#but it's not a thing where earth kingdom people (and those who look like them) get an automatically easier time than fire nation people.

[zincbot]

sometimes i see takes on firebenders that are. not very well thought out.

[cluelessteam]

Whispers Through Time: {~A New Arrival~}

Summary: After being mysteriously transported into the world of House of the Dragon, a modern-day woman poses as a seer to gain entry into the Targaryen court. Armed with knowledge of the future, she secretly warns Rhaenyra and Daemon of looming dangers while hiding her true identity. As she grows closer to both, romantic tension builds, but so do the risks of her deception. With Daemon's suspicions rising and Rhaenyra’s trust deepening, the reader must navigate her lies while trying to alter their tragic fate���before everything unravels.

Characters: Rhaenyra & Daemon

Pairing: Rhaenyra x Fem!Reader x Daemon

Warnings: None

Word Count: 1293

Chapter 1 --- Chapter 2

The biting chill of the wind gnawed at your skin as you stumbled through an unfamiliar landscape, its vastness stretching out before you. It was hard to pinpoint exactly when the world around you had shifted, but the change was undeniable. Your memory still clung to the familiar buzz of the modern world—the sound of car engines, the hum of streetlights, and the constant tap of your shoes on concrete. But now, all that was gone, replaced by a stark silence that only heightened your disorientation. The horizon before you seemed endless, filled with tall hills covered in thick mist, and in the distance, a looming structure—a castle—stood proudly, its towers piercing the dreary sky.

This couldn’t be real. It felt too surreal, like a dream pulled from the pages of some historical fantasy novel. You had always been fascinated by the medieval period and Westeros in particular, but that fascination never prepared you for this. And yet, everything felt too vivid to be a dream—the sharpness of the cold, the heavy scent of damp earth, the distant call of gulls swooping down from the cliffs nearby.

Your breath caught in your throat, and a familiar panic began to rise. You could almost feel your heart pounding, each beat growing louder in your ears. Logic screamed that this couldn’t be happening. You were walking home after a long day, when—there! That light. The blinding flash that enveloped you and carried you here. You clenched your hands into fists, grounding yourself, and let the question form properly: Where am I?

Slowly, as you took in your surroundings, the faintest flicker of recognition sparked. That castle, those towers—it looked eerily familiar. The realization hit you hard, and your knees weakened. This was not just any castle, but one you had seen countless times in books, on screens. Westeros. You had somehow, impossibly, been transported to the world of the Targaryens, Velaryons, and the Seven Kingdoms.

"Gods…" you whispered, though you weren’t sure if you were calling to them or cursing them. How could this be possible?

Panic began to bubble up in your chest, but you bit it down. Now wasn’t the time to lose your head. Whatever force had brought you here, it clearly didn’t care about your confusion. You were stranded in a world you had no right to be in, with no clear path home. But you were nothing if not resourceful, and survival instinct kicked in fast. First things first: you needed a cover story.

You looked down at your clothing—your jacket, jeans, and shoes entirely inappropriate for this world. You’d stick out like a sore thumb if you didn’t do something, and quickly. And then, as if fate wanted to test you immediately, you noticed a figure making their way toward you—a villager, maybe, wrapped in furs, their weathered face twisted in confusion at the sight of you.

Without hesitation, you pulled the hood of your jacket up, hiding as much of your appearance as possible, and let an idea form. You needed to be someone important, someone with a skill that would grant you entry into the castle ahead. You thought of the people in this world—superstitious, often lacking in medical knowledge, and prone to reverence for those who claimed to possess sight beyond the ordinary.

A midwife. A seer.

That was the way in. You straightened up, quickly rehearsing a story in your head. You could remember enough of the history of this time—enough about the impending conflicts and players involved—to convince someone of your abilities. And if you could do that, you might just survive.

The villager had reached you by now, his eyes flicking over your strange attire, suspicion evident in his gaze.

"You… you lost, stranger?" His accent was thick, the words harsh against the wind. He looked you up and down, frowning deeper as he noticed your modern shoes.

Clearing your throat, you adopted the air of someone who belonged here, someone important. "I’ve come from far away," you began, your voice steady, "I am a midwife, and a gifted seer. I’ve been summoned—by fate itself—to serve the realm."

His eyes narrowed. "A seer, eh? And who exactly called ye?"

You squared your shoulders. "Not who. What." You let the pause linger, allowing the weight of your words to sink in. "There are things at play in this world that go beyond your understanding. I see them—glimpses of what’s to come. And I’ve come to ensure the safety of those in power, to warn them of the dangers that await if they do not heed my counsel."

The villager hesitated, doubt still clouding his expression, but he seemed unsure now, weighing your words. Superstition held great power in this world, and the idea of turning away someone who claimed to have foresight was a dangerous gamble. Finally, with a curt nod, he motioned to the road leading toward the castle. "You’ll want to speak to the men at the gates, then. They'll decide if yer needed."

You gave a small nod in return, keeping your expression controlled, though relief washed over you. You began to walk, your thoughts racing. You had taken the first step, but getting into the castle was just the beginning. Once there, you would need to convince people far more powerful and skeptical than a simple villager. Rhaenyra, Daemon, the Velaryons… the very people who would shape the future of Westeros.

As you approached the castle’s towering gates, the sheer size of the fortress became overwhelming. The walls stretched upward, casting long shadows over the ground. Your breath quickened as the guards came into view—men clad in armor, their hands resting on swords as they watched you approach. You took a deep breath, steeling yourself.

One of the guards stepped forward, his face stern beneath his helmet. "State your business," he demanded, his voice rough and authoritative.

"I am a midwife," you repeated, keeping your voice steady. "A seer. I have been sent here to serve the realm, to offer counsel to those in power." You met his gaze directly, hoping to convey confidence. "I see things—glimpses of what’s to come. And I know that there are dangers on the horizon. I must speak with those who rule, for their own safety."

The guard raised an eyebrow, clearly skeptical. "A seer, eh? You’ll forgive me if I don’t take your word at face value. We get all kinds at these gates."

You expected resistance, and you had your response ready. "I understand your doubt, but let me offer you this—" You leaned in slightly, lowering your voice. "There will be an attempt on the life of someone in power here soon. It will come from within, not without. If I am wrong, you may throw me to the wolves. But if I am right, you will have failed in your duty to protect this castle."

The guard’s expression faltered for just a moment, a flicker of uncertainty passing across his features. He glanced at his fellow guards, then back at you. Finally, with a curt nod, he stepped aside. "I’ll let the master-at-arms know. If you’re lucky, you’ll get your audience."

You stepped through the gates, your pulse quickening. Inside, the castle was a maze of stone corridors, each more imposing than the last. Servants moved quickly through the halls, and you kept your head down, trying to appear as if you belonged.

Your mind raced with the enormity of what lay ahead. You needed to get close to the right people—people who would believe your story. And the first name that came to mind was Rhaenyra Targaryen. The heir to the Iron Throne, a woman of strength and ambition. If you could win her trust, you’d have a chance.

[mossy-green-aka-ferrythem]

The new W Corp Event definitely has caused me to think a lot more deeply about W Corp...

...and how its stagnation shows something of a bit of hope in the city. That absolute cruelty cannot be absolutely sustained.

I think the big thing is how while Lobotomy Corporation's dissolution and the plan Ayin carried out was meant to be the thing that changed everything, really Angela's choices made it so it wouldn't go through.

But here's the thing. Angela may very well be the strongest of all of them.

She withstood eternity.

She saw those who couldn't withstand it in the WARP, and was disgusted.

I think what makes the eternity in the WARP Trains so just, awful is that the residents of The City sort of live without hope.

They won't connect with one another, if they do it is in a broken and warped way. The connection is either made with violence, or through desperation, like they truly don't like the idea of connection, or have such a conservative idea of it that you end up with scenarios like "Love Town".

Even in the recent event, you see that one of the only way someone can take pleasure in this sort of eternity, is to treat it as a banquet. A kingdom. Cannibalism. I believe that W Corp can be linked to a thematic cannibalism. The metaphor here doesn't have any warmth though, it's a cannibalism of the human spirit.

We see this in the Sinners W Corp IDs.

Notice how the light has so clearly left their eyes?

Hong Lu's demeanor rings incredibly hollow, his smile having the most false appearance out of all his IDs. Don Quixote's joyful spirit has been crushed. Faust in this world feels like a very sorrowful being, sort of making one think about Faust as a more sorrowful character. That Fausts like W Faust exist, existing in such a jaded, hopeless state. Meursault does what he must do for the Wing, but I would imagine he is totally lost because of that. Ryoshu seems to delight in the halls of gore, but I don't think this is a good thing, if anything it shows her totally going off the deep end, and Outis seems like she's become completely lost in her Odyssey...

All of which have been sort of devoured by the cruelty of it all. That they cut apart and put back together pieces of their fellow humans in such a way. It feels different than the death that follows the war-like environment of the general city, because most of these people were normal. Most of these people could have been parents, with children. They could have been truly upstanding individuals, they could have been many things...

However, since the people of the City lack hope, lack warmth, lack pleasure, they cannot withstand eternity. They cannot withstand impossibly slowed time. They cannot do any of it, and will only be consumed.

However... this cruelty... all the time of all the people sent off on the WARP Trains...

It seems like a fairly recent invention all things considered...

Even if the time by now is enough to wrap around the entire history of life on Earth by now, spent in the WARP...

There is something about the idea that. It can end. People don't take pleasure in this. It brings out the worst of The City in such a drastic way, that surely it cannot be sustained...

That and the collapse of Lobotomy Corporation has just been a net positive for. Everyone.

Just look at how the Sephiriah are in Ruina! Look at how Angela found herself! Look at how they still stand, looking at the city, representing a new beginning, a new hope!

The eternity in those trains may be awful, but there is a way through it all... it will end one day... just like how the eternity in those trains end...

Just like how they have found entire WARP Trains full of people holding hands... there is a way through it all, there is still humanity in the wake of all this madness...

Hell just. Look at how Don Quixote knew how the Bloodfiend would have these people fade away, never to return. She would rather face eternity than to accept a scenario where these people never come back, and that is quite powerful.

