#the only relationships that would exist could be fictional ones bc all of that would just seem like fake fairytales to us

[fallenrain40]

how is it so hard for you people to understand that aroaces dont want relationships IS IT REALLY THAT HARD TO BELIEVE THAT WE DONT WANT RELATIONSHIPS-

[somepsychopomp]

Winged!Ed AU ft. Hohenheim (Pt.1)

rotating an idea for an FMA(B) AU in my mind where Ed has wings that are typically folded tight against his back and hidden by his red coat. He's basically born a chimera and chooses to hide his status to avoid obvious questions and suspicions.

But I want to lay down the background details, starting here:

Xerxesians, being prodigious alchemists, would of course have dabbled in chimeras and were the first to produce "successful" chimeras- similar to Greed's crew where they pass pretty much entirely for human. Most of their test subjects would have been servants, slaves, poor folk trading their bodies for coin, etc.

that's how we get Hohenheim- or 23, the twenty-third in a long line of chimerical experiments. He himself wasn't fused with an animal, but his mother or father was. 23, in turn, was actually born with a set of wings.

(Hohenheim being born a chimera is important to note bc it means his master not only made a series of healthy chimera, but ones that could reproduce! unfounded at the time)

Hohenheim was born w/ the wings of a lesser kestrel. I chose this bird more because it fits Ed more than Ho, but I just liked a few key details about it!

The lesser kestrel occupies a territory from Germany across the Middle East all the way to East Asia, which isn't super important given that FMA is set in a fictional world but loosely speaking, it's feasible that a Xerxesian alchemist could get his hands on one for human experimentation purposes.

I like the faintly red-brown coloration the males have on the back of their wings in combination w/ that black- very Ed.

They do well in grasslands/agricultural fields but are also adaptable to urban environments & co-existing with humans.

They are birds of prey!

however, they're quite diminutive birds of prey- meaning they're small and arguably very cute. (They're like 10-13 inches in length and notably smaller than Common Kestrels & other birds of prey)

Hohenheim's wings are proportional to his body tho, giving him the ability to fly.

As a slave, his physical fitness was well tested. He can fly and glide with great agility, but he was never allowed to go far because his master always kept him tethered to prevent his escape. Hohenheim also has a trail of feathers going down his spine but interestingly enough, he lacks a kestrel tail. He supposes that's not surprising, he lacks talons or a beak or eyesight far beyond that of a human. But perhaps he carries the genes for a tail. (Foreshadowing)

As an adult post-fall of Xerxes, Hohenheim found himself lost and shell shocked.

For many years, he contemplated cutting off his wings so he could better blend in with humans. But as a living Philosopher's Stone, he felt like it would be pointless endeavor and instead learned to hide them with a long coat.

Most of his canon story is basically the same until he meets Trisha.

When he fell in love with Trisha, Hohenheim knew full well that as a born and fertile chimera himself, it's fully possible their children will be born like him. He wasn't certain how great of a chance it was, it could be a recessive trait with no hope of ever resurfacing down his family line, or it could be a guarantee.

Hohenheim first has to reveal his wings to Trisha.

Even though he fully expected her to reject him at that point, understandably so, she instead accepted Hohenheim for who and what he was. She understood the possible consequences of their relationship and was completely willing to raise a potentially chimera child, together.

cue their first son.

To be safe, they have a home brith without a doctor or midwife, relying instead on Hohenheim's knowledge of alkahestry and human anatomy to tend to and heal Trisha.

And at the end of it, Edward Elric is born with wings. His were characteristic of baby kestrels, puffy and white and lacking the coloration or streamlined appearance that Hohenheim had as an adult.

Turning Edward over to properly examine his body, Hoheheim is horrified to see a small, tiny tuft of a tail protruding from Edward's lower back.

Dear god, his child was even more of a chimera than him! It's devastating to think of, until...

Hohenheim and all his souls cry at the sight of Trisha cooing at Edward as if he were a normal child, kissing his forehead and soothing his chip-like cries. She loves him. She loves their child, even if he was like Hohenheim. So brave, so loving, his Trisha.

But it also terrifies Hohenheim. He knew Trisha wanted at least two children, partly so they could help on their small family farm and partly so that the children could keep each other company.

All he has to go off of is the fact that his one and only child was very visibly a chimera. Ed will always be lesser than those around him- he will always have to hide his true self. But Trisha loved him and still wanted another child with her whole heart.

So they have Alphonse. And to Hohenheim's amazement, their second child has no visible chimera traits whatsoever! He's for all intents and purposes, human! He's human, and beautiful.

And perhaps, perhaps, just perhaps...even if Hohenheim does his best to treat both his boys equally, there's just the tiniest part of him that wants to recoil at the sight of Ed in the bathtub, flapping his wings and sending up bubbles. He's arguably slow to help Trisha bind Ed's wings before he goes out to play with Winry so they aren't seen, as well as when Trisha fits Ed with some kind of outer garment like a loose sweater or coat to hide the shape of his wings. He's possibly, if one looked close enough, a tad bit reluctant to groom Ed's wings. To gently pinch his pin feathers to release them (new feathers are encased in a white sheath as they grow out to protect them before they're fully developed), or combing his feathers or anything else.

The only thing Hohenheim does persistently and with excruciating effort/attention is when he clips Edward's flight & tail feathers so that even if he tried, he couldn't fly. It's honestly better if Edward never, ever learns how to fly and never develops the desire to. Far less a chance of someone ever uncovering his condition.

Hohenheim and Trisha have the same argument many times over the course of the first few years of the boys' lives. Hohenheim, as Ed's father, wants to take responsibility for his son's unfortunate condition by severing Ed's wings and tail before he's old enough to really remember them and the procedure.

Trisha, in contrast, argues that Edward's extra extremities are perfectly healthy limbs, even if his wing muscles are underdeveloped, and that it would be a tragedy to cut out such an integral part of himself.

[ccatskies]

this is my take on the initial episodes of queen of tears: so, um. hyunwoo’s reaction to haein dying. a lot of people were immediately put off by it and dropped the drama, calling him an asshole. i wouldn’t say the reaction wasn’t a little uncomfortable to watch as a viewer, but that’s only the case if you’ve never put yourself in the shoes of someone suffering immensely from a dysfunctional relationship.

the lack of overt affection was destroying him because his wife is so closed off and would rather care for him in a way that is impossible to be acknowledged by him, she humiliated him in front of his employees and he had to respond w “yes, ma’am” despite not agreeing w her bc she’s his boss, she didn’t stand up for him vocally when her family was berating him to no end, plus the family made him do their household chores against his will. he had to walk on eggshells around them, especially his wife.

it was so bad that there were multiple scenes where his hands were clenched together, trembling. he went to therapy and got strong anxiety meds prescribed in return. this abysmal marriage was crippling him emotionally and mentally (it’s safe to say haein put him through emotional abuse, even if she didn’t intend to affect him that way)

his initial plan was to divorce haein because he couldn’t take it any longer, even if it meant his multimillionaire father-in-law was going to stab him in the back (figure of speech). in fact, he preferred being stabbed over having to face the vengeance of the hong family.

the “window fantasy” isn’t fictional. there are multiple women, unwillingly dependent on their narcissistic husbands (not only bc they can’t go anywhere since their working opportunities have been sabotaged but also bc a bad rep will follow them if they leave or don’t yield to their husbands; tldr: there are consequences to leaving), that have wanted to be widowed at some point bc they couldn’t bear the trauma of the marriage. growing up in a south asian society, i know a thing or two about being stuck in traumatic marriages and the only way being out is if your partner somehow dies.

no one would invalidate an abuse victim if they wanted their abuser to die. so, are these women any different just bc they agreed to the marriage when their partner swore to carry out their commitment? only to find out none of their needs are being met and they’re stuck? are they not being abused?

so, people, to an extent, DO justify it when women want their toxic husbands to die because of terrible life situations.

now, back to QoT. i saw someone on twitter say that if the roles were reversed i.e if haein was the one who was wishing for hyunwoo to die, they’d be okay with it bc “yess go get revenge on your toxic husband and free yourself girl” bc misogyny is a systematic thing. it’s not easy to escape abusive husbands in our society especially when they hold power over their partner.

so, for the opposite to happen i.e the husband wanting his wife to die just looks “bad.”

however, queen of tears is a show where it is blatantly obvious that the gender roles are reversed. something that even my younger brother pointed out seamlessly. the hong “queens” family think they’re progressive for making their sons-in-law do their chores for them (something they did not sign up for). this is how many daughters-in-law are treated in modern society. the only reason “misandry” feels more real in the show, in terms of the hong family, is bc the women of this family certainly hold more power over the sons-in-law because of CLASS. haein is a multimillionaire’s daughter while hyunwoo is a villager’s son. they could easily take revenge on his family in irreparable ways. class distinction exists, power exists, abuse exists.

