#atla 1x09

[winnie-the-monster]

[alittlehurtwithyourcomfort]

The Dragon Prince Whumplist

Character: Callum (voiced by Jack DeSena)

Age Rating: TV-Y7 (FV)

Show available on Netflix

Genre: Animation, Found Family, Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Synopsis: In the magical land of Xadia, magic comes from six primal sources: the sun, moon, stars, sky, earth and ocean. When human mages create a seventh kind of magic -- dark magic -- they start capturing and harvesting the unique magical creatures they need as ingredients, which sparks a war between Xadia and the Human Kingdoms. Three kids from opposite sides of the conflict -- two princes and an elven assassin sent to kill them -- discover a secret that could change everything and decide to join forces and go on an epic journey. That trek could be their only hope of ending the war and restoring peace to both worlds. (Via Google)

Notes: This show is GOOD. If you like ATLA, you'll enjoy this. It gets progressively darker and more violent as the show goes on, so fair warning for that. The relationships between the characters are amazing, and there's also great diverse representation! I highly recommend.

TW's: Violence, mild blood/gore, death, child abuse/neglect, child endangerment, mild emetophobia

List Key:

bold = most whump, best whump, or favorite whump scenes

~ = a scene break

THIS LIST CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE SERIES!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

1x01: sparring ~~ upset, argued 

1x02: teary-eyed, emotional goodbye ~~ knocked around, holding his head ~~ threatened

1x03: betrayed, stressed ~~ manhandled, restrained, voice taken (by magic), heavy breathing ~~ scared, gets voice back and coughing ~~ terrified, shocked and teary-eyed, out of breath

1x04: stressed ~~ held at swordpoint 

1x05: stressed

1x06: extremely worried, scared 

1x07: emotional conversation, stressed 

1x08: scared

1x09: scared, stressed 

2x01: sad, stressed

2x02: extremely emotional, sobbing ~~ grieving

2x03: grieving, worried, teary-eyed ~~ sobbing, comforted ~~ betrayed

2x04: stressed

2x05: grieving, stressed

2x06: crying

2x07: glowing eyes, passes out, concern for him ~~ helped to stand, weak

2x08: helped to walk, delirious, weak ~~ in pain, delirious, unconscious ~~ terrifying dreams ~~ concern for him ~~ struggling to breathe, concern for him

2x09: still struggling to breathe, held, concern for him, wakes up gasping

3x01: stressed

3x02: none

3x03: stressed

3x04: stressed

3x05: stressed 

3x06: emotional

3x07: out of breath, almost passes out

3x08: frustrated 

3x09: stressed ~~ choked, gasping for air  ~~ crying, terrified, almost falls

4x01: stressed ~~ startled ~~ solemn, crying 

4x02: stressed, startled 

4x03: angry ~~ solemn

4x04: angry ~~ scared, choking, half-collapsed, possessed, body puppeteered, glowing eyes ~~ still possessed, concern for him, collapsed, unconscious, held

4x05: crying, choked up ~~ emotional conversation 

4x06: stressed

4x07: emotional conversation, "i need you to kill me", talking about possession

4x08: stressed ~~ sleeping spell, weak, collapsed unconscious 

4x09: rough awakening, scared

5x01: stressed 

5x02: stressed

5x03: stressed 

5x04: terrified, worried about his aunt 

5x05: stressed 

5x06: none

5x07: half-collapsed, magical exhaustion, struggling to breathe, helped to stand, supported, concern for him ~~ tired ~~ hands chained behind his back, chin grabbed/manhandled

5x08: unconscious, chained to a pole, shaky breathing, slowly waking up, scared, threatened, electrocuted/beaten (off-screen)~~ slowly waking up, still chained, blood and bruises on his face, heavy breathing, in pain, chin grabbed/manhandled ~~ scared ~~ manhandled, hands chained behind his back, stumbling, collapsed/forced to his knees, concern for him, weak ~~ extremely worried, yelling, angry, knocked out ~~ chained, struggling, pained voice, collapsed ~~ weak, "blood freezing", choked, gasping in pain, struggling, dropped, struggling to breathe, concerned ~~ sad, concern for him, hugged, guilty 