Really it is all so interesting. Horrific beyond belief, but so interesting...

[nerdygaymormon]

A Brief History of the LDS Church's Transgender Teachings and Policies

Gender identity and gender roles are important in LDS theology and practices. For most of the 1800s, church presidents Joseph Smith and Brigham Young had men, women, and children sit separately for all Sunday meetings. Nowadays, some of the Sundays church meetings are still divided by biological sex. Temple worship is also similarly divided.

For decades, the LDS Church believed that in the premortal life, when intelligences were organized into spirits that they may have chosen whether to live as male or female during mortality, and that poor choices during their time on earth could demote them back to a genderless condition. Joseph Fielding Smith, who was made an apostle in 1910 and became president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1970, was well known for teaching that those who do not reach the Celestial Kingdom will be neither man nor woman, merely immortal beings.

As a teenager in the 1980's, I remember being in Sunday School class and the teacher saying that when we're resurrected we can look down, and if we don't see a penis or vagina then we know we're not making it to the Celestial Kingdom.

Along with this, for many years the LDS Church seems to have viewed all queerness as a form of gender confusion, whether it was a man thinking he's a woman or a man who is attracted to other men.

As the fight over gay marriage ramped up, the teaching about genderless spiritual beings was replaced with the idea that gender is forever and this was incorporated into the 1995 Family Proclamation which states that "gender is an essential characteristic of individual pre-mortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose."

The idea is that each of us are a son or daughter of heterosexual & cisgender heavenly parents, and we are meant to become like them. There is a strict binary of spiritual gender identities and gender roles. Ideally, our bodies should be formed in a way that reflects our spiritual body, including our spiritual gender, but the reality of the physical world is that things often don't work as we'd expect them to, but that doesn't change our spiritual gender.

Let me take this moment to point out that the notion of gender being eternal does not exist in scripture, this is a fairly recent evolution.

And while the idea is that gender is an innate and unchangeable part of our souls, the Church has also felt that gender needs to be nurtured, protected, and defended. There have been many rules about what women may wear to BYU and to Sunday services. For many years the advice to leaders on how to counsel with young men experiencing same sex attraction was to have them spend time around manly men and participate in masculine activities, and to not wear androgynous or feminine styles.

For a long time, LDS Church leaders were more aware of homosexuality and focused on this, and their mentions of trans people remained pretty infrequent.

In 1980, Spencer W. Kimball was president of the LDS Church and was outspoken opponent of homosexuality, however he authorized the sealing of a trans woman to her husband in the Washington, D.C. temple. Perhaps in response to this, later that year LDS authorities updated the official General Handbook of Instructions to officially prohibit “transsexual operations.” The handbook stated that “members who have undergone transsexual operations must be excommunicated” and that “after excommunication such a person is not eligible for baptism.”

I first got access to Handbook 1 in 2016, and excommunication was still the standard, although it said "elective transsexual operations" (not sure when the word "elective" was added). Surgery was the boundary line which if crossed would result in excommunication. However, the phrase "elective transsexual operations" recognized there are some circumstances where such operations are required or aren't the choice of the individual. For example, a man whose genitals were injured and couldn't be kept, or an intersex person who had surgery performed on them as an infant or child.

Any individual who was considering "elective transsexual surgery" was not allowed to be baptized, but for an individual who had undergone "transsexual surgery" and now wanted to be baptized, it had to be approved by the First Presidency. If they were allowed to be baptized, they would not be allowed to receive the priesthood or participate in gender-separated temple rites (which limited them to doing baptisms).

There was some wiggle room on whether top surgery is considered "transsexual surgery" and depended on the local leader's interpretation. There was no policy on transitioning in ways that didn't involve surgery, such as hormone therapies, “cross dressing,” or other means of living out one’s gender.

In January 2015, Elder Dallin H. Oaks said, "I think we need to acknowledge that while we have been acquainted with lesbians and homosexuals for some time, being acquainted with the unique problems of a transgender situation is something we have not had so much experience with, and we have some unfinished business in teaching on that." This reflects the growing awareness of trans individuals and showed some humility on his part. Elder Oaks had often spoken out on homosexuality and gay marriage, but this statement was thoughtful and many took it as cautiously optimistic.

Some transgender Mormons in explaining that their bodies do not reflect their gender identity would point to the Family Proclamation which says "gender" is eternal but not necessarily their sex. In response, in 2019 Elder Oaks said that “the intended meaning of gender in the family proclamation and as used in Church statements and publications since that time is biological sex at birth.”

In 2020, a major revision of the Church's general Handbooks were made. Handbook 1 (which was only available to bishoprics, stake presidencies, and General Authorities) was combined with Handbook 2 and put on the Church's website for all to see. This revision included major changes for transgender members.

The term "elective transsexual surgery" was gone, and now any social, medical or surgical transitioning would bring restrictions. Many saw this as more restrictive, it took away the space to transition in ways other than surgery while remaining in good standing as a member. Some saw it as a step at being more accommodating as excommunication was not the de facto punishment for transitioning. A church member could decide if transitioning was important enough to them that they'd be willing to be without a temple recommend.

The 2024 Handbook update seems like they felt some local church leaders had taken things further than had been anticipated, and so they had to plug in the gaps from the 2020 Handbook that leaders had used to be inclusive and accommodating of their trans members. Now members who transitioned in any were not allowed to be baptized, restricted from holding almost all callings, specified which meetings & activities they may attend, forbids trans youth and young single adults from overnight activities, and even has specific rules about under how a trans person may use the restroom.

[gregorovitch-adler]

Northern Lights

"Why did you call me here?" Crowley demanded as he approached Aziraphale, dressed in his usual outfit and a pair of glasses.

They were standing outside a small inn located in the region of Kola Peninsula, Russia.

Aziraphale gave him a once over before continuing to look ahead again. "To talk about the next destructive thing these humans are up to." He furrowed his brows and swallowed.

Crowley took off his glasses and Aziraphale felt his concerned gaze on him. "Which is?"

"The news is not confirmed yet. But I have heard whispers, and not just from anybody. I've heard whispers from people who are usually considered important by most other human beings. Country leaders and the like." Aziraphale paused for breath. "To put it precisely, they're calling it a World War. Many countries are involved, Russia being one of them."

"World War?" Crowley exclaimed.

"Shh." Aziraphale looked everywhere around him to ensure no one was there.

Crowley dropped his voice to a whisper. "What is that even supposed to mean? The entire human race is going to have a war against each other now? I have never heard of something more stupid and perilous before."

"Neither have I. Which is why I called you. We have to stop this from happening!"

Crowley eyed him dubiously. "You don't think hell has something to do with any of this, do you?"

"No, I do not! This time I'm certain that it is all them - those humans!"

Crowley nodded. "What do you think we can do to stop all this? Russia is not even our assigned region!"

"The United Kingdom is also going to be involved in its initiation. We have to go there and make a plan."

"Yes, all right. Of course, we're going to have to do that." Crowley's bright yellow eyes reflected a mixed look of anger and fear.

"Goodness, Crowley, it's the first time something like this is happening. Do you think all humans are going to wipe out from the face of Earth?" There, he voiced one of his worst fears.

A brief silence fell between the two of them. They both knew their minds went to recall the same human and the related memory, but none of them said a word about it - Noah.

Crowley shook his head vigorously. "No. It can't happen. It just can't. An entire creation cannot disappear just like that. I'll do something. We'll do something. Don't worry."

And just like that, Aziraphale felt several nots in his gut untwisting. He felt some coolness in his being. The irony of Crowley himself looking as worried as him in that moment did not escape Aziraphale, though.

Still, Aziraphale had a feeling somewhere in his heart that things are going to be a little bearable with Crowley by his side.

Crowley was looking up now. He extended an arm to point at something he saw in the sky. "Look at that!"

Aziraphale turned to look at where Crowley was pointing.

The whole sky surrounding that region was being decorated by a mesmerising pattern of green, purple, and pink-coloured lights. The Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis as he liked to call them. Phenomenal.

Despite everything he and Crowley were going through, Aziraphale could not help a small smile forming on his face because of the sheer ethereal beauty of the sky. Beauty of the universe, in fact, of which Crowley had an important role in creating eons ago.

"Beautiful," Crowley muttered.

Aziraphale turned to look at him and his beautiful face. "Very," he said, still smiling, not caring about Aurora Borealis anymore.

**

Prompt: Northern Lights by @fluff-cember

Tags: @jamielovesjam @lisbeth-kk @helloliriels @topsyturvy-turtely @gaylilsherlock @totallysilvergirl @peanitbear @calaisreno , etc.

[jayden-killer]

Unforeseeable incident.

(Loki x fem!reader).

summary: you agreed with your best friend Thor to come to Asgard, expecting you could take well the interdimentional voyage. Well, you didn't. And now you're stuck in a certain prince's bed...

warnings: none. This is a LOKI AU!! This takes place in an universe where Loki was never traumatised by Odin and the events of the first Thor movie don't happen!!!

☆

Hot.

What I felt on my skin was a suffocating heat that left me no time to breathe.

I could feel the drops of sweat on my forehead, and my breathing was straining as I regained consciousness. Until I opened my eyes with a startle. As if I were drowning in the open sea my lungs filled with all the air possible; I inhaled, I exhaled. I did it a second, then a third time, until my breathing settled. My first thought, looking around the room decorated with antique ornaments, illuminated by the light fire from the fireplace, was that it was certainly not on Earth. Had I been abducted? By aliens? Perhaps I sounded tempting for dinner.

Definitely.

All the thoughts in my head distracted me from the slender figure and well dressed in green and golden armor. The raven hair was well combed backwards. And those aquamarine eyes that reminded me of the salty expanse that I loved so much. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw me awake.

"My apologies, young lady, I didn't mean to startle you" was his kind voice.

"I am.. where?" That’s all I could say in the throes of curiosity and fear. If I was kidnapped, I had to at least know the name of my kidnapper.

"I offer you my sincere apologies on behalf of Loki, God of Mischief, son of Odin, and Frigga, brother of Thor and future King of Asgard". He bent down at the bed foot, his face quite close to mine. I could see the delicate features of his face, his lips rosy and thin...