with all that in mind, hyunwoo might as well have been going through the “widow fantasy” where if he left his wife willingly, he’d have to suffer and if he chose to stay, he’d still need to suffer. the only way out was haein not being in his life anymore without him having to do anything.

it sounds cruel but it’s obvious he was pushed to the edge. he wanted to escape the trauma and it should also be noted that by then, he was completely out of love with haein (he told his therapist that he despised his wife the most). how much can you sympathize w someone you can’t even look at without feeling small?

so, in that period, he must’ve went through an overwhelming amount of emotions while he was on survival mode, not allowing him to think straight, or even consider what he had w haein in the past bc much of that was long gone. furthermore, i don’t think he would’ve been that obsessed w the will revision if yanggi didn’t motivate him to think that way, with the intentions of getting compensation for their poor excuse of a marriage.

so yeah, i wouldn’t say he was being a good husband to her initially. but rather, he was being selfish… by looking out for himself for once. he’s always had to clean up the hong family’s mess, looking after their reputation, never getting peace of his own.

then again, it takes two to tango and the marriage failed bc of both hyunwoo and haein’s lack of efforts. but i would say it was more complicated for hyunwoo bc haein always kept him guessing (and she was indecisive as well; the wedding anniversary issue) and he’s grown up in a pretty communicative family, so not taking his partner’s words at face value isn’t something he’s used to. he felt the most unloved.

so, personally, it was hard for me to sympathize with haein until a few more episodes into the show (this is coming from someone who relates to haein a lot, kind of opened up room for a lot of self reflection). she was a bad wife to the point her partner wanted to die. can’t say if the feeling was mutual on her part. haein herself admitted that she was a terrible partner, understanding why he did what he did, despite it being heartbreaking.

another thing i’ve noticed people say is that hyunwoo was pretending to be the good guy and hiding behind his “kind” actions but you could tell his actions became more genuine and he started to catch feelings again, albeit he was in denial at the beginning. when the divorce agreement papers leaked, he told her the honest truth without coming up w excuses, acknowledging that this whole ordeal hurt haein more than it hurt him. he didn’t take advantage of her memory loss (the rain scene w the cat “aeong”) to cut himself some slack and to make sure haein wouldn’t immediately be plotting against him.

he wasn’t hiding behind his actions or claiming to be a good guy. he was owning up.

he started to care, felt guilty (hotel scene in germany) and realized why and how their relationship failed, worked towards making it better. i think he would’ve been honest and told haein abt the divorce himself anyway but learning about it from her mother kind of broke the trust haein had on him.

anyway, i never thought i’d be on tumblr defending a man who was happy at the news of his wife dying but here we are.

[irrealisms]

for the character ask game to match/complete the others: ItzSubz?

took me a while to get around to this but!! yes!!!! 3/3 eclipse fed ask game babyyyyy

How I feel about this character

i am less insane abt him than i am about vitalasy & zam but this is a low bar. i care a lot about him. i think a lot about how fucking lonely he is, and how .. fundamentally all he wants in s4 is to live happily with his friends and for them to not hate each other. and instead everything falls apart. and he doesn't know how to fix it but he figures it must be his fault and he kills himself about it and this ... looks like it might fix it, for a bit, but that. really does not fix it either. he makes me sad :( in other seasons he . exists i guess. sorry im not a subzguy (void chara voice Some crimes can never be forgiven (not true void would never say this bc theyre too polite))

All the people I ship romantically with this character

vitalasy. zam. uhhhhhh. yeah that's kind of it

My non-romantic OTP for this character

not sure i have one tbh. the vitalasubz relationship is so romantic & i feel like i dont have a great grasp on subz's relationships outside of eclipse? which tbf for s4 at least this is bc. he is in fact very isolated for a lot of it! and i know his s4 better than his other seasons lol

My unpopular opinion about this character

this is going to be a bit of a reiteration of several of my other unpopular opinions abt other characters I WANT TO READ HIM BEING MORE ABLEISTTTTTT IN FIC like i dont think it's unpopular per se to go "i think that subz is ableist". i think this is an extremely popular opinion. but the general outlook on this is that when fans write him they write a version of subz that isnt ableist. which is like. fair. not everyone wants to write the amount of ableist that subz is, especially because the thing with subz is that c!subz is only ableist bc cc!subz is irl ableist and gets defensive about overly triggered snowflakes when people call him on it. no one should. like. feel obligated to write characters being ableist if they dont want to lol. but also. c!subz is ableist! i want fic that is in character & that includes wanting portrayal of subz being ableist, and as a crazy person i like fic that is willing to explore ableism. i also understand that some ppl probably dont want to write it if they ~cant reclaim~ it but as a certified schizo i am giving everyone who reads this post permission to write subz calling people schizo esp if you're writing canon/non-au. he does that! in canon! a lot! and tbh i feel weirder abt ppl erasing subz's ableism than i do abt ppl writing fictional characters who use the word schizo lol

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

i wish that in the vitalasy stream today we had gotten a conversation between subz&zam&vi or even subz&zam instead of subz and zam only ever talking to vitalasy one-on-one and otherwise politely avoiding each other....we could have had it aaaaallll (eclipse federation screenshot in 2024)........

(ask game, give me a character)

[kozumesphone]

𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐔𝐏𝐎𝐍 𝐀 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐍 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓 ♡

~ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

✶⋆.˚ “I believe there are far more possibilities than happily ever after or tragedy. every story has the potential for infinite endings.” ⋆˚

🤍 ༘⋆ spoilers marked !

✶⋆.˚ “i’d give you the world if I could. the moon, the stars, and all the suns in the universe. anything for you, my heart.” ⋆˚

𐙚 songs to listen to while reading this . . . ᝰ.ᐟ

↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺

⟢ the archer — taylor swift

⟢ worship — ari abdul

⟢ lunch — billie eilish

⟢ the prophecy — taylor swift

⟢ rockland — gracie abrams

✶⋆.˚ “have you forgotten the way heartbreak rips apart the soul piece by piece, how it turns you into a masochist making you long for the thing that just eviscerated you until there’s nothing left of you to be destroyed?” ⋆˚

𐙚 mini brain dump . . . ᝰ.ᐟ

♒︎ heavenly. to say I devoured this book would be an understatement.

♒︎ i’ve read a few reviews after finishing the book, and i can’t relate the complaints about the addition of vampires to the plot. they might’ve been unnecessary, but did i love it? yes. because, if there’s magical objects, potions, mysterious arches, and prophecies… why not vampires? i ate that up fr.

♒︎ also, i just like vampires 🫣

SPOILERS‼️

♒︎ apollo’s ‘death’ came as a shock, to me. I WAS LITERALLY SPEECHLESS. but that ending? i could seriously have never expected that. he’s so alive that I just know shit is going to hit the fan and if he wakes up in tbona, he’s going to be bitchy and i’m going to hate him <3

♒︎ and, oh, jacks. i so so so hope there’s much more to what eva thinks he’s done (manipulating her) bc i want him to get a good character arc.

spoilers end <3 ^

✶⋆.˚ “hurt is what made me.” ⋆˚

𐙚 characters & relationships . . . ᝰ.ᐟ

𓂃 ࣪˖ ♱ evangeline fox — evangeline fox might just be the most unrelatable fmc i’ve ever read, but it’s seriously okay. each novel’s mcs have their own traits and flaws, and eva’s is that she’s too optimistic and trusting. i do feel bad for her, tho.

𓂃 ࣪˖ ♱ jacks / the prince of hearts — now look, for someone who’s reading this after reading caraval, I’M IN LOVE ALL OVER AGAIN. my absolute fav kind of fictional characters are the cocky and sarcastic ones with a mysterious backstory, so jacks is perfect <33 everything about him screams ‘love me’ so 😋💓

𓂃 ࣪˖ ♱ evajacks — SPOILERS ‼️ : evajacks’ chemistry was almost non-existent in this book (except when he tried to bite her and turn into a vampire beep boop), but i’m hoping it gets much better in the next (though, i’m finding it hard to predict how that will happen considering what eva knows about jacks what she does 💀) i’m rooting for evajacks anyway because they’re now my caravalverse otp along with scarlian <3 : spoilers end <3 <

𓂃 ࣪˖ ♱ marisol tourmaline — marisol is such a classic high school white girl. see, i get that her mum said all that stuff to her face (which is so not how parenting works) which might have led her to want to be loved and cared for, BUT STILL. MARISOL. COME ON. she’s literally like ‘i want only what she has, because i just do.’ which is so wrong on a lot of levels. get yourself a bf without bewitching them, and i would have had 0 problems with you, marisol.

