#< LMAOOO I DID MY BEST

[lawrencewilderanswers]

I feel his lips press to mine and I shake under his grip, fingers crawling up my shirt with intentions I can’t define. His teeth grab my bottom lip with the desire to hurt, and everything feels shaky. Any words I attempt to say are muffled.

Ooc continuation of the continuation of the continuation

@lawrencewilderanswers

We go where we want as long as we come back home. She was the one to set it up. She truly is something, founds a way to make it less of a nightmare for both of us.

[expelliarmus]

[someiicecube]

06.21.24

"It's been a while since I've celebrated today... much less have the party shared alongside someone else."

Happy Birthday Esther! ...and Leander too, I guess.

Bonus:

The birthday boys in question: a man in his 30s and Leander

[yardsards]

i needed to express a sentiment in the creative stylings of @dunmeshiminimumwage

[kunikiiida-kuuun]

Me anytime Asagiri talks about Kunikida and Dazai

[cavennmalore]

Something weird I've noticed in the kotlc fandom that I really cannot wrap my head around is the treatment of the Vacker family, specifically Alden and Fitz. These are understandably popular characters (and for good reason) and it makes sense that people interpret them in different ways. I can't help but notice that some of the predominant discussions around them center on personality traits they just... don't have in canon.

Most of the characterizations I see of Alden treat him as a rampant child abuser. He's overbearing, stern, and determined to force his child to live up to the Vacker name by any means necessary. Naturally, Alden is not a perfect character or father, but such a harsh depiction flattens much of what makes him dynamic in the books. As I see it, there are two main flaws that Alden has in canon: his past with Prentice and his meddling.

What Alden did to Prentice is treated pretty seriously throughout the series. In Exile, it's made clear that falsely accusing (or, not so falsely, depending on what you consider the real crime to be) Prentice and performing the mindbreak is the biggest regret of his life. So big, that it shatters his sanity and ruins one of his closest relationships (Exile, Chapter 35; Nightfall, Chapter 3). It's the mistake that keeps on giving, and it's made abundantly clear that while Alden wasn't aware of what he was truly doing, he bears responsibility nonetheless. It's a burden that Alden takes extremely seriously, pushing him to search for the Moonlark for years, but more on that later. While his guilt over Prentice is an important part of his character, it's not the flaw that I usually see given the most weight in his characterizations.

Alden's meddling is prominent, to say the least. It heavily features in most interpretations I see of him online, largely negatively and largely without specificity. In canon, there are really two ways that his nosiness presents itself: his children's personal lives and his hunt for the Moonlark. The two best examples of his meddling as a parent come from his interventions in Fitz and Biana's friendships. In the first book, Alden encourages Biana to befriend Sophie because he worries about her (Keeper, Chapters 43 and 47). He acts similarly with Fitz and Keefe, encouraging Fitz to invite Keefe to Everglen so Keefe can avoid spending time with Cassius (Flashback, Chapter 21). In both cases, Alden doesn't go beyond asking his kids to spend time with potential friends. He doesn't micromanage their hangouts or insist it's for status reasons; he's interested in supervising kids who he worries are in a bad spot. This is notably different from Gisela's meddling, which is for personal gain with tangible, selfish goals (Neverseen, Chapter 63). Maybe Alden shouldn't be pushing his kids to spend time with those they don't have an interest in. But the eventual friendships that arise from them make up for it, in my opinion.

The other form Alden's meddling takes is his hunt for the Moonlark. As a manifestation of his guilt over Prentice's mindbreak, Alden enlists Alvar and Fitz to search the Forbidden Cities for the Moonlark. I've seen this search used as the basis for a lot of the animosity between Alden and his sons, which I think is incorrect. Alvar is the first hunter and is very open about how pointless he thought the endeavor was (Keeper, Chapter 28; Neverseen, Chapter 1). The difference of opinions over the Black Swan between Alvar and Alden is a point of contention in their relationship, but it's important to note that Alvar doesn't claim to feel pressured or pushed into the search. He just thinks the conspiracy of the Black Swan is stupid (Keeper, Chapter 28). Of course, much of this protesting was a cover for the fact that he was working with the Neverseen and would've been searching anyway (Neverseen, Chapter 63).

