wooseok #kim wooseok x reader #kdrama

[faelapis]

despite some concerns raised by the trailer/marketing, i am still excited for the wish movie. a lot of that has to do with king magnifico.

that being said, i approach it from a different direction than a lot of other people excited for a “classic disney villain.”

first of all, yes. i, too, love the camp and melodrama of classic disney villains. i love that they express their wishes through big bombastic musical numbers, and said musical numbers are often the best in their movies. i like how queer-coded and fun they often are. i like the sass, the drama, the energy.

where i disagree with a lot of people is with this notion that disney movies “don’t have villains” anymore. i don’t think the likes of hans (frozen) and tamatoa (moana) are less evil than "classic" villains - they’re plenty willing to kill with a smile on their face.

i think what people ACTUALLY miss is the big performance around it all. the aesthetic. someone who does these things while being a major character (so not tamatoa) and deliciously, obviously evil while having fun with it the whole time (so not hans). i think it’s that specific combination people are missing. we still have villains, they’re just either not as “fun” or not as “important.”

of course, that take is less punchy than saying disney doesn’t have villains because "steven cringeyverse destroyed western animation and now companies are too scared to make real villains >:( !1!!!"

yeah i never understood where that came from. if anything, redeeming villains is more controversial than killing them. especially in america, being punitive is the norm. forgiveness is cringe. yet so many act as if there was some big consumer and/or corporate pushback against the idea of villains…? at some point?? i guess????

someone must've forgotten to tell that to disney tv animation, where you’ll find everything from bill cipher to belos in the modern era. (also, other companies exist? dreamworks is not some indie studio, they’re fully willing to have big, campy villains.)

but yknow, people like to feel like underdogs. they like to feel like they're somehow oppressed because some animated media don't have classic villains anymore... despite there still being plenty around. you can’t just like villains, you have to make it everyone else’s problem. like disney is obliged to do the same character tropes in every movie. or villains are "dead."

what actually happened is just… some writers at disney decided they wanted to do different things. that’s it. so you now have a handful of movies where the villain is either a minor character, or nonexistent.

it’s not a conspiracy, it’s not a concerted effort to destroy villains. it’s, at most, a trend. because some writers wanted to push against the previous status quo. and now other writers who grew up with that want to have more classic villains, because that’s what they see as exciting and new. it’s just a cycle of trends and countertrends.

anyway. long tangent aside, i’m actually very excited for king magnifico. in part for a classic villain performance (he gets a song!!) - but also, it sounds like he might scratch a particular itch of mine.

which is to have a big, dramatic, irredeemable villain… who is still a human and has an understandable pov.

yes, you can combine these things. it’s not common for disney, but a lot of what we consider “great movie villains” throughout history have been this exact combination. they have to be defeated, they refuse redemption, they are 100% committed to their goals and will not budge - but they also GENUINELY BELIEVE in those goals.

what i’m really asking for here is a sincerely motivated character. someone who is a villain, but doesn’t SEE himself as a villain. someone who isn’t lying when they try to endear themselves to the hero or promise to make the world better if they join forces. it’s just that they are completely misguided about what would be good for the world, and nothing will persuade them.

whether someone is a villain, a hero, or anywhere in between, i think asking a character’s motivation - and playing those motivations straight, rather than just as a mask for plain selfishness - is key.

as i’m saying this, you might notice that it’s not actually too far off from what i like in other characters. jasper in SU is basically this in her "main arc” in season three. she refuses help, she’s a huge dick to everyone… but she also 100% believes in homeworld as an institution and is actually, genuinely selfless. even if it means her own corruption, she refuses help, because that would betray her cause. which she values above her own life. and by rebecca sugar’s own words, jasper doesn’t even believe she deserves help.

the common thread here is really tragedy. someone you can root for and against at the same time.

so how does this relate to king magnifico? well, jennifer lee (writer for this movie & also the frozen movies) just had an interview where she talked a lot about wish, and in specific, having a classic disney villain in magnifico.

she illustrates a lot of what i’ve been talking about - that there is no grand conspiracy at disney against villains. they just had different stories they wanted to tell. there was no mandate either for or against villains, not in this movie or any other. they just did what they wanted to do with those stories. (btw, that’s not me saying there isn’t pressure at disney to tell certain stories and not others. it’s just that the concept of a villain isn’t as important to the corporate side as, say, not making elsa gay.)

anyway. what makes the king magnifico portion interesting is how lee talks about exactly what i’ve been saying. they knew they wanted a classic disney villain, but it sounds like they still want him to be different from other such characters. namely, they wanted to find the benevolent side of him, how he genuinely believes what he believes and DOES want what he thinks is best for the city of rosas.

and the plot totally checks out - basically, he decides whose wishes come true. and that’s really interesting, because a wish can be anything, good or bad. it sounds like he really wants to prevent what he sees as bad wishes from coming true, and is too conservative in what he allows or not. and his way of being kind about rejection is to remove those wishes from people’s hearts if he cannot fulfill them.

that’s SUCH a great concept for a villain. it speaks to issues of control, of agency, of being in the paternalistic position of deciding what is “best” for everyone else. it gives me a little bit the wizard of oz (as in the wizard himself, who is a charlatan trying to maintain a pleasant status quo, even if it’s a lie), and a little bit white diamond (controlling the lives of others, but genuinely believing you are being selfless and heroic about it / steering people on the “right” path).

reading that interview, my excitement for this movie went from like a 2/10 to a 8/10. jennifer lee seems to have a real interest in creating characters, not just stock tropes. elsa is one of the best disney princesses (fight me) for exactly the same reason.

another great concept talked about here (which you also see in lee’s frozen, with anna and elsa as opposites) is that of duality. there’s a lot of talk about magnifico and asha being two sides of the same coin, both initially believing in this system and wanting what’s best for the city. and from there, they divert to their opposite paths in what specifically they think is right. the interview talks about them as if they were this thesis and antithesis about what’s right for the city, needing to reach a synthesis. in talking about this concept, they included this illustration:

notice the similar poses. both have their hands behind their back (commonly used to convey a character is hiding something), their feet pointed out, and give the world a pleasant smile. asha has a darker color palette in a world of light, magnifico is a ray of light in a dark space. it's interesting for its duality.

so yeah. all in all, i’m still excited for wish. i want to take alan tudyk goat out back and shoot it for a quick, humane death… but failing that, i’ll just pray his role was hammed up for the trailer. please tell me it’s not that insufferable. please.

because i do really like everything else i’ve heard about this movie!! i like that asha is described as this idealist with “dumb courage”, like maybe she’ll actually have some character flaws and need to learn?? (maybe? hopefully?) i like everything i just said about king magnifico. i like that we have this blend of 2d and 3d animation, that’s such a clever concept for a “100 years of disney” celebration.

so yeah. i will be watching. never have i ever prayed for chris pine to save a movie, but today might just be the day!

#wish #wish 2023 #disney wish #disney 100 #king magnifico #wish asha #long post / #ask to tag /

[mswyrr]

THG is the only pop culture story I can think of where the heroes (Katniss and Peeta) are disabled* and their happy ending doesn't require that they be "fixed" in order to be happy. IMO, part of why there's such controversy over the ending of the books in particular is that Collins wrote the pov of Katniss as a woman who is content and loves her life and her spouse and kids, but she's still very clearly mentally ill (and arguably somewhere on the spectrum). She has coping strategies and her life is good, but she will never be "normal" and Collins doesn't let the audience think that.

The one part, where she talks about how she handles the darker days, when she's really struggling, never fails to move me:

I’ll tell them that on bad mornings, it feels impossible to take pleasure in anything because I’m afraid it could be taken away. That’s when I make a list in my head of every act of goodness I’ve seen someone do. It’s like a game. Repetitive. Even a little tedious after more than twenty years. But there are much worse games to play. (Mockingjay, 332)

It's hard to express how important that is to me. Someone doesn't have to be "normal" to lead a good life. Someone doesn't have to be "normal" to have a life worth living, to give and receive love in good ways.

And, so, when people look at the villain in the prequel and say "he's just crazy, that's why he's evil. He's just a psycho, he's nuts," it's so out of place, it's so dissonant to me -- I think that's absolutely not the kind of story Collins would tell, given her prior handling of disability.

I don't think she's suddenly turned into a Victorian writer where you can know someone is evil because they're disabled because the writer thinks disabled people are warped creatures incapable of doing anything but bringing evil into the world. And the way people assert this, as if it's the pure, wholesome, most politically advanced reading of the prequel, is just - it doesn't compute for me. I don't understand how people get there.

I studied (for years) the treatment of mentally ill people in the mid-20th Century US. It was horrific. US forced sterilization and eugenics laws actually inspired N/azi Germany's forced sterilization, eugenics, and mass murder campaigns against mentally ill and disabled people. Nice, normal people have repeatedly convinced themselves that torturing and killing disabled people is how they will "purify" their society - they've done great evil in the name of rooting out the people evil is supposedly located within biologically.

Is it so hard to believe that people with normal brains do evil? Is it truly so impossible? Even in a story where the Games are about how a lot of people, the majority of whom are neurotypical, can be brought, via media presentation and entertainment techniques, into taking pleasure in their participation in evil? It's so hard to fathom that evil can't simply be located in someone being "psycho"?

Ballad already has Dr Gaul, who is evil and clearly neurodivergent. If Snow is too then the message starts to get kind of worrying? IMO, Coriolanus is more effective as a kind of “everyman” as an 18 year old - an example of the incentive structures (rewards and punishments) and propaganda that motivate “normal” people to go along. Of course, he will later become something far worse than that, someone who takes control of this thing, who uses his intimate knowledge of it and his insight into other “normal” people to make it worse, but that’s not the part of his life we see the most of. The part the book focuses on provides what I consider a powerful depiction of how ordinary people are acculturated into corrupt societies.

It's fiction so there's all kinds of interpretations that the text can support and exploring those is good. It's a stronger text because it has ambiguities and can be interpreted more than one way. But the intensity of some of the rhetoric is an unsettling contrast to what I've thought, for over a decade, Collins' themes and pov are as a writer.

