#but i think fundamentally they could not understand each other

[simplegeneral]

Dichotomy of Burn and Sunny

Welcome to another installment of my hopeless addiction to rewriting Burn!

So now I came to wonder a bit about, what is the great conflict in book 5? What are Burn’s reasoning? And why Sunny opposes them?

Of course, the reasons are quite simple. Burn’s “urrr durrrrrrrr mah war! Me murder you!��� against Sunny’s “b-but mah prophecy, fake or not, peace!”

But that imo is simply too weak, too shallow. And while sure, Burn could be an intimidating presence while being a shallow character, I think Scarlet had filled that role most perfectly (reason why I am not obsessed with rewriting her), her presence at book 1 was great, so what does that leave Burn with, a second shallow villain? Its not that uncommon to wof, unfortunately.

So in resume of my long AUs, Burn’s intent was not to murder Sunny or the DoD, but hold them captives, have them chose her, by force and fear, or by pragmatism, then free them to whatever fate they wish.

While persecuting them through this theoretical arc 1, at book 5, Burn and Sunny are going to meet after her capture by Addax, and they gonna have their conflict. Even after Burn’s victory over her sisters, both of them will continue to clash for the times to come, through their main ideological differences, which is...

“Burn vs. Sunny: How do we achieve peace?”

Both their reasoning are simple.

Sunny believes peace can only be achieved through tolerance and understanding, she, a young and idealistic mind, believes that showing all the tribes that they are not so different after all is fundamental to ending wars, that once everyone believes they have equal rights to resources, the main geopolitical tensions of Pyrrhia shall cease to exist. She intends to begin her project through the opening of the Jade Academy and the invitation for all queens to lower their guard and send in dragonets to learn there.

Burn, older and more pragmatic, believes that peace can only be achieved by force. She understands that dragons may never tolerate each other, and she certainly isn’t going to be the one trying to make it happen. She knows that through Pyrrhian history, peace was only achieved through an overwhelming display of strength, one she is particularly skilled at. Through her alliance with Queens Moorhen and Ruby, she intends to establish a new order that will guarantee peace for the time to come, by the ever threatening chance of violence to escalate.

Both their reasoning, however, have an obvious main flaw.

Sunny’s idealism blinds her sight of reality. The impulsive and emotional dragonet believes they can do it, through calm and empathy to make the dragonets to finally come to a peaceful and enlightening understanding of each other.

But reality is quite often a most disappointing thing. Even the dragonets she brought to the academy were scarred by the war, which the most shocking case being of Sora and Icicle. Both were split from each other after the initial conflicts, but Sora kept obsessed with murdering the IceWing princess, as revenge for the death of her sister Crane.

Their conflict escalated when Sora detonated a dragonflame cactus at the history cave, wounding several students, proceeding to flee with Umber in its aftermath, with Clay being the most affected by the actions of his sister, even after trying everything he could to deescalate the situation.

For Sunny, her lack of strength or willingness to enforce the peaceful coexistence she sought seemed to collapse the faith in her project, with the queens withdrawing their students and the academy’s funding ceasing immediately in the explosion’s aftermath. However, she would find an unlikely ally, Burn.

Burn’s ideal was far from perfect, her mentality of strength to enforce peace could only go so far, as queens could come in all shapes, sizes and mentalities, what would come after she died? Would her heir be as strong as her? As willing to enforce peace as her?

Burn merely suppressed the anger and resentment that always existed through the tribes, and her death would be the very catalyst for it to cause a chain reaction that would inevitably lead to more wars. She just delayed it.

While she had stamped out all dissidents through her queendom, the first cracks on her new order would come to be not even 6 months after her victory, in the aftermath of her victory parade, the SkyWing generals tried a coup against Queen Ruby, which soon evolved into a civil war within her ally’s borders. War had fed itself, once again.

Unknown to Burn, however, was that her grip over her lands was not as tight as she thought, with Vulture’s underground empire thriving and planning to overthrow her, by any means necessary, which came to be as several terrorist bombings happened through the queendom, in an assassination attempt to all remaining royals of her family, be Blaze, Scald, Singe or Smolder.

