#fair but harsh

[rogueslove]

Avengers (2016) #677

[hinamie]

oversaturate

[watermelinoe]

you cannot convince me that these people don't just hate women

[ravenvsfox]

soooo hypothetically if someone was inspired to write a fic based on someone else's 'brainworm' on twitter, posted it on ao3, credited and linked back to the original idea, sent the story to that user and offered to take it down if they weren't into it

and then. were told that that they were CARELESS and it was a GUT PUNCH to be robbed of the opportunity to write it and that it was unfair that they were being made into the bad guy by asking for it to be deleted

would that be like. a fair or crazy response

[cobaltfluff]

where should they eat ???

[yoru-exe]

so are we just gonna drop the possibility of a mysterious lore behind suo's teacher?

how would we know the verbal torture that child had put him through then?? i demand to know how he COPED.

[imminent-danger-came]

Callum and Rayla are NOT beating the "growing up weird" allegations

[thebibliomancer]

[pharawee]

"There it is. There's your true colors. This is who you really are."

[fangirl-erdariel]

One thing that's jumped at me on my most recent reread (well, i'm listenibg to an audiobook, but either way) of LOTR, is that Aragorn has this... honestly quite specific way he responds to feeling like he has made a mistake (whether or not the audience or even the narrative would blame him for that, which is neither here nor there for my current point), that I feel like a lot of the fandom (myself included) and a lot of fanfics don't really get, and that doesn't really carry over to the movie adaptation either

Like, on one hand, verbally he's going to beat himself up about it, he's going to go "oh i have messed this up!" very much out loud

But then at the same time, he doesn't really let that halt him, like, he's still gonna get back to going and act to salvage the situation as best he can very quickly, possibly even while he is still beating himself up about it

And like we do see him do this a bunch. Most noticeably of course over the stretch from Rauros to Fangorn, Breaking of the Fellowship and Boromir's death to meeting Gandalf the White, but before that too

At Weathertop, we get him going argh i've been too careless and impatient. But there's no way to turn back time, the enemy has now spotted them and some of the signs there might have been about recent goings-on were messed up before he could investigate them, so all that can be done is prepare and stand their ground as best they can, and deal with the consequences when they come

After the Fellowship escapes Moria, as they're making toward Lothlórien, you get the, oh shit i forgot you were injured i'm really sorry about that i was concentrating on getting distance between us and the orcs you should've said something (tbh out of everything, this instance is in my opinion the least amount his fault). But all that can be done is carry Frodo and Sam until they reach a place where they can stop for a bit, and then tend to their injuries, which is what he does without further delay

Those are the main ones I can think of off the top of my head (there's maybe a couple others but those are too vague and dependent on reader's interpretation of tone to feel worth including), but I feel like it is enough to start making a pattern

Interestingly, he doesn't do it when the attempt to cross Caradhras (which in the book was because of Aragorn's insistence to avoid Moria if at all possible; in the movie it's played a bit differently) ends in them all nearly freezing to death. Whether it's because at first he's busy not freezing to death and getting back down from the mountain and not being killed by wargs, and then he's busy acting like he's not fucking terrified of going into Moria because of some past traumatic experience we never get any more information on, or because however much he hates the idea, the back-up plan of going through Moria is already in place, or because he trusts Gandalf to be able to keep things in control, or what, i'm not sure, but it's the one major exception i can think of.

And it's not really uncertainty or indecisiveness or self-doubt, even though I can see how it would easily read that way, especially if the only example that's ever caught your eye is the bit after Rauros (like, at that point, he does genuinely doubt himself a bit, and it does mix together with his beating himself up over his mistakes, but the source of the self-doubt still is not in his general way of reacting to his mistakes, but rather because he's been forced two choose between two roads that both felt to him like his duty, and he's still not certain he chose the right one).

Really, it seems like it's just... well, just his way of reacting. Maybe it's venting his frustrations, maybe it's reminding himself how careful he must be, how little he can afford mistakes, that he can't allow himself to make this mistake in the future. Maybe just generally being harsh on himself. But whatever it is, it's not, I think, doubt or uncertainty, it's a separate thing.

Anyway yeah idk what my conclusion here actually is but. Just an observation I've made recently aboyt the ways Aragorn tends to act

[magniloquent-raven]

yall mfers need to stop

[villainanders]

Granted these Hall of Valor fights are definitely not meant to be taken literally. But if I did we would have to explore the idea that Isabela is capturing Ventori and keeping them locked up to fight to death for her entertainment

[puppyeared]

Atla live action 😐

[f0point5]

So DTS is just the 2023!au that literally everyone asked for?

I want to hear no complaints from anyone who says the season was boring - this is the season you asked for.