𓂃 ࣪˖ ♱ apollo acadian — apollo. mon dieu, this man. ik it was a curse, but oh god. my hopeless romantic heart beat for apollo’s dialogues when he was cursed in this book. he was borderline obsessed (but in a non-stalker way, guys) but STILL 😭 (can you tell I have issues? 💀) oh, to be loved like cursed apollo loved eva.

𓂃 ࣪˖ ♱ tiberius acadian — tiberius ah.. well.. bro’s just sort of.. there.

✶⋆.˚ “for anyone who has ever made a bad decision because of a broken heart.” ⋆˚

reviews m.list

kozumesphone © 2024 | don’t repost my works onto other platforms, or edit and post them even on tumblr, without asking me first • don’t steal my works, steal my heart instead • reblogs and comments are more than appreciated !

[enemywasp]

OMFG A PROSHIPPER !!+! SAME BUT I HAVE TO HIDE MY IDENTITY BC EVERYONE HAS DNI PROSHIP IN BIO LIKE WHY?????

UMMMMM ..... Rant bc it's so rare to find a kindred spirit in this shitty immature ""war""

it fr just means i believe we should ship and let ship??? why is the "i don't judge u for your preferences" thing seen as bad idfk like. it's fucking fiction.

if it's problematic then I don't condone it irl. but I'm human. I have curiosities and shit. Like,, ppl don't listen to true crime bc they condone murder and ppl don't go calling true crime fans murderers. so WHYYYY is shipping any different, in fact it's b e t t e r bc at least fiction. isn't. real.

like why tf is what i ship anyone else's business??? unless it's bc we have smthn in common to bond over, why tf do ppl care abt the ships we don't have in common.

istg ship wars are crazy af and this whole pro- anti- ship shit is just another way to try to control smthn that doesn't need controlling.

it's like U said no one fucking cares abt it irl and the damn DEATH THREATS ppl get over **not giving a damn what other people ship** instead of being the fucking fandom shipper police or smthn is disgusting and i hate that im never allowed to talk abt this w/out ppl hating me and calling me a disgusting monster.

why can't I just do what I fucking want when in my own privacy while not causing any harm???

like ppl are so damn delusionalllllllll!!!!.!.!.!

-> some proshippers just mean they support any and all ships bc fiction is fiction

-> some proshippers ship "problematic" ships and that is FINE because it is NOT REAL and THEY ARE NOT HURTING ANYONE and i meannnnm ppl are curious right. they gonna explore alien concepts some way or another. why tf would ppl stop them from exploring it in a safe. healthy. fictional. harmless. way.

why is it that it's okay to consume problematic content but not okay to ship problematic ships?? literally what is the fucking difference ships are a subgenre of content.

if you think it's okay to be a fan of lotr or american psycho or some shit then it is damn hypocritical to say it isn't okay to ship something problematic. same thing if you think it's okay to stan/simp for a villain character.

it's only even called ~problematic~ bc that's how the relationship would be if it were real. which it isn't. so it isn't fucking problematic bc it's fictional content and the ppl shipping it do not condone the irl versions.

also sidenote,,, why tf are proshippers and multishippers grouped together in the dni stuff?? they are not related. a multishipper just. ships the same character w/ more than just one (1) other character. how is that problematic too?????

okay sorreryyyyyy i just have so many thoughts on this that im never allowed to share pls feel free to let this one collect dust in the inbox. or just straight up delete it lol.

Do not apologise! I love a good rant!

If you want to interact with proshippers more the tags "proshipper", "proshippers pls interact" and "proship positivity" are usually very nice and lots of wonderful people post there!

And you could always make a side account for proship stuff if you want to be able to take a break from the intense pro vs anti stuff if and when it gets too much, whilst still having a place to enjoy that stuff.

Honestly I think a lot of the issue is people seem to take the word "ship" as their ideal relationship. Less so than a dynamic they enjoy in fiction. But I don't know, I can't pretend to understand the mind of antis.

Proshippers and multishippers getting clumped together is probably linked to the idea that a ship is a pairing you want to see canon and shows actually pandering to ship wars lately. Or maybe people are just weird!

Everyone takes shipping way too seriously now and acts like a fictional pairings existence will romanticise the topic and brainwash kids. My general rule is that its for fun, who cares ?

And feel free to rant in my inbox whenever! It's always open to anyone. Glad you could get that off your chest :)

[oneangstymotherfucker]

cw for csa mention

The other thing is that ✨power dynamics✨ influence ALL relationships.

Saying you don't think a ship should exist (wild take to begin with but ok) bc of a power imbalance but you see them as family or bffs or something else...those power dynamics STILL EXIST and would still be or have the potential to be dangerous (if the relationship was between real people). A big power imbalance that could fuck up a romantic relationship could just as easily (and just as terribly!) fuck up a friendship or a familial relationship. If sebaciel is toxic because of the power imbalance guess what....dadbastian is also toxic because of the power imbalance!

The other other thing is...are u ready....there is no such thing as a relationship with zero power dynamic. Every single relationship you ever have will be unbalanced in some way- be it age or experience or health or resources or connections or money or physical strength or social standing- the idea is not to only form relationships with people who are exactly in the same position as you, because it would be literally impossible. The idea is to see the imbalance and work to counterbalance it and manage it through communication and boundaries.

This is part of the reason why fiction with power imbalances is important! Because it can help people try to imagine and come up with ways of how to balance them! It's practice in a place where no one can get hurt.

For example, Sebastian made a contract with Ciel. Even though Ciel was powerless when he met him, he gave all the power to Ciel- he could command him any way he pleased and Sebastian would ensure no harm came to him until the agreed upon end of the contract. This communication and mutual trust (yes, relationships take trust!) is one of the ways they fixed the power imbalance.

(again, this is also all very queer if you look at history a little!)

Obviously no real adult should be in a romantic or sexual relationship with a real child. That is not what I or any proshipper is arguing. Fiction is a place to figure things out, to go over the parts that hurt too much to look into the eye. This makes it a great place for those of us who were hurt as kids to figure things out. To go back and write stories about our inner child having power, having say and agency. And sometimes that includes sexuality! Because some inner children were sexualized and we need to face that in order to be okay. And that will always be okay.

Anyways all im saying is if ur giving sebaciel shippers shit becsuse of the power imbalance but ur a dadbastian stan...just seems a little weird to me ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

[burningvelvet]

okay more thoughts on pride and prejudice as i begin chapter 39

1 i want to see lady catherine, mrs. bennet, and miss bingley in the same room together on a podcast panel debating things like marriage and childrearing etc but i dont think the world would be able to handle it

2 i’m interpreting mr. darcy as either being neurodivergent (possibly autistic) and/or having severe social anxiety — and this is really informing my entire perspective of his character (as a core theme to his character is being socially understood/misunderstood). however, i know its still very controversial to “diagnose” fictional characters and i don’t want to come off that way — but historical complications aside (the field of psychology didn’t exist back then how it does now) it’s really obvious to see that he’s not neurotypical, although i don’t know if this is an accepted thing in the austen world though!

3 i’m not buying that mr. darcy’s letter was only 2 pages long. 3 pages minimum with tiny handwriting maybe.

4 this entire novel really highlights the importance of social communication more than anything imo

5 mr. collins is fucking hilarious and his interactions with elizabeth are so accurate/relatable of what it’s like to deal with oblivious men as a female, esp. men who dont know how to take a hint — i was actually laughing out loud through his entire proposal sequence, especially at the line where it says elizabeth is trying hard not to laugh too. so familiar.

6 i wish we could see more of charles i actually like him — i also like colonel fitzwilliam and kind of wanted him to marry elizabeth - its kind of hilarious how casual the topic of marriage is with people you’ve just met & i really want to read more about regency history on marriage specifically now to figure out how much is embellished for satire purposes & how much is true to life

7 i have many thoughts on wickham but thats for a separate post

8 from what little i’ve read about p&p analysis/consensus so far, it seems mrs bennet and some other characters have already been torn to shreds over lit history to the point that its become more common to defend them & mrs bennet in particular, which i understand bc she’s supposed to be a satire on women of the time period but of course her concerns are valid and there are real economic reasons for her actions and societal norms that pertain to them. i’ve also read that it’s common for people to prefer mr bennet over his wife and to pit them against each other which can lead into misogyny & i can see this. however (im sure the bennet family ends up happy at the end, but at this point in the story) i think there are valid reasons for these interpretations which lead people to like mr bennet more than mrs bennet. after the ordeal with collins i really lost respect for mrs bennet for threatening to disown eliza & treating her so harshly, and i gained respect for mr bennet for sticking by eliza. i continuously defended mrs bennet and her behavior up until the collins proposal. i understand she’s desperate for eliza to marry so that she doesn’t become destitute etc. but mr collins simply isnt an ideal husband

9 eliza’s feelings on her friend marrying collins are so sad and relatable of how all of us feel when we watch a friend or loved one enter a shitty relationship and/or betray themselves or lose a part of their personality + the idea of having to mourn your friend especially upon growing up etc. but particularly as it relates to the lonely woman’s experience of finding one’s friends starting to center males & prioritize romance over friendship the older you get.

hope some of this is semi-intelligible - i save the grammar for my real essays - but felt like rambling

i think in my last post i was spelling “bennet” as “bennett” so i apologize for that lol - pls dont kill me janeites, i’m new here!!!

