#and if someone is marrying that character specifically because of their wealth

[flameraven]

Was reading a period* arranged marriage story and had to give up because it was just TOO historically inaccurate.

(*Which period was unclear. I think they were aiming for Victorian but it was so vague it could've been any time from 1800-1915ish)

Like, I am all for hand waving historical accuracy for a good story, especially if you want a queer romance or just don't want to deal with period racism. Bridgerton does this and while I think there are some issues with their approach, overall it works and it's clearly very appealing to a lot of folks.

No, the thing that really got me about this story was that the character was said to be quite wealthy, but lived in a relatively small house with no servants. There was mention of a cook who came in one or two days a week. That is where my suspension of disbelief just gave up.

Because like, even if you're going to ignore the social aspect of this wealthy person not having servants and the gossip that would create, even a small household, without the benefit of modern appliances, involves an enormous amount of labor to keep up. You need servants. Not just A Cook, but a cook and several kitchen maids to assist her to do the hard labor and menial tasks, because you can't just pop into the kitchen and cook something up quickly. There's no just turning the stove or the oven on, you have to build a fire and manage to to get the right temperature and keep it even. Household heating, too. You need people to clean and also to manage fires or your house is going to be freezing. Someone needs to change out the linens and also help you dress! A lady's maid or valet weren't just for prestige, the styles of the time meant you genuinely needed help getting in and out of clothing.

Also the characters' ideas about consent and levels of sex education were all jarringly modern. Again, I don't mind some of this but on top of all the other stuff it was too much.

Overall the story felt like it was a modern setting where people were wearing period fashions. And if you're not going to engage with any of the details of the period... why are you even writing period fiction?

[srjlvr]

SEVEN ROYALTIES

7 brothers. 7 new kings. 7 new thrones. 7 love stories.

note. im a bit early to do this, but we’re getting closer to 1.5k followers so i decided to drop it! i cant believe i am able to reach this amount of followers honestly! this is a special series to show you how thankful i am. i wouldn’t be here without y’all.

THE seven brothers of hybe’s kingdom will be getting each a new throne and kingdom of their own to rule, and each one gets a love story of his own too.

GENREs will be included in each member’s story and so are the WARNINGS and WORD-COUNTS.

TAG-LIST ; i’ll consider this tag-list to all members, send me an ask or comment on this post if you’d like to join.

PERM TAG-LIST ; @sungwhoonz , @ohdudehesflirting

lee heeseung x fem!reader genre: strangers to lovers , commoner and a royal , fluff , angst ! warnings: loads of curse words.

you always knew your short temper will be a disadvantage, but you never thought that moment will happen when it came to a royal blood.

“watch where you’re going!” you yelled at the person who just bumped into you, “my apologies madam, perhaps i can offer you some sweet cookies as an apology?” he smiled.

you laughed at the nickname and the cute offer, “people don’t offer here cookies just because they want to apologize, are you new in town?”

he then shook his head, “you keep your things to yourself if you don’t want people to keep asking you for favors”

you ran before the person could even reply, “didn’t she realize who is she talking to?”

STATUS posted!

park jay x fem!reader genre: arranged marriage , one sided love at first , angst , fluff ! warnings: curse words , mentions of food (nothing serious, just dinner breakfast and all) , uhh dunno if it’s really a warning but just a rude behavior.

it’s been a few months since your huge wedding held in the castle, “i’ve married to you only because of the fact that i need to marry off to someone to get the throne” your newly husband groaned.

he’s been telling you the same sentence each time you remind him that you’re actually a married couple.

you’ve been taking care of him when he got sick, made him meals and even did most of the laundry, regardless of the fact that you have tons of servants.

jay has been ignoring you all day and all night ever since you first met, even ordered that you must have separated rooms.

but all it took for him to understand that he so longed for you, is to see you walk away. now, he’s determined to bring you back and love you all over again.

STATUS posted!

sim jake x fem!reader genre: strangers to lovers , fake relationship , he fell first but she fell harder , runaway royals , fluff , angst ! warnings: mentions of pregnancy(nothing serious i promise trust me) , mentions of food (not specifically, just meals).

your beauty is beyond compare, and you know that. your parents knows that too. which is why they’ve been forcing you to go on dates with filthy princes who wants nothing but to use you and your beauty as a trophy.

you hate that, being treated as an object in the eyes of other people. so you ran away. where? you didn’t know, but you packed your bag and left the house in the late late hours.

what you didn’t expect however, was to get caught by another runaway prince.

“who are you?” you suspiciously asked. “i’m sorry madam, let me introduce myself, i’m sim jake, hybe’s-“

“hybe’s prince” you gasped, “and you are?” he shrugged off the fact that you just cut him in the middle of the sentence.

“i’m l/n y/n—“ “the runaway princess?”

STATUS posted!

park sunghoon x fem!reader genre: childhood friends to enemies to lovers , one sided love somewhere into the story , heavy angst , fluff ! warnings: character’s death (not a main character) , curse words.

sunghoon has everything, wealth, power, a throne. but none of these matters when he can’t have you by his side.

“i hate you, park sunghoon” you spit out, nothing but hate is in your fierce glance at him. he just chuckled, “you don’t mean that”

“oh i do,” you nodded, “and i’m only doing it because i promised her it’ll happen”

“looking back at that promise, i realize why you used to believe that promises are stupid” you added.

“i’m sorry” he apologized, “sorry isn’t going to change anything, is it?”

STATUS posted!

kim sunoo x fem!reader genre: mistakenly falling in love , strangers to lovers , fluff , a bit of angst ! warnings: none atm.

the ballroom was full with young royals who are there the celebrate ni-ki’s birthday, the youngest out of the seven brothers.

it was a NO ADULTS party and therefore, the king and the queen ( aka the parents ) tried to describe him who is he going to marry. it was a pretty obvious force marriage.

“you’ll know it when you see her, she’s awfully pretty” they said.

“i’m l/n y/n” you introduced yourself with a curtsy, sunoo took your hand and kissed the back of it, “you look awfully pretty, y/n”

“oh! her name is minju!” right after the party, the queen and the king reminded sunoo that the girl he’s off to marry is named minju.

STATUS posted!

yang jungwon x fem!reader genre: childhood friends to lovers , promised to marry , fluff , angst ! warnings: mentions of food , pregnancy i think , maybe curse words (do lmk if i missed something!!)

you’ve known jungwon ever since you can remember. his castle is considered your second home and your castle is considered his second home.

you were pretty confident in your friendship, until you became teenagers and things started to fade away between you two.

he knows you’re promised to him, so why was he so unconfident about it when he saw you talking to other princes?

and you know he’s promised to you, so why do you feel like crying when he’s being introduced to other princesses as well?

STATUS posted!

nishimura riki x fem!reader genre: troublemakers falling in love , strangers to lovers , dumb and dumber relationship , fluff , angst ! warnings: none atm.

you were some kind of the black sheep in your family, always breaking rules and doing what you’re clearly not supposed to do. you love your freedom.

you heard about a prince who’s just exactly as you are, and you’re more than eager to meet him.

“are you…?” in one of your usual sneak outs, you bumped into a familiar face, “am i…?” he mocked.

“never mind” you shrugged, “i thought you were nishimura riki”

“i thought you’re l/n y/n” he chuckled, it was too dark for the both of you to see each other. “so who are you?” you asked, “nishimura riki, you?”

“l/n y/n”

STATUS coming soon!!

••• copyright © srjlvr all rights are reserved.

[wisteria-lodge]

What are your thoughts on Lily Evans? For being the whole reason the books happen, she gets surprisingly little insight into her.

And I do think that's the point. For Harry, she is more of a cosmic force than a person. She's like gravity. Her sacrifice is this single huge thing that will always protect him and connect him to her, even though he never really learns everything about her. This lets Lily be the perfect, tragic everywoman, and lets Harry explore the tragedy of never really being able to know a parent.

(Like - I think it's very interesting that the *films* give us a lot more specific details about her than the books do. Slughorn's whole "Francis the Fish" anecdote, Lupin reminiscing about her, the detail that she was close with Lupin. Movie specific. The way the books treat Lily as this ever-present benevolent force is honestly pretty literary.)

