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sheeple · 10 months

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Miracles don't exist | 11: Home not so sweet home

Genre(s): Riddle!reader / Slytherin!reader / kinda slowburn / little happy moments Fandom(s): Harry Potter Pairing(s): Theodore Nott x Reader / Harry Potter x Riddle!reader Summary: Being the Dark Lord's daughter and raised under the strict supervision of the Malfoy's is no easy life. Especially if you start crushing on your father's arch-nemesis, Harry Potter. And that while being engaged to one of his follower’s sons. Warning(s): Moldy Voldy [Masterlist] [Mini masterlist] [Playlist]

The sun is shining brightly with not a cloud in the sky. A soft breeze sways the leaves on the trees which tower over the manor. And despite that sunny and happy weather outside, you feel dreaded entering the house.

The pointed roofs and gothic architecture never looked so menacing as now. The perfectly manicured lawn looks like it has thorns and skulls as flowers while the white peacock in the distance looks like an omen of death.

Both you and your cousin stand at the end of the long driveway, your luggage floating towards the front door. Aunt Cissy motions for the two of you to hurry up.

Glancing at each other, Draco gives your wrist a reassuring squeeze before marching up the gravel path. You linger for a while longer until you can't.

It's quiet when you enter the manor. More than usual. All sounds, even those from outside, seem to have disappeared. No creaking of the house, ticking of clocks, nothing.

Your aunt turns to you, a sorrowful look on her face. "The Dark Lord is expecting you in the library."

You want to shake your head. Scream, cry, yell that you don't want to see him. You're scared. So fucking scared to meet him. But, you don't have a choice.

With a meek nod, you turn on your heels and make your way towards the library. You ignore Draco's shaken look as his mother hugs him and leads him to the other side of the house.

The floorboards under your feet creak as you stand in front of the double doors of the library. You raise your fist but before your knuckles make contact with the wood, the doors swing open.

He stands in front of the large windows that oversee a part of the gardens, his back turned to the door and his hands are clasped behind his back. He is almost as pale as a sheet, blue veins running over his bald head.

When he turns around, you have to bite back the gasp of horror you want to let out. His face can only be described as snake-like. Two slits are where a nose should be and icy blue eyes set in a too-pale face.

He is nothing as you imagined. You once or twice have searched up the name Riddle in the school records to look at the picture of all the prefects. At that time, Tom Marvolo Riddle was a handsome seventh-year boy. Dark hair, high cheekbones, and a proud look on his face.

Tom Marvolo Riddle is obviously gone and in his place is Lord Voldemort.

You don't know whether to bow or nod, so you look at the ground once he catches you study him.

"My Heir." His voice is breathy, almost whisper-like. He opens his arms, "come here."

Your feet move with a mind of their own. You scale the size of the room and stop in front of the imposing figure. He wraps his arms lofty around you. A chill spreads through your body as a cold hand presses against your back.

Taking a step back, you try to even your breathing. "My Lord." The title comes out in a whisper. You're utterly terrified of what this man will do, will say.

He tsks disapprovingly. "When we are in company of each other, you may call me Father, my Heir."

"Yes... Father."

Voldemort nods approvingly. He studies you once again, his icy eyes trailing every inch of your face and hair. "I've been told you are sorted into Slytherin. Naturally."

You nod. "Yes, Father." You don't know what else to say. But it seems like he is expecting more. "My studies are going well. I am staying out of trouble and keep with our own kind."

It's the safe answer, one you know satisfies him. And it does. He dismisses you with a wave of his hand and you don't know how quickly you have to get out of the library.

When you enter your bedroom, Draco is already sitting on your bed, an anxious look on his face. "Is it really him?", he asks in a whisper and you nod.

You go sit down next to your cousin. The two of you sit in silence for a while, until Draco opens his mouth. "How is he?"

"Terrifying", you admit. "You feel his power when you are in the room with him."

"Mother says he can read minds."

You look at him with wide eyes. That can't be true... right? It means that even our thoughts aren't safe.

"Well... Then we have to watch out for what we think."

Draco nods and you sit in silence once again. You lean over and lay your head on his shoulder. Draco has never been a big fan of being touched — it may come from being barely touched as a child by his parents — but for you, he makes an exception.

"Everything is going to change from now on, isn't it?"

He hums sadly. "I'm afraid so."

You spend the rest of the day cooped up in your room, unpacking your school trunk and dusting your room. Even though Aunt Cissy makes the house elves clean your room regularly, it's always nice to do a once-over.

Around dinner time is a knock on your door and you're being called to dinner. Nervously, you make your way towards the formal dining room. It's tradition to eat there when you and Draco have returned from your year at Hogwarts.

Entering the room, you see your aunt and uncle — both looking rather unwell — and your cousin sitting at one end of the table and Voldemort sitting at the head on the other side.

"My Lord", you greet your father with a polite nod. Unsure of where to sit, you move to sit next to Draco. But the chair next to Voldemort gets pushed back by magic and you get the hint.

With uncertain steps, you go and sit to him. Draco and you make eye contact but remain silent.

The majority of dinner is spent in silence. You do not dare to speak out loud and it seems like the Dark Lord likes the tense silence his presence brings. It's only when the desert is brought that he speaks.

"It seems you are very popular at school, my Heir. Not a full day at home and you already received a letter." Voldemort holds up a wax-sealed envelope.

He watches how you take it and break the seal. Unfolding the envelope, you start to read. It's a rather short letter really.

Do you want to hang out sometime? It's what friends do, you know. We could meet up in two weeks. That's just enough time to miss me.

— Theo

You close your eyes. Stupid stupid boy Theodore Nott. You've hoped to keep him safe from your father a while longer, at least until the end of the summer break or Christmas or whatever. But as Voldemort snatches the letter out of your hands and reads it over, one of his non-existent eyebrows arches up.

"Theo? Who is this Theo?"

You look down at the pie in front of you. "Theodore Nott, my Lord. We've ehrm... We've-" You look for help from your aunt, but her gaze is trained on the table. "We've been introduced last summer and started hanging out this year."

Voldemort looks over at your uncle. "Is this true, Lucius?" The name of your uncle is almost a hiss.

Uncle Lucius gulps before shakily raising his gaze. "Ye-yes, my Lord. We thought the you-young Nott boy would be an excellent match... f-for your daughter... my Lord."

Voldemort hums, dropping the letter next to your plate. "Very well." And nothing more is said about Theodore or the rest of the dinner.

Once you are excused, you rush towards your bedroom to write Theo back. But when you swing open your door, you almost shriek.

A three-metre snake lays on your bed, eyes trained on you. You've heard whisper all day long, but you just chalked it up to Voldemort residing in the manor.

Carefully stepping into the room, you know exactly who this is. Clearing your throat, you open your mouth. "Hello, Nagini", you say in the strange whispers and hisses of Parsletongue.

"Hello, my Heir", the snake hisses softly, sliding off your bed. She slithers out of your room. A shiver runs down your spine at the feeling of her smooth scales gliding against your ankle.

Sitting down at your desk, you pull out a piece of paper and start to write to Theo.

Sure, we can do that. Do you have something in mind or do you just want to walk around and see what happens? I'm down for whatever.

I suggest we meet up on Tuesday in two weeks. If that's alright with you.

— (Y/n)

Taglist (bold means I couldn’t tag you): @the0doreslover @lqndkxlmqma @st4rrry @choppedpartymuffinwinner @ledtassoo @literallyobsessed @lestat-whore @vanishingcherry @harrysnovia @pietrobae @ireallywannasleep127 @yeolsbubbles

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matan4il · 2 months

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Hi again!

So like you, I've been seeing a steep rise in people being openly antisemitic and just hateful in general to people, both in Israel and anyone who so much as shows compassion for people on that side of the conflict (even to Palestinians and Israelis showing solidarity for each other! Which is maddening to think anyone would condemn such a thing). And I know it must be hard, to be living through such horrible things, and then to be hated as if you're somehow part of the cause of such atrocities.

I know it isn't much, I'm only one voice out here in the void, but I felt like you deserved some positivity today, and to be reminded that what you're doing is good and important. You've always brought a smile to my face, back in the day for silly fandom things (Buddie metas, my beloved), but seeing what you do now... I don't think I have the words to exress how much I admire your bravery and relentlessness in the face of such adversity.

So to you, and to all those trying to survive and stay sane, my thoughts and prayers are with you. There will be a light on the other side of all this. Stay strong, my friend. And remember too that when your strength alone fails, it's okay to lean on someone for support. *hugs* ♡

My darling Jesse! *hugs you so tight*

I'm so sorry it took me a while to reply, but I swear I'm doing my best, and I appreciate you so much. I will never forget that time on that discrod server, I won't go on too much about it, but you were the only one with a humane reaction, and that is invaluable. Please know that I see you for the strong, brave, compassionate human that you are, and I am sending you all the love! <333

even to Palestinians and Israelis showing solidarity for each other

Which says it all, doesn't it? Those people aren't pro-Palestinian, they're not pro-peace, they're just anti-Israel, which is actually anti-Jewish (they're indifferent to the well being of Israeli Arabs, just as they are to that of Palestinians. It's Israel, as a Jewish state and the world's biggest Jewish community, which triggers them).

It is hard to live through these atrocities, and then realize the world will absolutely kick you when you're down for being Jewish, even though it's veiled in (and sold to others through) all sorts of excuses.

In our Holocaust museum, we have a short movie of testimonies from survivors who had lived through Kristallnacht, but managed to make it to Israel after that and before the outbreak of WWII, so they lived. It has an unofficial title, "The blow came from within." For all other European and Middle Eastern Jews who were there, the Holocaust happened due to another nation, the Germans. With help from local collaborators for sure, but the initial blow came from the outside. German Jews experienced this blow as coming from within, from the innermost part of their identity as both Jews and Germans, when they didn't know how to separate these two parts.

Because they so believed in the idea that they're now a part of the German nation, they had lots of German friends. And they were sure that these friends saw them as them, as people, rather than through the lense of antisemitism. When Kristallnacht happened, German Jews experienced a devastating betrayal. We have a much higher number of suicides among German Jews at the start of the Holocaust, than in any other Jewish community, because they really did feel like this blow, of discovering they're not people to their own friends and countrymen, destroyed a part of who they thought they are, and how they're seen and accepted by their society.