5x09: concerned ~~ slammed into the ground, restrained 

[fandomscraziness22]

ok this is mostly a list for @tangledstarlight who asked for bellarke fic recs, but is also for anyone who wants them!

alrighty im gonna kinda put these in some semblance of an order-ish lol, we shall see how it goes

vengeance is a dish best served cold -- slight au from 1x09, ANGST YESSSSS i love this fic so much we love to see early bellarke The meeting with the Grounders didn't go quite as planned. Now they're torturing Clarke, and hell hath no fury like Bellamy scorned.

Tears of August -- au from s2 ending, very long and not finished fic but i remember it being very good. accidental baby acquisition! and bellarke cuteness! this one is kinda famous i think?? i don't think i ever fully read it all lol She grabbed his hand and held it tight, checking over her shoulder. “Listen, okay. I’m his mother now, and I always will be, but he wasn’t always mine, Bellamy. I found him.”

who's taking care of you? -- s2finale au where bellarke are stuck in a cave and clarke has to reckon with what mount weather did to bellamy I thought about how the show never acknowledged Bellamy's torture in Mount Weather once it was over and it made me so mad that I wrote 7000 words about it.

so this is how rumors get started -- s2au where bellarke gets mistaken for being married lol, i enjoyed this one a lot! (is rated E for steamy stuff so if that's not your jam then no worries) Or: Bellamy is not as fluent in Trig as he thinks he is

then the ice runs through her veins -- 3x04 divergent, bellamy captured/tortured and clarke to the rescue GOD I LOVE ANGSTY BELLARKE The Ice Nation takes Bellamy hostage in an effort to learn Clarke’s secrets. Or — Azgeda tries to get at Wanheda through her greatest weakness, but Clarke’s not about to just let the Ice Queen send her Bellamy’s head in a box.

Common Ground -- season 4 speculation fic, INCREDIBLE i have reread this one multiple times Or: Earth is the Titanic, and there aren't enough lifeboats. Bellamy doesn't think he deserves to be on one. listne i know that's the description but that STICKS WITH ME!!!!!

you still have hope? -- s4 THE LIST SCENE i'm pretty sure i have a bunch of these ones saved lol because how can you not??? Clarke is no Titan, but in the rare quiet moments when Bellamy brings up ancient myths, she can’t help but empathize with Atlas. Except instead of the weight of the world on her shoulders, it is in the palm of her hand, millions of pounds weighing down her pen as she marks the page, each swoop of her handwriting taking strength Clarke isn’t sure she has. It’s not a burden she chose to carry, but now it’s one she must. If she doesn’t bear this weight, who will?

Bites, Bites -- another s4 List scene!! “The new hundred,” Bellamy observes from over her shoulder. She hadn’t realised he was standing right behind her. “Why is it always a hundred?” “The universe must have a taste for irony," she says, tapping the pen on the desk. She's getting very tired of the universe's antics of late.

you were clearly meant for more, than a life lost in the war --post s4, the Ring hears Clarke once a year. unfinished but soooooooo good and sad!!!! (They hear from Clarke once a year, and this is how it happens, but first: first, they mourn.)

is he alright, all alone? -- another post s4 sad bellamy fic because that's who i am as a person They’ve all tried different ways to get him to open up, so to speak.

The Wall Between Us -- 5x10 au clarke goes back to fight for bellamy, i don't remember this one as well but i do know it was good!! Clarke goes back to the bunker to fight for Bellamy's life, even though his words from the day before echo in her mind, reminding her where she really stands.

Come Get A Hold Of Me -- s6 touchstarved Clarke my absolute beloved, this fic i have also reread multiple times and i love it Clarke is overwhelmed by the intensity of being around a civilization after six years of solitude with Madi. She is also very touch-starved. Bellamy notices.

and it goes like this -- s6 clarke thoughts about bellamy! Clarke has always known Bellamy loved her. She’s just never thought she was good enough for it.