But that means. That because Lily is purposefully vaguely written, she gets defined by her place in the narrative and her relationship with the people in her life. So Petunia, Severus, James. Which MEANS that people with strong opinions about those characters are going to characterize Lily to *fit.* Severus was a sad, manipulated woobie? Well, then Lily was too harsh to him and never should have married his bully. Severus is a obsessive stalkery incel? Lily is a girlboss who kicked him to the curb. James is a trashfire who you ship with Sirius or Regulus? Lily is a goddess who is too good for him. James is cute and snarky and Harry 2.0? Lily is... probably an author/reader insert. Hermione got hit (gets hit) with MAJOR reader insert syndrome, which I completely understand. She's the only central girl and a relatable conduit who can date... whoever you're into. Harry, Ron, Draco, Severus. I imagine that Lily gets that times a million, being the *only* central girl in the Marauder era. So you get Jilly, Lillypad, Jillypad. Do people ship her with Regulus?

If I were to write her... I think "model minority" vibes makes sense. She's a muggleborn, from a poor background (which is something we know her sister struggles with.) Slughorn (with his pro-pureblood prejudice) thinks she was fantastic. I think Lily probably felt the pressure to be EXTRA good, in a Hermione kind of way. She's also the "special one" in her family, which Petunia resents her for. So I'm thinking at home she's the Golden Child? Which is a ego-boosting, but also stressful place to be, because failure isn't really an option.

I don't think I'm meant to pair the Petunia/Vernon "marrying up" vibes with Lily/James, but if I'm getting all psychological about Lily, I probably would. James DOES represent wealth and security, after going from one situation where she's got shaky societal footing... to ANOTHER situation where she's got shaky societal footing. Only difference is now she can make potions. Severus ingratiated himself with the Slytherin purebloods as a survival tactic, and Lily probably did the same thing with the Gryffindor purebloods. The difference is she's not willing to put up with as much bad behavior as Severus is (but like... she's willing to put up with *some.* The Marauders canonically got pretty brutal.)

Also, Severus is kinda a snarky bastard, and so was Sirius. James was a bit more jock flavored, but she got along well with all of them. She herself probably has a bit of a wicked streak, I don't think any of those people would have hung out with someone who was just sweetness and light all the time. Also, we know how important it is to JKR to be "not like other girls" and like... Lily is her ideal girl, so...

I also 100% get sports couple vibes from Lily and James. I mean, baby Harry is flying around on a baby broomstick. Lily's 100% got a sports jersey that she wears around the house, and she and James make a big deal about Game Day. But really, there's not much specific about her I can extrapolate from the books.

(This meta also does a really nice job of going into how ultimately Lily is a mirror, in a fascinating kind of way.)

[dykepuffs]

I want to argue that Dracula is the first work of Nokiawave.

-It's heavily concerned with new technology which drives the plot: Telegrams between everyone being collated into the text, Dr Seward's audiolog on the phonograph which Mina types up, mass transit in the form of both trains and Tube, steamships (and specifically the contrast between steam and sail) and loads of minor examples.

-It's concerned with new social technologies and social change: Mina is a typist, a respectable modern job for a young middle-class woman. Jon is a clerk and is working in an exciting emerging market. Dr Seward uses all the modern methods and keeps up with theory and scientific developments. Lucy is pleased to have plenty of male friends, not just to be seeking to marry. And it contrasts this with both the "good" Old Ways - The helpful, hopeless, peasants who give Jon his anti-vampire icon, the "broad minded" but also clearly steeped in superstition Van Helsing - and the "bad" Old Ways - Obviously, Dracula and also the enslaved Roma (Who, oh god, I I have to write about them in the context of Romanian chattel slavery of Roma, which was technically abolished in stages throughout the 2nd half of the 19th century, but where emancipation came with enforced sedentarism and obligation to a landowner - And where many remained enslaved in all practical terms into the C20th, and specifically in Transylvania the effects of Maria Theresia's Four Decrees that were still in effect that meant they would both be indentured to a landowner as "new farmers" and their children would be kidnapped by the state and given to white families for "reeducation" - but most people analysing the text seem to treat them as willingly Evil Minions).

-It's full of the anxieties about what Eastern and Southern Europe will do as they "modernise and open" (ie become financially and culturally available to the West) and specifically the fear of the Rich Slavic* Oligarch (to a certain kind of British mind, anyone east of Berlin and north of Athens is Slavic, sigh) spreading their malign influence in the Capital Cities of the West. Even the touch that Dracula was once a warlord but is now a slick investor and man-about-town.

-It has lots of continent hopping, focusing on the ~local colour~ in Transylvania and the contrast between both the "superstitious" locals and the traveller who finds it all very quaint and interesting but not very serious, and between the poverty of the normal people and the wealth and seclusion of Dracula, and then likewise giving us whistle-stop tours of the interesting bits of Whitby and London, making the city as much of a character as the humans. The Westerner abroad is seen as just a natural phenomenon, but the foreigners* in Britain are notable and exotic.

- It has a mysterious superweapon/monster which is hidden around a big western capital city, where most people (and even the police and regular military) have no idea what it is and are powerless to stop it, and a lot of tension lies on the crux of "What happens if this gets out here, surrounded by all these civilians?" - In a way that treats the mythological East* as a natural place for atrocities to occur, but them happening in London is a shock.

-It has spying: Jon sneaking around the locked-up Carfax with his miniature camera, trying to take pictures to find out what Dracula is doing in there, could have absolutely been in a 1990s thriller. Likewise, meeting in Harrods to avoid suspicion because it's a plausible place for a fashionable young lady to be, surrounded by anonymising crowds.

-It has information warfare: Dracula reading up on British politics, studying maps of London, paying clerks and using shell companies to disguise his property acquisitions, and likewise the heroes using the telegram and port records and the sheer mass of paperwork generated by his activities to track Dracula, which feels like close kin to the Nokiawave staples of finding someone on cctv or by their credit card, or their car registration being flagged at a checkpoint. Jonathan lamenting the lack of an Ordnance Survey in Europe and the unmapped bits of Transylvania specifically really fits with the idea of the "Control Grid" posited by Gregory Flaxman who writes a lot about surveillance and information control in cinema.

-It has a team of both specialists and laypeople who were dragged into the action by circumstance, and much relies on their relationships. The laypeople's "unimportant" skills (Jonathan's knowledge of property and finance especially, and Mina's skills with logistics as well as her innovation and bravery in using herself as a conduit to Dracula) turn out to save the day. The team is multi-national and basically represents The Free World (TM), as well as allowing for jokes about national stereotypes.

-Mina being notably not a damsel in distress, but instead using her personal connection to the villain to absolutely ruin him in ways that nobody else could, is very much like the role of many women in Nokiawave films: She may be traumatised and in danger, more than anyone else because of the villain's obsession with her, but she's smart and deadly and willing to take risks to complete the mission.

-It ends with a massive cross-continental vehicle chase with tonnes of explosions.

[princess-of-the-corner]

https://www.tumblr.com/princess-of-the-corner/773508900019388416/not-try-and-make-audrey-a-sympathetic-figure-but?source=share

Oooh I had something on this for what I called character cinnamon, IE, not sugar that makes them too sweet or spice too sexy, or salt IE too evil, but adds depth and complexity to a character.

Anyway in regards to Audrey, I usually lean on her either being a lesbian or entirely asexual and aromatic suffering under comphet and entirely unaware of it. Concoting the idea that the reasons he didn't like any of the men hitting on her is because they simply weren't up to her standard.

Because if she just didn't like them when everyone else did maybe there is something wrong with her and she can't allow that.

She internalized the idea that a male romantic partner and children were things she needed to do due to pervasive cultural pressures that got exaggerated by her position as a public figure. IE, constant "Are you getting married soon" BS from the press.

So she tried with Andre who did pull that suit off well on a purely aesthetic level and is a friend even if he had always wanted more. So she tries and it sucks, she hates it, all of it and she's fucking miserable being pregnant and the whole experience is, she won't use the word traumatizing but it certainly wasn't good for her view on these things.

Because of her well ingrained complex, the issue is obviously with Andre and the kid, so she tries again with Zoe and this also fails. Now she has two kids, a husband and an ex and she can't stand either man and the kids are just this walking reminder of a now joint 18 month experience she found utterly horrific and they expect her to be something she honestly can't be.