This week, when I came across even more people I used to be friends with, who have engaged in de-humanizing me, it dawned on me that this is now my experience, too. This blow comes from within, from people who I thought knew me as a person, knew that I'm kind, knew that I'm humane, knew that through my grandparents' experiences as Holocaust survivors, I care deeply about the issue of genocide, and yet apparently none of that matters, and they went straight ahead with vilifying me personally, in addition to vilifying my people, and engaging actively in spreading the narrative that harms us. It's truly startling to realize that it's been over 85 years, and this is still how we're treated by too many.

But for every mob full of hate and ignorance (and that's what online echo chambers have become), a single voice that does listen and does care means that much more. So please know how much you matter to me, and that you make a difference, too. Thank you SO MUCH for the kind words, you brought tears to my eyes, in a really good way, and I cherish you so very much. It's my honor that we're friends (and I'm extra happy that you enjoyed my fandom stuff).

I hope you're doing well, lovely! Gonna keep sending love your way, always. xoxox

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

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karahalloway · 7 months

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(Less Than) Noble Intentions: Chapter 15 - Not Without Obligation

Fandom: TRR

Pairing: Drake Walker x F!OC (Harper Gale)

Series Summary: The social season may be over, but Harper Gale’s problems are just beginning. With everyone at court a potential suspect, can she and Drake survive the engagement tour and get to the bottom of the plot against her and clear her name? An AU take of TRR2 featuring my OTP - Harper & Drake.

Masterlist: (Less Than) Noble Intentions

Chapter Summary: Harper gets a surprise visit from Christian... but are his intentions sincere?

Word Count: 2,800 (short for me, I know enjoy it while you can 😆)

Rating/Warnings: M (swearing, angst, possible ulterior motives)

Chapter theme song:

A/N: I know it's been more than a hot minute since I've updated this series! 😅 This is in part because I got sidetracked by Sleepless in New York also on my list to finish, I know, and then I took most of the summer off from writing. But also in part because I kinda got stuck on how to actually continue with this series... but, I now have a plan! *rubs hands together gleefully* and you ain't gonna like it, sorry, not sorry. So, with this long-awaited installment, I hope to be back in my usual groove and will be posting with some semblance of regularity again. Thanks so much for bearing with me!

A/N2: This is also my submission for @choicesseptemberchallenge2023 Day 25 Prompt - Secret, Surprise I’m only 2 days late

Chapter 15 - Not Without Obligation

Making my way back to my room, I try to push down the conflicting emotions that are roiling inside of me.

On one hand, I get where Drake is coming from, and why he shut the door in my face. We are no longer alone in Applewood and even the faintest whiff of impropriety could implode the carefully strategised work that the royal PR team has put in to try and resuscitate my public image.

And me getting caught outside of the room of a guy who not only is not Christian, but who I have no justifiable reason for seeking out at the butt-crack of dawn in the first place, would definitely scupper the assertion that I'm not a two-timing hussy. Especially since I rushed out of my room earlier wearing nothing more than a t-shirt and panties.

Mitigating factors, they are not.

But while the rational part of my brain knows that Drake is only trying to look out for me, I can't help but feel a pang of dejection at the abruptness with which he — very literally — shut me out, even though he promised yesterday that he wouldn't do something like that to me again.

Because God knows that it had been hard enough to get him to open up the first time!

And even though I'm not expecting him to have completely reversed his habitudes overnight, I guess I'd been hoping that our conversation in the barn would've prompted some kind of step in the desired direction.

Because it's clear that the bruises on my neck unnerved him. The turmoil on his face had made that clear. As the marks are not just some haphazard side-effect of our frantic love-making. They are a very real and visible reminder of the tangible strength of his feelings — and the fact that he lost control of them.

And as much as I understand the knee-jerk cause of his reaction, the last thing I want — or need — right now is for Drake to distance himself from me because he's scared of hurting me again.

That, I could not cope with.

"Demoiselle," nods Allard as I arrive back at my room.

I flash him a distracted smile on auto-pilot. He saw and heard what happened. There is no point rehashing anything. Especially since this isn't something he or Schweitzer can help with.

The weight of my Guard's concerned gaze flick over me as I shuffle past, but they both remain silent, no doubt sensing that I'm not in the mood for conversation.

Shutting the door behind me, I close my eyes as I lean back against the solidness of the wood.

Why are things never simple 'round here?

I really wish Drake and I could've taken a moment to talk things through. Because today's Apple Harvest Festival is expected to see hundreds of people descend onto Applewood to not only celebrate this year's bountiful crop of Cordonian Rubies, but to also catch a glimpse of the new King and his future Queen.

And if I thought that cornering Drake at the apple pick had been hard, the chances of being able to do so today are going to be slim to none.

But the rest of the week doesn't offer any better options because tomorrow we're off to Italy, where we'll likely have even less opportunity for privacy given the high-profile and international nature of the coming engagements.

My eyes snap open. I have to talk to him now.

As much as Drake may be concerned about protecting what's left of my image, I'm not going to let him use the inconvenience of our circumstances as an excuse to hide behind his insecurities or erect walls between us. Because the hard truth is that there's never going to be a good time to talk unless we make time.

Which is exactly what I am going to do, possible scandal be damned. I cannot let a tenuous fear borne out of a possible public backlash hold me back. My relationship with Drake is worth infinitely more to me than whatever garbage the paps may decide to print because some aristo decided to tattle on me if I get caught sneaking back into his room.

Because, let's face it. Even if I do end up on the front pages tomorrow (for all the wrong reasons), the fact of the matter is that any photo, any situation — no matter how sordid or innocent — can be spun any which way.

I've learnt that the hard way. So, I may as well use it to my own advantage for once.

Pushing myself away from the door, I march into my walk-in closet with renewed determination. Pulling the t-shirt that I'd slept in over my head, I quickly throw on a bra, some jean shorts and a black tank top.

Slotting my bare feet into my well-worn Sketchers, I make my way over to the French doors that lead out onto balcony so I can try to figure out the best way to scamper over to Drake's room without killing myself, given that I stand a better chance of slipping under the aristo's nosy radar via the balcony than going back through the corridor.

Hopefully, I can—

Tap, tap tap.

I stop mid-stride at the sound of knocking coming from the other side of my door.

Turning around, I contemplate whether I should respond, or pretend that I hadn't heard.

I have precious little time if I want to catch Drake before he disappears on me to do... whatever it is that he does in the mornings before the start of a royal event.

So, if I want to make it to his room, I need to go now before he finishes getting dressed.

But, then again, there is only a very small number of people at court who'd come directly to my room to talk to me. Especially at this time in the morning.

So, it could be important. It could be about Tariq...

...it could be Drake.

The latch clicks open.

I glance anxiously back towards the balcony, trying to decide if I should—

"May I come in?"

I whirl around in surprise at the sound of the unexpected voice. "Christian!"

He pokes his head 'round the door. "I... I didn't catch you in a state of undress, did I?"

"No! No... I was already dressed," I admit, trying to be as casual as possible as I quickly brush my hair over my shoulders in a haphazard attempt to try and cover up the bruises, given that I hadn't thought to slather any cover-up over myself yet.

Christian definitely doesn’t need to be asking questions about those!

"Ah, good!" he responds, stepping fully into the room and closing the door behind him. "You're an early riser, like myself."

"You can thank the Beaumonts," I mutter under my breath, glancing guiltily back toward the balcony.

So much for stealing a much-needed moment with Drake...

"I apologise for the intrusion," Christian continues, crossing the space between us, "especially at such an early hour. But I was hoping to catch you alone before the start of the Apple Harvest Festival."

One word catches my attention. "A-Alone...?"

He comes to a stop in front of me. "Very much so."

Anxiety flares in the pit of my stomach as Drake's words from yesterday swirl through my mind.

...he's trying to win you back.

And it suddenly hits me that I haven't been alone — truly alone — with Christian since the day of the Jamboree. When he took me into the hedge maze and offered me a duchy.

My mind starts to whirl.

Had that been the start of this... crusade? The fact that I turned him down? Does he still think he can change my mind? Is he simply incapable of accepting 'no' as an answer?

I force my gaze up to meet his.

His emerald green eyes behold me calmly, with maybe a hint of excitement. But I cannot read his intention.

"Wh-why?" I finally blurt out.

A smile spreads across his face. "To bestow upon you your letters patent, of course!"

I gape at him. "My letters of what?"

He chuckles good-naturedly at my evident confusion. "Letters patent. Itis a type of royal decree that formally confers some manner of privilege onto the names designee — an office of state, a coat of arms, a commercial monopoly... or, in this case, your new title as Duchess of Valtoria."

With a flourish, he pulls out a small, leather-bound box that he's been hiding behind his back.

I stare at it mutely.

"It won't bite, I promise," he assures me wryly.

Reaching up with a tepid smile, I accept the box, which is a lot heavier than it looks.

Opening it up, I find a medieval-looking document nestled in the lid, complete with densely-packed Chancery script and and a historiated initial C embossed with the stylised image of the Cordonian royal crest.

Peering at the text — which I can only assume is an archaic form of French — I can just about make out the odd word, like my name, Christian's name, and Valtoria. But the rest remains completely incomprehensible.

Presumably some grand declarations about the bestowal...

In the bottom part of the box rests a cream-coloured envelope also bearing the Cordonian royal crest, along with my name, though this time written in delicate cursive lettering.

"What's this?" I ask Christian, lifting the letter up.

"Your papers of naturalisation," he informs me. "Along with your new passport and ID card."

I glance up at him in surprise. "I am now a Cordonian citizen?"

"It would not have been possible to issue the letters patent otherwise," he says. "Even a king must abide by the diktats of the law."

"I... don't need to sign anything?"

"The US Consulate was very accommodating, given the unique nature of the circumstances."

My stomach twists unexpectedly. "Oh..."

Dual citizenship is a good thing, right?