Wait a second. Asgard. Thor..

Oh.

Now my little neurons were connecting.

My hand hit my forehead hard, making the slap ring throughout the room. The raven-haired boy let out an amused laugh. "Your brother is an idiot if he thought I would survive the Bifrost trip," I said, rolling my eyes.

"My brother is many things. Among these, he do not have any sense". He smiled again. "Foolish brother..."

"Right.."

Sitting down, resting my head on the soft (royal) pillow, I still looked around the lost room. It was clear that Asgard, one of the worlds of the Nine Kingdoms, had just come out of a chapter of the ``Lord of the Rings``. Everything seemed so... medieval.

"Make me guess, Prince Loki..."

He raised a hand in dissent and laughed. "I do not approve of the use of real titles, I find them retrograde. We may also be a different people from you Midgardians, however..."

This time it was my turn to interrupt him. "Midgardians?"

"Ah, yes," he smiled. "Mortals. Humans. Earthlings. Which one do you prefer?"

"Every of them, as long as you don’t use earthlings. It looks like I'm talking to an alien." I shuddered at the idea and he couldn’t help but laugh. He moved to the edge of his large bed, standing beside me, while maintaining a distance between us. "I will never do it again, I swear to the gods."

"But you are a God," I pointed out.

"Ah, correct answer, but I am not a superior God."

My eyes shrunk into two small slits, confused. "Okay, go ahead."

"As I said, you mortals are not accustomed to the use of our means of transport. It was clear that you would not be able to pass out at the end of the journey. No wonder my bum-head brother didn’t show you the instructions".

Now I was more confused than before. "Are there any instructions on how to cross it?"

"We’re not barbarians!" he replied, offering me a mischievous smile from those who knew each other. Then he stood up, not looking away from mine. He kept his smile curved towards the corner of his cheek, turning the bed and walking towards the door. Meanwhile I remained on the bed, never breaking the visual contact between us. It was intense, a visual contact that implied that between us it would be a deep future connection.

"Your Asgardian clothes are resting on the chair at the bottom of the room," he said softly, keeping the gold-plated knob in his hand.

"I’m going to have a chat with my stupid brother. You, instead, take it easy, Midgardian."

I think he meant the change of clothes.

Before he could let me fight with my thoughts soft eyes turned towards my direction with a mixed look of curiosity and malice, saying with confidence: "I expect to see you take part in the annual welcome back ceremony of the eldest son tonight. Don’t be late, Odin doesn’t like to wait". With this, he closed the door behind him, and I swore on my life to hear him sniggering. I think it was the third or fourth time I turned to look at the room I was in, in a state of confusion. As much confusion when I wondered aloud if Thor, in another universe, had measured his boldness better.

[woodlaflababab]

So, I got heavily inspired by this art by shange0211/Yishu and wanted to write a quick fic

This is just a snippet of Aang teaching Zuko how to dance.

-<>-

“Okay!” Aang started, brushing his hands over his robe to dispel nonexistent dust, “now that you know some simple solo moves, I want to teach you how to dance with other people.”

Zuko, who had progressively been getting over his reservations about this whole thing, went right back to looking at Aang like he was crazy. “What?”

“You know, dancing with a partner. Like the dragon dance, but uh,” Aang rubbed at the back of his head, “less firebending lessons.”

Zuko blinked at him a few times before putting his hands up and turning around. “No, I'm done.”

Before Zuko could take more than three steps, Aang was by his side, clinging to an arm. “Zuko!” Aang practically whined. “Come on, you've come this far, and dancing with other people is even more fun than dancing solo.” He tugged on Zuko's arm. “At least give it a shot.”

Zuko, becoming very familiar with this particular weakness of his, sighed and let Aang drag him to the middle of the room again.

“Okay, before I teach you any Fire Nation dances, I actually think we should start with a basic Earth Kingdom one.”

Zuko wrinkled his nose in distaste. “Why?”

“Fire Nation dances, while not as complicated as Water Tribe or air dances,” as Aang spoke, he backed away from Zuko and slid one hand behind his back while holding the other up in front of him, “move around, a lot.” With that, Aang started some dance routine, quickly moving across the floor. 

As he went, working his way around the room in a large circle, Zuko felt like he could kind of see where Aang was completing half of a dance, watching him move as though there was some phantom he danced with that only he could see. Zuko decided not to examine his immediate dislike for this theoretical phantom too closely.

After a bit, Aang seemed to close up his dance, coming to stand before Zuko once again and holding his hands neatly behind his back before dropping them. “Earth kingdom dances, however, tend to be simpler and easier to learn. At least,” he shrugged, “the common ones. There are a lot of special dances they do in specific cities or areas but I don't know a whole lot of those.”

Zuko had to refrain from snorting. Imagine that, Aang not knowing something. The way he went on sometimes, one would think he'd seen everything there was to see.

Aang paused for a second to think before lighting up again. “Oh! I know which one we can start with. It's actually a nobleman's dance, the rich people do it at parties and stuff, and it's really simple, give me your hand.” He stuck his own hand out expectantly.

Zuko hesitated just to nonverbally make the point that he thought this was stupid, but placed his hand inside Aang's nonetheless. He was then immediately thrown off his game as Aang pulled him forward so his hand could go on Aang's waist while Aang's went to his shoulder. Before Zuko could really catch up, Aang already had his other hand and was holding it out to their sides.

“This is the basic stance. Sometimes you break apart for other moves, but for the most part, you get to just stay like this and it's all in the foot work.” 

Aang grinned up at Zuko like that was supposed to reassure him, but Zuko was still trying to process the current situation.

“There's two parts to this, the lead and the follow. You should start by learning to lead though, that's what you're doing.” He nodded his head toward the side where he had his hand on Zuko's shoulder and Zuko's hand on his waist like that was supposed to mean anything to Zuko. “Now, just follow my steps. It's a basic three moves, okay?”

Aang looked up at him expectantly, and Zuko figured it sounded simple enough. Then something else occurred to him. “Wait, if I'm ‘leading’ why are you,” he hesitated as he tried to figure out how to word it, “leading?” was the word he uselessly landed on.

Thankfully Aang understood what he meant and let out a light easy laugh that coaxed some of the gathering tension from Zuko's shoulders. “It's just the name for things. Dancing isn't something you think about, you just do it. It doesn't matter what words you use, just follow me.”

“Whatever you say.” Zuko muttered.

Aang nodded before slowly taking a step back. It, a bit embarrassingly, took Zuko a second to figure out how he was supposed to follow Aang, but when he stepped forward to match Aang's movement, the proud grin he got as a reward seemed so much more poignant that close up.

Aang moved his other leg back in a bit of a sweep and Zuko, expecting it this time, followed along easily enough, ended by them bringing their feet back together. “Great!” Aang praised. “Now it's the same thing but backward, so now you step back.”

As he obeyed and repeated the moves backward, he found it was strangely gratifying as Aang moved with him step for step.

“Now we just do that box again.” With that, Aang once again stepped back.

Zuko followed after him as they moved smoothly through the cycle. It felt almost as easy as breathing, moving and matching Aang step for step and despite how simple the repetitive moves were, he was captivated. The flow of it, the simple trust that each step would be matched, how close they could be together and yet never run into each other. 

He found himself staring at Aang as Aang watched their hands for some reason Zuko was sure he'd never really understand. The simple focus in Aang, the ease with which he did everything, as though there really was nothing to think about, just movements shared, it was all fascinating to Zuko.

So much so that it took Zuko a moment to realize he was probably staring too hard when Aang turned back to him and gave him a weird look. Then it was Zuko's turn to look at their hands, but even that caught his eye in such an unexpected way. Getting to see the blue arrow cradled in his own hand as they glided over the floor, never wavering, like it was meant to rest there, caused a confusing flux of emotion he couldn't quite name.

Not that he'd ever been particularly good at that to begin with, but he felt even more lost than usual, like there was something he was missing.

“Zuko?”

Zuko's focus snapped back to Aang who was looking at him with an amused confusion. “You look like you're thinking, and I'm pretty sure I just said no thinking.” He teased and thankfully didn't ask about the thinking. Zuko had no idea how he'd answer.

So instead he latched onto the familiar easiness of teasing. “Sorry, not all of us can magically turn off our brains whenever we want.”

Aang's wide amused grin was almost difficult to witness when he was standing that close. “It's really not that hard. Maybe I should teach you how to meditate next.”

Zuko scowled. “I know how to meditate.”

“But you're really bad at it.” Aang pointed out without mercy. “Besides, maybe if I'm there it'll be easier to not overthink things.”

Zuko, for some strange reason, highly doubted that.

[marymary-diva17]

A marriage of peace and political (3)

zuko x reader x male mai

The daughter that had been gone for many years had finally come home, arriving back at the nation of her birth. It had been so many years she had laid eyes on her people and they had laid eyes on her. She was no longer the young woman that had been married off for peace, she was a woman,wife, and mother, lady or fire nation and southern water tribe. She had become that is respect and trusted by all of the nation, she had master her skills in bending and ruling a nation as well.

Y/n " ......."

