#Don't get me wrong - in many aspects she's a wonderful and loving mother. She was able to accept my gay nephew... | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

butterflydm · 9 months

Text

wot deeper dive 2x3: what might be

And here is my more in-depth look at the third episode, avoiding any book-related spoilers.

So the framing device for this episode is Nynaeve's testing for being Accepted -- we start when the testing starts and end when the testing finally ends for truth. This isn't the episode that takes place over the least amount of time, but it does take place over a short period of time -- Nynaeve goes in at night, the day passes while everyone (except Egwene) believes that she's dead, and then she exits the next night.

2. It cracks me up that Liandrin makes a point of mentioning that women could create ter'angreal before the Breaking. Because, yeah, Liandrin wouldn't admit in a thousand years that men might be able to do something useful (also: Liandrin hating 'men' but loving her son is actually a great example of the hypocritical nature of that kind of mindset in general; her son gets to exist outside the greater circle 'ugh men' because he is her son and special to her). I love us getting a bit of an explanation for ter'angreal, but Liandrin does crack me up. And the show does make a point of telling us that the Aes Sedai don't understand a lot about how the ter'angreal work, which sets us up for them being wrong that it's only possible for 'the way back' to come once.

3. Hmm, the White Tower waits for women to come to us (mentioned in the last episode) and we also put women out of the Tower if they can only make it through one part of the test and might need time before they face another part... I wonder why the Tower is getting emptier and emptier by the year. It's a mystery! But I do like all this exposition and it feels like it's well-placed, because Nynaeve genuinely needs the explanation. I wonder if Leane gets to be one of the people administering the test because she refused her first time, so having her there to honestly tell students that is meant to give them permission to decide they need a bit more time.

4. All of Nynaeve's tests made me cry and it definitely was starting early. Her scenes with her parents, and having to experience their deaths again was so painful! They did such a good job making her look younger/in the body of her younger self -- with her unbound hair and the style of her dress.

5. We have, here in the first test, Nynaeve bringing back crimsonthorn, which is reflecting another of Nynaeve's fears, which persists in all three tests -- her fear of being like Liandrin. "Red is dead" but a diluted version of crimsonthorn soothes pain rather than bringing death. But not all pain. It needs to be used for the right pain, we learned in the last episode. And the Red Ajah is essentially a hammer that is always looking for nails. The use of crimsonthorn in this episode feels like a mediation on moderation and picking the right tool for the job. Part of Nynaeve is sympathetic to the Red Ajah's causes in theory (being a watcher over abuses of the Power) but she is not a fan of their tactics in practice (she doesn't believe men who can channel are evil). But Nynaeve specifically having her father (a man) be the one who washes the crimsonthorn from her hands feels very pointed. "Red is dead" is something that Nynaeve is telling herself.

6. The Two Rivers continues to be a place of reversed gender roles to many traditional depictions -- Nynaeve's father is a nurturer and the one she's gotten her skill at herbalism from*, while her mother acts as the main protector of the family, using a bow against the attackers. The thread of allowing men to be caretakers is continuing strong in s2, with Rand working in the sanitarium and taking care of Errol and us seeing Nynaeve's father as the nurturing figure here.

(*though I will note that this is a key aspect of several male characters in one of the big OG western fantasy novels: LOTR, where Aragon is a nurturer/healer as well as a warrior, and we also have the hobbits, especially Sam.)

The fathers-and-daughters theme also continues strong. We have a lot of fathers and daughters so far in the series, and fathers wanting the world to be better for their daughters, specifically. Those themes are not exclusive to fathers and daughters, of course (Ila wanted a better world for her daughter) but we are getting a lot of focus on fathers and daughters and, specifically, on allowing men to be soft with their daughters and nurturing figures for them.

7. This is them continuing a story that Nynaeve originally told us in s1, so I wonder if we'll continue to learn more about it in the future -- will we ever find out who attacked the Two Rivers during this time and what their motives were? They don't look like they're wearing any kind of emblems, which makes me lean towards bandits of some kind.

8. Oof, but rewatching this made me cry again. Having to leave the people she loves behind (but they're already dead, my darling). Nynaeve trying to work out exactly how real everything was in that place. And getting 'idk?' in response from the Aes Sedai.

9. Both of the parental figures that she faces in the second test are parents of the children she believes that she's failed to protect (Rand is dead and Mat is 'who knows where') and now she can't even stay to give Tam the comfort of dying with a friendly face by his bedside. Again, heartbreaking! Again, we have the thread of the crimsonthorn, being used here to bring a peaceful death to those that can't be healed... except that Nynaeve knows that they could be healed, if only she knew how to do it. Her block makes her unable to help those she cares about. She failed Rand and now she's failed Tam too. "I may not be a Wisdom, but I'm the one who stayed," Natti says. And this also tugs on the thread that Nynaeve herself felt back in the first episode -- that Tar Valon has no interest in helping the Two Rivers or people from the Two Rivers (the story of the old Wisdom).

"This isn't your home anymore." Ouch.

10. Nynaeve copying the motions of the healing weave but not able to embrace the Power to actually use it: heartbreaking. And then lying to Tam about Rand, because she can't face the idea of telling his father that Rand is dead. And then she has to walk away from him, even as he's pleading for her to stay with him as he dies! Again, tears!

11. I love that the different jars that they use for the ritual -- one white, one black, one both -- I wonder if they remember why that would be the case or if they keep doing it because it's traditional.

12. I enjoyed the trick they played on us (it's implied that Nynaeve's third test is about her becoming Red Ajah and that leading to her killing Lan somehow) and the way she walks out on the White Tower. Our first hint that this isn't real is that there's no Elayne hovering around Egwene in Nynaeve's goodbye scene (Elayne is clearly bonding hard with Egwene and definitely would have wanted to go with her to talk to Nynaeve; she's already shown interest in meeting Nynaeve) because Nynaeve doesn't know about her! But I didn't twig to it until Lan showed up and then didn't tell her Rand was alive and instead was just like "oh yeah I can go with you to the Two Rivers". If Lan is disconnected enough from Moiraine to walk away from his duty and go with Nynaeve back to the Two Rivers, then he's disconnected enough to tell her that Rand is alive, even if he knows Moiraine might not want him to tell. But Lan can't tell her that Rand's alive! Fictional Lan doesn't know! He doesn't tell her any of the new info that Lan should be able to tell her now.

13. That being said, Nynaeve's AU version of her reunion with Lan is very sweet! And I was glad to get it even if it was very much not real.

14. The Sisters believing that Nynaeve is dead also was something that worked really well for me because it gives us so much interesting character information and motivation. This is what leads to Liandrin deciding to 'free' Mat and send him on his way with Min! It's what leads to her confrontation with Egwene! Also: Leane's disdainful look at Liandrin as she turns and walks out. Judging Liandrin hard for pushing for Nynaeve to go through the arches so quickly. And then Sheriam expressing her disappointment verbally. "I hope your conscience never lets you find peace with that. I know mine won't." And Liandrin looks close to tears here, as well (and then expresses her pain through anger, once again, by throwing the jug).

15. Ooof, Seanchan time. This is so hard to watch. The show did such a good job making them feel alien and different to the rest of the people of the show. Even Loial has never heard of them! And the helmets make them look like they are grinning (way too widely) all the time. Just seeing how clearly formalized and ritualized everything is.

That spike at the bottom of Suroth's palanquin. Yikes on bikes.

16. I am going to note that the two women who channeled the previous night are NOT the one who points out the other women who then get dragged away (unless my eyes deceive me). They specifically have a third woman who comes out and does that, which implies specializations to me.

17. The music cue for the Seanchan is so effectively creepy. And now it is time for our Cheerful Customer Service Representative to share the Good News that it is time to Update Your Oaths. That she says everything in such a pleasant way really makes the horror of everything that's happening stand out. The Shadow, before now, has operated under darkness, but this horror is happening in the broad daylight and with the attitude of complete certainty in their own rightness, despite the clear brutality on display. It works similarly to how the horror in Midsommar works, for anyone else who may have seen that movie. Brutality in broad daylight, committed by people who are convinced that they have the One Truth and that it's an honor to kill to uphold that truth.

18. It does seem pretty clear that Uno was picked out because he was noticed by one of the soldiers as behaving defiantly -- having a clear example of what happens to someone who refuses to take the oaths is probably seen as extremely useful in getting everyone else to agree. But, yeah, another scene that is difficult to watch, for sure! Suroth's smile after Uno is killed is so effectively creepy and awful.

And now Perrin & co have officially taken the oaths. I do not expect Perrin to feel at all obliged to keep his oaths but it may be useful for him that he's aware of the wording, so he can perhaps do some sneaky scouting in the future.

19. The Man's eyes are on Perrin pretty much the entire time. But, yeah, #PerrinWillNotForgetThis

20. Love Rand's scene with Logain here. Rand is trying to build up some trust with Logain before he broaches the subject of channeling but Logain already knows the score and wants them to skip to the ending, lol. Logain is aware that Rand can channel and channel strongly, so he doesn't want to waste any time on pleasantries. I also love Logain yanking Rand around and giving him a sidequest, lol.

21. We get a reminder here of how much Rand doesn't know: pretty much everyone else has more knowledge than he does right now. He doesn't know that the Dark One wasn't defeated at the Eye; he doesn't know even of the Horn of Valere's existence, let alone that Perrin is on the hunt for it (even Mat knows about that, due to Perrin's letters).

22. So Rand finds out about the queen's promise here ("half her fortune" to the one who finds the Horn and brings it to Cairhien) and then learns in the party scene coming up next that this was a dirty lie being used to get people to leave Foregate and go off somewhere, anywhere else. His time in Cairhien is Rand's first experience of class differences and the nobles are not coming off well to him at all.

23. It's pretty clear here that Rand is keeping all his 'searching out knowledge about channeling' activities a secret from Selene, which makes a lot of sense. He probably assumes that the second she finds out, she won't want to come near him. She does seem pretty happy about the idea of getting to dress Rand up in some fancier clothes.

24. Haha, I love that Elayne has no ill effects from their night of drinking together. Another little hint about her past. Her banter with Egwene is pretty adorable (before the angst comes in for Egwene when she finds out that the Sisters all believe that Nynaeve is dead).

re: fake deaths -- they really only annoy me if they're primarily for the audience. I don't mind if they're being used to push story/character forward. Here, we're shown Egwene's refusal to believe that Nynaeve could be dead vs Elayne's greater knowledge of how ter'angreal are believed to work and Tower knowledge and tradition.

25. I love that Egwene snaps at Elayne to leave here -- it's such a pure emotional reaction due to her intense grief. She's already believed Nynaeve to be lost once; she believes that Rand is gone; and now she's losing Nynaeve 'again'. It's too much and she doesn't know Elayne well enough to let her in emotionally right now.

Also, "Ny"! That's so cute.

26. Sheriam sucks at grief counseling. Egwene's friend is dead and all Sheriam can tell her is "don't burden me with your grief; grow as a person from this".

So... I wonder if Sheriam sent Nynaeve's things off to the Two Rivers this day, and all Nynaeve's stuff is already on its way by the time she comes back.

27. In addition to everything else about this scene with Liandrin and Mat, it tells us that she's able to sneak in without waking him up. I doubt that it's the first time she's done it. Also, I note that Liandrin does not tell him that Nynaeve is the one who died.

Of course, we know from the ending conversation with Min that this is not actually Liandrin 'letting him go' but her setting him up to leave with a spy in tow.

She is really really good at cutting into people with her words. Mat escaped one abusive older woman (his mom) and ended up trapped with a second one. This really was such a worst case scenario for him, in terms of grinding his feelings of failure and not being good enough into him.

28. Liandrin tries to pull her same tricks with Egwene that she did with Mat, trying to cut into her insecurities and made her feel lesser. But Egwene has not spent the past five months being forced to listen to Liandrin stomp on her as a person over and over, so when Liandrin pushes her, she pushes back.

29. Party scene! Selene has gotten Rand a coat and slipped the two of them into a fancy noble party -- she's out there trying to set up connections for Rand but he is focused on the mission. He gets a warning from another lady at the party that whether he replies yes or no to the invitation that he just received, it will be a subject of gossip, so he burns the letter (only to learn that this, too, is going to cause tons of gossip). The lady Anvaere then lets Rand know that she's figured out that he's likely staying in the Foregate and implies that she may or may not believe that he's an outlander lord. She lets him peek behind the curtain of nobility by telling him the truth about the Hunt for the Horn - that the queen doesn't care about it at all, just about getting some of the peasants to leave. We now get some of the history of the Aiel War from the nobles' side (after hearing a bit from the soldiers' side in the last episode) -- after the war, the farmers who had been devastated by the invasion sought shelter and protection nearer to the city and this has been an inconvenience for the nobles.

30. At this point, Selene returns with Rand's quest item but is disappointed when he immediately wants to leave the party without explaining why he wanted the wine and is offended when he asks her why she's helping him, after she shows herself to already understands that the Hunt for the Horn is just a political cover to push out the poorer residents of the city. In terms of costume design, they've really made it so that Rand is the only one standing out -- even Selene is dressed in the paler pastels that we see the rest of the nobles wearing. Rand is the only one I see in bold colors.

31. Rand returning so quickly with his Quest Item for Logain reveals his desperation to Logain. This conversation is... so incredibly queer-coded (which, tbh, male channelers in the books often came across that way too!). Rand has been suppressing something deep inside himself for so long but it just won't go away. It's an innate part of him and the more he tries to tamp it down, the more it builds up and demands to be seen. The metaphor of the overflowing wine glass was also fantastic.

"the answer to the question you already knew" (you can't make this part of yourself go away; "eventually, it will spill out of you. always.")

And Selene, at the party, "don't ask questions when you already know the answer"

We saw last season that Rand was really really good at ignoring things that he doesn't want to admit about himself -- he carries the secret about Tam's conversation with him all season! He manages to convince himself that Mat is probably the Dragon, until Moiraine reveals that it's the dagger that is influencing Mat. Part of him knew the true answer for a long time, but he wasn't willing to admit it to himself.

But it's not the answer that Rand wants to hear. And Logain losing it here gives Rand a convenient reason to dismiss everything else that he said.

32. So heartbreaking for Mat to watch Egwene crying and not feeling like he can go to her! I understand why -- Liandrin did a very good job of letting him know, over and over (a dozen letters!), that his friends do not care about him and would not want to see him again. So I understand. But it's painful to watch him turn and walk away from her. He almost does go to her! He hesitates! But he can't quite do it (which is only going to make him feel even more like a coward).

33. Min was just sitting and waiting for Mat to ask her to join him, wasn't she? I wonder if she was starting to worry that he would leave without her. She must be relieved that he came back for her.

34. Perrin's escape from Seanchan captivity (I notice that he's chained up, maybe because he was the last one to kneel?), but not before he gets a visit from our neighborhood Known Bad Guy. This scene is also very good and very intense, though I want to shake Perrin slightly and remind him that if the Bad Guy tells you something, he's probably trying to trick you! If he says that the wolf brings you closer to him, it's probably a lie! Do not trust this man! I am glad that Our Guy continues to bring intense homoeroticism to every scene he shares with one of our male ta'veren (let me cup your face and feed you water! let me stare intently into your eyes and talk about how you're mine!). Now we just need Mat to complete the set!

35. "You're dead! Rand killed you!" and now Perrin is the first of our ta'veren to find out that the world did not get saved back in 1x8. Doesn't have much opportunity to tell the others, sadly. He doesn't find out that Rand is alive, though.

36. Very emotional about Elyas and the wolves coming to save Perrin. That's their boy! They love him! Please don't be afraid of them, Perrin!

37. Mat and Min continue to have great banter. "Freedom is in the air tonight". And now we get our reveal that Min is working with Liandrin. I like that this feels like a consequence of Moiraine's actions from last season. Because being free of Moiraine, specifically, is part of the carrot that Liandrin is using with Min here. "If you succeed, Moiraine won't have anything over either of us ever again."

Okay, and Liandrin is asking Min to take Mat someplace specific because she checks, "You know the way?" and Min confirms it. So Liandrin does have a destination in mind. Min also does seem subdued in this scene with Liandrin, so I don't think she's eager to take Mat wherever they're going.

