#The force of coincidence must hate them specifically.

[orpiknight]

Good Omens, but it's just about this one couple who keep finding out that their table reservations at the Ritz are somehow canceled every time they show up because, unknown to them, a demon and an angel are using their powers on a whim to have their own date nights.

[evergreen292]

Hmm, maybe I should elaborate on why I am so furious with the 600 strike and therefore totally disappointed in Epic the Musical.

Okay, there’s no problem with the help from the souls of the crew; let’s collectively forget that they should hate him because he was the reason for their deaths, and that they shouldn’t even be there since they died not near Ithaca, and Hades wasn’t likely giving them a day off from the underworld.

No problem with the wind bag, so conveniently delivered by the trident; okay, just a really wild coincidence.

But here the problems start:

1. Since when does a totally uncontrollable and turbulent storm act like a controllable jetpack?

2. Since when is Odysseus totally capable of not only using this jetbag with ease from the very start but also using it in a damn battle? Is that believable in the slightest?

3. Since this is Poseidon’s storm and Poseidon is fully capable of controlling it (as we see at the end), why didn’t he just turn the storm off a little bit earlier, right inside the jetbag, to get rid of Odysseus without any problem? Because the author says so? That’s just silly.

4. Why doesn’t Poseidon fight back but mostly just float helplessly? Yes, he is supposed to be a worse fighter at close range, but not helpless at close range! Why didn’t he even use his own sea for attack or defense? It’s his domain, after all! I saw an opinion that he was shocked because he felt pain for the first time in his divine life… but that’s just not true. He was eaten by his own father and spent his childhood in his stomach, where there was surely enough pain. Also, gods fought their own wars with titans and giants, so he must have experienced enough pain in battle. He even fought in disguise alongside mortals in the Trojan War. So it can’t be the reason. What is the reason? Masochism? Or does the author simply understand that there’s no way for Odysseus to win if Poseidon fights back or at least protects himself with water?

5. Why does Poseidon just let his trident lie on the ground for Odysseus to pick it up slowly? Poseidon was already pretty well beaten by this mortal, so I just don’t believe he didn’t consider Odysseus a threat at that moment. So… just why? Another author’s decision for the sake of a desirable (but totally illogical) Odysseus victory?

6. Why does Poseidon let himself be stabbed repeatedly by his own trident and not even try to take it back, run, or use water to evade? Is he really this masochistic? Another “because the author wants it so”? And we can see that Poseidon bears serious pain well enough, by the way.

7. Poseidon calling Odysseus a "monster" as an accusation is just hilarious because with all his ruthless philosophy, it should rather be a praise! So we have a clearly out-of-character Poseidon here. Also, I think he would rather die (being immortal, yes) than ask a mortal (!) for mercy! And all the “how would you sleep at night” is just so out of character for Poseidon from all the gods! He is ruthless himself, so… is he sleeping poorly at night all these thousands of years? Really? Does he genuinely consider his ruthless deeds something to regret? Do we have a straight PJO Poseidon here instead of our old epic one?! This line seems just forced for the sake of a “badass” Odysseus's response.

So we already have too many illogical moments that the author uses to get a desirable but totally unbeliveable result. But what about mythological accuracy? In Greek mythology, we have no examples of a god being literally defeated (not tricked or captured) by a mere human. Only wounded—twice—in the Iliad, but in the first case, it was Aphrodite, who is specifically described as weak in wartime. And in the second case with Ares, Athena was there invisibly, literally guiding Diomedes's spear to the weak spot with her own hand. So we can’t even say that it’s mythologically possible for a mere human to defeat a god, especially one whose power is comparable to Zeus.

So… now you can see why I am totally disappointed with the 600 strike.

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

[forgottenyear]

[tw: discussion of male bodies] [sorry, but i am not sure how to describe this one, except it feels like it needs a warning]

i avoid looking in mirrors

and when i must, i look only specifically where i must

it is easy to forget what i look like

i forget what people see when they look at me

i do not think this body is necessarily ugly, for a male

it is just that it is male

--

people online are sometimes surprised to learn my body is male

i feel uncomfortable with male presences

even in those who identify as female

and i dislike having to present as male

i prefer just to be me

but i know what people fear in my male form

--

when i was in the hospital, three weeks ago

the physician’s assistant and the doctor were female

and they were treating a patient (me)

and the way they treat patients

allowed me to forget that there was a male in the room

i felt humanized

i felt relaxed to be me

i did not feel like something to be feared or suspected

i did not feel the sort of caution that must be maintained around men

but then the doctor had to check for other lumps

and so she pulled my underwear down

and in doing so, exposed that there was a male in the room

and from then on, i felt less human

i do not think their awareness or treatment changed

but i was reminded that i cannot be trusted

to be better than this thing attached to this body

--

maybe that is where the problem is for me

i do not trust this body

and i do not want for anyone else to trust this body

because maybe that will set them up to be hurt by other male bodies

because this thing attached to this body

is the same sort of thing that has been used to hurt us

and the only way i can live with it

is to forget it is there

but i keep the body looking reasonably male

to ward off males who would want to have their way with less-than-male bodies

and so everyone sees a potential rapist

instead of me

--

this sort of thing prompted some males

to dehumanize us

so they would hurt no one

as they forced this sort of thing

(this previous sentence should be left unfinished)

--

this disgusting thing

is attached to this body

and it is dehumanizing

by its mere presence

and in one moment, i was able to forget

and i felt like i was human

in the presence of humans

but it was there all along

and i was the only one who forgot

--

this body is disgusting and i hate it

but it is thin protection

from bodies like it

--

it may be a poetic sort of coincidence

that i also happen to be allergic to this body

except it caused the previous encounters

with male bodies

to be all the more painful

[heliosoll]

can you believe in the law of assumption and religion? i keep seeing people say you can't but i don't understand.

Well... I want to preface all of this with this is just my opinion. I will be talking more matter of factly but that's just because this is what I believe. I'm not trying to force anyone to agree nor do I think people have to. Okay?

Personally, I think you can believe in a religion and the law. I honestly don't think those two things contradict. I 100% understand why people believe they do and why a lot of people feel uncomfortable believing in religion after getting into the law. However, and again this is just my opinion, I think a lot of those people are coming from a very westernized/Christianized viewing of religion.

There are so many religion and belief systems out there that preach humans getting on the same level as "gods". Things like reaching enlightenment or connecting to your higher soul are all beliefs that often go hand in hand with reaching a "godlike state of being". I mean, various times throughout history humans have even used this kind of belief to further their advancements in things like politics.

And while there are also many religions that place their Gods above humans and think of them as higher beings, the specific fear that comes with being a "human" against a powerful "God" is much more Christian in nature. Now listen I'm not shitting on Christianity; I grew up in a Christian family. But that means I know firsthand how Christians use the word of God to control others and place fear in people's hearts. The idea that we can never even hope to be as powerful or as enlightened as the Gods is a very Christian-centric viewing of religion.

While other beliefs preach being a good person to achieve a god status, Christianity preaches being a good person because God says so. While other religions hold the belief that humans can become Gods or even are Gods in their own right, Christianity hammers down the idea that we're lesser than God.

We are all made of energy. Every living thing is made of energy and that energy doesn't get destroyed when we're "gone". The way I see it, all these Gods and Goddesses and other such divine beings are also just made of energy. They aren't made from special energy that's better than us; they're made from the same energy we're made of. Our belief in these beings is what makes them so. They wouldn't exist if we didn't believe in them. And honestly? This is loa 101.

Our assumptions and beliefs manifest into our reality. To me, saying that these Gods aren't real or can't exist despite people truly and genuinely believing in them is more contradictory than anything else. Even outside sources like astrology, tarot, and witchcraft are still real if you assume them to be. Saying that they're just coincidences or just placebos not only contradicts the law but imo is very dismissive.

I personally choose to believe in the Greek Gods. I don't consider myself religious because of negative connotations to the word, but I do "follow" them. I personally work with Apollo mostly and even have an altar for him and Aphrodite. My belief in them is what makes them real in my reality. I assume they're real and therefore they must be. That's how the law works. I don't doubt their existence because I choose to believe in them.

But at the same time, I don't limit my own power just because I assume they exist. I work with my Gods, not against them. They don't see me as a threat nor do they think I'm being sinful or blasphemous for calling myself God. "God" is just a word. It's a word that has a specific meaning, but at the end of the day, it's just a word that allows people to understand how much power they truly have. When we think of gods, we think of truly powerful beings that can create and kill and love and hate and raise and condemn. And as pure sources of energy that simply chose to experience the universe in the 3D, we have that power too.

Believing in the Law and believing in religions is not contradictory to me. The issue that people face is when they follow religions that preach Gods being so much more powerful than us and humans being so, so weak and having to rely on them. That's when they start to give their power away to outside sources and downright refuse to acknowledge how much power they have. I genuinely think that any religious person can work alongside the law as long as they're also working alongside whoever they believe in. There's a very big difference between working with someone and working under them.

Believing in Gods is not what contradicts the law. Believing that they are more powerful than us is what contradicts the law. We are one and the same. We are made from the same energy that all these Gods are made of. We chose to experience life in the 3D and we can choose to fully live in the 4D or the 5D. We can mold and bend our realities because we're literally just choosing to be here. I'm made from the same energy that the Gods I believe in are made of. We exist in the same planes of reality. We have the same powers. I am just as much a God as they are and that doesn't contradict.

To me, saying that these Gods can't really exist because I'm a God would be like saying my neighbor Greg can't really exist because I also live here. However, if I started to say that my neighbor Greg was more powerful than me, despite us being made of the same energy and having the exact same powers, that would be against the law.

It mostly comes down to which religion you believe in because some work really well with the law while others don't. *Christianity doesn't work well with the law because the main belief is that the Christian God created the universe and that he's the most powerful being. That does contradict the law. Meanwhile, polytheistic hellenism (for example) works better because the Gods didn't create anything, they just represent things and the entire practice comes down to working with your Gods.

*Little disclaimer that I'm not saying Christianity isn't real or that you can't be Christian and believe in the law. I'm just stating that it's harder to work with that God on an equal level because of the belief that he's the most powerful.

[piraytoro]

I think we need to be very careful about agreeing with Ed when he says he’s the kraken. Because I don’t think it’s true, and I don’t think the show WANTS us to think that it’s true. Yes, Ed THINKS the kraken is him, but the kraken is actually a bunch of invisible arms that maneuvered everything into place so that Ed was forced to make an impossible decision that would be deeply damaging to him no matter what, when he was too young to understand all the forces at work on him. The kraken is the institutionalized violence that allows white men to believe they’re owed something and therefore deserve to take it, that pushes marginalized people into poverty and holds them there, that turns a blind eye on white men who abuse their families, and that gives those families no recourse but to stay. The kraken is the greed of the men in that system which upholds their actions as a part of the natural order of things while condemning a child for doing what he had to do to save someone he loved.

There’s a reason we were shown Ed helplessly watching as the kraken killed his dad before we ever saw the truth of what happened. There’s a reason why he doesn’t use this incident to curry favor with the pirates despite it being the only death he actually caused with his own hands. It’s not like they would have blamed him after finding out his father was a total piece of shit. He doesn’t want to tell the story because telling the story as it really happened would expose how little agency he actually had in the situation. And even then, he sees it as a personal failing, and sees himself as a perpetrator rather than a victim of the system.

But we are shown that it’s not really true. The violence didn’t start with him; it’s not coming from him. Divorced from the circumstances he inhabited beyond his control, we see that he’s not a naturally violent person, and is in fact less deadly than a lot of other people in the same situation. Because following that incident, he immediately removed himself from the society that forced his hand, and put himself in a place where he actually DOES have agency. And he doesn’t kill. The people he comes across when he captures merchant ships play just as much a part in upholding the system as his father did, likely even more of one due to their class and wealth, and at least some of them must have been as personally despicable, but now that he’s in a position where he CAN choose not to kill, he chooses not to. Even with Lucius, it’s like he said after Jack was bragging to Stede about the men Ed killed setting fire to their ship: technically, the fire killed them. If Lucius is dead, then technically the water killed him.

It’s no coincidence that the one pressuring Ed to kill is a white man, and that this white man is telling him a killer is what he’s meant to be. It’s all just white men using people of color to cement themselves in or maneuver themselves into positions of power. Izzy sees this perceived monstrosity of Ed’s as a positive thing to be used against the institutions he hates, because he has believed the lie that Ed and people like him are the true danger to society and its people. Even from the outside, he still can’t see it. This is how the system works: it maneuvers people like Ed—specifically, people of color, and in particular queer people of color—into untenable situations, and when they react to those circumstances the only way they can, the system holds them up and says look. Look at what these people are. Look at what they do. And so in this way the system reinforces itself. It reinforces itself by getting the majority of people within the system—and even outside it, because its power doesn’t exist in a vacuum—to see things this way. Society needs its monsters. It fools its (often unwitting—that’s what makes it so insidious) agents into thinking Ed is the danger to their safety, and not the system itself. And the worst part is that it convinces Ed of this too.

Now, we have to see things for what they are and stop letting it convince US.

[impalementation]

spike, angel, buffy & romanticism: part 1

I said a long ways back that I thought the switch from Angel to Spike as Buffy’s primary love interest represented an interesting evolution in the show’s attitude towards—and interrogation of—romanticism, and I finally felt like expanding on what I meant by that. This is very long, very meandering, and not terribly academic or well-edited, but I hope there’s something of interest in it nonetheless. It is about 20,000 words in total, and will discuss, in more or less chronological order, the arc of the show’s attitude towards romanticism as it is embodied in Spike, Angel, Buffy and Buffy’s relationships with both of them. I was going to release it as one long post, but because it’s so long, I figured a series of posts might be more readable. Here’s the first one.

* 

“When you kiss me I want to die”: Angel and the high school seasons

Both Spike and Angel are at once capital-R Romantic figures, and lower-case romantic interests, and in both cases that Romantic/romantic duality is what makes them such effective avatars for ideas around romanticism. In the case of Angel, the show is aware from the beginning that he is very much a Romantic idea of something. In “Welcome to the Hellmouth” Buffy describes him as “dark” and “gorgeous”, evoking the “tall, dark and handsome” cliche. He’s mysterious. He gives her a necklace and his coat, gestures out of high school romance fiction.* In “Out of Mind, Out of Sight” Giles lampshades the romance of him: “A vampire in love with a Slayer. It’s rather poetic, in a maudlin sort of way.” Initially, Angel is basically designed to be a teenage girl fantasy, and it’s no coincidence that his successors like Edward Cullen or Stefan Salvatore conform to similar tropes.

*(Think of how five seasons later, a vampire will give Dawn his letterman jacket in “All the Way”. It’s hard not to read as a deliberate echo of Angel’s gift in season one. Once again, a vampire makes romantic gestures towards a high school version of “Buffy”, and later turns on her. But more on this much later in the series.)

The difference between Angel and those other, more typical Supernatural Romance love interests however, is that the show ultimately attempts to subvert the romance of him. As part of its commentary on Gothic themes, season two makes Angel more Romantic than ever (the Claddagh, the tormented past), and makes the romance between him and Buffy central to the story in a way it wasn’t in season one. And then, of course, the season tears it all apart. The first time we learn what Angel did to Drusilla it’s horrifying, but still somehow abstract. Something that seems more like it’s meant to contribute to Angel’s dangerous, Byronic image. As in, something to make him more Romantic. And then suddenly it becomes real. Suddenly, it’s something that Angel could do to Buffy, or the people Buffy cares about. It turns out that his darkly romantic aura was not just an aura, but genuinely dark all along.

In turn, Angel’s devastating transformation is a metaphor for broader disillusionment about romantic ideas. It’s less to me about a “guy going bad after sex”, and more about what it means and feels like to have the scales fall from one’s eyes in that sort of situation. As Buffy copes with the fallout of Angel’s transformation, and later is forced to kill him, I see it as being about the tragedy of having to see the world in ways that are less simple, easy, or pretty as one gets older. As Buffy and Giles say in “Lie To Me”:

BUFFY: Nothing's ever simple anymore. I'm constantly trying to work it out. Who to love or hate. Who to trust. It's just, like, the more I know, the more confused I get. 

GILES: I believe that's called growing up. 

For more on this, I recommend this livejournal post on “Lie To Me”, which goes into great depth on the way season two frames stories as pretty lies that one needs to look beneath, and how Buffy’s romanticization of Angel symbolizes that.

The whole arc of the season is Buffy’s failure to see the danger presented by Angel. In this opening scene that danger is foreshadowed. More to the point for this essay, Angel goes on to lie to Buffy about having encountered Drusilla. He doesn’t want Buffy to know about the nature of Angelus – which means that his first inclination is to mask the danger he presents to Buffy. This is one episode after Halloween, where Buffy’s romantic fantasies about what Angel wants (a damsel) nearly get her killed. Nor is she completely over those fantasies, as she notes that the mystery woman talking to Angel had a pretty old-fashioned dress. So against the backdrop of Buffy’s fantasies about her dark and mysterious boyfriend we have the truth about what he is, which is quite horrifying.

Season three then takes this to another level, by not just pointing out the darkness of the romance of Angel, but in fact puncturing his romantic image. Instead of emphasizing his dangerousness, as season two did, season three emphasizes his adulthood. It emphasizes the way that Angel is someone Buffy sees in secret, or away from her friends. He’s not integrated with her teenage, high school life, and doesn’t fit with the peppy, high school movie aesthetic that characterizes a lot of season three. By doing this, the writing indicates that at this point in their lives, Buffy and Angel are ultimately incompatible and holding each other back. Regardless of however much they might care for each other, Angel can’t fully appreciate her teenage longings like dances, and college, and having a boyfriend. And Buffy can’t fully appreciate his adult need to find himself on his own terms. By the end of season three, Angel is less of a shadowy, tragic figure, and more just an adult man who needs to finally grow up a bit.

Season three also starts making jokes where the punchline is that Angel isn’t living up to the romantic aesthetic he embodied in seasons one and two. In “Helpless”, for example, he and Buffy have an exchange where he waxes sincerely about wanting to “keep [her heart] safe, to warm it with [his own]” and although Buffy says the sentiment is beautiful, a second later she deadpans: “Or taken literally, incredibly gross.” To which Angel replies, “I was just thinking that, too.” Or in “Graduation Day, Part 1”, Angel trips on a doorway instead of making a silent entrance and Buffy again deadpans: “Stealthy.” Angel’s romance slips at moments when Buffy herself is feeling weak, either because she has lost her Slayer powers, or she’s investigating the scene of her sister Slayer’s crime. Her Romantic Slayer half is betraying her, and her romantic girlish half is feeling insecure. This is echoed by the reminder that Angel is no longer a straightforward fantasy man--or a terrifying, larger-than-life villain--but a guy who is sometimes both verbally and physically inelegant. 

(Notice how one of the few times season two makes similar jokes about Angel it’s in “Lie to Me”, the very same episode that begins to peel off the layers of deceptions and unknowns about him. Angel slumps around Willow’s bedroom and jokes about “honing [his] brooding skills”, he insists that the vampire wannabes know nothing about vampires right before a guy walks by wearing his exact outfit, and Xander runs color commentary, saying “you’re not wrong” after each of Ford’s observations. In “Lie to Me” one of Angel’s hidden faces is his dangerousness, yes. But another hidden face is simply his human awkwardness.)

There’s an interesting Slayage piece by Elizabeth Gilliland that discusses the idea of Angel as a Gothic double for Buffy, specifically connecting him to the story of Jekyll and Hyde. It argues that Angel’s split identities represent Buffy’s fears that her human and Slayer halves are irreconcilable, and she cannot fully control either half. In season three, the fact that Buffy and Angel must continuously resist a loss of control with each other, and are treated as romantically incompatible, reflects this fear. 