Forfeit -- 6x12 speculation, feat. bellarke kissinggggggg to throw off the suspicions we love to see it When Russell captures Bellamy and demands proof of her identity, Clarke is forced to think fast.

We shall not cross into an unfamiliar land -- clarke can see ghosts and this fic is so good! (AU where Clarke see ghosts and is the Commander of Death in more than one way)

now for some AU fics!

It's something sinister to love (without regard for dear tomorrow) -- met on the ark/ghosts au, by our wonderful friend @pink-flame (who probs also has some good bellarke recs!!) When the ghost of the Alpha Station Princess turns up in his quarters, Bellamy knows he has enough on his plate without getting involved in her problems. He just wants her to figure out her unfinished business and move on. As things start to unravel on the Ark their relationship begins to change until he would follow her anywhere. Even hell.

Passing of the Skye Boat -- ok this is an outlander au that's pretty epic!! i know very little about outlander but i enjoyed this one! (s2 and on becomes au) After returning from war as an army nurse, Clarke and her fiancé are exploring Washington D.C. as a way to relearn each other due to their time apart. But when Clarke stumbles across a NASA exhibit about ways to prevent the human race from dying from nuclear war – by way of livable space ship they are calling the ‘Ark’ – Clarke is transported elsewhere, and into another war.

If the Right One Came Along -- modern au where Clarke works at a library and Bellamy comes back home. it's really long but also really good!!!! The fact that it’s with her former best friend-slash-crush isn’t a big deal. After all, their arrangement is only for the few weeks he’s in town before he returns to his celebrity life. That’s definitely not enough time for her to fall for him again…

I Found Peace in Your Violence -- THIS IS THE COOLEST FIC I HAVE EVER READ!!! it's a very unique modern au where a "kill gene" has been found and they send everyone to a special school for it. i think of this one every time i hear that song, but also this is just such a good one. another long one, but man alive it's real good Clarke Griffin has it all. She’s popular, an artistic prodigy and has a wealthy family to boot. So when her perfect world comes crashing down around her, it’s time to sink or swim. She tests positive for the Homicidal Tendency Syndrome gene, also known as the kill gene. Clarke is plucked from her comfortable life and placed into a school with people just like her - carriers, delinquents.

What's A Little Quaffle Between Friends? -- hp au where Clarke has to patch up quidditch player bellamy a bunch, i remember this one being very witty and banter-y? (haven't read it in a while so don't quote me on that lol) Bellamy gets injured in a Quidditch game and gets sent to the hospital wing, where Clarke volunteers during her free periods. She checks up on him during the night, and the next time he gets injured, she happens to be there again. Then it keeps happening.

Your words on my skin -- modern soulmate au that's pretty cute! Clarke is nine when she realises she has a soulmate.

in grief, Demeter circles the earth -- super unique au, mashing s3 and s5 in a really cool way!! havne't read this one in a while but i remember it being amazing. also very long "Not a ship from the sea," Indra snaps, a split second before Monty draws in a sharp, shocked breath. "A ship from the sky." Clarke understands before the others do. "You think Skaikru did it," she says softly.

ok we gotta give @pawprinterfanfic props for coming up with such good au fics for them because ahhhhhhh these last ones are all by them!!!!

a castle in the clouds -- star wars au because why the heck not?? it's soooooo good i do love this one or: a princess falls in love with a criminal over the course of a week and a day

starry eyes and galaxy minds -- spiderman au that i remember being super cute and fun!!! Five times Clarke Griffin met Spider-Man and the one time she met Bellamy Blake.

Simple Pleasures -- hunger games au MY BELOVED this fic is long but soooooo good!!!! Clarke is a medic from District 6. More importantly, she’s a dangerous criminal in the eyes of the Capitol. It isn’t a surprise when she is reaped for the 45th Hunger Games; it’s the only way for the Capitol to silence her. Bellamy spent his life protecting his younger sister. When Octavia volunteers for the Games to honour their district, he knows it’s his responsibility to follow her into the arena. He would give anything for her to become the Victor, even his safety. When they meet in the Capitol, Clarke can’t deny the connection she feels to him. He makes her feel more than a sacrifice. He makes her feel hope. She knows it’s dangerous to trust others, especially when in the arena, but why deny herself some final few simple pleasures?