38. Rand has a dream about returning back to his room where Selene is waiting, and the two of them have sex (with him back in his fancy coat), and him channeling around her while she tells him that she's not afraid of him (but he looks pretty uncomfortable/scared/worried once the channeling begins). When he wakes up, he realizes that he's set the roof of the inn on fire, and Selene is at his door, and the two of them rush to safety and watch it burn. Oof, that had to be tough for Rand. Poor guy. *hugs*

39. Egwene trying to channel the arches back open again. Sweetheart! I love her so much for trying, and I love Elayne for coming to try to help her through her grief.

40. And now we jump back into Nynaeve's dream life -- she's back in the Two Rivers. She has a daughter with Lan, who is relaxed and comfortable. Perrin is back home, happy, and Mat has found a life elsewhere but is happy as well and visits when he can. Egwene has successfully become Aes Sedai. It's as happy as she can possibly make it, given the constraints that she started with (Rand being dead, especially, but also knowing that Egwene would want to stay and become Aes Sedai).

But they told us at the beginning that this was about Nynaeve facing her fears, and Egwene's letter brings the first hints of trouble as we hear of Trolloc attacks in Saldaea. And her dream world shatters apart as Trollocs attack the Two Rivers once again, just as her life shattered apart when they attacked the first time. I love the bookend of how she tries to protect her daughter the same way that she was once protected by her parents. This whole sequences really hit me hard, especially when she's still cradling her (no longer existing) daughter as she comes back through the arches. I'm really glad that Egwene was there for her when she arrived (and what an introduction for Elayne!) Again, it was so heartbreaking. The little girl wasn't real, but Nynaeve loved her like she was real.

41. I didn't notice on the night this first aired (probably because so much was happening in all three episodes) but this episode does not have Moiraine or Actual Lan in it at all. So they're still on the thread that we left them on in episode two, where Moiraine has left without Lan (and threatened him with having Alanna forcibly bond him to make sure he would let her go). So the question we have for episode four is: do we get a Lan x Nynaeve actual reunion at the White Tower or is Lan going to go after Moiraine as soon as Alanna's back is turned? We know that he stole the poem that she bought from Doman. I am intrigued to learn the answers in ep4.

#butterfly watches wot #wot #wheel of time #wot on prime #wot show spoilers #wot prime spoilers #wot s2 spoilers #wheel of time s2 spoilers #wot 2x3 spoilers #the wheel of time

42 notes · View notes

ecoamerica · 1 month

Text

youtube

Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc

The recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by student climate leaders! Join Aishah-Nyeta Brown & Jerome Foster II and be inspired by student climate leaders as we recognize the High School Student finalists. Watch now to find out which student received the $25,000 grand prize and top recognition!

16K notes · View notes

baronessblixen · 1 month

Note

I watched How We Were Before!

Turns out, I'd read the synopsis previously on Wikipedia-- but that made me invested instead of disinterested.

Interesting movie-- It's not a romance so much as a showcase of the faults of romanticization. imo, Hubbell and Katie weren't meant to be but were making it work. And interesting that Hubbell tried to make choices-- the first girl, writing, etc.-- but ended up on paths further away from the life he would choose himself (finishing the book, Katie, fatherhood, etc.)

Some back and forth thoughts were put out there about Katie's idealism and it destroying the relationship; but that's not the takeaway I had, at all. Her perspective and his were both valuable, both real, both respectable; but clashed with each other. Her pursuits and passions disturbed him; his happiness was found a different route. And his lack of passion or humorous POV on matters that were of serious importance to her nettled, hurt, and wounded Katie.

Some people just don't work. Some people are drawn to each other but aren't meant to be. Or they can love and respect and be on fire for so many aspects about a person but not have that passion or love returned, at least in equal measure.

And, in the end, I think it's their daughter that suffers. Her mother pushed back on her father's distancing and disinterest and even (at times) disgust, wanting him despite; and her father let himself be led from one mess to another, none of them satisfactory to him because he hadn't fully accepted and reconciled parts of himself. Thus, little Rachel was born and grew up and lived without her father in her life.

Both had fantastic speeches, too-- wisdom to share with each other. Perspectives and chemistry isn't the only thing to keep a relationship afloat.

Also, I find it interesting if you turn the conceit of the movie on its head a bit: if first girl were the main character, she'd have married the friend of a man who she loved and who loved her; and there'd be bittersweet music every step of the way she takes. That's what I like about the movie, I think: it shows the effects of bad choices and poor decisions, with lots of backstory hinted at but not fully explored. I'm really starting to like Sydney Pollack movies.

The only thing I don't respect is that Hubbell didn't raise his daughter, even if being a father didn't fit into the life he wanted. He might not have been the best father, but a phone call every once in a while would have been better than nothing. (But, again, those characters would have made those choices.)

Very thought provoking! :DDD

Ahhh, glad you watched it! I agree they weren't to be. The only reason they were is because their feelings for each other were so intense and I see it more like, rather than making it work, they were trying to make it work because of the love that was there between them. That never left. The last scene is proof of that.

Ultimatively, they're too fundamentally different. One thing that always gets me is how Katie is trying to fit herself into Hubbel's world. She tries to be that person who gets along with his friends but in the end, she is who she is, and she's done trying to pretend - no matter how much she loves Hubbell.

I'm not sure Hubbell ever really makes a choice. It's like he wrote in his short story "everything came too easily to him". He always follows the path of least resistance. That's why they break up. Katie is done trying to be who she isn't and he is never going to change.

Yeah, I agree. Her idealism didn't destroy the relationships. They were just too different. That doesn't mean either of them was wrong for wanting and doing what they did.

I don't their their daughter suffers. Katie marries someone else who I'm sure is a wonderful father. If they had stayed together, both would have been miserable.

Hubbell wouldn't have had his career because of his association with Katie. Barbra Streisand commented on that once and said she hates how much it looks like they broke up because of him sleeping with another woman. When in reality it was really the political climate with Katie having been a communist and Hubbell trying to make it in Hollywood. And of course their clashing personalities.

I think Hubbell would have loved to be a father. It had nothing to do with that. There was just no way for them to be in each other's lives anymore. That's why he says he can't come visit. They can either be strangers or lovers; there's no in-between for them. That makes it so bittersweet for me.

And I really like Sydney Pollack movies too! He did so many with Robert Redford 😁

#lovely asks #i love the way we were so much #the movie omits quite a bit #especially a lot about the politics

8 notes · View notes

sketching-shark · 2 years

Note

idk if I asked this but I always wondered what type of relationship erlang has with his uncle? Like I'd imagine he must Hate him for trapping his mom but care enough to protect him?

As with many other aspects of Chinese mythology and folklore I'm going to have to admit my general ignorance on the topic of Erlang Shen, anon. From what I do know, however, this deity's family situation is quite complicated (especially how his parentage is also a point of controversy)...

But to give an overview of what is apparently the most popular version of his origin, Erlang Shen's mother, Princess Yaoji, is the sister of the Jade Emperor and a deity who ruled over the realm of desire. Yet in an ironic twist, even though her assigned role in Heaven was to keep deities from experiencing such "human" afflictions as ambition, greed, lust, love, and affection, she fell in love with a scholar named Yang Tianyou. This mortal man saved her life by giving her half his heart after Princess Yaoji was injured chasing after a rogue dragon that had escaped its Heavenly chains. The deity and human soon married and had three children; Yang Jiao, Yang Jian (Erlang Shen, whose name translates into "godly second son"), and Yang Chan. When the Jade Emperor discovered that his sister had broken her heavenly mandate so thoroughly, he sent down his army to capture and kill every member of this family. Yang Jian and Yang Chan managed to escape, but Yang Tianyou and Yang Jiao were executed while Princess Yaoji was trapped under Mount Tai. When Erlang Shen was old and powerful enough, he clove this mountain in two to save his mother, an act that made him a paragon of filial devotion.

After that, for me things become more unclear. I do know that Erlang Shen eventually became one of Heaven's most powerful and devoted warriors (he's even the one who was able to subdue a rampaging Sun Wukong, albeit with help from Lao Tzu). He's even apparently largely responsible for executing Heaven's brand of justice by sending down countless bolts of piercing light to disintegrate their enemies! What I don't know is how Erlang Shen reached that position or if he ever held any enmity towards his uncle for executing his father and older brother and trapping his mother. What is clear is that Erlang Shen the deity is 100% in the Jade Emperor's corner, and from what I gather he reached his divine state by carrying out Heaven's will, something that allowed him to rise above his "forbidden" origins. I haven't heard anything about Erlang Shen going against the Jade Emperor before becoming his greatest warrior (except maybe for freeing his mother from the Jade Emperor's punishment), but if anyone knows differently please let me know!

So while you should take what I'm saying with a grain of salt since I don't know that much about Erlang Shen, it seems that this three-eyed deity's relationship with his uncle is one of absolute devotion, with no hard feelings for the violence against his family. Erlang Shen's adherence to Heaven's mandates is such that you even see some Chinese stories using that as a basis for his role as an antagonist, as with the tale "The Magic Lotus Lantern." Here Erlang Shen's sister is called Sanshengmu and is presented as a full deity who does the exact same thing as her & Erlang Shen's mother by falling in love with a mortal. She has a son named Cheng Xiang, and Erlang Shen does the exact same thing as the Jade Emperor by imprisoning her under a mountain for this perceived transgression. Interestingly enough Cheng Xiang's eventually successful goal to free his mother and defeat his uncle present something of an opportunity for Sun Wukong to get back at Erlang Shen, and he takes Cheng Xiang under his wing for a bit & makes him a magical axe, with which Cheng Xiang splits the mountain imprisoning his mother.

As always, if I got anything wrong or if anyone wants to add more information, they should feel free to correct me and/or add what you know!

#chinese mythology #erlang shen #lotus lantern #chinese folklore #anon answered

17 notes · View notes

tessydockery · 4 months

Text

Book Review: A Whisper in the Dark by Jessi Elliott & K.J. Sutton

As a serial - and part of a larger story, you will no doubt wish this installment was longer, but I have a feeling it will be worth it. The second you step into Charlie Travesty's world, you are completely immersed in a whole new world of vampires. We're talking a world that is glittering and gritty all at once. A world so dark and lovely that you'll be flipping the pages wondering how something can be so good.

I was on the fence about Charlotte - our vampire princess protagonist - when I first began reading. I don't know if that was because I went into this just genuinely hoping that it wouldn't be like every other vampire novel I've read in the past decade or because she just came across as flawless. But after the first 20% or so, I was sold on our heroine and never looked back. You dig into her thoughts, feelings and actions and you really come to understand how cruel it can be to be like her. And you come to understand what it's like to belong no place. I feel such sympathy for Charlie and it's taught me something about our own society in a way.

Charlie isn't our only likeable character though. There are so many more! I loved Drew and his bright outlook on life in the face of such darkness. I can't wait to see more of him in the coming serials. And I loved the dynamics of Nina. She was snarky and hard and kickass. While she could rub you the wrong way, I really enjoyed the different aspects of her personality. Then you have the kindness of Gabriela - a mother figure to Charlie. You could really feel how much she cares for Charlie despite the trouble she could get in. It's really beautiful.

Overall, this serial was amazing and I can't wait to dig into future installments. I'm giving it 4.5 stars - a really solid start! I would recommend this story to vampire enthusiasts. And if you're tired of the same old vampire stories, I encourage you to give this one a try. However, *DISCLAIMER*, if you're not into strong language, sex (especially descriptive sex), and detailed vampire feedings, I'd suggest maybe skipping this one. Otherwise, I really think you'll enjoy this read!

I was given a free eARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks so much to the authors for providing me a chance to read this book early. I greatly appreciate it.

[Originally posted to latesummersthoughts.wordpress.com on May 21, 2020]

#indiebookreview #indie author #book review #paranormal romance

0 notes

labyrinthoftartarus · 1 year

Text

I think I am stunning.

No, but really. I think I am drop-dead gorgeous. I think I am stunning. I think I am beautiful and pretty and sweet.

I know, I know. This sounds so... out of the blue. I am generally a person who really can't see how I can ever be "pretty" in a sense. Every time I look in the mirror, I see a deformed mess of my face and limbs, glaring at my jarring reflection.

I don't know why. I can't help it, too. I happen to look very, very disgusting.

However, there are times I look at my jutting bones, my grotesque lips, and sunken eyes that I can't help but wonder, oh wow, I really am gorgeous! I look unconventionally attractive. I have a sullen appearance, like that of an overripe fruit. I have brittle, branch-like limbs divaricating into slender, rigid fingers. I have wisps of long hair, which is so dark that it shines purple.

Viewing myself as an art or poetry really helped with my self-esteem. Earlier, I used to cope with my looks by feigning.

1. Making fun of myself to feel confident.

I'd pretend to admire and love every inch of myself, while subconsciously hating the very aspect of it. I would say, "Oh, I have pretty eyes!" while thinking they looked disproportionate. After a while, my method of coping transfigured into a much more twisted kind of praise.

For example, I'd say, "Wow, I am so beautiful and gorgeous, I think everyone should love and praise me for my beauty and worship me."

That is...not coping.

That's mocking.

It was an indirect way of making fun of myself, I suppose. In the end, I was again subconsciously reminded of how absolutely idiotic and undeniably ugly I am.

2. The reason for my insecurity.

I will admit, I probably had it easier than others. While others were subjected to endless taunting by their parents and peers, I suffered less vocal means of humiliation. I wasn't belittled or shamed excessively, but I did have my share of frequent poking and stabbing.

My mother, though a relatively good person, has this annoying habit of making fun of someone. My mom used to excessively criticize my lips, my hair, my body...all from childhood.

I was on the skinnier side, and throughout my life, every relative I have ever met has openly shamed my physique.

I'd get comments like,

You look so ugly and weak!

You look like a corpse!

You look ill! Eat up, no one likes skinny girls.

Your sister is cuter than you.

ALL UNFILTERED!

I mean, I really couldn't care less, but some comments got to me. Especially comparisons with my sister, because at that time, everyone adored my sister and never tried to give me a second glance.

I was jealous of her, getting all the praise and compliments only because she is fairer and chubbier than me.

As I became a teenager, my mother started rebuking my appearance. I had very sensitive skin which always resulted in burns/breakouts if I skipped facewash ONCE, which was a bummer. My mom continuously mentioned this, along with how ugly I looked.

I frequently had arguments with her and would burst into tears. She claimed that she was just being helpful by pointing out the things I don't seem to see wrong about myself. I know she doesn't mean any of it, but her joking habit really can hurt someone.

It grew to a point where whatever I mentioned was somehow associated with how I looked. For example, I'd mention how I was hungry and she'd rant about how ugly I look because I am skinny and about how I probably should eat more. Every. single. thing was associated with my looks. It got exhausting after a point. I try my best not to care, though.

My second shock came in school. Many people talked about how I look ugly now and how I looked better when I was in elementary. This was a severe blow to my self-esteem. If I was hanging out with a prettier friend and people tried to talk to us, they'd entirely IGNORE my presence and act like I was something repulsive and disturbing.

Am I really repulsive and disturbing?

3. My skin!!!

I'd stare at my boyfriend and observe his skin. He literally looks stunning. He got super clear skin and speckled gold all over his face.

I AM SO ENVIOUS OF HIS SKIN.

I really want clear skin. My skin is extremely sensitive and dry. Each day, I have to wash my skin at least four times with facewash. If it goes up to only three, there's a 100% guarantee of breakouts.

Experimenting with different products only leads to worse results. However, I somehow managed to find what suits my skin. Pray for me.

4. I am the woman of my poetry.

The best way to increase my self-confidence is by romanticizing myself. I write poems and scriptures about a girl like me, but highly exaggerated and romanticized.

I MAKE MYSELF THE GIRL OF MY OWN POETRY!

I romanticize my dark hair, small almond eyes, jawline, and reedy limbs and find out how beautiful I look when I'm written down in words.

I look prettier, more sophisticated, and more glamorous.

CLOSURE

I think I am beautiful. I think I am a work of art. And I may not be, in everyone else's eyes, but in mine own, I shall forever be.

0 notes

ecoamerica · 2 months

Text

youtube

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!

