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#it's intense love and devotion
k8lynjoy · 25 days
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"This ship is boring," and it's just a couple that loves, supports, trusts, and respects one another.
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ecoterrorist-katara · 3 months
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Why I feel like Ka/taang is one-sided, despite textual evidence 
ATLA does try to convince us that Katara has romantic feelings for Aang. For example: she seems thoughtful when she realizes that Aang is a powerful bender; she’s offended that he didn’t want to kiss her in the Cave of Two Lovers; she gets jealous when Sokka says On Ji and Aang look good together.
So…what’s wrong with anti-Kataangers? Do we just lack media comprehension? 
To be clear, on their own, these gestures can indicate romantic interest. But at the same time, we have stuff like “Aang is a sweet little guy, like Momo.” We have her ambivalent facial expression after he kisses her before the eclipse, and her hedging during Ember Island Players, and her anger when he kisses her anyway. In the context of these conflicting cues, Katara’s possibly romantic reactions can absolutely be interpreted in a different way, because: 
Acknowledging a friend as a potential romantic interest is not the same as actually being romantically interested in them. (Imo this is something young women struggle with, due to a combination of romance-centrism and heteronormativity that make women feel like they should be in romantic relationships, and that boys and girls who share intimate and deep feelings for one another must be romantically into each other) 
Wanting someone to find you desirable is not the same as desiring that person. (Which is something a lot of women, especially young women, struggle with. Remember all the discourse around Cat Person back in 2017?) 
Being jealous when someone flirts with your friend is not the same as wanting to be with your friend. (Especially when you see your friends as family, or if you’re accustomed to a specific type of devotion from that friend. It is jealousy, and it is possessiveness, but it doesn’t always arise from romantic feelings) 
Growing up in a patriarchal society means that your desires are always filtered through what men want from you, sometimes in an abstract male gaze-y way, and sometimes in a very visceral and interpersonal way when a boy wants you specifically. And Katara’s reactions are just that — reactions. Reactions to what other people — including Aunt Wu, Sokka, Aang himself — have insinuated about her and Aang. She’s not really proactive in her interest in Aang: we don’t really see Aang, romantically, from Katara’s POV. Under the framework of “Katara is reacting to a romantic prospect she’s kind of uncertain about,” it is completely plausible — and indeed likely — that she would sometimes act in ways that indicate romantic interest, in addition to moments where she indicates the opposite. 
Ka/taang shippers often bring up other evidence, like Katara’s despair when Azula hits Aang with lightning, or how protective she is of him when Zuko joins the Gaang. The thing is, these pieces of evidence aren’t necessarily indicative of romantic love. The fact that Katara genuinely loves Aang makes the whole thing more complicated, not less, because — especially at that age, especially when Aang is twelve years old and grew up in a sex-segregated society of monks — it is really difficult to tell the difference between platonic love and romantic love. Their mutual devotion is layered and complex yet straightforward in its sincerity. What was not straightforward, until the last five minutes of the show, is whether this devotion on Katara’s end is romantic. The romantic arc for Katara and Aang is not really an arc, as Sneezy discusses in this classic ZK video. Katara actually becomes more conflicted over time and we never see an event that clarifies her feelings. She seems more interested in him in The Headband than on the Day of the Black Sun, and she has never been more hostile to his romantic overtures than in the penultimate episode. 
And in light of this, it’s pretty easy for fans to fill in the blanks with a different interpretation: maybe Katara’s weird expression after their kiss at the invasion means she didn’t enjoy it; maybe the kiss made her realize that she doesn’t actually feel that way about Aang; maybe against her will and her better judgement, she’s developing feelings for another person, a person who hurt her and whom she fervently tried to hate until he pulled off what is in my opinion the greatest grovel of all time in the form of a life-changing field trip. Maybe. Am I saying that Zutara has more romantic interactions than Ka/taang? Of course not. But ironically, the lack of romantic interactions means that it’s not inherently one-sided, the way Ka/taang became in the latter half of season 3.
I’m not arguing that Katara’s unequivocally not into Aang. Obviously the text declares that she is, because they get married and have kids. But I am saying that there’s a very good reason that so many people, especially women, see Katara’s interest in Aang as ambiguous. It’s not because we can’t pick up “subtle” hints of growing affection. It’s because we know not all affection is romantic, and it’s really easy for someone else’s insistent romantic intentions to muddle what you want.