*Shame on the films for removing Peeta's physical disability, though; in the books he lost a leg during their first Games

#thg meta #my meta #i'm gonna try to leave it at this now - i don't want to keep letting this bother me so much #the hunger games #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #maybe Coriolanus Snow is the evil neurotypical representation we need lol #i'm going to unsubscribe from the reddit i think #that is where i am seeing a lot of this #and it's just not worth it

[sokkabackbender2021]

ok y’all i finally finished the neflix live action avatar and…….don’t hate me……..but i enjoyed it 😭 my standards for entertainment is honestly on whether or not it entertained me, so honestly i question my standards.

first off, the visuals and score was absolutely amazing. the fight scenes were well choreographed, and the bending, which i was super nervous about, looked actually amazing.

i think we can all agree the writing and dialogue was pretty choppy at times, and the delivery could be better at times. but i also think (most) of the energy of the original characters was captured well. katara honestly got done the dirtiest because why was she so…….not passionate??? i’m hoping later on she gets more so because that’s a key trait of katara. i was very disappointed with that :/

what they did to suki too……..i liked her being a little awkward and such because it makes sense but i felt like too much of her character was dedicated to her having a crush on sokka. like where is her attitude, her ferocity?

i think aang was played very well by gordon cormier, especially considering this is a child actor we are taking about. his line delivery isn’t going to be great and yes he is a real boy so he can’t be as cartoony as some would hope but i think he was absolutely adorable.

surprise surprise, i loved dallas liu as zuko. i think there were some pretty whack line deliveries but he really captured the anger and cringeyness of zuko well. his martial arts were also also incredible, his fight scenes were my favorite to watch. the scene with him crying quietly on the bed when ozai banishing him shattered me, his subtle acting is underrated honestly.

i have my beef with ian ousley as sokka mostly because of the controversy and such, but i can’t lie he did play sokka well. yet again, as for the last characters, some line deliveries were iffy but he was still a very believable sokka.

so for the writing, i have LOTS OF OPINIONS. there were things they cut that definitely upset me, and that was just because of their lowkey questionable pacing. as much as i hate the slimeball, i missed a lot of the interesting parts of zhao’s story that they cut like his agni kai, jeuong jeuong (aang’s fear of fire??), zuko SAVING him. i feel like they had something interesting there with building a fake alliance with him and zuko, and they didn’t build more off it. [edit] that so, the dude who played zhao had me losing my shit. his line delivery was hilarious and i just love that zhao just gives that manager no one likes/that one creepy math teacher in high school vibes (only combination i could think of y’all).

the additions to zuko’s story was something i absolutely loved. i found myself actually getting very emotional with a lot of the flashbacks, and the 41st division being his crew 🥹🥹 but then i find myself being upset that we were shown other flashbacks so early (like the death of katara’s mother??).

i actually hate the hate azula’s actress is getting. she’s playing a 14 year old……like a 14 year old?? she wasn’t even in season 1 in the og so ofc she’s gonna not be the same, i’m hoping this means they’re building up her up to her fierceness in season 2.

one last critique PLEASE GET A WIG BUDGET GOOD LORD THOSE WIGS WERE BAAAAD. and also a lot of their costumes looked fake or like plastic this was actually my least favorite part 😭

overall, not as horrible as people make it out to be, i had a good time but obviously the og will always be the higher quality product. i’m just glad the young actors seemed to really be passionate for the project :)

#atla #avatar the last airbender #natla #natla spoilers #zuko #sokka #azula #katara #iroh #atla live action #netflix atla #i’m always going into a war zone with atla opinions #it’s a passionate fandom

[pannaginip]

Located 62km north-east of the capital Manila, Daraitan village in Rizal province is home to about 5,700 residents, a majority of whom are members of the Dumagat-Remontado indigenous people who consider vast hectares of the mountain range as part of their ancestral domain.

But the village may soon disappear under the same waters that give it life, once the Philippine government finishes building the Kaliwa Dam – one of 16 flagship infrastructure projects of former president Rodrigo Duterte that is being funded by China.

The new dam is expected to provide Metro Manila with an additional 600 million litres of water daily once it is finished by end-2026. Officials said building the 60m-high reservoir is even more necessary now that the country is starting to feel the impact of the El Nino weather phenomenon.

But it was only in 2021 under Mr Duterte that construction finally broke ground, three years after Manila and Beijing signed the 12 billion peso (S$288 million) loan agreement.

Of the 119 on the list [of flagship projects of the "Build, Build, Build” infrastructure programme], Mr Duterte turned to China to finance 16 big-ticket projects in a bid to cement his legacy by the time his presidency ended in 2022. He embraced Beijing during his term and even downplayed Manila’s claims in the disputed South China Sea in favour of securing loans and grants from China.

Analysts have criticised Mr Duterte’s infrastructure programme as ambitious. Perennial domestic issues like local politics, right-of-way acquisition problems, lack of technology and red tape in bureaucracy led to severe delays in the projects.

The same issues hound the China-funded projects – which come under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to build infrastructure in developing nations – with the problems made more severe by Beijing’s high interest rates in its loan agreements and local backlash due to displacement of residents or potential environmental damage.

Critics say the BRI has been detrimental in the long run to some recipient countries, especially those that have been unable to repay their loans, like Sri Lanka and Zambia.

The Duterte government’s failure to take advantage of its BRI loans was a “missed opportunity” for the Philippines, said infrastructure governance specialist Jerik Cruz, a graduate research fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The four completed China-funded projects under Mr Duterte were controversial too. But they came to fruition because they had the support of local politicians allied with Mr Duterte and therefore increased his political capital, said Dr Camba.

Tribal leaders said they were not properly consulted regarding the project that threatens their traditional way of life. Environmentalists from the Stop Kaliwa Dam Network also say the project would destroy 126 species of flora and fauna in the Sierra Madre.

The Philippines’ Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act states that the government must first secure a tribe’s free, prior and informed consent before building on its ancestral lands.

But Ms Clara Dullas, one of the leaders of the Dumagat-Remontado in Rizal, alleged that the Duterte government had either misinformed or pressured other tribe members into giving their consent.

She could not bear to hold grudges, though, noting that the Dumagat-Remontado organisations that eventually agreed to the Kaliwa Dam were each given 80 million pesos, or $1.9 million, in “disturbance” fees.

“The Kaliwa Dam is the reason why our tribe is divided now. There is a crack in our relationships even if we all come from the same family,” said Ms Dullas. “I can’t blame the others because we lack money. I believe there was bribery involved.”

The government requires them to present identification documents, and only those given passes may enter. Mr Dizon said this is to ensure that no unidentified personnel enter the area [close to the construction zone].

“We feel like we are foreigners in our own home because the Chinese and the people in our own government are now preventing us from entering the lands where we grew up,” said tribe leader Renato Ibanez, 48.

Mr Ibanez also accuses the Philippine authorities of harassing tribe members who are vocal against Kaliwa Dam. Some of them have been accused of working with communist rebels, a charge the tribe vehemently denies.

Unlike his predecessor, Mr Marcos is more aggressive in defending Manila’s overlapping claims with Beijing in the South China Sea, but still fosters economic ties with it.

Geopolitical tensions between the two nations and Mr Marcos’ stance towards Beijing are going to dictate the fate of the pending China-funded projects the President inherited from Mr Duterte, said Mr Cruz.

Tribe members said they would be more amenable if Mr Marcos would revisit Japan’s proposed Kaliwa Intake Weir project that Mr Duterte had set aside.

“We like Japan’s proposal. It would not destroy our forests. It would not affect residents here. The Philippines would not be buried in debt,” said Ms Dullas.

This was among the alternatives the Dumagat-Remontados offered during their nine-day march in February 2023, when some 300 members walked 150km from Quezon and Rizal all the way to Manila to protest against the Kaliwa Dam.

But they failed to secure an audience with Mr Marcos. They remain wary of the President’s position on the Kaliwa Dam and other controversial China-funded deals.

“As much as we want to fully pin our hopes on him, we don’t. We’ve learnt from past efforts to trick us, make us believe a project is about to end, only for it to be resurrected again years later,” said Ms Dullas.

2024 Mar. 3

#philippines #indigenous rights #dumagat-remontado #state violence #red tagging #infrastructure #environmental issues #afp-pnp

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

I wish the Wales wouldn’t react to the internet.

After that photo scandal, so many articles, real or fake, discussing their state of mind with Rebecca English leading the charge.

Then this morning, a sanctioned article about Kate being spotted at Windsor Farm shop.

Internet/ media response: pics or we don’t believe you

This afternoon: a sanctioned pap pic of the Wales at said farm shop!!!

Internet response: that’s not Kate…..ugh. William knows that once you give an inch, the media/ Internet takes a mile.

I wish he’d never responded to the internet in the first place or to just let it be following Kate’s apology because clearly the internet/ media is a ravenous beast that will never, ever be satisfied. 

*******************

I disagree.

I haven’t followed it too closely but this doesn’t strike me as William and Kate reacting to the internet. They’re just living their normal lives and it’s the people around them who are talking to the media. Possibly they feel protective of one of their own being so targeted and harassed.

The general public talking to the media about William and Kate or leaking where they are/sold their pictures of them has happened before. Some of those instances:

When William, Kate, and the kids had a pub lunch picnic.

When Kate was stuck in traffic on a bridge, she and Louis stepped out of the car to look at the bridge traffic. 

When Kate was grocery shopping.

When Kate chaperones field trips or takes the kids to museums.

When Kate took George and Charlotte shopping.

When Kate took Charlotte to The Nutcracker.

When William and Kate went to a school sports thing for the kids and a fellow parent took their picture (Kate was wearing flared jeans that were wet - I can’t find the picture anymore).

When William has gone to George’s football games and took pictures with the kids.

So because this is not an isolated incident of them being spotted within their community and pictures/video leaking out, I don’t see it as a strategic response to the internet or to the media.

It is strategic in the sense that after about a month of wildly intense speculation, there’s finally “evidence” of Kate being out, about, and around in her community, but it’s not like she’s come out of hiding. She’s been doing stuff around her home in her community. It’s just the first time there were paparazzi there that caught her, which suggests more “fox in the hen house” than a papwalk - someone in the community blabbed (which has happened before) and/or the paps knew that Kate would resurface somewhere so all they had to do was wait and bide their time.

Maybe that makes me a chump. I don’t really care. William and Kate have never done this kind of papwalk before. I find it very hard to think they’d start doing it now, especially when you consider all the other controversies they’ve gotten embroiled in and how easily they could’ve redirected the media with a papwalk. 

