#why she has those principles and beliefs

[ardate]

Jumping on the ask train, with an in-between question! From the medias you've watched so far, which one do you believe to be severely underrated, and/or deserving of much more attention/love? (Not necessarily something hated by the public, more like a piece of media that's completely ignored/ghosted for a reason or another)

I've already gushed about it in the past but- a little treasure of a piece of media I've discovered last year is the truly wonderful Excavation of Hob's Barrow, a horror themed classic point & click game. It's recent but perfectly mimicks the artistry of old LucasArts games and its atmosphere is incredible. Its genius is the setting - old england folk tales, the rainy moors, a backwater village wherein you're very much made to feel like the outsider that you are - the horror is slow, all-encompassing, it grows in intensity; and yet at the same time you learn to know this village and its people and feel a little less lost. You learn to know the land. And to respect its legends.

This game is very much underrated and I dearly wish more people would get to hear of it and give it a try.

I suppose it's held down by the fact it's horror AND classic point & click vibes, which are two factors that do not necessarily overlap in the average person's tastes. Personally it was right up my alley, and it's a huge favourite of mine from last year (and maybe beyond).

[rukia-writes]

hi rukia.

can you do Rangiku kind of reader as Hades and Poseidon s/o, separately of course.

the other is up to you

T/N: Let’s see what I can cook up. 🧑‍🍳 I love Rangiku a lot. Top 3 BLEACH characters

Poseidon.

Tyrant of ocean.

The Most Fearsome God.

Poseidon was that and much more.

A complex individual with his own principles and beliefs.

Poseidon also wasn’t much of a talker, he spoke only when necessity or when something was out of line.

However, not many people knew it but he did like talking. Rather, with someone. (Name), his beloved who was the opposite of him in every way and yet somehow the two clicked.

(Name) could be lazy, Poseidon had his days but he liked doing stuff.

Poseidon liked modesty, (Name) was a beauty with loved showing her body and curves getting the attention of other gods.

(Name) has an easy-going and free-spirited personality, Posieodn was the exact opposite.

The biggest contrast between the two that people noticed was that (Name) liked wearing human clothing and Poseidon always found that the hardest to tolerate about her as he considered human nothing but filth.

Yet, the two clicked.

“Human clothes again? You should take that filth off.”

“But I like it, the fashion those are developing is slick and stylish. If you want me to take off these clothes you’ll have to do it yourself.”

Yes.

No shyness or shame.

Poseidon sighed in response while she enjoying teasing Poseidon smiled as the other gods found their conversation “entertaining” as the cleared their throats changing the subject.

Zeus called the two the weirdest soulmates ever.

Before the two became an item (Name) was arguably the most beautiful goddess in Valhalla. Hades had a saying about her,” A voluptuous beauty with an adult charm in Valhalla. With her broad-minded personality, the chances of men in Valhalla who say no to her... simply do not exist."

Even Poseidon.

(Name) had a habit of whenever she felt like drinking, she would find free people and then invite them to come out with her, and then has them treat her to drinks, so that she wouldn't have to spend any money. Drinking buddies were many but she enjoyed Hades and Poseidon as drinking buddies.

Why Poseidon? People didn’t know.

Poseidon didn’t know. Unlike his brother, Poseidon wouldn’t talk much.

So, Poseidon came to the conclusion that (Name) was using for free drinks and while this could have been true…he didn’t care if it was.

Because he liked her company and he had more than enough money that he didn’t seem to mind.

That’s how it started.

From drinking buddies to lovers.

“Please, don’t tell me you brought that human shit.”

“Listen, listen. This is really good, top notch.”

“You said that last time. It was disappointing to say the least.”

“No, no. Not this one. Here, here. Just close your eyes, tip it back and swallow. It’s really good…See! That’s good right?!”

(Name) gracefully got the tyrant of the seas to drink the alcohol from the human world, only for Poseidon to say it was worse than the last one. Which made the two go back and forth that they had “bad taste” in alcohol.

Although, the next day (Name) was in for a real treat when Proteus invited her to Poseidon’s palace. In the dining room was a small bottle of wine, two wine glasses with Poseidon already at the table.

“Sit. I have somethings I wanted to discuss.”

Poseidon didn’t have to repeat himself as (Name) sat infront of him with a happy smile on her face while Proteus opened the wine bottle.

The two discussed politics and seemingly family problems.

Seemed like Poseidon when he had a few drinks would talk about family a bit.

