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

[lullabyalikpoptarot]

Stray Kids Tea Sessions

Okay, I held off doing this and now that I did this. I can see why I dreaded doing this lol Anyway, kept to my word that I would do this. All of this is alleged, some aren't that wild, but some I just wish I didn't get the messages I get, but fu** it. I am not filtering my readings for anyone, so here it is. Take this with a grain a salt. This is my interpretation of the cards/messages I got. I did not really enjoy doing this, it was kind of tiring. I just did this to test it out and see what I get. I won't say I will not do another group, but it will be a while, until I try another group, because this reading is exhausting, or if I do another group, I will have to do it in segments, until I release another one, so that may take time, we'll see how I feel.

Bang Chan

Things are pretty much handing to him. He has really great manifestation skills. Like, boy seemed to have an easy life. He is pretty much coddled, great loving family environment. He has the power to create the life he wants. Wouldn't be surprised if he understands manifestation and how that works. He's good at manipulating his environment and others around him, doesn't necessarily need to be bad. He's quite shielded and can't cross certain lines or has strong boundaries around him. There is a lack of maturity or a stunted child within him. I think I saw this in his perspective reading. Maybe he wasn't able to be a child. You know how people are stunted, because they never got to be a child, so they remain that way. Balance, fairness and harmony are important to him, so if things are not stabilized, he will struggle. He may come off as mature, but there is a strong inner child there that he hasn't evolved from. But he does try to come off cold, calculated and stern in his decisions. This isn't that wild to me, really, this is all you are giving us lol Okay, I take what they give me.

Lee Know

He is persistent in achieving his goals and moving along in his career. Okay, I see a woman standing in his way. She comes off as like she will help him offer him advice, but she can be brutal with words. She could have beaten him down with her words. He seems pretty defensive around her, like he has to protect his energy and be on guard around her. There is something with water or could be a mixed drink here, so I see in one card, 2 cups of water being mixed together, and the next card, a fish appears out of the cup. I am trying to understand what that means. This is not easy to extract information from this group, so I am struggling here. There is some type of concoction they take or make that help them climb up the pyramid scheme, how I get that is that this card at the bottom has a pyramid on the sand and the person with the cup has their foot on top of that pyramid, so you got to look what you are pulled to on the imagery and come to conclusions as to what that can mean. He's kind of showing me he has to deal with a lot of BS to get to where he is at but will defend it if need be. So, in the middle of this spread there is a man pretty beaten up with a pentacle behind him a bit shattered. This shows me he will defend what he built no matter what. I got even from that cold bi*** referring to the woman I was talking about earlier, like she comes off as trying to help, but she is cold and emotionless and kind of makes things worse. Okay, this one a bit more interesting from what I got from Bang Chan. He gave me some actual tea.

Changbin

He is showing me people or he himself being puppeteered to fit a certain image, okay already got this message before. There are snakes in the industry or within the company. I see him having to be in competition with others. He is showing me whatever desires and creative work he has it pretty much is vaulted. I see them harnessing a lot of their creative energy, so industry folks are not about creativity, but mostly about money, so they focus on work that makes them money. He wants his work to be more creative. They handed him this fantasy or idealized version of what things would be like. He wants things to be more balanced. People to compromise more with the idols. He isn't sharing much about himself, more so about the industry and his struggle as a creative artist, so yeah, that is all he is giving me, moving on. Boy really don't like sharing too much tea about himself. I get it through. I don't push things.