P.S. I first started thinking about these topics (platonic vs romantic love, desiring someone vs wanting to be desired, etc) in the context of compulsory heterosexuality, a term describing how queer women contort themselves into relationships with men even if they’re not really into men. I saw a post a few days ago joking about why so many queer women seem to be into Zutara. I wonder if part of the reason is because as queer women, we are very sensitive to the ways in which we can talk ourselves into wanting things we don’t actually want, and Katara’s romantic interest in Aang can be easily seen that way. 
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arctvros · 1 year
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i’ll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
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thefuturewithoutus · 1 year
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after 'wilson's heart' he really flipped from being the emotional/feelings-driven part of the relationship for me. amber dying really a number on him and it shows in how his relationship with house warps a little. before wilson was the lover and house was the loved one then amber shows up and house gets crazy defensive, then she dies and it makes wilson draw back enough to scare him. like after that he really fishes for wilson's attention all the time and obsesses over him and does everything to keep their relationship stable. literally after season 4 there's a visible switch from him being dismissive of feelings to being like wilson did you know i love you forever. and the dynamic switches and wilson is the loved one and house is the lover. do you get me
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hualianisms · 6 months
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camilikha on twitter posted with mtl the part of the TGCF Audio Drama production team's talk where they discussed hua cheng's character concept, and i love what the AD team said so i attempted a rough translation of the CN text:
"The core of Hua Cheng's character: Ultimate beauty, ultimate danger, ultimate devoutness The simultaneous contradiction and balance in his feelings: On one hand, he has a yearning desire that is blasphemous; on the other hand, he sees Xie Lian as sacred and inviolable, so he simultaneously possesses a devotee's sense of worship and sacrifice [1], and restraint [2]. His love is akin to a fire in the abyss; on the surface he approaches everything with effortless skill and ease, but in his heart he is always simultaneously suppressing and yet burning with fervour and zeal."
*translation notes:
[1] "献祭 worship and sacrifice" here refers to the religious act of a worshipper making sacrificial offerings to their god. the sacrifices offered to the god can be other people/things, or oneself.
[2] for the part about "restraint 禁欲", the CN phrase used refers to religious asceticism or abstinence (the AD team used many phrases with specifically religious connotations in this description of HC). however, "asceticism" felt to me like the wrong eng word for HC as he is not ascetic at all, nor is his devotion or love chaste. I struggled to find an eng word that fit here, but this is what the AD team was likely referring to (his abstinence during the centuries before he met XL):
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(I think the AD team may also have been referring to how HC initially attempted to hold himself back early in Book 1/Arc 1 for fear of overwhelming XL at first (during the period before they started kissing and HC realized XL fully reciprocated his attraction and desire).
and just my thoughts but i love how the AD understood HC as character so well! i love how they highlighted how he is simultaneously the concept of the most faithful devotee, and the most ardent lover. whether it's his religious devotion or his romantic/sexual love for XL, it's intense & passionate to the highest degree
i also love how they described the juxtaposition btwn HC's effortlessly calm & competent exterior, vs the intense passion he holds within. i really love how well the AD understands his character and allows HC to be as layered, multi-faceted and gorgeously romantic as he's meant to be
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evilhasnever · 1 year
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I do subscribe to the Lans Only Love Once theory, because it has been proven true again and again by lwj and wwx, lxc and jgy, qhj and lan furen, lan qiren and his 3000+ rules.
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I guess it's nothing now..
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soldier-poet-king · 6 months
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Need more stories abt middle aged and old people finding love & patnerships. Tbh. Like obvs there is so much more to life and it's not important in the grand scheme of things and like most days I am thinking of bigger and better things but also I love romance and if I am not properly kissed at least once in my life like. What.