Paint me in Trust -- MY OTHER FAV FIC OF ALL TIME this is an hp au but like, set during the war where they're on the run AND IT'S SO GOOD!! very long and also rated E but that doesn't come in for a while and you could easily skip if wanted Somehow, she finds her way to a safe house where she meets with other wizards and witches on the run.

[iaf]

JWCC 2X04 || ATLA 1X09

Dinostar and Kataang similarities (3/?)

[please-help-this-little-lesbian]

Alright since y'all want it:

So first I need to address how I got into ATLA in the first place. I think I first tried watching the show when I was 9 or 10, but I couldn't really get into it. One important thing from this time though, is that ten-eleven years later, I still remember this one scene from my initial ATLA watch: Zuko tying Katara to a tree and taunting her with the necklace. (This will be relevant later.) So flash-forward to this past summer. So my friend @ameliaandreas3 had been convincing me to try ATLA again for months, and I finally gave in. I'm enjoying it so far, and then I get to 1x09, "The Waterbending Scroll." And then I get to the very same scene I mentioned before. And I think to myself: "Yo, is Zuko kind of flirting with Katara rn???" (It was specifically him going "I'll save you [from the pirates!']) But here's the thing.

Before I sat down to watch the show, every time I heard about Zutara I was like "Yo isn't he her colonizer??🤨🤨" And I admittedly still thought this throughout book 1, but again, could admit Zuko was definitely flirting. By the time I got to book 2 though, things escalated.

Seeing Zuko's character growth showed me that this wasn't a colonizer x colonized romance at all, and by the time I finished book 2, I was fully onboard. And now I'm working on a Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes AU, and the rest is history :)

Would anyone care to hear how I started shipping Zutara because honestly it’s a pretty funny story

[smokeys-liveblogs]

Avatar: The Last Airbender 1x09: The Waterbending Scroll (4/4)

Oh, wow, Aang really is that talented! This is only his second day of waterbending!!

KATARA DID THE WATER-WHIP!!!!! WELL DONE

This is SO cool, they're stopping the boat from going any farther by using the water as a stoppage. What the hell

Omfg-

And because Sokka's a wonderful boy, he got her the waterbending scroll. Now she can take her time and learn with it, and with that, teach Aang, too!!!

This was a good episode for Katara! I like that she has issues like this because it makes her feel like a nuanced character, rather than just the mature younger sister. She’s bound to snap sometimes, and it’s good that she recognizes whenever she’s being irrational. Good episode.

Have a great day!

[purpleplaid17]

ATLA 1x09 The Waterbending Scroll

[starcrossedrose]

When I was first watching this show, I always thought that Zuko finding Katara’s necklace….which we later find out is an engagement necklace….was supposed to mean something for them.

@firstdove15

@solembum22

[teamakerdragon]

Aang, are you there? I'm over here! Follow my voice! Where? I can't find you!

[idkmybffjillyy]

[winnie-the-monster]

[ieatmypizzawithaforkandknife]

Me, as soon as I see a cart full of cabbages, knowing what’s about to happen: “Oh...oh no...not again, you guys!”

[aceofwhump]

What are your all time favorite moments of hurt/comfort? (TV shows/movies/video games/books/fanfiction etc.)

HHHOOOH BOY!!! Okay this list is LONG but you asked ;) Also, I know I’m missing something but I already spent way too long on this really long list so I’m gonna just leave it as is

Tv Shows:

John Sheppard screaming in Stargate Atlantis “38 Minutes”

Merlin getting poisoned and he can barely breath due to the high fever in “Poisoned Chalice”

Face shot and bleeding out while hostage saying he didn’t see that guy in The A-Team “Without Reservations”

Danny Williams in Hawaii Five-0 when he collapses, unable to breathe, after being infected with sarin