#submission #brf #waleses

[taeilssunflower]

Why I’m okay with minors reading smut and why other writers should consider this too.

Assuming minor being someone under the international age of 18.

Preface: I respect everyone’s opinions. I am not telling anyone to do or believe in anything. This is just my opinion and me offering a different perspective on a controversial topic. I understand if you disagree with everything I say, but hey give it a chance :)

Every smut post I see “Minors do not interact” and I wonder if the writer is actually uncomfortable with minors reading their content or if they’re following along with everyone else. When I used to write I did put “minors dni” because it seemed like the right thing to do, but when I really thought about it, I disagreed.

EDIT BASED ON COMMENTS: I agree minors should not interact with writers for everyone’s sake. However they can read without interaction. Minors interacting with smut writers can lead to ethical problems, liability issues and online bullying. This post is more based on why I think minors can READ smut, and a lot of the time “minors dni” also means don’t read. Minors (and everyone rlly) should always practice caution and take note of the warnings on posts.

Though I am now an adult, I read smut as a minor, and I do not regret it for a second. Why? Because it was a safe space to help me explore sex and relationships without putting myself into real life situations.

We live in a society where women are not as able to explore their sexuality or talk about it with others compared to male counterparts — especially in more conservative countries. I live in a fairly liberal country, but I was too scared to watch porn - as a 14 year old I found it quite a lot and I didn’t like it. Porn is catered for men, even lesbian porn is made with men in mind. Focused on male pleasure and often degrading to women, porn isn’t the best for adolescent girls. Smut however is largely catered for a female “Y/N”. “Y/N” is often treated with respect and in most smut I read there is expressed consent and a focus on female pleasure, so I have no issues at all if that is what teenage girls are reading in smut. This teaches girls consent and want must be present in sexual situations and that their pleasure matters too; possibly reducing these girls to be coerced, used and hurt.

Being a teenager obviously means going through puberty, which includes feeling horny - a new feeling that comes with all the new hormones. It can be awkward to navigate at first, many teenagers feel ashamed when it’s just a natural feeling. When teenagers are horny they think about sex — a natural response. I think they should be able to explore these new feelings safely.

Furthermore, minors watching porn or reading sexual content is not regulated nor is it regulated in most western countries (I can’t speak for everywhere). You can’t stop anyone from consuming content if they want to, plus why would you want to force someone to stop when they have the right to? I would also like to make the point that many countries age of consent is 16. Obviously some are later, but does it make sense to have most English speakers (reading smut in english) come from a place where they can have sex at 16, but they’re not allowed to read smut at 16?

The only dangers I can scope of minors reading smut is them feeling uncomfortable, which could be due to some of the more extreme sexual preferences/activities included in some smut, but you live and you learn and they’ll stay away from such content in the future or until they’re mature enough to revisit it. The other danger is thinking that smut is what sex is like in real life, but we can’t sit here and act like every 13 year old boy hasn’t watched porn and grow to have similar expectations based on what pornography they’ve consumed.

By writing sexual content on a public platform, you know minors have the ability to come across it. Sure, older writers may feel uncomfortable having those 10+ years their junior reading their work, but genuinely what harm comes out of them reading fiction of “Y/N” and some random celebrity/character? I’d rather minors be able to explore safely than find themselves in uncomfortable or unsafe scenarios.

MAJOR EDIT! I made this post about the ethics of it all. PLEASE read this before you send any comments about safety, morals, unrealistic expectations, writer boundaries or comparisons with pornography. I will not reply to you if you clearly have not read my post. Also I would appreciate comments rather than anonymous asks.

I am NOT condoning children consuming this content (aimed at mid-older teenagers so anyone younger gtfo😭) and writers boundaries should be respected. Thank you!!

#kpop smut #nct smut #stray kids smut #ateez smut #bts smut

[itsmaferart]

Hey Itsmaferart! I got a sensitive question for you: Do you think nowadays, Loid’s more known for Yor and his relationship with her than him as an actual character? It could be me but I noticed a large proportion of posts with him is basically either how smitten he was with her or how he should just kiss her. Plus, I can’t shake this feeling that some people only like him for the Twiyor ship instead of his multilayered character as people don’t discuss his other relationships or character that often.

I’m not oblivious to the fact Anya and Yor are far more popular and loved, as well as, the fact their are some character interactions that we are most invested than others but it’s abit of a personal thing pet peeve of mine when people only value or like a character for a ship when said character has far more complexities and relationships beyond than that. Nothing against the ship itself btw. I like Twiyor too but it feels like a disservice imo, especially since it’s not a romantic animanga.

Hello Thank you very much for your question!!!

Well, I must say that.... yes, and it is quite normal!

I have always believed that physically Twilight has a rather conventional physique but he manages to have enough charisma to attract the reader. As Endo himself says, he has the "just a guy" effect. But you manage to connect with his motivations and actions. Twilight puts his own well-being above the mission many times. He is a man pursuing a noble purpose.

However, I think it is a theme that has developed because of the latest controversy among the fandom and not because it is something that actually happens in the story. I really understand that much of the discontent has been generated because the pace of the episodes has felt slower, Endo's constant pauses due to his possible exhaustion from work, added to the fact that there have been episodic and quiet episodes that may or may not have repercussions in the plot has made much of the fandom question the pace of the series and when it has progressed.

And this was directed at the shipp, specifically with Twiyor. Sparking a dispute that has divided whether or not Yor and Loid have really moved on, or if Twilight has a better relationship with Nightfall….. Valid arguments and some debatable ones.

In fact, we know that it is very common for fandom to focus excessively on aspects of the plot such as shipp or action plots. But as I say, it's more of a dilemma that tends to happen in fandom until eventually it's overcome and the plot continues. I don't really feel it's an issue of Endo forgetting Twilight as a character, but it's clearly necessary to see an evolution. And it's clear that her relationship with Anya and Yor are necessary to see the change between them, and the attachment it has generated.

But I do think that sometimes fandom disputes make people only see Loid as a character destined for a relationship with Yor and forget about all the other aspects. I think they should not be considered as something relevant, and not divide us for unnecessary things.

Evntually, the story itself will take its course with the characters!!! thank you for your question.

#twiyor #spy x family #yor forger #loid forger #loid x yor #yor briar #anya forger #twilight

[teecupangel]

Imagine Desmond in Crusades Era, but like with Alamut - he tries to keep aside from all that is happening. An attempt to keep the timeline as canon as possible. But... Talking to no one is hard, with what Desmond lived through. So he resorts to writing oblique stories, taking part in discussions with veiled knowledge of the Isu era and future. Somehow, this result in him becoming a well nown scholar. He and Altaїr meet when Al Mualim orders Desmond's assassination

This would work so well because Desmond would have vague ideas of the books Altaïr had read and he would be so bored doing nothing that reading all those books would seem like a good idea. Some of them only made Desmond even more bored than he already is and this snowballed to him talking shit about the book he read. This, in turn, made other scholars argue with him about how that book or another book is great or whatever and Desmond would now use the knowledge he got from the other books he got to roast this book.

From there, Desmond became known as someone who reads anything you give him but will fucking roast the book if he doesn’t like it and freaking burn you alive if you even try to defend your bad taste.

This makes him a very fun person to talk to, a very entertaining person to watch, and a very hard opponent to debate with.

Desmond is just passing his time, not understanding how fucking important the scholars are.

Like, he knows the Levantine Brotherhood uses them to blend in and there was one incident involving scholars but Desmond’s memories of that are very foggy. He also doesn’t consider himself a scholar, just someone who reads and questions the shit he reads.

Unfortunately, to the eyes of the scholars, they believe Desmond is being contradictory because that’s how he believed he and his peerage (aka them) could grow collectively. Like their very own Socrates.

The scholars love Desmond for it.

Desmond just likes talking to people and he honestly believes they’re just… talking. Nothing deeper than that.

In his free time, he writes. He writes of what he had seen but he tells people it is fiction, simply things he thought of. He had to get creative though because, well, he can’t write Assassins and not get everyone to realize that he’s talking about the Assassins in Masyaf.

So he adds more Isu bullshit to it in the vein closer to fantasy than sci-fi. Maybe he even adds some steamy romance to it that makes most people blush because it's considered filthy by their standard while Desmond is just like "??? That's tame. You want filth? I'll write you actually kinky shit." and this entire thing gets him writing erotica that is controversial but really... like... they kinda dig it because it's something new and daring.

It becomes a kind of past time of his between ‘talking’ to the other scholars.

Sometimes, the scholars would ask for his help in books they are writing and Desmond helps out in exchange for food and lounging.

Before long, he’s living in Damascus with the other scholars, just minding his own business, not realizing that all the help he’s been doing has gotten the attention of a certain someone.

A powerful man by the name Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn.

And that’s when Altaïr receives his mission to assassinate him.

For this idea, let’s say Altaïr is sent to assassinate Desmond before he became a Master Assassin.

Why?

Because Desmond inadvertently stands in the way of a certain Templar from getting to a key position in Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn’s inner circle.

A Templar by the name of Jubair al Hakim who is supposed to lead the scholars and keep their knowledge ‘contained’.

But because of Desmond, that’s becoming harder and harder as more and more scholars are being converted to Desmond’s ‘philosophy’ (“What philosophy? I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about.”) of listening and understanding but questioning everything.

Hard to contain knowledge when the knowledge itself is being scrutinized by many scholars which gives way for more derivations of that knowledge to appear questioning it, supporting it, or flat-out rejecting it.

The Templars wish for order and Desmond’s idea that everything must be questioned is a definite fucking no to their cause.

On the other hand, Jubair himself cannot act, not when it’s clear that he is in total opposition of Desmond. He has to leave Damascus a month before Desmond is assassinated just to make sure he has a clear alibi (even if the rumors would persist anyway).

So Altaïr infiltrates the academy that Desmond is staying in, blending in as one of the many scholars and… he just… can’t. Catch. Desmond.

What. The. Fuck.

Desmond, on the other, immediately sees Altaïr as he’s coming close to the academy because Altaïr glows the brightest gold Desmond has ever seen. He knows it’s because of his connection with Altaïr so he leaves the academy just as Altaïr is approaching and tries to hide because he believes Altaïr is here for someone else.

Altaïr, on the other hand, sees him as the brightest gold in his Eagle Vision as well which was curious thing because he could see the wisps of blue around the gold but his curiosity soon turns to annoyance because. He. Can’t. Catch. Up.