Audrey's more suited for wine aunt than she is a mother and she at least can see this much, but she is exceptional, she has to be she's worked too hard not to be. Yet she's no closer to knowing what's wrong or missing and if she can't figure out the problem in herself then it must be an external issue, something she can critique and corral into shape until things finally 'work' the way they are meant to.

It doesn't work and at some point she stops trying.

Basically, regardless of how powerful Audrey's personality is, regardless of her wealth she is still a woman growing up in a very sexist society and possibly queer and entirely unaware of it. Dealing with being pa public figure with expectations in that scenario; who is used to regarding all problems as something to either dismiss or attack. But she cannot figure out what's wrong and so is projecting that increasing sense of alienation and anger at things not working inside herself outward. Its not helping, but at least its not festering inside her anymore.

This, I should stress doesn't make Audrey good by any stretch.

She's a grown ass adult with issues in this situation to be sure, but taking said issues out on others isn't OK anymore than Gabriel's terrorism is OK because he's sad hi wife died. But it does give a degree of context to her specific disdain for her role as mother and family that could in one way or another be potentially addressed. Likely not in a way that ends in a happy family hug, but could at least lead to something semi functional and not abusive like canon.

But it'd require Audrey becoming very aware of some sides of herself that she so far is entirely unaware of at a minimum and that's hard.

Honestly I like all of this it-

There's a handful of characters I do think are.... I won't say 'past reformation' because I'm a soft bitch who thinks anyone can change. But it's.

While there's reasons that are on some level sympathetic to how they got here, they also are fully aware of what they're doing and how bad it is. They're not forced by a bigger power, or under the belief that they're doing what's needed, or so desperate for love/safety/etc. that they jump through hoops to justify things.

This is someone who had several options, and chose the worst one. Because it was easiest, because it would harm someone they hate, because otherwise they'd have to give up what they have.

[camcat1320]

Ursa, Ozai, and Ikem Backstory Development (cont.)

Book 4: Air, the Missing Element (a fanfic)

I have been exploring scenarios in which I could expand and add complexity to this set of characters. In previous posts, I have followed this plot bunny down many possible paths. Now here I am again, looking to expand even further on these characters.

It's been a long-standing idea of mine to draw parallels between Gaston and Belle with Ozai and Ursa. Ozai is a narcissist that wants to marry the most beautiful girl, that being Ursa, because he thinks he deserves the best. Ikem would be his lifelong friend that becomes his wingman to try and woo Ursa.

Ursa first rejects Ozai's advances but he sees it as a challenge and doesn't quit his courtship. When Ozai is down in the dumps, Ikem and many others join in to cheer him up. This is exactly what a narcissist desires, to have the admiration and attention from many people.

Ursa on the other hand would be an intelligent, learned woman. She loves to read books, fictional romances and tales of spirits to be specific. Ikem also is an avid reader. He would know of the tale of The Mother of Faces due to his mother telling him the story. This is something the two would relate with each other, being able to talk about literature at length together.

Recently, I have given the show The Crown on Netflix a watch and I got a whole new slew of ideas to add even more drama and tension. In particular, the story of Princess Diana holds plenty of inspiration for my characterization of Princess Ursa.

For Ursa, however, it wouldn't be an entirely good start to the fairy tale turned nightmare marriage. Ursa would first find Ozai odd and off-putting, turning down his affections. But with a little coercing from her family and the royal family about the potentially auspicious pairing, she gives Ozai a fighting chance.

Ozai would be in both sports and theatre in university and excel in both. Ozai and Ursa would bond over their mutual interest in theatre.

Ozai, with the help of his wingman Ikem, successfully woos Ursa. Ikem knows of how to woo a woman based on the books he has read. He had dated before but they were all after his wealth and proximity to the Royal Family, leaving him feeling unfulfilled and desiring true love.

Ikem's feelings for Ursa grows but he remains silent because his best friend and prince essentially called dibs on Ursa. Ikem is the best man at Ursa's and Ozai's wedding, wishing them luck and prosperity while dying on the inside as he bids farewell to the love of his life.

Ikem remains present in Ursa's and Ozai's lives and is treated like family. Ikem tries to date other women but no one can replace Ursa in his heart.

The marriage between Ozai and Ursa begins to deteriorate rather quickly. Ozai becomes jealous of Ursa as she gets more attention from the general public moreso than he does. When Ozai is in public, the crowds would ask questions about Ursa rather than him.

After completing university, Azulon tells Ozai that he must put his sports and theatre days behind him as it no longer reflects favorably to the crown. Ozai begrudgingly accepts this.

Later, Ursa surprises Ozai and the audience with a ballad on stage at the Fireside Opera House to honor Ozai's birthday. However, Ozai does not take kindly to this surprise. He is envious that she was allowed on stage while he had to give up the stage. On top of it, he doesn't appreciate Ursa stealing the show, taking the spotlight off of him.

He reacts negatively and projects onto Ursa, saying that she is selfish and wants all the attention on her at all times. Ursa would feel hurt by this, saying that she expresses her love ardently through song. Ozai would snap back, "If you could call that wretched screeching singing."

*The topic of eating disorders will follow. Reader discretion is advised.*

Now as someone who suffers from disordered eating, I found it compelling to also include this in Ursa's story to draw more parallels to Princess Diana. But since this fanfiction is rated TV-Y7-FV, I need to write it in a subtle way where it can be picked up by the older audiences while going over the heads of children.

I was thinking in The Search (Ch 2), I'd have Zuko and Azula ask Elua, Ursa's retired handmaid, if she would know of her whereabouts. Elua would say she has no clue where Ursa is or whether or not she is still alive. Elua would say, "Your mother was a sick woman. The poor thing had trouble keeping her food down. I worry for her and I only hope the terrible illness hasn't taken her."

Then in parting, Elua would share that all of Ursa's belongings were packed up and put in storage in the archives of the National Museum. At the museum, hosts an array of artifacts from past conquests, including Air Nomad artifacts. The museum is filled with propaganda and inaccurate depictions of Fire Nation history, framing the nation in a pleasing light.

In the archives, they find chests with Ursa's belongings, including clothing, written letters, diaries, and her old prescription medication tea still in their paper sachets with instructions and ailment stamped on them.

Zuko would find this as a shock, thinking that his mother was always kind and happy around him. Azula would respond with, "That entirely depends on the perspective." Azula would then cover up her moment of vulnerability and claim that Ursa was just a weak minded woman. The duties of the crown was too much for her. (That totally sounds like projection there, Azula. 👀)

*end of eating disorder topic*

Then the team would hit a brick wall in their investigation. Zuko and Azula would think about their past, recalling their Uncle Ikem and the stories he used to tell them about the spirits. They never knew what happened to Ikem, just that their father forbade them from ever mentioning that name in his presence. Then someone would say that happened around the same time as their mother's banishment. Then Azula would pose that perhaps their mother ran away with Ikem.

Zuko would be surprised Azula would even suggest such a thing. "Our mother loved our father." "Don't be so dense, Zuzu. How she looked at father was nothing compared to how she looked at Ikem." "That's not how I remember it." "Think about it, a weak woman, unable to fulfill her royal duties, is given a chance to run away, free from the pressures of the crown. It sounds like an opportunity no fool would turn down." (*Ahem, Azula, your mask is slipping.*)

I think in the very beginning of their investigation, Ozai would be interrogated for information about Ursa. This is where Ozai reveals he has no clue where she is. He had sent an assassin after he but they had returned empty-handed. It's as if she disappeared off the face of the earth.

So now as Zuko contemplates where their mother would've gone given all their clues. Then it dawns on him the tale of The Mother of Faces. Ikem would tell him and Azula the story and claim that she was real, living deep in the forest near his hometown - Hir'ra.

Noriko's and Noren's Illegitimate Marriage

Now at the very end of the chapter after Ursa and Ikem restore their original faces, they come to learn that Ozai is still alive. Terror falls over the pair's faces. They had assumed with Zuko being the Firelord meant that Ozai was dead so they were unworried by the repercussions their return would have.

Now the pinch here is that Ozai had never divorced Ursa, they were merely separated even with the banishment. This makes Ikem's and Ursa's marriage illegitimate. Also, their marriage certificate has the names Noren and Noriko, not Ikem and Ursa. This then makes Kiyi technically a child out of wedlock. ALL of this is considered a SCANDAL in the eyes of the general public.