Fitz takes over the search at age six (Neverseen, Chapter 1). Fitz's age when being sent out is questionable at best, and I think is fair to criticize Alden for (though, I think the age has more to do with Shannon being unable to decide how Elvin aging is supposed to work since none of the other characters seem to think six is unreasonably young). But while the reader can freely critique Alden for this, what's crucial is that Fitz doesn't seem to mind this. Rather than be upset or resentful that Alden had him search for the Moonlark, Fitz calls it "the most important thing [he'll] probably ever do" (Stellarlune, Chapter 43). He's proud of the work he and his father did; if anything, it's a positive in their relationship. I've seen some arguments that pushing Fitz into the Forbidden Cities is part of a pattern of having kids do dangerous work (per Sophie doing Fintans mindbreak in Exile, even though that wasn't Alden's idea and he offered to disobey the Council if she didn't want to), which isn't necessarily unfair. What I do think is a problem is acting like the search for the Moonlark had a significant negative impact on Alden's relationships with his sons.

Part of the reason I think this interpretation is so prevalent is a contributing misunderstanding about Fitz's character. Fitz is often portrayed as anxiety-ridden over his role as a Vacker and the expectations that come along with it. Being a leader isn't something he wants, but something he feels pressured into. In canon, Fitz is almost the complete opposite. He's shown at being naturally gifted at telepathy and school and is incredibly charming. Being a Vacker -- and the expectations that come with it -- is something he embraces wholeheartedly. In fact, it is the loss of his leadership that causes struggle. A main point of contention that Fitz has with Sophie in Stellarlune (Chapter 43) is that he "still want[s] to be that guy that everyone looks to" even though that's no longer his role. None of this is to say that Fitz is perfect, or that he doesn't fight against the idea of being labeled so. Instead, much of Fitz's arc is about learning when to step back and change his perspective on the world, including recognizing when his privilege has clouded his judgment. His rejection of being labeled perfect has more to do, in my eyes, with having a difficult time reconciling his "idyllic" childhood with the harsher childhoods of his friends (Flashback, Chapter 21).

So what is the problem between the Vackers, if not fanon? The one issue that is repeatedly brought up by both Fitz and Alvar alike regarding their father is favoritism. Alvar felt ignored after the births of Fitz and Biana, claiming that Alden replaced him with Fitz whom he refers to as the "Golden Child" (Neverseen, Chapter 72; Flashback, Chapter 49). Fitz feels betrayed by his parents' immediate re-welcoming of Alvar when his memories are gone, insisting they prioritize Alvar over Fitz and Biana's safety (Flashback, Chapter 16). In both cases, Fitz and Alvar feel like an afterthought or the lesser child. It's that feeling that fuels (or encourages, considering Alvar's done quite a bit throughout the series to create independent hate lol) the animosity between them and Alden.

It's this "favorite child" dynamic that I find really interesting and unique about the Vacker's dysfunction in the series. Maybe it's just me, but I don't see a reason to paint over this dynamic with bullying, especially considering there is a father-son relationship in canon that is the Vacker fanon almost to a T. Cassius spent Keefe's whole life attempting to pressure him into becoming a "real" Sencen, which Keefe tried to do before realizing it was unattainable (Flashback, Chapter 21). It's the bedrock of their non-relationship. To shove Fitz and Alden into that pigeonhole is a disservice to each of these relationships, which have their own intrigues without sharing. None of this is to say that people can't headcanon as they wish, and to try and play with characters is the fun of fandom. I wouldn't want to discourage anyone from that or shame them for it. But to claim those relationships are canon is disingenuous to me and a misportrayal of the books.

[sanasanakun]

I need more people to discuss the fact that Gortash and The Dark Urge created an entire “super-duper secret BFFs 5ever” code/language just for their communications. And that Gortash later hid these letters at his fucking parent’s place, acting like an embarrassed kid covering up his old love poems about his first crush or something. They are so goofy for one another, bro.

[hirazuki]

Me, episode 1: Oh, a relatable protag! And a relatable female protag, at that. Sweet! That never happens.

Me, a few episodes in: Wait, the protag really is going to be my character? The one I identify with the most? Seriously? It's not going to be a strange, at least somewhat sinister, seemingly hostile male side character? It's gonna be a female character and the protagonist? That's insane, that literally never happens... what's the catch??

Me, more than halfway through the season: ... huh, I guess Maomao really is it. Okay, then ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Me to myself, after episodes 22/23:

[limonjarritos]

no im still so unwell over this??? vince scribbled out the criticism of rody in the review of the bistro. help

Nooooo but literally. How he immediately discredits any bad word against Rody! It defo made me more convinced that the reason the party ended was because Rody's ex classmate made fun of Rody (and it is mentioned by one of the guests that Vincent can hear Rody very clearly from over there, there's no way he didn't notice that whole scene). I do wonder exactly what was said, since he's not afraid to be brutal to anyone that's not Rody.