Sokka " there have been reports of former fir nation prisoners being released in numbers"

y/n " well yes it had been discussed those how didn't commit crimes that are very bad and make them a danger to the public, have been released and allowed to start over"

sokka " oh"

y/n " yes most of them have started brand new lives in earth kingdom"

katara " you seem to know alot about this"

y/n " I was the on who made the idea and spoke about to the fire nation council, and they have approved of it"

aang " that a wonderful idea y/n giving other a chance in life again"

y/n " yes"

earth king " lady y/n I will like to ask you about trade between the earth kingdom and fire nation, as my nation will like to use more metal in our stuff"

y/n " well your majesty you are in luck there are some companies that will, love to do with you company with a great deal in to them as well"

earth king " we can make that happen"

bato " it seems like thing have been going well for you in the fire nation, four sons and the title of lady y/n"

y/n " yes after the war had ended change had to come it was not easy, and slow at first but we are getting there"

hakoda " if you don't mind me asking how has the former fire lord been after that fight between him and the avatar" there had been uprising because of ozai which ended bad for him in the end, and good for everyone else.

sokka " yes the fire nation had taken him away"

y/n " he been placed under arrest in the nation watched closely, he can no longer bending after aang had taken it away"

aang " sorry about that"

y/n " it okay zuko and azula rule together as one"

toph " wow you think they will be fighting for the crown and title"

y/n " they haven't it seems like they came to terms that their father had used them"

katara " that good"

hakoda " has he meet the boys"

y/n " yes he has under the watch of zuko,azula, and iroh they don't trust him and either do I"

noble man " so the evil fire lord got to see the grandchildren before her own father"

y/n " my dear sir will you like to say that louder"

noble man " oh no I didn't mean it like ..."

y/n " I know how you meant it dear sir"

sokka " sister sorry about that"

y/n " it okay"

squire " excuse me the kyohsi warriors have arrived"

hakoda " that kyohis warriors"

squire " yes chef they ar the guards of your daughter and grandchildren"

sokka " that means suki with them let them in please" soon the door open and soon walked in suki and some of her warriors.

y/n " suki welcome I'm guessing my husbands sent you to come"

suki " y/n hello and yes I and some of the women came to, see you and my nephews where are they"

y/n " being their usual selves like always"

sokka " sukki welcome"

suki " sokka it good to see you are doing well" sukki had given sokka a cold glare.

hakoda " welcome ladies you will be our guests while you are all here guarding my daughter and grandson, I have warriors here if you need help"

kyohsi warrior " where has been for the last couple years oh yes here"

suki " I and my warriors are honored to be here and if we need help we will ask"

sokka " well I think we can call the meeting of day one to an end"

hakoda " yes I hope to have discussions with the fire lords and other fire nation officials"

y/n " you will father I will make sure of it" you had looked at your father and bowed your head in respect to the room and they did the same as well. You soon left the room with the kyoshi warriors following you as well.

suki " we have thought you will need some support against them"

y/n " thank you it going to be a very long time here"

y/n " let go find the boys" you soon started walking down the steps towards the village center.

????? " hey y/n wait up" you had heard your name getting called your siblings and their friends soon showed up, they race to meet you on the finally step.

katara " we were wondering if we can come with you"

y/n " oh"

sokka " well we haven't been with you in so many years we missed so much in your life"

toph " yes snow princess and it seems like sugar queen and boomerang boy have been dying to get to know their nephews, a bit more"

aang " yes we will love to get to now them knowing that I might be their uncle in the future"

katara " yes aang speaks the truth"

suki " i don't thin that a good idea...."

y/n " it okay suki you all can come with us to find the boys" you soon stepped off the finally step along with everyone else, you were trying to see the boys.

kid " hey come on we have to go see this match"

kid 2 " I'm coming I'm coming"

kid 3 " this will be so cool"

sokka " hey what going on here"

kid 4 " there this battle going to take place between some of boys here and some boys that arrived here for the event" you right away knew the other boys are your sons.

katara " we should go see what this is all about"

y/n " I have a feeling" the group of adults made their way to see what was the matter, and soon saw your four boys across from some other kids.

sokka " what going on here"

teen " just a friendly match that all we have been doing it all day while the adults are talking"

sokka " oh my spirts"

hakoda " what with all the chaos here"

sokka " dad it seems like the kids have found a way to keep themselves entertained by some matches"

hakoda " you all wish to battle these boys form fire nation"

crowd " fire nation boys"

hakoda " yes these boys are from very high rank family"

teen 2 " so they are nobility"

Muko " well yes and no"

hakoda " are you boys sure about this match this is way different here as it being snow, you might not be used to the environment"

izo " well I think we will do well"

uze " it seems like a good match as we been watching the rest and study"

man " study my boys here are good benders from our family they can take on anyone"

hakoda " boys are you sure about this"

muko,izo, and uze " yes" the three boys looked at their mother brother who seem, not to care that much about this whole situation.

zoja " I don't care it will be fun to knock down egotistical people down a bit"

teen 3 " you think you are going to beat us"

zoja " maybe"

muko " maybe we enter the battle sir as this is your tribe" hakoda looked at you as you nodded your head.

hakoda " sure"

y/n " boys remember what you father, aunt, uncles, and mother have helped you learn"

the boys " yes lady y/n"

suki " this is going to be interesting" everyone had taken their seats and started watching the battle began.

teen " we will go easy on you four"

zoja " oh we will make sure to go easy on you not wishing to humiliate you all front of everyone watching"

teen " huh ... ahhh" the first teen had soon been pinned against a ice wall by some draggers. These draggers belong to uze who was now smiling at the boy.

izo " lets go" izo and muko soon went after two of the fire bending at them, making the boys lost thier balance and soon fall down a small hole.

zoja " now are you going to give up or do we have to fight"

teen 4 " I will never back down" zoji had tossed some draggers at the boy but he missed it, which was part of zoja plan as the man had ran at him soon hitting his legs soon sending the boy falling to the ground.

teen 4 " hey I can't move what did you do"

zoja " found your pressure points dont worry I will fix it" zoji had undone what he did, the boy could move his legs again but had soon been pinned down a dragger in his shirt sleeve.

muko " mother did we make your proud" everyone was looking at you as the boys looked at you.

y/n " good job"

katara " that was amazing they moved so fast like it was nothing"

sokka " wait so muko and izo can bend fire while uze and zoja are no bender but fight like Mao and ...."

suki " ty lee had taught all the boys here skills of taking down enemies"

katara " those were some water bending moves"

y/n " yes I taught them that"

aang " that amazing"

hakoda " that was amazing boys"

y/n " yes I proud of you all and it seems like iroh has helped you all learn some new moves as well"

zoja " yes and over some tea and wisdom" the boys soon help the other boys up and free from their traps.

muko " good match maybe in our rematch you can beat us"

teen " you have a deal and you taught us a good lesson thank you"

uze " your welcome"

suki "good jobs it seems like you are taking our lessons well"

the boys " aunt suki" the boys had ran to go greet thier aunt happy to see she was here.

sokka " wait so you knew of them this whole time"

suki ' yes as guard to the royal family I got to be there for your sister and them, when you were here helping the world"

uze " aunt suki had helped us learn some combat skills, wait so you are the guy she meet many years ago that was being rude and mad at women had beat him in combat"

sokka " oh you kids have bene told about that"

zoja " yes we have heard many things about you all from our mother and others"

katara " I hope they were all good things"

Muko " oh yes some good thing here and there"

y/n " come on children there is some place I wish to take you all" the kids had nodded their heads, and soon followed you outside form the village and towards some grave sites.

y/n " hello mother and gran gran I have come home it has been so long, since I was here but I haven't come alone I have brought my children as well .... I have a wonderful marriage and wonderful family as well" you had bowed your head toward the two graves and the kids had done the same as well.

katara " mom will be so proud of you sister she will be proud of us all"

y/n " yes she will be proud"

hakoda " yes she will be proud of our family and now we have four new members to add to the family" the boys had looked at each other and soon back at hakoda.

katara " dinner will be served later today will you and the children care to join us"

y/n " kids do you feel like having a family dinner"

muko " we will love that mom"

y/n " well then it agreed on we will love to come"

aang " good there will be meat options and vegetation as well, so there will be many cheese"

izo " thank you for telling us that avatar aang"

aang " you can call me aang boys" the boys had nodded their heads later on family dinner had been served, the boys seem to be having a good time.

katara " y/n are you really happy in your relationship with zuko and Mao, you did marry them after all that happened between the avatar team and them"

y/n " yes I'm happy with them katara and I was there as well during some of the moments of war, I have learned to forgive them and see them in good light"

katara " oh"

y/n " so when we will be expecting another but for you and aang this time around"

katara " we have been talking about marriage but the question hasn't been asked yet"

y/n " don't worry he will ask soon and I know your marriage will be good"

katara " thank you sister and when I get married I will love you and your family to be there as well, and maybe the boys will have cousins to play with in the future"

y/n " yes that will be wonderful"

katara " are you planning to have another kid or this four enough"

y/n " well yes I will love one more kid to added to my family and I have a feeling this time it will be water bender"

katara " that will be amazing to see my sister"

y/n " yes it will be" you had smiled while driving some tea and keeping up conversation with your sister and the others. It was easy to tell there was some unspoken tension between suki and sokka. The feast had come to end and everyone was heading back to their rooms they will be staying.

Hakoda " y/n I'm really happy you came home it has been to long, since you were here"

y/n " yes it has father"

sokka " maybe when you are here to we can see if you can talk you into staying here a bit longer"

Izo " staying here"

y/n " thank you brother but I will need to have that discussion with my husbands and the kids, before think about a matter of moving and them being the heirs of nation will not be easy"

sokka " yes we understand sister"

suki " we will be taking you back to where you are staying and it not far from us as well"

y/n " thank you good night everyone" you soon bowed your head toward your family and the rest of avatar team, as you had been escorted to where you will be staying with the kids. The boys had bene helped out of their clothes by the servants and soon went off to bed.

suki " what are you doing"

y/n " writing a letter to my husbands, my sister in law, and Iroh giving them an update of what happen today and hoping one of them will come a day sooner"

suki " that a good idea"

y/n " so you and sokka is that still a close scroll or no"

suki " i don't know things didn't end well between me and him, and I still haven't found a way to forgive him"

y/n " I understand suki but thank you for coming here"

suki " anything for my friend I will be retiring for the night but not far away, I also made a route for the guards to switch shifts tonight ... but we also have water tribe guards as well"

y/n " thank you suiki sleep well" suki soon left you had gotten done with the letters and rolled them up, as you walked towards the message hawk and place the rolled up letters into it hold.

y/n " be safe flying back home friend to the fire nation palace" the hawk soon took off into the air leaving the southern water tribe and the freezing north. You had soon got dressed for bed and laid in the bed, praying the rest of the time here will be good. There had been some news you had kept from everyone, that was meant to be shared later on but that might not go to plan after all. Right now your duty was to keep the peace for the two nation, and make sure you children stay safe as well. Just maybe you will be able to rebuild your relationship with your family and tribe, and everything will be god juts mayeb indeed.

[lilflowerpot]

so you've talked a bit about Voltron and Last Airbender on this blog, and I was wondering about what both the galra populace in general and Lotor specifically would think of Zuko's refusal to fight his father. would it be viewed as noble or as disrespect/cowardice?

