#and like there things I feel that She Interpreted a certain way but wasn't necessarily true

[silviakundera]

Does it feel like they're trying to redeem the dickless bore? idk if he's doing a con on her or they're showing he has real feelings for her wasn't the novel different?

One thing I'm really noticing in the Princess Royal (Grand Princess) adaption is that they will 'play it straight' with characters like Su Rongqing and the Emperor: giving the character similar dialogue and facial expressions as they would have in the novel -- except without PWX or LR's internal dialogue of 🙄 why u lying???

🙄 lol ok sure

😒 oh i see, back on your bullshit again

😤 the AUDACITY

😬 oh shit oh shit danger BE COOL

The consequence is that if you take everything at face value, the Emperor seems like a reasonable guy and not up for The Absolute Worst Dad award. Under the surface, the novel reader knows he is acting out a play and coldly calculating every interaction with Li Rong, the Crown Prince, and Consort Ruo. Every single scene with him, Li Rong is in peril and she knows it. She's pretending to be his sweet, obedient 19 year old daughter who believes in him and is following Pei Wenxuan's direction and acting as a puppet, making moves that he has already approved PWX to make. The Emperor's pretending that this play isn't supposed to end with LR and the Crown Prince taken down & the power transferred into Consort Ruo and the other prince's hands.

The viewer can just interpret all the words coming out of a character's mouth as facts & just believe everything they claim about their motives/real agenda as true. Or they recall the implied horrorshow of Life 1 and view all of these interactions with a cynical eye, questioning what else could be under the surface.

With SRQ, that guy is so fucking complicated. I think actually he's portrayed in character. Nothing we have seen isn't .... him. At least so far, as of ep 19 he aligns with the novel.

But 3 different factors: A) The music is romantizing him; B) The audience is given a couple internal-thought voice overs from him, which other antagonists don't get; C) With those voice-overs, the screenwriter has chosen to affirm his love for his brother and LR way earlier than the reader has it confirmed in the novel (where he is intentionally kept a total mystery for far longer, while the reader is the math lady meme, trying to piece together clues to figure him out).

And ultimately, when in SRQ's PoV in the drama, we have to deal with him being the hero of his own story. He is absolutely sincere about himself and, as has been revealed, in his own way he's sincere about wanting LR and his brother to have a good life this time around.

So does that mean the writer intends to do a swerve in the narrative arc and redeem him in the end? It's totally possible. Maybe?

However, not necessarily.

#1 There is a certain refrain from many of the great cnovel/drama villians: I had no choice! You all forced me to this!

We saw it from Shen Yurong in The Double, we saw it from Meng Yao/JGY in The Untamed, and in the novel (and I presume in the drama), we're gonna see it from Su Rongqing.

And it's the reason why they become villians who can't be saved. Because so many people suffer in life or experience unfairness. But they don't turn around and use this as an excuse to enact horrible cruelties on others.

Out of the billions of people in the world, few have no problems but so many of them actively chose to do good, or are willing at least to turn back and be better.

#2 imo the reason LR has historically been bad at reading people's hearts but has an exquisite read of SRQ, his flaws & darkness, is THAT'S HER FUCKING MOM. And I do think ep 16-18 put that out there in the text, if you're looking for it. He and the empress are the same sophisticated aristocrat who is clever & educated but with a narrow perspective limited by their privilege and desperate need to maintain the status quo. So sorry bro, but no wonder she might have settled for marrying you in the first life if you wanted to, but she was never gonna fall in love with you 💀.

PWX can see that SRQ loves her and he thinks that matters, so it scares him. LR has tender nostalgia for her empress mother and her former companion but she's all too aware that their love for her will not necessarily get in the way of stepping on her to protect the social structure of a powerful aristocracy class operating at a higher level above the peasants and restraining the throne. To them, this is safety and stability that guards the realm.

(ofc both those characters are complex and when it comes to LR's life & death we can't be confident on what they will always choose. that's part of what made all the palace drama aspects of the novel incredibly suspenseful. So many of the suppporting characters are layered and tho everything they do makes sense when it happens, you can't often predict people's hard choices when their back is up against the wall)

Story of Kunning Palace and The Grand Princess say that caring about people and trying your best to understand them, wanting what's best for them by listening to what's best for them, can make a huge difference. But not everyone is willing to change.

[theladygazingatemptiness]

I also don't buy that All Of The Embarrassing Stuff Was CGI Or Painstakingly Edited/Falsified Specifically To Make Me Look Bad And Etc ie her bringing her dad onstage or her getting aggressive like... Zoe you were literally having a panic attack I'm not going to judge you if you brought your father onstage for comfort or knocked over some cameras. like even if you did act out out line at some point and even if the judges were all unconditionally nice to you or if nobody clapped during your audition or etc that doesn't excuse or moralize anything that happened to you as a result. I promise it doesn't

randomly started thinking about the whole Zoe Alexander/X Factor stuff from a while back and like.. make No mistake whatever I'm absolutely not calling her a liar and I 100000% fully believe that X Factor did her dirty and she didn't deserve Any of the harassment/abuse she got afterward (like... oh no someone had a meltdown on a music contest show literally who cares.) but the thing I Don't buy is the implication that it was all some giant orchestrated fully-scripted conspiracy against Her Personally from the very first e-mail like... nah trust me honey the shit you went through ain't anything new

[kathleenkatmary]

I remember back when episode 4 aired, the way people were interpreting that moment between Agatha and Rio that screeches to a halt when Rio tells her "that boy isn't yours" was that Agatha actually thought Billy might be Nicky, that Rio was giving Agatha her son back, that her seemingly sudden openness to Rio was because of that and then her walking away was because Rio shattered that idea.

But I think it's pretty clear from what we got in the finale that this probably isn't the case. I really don't think that Agatha ever actually thought that Billy was Nicky. She might have had a little irrational flicker of "maybe" in her mind, but it does seem that from the moment she saw that door to the Road appear that she was pretty sure it was Billy, even if she wasn't 100% certain.

So I think that really reframes what was happening between Agatha and Rio in episode 4, and in that moment in particular. It wasn't that she thought that Rio was making amends by bringing Nicky back, it was that even though she knew it almost certainly wasn't Nicky and that as such none of what Rio had done that she was so upset about had changed. It was the fact that the situation, walking the road with this kid (that she'd already had some interaction/connection with), teaching him magic, felt familiar enough that she could sort of imagine. It wasn't her son, it wasn't the road they'd walked in their trials, but it was close enough that, probably without her even realizing it, she allowed herself to slip into this sort of fantasy mindset of what things could have looked like for her if it all hadn't happened the way it did. A headspace that maybe alleviated the pain, temporarily, just enough for her to let her emotional guard down with Rio for a while. To maybe not necessarily forget her pain and anger, but to put her mind back into a space and time when she didn't feel it.

So when Rio said "that boy isn't yours" and Agatha sort of snapped back to her anger and her walls slammed back up, it was because Rio saying that was like her saying "I can see what you're doing". Having the little fantasy she probably didn't even know she was leaning into so much called to attention by Rio shattered that mindset she'd been able to get into that allowed her to let her walls down a bit. And it probably embarrassed her a bit, having Rio see so easily what was going on in her head.