In Season Three, replete with various factors in Buffy’s life that threaten to put her role as Slayer and girl into imbalance once more [...] Angel once again returns [...]. The season culminates in an attempted attack on Buffy’s classmates during graduation, which essentially forces her to “out” herself to her community and combine her roles as Slayer and daughter, classmate, and friend for the first time publicly (“Graduation Day: Part 2” 3.22). The worst has happened: her secret has been revealed, the entire school knows about both of her personas, and she has not only survived, but emerged with a stronger sense of self [...] Buffy has conquered her first Gothic fear, and proven to herself that she can not only exercise control over both dualities of her persona, but allow them to peacefully co-exist. Thus, Angel’s continuing struggle with Angelus can no longer act as her shadow, and he literally and metaphorically leaves her to continue the rest of her journey.

It’s an interpretation I mostly agree with, and see a lot of evidence for. But in keeping with the focus of this series, I think you could also read Angel as embodying a duality between the romantic and the unromantic. In this view, Buffy’s struggle between her human and her Slayer halves is not just a struggle between personas, but a struggle to see the world correctly. In season one, it’s not Angel that revives Buffy in “Prophecy Girl”, because Angel is a vampire trope just like the Master. He cannot help her, because he is exactly the kind of traditional romantic concept--like a candle-lit cavern, an ancient Nosferatu-looking vampire, or a Chosen Hero duty--that Buffy is trying to escape. In season two, loss of control is specifically associated with passion, romance, and romanticism. Buffy’s human half longs for the romantic, but her Slayer half, and Angel’s vampire half, prove that sometimes the romantic is something dangerous and violent. The fact that Buffy’s Slayer identity and Angel’s Angelus identity both end up being outed by the end of the season (especially to Joyce, a figure of Buffy’s human home life), echoes Buffy’s loss of innocence. Season three then continues this suspicion of passion. Buffy fears that like Faith, enjoying the violence and power and desire of being a Slayer, means that she will go down a dark path. She also fears that indulging in her sexual and romantic desire for Angel will unleash Angelus. To some extent, these fears are even borne out, given that her love for Angel results in her attempted murder of Faith, and near death at Angel’s hands. But to some extent they also aren’t, given that she, Faith and Angel all live. 

To me, what really gets resolved at the end of season three is not quite the issue of Buffy’s human and Slayer halves, given that Buffy will continue to struggle with that duality until the end of the show. Rather, what gets resolved is the need for binaries. Binaries are romantic things. When Giles gives his speech to Buffy at the end of “Lie To Me”, it is the language of binaries that he uses:

GILES: Yes, it's terribly simple. The good guys are always stalwart and true, the bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats, and, uh, we always defeat them and save the day. No one ever dies, and everybody lives happily ever after. 

BUFFY: Liar.

In season three, Buffy thinks she must resist both Faith and Angel. She thinks she can only be either a human girl or a Slayer leader. Many plots in season three have to do with the danger of binaries, whether that’s the witch-hunting parents in “Gingerbread”, Willow dealing with her vampire self in “Doppelgangland”, the various alter-egos in “Beauty and the Beasts”, or Cordy choosing a Buffy-less world in “The Wish”. And no character in the Buffyverse embodies the concept of binaries so starkly as Angel does. Thus by the end of season three, Buffy collapses the binaries within herself by merging the human and Slayer parts of her life, as Gilliland observes, and taking on Faith’s traits. She acknowledges her shadow by kissing her tenderly on the forehead, and bids farewell to the illusions and binaries that Angel embodies. Buffy is leaving that part of her life behind, and starting a new chapter where she can no longer split either the world, or herself, into any one thing or another.

part 2: “Love isn’t brains, children”: Enter Spike as the id

[land-of-brains-and-chocolate]

Rec list for Eddie and Symby being vaguely to very gay?

I'm sorry for coming to you with my monsterfucker agenda 😔👊 (no I'm not)

i mean, i probably could’ve seen this coming.

venom is dominated by two opposing narratives. let’s call this the “relationship narrative” and the “control narrative”. they’re not perfectly separated, like, you’ll definitely get elements of one in the other, but generally one of them describes what the story, at its core, is using the symbiote for.

now comics are an endless tug-of-war at the best of times, much less the gayest and slimiest of times. there’s a neverending backlash and backbacklash going on between these two takes. what you want is the relationship narrative.

everything very much started out with that take. eddie and the symbiote are two characters who forge an evil alliance because it lets them do what they wanna do (kill spider-man, more or less) and they have the same kinds of neuroses and complexes and syndromes. lots of early comics are also very fun about the merged consciousness, merged identity deal. that’s kind of the textbook relationship stuff.

personally i absolutely think the original stories (venom was created by david michelinie) have romantic undertones, even starting in the villainy days. eddie describes their first meeting as “a shadow moved, caressed me.” he takes the rejection of the symbiote still being “in love with” spider-man really hard. he sobs his eyes out when he thinks it’s dead and promises to avenge it bare-handed. they totally expect to live happily ever after on a deserted island together.

then there’s venom: lethal protector, which is cute on its own, but if you’re reading for slime romance, i very specifically recommend the novelisation. i won’t even spoil it. and then, planet of the symbiotes is the first comic that i would say has outright queer themes, intentional or not.

so all those recs until now are collected in this post.

we're trucking along through the 90s, we explore elements of one take and then the other and sometimes we ignore the symbiote completely, but not too much changes, overall. the next BIG stop in Gay Venom is, of course, the hunger.

miniseries by len kaminski, just venom: the hunger. plenty of people have written their essays on it, but what’s always important to me is that it DID NOT come out of nowhere. as said above, it expanded on themes that were there, it references michelinie venom very explicitly, like you get your SECOND “tenderly touching the green glass tube” scene.

but yes this one is specifically about, like, stigmatisation, otherness, mental illness, meeting all those things with care and empathy and optimism, tentacle sex. again, many essays. a venom comic that can go “look at the twisted deviance of this relationship” and then turn it around into “but how are you looking at it” is good. god how good would it be if they also did that to eddie more. anyway.

a few years later you get the first MAJOR fucking backlash, culminating in the SECOND story titled the hunger. spectacular spider-man: the hunger, from 2003. completely reboots venom and retcons their motivations and backstories, makes very spiteful references to planet of the symbiotes and the hunger, like it is not also called that by sheer coincidence. literally starts out, in a comic that wants to tackle and redefine venom, with the line “the PROBLEM is that you guys are like an old married couple”. so the new status quo is that the symbiote only ever used eddie to be with spider-man, and eddie only ever used the symbiote to not die of cancer.

the “control narrative�� that really kicks in here uses the symbiote as, you know, a thing to control, eddie’s demons personified or even a completely foreign force to torment him. if eddie is evil, it’s not because of what he thinks and believes and wants, it’s because he couldn’t control the symbiote and gave in to its inexplicable bloodlust.

this is an unambiguous downgrade in terms of complexity, in my humble opinion, completely fucks up eddie’s responsibility themes, and is also a pretty clearly petty reaction to venom’s absolute oversaturation in the nineties. the bitch was everywhere and most of it wasn’t good. so there was LOTS of “look at this creepy loser” content by writers cringing themselves into self-awareness at the time. the 00s were going to be GRITTY and MATURE.

this of course means that we get to see eddie slit his wrists and bleed to death on panel after selling the symbiote to supervillains as an attempted act of redemption???

wild fucking times! it’s not exactly worth recommending as ~shippy~, but the first real backbacklash to this first round of retcons comes from dan slott, who just kind of ignores it all in new ways to die. drags eddie back to the land of the living and relevant, makes the symbiote refuse to let its new host kill him, telling that host, and reestablishing, that it loves eddie. and then, to keep him living and relevant, slott makes eddie anti-venom.

don’t even worry about it. anti-venom is essentially eddie seeking redemption with symbiote powers, but without the symbiote, except he pretty much acts no fucking different at all, just keeps on being a murderous vigilante with cracked ideas about innocence and guilt. people still act like he’s better now because, in its metatextual ways, the hunger was right.

then fucking uuuuuuhhhhhhh. agent venom. symbiote goes to flash thompson and the us military, and the writer, rick remender, goes really, really, really hard on the control narrative. the symbiote becomes a substance flash is addicted to, gives a voice to his past abuse, it’s dark times all the times.

people very much do like that narrative for flash, like at least from that perspective it was worth it. i don’t like it much for the symbiote. for the symbiote, representing everything fucked up with flash and forcing him to murder kill bite all the time is resolved via the good guy avengers literally lobotomising it so flash can wear it without further resistance or input. imagine doing that to a human person. you’re uncooperative so we’re gonna turn off your higher cognitive functions and wear you like a meat suit. happy ending for everybody! truly we’ve conquered our demons this day.

then! at the same time, there’s a cartoon coming out, it’s called ultimate spider-man. THAT one does the control narrative take with harry osborn, but then does the relationship take with flash, making it the only cartoon to outright redeem the symbiote and let it find friendship and be valued as a person.

and people loved it! so brian michael bendis gets it in his head that he’s going to redeem the symbiote and make it partner up with flash. and he does redeem it by the highly fucking questionable means of having it be “cleansed”, aka brainwashed and relieved of its memories and personality. not that it matters for long. nothing fucking matters in comics. take this with you if it’s the only thing.

so then for fun friendship times you get venom: space knight, flash and the symbiote’s adventures in space! and then that gets cancelled. eddie is off somewhere being toxin and hunting carnage (2016). many good comics but you did not ask for them.

and THEN.

it is time for the next MOTHER of backlashes.

flash gets literally discarded at fucking roadside to put the symbiote back on eddie and turn back time on their relationship to RIGHT before the FIRST backlash happened. you know, all those 2003 retcons. gone. ignored. no more. venom’s themes are now those circa 1996 again. full fucking on relationship narrative. ROMANTIC relationship narrative, and that after the symbiote was turned into eddie’s evil shadow, after he hated it and spent a LONG time seeking to eradicate all symbiotes (and not even for the first time).

the COSTA run. venom (2016). reviled and beloved.

like this comic is fucking ANGRY about symbiote treatment. i HAD to tell you all of that so you’d understand ANYTHING it’s doing. the first thing it does is flip it completely around, puts the symbiote on a military guy who’s making IT do bad things, makes his ability to control it horrifying and abusive instead of heroic and admirable. one of the later things it does (in the follow-up venom: first host) is outright feature a villain who lobotomises symbiotes, ending on a symbiote serving him swift and sweet payback by doing the same thing TO HIM. it’s exactly as unsubtle as the hunger (2003) was about its hang-ups.

comics... are a conversation.

flash remains a symbiote friend but still got fucked over big time by it all, symbiote-focused writers slott and costa also kind of use him to literally, in case anybody hadn’t caught on, literally spell out the REAL story that’s been going on in the writer's room for the past THIRTY YEARS:

you’ll notice i didn’t actually list any of the Gay Shit for you, you’ve probably already seen it or you’ll get to see it for yourself. yes, they are deeply in love, yes, it’s fucked up and flawed, yes, it is real and taken seriously and has ultimately redeeming potential. yes the concept of that nearly knocked me off my feet and in front of the subway at one point. yes there’s mpreg

it’s also fucking riddled with events, which spin off into other comics, so either ignore those and rely on the recaps OR click yourself forward through the “next issue (story)” button on marvel wikia to know what to read.

and after that must of course come the backbackbacklash, as certain as death or taxes. in the next run, we retcon everything once more, eddie just needs to control his darkness, the symbiote was an evil abuser all along, nothing on earth is ever new.

i’m not gonna go through it, i’m just gonna point you to the backbackbackbacklash issue that came out during this time: venom annual volume 2 number 1 - it’s confusingly named, it’s the one that has a blue-skinned space lady on it. this one ignores the backbackbacklash going on very pointedly and goes “it’s not ABOUT control” again, it’s pretty explicitly romantic.

and then there’s also marvel comics presents (2019) #5, which, oddly enough, does not particularly feature the characterisation you’d typically see in the relationship narrative? but it does feature eddie and the symbiote literally fucking, so you’d want to know about it.

that’s the overall, like, frame of eddie and the symbiote being in a relationship (nuh uh) (yeah they are) (NUH UH) (YEAH THEY ARE)

some stuff that’s smaller but still notable, uh.

nova (1999) 6 - 7, that’s the “we’re space married”

venom: dark origin, that’s an ALTERNATE (!!!) take on the character, don’t expect a likeable eddie but it’s very darkly funny and gay so what can i say.

venom: the end, which i would absolutely fucking hate to be canon, i think its characterisation is quite regressive, but the symbiote sure is in love, i guess.

venom: separation anxiety, the dawn of the control narrative but eddie’s characterisation did not have to go so wrong from here, like if they’d just figured out AT THIS STAGE that he's STILL acting like venom without it... i digress. it has the symbiote going eddie eddie eddieee

venom: sinner takes all, this is the first she-venom comic so that’s. hm. interesting. healing symbiote blanket

don’t read venom: license to kill just look at this panel with me

if i think of more comics worth adding i’ll add them.

the subtext slash text is heavy enough to be present to some degree in literally every cartoon adaptation of eddie brock. spider-man: the animated series goes FULL control narrative, in fact it started the “the symbiote corrupted peter” take that we to this day cannot escape, but the first few venom episodes are VERY playful about their relationship.

in spectacular spider-man it’s canon, but horrible. eddie’s in love with it, but eddie's a good boy and the symbiote is played very, very, very abusively. i think this is an evil symbiote adaptation that works well enough, at least it’s an actual meaningful character instead of just a malevolent force to resist.

in marvel’s spider-man, the only venom episode worth watching is venom returns.

i’ve actually got every symbiote-relevant episode listed right here from when we did our communal watch-through.

also watch truth in journalism. idk if it’s exactly shippy just do it

[luckyasfuck]

maybe i just wanna be yours [k. bakugou]

A CAMBOY AU SERIES - PARTS 1, 2, [3], 4, 5

pairing // katsuki x female reader

tw // cussing, smut

warnings for this part // (kinda?) mutual masturbation

theme // enemies to lovers au, camboy!katsu au, college student!katsu and reader au, no quirk au

keys // y/n, l/n, h/c

words // 1.8k

a/n // pt. 4 will be written at 100 likes and posted at 5-10 reblogs :). i’m glad ya’ll are enjoying it, send criticism and/or ideas in my inbox.

previous part I masterlist

y/n’s head was no longer cloudy.

it scared her at first,  her twitter username and bio must have gave it all away. part of her hoped that katsuki wouldn’t notice the notification, and if he did, well she hopes he’d be too dumb or oblivious to know it was her. but of course, bakugou fucking katsuki wasn’t like that. y/n would know, especially when she woke up him following her back.

fucking son of a bitch.

it was very obvious that it was katsuki. from his voice during lives to his demeanor with his posts: reserved. it was a bitch to think about, no matter what y/n did it was all that occupied her mind. she was aware of the comments she had left on his last live, her other hand too busy pumping her fingers in and out of her pussy to make more than two. that’s what bothered her. not only did she get off to her rival of all people, she did it twice. twice!

she thought about it the whole morning as she reached UA. a person came from behind and bumped her shoulder, rushing to the group of people crowding the main gate. y/n knotted her eyebrows, her mind was too all over the place to know what they could have been fussing about.

the crowd completely blocked the gate and she sighed, opting to take another route until someone grabbed her arm. thinking it was a teacher or a student, she turned around with a smile.

what the fuck.

katsuki stood there gripping her arm and her heart dropped. she yanks his hand away and glared at him, goddamn if looks could kill katsuki would’ve made it to heaven right about now. she stared at him with so much intensity, it almost looked like she was gonna go crazy over the fact that he stopped her, let alone even touch her.

fuck, that’s hot. katsuki gulped and mentally slapped himself after the thought. “don’t let the teachers see you-” he whispered, looking around. y/n sighed, “too late.” she looked behind him where their Biology professor stood with a smile.

“good morning, kids! i’m glad i found you two together, which is um... quite new, don’t you think?” the old woman greeted. katsuki rolled his eyes before facing her, standing beside y/n.

the h/c-haired girl didn’t like being near him at all, he had this weird aura and she didn’t know what his intentions were at all. and him approaching her for the first time without being forced by a professor after the shenanigans of last night? way too timed to be a coincidence, though she wishes it was. 

“if you don’t know yet, our school’s competing with others schools with this little competition our school made.” the old woman got straight to the point. “the competition is that weekly for this month, a duo would take a quiz on a specific subject together. the subject changes every week and the questions get harder and harder! the 5 duos with the lowest scores are eliminated. it’s said on the board right there!” she pointed to where the students crowded.

“um, okay...? why are you telling us this then?” y/n questioned, adjusting her grip on her bag as the professor smiled again whilst katsuki breathed out a loud sigh. 

“i want you both to be the duo that represents our school!”

“miss-” katsuki started, but got cut off. “don’t you think we’re the worst duo for this? i mean,” y/n laughed sarcastically. “you know we hate each other, everyone fucking knows tha-”

“language, miss l/n.” the professor’s sternly scolded and y/n flinches a bit at the change of mood. “yes, ma’am.” the younger girl looked down on her shoes. “i think it’s a good opportunity for the two of you,” the old woman pointed to the two students. “to get along. you two are really gifted, and i don’t want our school to lose this or get humiliated just because you two have beef with each other for reasons unknown.”

y/n was sweating under her jacket and she gulped as the woman walked away, letting them know her decision was final. katsuki breathed out a deep sigh, face-palming. “what are we gonna do now? knowing that bitch, she’ll tell everyone we said yes.”

y/n didn’t bother to argue with the blonde, she knew he was right. the crowd near the gate starts to disappear and she leaves without responding to katsuki. she doesn’t know where the fuck he got the confidence to talk to her so casually. more like she wished she didn’t know.

she knew that he knew.

and he knew that she knew too. 

so simple yet so complicated.

class dragged out and y/n hasn’t spared a single glance at katsuki. she’s done this almost everyday since she met him, so it was easy to do. if only he’d stop staring into her soul, knowing she can see him in the corner of her eye. 

katsuki’s always liked to stare, though he had nothing to stare at. and now he does, even he doesn’t like how much he’s staring. he’d snap out of it, curse himself and y/n too while he’s at it, then get caught in a daze while staring at her again. 

multiple teachers approached them and individually asked them about the competition, their answers were the same the whole time, a bland “yeah, we’re competing as the duo.”

the students sat in their last class, blabbering around and not caring anymore. it was the last class, after all. they were tired and wanted to go home, but of course, they can’t. at least not yet. y/n didn’t feel like listening, she was tired too. doodling in her notebook, her heart drops when the professor calls her name. fuck, i don’t know the answe-

“oh. and mister bakugou too. i think it’s for the competition, the principal wants you two.” the old male lets out an intrigued hum. “don’t you guys hate each other?” y/n and katsuki walked out the room silently, filling the room with embarrassment on the professors side. 

the female walked on the other end of the corridor, she didn’t like katsuki at all. his mere presence makes her gag, and she knows it’s the same for him too. that’s why they opted to stay as far away from each other as possible.

the ash blonde walks into the principal’s office with y/n hot on his trail. “take a seat.” the principal said, not looking up from his paperwork. “listen, you two. i heard a lot from teachers about how you compete with each other, but the both of you are the smartest duo here. all i want is for you two to study together and pass the quizzes as best as you can. you don’t even have to get along! and your grades will be perfect A+’s for the whole month, and if you win, maybe i’ll extend to a month more.”

y/n and katsuki’s eyes widened at the offer, it was so tempting. and education always came first before pride anyway. “fine, i’ll do it.” y/n was the first to speak while katsuki just nodded his head.

“it’s settled then.”

[ timeskip ]

y/n plopped down on her bed. the two of them got sent home early and were forced to share socials with each other. they were also granted permission to use the library whenever they wanted, and were given the schedule to study together from their last two classes until whenever they liked. and before going their separate ways, she told katsuki to text her a plan if he had one.

her phone dings and she automatically assumed it was him. and it was. just... a little more lewd. definitely not what she was expecting.

y/n cussed, “since when the fuck did i let this stupid fucking site give me notifications?” katsuki’s heavy breathing and occasional grunts boomed through her speaker and she hurried to click off it, until her eyes landed on his cock.

from what seemed like it, he had already cum once, the white liquid dripping from his slit down his lenght. y/n can’t seem to tear her eyes from the way he stroked his cock, so gentle yet so rushed, so... satisfying.

she shakes her head and kicks herself out of her absurd train of thoughts, thumb hovering over the ‘X’ on the top left of the site. “have you joined the live, pretty face?” she flinches when she heard his raspy voice, thighs unconciously rubbing together and panties already soaked. 