16K notes · View notes

tamariasykes-art · 1 year

Note

17 and 18 for Rings of Power!

The Rings of Power themed asks. 🍃✨

17. What are your thoughts on the original characters? Do you like them? (For example: Nori, Bronwyn, Adar)

I absolutely adore all the original characters in the series and their arcs are usually the ones I am most invested in. The whole arcs with the Southlands (yeah I know they don't exist anymore) was such a joy to watch.

Someone on twitter refereed to Arondir as the "the elfest elf that ever elfed" and I think that is more than accurate. He is kind, noble, determined and just so good in every way. The interactions between him and Adar? This bond of both mutual respect and attempting to understand the other, but ultimately taking a different path in the end. I love his relationship with Bronwyn, they way they are so dedicated to each other but also willing to let the other go for a greater sake. They way they support and comfort each other throughout the series <3<3

Bronwyn is great too, probably my favorite female character from the series. She is also kind and very courageous and they way she is ready to take up a weapon to defend others and how she ends up taking the responsibility for coordinating resources and shelter for the people fleeing from the uruks. They way she unconditionally loves her son and Arondir <3<3

There are many more great original characters, but this is already getting so long

18. What are your thoughts on the portrayal of the canon characters? (For example: Galadriel and Elrond)

I am gonna preface this by saying that the only books of Tolkien I've read by now are the Hobbit and the Silmarillion so my knowledge on the lotr triology is mostly based on the movies. (Also I'm gonna stick with Miriel, Elrond and Galadriel here because I have the most thoughts about them)

I do like the changes the made to Miriel's character. I remember reading the Silm and wondering what Numenor might have been like under her reign and how sad it was that so much of her character is just a victim, a victim of Ar-Pharazôn and Sauron and later on a victim of Numenor being turned into Atlantis. Miriel in Trop just feels so refreshing compared to that. I wish the Numenor arc would have gotten a bit more attention, especially the relationship between Miriel and her father, but all the episodes with her

Elrond, is Elrond. He's fine The scenes with him in it always feel a bit odd tho. I recently started watching the series with my mother and she said about him: "He sounds like a politician" and I couldn't agree more. Now, I am aware that this is what the show is going for and the way he carries himself and his speech make sense for the position he holds at Gil-galads court. What makes scenes with feel so odd to me is that he seems to carry this behavior into these very personal scenes where he interacts with Disa and Durin and because of that they don't seem as heartfelt and intimate as they should. I mean, especially the scene where Durin voices his anger over the disagreement with his father and Elrond explains the relationship with his father, it sounds like he is reciting something and not offering insight on his friend. Although that part could also be a result of the German voice actors performance. I doesn't matter either way, this is a interpretation of Elronds character, a legitimate one and I don't hate it. It is fine. His haircut is always a joy to look at.

Galadriel is just like that. Idk I mean you have these really great aspects that you can base her story off. The death of her brother and husband, the survivors guilt, this feeling of restlessness and also this fear of going to the west and possibly thinking that she might not deserve it yet. And then they go ahead and show her to be this really cold, selfish and manipulative character and I am just asking myself where it went wrong.

And yes, those are flaws, every good character has those. But I feel with the way her story and character is written, she just comes of as utterly unlikable. I am not interested in seeing her evolve and change for the better, or face the consequences for her actions because her motivation seems so weird and her struggles seem to be non-existant. I mean Celeborns death for example has had such a big impact on her, I don't understand why they did not hint at that sooner in the show until her conversation with Halbrand (?) Why didn't they show her grieving, why do they never show her struggling with her values and believes, why is the majority of her arc her just try to find and destroy Sauron and not doing anything else? Also, the whole thing with taking the boat to the west. You could have done so much with that. But in the show you just see her conversation with Elrond about it where she makes it clear that she won't accept this gift from Gil-galad with the reason that he work isn't finished. And then the next scene is just her on the boat. I mean, this is literally a journey with no return why did they not show her trying to come terms with that or her fear of leaving her friends and Middle Earth behind, her feeling that she might not worthy of accepting something like that. (Maybe also her wondering if she will see her family again. I mean in Tolkiens work Finrod was allowed to leave the Halls of Mandos)

Like, I don't get it. I really don't. I am not a fan of her arc during the first season and neither is my mother (who hasn't seen all the episodes yet).

Thanks for asking!

#ask #answered #krakenguard

1 note · View note

immaturityofthomasastruc · 2 years

Note

I always wondered why Marinette tried to learn Mandarin when her uncle visited. The show clearly states that her family is from Shanghai, and they don't speak Mandarin there: they speak Shanghainese. The languages are related, but it's unreal how different they are: for example, Mandarin has four tones, while Shanghainese tosses tone out the window and has a pitch accent system. It's fascinating stuff, but it further demonstrates how people don't recognize (1/2)

On one hand, I can kind of understand what they’re trying to go with here by showing Marinette’s disconnect from her Shanghai culture. I have Irish and German ancestry, and I feel like I know more about my Irish heritage than my German heritage, mainly thanks to my mom and grandpa, who knew about certain aspects of Irish culture, while I never really get to see the only relative I have on my German side who’s fluent in the language compared to my dad.

I also know nothing about Chinese culture outside of some of the stuff I learned about their history in school and from some of the cartoons that taught me basic Chinese ideologies, like Kung Fu Panda and Xiaolin Showdown, so I don’t really know much about how much this show’s screwed up Chinese representation other than the “How did nobody see this as stereotypical?” moments, so I really appreciate the little lesson on the Shanghaiese and Mandarin languages and how the show got both of them wrong

On the other hand, it’s strange that Sabine, someone who was established to know a lot about her heritage given she’s from Shanghai, didn’t even bother to teach Marinette about the culture and instead decided to save up money to send her on a trip to Shanghai on the off chance she actually asked to learn more about her mother’s side of the family.

Like, seriously? You didn’t even try to bake any food from Shanghai to teach her? You didn’t even try to teach her some of the language? You didn’t even try to teach her about your home’s fashion even though Shanghai is a city known for being a big place for fashion?

If Marinette was just never interested in learning about her heritage, I could have bought it, but the first episode to bring up how little she knows about it, “Kung Food”, showed how embarrassed she was that she didn’t know much, and once again, needed to have her own damn culture explained to her by a white guy learning the language himself.

There are so many recent cartoons and animated movies that feature characters with various heritages that do more with their respective cultures than Miraculous Ladybug has done in years. There’s Soul, Coco, Moana, Luca, Hair Love (it’s only a short film, but goddamn, does it feel like it actually earned its Oscar for once), Amphibia, The Owl House, The Ghost and Molly McGee, Let’s Go Luna, Molly of Denali, and most recently, Encanto. All of these feature characters with differing races and cultures, take time to teach kids about certain cultural touchstones occasional issues associated with said races and cultures, while also giving kids of those races characters they can relate to more than something about a white character.

Miraculous Ladybug clearly wants to be one of these shows with how much Astruc prides his work for being inclusive, and while we don’t know if it’s the result of executives saying Marinette needed to be less Chinese in order for the show to be more marketable, or if the writers just didn’t do enough research, but the show simply fails to take advantage of Marinette’s heritage compared to some of the characters in the works I mentioned above, and only tries to do so when there’s an opportunity to teach Marinette about her own culture.

#immaturity of thomas astruc #iota #miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug salt #ml salt #ml critical #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #sabine cheng

138 notes · View notes

angellesword · 3 years

Text

MAGIC SHOP | JJK (12)

Description: You and Jungkook were best friends who were in love with each other. What would happen when Soojin, your half sister who you’re trying to impress, told you she’s in love with Jungkook too?

Alternatively:

“Would you believe me if I said that I was scared of everything too?”

Pairing: Architect!Jungkook x Architect!Reader

Genre: childhood best friends to lovers, family drama, angst, fluff, idiots to lovers, pining, slice of life au.

Warnings: none other than JK and OC making out, cursing too????

Chapter’s OST: Nobody Compares by One Direction

Word Count: 3.8k

Series: CHAPTER 11 | CHAPTER 13

Soojin wasn't sure what to do when she saw you standing there, only a few meters away from her and Sin-ae.

You obviously heard the secret she just spilled. This was why she didn't understand why you were keeping a neutral face. It was like the new information didn't shock you at all.

Soojin couldn't help but wonder if this was you being a martyr again. She was not a fool. She was aware how desperate you were to become a part of their family.

How could she not know? Soojin literally exploited this desperation of yours for many years.

She hoped she could still use it today. She hoped you were still the same naïve girl from before.

"Hey, sister..." Soojin tested the waters by calling you sister. It always worked. She saw how your eyes softened and sparkled every time she called you that.

Sometimes she found it endearing, but it pissed her off most of the time. You were such an idiot. She mused.

"Hi." You went near them, greeting them flatly that caused Soojin's heart to drop to her stomach. She didn't see it. This was the first time your eyes didn't light up at the sight of her and her kind smile.

Your face also remained impassive despite Sin-ae's hostility.

"What are you doing here?" Soojin's mother barked, her question was making her look dumb.

You were cradling flowers in your arms while inside a columbarium building. Of course you were here to visit the dead.

"I'm here for my father," and that's exactly what you did; you stated the obvious. Your voice sounded like a robot though. Just like your face, there's no emotion that could be traced. "You know, since I wasn't able to attend the funeral."

Soojin almost flinched at the sudden change of your tone. It's stone cold. She could almost taste your resentment in her tongue.

"Ah..." Your sister let out a breathy laugh. Her heart was in her throat. Soojin was never intimidated by you because she had always felt like she was better than you. In all aspects. You were an illegitimate child. You didn't have a loving mother. Your brothers didn't consider you family. Your father loved her more than he loved you.

The only one you had was Jungkook, but he wasn't yours anymore. He was hers.

"W-We thought you went back to New York." Soojin reasoned out sheepishly. She looked timid, exactly how you used to look when you were around the Kims.

It's uncanny actually. At this very moment, you could see yourself in her. Soojin looked so much like you. Was it because she's your sister? Or was it because just like you, she had done something shameful too?

Wrong.

You were wrong. Your very existence was shameful enough. Soojin had only done something that made her feel guilty. That's different. She's nothing like you. She was better—this was what she believed.

"I did not." You responded because what else could you say? It wouldn't change the fact that you didn't get to see your father for the last time.

They took him away from you.

"Well then we won't disturb you anymore." Soojin faked a smile, grabbing her mother's arm and tucking it into the crook of her elbow.

Sin-ae tried to pull her arm away from her daughter's grasp. Turning to you, she huffed and was about to say mean things when Soojin discreetly squeezed her mother's arm.

You saw how she leaned closer to the older woman to whisper something. Only a fool wouldn't know what that 'something' was. It's obvious she told Sin-ae that there's a big chance you heard about their secret.

It's the only logical explanation why the color drained out of the face of your half sister's mother. It also appeared like Sin-ae suddenly lost her ability to speak.

She couldn't even scorn at you. Truthfully, she was looking at you as if you were a ghost that's been haunting her for ages.

"I-It's getting late, Soojin-ah. Maybe we should go." Sin-ae turned to look at her daughter, smiling warmly at her.

Soojin released a deep breath, thankful that her mother understood the situation immediately.

"We should." Soojin directed her smile at you. "See you soon, sister..."

Her smile dropped when you didn't respond, but instead of pointing it out or getting mad, she just chose to walk away, dragging her mother with her.

You surprised them when you unexpectedly spoke right after they walked past you.

"Yeah." Your grip on the stem of the flowers tightened. "See you at the Board of Directors' Meeting."

"She's bluffing." Sin-ae crossed her arms as she lifted her brows. She looked confident while standing still, her eyes were sharp which Soojin didn't fail to notice.

Her mother's aura gave her an illusion of power. Yeah. Sin-ae was right. You were most likely bluffing when you told them days ago that you would see them at the BOD's meeting.

Who cared if you knew about their secret? You didn't have evidence. As stated, Soojin destroyed it all. She also paid those employees who knew about the truth. They wouldn't dare spill.

That's the power of money. It could buy the silence of people.

Apart from this, no one would ever believe an illegitimate child like you. The board wouldn't even consider you as a prospective chairperson. You had the biggest share in the company but you weren't an architect in the firm. Only those who were working at Castle as an architect could be the next chairperson. Besides, why would they want an irresponsible person who suddenly quit her job? This was what you did when you abruptly decided to go to New York two years ago. You left Castle almost immediately, not caring that you still had commitments.

Jungkook, being your best friend, took over all your pending projects just so you could be free. He thought you simply wanted to leave the company. But regret washed over him upon realizing that you quit your job so you could go abroad.

Jungkook often wondered what would have happened if he didn't take over your pending projects. Would you still leave Seoul? Would you still leave him?

Probably.

You never stayed.

You left before.

You left him now too.

The last time Jungkook saw you was when he dropped you off at Castle so you could be present when Taemin's executor read the will. After that, he never saw you again.

Jungkook tried to go back to the motel but you weren't there anymore. He panicked, thinking that you went back to New York already.

But when he called your phone and you answered, he instantly felt relief engulfing his body.

"I'm still in Seoul." You informed him over the phone. You also told him you couldn't go back to his apartment anymore.

"At least tell me where you're staying..." He was begging you again. Jungkook didn't care if you thought he was pathetic. His main concern was your safety.

"I can't. But I'm safe. Promise." You assured him. He wanted to argue but then he was reminded by what you told him two years ago. You didn't want to be fixed. Maybe it's time he put his trust in you.

He should trust your words.

"Okay." He said, his heart was heavy.

You hummed.

"See you soon, Kook." And then you hung up.

You didn't lie though. Jungkook saw you after a few days. He got to know what happened through Soojin. Your sister was pissed because you inherited more than half of Taemin's assets. Jungkook also came to know that you wanted to be the next chairperson of Castle.

Soojin was trying to calm her nerves; however, everything was making her worry. She didn't only have to worry about you. Jungkook was also a threat to her position. The board probably wanted him to be the next chairperson.

Sin-ae assured her daughter there's nothing to worry about.

"Didn't I tell you I can handle Jungkook? He'll marry you so you don't need to worry if the board chooses him as your father's successor. Chin up. We got this. Like I said, the bastard is bluffing. She won't be at the meeting." Sin-ae reminded her daughter for the second time.

Soojin nodded. Her mother's words didn't give her the illusion of power. The confidence she felt right now was already real.

"Alright." Your sister held her head high as she heaved a deep sigh. "Let's go. This day is perfect. I'll either be the new chairperson or Jungkook's wife. I win regardless..."

"Yes." Sin-ae's lips twitched. "That's right. Now let's go and claim what belongs to you."

Sin-ae was wrong. You weren't bluffing. You're determined to be the next chairperson of Castle Architectural Firm.

You wouldn't let Soojin taint the name of your father. She had to pay for her sins, not just for the sake of Taemin but also because she owed it to the family of those workers who had died because of the accident.

Soojin failed as an architect. The least thing she could do was to become a decent human being and face the consequences of her mistake.

You knew you could only make her pay if you had the power, but how were you supposed to be in power when you felt like everyone in this building hated you?

You couldn't get rid of the ugly feeling twisting in your gut. You were certain you weren't imagining the nasty stares everyone was giving you.

You also saw some of the employees whispering to one another while looking at you.

You inhaled sharply and went straight to the comfort room. You couldn't bear it. All your life, the people you loved looked at you like that.

It was happening again. This time, it was so much worse. Even those who knew nothing about your life were judging you. You had a feeling that they were already aware that you were an illegitimate child.

It was kind of a big deal here, especially now that you had inherited the assets bound for the legitimates. People probably saw you and your mother the same way: a leech.

But you just shook your head at this. Who cares about what people think? What's important was that you didn't lose yourself despite hearing rumors about you.

It was just a rumor. You knew the truth. The people who loved you knew the truth. Jungkook knew the truth.

"Tiger." And he loved you.

"Jungkook?" You flinched when you heard your best friend's voice. You saw his reflection in the mirror. He was leaning against the bathroom door.

"Why are you here?" Your eyes widened, jaw clenching. This was a woman's restroom. What if someone saw him here?

"I thought I saw you going here. Just wanna check..." He said this while you peeked through each cubicle. Thank Heavens no other women were here.