And I think that it's really interesting that Rio saw what Agatha was doing, and even though it was the first time during the whole thing, and probably in centuries, that Agatha started to let her in at all, she shut it down. That's something that episode 8 kind of reframes, too. Because we see in episode 8 that this whole thing, Rio's continued pursuit of Agatha, is just because she loves Agatha, and she wants Agatha to want her again. She almost had that, could have had that, during episode 4. Agatha was finally letting her in. But she shut it down, because it wasn't real, and it wasn't good for Agatha. She didn't want her that way.

I just think that's so interesting, and helps to create such an interesting dynamic between them, that Rio wants Agatha so badly that she pursued her for centuries, sicced the Salem Seven on her, waited for her at the end of the road to torture her, but when this moment came where she could have maybe had her, she didn't take it because she didn't want her that way.

I feel like it also maybe comes from the way Rio sees what happened with Nicky. I think her reaction when Agatha calls her evil when casting the protection spell says a lot about this. She seems offended and even upset that Agatha thinks she's evil, and she knows that Agatha thinks she did something wrong in taking Nicky. I also think the expression that she makes when Agatha says that she gave her nothing, only took, says a lot. It bothers and confuses her that Agatha thinks that because she knows it's not true, she knows that death is just the natural order of things and that she doesn't choose to take anyone, it just happens. So I feel like when you take that with the fact that she did shut down Agatha in that moment, it speaks to the possibility that it's not just that she wants Agatha, but that she doesn't want Agatha to think those things about her. She doesn't want Agatha to think that she did anything wrong in taking Nicky. If Agatha will only be with her when she's in a situation that's put her in this headspace where she's viewing the situation as "fixed" or where her feelings about the blame she's placed on Rio are simply being stifled, then Rio doesn't want that. She wants the reason that Agatha wants her back to be because she recognizes and accepts that Rio didn't do anything wrong.

And I think a part of that does come from what an act of love, in Rio's eyes, giving Agatha more time with Nicky was. As Death, Rio is just a part of nature. She doesn't get to choose when people die how they die, or whether or not she gets to take them. It just happens. She tells Agatha that no other person in history has received special treatment, so she obviously saw bending the rules like she did as an act of love. So to have Agatha turn the whole thing around as some terrible thing that she chose to do probably hurt Rio a lot, and continues to hurt her.

So I think it would make a lot of sense that Rio wouldn't want Agatha in the way it would have happened in episode 4. She wants Agatha to recognize that she didn't do anything wrong and that what she did was an act of love, even if it was a miscalculation.

Which is something that I think adds a really interesting layer to Rio's character and to her dynamic with Agatha.

[velvetvexations]

That sounds a lot like my interpretation of Boys Will Be Bugs~!

I bent over backwards and crafted an elaborate theory as to why Eminem's Abracadabra isn't too terribly transphobic, I can't judge anyone for making excuses for the media that's important to them.

I don't think characters just being heroic and sympathetic necessarily covers getting something like this badly wrong, but a lot of other Velveteers also chimed in, including this anon:

(Just realized this is pretty silly, feel free to ignore me/not answer this, I just saw One Piece mentioned and the hyperfixation jumped out.) But just to go to bat for One Piece a smidge as someone who is trans and read all of it, while yeah Okama(Queen Ivan) leaned very transmisognistc(which was made worse in the anime for some reason??) the intention for him, his subjects, and the other gender fluid character, Bon Clay, was meant to be good. It fell HELLA short, but there was an attempt at least. However!! I did want to add, the comic has been going on for a long time, and by one of the more recent arcs with two new, very clearly openly trans characters, things are MUCH better! The transfem one, Kiku, says outright when asked that she's a woman at heart which is accepted by everyone, and her story was really sweet and made me tear up(her anger is never treated as predatory or masculine, she's allowed to just be a woman who is also a samurai), and the other transmasc one, Yamato, is referred to as a boy by everyone despite him not changing his presentation at all, which is pretty rad imo given how hostile people can be to transmasc people with breasts, and both characters are allowed to bathe in the baths that match their genders at the end of the arc. They were still a little messy in the "yeah this wasn't written by a trans person" way, and certain misogynistic/transphobic parts of of the fandom on reddit get a little weird about Yamato, but I didn't see anything glaringly wrong with the way either of them was written like with Okama or Bon Clay. The vibe I got from the comic was that early on Oda meant well and included some characters who were intended to be positive rep but were messy and fell very short, but as time passed he figured it out and the more recent ones are genuinely phenomenal rep. Ofc that doesn't mean you need to read/watch OP(especially since again the transmisogny is worse in the anime?? still don't understand what happened there but Oda had no control over it) like god I would never tell anyone to do that lol, but I did want to just chime in and offer a perspective from someone who read it and felt like the more recent rep was really good and worth mentioning. Oda has his issues for sure, and has a lot to make up for, but based on what I've read he IS making up for it.

And, honestly, that makes me really happy! Oda always seemed like a cool guy and it's great to know he is in fact a real cool guy. According to @changelingfangs in the replies, he's friends with people in the subculture he based a lot of those characters on.

They're now just openly accusing me of not being a trans woman because trans women don't identify as AMAB and I'm apparently hostile to every trans woman that talks about transmisogyny.

...no?

It's a good theory and I think that plays a part in it for sure, but I think mostly it's just thinking it's the worse thing because it's their group's oppression. It again kinna goes back to that Lennon/Ono song with the n-word in the title, that's just how radical feminism works, trans/misogyny is the only thing that really matters.

Still, interesting thread to have spotted here and I think it's in that soup somewhere.

imagine thinking using a meme format is asserting a cultural claim to it

like seriously, has any Black person ever said that there was something wrong with "deracializing" either or even both characters in the Dis _ Look So Mad meme by substituting them with white characters?

[thisisyourprincipalspeaking]

I think a lot of fans put too much emphasis on what he said and take it too literally. Like it has been said several times before a lot of what celebrities say can just be PR, it may not be who they truly or what they truly believe.

Let's take the wanting an independent woman thing as an example. This can mean so many things. It doesn't have to mean something so literal like he needs a successful woman. To me from the context of that question and his answer, I don't think he necessarily meant independent in the sense that she has her own stable career or money. I think he meant he wanted someone that wasn't always there. Which going by their set up, thats exactly what it is. She spends a lot time in Portugal or other places. Going by that quote he seemed like he doesnt want someone in his space all the time, and she definitely fits that. This also goes with his other quote in another interview which was something like he wants someone to take care of. Well he has that, he can financially take care of her and get the space he wants at the same time. We can interpret things he says differently. To me it wasn't independent in the sense of stable career and finances but rather has her own life so he can get some space.