[horizon-verizon]

I had a legitimate question/complaint that I wanted to send you and I'm still going to do so but while I was thinking about it something else occurred to me and I wanted to share it but I wanted to tell you something first.

The change in Rhaenyra and Laenor’s relationship is the ONLY change I am willing to wholeheartedly accept because it was a wonderful change.

The canon versions aren’t much related to speak of. Rhaenyra has her reasons for not wanting to marry Laenor and at one point she makes a homophobic comment and Laenor did the bare minimum by showing up to a couple of events and visiting so he could say “oh yeah, that baby is definitely mine🤭 Can we call him Joffrey?☺️” (which still means he recognized them as his own and they were legally Velaryon)

But in the show Rhaenyra and Laenor quickly create a mutually beneficial partnership, Rhaenyra cares for Laenor very clearly during 1x05 trying to reach him and I interpret her expression while they are getting married as her acknowledging Laenor’s pain, Laenor is obviously much more present in the children’s lives and at court, we can see a little how complicated that dynamic must have been with Laenor having the freedoms of a man and Rhaenyra being technically superior to him (and none of them seem resentful of each other!), Laenor also worries about Rhaenyra and blames himself for some of their problems (it’s not them, it’s Alicent) and failing Rhaenyra and the children. Rhaenyra in turn takes the time to assure him that she doesn't blame him, that she doesn't see him as defective or wrong.

A I have no idea where the shot came from that Laenor was uncomfortable holding Joff (I thought he was uncomfortable because of Alicent, you know, the woman who made his wife walk after giving birth and that insults him at least twice) but I don't think he is any more uncomfortable with children than most parents of that time, I would even go so far as to say that their relationship is close. We see Laenor carrying Joffrey both on the way back and when Rhaenyra leaves the court, in the second case they could have given him to a nanny but no, Laenor was the one carrying their son. Another moment I really like is the low-key shot of Laenor and Luke holding hands during Laena's funeral or the whole thing with Laenor, Rhaenyra and Harwin with the kids. There is no discomfort, children are not distant or uncomfortable when dealing with him.

In all the ways that matter Laenor claimed the children as his own, he had a pretty good relationship with Rhaenyra despite it not being sexual in nature and the problems that brought about for reasons and it is shown that he loved them.

The real queer friendship in the show was Laenor and Rhaenyra not Alicent and Rhaenyra. And that's my controversial opinion today.

I talk about Rhaenicent HERE, how it didn't and still doesn't make sense to me due to the writing not bringing enough reason as to why it exists. I also must remind people that I am not queer (I don't think bc IDK these days) or of the LGBTQAI+ community. So if I am missing something that could explain some stuff about queerness in fiction or real-life sexually-incompatible relationships, let me know, please!

I am torn about this relationship--book AND show-wise but what I am sure of is that this relationship wasn't as "mutually" beneficial as some might think. Most of it was neither of their faults, but Rhaenyra's situation vs Laenor's is enough reason for her to be resentful not just of her father but him as well. Their relationship was consequently emotionally distant from Laenor even while living in the same spaces as him for a decade. So instead of being a "sweet" thing, it was more a "bittersweet" thing.

Book!

Context for the comment Rhaenyra made against marrying Laenor ("A Question of Succession"):

"My half brothers would be more to his taste".

And Laenor naming their last child ("A Question of Succession"):

"Laenor was at last permitted to name a child after his fallen friend"

And these are when and where the V boys were born (114, 115, 117).

There are layers to each part of these quotes: Laenor is "permitted" to name his own child. More likely barred by Corlys than Rhaenyra because the first two have Velaryon-sounding names and Laenor thus has been made to push aside his first (known) great love/disconnect from his own gayness/"repress" for the sake of patriarchal-heterosexual tradition WHILE Rhaenyra's comment about Laenor reveals a parallel to the preference shown towards boys and men in her society. He would "prefer" someone else, a male, over her. Her concern is not primarily "owning" him sexually but it mirrors/parallels/reminds her that her father/patriarchy diminishing a woman's importance or decentering her for the man's centering and sociopolitical elevation. The "man" here is Viserys and Corlys.

But in the inverse, Laenor named their kid after his past lover when Rhaenyra couldn't give a Targaryen name or any name of her choosing to their last two boys.

Of course, that is a little self-centered of Rhaenyra but the bubble of resentment comes from a valid place and is not completely unfounded and she sorta has to be bit more self-centered...more tragic for them both.

And Laenor naming their last child after his dead lover when he's supposed to keep his relationships a secret for the better of their kids if not for himself is also sort of self-centeredness. Again, when Rhaenyra seemingly couldn't name her own first 2 children.

In a way, Young!Book!Rhaenyra takes Laenor's sex acts (bc Westerosi do not have the conceptions of sexuality being an identity element so much as an act of pseudo-taboo sex acts) as his being another person/obligation/worry who is forced on her, not going to add to her life and not caring for her or prioritizing or supporting her to a certain degree that she needs--another "burden" aside from the one political benefit of tying the Velaryons to her...which is necessary in the first place bc she is female and Viserys pissed Corlys off.

It's like it touches on that wound girls/women carry. In-text/world, I felt it moves through Rhaenyra-the-person/character as unconscious resentment towards another instance where she cannot access what she desires and becomes stuck with a person who cannot even desire her at the very least, as she finds Harwin can later. The show actually does well enough to bring out what was likely true from the original story here when she's talking to Daemon in episode 7 about Harwin: "It felt good to be desired". To have someone be there for her.

(bc despite that injury he had that might have taken months to heal, I still think it's too strange and non-coincidental to ignore how Rhaenyra's first three kids all do not look at least like herself in coloring, not in eyes or hair...Alysanne was one Targ with Andal blonde hair and blue eyes while Alyssa had one purple eye for goodness sake! and the Targs after Daeron II's generation had traits from either one or both parents, Targ or not Targ...this is a fiction piece and while it models real life, it is less random as real life, and "85-90%" of stuff is done for a reason)

And with Laenor, as I mentioned, he must have felt pulled apart from himself--resentful of his forced marriage and further repression from such marriage to Rhaenyra, thus his staying away.

I don't think that they didn't come to respect each other or even not care about each other in the book NOR that they were horrible people for how they felt feelings and their circumstances, how they moved around each other, and probably interacted. Especially after Laenor began spending more time with Rhaenyra after their sons' confrontation with Aemond at Dragonstone.

But it never came across to me as particularly close or Laenor taking up the responsibility to those he apparently did see as a family until said family was hurt. And I have not seen anything to suggest Rhaenyra was concerningly hurtful or homophobic towards Laenor after they marry in canon. So, do we really know if she actually hated him in the original story, or thought his queerness made him less than or worthy of hate, esp with what I said about it more about expressing her frustration?

Show!

You:

But in the show Rhaenyra and Laenor quickly create a mutually beneficial partnership, Rhaenyra cares for Laenor very clearly during 1x05 trying to reach him and I interpret her expression while they are getting married as her acknowledging Laenor’s pain, Laenor is obviously much more present in the children’s lives and at court, we can see a little how complicated that dynamic must have been with Laenor having the freedoms of a man and Rhaenyra being technically superior to him (and none of them seem resentful of each other!), Laenor also worries about Rhaenyra and blames himself for some of their problems (it’s not them, it’s Alicent) and failing Rhaenyra and the children. Rhaenyra in turn takes the time to assure him that she doesn't blame him, that she doesn't see him as defective or wrong.

It seems like Rhaenyra still got the shorter end of the stick to breed a stronger sort of resentment. I think that their relationship was actually more or less the same as it was in the book, and the space they shared only affected Laenor's time spent with the kids and not time spent helping Rhaenyra elsewhere. I could argue it should have been even a little worse bc they live in the same space and Laenor is doing the same things as his book counterpart.