Desmond always seems to be on the move and always seem to move in a way that keeps Altaïr from catching up to him while he’s trying to maintain his cover.

By the end of it, Altaïr just goes “fuck it” and just chases Desmond full speed, without a care if it breaks his cover. When he sees Desmond run, he realized…

Desmond had been running away from him from the very beginning.

Desmond, on the other hand, finally realizes that Altaïr was after him from the very beginning and he has no fucking idea why but he’s not going to stay still to find out, damn it!

This ends with them running all over Damascus’ rooftops and Altaïr recognized Desmond’s moves as more efficient in freerunning. Not only that, some of his moves are moves Altaïr used himself. Moves that belonged to the Brotherhood.

When Altaïr finally caught up to him because Desmond had just been spending a lot of his time just chilling and being a bit lazy, Altaïr doesn’t kill him immediately. Instead, he asks why Al Mualim would want him dead.

Because, as far as Altaïr can see, Desmond is an Assassin.

He checked his left hand and sees the five fingers and conclude that perhaps Desmond was a deserter from perhaps Alamut but Desmond says no and come on, it would be dumb for a deserter to freaking stay in Damascus where the Assassins had a huge presence in, right???

And that only made Altaïr more curious.

He lets Desmond go and Desmond is confused by this.

The following day, Altaïr sits next to Desmond who had been contemplating if he should just pack up and leave after breakfast. Desmond is confused and Altaïr just says…

“I’m here to observe you.”

“Why?”

“Al Mualim wants you dead. I want to know why.”

“Why would you want to know why the old man wants me dead? Actually, why don’t you just kill me and finish your mission anyway?”

“Do you want to die?”

“No. But I know your mission is to kill me. By not killing me, you’re going against Al Mualim’s orders.”

“I’m not. I’m doing what you have been preaching all these times.”

“What’s that? Also, I don’t preach.”

“Questioning the information the novices has gathered and listening to your side.”

“… That’s tantamount to treason, Altaïr.”

“Perhaps but… there’s something about you, Desmond, that makes me think…

… You are worth betraying everything that I know to be true.”

#does this mean that altaïr is younger in this one? #i’m game with that #i don’t mind #this verse makes desmond altaïr’s ultimate crush tbh #a person with a passion for knowledge (as far as altaïr knows) and makes altaïr chase after them? #my god #it’s love at first chase XD #not doing the usual tags because #altdes

[mongeese]

TMA Meta: Jon’s Ego and Martin’s Lack Thereof

Summary: This is my brain dump about Jon and Martin’s ideas on their own self-importance (i.e. Jon being self-centered and Martin having zero self esteem) and how they contribute to the plot/tragedy of The Magnus Archives, organized into a hopefully coherent essay. I didn’t come up with this all by myself; it was inspired by a meta I read over a year ago about Jon’s ego specifically, but unfortunately op has deactivated so I can no longer access the whole thing. Still, it was a very good post, and definitely made these ideas crystalize for me.

Be warned, this meta is about 2700 words, so it’s a hefty one. And yes, I do know this podcast ended almost 16 months ago, and yes, I do still care enough about it to write 2700 words. What can I say, it rewrote my brain chemistry.

Also I’m tagging @jonnywaistcoat, on the off-chance he sees this and has any interest in reading essays about something he wrote years ago. If you do read this, hi Jonny, love your work!

Now without further ado, the essay, underneath the read more :)

The Magnus Archives is primarily a horror podcast, but as I’m sure we all remember, it is also a deeply tragic story. I believe one of the signs of a great tragedy is a story in which the tragic outcome is technically avoidable, but is actually inevitable when you consider the personalities, ideologies, and behaviors of the characters that inhabit the story. This is true for The Magnus Archives in countless ways, but one that I think is largely overlooked is the egos of the various characters. More specifically, the respective egos of Jon and Martin are hugely influential in the story. Despite having practically opposite perspectives on their own self-importance, each of their egos feeds into the apocalypse and the tragic ending in their own ways.

Jonathan Sims is egotistical and self-centered. That might be a controversial take, and if it is, that would be understandable: he’s up to his eyeballs (pun kind of intended) in self-loathing and sacrificial tendencies. He burns himself out constantly trying to help other people. However, the reason he does that is because he’s self-centered. When I say self-centered, I don’t mean selfish, and I don’t mean vain. I mean the most basic definition of the word, which is that he centers himself in his view of the world. He is egotistical not in that he thinks himself better than other people, but in that he believes, maybe subconsciously, that he is more important and influential they are.

The biggest example of this behavior is the Unknowing. Elias/Jonah tells Jon the world is going to end, and that Jon specifically needs to stop it. Jon is told that he must use his powers to save the world, that he alone has what it takes to see through the Unknowing and destroy it. And Jon does not question this at all. He does recognize that he can’t do it alone, that he needs people to support him, but he never argues the fact that he is uniquely responsible for the safety of literally everyone alive. Now, it’s not an entirely unreasonable conclusion to draw, considering he does have supernatural abilities, he does work for a supernatural institution, and he was being told repeatedly that he was uniquely responsible. But it’s not an inevitable conclusion. He did not have to believe that narrative, exemplified by the fact that when put in a similar situation, Martin rejected the idea that he would be some kind of chosen one (which I’ll get to later). The most logical explanation for Jon wholeheartedly believing he was the only one who could stop the Unknowing is if he already believed himself to be special and unique in some way, even before he knew about it.

It’s not just the Unknowing, either. Jon has massive amounts of trust issues and is very unwilling to confide in others or ask for help. Some of those trust issues were supernaturally induced in season 2, but I believe they existed even before that. Even in season 1, Jon thinks he is alone in his problems, he’s alone in the work he has to do. That is an egotistical perspective. He does not recognize that maybe other people do understand, that they do want to help, that he doesn’t have to be alone in this world. I imagine much of this perspective comes from being an orphan who was bullied as a child; if you spend your whole childhood relatively isolated, it stands to reason that you’d believe yourself to be unique in a way the people around you are not, alone in your situation. It could also be some twisted form of survivor’s guilt from Mr. Spider, because someone died in Jon’s place. Therefore he must be important, otherwise that kid died for nothing. It’s impossible to say for sure what caused it, but what I can say for sure is that Jon has a pretty self-centered outlook on life.

The last bit of evidence in support of Jon being self-centered comes from seasons 4 and 5. This is when he is at his most self-sacrificial and his most guilty, and the reason for that is because of his ego. In season 4, he believes himself to be responsible for all the trauma and death that’s been going on in the archives during and after the Unknowing. In season 5, he blames himself almost exclusively for the apocalypse. And while I can understand to some extent why he believes those things – most of the other characters blame him for it too, for starters – when you look at the actual events, there’s really no reason for him to shoulder all the responsibility. Daisy says so in episode 136, and the rest of the (living) main characters say so in episode 199. With regard to the Unknowing, Jonah was the one who pushed them to stop it, and everyone involved agreed to the plan. After the Unknowing, he was in a literal coma, making it impossible for him to help with any of the Archive’s problems. The apocalypse was planned by the Web, embodiment of manipulation, plus all the characters contributed to the ritual succeeding in their own way. Jon’s conviction that somehow, he alone could have stopped things and so he alone should bear the burden of sacrifice to set things right is hugely egotistical, not to mention entirely false. He’s setting himself on a pedestal, holding himself to a higher standard than the people around him. It’s ironic and tragic, but it’s unavoidable given who Jon is and what he has been through.

So. If Jon is self-centered, where does that leave Martin? Well, he’s pretty much on the opposite end of the spectrum. If I wanted to be mean about it, I could say Martin considers himself to be maybe one step above worthless. And that would probably be an exaggeration, but it’s true that Martin prioritizes and considers almost everyone else before himself, and does not consider himself influential or important in any capacity. There is of course his infamous line in 198, “I didn’t really think I was important enough to kill.” There’s also the fact that Peter’s attempt to convert him to the Lonely failed explicitly because Peter placed too much importance on Martin specifically, as is revealed in 158 inside the Panopticon.

The situation with Peter in season 4 is especially notable, because as I mentioned earlier, it directly parallel’s Jon’s position in season 3 with the Unknowing. Peter has told Martin that there is an existential threat to humanity, and that he, Martin, is the only person equipped to stop it. That’s almost exactly what Elias/Jonah told Jon about the Unknowing. Unlike Jon, though, Martin rejects this. He rejects the idea that he could be important enough to save the world by himself, that he could be a “chosen one” in any capacity, and in doing so destroys Peter’s plan. And he was right! Unlike Jon, who was wrong in season 3. There’s something to be said here about how The Magnus Archives simultaneously rejects and embraces the idea of fate: there are no true “saviors”, destined to save the world, but the characters still cannot avoid the final, tragic outcome of the story. But that’s a topic for another essay. The more relevant point to make here is that despite Martin being right, he made this choice because of his low self-esteem and his tendency to de-center himself. It is once again a moment of tragic irony, that the decision Martin makes because he believes himself to be unimportant turned out to be one of the most important decisions of the whole podcast. It’s what led to Jon’s final mark, putting the last nail in the coffin of the world.

(Author’s Note: It’s interesting that despite feeling personally insignificant in the grand scheme of things, Martin’s the one who says “I think our experience of the universe has value. Even if it disappears forever.” It’s sort of like, the “everyone matters and is important except for me” outlook on life that is depressingly common. That’s not super relevant to this essay, but it makes me emotional, so I’m including it.)

Those are the most explicit examples of Martin’s low self-worth, but they are not the only ones. He spends most of the first three seasons trying to help other people, whether that’s by making tea, being a sympathetic ear, trying to play mediator, or whatever else he’s doing. He is pathologically incapable of putting himself first until season 4 at the earliest. As Alex said in the season 4 Q&A, he sets himself on fire trying to keep other people warm, and unlike Jon’s self-sacrificial tendencies in later seasons, he’s not doing it out of a misguided guilt or feeling of responsibility. He just genuinely believes other people’s wellbeing is more important than his own. This almost certainly comes from his relationship with his mother, both due to her being abusive and because he had to become her primary caretaker at a young age. He was never given space to have needs or wants of his own, so as an adult he only knows how to cater to other people’s needs and wants. It takes several years of additional trauma for him to learn how to take care of himself first.

