#I'm the southerner for sure

[demaparbat-hp]

seeing your ZK art with katara's burn scars I imagine zuko kissing her scarred hands 😭 and ofc she kisses his scar too !!!!!!!!

Scar kisses are my everything.

[nellasbookplanet]

An interesting aspect of Laudna and Imogen's relationship and how it has developed is the fact that they got together early in their campaign, long before either of them had any chance to work through their respective issues. Vax confessed his feelings for Keyleth early on (relatively so; c1 had been going for a while before it started streaming), but she explicitly turned him down at the time, and they didn't actually get together until she felt she was ready, later in the campaign. Percy and Vex didn't get together until after Percy had worked through his figurative and literal inner demons. Jester and Fjord didn't get together until he had moved away from Uk'otoa and his self-worth issues, and she from her romanticized ideas of romance. Yasha and Beau didn't become a couple until both of them had moved away from their self-destructive tendencies and Yasha had let go of Zuala and Beau of Jester. Caleb and Essek didn't get together until the epilogue, when Caleb finally let go of the past and embraced the future.

When Laudna and Imogen got together, Laudna was at one of her lowest points (and has since started digging), having just invited Delilah back in, and Imogen was (is) still struggling against the temptation of Predathos. While Imogen has since gone great strides in growing, Laudna has regressed, using her feelings for Imogen as an excuse to further give in to Delilah to protect her. She's too bogged down by her own self-worth issues to uphold a healthy relationship, and keeps hurting Imogen by hurting herself, not realizing how or why this upsets Imogen.

And I can't help but wonder, would Percy and Vex's relationship have been as destructive had they gotten together before or during the Briarwoods arc? Jester and Fjord if they got together during the pirates arc? Yasha and Beau if they got together before or just after Obann, when they were both self-destructing massively? Caleb and Essek if they got together while they were still low-key manipulating and honeypotting each other for information?

But even without the romance, Laudna and Imogen likely wouldn't have escaped the situation they're now in. They started out already kind of co-dependent, and remind me of Vax & Vex and Caleb & Nott in that way. But whereas the twins and Caleb and Nott's arcs had them learn to question each other and embrace love for other people rather than isolate themselves, Imogen and Laudna has only gotten more entrenched in each other's issues, and more unwilling to push each other to grow.

[fromtheseventhhell]

I love how people are only ever interested in defending Arya's right to be weird-looking. It's never defending her intelligence from people who claim she's incapable of thinking for herself, highlighting her importance to the plot and refusing to see her as just a prop, acknowledging how much of her story gets stolen and given to other characters, talking about her trauma or how often it gets erased and overlooked, seeing her as more than just an attack dog/bodyguard, etc. Nope. It's just a "why can't people let Arya be ugly/unconventional looking? :(" post every other week because people are, for whatever reason, obsessed with how Arya is visually perceived. One of the most misinterpreted characters yet the issue is only ever with her being portrayed as "too pretty" or the wrong "type" of pretty. This fandom will entirely rewrite a character's motivations, values, and role in the story to the point that they consider references to canon "hate" but! The true injustice to canon is we acknowledge that she is described as pretty several times. Arya simply existing as her pretty, important, and non-conforming self is too complex and confusing for people to comprehend 😔.

[big-moon-little-moon]

a list of people (and non-people) who know Imogen and Laudna are dating as of episode 72 (two months after the kiss)

Chetney

Paté de Rolo, Laudna's dead rat familiar

Ulli, a skysailing instructor from Zephrah

Deanna, because she has absolutely scryed on them and put two and two together

F.R.I.D.A., because Deanna was very excited and told them

Zhudanna, because she thought they were a couple this whole time

Bruda, a cursed pirate skeleton lady with a gambling problem

[cha-melodius]

sara hug prompts is wonderful!! so here goes 💚💚

southern philanthropy maybe? (or firstprince if that vibes for ya better) for:

15. The hug where they’re standing between your legs while you’re sitting on an elevated platform of sorts, their front pressed against yours, their arms around your waist; face buried on your neck.

(Ok, I did do Southern Philanthropy for the hug part, though it's from an outsider perspective and, er, less about them than you might have expected. 😅 I hope you enjoy anyway! hug ficlet prompts; read all the hug ficlets)

15. The hug where they’re standing between your legs while you’re sitting on an elevated platform

It had been a rough game. Too many mistakes on their part, too many dirty plays by the other team that went uncalled by the refs, too many moments where they just weren’t clicking. It happens, they’ll move on, but the mood as they file into the locker room afterward is decidedly sombre.