"You're not supposed to be here. Let's go." You made your way to the door, attempting to twist the doorknob but Jungkook stopped you.

"Kook." You sighed. "The meeting starts in ten minutes. We'll be late." You said sharply, reminding him this wasn't the time to play games.

"Five minutes." He let out a deep breath too. "Just give me five minutes, Tiger."

Your breathing hitched upon hearing the desperation in his voice. You made a mistake by meeting his gaze. The softness in his eyes never failed to make your knees go weak.

"I just wanna see you..." He drawled, lightly pushing you against the door and caging you in his arm.

Jungkook cupped your face while you pressed your cheek against his hand, instantly melting. Your stomach knotted with desire. It felt good to be touched like this.

"Kook..." Your teeth chattered though, the protest of your brain was hard to ignore. "W-We can't."

And as usual, you gave into what your mind thought was right. You were pushing him away. Again.

Stupid.

"Why can't we?" It was surprising to hear him ask this without the whiny tone. He was calm today, like an adult asking for a reasonable explanation. Jungkook knew he couldn't get what he wanted by whining.

"Make me understand, Tiger. Why can't we?" He was caressing your cheek. Your eyes fluttered shut because you didn't want to look at his doe eyes.

"Soojin."

"To hell with Soojin." You shuddered when he said this. His voice was rough, so different from the Jungkook you knew. You had to open your eyes to make sure it's still him who was caging you.

The Jungkook you knew would never say something like this.

"How many times do I have to repeat myself for you to understand?" He was looking at you through hooded eyes.

Your heart hammered through your chest.

"It's not Soojin who I want. It's you." You felt his finger tracing your bottom lip. The way he was staring at your lips made you shiver. "Nothing compares to you, baby."

Oh.

You realized you couldn't use Soojin as an excuse. It's not working anymore and frankly, it's just pissing Jungkook off. He swore he'd vomit if he heard you say your sister's name one more time.

"W-We still can't." You trained your eyes on the floor. He was about to ask why but you beat him by speaking at once.

"Because you're my rival."

You thought you'd hear him scoff or hiss, but Jungkook just clenched his jaw. Deep eyes boring into you. He grabbed your chin, forcing you to look at him.

"I'm not." He said seriously. "I quit. I'm not competing against you."

You were the one who scoffed.

"Why?" You looked at him like he was crazy. "This is your father's company too."

Jeon Jong-in worked hard to build Castle Architectural Firm. Why wouldn't his son continue his legacy?

"You never listen to me, do you?" Jungkook let out a small chuckle before booping your nose. It's amusing how fast his expression changed. "Didn't I just tell you? Nothing compares to you, Tiger..."

He was saying that he'd choose you whatever happened, even if it meant losing other things. Because really, what's the use of all these material things when you're not by his side?

"Kook..." You pressed your hand on his chest and then you're suddenly reminded by what you had tried to do when you got drunk days ago.

The last time you put your hand on his chest, you tried to kiss him.

"What excuse are you gonna give me this time, my Tiger?" The corner of his mouth quirked up. Amusement was written all over his face. "Don't tell me you're gonna say you don't think I'm in love with you?"

Jeon Jungkook was the only person you knew who was never scared to admit his true feelings. You just knew he would confess his love at any chance he got. It's like he didn't mind if he got his heart broken. Truthfully, it felt like he would get his heart broken if he didn't confess all the time.

He had always been like this. Always genuine, never scared. He acted based on what he felt and he's never sorry for it.

"Are you?" You weren't sure what took over you when you knitted your brows together and asked this.

Jungkook's eyes grew big and then he let out a dramatic gasp. It was as though he couldn't fathom the words that left your mouth.

"Where is this coming from?" He swallowed thickly, disbelief was still apparent in his eyes. "You don't think I—wait. What?"

Jungkook blinked. Once. Twice.

"Shit. You seriously think I'm not in..." He trailed off, "oh." It's like something clicked. Jungkook's disbelief turned into credence when he realized something.

He stared at you with pursed lips, like he was trying to figure you out. Your expression seemed like you were challenging him that Jungkook wasn't sure what to do.

He felt like you're not going to believe whatever he would say, so instead of blabbering how crazy he was for you, he just used his mouth into something that shocked you.

Jungkook leaned forward and without hesitating, he kissed you.

Hard.

It was as though you were waiting for him to do that because your response was instant. You kissed Jungkook back like a hungry person who hadn't eaten in days.

Jungkook pressed his chest against yours, like he wasn't content with your proximity. He wanted to be closer to you even more.

"You don't think I love you because—" He bit your lip, making you moan. Jungkook pushed your body weight against the wall with his own. You wrapped your legs around his waist, your dress hiking up in the process. "—I didn't kiss you when you were drunk?"

He got it now. You're sulking like a kid because of it? Huh. What did you want him to do? Kiss you and then have you hate him since he wasn't able to control himself?

"You're a fool if you think I didn't want to do it. I was literally on the verge of giving you my whole world right there and then." You parted your lips and allowed his tongue to explore the inside of your mouth.

Jungkook was the very definition of sweet. Everything about him tasted sweet, heavenly, and addicting. It was like he was an angel, but in reality, he made you weak. A devil meant to punish your heart for wanting to take more than you could handle.

Jungkook gave you so, so much more and you couldn't stop taking it all.

"But I don't want to take advantage of you. I want you to really want me, to really mean it when you kiss me." He cupped your ass as he hummed and groaned with desire.

You felt bolder when you asked him; "do you think I mean it now?" In between kisses.

Jungkook swiped his tongue along your teeth. "Yeah," he answered yet he groaned in dissatisfaction. "But I'm selfish, Tiger...I want more than this."

He stopped kissing you, opting to press his forehead against yours. He breathed you in. He was letting the selfish part of him consume him again.

Jungkook wanted you with all of his heart. He was disgustingly in love with you.

"Love is not my priority right now, Jungkook." You said since it was the truth. You had the opportunity to help people serve justice.

"I know.” And he understood it. Jungkook was nuzzling your nose. "Promise me you're not gonna hold back..."

He knew how much you loved Soojin. He was a little worried you're going to back down once you saw sadness in your sister's features.

"I won't." But you weren't that person anymore.

It's interesting, really. Some people swore they'd never change but there's always that one circumstance which would transform them either into a better or worse version of themselves. You hadn't realized yet if your metamorphosis was the former or the latter. All you knew was that you had reached your breaking point—your limit.

"Good." Jungkook smiled softly at you. His eyes were crinkling. "I know it. I called you Tiger for a reason."

He was finally telling you the reason why he crafted that nickname for you. He didn't elucidate any further but you felt like you already understood. Tigers represented courage. To some, it symbolized truth and justice.

"Thanks, Kook." You returned the smile. Jungkook helped straighten your dress. He kissed you one last time before opening the door so you two could face the challenge set for today.

You arrived at the conference room just in time. Soojin and Sin-ae were already present. Your two brothers were here as well. They're shareholders too.

Once the quorum was recognized, the vice chairperson made a simple statement. The agenda for today was also discussed. The topic mostly revolved around the firm's responsibilities and liabilities—both civil and criminal—to the affected people.

There had been major changes with regard to ownership too. It had come to the attention of the board and other stockholders that the Kims were no longer the biggest investors in the firm.

"Quite the opposite actually." Jungkook leaned against the backrest of the chair as he crossed his arm over his chest.

He looked so relaxed, as if the matter being discussed didn't concern him.

Yes, that's actually the truth. Jungkook was just asked if he had the biggest share in Castle Architectural Firm.

"I sold all my shares. I'm just here to officially announce that I'm no longer tied to the company. I quit both as an investor and an architect."

There had been a protest after Jungkook said those words. It's clear that the majority of them couldn't accept this.

"This is ridiculous! Who will be the next chairperson now?" Mr. Han balled his hands into a fist.

Jungkook remembered this man. How could he forget? He's the same scum who disrespected Soojin and basically all women. He's a misogynistic piece of shit.

"It's not my fault you're not informed. All information is laid down for investors like you. I am not competing against the Kims."

It was revealed right there and then that Taemin's illegitimate child and Soojin were the candidates to be the next chairperson.

Of course Sin-ae lost her composure. It's expected. She's dramatic like that. She was shouting and demanding how this became possible.

The charter and the country's law stated that in order to become the company's chairperson of a professional corporation, one should be employed as an architect in the firm first.

Sin-ae talked to the Human Resources Manager before. The employee confirmed that you weren't hired. You didn't even apply.

"Oh I'm not talking about me, Mam." You smirked at your father's wife. "You see..."

For dramatic effect, you stood up and walked around the room. Everyone was either looking at you with anticipation or hatred.

Jungkook was the only one looking at you in awe. He liked seeing you like this, in control and confident. He pouted while watching you. He wished he could kiss you again.

"I know it's not a secret anymore that I'm Kim Taemin's child. But..."

But. There's this word again. More often than not, the word but followed something negative...or shocking.

In this case, it's the latter.

You saw surprise written in their faces as you revealed the truth:

"I'm not the only bastard of Kim Taemin." You stood behind the chair of one of the shareholders and architects here at Castle.

You tapped his back, causing him to sit straight.

"Everyone, meet Jung Hoseok—or should I say Kim Hoseok, the eldest son of Kim Taemin..."

Hoseok smirked too as he said “let the game begin,” under his breath.

#jungkook fluff #jungkook angst #jungkook x reader #jungkook x y/n #jungkook x you #jungkook best friend #jungkook best friends to lovers #best friend jungkook #jungkook series #jungkook romance #jungkook fic #jjk fic #jjk #bts jeon jeongguk #boyfriend jungkook #armywriterssupport

217 notes · View notes

xaibaugrove · 3 years

Text

Everyone in the Krew is Problematic

I was inspired to go on this rant by someone who recently brought up a question in a server I’m in, asking why so many people in the fandom seem to hate Mako and Makorra and why. This wouldn’t be the first time I defend Mako and it most likely won’t be the last, but it might be the first time I tear him and everyone else in the Krew down in the process, only to bring them back up. Hear me out though.

I think I’ve totally accepted that a lot of people in this fandom will always hate Mako and that I will have to perpetually defend him, I understand that this is the relationship I’ve chosen with this world. But what I still will never understand are the reasons why people hate/dislike him because compared to how much they love other characters in the Krew who honestly aren’t that much better than him (in some cases, even worse!), it doesn’t make any sense.

Let me also preface this by saying, I love these characters with all my heart and soul, probably more than I should love fictional characters, but this is the life I live and with that being said, I am going to tear them apart just to prove a point. Okay, here we go.

MAKO

Most of his detractors list the usual criticisms, which are valid when isolated. He cheated on Asami, he lied to Korra, he was a terrible boyfriend and essentially he treated the women he claimed to love or care about horribly. Gee, it’s almost like the man was a teenager with no experience in having long-lasting, healthy relationships and was raised in the streets by gangmembers while doing anything to survive and provide for his younger sibling after seeing his parents killed right in front of him and suddenly being orphaned…

I think Mako has been torn down enough, so I won’t get too deep into the tearing down part for him. It really does baffle me how someone can claim to be woke and not comprehend how someone coming from poverty could possibly be a product of their environment. Like, does everyone think that poor people automatically have hearts of gold and turn out like Little Orphan Annie? Why are people surprised that when someone has a shitty life, they might do shitty things?

Also, sooo many people love Zuko, who actively tried to cause harm to Aang, Katara and Sokka numerous times, and sympathize with his troubled past. But like, sure Zuko had an abusive father and his mother peaced out of his life for whatever reasons but at least he had his uncle. Mako had his parents for maybe 8 years before they were murdered in front of him and then had...no one for the next 10 years? Except for Bolin, sure, but no other parental figure in his life. Dude literally had to become him and his brother’s own parent and joined a gang to survive, and after all that, the worst he does is acts as a bad boyfriend toward Korra and Asami and he is instantly thrown to the wolves. Something doesn’t add up. It’s just...I don’t get it.

Yes, the way he treated people was bad, but people can grow? That’s a thing humans can do. And he was a teenager, my god. No, we cannot allow our past to be an excuse for how we treat others, but we have to be aware that there is a growth process to being human. And being human in and of itself, isn’t pretty. You think Mako is problematic? Don’t get me started on your fave.

KORRA

Ok, I love this woman to death but she is ridiculously problematic. She pursued someone in a relationship and essentially forced Mako to cheat on Asami by kissing him against his will, that’s already pretty awful and shows a lack of empathy on her part, also kissing people without their consent is no bueno. But also I just have to say it for the people who might not know this. One of the fundamental reasons why Makorra didn’t work was because KORRA WAS ABUSIVE. Okay? It wasn’t just that Mako was inadequate at relationships and didn’t know how to people, it wasn’t that she was secretly confused and wanting Asami the entire time (biphobia at it’s best) one of the main problems in the pairing was that Korra was crazy abusive towards Mako. Seriously, why don’t I see this more often in those discussions??

If we need examples, I have dozens. Honestly, it’s really easy to see how terrible Korra was to Mako, I’d actually argue that she treated him worse than he treated her. I mean, they were both terrible to one another, but in Korra’s case she went through the motions of being completely infatuated with your first teenage crush, getting with said crush, then crashing and burning once you realize that you have no idea how to treat a romantic partner so after the butterflies wear off you subject them to all the wonderful aspects of your anger issues. Not only did she scream at Mako during every argument they had, she also threatened him with bodily harm if she got really angry. Remember how their relationship crashed and burned in Book 2? Here are the things that Korra did during that time. Let me reiterate, this was not okay.

Mako is visibly shaken by this!

This woman burst into her boyfriend’s place of work and violently kicked his desk out from in front of him with all his coworkers present. That is not normal behavior. That is a red flag. And after she came back, had amnesia or whatever and forgot they broke up after that scene, let’s not forget that Mako was legitimately Afraid to break up with her again. Korra made her partner frightened that they might suffer bodily harm if they upset her. Again, and I can’t stress this enough, this is not okay!

The little scene in Book 3 when Korra is lifting Mako like 100 feet off the ground with airbending while he’s screaming in fear just to make Asami laugh is cute, right? I’ll admit, I loved that little moment too, it’s one of the only instances of Korrasami development that we got, but also, there were sooo many things wrong with that scene lol. Not only does Korra terrify Mako for literally no reason, it’s also sort of just her continuing to exercise some degree of power over him for her own amusement. Almost like a subtle reminder to him saying, “I am stronger than you in every way and I can break your femur like a twig if I wanted to… but I won’t, so look how much fun we’re having!”

Now of course, there are reasons why Korra acts like this. She was isolated for almost her entire life and never learned how to treat people and be around people. The Avatar is human because they must live amongst the people they protect and that helps them develop empathy and cherish life. The White Lotus deprived her of that fundamental aspect of her duty as the Avatar and it showed throughout the beginning of the series. Clearly, she was young, didn’t see how her actions could negatively affect others and hurt the feelings of not just her partner but also friends and family (she was really awful towards a lot of people in her life!). But as the series went on, we see her having less outbursts and learning to control her temper more.

One can only assume that she does not have the same behavior with Asami because for one, I don’t think Asami would play that shit, she seems like she would electrocute a bitch in a heartbeat and not hesitate if needed, but also Korra is not the same shitty partner she used to be as a teenager. Again, kids do stupid things. Adults do stupid things. And we learn and we grow. Korra will probably make some more mistakes in her relationship with Asami. I don't think anyone can have one bad relationship and suddenly learn all the lessons they can from it and have a perfect one the next go around. I can totally picture Korra losing her temper and raising her voice at Asami if she gets frustrated and forgets who she’s dealing with. Managing anger issues is hard, I know this from experience, and it doesn’t magically get easier. Of course, if Korra does pop off, Asami would definitely put her in her place because she’s a bad bitch who doesn’t take anyone’s shit, next character.

ASAMI

You know her, you love her, you fantasize about her and you probably have her on your list of fictional characters you would totally bang if you had the chance (I know I do), yes, even your best girl is problematic. It’s interesting to me that a lot of people sympathize with Asami and very few openly criticize her (so few that I’ve never seen anyone say a bad thing about her). What’s there to criticize though? The poor girl was cheated on by Mako, had her feelings disregarded by Korra, who claimed to be her friend but pursued her then-boyfriend behind her back and then made up for it by simping for her for the rest of her life? Also her mom was murdered when she was just 6 years old, her father threatened to kill her once and physically abused her, then died right after they started repairing their relationship, essentially making her an orphan at the ripe age of 22. Suffice it to say, Asami has been through it.