Zuko's conduct would be considered noble, but Ozai's was disgraceful.

Zuko: "If I'm going to lead this nation one day, don't you think I need to start learning as much as I can?"

One of the very first things we see of the events leading up to the Agni Kai, is Zuko's reasoning for even being present in that war council in the first place: he is determined to learn from his father and those whose council the Fire Lord keeps, so that he himself may be properly prepared to wear the Fire Nation crown when that burden ultimately falls to him. This is not only noble, but dutiful too, and shows an incredible level of self-awareness & responsibility given that Zuko was only t h i r t e e n at the time.

When one of Ozai's Generals explains his plan to sacrifice a division of entirely new recruits to an Earth Kingdom battalion, intending to use them as a diversion with the self-confessed expectation that they will all fail and die, Zuko's response is one of outrage—

Zuko: "You can't sacrifice an entire division like that! Those soldiers love and defend our nation! How can you betray them?"

—and this is exceedingly telling of his moral character. Where all the veterans in that room take this to be an acceptable loss (and the General who suggested it in fact seeming quite perversely pleased with the idea), Zuko views these untested greenhorns not as pieces on a board, but people; his father's people, one day his people, and though everyone in that room sees great value in them and their loyalty to the Fire Nation, Zuko alone thinks not of how to exploit this but rather how to be worthy of their devotion rather than see it misplaced.

So from a galra perspective, Zuko has many of the qualities that I previously expressed would win Keith favour:

straightforward without a taste (let alone the aptitude) for mind-games

stands with absolute conviction and is willing to fight for what he believes in

kind, considerate, and loyal

Iroh: "The Fire Lord became very angry with him. He said that Prince Zuko's challenge of the General was an act of complete disrespect, and there was only one way to resolve this. [Agni Kai, a fire duel.] Zuko looked upon the old general he had insulted and declared that he was not afraid, but Zuko misunderstood. When he turned to face his opponent, he was surprised to see it was not the General. Zuko had spoken out against the General's plan, but by doing so in the Fire Lord's war room, it was the Fire Lord whom he had disrespected."

Now this is actually crucial to understanding Zuko's character and sense of loyalty, because he never intended to disrespect his father, and frankly I don't think he had any idea that Ozai had even taken offence until he was stood across from from at the Agni Kai.

Zuko: "Please, Father! I only had the Fire Nation's best interest at heart! I'm sorry I spoke out of turn!" Ozai: "You will fight for your honour." Zuko, falling to his knees, head bowed: "I meant you no disrespect! I am your loyal son." Ozai: "Rise and fight, Prince Zuko." Zuko: "I won't fight you." Ozai: "You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher."

By the end of this exchange, Zuko is on his knees, tears literally streaming down his face, and trembling like a leaf. He is terrified, and yet, despite that, we are explicitly told that Zuko outright refused to fight his father—nor did he resist in any other manner, or so we can assume by the placement of his burn scar being the entire front half of his face, rather than on his arm had he shielded himself, or on his back had he run—and thus Ozai further condemns him, claiming that Zuko's refusal to fight him had been a display of "shameful weakness."

This would be significant to the Galra threefold.

For one, and I cannot stress this enough, Zuko was a child. As I've reiterated a thousand times children are precious to the galra, immeasurably so, and therefore to raise a single hand to a child is grave offence, but to not only burn them so severely that it scars, but make a public show of it?? That kind of cruelty is an outrage. If Zuko was wrong, he deserved to be corrected and educated (something he himself actively sought hence his attending the meeting in the first place!), not mutilated.

For another, there's the scar itself. Horrific as the circumstances surrounding its acquisition were, from a galra perspective Zuko's handling of the situation was befitting of the greatest of warriors. Imperial attitude towards scars are such that they are generally considered badges of honour: something to be revered and even reveled in. A scar is the mark of a battle survived, and in fact, the only instance in which a scar might be treated with disdain is if it were on one’s back, as this might imply either foolishness for having turned away from your enemy, or, worse yet, cowardice due to the bearer having tried to flee rather than fight. Zuko, however, despite his youth, despite his fear, despite not deserving it in the slightest,,, faced his father head on and accepted Imperial judgment. There are fully-fledged warriors ten times his age that would struggle to do the same, and that alone is worthy of the highest commendation.

While the galra would consider the Agni Kai itself a perfectly acceptable method of resolving an otherwise unsolvable dispute, the bare minimum one would expect would be each participant knowing who the other was and on exactly what grounds the challenge was set. So finally, even if Zuko were an adult who spoke out against a plan that his Emperor endorsed, he did so without knowing that his Emperor endorsed it: Ozai at no point made this clear, we know from context that this was Zuko's first time in the war room (so he had no prior frame of reference for what was / wasn't appropriate), and upon learning that his father had taken offence he immediately //throws himself at his feet in sincere apology and pleads for mercy//... there were several steps that should have been taken before resorting to rite of combat, and Ozai disregarded each and every one in favour of making a malicious point. It wasn't behaviour befitting of any galra in a position of power, but least of all the Emperor.

Ultimately, the galra consider it the Emperor's duty (or, in this case, the Fire Lord's) to serve and protect the Empire and all its citizens; yes, sometimes this is going to come at a steep cost, and yes, sometimes the good of the many may indeed come at the cost of the few, but irrespective of whether Zuko's opinion at the war council was right or wrong, Ozai's reaction was entirely disproportionate. For all the galra are a people with a strong sense of loyalty to their Emperor/Empress, this is something that’s supposed to go both ways, so they will remain loyal to their Monarch only for so long as said Monarch is loyal to their people in return, and absolutely nothing about Ozai's conduct surrounding the Agni Kai indicated that this was the case.

Tldr; Ozai's a POS, thanks for coming to my ted talk.

[quitealotofsodapop]

One thing I don't think is mentioned enough is the fact that during the journey, a lot of Celestials took the opportunity to just... outright FUCK around with Wukong. Like, they'd send all sorts of demons their way intentionally just to intervene and say "Oh hey! You found my favorite pet!" Even Guanyin hadn't been innocent of this considering she had this huge fit over her pet goldfish. And if they weren't using their pets they were finding other methods to delay or otherwise force the Pilgrims off the beaten path and into danger out of some sort of test, spite, or pettiness.

Now, think about how in the both JTTW and Slow Boiled au Wukond actually was pregnant or not during the journey, and in Century au, the Heavenly Court BELIEVE he was pregnant. So imagine how those guys feel after they decided to fuck with Wukong put of spite and found out they unknowingly were stressing a pregnant monkey out!?

Yeah! Characters like Gold Star hide their identities to aid the main characters, while some are just... doing it for fun? Are they LARP-ing? And Monkey has Gold-Vision; why does he always not recognise these people even from his Celestial days?

Guanyin set up a whole honey trap knowing that half the squad ain't into it, and dropped the gang on their way home cus they missed 1 story event. The abbey with the Ginseng tree were pretty rude af. The Buddha's own servants tried to fleece the gang of the scriptures. Multiple kingdoms suffered cus King Who-Care shot somebody's bird-cousin, or knocked over a table of offerings. And the 28 Lunar Mansions took almost 13 years to realise that the Wood Wolf was missing.

Lao Tzu's lab assisants literally run off with his stuff and become demon lords for lulz (or they were the assisants that let the Rhino King/Buffalo out and were scared that they'd get in trouble). And lets not forget RHINO KING. Bruh, you somehow lost track of a gotdang celestial Bull-Rhino!?

Guanyin's not immune from this; TWO of her pets became horrific demons (Goldfish and Sai Taisui) and are arguably the most irredeemable of all the villains faced.

Lady Earth Flow/Albino Rat/Bat spirit is even described as Li Jing's adoptive daughter - how the f that happen?? How did he lose track of a whole kid so bad that she became a vampire-esque demon?

Manjusri let their cat (Azure Lion) out TWICE. And they cursed the Wuji kingdom for tossing them in a sewer for preeching.

After a point, I'd imagine Wukong in the stone egg aus would just throw his hands up and start yelling at the gods directly. He's even bolder in the Jttw Stone Egged au given that he has Macaque as back-up.

You know that chapter where Rhino King steals all of the Heavenly Army's powers and weapons, and the immortals are all infighting so hard that Wukong has to be the voice of reason?

Imagine a tiny hormonal monkey just going nuts at these gods. He's screaming in their faces. He's demanding Nezha lift him up so he can look General Li Jing in the eye. He's telling them what good are they as fighters if they only feel safe with their weapons and powers? Wukong has a *damn* good reason he ain't taking on Rhino King in a 1-v-1 rn, whats all these gods excuse?!

The gods are too surprised and intimidated to argue back. And you better believe a certain alchemist is getting a smack for letting a whole animal loose from his lab.

[conundrumoftime]

Galadriel and Celeborn in earlier drafts of LOTR (part 2)

Previous: here

Starting off with a passage that exists in LOTR but not in the earlier drafts, because I think it's really interesting in the context of even later developments. This is the section where Galadriel is telling Celeborn off for snapping at Gimli:

Do not repent of your welcome to the Dwarf. If our folk had been exiled long and far from Lothlorien, who of the Galadhrim, even Celeborn the Wise, would pass nigh and would not wish to look upon their ancient home, thought it had become an abode of dragons?

Because Tolkien changed Galadriel and Celeborn's story and particularly Celeborn's origin so much (thoughts and prayers for Christopher dealing with that when you can practically hear the sighs in his editorial notes), I don't know whether Tolkien was thinking of him as the Sindar prince-of-Doriath Celeborn that he became later. But if he was - and even if he wasn't, just viewing this in the light of that version of Celeborn - this feels like quite a surprising thing for Galadriel to say, since his folk have been exiled long and far from their kingdom and his ancient home is now ruins beneath the sea.