I think a lot of fans need to remember a few things. All answers can have different interpretations, they don't have to be taken so literal. Second, celebrities can say certain things without actually meaning them, it could be to create a certain image or because they just want to get the interviewer off their back so they say the easiest and most acceptable answer. If they give a truthful answer like saying they don't want kids or want to get married that can lead to an interviewer wanting to dive deeper into the subject or the celebrity having to give personal reasons or their history to strangers that have no right to it. Sometimes just giving a basic answer is better. Lastly, people can change their minds. I know it's hard for some people to believe especially in this fandom, fans constantly bring up things he said 20/10/5 years ago and act like he can't change his mind. We all change our minds on different things all the time, whether thats small things or huge life changing things. He could have wanted kids or an independent wife etc but could have changed his mind through the years. Sometimes we change our minds because of the people we meet. He could have fell in love with her and realized to be with her he might not get the financially stable or career driven women some fans think he wants so he compromised his list of criteria to be with her. We all compromise our list of what we want in a person because no one is going to meet every single thing on it. No one is going to get the perfect person, maybe she had more qualities he wanted. Maybe to him, her being from out of the country was more important because it'd mean he get a lot of time to himself.

Marriage is different for everyone and every couple wants something different out of it. He may not want the typical traditional marriage where the couple are together all the time. Maybe he realized throughout the years he can't be with someone that is always there, that to have a successful relationship and marriage he needs someone that would be willingly to live apart. That is what marriage might be to him and he found someone that fits the bill. Just because he may have different views of a relationship doesn't mean he can't get married.

We don't know the man, we don't know what he really wants or thinks. Just because he said something in an interview couple of years ago doesn't mean it was true or that he still feels the same way. Just think of your own life and see how much you've changed over the years. I know I have, there's things I expected or wanted that I no longer want or expect.

yes you are correct.

and in that case, the fandom needs to come to terms with the fact that he was selling a phony bill of goods and move on from ever hoping for anything to change from how it currently exists.

however, i think i can speak for quite a number of fans that if this relationship is what he wants and it fits his needs for partnership (regardless of what he's said in past interviews including his sma interview which was directly before this rs was made public) then he should probably tell his face.

[pynkhues]

Unpopular opinion anon. I really enjoyed Roman but I think I watched a different character than everyone else lol. The big one that's getting me right now is I don't really get the masochism takes? I didn't really read him as seeking punishment or only understanding love through pain... I don't feel like he was really seeking that out for the majority of the show. Also I think I may be alone in thinking Roman has kind of a normal(ish) relationships with both of his full siblings?? Like I don't get why everyone thinks the golden trio abused each other. Roman is such an asshole younger brother who turns protective the second Kendall is actually down. Like Roman can be terrible to them but also he loves them so much and it's the switch from jerk to "drop me a pin" that's I think is a core aspect of that character.

I just don't think I understand the fandom version of Roman or maybe I made up my own version and that's the one I like? At this point I honestly don't even know haha

I thought it might've been Roman you were thinking of, haha.

Yeah, there's a lot of interesting interpretations of him in fandom, and I think in some ways he's probably one of the more ambiguous characters on the show. I was just reading this little interview snippet actually and thinking how the interviewer's read of Roman as someone who has a lot of crazy adventures is so antithetical to how I see him. I tend to agree with both Kieran's reply and the OP's tags there though that Roman likely has a pretty good ear to the ground socially in order to project a certain image, but doesn't necessarily actually live it.

While it's not my personal read either, I do get where people are seeing it when it comes to the masochism factor. I think there's a valid interpretation of canon there between Roman courting violence with the protestors after Logan's funeral, and the complex scene with his and Kendall's hug in the finale, and I can see why people draw a link between that with things like the dog pound and Roman getting off on Gerri berating him.

There's texture there, y'know? Even if personally I agree with you and don't think they're especially linked. I tend to view Roman's seeking punishment or the murky tie between violence and love in 4.09 and 4.10 as being very explicitly tied to Logan's death and the void he's left, especially because we don't see it at any other point in the series. I also tend to view the dog pound as kids being kids (more on that in a sec), and I also don't know if I think Roman would get off in that particular masochistic way if it wasn't specifically Gerri doing it (I feel like that particular storyline and romance was that perfect storm of the taboo of it all, the hiding in plain sight, his mommy issues, and also just him generally being really into Gerri).

As for their childhood, yeah, I agree with you there too. It's one of the things that I love about the show actually is that the siblings can be mean, can squabble and set each other up to fail, but the love there is real. Like all their feelings for and about each other can be really complicated, but the love they have for each other just isn't. Gosh, Shiv even says it in the finale - she loves Kendall, but she can't stomach him.

That read of the kids abusing each other I do think tends to directly come from the dog pound game, or setting each other up (Kendall and Roman leaving Shiv with the chocolate milk, Kendall and Shiv leaving Roman with the water pistols, etc.) which I really think is pretty normal sibling behaviour. In particular, I've talked about the dog pound game a bit, namely here and here, and about fandom reads of Roman as the most abused here and here if you're interested in reading more!

But yes! I don't think you made him up. I think he's a character where a lot of different readings are possible because he does carry a little more ambiguity / we know less about his past than we do Kendall and Shiv's which invites more speculation and, sometimes, projection too. I think my read of him is pretty close to yours though.

[sushicha]

Let's be better about Shourtney/Shartney

Borrowing this Shourtney/Shartney rant from my IG! I originally made this when the evidence got super clear, and I was scared the ship was about to explode in popularity and people were gonna freak out 😬 that hasn't necessarily happened (yet), but I still want the advice out there:

This is kind of a semi-rant and word of caution about the shipping of Shayne and Courtney. Tumblr and IG are pretty much the only two places to talk about this.

So if you've been following the Shourtney hashtag on IG, or have seen evidence here on Tumblr, it's becoming increasingly clear that Shayne and Courtney are dating. With what's been brought to light, it's fairly certain.

I'm the first to admit that I've shipped these two for a while and that I was always curiously looking for proof. There wasn't much evidence prior to 2021, so that's likely around when they started actually dating. Even as the evidence was really pouring in and some of it was kinda stalkerish, I was still morbidly curious, and I know a lot of you did the same. Guilty as charged, I'm a lonely hoe... 😔

I'll start by saying the evidence is NOT from videos. I know a lot of you have tried to use their gazes and interactions in Smosh videos as "proof" for years, but body language is not evidence. There's a million ways to interpret a "gaze" or how they talk to and interact with each other. Courtney especially has that type of aura about her where she's very comforting and has great chemistry with others, so what people interpret as "flirting" is just her normal friendly behavior (it's very reminiscent of how men will sometimes misinterpret women just being nice to them as "flirting"). And despite the fact that they're likely in a relationship, nothing about how they interact now is tangibly different than previous years. They're professionals, they're actors, and Smosh is very self-aware that Shourtney drives up viewer engagement, so there's no doubt they've played it up at times.

But... regardless of how little evidence there is in videos, there's other stuff out there which makes it safe to say they're dating. Look for it yourself, I'll no longer be sharing that info.

To me, it appears like it's more of an "open secret" at this point, like a "if you know, you know" type thing. Courtney is more comfortable posting pictures in Shayne's clothes, Courtney's vlogging in their apartment now... I feel like they're at least at peace with the fact that SOME of us know, especially because the Shourtney fandom is still pretty underground and not a lot of people have seen the harder evidence.