Returning my attention to the box, I see that the envelope has been concealing a large, intricate-looking seal bearing what appears to be the stylised outline of a rampant phoenix, next to which sits a signet ring with the same image.

"Does it meet expectations?" asks Christian.

"I'm not sure I know what I'd been expecting..." I admit, running a finger over the lines of the mythical bird, marvelling at the level of detail that's been put into creating such a realistic rendering, complete with individual licks of flame spouting from the tail feathers.

"Any egregious spelling errors?"

"Not that I can see," I admit, glancing up at him. "But—"

"Excellent!" he declares, reaching over the lid of the box to deftly pluck the signet ring out from its nest of blue silk.

Before I have a chance to react, he's clasped my hand in his to poise the heavy circlet of gold at the tip of my ring finger.

"Wait!" I gasp in the face of the unexpectedly intimate turn of events. "What are you—?"

"It would be remiss of me if I did not verify the correctness of the sizing," he advises, meeting my panicked gaze calmly.

"You don't need t—"

"It would be my pleasure," he insists, slipping the ring onto the digit before I can protest further.

As he withdraws his hand, my eyes fall onto the spot where the cool metal's unfamiliar weight now encircles the base of my finger.

"Perfect," Christian declares with a satisfied smile, brushing his thumb over the phoenix insignia.

I stare at the band with an uneasily mix of feelings swirling in my chest. "Christian, I—"

"Let's celebrate, shall we?" he announces, pulling back to click his fingers with a decisive snap.

On cue, the door behind Christian swings open to admit a veritable procession of servants bearing ice buckets, champagne, crystal flutes and tiny servings of finger food.

"Wait..." I stammer in the face of organised onslaught. "They were waiting outside this whole time?"

"I may have take a page out of your party planning book," he admits with a grin while the industrious staff set about transforming my bedroom into a first-class tea room. "Seeing the success you had with Drake on his birthday, I thought I would try my hand at surprising you on this important day."

"And that's great, but I never agreed—"

"Didn't you?" Christian asks with a level look as he nabs a miniature scone from the tray of a passing server.

I shake my head. "No, I—"

"Because I specifically recall you giving your unambiguous consent at yesterday's apple pick to proceed with finalising your new status," he states, taking a bite out of the pastry.

I open my mouth, but promptly shut it as the conversation from the orchard floats back into my consciousness.

"...having the paperwork squared away before our departure would grant significant boon for your image."

"Oh. Okay..."

"Oh, fuck..." I mutter as the cold hand of hindsight clamps down on the nape of my neck.

Christian had obviously mischaracterised my somewhat dazed reaction as some kind of explicit affirmation.

And since Drake's appearance yesterday had interrupted the conversation at that key moment, I never had a chance to correct the misunderstanding.

But I need to. Because once again, Christian has taken matters into his own hands and acted without my my prior agreement or approval t. Just like he had done when he decided to send me away during the Coronation Ball, only to then bring me back to court as his mistress, not to mention spring an actual duchy on me without any warning.

And while his heart's probably been in the right place each and every time, I'm not sure that I can cope with any more bolts from the blue.

Especially when they so drastically upend my life.

Heaving a breath, I look back up at the King of Cordonia again. "Look, Christian, I really appreciate all of this, but I think there's been a major—"

The loud bang! of the champagne bottle shooting its cork across the room makes me jump.

Turning around, I can see that the gold-coloured liquid is already in the process of being dispensed into a pair of waiting crystal flutes.

"I hope you like this Moët & Chandon Imperial Vintage 1946 that I had picked out," Christian murmurs, brushing a hand over the small of my back. "It is an exceptional cuvée with notes of citrus, apple and pear — an apt combination, I thought, given the occasion."

"Because of the pear trees in Valtoria..." I surmise heavily, watching a footman bring over a pair of freshly-filled champagne flutes with a foreboding note of finality.

"Exactly," confirms Christian, grabbing a glass from the tray. "A beautifully complimentary pairing. One that hope we can both enjoy for many years to come."

"Yes, but—"

"Let's toast, shall we?" prompts Christian, cutting me off yet again as the footman proffers me the other serving of expensive bubbly.

I stare at it like a poison pill.

This is what Drake had warned me about, isn't it? That Christian would seek to manoeuvre me into a corner like a chess piece... By giving with one hand, only to take with the other when the time came for the chips to fall due. Because what better way to create an unimpeachable sense of obligation than by making me into a duchess? A literal vassal to the Crown? Required to do the King's bidding, no matter the cost?

And if that really is his aim, then he has certainly been succeeding.

But at the same time, I am not sure I can trust my assessment. Christian has given no indication, one way or another, as to where his goals lay. And even if the misunderstanding had been genuine, to turn him down now would not only be inexplicably rude, but maybe also dangerous?

Would I be jeopardising Christian's support in the hunt for Tariq and my quest to set the record straight if I offend him by throwing all his heartfelt effort back in his face? Especially when I don't know for certain what Christian's motives are?

Because what if Drake is wrong? What if there is no hidden agenda and I'm just massively overthinking this entire thing because I've been burned once already and now everyone looks suspect... Even — and especially — when I'm being offered help?

"Harper?" queries Christian. "Everything alright?"

I shake myself out of my stupor and grab the crystal flute. "I'm fine. Just... Trying to come to grips with it all."

"There will be plenty of time for that," he assures me with a grin, raising his glass. "To the new Duchess of Valtoria!"

I clink the delicate crystal in my hand against his with a leaden feeling in my stomach.

There's no going back now...

For better or for worse, I have just become an aristo.

The story continues in Chapter 16 - Snakes in the Garden

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#harper gale #drake walker #king liam #less than noble intentions #the royal romance #trr fanfic #choices fic writers creations #cfwc fics of the week #choicesseptemberchallenge2023 #Spotify

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oknowkiss · 1 year

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So what happens when the show airs and more writers join the fandom? Are we going to gatekeep? Exclude them from fests? Because they found hp after we did? Should I tell my kids they’re not allowed to read or watch hp? What kind of parent would that make me when hp was such a joyous part of my life and I’m still in the fandom? How can I tell other people that the fanwork they make, based on new canon, is not right but mine is? Jkr is hellish, but this is not how we make the fandom more inclusive

what happens when the show airs and more writers join the fandom? are we going to gatekeep?

to be honest, i truly have not thought that far ahead. to be even more honest? depending on how this show goes/what choices it makes, i may not be in this fandom when we get to that point. i am queer and i am already so tired and there are so many other things to do.

however. i do not agree that it is not inclusive for me to make a statement saying that i, personally, have zero interest in engaging with people who value an entirely unnecessary tv show over creating a safe fandom space for the very people who are being persecuted by JKR. making sure the non-white, non-cis, non-straight folks in our community feel safe here is exactly what inclusivity is.

i know that there are many, many people who exist outside of discourse and have no idea what she is about. those are not the people i was talking about in my original post, although when those people join fandom i do think they have a personal responsibility to understand why some members of our community may feel more exposed or targeted than others. the people i am talking about are the ones who (as i said) fully know what she is about, know that she is going to benefit from this show, know how she uses her money and power to actively harm people, and do not care, because they'd rather watch a fun show in 1-2 years. those people and i are never going to get along, there is literally no argument on earth that could get me to see their side, and that is all i was saying.

i, too, grew up with harry potter. and yes, these books brought me so much joy! i agree with you there! i don't have kids, but my friends do, and if they want to share HP with their kids that is their choice. this is, again, where personal responsibility comes in, just as i presume it would for any other form of media parents would share with their kids that has not aged well. because even if JKR was normal, the books do have obvious sour spots (see: the antisemitism, or the whole SPEW plotline, both of which may or may not be included in this show, which is supposed to be a faithful adaptation).

in sum: while it's true that there's no ethical consumption under capitalism, that isn't a blanket excuse to do whatever just because you want to. i can tell from your comment that that's not what you're saying, but i have seen people already who do feel this way. and those people are not people i want to be in community with.

#harry potter #tw: jk rowling

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zabiume · 2 months

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Hi!!! Not the same anon, but I really liked how you addressed the ichihime dynamic during ichigo and grimmjow’s fight in hm. I know you’re not exactly a renruki blog but I recently saw some ir shippers trying to say that “if it wasn’t for ichigo, renji would’ve let rukia be executed” and I wanted to know your thoughts. Personally, I don’t agree at all and although it’s been much too long since I’ve read the manga, I feel like at some point renji says something and/or reacts in shock to the news of rukia’s sentencing bc didn’t he believe that she would just get a slap on the wrist??? Idk but I wanna hear what you think or what you (or anybody else who reads this ask and feels like adding onto this) can recall from that arc.....

i'm going to be sooooo honest: i don't really enjoy responding to takes from that particular fandom for several reasons, namely that a) their perspective never matches with mine on...anything b) i feel like it's unproductive to "debunk" the way someone else enjoys the series (if they're really enjoying themselves idk idc) and c) they're a very vocal side of the fandom and i don't like engaging with that kind of energy. this isn't particularly at you or anything, but i really don't care what anyone outside my bubble thinks about one of my favorite series, and i want to continue to enjoy it this way. people are free to feel however they want about something, but i'm not obligated to care or interact with it😅

that being said, renji has been one of my favorite characters ever since my very first interaction with this series back when i was in high school and that hasn't changed over the many re-reads i've done since then, so let's talk about it! sorry if this gets long!

firstly, there is some truth to the "if it weren't for ichigo" part of that sentence, but not in the way they're framing it. the soul society arc as a whole is an arc about distrust & distance, and a lot of it has to do with aizen's subtle manipulations. he turns momo against hitsugaya, turns soul society on a wild goose chase as they try to figure out which shinigami among them killed him.

but it isn't just aizen who's responsible for the distance between the characters. as we all know, byakuya's adoption of rukia created a massive gulf between rukia and renji. to renji, this adoption represented a better life for rukia—something they had always dreamed of when they were children. in fact, their vow to become shinigami has always had a grave weight to it, because both of them suffer from the survivor's guilt of being the only ones among the group who lived while the others died. their desire to become shinigami isn't just about living a better life but to honor their friends who died and carry on their memories. being a shinigami means a LOT to renji and rukia, because so much weight is tied to that decision, and so much was lost in their journey to soul society.

keeping that in mind, renji's feelings are totally reasonable. from his pov, rukia has thrown away every sacrifice they both have made (and the sacrifice he personally made in letting her go), in favor of willingly giving her powers to a teenage boy—a stranger. in fact, renji is first convinced that ichigo STOLE rukia's powers. however, even after learning that she willingly gave ichigo her powers, he still tries to direct any ire away from her and tries to put it all on ichigo. eventually, we learn that renji never thought she'd be executed in the first place and that he'd been counting on byakuya to use his influence and repeal central 46's decision. once he realizes byakuya isn't going to do that, he actively turns against byakuya (and by extension, all of soul society) and begs ichigo to save her, but only because he himself isn't strong enough*. EVEN AFTER THAT, renji heads to sokyoku and is willing to let aizen cut his arms because he refused to let rukia go again.

this refusal, saying he'll never let rukia go again, implies that he had always believed being in byakuya's care would make her immune to any kind of trouble and that, as a brother and her family, byakuya would protect her. he was obviously aware that as a noble, rukia would enjoy the highest power there would be in all of soul society. but once he realized she was going to be executed anyway, he switched sides, so i don't think he was, at any point, intending to "let rukia be executed."