Hyunjin

Well, this industry is mentally tasking and burdensome for him. He has to hide things, which can be a burden to him. I think he hates not being able to express his pain and mental struggles. I see him dealing with depression. The Moon card and 10 of Swords gives me that. His Mom may play a major role in his career, could be one of those Momagers. She may have wanted him to be famous. Umm, getting something dark here of course, but got some blood contract here may have been made, it could between the Mom and company. I just see the 10 of Swords with blood spilled over and knives on the person's back. I can see that as Hyunjin, but than The Empress card, which I see as Mom energy also has blood on some weird dagger next to her spilling into the water and blood contract popped up, so there's that. The Sun and the 6 of Wands gives me Ego, so all he seems to know is to be famous and be an idol. Don't really think he knows who he really is. It was like he was born to be famous. It is like he shines when he is in the spotlight, but behind the scenes he is very, let me say depressed. The Mother card being in the middle just makes me feel she is very instrumental to him being an idol. I wouldn't be surprised if his Mom dabbled in Magic and manifested this life for him. I see her having high standards for her son. I mean as most Asians Mom are, so are we surprised here?

Han

He is also showing me the cutthroat business and how there is competition, and you have to take others out to be on top. Is this with the members or does this have to do with the trainee period, like why are they showing me this? It is like they may always be put against one another. I am getting conquer and defeat and he was able to shine above that and find success. I am not getting great messages from him, it is kind of freaking me out what I am getting, so I didn't really understand why I got the 2 of Pentacles, but the wolf on the card is calling my attention, he looks really creepy and scary to me. And I got the message wolf in sheep's clothing. Ya'll can look up what that means, not saying it. I am not sure he is how he appears. There could be something more sinister to him I am just going to say I don't care, this alleged, ugh this is why I didn't want to do this, His energy kind of creeps me out. Sorry Han stans, but I am not faking what I get. Ya'll can ignore this if you like. I am not going to pretend that I know what this 2 of Cups is, he may have made a pact with someone, who knows. I am not trying to look into that more, kind of done, moving on.

I think that extra protection I have started doing is working, no sickness, but we will see if it continues working for the future.

Felix

He is showing me similar things to his reading. A disconnection, unsatisfied with what people have to offer him, numbness, a lack of emotional connection to the world and others. Something about protective barriers on him. Being coddled, not able to grow up, lack of freedom. This Wheel of Fortune, on the card I see day and night, so this gives me there are two sides of him, a lighter, bright side and a darker side. Once again, nothing new here. He has a strong creative energy. A lot of potential for success. He does have this vibrant inner child in him. I say if he is freely able to express himself, he will thrive, but he cannot, so that is probably where the disconnect comes from. He is stunted and stifled, but there is a light in him that cannot be tamed, or shouldn't. His inner child wasn't able to flourish. There is something about his childhood that they keep wanting to show me but can't fully grasp that. Until that inner child can be freed or expressed. I don't see him being fully happy or satisfied. There is something in his childhood he has not addressed and that will keep him stuck. That is all I am going to share there. I know some of ya'll will be confused, that is all they are sharing. I can't clarify anymore.

Seungmin

There could be something about him wanting to get away from home, maybe step out on his own. Maybe he wanted to face a challenge, maybe he felt coddled at home. This seemed to be his decision, even though he may have been pretty young when he signed. Like in most cases family plays a big role, but he seemed to want to do it on his own. Now, once again similar to Han, there is some pact here. There is some sort of pact, maybe with the company that has to do with water and cups. It is like they make some sort of pledge with water and cups. He is showing they sold them a fantasy, like it will be like this, kind of filling them with hope, but it is not like that. And now he feels like he has to defend himself. Like there are so many obstacles and challenges. Nothing like he thought it would be like. This doesn't seem too wild from what I already learned about the industry and idols, so moving on.

I.N

He isn't showing me anything to crazy, which is what I expected. He is showing me that this is something he wanted as well, wasn't he like a baby when he joined? But he seems pretty coddles and protected. I can see people babying him honestly. He kind of stands on his own. He kind of follows his own inner compass. Although young, childlike and vibrant. He can follow his own guidance and intuition pretty well. He does have a passion or desire to obtain the things he wants. He's not giving me anything wild. He seems just like a normal kid immersed in the idol world, like it is wild how some idols are into the wild stuff, but then you get ones that are just normal, nothing to see here. I adore this boy, he is a sweetheart, but he is too normal that his tea isn't that interesting to be honest. You know what I did get some tea, but wasn't comfortable saying it, but fu** it this is a tea session, and I asked for them to share it, he may like the same sex. I am seeing that. You got the Lovers card with 2 dudes on it and the knight of wands, which could indicate sexual attraction, and he is moving towards the lover's card, remember imagery is important, so yeah, I am interpreting it that way. I am not filtering my interpretations and what I am feeling, so there you go, and I shouldn't filter a tea session lol