Then there’s Liam, just visible through the open door to the training room, sitting on an exam table with his head bent dejectedly toward the floor. He’d taken a bad fall late in the game and hadn’t returned before the end, even to the bench. Now, there’s a massive bundle of ice strapped to his left shoulder. A few of the other guys call out to him and he tells them it’s nothing in an extremely unconvincing tone of voice.

No one ventures into the training room, unwilling to face Zahra’s wrath for intruding on her domain without permission. No one but Pez, who practically sprints through the door the moment he spots Liam sitting there. He inserts himself between Liam’s knees and rests his hands on Liam’s hips, staring up into Liam’s eyes with worry etched on his face. As Henry watches, they exchange a few words and Liam tugs him into a hug with his good arm, and Pez’s arms wind around his waist as he buries his face in Liam’s neck. They practically melt into each other, tension unspooling from both their bodies.

Henry’s happy for them, truly, happy that they found this in each other, but it makes his heart ache, just a little. He’s even happier that the team environment is such that they don’t have to hide. Not that they’re usually this affectionate with each other when they’re here, but still, everyone knows.

Or, he thought everyone knew.

“Uh,” a familiar voice says as someone takes a seat on the bench beside him. “Is that—”

Henry cocks an eyebrow as he looks over at Alex, who’s staring at Liam and Pez like he’s just seen a ghost. He waits for a conclusion to that question, but it never comes. “Hm?” he prompts eventually.

Alex licks his lips and tears his gaze away from the couple, something frantic in his eyes. If Henry didn’t know better, he’d say Alex was being homophobic, but his sister’s got a girlfriend. Hell, he fought for the team to be allowed to wear Pride gear this year.

“Just— Are they—?” Alex stammers out.

“They are,” Henry answers the fragmented question. Then, because he can’t help it, he adds, “Problem?”

“What? No,” Alex says vehemently, his eyes skittering from Henry to the training room and back again. “It’s just— Liam is gay?”

Oh, Henry thinks, fuck. Does Alex have a crush on him? Is that what this is? Alex calls himself an Ally, loudly, but he also vocally thirsts over hot guys, even more than Henry does. Henry’s never allowed himself to seriously contemplate that Alex might not be straight, for his own mental health. Finding out he might not be because he likes one of their teammates would be fairly devastating.

“Yes, he is,” Henry answers slowly. He frowns. “Did you really not know?”

Alex gulps. “No. He never—” He cuts off with a shake of his head. “Fuck. I— I gotta go. Later, H.”

With that, he takes off like a shot, leaving Henry more than a little confused and wondering if he’ll ever find out what caused that reaction.

[azu1as]

dumb rotmhs fanfic idea where chung myung doesn't reincarnate and instead turns into a lost ghost on mount hua.

that is, until his spirit stumbles into yu iseol chasing after their lost plum blossoms technique that he begins to slowly regain his memories.

Got inspired by @dew-in-the-morning's tweet here!! You can also read the original fic thread :DD

»—————————–✄

yu iseol doesn't know who the one-armed stranger was. she had opted to ignore him when she first noticed his presence in the far distance upon arrival at the clearing. but he'd been observing her for almost two hours now, and it seemed as if he had no intentions to leave at all.

"come out." she tells the one-armed man, but frustratingly receives no response at all.

she makes a move towards him but he disappears within a blink.

a part of yu iseol becomes unsettled, but she decides to brush it off as nothing more than a one-off encounter.

she's quickly proven wrong.

the following night, she once again finds him in the same spot, facing her direction. it continues that way the next night until the next week. the man is consistently there and always leaves whenever yu iseol outwardly acknowledges his presence.

after almost two weeks of this occurring, yu iseol decides to stare just as intently at the man as he did at her sword.

she doesn't often feel conscious about how others perceived her, but something about the way the man's eyes visibly narrows when she swings or stabs her sword makes her every move feel like they were being scrutinized and dissected.

and that her results were unsatisfactory if the random clucks and tsks she hears off to the side whenever she overextends her swings were any indication.

the man's robes were clearly from mount hua. but she quickly realizes that what she initially thought were shadows on his garbs were actually dark blood stains.

then a sense of uneasiness washes over her when she notices that she could see the edges of a tree through him.

it seems that her nightly companion was some sort of supernatural entity.

she doesn't feel any true fear though because no amount of malice or resentment was ever turned her direction since she began seeing the man.

