#mor loves her kid but she doesn’t . see him as a Person really. she sees him as an object she owns

[memeticsdivision]

a while back, i did the oc duo ask game in my friend discord server, so i thought i’d post them here since the answers are interesting and gives a better look into the moratorium crews dynamics and characterization . enjoy

CERNUNNOS ABOUT FENRIS

What's their best trait?

"HIS ABILITY TO DIE."

What's their worst trait?

“DO YOU WANT ME TO BE HERE FOR HOURS? BECAUSE I'D LOVE TO GO DOWN THE LIST, BUT I HAVE THINGS TO DO. SO LETS JUST KEEP IT AT THIS; HIS INABILITY TO DIE."

Are they a good person?

"HA. HAHA. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? YOU'RE ASKING ME THAT? LOOK IN THE MIRROR ONCE AND A WHILE, IF THE PERSON LOOKING BACK AT YOU IS ME, THEN CHANCES ARE YOU'RE THE REAL MONSTER."

Do you really know them?

"BETTER THAN HE KNOWS HIMSELF, I'LL TELL YOU THAT."

What are they to you?

"A REMINDER OF MY PERSISTENT TORMENT." (translation: “Possibly the only person who could ever understand me, but he created me out of loathing of the idea of me, wanting me dead but forcing me to live anyway. That first part is therefore muddled by bitterness and I refuse to ever admit it.”

What are you to them?

"BY DEFINITION? A SHADOW. IN REALITY? HIS WORST NIGHTMARE."

What animal do they most remind you of?

"A SHITTY LITTLE COCKROACH WHO GOT RUN OVER AND IS DRAGGING ITS GUTS ALONG THE ROAD TOO STUBBORN TO LAY DOWN AND ROT."

Are they your type?

"OH, YOU THINK YOU’RE FUNNY, DON’T YOU."

What's their greatest fear?

"ISN'T IT OBVIOUS? LOOK AROUND; LOOK AT ME! THE FEAR IS THE LIE. THE FEAR IS THE TRUTH OF EXISTING IN A WORLD SURROUNDED BY SHIT HE NEEDS TO DO. HIS LAZY ASS WOULD RATHER RUIN LIVES THAN FACE THE FACT HIS LIFE IS SAD AND PATHETIC AND THAT HE MADE IT THAT WAY."

What's your best memory with them? Worst?

"MY BEST MEMORY WAS GUTTING HIM FOR THE FIRST TIME. MY WORST IS EVERYTHING ELSE."

How long have you known each other?

"A LONG, LONG TIME. LONGER THAN I'VE EVEN BEEN A PERSON. I'VE EXISTED IN THAT MORONS BRAIN SINCE THE FIRST MOMENT HE EVER HATED HIMSELF, SINCE HIS FIRST BAD MEMORY. I WAS JUST THE FIRST TO REALIZE IT."

How has your relationship changed recently?

"CHANGED? NOTHING'S CHANGED. I'M SURE ANY MINUTE NOW HE'LL FIRE THAT LAST SHOT INTO HIS THICK SKULL, AND IF NOT I'LL DO IT MYSELF. AFTER I'VE HAD SOME FUN."

Are they a good leader?

"OH SURE. IF YOU NEED A GUIDE ON HOW TO LIVE YOUR LIFE AS A SAD AND PATHETIC LITTLE EXISTENCE, OR NOT LIVE A LIFE AT ALL. HE WOULD BE A GREAT TEACHER IF YOU WANT AN EXAMPLE OF HOW TO BE A TERRIBLE PERSON."

——————

FENRIS ABOUT CERNUNNOS

What's their best trait?

"Do I have to answer that?"

What's their worst trait?

"I don't like anything of what I see in them." (translation: "I don't like that they remind me of myself.")

Are they a good person?

"No—I mean, I don't know? No. No they aren't." (translation: “I cannot answer this question truthfully because I doubt if I’m a good person, and if they are me and are bad, then I don’t know what that says about me. Maybe they are better than I am, because they chose a way to live. I didn’t.”)

Do you really know them?

"...No, but they get very predictable at some point."

What are they to you?

"An accident." (translation: “An ugly reminder of parts of myself I hate, that I try to pretend doesn’t exist, but Cernunnos’ existence is a rather direct reminder of it. To cope with that I assign cernunnos the role of the monster, despite what that says about me in return, one who’s existence is a mistake, because if they are a mistake and accident then they could not possibly reflect on me, and I have to kill them.” …which is exactly why he can’t.)

What are you to them?

"An easy scapegoat for all of their problems, I guess."

What animal do they most remind you of?

"To me, they are an animal."

Are they your type?

"I... what?”

What's their greatest fear?

"I guess... living? But they're based on me, so... we'd probably fear the same things."

What's your best memory with them? Worst?

"...I don't think I have any good memories with them. When we met was probably the worst. When they killed me is the second option.”

How long have you known each other?

"I couldn't tell you." (translation: “Cernunnos told me they existed long before they had a body, and they were only made real because of my self hatred that has existed my whole life. I don’t know if we have known each other forever, or from the moment they first showed up in my dreams.”)

How has your relationship changed recently?

"I'm not as scared of them as I used to be. The tricks got old the second I stopped caring."

Are they a good leader?

"...No. I think they’d try, to prove a point, but fail.”

——————

MOR ABOUT FENRIS

What's their best trait?

"Oh, what isn’t? He’s wonderful, really. I’m so proud that he exists at all.”

What's their worst trait?

"Hmm. I do wish he wouldn’t push me away. He needs me, after all, he just doesn’t like to admit it sometimes.”

Are they a good person?

“Hmph. The need to push moral definitions onto people is such a tediously useless endeavor. He’s doing his best, he just doesn’t know what that really means, and so he makes countless mistakes that really, get him nowhere. Thankfully, I know whats best. For him and us.”

Do you really know them?

"Very much so! I’m his mother, I made and raised him, nobody knows him better than me, which is why I know what is best for him, because he doesn’t."

What are they to you?

"Fenris is my son, my greatest joy and achievement. I love him very, very much.”

What are you to them?

"I’m his mother, can’t you tell? I’m someone he can always rely on for love and support. I wasn’t then, but I certainly am now. I’ve worked hard to be that, and I need to keep things that way.”

What animal do they most remind you of?

"Whatever animal he would want to be compared to!"

Are they your type?

"That is my child."

What's their greatest fear?

"Being alone, being the monster Cernunnos claims he is, being abandoned. He fears many things, the poor boy. He fears the way reality is constantly all around him, and how at any moment, he might change something and do something bad. He doesn’t want to be hurt, and he doesn’t want to be responsible for hurting someone again. But most of all, he’s afraid that it’ll be confirmed that he doesn’t deserve to exist, that the world would be better off without him, and that he’s been wasting his time trying to live in it. Sad, but sometimes, our greatest fears are of the truth.”

What's your best memory with them? Worst?

"Oh, all of them are dear to me. But the moment he was born is especially close to me. It was the first moment I loved him, and the moment I was so happy to be his mother. But… I do regret the night I died. Very much so. I said so many awful things to him, and they were the last things he ever heard from me. I hurt him so deeply that night, and it was the culmination of all of the terrible things I’d done to him over the years. Sometimes, that guilt overwhelms me. But I’ll be better this time.”

How long have you known each other?

"His whole life, of course! I’m his mother after all. I wish I didn’t have to be separated from him for five years, but we’re together again now. And I won’t let anything take him away from me.”

How has your relationship changed recently?

"It’s certainly more positive than my previous incarnation. He’s more willing to open up to me, and comes to me more often for safety. I’m relieved my efforts have paid off.”

Are they a good leader?

"I would say yes, but I don’t think he’d be comfortable, and he shouldn’t have to do things he wouldn’t be comfortable doing. Besides, I don’t trust anyone not to just be using him."

[bloomeng]

Shout out to the person who noticed Steph was the only one in heels and said Dick would totally wear heels. You didn’t know it but you were ahead of your time (it was always my plan to put discowing in heels).

Steph originally wasn’t going to get heels but then I got the idea to add the wings and I fell in love but I think the in universe reason is she wanted them for the drama and she was extrapolating design elements from Batgirl’s og outfit and Batwoman. I was going for like a gothic princess sort of vibe which turned out a bit more Fischl from gi than I intended, but I think that actually suits the vibe pretty well.

Another shoe detail: Jason’s shoes are meant to be slight platforms to match his desire to be tall and imposing.

This is a side tangent but I want to talk about it. For this au I’ve been trying to strike a balance between feminine and “would this character actually wear this?” Now the answer is mostly no. The outfits by nature are impractical as hell bc that’s how magical girl media is, so the question I’ve been asking is more “would this character feel comfortable in this outfit?” I want each look to be equally feminine which means I’m hyper conscious of not making the women more feminine than the men. Magical girl designs are hyper fem by default so my goal is to basically make everyone relatively the same amount of fem.

However, I’m also trying to take into account personality. This is where I might lose some people but hell it’s my au. So why are Jason and Cass the only ones so far with real skirts? This is totally my headcanon but I think they’re the only ones who would benefit from skirts:

Dick would be fine with wearing a skirt but I think he’s ultimately neutral about it. He would totally do it though if someone asked and would be fully aware of how nice he looked.

I don’t know if I’d say Tim would like wearing skirts so much as he doesn’t care. He’s more concerned with practicality.

Steph doesn’t have any issues with skirts but I think as a part of her uniform she would feel stifled. As as I said previously I think part of her look is based on Bats she would’ve looked up to but also partly it was secret wish fulfillment for that little girl who would’ve loved to look like a kickass mary sue demon princess from a y/a novel.

Duke in my opinion wouldn’t see the appeal. I think he’d be similar to Dick but just a little more shy about wearing one. I gave him a little ruffle though bc I thought it was cute.

Babs is fine with skirts but tends to prefer pants.

Cass is a bit different because I think wearing something frivolous is so novel to her. I wanted her outfit to be a blend of her canon design and her appreciation for dance. I tried to contrast her more practical elements (like her pants and armor) with the soft things I think she would enjoy (like a flowy skirt.) I still have ambition to go back and design a Black Bat outfit for her but I haven’t quite figured out the direction I want to take with it.

Jason on the other hand— this also very much in hc territory— I think didn’t know how much he would enjoy a skirt until he got to wear one. Stepping away from the universe for a sec; Jason is the most masculine design fundamentally which means that in order to match the vibe I would have to make him the furthest from his canon design. I’m really not trying to make a statement or subvert things by putting men in skirts bc it’s supposed to a silly au with aesthetically pleasing designs. I like feminine things and it shows in my work however I don’t see clothing as naturally gendered. That’s my little context psa back to my point. I think Jason is the most likely to wear a skirt and actually feel empowered by it. At first I think he was embarrassed by it but the outfits choose you so he just went with it out of necessity. And through that he found he really thrived in the juxtaposition between his intentional imposing figure and this unashamed femininity. He’s a drama kid at heart and fr what’s more dramatic than an ill-advised fit that serves. The skirt to him feels like a costume that helps give him the confidence to be Red Hood or ig… Red Bow. (Which is sorta how I think of the red helmet in canon but I also do believe that Jason and Cass would have the most fun wearing a skirt.)

I haven’t decided if Bruce will get a skirt or not but if he does just know that my reasoning is that his artifact was humbling him. Like you take yourself too seriously calm down with the brooding. He would use the skirt as a way to conceal more weapons.

(I think Kon would love wearing skirts but in this au because he built his own outfit I think he was trying to seem impressive and edgy and distinguish himself from Clark. I also think, despite enjoying skirts, he would have to work up the courage to wear them in public and never as Superboy because he would be too conscious of his image.)

Anyway I don’t claim to always succeed with my intentions coming through in my work but this is what is running through my head.

[honeybewrites]

OC Facts Tag

Thank you @the-golden-comet for the tag and @sableglass for the tag!! Once again, sorry for the delay in tags!! Trying to get through most of them today and tomorrow, so wish me luck haha

Rules: Make a list of fun facts about your OCs. Like a headcanon list, if you will! Except it's actually canon lol.

Asset 703

-She doesn't like thunderstorms or small spaces. Both are a result of multiple traumatic situations. She can manage it most of the time though, more out of a necessity than actually coping. -She can and will sleep anywhere if she is not required to stay awake for some reason. Trees, the ground, the smallest spaces you can find. It doesn’t matter. -She keeps all of her things meticulously organized. This is more a habit drilled into her since birth from the Mors then something she does herself. -She's a big foodie, but you will never get her to admit it. She can’t cook worth shit, but she sure as hell will eat anything, especially if it’s good food *cough cough* Rage *cough cough*

Rage

-He is a fantastic cook/baker. He could have opened a restaurant if he’d wanted and it would have blown up so fast. People would kill for his food. -He is somewhat of a celebrity. The Airvix name is well known through Mirralia as a predominant family. Generally, he tries to avoid telling people his last name because of this. -He was actually the first person to come up with the technique he uses to see. It made news headlines and still to this day, he is the only one using the technique. -He is really good with kids. Whether it's in a clinical setting or just in everyday life, kids love him and he loves them. He'll sit at the kids table at Thanksgiving before sitting with the adults.

Fres

-They are a fashion expect and always look stylish. They have a massive wardrobe. Everything from dresses to suits and any kind of accessory you can think of. -They have a phenomenal singing voice, but they don't usually sing. They will often hum when they are absorbed in their work, but to hear them sing is a rarity and a treat. -They love their scars, even though the circumstances Fres got them under weren't good, they consider the scars an important part of them and often wear clothing that promptly displays the scars. -Fres loves plants! They are definitely a plant parent and their house is full of different plants, some extremely rare.

Tagging @yourpenpaldee @ominous-feychild @paeliae-occasionally @willtheweaver @nczaversnick and anyone else who wants to hop on!! Sorry for any double tags!! This has been sitting in my drafts for a while and I'm sure some of you have already done it

[wishcamper]

AITF Part IV: The Nestapocalypse

Pre reqs: PART I | PART II | PART III

Creds: licensed mental health profesh, person with a family

Hello and welcome back to our deep dive on ACOTAR and family systems theory!

Last time we talked about how Feyre destabilized, and then re-stabilized the IC family system. Her addition revealed the weak points in the system, particularly of Mor as the primary source of anxiety. So let’s look at what happens to the system, and Mor in particular, once Elain and Nesta join, with Lucien peripherally.

Mor, you good? You’re looking a little lonely there.

So I had to eliminate some relationships to make it readable, but there have been some major changes structurally that I want to highlight:

Feyre and Rhys introduced a romantic alliance into the system. Cassian and Nesta later reinforce this. And Azriel is clearly tryin, even if he’s not having success. This is a complete turn from the original systems where, not only were there no romantic relationships, but via the buffer romance in the family was actively discouraged.

The center of anxiety has shifted to Rhys. We see him make choices for others to soothe that anxiety CONstantly throughout ACOFAS and ACOSF. It’s pretty much his primary strategy. And that’s because..

Rhys has real challenges to his power. Nesta doesn’t want or need anything from him, yet has influence on her sisters and Cassian. Nesta refuses to follow the family rules and participate in the NFEP, undermining Rhys’ ability to keep the system stable. Until they cut her off financially and give her the “intervention”, he has no leverage against her because enough other people ultimately want her in.

Waaaayyyy less energy and resources are being devoted to Mor, and her feelings matter much less in family decisions and functioning. 

It’s interesting because even though Mor is no longer the center of the family in terms of relationships, I think she has the most to lose from instability in the system. Everyone else has a stronger relationship than the one they have with her. Yet she needs each one of them to:

Rhys - establish her relevance in the system, provide structure and enforce the rules, and keep the buffer drama from spilling over

Cassian - protect her from connecting with Azriel’s feelings and diffuse her anxiety

Azriel - provide a reason for her to be cagey about her love life/justify keeping her sexuality a secret

Feyre - ensure her relevance to Rhys / secure her position and value

Elain - less their relationship, more that there’s a blanket family rule of “protect Elain”

I say this not as a call out, but to show that Nesta is the only person Mor can attack without jeopardizing her position and reasonably assume the others will let her. Nesta in ACOFAS and ACOSF is a classic scapegoat as the person with the least apparent power and most obvious and stigmatized issues. She’s an easy target, especially for someone like Mor, who is well-versed in the courtier’s game and can appear to be innocent while actually being quite malicious (see: lingerie-gate).