Okay, if I do another group. Girlie will need some time, this is not an easy one for me to do, but this group is hard to get information from, so that could be why it was difficult for me. Reading this after doing it. I actually did feel I got interesting messages here, but it is draining to do it at the time.

[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.

[rey-jake-therapist]

I didnt realize Payne clarified that Sauron wanted Galadriel to be *his* queen. I've seen some antis insist that he wasn't attracted to her in the least so he meant to say 'I can make you A queen, but not MY queen'.

And they were also going on how there's a hierarchy in the film industry, in which certain positions hold more narrative and directional authority despite what actors and lower level exec's say. That's why they kept using this hierarchy that Payne and McKay override Charlotte's words about haladriel. But if we go by the Anti's information, then that confirms that Sauron did want Galadriel as HIS QUEEN (love or not), since its stated exactly that way by Payne himself. If not, then why didn't he say 'A queen with me', or 'A queen by my side', instead? There are other ways he could've phrased. Even if you say that he used 'basically', that still doesn't change the fact that Payne made it clear that Sauron wanted Galadriel to rule WITH him, not by some corner of ME (I know we're kind of ignoring Gal atm to dissect the wording but I see them as fictional characters not real people lol). It also kind of overrides some of Charlie's earlier remarks where he denies or subverts Sauron's intention regarding making her queen. But it echoes back to what you said though, that things change over time.

And just to make it clear, we don't need to necessarily obey what showrunners/actors have said and treat it like it's a hard rule for how we interpret these characters. This is just an interesting piece of info I think should be pointed out. Especially since haters will find anything to try to minimize and invalidate haladriel. I feel very sad (for them lol).

Well, I'll answer that by saying that first, I don't think that I can do that ignoring Gal's response, simply because what she answered is important to understand why Sauron didn't say "my" queen, imho.

I think we can't leave Galadriel outside of the loop here, because the phrasing used by Sauron is directly connected to the way she herself used. She said, "you would make me A tyrant", to which he naturally answers, "I would make you A queen". Then she's the one using the "MY" : "And you. MY king".

What I think, it's that the writers wanted to highlight the fact that them being together as king and queen/husband and wife was her idea as much as his. I think it's important for the interpretation of that scene, for the audience to realize that Galadriel wanted this.

Let's say Sauron had said, "I would make you MY queen", and she had answered, "And you would be the king" : it would have sounded like something that was forced on her : she would have been his wife in this scenario, wether she wanted it or not. It would have given "forced marriage" vibes, and would have deprived Galadriel of her agency. And believe me : if the antis are now using this scene against shippers because Sauron didn't say "my queen", you can be sure that they would have weaponized this scene even more if they could have interpreted it that way.

With Galadriel being the one who says, "And you. My king", it says that she was seeing herself ruling with him, as queen and king and as husband and wife. Notice that he didn't correct her, as it was probably what he wanted to hear.

It also kind of overrides some of Charlie's earlier remarks where he denies or subverts Sauron's intention regarding making her queen.

I mean, I don't know if it overrides it. Charlie first denied that it was a marriage proposal, but later admitted that this was "de facto" exactly that.

"Sauron, meanwhile, won’t make the mistake of connecting with someone ever again, not after Galadriel’s rejection of his de facto “marriage proposal,” as Vickers describes it, at the end of Season 1. “He’s moved on to bigger and better things” since, Vickers argues, but try as they might, there’s no denying their entwined fates.  "Galadriel and Sauron share the deepest connection to another being either of them has ever experienced, a fact that haunts them both in the new episodes. What they share “is greater than romance,” Vickers explains. “Their connection runs far deeper than anything surface level.”