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dollsuguru · 3 months
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?????( KAIRO????????? YOU CAN’T CASUALLY MENTION KING!SUGU/KNIGHT!READER AND THEN MOVE ON I’M ABT TO EXPLODE 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫
ok but “call off your dog” is THEEE dynamic ever to me actually like it’s so good …. that feral devotion…. reader being like his attack dog…… i’m just thinking abt this vine 😭😭 the dog is knight!reader the owner is king!sugu and satoru is the one abt to get bitten LMAOOO
I’M GONNA HAVE TO HEAR MORE DETAILS ON THEIR DYNAMIC FROM U THOUGH PLSPLS I’M ON MY HANDS AND KNEES :’3
YOU’RE SO RIGHT ABT THAT DYNAMIC gojo is a squealer, suguru’s an instigator, & reader is just :3 BARK
& KDKDKDKDKD LISTEN IT’S SOMETHING I THOUGHT ABT A WHILE AGO ONLY MOMENTARILY but i will say king!geto infiltrates my thoughts from time to time </3
omfg i haven’t really thought of the lore of this au in depth 😭 i just know i wanted it to be feral violent dark devotion <3 just very intense and raw but VERY genuine like there’s genuine love there that makes them soooooo insane <3 i think the idea of king!geto is just delicious…
there’s rumors across the kingdom where the now king!geto murdered his parents in cold blood in order to usurp the throne (is this real or not? who knows? not me…) to those he dislikes/who dislike him: he’s a cunning king… sly… manipulative… calculating… tactically/strategically intelligent… he’s like a viper <3 venomous serpent fangs ready to strike when the opportunity presents itself, his fangs leaving ragged bloody raw bite marks in his opponent’s necks where they simply won’t ever survive // on the flip side/more human side he’s a young king after all so in the privy of his castle/palace he’s a bratty, huffy, dramatic king :> a funny lil twist from the demure, elegant, alluring king that the townspeople see
BUT on the opposite end for those he adores/adore him: he always looks out for them! he really does LOVE his people i think the reason that he’s SO beloved is because he wants to create a better world for his subjects! he’s kind, caring, & always has their best interests in heart! he keeps them safe, he goes into the town to speak to vendors/assess how to help them, & then plays with the little children (nanako mimiko megumi yuji & yuuta are especially fond of the king and he’s especially fond of them <3 they’re all his little babies <3)
as for knight!reader… omfg insane human i love them. they’re like if a wolf, raven, & a panther had a baby. just a rugged/morally grey/sick sick sick individual 😭 i think in the beginning their devotion stems not necessarily from Love for suguru & the royal family but from the Love of fighting/killing! they were a ward of the infamous assassin toji zen’in and worked under the tutelage of king ryomen sukuna, a tyrannical & heinous king. they have a scar that runs from their left eyebrow down their eye on the middle of their cheek courtesy of sukuna </3 they’re like an undomesticated dog who needs to be reared in through trial & error, strictness, & punishment.
and you may think… What The Hell are they doing as suguru’s knight then??? 🤔🤨
well if you saw a single knight take down an army of bandits all by their lonesome wouldn’t you be intrigued…? regardless of anything you know that they’re CAPABLE & able to PROTECT. which is the most important thing <3 the perfect duo: a king who already has a screw loose in his head and a knight who never had any screws in their head to begin with <3
basically knight!reader is a fan of the hunt more than anything <3 imagine them walking towards suguru all bloody with a wild glint in their eyes and a massive smirk… suguru for once in his life found someone/something he can’t control…
… but suguru likes a challenge and he likes to tame <3 reader isn’t a brat, they’re just so feral & need to be put on a leash for their own benefit/the benefit of those around them <3 he wants to domesticate this undomesticated dog and train them properly. my knight!reader is the type to submit willingly but only to those they respect.
that’s why the “call off your dog” aspect is so delicious to me……… reader is so feral and violent and always has their fangs bared, their canines sharp & bloodied. and suguru is always holding their leash, ready to draw them back or ready to tell them to “attack.” it’s all based off of suguru’s whims & orders at the end of the day. knight!reader bows only for suguru and suguru alone <3
sidenote suguru & his knight have like . sadomasochistic tendencies . not necessarily Sexual vibes but like……… the knight is quite masochistic & suguru is quite sadistic (to each other… but they love it… another facet of their Sick dark weird devotion towards one another)
and also by dark devotion i mean reader is on their knees with suguru’s knuckles against their lips, the epitome of: “let me kill for you. let me bloody my hands, let me show my love in this way, in a violent way, the only way i know how.” and suguru cradles them like a father would a baby: “let me tame you. i’ll bark out the orders and you’ll follow through. because you devote yourself to me. and because i love you. i will show you my love through control & intense passion, the only way i know how.”
also i have a Certain Scene in my head that ultimately showcases their love for one another and i’ll just say it here bc i don’t think i’m writing this story anytime soon and i know i’ll forget if i don’t write it down 😭 but after a battle or smthn reader comes back bloodied and scarred and for once in his life suguru feels genuine fear. it’s unbecoming of a noble king to carry someone who is Designed to Protect him to his personal bath, but he does so regardless. i think one of the MOST intimate things is to give someone a bath… and he does that. he’s no longer a king and you’re no longer a knight… he’s a worried young man who bandages & bathes you, who needs to take care of his beloved by doting on them oh-so carefully & oh-so softly. it’s almost like a purification process for both of these characters too.