So, how could she be problematic, you ask? Why, of course, through the classic Bryke technique of romance progression in storylines called Kissing People Without Their Consent

To be honest, I did gloss over this with Korra, simply because there were sooo many other issues with that woman and I just couldn’t go through every single one in as much detail but that doesn’t negate how serious this whole sneak attack kissing thing is. Sure, Asami is very emotional and lonely and sort of desperate too, (it's a little sad, really) but Mako is clearly uncomfortable and completely caught off guard by the kiss. This is also the second time this happens to him in the series! There are a couple factors that might contribute to why Asami does this and acts this way, maybe Korra’s general awfulness rubbed off on her (don’t make a dirty joke) but this is still wrong.

AND that’s...pretty much it. Kissing people without their permission is a big no no, though. Not wanting to gloss over that, but Asami really is a good person who just did a not-so-great thing. Getting burned by Mako twice probably made her a little less inclined to be as forward with anyone though, and it looks like she now takes her time and is patient in her relationship with Korra. It even seems like Asami is the only person Korra is afraid to upset, as Korra does seem more gentle and calm when around her. And who knows? Maybe Asami living a life where a majority of the time she got whatever she wanted when she wanted it might have also influenced her to be more assertive or even imposing within her relationships.

If anything, those three fools getting into relationships with each other just showed how not ready they were to be in relationships in the first place and also how not okay they were.

BOLIN

Originally I titled this as “Everyone in the Krew is problematic (except Bolin)” but then I remembered that Bolin totally kissed a woman without her consent so I deleted the shit out of that!

This asshole looks genuinely pleased with himself after essentially assaulting Ginger. Not a good look.

Sure, Bolin is baby. He will always be baby to me. But that does not erase the fact that he also actively supported a fascist dictator. Not only was the kissing without consent thing bad, but there’s also that. No matter how many times people around him warned him about the fact that he was on the wrong side of things, that he was helping someone who was putting people into concentration camps...Bolin wanted to believe the best of Kuvira. He ignored obvious signs that the woman was a dictator committing human rights violations like crazy and you know, there’s gotta be a reason for that too.

Maybe Bolin wanted to feel like he was doing something good for once. When you think about it, with his role as the comic relief in the Krew, and sort of constantly being infantilized by his older brother, I wouldn’t be surprised if the man developed some insecurity in his ability to do anything good or useful for anyone without screwing it up in some way. In Kuvira’s army, it seemed like he was actually taken seriously, he felt like he was doing something that mattered. Korra had being the Avatar, Asami had her business and mindblowing philanthropy (honestly, her ability to be as charitable as she is profitable is insane) and Mako had his police work (ACAB, tho). Bolin had...the role of being a joke. A superficial actor. A former pro-bending meathead.

Bolin lived his entire life following after his brother that once they were adults and Mako finally decided to live his own life for once, it left Bolin completely lost. And lost young men are perfect recruits for fascists.

So, in conclusion, my whole reasoning behind destroying the integrity of my favorite characters is to prove a huge point. All of these characters are problematic. They have flaws, some bigger than others (looking at you, Korra. Just...wow), but ultimately, even if your fave is problematic... that’s okay. A lot of people, mostly younger people it seems, are really obsessed with being right about everything that they do and stan. And that’s a wonderful thing, so much change has come about by the younger generations calling out people who do fucked up shit, don’t want or try to improve, and get away with it. But it’s also caused a lot of people to be unforgiving and completely unwilling to acknowledge when people do improve and try to be better.

Personally, I love my problematic Krew because having issues that you’re constantly working on internally is human. It’s human to make mistakes, it’s human to grow from those mistakes. And it’s inspiring to me, who is wholly imperfect, to see myself reflected in fictional characters who aren’t perpetuating unrealistic ideals of human nature, characters who are messy, crazy and ultimately human.

As one of my favorite manga artists and queen of impeccable character creation Rumiko Takahashi once said:

“I think that perfect people are not very interesting.”

And I will always wholeheartedly agree.

#long post #rant #tlok #the legend of korra #korra #asami sato #mako #bolin #avatar: the legend of korra #back on my random bullshit i guess

49 notes · View notes

perseusjackson-jasongrace · 3 years

Text

breaking it down to find a meaning

neighbours au?

this came out of literally no where. I was getting ready for bed and I had "I wanna love somebody" by We Three stuck in my head and then I opened tumbles and this just poured out of me? Yea I literally wrote this in the tumblr post option. no google doc we die like lovers.

I point this out only to say this is defs not edited lmao. I didn't even expect it to be this long it was supposed to a tiny drabble?

please enjoy!

[all images have alt text]

There are exactly three things wrong with Percy's current living situation.

1. He has far too little lounge space for his terribly long body. His shins have hit the coffee table six times today in his attempt to maneuver from sitting on the couch to standing.

2. The spare bedroom is not a good enough sound quality for his guitar or his drum practice. The bathroom is much better. He cannot practice in his bathroom forever, or ever.

3. His neighbour is undeniably, completely distractingly hot.

He hasn't allowed himself to rate the problems in order of most troublesome because he's a little ashamed about which one might take first place.

Since moving in one week ago Percy has had many opportunities to arrange and rearrange every aspect of the tiny two bedroom— or one bedroom and a makeshift studio— apartment until he could walk around it blind. He knows not to step on the third floorboard from the left wall on the way to his bedroom because it creaks unpleasantly and he thinks his downstairs neighbours are going to shove a hot poker through the roof just to brandish the annoying foot that keeps making the noise. He knows that the oven setting has to be juggled just right for it to go on. He knows the curtain railings in the living room are far too thin and brittle— he will have to replace them before the month is out. He knows you have to turn the hot tap in the shower three times and the cold tap four to get the exact perfect temperature. What he doesn't know, however, is his neighbour's name, or the colour of their eyes, or anything about them. All he knows is that they're hot.

But today, bruised shin and all, Percy is determined to introduce himself. If for nothing else but to gauge just how upset they might be when he starts up what his mother used to lovingly call "Melodic Madness".

So far it takes the reign as number one reason he's had to leave his previous living spaces. Mr Chiron from Strawberry Valley, who told the landlord the noise was so loud it made his steel kneecaps rust. Creative, but Percy isn't sure it's feasible. Then there was Minerva from Olive Grove who took one look at him and told the landlord he was a drug dealer, or worse, a drug user. He had raised a brow, couldn't stop his lip from tugging up, liking the way the ring that hugged his bottom lip stretched deliciously. He almost killed her on the spot. He would have laid lillies at her funeral and she would have risen again to throw them away. The last place, a Mr Hedge. Percy was glad to leave him behind. There were baseball bags swinging and yelling almost as loud as he played every time they crossed paths. For his own safety Percy didn't even wait for the man to call the landlord before he wad tucking his drumsticks in his pocket and high tailing it to, here.

Here being Sunset Gardens. Here being in this small apartment that fit him almost perfectly. Here being one knock away from meeting his new neighbour.

Percy wonders, as he looks at the soft cream wood of the door, if he should have worn a turtle neck to hide the snake tattoo wrapping around his throat. Or maybe a button down and a tie, to hide the swirls of ink on his arms. The black t-shirt he has on, a normal longer length to his usual cropped look, is clean and soft from use. He decides it'll have to be good enough because he can't wear button downs all the time. How ever will he afford all the ties that come with the obligation?

Percy knocks on the door.

There's silence behind it. The silence of sleepy world, too cozy-can't move. The silence that doesn't wish to be disturbed.

The door opens.

His neighbour's eyes are blue. Bright blue. Startling blue. Blue enough to make his lungs feel a lack of oxygen. He's reaching for the sky and it's getting harder to breather the higher he gets.

"Hello." Says his neighbour.

Percy is flying closer to the sun than Icarus ever will, ever could.

"Can I help you?"

He needs to stop staring. He needs to say something that doesn't make him look like a gaping angel fish. All starry eyes halos and floundering for relief from the air. Do fish know how beautiful the sky is? He imagines if they did they'd all kill themselves trying to get to it. He's doing it right now.

"Hi," He grins. Teeth white, straight, flossed because his mother forced him to learn the habit. "I'm Percy, your new neighbour."

"Jason," The voice is warm, deep. He knows if he lay his head on that spectacular chest he'll feel every vibration when this blue eyed spectacle talks. It'll be like getting into a really nice car and feeling the seats rumble beneath you.

"How are you finding the apartment?"

They're still standing on his door front. Jason won't relent his sanctuary. Percy won't toe over the line, curiouser and curiouser as he is.

"Good. Living room is causing some bodily harm," He waves to his shin, "But otherwise very good. Cozy."

"We share a wall. I don't know if it's your bedroom and mine or..." His neighbour trails off.

"It's my spare bedroom against you." They both glance to his door, light from his lounge flooding the passage in a perfect parallelogram.

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about." He's looking into the sky again. Watches as hair falls over that golden forehead. His hands— tattooed "amare" on his left fingers and "amari" on his right— twitch to push it back, to grasp the white strands, to know what light feels like. He tucks them into the pockets of his sweatpants. He tells them behave. The twitch in their hiding place. He doesn't let them seek.

"What about it?" Jason is frowning, in that worried way that says he's used to bad news and he's tired of it too.

"I uh," Percy's eyes flicker around the world. "I play guitar and drums. I'm using that room as my music room."

"Oh." The relief in Jason is a pointed arrow straight at his heart. Even cupid could never shoot something so potent. "That's okay. I'll use your music as inspiration when I paint."

Percy is Icarus three seconds after he believes he can fly. Percy is Patroclus when he feeds Achilles. Percy is Hercules after completing his first trial. Percy is a hero and a warrior and the luckiest person alive. Percy is alive.

"I hope you're good." Jason shrugs as if he hadn't tattooed a permanent place into the underside of Percy's ribcage.

"I hope so too." He manages to say back.

"I'll show you what I can create from you the first time and you can judge." Those blue eyes are so wide with innocence. Not the innocence of life but of words. His neighbour has no idea what he's doing to him. Has no idea that he is about to go home and make song lyrics out of all these declarations.

"I look forward to it." He smiles wide. It's ocean deep with happiness.

There are exactly three things perfect about Percy's current living situation:

1. The kitchen has a gas stove enough counter space for him to make bread and his mother's gumbo

2. His bedroom is big enough for him to fit a king sized bed easily. He is a sprawler when he sleeps and he cannot be happier to sprawl across never ending expanse.

3. His hot neighbour is perfect.

#Jercy #Jason grace #Percy Jackson #pjjg fanfic

89 notes · View notes

beautifulterriblequeen · 3 years

Text

Trickster: an Ethari theory

I've had yea many Ethari headcanons, and I hope I live to have yea many more. Most of them are probably wrong, or incomplete at best. But boy are they fun.

I love to wonder what Ethari will really be like in canon when we get to know him for more than 3 minutes, but whoever he really is on his own, he will have an effect on Runaan , Rayla, and everyone who loves him, because they love him.

The first headcanon I can remember having for "Tinker" was that he could be like Leonardo da Vinci: a genius, creative, surrounded by beautiful ideas given shape by his hands, but also capable of creating deadly weapons, enchantments, and devices with equal beauty, and perhaps not really seeing where the line between them was. It was fun, but Ethari has ended up far softer than my headcanon, and I love and support him in his softness!

After a nice string of Ethari headcanons, this year I've started poking at the Trickster archetype and seeing if it applies to him. And I think it absolutely does!

Tricksters often seem like Chaos. But they're not. They're just Difference. "Chaos" is subjective. Like the "divergent" in "neurodivergent." Who says? Divergent from what, exactly? Perspective matters, and Tricksters have a very broad take on things which allows them to think outside any box people might try to invite them into.

My enjoyment of Loki has brought all kinds of ideas to my dash with the arrival of the Loki show. I've got a copy of the Edda, and I highlighted the hell out of it a couple of years ago as I searched for the roots of Loki's origin story. (It's truly fascinating reading and the symbolic language hidden inside their poetry is dazzlingly amazing and I'm super using it sometime just so you know)

Loki is a Trickster, and he's far from alone in myth and legend. Anansi, Coyote, and Sun Wukong are some you may have heard of. Aaravos is another, of course. Tricksters can be called upon to lend aid and wisdom when the rules don't have an answer for some extraordinary circumstance which the Trickster's people find themselves in. But that's not because they are truly outside the rule of order. They are actually a part of it. They are the catch-all for when the everyday ordinary rules fail people, and something "unthinkable"--in the literal sense--might just hold the answer.

This post crossed my dash today, and something finally clicked in my head, and all of this coalesced from what felt like separate places. But they're not separate, not anymore! Serotonin, baby. It's basically upped my headcanon to a full-blown theory.

What caught my eye was an answer to why Ethari's clothing is so determinedly asymmetrical, compared to Runaan's specifically, but Moonshadows in general. It's because of this:

Long protective sleeves below patterns on shoulders. A high collar paired with a bright and noticeable swoop around the neck. Fine detailing and graceful taste. Asymmetrical tunic point on the left, below broad strappy leather. Knee high boots with stylish protective gaiters.

And let's not forget the curling horns! In some comics, Loki has a broken horn. So does Ethari.

Yes, there is a lot of similarity here, but I'm not focused so much on the visuals as the reason they were chosen. Feel free to consider other aspects of Ethari's personality and how they might be similar to certain parts of Loki's. I did! But I wouldn't be me if I didn't go deeper than that.

My favorite book in the universe (so far) is Lois McMaster Bujold's The Curse of Chalion, and one of the many reasons why is because of her pantheon. It holds five gods, represented by a hand: Father, Mother, Son, Daughter, and Bastard. The first four all have their roles and places. The Bastard--the thumb--inherits everything else. He is the god of all things that do not belong to any other gods, and that includes self-sacrificing vengeance and queerness. He is a Trickster, and his influence on Cazaril's life is far deeper than at first glance. Chaos has its place. It belongs, and so do the Tricksters who engender it. God, I love this book. Please read it if you haven't. Bujold's work is amazing.

If you've seen or read any version of MDZS/Untamed, you know that Wei WuXian is a trickster. Competent and badass in battle, but playful and teasing to the point where sometimes even he isn't sure what he truly wants, he can bring a massive amount of power and focus when he wants to. It's always a matter of "but is it important to me?"

I love WWX so much. The Trickster vibe is very apparent in his character, and in a way you just don't get in Western media. We see him on his own, and we see him with family and loved ones. And he's always feeling something so intensely! He's driven by his emotions, for good or ill. He vibes with chaos, and he will create it if it doesn't exist yet. But he will also create family from nothing, and that's something you don't see enough of! WWX is a Trickster with an emotional preference for joy.

In TDP, Ethari doesn't have a lot of lore yet. It's being Moonshadowed because spoilers for future seasons, and I respect that. The longer the wait for S4, the more ideas I will just amuse myself with in the meantime--and yeah, this is one of them, so what? :))) But we do know a little about him.

He loves music. He loves to read. He leaves his mark on things in swirly form. He works very hard, even through headaches, because what he's doing is that important to him, even though he would much rather be making jewelry. He loves taking the time to polish rough stones into brilliant jewels, and he adores big pretty flowers and had them at his wedding.

Ethari has a temper, but he also loves puns. The weapons he crafts are exquisite: "light, elegant, strong, and clever." And he knew darn well that Runaan was trying to flirt with him, but why return a sentiment he may or may not feel yet when he can play with the overly earnest assassin just a little bit first?

Okay, just... A "simple craftsman" deciding that it's going to be fun to toy for a bit with a broody assassin's feelings? Would you risk that? Ethari got balls the size of the moon, and a brain to match. When he has to make weaponry, he does not half-ass it. Ethari's stabby creations nearly have a life of their own. His creations are literally called "trick weapons." This elf is a lot, okay. And it's possible that he doesn't even know how "a lot" he is. Yet.