I want to make it very clear that I’m not trying to paint Martin as some sort of soft “uwu” character, which I know some people in the fandom try and do. For starters, he’s a total bitch (affectionate). But more importantly, he’s also a very proactive character. I mean, his first introduction is him bringing supernatural parasitic worms into his workplace to prove a point, and the reason he encountered those worms is because he illegally broke into an apartment building. He willingly (well, sort of willingly) throws himself into the action – but he does so for other people, typically to protect or take care of them. It isn’t until season 4, at the height of his loneliness and depression, that he stops caring for others, and even then he doesn’t replace that with caring about himself. He just stops caring about everything altogether. Season 5 is when he finally starts expressing his own needs, after his character arc is mostly completed.

Jon and Martin’s respective egos also bleed into the way they interact and align themselves with the entities. Jon is egotistical, and Jon is an avatar of the Eye. In order to properly inspire the right kind of fear, Jon has to insert himself into experiences that aren’t remotely about him. The primary example of this is the nightmares: before giving a statement, someone might have nightmares about the experience itself, and be frightened of whatever entity was involved. After giving a statement, however, Jon, the Archivist, is inserted into those nightmares, so that now instead of being afraid of the original experience, the statement giver is afraid of being watched during that experience. The Eye, and Jon by extension (however unwillingly), has taken someone’s trauma and made itself the focal point. The center, if you will.

On the other hand, Martin’s experience with the Lonely is largely an exercise in fading away. He can make himself go somewhere else when other people are around. He’s trying to be as peripheral as possible, avoiding everyone and making sure he is not an important feature in their lives. This is most intense in episode 170, where Martin loses all sense of self in the Lonely domain that he became a victim of and all memory of who he is. I don’t know if there’s an opposite to being self-centered, but “having no self at all” is probably a strong contender.

Also, Martin is not directly Web-aligned, but he is definitely good at manipulation, which I think also comes from his tendency to center other people. Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of manipulators who are self-centered, but Martin’s specific brand of manipulation mostly involves telling people what they want to hear, playing into their expectations, using their own preconceptions against them, etc. His methods all require pretty good insight into other people, and they require Martin to step out of his own head and determine what other people will expect or think. He has to de-center himself in order to effectively predict, and thus effectively manipulate, other people. And once again, this is definitely a skill he learned growing up in abusive household. I imagine he had to tell his mother what she wanted to hear a lot, in an attempt avoid the worst of her cruelty. That’s straying into the realm of headcanon though, so take it with a grain of salt. I just harbor a lot of hate for Martin’s mom, and I simultaneously love making myself hurt thinking about them, so I mention their relationship whenever I can.

Anyways. My main point is that Jon and Martin’s egos shape much of the story, and both of them contribute to the apocalypse in their own way. It’d be impossible to list all the concrete examples of this, simply because every decision they make in the podcast leads in part to the apocalypse, and each one of these decisions is informed by their respective egos. Still, I’ll try to summarize the most important moments. First of all, had Jon not believed himself solely responsible for stopping the rituals, had he rejected Elias/Jonah’s assertion that he was some kind of hero, he likely would not have played along with Jonah’s game for so long, and the apocalypse would not have happened. On the other hand, if Martin had believed Peter telling him he could be a hero, he would have joined the Lonely and ended Jonah’s plan. Going back to Jon, if he hadn’t been so insistent on taking all the blame for the trauma and death and disaster that occurs, he probably wouldn’t have been so eager to sacrifice himself. He wouldn’t have jumped into the coffin, most likely, and though this is after the apocalypse, he wouldn’t have become the Pupil (which, btw, Jon becoming the Pupil was quite literally him making himself the center of the ruined world and thus a very self-centered action) and tried to doom himself and the world. And hell, if Martin had a bit more self-esteem he might not have fallen for Jon at all! Because let’s be honest, Jon was pretty shitty to Martin for almost two years. And obviously if they hadn’t fallen in love, the whole course of the show would have been radically different, so who knows what that outcome would have been. Their personal views on their own self-importance are thus massively influential.

Before I close, I want to say this is not me condemning either Jon or Martin. They are both a product of their circumstances; they both make good and bad decisions repeatedly. I especially want to make it clear, once again, that I’m not calling Jon selfish, and I’m not calling Martin a pushover. These are two extremely complex, well-written characters, and I tried my best to acknowledge that in this essay. Also, self-centered does not equal selfish, and low self-esteem does not equal a pushover. And though the extremity of their egos are personal flaws, no character is perfect and no character should be perfect, so really I wouldn’t have it any other way.

And now for a last bit of heartache: in the end, their love for each other is what allows them to overcome their ego or lack thereof. In general, Martin prioritizes himself and his desires more than ever before in season 5, not just because of Jon. But his final decision – voting to pass the Fears to other worlds in order to save their own – was primarily motivated by a selfish desire to save Jon, a desire to build a life with the man he loved without pursued by terror-monsters. And Jon made his final decision to step down from being the final hero (or villain, depending on your perspective), to set aside his guilt and sense of responsibility, to remove himself from the center of the world, because he couldn’t bear to watch Martin die, and he couldn’t bear to doom the world with Martin still in it. It’s poetry. Terrible, tragic, heartbreakingly romantic poetry.

#hihi im back with another 2k+ word meta :) #feel free to add on or even to disagree! i love hearing peoples thoughts #just dont be dumb and dont be rude. thanks #tma #tma meta #the magnus archives #jonmartin #jmart

[bbygirl-aemond]

I love your characterization so much and my brain keeps thinking about HP crossovers so - What Hogwarts houses would you place the characters in? I just can’t quite decide on Aemond’s…

(I love Stormbreak and your meta so much!!! Thank you for sharing all your wonderful thoughts and works!!)

i'm not sure if this will be a controversial take, but aemond is definitely the kind of person who considers himself slytherin/ravenclaw but is, to his core, a gryffindor. he likes the reputations of intelligence and cunning associated with the first two houses. but the most important points of his life in canon- claiming vhagar, the strong boys toast, chasing luke at storm's end, abandoning his captive mother in king's landing to wild around in the riverlands- those all revolve around gryffindor character traits, both positive and negative, such as courage, lack of impulse control, arrogance, and recklessness.

helaena is 100000% a ravenclaw. she's the hotd luna lovegood.

aegon elder would be a hufflepuff who forced the sorting hat to put him in slytherin because of family expectations and ended up miserable, poor thing.

canon daeron is likely a gryffindor (the whole daeron the daring thing), but stormbreak daeron is much more of a slytherin. very pragmatic, intelligent, cunning, and ambitious. planned out every stage of his life, and all that.

alicent is a hufflepuff, very loyal and devoted and caring and hardworking, but fiercely protective and dangerous when she feels that her loved ones are threatened.

otto is very obviously a slytherin, just a very well-learned and intelligent one. he's the definition of ruthless pragmatism.

rhaenyra is a gryffindor, through and through. she's super confident, arrogant at times, has several big displays of bravery, the whole shebang.

this might also be a bit controversial but jace is a slytherin. hear me out!! he's super devoted to his family and he's obviously very kind and good, which don't come to mind when someone thinks slytherin, sure. but he's very cunning (the whole dragonseed idea) and in stormbreak he is just ruthless (for the greater good, but still). the abdication? the harrenhal arc? he figures out exactly what he needs to do in order to get what he wants and he does it.

luke is a hufflepuff. he's loyal to his family, sweet, doesn't care much about fame or ambition or recognition, just about him and his family being happy. and if he thinks his family's lives are at stake, he'll cut out eyes without hesitation.

joffrey is a ravenclaw, no further questions, my dragon-obsessed hyperfixation king.

daemon... daemon embodies many things. i'm truly torn between gryffindor and slytherin with this one, and whichever one you believe, the sorting hat was definitely torn between the two as well. he's a good fit for gryffindor in much of the same way aemond is, since he can be very reckless and impulsive and brave to the point of idiocy. but he's also very ruthless and cunning when advancing his family's goals, kind of like jace but with less morals and compunctions against murder.

baela is a gryffindor. she values her freedom and independence more than anything and has inherited every one of her father's gryffindor-like traits of arrogance and bravery.

rhaena is a hufflepuff, just like luke, which is why the two of them are so wholesome together. she's very loyal, similarly is content with a low-key but happy life. and she can be very dangerous and fierce when she wants to be; she just uses that side of herself rarely.

aegon is a hufflepuff like his older sister. his priority is primarily to his family, he's not highly fond of the spotlight, he values duty a ton.

viserys is a slytherin, but everyone takes him for a ravenclaw because he's quiet, reserved, and bookish. but he's canonically very cunning and intelligent; you don't successfully rule the seven kingdoms for decades (as king but also as hand) without a ton of political savvy and a ruthless side.

#thanks for this it was fun!! #ask #asks #answered #hotd #house of the dragon #harry potter #hp #fire and blood #fab #fic: stormbreak #fic #stormbreak #gryffindor #ravenclaw #slytherin #hufflepuff

[oursonwithagirl]

finn wolfhard and why he himself is proof of byler (why his interview answers are like that)

i’m sure you’ve heard that finn can’t play a straight character, so it would essentially just make sense for mike being queer, endgame proved. obvi 🙄 (joke) (but rlly funny cuz the streak must go on)

anyway, finn wolfhard has been in the industry for years, and one of the things that separates him from other actors is his love for the entire filmmaking process. he’s so involved in all the projects that he works on, and it’s great to see a person so passionate about something, and also be able to deliver on it. this is one of the main reasons why i believe that finn 100% knows the ending of stranger things, at least pertaining to mike wheeler, and has been in the know now for a while (i’m talking end of s3 so since 2019). this ending reveal would be important for him to know for his character, because it explains why mike is acting this/that way. i mean, think about it, if we are all right about mike’s queer coding, finn has to have known the motivations behind his character while acting. if there’s one thing that finn can do, it’s keep a secret for the sake of the storyline and he’s doing a fantastic job.

during s3 press, he got asked tons of questions pertaining to melvin, which is a given, considering they just reunited in s2 and fans are excited to see what they’re like as a couple. viewers go onto watch the show and they take notice of a definitive shift in mike’s behavior. at his worst, mike is rude, hurtful, and obsessive. fans are starting to hate mike (lol just wait til s4). in summary, finn’s character gets reduced to being el’s boyfriend who is a bad friend. but we know the ending of s3, and what finn most likely had to have found out in order to portray mike in that way. there’s more to it!

s4 press and his interesting answers (the proof)

- at the premiere, he was asked what’s in store for milkvan. he goes onto say that they’re both discovering things about themselves.