Some might be asking, then, why don't they just go public and get it over with??? Damaige did, so why not them???

Why WOULD they, is the real question?

Public relationships are so complicated. All semblance of real privacy vanishes. Everyone suddenly has some opinion on your relationship. People still analyze the shit out of your body language. People still attribute the woman or fem-presenting person's success to the man. People become entitled to personal information. If you guys breakup, people make wild assumptions and take sides. It becomes a breeding ground for the worst aspects of parasocial behavior. Public relationships sound like a complete nightmare. Having to ignore all of the problematic comments while constantly looking over your shoulder sounds like a complete nightmare. People wanna live their lives privately and be known for their personal accomplishments and skills, not their relationship. Shayne and Courtney are both talented individuals BY THEMSELVES.

They have both expressed in videos and podcasts that neither want to have public relationships. They almost always go bad.

But the unfortunate reality is that their relationship being "exposed", even if it's at a relatively small scale, has been seemingly against their will. While Courtney said in a recent Q&A what she posts is intentional, that might not be the case for friends who accidentally exposed Shourtney. It must suck to have to be so careful about what you post and with who, especially at large parties and whatnot. So much is out of your control. Like, who the fuck wants to closely analyze reflections in windows and shit? Or have to tell someone you might barely know not to post a picture of you two?

Maybe they'll address it at some point. Maybe they won't. Making the comparison to Damien and Saige was always completely unfair because Damaige going public was their own personal decision. Shayne and Courtney are completely different people and may have a different line of thinking on the matter. That's not to mention, Saige has expressed a few times on her Twitch that she regrets going public with her relationship and it only made weird incels attribute her successes to Damien even more.

So what should the fans do???

Not be fucking assholes and creeps. Not be misogynistic. Call out assholish, creepy, misogynistic behavior. Not make wild speculations, or become entitled to their personal lives. Don't send Shayne or Courtney (or anyone they know) weird DM's about it. That type of thing. Keep it chill, talk among us Shourtney stans if you must, and live your fucking life, man. Find your own relationship 😅

I know most of the Shourtney stans have been pretty respectful, all things considered. A few bad apples, stalkers, etc. But whatever weird shit that happened on that (now shutdown) Shourtney Discord server should stay in digital hell.

Shayne and Courtney are gonna share what they wanna share. I make this post foreseeing that they may eventually feel the need to say something, but if I'm wrong and they say absolutely nothing, so be it. They've both said shipping is okay because it's content and mostly harmless, but clearly there's a line. And if you see someone crossing it, call them out!

That's all 🙏 I probably won't post much Shourtney content from here on out, but I'll be around. Feel free to discuss it or ask me stuff. ☺️

[rollercoasterwords]

hi! i just finished reading atyd from Sirius’s point of view and I was just wondering one thing—did you write in Tonks becoming closer to Remus towards the end to stick to canon of them getting married and having Teddy? if so, do you think Remus really married her because he moved on and loved Tonks, even if it wasn’t the same as the love he had for Sirius? Hope that makes sense, sorry!

oooh ok hello very interesting question but i feel like i have a lot to say so i'm gonna put my answer under a cut! also still planning to write a tonks oneshot for "another perspective" at some point wherein these questions would be answered, but since that probably will not be happening for a very long time the following will essentially be what i was envisioning for the canon-compliant remadora i wanted to write:

ok so first off gonna start out with the disclaimer that like...in terms of personal preference, i normally hc remus as a gay man and tonks as a lesbian and just ignore everything going on in canon w remadora + teddy. BUT since i was writing a canon-compliant story it was an interesting challenge to think about what their relationship might look like, and i essentially created like...the most angsty version possible in my head lol. so, to answer ur questions, this is my vision/interpretation of a canon-compliant remadora:

starting with tonks -- i imagine tonks as a character that has sort of struggled with identity her whole life. like, as a metamorphmagus (or whatever the term is i don't feel like googling rn) i think her perception of herself would be very shaped by the fluidity of her appearance and this ability to sort of shift into whatever people want. and i also imagine her as a character who's like, a little clumsy, a little abrasive, always sort of been told she's too much. so i imagine her sort of shifting her appearance as she grows up to try to make people like her and struggling with this deep insecurity that who she actually is is someone that is fundamentally unlikeable, someone that is too much. throw in some mommy issues and an additional anxiety surrounding gender--again, because like...she can literally change her appearance at will! what ties her to one gender??--and we get this character who is very young, trying to find her place in the world, deeply insecure about whether she could ever be someone truly loveable, whose first line of defense against that insecurity is to alter her appearance and sort of...put on this performance of being someone else, someone confident and loud and secure.

and i imagine tonks meeting remus and him being sort of like....one of the first people to make her feel comfortable, to a certain extent, about who she is. like--everyone else thinks she's too much, but remus finds it kind of sweet and charming. and i imagine tonks very much latching onto him, in a way that is not necessarily healthy, and thinking this is someone who could love her. but i also imagine that she wasn't oblivious, and that she saw what was going on between remus and sirius, and she like...wanted that. she wanted, so, so badly, for someone to love her in the all-consuming way that remus loved sirius.

and then sirius dies. and suddenly remus is like....a shell of a person, with nothing tethering him to the earth. and i think tonks would have this desire to like...fix him, just to prove to herself that she could. like, it's part of the canon that tonks is very much pursuing remus, even as he's trying to tell her it wouldn't work.

so i imagine tonks pursuing remus and sort of being the only person who's actually trying to deal with him in the aftermath of his grief, the only person who still wants to be around him.

and remus....i think he'd be in this horrible position where like. he knows what tonks wants and he knows he can't give it to her because he truly and genuinely can never love anyone the way he loved sirius. but at the same time, she is all he has left, the only person who is still consistently caring for him, who's there, and he does care for her too. but the more he tries to tell her to just leave him, that she deserves better, the more she digs her heels in and insists that he can love her if he just gives her a chance.

and u guys know me, i love coming up with the angstiest scenarios possible, so i imagine this like. really unhealthy situation where one night tonks transforms to make herself look more like sirius--maybe just the hair, or the eyes, or both--and remus is like please don't do this, please don't do this, but tonks is like you like me like this don't you? don't you?? and remus !!! it's like. what does he have?? except ghosts, and memories, and imitations? and he knows tonks isn't sirius, he knows that, and he knows she never will be, but she's so much like him--so much like him before the war, the same mischief and laughter and brightness, and he can't hold sirius, but he can hold this person who looks so much like sirius, who reminds him in so many ways of sirius, and just....i think he'd fall apart. and he'd let her pick up the pieces, even knowing that there's no way it won't just end up hurting them both.

so. that is my vision for canon-compliant remadora, and honestly i think it fits well with the like. very rapid elopement + pregnancy and then remus freaking out about the pregnancy and trying to leave with harry, because suddenly it's all too real, and he never wanted to be a father, and he doesn't know what do with a kid and a wife and this life that he's sort of fallen into with his grief. which...yeah not a great situation for anyone involved! and obviously this is just one interpretation and it's me specifically interpreting canon in a way that is like. very angsty and unhealthy and fucked up, because that's just the kind of thing i like to write :)

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

These so called “friends” of MC’s suck. I swear I lose faith in more and more of them with every new chapter. At least we can see who our true friends are I guess since they still manage to be supportive even with any doubts they might have. Too bad there’s very few of them now. Some of them still support Merula but not MC and that stings ngl. How can they stand with her even after everything but can’t do the same for MC? Fuck them.