We're meeting Ethari after he's found something that is, in fact, genuinely important to him: Runaan, and Rayla, and Laindrin too. Ethari has found a relatively stable place to settle and find a role to adopt. I say adopt, though, because making weaponry for his loved ones is not what he grew up wanting to do. It's what he had to do to keep them safe, once he found a place to bestow his heart.

But in the show, Ethari has lost his family, one by one. First Lain and Tiadrin, ghosted. Then Runaan, supposedly fallen on his mission. Then Rayla, ghosted for abandoning Runaan. He and Rayla have reconnected now, but the rest of his family is still out of his reach. If Rayla has indeed told him, by S4, what she learned at the Moonhenge in TTM, then Ethari may parallel Rayla's journey to seek answers. But even if he doesn't know yet, and gets pulled into some other story arc first, we will be seeing Ethari without his family.

Remember the ATLA episode "Zuko Alone"? Consider: "Ethari Alone."

Ethari has chosen, for love, to fit himself into a box that wasn't of his own making. And now that box has broken. His family doesn't need him to be their craftsman anymore. Perhaps others will need him to be other things to them. Or perhaps he will know that his family does need him, but to be far more than just a maker of pretty swords. A rescuer, perhaps. A healer, a guide? An avenger?

A trickster. Capable of taking many shapes, because he understands them all. Ethari works with form and function. If he needs to transform himself, he will.

That's what Tricksters do. It's delightfully queer and delightfully neurodivergent. Ancient peoples accepted and revered the different among them and actively sought their help with things they themselves struggled with.

Tricksters are Difference. Sometimes that manifests as chaos, sometimes as genius. But if you do not love and appreciate your chaos, it will absolutely turn on you. Wei Wuxian did. Loki certainly has, many times. Perhaps Aaravos is doing so as well.

I cannot wait to see what Ethari does with his difference. I have something very specific that I hope he goes and breaks.

All this from a picture of Tom Hiddleston in his Avengers 1 Loki costume? Yeah. Because Ethari was designed to wear asymmetrical clothing, in a Moonshadow culture that prides itself on balance. Sure, there are some other Moonshadows who wear this or that asymmetrical item, and I do love to see it. But Ethari has the most asymmetrical lines of them all. The meta glee I feel knowing that Moonshadow elves are designed to hold many layers of meaning in their appearances--that the writers, creators, and character designers just flexed with them--is truly a delight.

Ethari is asymmetrical. The full and practical application of that is a glass casket, and I hope it becomes a gift that keeps on giving, because boy do I want to keep receiving it. But right now, I'm genuinely seeing evidence of the Trickster archetype in him. And I really hope it gets to come out and play.

#tdp #tdp theory #ethari #trickster #tdp speculation #yes this means a whole new category for ruthari opposites #order and chaos #ethari and order are both on runaan's list of likes #but ethari is higher so #loki #wwx #wei wuxian

41 notes · View notes

mc-critical · 3 years

Note

your analysis of selim? i think he's hated way more than he deserves. hating him for valid reasons is fine but telling that he's gonna be such a bad sultan is really stupid [and especially because only now do they bring out history & say selim was bad which is historically inaccurate as well]. out of all of suleyman's sons, it was only mustafa who was loved by all & talented [show only cuz apparently mehmet was also extremely talented & selim wasn't a bad sultan] enough for the throne. bayezid was extremely hotheaded and you can't tell me that a prince who can't control his emotions, especially in front of state officials, will be a good sultan. everyone tells selim was extremely selfish & the instigator of all their fights, when they were younger & older. siblings are always like that?? mustafa obviously wasn't like that because he was way older than mehmet, mihrimah, selim, bayezid & cihangir to get into stupid fights w/ them. mehmet & mihrimah had frequent & annoying arguments because they were closer in age. selim & bayezid had frequent fights because they were closer in age. this is a thing with many siblings; the elder provoking the younger & the younger disrespecting the elder. why do people point out their sibling fights as evidence for selim's personality? i feel sorry for bayezid as a kid but i feel less remorse for him as he's older. i don't say he deserves execution, especially at the hands of his own father, but he did rebel against his father's order & then proceeded to flee to another empire; like, the punishment for that is execution, what did he expect after rebelling? i feel extremely sorry for all his sons though, they didn't deserve this fate when they were just victims of their father's rebellion. also, unpopular opinion but bayezid is lowkey overrated pls don't cancel me i love him but he's annoying at times like all characters & no one really acknowledges it back to selim, he was honestly very underrated. he was really slandered in the series and he didn't have any real support w/ him until nurbanu & sokollu. although hurrem did vouch for him to go to manisa, it was literally only because he was 'peaceful' [we can read that as untalented as well] and no harm would reach him because he wasn't a threat [i actually really liked this plan of hurrem's, tough & clever; only if she was actually supported in this]. even mihrimah, till the end, is quite unfair to him. he had a problem w/ alcohol & people telling him to just stop? like, it doesn't work that way? people have to suffer so much in order to stop their addictions & they're actually restricted from their addictions; selim was a prince, no one around him could restrict him [his parents could but they weren't w/ him in his provinces]. he did become politically active w/ nurbanu's growing ambitions & he took smarter, more cunning & dirtier measures than bayezid to win the throne. the battle for the throne was bloody; resorting to honour like mustafa did was obviously not the best decision & people insult selim for being cunning enough [or being influenced by cunning people] to win the throne. let's also keep in mind that selim didn't even have much of an interest for the throne until manisa & nurbanu. i also like his relationship w/ nurbanu. it paralleled suleyman & hurrem's w/ the concubine arcs but selim did end up being monogamous to her in the show. their chemistry was fantastic [props to engin & merve for their acting] and although i don't really enjoy the 'a woman makes a man strong & influences him in everything; good or evil' kind of take, i did enjoy their relationship [he also sometimes looked at her like she was this ethereal type miracle, appropriately so w/ her courage]. i like what the show did w/ bayezid's execution a lot, the whole scene was such a wonderful cinematic experience; the music, bayezid's agonizing screams, his sons falling one by one, selim crying because he didn't want it to end up this way, bayezid falling & his screams ceasing, selim's heartbroken face because he was always a soft person & he always loved bayezid;

ahh, what a scene, so much love for it. anyway, that's just my opinion; i think he's hated way more than he deserves, especially in comparison to other characters & he's actually one of my most favourite characters from s4 [but i honestly love all characters w/ their good & bad, mc has many complex characters & i live for it]. what do you think about selim? sorry if you got annoyed at the long ask, i can get really heated when talking about selim [especially in reference to his historical figure], hope you don't mind if❤ [if it is annoying i'll stop it]

(okay, I'll talk strictly about the show, since I don't feel like delving deep into historical waters. There is still stuff we don't know for sure and I do want to keep the line between show and history in my head, except for the similar themes.)

While he isn't particularly my favorite character, I appreciate MC Selim and he is a very interesting subject when it comes to analyzing him. I'm actually amazed with what the show did with him in the span of a season (and something, counting some S02B and S03B moments) - he was one of the most fleshed out characters in S04 and we could get a clear picture as to why he does what he does.

Some people consider his debut to be an insult, for it immediately showed some of his weaknesses, putting him in a bad light right out of the gate. But all I can see in this debut is a showcase of his predicament of the prince no one sees as a capable heir of the throne. It’s as if he sleeps with women and drinks as a coping mechanism he’s delved into, with Mihrimah having to do effort to snap him out of it. The Selim we see in the beginning of S04 is a hopeless person. He doesn’t have dreams and ambitions, it’s as if he’s a already a lost cause and he has no one to truly support him. Even Hürrem wanted to send him to Manisa not because she deemed him as worthy, but to use him as a shield in order to deceive her enemies and protect the actual favorite. That may seem like a clever plan, but in actuality, it failed spectacularly - not only did her enemies not get confused for a second and didn’t attack Selim at all, but she forgot to tell Bayezid why she did it and made Selim confused to the point of demotivation, because none of his brothers were truly happy with this decision and they were all opposing it, directly and indirectly. And while he may not show it that much, because of his more composed and pragmatic nature, Selim is sensitive to the opinions of his brothers and the people around him and their prevailing disapproval may be a part of why he became so different than the rest. It’s like no one wanted to get to know him.

Nurbanu’s entrance in Selim’s life is very cathartic in this aspect, for she actually worked with him and gave him the needed motivation and ambition to fight, awaking sides of him that were dormant for a long time. And yes, I do think that Selim’s pragmatism is something he always had, if the whole arrow incident in S03B where he sabotaged Bayezid’s arrow, which caused him to lose is any indication.

{I don’t think that the quarrels Selim and Bayezid had when they were little are so much indicators of Selim’s personality as they are foreshadowing of their future conflict. Right, these quarrels are normal for siblings and Mehmet and Mihrimah also fought like that (heck, even little Mehmet and Mustafa had a fight once in S01 and that fight was used as the conflict of the remainder of that one episode), but they weren’t as frequent as the ones of Selim and Bayezid. I don’t know, it’s just the atmosphere of these scenes was different and hinted at something more. It could be because we know the historical events and we could see every tiniest bit of early sibling rivalry between them as build-up, but still, I always felt there just was something else. Like the whole arrow incident I mentioned, a presumably harmless little situation gains a whole other meaning later on. It sets up neatly Süleiman’s opinions of both of them (his reaction to apparent disobedience and the making of a scene by someone he doesn’t expect to, by which I mean Bayezid), Hürrem’s retroactive ignorance of a possible bigger enmity and the roots of the whole conflict. It’s not Selim deciding to sabotage Bayezid’s performance as a last resort, maybe knowing that he surely won’t do better than his brother (doing a pretty typical ,,prank’’ for a little, naughty kid) that is exemplary of his cunning later, it’s his validation and him getting away with it that eventually becomes it, just like how he ends up getting away with stuff in the next season. Selim definetly isn’t the instigator of all the fights, especially because Bayezid, thanks to his more impulsive nature, is much more likely to start a fight in the first place and contrasts to Selim’s overall better composure. Provokations among them were mutual and both were consistently throwing darts at each other, one after another. Their conflict is a very nuanced issue: while people try to play right and wrong, both sides were at fault one way or another. The conflict between them is mostly caused by insensitivity, favoritism and ignorance and the desperation of both to try to prove themselves to their parents and win their support, at the end of the day. Why did they always calm down in front of their mother? Not only because of their joint respect for her, but also because of these same attempts to earn her support. Even Bayezid, who obviously had to be sure of her support, wasn’t completely certain of it after Hurrem turned it on Selim for a while. Selim, on the other hand, obviously never felt her support, it’s like something was missing right from the start. Combine that with their completely opposing personalities and the whole system encouraging competition for the throne and there you have the inevitable ultimate conclusion. That’s why I also love the set-up, the pay-off and the aftermath of Bayezid’s execution. It may be historically inaccurate that Selim, not Süleiman, executed Bayezid, but when you think about it, it was the most logical thing that could’ve happened, ending their conflict with a heart-wrenching bow. I love the scene of the execution itself, too - the action, the dialogue, the direction, the character moments, the themes... I don’t know whether Selim loved Bayezid by that point, per say, after all they went through, but it was clear that he knew that he had to do it, that it couldn’t have ended any other way, but he was broken over it. He was aware that it was, ultimately, a sin, which would continue haunting him. He couldn’t catch a break afterwards, he couldn’t stop. All was solved, but at what cost?}

I love his dynamic with Nurbanu - they balanced each other off so well, their chemistry was amazing, such a power couple. Nurbanu’s biggest contribution is hiding some of his flaws and mobilizing him to fight. Her cold pragmatism ,,grounds’’ Selim’s softer side, she’s there to always remind him of the stakes of the game and to shut off the last ounces of his vulnerabilities after Hurrem died. He sure is influenced by her, but that doesn’t mean that he blindly takes her word for everything - he is always ready to call her out when necessary and assure her that there are lines she shouldn’t cross. Despite of her pleas, he kept having affairs with other women (that is honestly a trend with all the men of the show, but still..), he got mad at her after what happened to Huricihan and most notably, after he found out that she possibly stole his mother’s ring. A part of why their dynamic works so well is precisely this strenght of character and their awesome compatibility.

I have heard affirmations that Selim doesn’t care about Mustafa, which... simply isn’t true? While they have the least scenes together and Selim is the one that considers him most as a rival and his most dangerous competitor for the throne (which would explain his startled reaction after Musti saved him from the janissary), it’s precisely Mustafa’s death that is the turning point of his character arc. He was upping his game slowly but surely and before then, but he didn’t do much in terms of attacks. Neither Selim, nor Nurbanu once considered attacking Mustafa, the supposed biggest danger to them, which I find respectable and admirable. The bomb with the death drops and then every hope about a fair game is abandoned. Selim gets the realization that being honorable won’t work. The only way to win is bend the system and play dirty. There’s no time for sitting around or looking nice. And even though Nurbanu realized this, too, as well as Selim, Nurbanu was always more inclined to act this way than him and now the righteousness of her methods were only getting confirmed. It was Selim that had to reach this end. Discovering that he is no longer allowed to show any kind of weakness. Every chance that appears on the horizon, he’ll take it. That brings him to his first true dirty plan - the trap he set through the fake Mustafa rebellion.

Speaking of which, the worst deed of Selim’s for me is connected to that rebellion. I know I may be very biased in this regard, since it affects my personal favorite character and isn’t as recalled as others, but I hated when, in Selim and Sokollu’s attempts to wash their hands from the pulled off stunt, Sokollu, his man, told SS that Mahidevran was giving money to the rebellion. Okay, it’s not said outright whether is this directly tied to Selim or it was something Sokollu himself came up with out of desperation or something (though it was hinted that both thought something through in a scene where both were saying that they should come clean out of this all somehow) and it’s not outrightly confirmed whether Mahidevran gave the money or not (I highly doubt she did it; not only because it would destroy her whole S04 arc and she would become, well... MCK Gulbahar, but also because after the messenger told her of her alleged blame in E129, her eyes widened in surprise.), but all it does is be the only explicit case where Selim indeed looks bad, for his proposal to return Mahidevran in the castle doesn’t seem to stem from genuine guilt and remorse, but rather a late and empty attempt to placate his own conscience. Oh, not to mention (for the upteenth time, sorry in advance) how the scene back in E58 where Hurrem tells Mahidevran that her kids will be there taking care for her when she’s alone, which was treated as some big foreshadowing in the show, as well, by both the voice of the S02B narrative and the fandom alike, loses its value even more with that framing, because Selim and Sokollu themselves brought her to this state in the first place!!! Despite it making sense anyway, it’s still such a disservice to Selim as a person both inside and outside of the writing.

One aspect of Selim’s pragmatism I find most interesting is his ability to turn his enemies into allies, knowing exactly how to amass them and get them on his side, be it through giving them more money and promising them the world. These alliances are all opportunistic in nature and may not be as loyal as those of Mustafa’s or of Mustafa’s people (like Atmaca) with Bayezid, but I think Selim knows this and wants to keep them steady enough for the common goal. As for what kind of a padisah he’ll be.... I believe that state matters would be the least of his concerns, since he was shown to not care so much about them, compared to his other brothers (but then again, the show itself doesn’t put the political capability of the princes at center stage - their personal virtues are always the determining factor of what makes a good padisah and what doesn’t, more of a psychological outlook, if you will.) and he perhaps won’t plan as many campaigns or conquer as many territories, maybe he won’t be that successful at all, but his cunning would bring him advantage in front of his people, he will be at least a bit careful of who he’s choosing and won’t simply lose it in front of everyone, compared to Bayezid’s impulsive temper.

[I love Bayezid as a character, but the shadier aspects of his personality sure tend to be overlooked. While his anger is directed mainly at Selim and Suleiman, it often reaches such extremes to the point it becomes destructive and affects everyone. He doesn’t deserve his execution at all and most of his actions stem from a very sympathetic place, given how SS never truly gave him a chance and he went on the inevitable path, because he, just like Selim, realized that honor won’t work in this war, but took the opposite approach from Mustafa, direct rebellion. And predictably, both approaches didn’t work since Bayezid, too, was taken advantage of. While he didn’t get justice, the lead-up to his execution is a character arc of his and there are many reasons and events linking it all together and showing us why it took place the way it did.]