Source

Now if you refer to the fact that Charlie claimed several times that if Galadriel had accepted his offer, she would have been nothing more than his secretary, another shiny ring at his hand, I also don't think that it contradicts the idea that he wanted her to be at his side as a queen. I often read that Charlie's wrong, because Sauron is a Maiar who was created to follow and serve. So by this logic, he wanted to worship Galadriel like he worshipped Morgoth.

I think it's true, for most of it, and we saw it during all season 1 : who called all the shots ? Galadriel did. Who followed her despite his initial refusal ? Sauron. She wanted him to be a king ? He made himself a king. She wanted him to go rescue the Southlands with her ? He went with her, even if first, he didn't want to ! The fact that it was in his personal interest to do that is besides the point : at no moment did he try to force her into doing anything. It's not in his nature, and being in his repetant era then, Sauron was more inclined to listen to his nature than we saw him be in season 2. In season 1, Sauron was the happiest we saw of him so far, especially when he was at the forge, doing what he was created for, but also when he followed Galadriel on the battlefield :

I mean, words have their importance especially when it comes to Sauron, who never chooses his words randomly :

She "pushed" him. He described here exactly what a leader does. After Morgoth's defeat, he found himself leaderless, and he was lost because due to his nature, what he really wants/needs is someone who takes the lead. In Galadriel, he recognized someone who had the potential to do just that. In season 2, we saw him in a position of leadership, manipulating everybody like a puppet to make them do everything he wanted, yada yada. And yet, that was his face for 99% of the season :

He seemed as alive as a dead fish.

Now, where my opinion often diverges from what seems to be this most popular opinion, is that I believe Charlie's nevertheless right regarding the turn their partnership as king and queen would have taken, had Galadriel accepted. Thousands of years ago, Mairon was corrupted by Morgoth, and as time passed, I think he developed a desire to overrule Morgoth, because that's what this kind of corruption does : it gives an hunger for power, even to beings who are not originally meant to want it. As Sauron, he was given an incommensurable power over others, and he enjoyed it. He always followed Morgoth and never betrayed him (probably because he had sworn a blood oath to him, preventing him to take any action against him), but he grew extremely frustrated of his methods, as he had a different vision.

And of course he did, because destroying was, again, not what he was created for. What Morgoth did, and asked him to do, went against his nature. As apprentice of Aulë, he became skilled at crafting and making things. When Celebrimbor told him his only craft was treachery, it must have hit HARD, because it wasn't always the case.

(Aside note : I was a bit annoyed that Celebrimbor was the one who got to hit Sauron where it hurt the most, while Galadriel only got a pathetic "heal yourself" that couldn't mean anything to him because they never had any conversation about his corruption by Melkor).

He started dreaming of the idea that if Morgoth was ever to disappear, he would take his place and rule in his stead, and that's exactly what he tried to do once Morgoth was defeated :

As we saw, it didn't turn out very well. Why ? I think, because Sauron wasn't Morgoth, he wasn't a born dictator, and he didn't manage to inspire enough fear of him to Adar and the Orcs, only resentment, so when he tried to put Morgoth's crown on his head, they betrayed him.

(idk but maybe looking like a twink didn't help. Just sayin')

But it doesn't mean that Sauron gave up on his dream of ruling, though. So I think that when he decided that he wanted Galadriel to be his queen, he was probably torn between what his nature dictated him to do (giving her all the power she needed to have to be THE queen of Middle-Earth, while he would get the follower's role he had beside Morgoth back), and the ambitions he nourished of ruling Middle-Earth himself, leaving only crumbs to Galadriel like Morgoth did to him. Even in this scenario, he would have shared his power with her, but not enough to take the reigns of the kingdom.