*that being said, had ichigo not been around, would renji even be able to save rukia? considering what i mentioned earlier, probably not! he wasn't strong enough! so yes, there's a chance renji would have "let" rukia be executed, but only after he died trying to save her. then again, by that logic, rukia would have never been in this situation in the first place had it not been for ichigo, so we could also argue that it's ichigo's fault that rukia is about to die, but thankfully we understand how plots work and we understand that ichigo is the protagonist, so we also understand that 90% of the plot would not have worked without ichigo and we won't be making that dumb argument!

so technically yes, ichigo is the catalyst for literally everything that happens, so of course, he's the one that saves rukia—and renji is both aware of this and extremely grateful for it, which is why he is loyal to ichigo the way he is. this is just....character writing. renji is a typical bait-and-switch character who we are initially meant to dislike because he's antagonizing our favorite characters and once we receive context, we realize he's been one of the good guys all along. it's not some big slight to renji to imply that he needed ichigo, because renji doesn't see that as a bad thing, and neither does anyone else because renji and ichigo have the same intentions.

remember how i mentioned earlier that aizen creates distrust? well if aizen drives people apart, ichigo brings them closer together. his outrage is what gets characters like byakuya to question his own rule-worshipping, and his values are what leads to soul society realizing how they're completely focused on the wrong things. his only intention was to save rukia, but he's such a good person that the people around him can't help but be influenced by his values. and because of that, renji and rukia got closer too.

all of this is not even necessarily up for interpretation, since this is all stated quite explicitly in the manga, but um. this is not the first time or first fandom to flanderize a character or ignore plot-important details for shipping reasons, so it doesn't surprise me or interest me! sorry for the long answer, hope this cleared things up!

#hope no one wants panel-by-panel examples bc im on mobile and there's no way i was going to be doing that😅#BUT. the bleach wiki often has good summaries of different character/story arcs if you dont really have the energy to re-read the manga #asks

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laufire · 8 months

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Since this seems to be a trend, I have to ask: top 5 pieces of media you'd rec me? I am really curious since I think I've already tried pretty much everything you loved 😅

sorry for the delay, but I was right in the middle of one of the things I thought I miiight recommend you, so I waited until I finished in case it ended up poorly lmao.

Said thing is Zatanna & the Ripper, an already completed webtoon available online for free (don't let the fact that it's 51 issues long deter you, a webtoon episode takes less than five minutes to read lol). I was already reading a couple other DC webtoons, with mixed feelings ("Wayne Family Adventures" is often too fandom-y for my blood but it's given me a few ideas, and "Red Hood: Outlaws" was... neither a bad as its worst moments, nor did it manage to live to the sky high expectations of its very best), and I was already on my Zatanna feels thanks to Young Justice so... I picked this one up.

I'm guessing you know this but Zatanna's comics version differs quite a bit from YJ's; she's from Bruce's generation, for one (he has a cute cameo here with the two of them playing as children lol), her usual love interest is John Constantine (who plays that part here), etc. This isn't quiiiite like the comics version (or what little I've seen of her), she's a bit younger and greener, with a "finding yourself/having faith in your own power" arc.

The premise is that Zatanna, on her 21st birthday, gets transported to London in Victorian times, right around the time Jack the Ripper was killing (I'm pleased to say the run managed to side-step the issues I tend to have with historical fiction that tries to play around with this concept, tbh). She's stuck there, with malfunctioned powers, becomes friends with one of the working girls, starts trying to solve the case etc. etc. It was a fun read, all around.

Hmm... I'm trying to think of favourite stuff of mine that I don't think you've tried... shows-wise, I think that'd be Desperate Wives? Not saying it didn't infuriate the hell out of me at times lol, and I'm not sure how you'll feel about it, since it's also not-my-usual-type... but when it's good, it's GREAT and really damn enjoyable lol. I became hooked really early on so I'd say to give the pilot a try and see if it awakens any interest, if you haven't watched it?

For films... you might've watched some of these, but some of my favourites that you might want to give a try to would be "The Mask of Zorro" (revenge! romance! sword fights as both revenge and romance tools!), "The Handmaiden" (historical lesbian romance with really engaging twists), or 2010's "True Grit" (a western, which isn't usually my thing, about a young girl seeking revenge for her father's murder).

I'll also list some of my favourite classic books that you might or might not have read, Because: "Carmilla", "Dangerous Liaisons", "Frankenstein", "Pygmalion"

I don't know how plausible it'd be to find this available outside of Spain, but I'm recommending "La Promesa", a Spanish telenovela I've gotten into (I'm not really watching it properly because I'm waaaaaaaay behind lol. it's long as fuck, currently in its 150+ episode; I watch the current ones when my mother has it on tv lol, and sometimes some of the old ones). It's sloooooow, which can be frustrating, and LOOOOONG, as I said, but it does some really great things character-wise. I've called it the Spanish Downton Abbey lol, but with faaaar more attention given to the working-class characters (the heroine herself being a maid).

This goes beyond five, but since I'm not sure if you've watched/read some of these, and you probably won't be able to watch the last one ^^U: SEVERANCE!!! Again, I just want people to watch both this AND Dollhouse so we can delve deep into them xDD. Just one short season so far, with a second one coming on 2024. It's about a group of workers who've gone through a surgical procedure that separates their memories from work and those from their life outside, effectively creating different people, and the sketchy corporation they work with. And Dichen Lachman is in it too :D (her part is the only one I actively compared with Dollhouse while I was watching it lol. So far Dollhouse wins but... Priya's story is hard to top).

Another bonus, Because: I recommended the Kemi Ashing-Giwa's short stories stored in Tor to another mutual, so this time I'll give focus to another one: "The Puppermaster", about a banished warrior, her sketchy usurper uncle, and monsters.

#talking to the void #replies #artemis tag #^-^#top 5s #recs #my thoughts

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knowlesian · 2 years

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moths and muppets: aka, consider the humble metaphor.

i’ve been thinking a lot about the true power of a good metaphor, thanks to that damned silk moth, and it made me start chewing on my very favorite metaphor of all: the grand unifying call to muppet theory.

i truly love the stuff we’ve all come up with as a fandom in this vein, especially the meta about how everybody comes from their own canon. i’m going to talk more about why that’s so perfect after i knock out the practical and thus easier to line up and argue half of this and get down to my favorite part: full tilt feels.

hell, i’ve had my own fun joking about izzy being confused sepsis and linear time don’t exist anymore and i will continue to have said fun, as fun is a fucking vital element of fandom engagement too, but here's the thing: those are metaphors and jokes, not practical realities. izzy himself seems unaware of any difference in either one of those things.

to break it down by stating the obvious: metaphors aren’t the literal thing happening. they can’t be, by their very definition. they function on Vibes alone and pull themes into the mix too when they’re feeling flirty, or it sort of breaks into less-coherent pieces the more you find the ways in which it does not function literally and perfectly.

the sunrise is a painter, spreading fire across the sky: poke that metaphor with a stick, watch it crumble as logic fails to apply.

by that token there are no prior or different canons, in terms of the characters genuinely changing genres or switching worlds. they only actually exist in this canon, because... well, this is the only canon this version of these characters literally have ever existed in. we can have fun theorizing about backstories and the relationships in existence until the day izzy and co stumbled over the revenge and crashed through our metaphor wall until the cows come home, and i myself will be there with bells on. but for practical terms, the show remains the only show that exists outside the realm of metaphor.

they show us this general coherence, even in the text itself: fang and ed and ivan and izzy aren’t actually transformed by suddenly entering a muppet movie. and more to the point for now, in terms of practical skills and general expectations of the laws of physics, as far as we know they can all do what they could do before we started following their lives. no less, no more.

ivan still has advice about and dibs on gold teeth while stripping corpses, fang steers the ship and kicks ass and has great cheekbones. it’s just now, the context in which they are being received (and isn’t received a great way to say consumed? come on in, received says. we’ll have cake) is entirely different.

the duel is a case study in how this works: we know ed has a side full of old wounds from being stabbed in exactly the way stede survived being stabbed. they made sure to show us that surviving this is not at all unprecedented in ed’s pre-stede world, and that ed just shook off his latest light case of stabbing earlier in the episode.

so textually, izzy is baffled he lost a sword fight by unconventional means (as well as stunned by the subtextual introduction to the idea of topping from the bottom/bottoming from the top? their metaphor dick measuring/fucking will never stop amazing me) and that it was stede he lost to, not worse at dueling or actually bothered or even confused by a sudden lack of blood poisoning. and he’s not shocked ed rowed into the middle of the ocean at the narratively perfect time in the finale; he never once questions or seems disturbed by the outsized ways our rules of reality don’t matter here.

he bitches hilariously to jackie that stede sucks and likes ed’s hair too much and that he really could have beaten him if it wasn’t for those meddling kids, mark his words, but he never says: the rules of my basic reality were quite literally different yesterday. i am concerned i have tripped and fallen and now time doesn’t work.

instead, over and over again he says through his words and the way he responds to being taken off-guard: people keep acting in ways i don’t anticipate and i reeeeeally don't like it. additionally, i refuse even once to just to roll with it and see where that goes. his constant i don’t know what the fuck is GOING ON AROUND HERE ANYMORE response to the events of canon is primarily an emotional one.