Selim’s dynamic with Suleiman is proof of how you can be presumably favored, but you have to work to get there. The reasons Suleiman favored him are very telling and sad and we see that he also doesn’t favor him because of any and all capabilities he may have, but because of his self-imposed distorted view of loyalty Selim has to do a lot to preserve, actually. He constantly has to make it so it looks like he’s loyal and obedient and doesn’t work behind his back. He doesn’t get the fullest appreciation from his father, as well, and I certainly feel it impacts him, in a way.

I agree that Mihrimah could be unfair to Selim. They weren’t that close and she had this open preference to Bayezid. Most annoyingly is when, in their confrontation in E139, which highlights even more their parallel sins, Mihrimah doesn’t seem to face that sin of hers when Selim calls her out on it. She has a reason to deeply resent him after what he did to Bayezid, but was offended when he reminded her of the crime she also committed. More solidarity on that front would be a bit better, at least a hint of like recognizing like even for a moment. (but maybe then her scene with Mahidevran later wouldn’t be as impactful? Huh.)

And lastly, about his drinking - Nurbanu tried to restrict him, but it’s true that such habits aren’t easy to give up on, especially knowing how his drinking is a coping mechanism as much as it is something he enjoys. He knows he shouldn’t do it, he’s told he shouldn’t do it, but he can’t help it. He doesn’t drink when he’s planning or scheming, but he keeps on doing it more and more with every problematic action of his. It’s an attempt to supress his otherwise strong conscience to the max, seeing how after his brother’s execution he apparently always took a drink when he was alone at night, fighting an inner conflict with himself. I don’t think there was a way he could stop doing it permanently in the show. It was a part of who he was, unfortunately or not.

#magnificent century #muhteşem yüzyıl #muhtesem yuzyil #sehzade selim #ask #mihrimah-sultan-can-rail-me

40 notes · View notes

kikyoinuyashashipper · 3 years

Text

Anime, is anime. Nothing is gonna be or look as it should. Whether it's a specific anime or anything else, but also this is facts 😂 I wonder what I'd look like if I was a anime character 🤔?

One of The awesome,funny and honestly interesting thing about it.

Things are not always as they seem, they could look one way but be absolutely the opposite and visaversa, not only is this kinda realistic in a wayis, let me exonerate, people are all different whether it be skin color sizes,hair color, personalities and whatnot, there are also those in real life that look older than they actually are, and the same can be said for the opposite, there are people that look younger than they actually are, and as of recently I've noticed the Loli controversy is starting up again, I personally don't really care for loli's that much like I have a crush on one like honey senpai is shouta(male older than he looks because he has child like features opposite of Loli ) I'll just turn myself into a Loli to be with him no big deal, don't get me wrong the Loli and shouta are adorable and really cool at times, but for me when I simp over a character I'm kinda into those like ban 7deadly sins(got them abs😆) but if you show me a image of them "aged up" or more defined and with more mature looking features (abs) that's what I'm into you show me an adorable anime guy like mitsukuni Haninozuka imma be pinching cheeks and snuggles, and eating cake, and stealing a kiss or 2 that's, now I've seen mitsukuni with more mature features/having puberty/growth spurt hitting him hard and I simp, and this is me with preference I guess you can say, I like anime abs, I don't mind a guy that's cute and chubby tho because I can just imagine them with abs and I simp, and without abs I'm also a person who admires a great personality not just the body, like Viktor from Yuri on ice I haven't seen it yet but I at least know his name but he's adorable chubby and smoking when he loses the weight 🤤🔥❤️.

And no matter what age they originally are, I'm not going to be thinking about that, I'll be thinking of me and that character I like regardless, if the character is younger ,then I'm younger and we will hold hands, and get ice cream, puppy love, if we are older still holding hands, and getting ice cream and throw in the romantic aspect, such as dates marriage, having intercourse, having kids,a future, growing old together,then dying and going to heaven together yeah I can imagine that as well, I can change them older or younger or myself older or younger because it is fiction and a fantasy and there is no reality, it can be whatever I want in the fantasy if I imagine a age difference since imma girl and their the boy if I'm older I automatically think of omgoodness he's in love with his senpai, or his best friends mom, or his babysitter, or with the older single lady who helped him once when he was little who he spent time with over time having fun, like going to the park talking about videogames,or other normal everyday stuff, who he grew a crush on over time and feels it turned into something more when he got older, her thinking of him as a child until he matured/legal age out of school already and he made moves on her showing he wanted to be anything but a child with her,her not accepting his feelings,yet over time he grows on her and her feelings change and decides to give him a chance, then they get married and live happily ever after, same thing if it's the opposite way. How a character looks despite age depends on the creator as in most cases age isn't important for the moral or for the telling of the story. Now for definitions, Loli has 2 definitions and both go for this word. Loli is a female child, that's one definition now here's the 2nd definition as well Loli also means a adult or person of legal age who has the attributes, features, or characteristics of a child while being anything but that.

Shouta is the opposite of Loli its a male child/ a adult who has the attributes/features/characteristics of a child but is anything but that.

In real life I have been mistaken as a child/minor I've been told I looked 12 or 16 very rarely ever got an answer above those ages highest I got was 20 something. When I got called 12 I was a 17 (turning 18 after graduation) senior in highschool, even the freshman thought I was one of them. Now I'm 19 gonna be 20 soon and am out of school and was called a 16 yr old by a 17 year old girl still in highschool.

I guess I could be defined as a Loli when I'm anything but a child.

Yet I'm also well endowed on my upper half of my body and have back pain because of it, in other words I got a pair of tits, and was called a hentai girl, by other people who liked manga and anime as well, even though I was called a child by others. So I have in body mature features (defined by a person or two as a hentai body),by my face I'm a Loli and look like a child(also defined by a person or two as younger than I am) when I'm a adult. So I'mma Loli hentai girl in the real world? No idea, but wait I can't define myself by fictional standards? correct. so imma human being who looks younger than they are.

Imma tag everyone I can.

This can actually go for all aspects of animation not just anime, Princess's are from 14+ snow white was 14 fun fact there, wouldn't really be able to tell. Age difference is in everything, and I still enjoy snow white it's actually one of my favorite Disney films before and after I even knew this information, and I honestly have no problem with it, mostly because for that time it's considered normal, and I was a kid and just saw a princess movie, I didn't think that their ages were relevant to the story/stories. Besides sleeping beauties 16 got spindle pricked on a spinning wheel and fell into a deep sleep, Wich was going to be death but was changed. In the original sleeping beauty, she was put to sleep for 100years as was her kingdom, the kingdom was covered in brambles/thorns (rose thorns to be specific but they didn't bloom because they were enchanted and used for defense to make sure the spell couldn't be broken), and each time someone thought to go near, or try to save the kingdom to free it's people the ground would break open underneath them swallowing them up, right where the brambles/thorns started at the end of the kingdom, so even if they managed to get past the area where the earth broke the enchanted thorns (rose thorns) would rip them to shreds, with their blood and bodies fertilizing the ground and the thorns would grow. This happened for many years until everyone forgot about it, then finally 100 years had passed and the roses finally bloomed, a prince was coming through and had heard of the kingdom and of the many who lost their lives trying to enter and was going to explore and see if he can find a way in, to see the beauty that was rumoured to live there. When he arrives the Thorn's were in bloom and the ground didn't break but allowed him to pass, the thorns actually even made way for him to go through. When he got into the kingdom he saw everything and everyone fast asleep noone had aged a day, then he explored and discovered the princess and this is where it gets kinda dark compared to Disney's version. So rape trigger warning don't read unless you want and can handle it.

..................................................................................

The prince saw the beauty and instead of doing true loves kiss to break the spell, he raped her multiple times and then he left and never returned. Beauty then became pregnant while still asleep, she had twins, and as they wriggled around searching to breastfeed one of them caught onto her finger with the spindle splinter in her finger, it sucked on her finger and managed to get the splinter out, Wich then awoke the princess and the rest of the kingdom, who was a very confused princess, and now a new mother with no idea who "prince charming" was. And that's actually the original telling of sleeping beauty, there are other versions that are less dark,but this is the original as far as I know and the oldest I could find that was in English.

10 notes · View notes

omgbigfluffwriting · 3 years

Text

Harry Potter and The Wrong Potion

Chapter 2:

26 weeks

Hermione was shocked. Lately, Draco had been *almost* courteous to her, dropping ‘Mudblood’ for her given name. She wondered if Spencer had anything to do with that. “You okay, Hermione?” Draco asked.

“Not that I'm complaining, but what happened to ‘Mudblood’?” Hermione asked. Draco flushed.

“Dobby gave me a lecture a few weeks ago about being nicer to the mother of my children. I can't believe I was lectured by a house elf!” Draco groaned. Hermione laughed. She couldn't believe Dobby lectured Draco either. “Do you think Potter put him up to it?”

“I don't think so but I won't put it past Harry or my brother.” Hermione admitted.

---

Spencer stroked his girlfriend’s rounded belly. “I know Draco ‘spiked’ the Wiggenweld potion,” he said. His own was nestled against her back. “He seems to have an issue with Hermione and I.”

“He never had brains to the extent of yours and Mione’s.” Y/N mumbled. Spencer chuckled. “Second year, she managed to brew a polyjuice potion. I only found out because I went looking for her on McGonagall's request. She should have been in Ravenclaw.”

“Maybe,” he replied. “Next time, I'm not doing this again.” It was her turn to chuckle.

“We’ll see. We may not want any more kids beyond these two.” Spencer smirked as he caressed her swollen belly.

“I probably could convince you to have more.” He mumbled. She laughed as he tickled her.

---

“Hermione, I can't get rid of them...” Draco sobbed. “And the Dark Lord...” Hermione knew what Draco left unsaid. Voldemort would not allow Draco to carry her children to term. “You’re the most gifted witch in our year... there's got to be something you can do.” Hermione blinked. Was Draco Malfoy asking for her help?

“Malfoy, are you really asking me for help?” Draco fervently nodded. “What would you do to save our children?”

“Bloody anything, Granger!” he snapped.

“Even marry filthy little ol’ me?” Hermione jokingly asked. Draco knelt.

“Even that.” he confirmed. Hermione gasped. “Father and Mother will be furious anyway but I don't care. I want all four of our children together...”

Hermione absentmindedly rubbed her abdomen, then took out her wand. “Graviditate evanescet.” she said. Draco gasped as his figure returned to normal and Hermione used her wand on her belly, adding, “infans graviditate augere.” Her belly swelled to the natural size of one who was pregnant with quads. She almost lost her balance but Draco caught her.

“Thank you Granger!” he declared as he lifted her up, twirled her around and kissed her on the cheek, setting her down. “Keep them safe.”

“I will... And Malfoy?” he looked down at her. “Keep yourself safe.” he nodded and took off.

Spencer came in, staring at Malfoy who was now back to normal. Then he looked at Hermione and stared. “Did Malfoy have an abortion?” He asked. Hermione glared at her brother.

“No, I'm now pregnant with his quads.” Hermione quietly snapped. She felt irritable with her increased girth. “I transferred the triplets to me, Spencer.”

“You did?" Hermione nodded.

“I think it’s safer if Voldemort thinks he had a miscarriage.” Hermione answered as she placed her hand on her belly.

---

Malfoy returned to Hermione reading. “Hey how are you feeling?” he asked solicitously.

“Sore.” she admitted as he sat down next to her “Do you...” Draco shook his head.

“They’re better off with you than me right now. Besides...” he took her hand. “I think I like you pregnant.” Hermione rolled her eyes. “Hermione, I meant it when I said you were the brightest witch in our year... I'm also aware that I'm starting to sound like Potter and Weasley in some aspects... not that I'm happy or proud of it.” Hermione snorted.

“Ron and Harry haven't called me mudblood.” Hermione offered. “I also haven't felt the need to punch either of their noses.” Draco gave a self-deprecating laugh.

“Good, we can keep things diplomatic and civilized,” he said.

“What's your point, Malfoy?” Hermione asked.

“I didn't want to get mushy but...” Draco paused, thinking. Should he admit he was in love with Hermione? Some part of him had been trying to deny the fact that he’d been in love with her since the day she’d punched him in the nose.

“Hold that thought, one of our children is intent on using my bladder as a trampoline.” Hermione replied with a small smile as she got up.

Draco shot her belly an annoyed look. Here he was trying to confess to their mother that he was in love with her and his children decided to interrupt. Well, this gave him time to think. Would it be best to just blurt it out, like Potter and Weasley would do or to just...show her?

Before he had decided on how he was to do it, Lucius Malfoy appeared. “I heard that Granger is having my grandchildren?!” Draco's father barked.

“Don’t worry Father, that mudblood and her bastard whelps will be finished off within a day or two. I know how to honor the Malfoy name.” Draco replied, acting the dutiful son but secretly shaking with fear and anger inside. However, Hermione - his dear, darling Hermione - had heard everything.

“Good. Those brats will sully our name and standing with the Dark Lord. May I ask how she got that way?” Draco closed his eyes briefly as he hoped Hermione could forgive him. “You didn't have sex with her, did you?” his father asked as he slapped him

Draco scoffed. His eyes were pure rage while he stared at his blurred reflection on the floor. He closed his eyes again while swallowing all that wrath inside his chest. “Father... Do you really believe that I’m truly capable of feeling any desire for that filthy whore? Not even if I wished to do that only for the fun to ruin her, I'd never risk the exact chance of what is happening, to mingle our pure family blood with that mudblood and generate such abomination.”

Hermione felt her heart sinking inside her chest as if part of her soul was being ripped out. She felt the heavy air surrounding her while she was blinded by tears that couldn't stop welling from her eyes. There was not one inch of movement inside her from the babies which made her worry about their overhearing Draco's words.

“Thank Slytherin I was wrong, then.” Lucius shot back. He turned to leave, adding, “Take care of it, or I will and you will be next after them.” As soon as the portrait slammed shut, Draco heard footsteps running away.

"Shit... Hermione, wait!" He shouted as soon as he realized she overheard everything.

“That’s it, I'm leaving Hogwarts tonight, taking them far away from your evil influence. I don't want them to know you, and I'll do all in my power to stop them from ever meeting you. ” Draco paled. "And!" she said in a way to not only punch him in the stomach but also stab him in the chest. "Guess what? Your and your father's worst nightmare is about to happen. I indeed will stain your cursed family's name with these children and I'll raise them as I was raised. Among muggles, like me and my family!" She emphasized with tears of rage sprinkling from her eyes, her face red as her blood was boiling inside her veins for how she felt betrayed and stupid about believing him, and worst, falling in love with him, although she won't admit that even to herself. "We will vanish, disappear and you will never ever find us."

Draco paled. He had fucked up royally. “Can’t you see that I did that for you and our children? You don’t know me at all, you still think I'm an awful person. I've changed Hermione. I want you and our children!” He tried to argue desperately, losing all his words with the growing panic of losing the love of his life and the fruits of it.

"Do you really believe you can fool me again, at all?! How dare you?! It's insulting! Or haven't you learned what your bloody mouth had said earlier today that I'm the most smart and intelligent of our year, but to be sincere everyone knows it! How stupid are you to believe I'm the one who can be fooled? You're fooling yourself. If I ever seemed to believe you could change, it is because I was trying for the sake of the children, to find something good in you for them. It was an attempt to give you a chance. But I always knew the truth. Well that and of course, the hormones. Probably it was the good from me in my children that made them want me to find something worthy in you to justify the part of you in them."

“Her...” he tried.

"Sure, act as the coward you always were. Going out in the right way. You don't even have the balls to face your deeds! Easy to in the end, let your father take the blame for your death, because you can't do it yourself! That's so typical of you, right? How could I expect anything different?!" By that time she was yelling out of her lungs.

The truth is, she was desperate, for many obvious reasons but the worst, she was furious because somehow, deep down, she indeed would care if he died and how dared he blackmail her like that?

“Hermi...” He tried again.

"Go ahead and do it! That will be just the cherry on the top of this cake! Then I can tell your children that you never really cared at all about them! Not even to fucking act as the least regular villain and chase them down till the end of the world, just to maybe turn them to your stupid dark side. You can't even do that?" She stopped.