That unequal position, in my view, actually kept them emotionally apart enough for Laenor to not really understand Rhaenyra as a person while Rhaenyra seems to understand Laenor pretty well. To look at this doylistically, honestly, this could be a fault of the writers and the time jumps, but let's dive in.

FIRST - We have not actually seen, at any point, Laenor approach Rhaenyra to ask what's up/check-in. Any time he's there, he's there for either the most dramatic things (birth of a son and climbing the stairs), complaining, or inadvertently make her seem an anomaly (comments about breasts). At the end, again like in the book, he offers to be closer to her and focus on her and the boys...and that is the only time we see some sort of action of the sort of support Rhaenyra sees she will get from Daemon, thus her decision to have Laenor "killed".

After Joffrey Lonmouth's death, Laenor found Qarl Correy and Rhaenyra had allowed the man to be close to Laenor despite the rumors. Laenor doesn't mind and even seems to like Harwin. But unlike Rhaenyra, Laenor does not need nor want a good image as much as she does. Rhaenyra needs Laenor more than the reverse.

SECOND - In the 5th episode after Joffery's death, yes, she is acknowledging his pain but you'd have to be self-involved to a particular degree or just plain unobservant to not sympathize and acknowledge that pain...plus she knew they were together as Laenor told her and they made that a private arrangement on the beach presumably just a few days before. Finally, in that episode, she has not actually lived with him yet.

THIRD - Due to the time jump, we do not know how Laenor got to be a permanent resident in the Keep of King's Landing when he should have been at Driftmark as he is in the book before Laena's death/Vhagar's "claim". Does either Viserys or Corlys order him to stay with Rhaenyra? Did Rhaenyra order him to stay by her side with her? Did Laenor choose freely or under a nonverbal pressure from those around him and what exactly did that look like? Did he have a confrontation with his father concerning his sexuality and the image its open-secretness presents to the family and he just needed to get away from Corlys--did he and Rhaenyra bond over that? Even so, how does the court treat both Rhaenyra & Laenor, both of whom are in court with their respective lovers: Laenor being cuckolded (doesn't matter that he's gay, he's a man and "gayness" is not an identity to these Westerosi) and Rhaenyra, as the future ruler, cannot be made to be seen as weak through her husband's/partner's open "infidelities".

More Notes

Many have noted how unaware Laenor is in the show. Both are resigned, but Rhaenyra is less..."blind", I'd say, because she has to be "on" and aware of others all the time. This alone shows that they cannot be as close as some people claim, because they are not on a similar page of observation of each other or their situation.

This is Rhaenyra & Laenor says about his desire to go to war:

War is afoot again in the Stepstones, Rhaenyra. The Triarchy takes new life from its alliance with Dorne. They're waylaying ships and cargo. Qarl's been fighting there. He showed me a... ( laughing ) He showed me a sack of sapphires big as walnuts he took from the pirate he slew. Ah... After all this time, this is just what I need, a little adventure. A good, honest battle to enliven my blood again. He says there is a Tyroshi general there, a giant, they say, who dyes his beard purple and wears women's frocks. ( laughs ) A few months, maybe...

AND

I am a knight... and a warrior. And I have played my part here, faithfully... for ten years. I am owed some...

AND

Rhaenyra: You are owed nothing! For ten years, you have indulged yourself at court, bought the finest horses, drunk the rarest of wines, fսckеd the lustiest boys. This was our agreement. I have not begrudged you. But... you do not desert your post when the storm lashes. Laenor: The wise sailor flees the storm as it gathers.

Aside from me not liking how Rhaenyra's decision to go to Dragonstone is compared to what Laenor meant by leaving (bc she is doing it for the sake of family and people's lives versus him trying to abandon said family...this is not some modern tale where the newly out and thriving queer person incidentally has kids who can survive their absence or at least not have it threatened after all):

Laenor had been trying to get out of being in KL with Rhaenyra for, as he calls it, "adventure" as if he weren't already in some sort of agreement with Rhaenyra to protect those he himself decided to treat them as his own sons. If it weren't for the fact he sees those kids as his own AND that agreement before they were even born, I wouldn't 100% begrudge him. Add to the fact that, because he's a man, if he weren't so lower-ranked or actually cared for his non-trad family he could have just gone and no one would disparage him in the slightest. Her having to remind him of his promise and stop him from making comments about her body to--who is to her--a stranger while she's trying to stop herself from leaking and coming back from a council where her stepmother/former friend has tried to humiliate and undermine her the whole time -> her reminding him it was not her who put him in their position so as not for him to make it seem as if she were the one imprisoning him in the first place when he said he had the right to is itself a stack of emotional labor. It truly read to me that Laenor was trying to escape the life he has with Rhaenyra as much as he did in the book. It wasn't actually much of a real change.

At the same time, we must remember that show!Rhaenyra is a very different person from book!Rhaenyra. This is a woman who would not go to war for the throne her father gave her because her father was a man who tried to be as nonconfrontational as possible AND for a prophecy that she should have reasoned her father never would have told Aegon, of all people, about and how he took the time to drag himself out of bed for her & her kids' rights/protection in episode 8. The show unconsciously makes a more quietly repressed woman of Rhaenyra in an attempt to make her more "likable", to her own, more-avoidable detriment.

One reason why show!-her may not feel like ordering Laenor more--other than realizing his being forced like her--is the inevitability of his freedoms despite his queerness. Why make a "fuss" when it will not actually go anywhere and it will actually hurt Laenor? Another reason is by how she looks at Laenor, she feels guilt at being the person Criston was actually angry with--thus indirectly leading to Laenor losing his lover so traumatically, thus maybe trying to take it upon herself to make sure Laenor has little reason to either resent or begin to actually hate her more (bc he is both one of the only people there in her camp to keep her some sort of company aside from Harwin in some way) and/or she feels like she must take the responsibility of making him happy. Both of these can give another "responsibility" along with being a mom, the court images, Alicent, her father's social self-blindness, etc even though Joffrey's death is not her fault as much as it was Criston's. All/more eyes are on her and her behavior and she is the one having to birth a kid one minute and walk up a flight of stairs the next. And she was absolutely going to do it alone because Laenor was not there until he decided to be. She is the one who will receive the least grace or attention and thereby the most blame. This is definitely not Laenor's fault...but his using that ability to be away, it certainly adds to the burden, potentially becoming a polyp of the main problem. This is, why again, they both decide that Laenor should "die", to repeat myself.

These things are inevitably going to breed resentment from Rhaenyra and travel against Laenor, esp when he's deciding to make it that much harder without acknowledging that he is or thinking how it could be. And if she were more resentful, or really even a bit more expressive towards him than she was in the show, I do not think that is a moral flaw on her part, doesn't make her the bad guy. Not expressing your anger more often doesn't make the relationship closer/better...in fact, it shows how disconnected they are emotionally. Not only is it possible she cannot feel as if she has all the right to "too much" of Laenor after Joffrey's death and how it went down, but she nevertheless "needs to" demand "more" from him because he's still not doing much, he agreed, their kids' lives and reputations are in danger, and by the near end of epi 6 he's even trying to get out of that much. No man could really understand or appreciate all of this, but again, that distance and trying to get out of things really clinched it for me.

Just because she doesn't hate him or lash out at him, doesn't mean the resentment against him isn't there and that it isn't strong. It shows itself in her sarcasm at his asking her if it hurt; her looks at his drunken talk about her leaking and swollen breasts to Qarl Correy (how fond would one be of a person after that tactlessness because it also shows how little Laenor really minds how his words will come across to her at specific moments?); her having to make it clear to him he must stay by her side and explain to him why she must (the mental load we modern talks about is paralleled here), etc.

And just because show!her was more accomodating, doesn't make her an actually better human than her book counterpart. Same with Laenor--just because he seems like he was around more often--especially since they here share the same space--doesn't mean he is there with her because he absolutely wants to be and is performing the duty he said he would. This is what Rhaenyra was talking about after she dismissed Correy so she could demand Laenor stay.

If anything, Laenor's proximity to Rhaenyra and still not being as there as he should makes it easier for him to be closer to his sons and have a relationship of sorts with their elder selves (because in the show those kids are also older--by appearance--than their selves in the book by this time, and thus they have had more time with Laenor as their dad). It didn't bring the married couple closer so much as give Rhaenyra visible, everyday proof her husband was not her partner.

Thereby, again, it wasn't actually all that "mutual"--he didn't have to put as much energy as her and he didn't and he didn't really think of how he could...but like you said, he did more than most fathers in that the little initiative he does give is more than what most fathers in his position would give Laenor does take a bit of initiative than most men would give in his position even if they wanted to be her Prince Consort for the influence, title, and power alone. He tries.....but then that still makes me question if he actually is there by circumstance, order, or choice and how he feels about that. Still, it's not good for him, so does he, if ever, blame or lash out at Rhaneyra and how does he express that.