His access to dragonflame cactus was unknown, but presumably, Vulture had his dealings and contacts within the Sky Queendom, and managed to sneak out several explosives from the SkyWing generals that opposed any sort of alliance with Burn.

Diplomatic failures, anger and resentment across her allies ran rampant and Burn’s even stronger iron grip over the issues had led to no solution but more uprisings against her.

Conclusion of their Conflict:

While Burn and Sunny clashed through arc 1 and arc 2, the solution for both of their problems was the merge of theirs.

While peace must be enforced through Burn's strength, the only guarantee it would last was through Sunny's empathy, guiding the younger generations into a difficult path, but brighter future.

After Sunny and Burn met in 5013 AS, through a letter sent by Starflight about the Jade Academy's guide project, Burn offered her assistance through barter of materials for the academy, allowing it to survive another year and by 5014 AS, Sunny, through her hard work and unbreakable spirit, had restored Pyrrhia's faith in the academy and more and more dragonets are moving in and the expansion of the institution is on the way.

While Burn never believed in the Jade Academy's project, she was always impressed by Sunny's determination. What she didn't have in size, she more than made up by her hard work, teaching, administrating, advising and working on diplomacy through the queendoms, a job comparable only to a queen.

What she lacked in faith on Sunny, she made up by her eternal debt she held to the dragonet, after her past actions persecuting, intending to hold them captive for the time being, she supported Sunny's project, even when Pyrrhia's faith on it had hit rock bottom, even when the queens withdraw their students, Burn knew all Sunny needed was one dragon to support her, she would take care of the rest.

[fruitageoforanges]

apparently it’s eliarhaegar hours so:

the thing that drives me absolutely nuts about them is how they have so little in common. completely different frames of reference. dorne and king’s landing, the least repressive of the seven kingdoms and the epicentre of westerosi feudalism. a loving family, a family rotten to the core with incest and abuse. the political world, the world of prophecies and doom and dragon blood. they were doomed from the start. they were so, so doomed, they could barely begin to understand each other yet their lives are bound together, and that makes me insane. two completely different worlds colliding and, while they might’ve been able to coexist in each other’s orbit for a while, the collision and the shattering itself are slow, beautiful and inevitable.

[ruvviks]

PLEASE DO NOT TAG AS YOUR OWN OC OR PAIRING.

Nathan and Ruben share a bond more powerful than most; mutual understanding through past experiences no one should ever have to go through, and through past actions so horrible they cannot be spoken of. Their grief and the blood on their hands binds them to the STEM technology they created, which has alienated them from the rest of the world— but they give each other the comfort they have both longed for so desperately for years, and that is all they need. They are each other's counterpart; you cannot imagine one without the other, like two sides of the same coin. Through their pain, their grief, their desire, and their regret, they have become one.

anna akhmatova, the guest // bones; equinox // 'i won't become' by kim jakobsson // agustín gómez-arcos, the carnivorous lamb // by oxy // achilles come down; gang of youths // czeslaw milosz, from 'new and collected poems: 1931-2001' // 'extended ambience portrait from a resonant biostructure' and 'migraine tenfold times ten' by daniel vega // a little death; the neighbourhood // marina tsvetaeva, from 'poem of the end' // by drummnist // katie maria, winter // 'nocturne in black and gold the falling rocket' by james abbott mcneill whistler // micah nemerever, these violent delights // body language; we are fury // 'the penitent' by emil melmoth // chelsea dingman, from 'of those who can't afford to be gentle'

taglist (opt in/out)

@shellibisshe, @florbelles, @ncytiri, @hibernationsuit, @stars-of-the-heart;

@lestatlioncunt, @katsigian, @radioactiveshitstorm, @estevnys, @adelaidedrubman;

@celticwoman, @rindemption, @carlosoliveiraa, @noirapocalypto, @dickytwister;

@killerspinal, @euryalex, @ri-a-rose, @velocitic, @thedeadthree

[entriprises]

i think we should stop letting not knowing about a fandom or franchise get in the way of writing together or simply interacting and sending questions. canons are no different from ocs, they're simply ocs with merch. you don't have to know a fandom or world to ask a question, to start a conversation!! if you don't know where to start or you don't know something or know how two muses would interact - truly i encourage everyone to ask! we are all here to learn and to talk about the stuff we love!!!