“i hope you have, fuck. been thinking about you all day, mhmm~ why don’t you drop your little comments for me?” she could practically hear the smirk in his words, and it irritated her. but fuck, if he wasn’t so attractive. his perfectly sculpted body, his voice, and that pretty cock. it was that fucking cock.

“are you touching yourself, pretty face? you better. this live’s all for you.” katsuki moaned out, stroking himself faster. y/n watched as the chat went crazy, all of them confessing their sins to him like he was some sort of God.

and maybe he was, cause she found herself running a finger through her wet folds as she watched the camboy play with his tip. she shoves a finger inside, moaning with him before moving in and out parallel to his strokes. 

katsuki comes again, his strokes coming to a half. he pants before smirking, “pretty face, lookie here.” he shows a fleshlight to the camera, his tip prodding at the toys entrance. y/n slowly adds another finger as he sunk the toy down onto his cock, both of them moaning.

they both fuck themselves into oblivion while thinking of each other, katsuki’s hips violently fucking into the toy as he hissed, “fuck, i bet your pussy feels a lot better.” y/n felt her cunt clench around her finger at the statement as she started to rub her clit as well. 

she orgasms a little bit before katsuki shot his load into the toy, both their movements halting as they tried to catch their breath. she types in a comment before finally exiting the site, feeling slightly disgusted of what she just did. she shudders and opts on taking a shower before napping.

“you dirty little thing.”

katsuki felt his cock twitch at y/n’s comment. he ended the live right after, knowing she probably left already. the notifications for money he hoarded sat heavy on his account and he smiled, cleaning himself up after. the image of her with her legs open, her fingers buried deep in her cunt and her moaning uncontrollably was all that filled katsuki’s brain.

and he fucking hates it. he hates how much power the desires of his cock had over him when he was horny.

and the only desire his cock had was her.

next part I masterlist

taglist:

@princesspeach-00 @tamakisropebunny @bakugous-mamas @ll379333 @j1-914 @gazelle-des-pres @trashpandainahat @dickinson-67 @victoriaestein @amelie-chan @your-worst-obsession [ cannot tag last two ]

[hamliet]

Metals and Heavenly Bodies: Why There Is So Much Metal in RWBY

So, why is RWBY so metal? 

RWBY uses metallic symbolism to explore the alchemical process (the refinement of metal into gold via the creation of the philosopher’s stone). Alchemy has seven metals that are ordered in terms of refinement: three base metals, one that is the most refined of base metals, and three refined metals. RWBY has been associating each metal with certain characters. It’s also been giving these characters their ultimate focus in the precise order of refinement.

Metals in alchemy are also associated with heavenly bodies, or planets (well, plus the sun and moon, because we’re dealing with ancient astronomy here). The planets, of course, are named after Roman gods, so they too can be associated with the metals, and RWBY directly correlates them.

NB: It’s very valid to critique tropes and subtext. This isn’t intended to invalidate any criticism but rather to offer a symbolic reading of the metal motif.

So, let’s dive in.

Base Metals:

Lead-Saturn

Associated characters: Qrow Branwen, Ruby Rose, Mercury Black

While I can’t think of any specific reference to lead in RWBY, there are a ton of references to the mythical Saturn. 

Saturn's father (Uranus) was a piece of work who hated Saturn’s mother and so took his son (and other children) and imprisoned them in a cave so that they could never see the sunlight. Saturn’s mother eventually persuaded Saturn to take a sickle and castrate his father. He then wasn’t a particularly great dad himself, becoming more like his father than not.

In alchemy in particular, we have images of Saturn with a prosthetic leg (see: above). This is where Mercury begins his arc. He’s abused by his father, who steals his semblance and refuses to allow Mercury to be his own person (effectively rendering him a prisoner). So, Mercury kills him, and then is taken in by Cinder and Emerald to be an assassin for them, an assassin just like his father. You can see the parallels. 

Saturn’s sickle is also often drawn as a scythe, which Death holds in the above image. A scythe is of course the weapon used by Ruby and by Qrow--specifically, Qrow is the person Ruby imitates and admires. But we know (and Ruby now does to) that Qrow is a flawed human himself; Ruby is better of becoming her own person rather than continuing to stay like her father-figure in Qrow (her own dad is great, but that doesn’t mean Qrow isn’t also a dad figure to her!) 

Qrow, of course, is self-destructive, believing his semblance is to bring bad luck wherever he goes. His name is “crow,” the bird symbolizing the first (black) stage of death and rotting in alchemy. His own upbringing can also be compared to Saturn’s. 

But, you see, Saturn isn’t actually a sign of doom and death. It is one of the symbols of the prima materia, the lead to be transformed into gold by the end of the alchemical process. It shows where the characters can grow, and indeed all three of them are along their path towards growing. 

Tin-Jupiter

Associated character(s): James Ironwood (maybe Weiss Schnee)

Well, I’m actually going to talk more about Ironwood and his arc in the next section. But in Ozpin’s circle, in which characters are based on The Wizard of Oz (a blatantly alchemical story), we have Qrow as the scarecrow, Lionheart as the Cowardly Lion, and Ironwood as the tin man. Jupiter is also associated with the Sublimation stage in the process of alchemy, which is where we are now. 

In case we didn’t get the allusion, RWBY has helpfully placed artwork of tin men on the walls in the background of Weiss’s room this season.

I’m aware that this screenshot isn’t from this season but it gets the point across. I also feel tin might well have an association with Weiss and where she was at in her arc after the fall of Beacon. 

Additionally, Jupiter is actually Saturn’s son in mythology, and is saved from being eaten by his father (look Saturn really wasn’t awesome). He returns to force his father to regurgitate his siblings, and Jupiter and his rescued siblings (yes they were still alive; it’s mythology) fight to dethrone their father. They succeed with the use of lightning, among other things. Saturn was then imprisoned in tartarus. You can see the parallels. 

Do note that the glowing sun above the head of the tin man on Weiss’s wall, showing Weiss is destined to become refined like gold. The golden sun is in sharp contrast to Ironwood’s allusion to the Dark Sun, but there’s a lot more to say about Ironwood in the Iron section. 

Iron-Mars

Associated characters: James Ironwood, Marcus Black, Mercury Black

First, let’s continue with Ironwood. I’ve noted before that iron is associated with war:

Iron in particular is ruled by Mars, the god of war, meaning it is associated with violence. It’s not a coincidence that pretty much from the second Ironwood is introduced, the concept of war comes up, and his entire character has gone on to be the embodiment of the military and violence.

In addition to seeing himself as a sort of be-all-end-all Jupiter figure, Ironwood of course is always expecting war. His arc is one of reverse alchemy, which is a thing. It means that instead of becoming refined, he’s corroding from Iron to Tin. I don’t see good things for him. 

Mars in mythology also becomes obsessed with Venus, which... you’ll have to read the next section for that ;) 

Marcus Black, of course, is an assassin, hence it makes sense that his name literally means “dedicated to Mars.” Mercury (our Mercury) becomes more like him in taking over his role as an assassin. He’s so broken from his father’s abuse that he refuses to become his own person and just falls into his father’s role. It’s tragic. 

So is Mercury’s arc reverse alchemy? No, I don’t think so. There’s more (of course) later on, but if we look at the stages of his development, we see he has moved from Lead to Iron. It’s progress. His leg is a focus for the early arcs of the story (he uses it, along with Emerald’s semblance, to trick everyone into turning against Yang), and only later did we learn his history with his father. Even if the events of course did not happen in succession, the story revealed the allusions one after each other. He’s also made progress in that he’s clearly emotionally attached to Emerald even if he pretends otherwise. Also... (see below)

The Most Perfectable Base Metal:

Copper-Venus

Associated character: Penny Polendina

As I also mentioned previously, Penny’s name references copper (a “copper penny”). The Summa Perfectionis, a thirteenth century alchemical text, calls copper “the most perfectable of base metals.” 

Venus in alchemical imagery is almost always wearing (or surrounded by, since she’s also often, well, not wearing anything) green. 

Green is in alchemy the color of the prima materia, the raw, immature material that will eventually be refined into gold, because green is of course symbolic of the earth, fertility, growth, etc.

As I wrote previously, in mythology Mars had a thing for Venus. I’m certainly not suggesting Ironwood has a thing for Penny in a romantic/sexual sense, but he does seek to control her, and like the Mars of myth, his pursuit of Penny/Venus leads to his humiliation (the Mars of myth gets caught in a trap--no literally a net--by Venus’s angry husband). 

In contrast to Ironwood, Penny, who is originally made entirely of metal, becomes human, while Ironwood becomes more metal--not necessarily literally, but in his spirit. He’s lost his humanity, or rather, gave it away, while Penny found hers. It makes sense to me that a story with spiritual alchemy at its core (which focuses in the Jungian sense on individuation/self-actualization, or fully coming into an understanding of the self) would have Penny literally transform into what she has always been: a final product, a real girl, the philosopher’s stone. 

Refined Metals:

Now these are going to be a bit more predictive. The allusions are clearly there, but how exactly those will play out I don’t know because if we look at these metals as steps in the process, we’re not quite there yet. 

Mercury-Mercury

Associated character(s): Mercury Black, (maybe Emerald Sustrai)

I think the name says it all. 

Kidding. Mercury as a metal is also known as argentvive or quicksilver. It, along with sulphur, form the basis of the alchemical process. They must be united to achieve the Philosopher’s Stone (it’s one of the reasons I am wondering if we’re going to get an important, Mercury-related event in a place named for sulphur or its other name, brimstone, in Vacuo; all the places we know of in Vacuo are named after types of stones including several that are sulfuric in nature). Mercury himself unites the two principles of the work, sun and moon (for who those are, read below). Mercury is the metal from which all other metals come from--he’s way more important to this story than we’ve seen yet. Most likely, he will eventually turn on Salem as well, and in a pivotal moment.

As a god, Mercurius is the author of alchemy. He’s the mythical author of the Emerald Tablet (which Emerald’s name alludes to; I actually don’t personally think Emerald alludes very much to Aladdin. Instead, I think her allusion is the Emerald Tablet and her Egyptian design is based on Thoth, Mercury’s Egyptian counterpart). Mercury is the spirit that gives life.

Lyndy Abraham notes that Mercury is “both destructive and creative” (oh look at the relics of Atlas and Vacuo) and that “the elusive, duplicitous Mercurius who consorts with the devil is at the same time a redeeming psychopomp” (”psychopomp” means spiritual guide) “The fact that he can freely participate in both light and dark worlds without taint makes Mercurius the perfect mediating bridge.” Jung calls Mercury “a symbol uniting all the opposites.” So yeah, Mercury should have a redemption arc that will probably be pivotal in the story.

If we follow the self-actualization endgame of spiritual alchemy, with true life and wisdom as the metaphorical philosopher’s stone here, I think it’s likely Mercury becomes more himself--going from being Lead to Iron (as he’s clearly spiraling right now, but also has a connection to Emerald) to Mercury. I would also suspect he’d get his semblance back to establish that he’s his “own person” (a major recurring theme of RWBY), and while, like with Yang and her arm, I don’t think he’ll get new legs, I think it’s pretty likely his semblance will enable him to fly (since mythical Mercury, you know, flies). 

Silver-Moon

Associated character(s): Ruby Rose (also Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Oscar Pine, Jaune Arc, and Summer Rose).

The most important character here is Ruby, obviously. She’s our MC and titular character! But Weiss, Jaune, Blake, Summer, and Oscar are all addressed here. But I think it’s obvious that Ruby’s defining trait is her silver eyes. They got her noticed by Ozpin and sent to Beacon early, they’re the reason Salem is targeting her, they’re what could destroy her (turning into a Grimm) or save the world (what’s going to happen). Silver is noted to be “pure” which is what other characters constantly comment Ruby is. 

Gold-Sun

Associated character(s): Oscar Pine (also Sun Wukong, Yang Xiao Long, Tai Xiao Long, Ruby Rose, Pyrrha Nikos, and maybe Jaune Arc)

The most important/obvious character here is Oscar. Oscar’s first name is a shade of gold and a type of fish that is most often brown or gold. He’s facing a similar dilemma to Ruby: the threat of merging forever with Ozpin (which clearly won’t happen; he needs to be his own person, as Ruby said). 

Both Ruby’s and Oscar’s individualizations are somehow instrumental to defeating Salem. 

[babydaddyleorio]

The Forbidden Mark

pairings: gojo x black!fem OC

word count: 2,303

summary: Rae was many things, but she drew the line at ever becoming a sorcerer. She was set on distancing herself from that life, but when a bothersome curse and a certain sorcerer crossed her path, It became apparent that she could run from It no more.

warnings: slight cursing, third person p.o.v, OC main character, unedited

additional notes: new series idea! not sure if I'm going to pursue this or not, but I really liked how the first chapter turned out so we’ll see.

Chapter One

Rae pulled her box braids in a secured bun as she stared indignantly at herself through the smudged mirror.  She was beyond ready for her shift to be over at the esteemed club “Jinx”,  but her boss, much to her dismay, ordered her to do overtime. She had been working since 1 that afternoon and was scheduled to get off at 10 p.m, but as she looked at the rusted clock hanging on the wall it read that it was currently midnight. It’s not like overtime was a complete drag since Rae did need to stack up on extra cash, but she still had a life of her own. She didn’t want to spend all of her time overworking herself for a few bucks, but the way things were looking, It seemed like this was just her fated path. A chime resounded from behind Rae, making her shift her eyes on the reflective glass towards the bright fluorescent lights now flooding the locker room.

“Rae, Narco needs you to serve this table right now. I offered to take your place since I knew you needed a breather, but Narco insisted that It was you who took care of them.” Jasmine, Rae’s co-worker and good friend announced while holding the door open. Rae rolled her eyes at her boss’s request and adjusted the fanny pack around her waist before turning to Jasmine with a fake smile. 

“Thanks for looking out for me, Jas. You’re a real one.” Rae nodded with a sigh and walked past her, too deep in her own thoughts to notice the sympathetic expression that had come across her co-worker’s face.

On the other side of the club, Gojo sat in one of the leather booths with his legs crossed and an obvious bored expression on his face as he rested his head on the palm of his hand. He was tasked to come and scope out this bustling club that catered towards the rich and high status criminals and find the special grade curse that lurked among them. 

Gojo yawned.

Clubs like these were never his style and the flashing lights and blaring music never failed to give him anything short of a massive headache.

Gojo whistled as he surveyed the vast crowd of individuals, sipping on the drink he had ordered from the bar not too long ago. Upon scanning the dark club for his designated culprit, he found himself halting once he saw a woman come from the back room and make her way through the dancefloor. She looked to be just another waitress to the simple eye, but the anomaly that caught Gojo’s attention was a curse blob that was attached to her back. He knew that he currently had a mission at hand, a rather important one at that, but he also was aware that If he left the curse attached to the waitress alone It would end up consuming her.

Gojo exhaled dramatically and stretched his limbs as he stood up from his seat. 

Exercising one little curse wouldn’t hurt, right?

Meanwhile, Rae persistently pushed through the dancing bodies and to her relief, finally made It out the sea of intoxicated people. It was times like these where she questioned If this job was really for her and If it would be more beneficial if she just threw in the towel.

However, when that thought occurred she’d always snap out of It because she knew that she had to keep pushing for Amari, even If said job was stressing her out on all accounts.

“Dang, my back is killing me.” Rae muttered to herself, feeling as if something heavy had suddenly glued itself to her. This pain had been bothering her all day and she briefly wondered If she should spoil herself with a massage when she got home. Nonetheless, she shook that uneasy feeling off and continued to walk towards the section her boss told her to serve. They were in a back desolate corner and as she got closer she could hear the loud and raunchy club music start to fade and a more classical song took its place. 

She sucked her teeth. These people must be really important, she thought to herself as she walked up the few spiraling steps and opened the veil to the entrance of the secluded area . Upon which, she saw her boss sitting across from the man who she assumed was the customer. 

“Rae, so glad you could make It!” Her boss said with a raspy voice and the biggest smile when he caught sight of her. Narco was a very bony man, with greasy blonde hair that stopped at his shoulders, and a mouth full of artificial gold that shined every time he spoke. Rae learned over the past year while working here that Narco was a rotten and crooked man who would have no problem selling himself  if it meant earning a quick buck. 

“I want you to serve our special guest here with your utmost respect and give him everything he requests.” Narco chirped loudly, his attention now pulled back to the man in front of him. It took everything within Rae to resist rolling her eyes at Narco’s overly sweet tone as she walked towards the table while getting her notepad out. 

“Of course, sir.” Rae nodded while clicking the black pen in her hand. “Hello, my name is Rae and I'll be your server for tonight, what can I get you?” She said politely and when she looked up from her notepad, she tensed from the customers' harsh glare. Her boss’s phone suddenly rang and he ended up quickly excusing himself from the room, leaving Rae and the customer to be the only ones left in the area.

The customer, now that she thought of It, undoubtedly gave her a bad vibe. The man in front of her had long, burgundy hair that was pulled back into a low ponytail and he was clad in an all black suit that was slightly unbuttoned, displaying the black tattoos that decorated his chest and neck.  He sat comfortably with one arm thrown lazily behind his neck and the other balled on the table, his narrowed green eyes piercing Rae’s brown face.

“Do you know who I am?” Were the words that finally left the man’s mouth.

Rae scrunched her face up in confusion because she indeed did not know who this weirdo was, nor did she really care. This is exactly why she hated working night shifts because she always had to deal with creeps like these and the situation was even less ideal since her boss had left the area.

“No.. I’m afraid I don’t.” Rae admitted, making the man across from her erupt in obnoxious laughter.

“That explains why your presence felt so weak to me when you first arrived. No matter,” The man’s playful demeanor suddenly ceased and he turned to Rae, a dark shadow now casted onto his face. “My name is Hitomi.”

Rae tensed up because the atmosphere in the room had changed to something suffocating and the feeling in her gut told her that this man was dangerous. She debated If she wanted to avert the situation back to her serving him or to get the hell away from him. 

The latter, at this moment, seemed like the best option.

She awkwardly cleared her throat as she took a step back, already formulating an excuse in her mind as to why she needed to leave. 

“Freeze.” The man spoke lowly and as if on cue, Rae’s body went still. 

The man that went by Hitomi got up from his seat and ran his hand through the hairs that framed his face, revealing a scar that fell diagonally across his right eye. Rae struggled to move, and no matter how hard she willed herself to open her mouth or clench her hands, she stayed in the exact same spot. 

“I’ve been looking-” The man spoke suddenly, making Rae move her eyes back to him, “-for a very long time for the jewel that I was missing and I can proudly say that tonight I finally hit the jackpot. See, our meeting tonight was no mere coincidence, it was planned and fated to become. That’s why I came to this place for one reason and for one reason only,” Hitomi slowly sauntered towards her immobile body, licking his bottom lip in the process. “and that reason was you, Rae.” 

Hitomi then stood directly in front of Rae with an evil glint swirling through his jade eyes and reached his hand out towards her, but a force abruptly pushed him back, causing his body to be thrown into the table that he was previously seated at.

“That’s enough.” A tall and slender man with messy, white hair and sunglasses hiding his eyes challenged as he peeled back the curtains to this area. Rae stood in the center, now shaken up by Hitomi’s words and by not having the autonomy to move. It was also alarming having seen his body fly across the room without having any witness of something touching him.

“And just who are you?” Hitomi sneered at Gojo as he slowly stood from the spot he had fallen to, dusting his suit off in the process. 