The show tells us "unlikely", but that doesn't seem psychologically or emotionally realistic to me. On Laenor's end, he's told he cannot be that one masculine thing--be a brave adventurer/traveling knight--because his class/station has to lead him to marry a princess who depends on his voluntary discretion the balance between security and public respect when he never asked for any of it but he's told that he's a horrible person if he doesn't do this for his ambitious father.

It is because of all this that I do not see Rhaenyra as necessarily being hateful toward Laenor in either book or the show for his sexuality as much as his not being compatible with her needs after a whole life of subtle and unsubtle constraint while acknowledging that it isn't either of their fault...until in the show Laenor was headed there.

Their kindness (to a degree) for each other and Laenor's obvious willingness to at least perform when told or encouraged certainly make things easier. It's still far from what's needed, with it not quite meeting the bare minimum.

So for me, the change that I liked was their coming to a verbal agreement for them to look for other intimacies. It could have happened in canon, but we'll never know, GRRM chose to write this like a very unreliable history book written by misogynist, homophobic, etc. "men of learning". This wasn't a dumb choice, without its own storytelling merits (there's a reason we continue to use frame narratives), or even fun to read through...it's that you're trusting your readers a lot to know what's in their hands and some are just not going to get it or want to.

[jackinalex]

Hi there! I really like your writing, you write plots that suck people in very well. I have a question though, and please take this as genuine curiosity because that really is what it is. What are your thoughts on the, hmmm let's say ethics, of writing fanfiction about real people? Ive found myself drawn to the dynamics of relationships for both real and fictional pairings, but when it's real, there is always something that kind of twinges at me. I've seen interviews where sometimes the subjects get uncomfortable knowing people write about them, and I could see how I might feel wierd about it if it were me. But on the flip side, the stories are of course fiction. You seem very involved in this side of the fandom, and I would be very interested to know your thoughts.

Putting this under a cut bc it’s so long lol.

Thank you for the compliments! You made my morning. To answer your question, I think that rpf is a complex and nuanced topic, but what it really boils down to is the subjects' feelings. I’ve written rpf in some capacity for going on thirteen years and will use each of those fandoms as examples to express the nuances of the topic.

When I was 14-16, I wrote WWE fanfiction. The difference between wresting rpf and say, bandom rpf, is that WWE for the most part is fictional and the wrestlers portray some sort of character, even if they go by their real names, therefore it is similar to writing about a tv show or movie (though some people include their real lives and real families). I’ve heard a few wrestlers say that fan fiction is a little weird, but the ones I wrote about never said it made them especially uncomfortable. In fact, Torrie Wilson (my queen), has even tweeted about Jorrie, which is the ship of her and John Cena, which was my first rpf ship I ever wrote about.

When I was 16-18, I wrote YouTube rpf, first about Pewdiepie and Cryaotic (I know, yikes), and those two (especially Cry, and I know, yikes again) spoke at length about how they didn’t mind fan fiction at all. They even read some as content for their channels. I then wrote about Ian and Anthony from Smosh, who also read fan fiction (MANY) times for their different channels. They even read part one of my fics on their channel at one point. Sometimes Ian and Anthony did seem a bit uncomfortable with the fanfiction, but it was more that they didn’t want to read the fics themselves and less that the fics existed. They’ve spoken at length about how they’re happy for people to express themselves in any way, even if it’s through fan fiction about them.

Finally, we have ages 19-now. I’ve written about Jalex for the longest period of my life (nearly ten years, which is nuts). It’s interesting because they’ve made hundreds of jokes about fucking each other for years, made references to fics and how they want people to keep writing them, and Jack even had a Jalex shirt for his JAGK line. Then, around 2012, interviewers started pushing them to talk about it far too much to the point where it made them uncomfortable. So I don’t think it was the fics themselves, but rather being asked about them and being put on the spot.

I say all of this to say that I think rpf is okay if you do the following:

Find out if the subject has explicitly stated that they do not want to be included in fic.

DO NOT send the fics to anyone you’ve written about (unless they’ve asked for them, for some reason). Also, do not mention fics or shipping to these people (unless, again, they’ve asked you to).

I think that people have the right to not want to be written about, but as you said, it is purely fiction. Also, when people have large platforms and have lots of fans, there are “fan” things that kind of just happen, not just fics, but also fanart, fan edits, speculation, gossip, etc. It’s part of the fame. The love and admiration people hold for their favorite celebrities has to go somewhere and that’s often through fanwork.

I hope this somewhat answers your question! I can only speak from my own experience, but this is the conclusion I’ve come to after years of rpf. If you’re interested in participating, we’d love to have you! Our fandom is small, but loyal and tight-knit. Much love!

[mando-abs]

Preface: I am an 18+ blog, so minors don’t interact and keep scrolling

I know I was gonna do notes for the new Percy Jackson book, but in true Percy Jackson ADHD fashion, I stopped like a third of the way in bc it started feeling like a chore. And now I’m making this post days after finishing it 🤷🏻

But congratulations Rick Riordan on once again attracting his target reader audience

It was really good tho. If I wasn’t so bone tired lately, I would’ve finished it two days, but it took me like four lol. So if you have problems focusing on reading for long periods of time, this book is phenomenal (granted, I read oodles of college level books last year for my degree so middle grade is like a walk in the park but…my point still stands). This book is lower stakes than the original series, but if you love Percy as much as I do, this is great 😅😅 GIVE THAT BOY A BREAK

I’ll post a few spoilers below if you’re curious and nosey on what happens but don’t want to read the book. I encourage you to look up the general synopsis tho bc I’m not gonna write about that. This is gonna be my highlights.

Poseidon is a crocs and socks guy and I couldn’t be more happy. This is my biggest highlight. I’m not joking. Like of course he is. He’s also building an infinity pool in his underwater summer getaway which is just great. He’s trying to build a relationship ship with Percy so that’s great. Percy seems to be chill with that but he knows Poseidon’s gotta work for it.

Zeus being the reason why Percy’s gotta get 3 letters of recommendation. And why his first and only kite as a kid was struck down 😭😭😭

The existence of the restaurant Himbo Juice in this book surely means that Rick is aware of the femboy Hooters meme. Like I feel it in my nuggets

Percy and Annabeth sure are Percabeth-ing in this book and it gives me life. Like I can’t pinpoint an exact moment bc it’s everywhere.

I looooooove how Ganymede is painted as a victim of grooming in this book. Bc of course. And I looooove how Iris sympathizes with him bc she understands his situation and knows how he got an even worse deal than she did in his position. It’s also interesting how Riordan hops around this within the confines of middle grade fiction.

Also Ganymede feeling obligated to fill and top off everyone’s cups (demigod or not) was a nice touch

Iris has a demigod child that only loves monochrome and it’s killing her. Amazing

Sally Jackson is living her best life with Paul and is now a published author. AND SHE’S PREGNANT 😆😆😆😆😆😆 AND PERCY IS EXCITED TO BE A BIG BROTHER 😆😆😆😆😆😆😆 oh I love it. Honestly, I could have a book just on that with him doing big brother babysitting.

Hebe has a Chuck E Cheese establishment called Hebe Jeebies where people can become younger as they play games and eat cardboard pizza. And she has killer chickens that will eat your flesh and conduct chicken fights. ALSO THE MAIN CUSTOMERS BEING BOOMERS BC THEY CANT GROW UP IS HILARIOUS. Burn.

When the trio was turned 8 temporarily, Percy was so anxious bc childhood trauma obvi. But Percy going “I don’t want to go through growing up again. I won’t. I’m so scared,” was owie.

In fact, Percy being so anxious he pressure washed (pressure bombed?) a cave is relatable. If every time I had a panic attack I became a pressure washer, my neighborhood street would be so clean.

The god of old age (whose name escapes me) being the one who stole the chalice made a lot of sense. AND PERCY EMBRACED HIM INSTEAD OF FIGHTING HIM BC HE WILL BE FIGHTING OLD AGE HIS WHOLE LIFE AND HE WANTS TO GROW OLD😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 I was tearing up. I think this was really targeted toward the young adult/approaching middle age audience. Damn you Riordan

Percy broke into Zeus’ chamber in Olympus to return the chalice and the only god to notice him was Athena!!!!!! They literally went “👁️👄👁️ 👀” She’s more tolerant of Percy being Athena’s boyfriend now!!! It’s gettin serious

Hmmmmmmmm

That’s all I have to say about that

[mzannthropy]

I absolutely agree that Camilly>>>> Daisybilly. Also Edmila. I'm just gonna pretend none of the cheating happen. Also, what do you think about fics that make Billy a bad father? I hate them lol. Billy was there for Julia's plays,soccer games, and to see her grow into an adult. You can tell he loved her.