- in the well-know hair chair, finn gets posed the question ‘what’s going on with mike this season?’. he replies saying that mike’s trying to “keep on a normal path” and be as “normal as possible”

- upon getting asked a byler question, specifically about what would happen if mike were to know about will’s feelings, finn wolfhard stated that he thinks there would probably be a mutual understanding and acceptance

- in the post-volume 2 cast interview, the interviewer wanted to know finn’s perspective on where he thinks mike and el’s storyline is going. he responds with basically “i’m excited for the ending of the show and to see which characters leave hawkins (smalltown boy theory) and stay. as for mike and el, it’s hard to tell, but i just hope they both find happiness”

- in a lot of the press, he emphasizes on how good the ending is that the duffers wrote (keeping in mind that the duffers stated it would be controversial)

all answers hint towards what we suspect: milkvan bones, byler endgame - with no explicit statements, yet he’s really just laying it all out.

to tie this into his upcoming panel (yay!), he doesn’t do this often, and he could very well never come back to do it again, so please try remaining respectful in the questions you ask. he is not going to spoil, so don’t try getting him to do that. is he secretly a huge byler super fan? no, he doesn’t get like that with ships, especially of his own, but something he truly appreciates is good writing, so of course he’s going to be on board with it and care about it if it’s going to be given the proper story and wrap-up!

#byler #mike wheeler #mike wheeler i know what you are #stranger things #stranger things season 4 #stranger things analysis #st #mike wheeler analysis #analysis #finn wolfhard

[cowb0yiikeme]

My Issue with Persuasion Adaptations

Desperately hoping and pleading that an Austen fan takes matters into their own hands and writes a half decent Pesuasion adaptation.

To be fair I’ve only seen the 2007 adaptation (though from what I can tell 1995 is fairly similar) and the absolute joke that was the the 2022 “adaptation” but I’m not convinced that there is a version that accurately portrays the depth of emotions in the book. Here’s why:

1) The conflict in persuasion is largely internal and it’s hard to dramatize on screen.

We as the reader know how tormented and pained Anne is by seeing Captain Wentworth, but the nature of her character and her relationship with her family doesn’t lend its self to vocalizing her pain. This is hard to capture in a film because audience members are looking for hidden signs that Anne would never show outwardly.

To get around this the writer and producers would need to come up with a creative way of showing the audience what Anne’s thinking and feeling without compromising her character. I believe that there are ways to do this but they don’t follow the book.

You could…

-Invent a new character that Anne is comfortable sharing her thoughts to. Not a high profile character, but someone that exists as a place for Anne to vocalize her thoughts

-a “Dear Diary” approach where Anne can write out her thoughts so the audience knows them but the other characters don’t. You could also do this as a voice over of her inner monologue

-Have Anne vocalize her thoughts to existing characters. This would have to be done carefully to stay true to Anne’s character, but I think there are ways of having her give little hints of her thoughts to characters without revealing everything. Anne is level-headed and would never make a big show of pouring her heart out to a family that doesn’t understand her, but that doesn’t mean she can’t slip the audience some hints while talking to other characters.

2) Hollywood doesn’t understand feminism

This may be controversial and i am completely open to conversation but i think Hollywoods idea or feminism is completely backwards. Hollywood writers and producers have gotten it into their heads that the only way to write a strong female character is to create a character that is outspoken and witty and will openly rebel against the system and express themselves. This leads to modern takes on historical fiction where writers turn demure and complex female characters into Elizabeth Bennett-fleabag wannabes that don’t work within their story.

Anna Elliot is not Elizabeth Bennet. She isn’t impulsive or bold with her words and decisions, she is compassionate, even-tempered and incredibly self possessed. These themselves are strong character traits and don’t need to be transformed into something else to write a good character.

Hollywood would have us believe that the only way to modernize classic literature into more feminist takes is to reconstruct what they consider “weak” or subservient female characters into a Strong Independent Woman™️ completely losing the original character (written by a feminist woman) along the way.

Loud women ≠ Strong women!!!

Women are allowed to be quiet, and nurturing, and unsure of themselves at times. They are allowed to exist within the gendered spheres or history and not actively rebel against the system. What makes a story a feminist take is to acknowledge that these “soft” traits aren’t a weakness and that these women deserve to be respected and loved regardless because these traits and these women have value. The most compelling part of Anne and Wentworth’s love story is that he loves her for who she is, and is the one character that truly understands and respects her. Even when he is angry and resentful he holds a deep respect for her and I have yet to see an adaptation that respects and honours her like Wentworth does.

3) Where is the Drama??

Persuasion is different than Austens other works. It’s a story with mature characters and very real themes that people can relate to. The flip side of modern adaptations that destroy Anne’s character through the Girlbossification process, is the older adaptations that fixate on her level-headedness and lack the theatrics of a historical romance/drama. The “right person wrong time” trope is heartbreaking and dramatic and I don’t feel that in any of the adaptations I’ve seen. Persuasion isn’t a story about the recklessness of young love, it’s about the internal battle between love and practicality, and I have yet to see this portrayed as dramatically as it should be on screen.

SHOW ME the longing looks between them where they’re desperate to know what the other is thinking.

SHOW ME the Agony and Hope.

And for the love of all things good SHOW ME a P&P (2005) Mr. Darcy Handflex moment that I can think about 24/7!!!

I want to get the feels watching an adaptation the same way I get them when I read the book. The drama is part of the story and a good adaptation won’t let it be swept under the rug of Anne’s outward composure.

#persuasion #persuasion 1995 #persuasion 2007 #persuasion 2022 #jane austen #anne elliot #historical fiction #classic literature

[ohmycale]

There is a tiktok that they hate Deruth and they literally hate him? Then somebody on Twitter countered that Zed was a worse father to Alver and he didnt get hate as much as Deruth. What's your take on it? Is there a double standard for you?

Okay, let's break it down, shall we?

First off, I don’t know about this particular TikTok video and I don’t use the platform so I am taking the things you said at face value.

Second, everyone who has heard of TCF/TBOAH and their characters will have an opinion about them. They are entitled to their opinions about anyone and everything and enjoy the same space and perks as people like me who usually have counter opinions about their opinions. It’s the internet at its finest. 

Third, Hate is a strong word for me and I don’t use it lightly. I try to avoid it. My feelings about Deruth are the same feelings I had for my father with acknowledged bias and projection. Yes, I felt disappointed and angry at him for a long time but I learned to manage my feelings and learned to not be bothered by people who didn’t treat me well. And as I project my feelings into Deruth and other characters, it’s the same thing I do for og!cale. Other fans do the same thing. 

Fourth on Zed and benign compared to Deruth. I don’t comment much on Zed because I believe that he is a trash father from day one and embodies the existence of sperm donors at their finest. What is there to be said, really when everyone agrees on one opinion about him?  Deruth, on the other hand, claims to be living his family motto and then sought out his personal happiness over his son. He is constantly characterized as a ‘good’ but flawed father. That opinion is dependent on whom you are asking, of course. My further opinion about this man is evident in my other posts. Overall, there is no incentive to talk about Zed when you already know from the get-go what kind of ‘father’ he is. Deruth is pretty much a controversial character in this context given his background and ‘progress’ in canon. 

In terms of double standards, I see them equally as men who shouldn't be fathers. That's putting it very lightly. I'm sure others I know personally would have more…colorful words to describe them.  And I’m somewhat irritated that mental neglect/trauma is seen as ‘lower’ than physical neglect/death. It's the invisible scars that grow over time that goes unnoticed and for some people, eventually, wish that they haven't lived or incapacitate them to live better lives. Worst-case scenario, you get judged for not being able to ‘move on’ and ‘be normal’ or shit things people say. Reminds of parents who do do-overs with new families and expect old kids and be a ‘family’ just because.  That's basically Deruth for you. 

Fifth, Alver still has his family with Tasha. Someone who knows understands and care for him just like his mother had done. I can’t say the same for Og!cale. Og!cale’s family is….just not there for him and didnt understand him when he needed it most. His father found a new family and tried to blend him in without actually considering his feelings. Or just thinking that og!cale having new family members = happiness. It doesn't matter if he accepted them eventually. The assumption that og!cale would just go with the flow is so insidious to assume.  His supposed family might care for him, but I don't really see the them understanding what he has gone through and still going through. Ron and Vicross, as we all know, left for their dreams of revenge. Hans, God bless his soul, is a servant to him and under Deruth’s command and authority. So, who is really there for him? 

Sixth, I like that Deruth’s actions are sparkling a debate. It means that people don’t see him as a one dimensioned character even though my feelings would want otherwise. People will have their judgment of him and agree to disagree is still a thing (I guess). The only thing that I care about is og!cale is happy wherever he is right now…with or without Deruth.  

Thanks for the Ask. Sorry for the wall of text.

#tcf #lcf #trash of the count's family #lout of the count’s family #henituse family #tcf cale #og!cale #og!cale henituse #original cale henituse #ask me everything #tcf deruth #deruth henituse #zed crossman

[platoniclokiimagines]

Imagine Loki taking on an orphan as their apprentice, taking the role of surrogate parent as well as teacher to a rambunctious preteen with the capacity for magic.

TW: None

Rating: G

WC: 2580

A/N: Hi, there! Long time no see, I know. Apparently, I’ve been hoarding finished prompts for a bit and haven’t been posting them, so I’m gonna post what I have before writing anything new for now. I have (minus this prompt) nine asks in my inbox, and I think two or three of those have been written and not posted, but once I get through what’s already done, I’ll probably be considering opening requests again, just to get some variety mixed in. As for this fic, I hope it was worth the wait. I played around a lot with how to do this, and this felt the most... chaotic and therefore in character. Enjoy!

“Loki, you can’t just take a kid you found outside.”

“Why not? That’s what Odin did with me.”

“Loki.”

“Damn, Reindeer Games, can’t argue with that logic.”

“Stark, do you really want to talk about shit dads right now?”

“No, there’s not enough alcohol in this kitchen.”

“Alright, alright,” Steve finally cut in, and everyone that had been arguing looked over at him as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Never mind any of that, do we really think it’s safe for a kid to be here at the Compound. I mean… We’re not exactly a daycare center here.”