[betty-bourgeoisie]

Also I like China and Iceland as metamours/ fuck buddies who are dating the same two guys, because ultimately the history of China-Iceland relations is a history of two nations just mutually going "Well Russia and America both seem to think they're important so I guess I should talk to them...." which is, at the end of the day, possibly the most realistic metamour relationship of all

[oofuri2003]

https://images.app.goo.gl/tg4tqHZU1wosnMza7

found your guy drawn by ryoko kui!

AND ZEVVY TOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[llycaons]

man that trope of ‘all it took/would have ever taken was a two-second conversation to clear up the misunderstandings and get together and then everything bad could have been avoided’ is SO annoying

I would even go so far as to say that there wasn’t really any miscommunication in the cql flashback arc. maybe wwx didn’t know the depths of lwj’s feelings, and lwj didn’t know why wwx was turning to DC, but they clearly had A Dynamic and there was obviously something heavy in their hearts each time they parted from each other. and so what if wwx thought that lwj was prioritizing his sect over the right thing to do? he was right! lwj did choose his sect instead of wwx!

in the novel, wwx doesn’t want to be taken away and scolded and imprisoned, and lwj never really makes it clear that his impulse to interfere comes from love. but...he still would have been scolded and imprisoned anyway if they realized the truth. in cql, lwj says over and over that he wants to help, that he has these ideas about musical cultivation, and wwx is more frustrated because he knows it won’t do any good even though he rly cares about and trusts lwj, and it hurts to be offered useless help from someone he loves who he feels like he can’t really be close with or on an even footing with ever again, and who he feels judged by. I don’t think he really wanted to go with lwj to gusu, but it’s not like he was paranoid about being a prisoner there any moreso than he was paranoid of the other sects. that why the fan obsession with the phrase ‘come back to gusu’ falls a little flat for me. the parting at the end was sad, but I thought it was kind of obvious that wwx didn’t really feel like he belonged in CR, and there was no established expectation for him to return THERE, just to return to lwj. also lwj says the gusu thing like once in the whole show so its not rly as relevant of a romantic theme in the way that the song is

equally as annoying as that is the implication that their entire lives up until then were a waste because they weren’t together. like, no! it wasn’t wasted it was spent with their families and growing into the people they would become and grappling with their place in the world and learning about each other and surviving war and recovering from trauma. their years of friendship weren’t a waste, and neither was them living their lives until they could be the kind of people to actually make a relationship work

[binders-and-beanies]

Also as much as I appreciate people who identify as queer and can be normal about people not wanting to be called that. I also feel like there is a fundamental difference in worldview that cannot be explained or truly understood. Like it’s not just about one word, it’s an entirely different way of thinking about gender and sexuality and oppression.

Like sure you can respect my wishes regarding the word itself (after being reminded many times in enough different ways). But my problem is with the way you perceive me that led you to initially think of me as queer. That takes a lot more deeply layered unlearning than a simple change in vocabulary.

And it’s clear in the way that queer people talk about *why* they think I don’t like that word, that they don’t understand where I’m actually coming from. I can explain over and over in a million words what Not Queer means to me and why it’s important, and they’ll reflect back almost exactly the opposite.

Because we’re thinking from entirely different viewpoints and life experiences. Thus me not identifying w queerness in the first place. Bc we are so fundamentally not the same

[phagodyke]

ik its 4am I just woke up but I can't believe my roommate got upset with me bc she thought I thought she was "anti feminist" for shaving. girl I literally never fucking said that. sorry I was incessantly bullied by strangers friends and family for not shaving as a teen and so body hair positivity is important to me + sorry I like body hair on myself and other ppl and have explicitly said I find it attractive before. I don't care that u shave but I'm not going to clap and cheer abt it? ur already fulfilling societal expectations so why do u need my approval on top of that? its such a non issue like how the fuck is a masc dyke making u feel insecure abt ur cis femininity lmao

[nonbinary-vents]

I remember that when everything was happening with Noah Schnapp, so many people were saying that ‘he’s a white coloniser!’ ‘he’s clearly European!’ and ‘how are we supposed to think he’s indigenous to the Middle East when he looks like that?!’ They were screaming so much about he couldn’t possibly be from the swana region due to being pale, despite the fact that… wait for it…

Noah Schnapp is a Moroccan Jew.