Whoa nellie, I got like a dozen different messages expressing similar sentiments to this one, including at least a few that specifically targeted Ismelda and/or Beatrice. And hey, you're not in the wrong for how you're feeling, though I'm not sure I agree.

The main issue here is that The Circle of Khanna is treated as a collective. That's been a problem in how our friends were written for quite some time now. What, every single one of them wants to withdraw at the beginning of Year 7? I don't buy that. Penny, sure. But Tonks? Ben? No way in hell. The group is treated as a singular entity which ignores a lot of the nuance and conflict that would arise from this. I suppose something similar happened with the D.A. in the books, and in general, writing large groups of people can be tricky, but still. This is the reason why The Circle (initially) turns on MC. Because they are the embodiment of honoring Rowan. How could they not? I am glad to see that it was only temporary, though.

At the end of the day, I don't think that it's so much that MC is Peregrine's child so much as it is that MC knew and kept it hidden from The Circle. In general, it's not handled brilliantly, because MC didn't know about Peregrine until just a few chapters ago, and I think they can be forgiven for taking some time to process how they feel about this - but then again, the various members of The Circle may also need time to process it, and let their brains catch up with what it might mean. In particular, Barnaby's reaction was probably frustrating for a lot of folks (though it was no surprise to me, at this point) that he had to work out if MC was bad just because their Dad was. Obviously, of all people, he should know better...but then again, does he truly comprehend his own family as being "bad?" Maybe he does and I'm just being stupid, but I don't know. Trying to figure it out is all.

Ben's reaction was the most upsetting to me, but it's not like it doesn't make sense. The Circle of Khanna began that night in the Forbidden Forest, and it began with him, Merula, and MC. Ben is likely feeling quite isolated right now because of these twists and turns. Merula is one of them, and MC might be as well. True, it's not their fault that their Dad runs R, but why didn't they say so? Can he be truly certain that MC is on his side? Because Merula wasn't. Ben hasn't said anything to this effect (yet) but he is the last founding member of The Circle who remains safe. The others are compromised, no two ways about it. MC now has a conflict of interest, and Merula sure as hell does too. How is Ben supposed to feel about that? How is anyone?

As for Beatrice and her line about how "interesting" things have gotten...yeah, that was bizarre. I can offer no interpretation of it that puts Bea in a good light, so I'll just refer to my classic escape route that I've used before and argue that flavor text isn't necessarily canon. It's not part of the main scene, so therefore I choose to ignore it. That might be a little silly, but it's the best I've got. I've talked about Ismelda in previous posts, but the short answer is that I feel like, given her extensive history with Merula...she's perfectly allowed to feel uncertain about this. If MC can feel uncertain about Peregrine, I think that's only fair.

Speaking of Merula...yeah, it is strange that The Circle is more divided about her than it is about MC. But, if it's any consolation, I think time heals all wounds. The Circle of Khanna was initially confused and horrified to learn about MC's lineage, but they came around and pretty much universally sided with them (except Ben) understanding that none of this was MC's fault. Which is a lot more support than Merula got. She only got 50% of the Circle to let her stay. Not to mention, there are pragmatic reasons to keep her around as well. There's no reason to assume that everyone who voted for Merula automatically forgives her, the way the gang seem to have forgiven MC.

It's just a lot to handle. These characters are young. They've lost so much, and grown up in an atmosphere of uncertainty, never knowing who they can trust. Betrayal has been a huge theme in this game. Ben was suspected from Year 2 to Year 5. Rakepick betrayed everyone in the Portrait Vault. Merula has been a spy since at least Year 6. The question of how shady Jacob may be has been central to the entire story. Not to mention that MC has always been a little ambiguous in their nature. They are and have always been a trickster. It's just how the game is written. For better or for worse, they have a lot in common with Jacob, (who went rogue) as well as Peregrine. (Enough said...) Like, MC has the same quality of talking people into doing things for them. We now know where they get that talent.

The Circle of Khanna learned the truth, and experienced a creeping doubt about Jacob's Sibling. But it didn't take long for (most of) them to shake it off and learn to trust MC again.

[welcome-to-oslov]

Ok random question that tbh feels too personal now that I feel like I know Tilrey as a real person 👀 but.... what is your headcanon for things Tilrey discovers he *genuinely* enjoys sexually?

I guess topping, especially with women? He hated topping Malsha (even cried) but liked (I think?) topping Gersha (not sure about Bors). He physically enjoyed being with Vera, especially when he was youngest, but he felt a lil awkward that he wasn't emotionally close with her like he had been with Dal. He thought the straightup piv sex with Einara was mindblowing.

He mentions several times that he's hardly ever liked being fucked (even by Gersha, not sure by Bror?) but I guess he keeps doing it forever anyway? He was surprised by some things feeling good from the start with Gersha (the making out, the caresses?). He reminisced once about Bror's blowjobs being amazing. He liked the physical sensation of being spanked (me too!) but that worried him (it shouldn't!). I definitely don't think he actually liked anything he did with Davita, that was just trying to work through things.

Ultimately, I guess, deep down what turns him on is gentleness and emotional connection? As for more hardcore stuff, is that he can never even know if he'd truly like it (even though he does it, forced or not) b/c it's too tied up in the years of abuse and humiliation he had to figure out to survive, starting way too young?

Oh wow, that’s a very good and fraught question! I do have my head-canon, but I think readers should be able to make any interpretation they want based on the stories. Sexuality is such a complex thing, especially when you try to separate what is “natural” to someone from the effects of being abused.

All that said, my head-canon is that Tilrey does have a natural submissive tendency. It’s not all he enjoys—as you pointed out, he likes to top as well. It depends on the person and the situation. But I do think his enjoying spanking or even what he does with Davita and Einara isn’t purely the effect of abuse. He is working through the abuse, for sure, but he’s also trying to find and own the part of his response that is really his—to reclaim that part of him. I think we see a certain submissive tendency pre-abuse in his relationship with Dal, who takes the lead in their relationship and even dares/goads him into going to the rebel meeting. He feels safe with her and has a higher social position than she does, but within that context, he lets her push him around a bit.

One thing we see in Tilrey whether he’s being abused or not is an obsession with control. It’s not easy for him to relax, and I think that’s why he likes being in scenarios where he can give up control and be overwhelmed—but safely, within boundaries. When he has those responses within the context of abuse, as with Gourmanian, he struggles with them. He worries that he’s enjoying the abuse—which I absolutely don’t think he is, but it can be a hard distinction to make. So reclaiming those feelings outside that context is really important to him.