"who are you?" yu iseol finally asks.

but, as expected, the man disappears and she's left alone in the clearing.

%%%

"are there ghosts on mount hua?" yu iseol asks the sect leader much to his bemusement.

"perhaps." he replies to her after a beat passes. "what brought this on?"

yu iseol silently huffs at the admittedly lackluster reply, but responds politely, "i just saw something."

before she could turn away, the sect leader hums pensively and gently adds,

"maybe what you saw was the ghost of an ancestor watching over you."

clearly, it was intended to be an acknowledgement of her nightly sword training and visible efforts towards attaining mount hua's swordsmanship.

yu iseol, however, took the message quite differently.

that night, yu iseol lets out a breath and lowers her sword as she once again catches sight of the semi-translucent man observing her from behind a tree.

her attention zooms in on the bloodied embroidery of a plum blossom on his chest and the sword sheath strapped to his waist.

she steels herself as her eyes locks onto sharp, pink ones. she was certain that whoever this man had been, he was a strong swordsman with the way he held himself even in death.

and if the way he attentively observed her sword training was a potential indication....

"excuse me," yu iseol begins, fists clenched, "do you know how to make plum blossoms bloom?"

there was a long pause between them. for a moment, yu iseol worried that she was mistaken and that the spirit of this ancestor would disappear as he usually did.

but then the one-armed man steps forward for the first time into the clearing and replies by unsheathing his sword.

it glints against the moonlight despite its translucency and yu iseol knows that she couldn't miss the next moments no matter what.

the ghost of her ancestor holds it aloft in the air for a brief moment. And then he swings his sword into an arc.

in yu iseol's chest, the uncertain flicker of hope ignites into an unstoppable wildfire.

[theshiftingworkshop]

Fun fact! SD, while not really having a concrete nationality (Terri and I toss around ideas here and there, so we have a general idea), does have a background in being raised in the South US, and on that good 'ol ✨Southern Hospitality✨(much like yours truly), and will sometimes slip back into old habits if he gets tipsy enough XD

Terri and I affectionately call this "Going Southern", and luckily, he mostly just lets loose and gets more openly flirty with a certain little darlin'~

[pseudophan]

nora how likely is it that they’ll drop new dates/locations later because i’m in india 😭😭😭 ik that they did a single II show in India

okay so when it comes to places they haven't announced i wouldn't get my hopes up but i also wouldn't rule it out entirely? the big issue with ii was they announced a bunch of dates and then had endless trouble with venues and customs and had to reschedule and cancel and their communication was awful and it was just all around a really shit time. i think this time they're being cautious and only planning on going to places they know they won't have issues with, but i don't necessarily think that means there definitely won't be anything more in the future. they've done that before, announcing new countries later on, so you never know? but again i also don't want anyone to get their hopes up in case that doesn't happen. we'll have to wait and hear what dnp have to say on the matter i suppose

[geothewriter]

Vermillion Seas Cardinal Skies: Chapter 24 - The South

The opportunity to finally release years of pent-up fury arrives for Katara. Will she still be herself on the other side?

--

Happy New Year y'all! I've been busy busy busy, so unfortunately, the idea of finishing posting the entire fic by Christmas is long gone, but we'll be reaching the endgame soon enough! Boy, it's 2025 now. I would have never guessed that I'd still be writing this fic, but you know how it goes!

This chapter is definitely long in coming. It's another of those that I've had in the back of my mind for how I wanted it to go for months, so it's great to finally get to share it!

As always, MASSIVE shoutout to Achillmango for her awesome editing <3 She's the bomb, and I couldn't have done this without her.

Now then, please enjoy Chapter 24 - The South!