“My name is of no importance, all you need to know is that I’m the guy who’s going to be exercising you.” The man curtly replied while rolling up his sleeves and walking closer to him.

Rae knew immediately what was happening just by hearing the white haired man say the words “exercise”. She was familiar with the idea of sorcerers and curses so applying her knowledge to her current situation made all the puzzle pieces fall together.

“But before I handle you,” The white haired man started, then turned his eyes towards the waitress standing in front of him. “I have to do this first.”

Rae suddenly felt a strong wind hit her back, causing her to jolt forward and escape the trance she was put in by Hitomi. Not only could she freely move her body again, but the gnawing feeling of pain that Rae felt on her back from earlier had also seemed to disappear. She turned her body around to see the white haired man wink at her and direct his attention back towards the curse, specifically the curse he was after.

“And this is why I despise you sorcerers, you lot are too confident in your weak abilities. ” Hitomi laughed while staring amusingly at Gojo. Gojo kept silent as he ignored the curse's meaningless words and inched closer towards it, the thought of exercising being the only prevalent thing on his mind.

Hitomi sighed out loud, disappointingly.

“However, judging by your presence, I can tell that you may be more of a problem than I estimated. I guess my plan to take the girl won’t be carried out as soon as I thought.” Hitomi mused and then snapped his fingers soon after. A portal aggressively opened up behind Hitomi, and the intensity of it’s force made the furniture rattle and fall, Rae struggle to move, and Gojo’s feet to become heavier.

Gojo debated If he wanted to use his domain expansion, but he saw that the girl behind him had lost her grip that she had on a chair and started to fly towards the portal. Gojo sucked his teeth with irritation and grabbed her body before she was consumed by it.

“This was fun, but sadly our encounter has to end. Do not worry because I will be back for you, Rae.” Hitomi spoke with a crooked smile on face, and stepped backwards into his portal. Before Gojo could even reach him, the hole had already sealed itself back up and the room now only had him and the disheveled waitress of this club who laid in his arms.

“Are you alright?” Gojo tiredly asked the woman only for her to roughly shrug him off of her.

“Don’t touch me!” The waitress hissed while standing up on wobbly legs. Gojo stared at the upset woman disinterestedly and got up from his position on the floor as well.

“Listen,” Gojo began. “That curse was way more intelligent than I initially thought. I think It would be in your best interest to come with me so I can safely look after you.” 

Rae looked at the white haired man as if he had lost his mind.

“Look after me? You and that curse can go to hell. In fact It would be in my best interest if the both of you left me alone.” Rae snapped as she quickly moved past him. As Rae was on her way out of the area completely, she was so lost in thought that she ran straight into her boss’ chest, and when she looked up he stared back at her with a worried expression.

“What happened here?” He questioned incredulously once he saw the mess on the floor, causing him to rush and open up the curtains that would display the rest of the room’s debris. Rae turned around to get the man with the white hair to explain the damages that had transpired, but to her surprise, he had disappeared into thin air just as the cursed man did. 

Rae stood behind her boss, now realizing how terrible this all looked on her behalf. The valuable customer and his money were now gone and the whole area was in shambles. She gulped as her boss turned to her with a red face and comical steam shooting from his ears.

“I don’t know what all went on here,” Rae’s boss fumed, causing her to look at him with wide eyes because she already knew what was coming next. “But you’re fired!” 

[astronomical-glory]

[Part 1] [Part 2] [You are here]

Volo wants to meet and understand Arceus but we can also infer that he is angry at Arceus. At a god that allowed such pain and suffering to exist in the world. Why? Arceus makes the rules, why not create the world without those things? There are no pre-existing laws stating that pain and suffering must exist. And to add that he was of the Celestica, the people of Arceus itself, yet he still suffered under the omniscient eye of the creator his people so worshipped.

Volo wants to create a world without pain or suffering and in order to do that he would have to gain Arceus' power, whether it's through forcing Arceus to obey or to kill Arceus and obtain its power. But he also wants recognition from Arceus for his devotion despite his apparent hate. He sees himself as someone special to Arceus yet in the same vein wants subterfuge of that same god. I recommend these two posts as they better put into words how I understand Volo and how he feels towards Arceus.

[¤] [¤]

On an unrelated note, a segment of the paper on double bookkeeping caught my eye and again, despite the paper focusing on schizophrenia, I believe double bookkeeping applies to all psychotic disorders where specifically the person with a psychotic disorder experiences delusions. It also applies to any form of psychosis as again, I myself experience double bookkeeping yet do not have a psychotic spectrum disorder. (Please don't start)

❝The content of typical delusions in schizophrenia is frequently colored by metaphysical, eschatological, or charismatic themes. The latter refers to issues concerning the meaning and purpose of human life, where patients may feel to have a central position, to be chosen for a special mission where the meaning of their life reveals itself to them (“charisma” means divine gift). The former refers to issues concerning respectively the essence of Being or existence (i.e., the schizophrenia cosmology is often of a magical character, consisting of a struggle between good and evil forces, or is penetrated by energies, rays, waves and so forth) and ultimate issues such as universal peace or the end of the world. Along the same line, Sass proposed that delusions in schizophrenia rather than being concerned with the mundane (ontic) issues focus on the very (ontological) horizons of human existence. He emphasizes that the patient lives in a double reality with his delusional conviction forming a part of the reality with a “subjectivized” quality that is unconnected to the intersubjective world.❞

Now, this next part also relies on not only the immortal Volo theory, but the theory that he is the hiker who knows too much™ in Pokemon Platinum and HGSS.

❝Hello, how do you do? I'm a student of philosophy. If I had to explain very simply, I study how people came to be. That could explain why I happen to be in Sinnoh. In Sinnoh, there is a myth on how the world came into existence. Investigating that myth may give me insight on the emergence of people.❞

I won't copy-paste all of the hiker's dialogue because it is a lot, but the way the hiker speaks— with the charisma and excitement about something actually rather similar to what Volo says in the above screenshots plus the explicit mention of the Lake Spirits, Arceus*, Dialga and Palkia*, and has been in possession of several Arcean plates— it's practically all but confirmed that that hiker is actually him ("could just be a coincidence" well, that's one hell of a coincidence)

*A pokemon that paradoxically has a pokedex entry for almost all generations since first appearing yet very few appear to know of their existence. Those few being the Aether foundation, presumably the professors, and obviously the Celestica. With the way the pokemon world is, knowledge of Arceus' existence as anything beyond myth is very clearly not common knowledge, and is mentioned by name outside of pokedexes by only three people: Cynthia, Volo, and the hiker. A bit odd for Arceus to be mentioned by name by two Celestica and then there's this random hiker.

*Not as notable as Arceus, but the Celestica did worship Dialga and Palkia as their gods back in ancient Hisui. Additionally, the explicit mention of the Lake Spirits along with the above screenshots in addition to Volo having talked about myths pertaining to each of the Lake Spirits at their respective lakes is very peculiar.

Now what does this have to do with the quoted segment of the double bookkeeping paper? Let's just go with the belief that the hiker is in fact Volo for the sake of conciseness. Volo in modern Sinnoh shows a prominent display for ontology (and by extension metaphysicality) and cosmology when he infodumps.

Now, I want to make this clear

This is not the same as it being delusions. He just has a fascination for it. However, given his dialogue at Spear Pillar and how everything will cease to be once he subjugates Arceus, attains their power, and destroys and recreates the world anew, his delusions very obviously have charismatic theming. While eschatological feels like something reminiscent of Volo, we have nothing concrete due to again, not knowing enough about him. Headcanoning it is of course applicable as something someone's personal interpretation of his character could have, but there's nothing to back it up as something he displays in canon.

Anyway, after checking through my sources and making sure I understood everything I was writing as I've re-written almost this entire analysis, I stumbled upon a true epiphany to explain Volo's form of psychosis that isn't schizophrenia.

One thing that consistently but not strongly puzzled me was why Volo hardly displayed any other symptoms of psychosis until Spear Pillar (this is, of course, taking into consideration our limited knowledge of him, therefore there's not much to work with anyway). The battle at Spear Pillar is the defining point indicative of psychosis, and with his delusions being a factor in why he acts to achieve his goal— that is, he has a lot of motivation and self-efficacy to enact his delusion and his overall desire for a new world free from pain and suffering (I do want to note that his desire and belief for creating a new world is not his delusion, it has been clearly stated earlier so if one had that misconception, I recommend rereading the analysis with knowledge that that is incorrect).

So his psychotic symptoms are overall very few from what little we know of him but spike at Spear Pillar. There are several forms psychosis can appear in that isn't tied to a psychotic spectrum disorder or even a personality disorder such as BPD.

❝Other specified schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. The DSM-5 introduces this subcategory to provide for the diagnosis of four conditions involving psychotic symptoms that do not meet full criteria for any of the schizophrenia spectrum disorders but nonetheless are issues of clinical concern. Below are examples of clinical presentations to which the “other specified” designation applies.

•Persistent auditory hallucinations, denoting the persistent presence of auditory hallucinations occurring in the absence of other psychotic features.

•Delusions with significant overlapping mood episodes, which is most appropriately used when a patient otherwise meeting criteria for delusional disorder also experiences overlapping mood episodes for a substantial portion of the delusional disturbance.

•Attenuated psychosis syndrome, which describes a condition in which psychotic-like symptoms are present but are less severe and more transient than in schizophrenia, and for which insight is relatively maintained.

•Delusional symptoms in a partner of individual with delusional disorder (formerly named shared psychotic disorder, also known as folie a` deux), a rare condition in which delusions develop in an individual who is involved in a close relationship with an individual with prominent delusions. The previously unaffected partner’s delusions take on the content of the dominant partner’s delusions.❞

But this isn't what sparked the epiphany, it was actually something that I just so happened to find among the sources I already had that backed up my epiphany. The true spark of the epiphany was this:

Psychotic Depression

❝The cause of psychotic depression is not fully understood. It's known that there's no single cause of depression and it has many different triggers.

Many people with psychotic depression will have experienced adversity in childhood, such as a traumatic event.❞

❝Depression with symptoms of psychosis is a severe form of depression in which a person experiences psychosis symptoms, such as delusions (disturbing, false fixed beliefs) or hallucinations (hearing or seeing things others do not hear or see).❞

❝Depression can also involve other changes in mood or behavior that include:

•Increased anger or irritability

•Feeling restless or on edge

•Becoming withdrawn, negative, or detached

•Increased engagement in high-risk activities

•Greater impulsivity

•Increased use of alcohol or drugs

•Isolating from family and friends

•Inability to meet the responsibilities of work and family or ignoring other important roles

•Problems with sexual desire and performance

Depression can look different in men and women. Although men, women, and people of all genders can feel depressed, how they express those symptoms and the behaviors they use to cope with them may differ.❞

How many of these apply to Volo from just this list of depression symptoms alone can be easily noted from the information earlier in this analysis. The context for the job one may be slightly different for Volo, but could still apply since we don't know if the context actually is "laziness", or off doing what he wants instead, or anything else not being indicative of depression based on this piece of dialogue. Again, he's good at "masking" in that way.

We get the tiniest sliver of melancholy from Volo at the Giratina statue right before he goes off the deep end and... that's it. We get hardly anything about Volo beyond his charismatic hope-for-the-best personality before he flips like a switch and we get whiplash from how utterly different he acts at Spear Pillar to the point of making many people believe his personality from everywhere prior to that point as being fake. Mind you, a person can be charismatic but still very much depressed; charisma and happiness (for lack of being able to think of a better term, but you understand. non-depression) are not wholly exclusive to one another.

Given what Volo says during that one moment, and what comes after with his behavior during the battle— him hurling insults and threats*— he is very obviously not okay. It's a very sad and despairing way to look at the world. To see all life as something that has, is, or will inevitably suffer and go through great pain and that all life is a tragedy that has happened, is happening, or will happen. To feel this heartache and to feel in your heart and mind that things don't have to be this way. That things could be better and there is no reason why they have been this way, are this way, and will continue as far as you know to be this way. And god exists in this world. And god is the one who shaped reality and made the rules. God is said to be loving, yet not just allowed— because that on its own would imply that the rules predate god— but created these rules. And what kind of loving and benevolent god would do that?

He has definitive proof that god exists— that Arceus exists— and rather than allow a world such as this continue when it shouldn't have ever been this way, or is so believed. Because there is no conceivable reason why life has to be unfair. I know this because I feel exactly the same. And I also know that there can't truly be a world with no pain or suffering because such a concept only applies to humans. What about all other living beings? How would anything exist? Living beings need to eat and use the lives of others to survive. What about the trees that need to be felled in a pre-industrial age to build? What about the plants and animals that need sustenance (not all plants photosynthesize)?

Plants can feel pain, it's just widely believed they can't because they don't communicate on a level humans understand. And that's just physical pain, but you get the idea— it doesn't make sense when you finally look upon such a tunnelvisioned despairing outlook with genuine clarity. Such a concept for a "world without pain or suffering" seems like an abstract utopia that gives the anguished mind a life-line to hold on to, to see it as something that could possibly even be made reality if it doesn't exist in some universe already. But it is an inherently selfish concept not just due to one using their own suffering as the basis upon which they view the world and its inhabitants, but because it only applies to humans.

*Volo tells Laventon that he still looks forward to the completion of the pokedex, something he wouldn't nor didn't have to tell Laventon, not to mention have him pass that on to the very child he scorned if all he felt towards that child was a visceral hate. Plus even though he threatened that he wasn't above taking the plates by force if necessary, he doesn't act on that threat (he does still very much tell Giratina to kill a 15 year old, though).

End Note

❝In connection to double bookkeeping it is striking that even though primary delusions are in no way corrigible, because of the delusional conviction described above, they are usually never enacted.❞

If this is the case, then why did Volo enact his delusion? A straightforward answer would obviously be that he isn't canonically psychotic so it doesn't matter, but when a character displays symptoms similar to those of a mental illness— a heavily demonized one at that— it doesn't matter whether it's canon or not, because this is still a character that even if by coincidence acts and can be seen as having that particular mental illness. With the language that was used back in 2022 to describe and talk about Volo, by calling him a psychopath, deranged, insane, completely manipulative, evil, etc, in conjunction with a lot of ableist art and misconceptions made about him, it doesn't matter that he isn't canonically psychotic.

Many people showed their true colors when talking about him as a character and Do.Not come at me about how fiction doesn't affect reality because I won't tolerate it. The way Volo was treated back in 2022 was abysmal (and that's putting it lightly). If you truly think people who experience psychosis or have otherwise have had those ableist/sanist terms used to describe them or others with their mental illness(es) don't see the way people talked about this particular fictional character from pokemon of all things, you could not be any more ignorant if you tried.

There are still those that act ableist in their portrayal of Volo but I don't believe it's anywhere near as bad as it was back in 2022.

While GameFreak most likely didn't create Volo with full knowledge of how psychosis and other mental illnesses that can have psychosis are demonized to hell and back despite the people who have those mental illnesses being more of a threat to themselves than anyone else and aren't Evil Incarnate™, it is still possible they created Volo with these specific "troubling" characteristics in mind completely separate from the real life mental illness that these characteristics are symptoms of. Given how Pokemon Legends Arceus in general glorifies colonization in many horrible ways*, it's not that surprising that they'd do something like this with their secret main antagonist.

*Most notable being that Kamado, the lead colonizer, is forgiven despite his xenophobia and blatant disrespect for the culture and land that isn't his, while Volo, a man indigenous to Hisui, as he is Celestica and their home was Hisui— whereas the Diamond and Pearl clans moved to Hisui from elsewhere— isn't forgiven or even given a chance for forgiveness. He just walks off to never be seen again. The saddened look the protagonist gives him over their shoulder does not serve as forgiveness, especially since many people from what I've seen misconstrued the very obvious look of sadness for anger or contempt.

(Image taken from Tyrinitartube since @/voloscreenshots didn't have an image for this specific moment)

It also really doesn't help that with what this analysis serves to show, Volo can be seen as psychotic-coded which makes his unforgiven demonized antagonist status even worse. I'm going to just link this post by @/sage-nebula as they go into more depth in explaining just how bad PLA's glorification of colonization is.

Gamefreak, whether it was genuinely unintentional or not, ultimately created a character that when closely analyzed from a certain perspective can be deemed as having psychosis in at least some form— and when combined with his too-little-too-late backstory, has led to a very large portion of the Western fandom to forgo analysis of any complexity he has in favor of perceiving him as a "one-note evil manipulative character".

It's a slippery slope that many have fallen down and see it as "not a big deal" or "not that deep" because it's not only fiction, but pokemon, yet those same people recognize and respect the complexity of other characters in this same media. (I have seen N compared as being similar to Volo, for instance. Because y'know.

And there is of course now, Arven as a complex character.)

【A pet peeve of mine are those who believe Volo is immortal yet is "still manipulative and scheming" after centuries have passed. Either these people don't have a proper understanding of mental illness when it comes to the passage of time, or they're doing it for the Angst™. Or both. Yes, Volo stated that he didn't care if it would take centuries for him to find a way to conquer Arceus, but people change. If Volo truly is the hiker, then you've got proof right there. I just cannot fathom the idea that after hundreds of years that he wouldn't change or grow as a person at all.】

Again I reiterate what I've said in the first part of this and that's that I don't expect everyone who reads this to drop everything and adopt this headcanon especially because we only know so much about Volo and this headcanon is built on many inferences and, at its core, my own interpretation of him. I am a person who really likes analysis and figuring out why a character acts the way they do in as much an in-universe way as possible but I am not above just going "It's bad writing 🙃".

This analysis is basically: there is further meaning and explanation in Volo's actions that can be gleaned if you look at it in a very specific way that the writers may or may not have intended, but I'm going to write about it anyway. ¯\_(¬_¬)_/¯

[caedescorvirpg]

STARLING. SOLÈNE D. HEREMOER  —   26,  W.

Ally Empowerment: You strengthen other people’s power or natural skills (+) works on non-nihilum where the enhancement a person is given is based on their personality e.g. making someone more charismatic, or having them appear scarier than they are — for nihilum, you can make their magic more powerful (+) has control over what trait/skill she enhances (-) must be in proximity of the person for the enhancement to work (-) magic may work on multiple people, but empowerment is lessened (-) passive ability, you must be focused for it to work on a specific person.

HISTORY

cw: implied suicide

THIS STORY IS TOLD IN A THOUSAND DIFFERENT WAYS, in a thousand different songs, by a thousand different people. Still, this story is yours and yours alone to retell. It begins with a girl and a name she sheds like skin. There is little light where she comes from, little pity for girls like her, and darkness swells like a throbbing heart in the marrow of her home. The girl survives not by strength or wit or charm but by the callous hand of luck. It ensnares the lives of those more privileged than she and demands she adore the hand that feeds her. It’s a waste of her potential. The flowers she tends to are not worthy of their beauty or their fortune or their lives — and if violent beginnings require violent ends than she will become the hand that reaps them. But all things soft require a delicate touch and so it is her with open arms bent low in supplication that rotting flowers tend toward. Her hand over theirs they do not take notice of the slow dismembering of their lives. Only when there is very little to survivie on does she reveal the cause of their infection — only then does she take what should have been hers to begin with.

In every death you’ve overcome you leave a piece of yourself behind for the ravenous girls yet to be. They’re minor deaths and the things you lose in the interim are quickly replaced by other golden objects. The latest iteration of the life begins and ends in coincidence; a fated affair that released honorable men and women of their senses. What you offered was nothing short of divine inspiration and in your clever care they transformed into something more than they ever thought to bear. You unnfurled desire like a scroll and became the muse for all things great and powerful. Swathed in gold, you did not want for much. However, familiarity breeds contempt and shortly after your fixation changed from one devastating thing to the next. You live a fine life now, killing every iteration of yourself so that no one knows where you came from, so that no one may understand your desire. You will not allow anyone to lodge a knife in your ribcage, turn the thing so you suffer once again. You will die each day until the sun does not rise and when you finally succumb to death it will be at the hands of yourself and no one else’s.