From one of the Unfinished Tales 'History of Galadriel and Celeborn' versions:

In Doriath she met Celeborn, grandson of Elmo the brother of Thingol. For love of Celeborn, who would not leave Middle-earth (and probably with some pride of her own, for she had been one of those eager to adventure there), she did not go West at the Downfall of Melkor, but crossed Ered Lindon with Celeborn and came into Eriador. [...] Celeborn and Galadriel therefore went eastwards, about the year 700 or so of the Second Age, and established the (primarily but by no means solely) Noldorin region of Eregion. It may be that Galadriel chose it because she knew of the Dwarves of Khazad-Dûm (Moria). [...] Celeborn had no liking for Dwarves of any race (as he showed to Gimli in Lothlorien), and never forgave them for their part in the destruction of Doriath; but it was only the host of Nogrod that took part in that assault [...] In any case, Galadriel was more far-sighted in this than Celeborn; and she perceived from the beginning that Middle-earth could not be saved from 'the residue of evil' that Morgoth had left behind him save by a union of all the peoples who were in their way and in their measure opposed to him. She looked upon the Dwarves also with the eyes of a commander, seeing in them the finest warriors to pit against the orcs.

There's a brief addition to this in The War of the Jewels where Tolkien goes even further on that to say that in blaming the Dwarves, Celeborn was 'passing over Morgoth's part in this (by angering of Húrin), and Thingol's own faults'. Not mentioned, but definitely also prominent in the list of People Who Have Wronged Doriath: Galadriel's own cousins, who invaded and burnt it and murdered a lot of its people. Blaming unrelated dwarves by association when your Noldor wife is standing right there is well goodness quite an approach; but I'm also intrigued by the suggestion that he refused to blame any of it on Thingol.

Anyway my point for this post is that with Celeborn's Dwarf Issues being very firmly placed (definitely later on if not at the time Tolkien was writing FOTR) as because of Doriath, then it's an interesting choice on her part to ask him to empathise with dwarves wanting to return to their once-glorious kingdom that had fallen into ruin just to look upon it once again. (This is something I've played around with in fic before, the idea that while Galadriel is torn between 'home' as Valinor where she grew up and 'home' as Middle-earth where she spent most of her life, Celeborn can't ever go home to the place where he grew up - it's as gone as Númenor is.

Anyway! Back to the early LOTR draft, and Galadriel tempting the Fellowship/testing their loyalty/whatever you want to see her as doing here:

She looked at each in turn, but none blenched. Only Sam blushed and hung his head before the Lady's glance left him. I felt as if I hadn't got nothing on,' he explained afterwards. 'I didn't like it - she seemed to be looking inside me, and asking me whether I would like to fly back to the Shire.' Each of them had a similar experience, and had felt as if he had been presented with a choice between death and something which he desired greatly, peace, ease [written above: freedom], wealth, or lordship. "I suppose it was just a test," said Boromir. "It felt almost like a temptation."

LOTR version:

And with that word she held them with her eyes, and in silence looked searchingly at each of them in turn. None save Legolas and Aragorn could long endure her glance. Sam quickly bushed and turned away. [...] "What did you blush for, Sam?" said Pippin. "You soon broke down. Anyone would have thought you had a guilty conscience. I hope it was nothing worse than a wicked plot to steal one of my blankets." "I never thought no such thing," answered Sam, in no mood for jest. "If you want to know, I felt as though I hadn't got nothing on, and I didn't like it. She seemed to be looking inside me and asking me what I would do if she gave me the choice of flying back home to the Shire to a nice little hole with - with a bit of garden of my own." All of them, it seemed, had fared alike; each had felt that he was offered a choice between a shadow full of fear that lay ahead, and something that he greatly desired: clear before his mind it lay, and to get it he had only to turn aside from the road and leave the Quest and the war against Sauron to others. [...] "To me it seemed exceedingly strange," said Boromir. "Maybe it was only a test, and she thought to read our thoughts for her own good purpose; but almost I should have said that she was tempting us, and offering what she pretended to have the power to give."

Gardens as Sam's temptation is also what the One Ring offers him, although that temptation is about Samwise the Great with a whole realm of gardens.

Which brings me to Nenya and the Three Rings for the Elven-kings.

This point in writing LOTR is also where Tolkien starts sketching out an origin for the Rings of Power and Sauron's connection to them. Origin stories considered include this one in which the elves made them but under Sauron's guidance:

In Ancient Days Sauron the Great contrived many things of wonder. For a time his purpose was not turned wholly to evil, or was concealed; and he went much among the Elves of Middle-earth and knew their secret counsels [...] [T]he Rings of Power were made by Elven-smiths, but Sauron was present at their making: his was the thought and theirs the skill

And this one in which Fëanor made them

In Ancient Days, the Rings of Power were made long ago in the lands beyond the Sea. It is said that they were first contrived by Fëanor, the greatest of all the makers among the Elves. His purpose was not evil, yet in it was the Great Enemy But they were stolen by the Great Enemy and brought to Middle-earth.

Christopher describes this as his father 'revolving the mode by which he should withdraw the Three Rings of the Elves from inherent evil and derivation from the Enemy', and talks about this in connection with this line of Boromir's from the first version of an earlier chapter:

"The Three Rings remain still. They have conferred great power on the Elves, but they have never yet availed themselves in their strife with Sauron. For they came from Sauron himself, and can give no skill or knowledge that he did not already possess."

But then back to Lothlorien, and a quickly drafted version of Galadriel's words to Frodo in which she says the Three were not made by Sauron:

Frodo offers Galadriel the Ring. She laughs. Says he is revenged for her temptation. Confesses that the thought had occurred to her. But she will only retain the unsullied Ring. Too much evil lay in the Ruling Ring. It is not permitted to use anything that Sauron has made.

OK I'm going to leave this one at that for now. Next time: Mirror, 'Many Partings', and the epilogue.

[katyspersonal]

Gotta point this out for certain though, SOTE is definitely not the first time Fromsoft was creating the story with the direction of "well we thought it was the final draft, but we then decided to continue it which resulted in a retcon that makes it awkward"! Dark Souls 3 IS this thing too!

Dark Souls 2 pushed very hard for the idea that Drangleic was build on the ruins of countless kingdoms that raised and fell for absurd amount of cycles on the earth where Lordran stood all this time ago! This is why there are so many weapons and sorceries owned by characters from Dark Souls 1 "whose names were long forgotten" and more importantly, this is why "Old Ones" are reincarnations of Gwyn, Nito, Witch of Izalith and Seath! Not the first reincarnations, mind you, as Vendrick also beat them up back in his time! Literally the "How many times do we have to teach you, old man" moment hdhygnm

But, Dark Souls 3 kinda retconned this into a situation where all these magics, objects and legends just mysteriously got washed into Drangleic through all these traveling people, and "names being forgotten" is just a severe case of long distance and lack of communication with their places of origin... all while Anor Londo and Lordran literally still exist this whole time and only very few people had enough braincells to just go there ghthfyh (Aldia to convince Lothric to not be a Melina, Bearer of the Curse for some reasons but they told the world about Lucatiel, Creighton moving in Irithyll and.... fuckin Gilligan to become father to Sulyvahn, it isn't even a joke..)

And it makes the Old Ones + Daughters of Dark really funny because it just makes the original Four Lords and Knuckles Seath still end up in the same place after having somehow traveling away from Lordran despite not being quite themselves anymore. It is like fate. They are always destined to meet again only to be beaten by some human. Red strings of HATE.

And yet, it isn't as if DS2 and DS3 are just two variants that are both sequels to DS1 and you just choose which variant you like more! Dark Souls 3 calls back to Dark Souls 2 too much, DS2 events happened and their aftermath is in DS3 plot. The thing is.. here, Dark Souls 3 existing after all this doesn't make the overall trilogy story bad, but it does make it awkward, and absurd in some places! How everyone "forgotten" people who literally lived overseas and are still remembered there. (And imagine how much more awkward it would be if they DID include Patches in DS2 like they planned to! xD Also more fuel for me to not consider Queen of Lothric to be Gwynevere as to not create a character who ran from her problems twice, from the same problem :p)

I guess my point here is like... Fromsoft just kind of does it, and they might do it again. Dark Souls 2 was developed with the idea in mind that it would be it, every character in it hammers it into your brain, but then Dark Souls 3 happened! And it good that it did, the whole game is a meta commentary on what happens when people don't let the story end! And Elden Ring, by Miyazaki's admission, was created with cropping a lot of lore, plotlines and some characters (like Messmer) from original vision as the game was already too massive... but then they decided to make DLC with those ideas anyways! That likewise created retcons of some ideas that had previously fell into their places very neatly and made stories of Miquella, Malenia, Radahn and Marika flow less conveniently, but! they!! didn't even know at the moment!!! that they'd get to make the DLC!!!

I think they always could just do it again; give their product everything just in case if it flops and sequel/DLC doesn't get made, so the standalone thing feels self-suffucient! Fromsoft just looks like they don't take calculated risks but always act through the prism of "assume it already didn't sell well", and never abandoned this philosophy even while making base Elden Ring! Despite how much their reputation was proceeding them by the time! And honestly, when I understand there is likely pattern, it is hard to be mad at their decisions or how awkward they make the story. Like, yeah, sometimes the "the product made as if it already fropped" and "the surprise sequel/DLC" bits are practically Frankensteined rather than blend harmonically, but that's their thing! It isn't a perfect philosophy of creating their stories, but it is individual, and no company or specific writer could ever be perfect. (I think to truly enjoy someone's unique approach is to accept the sharp, inconvenient bits too rather than trying to "fix" it into perfection, but that's just my perspective on creativity process)

[chillwildwave]

The Wishing Kingdom: Our Command

Hey y’all, I think it is time for me to come up with this conclusion before I rewrite the villain song, I saw some of the issues surrounding Magnifico’s villain song such as the upbeat attitude and the lyrics being awful, for instance, when he says that he lets the people of Rosas live there for free and he doesn’t charge rent, that’s the same thing, like come on, we’ve had so many cool villain songs over the years and you guys CHOSE THIS ONE, I mean yeah, enough of my ranting let’s just get into my version!

So in my version of the rewritten song, which is titled “Our Command”, is sung by Magnifico and Amaya as they are mostly mocking Asha’s conflict with wanted to please her parents by showing them that she is capable of being a wishgranter but has no skills whatsoever therefore saying that she’s unworthy of getting what she wants, the vibe I went for with this song is “Playing With The Big Boys”, “Mother Knows Best” and “In The Dark Of The Night”, so this will mostly be the couple showing their evil nature towards Asha despite being adopted by them.