“Well, the way I see it,” Loki began, glancing over to where you were sitting with a juice box and pretending not to listen to what they were saying. “You lot don’t let me go on missions all that often anyway, and if I can’t do anything like that to prove I’m an asset to the team, then maybe if I take care of the kid, you’ll believe me.”

“Are you… asking us to let you be a parent?” Tony deadpanned, and Natasha elbowed him in the side, despite biting back a small smirk.

“Well, if that’s what you want to call it, sure. Besides, was I supposed to just leave the unsupervised six year old where I found them?”

“I mean, there are people for that,” Steve said with a half-hearted shrug, but Loki only shook their head in response.

“Well, I found the kid first, so they’re mine.”

“Norns, Loki, you can’t just call dibs on a human being.”

“I just did. No taking it back, either. Tough.”

“Have we considered maybe asking the kid… well, anything, before we do anything further?” Bruce suggested, ever the voice of reason.

“What, you think I just picked the kid up without saying anything? Thank you, Bruce, truly wonderful to see how much you trust me.”

Several of the Avengers began to argue at that particular quip, but all of them fell silent as you finally piped up for the first time since Loki had sat you down in front of the tv to be distracted.

“I wanna stay.”

As if on cue, every single person turned to look at you, and you sipped your juice box as if you hadn’t dropped what seemed to be the most controversial thing anyone had said all evening.

“I wanna stay,” you repeated, politely sitting your juice box down. You got out of the armchair and made your way over to where all of the adults were standing, clasping your hands together in front of you.

If living on the streets at a young age had taught you anything, it was how to be cute, how to tug at heartstrings, and how to get what you wanted. By whatever means necessary.

“I don’t really have anyone,” you admitted, shrugging a shoulder. “My parents died when I was younger, so… You know. No guardians. And, uh… I’m not six, I’m ten.”

“Close enough,” Tony argued, and was quickly silenced by Natasha’s elbow in his ribs yet again.

“And I’ve been on the streets long enough to know that it’s not safe for anyone. Let alone a kid,” you continued. “So no offense to anyone in this room, but… I wanna stay here. I think it’s nice. And if Mr. Loki wants to take care of me, then that’s okay with me.”

“Ah, see? I even have the kid’s blessing. I… What was your name again?”

“Y/N. I’m Y/N.”

“Y/N.” Loki seemed to soften as they considered you, and when they smiled warmly, you couldn’t help but to return the gesture. You hadn’t felt this comfortable around anyone in quite some time. “Well, Y/N, I’ve never really… taken care of a kid before, but, ah… There’s a first time for everything, and… Well, I’m sure this will end up more of a joint effort than anything, but if you need anything at all, and I mean anything, you come to me, alright?”

You nodded, and then looked around at each of the other Avengers standing in a semi-circle in front of you. “I promise I’ll be on my best behavior. And… And if it doesn’t work out, I’ll just go back out. You know, on the streets. I know my way around.”

“No, that won’t be necessary. And if anyone in this room has any objections to this arrangement, well…” Loki looked around at the others, with an expression you couldn’t quite make out, before continuing in a lighthearted tone. “I suppose I’ll just have to kill them.”

“Yeah, so not helping your case, Reindeer Games.”

“Brother, you wouldn’t.”

“Oh, they probably would.”

While all the others began talking over each other in various states of both belief and disbelief, you could only laugh, because it seemed such a silly idea, for someone to be killed because of you. And before you could even really think any more on the matter, Loki had crossed over to where you were and held out a hand.

“Come. Let’s find you a room.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Settling in at the Compound came rather quickly. Well, the beginnings of settling came rather quickly. Loki helped you pick out a room, close to theirs so they could keep an eye on you, but with the promise of privacy whenever you wanted or needed it, and the other Avengers were all very welcoming, each in their own way.

But it was the better part of a year before you began to feel like you truly belonged there.

Fitting in came easily, all things considered. All things, of course, being the fact that you were a ten year old kid in the midst of the stuff of legends and superheroes, but none of them ever treated you like a baby, and what Loki had suspicioned would be the case came to fruition just as they imagined; everyone ended up co-parenting you to varying degrees, and while it was nice to have so many people look over you, you were just glad to finally feel like you were a part of a family again.

Your friendship with Loki, however… Well, they were simultaneously the most and least parent-like figure you’d ever had in your life. They were the one you went to when you had questions or needed help understanding words or phrases you hadn’t heard yet, and they checked in on you at night to make sure that you were comfortable and feeling alright. They were even the one to soothe you when you woke up in the night with bad dreams or worries that you couldn’t seem to set aside long enough to fall asleep.

But on the other hand, they taught you everything they knew. And everything they knew included a plethora of ways to make mischief and cause trouble without ever being caught. A skill that was just as fun as it was dangerous, you’d come to find out. Loki had an affinity for pranks that endangered but didn’t injure, and the other Avengers tended to be on the receiving end of said pranks. Which, of course, meant that getting caught could get the both of you in very serious trouble.

But Loki seemed to have a way of talking their way out of things, and that was a skill you had grown familiar with in your time on the streets, and with Loki’s help, you honed it into something they insisted was “truly masterful.”

You didn’t, however, always get away scot-free. While Loki had had dozens upon dozens of years to practice pranking and trickery, you were still learning. And that meant sometimes you got caught.

Which is exactly why you’d been sent to your room by Steve, who had simply not appreciated you turning everything in the cupboards upside down. A harmless prank, in your opinion, but Steve had thought otherwise, and rather than yell at you or talk down at you for it, like you might have expected from one of the others if you’d caught them in a bad mood, his way of punishment was much more tame. More suited for a pre-teen whose bane of existence was being sent to their room.

It was infuriating, in a way that something like that could only infuriate someone your age, and you were more than a little grumpy about the circumstances as you slouched on your bed, glaring a hole into the ceiling as you propped your legs up against the wall.

You didn’t realize Loki had come in until you felt the bed shift under their weight.

“Rogers told me what happened.” Their tone was even, and you couldn’t tell if they were about to congratulate you on an almost-perfectly executed prank, or advise you on how to better get away with it.

You shrugged a shoulder, and said nothing.

Loki seemed to consider this for a moment, and you could feel their gaze lingering on you.

“Do you want to tell me why you pranked him?”

You breathed out a sharp laugh. “You prank people all the time for no reason.”

“You’re right, I do. I was just wondering if you had one.”

“Does it matter if I did?” You couldn’t stop your tone from becoming defense, and you weren’t entirely sure why. Loki wasn’t saying anything that was upsetting you, exactly, but lately you’d been having a bunch of weird feelings. Like something was a little bit off with you and you weren’t sure how to handle it so your default setting had become to act standoffish and huffy. Normal for your age, you’d heard the others discussing the other night when you’d snuck out of your room after bed to listen in on them, but that didn’t make you feel any better. If anything, you felt like something was coming to a head, but you didn’t know what.

And that made you scared.

“Y/N, I just want to know what’s going on with you. I’ve noticed you’re starting to become a little more… closed off. Distant. Not like yourself.”

You rolled your eyes despite yourself. “And how do you know when I am or am not myself?”

“Well, I’ve spent the last year raising you, so-”

“Everyone in the Compound has spent the last year raising me.”

“Well, yes, but not to the degree I have. It isn’t the same.”

“What does it matter?”

“…I beg your pardon?” Loki’s hesitant response made you realize they were taken aback by your snippy response, and for some reason, that made you both angry and upset.

“What does it matter if you raised me more than they did? I still don’t…”

You didn’t finish the sentence. You didn’t need to.

You heard Loki exhale a long, slow breath before speaking. “What is all of this really about, Y/N?”

“…I don’t know. Everything feels all… weird and difficult.” You glanced at them for only a second, and then returned your gaze to the ceiling. “Have you ever felt like… no matter what you do, nothing is… right? Good enough, correct, whatever.”

“I have. Probably more than anyone else in this Compound has.” Loki’s tone was still even, but you could hear the heavy edge to their voice that assured you they were telling the truth. “Is that why you’re… acting out?”

It was an innocent enough phrase, and really it was exactly what you were doing. But for some reason, Loki using the term felt like betrayal in a way that you just didn’t have the skills to explain, and so you bristled.

“Ugh, why does everyone have to say that? I’m not a kid that doesn’t know how to act.” You huffed and crossed your arms over your chest, that familiar feeling of tension and anger and heat swelling into a ball in your chest.

“No one’s saying that you are, Y/N, I just worry that you’re-”

“That I’m what? Too much to handle? A brat? It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been called literally anything like that, or worse.” You didn’t mean to raise your voice, but you were tired and angry and hurt and confused and so many other emotions at once and you didn’t know what to do with the way it felt sitting in your chest like it was.

“Y/N…” Loki’s voice had taken on a warning quality, but all it did was upset you even more.

“No. No. I’m allowed to be upset. I’m allowed to be upset a-and… and hurt and have emotions and feelings. I’m allowed to be mad!” You accentuated the word by slamming your hands down on either side of you.

What you didn’t expect, however, was for a burst of energy to expel from you, sending a ripple through the room that knocked books over and blew papers around the room as the overhead lights flickered before strengthening back to their normal power.

You froze. Unable to process what had just happened, but already worrying about what Loki was going to say to you.

When the silence became too much to bear, you turned your head just enough so that you could look back at Loki, and you were surprised to see them looking at you with an expression of complete understanding.

“You didn’t tell me you had powers.”

Well, that wasn’t the response you had been expecting at all.

Though now that Loki mentioned it, you supposed that would have been the obvious explanation for whatever you had just made happen.

“…I didn’t know…” you finally murmured when you could manage to get yourself to talk.

“No, I suspect you wouldn’t have. If magic isn’t learned, it can remain dormant until the right amount of emotions sort of… sets it free.”

You considered that, pushing yourself to sit up and scooting yourself around so that you were facing Loki. “Is that.. why I’ve been feeling so… weird inside?”

Loki made a face. “Weird how?”

You shrugged a shoulder. “Iunno. Just… weird. I’ve had lots of emotions lately, and they’ve all kind of felt like they’ve been building and building and building, and now that I just did… whatever I just did, it doesn’t feel so…”

“Hard?”

You nodded slowly as you met their gaze. “Yeah.”