CONNECTIONS

GOLDEN PHEASANT﹒  THE FLOWERS ALL AROUND ARE SOAKED WITH BLOOD

Is love not synonymous with hate? Envy with pity? Desire with apathy? GOLDEN PHEASANT was spared from the fate you survivied, and in their hesitation you understood that some girls will always be wanted more than others. You recognized early on that she was a doll to be looked at — pretty and useless and completely unaware of the life around her; and you hate how even in her most vile state someone still wants her. You look upon her with hate because even if she is forced to distill herself into something more transparent she is treated with more deference than anything you had previously known before. Fine, so be it then. You’ll come to her with submission in your eyes and your palms turned up. You ask for forgiveness and lay by her feet to weep. This facade will take time to develop, for her to be deceive, but eventually she will be and no matter how much you loved her, you vow it will not be enough to save her.

NIGHTINGALE ﹒ THE MOON SHINES LIKE A LOVER

Even as a child you knew the world was not enough; nothing could ever satiate your hunger, no dream was big enough for you to want. What you desired was for man to give you meaning, but what he failed to supply you pray NIGHTINGALE will do with ease. There is something sacred about her, something you wish to possess. Most people you meet are only worth half the time you spend on them, but not her, never her. You know this to be certain just as you know the moon will rise every morning. She will be the thing to complete you, to make you whole. And by befriending her, allowing your shoulder to be the perch she rests upon, you will one day come to understood her completely. When that time arrives you will then become her.

HUMMINGBIRD﹒  THE GRIT OF LIFE AND THE GRIT OF DEATH ARE EQUIVALENT 

It was a pastime, a hobby that transformed into a terror. HUMMINGBIRD pulled you into the tightly wound dance of his life and left you unable to speak. He wore danger like a cut tie and brought you along as company to the end of the world. “What would you give for its destruction,” he asks, “What would you do for it to end?” This is a story that tells itself without ever being asked, man seeks a way out and asks you to join him. Man offers an apple and forgets it is rotten. HUMMINGBIRD is a beast unto himself and does not inspire the devotion you are accustomed to. So when the spring arrives and brings with it new life you forget about him. You leave his name as a whisper in the wind and you move onto others unlike him. This is the lie you tell yourself to overcome the fear that he may be different — that he might actually do what he says he will.

This skeleton is TAKEN by VERA and is portrayed by RAVYANSHI MEHTA. Their highest stat is DEXTERITY and their specialty is OBSERVATION/RESEARCH.

[nyxicnymph]

Another Time and Date???

Chasulia Oneshot.

@disfordevineaux

@oqxy

@of-scars-and-roses

@sleepymochasloth

@redcxackles-backup

@catintheback

@justanotherpsych00

All Julia Argent knew about her soulmate was that they appeared to be forgetful, or had no access to pen and paper. Scrawled addresses and dates had appeared on her hand nearly daily from her sixteenth birthday. The handwriting had evolved, but it was still a scrawl across her tiny palms.

So Julia wore gloves.

It wasn't like she was embarrassed by her soulmate, far from it. They'd never tried to communicate, but that didn't bother her. Julia believed one should not force destiny.

When the addresses started matching up with certain historical treasures and museums, Julia had a bit of a panic. The same targets that Carmen Sandiego were hitting were only showing up on her hand only hours before the raids.

Sure, Carmen Sandiego was hot, but... she was an international superthief, for God's sake. And Julia just wasn't that attracted to her, no matter what outsiders may think.

But then Carmen started leaving her handwritten notes, after they'd partnered up a few times, to Chief's bemusement. And Julia sighed in relief. Carmen wrote in elegant cursive, not an untidy scrawl.

That didn't solve the mystery, but it knocked one suspect off the list.

"Eh, Miss Argent, you appear to be lost in your thoughts?" Devineaux asked her as he tapped her shoulder.

Julia flinched in surprise. "Oh, just a personal mystery. It has nothing to do with our work."

Devineaux frowned. "But if it is occupying your thoughts, you will not be in the right mindset to work, no?" He grabbed a chair from nowhere and sat in it, his elbows on his knees, hands clasped under his chin. "Is it a mystery you are willing to share?"

Julia smiled slightly at the sight before her. Devineaux had grown from an arrogant, dismissive coworker to a steady and reliable friend for her. She sat down as well and took a deep breath.

As close as Devineaux was to her, you don't just talk about soulmates with anyone. Soulmates were a sensitive topic.

"It is my soulmate. Specifically the way our mark works. My soulmate mark is the ink mark, and my soulmate, they must be forgetful or in a habit of writing on themselves. As of the last several months, or year, several of the addresses..." Julia sighed, and removed her glasses to wipe them off in a nervous tic. As she replaces her glasses, she continues, "Several of the addresses lined up with places we have gone in our attempts to capture or work with Carmen Sandiego. At first I thought maybe my soulmate was her, but her handwriting is completely different. Yet the addresses continue to show up."

Devineaux's eyes had steadily grown wider and wider during Julia's small monologue. He cleared his throat. "So, is it maybe one of her comrades? Or someone here at ACME?"

Julia shook her head. "I don't know. But I have a plan. I've never communicated with them, through the connection, but with all these coincidences, I'm about to. I have to. I have to know who they are, Devineaux."

Devineaux nodded and stood. "I hope you find them, Miss Argent." He exited her work area, and made his way outside.

Having exited the building, he leaned against the wall, shaking slightly. He raised his left hand to eye level, and slowly, finger by finger, removed the glove that had been covering it.

He had just written down the address this morning, due to a tip from some of Carmen's contacts.

Devineaux never thought about soulmates, since he didn't have a visible soulmark. But suddenly, after Julia's words, Devineaux was anxious.

What if he had offended, oppressed, and hurt his soulmate?

But you've also learned from your mistakes, apologized, and stepped away from those hurtful behaviors, another part of his mind whispered.

Devineaux clutched his head in confusion and anxiety. He allowed himself two minutes of agonizing, then he stood up tall, replaced his glove, smoothed his hair, straightened his jacket, and returned to his work.

<Timeskip: Next Day>

Julia lowered the pen, only to pull it back. She had been so determined to do this, so ready to finally meet this person, only for her nerve to fail her now? She shook her head and pressed her lips together in determination. She raised the pen again, and placed it firmly on the back of her hand.

I believe it is time for us to meet.

She then gave the address of the café where Chief liked to go in the mornings, and set a time for their meeting, and set the pen down. She stared at her hand for a few minutes, breathless. Finally, the scrawl appears.

I will be there.

Julia released the breath she'd been holding. They were coming. She'd finally meet her soulmate and find out about the addresses and mysteries.

She might even feel less stressed.

She pulled her glove back on and pulled out her laptop, satisfied. They'd meet around noon, if all went well.

Devineaux looked at the back of his hand, shocked, and scared. He didn't have any proof, but if this was just a coincidence, it was an uncanny one.

He pulled the glove back on and resumed his work, though his eyebrows were closer knit than usual. He looked up at a gentle knock, however, less then two minutes later. Julia was standing there nervously.

"Ah, Miss Argent, come in!" He said, putting on his regular Chase facade.

"Devineaux," she began, "I did it! I'm meeting my soulmate for lunch today!"

Devineaux's head swirled, and a lump grew in his throat. He should tell her, but he couldn't get the words out. All he could manage was a weak, "That sounds lovely."

Julia was normally an observant woman, but she was in a daze, and couldn't quite see the tempest in Devineaux. She couldn't see his internal conflict with himself, a conflict that was growing stronger by the second. She just couldn't.

Julia walked around Devineaux's desk, and gave him a hug. "Thank you for being so supportive of me. Not just with this, but with everything. Ever since Egypt, you've become one of my best friends. No, you are my best friend now. And I couldn't be more grateful."

Devineaux returned her hug, his knowledge pressing on his tear ducts, but he swore not to cry. Not then.

"You showed me my errors, Miss Argent. You, and your perspective, changed me for the better." Oh, how he wanted to call her Julia, then. But he couldn't. That wasn't his place. Not yet.

Julia stepped away. "Now, I must go. I have some things to finish up before I leave. Thank you, Devineaux."

He nodded as she turned and left, a slight spring in her step. Devineaux looked down at his desk, noting a drop. The tears weren't tears of sadness, nor joy. They were tears of conflict, and tears of shame that he had been unable to tell her then and there.

He wiped the teardrop of the desk, and returned to his papers. Like Julia, he had several things to accomplish before their lunch. He would not be working through his lunch break today.

Julia tapped the last of her papers together, and looked at the clock. She swept the papers into her desk, and stood up. She was about to leave her area when she looked at a vase on her desk. There was a small flower on the edge of the arrangement she had placed in it, and she pulled it out. Her hair had grown out a bit, but she thought the primrose might still be a nice touch. She placed it gently behind her hair, and smiled, pleased by the effect.

Devineaux waited for Julia to exit the building before hurriedly shoving all his stuff in a briefcase and shoving it into the desk. He stopped by a mirror in the hall and tried to fix his hair, but stopped. It wouldn't change how Julia viewed him. She already knew almost everything about him, or at least his personality.

And his messy grooming habits.

Devineaux internally flinched. If today went well, if she accepted him, he resolved to improve his hygiene and grooming. And double check the toothpaste tubes.

He still hated VILE for that one.

He made his way to the cafe, and stopped just outside. His breath caught in his throat.

She was there. A primrose in her hair, and a radiance around her that just made her shine. He backed away for a moment.

He just realized that he was in love with Julia Argent.

He straightened his coat, hoping she wouldn't be disappointed in him. He walked in with a group of other people. Even from a distance, he could tell that, despite her glow, Julia was anxious. After a glance at his watch, Chase knew why.

He was seven minutes late.

Chase felt his heartrate go up drastically, and he wasn't sure if he'd make it to Julia. He pulled a pen out of his pocket, and placed it on his hand.

Try not to be disappointed.

Julia raised an eyebrow at the message, but also understood. She gasped in surprise when a hand was gently placed on the table in front of her. She looked down at the messages, which mirrored hers exactly, then followed the limb up, past a familiar jacket, to a very familiar face.

Chase Devineaux smiled weakly. "Surprise?"

He sat down heavily and placed his forehead on the table, the anxiety from earlier leaving him exhausted. Julia stared at him, her brain whirling.

"Wait, you're my soulmate?!" She mumbled, still in shock.

Chase lifted his head up. "I wanted to tell you earlier, when you walked in, but I just could not! I give you my deepest apologies, Miss Argent."

Julia looked at him, still processing, but the pieces are starting to click. "No, no, I don't think you should apologize. Something about fate. It's strange like this." She looked at her delicate hand, then placed it on Devineaux's rougher and larger one. "And fate didn't want me to know then, I'm sure."

Devineaux looked away. "But, Miss Argent, how can you trust me now?"

Julia looked at him quizzically. "You've saved my life, and grown into someone I can trust with anyone. Devi-" She stopped, swallowed, and continued. "Chase, how could I not trust you?"

Chase looked at her again, wonder on his face. Hardly anyone called him Chase. "I thought you would hate me, or even worse, ignore me."

Julia sighed. "I could never. We're partners, remember?" She held up her hand. "Forever, I suppose."

Chase cracked a grin, and leaned back, running a hand over his face. "It's like a weight has been lifted from my chest, thanks to you, Miss Argent."

"Julia," she corrected, and he nodded.

"Of course. Julia."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, until Julia's eyes widened and she covered her mouth. Chase glanced over in concern.

"Julia?"

"I friendzoned you!"

Chase just leaned back and laughed.

<End>

[empriix]

here’s my addition to JJK Fandom/JJK Lore

Three Great Vengeful Spirits | Onryō JJK Style

Sugawara no Michizane. Also referred to as Kan Shōjō or Kanke. Later deified as Tenman-Tenjin or just Tenjin for short. He was quite famous in his life time as a poet and scholar, having even travelled to China as the ambassador of Japan in the Tang Dynasty. He defended scholars, leading to one of the notable conflicts in his life, against the Fujiwara Clan, specifically Fujiwara no Motorsune who was related to the emperor by marriage. Died in exile, after being accused of not supporting the crown prince. His death coincided with plague, drought, death of the Emperor’s sons who accused him, and weeks of rainstorms and floods. Hence, his deification as a god of sky and storms.

Canonically the ancestor of the Gojō Clan and Okkotsu Yūta, as mentioned in Volume 0.

Taira no Masakado. Famously known for being the first recorded leader of an uprising against the central government in the Heian Period. Notably, his paternal family is descended from the Emperor, though were later demoted to commoners then reinstated as nobility. His placing in his family tree is also not clear, with conflicting records. According to historical records, one of the conflicts that are noted to contribute to his hostility is a dispute over an unnamed woman, against his paternal uncle—some speculate a cousin who he had married. He started a minor revolt in the Hitachi Province, taking the then governor as hostage, and proclaimed himself as the New Emperor. His rebellion later led to a bounty placed on his head, leading to his death via beheading. His rebellion was noted to coincide with a swarm of butterflies plaguing Kyoto. Butterflies, as a Japanese motif. are closely associated with metamorphosis and change, as well as linked to death as representatives of deceased spirits. Interestingly enough, Taira no Masakado’s birth and subsequent life are after that of Sugawara no Michizane. It was speculated when Taira no Masakado died, based on the calamities that followed, that he was the reincarnation of Sugawara no Michizane.

I personally headcanon Taira no Masakado as the ancestor of the Zen’in Clan. The family conflict that is a large part of his historical history and significance really pushed me into believing that he is the ancestor for the extremely conflict-laden Zen’in Clan. I also thought it’d be hilarious if what led to the Zen’in Clan’s vast Cursed Energy came from a man who’s hostility began because of love, especially with Naoya (derogatory). While the butterfly plague may or may not be true, I also thought the animal imagery preluding the rebellion made a link, to me, to the Ten Shadow Technique. Lastly, I liked that he was a rebel—and spiteful over what he loved. It really struck a cord with me, and it strikes me that Tōji, Megumi, and Maki virtually did the same thing: they walked away to do what they wanted. And just like Taira no Masakado ended up important in a way that no one could have predicted. Add on his arrogance to declare himself the New Emperor, and his pride, based on his actions, I’m pretty confident in headcanoning him as the Zen’in Clan’s ancestor. The idea that Taira no Masakado is just the reincarnation of Sugawara no Michizane was just perfect, to me, as fuel for the rivalry between the Gōjo and Zen’in Clans specifically.

Emperor Sutoku. The 75th Emperor of Japan. He doesn’t have many notable achievements during his tenure as the emperor. Notably, his failure as the emperor to quell a rebellion led to his abdication and exile at the age of 37, ending his reign. In exile, it is said that devoted himself to monastic life, devoting himself to scripture. His scripture replications were rejected; the former emperor snubbed. In the end, he cursed the Imperial Court for his misfortunes, leading to him becoming one of the Three Great Onryō.

As you can probably guess, I headcanon Emperor Sutoku to be the ancestor of the Kamo Clan. My main reasoning is that, as a member of the imperial household, it makes it very obvious that his descendants would be very wary of their bloodline. Even more so as descendants of an exiled emperor. His misfortunes and failures, in my mind, could have shaped the highly conscious Kamo Clan of blood purity in the sense that the heir must have the Inherited Cursed Technique: Blood Manipulation. Blood Manipulation is a technique fitting for nobility in general, but even more so a family that descends from the Imperial Family. Kamo Noritoshi’s (the Good One) flashbacks regarding his childhood, also make me speculate that part of the reason the Kamo Clan is so concerned with preserving their Cursed Technique is because of the fear of “failing” or being demoted. Which, for me, is similar to how Sutoku was forced into exile. His dabbling religious activities, at least in JJK, can be used as euphemism of experimenting with Cursed Techniques and whatnot—like with Kamo Noritoshi (the Bad One) and Chōsō have experimented in wildly different ways.

.

.

.

I hope y’all like them ‘cause like I GENUINELY tried to model them after known members from each clan and used colours that kinda fit each clan. Like Blue for Michizane cause Gojō Muthafuckin’ Satoru. Green for Masakado because Maki-Babe’s hair is a similar shade. Red for Sutoku ‘cause blood. Masakado’s tongue thing is supposed to look like Toji and a bit of Naoya. And hes supposed to look smug....... Ugh. I hate it here.

[butwhatifidothis]

3H and Bleach: Where the Fuck am I

So, I’m finally hunkering down and trying to write out this post lmao. I’ve mentioned here and there how my personal experience with the 3H’s fandom is similar to my experience with the Bleach fandom’s in more than one way, and - look. Like, I get there’s definitely a semi-universal thing that goes on across all fandoms. I don’t mean for this to say that this only happens within these two fandoms, because duh, of course they don’t. But!! This post is partly me wanting to air years long annoyance towards the Bleach fandom that just so happens to coincide with my feelings towards the 3H fandom, sooo... yeah lmao

I’ll probably be skimming over some bits about 3H, since most people who come across this will already be familiar with what I’d be talking about in that regard vs Bleach, so just a heads up

Note: This is gonna talk about Bleach which will spoiler territory (writing this off the cuff so not sure where this is goin’ yet lmao but I know that much), so if you don’t wanna see that then don’t read this post lol, I know for sure I’ll be spoiling something ahhhh... noticeable, lol

Ableism against the mentally ill

Now, most people reading this post will be familiar with the blog and how this very, very much applies to 3H, but for the sake of this post I’ll lay it out anyway with a brief summary

Dimitri and Rhea are both characters within 3H that suffer from severe trauma that heavily impacts their mental state. Both are the sole survivors of a horrific slaughter, with that slaughter redefining who they are and leaving a permanent marker within their minds in some way (Dimitri with having auditory and visual hallucinations, Rhea with having obsessive tendencies towards bringing her mother back from the dead). Specifically in CF, both characters are set up in the plot as antagonists, with both characters having to relive their trauma in some way due to the actions Byleth and Edelgard take against them (for Dimitri, having his home be razed to the ground and everyone he cares for dying around him, for Rhea having someone use her mother’s mutilated remains be used to end her and her race) and express extreme anger towards Byleth and Edelgard before they are killed to progress/end the story

Now, uh, sad shit right? Not exactly fuckin’ happy sunshine rainbows. These two characters are put through the wringer and are then murdered. They are rightfully not the fuckin’ happiest because of what happened to them before and what happens to them within the present story. But we’ve heard it all before: “They were crazy!” “They couldn’t be reasoned with!” “They had to be put down out of mercy because they were too ~far gone~ to live happily!” “They needed to be killed for the good of everyone!” It’s an extremely ableist rhetoric that gets passed around the fandom as though it’s totally fine to directly state that mentally ill people should be put down if they’re deemed a “lost cause.” Especially worrying because. You know. If they are a “”””lost cause”””” then it’s directly and specifically because of actions Byleth and Edelgard take against them. 

But how does this remind me of Bleach? What kind of similar extreme, worrying ableism exists there? Well, let me introduce to best girl a certain character with... a reputation, to say the least:

Meet Momo Hinamori.