Danny and Jack’s confrontation in “Need”. That hug is my favorite

Mike Warren going through detox in Graceland

Mike Warren getting stabbed and the recovery stuff in Graceland 1x09 and 1x10

Mike Warren groaning and writhing in pain in the hospital in Graceland 3x01

Killian held down in the water and drowned by Zelena and being saved by Emma in OUAT

DiNozzo and Gibbs at the end of SWAK when Gibbs tells him he won’t die

Zuko zapped by lightning while protecting Katara in the finale ATLA

Mike Warren’s breakdown with Charlie post intervention in Graceland 3x08

Lucifer’s scars are revealed to Chloe for the first time

Daniel Jackson in the padded room in SG-1 “Legacy”

Buffy 3x22 when Angel is shot with poisoned arrow

Dean Winchester weak and sick in “Faith”

Dean Winchester on the ventilator in “In My Time of Dying”

Dean Winchester getting taken by the djinn in “What is and what shall never be”

The Bones episode where Booth is bodyguarding Bones and gets blown up

Also, the Bones episode where Bones and Hodgins are trapped underground in that car because of the Gravedigger

Thomas Barrow getting beaten up at the Downton Abbey fair

Thomas Barrow’s suicide attempt

The Magicians 2x04 when Eliot says he expected to die in Fillory

Lucifer 4x05 he gets shot and held hostage in his club with Chloe

White Collar “Vital Signs” when Neal is high and then gets taken care of by the Burkes

White Collar when Neal and Peter are trapped in that vault and Neal suffocates

When Neal is shot in the leg in White Collar 4x01

One Day at a Time 3x12 with Schneider’s relapse

The Haunting of Hill House episode that focuses on Luke’s journey

OUAT 4x16 when August is kidnapped and tortured by the villains and when he’s rescued and all sick and sleepy on the couch, oh and the next episode when he’s unconscious and Emma is rubbing his hand with her thumb

Original MacGyver episode 1x11 “Nightmares” is so good with poisoned/sick/confused Mac.

Malcolm’s night terror in the precinct in Prodigal Son episode 1

Lucas in Emerald City 1x02 when he’s injured, collapses, passes out, gets poisoned and Dorothy takes care of him

Marty Deeks gets shot in NCIS LA 2x17

Danny getting shot in quarantine and Steve having to do emergency field surgery on him in Hawaii Five-0 8x10

The Magicians when Eliot is stabbed by Margo to get the Monster out of him

Klaus in the Umbrella Academy. Just all of his scenes really. But the bathtub flashback post Vietnam is a favorite of mine. And the bus scene when he first comes back and just breaks down

The first episode of the O.C. cause I love how Ryan ends up with the Cohens.

The collapsed building episode of Hawaii Five-0

When Danny is shot in H50 on their camping trip

Luke Crain. Everything but I really love when he’s in the Red Room and dying and Steve is giving him cpr in The Haunting of Hill House

Jamie Lannister getting his hand cut off in Game of Thrones season 3

Dwight Enys’s captivity in Poldark season 3

Eliot Spencer in Leverage: getting shot in 5x09, 3x15 cause of the emotional whump, getting hit by the carnival ride in 4x06,

Thomas Barrow crying in the corner because he’s so god damn lonely in Downton Abbey

That episode of Bones where Booth is shot by that crazy stalker girl in 3x14

Merlin poisoned in 5x08

Tom Paris stabbed in Star Trek Voyager 3x03

David Tennant in Doctor Who “the Christmas Invasion” and “Smith and Jones” and “42″

Movies:

Hugh Jackman getting beaten up in Real Steel

Venom. Just all of it

Philip Carlyle trapped in the fire in The Greatest Showman and PT carrying him and the hospital stuff with Zendaya

Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke. Ashitaka’s curse is fantastic

Tony Stark’s anxiety attacks in Iron Man 3

The Martian

Illya Kuryakin trapped under the motorcycle in The Man From Uncle. And his hand tremor

Roger Mackenzie’s horrible journey in Outlander season 4

When Zod dies and Clark cries in Man of Steel

When RDJ on hanging on that hook in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

that Jake Gyllenhaal hypothermia scene in Day After Tomorrow

When Mullet Fingers is bitten by the dog and ot gets infected in Hoot

Fanfics (I have literally read thousands and picking my favs is impossible cause they’re all amazing but here are a few I’ve read them all dozens of times):