Now imagine this song but with the perspective of a narcissistic husband talking to his wife who is trying to divorce him. It fits perfectly I think.

And that's how I would close the chapter.

[baldursghaik]

OC Tag Game!

tagged by @arcandoria, thank you so much!

tagging: @themumblingmouse, @gilraina, @socksual-innuendos, @voidspearzhovae

— General

Name: Thyneron Lucania

Alias: Not an alias so much as his birth name, which is Opulence. He loathes his birth name and refuses to use it, however.

Gender: Cis male

Age: 42

Spoken Language: Common and Infernal

Sexual Orientation: Gay

Occupation: Infernal Museum Curator and Historian. Some would probably call him unemployed though.

— Favorite...

Color: tbh he probably doesn’t have one. I would say that he likes the colors he looks good in (greens, blues, neutrals), but in terms of having a favorite, probably none in particular. He certainly has an attraction to people with purple in their color scheme though.

Entertainment: Books are his primary entertainment, and he specifically enjoys reading about the fables, heroes, and legends of Faerûn. He also greatly enjoys stage plays and concerts.

Pastime: When he’s not working, devoting time to his studies, or hanging out with his family, he likes to go to taverns in the Upper City and get pleasantly drunk, and possibly find strangers to spend the night with. It’s really for the best that Grindr does not exist in his universe, or else he’d probably never actually leave the house to socialize.

Food: Anything intense and fermented, such as sauerkraut, pickles, kimchi, etc

Drink: Amnian wine, anything heavy and red.

— Have they...

Passed University: Nope, despite his family’s wealth, he never went on to any sort of higher education. He went straight to work in the family business, and studied independently.

Had Sex: Quite a lot

Had Sex in Public: Usually he grabs a tavern room with someone, but it’s probably happened at least once or twice also I suppose Orpheus counts lmao

Got Tattoos: No tattoos

Got Piercings: So many fuckin piercings. Three in each ear, one on each eyebrow, a nose ring, and a tongue ring.

Got Scarred: This has been soft retconned out, but he originally had a small lip scar, because I thought it would be funny if he had this incredibly banal scar from something silly like tripping on stairs. Alas, after partial ceremorphosis, his face was just too damn busy. It’s the same reason I never draw his freckles, even though he has those too.

Had a Broken Heart: Yes.

— Are they...

A Cuddler: He enjoys it, though especially when he’s drunk.

Scared Easily: It’s practically his defining character trait. This man would be scared of his own shadow.

Jealous Easily: Extremely easily. He’s deeply insecure enough as it is, anything that’s even a potential threat makes him uncomfortable and prone to lashing out.

Trustworthy: Despite how hard he tries to be, he is not trustworthy even a little bit. He is loyal to a painful fault to the right people, however.

— Family...

Siblings: He has five brothers and sisters, and is the second eldest child of the family.

Parents: His mother has served the Council of Four as a sorcerer for decades, and his father is a renowned traveling musician that married into the Lucania family. While his brothers and sisters have largely moved out and started their own families, Thyneron is very close to both of his parents, and they can more or less be considered his best friends.

Children: None, and he doesn’t particularly want any at least prior to full ceremorphosis

Pets: He loves animals, and has quite the menagerie of exotic and rare pets on the family estate in Baldur’s Gate. Much as he loves them though, he’s a stereotypical rich person about it—the actual hands on care is handled primarily by servants, and he just enjoys their presence and company, while being naive to their actual needs.

[shadowqueenjude]

Hiiii!! First your posts give me life!!! I’m always waiting for the next one because I know you’re going to spit gems and speak facts 💁‍♀️.

I have a question/thought about the mates situation. People keep saying SJM will be exploring the rejected mating bond concept, specifically in Elain’s book….When did she say that? WHERE? From what I’ve seen and read, she did say it was an interesting concept (fate, mating bond vs agency and all that good stuff) but she also said she didn’t know if she would be exploring it in the future, let alone in Elain’s book or the ACOTAR series. So HOW in the world do people take that as a confirmation that she will absolutely do it in Elain’s book? Even the whole “what if the cauldron is wrong” argument. Well maybe she’ll use Elain’s book to demonstrate that in fact the cauldron is never wrong because it actually doesn’t decide anything. This frustrates me to no end.

Anyway, keep slaying Queen 💅!

My dear Anon, we shall have an Autumn wedding.

This is what SJM said:

“That’s something I find to be very interesting,” she replies. “What if the forces that be put you with the wrong person? Or what if you just decide, eh, I’m not interested. … There’s a lot to explore within the concept of mates and your agency about it. 

“I’m not going to say if I am exploring it in future books or not,” she continues, “but it definitely offers a wealth of things to explore with this concept of freewill and what is true love. Is it something that’s destined? Or is it something that you make? Is it both?”

She did NOT confirm that she would be exploring it at ANY point!!!! I do NOT know why people are acting like it is a guarantee.

What if the Cauldron was wrong? COULD be foreshadowing yes, but the answer is rarely that obvious LMAO. Amren told Nesta that there were other ways to fight beside a sword, but Nesta became a warrior. Most likely it's talking about Elain. So is it really so hard to believe that this is NOT talking about Elain at all, but someone else entirely?

The three most likely options for a rejected mating trope are as follows:

LoA-Helion: we get to explore the pain and angst of knowing a mate has married and had children with another, and dealing with the rejected trope for centuries, but will eventually get together in the end. SJM is not about to give Lucien's parents a tragic ending lmfao. And in her world, rejected mates=tragedy.

Mor-Eris: if we go in the direction that mating bonds can only occur between males and females and Mor and Eris are both gay, so they can never have feelings for each other. In which case we explore the difficulties associated with a bond that neither person wants yet the instincts are still there.

Tamlin-Amarantha: did anyone wonder WHY tf Amarantha was so obsessed with Tamlin? Like, I know he's hot and all, but goddamnit girl what the fuck? Now, if they were mates and Tamlin rejected her, it would make sense. It would also add more nuance to Tamlin AND Amarantha's characters, and we'd get to explore Tamlin's trauma post-UTM after being forced to reject and kill his mate and how that drove him a little mad.

But, the rejected bond is NOT a guarantee, so there may NOT be any rejected bonds. These are all just theories at this point. One thing I am CERTAIN of is that the rejected bond will CERTAINLY NOT be Elain and Lucien. Especially not when SJM dangled Gwyn in front of us. Now THAT one is fucking obvious lol.

[dross-the-fish]

Fascinated that you made Raoul black, is there a reason?

I liked the idea of having a Raoul who was also something of an outcast making all three of the main characters isolated in their own way. In my AU Raoul is specifically the child of a French father and a Haitian mother. His mother was descended from an independently wealthy family of gens de couleur libres (Free people of color) from when a portion Haiti was still called Saint Domingue. The large age gap between him and his siblings is due to his mother being a second wife, making him a half-sibling to Philippe. He occupies a strange social sphere of having enough wealth and power that no one can outright insult him to his face but he still finds himself ostracized because of his status as the mixed-race son of a second wife. Spoiled in some ways, deprived in others. There are no expectations or responsibilities placed upon him, he is permitted a leisurely existence provided he stays quiet and doesn't do anything to draw attention to himself or sully his family's name. During his youth he met Christine and her father, two of the very few people to be genuinely kind and welcoming to him. Part of why he clings so hard to Christine is because in some way she was his only real friend. Raoul has spent nearly his whole life being surrounded by people and feeling entirely alone. Being genuinely loved and wanted by someone other than his immediate family is a big deal to him. Like in the book he has his moments of youthful pride, jealousy and stubbornness but I've tried to re-frame them in a way that adds a little more depth and nuance to the character and his emotions.

In my 1918 AU he and Christine are happily married and have children. He has not forgiven, nor forgotten what Erik put him through and is less than pleased to find out he's still alive.

[aikoiya]

LoZ TotK: The Symbolism Behind Link's Rings & the Handshakes

I actually don't really see the scene where Sidon kneels to Link & gives him a ring in a proposal way.