The exact the same thing happened with Jerry Seinfeld too, despite him being a Syrian Jew.

But what this tells me is that so many American and European leftists fundamentally do not understand what North Africans and Southwest Asians look like. They do not understand that many Middle Eastern groups are pale, many Middle Eastern groups share features with Europeans— I mean, the Middle East literally borders Europe, did you not expect us to have similarities? This stretches back to the ancient world too. We know that in Yehuda there were gingers, as shown by King David*. Iirc, studies on Rameses the second’s remains show that he most likely had an olive tanned complexion and reddish-blondish hair, similar to a European Mediterranean look— which makes total sense seeing as Egypt is literally a Mediterranean country as well

It’s not just Jews. Persians, Kurds, Assyrians, Copts, Amazigh, Arabs from the Arabian Peninsula**, all of these ethnic groups are incredibly diverse in their features, even without any significant genetic influence from other areas. You cannot just project American and European black and white concepts of race onto the Middle East and act as if that is reality. The world is not split into pale people in the north, brown people in the middle, and black people in the south, and if you genuinely believe that then you really need to look at some pictures of the groups that you’re claiming to be the defender of. Please. I’m so tired of this bullshit lol

*I know that the historical evidence for David is shaky at best and we’re not sure if he was real or not (I personally believe it’s a King Arthur sort of situation where there was a real person here that got turned into legend), what I’m trying to say is that if the Ivrim could have a figure like this who was ginger, then the Ivrim clearly had gingers. Nobody come for me please

**not adding other Arabs because there tends to be genetic mixes with other groups, and my point is about how even without distinct genetic markers from each other, middle easterners groups can turn out with a super intense variation in appearance, especially skin tone

[shinynewmemories]

Listen to me Suzanne Collins did not have to give Katniss and Peeta a history before the games. She did NOT have to do that. She could have just had their story begin when Peeta's name was called. She could have had them be total strangers until the moment of the reaping.

Like: "And the boy tribute is... Peeta Mellark!" Katniss: Who's that? Or she could have made them vaguely familiar with each other! Peeta's name is called and Katniss just thinks, Oh, I know that name! He's in my class, actually. Poor boy... Anyway!

Either way, SC could have written the rest of the story exactly the same! I think many authors would have done that! Because if Peeta's purpose in the book was to be Gale's competition, to be one of the 3 corners of a love triangle, THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE WAY TO DO IT!! But that's NOT how she did it because that's NOT what Peeta is.

And what is he? To Katniss, Peeta's someone who saved her and her family and received nothing in return except a beating. Peeta's someone she has had her eye on but has never worked up the courage to talk to. Peeta's someone she associates with kindness and hope. And all this before the start of the events of the book! Just because WE, the READERS, met Gale before Peeta and immediately felt a connection with him does NOT mean that was Katniss's experience! And that's what SC is trying to tell us!

To dismiss Katniss and Peeta's past as unimportant or inconsequential compared to whatever Katniss and Gale have in the present is to fundamentally misunderstand Katniss as a character and, as a result, condemn oneself to never fully understand the choices she makes in the future.

Suzanne Collins wrote it that way on purpose because she had something to say. And no one will ever be able to convince me that something wasn't "It was always going to be Peeta".

[sn-613]

Hi!!👋 I’m very excited to say that I believe this is not cloning but within the normal scope of his powers!!! Because of physics!!! Let me explain just a little (also im new to the fandom/ not an astrophysicist so do let me know if theres any grievous holes in my reasoning)

So, all of this is hinging off of the Sonic the Hedgehog: Official Game Guide (2006) which says on Silver’s tutorial page “"The Teleport Dash is a psychic jump that warps space”

Now there isn’t actually a ��fabric of space’ to warp buuut im pretty sure they’re referring to the fabric of spacetime. Which works in our favor here! See, you cant separate the fabric of spacetime into space And time, they’re irrevocably connected.