This is where we come back to the topic of alliances. I always associate that term with Survivor, which is actually a really good representation of how alliances function in families in three main ways:

Alliances are always mutually beneficial.

Alliance can be used to leverage power.

Alliances can be broken or changed if one person can get their needs met in a better/easier way.

Alliances can be temporary and utilitarian (I’ll give you a dollar if you don’t tell mom I hit you) or long-standing and an integral part of the system (parents do not contradict each other on rules in front of the kids, and work those disputes out in private to maintain consistency).

The Mor/Cassian alliance fits all these qualities exactly. Cassian gets relief from his guilt and can suppress conflict before it starts, and he also gets someone to fuss over which tbh it seems like he enjoys. Mor gets protection from Azriel’s feelings for her, doesn’t have to face the conflict she generates, and gets fussed over which she also seems to enjoy. And when Cassian starts getting those needs met by Nesta instead, with more perks and fewer costs, he leaves Mor behind and both their roles fundamentally shift.

In that way, Nesta and Cassian’s relationship is really the thing that changes the family permanently, in my opinion. I think if Nesta had just been pushed out, or at least neutralized, they could’ve been fine for a while longer. But because he wants her there, and she refuses to follow the rules, the family has to figure out how to accommodate her. The Nes/Cass alliance is crazy powerful when you break it down.

Nesta has power in the purest sense, as in she is probably magically stronger than anyone else in the Night Court, especially considering Amren’s lost her powers. So at the end of the day, if she got her shit together she could tear it all down. She’s could really leverage the idea that no one should take her temperance for granted. She doesn’t do this and I think that’s because she’s a good person. She doesn’t desire power, which weirdly makes her very suited to have it. She also has power in an influence sense, in that at least her sisters and Cassian are invested in having a good relationship with her which means, by extension, Rhys and Mor have to get on board.

(I realize I haven’t mentioned Azriel very much - he’s the former scapegoat, and never had much power in the first place. I wonder if that’s why he seems to have a soft spot for Nesta, like there’s a sense of solidarity. So his opinions and actions don’t really affect the system unless he wants to start rebelling. Which I think we’ll eventually see him do since he doesn’t have as much investment in keeping the family together after his brothers pair off and Rhys pulls rank.)

Cassian’s power is more passive in this system, in that he causes change when he STOPS doing things, mostly peacemaking behaviors. He absorbs a lot of anxiety in the system, along with Az, and exerts influence through physical and emotional absence. Because of this power, when he starts investing more time and attention in Nesta, Mor reacts by retaliating toward NESTA, who she sees as the more vulnerable/lower status one even though Cassian is 100% initiating the change. Lingerie-gate. “She belongs in the Hewn City”. Her protectiveness of Cass. The call’s coming from inside the house, my love.

As a sidebar, I find this such an interesting dynamic in that is sort of an accidental subversion of the typical tropes. Magical young women conquers the world by NOT using her powers. Bad ass fighting dude is more powerful when he chooses not to act. Such a fascinating theme. Anyway.

We know systems want to stay in balance, so members will do things to rebalance them. Cassian and Nesta are going to be together? Okay, then she has to be acceptable by the family standards and fall in line with the rules. We see this blatantly in the way the IC “intervenes” when Nesta is “embarrassing” them. And there is a layer of the backlash to this shift this that is definitely Mor feeling threatened by Nesta taking her place in the alliance. But what’s interesting to me is that there’s another layer in what she says TO Cassian when Nesta isn’t even around, a passive aggressive way of expressing her disapproval that he’s abandoned her and what she sees as his role.

So when they’re very clearly going to be together, and the mating bond is both obvious and powerful given the rules of their culture and their own system, it forces a schism. On one side is Rhys, Mor, and Amren. On the other is Nesta, Cassian, and Azriel. Feyre straddles the middle, and Elain uses absence to avoid taking sides.

This is actually fairly normal in families as kids grow up and begin families of their own. Shifting priorities change how decisions are made individually and as a group, and where members go to get their needs met. If people are able to accept their changing roles, things can go well - parents transition to being grandparents, siblings can support each other without competing for resources, adult children can establish their own family rules that are in line with their values. When it goes poorly, or when people cling to their rules and roles too rigidly, there can be a lot of conflict.

It’s the great contradiction of the family system that the best way to achieve equilibrium is by accepting that shifting is constant, inevitable, and important. It’s like standing on one foot, that even when you feel stable there are tiny shifts happening, and when you focus too hard on staying upright you almost always fall over. But when you treat the little shifts as normal, you realize that balancing is a process in motion, and looking ahead keeps things steadier than looking down.

Looking at this in a zoomed out way is helpful, but I also want to remember that while these are characters, the dynamics they play out are very real and can be very damaging. We naturally internalize the strategies and structures of our family system. I see this over and over again in my office, the ways people have been conditioned to believe they are defective, broken, inadequate, hopeless. In my personal life, I’ve been contending recently with a lot of trauma from my family that was covert, normalized, and well-hidden but which left me convinced that I was so repulsive, that my inner world was so ugly that anyone I showed it to would immediately leave. Some days it feels like it’s permanently damaged my brain. I know that’s not true, both on a literature level and a personal belief level, but it can be hard to remember and god does it still hurt. I still fear breaking the rules even though I’m the only one enforcing them now.

Okay I’m gonna stop here. This one is really rambling so I hope you got something out of it lol. Life is hard and weird right now, so I hope you’ll excuse if it’s not my usual standard. Thanks for reading <3

[sofiasjornal]

House of Flame and Shadow 🌙 Review

Let me just say that I absolutely loved 90% of the book, it was perfect in many, ways. But that ending… it kinda spoiled the book for me…

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and a half

Let’s start with that! I felt the built-up to the battle with the Asteri was bigger and more interesting than the battle itself. It ended way too quickly and too easily. The Asteri really didn’t put up that much of a fight. Two books leading up to this moment and then it just that? I was disappointed, not gonna lie. The battle needed more momentum and more magnitude, it felt really small. 

I also saw some comments about the crossover, of people disappointed that it was just Nesta and Azriel, and didn’t get a chance to see Feyre or Nyx, or even Mor. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to see them too, but the crossover was not a big reunion of all the characters. The purpose of the crossover was to find the connection with the trove and the starlight bloodline, the connection between the blades, and for that, only Nesta and Azriel are necessary. Maybe a novella would be different, but I think the crossover was done right, even in the bonus chapters (also, Sarah can you please stop with the different versions of the books and different chapters spread god knows where?! Thank you!)

As you may know, Bryce lost some of my affection during this book, her insensitive remarks to Hunt pissed me off so much. And even to Lidia, saying her kids are baggage, honestly, I don’t know how Lidia didn’t freak out on her. I get that she’s young and has the world on her shoulders, but it doesn’t feel like enough of an excuse. And Hunt was never a personal favorite of mine (I still liked him enough, though) so if this is really the last book where they are the main couple I don’t really mind it! Lidia and Ruhn carried the book anyway 😍 and I feel like SJM explored Bryce and Hunt’s relationship enough. The next one would definitely benefit from a different and fresh perspective. 

Also, I was never a fan of the whole Danika thing. I understand her importance to Bryce and to the story but how it was built made me really dislike her for some reason. I know she was brave and cared for Bryce deeply, and was willing to sacrifice (and did in the end) a lot for the cause. But she never sat right with me. And that whole bonus chapter where she just gets Bryce drunk (I know, I know, Bryce didn’t need any help, I know) it just made things worse. It was obvious she had a plan since the beginning and Bryce just went along because she cared deeply for her friend. And while I don’t doubt Danika’s affection and friendship with Bryce, at some point you have to wonder how much was real when Danika was hiding so much vital information, and not only about her cause, but about herself.

The rest of the book I liked just fine. Celestina should have died, and this is the hill I’m dying on. She deserved it. And she had no redemption at all to earn the mercy Bryce got her. The autumn king's death was spectacular! And Morven’s too! How I laughed, I was never that happy with characters dying. AND SABINE! This book had many, many happy moments for me 😂 I only felt bad about the Prime, he deserved a more dignified death than what he got and the way Sabine killed him… she deserved all that she got. And Sigrid? That little bitch! I know she’s not in control, she’s a freshly made reaper, probably still adjusting, running on instinct, but I mean… siding with Sabine? SABINE?! Ithan will be one hell of a prime, I just know it!

There were a few surprises that got me screaming. I think Lidia’s kids connect her with the spring court because of the fertility rite (but we’ll get to that!) and Hypaxja as the head of Flame and Shadow! I think the true wonders of Hypaxia’s power are still to be shown and I’m all for it! 

Now, I’m assuming the next book will be House of Many Waters, if SJM is following the house names. Here I think Tharion could definitely play a bigger role! HOFAS spent a lot of time setting him up, but also Hypaxia (who became the head of flame and shadow! and is also Lidia’s sister!) and Ithan! If Tharion and Hypaxia's friendship were to grow into something deeper, and Tharion somehow became the head of Many Waters, imagine the power couple!

But I have so many questions about this book and its connection to the others and other series! So many that I think maybe it’s better to put them in another post and organize them there 😅 otherwise this will never end!

[themculibrary]

POC Masterlist 2

part one

5 Times Fury Saw Something On Security He Really Didn't Want To (ao3) - lilsmartass, ramsay_baggins steve/tony, clint/phil, maria/tony G, 1k

Summary: Just as the title describes

5 Times MJ Made a Friend (+1 Time She Wanted More) (ao3) - juurensha mj/peter G, 3k

Summary: It’s hard moving to a new school, but maybe hanging out with a bunch of nerds is exactly what MJ needs. Also, she tells Spiderman to call her MJ because really, who does Peter think he’s kidding?

A Million Shades of Blue (ao3) - Not Applicable (not_applicable) rhodey/tony M, 8k

Summary: “I just know that if I could get to wherever he is, I could find him. Dead or alive, I’d bring him back to us.”

James Rhodes will never stop searching for Tony Stark.

Because the Night (ao3) - ladydeathfaerie nick/phil, sam/maria, melinda/victoria, mack/leo M, 9k

Summary: Monsters walk the earth. Some of them are good. And some of them are bad. Nick Fury has dedicated his life to ridding the world of the bad monsters. He and his team of specially trained hunters have dedicated their lives to exterminating the monsters in order to keep humanity safe. But what starts out as a simple hunt turns out to be a trap set up by his old nemesis.

Will Nick and his team finish the hunt or will tragedy strike the family that Nick has made for himself?

Family (ao3) - woamx G, 1k

Summary: Sam’s surrounded by people. Bucky is not.

Forged in Sparks (ao3) - SailorChibi T, 8k

Summary: Being kidnapped by Hydra wouldn't be anyone's idea of fun, and that included Shuri. She had no idea what Hydra wanted with her - or with the scruffy, skinny man in the cell right next to her.

how may i help you? (ao3) - yachi_kinnie druig/makkari G, 13k

Summary: Makkari is a barista at a coffee shop. One day, a serious-looking man enters.

In Paper Rings, In Picture Frames (Oh, You're The One I Want) (ao3) - OceanSpray5 druig/makkari G, 14k

Summary: Or, Druig and Makkari get married and wait for the rest of their oblivious family to figure it out.

Kissin’ Dynamite (ao3) - crime_fighting_spiderling pepper/tony, mj/peter G, 27k

Summary: “Maybe I shouldn’t go.” Peter spoke. MJ shoved a permission slip into his hand at his comment.

“You’re going.” She simply stated.

Where Peter and his class go on a field trip to Stark Tower.

Kiss the Cook (ao3) - AvaKelly rhodey/sam T, 6k

Summary: "You have no idea what you're doing," Rhodey concludes.

Sam crosses his arms and raises his chin. He won't go down without a fight.

The smirk on Rhodey, though, turns into a small smile, and he pulls out his phone. "Don't worry," he says as he waits for a call to connect, "we'll help. Hey," he speaks into the mic, "you alone? Uh-huh. That's close. Ditch Rogers and come early. Need you. All right, see you in twenty."

~ Or the one where Sam can't cook but everyone thinks he can.

Let's Play House (ao3) - Not Applicable (not_applicable) rhodey/steve M, 4k

Summary: “So. Good morning, I guess.”

“Yeah, good morning,” Steve said, and he took a seat on the bed beside Rhodey. Rhodey was still just in his boxers with his phone resting on one leg, and he was twisting his matching wedding band around his left ring finger as he grinned warily at Steve. “So,” Steve continued, and he held up his left hand, “this happened last night.”

Love, Rhodey (ao3) - MelissaBosquez rhodey/tony G, 3k

Summary: After being outed at school, Rhodey takes his life and potential relationship with his anonymous pen pal, Blue, into his own hands. He tells Blue and the world that he loves him and to meet him on the Ferris Wheel at the winter carnival if he feels the same.

My Autumn Touch of Gold (ao3) - prettylittlementirosa sam/bucky E, 76k

Summary: Sam seriously considers checking the ‘regretfully declines’ box. It’s not that he isn’t happy for Steve and T’Challa or that he doesn’t want to be there to see them get married. He’s just not sure he can handle seeing Bucky up close and in person, even after all this time. He wishes he was a better person. A more put-together person. A more over-it person, but. Well. It’s a Friday night and he’s at home drinking twelve-dollar wine by himself, staring at a little rectangle of fancy stock paper, trying to decide which tiny box he should scribble in.

Nick Fury doesn't make mistakes (ao3) - gorgeousnerd nick/rhodey E, 2k

Summary: Nick Fury doesn't make mistakes. Even when he goes to Stark Tower with a bottle of whiskey in the middle of the night.

Old Wounds, New Scars (ao3) - NachoDiablo steve/sam T, 11k

Summary: Sam thought he was fine with Steve leaving. Until Steve comes back.

AU where Steve returns post-FATWS finale and Sam has to sort out some resurfacing feelings even though he absolutely does not want to.

One Tuesday Morning in Wakanda (ao3) - hantumomo G, 4k

Summary: To help Bucky, Shuri sets herself a dangerous task.

Angst, a not-so-secret admirer, a gender non-conforming AI, and minor goaty shenanigans add to the fun.

out of the strong comes sweetness (ao3) - lunarriviera steve/bucky, bucky/m’baku M, 6k

Summary: When Bucky wakes up again, the first face he sees is Shuri’s.

summer’s end (ao3) - junipermoss sam/bucky n/r, 5k

Summary: When Sam shows up to Sarah’s house with an injured Bucky, she expects them to hate each other.

They don’t.

take me back (ao3) - jaybaybay T, 47k

Summary: Peter and Shuri are kidnapped by a gang of bandits who demand ransom money for the princess of Wakanda. They’ll soon find out that they have more than one prize in their grasp.

True Resurrection (ao3) - Vampiric_Ant T, 24k

Summary: A year after the events of "Secret Invasion", Maria Hill mysteriously appears on S.A.B.E.R. Space Station. Only she's not the Maria Hill whom Fury knew.

[acourtofthought]

Azriel is very incorrectly characterized as sad emo baby who just needs some love.

- He spent 11 years in complete darkness and silence.

- Was only allowed to see him mom for one hour every day, but how much love can his mother fit in just one hour (when she herself was going through hell)?

- Saw his mother get mistreated and was unable to do anything about it. It’s never explicitly stated, but since his father was married with 2 sons and his mother was a servant (slave?), it’s safe to assume Azriel was not the product of consensual sex.

- His brothers tormented him for fun. I can’t even imagine the trauma and fear after they burned his hands.

- At 11 he was taken from a dark, silent place and thrown into Windhaven. He was surrounded by other kids who were probably not overtly friendly. Cue in the scars and shadows… even Rhys and Cassian bullied him. Rhys’s mom is probably the only reason he survived.

- No idea when his mom was freed or if he was able to see her after going to Windhaven.

- Rhys’s father separated the three of them and kept Azriel. He was taken away from his support system and who knows what Rhys’s father had him do?

I’m not even gonna touch the Mor/Cassian situation (that should have never been allowed to go on for so long). Purposely being touchy with Mor in front of Azriel just becomes cruel at one point. She doesn’t have to come out before she’s ready, but saying she likes things the way they are is fucked up.

He needs to heal and accept that just like everyone else, he’s not all good or all bad. The trauma Azriel has isn’t gonna go away if he gets a mate, because then his self-worth will be based on what one specific person thinks of him. That just means he’ll spiral and go back to self-loathing every time they fight or have a disagreement, especially if the mate remains angry with him. That’s just not a HEA to me.