Loki nodded along with you, and was silent for a moment while they looked at you until they eventually cleared their throat. “Well. I suppose next is the matter of your training. And letting the others know, of course, that way there’s not any accidents are anything of the like.”

“Training?”

Loki looked at you, with a smile that you couldn’t help but to return. “Of course training. You didn’t think I was going to make you figure everything out on your own, did you?”

You relaxed, and let out a breath you didn’t even realize you were holding in. Before you could stop yourself, you had launched yourself into Loki’s arms, hugging them so tightly that you could feel them stiffen for a moment before returning the gesture.

“…I’m really glad I have you to help me. I didn’t mean what I said earlier. You’re more of a parent than I’ve ever had in as long as I can remember. And I’m sorry for being mean.”

Loki chuckled softly, patting your back gently. “It’s no matter. You wouldn’t be my kid if you weren’t just as moody as I am, yes?”

All you could do was laugh, grateful to have a place where maybe, just maybe, you did belong, after all.

#Loki imagine #platonic Loki imagine #Loki #Loki Laufeyson #Loki Odinson #platonic!Loki x reader #anonymous #ask #answered #thank you for the ask #parental figure!Loki #fluff #Tiny bit of angst #shenanigans #young!reader

[yesimwriting]

Business Practical: chapter II

A/N can't believe people wanted to be tagged in this :))) thank you for the feedback, likes, reblogs, and comments are always super appreciated! 

Series Summary: After the release of your hit single, you think that the rest of your career is set. Or at the very least, you’re guaranteed an easy release of your next album. Too bad your label thinks your record’s going to fail if you don’t find someone famous enough to record a duet with you. Fortunately for you, your squeaky clean, America’s newest sweetheart image is just the kind of thing Elvis needs around him to protect himself from his own controversy. 

Chapter I 

Chapter Summary: Y/n receives an unexpected phone call.

(this chapter is kind of short but the idea I have for chapter 3 is a lot of fun and i wanted it to be its own separate thing) 

Y/n’s POV 

The night of the Elvis concert, I came back with a strange thrill in my chest. I came home with the kind of foolishly optimistic excitement that you keep to yourself. The kind of excitement that you only let yourself revel in at night when you’re completely alone. 

Everyone at home was on me the second I walked through the door. My mother wanted to know all about the business side of things (did he say yes? did he seem like someone you could work with?) and my sister wanted to know about Elvis (did he look like he does on the television? did you actually speak to him). Even my niece stayed up past her bedtime just so she could ask me what it was like.

I kept my answers brief and excitement level low. After all, nothing was guaranteed. It was a miracle Elvis even said he’d consider considering something. Even though the rational part of me knew that there was a high probability that he was just being polite, I couldn’t help but keep myself next to a phone at all times for the next three days. I intercepted every phone call I could, even though each time I answered and it wasn’t anyone important a little part of me began to lose hope. 

Elvis was a long shot anyways. I should probably schedule a meeting with Will and see if there’s anything else we can do to appease my label. Maybe there’s a more attainable artist for me to work with or a certain type of song that they think will be successful. 

Still, I’m not ready to deal with it all. I’ll call Will eventually,  but if he was really worried about my deal with the label, he’d have called by now. I have some time before I freak out so I should just focus on things I can control. Like what I’m doing tonight. Maisie’s cousin, Rose, is in town and I haven’t seen her in forever and they’re expecting me over for dinner.

“Y/n!” My mom’s voice rings up from the stairwell.

Sighing, I push the bathroom door open without looking away from the mirror. I’ve been trying to figure out a way to make my hair work with me for the last fifteen minutes. I was supposed to be at Maisie’s house ten minutes ago. “Yes, mama?” Frowning, I stick another pin into my hair. “I can’t babysit tonight, Maisie’s expecting me for dinner!” 

“No, it’s not that--it’s--” There’s a moment of long silence before she finally says, “Someone’s on the phone for you!” 

My first assumption would be Maisie, but she practically expects me to be late and my mom would have just passed along her message. Maybe it’s Will, calling me to finally give me some sense of direction.

I exit the bathroom, walking down the short hall and into my bedroom. Sitting down on my bed, I pick up the extension that’s on my nightstand. “Hello?” 

“Is that you, Miss July?”

Oh my god. He called. He actually called. I press the receiver into my chest, roll over, and quickly squeal into the nearest pillow I can grasp. Recovering in less than a second, I sit up. “Mama! I’ve got the phone, can you--” 

“Already walked away from the living room extension!”

Thank goodness. The last thing I need is my mom monitoring this conversation. I’m surprised she hasn’t already scared him off. Lifting the phone to my ear I take a deep breath, “Y’know my name’s Y/n.” 

“If I didn’t know it before, I certainly know it now.” I’m not sure I understand his words or the partial laugh that follows, but that’s okay, because it only takes him a moment to elaborate. “Your mama sure does like talking about you.” 

I let myself cringe, grateful that he can’t see my expression. How long was my mom on the phone with him? What did she say? I wouldn’t put her past telling him a story about when I was little or something even worse. She knows about my sister and I staying up late on school nights to watch his live performances. 

Adjusting my hold on the receiver, I suppress a groan, “Oh, I can feel all the damage that’s been done.” 

He laughs a little more freely. “No damage. She’s nice and proud a’ you.” I’m not convinced. “She also told me an interesting story or two about you, your sister, and a few lates nights on my behalf.” 

My face feels hot. “Of course she told you about that.”

“Don’t be embarrassed, I always love talking to my fans.” 

I sigh, resting my back against the headboard of my bed. “Think I might reconsidering my position on that.” 

“Wow, and here I was calling you to let you know I wanna record song with you only to find out you’re already over me. You’re breaking my heart.” 

I nearly drop the receiver. “Hold on--you--you wanna record a song with me?”

“Don’t sound so surprised, I told you I’d consider considering it, and then that turned into considering it, and then thinkin’ about it, and now I’m calling you.” 

I sit up a little more, placing my feet on the ground beneath me. “If I’m being honest, I thought you were just being polite.” Tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, I think through of all the things I could say. “You said you’d have to speak to your manager and that they’d speak to mine, and since mine didn’t call I really wasn’t expecting anything, especially not today.” 

Oh, yeah--today. Maisie and her cousin are still waiting, but they’ll definitely excuse my lateness for this. “That’s on me, I wanted to be the one to tell you.” He clears his throat, “I um--there’s a lot of details to sort through, mainly artistic ones, so I figured we’d need to talk.” 

I’m about to respond when I recognize a familiar, soft breathing. Rolling my eyes, I already feel my future embarrassment. “Maria, get off the phone.” 

My niece’s breathing picks up. She’s weighing her options like she has any. “You’re on the phone with Elvis Presley!” 

“Elvis, I’m so sorry, my niece knows she’s not supposed to listen in on other people’s conversations.” I sigh as I turn my attention back to Maria. “Maria Anne, Get off the phone before I tell your mama you’ve been eavesdropping again.”

“But Auntie,” she whines. 

This is the first time I’ve ever wanted my sister to actually follow through on punishing her. She’s a good kid, but has absolutely no concept on boundaries. “Your name’s Maria?” My niece’s name feels strange coming from him. 

Maria enthusiastically replies, “Yes.” 

“Well, Maria, I’m Elvis,” He pauses long enough for both of us to hear Maria’s poorly concealed squeal. “If you listen to your Auntie and let us talk a little business, I promise I’ll meet you real soon.” 

“Really?” She gasps. “Alright. Goodnight Auntie, goodnight Elvis.” Maria practically giggles her name before I hear her leave the line.

I laugh softly when I’m sure she’s gone. “Sorry about her, she’s a sweet kid, she’s just going through a phase where she thinks she’s all grown up and doesn’t want to listen to anyone.” 

“No need to apologize, she seems like a cute kid.” He’s quick to clear his throat. “So, about discussing things, I’m in town for a few days, takin’ a bit of a break.” He stalls as he says that. I wonder if he’s thinking about the papers and the accusations. That kind of controversy must take a toll on a person. “You doing anything tonight?” My mind briefly flits to Maisie and Rose. “I was gonna meet some friends somewhere familiar in hopes of working through some things.” 

I know what mama would say if I asked her if I could go meet Elvis and his friends this late in the afternoon. The sun’s practically set, I’d have a better chance at being excused from Sunday service. My mama cares about my career more than practically anything, but she’d insist I reschedule somewhere professional. She’d insist that there’s a way to do things like this in order to make sure I don’t seem like one of the ‘easy looking’ girls she can’t. help but subtly point out on occasion in public. 

She may be accepting of Elvis in the sense that she understands his appeal and respects his level of success, but she doesn’t want me to be exactly like him. As the world has proven, it’s not marketable and it’s not socially acceptable. I’m not sure which fact would bother my mother more. 

She’d also tell me all the stories of young girls who believed themselves to be women and so they went out with men, not letting anyone know where they are. Good things rarely happen to those girls. 

“Somewhere familiar?” 

“It’s a good place for music,” he says, “I can pick you up if you’d like.” 

The offer hangs there for a long second. Out of all the facts to consider, I can’t help but think about Maisie. She’s never once stood me up, especially for a guy, but I can practically hear her in my head. Don’t play it so safe you keep yourself out of the game. Don’t waste this opportunity.

“You have some friends coming?” 

“Just a few familiar faces, nothing you should be nervous about.” 

That makes sense. He’s back home, of course he’d have some friends he wants an excuse to meet up with. “Actually, I was wondering if you’d mind if I brought some friends.” 

“Anything you want, Miss July.”

“I’ll give you the address.”

I resite Maisie’s address into the receiver. After a moment he tells me he’d be by in about 30 minutes. I’m not sure it’s possible for my plan to work in work in 30 minutes, but I guess it’s going to have to. After he hangs up, I rush into my sister’s room. 

Thankfully, Maria’s bedtime isn’t for a little while. She’s still in the living room, which means my sister and I can talk freely. “Wanda!” 

She looks away from the book she’s reading. “Yeah?” 

“Mama’s leaving to visit her Uncle James tonight right? And she has to leave around 8:00 to make her flight?” Wanda nods, unsure about my sudden interest in our mother’s travel plans. She planned this brief trip about a week ago after Great Uncle James had heart surgery. He’s fine, but she’s using the last of her vacation days to be with him and make sure everything’s running the way it’s supposed to be. “Okay, well, I need you to help me find something to wear.”

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