[deiaiko]

#23.1 Prank

Grace didn't know what to make of this situation.

One moment he was bringing Agni his lunch, and now he was in one of the bathroom stalls with Endorsi. 

Endorsi had asked him if she could use the tag to talk with him, and he agreed to her request without any questions. Agni had begrudgingly sent him away with her, which was fair. But then she chose the bathroom, out of all places they could talk.

Grace was sitting on the closed-lid water closet, while Endorsi stood in front of him with her hands folded over her chest. The way she towered against him felt like he was about to get scolded or interrogated.

"Well…" She leaned closer. "We only have three minutes, so let's not waste any time and get started, shall we?"

Grace could only sit there awkwardly. "What…do you have in mind, exactly?"

"Huh, I hinted at it in our conversation earlier. Did you not catch it?"

Grace tried to recall. Something about Endorsi wanting to make someone jealous? Was that it? "Sorry, I spaced out earlier. Can you refresh me on that?"

"I want to prank your team." She lowered her voice, and only then did Grace catch the playfulness in her tone. "I just need you to look a little messy."

Grace raised an eyebrow. He knew what she was implying, and this didn't look like it would benefit him in any way. He knew how much Gyetang and Dan idolized her, and what would Agni think if Grace let her do anything to him?

"Look, I'm not going to steal you from your man. So I will keep my hands to myself, but you'll have to comply." She said that as if she just read his mind. "If anything, it might make him more clingy if he takes our bait. What do you think?"

He was still not convinced that this would be a fun prank. But one thing he learned about Endorsi was that once she set her goal, there was no changing her mind until it failed to meet her expectations. Well, as long as no one was harmed, he would humor her. "Okay. How are we doing it?"

Endorsi dug through her pocket and pulled out a lipstick. "Do you know how to apply this?"

Grace blinked, suddenly unsure if it was what he thought it was. "Uhm…by smearing it on your lips?"

"So you know. Good."

"Well, I have my own." Not exactly lipstick though; Agni said it was a tinted lip balm. But anyhow, it should work about the same.

Endorsi didn't look surprised, but her expression turned thoughtful. "Huh, that could spare you some work. But I don't think it would make a convincing story…"

She started mumbling something that made less sense the more it went on. So instead, he started to take note of her appearance.

Today she chose to wear a sporty bra, leggings and shoes, which meant she came prepared for some exercise. He looked forward to sparring with her after lunch, curious on how powerful she currently was. The ponytail also suited her, although it couldn't tie all of her shorter hair on her nape. It reminded him of the time when his and Agni's hair was at her length.

"–Yeah no, that won't do." She turned her attention to him again, pulling him out of his thoughts. "You should use mine."

She took out a tissue paper and cleaned the tip of her lipstick before handing it to him. Grace examined the light shade of pink and thought that it was a lovely color, very Endorsi-like. He glanced at her once again to make sure, before using his lighthouse as a small mirror and applied the lipstick on his lips. Turns out, the color didn't suit him that well.

"Ehh." Endorsi seemed to have the same opinion, taking back her lipstick. "Well, that doesn't matter. Now, kiss the back of your hand, and then transfer the mark onto your cheek. Can you do that?"

Grace had no complaints doing so. Endorsi was thoughtful enough to respect his boundaries this time. If anyone asked, he could confidently say that she did nothing to him.

As Grace was doing as told, Endorsi cleaned the tip of her lipstick again and applied it on her own lips. He noticed that she deliberately smeared it a little on the edge.

"Here." Endorsi handed him a new tissue paper. "You should wipe your lips and hand."

"Okay."

"Hm…Maybe make your hair a little messy too?"

Grace pulled his ponytail to make it a little undone. 

She smirked after giving him a once-over, satisfied. "Yes. That should do it."

Grace smiled politely, before checking the timer on his pocket and found out that it had only a few seconds left. "We should go back."

"Okay." She said easily and made her way out of the bathroom. "Remember the rule. Whatever happened earlier stayed only with us."

"Yes. I know." It was the rule that Agni made for this 'private time' reward, and it was only fair that he followed it.

"Oh and, that mark stays until someone points it out. Just pretend you didn't know it exists." She pouted playfully at him, before turning back to a cheerful mood. "I can't wait to see everyone's reaction!"

As they walked back to the cafeteria, Endorsi flashed him a grin –this time a gentle one that he rarely saw. "Hey, thanks for indulging me."

Grace felt a smile tug on his lips. It probably was the first genuine smile he had from her, ever since he came back to the past. He hoped it'd stay that way from now on. "No problem."

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[mothpile]

I had 1 too little exclamation points in my message.