(Oh and im just assuming that if this aspect of his power is done by warping spacetime, than it stands to reason other aspects do too)

Now, everything related to spacetime is quite convoluted, so I’m going to be glossing over things a LOT. But if anyone wants me to try and explain everything more, just ask and i can write smth up :)

So, what im thinking is possible (stretching the rules ofc, bc our current understanding of spacetime pretty much disallows any form of influencing it) is that Silver is warping spacetime to allow us to see these past ‘hims’ in the present (pretty close to time travel, which is why i included @detectiveluckys comment).

Its a similar concept to how the light of our stars is not from the present, but rather millions of years in the past (is that a well-known fact? Idk) I’m also drawing off the phenomenon where stars extremely close to the sun appear to be positioned somewhere they’re not- their light cones are being warped by the sun’s gravity (think of it like how a straw’s position in a cup of water appears different than it actually is, because the light is being warped.)(that metaphor doesn’t hold too much weight, but it can help you visualize whats going on with the stars)

Notice how Silver first goes to each spot before he appears to duplicate himself. He could be warping his light cones (himself) from a couple seconds ago so that it appears he’s in a different spot than he currently is. Repeat this another time and now you have three Silvers!

Does that make any sense? Again, i can go more in depth on all of the foundational concepts, it would just make this a much longer post lol

in Silver’s special move for the trampolines he does a bunch of flips and teleports in the air and then splits himself into three copies. Silver just has cloning powers i guess

[wordsinhaled]

People call Charles Edwin’s guard dog and Edwin thinks it’s going to offend him, getting more up in arms about it than Charles ever does. But it doesn’t seem to bother Charles at all. And Edwin doesn’t understand, not at first, not until Charles tells him, “So what if they think I’ll bite if they lay a finger on you? Not exactly wrong, are they?”

Suddenly, it makes sense. Why Charles takes the comments in stride. Why he seems to take pride in the suggestion.

Charles feels like Edwin should have someone who is willing to do all that for him, go that far for him—and of course that someone’ll be Charles himself. Edwin reflects that he’d never had that sort of fervent devotion from anyone, certainly not when he was alive, and no one has come close since but Charles. He reflects on how good it feels to be fundamentally seen, valued in such a way.

Still, Edwin worries—does Charles know that Edwin is just as dedicated to keeping him safe, his heart and his spectral body and his soul? That Charles is the most precious gift Edwin never dreamt to be given, and—

Does Charles know that, every day? That he’s more than his teeth? That he’s more than everything Edwin could want? That he’s sweetness and light?

It’s Charles’ loving touch that Edwin yearns for and craves, when he’s laughing harder than he ever has, in the middle of the night when the rest of the world is asleep and it’s just him and Charles in the warmly-lit office, tipping against each other on the tiny sofa that never feels cramped when it’s keeping the two of them near. The actual joke goes forgotten in the self-replenishing haze of their giggles, their shoulders knocking together, Charles’ ankle hooked around Edwin’s.

Edwin’s hand lands on Charles’ jaw, barely-there fingertips turning Charles’ head, easy, so easy, to look at him. To catch Charles’ gaze, deep and shining and—they’re so close to each other, a bit heady with leftover mirth, and Edwin will never forget that it’s Charles who moves first to press his smiling lips to Edwin’s, simple as ever, like it’s the next line in their conversation.

It knocks the breath straight out of Edwin: the breath he hasn’t needed in three-odd decades. But it’s all right because Charles’ mouth is opening against his, so right and inviting, and Charles is gasping too like he’s in the same dizzy predicament, and Edwin never wants it to end.

“Charles,” he says, “Charles, my darling, are you…?”

Charles’ eyes are dark as ink when he pulls back, only far enough to nudge his nose against Edwin’s cheek.

“Yeah,” he says, smile flashing bright like a slice of the moon. He closes his eyes, a flutter of lashes Edwin can feel against his own cheekbone, followed by the soft drag of a kiss. Then another. “Should’ve seen it, really,” Charles goes on, in between still more kisses, words said into Edwin’s skin. “‘Cause you’re it for me, Edwin, aren’t you, love? I just didn’t see. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you when you first—”

“Never mind,” Edwin says, “tell me now,” and then they’re kissing once more. The testing scrape of Charles’ teeth over Edwin’s lower lip, the nibble on his upper, is tentative, too tentative, and Edwin ought to have known, he ought to have suspected… but still he doesn’t, doesn’t expect the keening, tremulous moan that tumbles out of him at the promise of it all.