"The trauma Azriel has isn’t gonna go away if he gets a mate, because then his self-worth will be based on what one specific person thinks of him. That just means he’ll spiral and go back to self-loathing every time they fight or have a disagreement, especially if the mate remains angry with him. That’s just not a HEA to me." That's really perceptive of you and a really excellent reason why him ending up with Mor or Elain isn't the best thing for him. There are many, many other reasons why he's not well matched to either of those females but one major problem is he's now tied his self worth into the two of them. He feels like there's something wrong with him because he didn't get a bond when Rhys, Cass and Lucien did. He feels like the females are too pure and bright for he and his darkness and true self and that must be why. And him suddenly ending up with either of them when he's become so fixated on them as the thing that he wants above all else (a Mating Bond. He didn't get one with Mor so now he's wondering why he also didn't get one with Elain even though he's still not completely over Mor) would be an instant and euphoric shot of "I am worthy!" but it would only last for so long because it doesn't really fix the problem, just temporarily masks it. And the relationship would suffer (like you said) because any tiny threat to the relationship would cause Az to go berserk, even typical arguments. Az doesn't just need love, Az has love and it's still not been enough. He's decided his entire happiness revolves around a bond even though he has an entire group of people who care about him and would die for him. But his childhood definitely messed him up and definitely not in a sad emo baby who needs cuddles kind of way. Az is angry and full of rage and really, no female interested in a relationship with him should be anywhere near that until he gets it under control. I'm not a big fan of the grown man child who needs to be mothered. I want a partner who has his shit together because while his neediness / clinginess might seem cute at first, it gets old real quick when you're going about your business like a grown ass adult and your partner is still wrapped up in himself. I do think Gwyn will be the right person for him, they already read as healthier than how he behaves with Elain or Mor. But it would be nice for Az to have a personality for an entire book where he's not fixated on unattainable females. (side note, I do agree that the Mor / Cass / Az situation was a mess of epic proportions and I really wish it wouldn't have been written that way. Because Mor owes him nothing but to write her so she actively flirts with others in front of Az just to prove a point even though it's not what she wants is 😬)

[liahaslosthermind]

Swarming children and elbows to the face||Azriel x fem!reader

Pairing: Azriel x reader

Pronouns used for reader: she/her

Angst-fluff-hurt/comfort

Warnings: Creepy men (ew)

Summery: Azriel watches as you are swarmed by children giggling and dancing, while he sits by himself very much in love. He doesn’t seem to be able to talk to you till he sees a man walk up to you looking for trouble. 

Request: Well...how about something where Azriel sees the fae reader dancing in Velaris (like a Tangled sort of dance) and she catches his eye. Later on he sees her while he is taking Feyre around town. The fae woman is with a bunch of younglings because she is a teacher. She smiles at him and feyre then and his shadows just shoot out towards her but not to hurt, just to play with her. He is shocked when she is friendly with the shadows and he finds out that when they arent with him, they play with her. Just something really cute about azriel falling for her as he moves on from mor.

A/N: I strayed a lot from the request so I apologize. This was also requested some time in september oops. Haven’t written much since I made ‘Too Late’ and I apologize for that, I have just been spending all my time reading instead. Anyway here you go and again sorry for the delay.

It was unfair. It was absolutely unfair.

Azriel was currently doing something he never did. Pout. Okay he wasn’t exactly pouting considering his face was currently emotionless, but it was as close as he may ever get to it. The bachelor bat boy was sitting at an empty table while all the rest of his friends, either with a date or already mated, danced with their partners. To be fair, he could easily find someone to dance with. He was the most popular and sought after man in Velaris once his friends found their mates, but there was only one person he wanted to be dancing with, and she was currently dancing with the children who usually followed her around. 

Y/n had been a special person in Azriel’s life for a while now. Not that she had any idea. He would see her in town, always accompanied by the children of Velaris whose parents seemed to stick them on her so they could get a few hours to themselves. You were a teacher but even when not teaching, either during a holiday or the weekend, you were almost always in town with the kids. Not that you seemed to mind. Any chance he could get to go to town and watch you from afar he would take. That sounded much creepier than he meant but if someone had ever asked him he would say it was to watch over the children for their safety, not that anyone would ask as he had taken specific measures to make sure no one knew of his feelings for you. 

While lost in his thoughts he failed to notice that some guy had come up to you till he felt the familiar tug of his shadows. Looking over he saw a clearly intoxicated man being handsy with you while you tried to push him off. If that alone wasn’t disgusting the man also pushed off a child that was clearly trying to help you. Azriel started to walk, practically run, over to try and stop this creep. But as he neared, you landed a swift and powerful elbow to his face, sending the creep stumbling back.

Huh. He wouldn’t have guessed that the town’s teacher and unofficial babysitter could take down a grown and very big man with ease, but here you were doing just that. He was going to walk back but then he felt his shadows tugging at him again. Looking for danger but finding none he tried to find out what they want as they drag him right into you.

Cursing his traitorous shadows as you start to apologize for bumping into him, even if it was completely his (or rather his shadows) fault. This turn in attitude almost gave him whiplash. How could you have gone from elbowing a man in the face to blushing when he bumped into you. 

Cauldron help him.

You were blushing.

Because of him.

For the first time in a very long time, he felt weak at the knees because of a girl. Last time he felt this was Mor but that feeling had faded so long ago that he forgot how intoxicating and scary it could be. As you searched his face for any anger, all you saw was confusion, and that he seemed to be as flustered as you were. 

“Um hello?” you said. You had asked if he was alright but he said nothing in return. After a few moments he seemed to register that you were waiting for a reply.

“I’m… how did you do that?” He asked. 

“Bump into you? Well I kind of just stood here and it happ-”

“No, take down that man. How did you learn to fight like that?”

“Oh well, just you know, picked up lessons I could get. Thought it would be better to know how to since I spend so much time teaching and watching children.” He didn’t respond for a bit. Just kept staring as the song began to change into a slower one. Seeing as most of the children had decided to sit down at the empty tables, giggling while watching the couples dancing together, he took tmoment to finally ask the question he had been wanted to ask all night.

“Would you like to dance?” You laughed at his face full of fear and anticipation as you stuck your hand out for him to grab. As you two started to sway, you felt different. Like your bodies fit perfectly against one another, as if you had both done this many times before, as if you both belonged there. 

You both didn’t want to leave.

[taylors-fourth-cat-meow]

Acowar Chp: 44 - The High Lords Meeting.

Okay this is from the chp tamlin enters because tbh I am not interested in anything before that lol

If u don't like Tamlin and love ic and feyre kindly leave now you have been forewarned.

Absolute silence. Absolute stillness.

Yeah baby that’s how you honour my king

I tried to school mine into the cold caution with which Nesta regarded him, or the vague distaste on Mor’s. I tried—and failed utterly.

Is there anything this loser doesn’t fail?

I knew his moods, his temper

What moods??!?!?! What FUCKING TEMPER BITCH??!!! See, this how tamlin is being viewed for having ugly trauma. Feyre brings up his trauma constantly. She throws tantrums and spits out rubbish without thinking how it might affect him. And when it ultimately does?? hE HaS mOoDS.

Here was the High Lord who had shredded those naga into bloody ribbons; here was the High Lord who had impaled Amarantha on Lucien’s sword and ripped out her throat with his teeth.

KING 🤌🏼🤌🏼🥵🧎🏽‍♀️

I didn’t know what to say. What to do with my body, my breathing.

Don’t worry babe you’re feminist king mate will tell you soon enough. 🙄

No more masks, no more lies and deceptions. The truth, now sprawled bare and open before him. What I’d done in my rage, the lies I’d fed him. The people and land I’d laid vulnerable to Hybern. And now that I’d returned to my family, my mate …

What in the? See? See? THIS BITCH FUCKING KNEW WHAT SHE WAS DOING??? PEOPLE I LAID VULNERABLE TO HYBERN. I. SEE THAT BITCHES?? Feyre herself is taking accountability for it? Maas herself is admitting Feyrug comitted a war crime only Feyrug is a Girlboss™️ for it. Djdjdjnsksla

Not as Tamlin surveyed the hand Rhys had resting on my sparkling knee.

How does your knee sparkle bitch? Like- are u Barbie? No what body wash are u using? Tell me don't be shy.

No, Amarantha hadn’t really known me—her loathing had been superficial, driven from a personal history that poisoned everything. Tamlin … Tamlin knew me. And now hated every inch of what I was.

SO WHY TF IS HE STILL NOT OVER THIS VANILLA COAT RACK IN THE NOVELLA?!?

“I’m not in the business of discussing our plans with enemies.”

Helion, across the reflection pool, grinned like a lion.

“No,” Tamlin said with equal ease, “you’re just in the business of fucking them.”

HOW- LIKE HOW CAN U NOT STAN THIS SAVAGE KING?!?

But whether Tamlin noticed or cared that three of the deadliest people in this room were currently contemplating his demise, he didn’t let on.

Deadliest? Bitch u kidding right? Tamlin is a high lord he cud kill your pet bats in a sec if he wanted too? And miss ma'am is sitting in a room full all the high lords and two bats who wear colourful stones and a lie dectector are the most deadliest? Like damn sjm how do u even fit all that bat dick in your throat?

Rhys shrugged, smiling faintly. “Seems a far less destructive alternative to war.”

So he can apologise to Kallias for not doing anything while children in his court were killed but can't apologise to tamlin for standing by and actually helping to put his ppl in concentration camps and torture them?!

I said quietly, “The sun was shining when I left you.”

Those green eyes slid to me, glazed and foreign. He let out a low snort, then looked away again.

Dismissal.

HOW IS HE SOOOO HAWT?!?!???????!!!!

Like idk feyre is trying to make it seem Girlboss that miss ma'am left tamlin with the guy who assualted her, who slaughtered Tamlins family and can control minds and hates tamlin, and thought to say goodbye via a letter? A letter written by an illiterate? Miss girl trying to be poetic and badass. Uk what is actually badass? "DISMISSAL" 🤌🏼🤌🏼🥵🥵🧎🏽‍♀️🤰

 “I bartered access to my lands to get back the woman I love from a sadist who plays with minds as if they are toys. I meant to fight Hybern—to find a way around the bargain I made with the king once she was back. Only Rhysand and his cabal had turned her into one of them. And she delighted in ripping open my territory for Hybern to invade. All for a petty grudge—either her own or her … master’s.”

OOFFF POP OFF MY LOVE!! YASSS "all for a petty grudge" YESS CALL OUT THAT BITCH!!

“You don’t get to rewrite the narrative,” I breathed. “You don’t get to spin this to your advantage.”

Okay this is so fcking ironic cause this statement is basically acomaf in a nutshell. I feel like one her editors told sjm this and she just used it as a 'fck u to them' lol.

“They peddle tales of defending our land and peace. And yet she came to my lands and laid them bare for Hybern. She took my High Priestess and warped her mind—after she shattered her bones for spite. And if you are asking yourself what happened to that human girl who went Under the Mountain to save us … Look to the male sitting beside her. Ask what he stands to gain—what they stand to gain from this war, or lack of it. Would we fight Hybern, only to find ourselves with a Queen and King of Prythian? She’s proved her ambition—and you saw how he was more than happy to serve Amarantha to remain unscathed.”

YES BABY!! He is legit the only character that calls these ppl out on their bs? Istg Tamlin is the most sensible person in this series. Like my man's talking business. He is literally the only one smart enough to notice Rhysie Gaslighting? He's is literally pointing out on a silver platter that RHYSAND IS FCKING MANIPULATING FEYRE and yet she doesn't understand lmao

Rhys let out a dark laugh. “Well played, Tamlin. You’re learning.”

See? This what they do? The second tamlin brings out valid points and starts calling them out they start condescending him? Exactly how women have faced this all these years. The second they take a stand they are labelled crazy.

Kallias’s eyes flared like blue flame. “You stood beside her throne while the order was given.”

I watched, stomach twisting, as Rhys’s golden skin paled. “I tried to stop it.”

So we are just going to go ahead and forget that fact in Acotar it was Rhysie the who killed the kids? Really?

Rhys’s mouth tightened. “There is not one day that passes when I don’t remember it,” he said to Kallias, to Viviane. To their companions. “Not one day.”

Says the guy who wanted to fck his mate in safe place of SA survivors.

Not … what he might have been forced to witness, too. Forced to endure, bound and trapped.

And standing by, leashed to Amarantha, while she ordered the murder of those children—

Okay u have no fcking idea how MAD this makes me!! Two dozen children died? Their parents lost their children?! And somehow the man who stood by and did nothing is the victim? What like what?!?!??!

“I believe you.”

“Says the woman,” Beron countered, “who gave an innocent girl’s name in her stead—for Amarantha to butcher as well.”

Yes old creepy guy call her out! See the ppl who actually do call her out and just deemed irredeemable villians who just talk shit about Feyrug just cause they are evil.

I blocked out the words, the memory of Clare.

I- what that's it? That's it?!?? Beron just rightfully called her out on causing Clare's death and she just "blocks out the memory" wtf?!

“Who knew,” Beron mused, “that a cock could be so persuasive?”

Pls 💀

“Stories and words,” Tamlin said, lounging in his chair. “Is there any proof?”

YES ANSWER HIM U LITTLE BITCH

“No,” Rhys cut in as Mor blocked Cassian with an arm, forcing him to sit. Rhys added to Kallias, “But I swear it—upon my mate’s life.” His hand at last rested atop mine.

Not good enough for me bitch

Tamlin rolled his eyes

I literally loosing my shit like how is this "your hair is...clean" man literally roasting these bitches. My man really said break up = glow up 🤌🏼🤌🏼🥵

“I once told you I would fight against tyranny, against that sort of evil. Did you think you were enough to turn me from that?” His teeth shone white as bone. “It was so easy for you to call me a monster, despite all I did for you, for your family.” A sneer toward Nesta, who was frowning with distaste. 

YES YES YES DRAG HER BABE!! Like he is do right!!! Tamlin did do A LOT for those two ungrateful idiots. They were starving and poor even when feyre was hunting. What tamlin did WAS NOT THE BARE FUCKING MINIMUM. Uk what wud be bare minimum? Giving them a piece of meat and bread every two weeks because that was literally what feyre was providing them. Idk I kinda hate Nesta here. Distaste? Girl u shud thanking him on your knees.

“Yet you witnessed all that he did Under the Mountain, and still spread your legs for him. Fitting, I suppose. He whored for Amarantha for decades. Why shouldn’t you be his whore in return?”

Yes. I said this before too? Tamlin is LITERALLY the only one to point out that their relationship is based on SA!??! And uk... Like idk what I said before. But this isn't slut shaming to me. Nope it isn't. Srry. He is harsh and he gets to be that after what Feyrug did to him but he's rightfully pointing out the truth.

“Watch your mouth,” Mor snapped. I was having difficulty swallowing—breathing.

Tamlin ignored her wholly and waved a hand toward Rhysand’s wings. “I sometimes forget—what you are. Have the masks come off now, or is this another ploy?”

How- how do u hate a person like this? Like can I just say if tamlin was a female in this relationship and Feyrug the male let's see how many not call feyrug abusive and cheer tamlin on.

“You’d be all too happy for war, considering how well you made out in the last one.”

(Tamlin to Helion)

Wait a damn minute. Which war is this? Is he talking about the humans war? DOES HE KNOW ABOUT THE AFFAIR???! like what is the fcking context?! Djdjdjsksksm

Okayyy this is all for now. There's more about Tamlin nd hybern but I made a seperate post altogether about it so no point in discussing. The rest of the chp is boring and too much...even for me. Hope u liked it!!

[vampiregirl1797]

The Starlight Stone

GIF not mine.

Rhysand x Reader

Word Count: 4,898

Summary: Y/N comes from a different reality, where the characters and world she’s now living in, exist in a series of books. Rhysand takes her in, and she learns how to do something she’s never managed before… live.

Warnings: Can’t think of any? If I’ve missed anything, let me know.

Masterlist Here :)

Falling in love with new characters was as easy as breathing for me. In fact it was so easy, that before I realised it, I was only falling for them. Reading became an escape for me, a teenage girl without a shred of self-confidence, used to being the overlooked one in a group of friends, used to not attracting any kind of male attention. It was perfect, because the men I fell in love with always loved me back, never hurt me with the crushing pain of rejection, never thought I wasn’t pretty enough, or skinny enough. They loved me for me.  