The gentle rumbling of the airship engines almost lulls her into a sense of ease. Almost. The world around her and back home is so filled with problems– problems that she cannot avoid– problems that force her to refuse any sort of satisfying rest. After all, how could she relax? They’re en route to the Fire Nation. Her fate awaits her. She failed. Her men saw her failure and no matter the fear she’s put into them, they’ll surely speak of what the Avatar did.   As much as she hates to admit it, the only way she was going to survive that fall, she knows, was with his help. She recalculates the moments again and again in her mind. Blasting from the top of the ship, falling through the air, impacting the wall, losing consciousness, then–  Her only hope would have been to jab her crown hairpin into the rocks, but she failed even that. She doesn’t deserve to be here. To be alive. And yet.  I forgive you. She knows that from anyone else, this wouldn’t have any effect on her. That stupid naive kid meant it with all that he is. Zuko would’ve been lying. Anyone else would be obviously lying. But him. That stupid kid.  How can she make sense of all this? Can she even go back home? The burgundy reds of her room feel suffocating now, completely at odds with the feeling she had experienced atop the ship. Why is that voice in her head so intent on ruining her life? The voices she corrects herself. There are two. One younger, and one with depth of experience.  With an exasperated sigh, she tries to discount her imagination. They can’t be real. She’s just under a lot of stress, that’s all.  Azula, Zuko, promise me you’ll look out for each other.  The words come back to her, clear as any cloudless sky, and she’s struck then, by the clarity of her mind. She’s never generated lightning as quickly as she did when firing toward the combustion bender. Only someone with total focus could do such a thing. Someone like Father. Someone with a singular ambition. Someone who knows their place in the world.  Not even Father is that fast. Part of the clarity brings realization. The voice she heard begging her and reminding her of a promise made as a child. It is Mother’s voice. Why here? Why now? She’s long gone, never to be seen again. How could her voice reach her– it must only be in her mind. Does a part of herself want to keep Zuko alive? Does she lack the conviction to follow through with Father’s orders? She even allowed the Avatar to escape unscathed.  It’s what Mother would have wanted, she knows. But this isn’t what she wants. Is it?  Her goal always has been and always will be to be the perfect princess. To be the gem of Father’s eye. To be perfect in all she does. Why is she slipping up now when the journey is at its end? She clenches and releases her hands and watches as they tremble and shake uncontrollably. “There’s good in everyone, even you.” What’s that supposed to mean? Good in everyone? As if she isn’t good? She’s doing what’s right for her nation, for her people for–  The door cracks open and the wide-eyed captain of the airship nudges the door further. “Princess, by orders of Fire Lord Ozai, we are making way for Caldera City. Are we to make any deviations within reason?” He clears his throat meaningfully.

Continue Reading on AO3

[demaparbat-hp]

these 50s-60s arts are soooo zutara to me, i mean LOOK AT THEM.

the first would be like "fire lord zuko doesnt realize ambassador katara is in love with him"

I love this (and they love each other)!

[say-hi-intrepid-heroes]

my fun game is seeing how many terms of endearment i can get away with saying platonically because i say them in a southern accent.

[wardensantoineandevka]

look, I simply don't have the patience to entertain argumentations apparently rooted in the idea that everything Solas says about anything is a clear-eyed and fair judgment of what the current state of affairs is, what the implications or consequences of that state of affairs is, how those living in those conditions feel about them, what is the best way to move forward to improve those conditions, and what the consequences of any action he takes in an attempt to correct or fix that state of affairs is going to be.

he's a very interesting character and one that I do find sympathetic, especially after Veilguard, but I find it laughable to take anything he says as even remotely grounded in the reality of Thedas now or that his claims about what is and what will be are authoritative. his tragedy is that he is unable to see outside of his perspective and his desperation to assuage his regrets and guilts over hurting others and the world repeatedly in an attempt to make up for or correct his previous hurtful mistakes, which invariably go wrong, creating a vicious cycle. the thing is that Solas does not want to work with the current reality because he feels guilt and regret over creating it, so he is trying to hit a reset button to restore what he destroyed, believing that such a reset is even possible after the world having already changed so much since, adapted to new material conditions, and is trying to find a way forward and better through it—so, I don't necessarily find it convincing that he understands what the current reality even is and whether this is the best course of action to remedy what harm or pain is happening.

if an argumentation starts from a supposition that Solas has the most clear, sensible, authoritative, and grounded assessment and judgment about what is happening now, what must happen to move forward, and what will happen after he acts, I find it a fundamentally flawed one and thus too tedious to entertain, especially given that the series as a whole is very loud about how everything is being filtered through a flawed perspective

[espressoristretto-patronum]

My MC Tori and I if we were in the same room 🙃

[captainjonnitkessler]

Assume this is when you are at home and assume I've already considered that the poll includes the funny sex number and you don't need to click it just to be funny

[quipxotic]

MeeMaw Morri? Okay there Ashton.

[torchickentacos]

update: still in burnout/seasonal affective hell (and now i'm snowed in ✌️) BUT I have found out that I can watch various episodes of River Monsters, Mythbusters, and Kitchen Nightmares for free, completely legally (not sarcasm). so that's nice