Holy shit it’s so weird writing this out because I’ve been wanting to for years but have never worked up the nerve to do it lol

It should be noted, in the Bleach verse there’s two worlds out of three - Soul Society and Hueco Mundo, though I’ll only be talking of the former - that deal with “souls” (the essence within a living human). Souls age far more slowly than human bodies do in terms of body, not necessarily the mind (so a teenage soul will likely behave as such for a long while) so keep in mind that I’m going to be using numbers that may seem weird to someone who hasn’t seen Bleach lol.  With that out of the way, here’s a similar, if longer for context to those who haven’t seen Bleach, summary for Momo’s character as it relevant to this post:

Momo is a character in Bleach that grows a deep admiration towards Sosuke Aizen, a respected captain of the military force called the Gotei 13. She comes to views him as the most important person in her world due to him both noticing and paying direct attention to her as well as saving her and her friends’ lives during a training mission gone wrong while she was younger. Note that “younger” here means 40 years ago from the start of the story. Aizen would praise her all the time, allow her to sleep over in his quarters, would drape his cloaks over her when she looked cold, and would overall treat Momo as though he was his daughter for most of the time we see them interact in the beginning portions of the show. Note that none of this is sexual in nature, nor is it ever implied to be seen as such. That’ll be important later in this post

To make a long story short, Aizen comes to betray her. He stabs her through the chest and shows and tells her that she never meant anything to him, throughout the 40 years they’ve known each other (which, mind, for a soul Momo’s approximate age 40 years is still a noticeable amount of time), and he was only using her to help bolster his image as a loveable captain so that he can hide his plan from everybody that much easier. He did horrible things to Momo - from setting her alarm clock back to a later time so that she would more likely come across his pinned, bloody fake corpse. to framing her childhood friend for the apparent murder and tricking her into fighting that friend, to far later in the series tricking that friend into stabbing her (hypnosis shit, to sum that up) for literally no stated reason - that ended up mentally breaking her. She couldn’t believe that the last four decades were all nothing but lies and she fell into a deep denial about Aizen’s true nature - someone else made him do everything he did, she must have missed something that would have warned her about Captain Aizen’s unfortunate situation that forced Captain Aizen to hurt her and everyone else. This denial would take the majority of Bleach’s entire runtime for her to get over completely, with her having hiccups in her recovery even as she works up the nerve to fight him.

Now, uh, also not the fuckin’ funnest of times to be had here. The deep, long-running mental and psychological manipulation of what approximates as a teenage girl from a trusted older figure is something that is very clearly horrific and bad of the older figure, right? Like, we’re on the same page here on that?

This wouldn’t be in this post if that was the case. No, Momo was the one constantly on fire for what happened to her. She was one of the most hated characters in the western audience, and there were endless jokes about “lol look at Momo, the pincushion!” “Crazy bitch Momo, better watch out!” making fun of her and her trauma relentlessly. If you managed to find a Momo fan in the early 2000′s you should have also bought a lotto ticket because holy fuck, everyone hated her. She acted in a startlingly real if deeply uncomfortable way in regards to years long manipulation and she was lambasted for it. She didn’t immediately get over decades long psychological abuse and she was called useless, weak, a horrible representation of female characters, stupid - you name it, she was likely called it. To this day I still tense up when I hear that someone likes Bleach and they mention Momo at all because I’m always thinking “does this person think this abuse victim is dumb for being abused?”

Dimitri, Rhea, and Momo are all victim-blamed to a disgusting degree in the 3H and Bleach fandoms. Dimitri and Rhea are always hit with “well if Dimitri hadn’t have fought back against Edelgard/Rhea caused the “”tyranical systems” in the first place, nothing would have happened to them!” and Momo was constantly hit with” well, it’s not Aizen’s fault Momo was so clingy to him, what could he have done!” and I get so fuckin’ mad dude.

But for Dimitri and Momo specifically, there’s one thing in particular that caught my attention:

The “Rejection Theories”

This had my head spinnin’ a bit when I first heard it, cuz I had managed to avoid the theory for a while in the 3H’s fandom, but apparently a sizeable amount of people seem to believe that Dimitri wasn’t just mad at Edelgard in the Holy Tomb because of... you know *waves hand* fuckin’ everything, but that the primary reason for his anger was that Edelgard... rejected his advances to her? And that the dagger he gave to her when they were 13 was a phallic symbol of baby Mitri’s want to have sex with Edelgard? And. Like. What in the fuck are you talking about. 

But like?? Bleach did this shit too with Momo?? It was also a sizeable amount of people - not everyone, but a noticeable amount - that believed that Momo was just mad that Aizen wouldn’t sleep with her? You’d see it pop up in fics so often, that Momo would want Aizen to fuck her and she’d “go crazy” when he denied her and Momo was actually just this shallow bitch who wanted a good fuck like... what.

Like, when I first heard the Phallic Dagger take the first thing that came to mind is “wait Momo was also accused of just wanting to have sex with the person who traumatized her wtf” 

“Actually it was the perpetrators that should be forgiven because lonely and also some shit about ruling better”

Those in the 3H fandom know how often the “Edelgard was lonely!” line gets thrown by just about every one of her stans. Edelgard was lonely and couldn’t trust anyone, so of course she did what she did! If she had someone near her she could trust she wouldn’t have acted like she does in the rest of the game! Nevermind that she “gets” this in CF in the form of Byleth and still acts just as shittily as she does in the other routes, or how being a little lonely doesn’t fuckin’ mean you get to start war. But anyway, we also hear that Edelgard was justified in doing what she did because her ruling Fodlan would have lead to more peace in the end, once she got rid of the power structures in place now (except that doesn’t happen but whatev I guess lmao)

Aizen? He was lonely too! He was far too strong for anyone to truly be able to understand him, and so he tragically fell down a dark path. If he had known someone who could be considered an equal to him he would have never done all the horrible things he did. And the Soul Society is unjust! It needs to be reformed! So him slaughtering hundreds of thousands of souls at the minimum to harvest all of their power to use as his own is justified because it’ll be used to create a more just society under his rule!

Like. Y’all. Lowkey? I’m so fuckin’ glad Edelgard proved herself to be just as fuckin’ awful with Byleth as without because this shit drove me up the fuckin’ wall back in the day. There was 0 ways to prove that Aizen would damn sure be just as fuckin’ bad if he had an “”equal”” to stand by him than if he didn’t, and I get to kinda be right because without fundamentally changing these characters’ backstories they would not give two flying shits about whether or not they had someone “equal to them” (which is still kinda degrading to think about anyway).

Now, this is where I move away to a different topic lol

A split in the narrative cause divides in the fandom

With 3H houses this is really fuckin’ easy to point at: there’s 4 routes, three consistent stories and one radically different story, and that difference in story causes heavy contention within the fandom. It’s very obvious so I won’t go over it much.

But how in the fuck is there a divide in Bleach? It’s not a fuckin’ Choose Your Own Adventure manga, it’s an anime and manga showing off the characters of Bleach’s stories and interactions (with, you know, plot and shit thrown in).

Well. It’s more accurate to say the anime told a story about the characters, and the manga told... the story about the characters.

In terms of plot, the anime didn’t change much from the manga, but hoo fuckin’ boy, did they change shit about some of the characters. Specifically, they changed a shit ton about three characters: the two main protagonists, Ichigo and Rukia, and another main character, Orihime.

Orihime. Got. Fucked.

The anime would make her far more ditzy and clumsy, her crush (turned growing love later on in the story) for Ichigo during more deeper moments that showcases her feelings for him were downplayed if not removed entirely in exchange for talking or thinking about food, key moments she has with Ichigo early in the manga were cut or deadass changed to something else in the anime, some key moments with her relationship with Rukia were cut, her backstory was watered down - so much of Orihime was fucked with in the anime (her fuckin’ introduction was changed drastically). Meanwhile Ichigo and Rukia were given moments that didn’t exist in the manga, they have filler arcs (remember those lmao) that would be stuffed with shit ton of moments for them that have no basis in the manga, other characters would change their behavior from the manga to reflect a sort of “thing” going on between Ichigo and Rukia.

Look, guys, the anime fucked up so bad the fucking mangaka, Tite Kubo, has said he gets stomach aches watching the early anime because it was that awful. And this divide between the anime and manga’s portrayal of these three character helped spawn the ship war of Bleach: Ichiruki vs Ichihime (oh but more on that in a bit). It tanked Orihime’s popularity because people thought she was the stupid dumbass that would stumble ass first into situations when that wasn’t her character at all. And because the majority of anime watchers only watch the anime... yeah, you can see where this went. So just like in 3H in Bleach you have these radically different tellings of the same characters that drove a big-ass wedge in the fandom

Marketing

Imma be transparent, like I’ve said before I managed to avoid nearly every marketing tactic for 3H so it’s a tad hard for me to speak personally, but from what I’ve been told Edelgard was heavily marketed towards the player base pre-release. She was the poster child of 3H, she got the figma, she was in the spotlight - unless you cleansed your board of 3H content you knew exactly who she was. On top of that, it doesn’t stop in-game - loading screen messages would assume you picked BE, Adrestia is the first option to pick when you want to impress one of the lords in the prologue, the BE class is the first option to pick in choosing which route to play, every character has some moment in the game post ts where they express sympathy with the woman who waged war on them for five years (even characters with no business doing so, like Seteth entertaining the idea that maybe Edelgard isn’t that bad during Myrddin). With all of that good PR for Edelgard in and out of the game it heavily impacted how people saw her, and much of it is used by stans to justify her being a good guy (mostly in the game marketing) despite everything else in the game clearly showing that Edelgard is the bad guy

With Bleach in that regard... you have Ichiruki

holy shit it’s so weird talking about Ichiruki i’m still lowkey nervous about talking about them lmao

With Ichiruki stans, they would cling onto outside material that promoted Ichigo and Rukia together as proof that their ship was going to be canon. Spreadsheets, calendars, poems (some of which didn’t even apply to Ichigo and Rukia’s relationship but they insisted they did anyway), novels - outside material that either wasn’t canon or didn’t pertain to Ichigo and Rukia’s relationship. They would shove it in the face of Ichihime shippers that “see, we have all this stuff for us! We ain’t starving tonight!” when the canon (note: in the manga particularly) would clearly show Ichigo and Orihime’s relationship being the one that leans romantic in multiple significant ways. They would latch onto irrelevant shit that ain’t had nothin’ to do with anything and wave around as a paragon of romance when it literally wasn’t even canon

Just fuckin’ ignoring the creators deadass

Creators and developers of 3H: Edelgard is the typical Red Emperor the only difference is Girl

Stans: that’s just a headcanon

Kubo: Ichigo and Rukia have a platonic relationship and I’ve publicly said this since 2008

Stans, now, to this day: Ichigo and Rukia were robbed

Making people reject what they’re stanning for

I’ve seen a few people express that the more they interact with the fandom and see what her stans are doing, the more they grow to dislike Edelgard despite (some) initially liking or even loving her. To put it simply, the same thing happened with Ichiruki - hell, this happened with me with Ichiruki. I can’t fuckin’ stand the ship anymore because every time I think about it I’m reminded of the absolutely rancid, disgusting things Ichiruki stans have to done to others in the fandom, and even after nearly five years after Bleach has ended I still tense up when someone says they like Ichiruki over Ichihime precisely because of the behavior of the stans, just like I side-eye people who say Edelgard is the best lord. Do they like them because they simply prefer them over the other(s) and they’re not totally fuckin’ bonkers, or are they totally fuckin’ bonkers. 

And, like, that’s not fair! I know that! But I can’t help but think that when such a loud amount of people act in such deplorable ways just because someone didn’t like a bunch of lines on paper/pixels on a screen.

To all the nice Ichiruki and Edelgard fans, hope y’all are havin’ a nice day.

Long, crazy ass explanations as to why X =/= X (and if anything actually means Y)

Teacher theory for 3H. How Edelgard totally didn’t hire Kostas to kill Dimitri and Claude and was only thwarted because Claude booked it, but how she definitely actually meant to simply scare away the teacher that was with them so that Jeritza could be pulled from his already existing position in Garreg Mach to teach one class so that Edelgard can kinda keep a sorta closer eye on exactly one of the other classes (and just do shit all about the other one I guess), because Jertiza’d be able to gleam so much from teaching a class for a few hours a day I promise 

But for Bleach, you also have one particularly infamous theory positing shit that don’t real, with enough renown to be known by a specific name, and that’s the Lust Arc = Fail essay

To explain what the essay is about, I have to set the scene up a bit. Imagine, you, with your tiny little monkey brain, are watching Bleach, and you get to the part where Main Boyo is fighting against Villain to save Girly. Other Guy is there too - this is important. Main Boyo tries his hardest to fight Villain, but is ultimately shot through the fucking chest with a laser from Villain and dies. Like, for bit actually dies. Girly breaks down, has a straight up mental breakdown because she always “knew” that Main Boyo could do anything, and now he’s been killed and is dead in front of her. She screams out Main Boyo’s name, hysterically begging him to save her and protect her because holy shit the love of her life has been brutally murdered in front of her what the fuck. But Main Boyo, from literally beyond the line of death, hears her pleas and snaps back to life as a monster, with the sentence “I MUST PROTECT” repeatedly running through his head and being the only sentence he ever says while in this form, with him fucking destroying Villain and even going so far as to directly hurt Other Guy when Other Guy tries to stop Main Boyo from utterly stomping on Villain. Girly is the only person Main Boyo does not directly hurt, and when Villain is damn sure gonna fuckin’ kick the bucket that is when Main Boyo reverts back human. Everyone is more than a little shocked at what happened, but it’s clear from how relieved Girly is when Main Boyo comes back safe and sound that while this event fundamentally will change their relationship (and it does), it is still one that is extremely strong and they won’t let it get between them (and they don’t).

Now, when looking at the summary, you, with your absolutely miniscule peanut of a brain, might come away thinking, “Hm, Main Boyo might kinda care for Girly given that he literally rose from the dead to protect her and only her and went back to normal once she was safe” and you poor fool would be oh so wrong, because actually, this is all proof that Mian Boyo doesn’t care for Girly and that Villain actually cared more for Girly than Main Boyo ever could.

Without diving too deeply into the absolute lunacy of the Lust Arc = Fail essay, that was its main premise. That Ichigo, after rising from the literal dead directly after Orihime begged and pleaded that he protect and save her and then going on to protect and save specifically her (as Uryu - Other Guy - is also a friend of Ichigo’s and got his fucking arm cut off by Monster!Ichigo), is proof against Ichihime being romantic in any way and was not, in fact, a fuckin’ giant neon flashing sign that read THESE TWO ARE GONNA GET TOGETHER. It was the dumbest shit ever, but Ichiruki stans, much like Edelstans with Teacher Theory, clung to it like white on rice. It didn’t matter how much it was utterly debunked, it didn’t matter how the base premise was stupid as fuck, they point to it as the pinnacle of meta for their respective fandoms in their respective spaces.

And all of this leads me to um... the one I’m kinda the most worried about?

Stan Behavior

Edelstans are their own unique brand of awful in that that the shit they spew is particularly... worrying (”genocide isn’t bad if they aren’t human and also they kinda deserved it” “imperialism isn’t that bad really” the mentally ill should be put down if they’re deemed ~too far gone~” among other... wonderful takes...), and their behavior is also quite shitty, harassing content creators that go against the Approved Opinions (Ghast) or forcing people to take down fanart and in general infecting nearly every Rhea space with all kinds of disparaging comments no one asked for. They actively make the fandom a worse space, and when they flare up it’s almost always noticeable (again, Ghast)

Bleach?

Oh boy.

Guys. If you weren’t there for the Canonization of Ichihime (2016). You dodged a fucking bullet.

The outrage was out-fuckin’-rageous. Their behavior was some of the worst reactions anyone has ever seen come from the canonization of a ship in a shounen. This includes, but is not limited to:

Someone tearing apart all 70+ volumes of Bleach and burning it in their bathroom

In fact, multiple people tearing up Bleach and burning it, while keeping the Ichiruki moments and taping it to their walls

A Rukia cosplayer, in Rukia cosplay, printing out the final color spread of the end-game couples and their friends lounging about - with colored ink and all - and burning it, while filming herself doing so

Ichiruki porn being sent to Tite Kubo

Tite Kubo being accused of grooming a 15 Orihime cosplayer with no proof

Tite Kubo being accused of lying about his various health issues

Ichigo and Rukia being drawn cheating on their spouses with each other - and some of that also being sent to Tite Kubo

Tite Kubo being chased off Twitter by Ichiruki stans... again

Ichihime shippers getting sent death threats

Ichihime shippers getting called delusional for thinking their ship had a chance before the endgame couples were revealed, and then being called delusional for thinking their ship had any real basis and wasn’t pulled “out of nowhere”

Tite Kubo being accused of hating women because of Orihime being shown in an apron in the last chapter and Ichiruki stans jumping to the conclusion she became a housewife, and then Tite Kubo being accused of hating women because when it was revealed that Orihime has a job in a bakery to pay for college later they insisted what Kubo should have done was have Uryu, who’s a doctor at that point, pay for Orihime’s college instead of having Orihime pay for it with her own money 

And mind you, this is only the stuff I’ve personally seen and experienced

I am hoping and praying that Edelstans never get as bad as Ichiruki stans did in 2016, but with how otherwise similar they are my hopes are dwindling more and more. I guess I can take solace in the fact that they aren’t quite... that bad yet? In terms of actions, at least? Their sentiments though are infinitely worse, so like... cool

[guiltysecretpasttime]

Pretense

Here’s a one-shot fanfic from me, still on Legend of Korra.

- Lin/Tenzin, pre-LOK AU

- One-shot, completed

- Length: Approx 8.9k

Overview:

As far as the Earth Kingdom is concerned, Lin Beifong is in a relationship with the son of the Avatar.

No, not that one.

 ---

Lin could not believe that they managed to pull it off.

It has been a week since she arrived at Ba Sing Se. So far, it has gone well.

She towel-dried her hair as she moved around the room to get ready. The metalbender has just finished her shower right after coming home from training with the Dai Li.

Lin had always wanted to train with them. She felt that, aside from her mother, they would be a good source of learning different earthbending styles.

As expected, her grandmother Poppy was more than unwilling to have her train – for what good man would indeed wish to be with a brutish young lady like her. On the other hand, Toph Beifong was quite supportive but was hesitant on the grounds that it might hinder her progress with the police force.

Ever the people-pleaser as her pestering sister described her, Lin struggled to come to a solution that would hopefully meet all their concerns. By some fortunate coincidence, someone swooped in with a proposal, which she accepted after weighing the pros and cons.

Sliding into a long deep scarlet dress, Lin quickly pinned up her hair and applied lip stick.  It would simply not do for one of the ladies of the Noble House of Beifong to be seen unkempt.

This was the concession of her temporary move to Ba Sing Se: train with the Dai Li by day - attend society events at night.

It was enough to satisfy both her mother and grandmother. Toph hated these events expected from the current head of the Beifong family. Having Lin attend to it in her stead works for both of them - Toph gets to stay in Republic City and Lin gets to show her family (and the world) that she is highly capable in navigating these events. This way, no one need worry about the Beifongs not being recognized within the Earth Kingdom.

There was a knock at the door. Lin took one last look in the mirror and went to open it.

To add to her advantage, showing up with a date every time for these events keeps possible entanglements at bay.

“You look wonderful, Lin.”

After all, what better way to repel unwanted admirers than showing up at the arm of the Avatar’s son?

“Thanks, you look good too, Bumi.”

 ---

Tenzin unfolded the letter.

This was the address, he confirmed, standing in front of a tall nondescript gate, blocking the view and entrance to a residence in the Middle Ring in Ba Sing Se.

He rang the bell and waited.

The airbender shifted his bag from shoulder to shoulder, his robes billowing in the wind but interestingly not drawing attention from any passersby. He figured it was a good call to leave Oogi at the Air Temple and take a train to the Earth Kingdom instead, less commotion and less accommodations needed. He did not want to unnecessarily impose on others after all.

Tenzin was at the last leg of his travels and it happened to be a stop at the Earth Kingdom, specifically at Ba Sing Se University. Initially having thought that only minimal information documenting the Air Nomad culture survived the genocide, after the deposition of Ozai, more and more have contacted the Avatar to share artifacts and knowledge of the Air Nomads that they had hidden away during the war. Aang had eagerly responded to each of these letters and began to acquire these relics beholden to his culture. When Tenzin became of age and was to embark on his travels as a new airbending master, he sought to continue this practice and exploration. This is what brings him to Ba Sing Se University.

He had been writing to his mother to update her; telling of his plans to stop at the Earth Kingdom before going home to Air Temple Island. Katara had suggested to contact his brother who would be there for a diplomatic assignment. Tenzin was skeptical; he did not have a close relationship with his siblings after all. Nonetheless, to appease his mother, he did write to Bumi asking if he could stay for a couple of weeks with him. To his surprise, Bumi had responded in the affirmative.