I just never imagined I’d wake up in one of the fictional world’s I’d read about, and come face to face with the High Lord I’d most recently falling for. I’d arrived several months ago, and of course hadn’t been able to keep a thing from the High Lord of the Night Court who’d found me trespassing on his lands. He’d gone into my head, not too far, but far enough to assess whether I was a threat to him or his people. He discovered pretty quickly that I had absolutely no skill set to be a threat, and that I absolutely was not from his world.  

He’d found the concept of Prynthian being presented in a series of books both interesting and amusing, as well as him and his friends existing as characters within the novels. I was just glad he hadn’t gone far enough to find how invested I got in each of the books I read, and those who existed within them, him being one of those people. It would have been mortifying and I had wondered on more than one occasion what his reaction would be. But coming face to face with a man who had been fictional to me, and then become real overnight… it had thrown me into my insecurities. Into taking my feelings for the High Lord and shoving them down as far as I could.  

‘Y/N?’ I was snapped out of my thoughts by Cassian popping his head into my room. Rhys had offered me a room at his town house when I first got here, and I’d never left. He’d offered the money to buy my own place, but I hadn’t been comfortable with the idea of that at the time, and now I had a place on his court, along with a wage of my own, but this had become my home.  

‘Hey Cass, what’s up?’ I smiled, patting the empty space beside me on the enormous bed; in my world I’d never had bigger than a single, and this was about three singles put together.  

‘Not much, I was gonna go into town for a little while, do you want to come with?’ His hazel eyes studied me with warmth and kindness, which was probably what had made me comfortable around him so quickly. He’d never looked at me with the disinterest I was used to being on the receiving end of from men; he saw me as a person and I appreciated him for it.

‘Sure. Anything in particular you’re after?’ I wondered letting my hair down from the messy bun I’d pulled it up onto when I’d come to relax in my room.  

He shrugged, trying and failing to be nonchalant, ‘not really. Just felt like getting out.’

I sighed, shuffling to the edge of the bed to slip on my boots, ‘Rhys sent you to check up on me didn’t he? Let me guess, he thinks I’m becoming a depressed recluse?’  

Cass gave me a look that was a mixture of concern and exasperation, ‘Rhys worries about you because you never leave the house. He doesn’t think you’re depressed, but he worries you’re not living either. You lose yourself in books, and you barely speak to anyone, even me.’  

I turned away, pretending to busy myself with lacing up my shoes to hide the tear that slid down my cheek. Rhys was more observant than I gave him credit for. The truth was, since I’d gotten here, I’d basically been living the same as I had before; reading, sleeping, eating and more reading. I ate meals with everyone sometimes, but more often than not, I allowed the new fictional worlds offered to me here to consume me. I’d never been called out on it before. No one had ever cared enough to notice that I wasn’t just reading because I loved it, I was reading to escape the life I didn’t know how to live.  

‘I-I’ I stuttered, forcing myself to stop and take a breath.

‘Hey,’ Cassian’s voice softened and he shuffled beside me on the bed to sling a muscular arm over my shoulder. My head went to his chest, not even trying to hold back my tears anymore, it seemed pointless when he could probably scent them anyway, ‘I didn’t say this to upset you, just to let you know that you’re family to us now, Y/N, and we care about you. We want you to live and enjoy life, not to fall solely in love with fictional places.’  

‘This place was just a fictional place to me once.’ I murmured quietly.

‘And now you get to be here, and still choose to read yourself to death.’ He teased, chuckling softly.  

I smiled, wiping away the moisture from my cheeks, because he was right. Rhys was right. I had been blessed with the opportunity to live in a reality I’d once yearned for with all my heart, and I’d been wasting it. Why? Because I was afraid to face the feelings I had for a certain High Lord, feelings that had only blossomed since coming here, despite my best efforts to avoid him. I’d been throwing myself into reading because I wanted to live in the fantasy that he would return my feelings for a little longer. But that had to stop. I wasn’t immortal here—at least I didn’t think so, I didn’t have Fae characteristics and I didn’t have any powers—and it was time to stop squandering my life being a scaredy cat.  

‘You’re right. Rhys is right.’ I moved away from Cassian’s chest, wiping all evidence of my tears away, ‘lets go into Velaris. I’ve always wanted to stroll through the City and take everything in. It looks so beautiful from up here.’  

Cassian grinned, and allowed me to pull him from the bed, and just like that we left the town house and were swallowed by the life of Velaris.  

Six Months Later

‘I don’t think so.’ I shook my head, levelling the Shadowsinger with a no-nonsense glare, ‘it’s the Winter Solstice, which is the first one I’m spending here, it’s basically Christmas, and it’s a family holiday. You’re not flying off to wherever the heck you’re planning to go, with only your shadows for company.’  

His hazel eyes were blank but he visibly stiffened. I sighed, realising that telling Azriel what he could and couldn’t do was not my place, and it definitely wasn’t the best approach.  

‘I’m sorry, I don’t mean to act like I’m your keeper or anything.’ I stood from the couch where I’d been sitting, to move to where he stood in front of the fire. I placed a hand on his shoulder, and relaxed a little when he didn’t shrug me off, ‘it’s just… this means something to me. Back in my old reality, we had Christmas, which was something similar. We’d all gather, exchange presents, decorate a tree, hang decorations… but what made it special to me was the time spent with the people I loved. With the people I considered family. You’re my family now, Azriel. You, Cass, Ameren, Mor… and Rhys. Obviously it’s your choice, but if you could afford to, please don’t leave until after the holiday.’  

I thought his eyes had softened at my words, but honestly it was hard to tell with the Shadowsinger. I left him alone to think over my words, kissing his cheek as I made my way outside; I still had some things left to buy for everyone. I’d gone a little overboard, but I couldn’t help it. I’d pretty much finished Mor and Ameren, I had a few last things to pick up for Cassian and Azriel, and the majority I’d left to buy were for Rhys. I already knew what I was going to get him, and most were already purchased and wrapped at each store, I’d just waited until now to get them, because while Rhys was trusted with everyone else’s presents… well giving him his own gifts just didn’t seem right. It might just have been me, but I felt like it took away the surprise, at least a little bit.  

I smiled as I walked through the city, nodding in greeting to a few friendly people. Since that talk Cassian had with me six months ago, I’d started venturing out of the townhouse more and more. I still read, but it was for the fun of it now, rather than the escape from reality. I’d fallen in love with Velaris. The city was beautiful, and teeming with life and acceptance and peace… seeing it first hand really made me appreciate the efforts Rhys and everyone had gone through to protect this place, to make it a home.  

‘Hey girl!’ Ameren’s voice had me looking to my right, to see her running across the cobblestone street to catch up to me, ‘you wouldn’t be out to purchase my Winter Solstice presents now would you?’ she grinned, her silver eyes sparkling with more life than usual.

I playfully rolled my eyes, ‘even if I was, I wouldn’t tell you. Your otherworld intimidation doesn’t work on me, Ren.’  

She huffed, but I could see the amusement swirling in her silver irises, ‘fine. It amazes me sometimes though,’ she mused, going on to explain, ‘Cassian cracked like an egg in two seconds, told me what he’d got me straight away. But you’re immune to what makes me scary to people around here.’  

I chuckled, being able to picture Cassian folding perfectly, ‘I wouldn’t say I’m the only one. And Cassian doesn’t prove anything, he’s like a big kid with this stuff. I’ve had to actually shush him to keep him from telling me about my presents, I think the excitement just gets to him. Now if you told me you’d broken Azriel, I’d be impressed.’  

She huffed a laugh and tilted her head in acknowledgement of my words, ‘yeah, you might be right. He didn’t only tell me what he’d gotten me, he told me about everyone else’s too.’  

I rolled my eyes affectionately, ‘that boy.’  

‘Indeed.’ She shook her head, but when she met my eyes again the wicked glint in them made me brace myself slightly, ‘so what are you getting our High Lord?’  

‘I’m on my way to pick up Rhys’ presents now. You can come with me if you want, so long as you don’t spoil anything.’ I gave her a pointed look and grinned at her offended look.  

‘I’m not the gossip Cassian is, thank you very much, girl,’ she waved her hand dismissively, ‘anyway, I was just wondering if you were finally going to gift him with the truth.’

‘Who?’ I frowned, pulling open the door to the blacksmith’s—I’d requested a few specific weapons for Azriel, Cassian and Rhys, each custom made and fit to them specifically, ‘what truth?’

She opened her mouth to reply, but was had to wait until the blacksmith had handed over the three weapons he’d perfectly made for me. Azriel and Cassian had plenty of swords and knives and daggers, but their abundance in bows and arrows was clear. I’d seen them practice with the same one, and I doubted they had any specific for battle, which seemed a waste when they could both fly. So I’d asked the blacksmith to create some custom for them, and both now had their own bow, plenty of arrows and a quiver. Their names were engraved inside the buttery leather of their quivers, and each were made to be lightweight and able to be worn whilst flying without losing any arrows.

For Rhys I’d asked for a pair of daggers to be crafted. I’d seen him with a couple of swords, and I was sure he already had daggers too, but picking this particular weapon had just felt right, even if I knew it was likely he possessed some already. Each was pure silver, one held an amethyst stone at the hilt, while the other held an onyx stone. One for his eyes, the other for his court.  

It was when we exited the shop that Ameren decided to resume her train of thought that I’d almost forgotten about, ‘the truth that you are in love with Rhys.’

It took a lot of effort not to stumble from shock, ‘what?’

‘Don’t play dumb. It’s obvious. Has been for months,’ she smirked, ‘we have bets on when you’re going to tell him. I have over the Solstice, so if you could do a girl a favour and tell him already, the winnings will be mine.’

‘Not to put a damper on your betting habits,’ I pulled her hand towards another shop I needed to go into, ‘but I’ve not got any “truth” to reveal to Rhys.’  

She swore under her breath, ‘I knew I should have had spring, but there’s me being the optimist thinking you would have grown some balls and realised what we’ve all already seen by now.’

I frowned, ‘what the hell are you talking about Ameren?’

‘Rhys loves you just as much as you love him. Actually knowing him, he probably loves you even more, but he’s as much of a coward as you.’ She rolled her eyes, tucking her onyx hair behind her ear as I accepted another bag full of pre-wrapped presents for Rhys.

‘You can’t be serious.’ I didn’t know what else to say… the idea of him feeling a fraction of the love I had for him made my heart pound in my chest. I couldn’t fathom it.

‘Honestly, you’re both blind.’ She shook her head, but let the subject drop, and I was glad. Talking any more might have launched me into a full-blown panic attack.

I’d admitted to myself that fallen in love with the High Lord three months ago—for a long time I’d fought it, convincing myself I was just in love with the fictional version of him. But that theory had gone down the toilet when he’d laughed—really laughed—at a joke Cassian made, and I’d been powerless to stop myself from being overwhelmed with happiness at his happiness. It was then I accepted I was an idiot in love with a man I’d never have. But Ameren saying he did feel the same, well it made me panic because I’d never considered it a possibility before—I’d never had a man interested in me before, and the idea of it, the unfamiliarity, made me panic. So I forced it down and made myself focus on collecting the rest of my gifts.  

//

The morning of Winter Solstice saw me rising bright and early, eager as a kid on Christmas morning. I realised that we wouldn’t be exchanging presents until the evening, after we’d all eaten, but I couldn’t tamper my excitement. So after I’d showered and dressed in leggings and a white woolly jumper, I headed to the living room to put the finishing touches on the decorations. Everything was basically done, but Rhys had found an eight-foot pine tree; I’d been telling him about the traditions of Christmas in my old reality, and he’d surprised me yesterday with a real tree. I’d hugged him tightly for it, unable to hold back my tears of gratitude at his thoughtfulness, and declared we’d have to decorate it tomorrow, after it had time to settle in the room overnight. A part of me wondered if he’d remember, but my doubt floated away upon the sight of him standing in the living room, observing the tree like he was sizing up an opponent on the battlefield. The thought made me chuckle, and he looked up to me with a smile.  

‘Good morning.’ I murmured, coming over to join him, ‘is there a reason you seem to be sizing up this poor, defenceless tree?’  

He grinned, his violet eyes sparkling with mirth, ‘well, other than the fact that it’s bigger than me and has an unfair advantage size-wise,’ I missed his soft smile as I laughed again, ‘I was simply wondering exactly how we’re going to decorate it.’

I softened with understanding, ‘well, lucky for you, I’m ridiculously prepared.’ I moved to pull out the box I’d stored behind the tree last night, after retrieving it from one of the shops in the art district. Magic was such a blessing here, and after I’d explained what I’d needed, and demonstrated with some awful drawings, they’d had everything made within a few hours. I pulled a few ornaments out, marvelling at the craftsmen’s ship for a moment before hanging them on the tree; there was a mixture of circular shapes and stars, in amethyst, silver, blue and black. They’d also crafted a silver star to go on top of the tree, fashioned after the star that always shone the brightest in the night sky of Velaris on the first night of Winter Solstice. It was so well made, I’d been struck speechless by how realistic it looked; as if they had plucked the star straight from the sky.  

I nudged the box closer to Rhys with my foot, ‘just hang them however you want, like this.’ I gestured to the few I’d put on and smiled when he reached in and immediately followed instructions.  

‘You know, if I used my magic I could have this done in under a minute.’ He commented, looking at me from the corner of his eye as if he knew my reaction before I voiced it.

‘Absolutely not! Decorating by hand is part of the fun, and the tradition.’ I protested, flicking his shoulder when I noticed his smirk, ‘if you use a flicker of magic, then there will be no presents for you.’

I frowned at the look of surprise in his eyes and he must have noticed my confusion because he said, his voice soft, ‘I didn’t think you’d gotten me anything. I didn’t mind, of course, I’m just surprised.’  

‘Why would you think that?’ I turned to face him fully, ignoring the task of decorating for the moment.

‘Because you didn’t give them to me to hide.’ He shrugged, carefully placing another ornament onto the tree, ‘and I never expect gifts, from anyone regardless. I went a long time being consumed by disappointment after my mother and sister died, because my father never cared for the holiday before. But after their deaths, it bore a reminder of another year of them being gone. Then he and I enacted our revenge, and it was a while before Morrigan, Cassian and I were able to spend the Solstice together.’  

I pulled him into a hug, winding my arms around his neck and not flinching at the appearance of his wings. They didn’t often appear without purpose unless he was feeling a strong emotion, but I didn’t question it when they cocooned us, his warmth radiating all around me.  

‘I didn’t give you any to hide because I felt like it took away from the surprise of the holiday if I was asking you to keep your own presents.’ I murmured into his neck, missing the small shiver that passed through him, ‘I’m sorry, that you had to spend so many Solstice’s alone, Rhys. But you have a family now, one that would sooner die than leave you.’

He held me a little tighter, and I returned the gesture, burrowing further into his neck and wondering if I was imagining the increased heartbeat I could feel against my chest, or if I were perhaps mistaking it for my own.

//

I smiled from my seat in the armchair, enjoying the warmth emanating from the fire, and from the mug of hot chocolate I held in my hands. We had just had Winter Solstice dinner, and were taking it in turns to open our presents.  

Ameren had gone first, and was grinning so wide it was almost scary at all of the jewels everyone had bought for her. Cassian had mostly been gifted weapons from everyone but Mor and me—she’d given him a sweater in the brightest green I’d ever seen, and I’d also gifted him some of his favourite liquor, a box of chocolates that Rhys had mentioned his mother got the General every year for solstice, some new books on war strategy, a new set of Illyrian leathers, and the bow and arrows I’d gotten him.

Azriel had also gained an abundance of weapons, along with a startlingly bright pair of purple socks from Mor, and some of his favourite liquor, a series of books on adventure and war I had a feeling he would enjoy, and a new set of Illyrian leathers and his new bow and arrows, from me. Mor had been given high quality clothing from everyone, and some of her favourite chocolates, wine, bath foams and salts from me. Rhys had been given a set of old leather bound books from Ameren, a Hawaiian themed shirt from Mor—mother knew where she found that—, what looked like a six-pack of beer from Cassian that had Rhys shaking his head with a reluctant smile, and a new set of Illyrian leathers from Azriel. I’d given him his new set of daggers, some of the chocolates Cassian had mentioned his mother and sister gifted him every Solstice, a painting that captured the beauty of Velaris perfectly, and something else I hadn’t yet presented to him.  