(there’s a story beat here where izzy is essentially experiencing metaphor culture shock and he can’t or won’t metaphor codeswitch his way out of it that i find very fun and cool; we could all be izzy, in the real world, simply by being shoved into a cultural context we are unfamiliar with and immediately made deeply uncomfortable by.)

for example: he’s very bothered by dicks (and open expressing of emotion other than ‘fuck this and also maybe i will kill you’ flavored emotions) and what people are now doing with them, right in front of his salad.

in a tangent about the realities of sailing that i swear will matter here if you stick with me through it, because it relates to my argument: even his choice to make lucius scrape barnacles at sea, the best example of izzy wanting a specific ship chore performed (other than his demand to stede about munitions so they can fight the spanish) is more about humiliation than real world sailing requirements. in the real world, unless you plan to have somebody throw on diving gear to do it, ships are usually docked before this task is undertaken.

so izzy’s going about having lucius do this chore in a way that was not going to accomplish much. that is: if what he actually wanted was significantly fewer barnacles, for practical ship reasons. if what he wanted was to prove his power and authority and fuck with lucius in ways he can technically justify in-world, then what he did makes perfect sense.

and to be very clear: in the real world, izzy asking lucius to scrape barnacles while at sea (and without some sort of vague protection for his hands, especially given the effect of the waves on steadiness!) at all would require careening the ship, and doing so in a way that would have put all their lives in active danger. there’s even a period-typical (ish) name for the technique needed when attempting to do this at sea: the parliamentary heel. it was famously dangerous, and only to be done in red alert emergency situations where a dry dock or a beach couldn’t be reached in time.

and here’s the thing— i don’t think the show is taking that realistic approach, or that we are meant to take away izzy could have gotten them all killed, not even a little bit.

and i’m certainly not arguing he’s incompetent, either. ed wouldn’t have brought him on in the first place if izzy was actively bad at the 101s of How To Be a Cranky Lil Boat Guy, and i doubt even ed’s fondness or his position as first mate would have saved him for years from a quick shove over the side if he was actively detrimental to the pirating process in any way but being the middle manager we all fucking hate and refuse to do our absolute best for unless we have to, because our shit is on the line.

it’s just that apparently, in ofmd’s world of candied melon silk moths where lucius is more peeved than genuinely worried for his hands, either a bunch of barnacles exist above the ship’s waterline for... Reasons, or the waterline randomly changes without a significant change in weight by jettisoning cargo. (and it would have to change a greatly unrealistic lot for this to happen, a difference not remotely explained by four people being off the ship.)

so don’t ask how any of this works real rules of ship gravity-wise or it stops working, ofmd says. izzy is very annoyed lucius won’t quit doing masculinity wrong, and he’s being petty about it and targeting him for a non-essential job he won’t be particularly good at that could be done later in a more sensible setting. that’s the beat the story is most interested in, so it just does not care if barnacles and their removal don’t work like that in our real world.

ofmd plays fast and loose with the rules of everything from time to scurvy to distance between places and what rowboats and the arms attached to the human rowing said boat are capable of. there is a need to accept that the rules of our own reality are just guidelines on this show, or a viewer will end up deeply frustrated when none of it quite lines up as it should. ofmd’s metric is ‘what’s coolest and/or best for the story’, and they’re really not concerned if anybody doesn’t want to fuck with that need to suspend disbelief; they demand you go with them or perish. literally none of this works in a canon concerned with applying the rules of reality stringently.

i point all this out because there’s an urge floating around to fill in a lot izzy never displays to us, insist he is the only one working and/or keeping the ship afloat, we just don’t see any of it now because they changed canons: but in that case, it comes back to why aren’t fang and ed and ivan stripped of skills or traits in the same way? and if it’s just izzy, why the uneven staggering? he’s still a skilled fighter and a good pirate.

we just know despite those facts, fang and ivan didn’t like or respect him much pre-canon, given the stories about the time he was left in charge and the utter lack of fear that he’ll be pissed off at them. ed’s still scary to them, and fang still snaps to at even the idea he’s back aboard; as far as i can tell, unless we argue that izzy’s skills and relationships are different now but he simultaneously still knows his shit when it comes to battle and swordplay (pun intended) we should conclude skills are still at the same baseline for everybody. otherwise the show made some weird and specific choices to suddenly make izzy unevenly and unfairly disadvantaged in ways that aren’t about his emotional hangups, and arguing that carries a good handful of equally weird and troubling implications.

which brings me to the emotional kicker on the logic end, because if izzy’s right to act like such an asshole, and we just can’t see the necessity anymore by the virtue of canon change— or in some ways if he was ever right and doing so was 100% ever actually necessary— then by that same logic, ed was right to demand fang kill his dog. they were in a different canon! a canon where dogs needed to be killed! even if we could just LET OTHER PEOPLE GIVE THEM A NICE HOME, E D. we can’t change our rules on this kind of thing by character, if we’re calling it logic and not metaphor, and we all seem to agree there isn’t any world where that was called for.

ed gets fang a new dog endgame or i BURN DOWN THE HBO OFFICES. FUCKING... RENEW IT!!! anyway.

everybody’s emotional literacy and ability to be open is absolutely changing, and the reception they are given by stede and the crew of the revenge clearly isn’t what they’re used to, but in terms of ‘can they do the literal practical stuff they used to do and are the laws of gravity in-world the same’, they’ve all still got it.

to poke holes in my own favorite framework more, chauncey and nigel (and even mary!) are from stede’s canon, and should thus be muppets, right? the metaphor breaks down again there, as metaphors themselves are wont to do when you stretch them too far. none of them quite work within the literal muppet read. then there’s the king: is he from ed’s canon or stede’s? both? everyone’s???? what would that even look like or mean? he seems pretty muppet-y in vibes while remaining anti-muppet in allegiance/narrative positioning, but that’s a stretch once more and only works for him. and how about spanish jackie and geraldo? they’re from izzy and ed’s world and olu and jim’s. so: muppet or not? once you try to make a metaphor a literal plot detail and make it fit everything, it falls apart faster and faster.

(not to mention: geraldo is from jim’s world twice over, given what we find out from spanish jackie. he was there the day their family died, but he’s also part of the current action in a way that bears almost no resemblance to jim’s Ported In energy.)

which is the perfect lead-in to getting away from strict textual analysis and into why i love a metaphor in general, but these sort of metaphors in specific: the quiet part loud is that none of these characters are muppets.

because this isn’t a muppet movie, in anything but structure/metaphor/vibes: these are humans. (or seagulls, i suppose, but i will tip my cap in respect to karl and olivia both and then set them aside, for the purposes of this argument.)

this means they’re all played by actual human actors, but more than that, the characters themselves are gloriously human. even when they act cartoonishly, and the rules of our reality don’t apply to them— maybe especially then.

the writers have twin wells of seemingly endless empathy and accountability sitting side by side in a meadow of knowing their shit on the weird little quirks of being a human. these are not literal muppets, they are fictional humans.

complicated, wonderful humans. capable of kindness; capable of shocking new depths of dumbfuckery.

they make bad choices, they fail to communicate, and then they whip around and exhibit good sense and use their words to express the shit other people can’t know unless told. they do this because that’s what we all do, as we cart around our own pasts and pain and bring our thoroughly un-blank slate into each interaction we have on earth.

in my real life, i’m sort of obsessed with the idea that no two people can ever read the same exact book even when it is the same exact book, and with asking people the question “when you say ( fill in the word/phrase ), what does it mean to you?” when i start to feel like maybe the issue is not primarily in the meat of any given disagreement i’m having, but instead in the packaging.

from experience: people do not like being asked that question. they hear me say that, and what they process is ‘this motherfucker didn’t listen! and i was VERY clear’ and then i ask it again because they understandably don’t feel like clarifying word choice in the heat of the moment, as they 100% know what they meant, causing even more frustration.

(i have been told more than once i am very annoying to attempt an argument with, because i keep asking that question anyway. sorry about that, people in my life!)

the problem here is when i say that, i exemplify the thing i’m talking about: i come in with the baseline assumption that we all use the same words a little differently, and that’s not always a truth universally acknowledged no matter how real and obvious it seems to me. that’s before you get to the arena of legit mishearing someone, or somebody having a slip of the tongue or not knowing what something means and just using the wrong word. i’m talking about the fact that when i say anything, i bring all my own context and knowledge and previous conversations to bear, and same goes for the people i speak to.

i say beautiful, you might see a flower or that fiery sunset from the intro or, i don’t know, taika’s eyes/arms/belly: i might see something out of left field, like the inner mechanisms of a washing machine. so already, with the same basic understanding of what beauty generally means, we are starting from very different places and are going to have to work to bridge that gap between us.

i said all that to say: this is why i love the idea that every character is from their own genre, because what a fuckin’ metaphor that is all on its own.

we are all from our own canons, metaphorically, while from the same one literally. we star in our own movies, where we are the main character, and in the story we are telling ourselves other people know that, and react to us and our choices accordingly.

that’s not a value judgement, because we can’t baseline exist any other way: you weren’t born in my body, i didn’t live your pain or experience your joy. we are who we are, and we can’t go back and change any of it or gain the ability to read minds. if i want to see you as a whole person or you do the same for me, we are both going to have to pause our own movie for a second and attempt to watch the other’s without applying the rules that worked for us to a different canon, where things work differently and somebody else is the main character.

we exist in the same world: we exist in very, very different worlds. we’re the same; we couldn’t be more different. these are correct, all at the same time, and in the exact same way they’re all not quite right.

the beauty of a metaphor is that it can access an emotional truth, not a literal one. they’re for identifying something so deeply held it’s hard to entirely express in plain terms, and making it as beautiful as the gears turning inside every machine, keeping them running in ways unseen from the outside and unknown to the casual observer until they tear open the casing and see what makes this old thing tick. and at their very, very best, they’re not about construction or elegance; they’re about finding a core truth.

because of that metaphors suck with linear time and gravity and coherent real world logic— and that’s fine! they’re not actually about any of that. drill down past form to function and metaphors are about finding the best way to ask: you seeing this shit, too? that way you know you’re on the road to finding your people when somebody else pipes up ohhhh baby, AM I.

that’s communication; that’s solidarity. that’s fucking love.

moths and muppets, clouds that look like dicks and dicks that look like honesty, silk hearts and a hearth at the heart of a liminal space ship, oranges and earrings— it’s no wonder ofmd is so goddamned fond of metaphors. everything a metaphor does best, ofmd is really fucking good at too.