For one, the ring that appeared was on Link's right-hand pointer finger, not the left-hand ring finger, which is an important distinction as a ring on the right pointer is symbolic of authority, leadership, self-esteem, & confidence. It was also the most common place for a man's signet or crest. In some parts of Europe, it was even forbidden for people below a certain rank to wear one as it denotes a very specific family status. It's also a common place for fraternal or family rings. Which actually makes perfect sense for Sidon as a person as well as his relationship with Link. Seeing that, before the Calamity, he likely believed that his sister would marry Link who would then be his brother-in-law as indicated here.

Now, admittedly, a man's right pointer is used for wedding bands in the Jewish culture, but somehow I doubt that Sidon is representative of being Jewish.

There is also the way that Sidon's holding Link's hand when he makes his vow as a sage, which appears to be in more of a two-handed handshake which are typically used by politicians to convey that they are warm, trustworthy, friendly, & honest. Specifically, Sidon's hand is on top of Link's, but very specifically isn't touching his arm or wrist, which is supposed to convey sincerity. If his hands had been touching either, then it would indicate that Sidon wanted something from Link. I've also seen it said that it's a sign of gratitude & that when someone shakes your hand like that, they are conveying that they are genuinely, sincerely happy to see you.

Yes, he's kneeling, but keep in mind that Sidon is also very tall & it's possible that Sidon wanted to give them a more even playing field.

As such, all the signals I'm getting are pointing towards this interaction being platonic & possibly fraternal in nature.

If this were a confession or a proposal, the way that Sidon would be holding Link's hand would be far more tender than it is.

However, let's walk through the other rings & possibly their handshakes as well real quick & see if there's a trend.

Yunobo's was the right thumb which symbolizes wealth & influence, as well as strength of character, willpower, & freedom of thought. Which could work as he's the president of YunoboCo. Thumb gestures are also associated with interaction & friendship. Again, this works. Add to that the fact that the ring was passed via fist bump, which can be used as a sign of giving someone your respect or approval as well as signifying a companionship between the 2 involved, which you also can see Yunobo's expression of respect & approval for Link when he does it.

Tulin's ring is on the right pinky, which in the case of a man's right hand specifically, represents things you have accomplished personally as well as intelligence & communication skills. It is often where you wear family crests. Also fairly accurate considering Tulin's arc was about proving himself fully-fledged to his father. I couldn't really get a good look at Tulin's handshake, but it appeared to be a typical, friendly shake. So, not much there.

Mineru's is on the right middle finger, which symbolizes structure, balance, conscience, order, & purpose. It can also reflect things for which you feel responsible or ways that you seek balance in your life. And, I could see this working for her, I suppose.

Her handshake...

No idea what the hell kinda shake that is, but I'll do some research & get back to you.

I'm seeing that turning one's palm face upward is a sign of submissiveness, but I dunno. Someone did bring up the fact that this was essentially Mineru holding her brother's hand one last time, which is important here, because for every other Sage, the thing highlighted was their relationship with Link, but it's possible that whatever the hell kinda handshake is going on here might have some significance to Mineru's relationship with Rauru.

Anyway, Riju's ring is on the right ring finger, which depends on the culture we're talking about. The right ring finger, of course, symbolizes engagement here in the west, but that'd be creepy af in this situation, so hell no. Now, in some religious organizations, this is also a symbol of a sign of the individual's authority & religious devotion. Not to mention, it's also associated with the sun, as well as beauty & creativity. If nothing else, authority, the sun, & beauty works for her as the Gerudo Chief. Not to mention, her fighting style in AoC was pretty damn creative.

As for her handshake, it at first seems to be a regular one until just after, when she pushes back & away, indicating that she is performing "the pusher." This is done by extending the arm so that Link can't get closer to her, which would be interesting as it'd indicate that she needs both physical & emotional space to be comfortable. This suggests that she's hesitant to let others get closer to her. Which is interesting considering what we read about her in her journal.

I suppose that in a way, I believe that I see these vows & rings as being more signs of the Sages swearing oaths of fealty to a king.

After all, Link gains the right arm of a king in this game. It's also been implied throughout both games that there's something going on between Link & Zelda. This game, specifically, suggests that they are not only living in the same house, but sleeping in the same, very small bed.

Which I remember reading somewhere that a long time ago, if 2 people who weren't of the gentry wished to wed, they'd simply handfast with a witness to recognize it, then move in together & were then considered married. I mean, the handfasting itself only lasted for a year, but it'd be fairly easy to renew.

If this is true, then it's possible that Link could become, depending on how Hyrule's customs involving such things work, King of Hyrule & if not that then Prince-Consort.

Ganon's declaration at the beginning of the Japanese version of the game that "I am the true King of Hyrule" even gives a bit of an impression.

There's also how the illusion in the castle showcased 2 thrones sitting side-by-side rather than just one.

As such, it's clear that Ganondorf at least believes that the 2 are together.

While up in the air, I feel like there's enough evidence to suggest that my theory could be possible.

LoZ Wild Masterlist

[agaypanic]

really leaning into my nostalgia and I'm listening to various disney playlists on spotify, and now I'm making headcannons about watching the movies with Adam, bree, and chase.

I think bree would immediately resonate with any character who was kept inside (anna, rapunzel, jasmine, etc.), but I feel like she'd be a Frozen girl. I feel like she's so Anna coded and in the second movie, she'd resonate with Elsa navigating her powers. She'd also love Mulan no questions allowed.

Adam would LOVE "I Have a Dream" because all the tough guys have non-stereotypical hobbies. I also think he would love Hercules. He'd totally see himself as Hercules because of his strength, and Hercules/Meg would definitely get him thinking about actually getting a gf and being more than just his strength. Oh and adam would defintely watch Aladdin and focus all his brain cells on what his three wishes would be.

For some reason Chase is harder for me to pin, but I think princess and the frog would be so good for him because I feel like he would go through the same arc as naveen–particularly when it comes to thinking about his money. That scene in "Dig a Little Deeper" where Naveen realizes that Tiana would bring him joy, not money would push chase to think a little more about people because wealth and his pride tends to be our boy's faults.

I have this vision of watching Frozen with the group and Chase hating on Anna at first. "Does she really think she's going to fall in love the moment she walks out the door?? You're telling me she's marrying this guy when she's known him for 3 seconds??" and the reader (me) going, "You're right, it's crazy to get so swept up in the first person who shows they like you when you've lived most of your life in solitaire. How's Danielle?" and Chase shutting up.

(I know I could just post these and my major fault is that I ramble but I just find it more fulfilling to leave my headcannons/thoughts in someone's request box but lmk if I ever overwhelm your box)

-🎀

i feel like bree would really like any disney princess movie from the 90s. aladdin and beauty and the beast specifically. also the little mermaid, it came out in 1989 but wtv

adam loves hercules. after leo showed it to him for the first time, he wouldn’t stfu about wanting his own pegasus. for a disney princess movie tho, i think he’d really like mulan

it’s hard to pick a disney princess movie for chase, but i think i’d go with enchanted bc i think he’d relate to robert philip a lot lol

[dulcewrites]

I know the creators probably did not mean to do it when they made the Velaryons black (more than likely went over their heads tbh), and I do agree with certain criticisms/concerns people had about how black characters are treated in hotd. But I do think in theory, making the Velaryons, specifically Corlys, black was an interesting choice.

I think having a black man, in particular, chasing the Westeros equivalent of ‘the American dream’ and it leading to the eventual hinderess of his house is fascinating. Downfall in the sense that House Velaryon never reaches the heights they had pre dance. Corlys is playing a political game, as someone who is far more suited as a warrior/sailor than anything else, with people that keep him at arm’s length. He can not maneuver the way they do successfully despite the money and connection to dragon riders. But he continues to push for that status symbol…for that recognition and acceptance.

I will be mixing a bit of F&b lore as well as the show so just.. stay with me on this lmao.

When we are first introduced to the corlys/the velaryons, we get this air of ‘new money’ (gag I do hate that term but let’s go with it), though the Velaryons are a house that survived the doom. Corlys has essentially single handedly elevated his house through seafarer. He is described as someone that, despite the wealth and power being Lord of the Tides has brought, is seldom satisfied. Hence why once his own path towards being king consort/having his blood on throne is dashed after the great council of 101, he more than likely gets in his head that he must take steps to right that wrong.

Like many men in this story, if not all, corlys views the people around him - His wife, daughter, son, granddaughters and even Rhaenyra to a certain extent - as extensions of the himself and the pawns in his plan.