I’d actually left the other gift in his room, on his pillow; it was a pendant that had caught my eye when I was buying Ameren’s Solstice gifts. The shop attendant had noticed my stare and pulled it out from beneath the glass—it wasn’t overly huge; about the size of a bottle cap. It was antique silver, with a stone at the centre that was so beautiful I’d been unable to look away from it. It reminded me of the night sky, to put it plainly. It was so blue I thought it was sapphire, but the flashes of pure light that I saw when I turned it reminded me of shooting stars. The attendant had explained it was a pendant often presented to a perspective partner as a way of showing your intentions—as a way of showing your love for them. It was often the step before the mating bond sparked, to acknowledge what you already felt for them. She mentioned that it was an out dated tradition, and many only bought the Starlight stone now purely because it was beautiful.  

I didn’t know what possessed me to buy it. Maybe it was the possibility that he wouldn’t even know what it meant, maybe it was because a part of me wanted to tell him, and this was the only way I could muster the courage to do it. Either way, I’d left the small wrapped present on his black silk pillow before I’d joined the party tonight. And I’d had knots in my stomach about it since. A part of me wanted to excuse myself and take it back, but I forced that anxious part of my brain to shut up, because as much as it terrified me… I had to tell Rhys how I felt somehow, even if it meant that he didn’t feel the same way.

//

After the events of the evening, I decided to have a bath before I went to bed; Cassian and Azriel had passed out in the living room, one on the floor, the other on the sofa, but both were snoring loudly. Mor had made it to her room on the first floor, and Ameren had returned to her apartment. Rhys had said something about flying over the city before he turned in, and I was too awake with nerves to just slip straight into bed. So I ran some warm water into the gigantic tub that looked as if it would overflow onto the mountain below, and added some of my favourite bath foams that scented of lavender and honey—a gift from Az. I forced myself to breathe and just not think, and when my eyes started to droop I climbed out of the cooling water to dry off. I changed into the new silk gown Mor had gifted me for Solstice, and entered my bedroom only to stop short.  

My heart stopped at the sight of Rhys sitting on the edge of my bed… and then picked up triple speed. He was wearing loose pyjama pants, and no shirt… and he was holding the gift box I’d left on his pillow. The lid was missing and he was staring at the pendant inside. I took a deep breath and crossed my arms over my chest to hide how my hands shook.

‘Hey.’ I bit my lip, unsure about what to do. Should I sit next to him? Stay standing in front of the fire about three feet away from him? Ask him if he liked the gift? Ask him if he knew what it meant?  

His violet eyes lifted to meet mine, and I felt a wave of uncertainty wash over me at the guarded look in them, ‘do you know what this stone means?’ he asked, his voice quiet as he carefully held up the box, as if its contents were precious to him, ‘are you aware of the tradition that exists in Velaris? About what it means when someone presents this stone to another person?’

I took a deep breath, my heart pounding even faster now, and I was pretty sure I was starting to sweat. I wished I could read him better, wished I could know if he was hoping I knew, or hoping I didn’t. But he was a master of hiding his emotions, so I decided to go with the truth.

‘Yes, I know what it means.’ I admitted quietly, and knew if he didn’t have advanced hearing he wouldn’t have been able to make out the words; I could barely hear myself say them.

‘No, tell me. Tell me why you gave this to me.’ His eyes were still guarded, but his voice held a tinge of desperation, a tone I couldn’t resist from him.

‘I gave you that stone because the attendant at the jewellery store told me that the Starlight stone is what you give to a perspective partner, to acknowledge what you already feel for them, before the mating bond has sparked.’ I could feel the wariness on my face as he stood from the edge of the bed, stopping right in front of me.  

He tilted my chin up to meet his eyes with his index finger and whispered, ‘and what is it you feel for me, Y/N?’

‘I love you Rhys.’ I admitted softly, missing the way his eyes softened as my gaze fell to his lips.

His hand caressed my cheek, his thumb moving back and forth across my cheekbone. I was powerless to stop myself melting into his touch, and felt my eyes sheen with tears when I saw the affectionate look in his eyes. I watched as the dark mist of his magic swirled around the pendant, and lifted it from the box to secure it around his neck. My hand went to rest against his chest, where the pendant lay against his skin.

‘I love you too, Y/N darling.’ He murmured, wiping away the tears that fell silently down my cheeks.  

I vaguely heard the gift box fall to the floor, his free hand now landing on my hip and pulling me flush against his body. My arms wound around his neck, my fingers going to his silky soft hair as his mouth covered mine.

//

One Year Later

‘I’m just saying, Cassian is a great name for a tiny warrior.’ Cass grinned from the sofa, across from where Rhys and I sat in the love seat he’d bought for us about a year ago.  

‘Absolutely not.’ Rhys drawled, his hand gently moving back and forth across my swollen belly.

‘Do you have names picked out?’ Mor asked, her face holding the beaming expression that was always present when we were talking about the baby.

‘We do,’ I murmured, Rhys and I shared a secret smile at Mor’s squeal of excitement.  

‘We’re not revealing anything until the baby is born.’ Rhys grinned at the sounds of disapproval from his cousin and Cassian.  

‘You’re boring.’ The war General grumbled.

We all chuckled at his childish behaviour and I felt my expression soften with affection when Rhys leaned over to kiss my baby bump, murmuring words about how his uncle Cassian would always be the biggest baby in the family. Cassian grumbled louder, much to our amusement. My hand fell to Rhys hair, idly playing with the strands. He kissed my forehead and my eyes fluttered shut at the feeling of contentment that washed over me.  

Home. This was home.

[puppy-coded]

Jealousy Is Blue

𝑅𝑒𝓆𝓊𝑒𝓈𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝐵𝓎: No one

𝒲𝒶𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔(𝓈): Jealous Percy, blue hair dye, mild fighting, jealous Percy, Sally being a saint(as always), poorly written 3rd person(meaning I person hop, this is just third person practice), I mean like... slight angst? Maybe? Fluffy ending though.

𝒲𝑜𝓇𝒹 𝒞𝑜𝓊𝓃𝓉: 978 Words

𝒫𝒶𝒾𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔: Percy Jackson x Fem!Cabin 5!Reader

𝒫𝒪𝒱: 3rd person

𝒜/𝒩: Hey, I’m relatively new to Tumblr but I write a lot and this is from my Quotev account if it gets recognized. Hop on over to my account if you like this and request something, I’m always looking for requests!

.

.

.

"Percy!" (Y/N) screeched, stomping from her cabin to her boyfriend. Her (H/C) hair had been turned into electric blue, courtesy of Percy Jackson.

"Here we go again..." Percy muttered under his breath.

"I'm gonna kill you!" She continued as she got closer.

"You threatened that last time (L/N)," Percy reminded her. He still held on to that, it was priceless in his eyes.

"Well... yeah but this time it's true!" She promises.

"Are you gonna have Clarisse do it? Because getting murdered by my girlfriend would be only a little embarrassing," Percy joked before he could process that his, usually sweet and semi-quiet, girlfriend was not in the mood.

"You shouldn't have dyed my hair blue!" (Y/N) cried, getting in Percy's personal space now.

"It looks good babe," Percy tried.

"You suck man," She said before retreating to her cabin.

"We have dinner with my mom tonight! Remember that!" Percy called as an afterthought. He ran his hand through his black hair and chuckled to himself.

-

"So, (Y/N)... what's, uh, what's going on? With the... the hair?" Sally awkwardly asked (Y/N) gesturing to her electric blue hair. It had been a while since Sally had seen (Y/N) but she didn't think it had been that long.

"Ask your stupid son," (Y/N) said while crossing her arms. She's still steaming.

"Percy? What did you do?" Sally asked her son, somewhat sternly.

"Only claiming her," Percy feebly explained.

"Claiming me? What the hell?" (Y/N) asked, standing up and fuming. Percy swore he could see smoke coming from her ears when he said that.

"And getting back at the Ares cabin for the other pranks," Percy tried again. He could tell he was failing since his two favorite women were both glaring at him.

"Oh my gods! You dyed my hair for a prank war?! Now I'm gonna kill you," (Y/N) says. She's fully prepared to jump over the table at Percy but doesn't because of Sally's hand on her shoulder.

"How about we don't do that...?" Sally asks (Y/N). Sally's touch was comforting to (Y/N).

"Ms. Jackson, you are an amazing person but, and I'm very sorry about this, I have to murder your son." (Y/N) says sincerely.

"I can... I have a sword!" Percy says, starting to take Riptide out of his pocket.

"Okay, we can talk this out, we usually do," Sally says while getting between the fighting demigods.

"I'm the daughter of the god of war, you really wanna..." (Y/N) starts, only to be cut off by Sally.

"Stop it you two! Now, Percy, what is this about claiming (Y/N)?" Sally asked Percy, a little sterner than the first time.

"Yeah, what is it about claiming (Y/N)? Wait, I'm (Y/N)." She realized. "Oh my lord, I'm turning into Clarisse, one moment." (Y/N) went to the bathroom and retching could be heard from it.

"We'll wait for her to get back," Sally said calmly.

"Yeah..." Percy agreed.

"I'm back," (Y/N) announces, walking back into the kitchen in one of Percy's shirts. They may be fighting but she still likes to steal his clothes.

"Obviously," Percy said, trying to ignore the fact that (Y/N) was wearing his shirt.

"Anyway! There's a story behind the hair dye, what is it?" Sally asked, sensing the slight tension between the two kids.

"Well..." Percy said, starting his story.

~

"Hey, thanks for helping me with this." Jonah, a Demeter kid, thanked (Y/N).

"No problem Jonah! You know I love baking!" (Y/N) told him, smiling brightly at the boy and balancing the tray of cupcakes on her arm. She had baked way more than needed and was trying not to drop the trays she had.

"You are a lifesaver (Y/N). Are you sure you don't need help? I can carry it for you." Jonah offered, holding his hand out for her.

"Oh, no, I've got it... whoa!" (Y/N) exclaimed, tripping over a root in the ground. She had dropped the cupcakes but it wasn't Jonah's concern.

"You alright?" Jonah asked, helping her up.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks. That root came out of nowhere." (Y/N) said, laughing nervously and trying to salvage some of the desserts. 

"Yeah, it did. Here let me carry them and I'll keep a lookout for spare branches. It's probably a newly discovered sibling thinking it's cool to control plants." Jonah joked, he took the tray from her and started walking to his cabin.

"Oh, it's cool. I just wish I could control something. Being an Ares kid is boring, like, you don't even know." (Y/N) said.

"I don't know, I think you're pretty cool," Jonah assured her.

"Aww! You're so sweet!" (Y/N) exclaimed, hugging him.

~

"You dyed my hair because you were jealous?" (Y/N) asked Percy. It made sense but she was still mad.

"He kept finding reasons to be more than friendly with you!" Percy defended.

"I... what? Sometimes my brain short circuits around you." (Y/N) said, rubbing her temples in an attempt to get her point across.

"He moved that branch on purpose!" Percy said angrily. 'Why can't she see that?' He had asked himself.

"Oh, my gods..." (Y/N) responded, dropping her head on the table.

"What? He did." Percy said.

-

(Y/N) and Percy had made up and was now cuddling in his room. Percy was running his hands through (Y/N)'s hair and giving her the occasional kiss on the temple. (Y/N) was almost asleep when she started to speak.

"Percy?" She asked tiredly.

"Yeah?" Percy asked.

"You're an idiot." (Y/N) reminds him.

"I know," Percy admits.

"But you're my idiot." She continued.

"I know," Percy said, kissing her temple and continuing what he was previously doing until (Y/N) fell asleep.

[vidalinav]

Don’t come for me...

As much as Feyre sometimes is a lame character (IMO) I have to admit there’s something very sad about wanting your sister’s love more than anything and never getting it, even to the point where you don’t even know how to ask for it or where to look. In the whole series, Feyre always mentions Nesta, even more so I think then Elain. There’s so many instances of Feyre yearning for Nesta’s love or having a high opinion of her even with the harshness that she shows. She tells Alis to go across the wall if need be, because her sister will put aside her prejudice and shelter them, because that’s just the person she is. She argues in favor of her with Cassian in ACOMAF, telling him hey she really loves people, she just feels too much and she’s actually very thankful for your promise to protect her people and her family. She argues with Rhys even in ACOWAR at his insulting idea of her sister being unleashed to the city like a rabid beast when at that point they are still relatively new in their relationship. She asks Amren in ACOFAS if she’s seen her sister and is upset when Nesta chooses Amren to confide in instead of her or Elain. At the end of ACOWAR, Feyre is the one who is like stay out her, join this meeting, you’re the guest of honor when Nesta just wants to leave. Feyre is the one who keeps inviting her to many things that Nesta doesn’t want to be involved in.  

This is sad in the way, that even though we know Nesta is traumatized, and we know that Feyre should probably be more understanding since she has also went through something traumatic, Feyre is still not completely loved by the one person she probably wants to be loved by the most. Let’s look at the fact that when Feyre mentions Nesta loving people, she always says that Nesta shows love to Elain, from the beginning to the end. Example in ACOFAS, “To say that to me, fine. But to Elain?” Elain is the number 1, the sister that Nesta puts above the rest. That’s the question she asks in the library in ACOWAR, “’Why do you push everyone away but Elain?’ Why have you always pushed me away?” 

So, this is why I can understand why Nesta has to be accountable for her mistakes, because she’s made some. I think that’s a big enough reason for Nesta to have to be accountable, because you should never be allowed to make someone feel unloved. The argument of letting Feyre hunt is lame to me, because we all know they were all kids, and the dad should have stepped up in some way. But the fact that Feyre questions whether she’s really loved by her sister, I think is enough to say that Nesta needs to learn something. 

Others have made mistakes, for sure, but they don’t have to be accountable for their actions, because they are not the main character of the book and the one person who is, is the one who is hurt by Nesta and not the rest of the characters. I think if they had their own story told, then for sure, accountability. But this book series, is Feyre, and now Cassian and Nesta’s story, so you see where I’m going with this. 

So at some point, I understand this idea that Feyre is wrong to send her to Illyria, to deal with Nesta’s trauma like that, to not be more compassionate, yadda yadda, and I don’t fully believe it was her own decision I feel Rhys probably had something to do with that, he was the one who was literally like “perhaps there’s some string to be pulled, webs to be weaved,” or whatever he said in ACOFAS.  And don’t get me wrong, I love Nesta more than any other character in the ACOTAR universe, I just don’t see how you can completely dismiss Nesta’s actions, but at the same time accuse Feyre of villian-y. If Feyre doesn’t have a right to take away someone’s autonomy, then Nesta doesn’t have the right to make someone feel lesser than or unloved as I said before. 

And, not to make this longer than it already is lol, in analyzing these characters and their actions, you really get to see how many people care about Nesta. The way she is for the most part. Like Cassian, you can tell he has so many feelings for her, regardless of whether he’s an a**whole sometimes, but she dissed him after they almost died together. Elain, she loves that girl, but she too is dissed. Feyre, read everything I wrote above. Even Amren, who sees her on regular occasion, even considers her a friend until that day they had an argument, which let’s be real was probably about her. And then ultimately her father, who came very late, but who showed he loved her, who said he loved her, who showed unconditional love really to Nesta who wanted to starve, and tried to starve them indirectly, and who used to put his cane far away from this disabled man because she was angry. So, I don’t buy this oh Nesta has nothing to apologize for. I hate apologies written in stories, personally, and Nesta is an action type of person anyway, but I do think that a healing arc that involves Nesta would have to have her be introspective and to really come to know that if people don’t love her, she pushed them away. People don’t have to put up with other people. Realistically, none of us can go through life as if we’ve done no wrong, otherwise there would be no growth, no maturing, no long-lasting relationships. We would suck and it wouldn’t matter if we were angry or harsh or had witty comebacks, we would suck as people because we do not show that we care about other people. So Nesta has to change, because she’s spent four books being like this. She doesn’t have to change completely; she doesn’t have to be Elain or Feyre or Mor or some other chick who’s happy-go-lucky or nice to a fault. Her personality doesn’t have to change. She can still be angry, but proper healing I think for her would mean learning that she must grow and improve, and that she has to take control of her own life, her actions, her past, that part that she played a role in, and everything else that involves her. Of course, people did her wrong, I’m sure people will still do her wrong, but at some point she needs to take back her life and open herself up to love and show people she cares. Because if her M.O. is that actions speak louder than words, her actions right now are saying she hates everyone including herself. And as we know, she’s not an island, as they say and she’s not sociopathic or a narcissist, so she can and should change for the better.  