and then suguru sees something on the knight’s body… it looks like a tattoo but it’s a brand (think of sukuna’s markings but along the knight’s stomach & back) suguru then really looks at the knight and realizes that… this person is just so tired. weary. young. they enjoy the hunt but they’ve always existed to serve others, to protect others, to take the punishment so others don’t have to…
i think he gains an extra layer of respect for reader and is almost… sad? i think he thinks abt if they met under different circumstances would they still be tied to one another? had he been a teacher and had reader been a butcher — would the devotion still be there? and then he catches the knight’s eyes staring into his… and he’s positive. 100% certain. no matter the era no matter the circumstance no matter which lifetime they’re in — the intensity of their raw devotion towards one another withstands the test of time. also TRUST the knuckle kisses that the knight gives suguru are soooooo reverent
BUT yeah blah blah blah this sets up the NEXT scene which would be suguru giving reader a hickey in the bath (his own form of branding) and sukuna sees it the next day 😹 like “oh? you took my little rottweiler puppy and made them a refined wolf… good for you.”
i’m all over the place but ESSENTIALLY that’s the gist of it all 😭 there’s SOOOOO much more lore/twists/turns and such the further i think abt the story but omfg……….. you know what maybe i will write this soon 🫡 they’re my beloveds
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zappedbyzabka · 8 months
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They should pay Chad extra to come on so Dutch can confess his almost canon love for Johnny when Johnny visits him in jail. Gimme him admitting that he’s been in love practically since the day they met
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beliscary · 8 months
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hunting gore crows
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magpie-come-east · 2 months
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It means so much to me that Oleg- a nothing ‘character’ aligned with Morgott- is a banished knight and not a Leyndell knight. There’s such rich soil in those implications. That Morgott trusted a an ‘outsider’ to be his right hand. That said man was so loyal he cut down 100 of Morgott’s (presumed) enemies. That Morgott rewarded his loyalty to HIMSELF with an Erdtree burial. (kristoff earned his by defending the Capital during a siege. Certainly a worthy act.) this random knight was so ride-or-die for this old man I swear
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walkman-cat · 3 months
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kinda gay to be a detective etc. etc. you know how it is
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happyk44 · 1 year
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Nico’s love for Percy vs Percy’s guilt over Bianca
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spnintheyearofourlord · 9 months
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Okay Dean “You know I am not much for prayin’ ‘cause in my book it’s the same as beggin’” and “I prayed to you, Cas, every night” Winchester, I see you.
#destiel#deancas#dean winchester#supernatural#just thinking my little thoughts#don’t look at me I’m having a moment#something something no greater devotion than that to his brother who he’s praying for in the former yet this implies#the same love and desperation fueling that must apply to Cas too#do y'all see what I'm saying? does the connection make sense?#especially s8 going forward Dean often takes the cake for toxicity I’m sorry it’s just true. HOWEVER. we need to talk about the softness#that man shows to Cas in this season specifically.#for ex: after Cas sternly shuts him down in 8x08 he doesn't get defensive and snap back like Dean often does#he goes over and sits on the bed across from cas and softly says 'talk to me.' like i'm sorry? has dean ever said that??#not that i recall. usually it's smthg like 'are you ok? no? that's rough buddy. shove it down.' bc that's what he was taught#and mid-end of the prior season though his ‘don’t tell Cas the truth’ plan was not great it was pretty clear imo how deeply happy he was#just to have cas back. broken or not he’d rather have him. .#I don't know exactly what I'm trying to say that's why we're in the tags but it's just something about how Cas deeply betrayed them and we#know how intensely Dean can hold a grudge yet when they get Cas back Dean's softer with him than he ever was before.#and then searches monster land high and low for him even after Cas abandons him#and connecting the former and latter quotes up there it's pretty clear how deep that devotion runs#(platonically or romantically. to each their own reading. and not always healthily.)#because he's as well as admitted he begged for Cas in purgatory. every. night.#Dean 'I don't pray bc i don't beg and I'm not weak'#Dean 'I would do anything for sam so i'll beg for help'#Dean 'I prayed to you. I killed my way to you. did you hear my prayers?'#it's just really somethin'.#I have to wonder if Cas knows how big that is. He must right?#(for my own tags)#dean#spn s8
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slothu · 3 months
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i miss my high school bf who i dumped during a manic hormonal episode when i was 17 rip </3
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