#our flag means death #our flag means death spoilers #my ofmd meta #this one went PLACES.#moths and metaphors and muppets! clouds that are dicks and masts that are dicks #and swords that are broken hearts and a bad case of whiskey dick/nutting too early/etc #it's A Lot #oranges and earrings!#i meant to just sort of poke at the muppet metaphor and explain why i love metaphors #3k later!!!!!#thiiiis? whatever it is. i love textual analysis so much gdi #if you read this whole thing... why? and thank you. and hello! but also: what's wrong with us buddy #pirate brainrot for life!!!! is what

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parkerflix · 1 year

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-ANNOUNCEMENT PLEASE READ!

Hello! I know that this post is a long time coming, i keep hinting towards it but have yet to actually make it. (yes i am currently writing this at work- anyways). I kinda wanted to be transparent with everyone about everything and have a few things to address. I’ll mkae them bullet points so feel free to ignore the parts you really don’t care about. Okay enough of me rambling.

The layout of the blog

As you can see, the blog looks a little different ? why is that? Well, i’ve kinda decided i was tired of how things looked and i wanted to do something different. I’ve been active on this blog for going onto 3 years, and i’ve changed the layout very little. It’s time to try something new & also try different writing!

Kpop content

With you trying different writing, what does this mean for your kpop content? I will continue to write for kpop and the fandoms i currently write for, but i will not be branching out from those two fandoms. Quite honestly. Kpop writing just doesn’t bring me joy as much as it used to and the engagement i get varies as to what member i post which honestly just doesn’t motivate me. I also don’t get a lot of feedback or engagement currently, and its unmotivating. With this being said, my current fics as of this time ( starstruck & about love) are currently on two different routes. Starstruck is currently in it’s final chapters and im hoping and aiming for a release of all the chapters all at once. I’ll be able to distinguish that at a later date.

About love

About love has been my work for almost 2 years now. I’ve learned a lot about my writing since then, and how to manage plot lines. That being said, about love will be on a permanent hiatus for the foreseeable future. Why is this? Well once again engagement comes into play, along with the fact that where i wanted the story to go and where it was going just wasn’t happening. I am planning on revamping it, making the story more clearer & what i want it to say, and really sticking to it. Hopefully it’ll still be a smau, but for now, until i can plan it all out and really focus on it, it’s going to be on hiatus. I’ll be unlinking it from my nav fairly soon after this post goes up.

Other writing

I want to venture into other fandoms that aren’t kpop and make my side blogs more for reblogs & fic recs, and to be able to write what i want and enjoy my writing. There are fics that i’ve posted within the last year, that have been published for kpop, but when writing them i envisioned with either a different person or a different character. It’s something that i’ve been thinking about for a while, so i’m hoping that it’ll be interesting to those who are only here for kpop writing!

Posting

If you haven’t noticed, my posting schedule has gotten a bit… lacking for a while. I started a new job in june of last year, and it’s been a little hectic at my job. I work anywhere from 30-36 hours a week, and my days currently consist of (mostly) 3 12 hour shifts. I’m also responsible for a lot of things at work, so I keep busy most of the time. When i’m not busy, i’m supposed to be working on work stuff (this is being written with timings in consideration of not getting caught) and so most of my day goes there. My normal schedule i work 5 out of the 6 days we are open, and i’m here 6 hours each day ( there go my nights). Why am i explaining all of this? Well i typically write during the night and with my hectic work schedule also comes my school schedule. Recently i’ve been having trouble even working on school just because work takes up so much of my time. I’ve also had a LOT of personal issues within my life, outside of tumblr & work that has taken up mentally space & my time. I’m trying to get back into the rhythm of things and have a normal posting schedule for the fics that i am tying up, but for the foreseeable future, that will also be a compromise.

TDLR:

the blog will change but i won’t stop writing kpop it’s just not going to be kpop writing on here though, i will be changing my user & updating my links but that takes time so please bare w/ me while i do. about love is on permanent hiatus & updates are slow for everything else. I know this post is long and redundant, and you probably don’t care, but i felt it was better to explain & be honest about my writings. I’m grateful for those who follow me, keep up with my fics, and just support me. Thank you! Okay this was long & i need to do my closing tasks for the night! xxx

#paris talks #important #pls read!

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iamthecomet · 8 months

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Hoot!

(Finally replying, heh)

I honestly really hope that the meds will work too. I‘ll keep on taking the same ones I take now and take the other ones in addition, but they actually benefit? each other (as in, both probably will work better when taken together)

I‘ll most likely start tomorrow, but it will take 4-6 weeks for them to actually make something change. And also my symptoms of like dizziness and headaches will likely get worse at the beginning (this will get better over time tho)

They can also make you feel more suicidal in the beginning (which is because they make you more aware, including more aware of problems) but that also gets better after those 4-6 weeks when the actual effects set in (the new one is a kind of antidepressant)

So like, I’m pretty nervous about that

Yeah, going outside is pretty good but also hella hard to do. Sometimes my friends manage to drag me along, which I very much appreciate (they also need to go slower when we go somewhere by bike because of me, but they do that without ever complaining, for which I’m very thankful).

And you‘re so right. In the past, I’ve sometimes not treated them very kindly because of my insecurities and how I’m scared of being a burden, which is also why I isolate myself a lot, but whenever I feel a little less bad they always welcome me with open arms (they‘re also the reason I can watch movies/series, because 2 of them are so aware of my phobias that they will make me feel safe whenever something triggering happens. It’s literally so damn good, because when I’m watching with them, I can actually enjoy watching without being constantly scared that something triggering could possibly happen)

Also seriously, the way one of them immediately offers her hand for me to squeeze while simultaneously covering my eyes is just the sweetest thing ever

But like, there are other good news I think!

I‘ve been thinking about using a cane for at least months now. I sometimes feel very dizzy, to the point of pre-syncope (even though I never actually fainted before) and especially in the past few days, I feel even more unstable when walking than I usually do. I‘m very scared to go outside, especially on my own and just really don‘t feel safe. And especially during disability pride month, people where explaining what mobility aids can be helpful for what, and dizziness was often mentioned for canes.

And I honestly really think that it would help me a lot, and give me a sense of standing/walking more safely.

I always wanted to wait because I was/am scared that I’m just telling myself all that because I want a cane to get attention.

But my dear ex roommate (and one of the sweetest people alive) actually was like “well if you‘d benefit from it, who cares even if would be partly for attention? What about attention is so bad?“

And I think that they are very right. (They also added that canes do look cool as hell and they are also very right about that. I cannot wait to put stickers all over mine if I actually get one)

So on the next appointment I’ll have with my doctor, I’ll ask her if I can get a prescription for a cane.

Oh god, this got long again. Sorry about that

At least it included a lot of (pretty) positive things I think

At least for me, engaging a lot in fandom content helped me with my post-Ritual depression (as far as it was related to that cause I got regular depression going on as well xD)

But it seems like you‘ve been doing that /pos

~ @owlishanon

Finally digging this out of my drafts SORRY! ♥ I'm so glad things have been looking up! I hope that your meds aren't too hard on you during the adjustment period, and that your side effects are minimal. I'm glad you're friends have been so supportive, and are so good to you. I've probably already said it, but real friends are going to be there for you no matter what--they love all of you (even the not as fun parts) and I'm glad you have some like that. I'm with your ex-roomate on the cane stuff. If it's going to help you, you should do it. Who cares what other people think. If it makes you feel safer, more stable, you shouldn't hesitate to get one. I hope that your conversation with your Dr. about it goes well and you can get one and that it helps! Lots of love to you, I hope things are still going well!

#comet comments #owlish #comet's anons

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waywardstation · 2 years

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I… wanted to apologize to Warden Anon for that ask.

But yeah… canon content hits different than fanon content. And while I don’t mind both but it gets tiring to see depressing and sad fanon over and over again with only little positive things to balance it out. In general these are all valid but for me engaging with depressing content for long makes my real life depression act up more (and I’d like to think I learned rather well dealing with it, and knowing how and when to avoid content that’s hitting home too hard or is just too much in general, only reaching out to someone if I can’t find a way to avoid it otherwise, it still makes me feel like I’m doing something wrong but I’m learning that it’s okay to know and respect your boundaries)

I love this blog because despite its few heavier topics so far it’s focus is more on the positive side with some fun ideas or AUs in a way I didn’t see at all outside of here. It also has such a welcoming and friendly atmosphere (which is all to a wonderful and friendly blog owner and just as friendly and wonderful fellow people enjoying the content). To me this healthy balance is what makes fandom experience so much fun.

And again all of the ways to engage with a franchise is valid but sometimes I feel that the focus on darker stuff in fandom can get a little overwhelming at times…

In regards to this ask

Hello Anon! It’s not my place to comment on that as that apology is not addressed to me, but I do hope you don’t feel bad about things! Simply, it’s been a discussion regarding both sides of things (and I understand your viewpoint just as much as I do theirs!) ^^

Again, I understand how you deal with your struggles because I largely deal with mine the same way; while it can change from day to day, I know what I can and can’t take, and will adjust my media intake for that. I am proud of you Anon for knowing your boundaries and protecting them, and I encourage you to always ask me if you need something tagged (and anyone else too)! I will always do it, because I don’t want you to see surprise content here that might be tough. I definitely don’t want to add to anything that overwhelms!