Now, let’s get into it, shall we?

(Amaya speaking)

Oh, Asha, didn’t we tell you before?

(Magnifico)

There’s power, and there’s strength,

No matter what size, or even length,

You see this?! Is what you’re asking,

From us,

(Amaya)

Now what do you have to say?

Too nervous, what a bad day,

Too tedious to speak up,

Why won’t you stand up!

(Both)

By the power of glory,

How are we so unworthy?

Trust us we’ll do the talking,

Stay shut, it’s our command!

(Magnifico)

You see all these powers,

That you hold in your hands,

It seems like not everything works as your plan,

Let us teach you how to use it well,

(Amaya)

Whoops, that was all a slip up,

Looks like the crown will pass on,

(Asha)

But please, I swear it didn’t happen…

(Amaya)

Who cares, they’re just excuses!

(Both impersonating Asha)

It’s impossible,

It’s all so useless,

Why is this so hard?

Give me time to regard?

(Asha)

Is this all still a joke?

It’s not meant for that way!

(Magnifico)

Call the guards, you shall stay OUT,

Thats the case if you don’t obey!

(Both)

You’re nothing but a failure,

No questions, Session’s over,

Get gone don’t grab my hand,

This is our command!

We’ve got something to do,

Don’t worry, pet, we’ve got you,

Ha, lies, don’t mean to burst your bubble,

Now, GO, before you’re in big, big…

(Magnifico)

TROUBLE!

There is also a reprise of the same song but is in a point where the couple held Antares captive while they’re about to get rid of his magical seed inside of his broach which made up star beings in the first place, and they wanted to steal it as revenge for not granting their wish and he is to blame! It’s a bit like “The Plagues” mashed up with “Hellfire” and “Friends On The Other Side” but it’s just as intense as those songs as with this, Antares was close to losing his power without that seed and all the stars as well.

(Antares)

Ugh, ugh, can you just, let me go for once?!

(Magnifico)

Uh, uh, uh, not so fast you stupid fool, right now, we’ve got a lesson to teach you…

Serveras, obstructum, evalidae qui,

Come feed all the wind and the misery,

(Amaya)

Grasunis, fraronfi, measelle stet,

Let heaven and earth break down at their fate,

(Both)

What left you hear at fault?

Our hearts were left so cold,

Because of you, so young,

We’ll take that power from your tongue,

Be prepared for your undoing,

For hell shall see you kneeling,

Now this time you won’t stand,

Now this is OUR COMMAND!

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more!

@annymation @uva124 @kstarsarts @oh-shtars @tumblingdownthefoxden @thisnameisnotspokenfor @frogcoven88 @signed-sapphire @wings-of-sapphire @rylxdreams @hopeyarts @dangerousflowerpanda @your-ne1ghbor @rascalentertainments @spectator-zee @mythartist21 @gracebethartacc @gracebeth3604 @lunellasflo @mafik-sun @emillyverse @synergysilhouette

[starboysbrainrot]

I have never publicly said this but : Jet drowning Gaipan and Zuko burning down Kyoshi Island are

1) narrative parallels

2) are widely exaggerated by the fandom as actions taking place in a 100 years war and performed by two teenagers

because yes context does matter. and you CANNOT possibly think that these actions come even close to the atrocities of what the rough rhinos did to Jet’s village or what Ozai intended to do to the Earth Kingdom.

NO THIS IS NOT ME EXCUSING WHAT THEY DID. DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THIS.

all I’m saying is that context, intentions and knowing what is going on in a character’s head are actually important in that case for a better understanding of their actions.

let’s take a look at Jet. he’s an orphan boy, who grew up with this very idea that every thing that went wrong in his life was caused by the FN (which is true) and that the only way for him to survive is to fight the FN (which is, again, true). therefore, the logical conclusion to years of trauma, and impregnated ideas of vengeance and wrath is to loose touch with your sense of morality and ending up doing heinous things because he’s convinced that it is the right thing to do. the ONLY thing to do. to survive and to escape the war. what people like to forget is that Jet didn’t grow up like Sokka and Katara, who even though faced a terrible tragedy after their mother’s death, and had to live in a tribe that had been weakened by the FN, also lived in a sheltered place for most of their lives, with their Gran Gran and father’s love, with a community, a family. Jet grew up in constant solitude, hunger, pain, fear, death and had to become a parent to those around him. and that’s not me trying to compare them. but you cannot seriously think that they grew up in the same conditions. growing up like that you just CANNOT turn out fine. the absence of love and protection coming from an adult actually does that to a kid. as time passes he realises that he, as an orphan boy, has to do what has to be done in order to survive. the question of morality doesn’t even crosses his mind. because fear and anger are the only thing left for him to survive. and all of this leads to him drowning Gaipan, and committing this heinous crime. which well doesn’t really happen because everyone is safe ! everyone survived ! yes the village is destroyed but that’s material loss. that doesn’t come near the loss of actual people.

now for Zuko, his core character trait in season 1 is that he’s very short sighted. he only sees his goal, and never what’s in between that. this shortsightedness comes from years of obsession fuelled by extreme (FN) propaganda, indoctrination, trauma and anxiety in regards of what awaits Zuko if he never gets to catch the Avatar. like Jet, Zuko’s anger and fear brings what’s most ugly in him : his lack of regards for any collateral damage he might provoke while trying to reach his goal. which ultimately leads to Kyoshi Island burning down. however, they are a few things that need to be said here. he never steps a foot on Kyoshi Island with the intention of burning it. that’s actually where it diverges from Jet. Zuko is extremely short sighted and his only goal is to find Aang. nothing. else. which differentiates him from his sister especially. who wanders through the earth kingdom while yes chasing Aang but also never stopping (or at least trying) to expend the FN’s power in the EK. Kyoshi island burning down comes actually from him being shitty at managing his firebending (and his crew) in season 1. it’s quite literally collateral damage and most of the damage on Kyoshi Island actually comes from Zuko’s soldiers (who we never actually see receiving orders that would indicate Zuko wanting to burn the island. he only says “I want the Avatar” before splitting up, and go rewatch the scene if you don’t believe me). we do actually see Zuko shooting a few fireballs at Aang but we see only one of them actually hitting the cabins. so it would be logical to assume that it was Zuko’s crew, while fighting the Kyoshi Warriors that did it. after the gaang left, Katara even says “he would have destroyed the whole place” meaning it wasn’t destroyed. and then Aang eventually saves the village and Zuko and his crew leave.

what I’m trying to say with this is that I cannot keep seeing people actually demonising and adultifying Jet and Zuko’s actions (especially at the very beginning where both of them are clearly villains with the narrative intent of doing heinous things) with using these two specific scenes, where, ultimately, no one got hurt (except Sokka & Aang while fighting Jet and the Kyoshi Warriors while fighting Zuko).

this post isn’t me denying what they did. at the end of the day, Gaipan got destroyed and Kyoshi Island lost a lot of infrastructure and cabins. this post is me explaining why I’m tired of the over exaggerated claims in regards of these two characters.

the problem with this fandom is that people will talk about Jet and Zuko’s actions in episode 10 and episode 4 like they would talk about Long Feng’s actions or Ozai’s actions.

like, no, two indoctrinated traumatised teenage boys in a war cannot be held accountable in the same way that two adults (who funnily actually did kill people !) are held accountable. like, textually by LAW they cannot be held accountable in the same way. because of their age, because of the circumstances, the consequences, etc etc.

and what’s even more important is that both actually do their best to make amends. even though doing this after years of indoctrination is actually hard. jet dies while doing so and Zuko nearly dies at the hand of his father for doing so. (and that’s without even talking about his actions as a Firelord)

you can dislike Jet and Zuko as characters. but the hate these two get will always look ridiculous at the end of the day. because it’s either completely exaggerated or out of context or doesn’t apply to them because they actually did change. and did try to make amends.

again, this is not me saying that they weren’t villains at the beginning of the series. this is also not me saying that these actions are excusable or even remotely okay. no, it’s me begging the fandom to just use their brain for two fucking seconds. it’s me begging the fandom to just understand what the war and it’s consequences does to people, especially children. on all sides of the war. especially war children.

[wilcze-kudly]

Currently reading "A World Apart" (memoir about his time in the Soviet łagrs by Gustaw Herling-Grudziński) is making me consider an AU where Kuvira actually does suceed in sending Bolin to that re-education camp lol

It would be a hella dark storyline ofc, but interesting both from the perspective of looking at the Earth Empire and at Bolin as a character.

Like Kuvira supporters say that the main reason she was placed in power was to clear out the shocking amount of bandits in the Earth Kingdom. But we never really learn what she did with them. Like yeah she made some of them join her (absolutely wild that we don't talk about that either like girl wtf) but I'm sure there were bandits who didn't? So I assume those got sent to the camps.

I imagine they'd probably play a role similar to the irl urkas, criminals who would often be sent to the łagrs multiple times and were the "ruling caste" between the prisoners, being more used and prone to violence and immoral acts than political prisoners (note here that "political" is used loosely because you really could get sent there for anything.).

Presumably the civilians of the lower rings who raided Ba Sing Se also got sent there, or at least their leaders did. And others who disagreed, expressed any opposition to Kuvira's regime. Of course, Water tribe and Fire nation people would be there too, though they might be sent to camps more forcused on extermination than labour, since ethnic clensing is more into the Nazi part of Kuvira's inspirations.

It would be interesting, but very dark to see how these people are treated by Kuvira because going "oh Kuvira has camps where she puts those who disagree with her and also people of different nationality" and them barely mentioning it again is... well it certainly is a choice.

And the concept of Bolin being put in an environment like that would be a very interesting, if not absolutely horrific storyline.

It was actually surprising common for Soviet loyalists to get placed in the camps, after a minor fuckup or if they're getting blamed for something for example so it wouldn't be out of the question for Bolin a high ranking Earth empire officer to be placed in the camps with literal criminals and victims of the system.