NCIS: In The Dark

NCIS: There Loomed and Ogre

NCIS:  Fade Out

Merlin: Protecting the Protector and Of Knights and Neckerchiefs

Marvel: 450 Feet Under

Lucifer: Castaway

Hawaii Five-0: Lost at the Edge of the Sun

Hawaii Five-0: Just Peachy

Hawaii Five-0: Haole

ATLA:  A Misunderstanding of Sides

ATLA:  Stealing from Pirates

SG1: The Stuff of Legends

SG1: Don’t Mess With Danny

Merlin: Protecting the Protector

Merlin: Of Knights and Neckerchiefs

Merlin: The Visiting Prince

Books:

The Hardy Boys books. Specifically the Ice Cold Case, Hurricane Joe, and the one where Iola dies

A Distant Melody by Sarah Sundin. It’s a WWII romance and the main guy is a B-17 pilot who gets injured during a bombing run and loses an arm and it’s incredible

Yuki Sohma’s asthma attack in the Fruits Basket manga

There’s a lot of good whump in the book series Reviver by Seth Patrick

Roger in Outlander books 4 and 5 (the beating and sold into slavery and then the hanging)

The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind

The following Stargate books: Four Dragons, The Barque of Heaven, and Hostile Ground

The Ranger’s Apprentice series

Love Finds You in Silver City, Idaho. The main character gets whumped a lot in it and I love it

Games:

Final Fantasy VII, IX, X are all amazing and whumpy.

[raayllum]

why do you think many people say rayllum feels rushed? i love slow burn, when relationship feels forced or rushed i loose interest, i've been in fandoms that waited forever for their otp to become canon and still i never felt rayllum has been rushed, i felt it was natural and well developed. i'm surprides people got different impression

i mean, it’s not many people that say it’s rushed. i think i’ve seen like, 10 people max maybe?? double it for margin of error?? and i have over 4,100 followers on this blog who presumably — or i directly know — adore rayllum exactly the way it played out. and there are scores of other tdp / rayllum fans out there who do not follow me or are on other platforms who love it just the way it is. so the people who think it was rushed are definitely in the minority in both the fandom and the general viewing audience who don’t care to say either way. but i’m never one to discount an opinion just because it’s unpopular. most of my opinions in other fandoms (particularly in atla) are unpopular.

however the people i see with the “rayllum was rushed” opinion tend to fall into three categories:

they don’t ship rayllum

their interest lies in another ship (ie. callum/claudia, janai/amaya)

they only ship rayllum a little

the main commonality between these is a lack of focus on rayla and callum’s relationship. if you don’t ship it, you’re not gonna retain the details of their dynamic. if they’re just cute to you, you’re not gonna track all their development episode by episode. if you prefer another ship to them, you’re naturally gonna hone in on that ship—which may not include either of their characters at all—or compare them to a “rival” ship (ie. one that contains either callum or rayla being paired with someone else). 

to assume that anyone is free of biases or preferences is faulty. i have three main ship types i fall for every time (more serious character + more carefree partner—serious helps ground/inspire carefree, carefree helps serious lighten up and act their age—mirroring types, and co-leader partnerships). it’s not a coincidence that rayllum falls into all three of these, as well as being a relationship that is one of the inciting incidents of the narrative and each other’s lives, and again, i know i’m a sucker for that.

there’s a reason why more die hard fans of a ship tend to not have the same perspective on it than comparatively less interested or non shippers, and it’s a difference of how much attention you’re giving to a certain relationship. 

like i am obsessed with rayllum and i know it. i’m not expecting most people to realize that rayla critiques her own appearance twice in 3x04—“i’m a mess” and “i don’t want you to see me like this”—and that’s part of the reason callum tells her she’s still beautiful. i didn’t expect people to notice the pattern of callum running after rayla in 1x04, 1x05, 1x06, and 1x09, and how it parallels their closeness throughout the season—and why i was delighted to see it return in a more obvious (but familiar to me) way in season three. that’s why i’ve written meta on both of these things, to point out the things i’ve noticed because i think about rayllum in 3x04 and s1 rayllum in general like, twice a week. 