We can't know what would have happened, we can only speculate, but I tend to side with Charlie on this one because at the beginning, there's a clear power imbalance between them : Sauron is a powerful Maiar, a demigod, and Galadriel is just an Elf. For her to become as powerful as him and be his equal, would have required him to willingly share the entirety of his power with her. Would have he done that, while he had all these ideas about healing Middle-Earth and believed he and only he knew exactly how to do it... ?

I mean, the only thing we can be sure of, it is that it was his intention to give her plenty of power. He wanted everybody not to just respect her, but to worship her like a goddess. It's the extent of this power that we don't know about. And did he want to be worshipped too ? I'd say, probably yes, personally.

Sorry anon, I didn't start answering this ask planning to write a dissertation... I guess I can't help myself, when it comes to Sauron. He's just that interesting !

[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?

[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.

[simplylove101]

2024 Horror Challenge: [89/?]

↳"I thought I'd lost you forever.

"Lose me? No. You can never lose me, Laura. I'm your monster.” Your Monster (2024) dir. Caroline Lindy

Plot: After her life falls apart, soft-spoken actress Laura Franco finds her voice again when she meets a terrifying, yet weirdly charming Monster living in her closet. A romantic-comedy-horror film about falling in love with your inner rage.

Starring: Melissa Barrera, Tommy Dewey, Edmund Donovan, Kayla Foster & Meghann Fahy

Yes, the annual challenge is technically over since I always declare Halloween as the last day of it, but honestly, I might just have to keep it going on the whole year from now on at this point because, let's face it, horror movies still get released after October. And well, I have thoughts to share about certain ones. lol Now I'll watch older movies for the first time during this little limbo between challenges and not type up a review just because that's gonna slip my mind tbh. And it's not like I have a real audience for this thing anyway (despite plenty of people liking my reviews) so what's it matter, you know? That said, these newer movies, I have thoughts to share, and it only makes sense to get those thoughts out here where I can ramble for myself. Anyway, I kept hearing about this movie but felt like I wasn't getting the clearest idea what it actually was. Having watched it, I do get why. It's a very genre-bending movie that isn't necessarily going to be for everyone, which I think is why its rating keeps lower little by little each time I see it. I can't say that it's a complete 10/10 for me, but I actually think it mostly worked for what it was. I'm sure people went into it expecting a pure romcom since yes, its plot certainly had its inspiration from Beauty and the Beast, and it has plenty of that vibe, but it does also focus on Melissa's character outside of that where it's more about her dealing with her prior heartbreak & wanting approval from her ex, and then, without spoiling the ending, it takes the narrative a step further in a way that leaves some things up for interpretation for its audience. I personally didn't hate that the story went that way. I don't know if it necessarily stuck the landing when that happened, but I think Melissa sold it very well. I saw someone saying she was miscasted, but I actually liked getting to see her play a much softer character than I'm used to. It felt refreshing. Now again, I don't know if I'd say she hit every beat perfectly imo (I'm thinking more when her character was crying, and yeah, I know it was meant to be funny, but it did get a little shrilly at certain parts), but I think it was a great career move on her part. It was a good chance to show her range as an actress and she made me laugh. The strongest part of the movie for sure was her chemistry with Tommy Dewey as Monster. I think he really helped her make this movie work because he's so present in his scenes with her, and he definitely had me dying with laughter at certain parts. I really enjoyed their dynamic. Also gotta mention, I love that Meghann Fahy is finally getting some proper love lately since I adored her on The Bold Type, and while she doesn't necessarily get much to work with here, she was perfectly cast since ofc everyone's gonna love her. lol What's interesting is you'll watch it and wonder, so where's the horror element beyond him being a monster? Well, it comes near the end, but I promise there's something. It's not a scary movie by any means, but there's a bloody sequence, that's all I'll say. I know this movie was probably a hard sell to producers, and that's why it got the small theatrical release, but it's a solid enough indie movie that was trying to be a little different. Overall, I enjoyed it. If I had to place it in my earlier rankings, I think I would have wanted to put it in my Honorable Mentions category. I feel like it worked enough for me that feels right as a placement.

[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. ☺️

[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

[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.

[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.