It would be especially interesting because Bolin is semi used to similar environments, like starvation and being surrounded by dangerous people, but he previously had Mako to at least somewhat shield him. But this time Bolin has to go at it alone. And I think that would be fascinating, because Bolin usually does have someone he can trust and follow. But in this AU he would lack that safety net and have to make his own choices about how he handles this difficult situation.

Bolin is also a very kind person, and I think it would hard for him to see the injustice around him. I think this could be a very good "standing up for what he believes in" storyline that tlok tried to have in B4, which it kinda fell flat.

Also of course Bolin would be dealing with the guilt from helping Kuvira build an empire that facilitates this. And also the betrayal from Kuvira manipulating him for so long.

There's so much to work with here, even though it would a very difficult plotline to implement in a show marketed to kids (cowards)

Ah, Things to consider for that tlok rewerite I keep talking about but will probably never actually do

And yeah if you're interested in learning about the łagry I really do recommend "A world Apart" it's beautifully written and very heartwrenching. And it was pretty controversial when it was published due to the outrageous number of Soviet sympathisers at the time, so it's worth to see. I will warn that the book is incredibly heavy though. Like incredibly.

[marumafan]

Hi, I have a thought. From Yuuri’s perspective, also Earth’s, Wolf is incredibly impressive pretty. I wonder how people in his own world perceive him?

Hello, sorry for taking a while to answer. I needed to do some research for it.

TL;DR: In his country, Wolf's probably just average, but his status as son of a maou and fiance of another maou helps him . Since we see him from Yuuri's POV, this might be the reason why everyone thinks him so beautiful… but he might simply be Yuu's type XD

Novel 1, chapter 3

"Apparently, this group's aesthetic sense was unfathomable to Japanese people. "

Welcome to my TED talk once again, it's great to see you all:

I'm mostly going to contradict everything people say about Wolfie's beauty with quotes and sources, so if you're interested, keep reading.

Wolfie's looks on Earth: (canon? unlikely)

When it comes to novel canon, it's impossible to know how he would be perceived, as Wolfram has never been to earth, unless we're talking about the future. In the future- stories, Wolfram's beauty isn't really addressed. (other than from Yuuri's point of view)

As for the drama cd you mention here (Everyone looking at him):

"The Mazokus Casual Trip to Earth - Yuuri and Wolfram", yes, he's perceived as beautiful on earth in that cd. This story was written by GEG and maybe even with sensei's input, but it's following anime lore, so we can't really call it novel canon.

Until I have clear information about this being sensei's… I will doubt this info. She's always said (till 2011) that her characters had never been to earth. Remember that 'going to earth' was how she planned to 'end' the series, along with it being a dream. So how pretty Wolfram would be considered on earth is unknown (also where? In Japan? Maybe he would stand out more there, sure.)

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

Who is the most beautiful in Shin Makoku: (canon)

As for the other world, Gunter is number one.

In novel 2, chapter one we get this info:

"…Is that Lord Günter?"

(…)

"Kyaah! His Majesty is adorable, but Lord Günter is so dreamy! That's the first beauty of Shinma Kingdom for you—he's even more beautiful when he's wet!"

"Gyaaaaaaah!"

So Gunter's traits: purple hair and eyes, tall and older.

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

Wolfram paying with smiles: (canon? unknown)

People usually like to point out the "Wolfram paying with smiles" info from that one drama cd "A great day with a wonderful Ma-friend -Yuuri and Wolfram"; which ,again, I'm not sure Takabayashi-sensei participated in . (We know the 'visiting rooms drama cds were penned by her, but the 'wonderful day ones, we have no info on' ).

Therefore I can't confirm that Wolf is so beautiful that he 'pays with smiles' as stated in that cd.

Also, it may simply be Yuuri's interpretation of the situation. Wolfram is the son of the previous maou, and is the fiance of the current maou, so people may just find any requests he makes part of their jobs.

Quote here:

Yuuri: I'm trying to ask you what kind of reward they get for providing you that information.

Wolfram: I don't give them anything.

Yuuri: Eh?! Why?

Wolfram: Even if you ask me why, I don't know what to say. Because I just thank them with a smile, and everybody diligently brings me the information.

Yuuri: So, what Wolf? You just thank them with a smile and that's it?!

Wolfram: Yes. Is that strange?

Yuuri: No, rather than strange I'd say… whispers I see… so those guys in order to see him like that, they keep bringing him information.

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

Wolfram reviving people with his beauty: (canon? unclear)

In the novels Novel 2, chapter 8:

"Why does this hospital have such an unusually high survival rate? Well, you see, it's a good thing for the patients' families, isn't it? It's a good thing."

I can't bring myself to actually hasten their deaths, and not a single person has died since we arrived this morning. It's a three-star hospital. The old man, who had lost consciousness a moment ago, grabbed Wolfram's hand as he tried to check his heartbeat, opened his eyes wide and called out the woman's name. The daughter and grandson were overjoyed, crying that their grandfather had spoken for the first time in four years.

Wolfram was the one who had suffered the most damage, with cold sweat breaking out on his forehead and him clutching his wrist as he muttered something. It seemed like a charm against evil. It was a bit strange for a demon to use a charm against evil, though." (…)

"We've had gratitude heaped on us, and people have even started calling Wolfram the Angel of Love. "

Ok, so it is never clarified that it's because of Wolfram's beauty. Also, we know that Wolf has that healing power where when one encourages others to feel better he can heal them and take some of the damage.

It may be his power that was healing everyone in the hospital. Could also be his beauty.

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

From Cherie's point of view: (canon? unreliable narrator)

In "Cäcilie's Love Love Maternity Book", Cherie says Wolfram is 'so beautiful it's a sin', and that 'he looks just like her' XD so she might be a bit biased.

She usually says he's gorgeous, because he looks like her so idk.

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

From Yuu's point of view: (canon? for Yuu)

Now obviously Yuuri find him attractive. The very first time he sees him he calls Wolf's an 'angel'.

Chp3, novel 1 - He's an angel How can he be this beautiful! Because of them, his face emits an aura. Although it’s likely to seem that way because of his dazzling blond hair. His looks and voice are like an older Vienna chorus boy. His white skin seems transparent, and his irises are an emerald green that make me think of the bottom of a lake, and furthermore he doesn’t have a split chin. He’s an angel, definitely an angry angel. However, being in this place, he’s also probably a beautiful Mazoku.

Novel 2, Chp 1 - God's greatest masterpiece Lord Wolfram von Bielefelt, on the other hand, is my twin in stature and physique, but angelically handsome. If you didn’t know he was Mazoku, you’d think he was God’s greatest masterpiece. Glittering gold hair, white skin, long eyelashes, and emerald-green eyes. But that damn arrogance of his makes him sound like a yapping Pomeranian.

Novel 3, chapter 1 -jumped straight out of a shoujo manga Wolfram was a rival-less super bishounen, like a Vienna choir boy who had jumped straight out of a shoujo manga. He had inherited his mother’s shiny golden hair and her emerald green eyes. While his build was no better or worse than mine, the difference between our looks was as wide as the gap between heaven and earth. I imagined all artists in the world would fight over the chance to paint his portrait. If he had appeared in someone’s dream, the dreamer might even be moved to tears thinking they had seen an angel.

Novel 3 chapter 10 - makes my heart to skip a few beats Even though I perfectly knew that we were both guys, being pursued by such a beautiful boy like him still caused my heart to skip a few beats. At times like this, the most effective solution was to avoid looking at his face and keep chanting “He is 82 years old” like a mantra.

There's many other instances where he describes Wolfram as ultra-beautiful... but this is Yuuri.

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

Common physical features in the other world: (canon)

In novel 1 we get a description of the 'human-shaped' mazoku

" The color of each person's hair and skin was truly variegated and unreal. Like I've heard, there's certainly no one with black hair. Blond hair, brown hair, silver hair, white hair, red hair, chestnut, orange (I wonder if it's dyed), purple (I wonder if it's a trendy hair dye), green (probably chlorophyll)… green?! "

So of course, we know black eyes and hair are the most uncommon, one could say exotic? Just like Wolf would be in Japan. But whenever we hear descriptions, most people that interact with Yuu are blond.

Yuu describing the first person he meets (Novel 1)

"The length of the long skirt that seemed to be dragging on the ground. The old-fashioned triangular straps tied at her chin. Those blue eyes and dull blonde hair…a foreigner! "

All of the human villages also had a bunch of blond people. So it seems like blond with blue eyes are common features in both mazoku and the humans around them.

Yuu describing some guards: (Novel 1) " The nice middle aged men rush over. I've already gotten used to beautiful forms, so I don't mind these men's outwards appearances. Hnn, umm, oh, beautiful for their fifties, older men with dull blond hair and blue eyes. However, in their vicious military training they were taught to conceal the hidden door inside their eyes. "

Yuu describing Adalbert (Novel 1) "American football, this man absolutely must play American football. His arms and chest seemed that way. With dazzling hair and turquoise blue eyes, a fine, long hooked nose even though it inclined to the left a little, he seemed to be a beautiful Caucasian macho man with a split chin. Foreigner-loving Japanese girls would probably form a line asking for photographs in this place, and if necessary they would probably put money in his bikini pants. "

Yuu describing Gunter: (Novel 1) The moment I saw his face I gave up on saying anything. He was handsome, more handsome, super handsome, and ultra some hand, I mean, handsome. I would say his graceful expression makes his cleverness felt. What a smart-looking incredibly beautiful person! But such a dull expression.

In addition to being beautiful, his voice was a baritone that vibrated in your stomach. Adalbert from awhile ago was also fairly handsome but this person was so perfect that girls would faint as soon as they laid eyes on him. It wouldn't only be girls in their late twenties who would faint. Mature women, and older women…well, ladies in general.

------------------------- In summary: Wolfram has pretty 'average beauty' for the other world. Yuuri and Wolf's mom think he's gorgeous, other people don't really comment on Wolf's looks. There may also be a difference between the way he's perceived in Shin Makoku and the way he's perceived outside of it. He's probably average, maybe slightly above average if we consider the 'Angel of Love' thing (on human territory) as being caused by his beauty and not his healing powers.

There's a lot of info here , if you find mistakes or sources I haven't added, let me know!