Now, this will probably be an unpopular opinion, though I don’t think it should be, but I’m of the belief Corlys cared little about how his family faired because of his ambition. Namely his wife, Rhaenys (who if we go by book canon he married when she was a teen then cheated on her with another teen). I think he sees her as another status symbol. He’s married to a dragon riding princess. I sense a lot of people get blinded by the shiny varnish their relationship has on the show, especially compared to the outwardly hellish relationships in book/show. He constantly undermines her. Though I personally don’t believe Rhaenys when she says she’s over not being queen, I do agree with her when she says corlys is doing all of this more for himself and his house than her. Despite the quippy lines they give Rhaenys, she too is a victim of patriarchy and by extension of that a backseat passenger in her own family. She too follows her husband’s orders even to the detriment of others. She may be able to voice her concerns, but they fall on deaf ears.

Corlys uses his 12 year old daughter as a bargaining chip. And let me tell you, I get so annoyed when people use the argument of ‘well rhaenys and corlys were upfront about pimping out their tween daughter while otto sent Alicent in secret’. They all will be sharing the same room in hell with viserys regardlesss babes. Or the argument that the dance wouldn’t have happened if Viserys married laena. The dance, or some sort of infighting, was set in stone the moment viserys decided to not only remarry but have kids. Weakening Rhaenyra’s already flimsy claim. It was set the moment the Targaryens followed the same male primogeniture many in Westeros do. Corlys would have been right at the ‘patriarchy rocks’ party if laena married viserys and managed to produce a male heir.

Rhaenys expresses wanting the driftmark line to pass through Laena’s daughters. Mind you, Laena is older anyway. If corlys wanted his eldest child to have it.. he could’ve changed that from jumped since he’s so team feminism lmao. Corlys quickly says no because he knows taking that from Lucerys means disenfranchising Rhaenyra’s claim. In turn, laenor will not be king consort and their blood will not be on the throne.

Except… he knows those boys are not of Velaryon blood. The same way he knew laenor, his gay son, would be in harm’s way marrying Rhaenyra. To him, his family name being written in books is more important than empowering his granddaughters, despite tooting the horn he is doing this because his wife was robbed because she is a woman. To him, his family name being written in books is more important than the safety of his kids. He actually mirrors viserys post laenor’s ‘death’ and shuts down. But the point of running away. Leaving his wife to rule without him. All because his own choices and guilt are probably eating him alive.

It’s why I was actually quite taken when in ep 10, it is corlys that finally says enough is enough. But I actually like the choice. By now he has lost his daughter, his brother (I have a lot of feelings/thoughts on how vaemond wants power like corlys but it manifests vastly differently in terms of their house), and he thinks his son as well. Him realizing that his ‘keeping up with the joneses’ phase has done nothing but have the Stranger follow their family is harrowing. He wants to go home; he is ready to be rid of this. And yet it is Rhaenys, his dragon riding princess, telling him they must keep fighting for Rhaenyra. Quickly reminding him that their family is binded to the Targaryens regardless, and because of his choices; through having Lucerys still be heir to driftmark and the farce that jace as a bastard will take the throne with little strife. As well as because of the agreement that their granddaughters, not good enough claimants to driftmark themselves according to corlys, will be married to the strong boys.

His house will not prevail and flourish in the wake of this, which I think is an interesting contrast to say someone like Otto. I don’t think Corlys is a second son in the literal sense but he feels as one because he has had to fight for what he has. In ep 2, he compared himself to daemon, an actual second son, because of this fact. Otto is the same, a second son turned hand of kings. They scheme the same way, and have very similar ambitions. They hurt people in the process, especially those they are meant to protect. Regardless of who sits on the throne or how the war panned out, House Hightower continues to be a relatively wealthy, respected house. Versus what happens to House Velaryon… a now black house in show canon. These men played the same game and only one, in terms of the things he wanted, ‘won’.

That’s such a damning insight on how power corrupts the same way regardless of race, but the repercussions of it are different for everyone. Like I said, I know the writers did not think this far ahead or take this into account. But it’s something I picked up on as black woman myself.

It all comes back to Corlys’ choices. He will soon be adding his wife to the list of people the Stranger takes.

He must take his own advice sail through the storm…

[gerrydelano]

4 or 5 for the writing ask game?

4. pick an alternate setting you would want to put either the main cast of your work or [specific characters] in— zombie apocalypse, medieval fantasy, regency era, office hijinks, etc. describe what it would look like and/or write 100+ words in this universe.

honestly? i have to come clean. the first AU we made for this story was a hunger games AU, and it actually helped us develop a shitload of stuff for the main story LMAO. some TW for under the cut of mentions of sex trafficking and exploitation, finnick style etc.

ask game

firstly i have to celebrate that it gave us osa, a bear shifter who is ayla's mentor for the games and in the original story is another captive in the fighting ring who helps her stay sane. osa is a big fat butch and she's hot and married and so fucking excellent i love and aspire to be anything close to half as cool as she is someday and also yes i am aware that her name means bear in spanish. would you believe me if i said we picked it as a name and made her a bear before we knew that. LOL.

but yes THG AU okay so. i also have to be upfront, when me and ren make THG AUs we tend to focus on the post-games finnick side of things because that's just the part of the story that resonates with us both the most and it's important to us to explore those kinds of stories, also like... life after the games is the bulk of the story until a revolution takes place, and not every AU actually contains characters who can slip easily into katniss' position so sometimes they're just existing and exploring that is the meat of what we tend to do sometimes until a revolutionary figure naturally comes across. moonstained already features a character (pruitt) being sex trafficked while ayla is Some Other Kind Of Trafficked With Hints Of Sexual Exploitation Because What The Fuck Do You Think Happens To Women In That Kind Of Underground Fighting Ring Setting In General so like. it's not far off to place them in that kind of situation in another universe, it's more true to them than pretending it wouldn't happen.

pruitt is the first to enter the games. he's in D1, and a career like his mother, lavinia, was. (she was reaped properly and no one volunteered for her. LOL.) but she's famous for being a very charismatic and lethal killer, so he's favored to be a legacy win, and that gives him trouble in the games with the other contenders. she actually convinced him to volunteer for someone a little earlier than he was supposed to, age wise, and it's a really fucked up situation to put him in. however! once he's actually in the arena, he mostly hides and doesn't kill anyone until the very end, at which point he takes on the last three careers when they come for him. canon pruitt refuses to kill for lavinia's evil purposes, but he does have a body count of 3 until the end of book one because he snaps and kills people who have actually abused him personally, or are in the middle of posing a threat to casey. sometimes those people overlap! a la first gunman in the alley. eek!

but there's a big nasty strangle-stabbing fight with the last one and he just keeps stabbing after the cannon fires and it's replay-material on the broadcast which is un-fun. but he's pretty and mysterious and quiet when he gets back and it creates intrigue, which leads to interest from weird people, which his mother has no small hand in facilitating because it probably happened to her too and she thinks it's normal/fine/even beneficial, and she has no problem exploiting pruitt in general to get what she needs: security and wealth. so pruitt just kind of lives this life and is primarily alone in it until a bit after ayla and casey each get involved.

ayla and casey are from D7, ayla's mentor is osa (butch bear<3) and casey's is sal (a guy from his support group in the canon story, who is a tiger shifter! also a big fat burly guy who is so fucking chill and excellent but he definitely almost killed his father who MAY HAVE killed his mother when he was 16 so that's a man with some rage in him. love you sal.) ayla's arena is a Colosseum, while casey's was an abandoned city block/urban jungle sort of situation.

they're a bit of a spectacle, too, because they're twins and were in back-to-back games. ayla had been reaped first, as a boy, because she hasn't come out yet in her district and to her parents but now that she thinks she's pretty much guaranteed to die anyway, she wants to do it as herself. she comes out during the interview portion of things and it's Intriguing and Interesting and Fresh and Startling and all those annoying things the capitol ascribes to normal ppl's lives, but it actually gets her some fans and supporters because it's also brave and different and makes her stand out.

when she's being interviewed she says something to the effect of, "yeah, it's funny coming here with secrets. if i tell you, do you promise not to tell anyone? [glances at the audience as they laugh]" and her stylist gives her a light cape on one shoulder and it's made so she can swish it off and pin it around her waist into a skirt. not a cinna-level dramatic quick change but a bit of fun and very attention catching.