“Coming!”

A voice answered the bell, a voice which was obviously not Bumi and was distinctly feminine.

The gate swung open, and Tenzin gaped.

“Hi Tenzin, you’re early!” Lin Beifong stood before him, clad in a gold qipao. For a moment Tenzin was not able to respond, focusing his attention on the curl at her neck that must have escaped the bun on top of her head.

“H-hello, Lin.”

She invited him in. “We weren’t expecting you until tomorrow.”

We?

“I was able to catch the first train out and so cut a day from my travel time.” He managed to respond as Lin led him to the house.

“I see, we were going to fetch you.”

“So, is it really Tenzin?” A loud voice came from one of the inner rooms of the house.

The metalbender rolled her eyes. “Of course, has my seismic sense failed us yet?”

“One could hope not.” Bumi came into view, wearing a towel tied at his waist and nothing much else. “Tennyboy! Great to see you!” The military man clapped his hands then moved to embrace his brother tightly and lifting him up. “Welcome to Ba Sing Se.”

“Good to see you too, Bumi.” Tenzin gasped out, dropping his bags, and patting his older brother back.

From his peripheral view, he could see Lin watching them with amusement.

“I want to hear all about what you’re up to here, baby brother.” Bumi set Tenzin back on the ground, crossing his arms, unmindful of his still dripping hair from his shower.

Lin cleared her throat and both men turned to her. She simply raised an eyebrow.

“Ah right,” Bumi shrugged. “Lin and I were on our way out for a charity event, would you want to join us?”

“Um, thanks but no.” Tenzin thought it would be the height of poor manners to show up uninvited by the hosts to a formal dinner. “I’ll settle in first.” He gestured to his things.

“Maybe next time, then.” Suddenly aware of his semi-nakedness, Bumi quickly addressed Lin. “Lin, if you could show him to his room? I’ll finish getting ready.”

Lin inclined her head and beckoned Tenzin to follow her.

Tenzin, although bewildered, followed Lin as she showed him where everything was (pantry, kitchen, living room). He also noted the shiny red embroidery on Lin’s dress that crept from the shoulder (is that a dragon?) to the small of her back which then drew his attention to her –

“And here is your bedroom.” Lin pushed open one of the doors.

“Thanks.” He paused just in time not to crash into the woman in front of him.

“If there’s anything you need, well, just let Bumi know.”

And, with a curt nod, Lin left Tenzin to settle in and wonder what he just got into.

 ---

Tenzin heard the front door open hours later as he sat at the living room, having a cup of tea while going over his notes.

“That was tough.” Bumi’s deep timbre echoed in the silent house.

Both he and Lin came into Tenzin’s view as they entered. Lin removed her heels and all but collapsed at the couch. “Remind me to decline any event that comes right after physical training sessions.”

“I did remind you,” Bumi slid down beside her, nodding at Tenzin to acknowledge his presence. “And you said, and I quote – ‘it’s just a short event, how bad can it be?’”

Lin covered her face with hands and groaned. “I underestimated the amount of networking that they expected during a charity event.”

Bumi laughed good-naturedly, patting Lin’s back. “Hey, Ten – how was your afternoon?”

“Good, good. I managed to unpack everything. All set for tomorrow.” Tenzin waved a sheaf of papers.

The non-bender looked between the metalbender who was slumped on the couch, eyes closed, and the airbender at his other side, clearly up for a long night of paperwork. An idea came to him. “I know, let’s all go out and have a late dinner and some drinks to welcome to you to Ba Sing Se.” He placed an arm over his brother’s shoulder. “What do you say?”

Tenzin grimaced a bit, having travelled conventionally without his sky bison was tiring. “Thanks for the offer but I’d rather stay in and get some rest.”

Bumi nudged Lin, who gave him a baleful glare. “Okay, no.” He laughed and got up, checking his pockets to make sure he has enough money. “I’ll just get us some take-out and we’ll eat in then.”

“That’s the first time you made sense tonight.” Lin grumbled.

With promises of a well-balanced meal for them of both vegetables, meat, and booze, Bumi loped off.

Lin remained in the couch, sighing as she stretched her legs and then tucked them to herself.

Tenzin adjusted his glasses and surreptitiously observed Lin as he went through his research notes.

He always had a soft spot for this childhood friend. They spent most of their toddler years and early childhood with one another, but Lin (and eventually Su) had been shuttled back and forth from Gaoling and Republic City. This was highly dependent on the Beifong grandparents as well as Toph’s schedule (and how dangerous her cases were). Meanwhile, his education has turned to focusing on Air Nomad culture. Their days intersected less and less as time passed by.

Their friendship dwindled, and they were not as close as they could have been.

Truth be told, as he watched Lin stretch once more then pad over to the kitchen with familiarity, he did not even know what she had been up to recently. He had some inkling to it (mostly relating to the police academy) but he did not expect her to be in Ba Sing Se. And most especially not around in Bumi’s UF provided residence.

He did harbor crush on the earthbender in their adolescence; surely at least Bumi knew about it, if his subsequent teasing during his visits to Air Temple Island were any proof.

Tenzin shook his head.

That was then and this was now; he had grown up and something as silly as a childhood crush was soon forgotten.

At least, that was what he kept telling himself as Lin came back to the living room, placing her own cup of tea on the table then disappearing to Bumi’s bedroom, claiming to retrieve a book she had been reading earlier.

Yes, it was all forgotten, Tenzin convinced himself even as he felt a pit form at his stomach.

 ---

The next time that Lin was over, Tenzin was lugging with him a large book bag filled with loaned books from the university library. After a couple of visits, he felt that the scrutiny from some of the staff and students made him uncomfortable. There was no denying who he was, with his tattoos brightly announcing to the world his mastery of a long thought to be dead element.

The fawning and the preferential treatment were a little less bad than how the air acolytes had regarded him. That was not conducive to his productivity and so he decided to bring home as much relevant material as he could instead and work from there.

He had only managed to spread out all the books and was in the process of cataloging the references when Lin burst into the house.

“Is Bumi home?” Lin appeared have rushed over, and Tenzin appreciated the flush on her cheeks and neck exposed by the tank top she wore.

Tenzin made a noise and pointed to Bumi’s bedroom and was responded to by a hasty thanks.

 ---

“You said you had news?” Lin asked without preamble upon entering the bedroom.

“Spirits, Linny!” Bumi shouted, pretending to cover himself up with his blanket when he was obviously doing some mending of his clothes. “What if I had been indecent?”

Lin simply snorted. “I’ve seen you in worse conditions.” She was no doubt pertaining to the time he had gotten drunk, and she had to bail him out.  “So, what is this about?” She sat at the edge of the bed, mindful of the sewing basket.

“Eh,” Bumi shrugged unconcerned but grinning. He tossed her an opened letter. “See for yourself.”

Skimming through the letter, a grin formed on Lin’s face as well. “Bumi! This is great!”

Prior to his assignment in Ba Sing Se, Bumi was short-listed for the next round of promotions. While tried and tested in the field, Bumi’s skills in diplomacy were yet to be proven. This latest assignment was a chance to prove just that.

And as in everything in his life, Bumi had to work doubly hard to prove himself. He had been a month in Ba Sing Se, attending meetings in the Royal Court, with the legislature and the kingdom’s security. He felt that he was not making a lot of leeway into reaching the accord that the United Forces needed with the Earth Kingdom. Their queen, Hou-Ting, had recently ascended to the throne and was distrustful of anything linked to the United Republic.

He had taken a couple of days off to visit his mother to take a breather and maybe a change in the scenery would give him more ideas how to approach the dilemma. He was going to sneak into the kitchen for a late breakfast when he overheard a conversation between his mother and Toph Beifong – which ended up with him seeking Lin to discuss a mutually-benefitting proposal…

This brings them to this moment where one of Bumi’s superiors had sent a missive on how one of the Earth Kingdom nobles had revisited his stance on the agreement between the United Republic and the Earth Kingdom. Included in the letter as well as a congratulatory note to continue whatever tactic he has employed as the results were in their favor. It was a simple introduction into the right company, an assistance that came in the form of Lady Lin of the Noble House of Beifong, who knew the Who’s Who in the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se and the influential nobility in the Earth Kingdom.

“We should celebrate these little wins.” Lin handed the letter back. From her end, she will know if her presence in the upper-class of the Earth Kingdom has made any impact once she hears from her grandmother (who in turn, would have learned from one of her contemporaries living in Ba Sing Se).

“I don’t see why not.” Bumi merely tossed his mending into his sewing basket.

Grasping Lin’s arm and eagerly bringing her to the living room, he called out to his serious brother. “Tenzin! Get up, man – we’re going out to celebrate!”

 ---

Tenzin looked up to his beaming brother and Lin who was blushing from Bumi’s arm.

He wanted to decline joining them, fearing an outing of being the third wheel to the couple. At the same time, it had been a long time since he had spent time with Lin (and Bumi for that matter). Additionally, for some reason, that he did not want to dwell on right now, he did not want to leave the couple alone to their own devices.

Seeing Lin’s smile and Tenzin knew his decision was made for him.

 It was not too bad, not really.

Lin and Bumi had tossed banter, speaking of nobles and politics that flew over Tenzin’s head. He did not bother to clarify, thinking that it must be some sort of inside joke between the two. Or something confidential related to their fields of work.

They selected a small food court still in the Middle Ring, which catered to the varied crowd with different cuisines. Bumi ordered mounds of varied barbecued meats and sauces.

Tenzin noticed that Bumi did not order anything for Lin and Lin was left perusing the menu on her own.

The waiter stood patiently; pen poised over his notepad ready for their order.

“I’ll have the green mango salad please.”

“The green mango salad for me.”

Bumi looked at them with amusement. “Seems like you’ve finally found someone who enjoys shrimp paste as much as you do, Lin.”

Lin simply pursed her lips and went on to order another entrée on top of the salad (squid ink noodles) and a glass of cold tea.

Tenzin added an order of seaweed noodles for himself.

Once their orders arrived and they have dug in, Lin and Tenzin continued to rib Bumi for not having green mango salad, which in this case, included a healthy dollop of shrimp paste.

“I’m telling you, Bumi, this salad is good.” Tenzin insisted, taking in several bites of the salad. “You can’t know until you try it.”

“No, thank you.” Bumi grimaced with slight disgust. “It stinks high heaven.”

“I find it a good deterrent on a first date,” Lin happily mixed the shrimp paste into the leafy vegetables and sliced mangoes. “Makes it easier for me to weed out those with unscrupulous intentions.”

“Seriously, Lin – unscrupulous? You’re the only other person aside from Tennyboy here who uses words with more than three syllables.” Bumi evaded a slice of mango that the earthbender tossed him. “Well, there you have it Tenzin, if you do find that unique lady who would share this horrific salad with you – you could be rest assured that she’s not after your good name, your esteem or a good time that night.”

Lin chortled. “I doubt anyone who was looking to hooking up will even order it in the first place.”

“Imagine the stink during foreplay…” Bumi waggled his eyebrows and was rewarded with a slap upside his head from the earthbender.

Tenzin thought that he would not mind sharing a salad with Lin while on a date.

As Lin reached out her chopsticks to snatch a piece of meat from Bumi’s plate, which Bumi subsequently tapped away lightly, the airbender sneaked two pieces of meat from Bumi to Lin’s plate when his brother was preoccupied.

This was the Lin that he knew, in a plain tank top and loose pants. Not the Gaoling heiress made up with a fancy bun and a tight dress. While she did look beautiful in her formal attire, Tenzin thought that she was especially radiant tonight in her natural state.

The grateful grin that Lin gave him was enough to remind him that maybe his little crush was not all gone.

 ---

Later that night, after Lin went home, Tenzin made a mistake of hovering in the kitchen as Bumi put away some of their leftovers.

“Something’s bothering you.”

“N-no.” Tenzin stammered out.

“You’re making that face.” Bumi waved a hand in front of Tenzin’s face.

“This is my face, that’s all.” Tenzin knew the non-bender could be stubborn and will not budge unless he gave in. “Fine.” He sighed. “Seriously, Bumi – Lin? She – she’s not even your type.”

“So, I have a type, eh?” Bumi stood up to his full height, sending a critical look at the younger man.

“You know what I mean.” Tenzin crossed his arms. He sought to phrase his thoughts in a way that will not insult either Lin or his brother. “You take her on dates, and she doesn’t seem like the usual girls you go out with.”

A flash of something crossed Bumi’s face and a knowing smile formed. “I don’t see how that’s a problem. Think about it Ten, Lin Beifong has brains, beauty, and brawn – the complete package. Anyone should think that she’s their type.” He flexed his arms, giving his brother mischievous wink. “Now, she’s got Bumi too.”

The sinking feeling that Tenzin felt since the start of the night grew heavier as he watched his brother gleefully say his good night and left him to his thoughts in the kitchen.

What was he thinking? Reviving feelings over his brother’s girlfriend? That just was not gentlemanly to do nor was it right.

 ---

As much as Tenzin wanted to avoid Lin, he found that it was near impossible with the frequency of Lin dropping by or Bumi coming home with Lin.

The couple would also be very considerate and would often invite him to join them at their formal events. To date, Tenzin had not accepted any of their invites yet.

It was also hard to ignore the earthbender as Lin would usually be the one to initial conversation, usually by poking through his notes and the materials sprawled on the coffee table. If there was anything that Tenzin could talk about all day, it was anything and everything to do with the Air Nation and their nomadic culture.

Lin’s sincere interest in the topics similarly encouraged him to open up to her.

And, hopefully, dare he wished, her to him.

 ---

Finding more in common with him with their esoteric food tastes compared to Bumi, Lin had taken to bringing some packed food from the food court from time to time.

In one of their conversations, she admitted to Tenzin that while she did enjoy eating out with Bumi, the soirees that they go to tend to serve the usual Earth Kingdom Upper Ring fare and it tends to get a little bit redundant after some time. While she would love to sample more of the dishes in the multi-cultural food court, most of the orders were good for sharing. And, after an ill-advised selection with Bumi (which ended up with the man looking green the entire night, to be fair Bumi was a champ and had not complained all night and had valiantly finished their food), Lin did not have the courage to order more with the non-bender.

To her delight, Tenzin offered to do these taste tests with her. Unfortunately, the schedules that they both adhere to had prevented any outings like the night that they all went out with Bumi.

Lin came up with a solution and would stop by the stalls and the food court to order a dish or two to try. Then, over their paperwork (Lin had taken to bringing over her own paperwork to go through at Bumi’s house), the two of them would share this meal, pretending to review the dishes with posh and snooty language they read in the lifestyle section of the Ba Sing Se gazette.

Lin found herself looking forward more and more to these nights, a reprieve from the arduous Dai Li training and highly decorous hobnobbing with the Upper Ring.

Tenzin’s calming presence and dry wit kept Lin interested to spend more time with the airbender. It was as though they were picking up back from their previously close relationship.

Don’t get her wrong, she also enjoyed the company that Bumi provided when they go out on their dates. He was a good conversationalist and he helped her deftly navigate through the upper echelon of the Earth Kingdom society. Bumi is a good older brother who shared her experience in a similar industry, someone to talk to in terms of career and the practicalities of life.

Tenzin on the other hand…

Lin tilted her head in consideration while the airbender absentmindedly tapped his pen to his chin, a mannerism that she now recognized.

The airbender made her feel heard and seen.

She made a face and turned to face her own papers.

Put it like that makes it sound so sappy and un-Lin-like.

And yet, it felt right.

 ---

Tenzin had finished his research an hour or so ago.

He was now vacillating between going to bed early and leaving a few books on the table, in the illogical hope that maybe when Lin drops by later with Bumi she will be intrigued enough to stay for a chat. It sounded so stupid.

A beat.

He wants that.

He looked at the clock. Lin and Bumi will not be back for a few more hours.

While he was contemplating this conundrum that he placed himself in, the door opened and in limped Bumi, an arm over Lin’s shoulder.

Tenzin immediately stood up to take Bumi’s other arm to assist. “What happened?” He peered at his brother.

“Genius here decided that he was strong enough to -.” Lin had started to respond but Bumi swiftly twisted to cover her mouth with his hand.

“It’s not important how I got injured- just that I did.” Bumi interrupted as he held Lin’s gaze.

The unspoken communication between the two was too much for Tenzin and was about to leave the couple alone when Lin rolled her eyes and mumbled her agreement.

Bumi placed his arm again on his brother’s shoulder. “Let’s hop to it, Ten-Lin.” He ordered imperiously, nodding towards his bedroom.

“Of course, my liege.” Lin muttered, snark and sarcasm dripping from her words as they assisted the non-bender.

With a bit of maneuvering, Tenzin and Lin were able to place Bumi on his bed. Tenzin then noticed the glint of metal at his brother’s foot.

“Do you need any more help?” He directed his question to Lin rather than his brother who seemed to be smiling loopily at them.

“Ooooh Ten-Lin,” Bumi called out in an odd singsong voice then patted the bed beside him. “Care to have a heart-to-heart with Papa Boomboom here?”

Papa Boomboom?

“I’m good.” Lin shook her head, pulling at Bumi’s shoes and tapping the metal brace that she appeared to have created. “The healer on site was able to give him first aid and painkillers. He’ll be out in no time.” She was resolutely ignoring Bumi’s waggling eyebrows.

Tenzin inched out and quietly closed the door behind him, not wanting to find out what Papa Boomboom was up to, similarly disregarding Bumi calling out “Ten-Lin! Ten-Lin!” as he left.

 By the time Lin got out of the bedroom, the airbender was back in his spot in the living room, nursing a warm cup of genmaicha. His things were now in a neat pile on the coffee table. His hope of a conversation with Lin that he had initially looked forward to now a thing of the past. With his brother in semi-lucidity and injured to boot, no doubt Lin would be spending her visit (or even staying over) at Bumi’s bedside.

It was to Tenzin’s astonishment when Lin plopped beside him at her spot on the couch a couple of minutes later.

“Do you still have some of that?”

He blinked before realizing that Lin was pertaining to the genmaicha. “Ah yes, there’s more in the pot in the kitchen – let me get it for you.” He added belatedly, something warm curling within him at Lin’s soft smile as she thanked him.

The airbender got up to get the teapot while the earthbender proceeded to remove her shoes.

Lin was flexing then curling and uncurling her toes when he got back.

“Why do you even wear those shoes if they’re so uncomfortable?” He could not help but ask as he set the tea tray down on the table.

“It goes with the dress.” Lin nonchalantly stated as she shifted in her seat. She tucked both of her legs to her side at the couch and Tenzin had to concentrate on pouring her tea as her green silk skirt hiked a bit.

 They sipped their tea in comfortable silence for a few moments.

As always, Lin was the one who broke the quiet. “Aren’t you going to ask about Bumi?”

He wrinkled his nose. “I’m not sure if I want to know what happened but I’ll bite – how is he?”

“He’ll be fine tomorrow,” Lin scoffed. “I’ve removed the brace. Nothing else bruised except for his ego. Not going to give everything away but he injured himself because of a dance move.”

Tenzin was mid-sip and had choked on the tea.

“Easy there,” Lin moved to rub Tenzin’s back in circles, in an attempt to help him.

Unknown to her, it only heightened his embarrassment and the soothing movements only contributed to his discomfort.

“Dance move?” He eventually garbled out, having regained his composure.

Lin’s lips quirked up. “Yes, don’t go teasing him on it yet though. Keep that in your back pocket. You’ll never know when you might need it.” She removed her hand on his back and Tenzin felt its absence acutely. She reached for the pot on the table to refill her own cup. She then caught sight of the title of the topmost book that Tenzin had.

As Tenzin had hoped earlier, the earthbender brought their attention to the book and asked about his progress in his research on the instruments of the Air Nomads.

 Eventually the pot has been refilled and emptied, their cups left cold as their conversation suitably engaged them until the late hours of the night.