I’m about to write a scene that addresses his feelings about getting fucked, perhaps, re: Bror—I don’t think he necessarily dislikes it! But it’s another thing that needs to be reclaimed, because he’s so used to just enduring it.

[chryblossomjjk]

I just wanted to say this to all the readers who are asking about a part 2 of the weekend.

While I, too, would LOVE a continuation bc it was finger licking good (if y'know what I mean) and the execution was AMAZING, we do need to respect kiki's choice to only release the one part of the story.

She's not giving up on the story or trying to ignore the interests of her readers. But instead, is putting out her story in the way she wants to present it and choosing to share that with her audience.

It's the same as if she painted a beautiful but somewhat heartbreaking and bittersweet portrayal of love on a canvas, and we asked her to further it to give it a happier and more soft narrative just for our enjoyment without appreciating the rich concepts already there.

She allows room for interpretation after the ending for the readers, but furthering the story wasn't part of the idea she wanted to capture.

So, let's try to remember as readers that to truly appreciate the works that writers are SHARING with us (that they do outside of both school and their jobs) means respecting their boundaries when they say they won't continue a story and not trying to peer pressure them into changing the storyline/develop it further to fit our wants bc that's not kind nor is it considerate.

That aside, the story wouldn't be very genuine in the end if she did. She can't cater to everyone, and honestly, every fic would pretty much be the same if writers did that.

Kiki has been very gracious and sweet to everyone asking about pt 2 or an ending, and I very much admire that, but we should really try not to abuse that. Y'all are such cool readers, but we can always be cooler by respecting kiki 🤘😌.

Ily u kiki 🥺. You're so cool and deserve all the hype and luv💕✨️.

bby i love you with my entire soul and being and you mean the world to me!!

it doesn't necessarily bother me that people are asking for a part two, i appreciate the enthusiasm and interest in my writing!! means the world to me!! but with that being said, the point of this piece is to be ambiguous and up to interpretation!! this story is meant to just hang in the air, no resolution, no hopeless heartbreak.

and i agree!! i know that fanfic is escapism to everyone, me included, however, its also someone's writing yk? and topics they like to explore. i generally tend to like writing realism and angst. not that happy endings aren't realistic, however, they're not realistic in every circumstance!! especially the plot of the weekend!! my escapism is just exploring plots n characters in a way that feels authentic to the world im trying to create!!

furthermore, any movie or book or writing thats ever stuck with me has had an unideal or unexpected ending, so those just tend to be the things i like to write!!

also platform changes have kind of killed my willingness to write certain things lol. for whatever reason, the platform has been super duper agressive with labeling and shadowbanning my fics within like 2.5 seconds of posting lol, so my motivation to write is not what it used to be. not that i dont want to, just my dedication to one storyline is faltering as of now!! i do apologize!! i understand that a lot of people support my writing and i do feel some sense of beholden (idk if i used this word right rip, i just mean i feel like i owe you guys!!) to those people bc i genuinely appreciate the love sm!! all i can promise is to provide the best stories i can with what i feel motivated to write!! i have no desire to continue the weekend and never intended too!! if i did it would be v disingenuous to myself and readers!! hope you all understand!! love u dearly <3

[psychewritesbs]

Hi there! I recently read your ask about Gojo's relationship dynamic with characters of Utahime and Nanami, I'll just focus on Utahime for this point I'm gonna make.

I'm a gjhm enjoyer, i mainly see myself in Utahime's shoes, she's very similar to me but I'll just say that, what I'm trying to get at here is that the song her CT is named after is more about "one sided love" rather than something forbidden, i mean forbidden yes but for singers perspective because she has these feelings for a man she knows will never truly love her back and is more than likely playing with her feelings yet she still cannot seem to stop harbouring affection for him. It is a very sad and tragic message about an unrequited love. Now, as someone that can relate to this type of emotional pain and heartache, i can say that it is not impossible but whether that was authors original intention or he decided to name her CT after a certain singers song is anyone's guess. I'm choosing to believe it's the former but since it's a very vague thing, it doesn't mean 100% unfortunately. Your point about Gojo not being emotionally available for anyone further solidifies this topic, and I'll just say that going off from a realistic take on the manga and what i understood about Gojo is that he did love Utahime/AND everyone else as he stated himself but for Utahime, not necessarily romantic, unfortunately. I get the sense that Gojo longed for that very understanding he once had between him and Geto but whether that understanding would further swim into a romantic territory is unknown. To me, he has an interesting dynamic with Utahime, one that i love to read as romantic were the circumstances different but also the one that i can totally see as platonic, sad but still.

I'll just end this ask here by saying that this isn't about undermining anyone's interpretation about characters relationships and how they see them. We do not need canons material approval to enjoy something however we like and how that resonates with us. I hope this ask wasn't too problematic for you, if it is, then you don't have to answer this at all and can yeet it out the window. Have a good one!

P.S i just remembered Akutami-sensei's comment about Gojo not being capable of showing sincerity/true heart to any woman... 🤓

Hola gjhm enjoyer anon! Thanks for sharing your thoughts! You sending this ask is not problematic at all, mate. I love the impartiality you share. Problematic would be you calling me delusional or sending a hateful anon ask because you don't agree with me and aren't open to the idea that a different perspective is not a threat to yours.

And frankly, even if I stand by my interpretation (because we see the world as we are and not as it is)... I have enjoyed reading about the different perspectives of this one topic 👍.

I've said it before, my experience of jjk is richer because of the many different perspectives of the people who share their thoughts on it. Some I agree with, some I don't, just the way not everyone agrees with me, c'est la vie.

So thanks for sharing your thoughts!

[silkpages]

The Other Bennet Sister

'The Other Bennet Sister' by Janice Hadlow.

Okay so I finished the book and I have a LOT of thoughts.

I genuinely love hadlow's writing style and the beautiful characterisation of Mary Bennet.

But at the same time, I feel like some of the things she added in the novel kind of skewed canon events in order to portray lizzie less favourably? Like Hadlow presents Mary and Charlotte having a deep friendship which is interesting but I hate how Charlotte and Lizzie's one is made out to be less developed/shallow because of it. Maybe I need to read the original novel again because I genuinely don't think Lizzie's reaction to Charlotte accepting Mr Collins's proposal was unforgivable to Charlotte?? Because if so then why would she invite Lizzie to Rosings after their marriage? It doesn't make sense and I hate how Hadlow added things like that in order to make Mary's character seem deeper and undermined my girl Lizzie's one in the process. Lizzie had flaws yes and she worked on them and it just seems strange to ignore the canon truth (as far as I remember) of her good friendship to Charlotte to set mary's story up with more sympathy, especially when in the original it was said by the narrator that Lizzie was Mrs Bennet's least liked daughter.

I really did like Hadlow's ideas and things did feel tied up in the end but perhaps it would've been more interesting and been more faithful to the original if she had set up a dynamic where Lizzie and Mary were both the least favourites but for different reasons (Lizzie for her behaviour and Mary for her initial wallflowerness and not being considered a beauty) and explored how they both dealt with it in different ways.