Charles chuckles, the sound settling in Edwin’s belly, making a home in his chest. “You like that?” he asks. Awed. Still hesitant. The laughter from earlier still layered in Charles’ voice, along with a new sort of hoarseness, a new sort of rasp Edwin could listen to forever. “Don’t wanna put you off, do I, love…”

“I will hardly be put off, Charles. In fact, I—” Edwin swallows, convulsive and wanting, sees Charles’ focus drop to his throat, find the soft underside of his jaw as he tips his chin up. “I would not have you hold back with me. Set your hands where you wish. Your mouth—where you wish. Your…” It is his turn to close his eyes.

“My teeth,” Charles finishes for him softly. “Wherever I…?”

“Yes,” Edwin says. “Yes.”

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

Hello! Someone genuinely trying to understand and perhaps unlearn some reactionary tendencies. With the response to that anon about "not asking if you're a pro or anti", the response about "imagine if they put this much effort into protecting real kids" definitely got me thinking. So... Is an adult shipping children and finding that hot NEVER a red flag? Or is it case by case on seeing how that person handles the distinction between fiction and reality in other things? And bringing the issue of real kids into it, if a real kid who has been abused sees someone shipping kids and finds that a red flag in that person, that... No, no I juicy answered my own question on that one. Block them and cultivate your own experience.

hi there anon, and congrats on trying to unlearn some things! and great job catching yourself at the end there, that's exactly correct.

I will start by saying this right out of the gate: fundamentally, I do not really give a shit about what made up scenarios about fictional characters people are jorking it to in private. I am, first and foremost, interested in how they are interacting with actual, real people.

"but Makenzie are you saying people who look at sexually explicit images of real human kids should be allowed near children?" no I'm not. please note that I was specifically talking about people engaging with fictional characters who are, you know, not real and do not have feelings and therefore cannot actually be hurt, traumatized, abused, etc, in any way that actually matters. I want to be so clear about this: you can genuinely think whatever vile things you want about fictional characters. you can enjoy any problematic shit you want with little guys who don't actually exist.

like, here's an example I use a lot: I'm kind of a huge Batman fan. don't know if you could tell that or not, I'm pretty subtle about it. if you spend any time in the Batman mythos, you know that this is a story where you just kind of have to take for granted that our hero is a billionaire using his vast wealth to dispatch vigilante justice with military grade weaponry and a small army of child soldiers and cop friends to help him put people in prison. these are moral quandaries that are discussed and acknowledged within the story, but fundamentally the universe is always going to involve billionaire vigilantism and child soldiers and the so-called carceral justice system. that's just the price of admission if you're gonna read Batman.

and like. I spend a lot of time in that world. I love Batman, I love his child soldiers. he's my little blorbo or whatever. but like, at no point have I said "yeah, fuck it, preteens should be learning martial arts to fight domestic terrorists, actually. I think Elon Musk SHOULD be allowed to put on a fursuit and beat up criminals. cops need more funding." no amount of Batman comics can make me believe or act on any of those things because, you know, I'm a person with a brain and I know the difference between "thing that makes a good story" and "thing that should actually happen for real."

and the thing is that genuinely, honestly, if someone thought that it was a red flag that I like Batman, and that enjoying Batman comics was somehow a red flag indicating that I'm fine with violence being done against real, actual children? I would think that person was a nut, if I can be super real. like, I'm thinking about somebody trying to make the case that I shouldn't be allowed to hang out with my nephew because I enjoy the fictional character of Robin so clearly I'm going to kill my nephew's parents in front of him to try to get him into vigilante justice. or if someone attempted to bar me from teaching my 4th-6th grade sex ed classes on the grounds that I was obviously going to teach them to do karate to clowns instead of how their reproductive systems worked.