“Wouldn’t that be grand though,” Tenzin had expressed. “If we were able to have enough artifacts to host in a museum. I mean, Dad was able to transport the ancient airbending gates to Air Temple Island. It would be great if we’ll find something more to add.”

Lin, who, by now, did not care that her skirt was wrinkled and was now hugging a throw pillow to her chest, observed. “You really enjoy what you’re doing, don’t you?”

“Bits and pieces of it,” He picked at the frayed edges of his notes. “The thing I hate the most about being the Avatar’s airbending son is the travelling.”

“Oh?” The tone was non-judgmental but curious.

“I know it sounds terribly ungrateful.” Tenzin fidgeted. “But I really disliked moving from one temple to the other. I’m not made for this nomadic lifestyle. I sometimes think that being an airbender was wasted on me.” He had never spoken of this to anyone, not even his mother. “I would have been utterly contented spending my days at Republic City or at Air Temple Island even.”

He expected a rebuke or a scathing remark on him being an ingrate (Agni knows how some senior acolytes had spoken behind his back whenever he deviated from Air Nomad culture).

“What would you rather do if this wasn’t expected of you?” Lin’s gentle query and earnest expression was a balm to his anxious soul.

“Maybe a teacher or a scribe.” There was something about Lin that was drawing him in, making him want to be honest as possible. “Nothing fancy, nothing worth writing home about.”

“You’d be a good teacher,” She considered. “You’re very patient and very much willing to impart whatever knowledge you have.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, Lin’s intense grey gaze on him. “How about you? What if… you weren’t born a Beifong?”

He could see the hesitation. “Can you keep a secret?” Lin whispered, inching towards him after a few moments.

Tenzin could only nod. At this point, he will probably do anything for her.

She curled her finger at him, beckoning him closer, close enough to whisper in his ear. “I wanted to be a dancer.”

“I could see it.” There had always been something graceful with how Lin used to manipulate her metal cables. Where her mother was firmly stuck to the ground with rough movements, Lin seemed to be lighter on her feet with more fluid motions. He has not seen Lin metalbend recently; he could only imagine the difference a couple of years training would make on improving her bending.

“Really?” The surprise was apparent on her face.

Tenzin idly wondered if she, like him, thought that their dreams were ridiculous considering the heaviness of the mantle that were their parents’ legacies.

“Why not? I think you’d be good at it.” On a whim, maybe it was the lateness of the hour, the cathartic feeling of telling someone of his dream and insecurities, Tenzin let the words escape before he could even filter them. “Dance with me.” He stood up and extended a hand to the earthbender who was still curled up on the couch.

“What?” Lin’s eyes widened slightly (is that a faint blush he sees on her cheeks?).

“Dance with me.” He repeated.

“But there’s no music.” Despite saying that, she held his hand and allowed herself to be pulled up.

“Don’t worry about it,” Tenzin positioned themselves closer, he was sure it was not an airbending dance position but something he saw on a visit to the Fire Nation. “It’s just you and me now.”

After few false starts, both got into a steady rhythm with Tenzin leading.

As Lin grew more relaxed in his arms, Tenzin knew he would take what he could now. He felt like he was just doused with cold water with the epiphany he had. He was just fooling himself. His crush was not over, far from it.

His feelings were stronger than ever.

His eyes landed on Bumi’s bedroom door.

His feelings which should remain hidden as they were towards his brother’s girlfriend. His feelings which he will never act on.

It never did cross his mind to wonder why the woman was still there in the house, spending time with him willingly hours after her supposed boyfriend had turned in for the night.

 ---

“Nobleman with a distasteful mustache at three o'clock, Lin.” Bumi whispered at her side, clutching her elbow as they weaved through the crowd.

Lin stood ramrod straight. “That’s the nephew of one of Grandma's friends.”

It was at situations like this that she valued Bumi's presence at her side. Nonetheless, they made sure to act in accordance with proprietary.

She overheard several matrons saying that it was a pity that Lady Beifong appeared to be spoken for; their son/grandson/nephew would have been perfect for her.

However, in all the soirees and events that they have been attending, no one had outright asked them the status of their relationship. Lin was not about to disabuse them of their assumptions as no one was brave enough to confirm anything with her.

This at least left her to freely engage in conversation without fear of misconstrued intentions. This also allowed Bumi to be included in these discussions where he would expertly drop opinions or statements that may influence their thinking in relation to the United Forces or the current political climate.

No one thought twice of the presence of the non-bending son of the Avatar – If the Beifongs approved of this military son of a pacifist, then he was good enough to mingle among the Earth Kingdom elite.

As the two of them navigated their way to the buffet table, Bumi casually asked. “When this is over, aren’t you worried about them vultures descending upon you? Or Republic City gossip rags?”

Lin hummed as she perused the selection. “No, not really. We’re far away from Republic City and this is very exclusive society is not about to dish out to anyone outside of their circle. That’s what keeps them in power.” She picked up a piece of bruschetta. “And besides, maybe I’ll ask Mom to send Su here in the next season – find herself a good husband or something.”

“Lin, she’s barely twenty.” Bumi commented, eyes twinkling in amusement.

The earthbender merely shrugged.

“And, what about you?” He prodded her side as they sat back at their table. “Any romantic entanglements you see in the horizon?” It was to Bumi’s credit that he detected the barely noticeable tightening of her jaw and widening of eyes. “So, there is someone!” He announced gleefully, turning a few heads their way.

“No, there isn’t.” Lin grumbled, stabbing a fork into the plateful of food that she had taken.

“Playing dumb with me never worked, Lin Beifong, even when we were children.”

Lin hated how Bumi was able to read her easily; their equally matched observational skills honed by their respective careers.

“Don’t think I didn’t see it coming or that I did not see it happening.”

She resolutely brushed him off and focused on her plate.

“What are you going to do about it?” Where Lin might be stubborn, Bumi was downright obstinate and pushy.

“There’s nothing I should do anything about.”

Bumi glanced at her pensively over the glass he was sipping from. “Maybe you’re right – you shouldn’t have to do anything.”

“Oh Bumi, you’re reading too much into this. It doesn’t mean anything,” She turned away. “Besides, he probably has some sweetheart waiting for him at one of the temples. We’re just friends.”

It doesn’t mean anything.

We’re just friends.

 At least, that was what Lin told herself even as she once again found herself sitting at Bumi’s living room that night long after Bumi had gone to bed.

 ---

“What did that piece of paper do to offend you?”

Tenzin paused the incessant pen tapping that he had been unconsciously doing as the notice he received was pulled from under the pen. He twiddled with his fingers while Lin read the document. “I got an offer from the university to hold a series of lectures in the coming days.”

Lin congratulated him on the offer. “What are you displeased about then? Surely it’s not about the lack of topics that you’ll discuss.” She raised an eyebrow at the stack of folders on the table, each labelled with meticulous care.

“No, it’s not that.” He waved it off. “I just – I don’t know if I can make it interesting enough for them.”

She handed him one of the folders. “Try me.”

“Come again?”

Lin leaned back in the couch, getting comfortable. “Practice with me, pretend I’m one of those bright-eyed students that you’ll be teaching.”

Yes, pretend.

Little did they know, both were pretending for each other’s sake long before they realized it.

 ---

“In all honesty, I envy Bumi and Kya.”

“You do?”

A nod. “They get to live their life the way they wanted it to be. There’s not a lot riding on their shoulders. Whatever they are doing now – they wanted it, they’re living the life that they want because they can.”

“Is that what you truly think?” The earthbender’s piercing stare held his gaze. He hoped that whatever she found conveyed his honesty. “Maybe you need to check in with them. They might see things differently.”

 ---

It was one of the rare weekends that Bumi, Lin, and Tenzin found themselves free from any engagement. They took this opportunity to head to dine at their usual food court.

While Bumi and Lin scouted for an empty table, Tenzin browsed the menu of one of the newly opened stalls.

“Master Tenzin?”

Tenzin turned to who called him and came face to face with a vaguely familiar woman.

“I’m Pema – from the lectures?” The student obviously expected that he would remember her.

“Ah yes,” Tenzin awkwardly responded because he did not really recall a lot from the sea of faces. “From yesterday’s morning session?”

The girl, Pema, beamed at him, nodding. “And the afternoon session from the day before, and the one session lecture the day before that.”

“Oh, so you managed to attend all of them?” There was mild interest in his tone now. Maybe he was able to get through the Ba Sing Se students. “Which topic interested you the most?”

Pema began to explain excitedly when Tenzin saw Lin wave at him from a few tables away.

“Say, are you eating alone?” At the very least, politeness made him invite the young woman.

“I-I-That is to say -no- I mean, yes.” Pema shifted her eyes.

“Would you like to join us?” At her nod, Tenzin motioned to have her follow him to their table.

Upon approaching, Tenzin saw that Lin and Bumi had already given their orders to the waiter.

At Lin’s raised eyebrow and Bumi’s curious look, Tenzin introduced Pema and said that she would be joining them today.

The waiter handed both a copy of the menu while Tenzin pulled the chair in front of Bumi for Pema to sit on.

“Ahh, Pema, is it?” Bumi placed an arm around the back of Lin’s chair. “Any idea what you would be getting?”

“I, um, not sure yet.” She hid behind the menu, brows furrowing.

Bumi grinned mischievously while catching his brother’s eye.

That can’t be good, Tenzin thought silently.

“Might I make a recommendation?” The non-bender leaned forward and at Pema’s nod, pointed on an item on the menu she was holding. “Tenzin loves this.” Bumi winced subtly that Tenzin could surmise was because Lin must have kicked him under the table.

“Oh, yes of course!” Was Pema’s immediate reaction and ordered.

Tenzin was surprised and ordered his food as well. When the waiter had taken all their orders and left, the airbender turned to the student. “You like the green mango salad?”

“Yes, I do – I enjoy it a lot.” Pema enthusiastically agreed.

“Even the shrimp paste?” Bumi asked innocently but sending a sly look at Lin, who steadfastly kept silent.

“Especially the shrimp paste. It gives it the texture and distinct salty taste.”

“Indeed.”

Tenzin finally caught Lin’s eye and there was an odd expression on her face that he could not explain.

Bumi proceeded to liven up the table with conversation and even make Pema feel at ease. It was one of the traits of his brother that Tenzin envied.

The rest of their meal went by uneventfully and they all got to know Pema a little bit more and her interest in the lectures from the past days. As Bumi did not draw attention to the unusually taciturn earthbender beside him, Tenzin did not attempt to draw her into conversation as well despite his confusion. Lin would commonly be a little bit more talkative during their small outings like this.

Maybe she had a bad day?

As the meal winded down, Tenzin thought he rather wanted to see more of Pema. At least, to not remain as a third wheel to the couple in front of him.

“So, we might have, uh, tea after dinner. Would you like to join us?”

Pema’s effusive acceptance became garbled to his ears as he detected the sudden screeching of the metal chair in front of him being pushed back.

“I’m sorry, I need to go.”

Both Bumi and Tenzin turned to Lin, who was only maintaining eye contact with her boyfriend.

“Oh right, your… report.” Bumi motioned to stand up as well. “Do you want me to bring you home?”

His brother’s unexpectedly gentle tone made Tenzin think if there is something else that he missed. A subtext that passed known only to the couple.

Lin tilted her head and smiled weakly. “No need, I can manage.”

Nonetheless, Bumi stood up, made their excuses to Tenzin and Pema.

Tenzin looked on as Lin allowed herself to be escorted by Bumi. The lie of having a report waiting for her tasting bitter in the airbender’s mouth.

But why?

“I suppose tea is out of question now.” Pema said shrewdly, moving to stand up as well when Bumi and Lin was out of their line of sight.

Maybe she was more perceptive than Tenzin gave her credit for.

If Pema thought that he was about to invite her elsewhere, she was mistaken, and Tenzin extended his hand to shake hers. “Pleased to meet you, Pema, thank you.” He paused and somewhat awkwardly added. “And good luck on your studies.”

Tenzin closed his eyes for a moment, a headache already forming.

He froze.

There on the table, beside Pema’s empty plate of what used to contain her order of skewers, was a full bowl of green mango salad, mixed but not a single bite taken out of it.

 ---

“You’re an idiot.”

“Excuse me?”

“She’s too young.”

He knew his older brother was right, but it stung to be called an idiot.

Ever since Lin urged him to talk to his siblings, Tenzin had consciously made time to connect to Bumi.

Along the way, he learned about how different their views of their childhood were. Bumi, on his part, was quite candid and the airbender appreciated that. More than once, Tenzin was tempted to evade some of their talks that were bordering on painful (cut-and-run much?). He felt that he owed it to his brother though to power through.

But tonight, there were emotions that were too raw to filter. If the couple just wanted some time together, they need not fabricate Lin having to work on a report. They need not pity him for being their third wheel.

“Lin is too young for you too and you don’t hear me berating you for it.”

“That’s different.”

“Is it, really?”

“Well, if you get your head out of your behind, maybe you’ll see what’s right in front of you.”

 ---

Letters swapped hands.

“Training’s almost done and as you can see there, Grandma has already received news from the grapevine about what an asset I am to the Beifong line.”

Bumi refolded the letter after reading. “I suppose your time in Ba Sing Se has come to an end then?”

“Only if you think you don’t need me anymore.” Lin paused and gave a short laugh, finding her phrasing funny. “I mean, if you think you don’t need help anymore with your assignment?” She leaned back, tapping the letter from Bumi’s superior in her hand.

“I should say mission accomplished to us both.” Bumi drew Lin into his arms. “Thank you.”

 It was most unfortunate that it was in this good-bye scene that the airbender arrived to.

 ---

The raindrops continue to fall, leaving staccato beats on the roof top.

The entirety of Ba Sing Se was coated in a haze that enveloped the typically green and brown place in a blueish gray hue.

The peaceful scene should have relaxed the airbender.

Tenzin sighed.

But it did not.

Not when he could hear characteristically feminine giggles from his brother's room.

He checked the clock, too early to have visitors over unless it were visitors who never left the night before.

His knuckles turned white, tightly grasping his mug.

As much as he felt that he should come clean to Bumi about his feelings for Lin (his girlfriend), his head was telling him not to. It would be another thing that Bumi might hold against him (on top of a lot of other childhood insecurities that their father inadvertently caused).

He just wants both Lin and Bumi to be happy. Even if it means hearing what they have been up to in the early hours of the day.

“Ah, Spirits what a turn out – it’s as though Tui and La decided to inundate the entire Earth Kingdom by flooding it.”

Tenzin’s head jerked up.

Lin Beifong was standing in the edge of their kitchen, hair dripping wet.

His mind was sluggish in realizing, shocked as it was to see the earthbender.

“Do you still have some of that?” Lin waggled her fingers towards Tenzin’s mug of genmaicha.

“Oh, yes – where are my manners –.” Tenzin tripped over his words and hastily poured her a cup. Then reaching over to the coat rack and draping his coat over her, he admonished her lightly. “What were you doing out in this deluge anyway? You’ll get sick!”

“Well, Bumi told me that you intend to leave in a few days’ time and as I was preparing for my trip back to Republic City, I thought that -.”

A door creaked open. “Lemme grab us a bite from the pantry; we need sustenance if we want to last all the way to noon.”

Damn.

“Oh.” Bumi stumbled into the room, completing their peculiar tableau of a dripping earthbender cloaked in red and yellow, a pale shock airbender standing at the edge of the room and a military man that, for whatever intent and purposes he may have, was wearing nothing.

Tenzin’s pale skin started to redden, comprehension dawning on him. “Oh – that’s all you have to say?” If Lin was here – then who was with Bumi the entire night/morning back in his bedroom?

The non-bender scratched his bum. “What did you want me to say?”

“Oh, for Spirits’ sake, Bumi cover yourself!” Lin averted her eyes. “I may not act like it the whole time, but I still am a lady!”

“Ah Beifong,” Bumi smiled devilishly, his hand moving from his head to his legs. “Come take a look at what you’re actually missing out on.”

Lin pointedly faced the ice box, her back to the naked man. “No way, I’m not missing on anything.”

“Come on, Linny!”

“No, Bumi.” Lin snorted a laugh then bent her head over her cup of genmaicha.

Tenzin felt like he was going to explode.

How dare Bumi disregard Lin Beifong just like that? Flaunting his floozy---

How dare Lin not call him out – it was beyond disrespectful!

What’s more: being in a relationship with Lin was something he personally wanted for himself - not because of his father, not because he is an airbender, but because he wanted this. To see Bumi taking her for granted was like a knife twisting in his chest.

“Get yourself some clothes before you catch a cold.”

“You dry yourself before you catch a cold.”

Why were they skirting over the obvious issue?

Tenzin let out a strangled sound.

“Something wrong, Tennyboy? Your vein is about to burst on your forehead.”

“Something wrong?” The airbender’s voice went a pitch higher. “Something. Wrong. You –.” He pointed aggressively at his brother. “Just spent the night with some,” He clenched and unclenched his fist as he tried to select the appropriate word. “Woman that is not your girlfriend!”

Lin’s eyes shot to Bumi’s. “You have a girlfriend?”

Bumi raised both hands. “Wait a minute, you know I don’t. This,” His shoulder gestured towards the bedroom. “Is a recent development and it’s just for fun, you know, and she definitely knows.”

“What!” Tenzin’s gasped out.

“Wait a minute,” Bumi snapped his fingers. “Lin, you didn’t tell him?”

“Tell me what?”

“Tell him what?” The earthbender scrunched her face thinking before it cleared as she seemed to have concluded something. “Oh. No. I didn’t – I didn’t think I had to –!”

Tenzin felt he was watching a ball go back and forth between the other two.

“You’re the one talking to him often.” Bumi crossed his arms.

“You’re the one living with him.” Lin pointed at the airbender.

“You’re the one in love with him!”

A stunned silence followed.

Surely… Bumi was mistaken?

 ---

Bumi ran a hand over his face. “I think you both have a lot to talk about.” Then, he grabbed the nearest food on the table (a loaf of sweet mung bread). “I’ll leave you both to it.” He waved the loaf then exited the kitchen.

Lin considered the tea in her cup, focusing as though it could lend her the fortitude for the upcoming conversation.

Tenzin sat on the chair opposite her, taking a sip from his own genmaicha. “Feel like explaining what that was?”

As an earthbender, Lin went into it head on. “Bumi and I are not – were not – in a relationship – we – I thought that was clear.” Then she proceeded to explain the arrangement that she had with his brother. “I’m sorry if we made you feel uncomfortable with this.” She waved her hand uselessly.

Lin bit her lip anxiously. She blew on her cup, waiting for the airbender to process the information that was dumped on him.

 ---

Two things ran through his mind.

Firstly, Bumi and Lin are not (never were!) in a relationship.

That key revelation echoed, unlocking several objections that he had repeatedly told himself to tamp down his feelings for the earthbender.

Secondly, it did not escape his notice that Lin did not say anything to refute Bumi’s claim.

His heart beat loudly, feeling like it was up in his throat. Excitement and nervousness made it difficult for him to breath, ironic for an airbender.

“Lin,” Tenzin cleared his throat. “And what Bumi said,” He leaned forward to tilt her head up so he could look at her eyes. He gulped and took a deep breath. “Is it true?” He felt Lin pull back for a second before she slowly nodded.

Without a hint of hesitation, Tenzin stood up to gather Lin in his arms, feeling complete and contented, something alien to him, something he had not felt for the longest time.

“I take it you like me too?” A muffled voice at his chest murmured.

“More than.” Tenzin bent his head, putting his forehead against Lin’s, unmindful of how her wet clothes now clung to them both. “I love you too.” He then closed the gap between their lips.

They would have gone longer if Lin had not shuddered involuntarily. They separated slightly, arms still around each other.

“I’m sorry, I probably need to get dried.”

Tenzin peered down at Lin’s now translucent attire. “Better yet, let’s get you out of those wet clothes. That is – if you don’t have any objections to it?”

“None whatsoever.” Lin tiptoed, pressing her lips to him. “No boyfriend, no rumored beau…Care to help me out?”

“Gladly.”