And I’m so happy to hear you appreciate my blog! ^^ I really appreciate the lighter side of things and have a lot of fun coming up with entertaining concepts and AUs with my amazing audience that I’m very grateful for! It does make me happy to know you see my blog as a welcoming and friendly one (and thank you for the kind words towards me too!!); I really try my best, but a huge part of that also comes from all of the lovely people engaging with this blog as well. That is a really meaningful thing to say, thank you!!! <3 Happy to have you here as a part of this blog, Anon!!

As you said, there are many valid ways to engage with a franchise; but everyone has their own ways! I hope you continue to have good experiences within fandoms and can find the content that you enjoy and appreciate, Anon ^^

#i hope you don’t feel bad about the last ask!#from what I gathered it was mostly just saying people can enjoy darker content too #and making a point to emphasize that because I wasn’t doing that very well #and wanted to make sure everyone understood both were good #and I appreciated that ^^#but warden Anon if you see this and think I’m wrong feel free to correct me!

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marvus-xoloto · 1 year

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For what it’s worth, I genuinely love the amount of effort you put into your characterisation or Marvus and how you interpret his possible dynamics with other characters. I don’t even like Marvus that much, but honestly, that’s mostly down to how badly the majority of the fandom interprets him. Your work- even if it’s just intermittent posts- makes me rethink him and consider the complexities of his character that I might not have thought of.

As someone who also puts too much effort into their interpretation/characterisation of one character, any work that expands on the very little were given in Hiveswap canon is a good contribution

Yeah, there definitely used to be a large part of fandom where he was "rich dude who's definitely woke will be the head of the revolution" and like, you said it in a post better than I will so I won't expand upon why that was such a frustrating thing to run into again and again lol.

But thank you for the kind words <3 I do like my interpretation of Marvus; I just wish I had allowed myself to indulge in deep diving in all the sides of him from the get go. I think I had engagement sickness lol I was posting for the maximum audience, but also I was still feeling a little bit like an outsider back then and I felt like I had to carve out a niche to stay relevant. It's difficult to change my mindset: it's not lke fandom is the amigara fault lmao Idk!

I just like characters in general. You're stronger than me; I would love to expand upon more characters, but since the fandom has kind of shrunk, I'm only really doing my own thing. Can't wait to see if act 3 will revive some of the fanbase later, bc it looks like there will be more characters to get our claws into :0 haha

#asks #silas.txt

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takaraphoenix · 2 years

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There’s one incredibly peculiar phenomenon that I’ve observed, mostly in comic fandoms, but by now also outside of it. People who think they have the authority to dictate who is and isn’t allowed to dislike stuff. Like the flip-side of the Puritan Cult approach, but instead of telling you what you can and can’t like, they tell you what you can and can’t dislike.

And I’m not talking about people defending themselves from antis, who come and seek out and harass the ones who like a particular character or ship; this post is about people who feel entitled to decide if you’re allowed to dislike a character or ship, to decide whether or not you are well-enough informed to have the “right” opinion about this character or ship.

Now, let me elaborate on what I mean with that exactly, if you can’t really picture it yet, but due to length, I’ll put it under the cut.

As mentioned above, it’s usually comic fandoms, but I’ve now also seen it about... anything else that has adaptations. So, the crux for this phenomenon is the existence of multiple canons and it goes like this:

Person A came into contact with [chara/ship] in a canon iteration - meaning a movie, a TV show, a cartoon, an anime, whatever, anything that is an authorized, published version; not talking about fanfiction on AO3 or headcanon posts on tumblr. Now, Person A came out of that not liking [chara/ship].

Person B however loves [chara/ship] and they get personally offended that others may not like this based on this particular iteration. Person B argues that you can’t dislike [chara/ship] based on this iteration, because “it doesn’t count”.

Which, I am aware that “book puritans” aren’t exactly new. People who value the source material as a higher canon and look down on adaptations. And that’s fair; for your own personal preference.

This goes a little further when we’re in comic book territory, because even if you narrow down “source material” as the comic canon main timeline, there are still different runs - and entire canon runs within the main timeline can be dismissed here because for Person B, the writer didn’t really “get” the character so the characterization is off. Which, again, is totally fair, if that is your own personal preference.

Heaven knows I’ve seen my fair share of this too, even in TV shows, where a writer comes on for a stretch and you can just feel that they don’t like or get a character, because yes, sometimes, a character can be OoC even in canon, because sometimes too many cooks spoil the broth. In which case I, personally, elect to ignore that part.

Everyone has the right to ignore whatever parts of canon they don’t like - and that can be a single scene or episode, or an entire adaptation. If you think the adaptation did something you love injustice, you have the option not to watch that adaptation and not to engage with it or its fandom, or to ignore bits and pieces of it.

However - and that is the entire point of this post - you having this option does not make it anybody else’s obligation.

Because that’s what’s really being asked here.

Person A dislikes [chara/ship] based on something that happened in a canon; they have this “valid” reason to dislike [chara/ship] (and valid is still put into quotation marks because you never need a reason to like or dislike something; tastes differ and sometimes you just do or do not vibe with something. Yet most people do have a ‘line in the sand’ they draw for the fiction they enjoy and if something crosses that line, it becomes unenjoyable for them. For the sake of this discussion, it’s important that there is a specific reason for the dislike and that reason is rooted in something that happened in canon).

Person B doesn’t like that characterization either. However, they liked [chara/ship] even before that iteration, so their reaction is different from Person A, because instead of disliking [chara/ship], they dislike this take, this iteration.

And they think that Person A should feel the same way, even though Person A may not know any other iteration, this may just be the only version of [chara/ship] they ever met - and they came out disliking it.

But to Person B, Person A just hasn’t met the right version of [chara/ship] yet. To fully be able to - be allowed to - judge [chara/ship] they ought to meet the right version first.

This ranges from “nooo, [movie] is so bad! Read the books instead!” to "[comic run by Writer X] is a bad take, read [comic run by Writer Y], because Writer Y gets the character!” (which makes this, within the same canon timeline, the proper and right characterization).

Look, I fully understand the knee-jerk reaction here. I get liking something, I get seeing it misrepresented, and I get the desire to recommend people a better version of it. Heck, ever since I started reading DC Comics I do very much understand the “Writer X just doesn’t get this character, that other run that takes place in the same canon continuity is so much better and a better characterization”. I get that.

But there’s a difference between wanting to recommend someone something and demanding that someone ought to first consume this particular media of choice that you, personally, like before they’re allowed an opinion on the matter.

Claiming that the people who came out of a movie or show disliking a character or ship based on what happened on-screen, based on what they had just sat through in canon, have no right to dislike it because this is the “wrong” canon? That’s so bizarre. And how does that even matter?

I mean, yes, clearly it matters to you that there is a better version of this thing you like and that this misrepresented it. But how does that matter to someone who, as of right now, dislikes this thing? Even if - and that’s, in my opinion, a very big if - the person is going to be willing to engage with more content about something they already dislike, there’s still a foul aftertaste of whatever happened in that iteration in their mouth.

And yes, this is not a blanket statement kind of conversation, there’s differences to be had.

I know that you can absolutely hate version A of a character while actually really loving version B, heaven knows that happened to me before on more than one occasion. And you can differentiate by blaming the writing, the piece of media, or acknowledge that they’re different versions of the same character and under these circumstances, you liked them, under those, you didn’t.

Sometimes, you don’t differentiate though. Maybe you don’t want to, because you just don’t care enough to do so, or you actually can’t. Because the one version you meet is just so awful, if you look at that character’s face, even under different circumstances, they just trigger the memories of whatever thing made you dislike them in the other version. So you throw the whole character, or ship, out and don’t engage with them further.

And it, honestly, seems like very normal behavior to me to... not... engage with something I dislike? I just have a hard time wrapping my head around the concept of expecting someone to go and do “homework” and go through reading assignments about something that they dislike?

Because that is the behavior wanted here; for Person A to come out of this saying “man I really hated [chara/ship]. I should definitely invest hours to weeks in reading more about them!” and that’s a strange reaction to expect.

It isn’t impossible! It absolutely can happen. Particularly if you see something you dislike is wildly popular in the fandom, that might pique your interest. I can also see people generally go “oh? wait you say [chara/ship] isn’t like that in [other version]?” and be open to meet that other version. Heck, some may even be eager to, because what they really disliked were the things around it and they’re open to see what this could be like if those things around it didn’t exist. I can understand all of these possible reactions.

However, this isn’t about recommending something based on the initial interest of someone, this is about demanding something of someone who has no real reason to even be motivated to do so. And that’s incomprehensible to me.

You don’t, ever, get to demand what other people consume? You don’t get to demand that other people have to read something to “fully understand” a whole different piece of media. Even a movie or TV show adaptation is already something that ought to stand on its own and you should not be required to do additional reading to fully understand it; it is an option you have if you want to dive deeper, but it is absolutely not something you should need to do to understand whatever adaptation you’re watching.

Nobody even needs a reason to dislike something in the first place! Because tastes differ. And something you like may actually be something another person dislikes. Perhaps even for the exact same reason. But that’s not even the case here. Someone has a reason to dislike it, and it’s a reason that is clearly being understood by the other party too, because they acknowledge that there are better versions of it and that this version is bad.

But you can’t demand for someone to engage with more media about something just so they meet this different version and may, or may not, end up changing their mind. You can suggest it, recommend it to them if they are open to it, but you can not demand that people engage with media of your choice to form the “right” opinion on something.

#Fandom Discourse

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gettothestabbing · 5 months

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What are your top 5 favorite anime?