(although, lets be real, there are a lot of politicians who would MUCH rather let little kids cage fight each other than learn anything about safer sex.)

this doesn't just apply to morally bad things, either, btw. I also read a lot of romance novels, especially hetero romances. and the thing is, not one of those books has made me want to fall in love with a ruggedly handsome but condescending straight man. hell, none of them have made me want to fall in love with anybody, period. that's not really something I'm interested in for myself, it's just a fun and frequently funny dynamic to explore. I'm hardly the first queer person to point out that the allegations that queer media "turns kids gay/trans" is obviously bullshit since the vertible mountain of cishet media evidently failed to turn any of us straight/cis, you know?

my point being: no, I genuinely don't think it's often, if ever, reasonable to judge someone's actual, real life morals by how they interact with fiction.

I'm going to say something so vulnerable right now, because we're in a safe space here: since you asked me this very reasonable question, you evidently value my judgment and perspective at least a little bit. and I once read and thoroughly enjoyed a fic in which Dr. Horrible, from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, gets fucked by a sapient evil horse. and I don't think that makes me a morally reprehensible person, or a person who advocates for real human beings having real sex with real horses. I think it just makes me kind of a weirdo with a bullshit tolerance.

if you want to hear a MUCH more thorough take on this, complete with addressing the issue of shipping fictional children, I cannot recommend Princess Weekes' video essay enough:

[dubiousculturalartifact]

reading The Protector of the Small quartet again for the ????th time (could be as many as the twentieth or more tbh, they're sorta my top comfort reads) and my brain keeps being stuck on Wyldon's character this time around. like he's just FASCINATING. I've rarely read a character who is presented as such a complete fucking asshole who does such a 180 in my estimation in a way that's nuanced and COMPLETELY EARNED, while still staying the same fundamental person at the core, and still being allowed to be flawed. (because oh boy he is flawed) I rank him with Zuko in Top Fantasy Character Redemptions of All Time. I hate him. I love him. some thoughts from this read-through: -he's autistic. like he's just SO very autistic it almost hurts, and half of the reason Kel and him end up eventually understanding and respecting each other so well is exactly for this reason. he's so This Is the Way Things Should Be Done Because The Rules Say So and he is SO rigid and specific but also he EVOLVES and that's a fascinating dichotomy -this is also the SAME reason that Neal and him get along like oil on water, because they are both autistic but Opposite, it's like the personality equivalent of trying to get two hedgehogs to hug -that being said Lord Wyldon RESPECTS Neal in a really bizarre way, or at least understands him? He'd never admit that but that one moment in Lady Knight when he's explaining to Kel about why he picked her for Haven's commander, and he says that he CONSIDERED Neal FOR THE JOB? but said that he thought Neal was 'too fair' and essentially that he would simultaneously care too much and be too irreverent with the refugees, not be objective like Kel would be? again. fascinating. -Owen being Wyldon's squire is such a wild combination of personalities that ALSO should not work at all, because Owen is pure !!!! and Wyldon is like :/, but then my brain was like: oh. Owen is basically a over-excited puppy and Wyldon loves dogs -when Kel rescues Lalasa at the end of Page & passes out, then wakes up to Wyldon and her mum in the room and her mum is arguing with Wyldon about Kel's schedule and stuff. I somehow never really registered before that she FIRST NAMES HIM. She calls him Wyldon, not Lord Wyldon, and is comfortable enough to berate him. do they fucking KNOW EACH OTHER from when they were younger? WHAT IS THE STORY THERE? now I'm remembering when Wyldon got all surprised to hear the story of Illane fighting off the Scanran bandits and saving the sacred swords of the Yamani Islands. hm. interesting. much to consider.

-the bit where Wyldon is like OH SHIT the pages nearly got killed because tradition dictates I don't teach them actual battle strategy and tactics. and I fucking love tradition but I also love pages not being dead, so I guess I better get my shit together on that one.

