#literally y'all this might be like the same length as my master's thesis.

[quilleth]

'TIS TIME!!!!!

The first half of my fic for the @moshangevents Big Bang is now live!!

I also am SO excited I got to work with @hagelwolke on this!! Go check out the AMAZING art

Read the fic HERE!!

Rating: M; M/M; Mobei Jun/ Shang Qinghua Additional Characters: Luo Binghe, Shen Yuan, Linguang Jun, Original characters Tags: fae au, fae!MBJ/ human SQH, slow burn (?), mutual pining, curses, transformations, fairy tale tropes, eventual smut

Summary:

The Winter King was as cold and harsh as the lands he ruled. He did not take kindly to strangers, and those who crossed his boundaries vanished, never to be heard from again, or returned, incurably altered, mere shades of their former selves. Shang Qinghua knew the stories as well as any other, but that didn’t prepare him to meet Mobei Jun, the fae king of the North. Expecting to be punished for a transgression that was hardly his fault, he is surprised when the king merely insisted he join his staff, copying old records. Mobei Jun is just as unprepared for the strange allure the baffling human scribe seems to hold over him. He proves every bit as clever and skilled as he claims, however, and Mobei Jun soon grows to trust him. Like so many things in life, good things never last long, and their tentative relationship gets thrown upside down after an ill-thought kiss sets off an ancient curse.

#svsss #moshang #shang qinghua #mobei jun #moshang big bang 2023 #moshang big bang #mebigbang23 #quilleth writes #help idk who i am anymore this is SO LONG?!!! how did i do that?!! #literally y'all this might be like the same length as my master's thesis. #it's definitely the longest thing i've written since i wrote that back in 2015 xD #AND i wrote smut?!!! the power of airplane compels me

[comradekatara]

Lesbians, I seek your wisdom. Did Ty Lee and Azula like... happen?? In any universe? What's the story there? I feel like modern au Ty Lee might have enough freedom to stay the fuck away but is canon Ty Lee okay? Sorry if you've already touched on this. Thank you for continuously blessing us with your forbidden knowledge btw, y'all brighten the world.

well our knowledge is not remotely forbidden, because it is in the text!!!! the whole thesis of this bloggue is that we need to refer to the text when making any sort of claim about said text (in this instance, atla), but thank u for appreciating our Moste Important Work lol

okay so I know a lot of people think that ty lee genuinely loved azula, but I think it’s pretty clearly established in “return to omashu” that she is scared of azula?? and whenever she shallowly praises her, it is definitely to pacify azula and affirm her supposed loyalties. it’s pretty clear that if she actually felt like azula wouldn’t hesitate to hurt her, she would feel comfortable to initiate physical contact or gently tease her like she does with mai. ty lee’s facial expressions when azula isn’t looking are crucial to understanding her character, because she very rarely actually says what she means.

one of my favorite moments in understanding their dynamic is this scene in “the beach:”

ty lee: those boys won't leave me alone. i guess they all just like me too much.

azula: come on, ty lee, you can't be this ignorant.

ty lee: what are you talking about?

azula: those boys only like you because you make it so easy for them. you're not a challenge- you're a tease. it's not like they actually care who you are.

ty lee: *cries*

azula: ok, ok, calm down. i didn't mean what i said. look, maybe i just said it because i was a little [whispers] jealous.

ty lee: what? you were jealous of me? but you're the most beautiful, smartest, perfect girl in the world.

azula: well, you're right about all those things. but for some reason when i meet boys they act as if i'm going to do something horrible to them.

ty lee: but you probably would do something horrible to them. i'm sure they're just intimidated by you. okay, look, if you want a boy to like you just look at him and smile a lot and laugh at everything he says even if it's not funny.

azula: well, that sounds really shallow and stupid. let's try it.

notice who has the upper hand throughout this entire scene. ty lee a) notices that azula is jealous and rubs it in b) cries on command when azula insults her c) makes azula apologize to her and admit that she was jealous d) denies that azula could be jealous e) literally tells azula (and the audience) that ty lee is being shallow on purpose. ty lee treats azula the same way she treated all those boys. and she’s playing azula just because she can.

meanwhile, azula spends this episode furious about ty lee receiving so much attention from boys. but when azula tries to ensnare a boy of her own, it’s not a boy she actually likes or has any sort of connection with, but the boy she identifies as the strongest, most powerful boy (in terms of status) in the room. she doesn’t actually feel any attraction to him, she just wants the Best one. so it then becomes a question of who is azula actually jealous of when she sees ty lee basking in all that male attention? when azula “makes” ty lee cry, instead of reveling in her tears, she immediately backtracks, apologizes, and admits that she was jealous and didn’t mean it. this is a moment of unprecedented caring and vulnerability from azula. ty lee is still at azula’s behest, but she knows how to take advantage of her situation, how to toy with azula, how to have one over the master manipulator herself. (this is why I say ty lee is the scariest bitch in atla lol)

it all comes to a head when ty lee proves that she loves mai more than she fears azula. azula clearly actually cared about ty lee, had feelings for her, and was shocked to learn that ty lee didn’t feel the same. of course, she later convinces herself that she didn’t care about ty lee on a personal level, and was only using her, but the fact that mai chose zuko over azula and ty lee chose mai over azula (and zuko chose iroh over azula, in the end) completely shatters her.

so as to the question of whether or not anything happened between them, I think that ty lee managed to keep azula at arm’s length the same way she did all those boys on ember island. encouraged her and flirted with her to a certain point, but would have subtly expressed boundaries by pretending to be oblivious, and resorting to violence if she had to. which she finally does, not for her own personal safety, but for mai’s.

#analysis #azula #ty lee #maixtylee #azula&tylee #asks #captainfingersmith #their relationship is so fascinating #bc i feel so bad for both of them #also yeah ty lee loves mai so jot that down