She was trying, she really was, after all the hits, he should react. Shouldn't he? But she was starting to feel totally hopeless while her voice was toning down. Suddenly she feels dizzy and her hand tries to find a tree in time so she can hold herself on it. She was about to faint. Draco stopped, stomped up to and kissed her.

Hermione was already feeling breathless and with the kiss she felt like all the air was drained from her. She kissed back for a few seconds before she realized what was going on. She then opened her eyes wide and pushed him away a bit in a try to understand what was happening and catch some oxygen. "What are you doing?" She speaks almost voiceless.

“I was trying to tell you earlier that I love you when our children and my father so rudely interrupted me. What I told him was not the truth. The truth is that I am so madly, no, deeply in love with you, Hermione Granger.”

She felt her eyes burning. She was sure they were red. She opened her mouth a bit, stuttered, closed it. She didn't know what to say while staring at him. First because her mind was completely empty, not only for the dizziness she felt like fainting or all the recent overwhelming occurrences since the troublesome potion was altered and by who, but now it was all centered on the words he, Draco Malfoy - and how many times she repeated his name now in her head to make it at least tangible to her understanding - himself just pronounced, announced and confessed. “You…” She totally couldn't believe it, and even if she did, she shouldn't, right? But... she saw no lies in his eyes. “You cannot... Why?”

She started to lean back to the tree, trying to find a rational, logical explanation to justify the reason why he was saying that. But of course couldn't it be just the most simple answer, that in fact, he indeed just meant exactly what he said. “It's because of the children.” She suddenly realizes while saying it as a whisper and her eyes looked down on the grass. She smirks a bit. “Right.”

“No.” Draco shook his head. “I’ve been in love with you since the day you punched me in the face.” Hermione blinked and nearly screamed when she saw Lucius Malfoy standing behind Draco.

“You lied to me.” He lifted his wand but Hermione was faster.

“Expelliarmus!” she called out. Draco caught his father's wand.

“That’s enough!” A new voice called out. It was Minerva McGonagall with Severus Snape behind her. “Malfoy, Granger, inside your common room now.” They both hurried back into the common room.

“I love you Hermione.” Draco repeated.

“I love you too Draco.” Hermione said in return. “My room or yours?”

“Why?” Draco asked.

“Call me a prude if you like, but there is no way I'm having four kids with a man I've never slept with.”

“Mine.” Draco decided.

---

Draco couldn't believe it. In exchange for half of his father's fortune, Draco was never to contact his parents again. ‘Having Hermione and our children will be worth my parents' silence...’ he thought fiercely as he held Hermione in his arms, feeling his children kick. He was lucky Hermione forgave him. Perhaps now he could enjoy being pregnant without Voldemort finding out...

“Don't even think about recreating that potion disaster.” Hermione said with a smirk.

“I was hoping if I recreated it, it would be drinkable.” Draco said simply.

“Why?” Hermione asked. Draco shrugged.

There was plenty of time to tell Hermione about it. What he wanted to make was a cross between the fertility and polyjuice potions to create an insta - preggo potion.

But first, he needed to apologize to the one person besides Hermione that could help him accomplish his goal plus give him his blessing to marry Hermione.

#fanfiction #criminal minds #harry potter #dr. spencer reid x reader #draco/hermione #crossover

9 notes · View notes

aros001 · 3 years

Text

Going in blind: Watching season 4 for the first time. Random thoughts.

I never said anything about it before but I love Shadow Weaver's DCAU Batman eyes. They're so expressive.

Episode 1: Okay...I wasn't expecting Catra to do that. I mean, it makes sense. If she has leverage over Hordak then she's basically in charge of the Horde and that's what she's wanted (or at least believes she wants) since episode 1. It's an aspect that made her a good antagonist, that she's not blind to the evil of the Horde, she just doesn't care as long as she herself is secure. Which naturally begs the question, when the rebellion and the princesses are crushed, when the Horde is on top, when Adora is dead, when Catra finally has everything she's ever wanted...will she actually finally be happy? Somehow, I have my doubts.

I definitely feel for Glimmer in this. When you go through as big a loss as she did you need to be able to feel and vent if you're ever going to get through it. It doesn't have to be right away but everyone doing everything in their power to avoid the topic entirely can make you feel like you're going crazy. It'a especially bad for her since it unintentionally makes it feel like everyone is acting like it doesn't matter that Angela is gone when it clearly means everything to Glimmer.

Episode 2: I actually had a potted cactus plant once. Accidentally forgot about it and left it outside for an entire winter. Once the snow was gone the cactus looked like it had melted.

I kind of want to see what an interaction between Double Trouble and Clayface from the Harley Quinn animated series would look like. I'm guess Catra was just testing how good Double Trouble was as a doppelganger because it doesn't seem like she did anything while Adora was being distracted, though I suppose that could be a reveal in a later episode.

Not much to say except that I love how buff Huntara is while still clearly being a woman. Like, women can have a variety of different body types, as this series and Steven Universe show, and Huntara's build isn't just, like, Bow's body with lipstick and ponytail and the animators calling it a day. No, she looks like a freakin' jacked adult woman.

Episode 3: I didn't figure out the Flutterina = Double Trouble twist until a minute before it was revealed, so good job there. Before that I was wondering if Flutterina was some fan's original character where they won some contest where their OC got to be in the show for an episode. She was giving off some weird self-insert vibes. That twist made it all work though. It's honestly not a bad plan. Shapeshifters haven't really been a thing in the series before now so there's no reason to suspect it. Even if they did they'd probably be expecting it by way of magic or technology, while Double Trouble's seems to be a natural ability.

I like that even though Bow is definitely the goofier one of the trio he is still consistently shown as competent. That's never in question. He was very heroic and reassuring to the villagers this episode. I get why those kids idolize him so much.

Catra's having guilt over what she did with the portal and to Entrapta and her response is basically to just double-down. She doesn't know any other way to be. Not going to lie, I am kind of hoping we get another moment in the show where Adora just completely overwhelms Catra with the sheer power of She-Ra. I'm not saying like brutalize her or anything but just something where Catra is made to realize just how powerful Adora is and that she could just destroy Catra if she had a mind to do so.

Episode 4: Well, I was saying I wanted Adora to do it but I guess I don't mind Glimmer being the one to get some good shots in on Catra. Like I predicted, Shadow Weaver's moving in to become her teacher like she was with her father. Honestly I like that that was more Adora's problem than Glimmer using her as bait, which she seemed to get over pretty quick. Yeah, it was kind of a heartless thing to do but it was an understandable tactic and she clearly outright told Adora that she did it and why afterwards, which at least means she's still being honest.

It occurs to me that Glimmer and Catra may be the ones running parallel right now. Both are basically leading their respective sides of the war. They both have lost someone very important to them. And both are trusting someone they probably shouldn't. Both even have outfits that've been updated in the intro. The difference is Glimmer's just trying to deal with a bad situation while Catra's is entirely self-inflicted.

Minor thing but I like Glimmer's new outfit this season. I'm sure this is the intention but it makes her look older and more mature. A little more muscular in some shots too.

Episode 5: Heart of Etheria project. No idea what that is but assumedly whoever's a part of it doesn't like Light Hope and Mara being friends. Sounds like it's very much interested in She-Ra being just a warrior, and perhaps a tool, for the greater good. It does make me wonder though how much Light Hope remember from when she was rebooting. Even if she deleted the Mara memory she could potentially still have the memory of her and Adora watching the Mara memory, as well as Adora asking to be her friend.

Episode 6: Yep. Scorpia; definitely favorite supporting character. There is something kind of funny about her whole "Scorpions are loyal" line when you remember the story about the Frog and the Scorpion, where it stings the frog despite it meaning death for itself as well simply because that is its nature. But finally we're having someone go save Entrapta, and I can only assume at some point Scorpia's going to access the power of the Black Garnet.

The parallels between Catra and Hordak are definitely at their max here with that speech of hers to him. She's basically trying to convince herself that she doesn't need anyone, the timing of which is appropriate since she just drove away Scorpia and now truly doesn't have anyone. Not that I blame Scorpia, obviously. Like Adora before her, however good you believe someone can be and that you can help them, at some point you just have to cut the toxic people out of your life. You have the right to be happy too.

And man, Bow is just the best. He saw something was wrong between Adora and Glimmer and defused the situation like (snap) that, pushing them to talk like any sane person would.

Episode 7: I'm sure it is just because I've seen way too many TV shows and movies (both animated and live action) that don't do it but it is just such a relief to have a show where the characters just TALK and LISTEN to each other. It doesn't solve all their issues but they're at least not being stupid and freakin' petty. It helps the drama feel a lot less forced and contrived.

Episode 8: A little bit of amusement in Bow thinking at first that Glimmer and Adora didn't even notice he was gone despite them coming to his rescue very shortly afterwards, given Catra is only now realizing Scorpia has left and assumedly she did so a while ago. Bow and Sea Hawk hadn't been gone for that long so it's not unreasonable Glimmer and Adora wouldn't be worried about their absence (Bow was literally talking about "me time" when they last saw him), while Catra is only noticing Scorpia's absence now and it was because she wanted something. Like Scorpia said, she's a bad friend.

Kind of ironic given that a lot of Catra's issues are the direct result of Shadow Weaver giving her very little love growing up but it does seem this tough love is probably what'll get through to Catra the best. She might finally stop making bad decisions and lashing out if she's forced to live with the consequences of them, like Adora told her last season.

Glimmer gets a bit of slack from me since she suffered through a huge loss, that being her mother, and then was immediately thrown into being queen right after. It'd be hard for anyone to be 100% on their game and well-adjusted in a situation like that, and I buy that she was on some level resentful of Adora for coming back instead of her mother, even if unintentionally so. What definitely helps is that Glimmer very clearly and immediately regretted what she said to Adora. Like Catra she's lashing out but unlike Catra Glimmer recognizes some of the damage she's doing and knows, at least in this case, that she went too far.

Episode 9: Now that I can see the design in color I definitely prefer Mara's She-Ra with pants to Adora's She-Ra with shorts. Honestly, while the differences are pretty minor, I do think Mara's She-Ra design is overall a lot better than Adora's. Sharper shoulder guards. Bigger cape (especially the cape, I love capes). I don't know, there's just a lot that clicks with it and I wouldn't mind Adora getting a similar outfit later.

Madam Razz definitely had a Yoda feel this episode. I was very much expecting her to start wacking Mara with a stick over the sugar like Yoda did with R2. Though while that was Yoda acting crazy, for Razz it's because she experiences time out of order, and I don't think I've ever seen that concept taken to this extent, or at least done this way before. There are characters like River Song from Doctor Who, Professor Paradox from Ben 10, or even the Reverse-Flash who interact with other characters in time out of order but those characters are still on a linear path from their own perspective, even when travelling through time. Razz is just bouncing around her own timeline, seemingly not even any real reason or cause to it like Subaru from Re:Zero. Clearly she's not just remembering things oddly because her talk about things of the present are heard by people in the past and have an effect. I wonder if maybe the reason why is because Razz was at ground zero of Mara's actions and this is a side-effect of pulling Etheria away from the rest of the universe.

Bringing more Star Wars into this, it basically sounds like the Heart of Etheria project has turned Etheria into a magic Starkiller Base; storing power that'll be unleashed to destroy whole planets. And jeez, I think this was the first time I really felt creeped out by Light Hope when she was talking to Mara.

I'm looking forward to seeing what it means that the First Ones only made the sword and that Etheria made She-Ra. If that's the case, why is only the sword able to bring out the She-Ra form? Is it like MCU Thor's hammer and the weapon was just meant to help him control the power he already had? Or is what we think is She-Ra not actually She-Ra and that form that Adora and Mara take is just a stand-in for the real thing?

Episode 10: It didn't even occur to me until now but Double Trouble's capture is another blow to Catra's circle of "friends" too. They were at least able to make her laugh. One less person for her to talk to and just...really just distract her from her thoughts.

It's a good dilemma this episode presents about what to do with the Heart of Etheria. The safest and probably best option is to just dismantle it, like Adora and Bow want, since it could easily lead to the destruction of the entire planet if it goes off. Not the mention there's so little they know about it and what it was intended for and the one person who can potentially tell them, Light Hope, they were warned not to trust. But it's not hard to understand where Glimmer is coming from in wanting to use that power to fight the Horde. They're already losing the war and now she knows Hordak Prime and his FAR more powerful forces are on the way. Tapping into the Heart is a huge risk but she's not seeing any other paths for the rebels to win. It's a really good dilemma, with good arguments presented from both sides, and I buy this widening the schism between Adora and Glimmer.

Episode 11: I have mixed feelings on King Micah still being alive. On the one hand there's a lot of good potential interactions we can now have with him, primarily between Glimmer and Shadow Weaver, and he is a fun character. But on the other I can't help but wonder if this kind of lessens the impact of what Angela gave up to overcome the false reality. Part of what made it so emotional was that she had to accept the person she loved was dead and not coming back...except now we see that he wasn't dead and now he is coming back. Yeah, their family lost out on years together and that does still carry some emotional weight but I was already also half-expecting Angela to come back later in the series because she's stuck between dimensions, meaning there's a chance she could still be alive. If both Glimmer's parents come back then that really feels like it takes a lot of weight out of her story. But I guess we'll see what happens.

Also, why did the Horde exile him to Beast Island? Why not just kill him?!

Episode 12: So the Horde exiles Micah to Beast Island instead of killing him. The First Ones protect their secrets by sending their bad tech to Beast Island. Does no one know how to just destroy things in this world?

Ohhh, I am so looking forward to next episode. While it's debatable whether Glimmer should be going through with her plan she is at least being smart with how she's going about it. Double Trouble was being paid by Catra to work for the Horde, not out of any sense of loyalty. Glimmer has the resources of Bright Moon at her disposal so it's reasonable she could pay them more to switch sides. Double Trouble was very good at sabotaging even a group as tight-nit as the heroes, so Hordak and Catra are probably easy pickings with all their issues.

Episode 13: ....WELL THAT AIN'T GOOD!

I'll admit, I had a little bit of an unintended laugh. After all we've heard about Horde Prime, like this shadowy all-powerful monster, I wasn't expecting the fabulous flowing dreadlocks and smoothness. Credit where it's due, man has charisma and charm, which goes a long way in helping your big evil world conqueror not be a very flat character, because it's doubtful he's going to have the same kind of sympathetic motivation as Hordak or complexity as Catra to keep him elevated.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Double Trouble kicking at Catra while she's down. Adora and Scorpia were honest but they never wanted to hurt Catra. Not so much with Double Trouble and they just shove reality into her face. Everyone leaves Catra because of Catra. She's the common factor. It's her fault and no one else's. Again, I don't know for certain if Adora and Catra get together at the end (Catra would have a LOT to make amends for regardless) but Double Trouble was definitely implying Catra had feelings for her with the way they put Catra's hand on "Adora's" cheek while talking about how she left her.

I like that we see Glimmer's plan actually working at first. The princesses get a massive power boost and decimate the Horde forces. But the minute it starts going wrong she immediately admits Adora was right and she tries to stop the energy flow. I imagine having her there with Catra was intentional by the writers. Despite some parallels, Glimmer can actually accept her failures and work to try and fix things. Unlike Catra, she didn't blame Adora for things going wrong.

So the sword allows the First Ones to control She-Ra and the energy she'd be absorbing from the planet. Assumedly that means there are at least some parts to She-Ra that have nothing to do with the First Ones and thus maybe Adora can still use some of those powers without the sword.

Season 4 verdict: Yeah, the show keeps getting better, though I will admit last season's finale had me more emotional, but that's a bit of an unfair comparison given everything that happened in that finale vs. this one. This is definitely the series hitting its darkest hour, where it feels like EVERYONE lost. Not just the rebels but the Horde as well. The sword and Light Hope are gone and She-Ra (for now) along with them. Glimmer and Catra are basically prisoners. Hordak's probably going to have his personality stripped away. The Fright Zone is in ruins. The only one who's gained anything is Prime.

Really looking forward to what the final season has in store, especially since there seems to be the implication that Catra just saved Glimmer's life.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/PrincessesOfPower/comments/o1j5gk/going_in_blind_watching_season_4_for_the_first/

#she ra #she ra spop #random thoughts #reddit repost

3 notes · View notes