And, I certainly don’t say this to be like “you shouldn’t hate Feyre or the inner circle or Nesta or whoever, or none of them did anything wrong/right.” Hate them if you want, it makes no difference to me. It doesn’t affect me at all. I just think that as long as were analyzing things, we should analyze from all points of view. And I certainly think that ACOFAS is looking less, to me, like a list of sins that the mains are committing against Nesta and more of a web of their own trauma, their own pov’s of the situations, and the current climate of whatever their dealing with at the time. People are messy. Book characters even more so apparently. 

[ernmark]

One Possible Read of The Green Knight

I say one possible, because this is the story as I understood it as I was watching the film. When I mentioned it to my partner, he didn't take that away. I'm not saying my take on it is right or wrong (I think it's hard to say that about most reads for a movie like this), but I submit it for your consideration.

(Spoilers and a fairly thorough plot summary under the cut)

(Holy moly this got long)

A brief caveat:

Caveat the First: I'm basing this off a pre-existing understanding of medieval stories, which don't necessarily follow the same narrative structures as modern ones. The world they lived in was weird, so sometimes weird shit just happened for no reason, often very conveniently. (If anything, I think this movie did less of that than existed in typical medieval stories.) They also heavily relied on archetypes rather than distinct characters with backstories, as well as a pre-established understanding of the story you're listening to. Like the puppet show that shows up in the story, the kids in the audience had already heard the story enough times that they could follow it without any actual words. On that note, I've also read a version of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Caveat the Second: I immediately distrust anybody who talks about any story older than three centuries or so having an "original" version. There are some stories that have distinct authors, but often these stories were retold and rewritten to suit the tastes of their latest audience. So I refer to the version I read, not "the original". I take my reading of that story into my interpretation of what I saw. I'll note the details from the version I read where it's relevant.

The Story

We start with Gawain, King Arthur's nephew, waking up in a brothel with his sex worker lady friend. She sends him on his way back home to Camelot where his mother greets him and kindly asks him where he's been all night. Oh, off at Christmas Mass, naturally, is what he tells her. She counters that clearly he's been drinking all the communion wine, because she can smell it on his breath.

She tells him she's not feeling well, so he should go to the Christmas celebration without her and tell her all about it afterward.

[I don't recall hearing her name in the movie, but in the version I read, the Green Knight is sent by Morgana. Between his mother being described in dialogue as Arthur's sister and a known witch, I'm gonna run with that assumption and call her that.]

This is where my reading diverges: I take all of this as being almost entirely Morgana's story. And from her perspective, it's kind of hilarious. Because this isn't the story of Gawain's journey into Manhood, but of a very frustrated mother's attempts to save her beloved (if disappointing) son.

While Gawain is partying with the sickly King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table, Morgana joins three of her fellow witches and they enact a spell, summoning the Green Knight and a very specifically worded challenge. The Green Knight presents a game: any one person in attendance may injure him and get his badass axe as a prize, but in a year exactly he'll have to go to the Green Knight's chapel and allow the Green Knight to return the exact same blow to him.

Arthur says he wants to do it, but acknowledges he's too sickly to do so. Gawain, already embarrassed once at this party, jumps up and volunteers to be his champion. And when he steps into the ring with the Green Knight, he cuts off his opponent's head. He'd think that was the end of it, but the Green Knight just picks up his severed head, reminds him of the deal to bring the axe back and let himself get beheaded in a year, and leaves.

[In the version I read, this was a ploy on Morgana's part just to freak out Guinevere. Seriously, that was the entirety of it. Just fucking with her rival/sister-in-law.]

In the movie, I got the vibe that Gawain was never meant to be in the line of fire. I suspect that either Arthur or one of his knights was meant to be the Green Knight's opponent, who would die after a year to get his affairs in order. Given that Gawain was Arthur's next-of-kin, that would have given him plenty of time to pass the crown to Morgana's beloved son. Unfortunately, Gawain stepping up messed up her whole plan.

During the intervening year, we see Morgana and the other witches working together to weave the Girdle of Invulnerability. As the name suggests, it's laden with magic to protect him from all harm and all blows from anyone. So long as he wears it, she explains, he'll make it home in one piece.

[In the version I read, the girdle is given to him by another woman later on at a weirdly convenient time. More on that later.]

Gawain barely makes it out when he asks directions from a young man looting the corpses on a recent battlefield. Being the idiot that he is, Gawain takes the young man's directions straight into a trap, where the young man and several other bandits are lying in wait. Despite his mother's assurances that he's invulnerable, he stands down immediately, allowing the bandits to take the Green Knight's axe, his Magic Girdle, all his money, all his supplies, etc.

During all this, three things happen: first, we see A Fox. Second, when the bandit takes the axe he goes all weird and runs off on the horse, forcing the other bandits to chase after him and leaving Gawain unobserved. Third, we get a weird vision of the future where Gawain remains where he is, tied up, until he rots away and he's left nothing but a skeleton.

My read is that The Fox is either Morgana or one of the other witches shapeshifted to keep an eye on him (alternatively, the fox is Reynard or a similar magical creature employed by them for the same purpose.) The Fox then enchants the bandit into running off with the Girdle and the Axe, leaving Gawain relatively safe. And when he fails to do anything with this spectacular opportunity, the Fox gives him the vision of what's gonna happen to him if he just waits around to be rescued.

Prompted to action, Gawain manages to free himself and continues his quest on foot. Eventually he comes across an abandoned manor. Inside, he meets a ghost who asks him to retrieve her severed head, which was thrown into the nearby spring. After some hemming and hawing, he does. When he returns to the surface with the woman's skull, the ghost is gone, but the Fox is watching him.

My take is that the ghost disappeared. They do that. The Fox, being sent to watch him, saw him actually step up and do a brave and selfless thing for once. This is what cements to the Fox that Gawain isn't a perennial fuckup, he's able to grow and mature if he's given the chance.

Gawain returns the skull to the rest of the ghost's skeleton, and he's rewarded by regaining his lost axe. (The axe placed there by the Fox, who took it from the enchanted bandit.)

So this is great, right? Gawain's fuck-upery has been cured and he's doing the responsible thing. Yay, right?

Except he's a fuckup who spends more time drinking and hanging out in brothels than doing Knightly stuff, so he doesn't know basics. Like how to start a fire or get food. Offscreen, Morgana must have been bashing her head into a wall, because her beloved son is going to get himself killed.

The Fox appears to him, and after his initial attempt to drive it off, Gawain lets it stay with him. From this point forward it stays by his side, not-so-subtly giving him directions and keeping him generally safe.

Later we meet some giants, because sometimes there are just giants. We don't question these things in Arthurian fantasy. Gawain asks them to give him a ride to his destination, but when one agrees to help him, he freaks out at the last second and refuses. The Fox speaks to the giant, quite possibly apologizing for its very rude human friend, and the giants go on their way without him.

Gawain is most of the way there by now, but it's late December in Wales, he's super cold and hasn't eaten anything but trippy mushrooms, he can't build a fire, he's been walking for days. He collapses, but the Fox urges him to go a little further and leads him to another manor house. Fortunately for him, this manor has living people in it, who clean him up, put him in a warm bed, and give him food.

We get a dreamy scene where he's being tended by his mother before he wakes up in the care of the manor. My read on it was that this manor and the people in it were sent directly by Morgana to save him. I don't think the manor was even there ten seconds before he collapsed the first time. Because Morgana loves her son, but he is REALLY bad at this.

Notably, it seems that the only people here are the Lord and Lady of the manor, as well as a blind old woman who seems to be the lady's maidservant and/or mother? Hard to tell.

Some flirting happens between Gawain and the Lord and Lady. The Lord of the manor explains that conveniently, Gawain's destination is only one day's walk away and he's several days early, so why not take some time to rest and gather his strength. The Lady shows off her library and her fancy daguerreotype-like mechanism, etc. The Lord suggests another game (mirroring the game presented by the Green Knight) : the Lord will go hunting the next day and give Gawain whatever he catches. Gawain will in return give the Lord whatever he gains throughout the day.

[In the version I read, this happens over the course of three days. Each day the Lord leaves, the Lady tries to seduce Gawain but he refuses, only accepting a kiss from her on the first two days; when the Lord returns with a hunted animal each day, Gawain gives him the kiss that the Lady gave him. On the third day, the Lady also gives Gawain a previously-unmentioned enchanted Girdle of Invincibility, which he neglects to pass along to the Lord, opting just to kiss him instead.]

In the movie, this is condensed into only one day. Gawain wakes up with the Lady creepily watching him sleep, wearing the Girdle of Invincibility that Morgana made for him. She invites him into bed and offers him the Girdle, reminding him that it can render him invincible. The scene gets a bit weird after that-- sex acts of some sort ensue, and the Lady walks away, leaving Gawain with post-coital shame and the Girdle.

Upset, Gawain grabs his stuff and makes to leave. Along the way he runs into the Lord in the middle of his hunt, and he declares that he's going to meet the Green Knight a day early. Citing their game, the Lord presents Gawain with The Fox (who is alive despite having been caught by a hunter, hmmm) and requests Gawain's "winnings" in return-- which he claims by stealing a kiss. I dunno about you, but it seemed to me that Gawain was Into It, at least before he remembers to be freaked out and runs off.

He's nearly at the place where he's to meet the Green Knight when the fox stops him. Now it starts talking, its voice shifting from masculine to feminine. It tells him that he's done a great job, and he can turn back right now and go home and nobody will know but the two of them. He doesn't have to go through with this. But Gawain, determined to fulfil his quest, drives the Fox off once again and goes the last bit alone.

Here he meets the Green Knight in the ruins of an old chapel, though because he's early the Green Knight is little more than a statue, awake but unmoving until the appointed Christmas Day. All the while Gawain just has to sit there and stew in the knowledge that he's gonna die. Finally the Green Knight stirs, asks Gawain if he's ready to die, and readies the axe that Gawain returned to him.

Throughout this, the light hits the Green Knight differently, making him look an awful lot like the Lord of the manor. After Gawain flinches away from the axe the first time, he speaks gently to him, almost tenderly.

[In the version I read, the Green Knight and the Lord of the manor are the same person, and the Lord/Knight is aware of Gawain's magic Girdle, because this was all an elaborate ruse. Because of Gawain's invincibility, the Green Knight only scratches his neck, permanently scarring him as punishment for lying about it and cheating in both their games, but doesn't hold it against him. Gawain then returns to Camelot and they keep the Girdle at the round table as a symbol that all of them have their failings.]

In the movie, Gawain flinches one more time. We then get a second very lengthy vision of an alternate future: Gawain flees the Green Knight and returns home, where he's welcomed back without external consequences. However, he's haunted by his own cowardice, giving up a difficult love in favor of living up to expectation, only to lose everything in the end anyway. His life following the cowardly route was longer, but it wasn't a better life.

He stops the Green Knight one last time, only to remove the Girdle and set it aside before declaring himself ready. The Green Knight is genuinely pleased by this, and he leans in and simply traces a finger over Gawain's throat, before happily saying. "Off with your head."

The movie ends there. Whether the Green Knight leaves him alive or kills him is up for interpretation. But even if the Green Knight wasn't on Morgana's payroll, I feel like he's way too fond of Gawain to do him real harm at this point.

And so Gawain has grown up-- he's brave, he's honorable, he's learned to keep his word and face the consequences of his actions. And Morgana, after some major struggles and a lot of called-in favors, has managed to keep her son from dying on his quest. Victory all around.

There's also an after-credits scene: just a little girl playing with Arthur/Gawain's crown. Notably, this little girl is neither of the children Gawain had in his vision of the cowardly future, so I interpreted it as a new future with a new child with potential all their own.

But that's just my take.

[elriell]

A very big point of tension within the ACOTAR fandom currently is Elain & her ability to produce Illyrian children, and I am here to discuss it. I have no intention of pointing fingers at any one group just hopefully seek to clear up why this line of thought is so damaging and ultimately hurtful to many.

A woman’s worth or ability to be a viable romantic candidate should never reside in her uterus or in this case bone structure, whether that be in day to day life or shipping the principle remains the same, this is a very harmful narrative to those who cannot reproduce.

I don’t think everyone who is arguing this point is trying to be dismissive of infertile women, I have seen a few posts trying to rationalise it by saying they are just reading the textual evidence that supports their ship, but what needs to be understood is in doing so you are implying that having/not having biological kids is a solid reason for a woman not to be a romantic partner and that is not okay.

But if we must look at it and analyse it because it is soooo important textually, then fine, let’s;

“If I had not met a shadowsinger, I would not have known that it is the family you make, not the one you are born into, that matters. I would not have known what it is to truly hope, even when the world tells you to despair.” 

The family you make, not “born in to”. Do you really believe Azriel is going to choose based off babies, he who has little connection to his biological family and has a whole paragraph dedicated to him finding his chosen family?

“Cassian looked over at Az. “You think you’ll ever be ready for one?” Ever be ready to confess to Mor what’s in your heart? “I don’t know,” Azriel said. “Do you want a child?” “It doesn’t matter what I want.” Distant words—ones that prevented Cassian from prying further. ”

While very sad words they are quite telling, this is after they are discussing Feysand’s baby, he is obviously aware of the risks it might pose Elain, but it doesn’t matter to him because he cares/loves her.

“But for them—for my family both of blood and my own choosing, for my mate … The idea that hit me did not seem so frightening.”

“A chosen family. Like the one Feyre had found for herself.”

Throughout the whole series the concept of found family is emphasised. 

The thing that makes me laugh most is the idea that further than adopting, it implies there is no way for Elain to alter her own body, do you really think if Nesta can change her and Feyre’s that Elain (who the Cauldron loves) wouldn’t grant her a gift too. That in a world of magic and faeries this couldn’t be easily explained if need be.

Using one line as justification is so bizarre to me.

 “My bones are slightly more pliant than ordinary High Fae’s, but who cares about that?”

This could very well have double meaning, could come in to play further down the line but we simply can’t say. 

Some people believe Balthazar might be a potential love interest for Gwyn and he is Illyrian, did Sarah add the line for their future children? See how easy it is for one simple line to be relevant to anyone depending on how you frame it. Of course like I said, I don’t believe it was intended to be associated with child birth at all, I am just making a point.

Sarah J Maas is an adopted kid, do you really, genuinely believe she would ever lay the groundwork for one of her couples based on them having a biological child? Does that truly make sense to anyone? 

To give you a little further emotional context, her dedications;

“To my parents: it took me a while to realize it, but I’m tremendously blessed to have you as my Number One fans—and to have you as parents. To my family: thank you for the unconditional love and support.”

“To my family (especially my parents): I love you to the moon and back.”

“To my parents: thank you for the fairy tales and folklore, for the adventures around the world, and for the weekend mornings with bagels and lox from Murray’s.”

“To my parents: it’s been one hell of a year, but we made it. I’ll never stop being amazed and grateful that I can even say those words. I love you both.”

“My wonderful parents and family: it’s been so long since we’ve been able to see each other in person, but I’ve felt your love even from hundreds of miles away.”

Yes, yes, certainly sounds like a woman who would hinge a relationship on biology. 

You can analyse textual evidence seven ways to Sunday and 9/10 I will never comment on it because theorising is all for fun, but this topic is genuinely concerning that people truly believe SJM would suggest such a thing in her literature. 

I genuinely believe she would be incredibly disappointed in her readers for thinking she would imply such a hurtful narrative.

[Infertility Article  &  How it Can Affect People] Some interesting reading if you want to understand a little more peoples pain, and trauma in this area but genuinely you can do a quick Google and find countless articles about it.

But that’s just my opinion. 

[tnystrk-exe]

we both know how this song ends 8

Masterpost

Previous Chapter

Warnings: Hand job, fingering, oral, sex, dom/sub undertones

Chapter Eight

“Oh, look at him!” You cooed at the screen.

A small Jack was running around the home, clad in a diaper and his dad’s work boots, a much more energetic Bess chasing after him. “‘Owboy! Ge’ up!”

The next clip was of him sitting on the counter watching his mother cook. “Ah! Ah!” He pointed to his mouth patting his belly. She let him taste the soup and then put small amounts of seasoning in his little fists to throw in the pot.