but to someone who doesn’t pay a lot of attention to rayllum? i understand how it could feel forced. or—in more extreme cases—how peoples’ interpretations of characters can be different than my own. now, sometimes i do think other people’s interpretations are wrong (just as i’m sure some people think mine are wrong, and we’re both entitled to those opinions) but even that is just my opinion.

for example, i’ve seen some people—mostly people who ship callum/claudia in a cuter, less angsty way than i do—get frustrated with or critique some of claudia’s actions in season three. but as someone who loves claudium for the angst, everything in season three perfectly lines up with what i saw in claudia in season two. none of it surprised me, all of it seemed like a natural progression, because i paid a lot of attention to it and—per by bias—leaned into the negative viewing of her character (even if i adore her, and adore her a great deal for those negatives).

like i’ve seen people say things like “callum and rayla barely know each other” and while it’s true they haven’t known each other for very long, i would say they know each other very well. they’re going through the most transformative periods of their lives together. grieving family. making some really hard, difficult choices and having to rely on each other. they don’t have a normal relationship progression. 

one of the good things about being a multishipper—or, i suppose, how i’ve always waded my way through every source material i’ve ever loved, is that my brain loves narrative. i love every piece. like yeah i read and write the most about rayllum, but when i watch the show, just absolutely everything gets me just as buck-wild. and while i don’t always traditionally ship something the way i do with rayllum, i can 100% see the appeal behind ships like soren/rayla, callum/claudia, or rayla/claudia. 

and because i look at everything narratively first and foremost, consistently, i tend to have a pretty objective handle on narrative. i tend to usually like narrative the way it plays out, partially because i don’t get the appeal of watching something you don’t enjoy with your whole entire heart, and partially because i get to narratively align my expectations. 

i remember i saw someone say once that rayllum was suddenly ride or die in season three, and all that really means is they only paid attention to that facet of rayllum’s dynamic when it was “shoved in their face” indisputably by the show because... rayla was ride or die with callum from s1: “say the word and i’ll go back into that tower with you.” callum was obviously ride or die with her when he went down after her in 2x07 and was super worried about her. but those were given less obvious weight behind it if you’re not paying a lot of attention to their dynamic.

this is just a long rambling way of saying that people think whatever they wanna think, and it reflects their own inclinations towards canon, 90% of their own personal preferences, and how they understand the characters involved—and just sometimes, whether they understand them at all.

[intezaarlily]

I’m doing a weekly ‘fics I’m reading’ post because I gotta keep track somehow, and here’s the first one. Half Shadowhunters, half ATLA.

Doe Eyed (ATLA, Azula-centric, 21k) - In which everything is the same except Azula is the firstborn and she's 11 when she gets a baby brother. I live for AUs where Zuko and Azula’s relationship is different, and this was too cute - protective older sister Azula and the way her ruthlessness is channeled into protecting Zuko instead of hurting him.

five times zuko wanted to die (ATLA, Zukka, 7k) - The college AU in which Sokka fixes watches, Zuko struggles through engineering, and everyone's nervous about the cute boy from the jewelry shop. all fluff and cuteness and bad pick-up lines.

Holding the Stick (Shadowhunters, Malec, 80k) – Hockey AU; Magnus gets traded to Alec’s team and the rest is history. Really enjoyed the pining!

Shattered Cup (SH, Malec, 83k) – Canon divergent after 1x09, and an alternate version of s2. This was lovely! It’s rare to find good plotty fic for SH, and though it’s Malec-centric it really felt like an ensemble fic. The side relationships (especially Clizzy’s romance and Maia & Lily) were especially wonderful.

laws of motion (ATLA, Zuko-centric, 5k) –  Snippets of Zuko’s life between Ba Sing Se & the eclipse. Fantastic characterization and I love how it captures Azula & Zuko’s complicated relationship - this feels like it’d fit right into canon.