so they pretty her up and she gets to live this tiny piece of her life in a way she never thought she would have access to in a million years and then she cries herself to sleep because it's all a dream, it's all temporary, it's not going to last because her life is slated to end so soon, but surprise! she's a FIGHTER. to a degree she didn't know she had in her. i think we ended up saying she bites someone's throat out (call to her hyena shit in canon) and later when she gets facial feminization surgery, they sharpen her canines without her consent for The Look and osa is SO PISSED. but she tries to vibe with it because at least she's getting resources here and she's finally some strange version of the self she didn't even dare to dream of back home.

but alas. even before i made her trans, it would have been a struggle for her to NOT end up finnick'd, but being trans actually cements that as a distinct risk because of the fetishization and exoticism that people pin on the backs of trans women, and she did a little too good of a job making herself special. the thing is, though, she's also just emotionally different after the trauma of the games; she's sharper, snappier, harsher, quicker to lash out. if she said the wrong thing to someone while getting used to her new station in life, there could be consequences.

and so casey is reaped, due to some rigging.

he relies on snappy humor and hijinks to survive and it actually works. he has a few replayable moments, too! shenanigans with fire escapes and such. he doesn't expect to win any more than she did, but he's also riding a bit on the tailcoats of her victory in terms of sponsors and it's a big fucking mess in general.

he doesn't know how to engage in the capitol parties and crap but ayla ends up doing party drugs and shit, and pruitt is like... weirdly inseparable from his mother until he escapes to drink a shit ton of alcohol just to get away from her and eventually one day casey sees pruitt and ayla laughing uproariously by a table together and they don't even remember what was so funny but it's a significant moment because until NOW, pruitt had seemed like some random untouchable piece of shit career like all the rest of them, but he's also just. so solitary and has sparklies in his hair and casey is the only person to really notice that his mother always has a hand on him somewhere and it's really uncomfortable actually.

there's more development and plot stuff going on but there is a scene where casey witnesses some abuse from lavinia on a balcony and pruitt is mortified but casey makes it a point to try and be closer to him after that because clearly every victor here is fucked up in some way and it's not JUST ayla and her obvious suffering (even though she tries to roll with it still) it's not JUST him and having to watch her suffer (and eventually deal with his own bullshit because Spectacle) it's just a phenomenon that cannot be denied and it needs to stop.

and then we have philomena.

she's in D13 originally, and she has infiltrated the capitol in some way on instructions from diana, the coin figure, to get information for the revolution. part of the revolution here is her bringing to attention that the victors are not happy with the arrangements they're stuck in and many of them want out just as much as some of them like the false sense of security. she's scouting for people who would be willing to help and manages to get them in contact with the movement and if anyone is the actual driving force behind anything, it'd be her probably. her or ayla. though me and ren like to have people kind of share the burden of the revolution rather than force it all onto one figurehead, especially since their stories all differ so much from katniss' like there's just a bunch of finnicks and they're adults by the time anything happens for real and it's wild.

we have more little extraneous details than that but i THINK i'm done for now LOL

[shadowthief78]

Part me talking about a minor anoyance, part Toji observation:

I'm always a little annoyed at this one really specific and trivial cultural inaccuracy (lol) but it really frustates me when in anime/manga fics, someone gets married to a Japanese citizen (or a character who would be a Japanese citizen in all logical interpretations of the world) and keeps their maiden/unmarried name.

In Japan it's mandatory, as in "literally written into the law and upheld by their Supreme Court," for married couples and their unwed children to have the same family name. Unless you literally did not get officially married, there is no way that one spouse is not changing their name. But, and here's where Toji comes in, like other places, it's not required for the wife to be the one who changes her name in het relationships. Though like other countries, it usually is.

The connotation for the husband taking the wife's names here (to the best of my knowledge) is generally kind of shameful because historically, this only happaned when the husband was of lower status marrying into the wife's aristocratic family or whatever. There's a word for this phenomenon and I think (?) it begins with a Y but I'm not certain.

So, in regards to Toji, this really shows how much he hated the Zenin clan that he would so willingly give up the wealth, power, status, and influence of the Zenins for his unknown and unnamed wife.

Anyway! Cool little detail to drive home how much Toji hated his family if you know the context and also a thing to keep in mind when writing for Japanese fandoms. Thank you for your time hahaha

[felixravinstills]

artemisia- 5, 14 & diana- 10, 23 for the OC ask game!

ask game

again, spoilers for my oc fics and also tw: mentions of physical abuse

Artemisia Click

How far is your OC willing to go to get what they want?

Hmmm, it depends? I think if her wants are the only thing that matters, then she'll go as far as necessary. If her wants conflict with someone's she cares about, then she'll compromise. For example, in Close Your Eyes, she breaks up with Felix, because she isn't convinced that he likes her romantically (she thinks he feels pressured to be with her which isn't 100% wrong). She knows that she wants to get married to escape her home life, but she is compromising with Felix's want (to not get married so young to someone he at this point isn't 100% sure at how he's feeling romantically without a reason). She'd probably prefer getting married to him (or Festus, not that she really clocks that at that point in the story) than anyone else, but she's not going to push him.

If Artemisia did, however, marry someone else and then later found out that Felix (and Festus) were romantically interested in her, well... Uh, cue the most scandalous affair that likely ends with the messiest divorce and then her hasty remarriage to Felix or Festus (probably Felix, it's the most strategic move). It's so scandalous, it's so sensational, the entire Capitol is agape. Everyone who knows them is like shocked at what happened but also somehow not surprised. If Artemisia's hypothetical husband isn't like Hilarius or someone that they grew up with and also isn't willing to divorce, that man's dead. Sorry hypothetical man in this barely fleshed out AU, you died.

tl;dr, she'll go all out if no one else (close friends or lovers) is holding her back to get what she wants

How does your OC want to be seen by other characters?

I think she'd want to be seen as loveable. She wants to be important to some people, to matter. I think having suffered abuse from her father and then having most of Capitol society just ignore that. It did do a number on her self-worth. She hates people for not doing something, but in the back of her mind, she has the mentality where some abuse victims blame themselves for the actions of their abuser? she has that in her subconscious.

She doesn't care if people see her as weak or strong. She doesn't care if they think she's an idiot or smart. She just wants people to care.

Diana Ravinstill

What's an AU that would be interesting to explore with your OC?

An AU where her parents aren't dead or irreversibly changed to be unable to fully parent properly would be great! How do I get there?

I just want to see Felix get to be an overprotective dad, and Festus to get to be a little less relaxed but also backup to Felix's shovel talk. I want whatever messy emotional conversations that can only happen between mothers and daughters to happen between Diana and Artemisia!

Also specifically, in an AU where the throuple somehow makes it to the 2nd Rebellion, and they get to meet Coin without being super not themselves anymore (Felix!). I think they'd have a(n awful) field day reacting to Diana's newest situationship.

Give Diana more time with her parents AUs would be great...

What emotion is the hardest for your OC to process? How about express?

Probably grief and sadness. Just the absolute mess of a childhood that she has in every universe ensures this.

I think grief gets so mixed with anger and resentment. She'd turn her sadness and grief into rage and lash out. That's what she does in most of the fics. Close Your Eyes! Diana hasn't put herself in a position to be able to lash out against the new government/the Mockingjay for Coin's death, so she sits and stews on her rage like Festus in the same fic. But! She does take her frustrations out on the Creeds ironically. She steals all their wealth. She's probably messing with them like I mess with Felix's extended family.

Diana bonds with Coin through rage filled grief. It's no surprise that Diana who in a better political position (like in It's Still You) tries to take her grief out on the rest of the country.

All That You Can Do! Diana's obviously a bit different from the others. Grief and sadness probably gets matched with a restless energy. She's not angry but she has to do something with her sadness. For her parents, she has to honor them (actually, at it's most extreme manifestation, this coincidentally manifests similarly to Felix's whole insecurity about not living up to the Ravinstill name)

...

Thanks for the asks! Again, a little distracted while answering so hopefully this makes sense!

[patrocles]

*guy who knows fuck all about twilight voice* i cannot even begin to describe how interested i am in your extremely specific thoughts on twilight. especially in regard to its takes on classism

I appreciate you so much for saying that especially since everything following this will be so deeply incoherent.