But at the same time, it is a retelling and from Mary's perspective, so even if she isn't necessarily the least favourite she (especially considering how self-deprecating she was during the first part) might realistically have interpreted it that way.

But that's another positive I had: the realistic portrayal of her poor self-esteem and the feeling she wasn't worthy enough to wear fashionable clothes or have fun and be lively all because she's not seen as pretty as her sisters. I also loved the way she only gradually changes and develops as a person and grows a backbone. She feels very human since she struggles with talking back to Caroline Bingley at first but still can defy her mother for things like having spectacles. Or she rejects a certain character at first due to social pressure from charlotte and her mother, but then at the end takes her marriage into her hands and defiantly refuses someone whom everyone insists would be the best choice. What I'm trying to emphasise is that Mary's growth comes in stages and sometimes has lapses, but it's so satisfying to see how it happens and how she grows into herself.

Also the romance? IS SO SO WELL WRITTEN. I don't even fully remember the last time I shipped a fictional couple so much as I did Mary Bennet and Tom Haywood and it's not even an exaggeration to say I was giggling practically every time they interacted.

Anyway, despite everything, I think this book will be one of my faves <3 because there hasn't been a book recently that's made me feel so deeply as this one has and I love it so so much and think everyone should read it at least once, preferably through the wonderful audiobook read by Kristin Atherton.

rubbing my legs like a happy little cricket from within my bed as i listen to the last few chapters of the other bennet sister

[simonfarnabyslegs]

I'm Not trying to be controversial, I genuinely want to know: Why do some people get so upset when you say you don't see Ho-Tan is trans? I watched the show so many times, and I just don't think it's that clear cut. I think the show is so vague about it that you could interpret Ho-Tan as a man, or nonbinary, or a woman, or something else and it would all be valid. And the show is written by cishets whose focus wasn't the authentic trans experience. But I say these things people think I'm a terf.

for the most part, many of us (myself included) accept ho-tan as trans because them there have said that she is, and we trust their intentions and their commitment to play women (trans or otherwise) in a respectable manner. 5/6 of them are cis men, and they have all played a woman at one time or another, but the joke has never been "this is a man dressed like a woman." with ho-tan, the joke usually has to do with the fact that she frightens easily, that she's forgetful, that she's physically smaller than the other elders, or that she finds elf or some other non-human character attractive.

i guess it is somewhat ambiguous whether or not ho-tan is a trans woman, since she's never referred to as she in canon. she's also never referred to as he, either. but neither are a lot of the other elders, that i can remember. they usually refer to one another and themselves as a collective "we," or by name, or simply as "the elders"/"the council of elders"/"brothers." the bits of canon which are meant to be a nod to the fact that ho-tan is trans are firstly, the scene in "careful what you wish for" where she wishes to be a woman, and then suddenly has a cis female body; and secondly, the scene in the christmas special where ho-tan's child, who is played by a girl and who up until a certain point is referred to as "she," tells everyone, "i'm actually a boy." obviously the bit with younger ho-tan isn't necessarily indicative of elder ho-tan's gender identity, but as the youngers are meant to just be smaller versions of their parents, it's supposed to be assumed. larry has also said that he included that as a nod to the fact that elder ho-tan is trans.

as for the "authentic trans experience," i don't think there is one. everyone, trans or cis, experiences gender differently. there is no universal trans experience. and if you're referring to being ostracised by your peers or hating your own body, i think you should reevaluate your understanding of how diverse transgender people and the societies in which they exist are, because those are not universal trans experiences. it's also not a requirement for every story featuring a trans person to be about that character being trans. representation is not all about a character constantly referring to their identity, and equal representation definitely isn't. it's about these kinds of characters existing in the same way the other characters do and having the same opportunities within the narrative. also, since the elders are not the focus of yonderland, but are simply just a group of recurring idiots in supporting roles, there's no reason to focus on any of their personal lives or experiences beyond hinting at bits and pieces of their lives beyond the chamber of elders.

also like. this is yonderland. it's a fantasy world from a fictional television show. if i wanted to say right now that i think all the elders are trans, i feel like i have the right to do that. they aren't all trans, canonically speaking, but ho-tan is because them there have said she is, and we as fans trust them and their ability to represent that in a tasteful and respectful way.

[somebody-909]

Yeong-gi was arrested as a kid [I Love Yoo Theory]

In celebration of the return of my favourite webtoon, I thought I'd share the theory I shared on reddit a while ago about our favourite red head (revamped with pictures and extra discussion). This theory was eventually pretty much proven correct in Episode 112.

TLDR: Allusions to violent behaviour, a bad period of time where Yeong-gi was away, and stigmatized treatment resembling how you treat a criminal, lead me to believe that Yeong-gi, having been deeply affected by the events with his mother, developed violent behaviour, that resulted in legal trouble of some sort. He was then sent "away" somewhere for some time, likely either juvie or a rehabilitation centre of sorts for juvenile delinquents.

1. "How long has it been since you got out?"

In episode 16, when Kousuke visits Yeong-gi at Mrs. Lochlainn's (Yeong-gi's granny) place, he asks:

"How long has it been since you got out? Four years, maybe five? I'll stop for today. I know you don't like being reminded of what happened back then."

This suggests that Yeong-gi "got out" of some place/institution. The words "got out" are also quite ominous... (I would even argue that it implies being "locked" away). I find it hard to believe he would be using this for something that wasn't incredibly unpleasant/hard for Yeong-gi to get through. Kousuke proceeds to say, "Four years, maybe five? I'll stop for today. I know you don't like being reminded of what happened back then," confirming this implication.

I have seen a few possible interpretations of where Yeong-gi might've been "away" for a while. I personally think it's most likely something legal (juvie or juvenile delinquent related rehab), although others believe it might've been a mental institution, and others think it was a boarding school.

I see how "got out" could be used for the first two options easily, but the last one is a bit more shaky. "... since you left boarding school" might be a more natural way of referring to that, since it would have to be a really bad boarding school to refer to it in the way Kousuke does.

The following clues lean more towards Yeong-gi being away due to criminal reasons, however.

2. Treated like a delinquent.

The next clue and the biggest is how everyone treats Yeong-gi. His family treats him like a delinquent (I choose this word specifically because of its connotations... not just a troubled, hopeless kid... but more a kid you can't trust because he will be irresponsible and bad).

In episode 19, the students talk about how Yeong-gi hangs out with Soushi (who they think is a delinquent as seen in episode 20 probably bc he's a brown guy with a scar tbh TT)

"His family's got some great connections, that's the only reason I'm being friendly with the dude."

"But what's the point in doing that? He only hangs out with this delinquent from another school."

"You're joking..."

"I'm not! I saw him! Got a scar too... probably got it from a fight..."

"So it's true what they say then... Him being..."

"Shh! Don't say it out loud!"

They think Yeong-gi is hanging out with and is friends with a delinquent who they associate with having been violent. They immediately ask, "So is it true what they say then … Him being …"

What kind of rumour would they think is true if they saw Yeong-gi hanging out with a "thug"?