(Name) mentioned that the wine was exceptionally great and took the bottle wanting to know where Poseidon got it from. Sure, (Name) had a few drinks but the wine wasn’t necessarily strong that she couldn’t recall what wine was what.

“What is this, Poseidon?”

“Wine from those humans. It’s called “Beaujolais nouveau” apparently.”

“…You like human wine-oh my god.”

Smiling in a teasing manner while Poseidon simply shrugged his shoulders, simply saying, “It’s not bad.”

“Not bad you say, and yet you took it. Why?”

“…You enjoy teasing me don’t you?”

“I’m just wondering why we are enjoying human wine, since you called it gross yesterday.”

Cold blue eyes saw how much his visitor was liking this situation, of course she was. A quick sigh and Poseidon poured her another drink and then himself.

“Shut up and drink.”

The two clinked their glasses together and enjoyed a night of drinking and talking.

Poseidon loved those moments.

“That’s my seat.”

The unknown god that was seated next to his drinking buddy quickly got up from the seat as the king Helheim, not only being one the most respected gods but also feared wanted his seat beside (Name).

The gods were having a party, a reason didn’t have to be, and Hades managed to arrive just in time knowing (Name) was already partaking in the wine with a few unknown gods wanting her attention.

Something Hades didn’t like.

“Why is it whenever I leave you alone there’s always a no name god wanting your affection?”

“I honestly, didn’t notice him there. I think you scared him.”

Hades sat down beside (Name) and like any gentleman poured her a drink and then himself, sighing in a tired smile.

“Oh no, how dare I?”

“Jealous?”

“Protective. Now drink and tell me about why you’re visiting the human world for clothes.”

Hades didn’t have big disdain for humans like his brother Poseidon, (Name)’s other drinking buddy. While she had many drinking buddies Hades and Poseidon seemed to be her favorite.

(Name) also had a habit of going to the human world for clothes, sometimes the clothes were modest and sometimes they were a bit revealing.

Hades didn’t mind either.

(Name) was a rather beautiful goddess arguably the most beautiful goddess in Valhalla. She wasn’t above using her charms to get what she wanted which could be drinks, so she didn’t have to pay, or getting support on anything she wanted.

“They are comfortable. The humans aren’t all bad, great fashion sense. However, your brother thinks otherwise.”

“Of course he does. Especially, since you gave him that wine from the human world.”

“It was great! You had to admit it was great!”

(Name) seemed to already be a bit tipsy as she gently shook Hades shoulder trying to get Hades agree with her. Drinking from his wine glass, Hades eyes quickly, very quickly, glanced at down her shirt to admire those beautiful breasts.

Hades didn’t have to quickly look in honesty as (Name) and himself were close and (Name) liked it when he gave her compliments on her body or how she dressed.

“Whatever you say. I’m not arguing with you.”

“Good! I was hoping you would let me see your Bident.”

Hades kindly chocked on the wine he was drinking as a easy going and kindly flirty (Name) patted the top of his head with a teasing smile. A smile, Hades came to love just as much as the smile that was charming.

“You can’t see my bident. Are you insane?”

“Aw, come on! Just for a little while~”

Slightly giving Hades a peek down the split shirt, which Hades already took a quick peek at, but Hades quickly played coy. Saying that he couldn’t be swayed. Even when, (Name) tried again Hades still said no. As the night went on and the two talked, as though the two were the only ones there, and had some more drinks for the night.

“I don’t like cold men, Hades.”

“Then why are you friends with Thor?”

“He has good company! Just because he doesn’t talk to you doesn’t mean he doesn’t talk. Don’t laugh! It isn’t funny.”

Hades had to laugh.

Imagining the indifferent and cold Norse talking and keeping good company seemed a bit out there to think about. While laughing (Name) kindly shook him trying get Hades to take her seriously, it didn’t work.

But that was Hades way of flirting; teasing.

The two liked to tease each other whether the two were together personally or on the phone.

“You’re still on that?”

Days later, Hades was sitting on his chair in his king’s chambers reading a book while on the phone with his favorite drinking buddy; beautiful drinking buddy.

“If you won’t let me see your bident. At least name an attack after me. Shows that you love me~”

“What makes you think I love you?”

Hades had a smile on his face as he awaited (Name)’s answer, on the other end (Name) was back in the human world. Shopping no doubt.

“Poseidon told me.”

“Lies.”

“Are you calling your brother a liar? Shame on you~”

Smirking Hades found (Name)’s teasing and charming, that’s what he loved about her. That and how he could just be himself around her.