This is mainly in regards to the films since I've seen them recently and I haven't read the books since I was like 14.

The thing about Twilight is that the two defining discourses that dominated this series were "Is Bella a bad Feminist" and "Team Edward vs Team Jacob".

The idea that Bella (aged 17), upon meeting Edward (aged 109) and begins dating him, is ready to give up everything in her life to marry him, die, and become a vampire and devoting her entire life to him; does this set back womanhood decades or is this simply Bella exercising her free will. And the other being which guy is better for Bella, the mega wealthy Edward who can provide everything for her or working class poor Jacob who's the childhood friend.

Twilight didnt define the tropes of love triangles or even the concept of the girl plucked from obscurity and given the fairytale life by someone so insanely rich who could have chosen anyone but still chooses her. It's not even an objectively bad fantasy to explore. But I think what's kinda unique to Twilight and I think what a lot of bad booktok romance novels can trace their tropes back to in Twilight, is this idea that wealth can excuse any wrong-doing.

Edward is deeply controlling of Bella, he's condescending and belittles her, he grooms her, he leaves her deeply traumatized when he randomly abandons her in the second book/novel to the point of near catatonic depression. But ultimately at the end of the day it's fine because what Edward can provide for Bella makes it all worth it! He can take her places and buy her things, of course she'll be humble but that's why she's so #real. Hell it doesn't even matter that we don't even know what they even like about each other beyond mutual obsession and possession in the general sense. And this is something that's so pervasive in the romance genre, it's what spawned 50 Shades specifically. Abuse, physical or emotional, is excused by obscene wealth because what's temporary discomfort and domineering misogyny to private jets and mansions.

If we're being honest, the question of whether or not Bella is a good or bad feminist character is sort of moot when what we're actually seeing is just a sad story of an emotionally isolated girl have her entire existence wrapped up in Edward and know that she's never going to have a come-to-Jesus moment and value her own self worth over Edward. There's a scene in Eclipse when she tells Jacob that immediately after graduation, she's going to marry Edward and become a vampire like him. Jacob is angry about this but it's not even a "pick him over me" moment, but as a friend who doesn't want to see his best friend give up her entire existence to this guy. Even says, "he's got his hooks in you so deep". There's another scene when her father, (the MVP), just wants her to see her other friends outside of Edward and have some sort of life outside of Edward and it's almost like a metatextual awareness that SOMEONE in this story recognizes that Bella is being groomed and that this is all really REALLY toxic. It's a horror story! But of course it immediately pivots back to star crossed lovers bullshit because LOOK, Edward took her to a private island and they can travel the world. But more than anything it feels like they’re trying to establish a sort or attempt at a balance but what’s scary is knowing that Jacob and Charlie’s concerns and reservations are essentially pointless and empty compared to Edward’s financial and physical capabilities and the depth of his grooming in Bella. It’s actually charming that Charlie thinks he can realistically stand a chance against Edward if he really wanted to establish true parental control over his child. Like it’s genuinely sad to watch, actually.

And sure, so much of that we can write off as just being dated at worst. But definitely not end of the world stuff especially considering where that kind of trope has grown into way more severe cases of straight of kidnap/rape fantasy in mafia romance erotica we see today. Which is kind of MAD when you think about what teen girls were reading in the 00s versus what the teens of today are reading. I guess thanks Steph for being Mormon and keeping it PG???

But for ME, PERSONALLY, what's been kinda itching my brain in relation to this is how this pertains to Jacob. It is hard to view Twilight as mere late 00s nostalgia campy mess when I think about how absolutely awful Jacob is treated by the narrative for the sole crime of not being Edward, and by extension, wealthy. This isn't even about which guy was better for Bella, but how the story decides it was necessary for the reader to know that Jacob was NOT the correct option. He goes from earnest good guy who genuinely cares for Bella's physical and emotional well being as just a friend to her when Edward abandoned her, to basically a fucking incel who can't respect boundaries, and then Edward and Bella's lapdog in their happily ever after for no other reason than the narrative demanding it happen for Bella and Edward to be together. And for you the reader to want that to happen.

I've never been able to divorce the racial and classist undertones to this narrative choice to this. In a lot of media that came after that deals with love triangles, the "Jacob archetype" eventually became the often times not white, best friend, good guy type who was never really The One, but just another option for our Main Girl to explore until she gets back to the The One.

But thing is, Jacob was never just random guy option 2. He was working class poor and indigenous. A lot of his character is defined by this and his culture. And this HONESTLY made the Cullens animosity towards Jacob and the Pack kind of actually ridiculous and racist. Like I get Steph was just using the trope of Vampires and Werewolves: eternal enemies, but that isn't really applicable here when the shapeshifting isn't an trait that can be passed on to anyone like vampirism, but something unique to these specific people whose land they're infringing upon. So the little side digs and remarks and the absolute audacity that the Quileutes are just being so unreasonable when the Cullens have the money and means to live anywhere, but choose this boundary of a poor people who're merely trying to keep what's theirs, and we're still supposed to root for the Cullens because they're the Good Ones is like........... girl okay.

And this is all completely secondary to the way Steph appropriated the Quileute tribe, fucked around with their cultural traditions to invent her own lore, never financially compensated the tribe despite her and the producers of the films making MILLIONS, and two of the actors featured in the first film were recast for New Moon because they wouldn't cut their hair. BUT I DIGRESS.

I watched the New Moon special features where Chaske Spencer (who plays Sam) talks about how Jacob's house was extremely authentic to places he lived on his reservation. I'm not indigenous, but I did grow up working class poor and I personally always loved that this was a factor to Jacob and the pack. It didn't define them as people, but provided a sort of grounding depth and relatability that makes you want to explore them more. It isn't a lot but it's something. And hell, even Bella comes from a working class background which I genuinely liked especially as a youth when I'm trying to find some way to connect to this perfectly pretty white character.

But what's kinda frustrating in so many ways is how despite the alleged importance of Jacob and the Pack to the overall story, they are shelved so much. So we really don't get to see them, explore them as characters, their dynamics, and the tribe much as much as they could have been except for the very few times it's relevant to Bella and Edward. And given that Breaking Dawn specifically was TWO FILMS, there was no excuse for it. And it feels insulting to have the concept of the Pack, but we have to save our precious screen time for Bella and Edward playing chess.

I don’t even think people really understand just how almost non existent it is to see authentic depictions of lower/working class people in these kinds of stories. If you’ve never grown up poor it’s probably not something you even notice, just how default upper middle class almost everything (especially in YA) actually is. I think it’s something people don’t want to have to tackle so it just gets avoided? Unless we specifically need the 1 side character who is The Poor Friend, we need to have characters be in financially comfortable positions so the Plot can happen without having to worry about pesky things like bills. And so again, in that sort of authenticity it’s a double edged sword because while that is great to have included in a series like this, the classist undertones are so pervasive in how so much of Edward’s allure to Bella is rooted in wealth. A sort of inherent superiority to her own simple, non important life because of the trappings of his dress, his car, his mansion. There’s an unearned moral goodness that’s applied to Edward because of how we as a society view wealthy people as being inherently good and well meaning despite their actions consistently contradicting this. And it isn’t hard to see the ways in which this grooms Bella and that we the viewer must applaud this, cheer this, and would be aghast and disgusted if Bella was put off by the grandeur and wealth and wanted nothing to do with it because why would you possibly give that up? Again she can have the allusion of financial independence with a cute little job, but we know it isn’t necessary. We arent really meant to support the Quileute’s animosity towards the Cullens because they’re being irrational despite having bigger stakes that are considered frivolous and irrelevant to the Cullens (like retaining land autonomy). The best that Jacob could ever achieve in this story is to be at service to the Cullens and that’s meant to be a happy ending for him. Whatever his hopes and dreams were are inherently inferior to how important being the guard dog to a half vampire miracle child.

So yeah. I get the whole Twilight Renaissance, I get why people go back to it especially as it pertains to girlhood nostalgia. The soundtracks remain in constant rotation. I get why people want to reclaim the thing that made them happy in their youth when society shamed them for it as being just Cringe Girl Stuff. But for ME, it is hard for me to watch these and not be icked with how a lot of things were portrayed especially when it could have been a better story.