Princess Tutu - gorgeous in every way, a story that does the concept of a multilayered narrative justice while also using the beauty of ballet and fairy tales to their full emotional advantages, and also the name helps gatekeep, because if you can't get past the name you aren't the sort of person who would enjoy it anyway. I can't recommend it highly enough. Available here

Kill la Kill - amazing and energetic animation, a unique story with a surprising family theme, and probably the coolest modern take on the delinquent girl archetype. I did resist watching it at first because of the lack of under-boob support on Ryuko's outfit, but honestly, it no longer bothers me. There are valid story reasons behind all the costume designs. Again, this has the beneficial side-effect of automatic gatekeeping. Available here

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters - peak early 2000s character design, tons of merchandising money to fund legitimately good filler arcs and hire high quality animation directors (sometimes), a hero that actually has the worst win-loss record of all the protagonists of his franchise (but still retains the largest fanbase and greatest admiration for his skills and personal character), multiple engaging character arcs, and my personal favorite. This is the one most affected by nostalgia. YGO was my first fandom outside of Disney, the first thing I was really into that neither my parents nor my younger sister cared about, and it remains incredibly important to me. It took me 10 years to be able to watch the final two seasons, as my local channel for some reason decided to only play the first 2.5 seasons over and over. Those final seasons were not at all disappointing either; I loved them entirely, even with all their flaws and animation issues. I'd never claim that YGO is perfect, especially since I prefer the 4Kids dub to the original; yet even the subbed version, which I have also seen, has issues as a story. The original manga is superior to BOTH versions, if we're being honest. But this anime is amazing, fun, wholesome (without being lame, particularly the sub; the dub can be pretty lame) and long without being impossible to finish. The dub is available here (w, x, y, z), but to get the subbed version, you either have to pay through the nose or search the bowels of the Internet. Might as well try the dub: even if you don't like 4Kids, you can have fun laughing at them, and all the changes the dub made were meticulously catalogued here.

Dragon Ball - one of the best shonen ever, with an amazing world, strong characters that stay simple without being simpletons, and a slow, savory pace that makes every fight pop. I binged the entire (subbed) show in March 2020 when I had to stay home during the initial lockdown. It was exactly the cheery, grounded, fun shot in the arm that I needed when things were still uncertain and scary in my world. While I enjoy Z and parts of Super, the original is far better: more consistent in quality, pacing, and relevant themes. It's here and here right now. If you're already a fan, Totally Not Mark has some huge video essays reviewing both the entire franchise arc-by-arc and analyzing the major characters of the franchise. (The Buu arc review features Team Four Star ^_^)

Akage no Anne - one of the best works of World Masterpiece Theater and directed by future Studio Ghibli director Isao Takahata; a picture-perfect adaptation of Anne of Green Gables made for Japanese ESL education that managed to capture the pace, feelings, and gradual growth of its cast. With dreamy sequences to represent Anne's imagination and mirror the long descriptive passages of the book, the series grounds itself with simple and realistic character designs that change slowly over the course of the series to reflect the passing of time. It's from 1979, so it's even less fancy looking than Dragon Ball (1986), and Anne's initial design looks a bit awkward since she's pretty awkward and underfed at the start. But don't be fooled. Not only is this the closest adaptation I've seen to the book, but it manages to reflect Anne's rich, emotional inner world without relying on narration or a diary. It uses silence in a very mature way. Although Akage no Anne was not at all the beginning of Japan's love affair with Anne Shirley, it has become a cornerstone of that fandom in Japan. And if you love Isao Takahata's work like I do, seeing one of his earliest works is a pure joy. It's actually available on YouTube; this version has been up for 7 years straight, but I'd urge anyone interested to watch it sooner rather than later. You never know when a YT anime playlist will disappear.

Honorable Mention: Maison Ikkoku - this is one of my favorite manga, one I liked enough to collect in full and read multiple times. The anime is beautiful, and unlike some adaptations of Rumiko's work, it doesn't delve into alternate characterizations or themes. It's an iconic 1980s anime and I love what I've seen of it. But I can't put it higher because I've never been able to see all of it. Occasionally I've been able to watch episodes on YouTube with French subs, but I'm not fluent in French, so I only know what's going on because I'm so familiar with the manga. I still recommend it as a mature seinen romance/comedy. If anyone knows where I can watch or legally obtain it, I'd be very grateful.

#cool ask thanks!#asks #anons #inbox #personal #pers com #anime #btw yes I did watch DBZ abridged before watching DB; I wouldn't have tried it otherwise #very glad I did though #Maison Ikkoku #Akage no Anne #Dragon Ball #yugioh DM #yugioh #Kill la Kill #Princess Tutu

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agirlunderarock · 9 months

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12 about atla and 22 about star wars for the choose violence asks? or both for both if you like :D

Thank you so much for the ask! I'm gonna do both for both lol

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

Avatar the Last Airbender

I'm nost sure there are any unpopular atla characters? So Avatar the Last Airbender is one of those shows that I really enjoy the show, but I haven't engaged with a whole lot of the fandom to know what all the discorse is outside of Zutara vs. Kataang (I prefer Kataang btw) I think if anything there are characters that don't get talked about a whole lot that I really enjoy, like Tao and his father are an interesting in that like to spin them around on their little blorbo stage while I think about Hakoda and his relationship with his kids. I feel like theres a lot to unpack there in how both families lost their mothers (there are a lot of absent moms in avatar aren't there) and precautions their fathers took in response to that. But now I'm thinking about the absent mothers and thats not what I'm supposed to be talking about-

Star Wars

Reva. Like I LOVE her arc in the Kenobi series. The set up for her story was so clear from the beginning and I love the character foil she sets up for Obi-Wan. Where he lets his grief consume him, to the point he turns away other jedi who need help, she turned to her anger, hunting down jedi in order to get close to Vader before trying to take revenge. By all rights she should be angry and she has every right to be, but she let it consume her and twist her until she became the very monster she wanted revenge on. I am interested to see if she pops up in any other rebellion era star wars stories. I would absolutely love to see her work through the pain of letting go of her anger. I think it would be incredibly interesting to have a very brief story about the Path and helping to hide the force sensisitive children, and having the lead characters be Quinlan Vos, Reva, and Barriss Offee. All three of those characters have had a brush with the dark side or been steeped in it at some point or another, and I think theres room for a powerful story in their recovery, and then facing difficult choices because of the war. Between Reva and Kallus, they are the only two star wars antagonist who have to potential to have true redemption arcs. Kallus has a good one in my opinion, but it could be stronger, and I hope to see Reva again in some future projects so she can have that strong narrative.

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

Avatar the last airbender

I wouldn't say its ignored, I've definitely seen a few people talk about it, but I do think it gets looked over often, and its that Iroh only has a change of heart about Fire Nation Imperialism AFTER his son dies. I wouldn't say its my favorite part of canon, but I do think its an interesting note by the creators. Its hard to imagine that Iroh whole heartedly bought into Fire Nation Imperialism, but when you think about the letter he rights talking about the siege of Ba Sing Sae its very chilling. Like, no one who doesn't fully believe in the ideals their fighting for, fights the way Iroh did- granted that letter that gives us a hint about whats happening, is being read and Zuko is imagining it, but still. Its a story that I understand why its not explored as part of a kid's show, but I do think it would be interesting to see if Iroh was playing things up for his family back in the Fire Nation, or if there was something more in his relationship with his son that fed into his rejection of Fire Nation Imperialism. Part of me wants to imagine that Iroh took a solo trip around the world to see the connections that his son was seeing and was coming to the conclusion that they were in the wrong, (like Zuko was starting to see in his solo episode) something would have happened that led to his death and thus Iroh abandoning the siege. Somewhere along the way is when he meets the other white lotus members. However, he is a brilliant tactician and I wouldn't doubt he was studying the other benders and their philosophies as a war strategy, much like how we see Sokka do. Don't get me wrong I adore Iroh, he is by far one of my favorite characters, but it is chilling to think about that moment and that letter.

Star Wars

Theres parts of canon that canon ignores lol Unfortunately this is both my favorite and most hated thing. I haven't talked about it on here, nor have I shared any of the drafts regarding my OC interacting with this character despite me thinking about it like every few days. But Satine. Satine was a previous love interest for Obi-Wan during a time when he was questioning his place in the Jedi Order, and we find out all about that in Clone Wars and she's brought up in the books now, and yet the shows, both the Obi-Wan series and the Mandalorian have not brought her up. So she's canon but not canon? which is fucking hilarious to me, but not my favorite thing. I don't like her, but I would have liked her with more development, and thought. I hate her lack of development, when clearly her actions and death have an impact on Mandalorian culture for DECADES. And I hate that most of the time she's talked about by the fandom its in regards to her love story with Obi-Wan. Which I'm gonna be honest isn't a love story. So we're finally getting to my favorite thing, and its that Obi-Wan and Satine's relationship feels so incredibly aroace X nonally allo coded to me. In that every time Satine speaks to Obi-Wan, you can see that she struggles to accept only friendship from him. Theres a whole bit where she stumbles over calling him a friend, and he never struggles with it. She brings up her very romantic feelings for him using a lot of present tense phrases and verbs, when he speaks of it, its very much in the past tense, even when he talks about her to Anakin. It isn't that he doesn't love her, he does in the way someone might still get a little fluttery thinking about the first time they fell in love, but he's very clearly accepted that they have gone on different paths and grown into different people, and his love has grown into that love of a friend. Its not any less, if it was he wouldn't have gone through half the shit he did for her. Then you look at their physical interactions, she goes up and hugs him, touches his face, unprompted, a lot of his initiated contact is with her hands, thats his boundary. And I say all this, not to be like "oh this is the only way to watch it" no, those are just things I noticed because I'm ace and interactions resonated with my own experiences. I think a lot of their romantic relationship is conflated because they're meant to be a foil for Anakin and Padme, but I hate that for them? And I know this asked for my favorite thing, and it is, possibly just because there are so many little details and things that get over looked, and like I have to wonder what was the intention by the writers to portray here in their relationship? To me I see my ace experience and people constantly pushing my boundaries, when I can't give them what they want or expect, and the tragic end to a friendship. Fandom sees a tragic romance, whic again I get and I see it, but its tragic for different reasons.

I guess that last one really was for the violence cause I feel like thats a super divisive thing to say but I don't know If anyone wants to send another or do the questions them self the link is right here.

#ask game #star wars ask #atla ask #like hell am i using the regular star wars tag for this lol #i'm crazy but not that crazy #also i'm so sorry these got so much longer as I went on and that last one was like a big info dump #but thank you for the ask!

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