(This got long...)

Thanks, it's good to see someone still cares about Billy x Camila! Tbh I've been thinking that I probably misunderstood the story, which is not unlike me with the way my mind works, but the thing is, I was only in it bc of Sam Claflin. I would never have had picked the book up if he hadn't been cast in the series. I barely care about real 70s bands, never mind fictional, and I didn't know anything about Fleetwood Mac (in fact I only started listening to them bc of DJATS and, funnily enough, I saw that 1997 performance on TV which they just happened to show at the time when the filming of DJATS was going on--but I didn't think anything of it. Don't those two hate each other?). That's my kind of longwinded way of saying that I had no idea I was supposed to ship Daisy and Billy, especially as I rooted for Camila right from the beginning. I'm also much older than majority of the fandom and have one failed marriage under my belt already, so I see things differently.

I think that Camila liked the rockstar side of Billy, hence why she was able to overlook some things (after all, this was the 70s), bc she knew he would always come home to her. Relationships are laundry and taxes, not omG tHE wAY thEY LooK aT eAcH OthEr on stage, but I guess that's not cool enough for the show. I'm not a fanfic person, actually, I read maybe about three a year (and that's only short ones) and with the exception of Jane Eyre, I don't write any (I prefer writing original). Occasionally I check AO3 for some particular piece of media or a ship, just to see what's there (in fact I did so twice in the last week, once for a particular pairing in a L.M. Montgomery book and once for all The Count of Monte Cristo fics, Sam's next project). I've never looked at any DJATS fics ever and I'd rather not know. So I didn't know there were fics that made Billy a bad father. I suppose people can write what they want, if they need to make Billy worse for their preferred ship to exist, well, they're free to do so, if it makes them happy. I loathe cheap, lazy plot devices and villainisation for the sake of making the protagonist look better, or making the reader/viewer care about the author's favourite pairing. I tend to feel the exact opposite of what the writer(s) want me to feel. So merely hearing about the Billy as bad father fics makes me hate them, lol.

It's not true, anyway. The show didn't exactly do Billy any favours with erasing the twins, bc in the book, he was with Camila while she was giving birth to them, holding her hand etc, in contrast to Julia's birth. But even so, we have some evidence of him being a better dad, like when he rang Camila while on the Aurora tour and wanted to hear Julia just sleeping. They could have done more and I suspect they really did, that there were more scenes that they eventually cut. Idk, but this picture just makes me think there must have been more. Who knows...

So while he may not have been the world's best dad, he was not a bad one either. After all, as I started saying lately, (about real people but it goes for fictional too), people can be more than one thing.

Saying that, Eddie gives me mild incel vibes. If Camila wanted to be with Eddie, she'd be with him. "I'd choose you over everyone" means nothing, it's just words. It was a bit of a lazy shortcut for Camila to cheat with him, but that's just one of the show's sins. They gave Camila a creative profession and then did a fuck all with it, like why couldn't she have connected with a fellow photographer? Like that dude she talked to in the dark room or whoever it was.

I wonder if soon we'll start seeing articles on Screen Rant et al about how "wrong we were to ship Billy and Daisy and how emotional affairs ruin the lives of everyone around them" or something similar. More likely, though, the show will fade into obscurity which I will honestly be thankful for. I'm glad that Sam got what he needed out of it (he talked about it in interviews) and I'm glad Camila got some recognition, she just won a breakthrough award at Critics Choice and I'm glad Suki and the others got to be in it and the songs are good, and I wish them well, and I wish the writers a very hope your pens break and drafts get deleted and I hope Hello Sunshine burns down.

[ted-calling-orson]

LONG ASK IM SO SORRY

ok im sorry to enter ur askbox but i cant just contain this to tags and like. you are SOOOO right for liking kermit !!! sad mf. love him. also can i just say- WHY is there NOT more fanfic im SORRY but. if we have so much crackfic of modern presidents or even actual fic/oneshots of other presidents, PLEASE give us TR / TR fam fic !!!! id eat that shit UP. i got so tired of it i published my own tr kiddos fic istg its either anon or on my acc i can find it

and im so confused on why NATM teddy aint got more fics that at least mention the kids OR siblings. sorry this is gonna be a long ask. but really !! like. theres maybe 5(?) max fics ive seen mention them. a few in the Treasured Collection NATM fic series, and maybe one or two loose ones around. im SOOOO close to writing a self indulgent fic for it. again srry for how long this is. but i never come across tr fans. rlly i swear. also so right for liking the muppets (Fozzie my beloved <3)

oh !! and the cartoon network idea??? YES. absolutely. id watch it. 10000%. i think presidential cartoons should exist more, beyond episodes in preexisting shows. itd be so cool!! ive watched possibly every documentary i can find on TR/show that features him (like The Alienist) i need some lighthearted stuff.

finally idk if youre big on reading books or trilogies but if you can id recommend reading Edmund Morris' trilogy on TR if you haven't yet. the final book ending had me crying at 7am december 2022 like 10 times.

p.s the erb rap battle was so silly and im so surprised i saw nobody in the comments mention quentin with the line churchill shot of TR's family dying prematurely. sorry for the length of this ask--and dino au is so cool and i wanna hear all abt it !!

-🦆

OH MY GOSH THIS IS LIKE A DREAM WHEUSHSUWJWKEKWKWKWJNWJWIXJWBWIDJISJEBDISJSISJSIS oooo we should be best friends ooooooo. Also dw about this being too long you are literally one of my favorite people of all time😭‼️🙏

on the Kermit thing: YIPPEEE‼️‼️‼️ finally another Kermit fan😭 the only other recognition he’d get was from some Indiana jones mini series. Id love to write Roosevelt fan fiction but I don’t like posting my stuff on tumblr (usually my fics are for me and my friends⁉️) but ey, maybe I’ll post something🙏

ALSO MUPPET FAN‼️‼️‼️ my favs are Dr. Teeth and Kermit

on the natm thing: YIPPEE- I wanna write about my au so bad cuz I’ve got so many ideas for it especially for Elliot and Theo’s relationship bc their rivalry was so bad it extended into their daughters. Evil Elliott seemed like an awesome concept and what if he dragged Corinne into it??? Wieihdjehsjs

the tv show: OK OK SO I had a HUGE concept of this show. First off: it’s like your avid 2000s sitcom but with art‼️ The Taft’s (and in later seasons, the Wilson’s) are their neighbors and T.R and W.H.T would have silly angry dad neighbor hijinks (and they both hate the Wilsons together), Alice is the popular girl and there was gonna be a whole episode on her affair with William Borah, Kermit is the shy kid that gets into scuffles with Ted jr, Quentin and Archibald are the spoiled younger sibs, Ethel is the neutral younger sister and Edith is the mostly annoyed mom. Also Quentin and Charles Taft are best friends and I’ll prolly write more ideas for it but I do have designs for Kermit, Ethel and Alice:

anyway, you don’t know how excited I got when I saw this in my inbox😭 but yeah I love your stuff man! Pls post more Teddy stuff I thrive off it im literally one of 5 Theodore Roosevelt fans

ALSO IM GLAD YOU MENTIONED THE RAP BATTLE CUZ- I think that line is about most of his family dying fairly young (Theodore sr., Quentin, Elliott etc) and not just his kids but I could be wrong the fandom wiki of erb is so 50/50

[sevarix-blogs]

Hiya! I'm asexual/aromantic myself, and recently I've been learning that platonic love is just as important as romantic love and that romance shouldn't be considered this holy grail of relationships, but I still have trouble describing the difference between the two without still having this feeling that romance is "special" or "above" friendship 😔I was wondering how you'd describe it if that's okay to ask?

well, i think it can just be as simple as like, knowing that kissing/romantic gestures/etc aren't the highest form of intimacy. some people don't even like intimacy at all! friendship is also very special, and just as important as romance. a high-five or a hug can be just as fulfilling to someone as a romantic kiss can be. the platonic love someone has for a dog can be more powerful than the love a married couple can have for each other.

amatonormativity tells us that everyone should have 1 romantic partner, and that that romantic partner is the most important person in their life. that their friends are now lesser once they get into that romantic relationship. that's simply untrue!

sometimes platonic love is mixed in with romantic love. sometimes friendships are still satisfying without any platonic aspect at all. platonic and romantic are not a binary! they are simply two different concepts that can describe a relationship (and not the only two types of relationships!)