“I couldn’t risk him not knowing how to cook,” Mary said, “Too many mothers send their boys into the world with no skills. An-“

Jack walked him drying his hair with a towel, “And no son of mine is going to make his wife do all the work,” he completed for her, taking a seat next to you, “I refuse to even think of it. My girl isn’t gonna have to lift a finger ever. Ain’t that right, sweetheart?”

“Sure, Sunshine,” you watched as a three year old Jack blew out his birthday candles, a soft smile on your lips, “Anything you say.”

David chuckled, “Seems like someone’s catching a fever.”

“David, look at him. He used to be so cute.” You looked at Jack, feigning disgust as you eyed him, “The most adorable little guy I’ve ever seen. What happened?”

“You want one? Bet we could make one cuter.”

You curled into his side watching the screen, “I’ll take a raincheck on that.”

“Come on Mare, if we head out now, we’ll make it by morning,” David stood from his chair, before pointing at you two, “And if you two even think about making us grandparents this weekend, I’ll ground you both and the baby until it turns 18.”

“We’ll be back Sunday night,” Mary sighed, already dreading the overnight trip for a quick family get together, “We really need to start planning better, Dave.”

“Lovely, you’re just gonna fall asleep on my shoulder as usual. Quit complaining.”

Mary’s lips quirked into a small smile, no rebuttals coming from her end. “We’ll see you two later, kids.”

You watched the older couple leave the home. “God, why can’t I have something like that? They’re so sweet. Are you gonna give me that J? Or do I need to find it somewhere else?”

“Nah, sorry, I’ve already decided I’mma say I regret marrying you to my friends everyday. ‘Specially our wedding day. We’re gonna have those the groom doesn’t wanna be here decorations.”

“Hey!” You punched his arm lightly, “Don’t be rude.”

“You started it,” he chuckled as he pulled you to sit on his lap. “I’m gonna have everyone sick of hearing how much I adore you. I’ll be that sappy guy that always leaves early because his wife might still be up and he wants nothing more than to be with her. They’ll all call me whipped but I’m just in love with you.”

“That’s what I like to hear.” Leaning against him you watched the tape of some of his memories finish. “How's your life going?”

He thought for a second. “I’ve got it pretty good. I’ll never complain. Though there’s one thing I’ve been trying for that I haven’t been able to get.”

“Sunshine, no,” you sighed, attempting to shift away from him, but his arms kept you close. The topic was one he had been adamant about in the past week.

“I don’t like it when you use my nickname and say no,” Jack sighed, “Let’s just talk about this… I think you moving in would be good. You’d be safe.”

“Jack, I don’t want to be a burden,” you stressed, “I love your parents and you, honestly, but I’m not sure this would be the best for us.”

“It’s not like they’re strangers to taking people in, YN. Slug lived with us a good while, you know that. Honestly, I’ve already brought up the idea of it. Dad knows how things are strained with your mom. They wouldn’t mind helping out.”

“Why would you do that?” Your face heated up at the thought of them talking. “I don’t want to be a person you all pity.”

“Sweetheart, you know it’s not that. We don’t pity you. You’re family. Family helps each other. …Are you angry with me?”

“Yes? No? I don’t know… More embarrassed, I guess. Jack, it’s just… I come here to feel normal. It feels like a home here y’know? You mean well, I know that but it just feels bad knowing that’s what you talk about when I’m gone. It sucks that it’s the lingering thought.”

Jack nodded, taking in your side of things. “I overstepped. I’m sorry. We talked about what we’re gonna do in Kentucky so much, guess I got caught up in my own head about what we could do now. To me this was a way for you to get out of that place earlier. You hate it there and I can’t stand the idea of you there longer than necessary.”

“Jack, I don’t need a knight in shining armor to save the day. I can handle it and if I can’t, I’ll figure something out. It’s sweet that you think ahead, but this is my thing. Okay? These are the last couple of months with your parents before you go to be my secret agent man, I don’t want to ruin it for them. They deserve to have more moments with their son, alone, before you go off and put yourself in who knows how many dangerous situations.”

“You couldn’t ruin anything no matter how hard you’d try.” Jack sighed,holding back the rest of his arguments. “I hear you loud and clear. You won’t hear anything else about that from me. Still the offer is on the table, if you ever need it.”

You kissed the small worry line between his eyebrows, “You’re sweet, but you really got to stop stressing about my situation. Don’t need me to be the reason you start sprouting greys by twenty two.”

He half chuckled, “Can’t help it. You’re… you. I love you. I know you’re not made of glass and you can protect yourself, but the thought of something happening and not knowing. It’s…”

“Then don’t think about that,” you tried to sooth him, “I don’t. Really most nights I’ve got my headphones on and read or do homework. Most nights they’re passed out from whatever the fuck they snorted or injected or drank. The door’s always locked between us. It’s not ideal, but most nights I’m okay.”

“Most nights you’re okay,” he repeated to himself. “So, when I get stressed about it, I’ll think about you singing. Any song in particular?”

“That one song that made you go all doe eyed,” you teased him gently.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Your fingers played with the small curl on the nape of his neck, as you remembered the first time you had sang the song with the radio. A small show of singing it especially for him and he had been putty in your hands. “What was it again? For i'll be satisfied

Long as you are my guy,” you sang quietly.

He blushed, pressing his face between your shoulder and neck, “I liked the part that says ‘I love you just the way you are’ it’s nice.”

“Sweet boy,” you hugged him, “Didn’t need an old song to tell you that. I love you. Couldn’t picture my life without you in it. You’re truly the best part of it.”

Jack ghosted his lips along your neck, leaving a kiss at the base. “Pretty lady, you’ll never have to, we’re gonna have it all one day. Promise.”

“If we have it your way, we’ll end up on rocking chairs, watching a swarm of grandchildren playing in the yard.”

“What can I say? I’m a family man. But,” he pulled away slightly to get a better look, “before we get there, all we have is each other. You’re more than enough for me.”

“Because you’re in love with me,” you teased.

“Because I’m in love with you.”

“When did you know?”

“The second I saw you in the cafeteria.”

You rolled your eyes, “Because I’m your pretty lady?”

“No. I mean, yes you are, but that wasn’t important. What I had wanted was to know you more, I had never been so curious about anyone else before. Other people never really made me feel that the same way, we grew up together. It was always a moment with them and moving on to someone else hoping to find something interesting everytime.”

“And now that you know me. Do you feel the same or did learning more about me sour things?”

His hand played with a strand of your hair. “More. Every little thing makes me adore you more. The way you sing the same couple of lines constantly when they get stuck all the way to how brave and strong you are. Sour things won’t be in our lives forever. Sure, fights might be sprinkled in here and there, we’re not perfect, but the bad parts will never be like this again.”

“Well,” you gave him a chaste kiss, “on behalf of my future self I apologize for when I choose a petty battle.”

“And I’m sorry if I ever make you feel anything less than what you deserve.”

“All those long nights you’re away saving the world and I’m all alone,” you sighed wistfully. “How will I ever go on?”

“That’s something I can guarantee. Coming home to you, little woman, I’d be the biggest fool not to give you a proper apology for all those nights alone.”

“A proper apology?”

“I can show you if you want,” he said lowly, his hand trailing up your thigh.

You hummed, thinking about it, “I’m sure you’d be eager.” Standing up, you started to walk away from him, toward the stairs.

“What? Walking away because you think I might tempt you?”

“Sure, Sunshine.”

Jack didn’t waste any time following after you, grabbing your waist to catch you. “The first time we kissed was here y’know,” he ran his thumb along your lip, “begged for me a little too.”

Catching his thumb in your mouth, you gave it a soft suck, watching as he finally seemed to quiet down for once and enjoy the feeling. His cheeks were a soft shade of red as his eyes were glued to your mouth, feeling you kitten lick the pad of his thumb and wondering how much better it would feel elsewhere. You liked having this rare control over your cowboy. Bringing a hand down to his belt buckle, you tugged at it softly, asking for his permission before removing it. He pressed his hips against your hand, signaling that you could do what you wanted. As you undid his belt, he moved in to press you against the wall, lips going for that spot on your neck that made you putty for him.

You trailed a finger along the outline of his boxers, feeling his dick twitch at the contact. “I think, I like you like this. It’s almost cute.”

His hips grinded against your hand unabashedly, “You never think it’s cute when you’re on this side.”

Taking some pity, you started pumping him in your hand the best you could through his clothes, thumbing at the bit of precome that started leaking out. “Who made this into a game? I figured getting you bothered every so often would be a better play, but fuck, Jack, you make it your mission to get me so close every second we’re alone.”

“Never made any rules against it,” he moaned, resting his head against your shoulder, “That pretty pussy needs all the attention I can give it. Practically weeps for it… It’s not my fault you’re too stubborn to cum.”

“And that hour you had your face between my thighs in the back of your pickup was just me being stubborn?”

“Shit,” his dick throbbed in your hand at the memory, “Aw, fuck no baby, that was heaven. You don’t know how much it sucked hearing you beg me so pretty and not getting to help you. Is it so bad I wanted my girl to cum? Jus’ wanna make you feel good… Next time, when this stupid game is done with, I’m gonna make sure get to as many as you want.”

You squeezed him tightly, thumb teasing the head of his cock. “Want me on my knees for you, Jack? Want me to give you that same attention, pretty boy? I want you fuck my mouth, don’t you want that?” You asked, giving him some of the same verbal treatment he had given you.

“Fuck yes,” the more lust driven side of him answered immediately, before correcting himself, “We don’t have to do anything more.”

The quiet laugh at how much of a gentleman your cowboy wanted to be for you couldn’t be helped. He was always so sweet. “I’ll keep that in mind. Same goes to you, Sunshine.” A groan of disappointment slipped past his lips as you let go of him and took your hand out of his boxers. “C’mon handsome, let's go to your room.”

He held your hand and led you up the steps quickly. Once the door was shut, he pulled you into his arms, giving you an almost desperate kiss for as level headed as he usually was. Slowly, clothes were discarded onto the floor without any care. Your hands slowly tracing along the newly exposed skin. Sinking onto your knees, you kissed along the scattered path of hair following it down. Gulping you took in the sight of his cock right in front of your face. Usually you’d just stick to a quick hand job, now when faced with it you weren’t so sure how to go about it… or if you could fit it.

“You’re such a lovely girl,” Jack sighed lovingly, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear, “You want to make me feel good, baby?”

You nodded, biting your lip.

“Oh,” he nodded sympathetically, his eyebrows furrowing and a slight pout on his lip, “You need a little help?”

A soft sigh of relief passed through your lips as you nodded at him, even if he was mocking you slightly, “Yes, sir.”

He leaned down to kiss your forehead. “That’s alright, darlin’, I’m glad you asked for help instead of being uncomfortable. That’s very good. But I need you to remind me, what word do we use if it’s too much?”

“Rodeo.”

“And if we can’t speak?”

You snapped your fingers.

“Good, you’re always such a good girl. I need you to open your mouth and relax now. Can you do that for me?”

Giving a careful breath you nodded, Jack wouldn’t steer you wrong. He wanted nothing more than to keep you safe, you knew that. Opening your mouth you looked up at him expectantly. Jack pumped himself in his hand a couple times making sure to give you time to back out.

“Such a pretty picture, baby,” he moaned as he teased himself with your tongue before he pushed into your mouth, “I don’t deserve you.”

You made a face at that, snapping your fingers at him.

“Shit sorry, you’re right I shouldn’t talk like that. Fuck, you’re perfect.” He stilled when he was fully in your mouth, though he seemed to be having an awful time of it. “See? It wasn’t so… wasn’t so hard taking all of Jack, huh? I knew my girl could do it.”

Hollowing your cheeks you came off of him, the nerves gone with the taste of his precome and quiet little gasp he made. You licked the underside, following along a vein to the head. Teasing him you only took the head in your mouth, alternating between sucking and teasing the small slit there with your tongue.

Jack was rambling, his hips jutting slightly as you took your time testing the waters. “…look so good with your mouthful of my cock… should make you suck it off while I’m at work,” he threw out whatever he was thinking, his hips bucking into your mouth at the thought.

You had to gag around him at the sudden movement.

“Fuck, baby, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to.”

Squeezing his hip in acceptance of his apology, you started moving them until he got the picture. Jack didn’t need any more of an invite, his hands threaded in your hair to keep you still. He started slow, almost teasing himself, as he savored the feeling. You moaned around him as you swirled a finger around your clit, getting off to the sound of him.

“Should have fucked this pretty mouth from the beginning… should have fucked you…” his hips sped up, making you gag ever so often but neither of you minded, “God, imagine how that perfect fucking pussy would feel… You wanna let me fuck you tonight?”

You nodded, pulling off of him to breathe, your hand still pumping him as you did. “You’re gonna fuck me, Jack?” Squeezed him firmly, “Make sure everyone knows who I belong to?”

He squeezed his eyes shut, his breath coming in quick pants. “Who do you belong to, YN?”

“You, Jack.”

“…Only you,” he promised back.

Leaning forward you kissed along the side of his dick. “I love you. Cum for me, J?”

He looked down at you, before nodding. “It was a stupid game anyway,” he used your hair to pull you up to your feet, “That fucking bird eating smile.”

“I won,” you claimed proudly.

“Mhm,” Jack shook his head, “I’ll wipe that smug look off your face.” Jack’s fingers teased along your slit, as he made a surprised sound. “Got this worked up loving on me?”

You moaned as his finger circled your clit. “Sounded pretty, fuck, my Jack’s a dream.”

“Your Jack,” he mused, knowing that was entirely true. An undeniable fact the second he had met you. He was entirely yours and felt nothing but honor at such a notion.

His fingers pushed into you almost embarrassingly easily, but god if Jack hadn’t kept you on edge for as long as this game started. You rocked your hips in time with him, desperate to finally let go. Jack kissed you, walking backwards to sit on his bed, pulling you onto his lap with him.

“Come on baby, give me one.”

You laid your head on his shoulder, knowing how much he liked to hear your whimpers and gasp. His fingers pushed against the one spot that made you see stars. “M-more.”

He chuckled, kissing the side of your head. “You’re happy with what you get, princess. Maybe, if I’m feeling generous, I’ll give you a reward after I get what I want.”

“I want you now,” you complained.

“You have me, darlin’, now let me work and stop mouthing off.”

“Didn’t mind much a little ago.”

“I spoil you too damn much.” Jack pushed you off of his lap and made you lay on the bed. He took position between kneeling your legs, wanting a better view.  “Everything you ask for I do with no question. Anything for my pretty lady. Not a damn complaint when it comes to you. Now, you’re gonna give me what I want, understood?”

Your breathing hitched but you nodded quickly. “Y-“

“No. You’re not allowed to make so much as a sound.”

Jack watched as his fingers disappeared into you, you didn’t miss the slight twitch his cock gave. His free hand stroked himself slowly, making sure he didn’t rush to get to his own pleasure. Meanwhile you struggled keeping in your moans, feeling so close but it just wasn’t enough. Taking a page from his book, you reached a hand down to rub circles against your clit. Jack took the hint and started fucking his fingers into you with a new rigor. With both of you working on it you came quickly.

“You’re so fucking beautiful when you cum,” he groaned, bringing his fingers up to his mouth to suck them clean. “Such a good girl for me. My spoiled girl deserves a reward.”

“Please, I did what you asked,” you said, your voice sounding weaker than usual.

He grabbed one of the pillows, putting it under you so it was a better angle. Slotting his cock between your lips in the perfect way to drag against your clit as he thrusted against the skin. The mix of precome and cum making it all that much easier. “Or maybe, I should stop doing what you want me to do.” Jack smirked feeling you pulse under his cock, not letting up on his teasing. “She’s begging for it. Bet she thinks it would be a waste to cum all over your stomach instead. She would look pretty stuffed full of me, don’t you think?”

You leaned your head back, unable to think of anything but moving your hips to get that much more friction. “Jack… stop teasing.” He’d do this for ages if you didn’t ask him to stop and as good as it did feel, you just wanted to bypass all of it.

“Too much?” He laughed, leaning down on his arms.

“‘S fine,” you pushed back the hair away from his eyes, “You just play too much.”

He gave you a deep kiss, love and devotion practically radiating from it. When he pulled away he gave you a serious look. “Are you sure about this? We don’t need-“

“I want you, Jack. More than anything. …Just.” You looked down, he was a little average at most but he definitely had it locked down when it came to girth. “Let’s start slow, you’re big.”