If a customer ever treated Rody like shit in the typical way customers act towards service workers I don't think Vince would be too happy lmao. POV: you treated your waiter like shit and now some white french man who smells like an ash tray starts glaring daggers at you.

Come look at my smiling deranged blorbo!

[mad-hunts]

so, i'm sorry in advance for the cursed images again, y'all. BUT i was thinking about it, and honestly... this is the most accurate description that i could give y'all as to what barton is like around people who he's in love with versus almost everyone else (besides those in his family and his friends + POSSIBLY others... though, even then, he might just act this way towards them 💀)

barton around his love interests:

barton around almost everyone else (at least about 50% of the time):

[einsatzzz]

OC Crossovers (1/3): Tea Time with Myr and Lidija (@myrmyrtheorca 's OCs!) Kurumi may or may not be telling Lidija about shoujo manga while Myr is just chilling there and relaxing from the nice atmosphere.

[sunnibits]

guess who finally finished botw after literally 7 years lmaoooooo

[littleredstory]

I wanna finish this but idk when I will. "It's pride month, me, you know what that means" "what, do you want me to. like. make my ocs gayer somehow? what?"

[dreamieparadise]

Mimi x Takeshi

See my ingenious tags below

[ask-andante]

Would you say you've ever rewritten plot? Or have you always known how you wanted the story to go?

I've rewritten the plot so many times BSDBFBSDFB. Originally the plan was that everyone was gonna die but I didn't know how , and then months later I had a dream about a giant Uxie by a stone wall, the seas stretching behind them, and their eyes were pure black... I designed the Mythics based off of it.

A lot of key points I had planned since around then but things have been tweaked a lot over time, and a lot of things were improvised. I think the askblog format sort of encourages improvising, there's a lot of unpredictable asks/interactions, and for some blogs they'll do things comboed with other blogs that weren't planned for initially (like the thing with Deva wasn't planned for right away).

imo, I think making shit up as you go between key points is fine and fun. Do what you want, shitton of super popular anime are defiNITELY made up as they went. Entertainment is entertainment, like sure strive to do your best, but long as you have fun yanno?

[skepticalarrie]

ALLIE!!!!

I used to follow you here when I was reallyyyy active in the fandom, always on top of everything. But being on twitter made me realise how much of my time and life I was wasting away on social media. Then suddenly life got busy last year and I took an impromptu break from all my socials and completely fell out of the circle. 2 days ago I decided to read y&b again on a whim and I realised just HOW MUCH I MISSED EVERYTHING!!!! It led me to watching an update video of larry on yt and I FOUND OUT HARRY HAS A NEW STUNT NOW?? LIKE CMON!!!!! I genuinely never thought I would fall so out of touch with the fandom. Ig there's still a part of me that really likes staying out of the drama and the pr and just wants to enjoy their music without delving too deep into anything, but I missed this too. So ofc I made a new tumblr account and followed you first haha!! I'm never (hopefully) going back on twitter now. I want to just be a tumblr larrie for life lol.

That being said,, this'll sound weird buttttt ummmm as a maybe big sister can you pretty please give me a few tips on how to stay updated on everything and not waste my life away on social media? 😭

You don't have to obviously, but I will absolutely kiss the ground you walk on if you did 🙈

Hi anon, welcome back! Fandom experiences are always so bittersweet, right? While you feel good and feel like you belong somewhere, it's also a very tricky and toxic environment. It's nothing like twitter or tiktok, but you also need to be careful with tumblr btw 🤧🤧 Anyways, I'm happy you were able to step away and now you're looking for a more "healthy" approach with social media.

But I don't know how I can help you, I think just following the right people around here who also match your vibe. Like people that you know that they will be posting updates without making a big drama out of it, and with a quick scroll you can take everything in. People usually don't like following "discussion blogs" like mine because of that sometimes, which is very understandable. Now I've been mostly inactive for the past 6 months, but I always talked about stunts and stuff like that on my blog, and that can be super draining and time-consuming for myself and for others reading it. So it was very good for me to step away and completely ignore stunts and any other stupidities that were happening, and I plan to stay like this for a while because for me is not worth it. I didn't exactly feel like I was "wasting my time" here or on social media in general, but I definitely felt like I was worried about stuff that simply didn't matter and I could use that time better. I hope that helps, anon, it wasn't the best answer LOL sorry!!!