i think what is sometimes appealing, especially in fiction, about romantic relationships is the 'specialness' of having That One Person whom you trust and devote your life to. but could this not also be the case with friendship? could you not also have two characters who trust each other more than anyone else without being romantic about it? two people can understand and trust each other deeply without even a hint of romance. to me, that is what makes platonic relationships interesting in fiction. it is what makes me want to write about deep friendships in my fics. sure, they might not kiss or anything like that, but there are other ways of showing affection, perhaps even ways that are unique to the characters that make that kind of intimacy special without needing romance to portray it.

and also, i will throw in a few caveats. some relationships are neither platonic, nor romantic! aplatonic aros exist as well, and the way they interact and feel about others is also just as valid. some people don't experience love at all, not even platonic love, and they can also have friendships that are special and important even though they don't experience love.

i encourage you to explore these ideas! maybe take a fictional ship you like, and think about them in a platonic sense. for example, i love yurileth. but if someone made them besties instead of spouses, i would still be delighted! bc in my mind, that is just as special and meaningful as being romantic partners. if you take a romantic ship you really like and make it purely platonic... does it make you upset? does it make you feel like the 'specialness' has gone away? if so, ask yourself why. that might help you uncover what's holding you back from seeing platonic as lesser than romantic.

in fact, i encourage everyone to try this exercise. take your otp, make it platonic. do you feel like it's now lesser? not as special? ask yourself why. think about amatonormativity, and whether or not that might be clouding your judgement. i'm not saying you have to prefer platonic over romantic! we all have preferences of course. but non-romantic shouldn't feel lesser in your mind to romantic.

anyway, sorry this got a little long. hopefully that helps, anon! you're welcome to ask followup questions as well!

[synonymouswithanonymous]

What lies? Could you justify and give some precise examples. I'm curious 🙂

where to begin? I've written about loads of them. Mistranslating her words. I've said that one repeatedly. As I've said before some people have created fictions in their heads and hardcore believe these lies they're spewing. A whole list of pure speculation, presented as facts (another post).

Claiming she's got *insert multiple medical disorders as an insult* How would we know of anything other than what she's talked about? You can't diagnose over social media clips. It's just more lies. Lies designed to make her look bad.

Claiming she's abusive behind closed doors. How would we know? This is speculative lying to further claim she's "bad" etc.

Claiming to know "their real timeline" when all we have is speculation, they want to say shes a cheater. That's clear character assassination, by creating a lie, and repeating it a lot, to try to make her look bad. Or make him look bad by calling him a homewrecker.

Claiming she's not a real survivor of abuse, or uses it to further her career is not only twisted, but again creating a fiction to rail at her, just bc you don't like her is a cruel, unsympathetic lie.

Claiming she's manipulating him, as if anyone outside his real life would know? People are claiming this as fact, like they have proof. No there's literally no proof, just opinions. To claim this as a fact is a bold face lie.

That she pushed him into revealing their relationship before he was ready. As if we could know? To create fiction just bc you don't like her, is a lie. He'd been spotted out with her before April.

I made a whole post about how haters claim she "chains" him to her side, and he never gets to see friends, family or work. These are lies. From several pictures and projects, this is an outright misrepresentation of the truth. And also, again, just bc it's not posted and we don't see it, doesn't mean it's not happening. But clearly he isn't chained at her side lol.

Trying to twist everything she does from cupcakes to war, into Something to justify calling her an evil leech worm etc. Is a type of lying imo to force a narrative designed to hurt her.

Example: That her ladybug book video was her "flipping off the fans." Now that's just a ridiculous twisting of a video.

That she's "mocking the mentally disabled" by "talking funny", she was speaking Norwegian. That by dancing she was doing the same. These are horrible abusive lies to try to spread around about someone. That was repeated quite a bit, they were serious. Again, speaking another language and dancing on a red carpet? This makes someone want to spread malicious lies about her that she's mocking the disabled bc they don't like she's dating AHA. Don't get me started on the stereotypes about the disabled that that person wants to perpetuate. And I'll also point out, when this popped up the first time, a fan with 1994 in their name was openly mocked for liking Johanne. Their malicious ridicule of that person, still bothers me. But that's gone off topic.

To say she was pissed at a premiere before they revealed themselves, by the "look" on her face. Maybe they saw different clips, bc the ones I saw only the back of her head was seen. So not sure how her facial expression was "glaring" lol. So more lies.

Literally the only factual truths we have are these, they are a couple, they live together, they say they love each other, they're vacationing in Italy. They're both actors. Those are facts, bc they just exist without interpretation. Now if you're not one of the ones who genuinely believe everything they're saying about her, then I'm glad. You understand we don't know them in reality. I'm more of a benefit of the doubt, easy going person. I like her and she seems great to me. But will we ever know if either one of them is as nice as they appear to be? Nope.

That's just off the top of my head, we could debate the laws of the art world etc but meh. I don't really care one way or the other where someone draws inspiration. From pastiche, fair use, fan fiction, gifs, whatever, just be creative how you want to be. So I guess calling her an art thief would be a lie also, by laws definition she's not (made a post about art, links to laws) . I like Weird Al too, he's hilarious lol. I could see fair point, if someone morally disagrees with the practice, but it's not imo a big deal.

I will wish you a good day, though I remember you were among the ones calling me rude names. 😂

Edited to add, this post is public, even if I block someone it's still a public post. And naturally I will block people who've called me a variety of names in the past. Shouldn't be surprised that they were blocked lol, what you really thought you could slide into my inbox and I wouldn't remember your name? 😂😂😂😂

[quirkle2]

If you don’t mind tho, would you have any clue where I could ask about this talk of the LU fandom/Jojo going out of line? I’m oblivious to whatever happened and I’m curious

it's a bit of a complicated and long story, but some of it has to do with fans in general just being rly pissy about characterizations. i'm not pointing any fingers or listing any names bc it's not a One Person kinda problem, and some people don't even notice/see the issue and don't think it's an issue at all. in the grand scheme of things, this first issue isn't rly that big of a deal

(this might get long, and might bring up some anxieties for people, so this break is for anybody who wants to avoid mentions of fandom discourse, including past belittlement of furries, otherkin, and systems. stay safe)

reminder: this is just me clarifying info bc somebody asked! i am not trying to dredge up old mistakes

^ some of the things im talkin about are like . people babying wind. people turning wars into a comic-relief character that only knows how to creep girls out. people turning twilight into an emo cowboy that constantly cries about his girlfriend that's now in another realm or whatever. people simplifying wild into a crazy arsonist who doesn't seem to have a brain. people taking the "bitter" part of legend and exaggerating it So much that he's literally just an asshole to everybody all the time for NO reason other than that "he's the bitchy one"

personally this isn't nearly as annoying to me as some others find it. but i think the Bigger one, for me at least, is jojo herself

in this post, jojo makes fun of furries and otherkin, which i do not agree with. i don't have a problem w jojo not wanting twi to be "furry-like" but she drew the furry purposefully disgusting and stupid-looking to make fun of them. i don't know much about otherkin, but i know it's wrong to make fun of other people, especially when they aren't hurting anybody <3

and in this post, while explaining four's characterization in the comic, jojo put the word system in air quotes, as if to suggest there's something wrong with systems or that they don't exist or something. that stirred up quite a lot of suspicion and doubt in the fandom, and many systems obviously did not like that. i am not a system, so that's all i'll put here—a lot of systems posted their own takes on it when it happened

jojo has since edited both the tumblr post and the insta post to not have the word system in quotes. she explained herself and apologized here and here (this specific one is, i Believe, referring to past mistakes such as the ones above), but some people still are a bit iffy on that whole debacle (me included)

there might be more, but that's everything that i personally know of as to why the fandom has sorta gone bad. this next reason (sorta two reasons) is a personal thing and i don't rly hold it against jojo herself:

silly reason: i just like familial bonds and Close relationships in fiction, and lu does not cover that. they call each other "brother" from time to time but that's not enough dammit i want them to cuddle and i want time to be the father figure and i want them to live in a nice ranch house together happily ever after OKAY!!!! /silly

a more serious reason: linkshipping

i DO NOT agree with people belittling others for posting linkshipping, and this happens in lu All The Time and it's appalling. im not gonna get into the whole "but it's against her rules" thing bc i have some conflicted feelings abt that whole topic and this will get ridiculously long if i prattle abt that, but . people r getting bullied. people r getting singled out and Called Out and hated on and, in extreme cases, Driven Off The Platform bc they posted two silly little fictional men kissing. that's inexcusable to me

it's a bit more complicated than that, but i am of the simple opinion that u should Never police how other people have fun, and this is all fictional and we should redirect our collective hatred toward Real World Problems instead of wasting our time on arguing about whether or not these fictional elves should kiss <3

if i do make a new au and get away from this fandom, i hope to provide a safe space for Everybody, including linkshippers