His hand held yours loosely as he lined himself up with the other. The both of you gasped quietly as he started to push that first inch in. “There you go, pretty girl, I know you can take it. I ain’t that bad. Just a little bit more okay? You can do that for me right?” He wiped away the tear that fell, but didn’t stop knowing you’d signal him if it was anything to worry about. Jack leaned his forehead against yours as he bottomed out, giving you time to adjust to the feeling of him. “You’re doing so good… so damn good. My perfect girl.”

“Move.” Your hand scratched at the nape of his neck, the subtle burn of him still having yet to wear off completely, but you were too impatient to wait it out.

He thrusted in and out slowly. Obviously forcing himself not to be rougher. While you were thankful he was always so sweet, it wasn’t as satisfying as you knew he could be.

You tugged at his hair and kissed the corner of his mouth. “Fuck me, Jack. I’m not gonna break.” A loud moan came out when he dragged just right against a spot that you never knew about. “But I wouldn’t mind you trying.”

Grabbing your hips, started fucking into you properly. Spurred on by your words. Jack kissed your neck and chest worshiping you with every piece of himself he could. The moans you let out did nothing but motivate him to bite at your skin to leave reminders of the moment for later. You pulled his hair making him meet your lips again, deepening the kiss as his hips stuttered against yours. Kissing your way down his throat you left a bite there, knowing he’d be a shy thing at home when he realizes he can’t hide it behind one of his collars.

“You’re taking me so fucking well.” Moaning your name as he felt you squeeze impossibly tight around him. Kneeling in front of you again, he angled you higher, making it impossible to do anything more than take it. The new position made him hit that spot over and over again. He grabbed your hair making you look at where you both met. “Fucking look at that baby, perfect fit. Made for each other.”

You nodded, watching as he pushed himself as deep as he could go. The steady rhythm he found pulling you closer and closer. “Ja- right there. I’m so close,” you whimpered, struggling against him to move your hips in time. “Please,” you begged him.

“Shh baby, you don’t need to beg me, you know I’ll always take care of you,” he quieted you. “Relax for me.” A couple of circles around your increasingly over-stimulated nerves and well timed thrust had you cumming all over him. He fucked you through the high, groaning loudly at how you constricted around him. “I-I don’t think I can last much longer.”

“Cum for me, Jack?” You watched the strain on his body as he attempted to keep himself in check. “I want it.”

Jack came back down, laying his head on your chest, as he pumped himself into you. You pressed kisses to his head, quiet praises dropping from your lips. He wrapped his arms around your torso, stilling inside of you as he came.

“I love you,” he mumbled against your skin.

“Love you too, Sunshine.”

He started kissing the way down your stomach. Stopping you before you could close your legs.

You whimpered at the thought of being put through more. “No. No, Jack. I can’t.” Your hands pushed against his shoulders.

“You know what to say.” Jack pushed your thighs open, using his weight to make sure you couldn’t close them. Shaking his head fixed you in a mock look of sympathy. “Couldn’t keep it all in, little girl?”

Blushing you looked away from him, his posters that much more interesting. Jack took your lapse in attention to lick a broad stripe. Immediately you threaded your fingers through his hair, your hips trying to pull away from him. He didn’t allow you much movement.

“Jack please, I don’t think…”

“I don’t need you to think. Especially when I know you can.”

With a shaky breath you pushed his face back down, knowing how Jack could be when he wanted something. His eyes watched your face, the feeling of you tugging at his hair, the way you struggled to grind against him. Now, fully sedated himself, he didn’t mind taking his time. Moving to place bites and sucking marks into your thighs whenever he felt you closing in on release. This time your whimpers and begging did nothing to motivate him. Instead he enjoyed how easy it was to toy with you and how you allowed him to do as he pleased. The trust you had in him wasn’t lost at all.

He was brought back to reality by your half moaned half whine incompleted plea of his name. “Can’t even get a sentence out? Poor thing. I thought you wanted the recovery time.” Letting go of one of your thighs he pushed his fingers inside of you, coating them in a mix of you and him. A perfect mix if he needed to comment on it. “Here you deserve a reward for being so good.” You opened your mouth, sucking greedily when he placed his fingers on your tongue. He smiled taking in your glossy eyes and the doe expression you looked at him with. “You’re feeling alright baby?”

You nodded, placing a leg over his shoulder silently asking him for more.

“You can’t remember your words?” He chuckled, pushing his fingers in and out of your mouth.

Whining you jutted your hips up. Desperate for the release that was just there and would feel all too much.

“Okay, Jack’s done playing with you now,” he lowered his head, pressing kisses to your thighs to sooth the marks there, “You’re taking it all so well. I’m proud of you darlin’.”

You mumbled something around his fingers, a light blush heating up your face.

“I thought we’d be past all the shyness by now,” he mused, before placing a kiss to your clit. “We don’t have anything to be embarrassed about. Especially when you look like a pretty mess for me.”

Jack didn’t need much more but a couple well timed licks and quick strokes of his fingers to have you cumming for him again. You didn’t miss the smug look in his eyes as he licked the mess clean.

“N-no,” you whispered, pushing his head away when it started to feel like too much.

He kissed your stomach before he stood up.

You whined, catching his hand before he could leave.

“I’ll be right back, pretty girl.” He brought your hand up to his lips. “Just wanna get a couple things to make sure you’re okay.”

Nodding, you let go of his hand. He was quick to return, a cup of water and a few small snacks for later in one hand, a wet washcloth in the other. Making you sit up, he brought the cup up to your lips. Once he was pleased with how much you drank he set the cup and snacks to the side.

“Let’s get you a little cleaner, yeah? We’ll take a shower when you’re back in your head.” Your hand shot his wrist when he started cleaning up the sensitive area with the warm cloth, a quiet pained whimper slipping from you. “I know darlin’ but it’ll feel better. Trust me.”

When you finally allowed him to finish cleaning the space between your thighs, he cleaned off himself before discarding the washcloth onto the floor. Getting back in bed with you, he wrapped an arm around you, sighing in contentment when you draped a leg around his hips and laid your head on his chest.

“I mean it,” he kissed your forehead, “I’m so fucking proud of you, sweet girl. Took it all so well. I knew you could. Love you so damned much.”

It took a couple minutes before you could gather yourself up completely. Head not so fuzzy but the bones still feeling closer to jelly. “And Cin said it would be bad…” you mused yourself.

“What was that darlin’?”

“Old friend,” you yawned, “said the first time would be disappointing and awkward.”

Jack took in what you said, looking at you shocked. “Why didn’t you tell me that was your first time? I could have made it special! Took you out on a date or to the city… The things we did at the shop and in my truck…”

You laughed at his small freak out, looking up at him, “Slow down, Cowboy. I just never thought of it as this important thing. And it was all with you. That was plenty special.”

“Really, I-“

The door slammed open, “What are you two doing in here!” Slug yelled before his eyes settled on you two fully, the cheery smile leaving his face when he realized the situation. “Holy fucking shit!” He slammed a hand over his eyes. “I’m so sorry, Bug! I didn’t think y’all were… Promise I didn’t see anything… I’ll just… The rest of the guys are here. I just hope you know, we’re brothers first and this is prime material.” He slammed the door shut. “Guys! Guess who isn’t a virgin anymore!”

“That’s a lie if I ever heard one!”

“What happened to holier than thou I’m waiting ‘til marriage, Jackie?”

Jack blushed brightly, “I’m sorry about them… They have their own keys.”

You shrugged, “It’s fine. Besides isn't like you were one, right?”

“I was,” he confirmed.

“No! You weren’t! What was all that?”

“I don’t know! You seemed experienced and I didn’t want to disappoint you… I never did much more than a heavy make out and I wasn’t about to ask those three idiots for advice,” his blush deepened, “So I read a book. Well two but the first was written by a guy and it sounded stupid so I’m not counting it.”

You laughed at his rambling, stopping it by kissing him. “So we’re each other’s first.”

“Only,” he corrected.

“Only,” you confirmed, understanding now that this was something truly serious for him, “See, my love, plenty special. I wouldn’t have wanted this with anyone else.”

“Can y’all come down already? The pizza is getting cold!”

“I’m gonna kill those three,” he sighed, laying his head back on his pillow, “I’m sorry, baby.”

“We’ll have all of spring break away from them,” you reminded him, pressing a kiss to his jaw, “And I’ll let you do anything else that book showed you.”

[thinkingisadangerouspastime]

(pt 1) i really enjoy all your atla analyses & you've done a great job breaking down the usual arguments re how eip shows that kataang shouldn't have happened. i'm curious about your take on one specific argument that i just saw today, in an analysis of the show by a zker that was otherwise quite good and respectful (i know you've already talked about eip a lot, so no problem if you don't feel like rehashing). the premise: aang didn't just pressure katara in eip, he threatened her.

(pt 2) they point to when katara joins aang & asks if he’s alright: “aang: no, i’m not! i hate this play! katara: i know it’s upsetting, but it sounds like you’re overreacting. aang: overreacting? if i hadn’t blocked my chakra, i’d probably be in the avatar state right now!” the suggestion is he’s threatening her when he says ‘i’d probably be in the avatar state right now’ to describe his anger. i think this take exaggerates and oversimplifies it, but interested in your thoughts on it.

Hello my friend!! It is true I am Old inside and don’t like rehashing dhdlksjslks BUT your comments on my posts are always incredibly kind and insightful so I am more than willing to do a bit of rehashing for you 🥰 Besides! I’ve seen this general take before a few times and it’s always irked me for the exact reason you point out - it simultaneously exaggerates and oversimplifies the situation (and honestly that’s an impressive duality since it’s seemingly contradictory, so hats off to them lmaooo) - and now is as good a time as any to address it. So, for starters, let’s go ahead and get the excerpt they love to focus on so much:

Cut to Aang standing alone on a balcony. Katara enters and walks up to him.

Katara: Are you all right?

Aang: [Angered.] No, I’m not! I hate this play! [Yanks his hat off and throws it on the ground.]

Katara: I know it’s upsetting, but it sounds like you’re overreacting.

Aang: Overreacting? If I hadn’t blocked my chakra, I’d probably be in the Avatar State right now!

Here’s the thing about so-called analyses of this excerpt: in a manner extremely convenient to the poster, they never seek to contextualize this moment. (I mean, to do so would deplatform their entire “argument” - perhaps that’s why they avoid performing a full analysis?) So let’s avoid that pitfall from the start.

Firstly, below are some links to related posts; I’m going to do my best to summarize the most relevant parts, but for anyone who desires greater detail, I gotchu 😤

This post explains why EIP (the play, lol) is imperialist propaganda and is intended to belittle the entire Gaang.

This post explains how Aang never acted “entitled” to Katara’s affections, particularly in regard to EIP.

This post breaks down the infamous EIP kiss like Snopes Fact Checker, covering common misconceptions, important perspectives to consider, etc.

Alright. With that out the way, it’s time for some context.

Aang and Katara have this conversation on the balcony after watching 95% of “The Boy in the Iceberg,” a play chock-full of Fire Nation propaganda that demeans the entire Gaang in order to prop up the Fire Nation as superior (hence why the play ends with Ozai’s victory). Here is my general breakdown of Aang and Katara’s treatment in particular from a previous post:

- katara, an indigenous woman, is highly sexualized and portrayed as overly dramatic and tearful, because the fire nation objectifies women not of their own people and views them as less intelligent and less emotionally stable

- aang, the avatar, the sole survivor of the fire nation’s genocide of the air nomads who is incredibly in-touch with his spirituality and femininity, is portrayed as an overly-airy and immature woman. the fire nation portrays him with a female actor to demean him (like, that’s classic imperialistic propagandist tactics) and furthermore writing his character as a childish airhead reinforces the fire nation sentiment that the air nomads were weak, foolish people who did not deserve to exist in their world

In other words, these kids have just watched almost an entire play that preys upon their insecurities and depicts them using racist and sexist stereotypes about their respective nations. It is completely understandable that tensions might run a little high and that their interactions would not be as balanced as usual (Katara and Aang have a great track record of communicating well with each other, as it happens!).

So we have to keep that in mind when examining the aforementioned excerpt. But there are other factors to consider, too! Namely: they are kids. Children. Teens. Aang is 12, Katara is 14.

If we want to be scientific, a person’s brain doesn’t finish developing until they are 25, lmao, and the preteen/teen years are when the prefrontal cortex that controls “rationality,” “judgement,” “forethought,” etc. is still developing. This doesn’t mean Aang and Katara are irrational and make poor decisions 24/7 (obviously not), but it does mean that in an intense, highly emotional situation, like after watching a play that intentionally demeans them and depicts them as inferior, they are more likely to overreact, more likely to be emotional, and more likely to make mistakes. Like, I’m serious, lol. “Teens process information with the amygdala.” That’s part of the brain that helps control emotions! It’s why teens sometimes struggle to articulate what we’re thinking, especially in situations that require instinct/impulse and quick decisions, because we’re really feeling whenever we make those choices. Acting more on emotion. Our brains simply haven’t finished developing the decision-making parts, lmao.

In sum: Aang and Katara are both kids, not adults, and should be interpreted as such. This doesn’t negate their intelligence, because they are both incredibly smart and Aang is arguably the wisest of the Gaang, but they are human. Young humans. They have emotions, and we should not be so cruel as to assume they’d never act on them.

So taking that all together, we can now acknowledge the high stress Aang and Katara are under, understand why they might be upset (*cough* imperialist propaganda is hurtful *cough*), and examine how their youth might play into their emotional reactions. And funny thing - all analyses that come to the conclusion of Aang “threatening” Katara here do not usually bother with this context. I can’t imagine why!

And you know what, let’s add one more piece of context: Sokka states that Aang left the theater “like, ten minutes ago,” which is what cues Katara to go look for him on the balcony. The reason I mention this line is because to me, it suggests Aang knew he was more worked up than usual! He chose to separate himself from his friends so he could process his frustration! He did not take his anger at the play out on them; instead, he purposefully took time and space to be alone.

With that in mind, I don’t understand at all how Aang’s Avatar state quote could be interpreted as a threat? Canonly, Aang is someone who was aware enough of his frustration to separate himself from the others - yet the logical next step is him threatening Katara as a result? He knew his intense emotions were because of the play (which he says himself), so the logical conclusion is that he then pinned the fault on Katara? What?? Sorry, that interpretation has no textual basis, lmao. But I digress!

Aang tells Katara, “If I hadn’t blocked my chakra, I’d probably be in the Avatar State right now!” As you said, this is the line people point to in an attempt to justify their (baseless) conclusion that Aang is “threatening” Katara. So let’s bring in the two key pieces of context: imperialist propaganda and age. Given that Aang is 12, and given that Aang has just watched almost a full play that demeans him and everything his people stood for (and let’s not forget it also mocks his and Katara’s love for each other)…

His reaction is understandable. An exaggeration and needlessly dramatic, but understandable. He feels vulnerable and insecure and Aang is human. He is human and flawed and he overreacts here and I love that A:TLA shows how even our heroes, even people who are truly good at heart and in soul, can get overly upset (especially given the aforementioned circumstances!). Would Aang actually be in the Avatar state at that moment, had it been possible? Of course not! He’s young and he’s hurt and as such he says something dramatic to convey his anxieties and frustrations. The line is not meant to be taken literally, and seeing people do so despite all the factors that should be taken into consideration when analyzing it… Cue a long, tired sigh from me and so many other A:TLA fans.

And to be honest? I cannot fathom how people watch this episode and come to the conclusion that Aang is “threatening” Katara. To me, this episode - besides being a recap episode - is one that humanizes our cast even further. Aang snaps at Katara, kisses her when he shouldn’t (which the story appropriately treats as wrong). Katara pushes down her true feelings and retreats into herself, afraid to start a relationship with the boy she loves because she’s already lost him once before and can’t bear to do so again. Zuko further confronts the hurt he’s enacted upon others, especially upon Iroh. Toph practices being vulnerable and accepting vulnerability from others by conversing with Zuko. Sokka witnesses how others have erased his contributions and labelled him as nothing more than the token nonbender in the group. Even Suki learns that she is not the only person who holds a place in Sokka’s heart and that she can never replace what he has lost.

To watch this episode where our heroes must come to terms with how the Fire Nation deems them inherently inferior, with how they have more fights to overcome in the future with the Fire Nation than a single war, and to come to the conclusion that… that what, Aang is abusive? A monster? Irredeemable? That he would threaten his best friend, someone he loves in every way?

Wow. That says more than enough about the viewer, doesn’t it?