-or when he QUITS as training master because he's like 'damn toxic masculinity fucked these kids up and I'm kinda partially to blame for that. I gotta get my shit together', and he's like the best thing that came out of being training master was having you as a page. and acknowledges he nearly fucked that up too? -while we're on the subject of 'what went through Wyldon's head' WHEN KEL RAN OFF TO SCANRA AND THEN CAME BACK HAVING BASICALLY WON THE WAR FOR THEM? AND HE WAS SO DISCOMBOBULATED HE ACCIDENTALLY AGREED WITH NEAL? -speaking of the end of Page earlier, i wanna read or possibly write a fic about what went through Wyldon's head when Kel didn't show up to the big examinations, because I think that's SUCH a turning point for his character. Like yes he respected Kel and let her stay before that, but the way he's so clearly kicking himself in the aftermath, going to far as to rope in Duke Turomot, and INVOKE THE GODDESS IN HIS PRAYER FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER.... what happened when he had to give the command to start the examinations without her? Like it really struck me that he must have thought 'oh. she gave up after all' and I think part of him might have been disappointed, and part of him *relieved* because he was still clinging to those old attitudes despite everything. And to find out he was wrong? That she hadn't given up, but had sacrificed everything she had worked for in the finest single demonstration of true chivalry and courage he had probably ever witnessed from a page? like damn. Lord Wyldon of Cavall you funky, fucked up man, I want to study you like a bug

[larrylimericks]

19Oct24

No matter how mad the word made us, It always held hope — a “hiatus.”

I’m sad for so many reasons — the fundamental sadness of death, and at such a young age; having to process the mortality of someone so extraordinary it seems they should transcend a fate as ordinary as dying; aching for his family and friends; angry that he had to navigate such a cruel world, one that continues to disrespect him in death. Yes, Liam was damaged and in turn damaged others; he had demons to face and amends to make — I like to think he would have, given a chance. His talent was so immense, and there was so much more to come. I believe he would have found a way to redemption, and then had such a beautiful renaissance.

The joy of being a 1D fan has always been policed and mocked. We’ve so frequently been laughed at, dismissed for the intensity of our love for the band. And now, the world wants to do the same with our grief, questioning its legitimacy, trivializing our feelings. But this loss is real. And this grief is valid.

And the grief of losing Liam is compounded by the grief of losing so much else. He wasn’t just a celebrity. They weren’t just a boyband. He was an integral part of an integral part of our formative years — no matter how old we were when we found them. So many of us are the people we are in part because of the people they are. Were. We’ve lost a beloved one, we’ve lost innocence, we’ve lost inspiration, we’ve lost a piece of our foundation.

We’ve lost hope.

It used to frustrate me, in retrospect, that they called it a “hiatus.” It felt dishonest — like a gentle lie to let us down easy. Why couldn’t they just say it was over? That being a boy band has a built-in shelf life, and it was time to explore solo careers. But now I understand the kindness in that word. For hope springs eternal, and it didn’t matter if it never came. All that matters was that it might. And “hiatus” wasn’t just for us; it held their optimism too. Especially Liam’s. It left the door open, even if only a crack, for the possibility of something more.

It’s been a remarkable gift to watch each one find his own path and his own voice. But when they announced a hiatus in 2015, they planted a seed of hope that someday we’d see the unrivaled magic of those boys on stage together again — the greatest team the world has ever seen. Maybe Zayn would join, probably not. Maybe it would’ve been a one-off thing for charity or a special anniversary. Maybe it would be in their 50s when the allure of easy money from a reunion tour was too tempting to resist. But surely, eventually, 1D would reunite in some capacity. I was excited to see how their once frenetic energy and youthful antics would meld with the mature solo artists they’ve become.

That hope sustained us through 18 months and eventually eight years, but now the hiatus is over. I would have happily clowned for every remaining day of my life than know this new certainty brought by the finality of Liam’s death. Maybe, someday, there will be a memorial performance. Maybe we’ll see three or four out of five come together to honor him — and what a poignant testament it will be that Liam was what could bring them together. Or maybe it will never feel right to them to take the stage without him, and that, too, will make all the sense in the world.

I wish I had an uplifting ending for this post. I don’t. I wake up and my first thought is “Liam isn’t here anymore,” and then I go about my day with that relentless realization lurking around the corner of every mundane task I do.

I haven’t been able to listen to their music yet. It’s a cruel trick that the thing that always brought comfort is now a trigger for grief. But I hope that will soon change. That, at some point, I’ll put on WMYB, get choked up at “You’re insecure” and second-guess my readiness. But then jump to History, and find solace in the lyrics that are currently rattling around my brain but aren’t ready to be heard yet: “This is not the end, this is not the end” … “We can live forever.”

❯❯❯❯