It would make sense to finish that question with "So is it true what they say then … Him being a criminal" or "a delinquent".

If we were to go with the mental hospital theory, it might work if they said "him being violent" but that doesn't really work as well here in relation to Soushi being a "delinquent."

There is a bit of nuance between what they would associate with someone with a criminal history, in comparison to someone who had been admitted to an institution for mental health issues, even if both possibilities were linked to violent outbursts.

As for his family, they treat him terribly. Like he's a screw up, a troublemaker. Not so much like someone with mental illness. I think by this point its clear that Yeong-gi made a big mistake, but what would be so bad that they treat him like this?

3. Hints of being "away" and having a criminal past.

There are several subtle hints that indicate Yeong-gi did have a criminal past of sorts. Or at least spent some time away.

Episode 79 - significant criminal past

When Yeong-gi and his father meet the lawyer about the assault and drug case in episode 79, the lawyer says:

"Your son does not have a significant criminal past."

Why not just say that he doesn't have "a criminal past" at all, period? Now this seems negligible, but Quimchee has used very subtle hints like this in the past so I wouldn't put it past her (eg. Yui calling Yeong-gi, "kid," and Kousuke "son," to indicate she is related to Kousuke and not Yeong-gi).

Episode 79 - Hansuke couldn't get to know Yeong-gi

Kousuke's cousin, Hansuke, states that he never got to know Yeong-gi back in their college days because:

"I was busy with my residency and [Yeong-gi] was… you know… "

This alludes to Yeong-gi having been unable to hang out because he had something going on...

Kousuke's Corner 2 and Episode 72 - a year behind

Yeong-gi is also a year older than Shin-Ae and his twelfth grade peers... Having any sort of legal trouble could cause a kid to flunk a year.

References to violent behaviour

In Episode 51, Kousuke mocks Yeong-gi, stating that he can have his assistant bring his punching bag if he needed an outlet for his frustrations.

Not being in "control" of his emotions is a recurring motif, with Yeong-gi's family members and even with himself.

Affinity for physical fitness (boxing) as a coping mechanism

I think it's significant that after being alluded to having had violent behaviour, his coping mechanism is something very physical. Boxing, interestingly, imitates violence.

Thematically fits with the end of the Black and White Formal arc

This is more my personal opinion... But I think Yeong-gi punching that pos Sangchul after constantly being passive aggressively criticized for violent behaviour is... cruelly fitting. Him being arrested and possibly repeating what had once happened, and after he had constantly been told not to repeat it, would be a sad parallel to what he once had to deal with.

Possible alternative explanations

TW: mentions of poor mental health and suicide attempts

I think it's most certain that Yeong-gi had legal trouble of some sort, likely due to a violent altercation, and that he was sent somewhere as a result of this incident.

Where he was actually sent to as a result, however, is a bit more shaky.

Since it was a minor criminal past, it's possible could've been simply arrested and not been sent to juvie at all. If his father was heavily involved in his life, he would likely have intervened if juvie became a possibility.

There are some who speculate Yeong-gi had very poor mental health, likely due to what happened with his mother and may have even attempted suicide. While this is possible, there isn't a lot to indicate past depressive or suicidal tendencies. For sure, his violent behaviour was coupled with poor mental health... but not necessarily poor mental health of this nature. I also feel that there is some nuance in how people would talk to Yeong-gi if his time away was precipitated by a suicide attempt. Someone who had self-harming tendencies isn't treated like a thug. Someone who beat up a kid might be though. (depressive tendencies could've been coupled with violence that caused his time "away," but once again, there is not a lot to really hint at severe depressive behaviours).

There are also theories of foster care, if his mother died (which seems to be the most likely scenario with her). I don't think this is the case because we have seen a young Yeong-gi interact with a young Kousuke. The two brothers (and their parents) were aware of each other. There is also his nana.

I think the most likely scenario is that Yeong-gi, having been deeply affected by the events with his mother, developed violent behaviour, that resulted in legal trouble of some sort.

He was then sent somewhere as a result: either juvie or a rehabilitation centre of sorts for juvenile delinquents, or an asylum (due to aggression issues). Regardless, it must have been tied to a violent incident, resulting in legal action and detention and possibly a follow up mental health related thing (rehab/asylum).

Episode 112's confirmation:

There is a vague flashback alluding to a period of time where Yeong-gi was in trouble, specifically stating

"Poor kid. No one is going to want him."

"Why not?"

"...Behavioural and aggression issues".

This alludes both to Yeong-gi getting into trouble for hurting someone, AND for being guardian-less for a period of time (no one "wanting him" seems to reference foster care or adoption).

Later in the episode, Yeong-gi's classmates gossip and say:

"Wasn't he at a detention centre for a bit?"

"I thought he was in an asylum?"

"He was sent somewhere for sure..."

[sophsicle]

I just want to start off by saying that I love love love Choices and it’s honestly one of the very few stories that live up to my interpretation of canon. I’ve honestly never been very content with the way most writers characterize the marauders (especially Regulus) and when I read the first few chapters of this fic I was stunned by how similar their personalities were to how I imagined them to be. I love the pain and the angst of it all and how you don’t shy away from the darkness of the war. You truly do the marauders justice with this fic. Now, I have some questions.

How do you interpret Walburga and Orion’s personalities and their relationship? Before I read this fic I always assumed that they were both equally as abusive and overall terrible people, and I guess they still are in this fic after all they’re still blood supremacists but the way that Orion is so passive whilst Walburga causes most of the abuse just got me thinking.

Did Evan know way before the club scene that Reg was gay or did he just put two and two together in that moment?

And lastly, when do you plan on having Orion die? Canonically he dies the same year as Regulus but it’s never specified when. Before this fic I thought that he most likely would’ve died before Reg but seeing as how Orion does care about his son in his own way it made me think that maybe he dies shortly after receiving the news of Regulus being dead. The second one would be all kinds of painful but I feel it would make a lot of sense tbh.

Hello lovely! Sorry for taking so long to respond (this goes for like every ask I answer) I feel like I have such a specific view of the Marauders in my head so it's so interesting and fun to know that other people think of them the same way! Okay, Walburga and Orion, I feel like in canon and fanon there's always a lot of focus on Walburga and we don't know much about Orion. With telling this story from Regulus's point of view I wanted to give him a reason to stay in that house that wasn't just fear. Fear can be a strong motivator but I think love is often stronger. If there was still someone in that house he was trying to protect and care for it would add to the feeling of being trapped there and unable to leave. SO I wanted Orion to be a loving dad even if he still isn't necessarily a good person. Walburga I see as being someone who had children as a way to achieve certain goals not because she has any interest in raising or taking care of them, but who deeply loves her husband (kinda Queen Victoria vibes). Evan knew before the club that Regulus was gay. I'm going to say that as soon as Evan was aware that people could be gay he was aware that Regulus was gay (probably around their second year). Evan doesn't really think much about things though, so when Regulus didn't bring it up he didn't either, also he is aware it's a bit of a precarious thing to be in their positions. I'm going to plead the fifth on this last question :)