“I’m not calling my brother a liar. Just my favorite drinking buddy.”

“I’m hurt! Just for that you and I are no longer friends.”

Playing hurt (Name) knew Hades would reply back with something just as sly or funny and he did as he clutched his hand over his heart and pretended to be hurt.

“Oh no! Whatever will I do? My one and only friend is gone. I enjoyed placing my head on your lap. Looks like I’ll to find another place for my head to rest.”

“It’s not too late to apologize.”

“Good night, (Name). I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Bye, Hades.”

The two said good bye and ended their call, Hades had to admit he must have had it bad if he found her saying bye to him was sexy.

(Name) was truly beautiful goddess inside and out.

Hades had a saying about her;

“A voluptuous beauty with an adult charm in Valhalla. With her broad-minded personality, the chances of men in Valhalla who say no to her... simply do not exist."

Her beauty alone was what made gods trip over their own feet, except for Hades. Hades didn’t seem to let her beauty rule his desire, it was in truth that her personality that he loved.

Her teasing.

The way he could talk to her about anything, as he laid his head on his lap and she gave him sound advice. The way she waved and smiled at him would make him a liar if he said he didn’t feel his heart skip a beat.

Jealous? Protective? Hades wasn’t sure.

All he knew was he didn’t like certain gods coming around, not everyone has a warm agenda. Hades had to keep an eye out for her.

As the years passed, it wasn’t a secret that Hades and (Name) were close. A few gods and goddess became jealous of the two good looking, close friends, but it didn’t matter to them as the two just became closer and closer.

“Where are you two going?”

“Where does it look like we’re going?”

Poseidon caught his brother and (Name) at the gate that went to the world of the living both were dressed for the beach. Hades was carrying all the equipment, no doubt (Name) asked him to do so.

“You have a domain to run, you know.”

“Yeah, but if he stay cooped up in Helheim all the time he’s going to age faster than Zeus.”

“Helheim can’t be left unattended.”

“Beelzebub is taking command.”

Poseidon heard (Name)’s stance on taking Hades with her to the beach and while he hoped he could get some sense into Hades it was too late, (Name) already had her claws in him. Gently grabbing Poseidon’s well toned arm (Name) tried to convince Poseidon to join them.

(Name) was the only one in Valhalla who could hug Poseidon’s arm and get away with it.

Poseidon declined to go and instead told his brother not to be gone too long. Hades promised he would be gone two hours tops…

Hades and (Name) were gone the entire day.

🎀Rukia-Writes🎀

[drdemonprince]

what was your journey from libertarian to leftest/anarchist like?

well, as a teen i hated authority and society and wanted complete freedom so i was a libertarian. then i realized i was gay and trans and libertarianism weren't gonna do shit for me. when obama won in 2008 i noticed that i felt relieved, even though i had not voted for him. I went away to academia shortly after that, and became surrounded by liberal people, all of them doing research with a liberal point of view, and what do you know, product of my social environment and queer and desperate for acceptance among the group that said they cared about me, I became a liberal too.

over time academia mistreated me and rejected me for who i really was, and i started to transition and realize that i was disabled. i became more left-leaning frankly because it seemed like that was the only way to be able to survive as what i was, identity wise, and find anyone at all who would correctly gender me or tolerate me. if you want to be able to hang out with other trans people and have them treat you right, there are values you basically have to say that you subscribe to. anyone who didn't subscribe to those political values was mistreated, viewed skeptically, talked to like they were dumb, and ostracized. and some of those values did make sense to me, whereas others didn't.

i saw people pushed to the social margins for being libertarians, for instance, as if that is a political ideology that carries any danger when some random trans woman with a very weak social support system says in a support group that she maybe kinda subscribes to it. i was even terrified of people finding out that i used to believe in anything "wrong" according to the social dogma, for a while. but i tried to make the most sense of the confusing tangle of community held beliefs as i could, so that i wouldnt be completely ostracized from both straight and queer society at once. and so I was vaguely leftist, but with a confused understanding of systemic oppression based on identity (among lots of other things, like abolition and anti-colonialism), and a deep terror of ever saying anything that would ever get me criticized/cancelled/viewed as a bad person.

and then the pandemic happened and i wasn't so beholden to mass community scrutiny anymore. i read a ton i looked at how politics actually plays out, and i got a little bit more capable and secure in myself and came to similarly feel awed by how much people are really capable of when they aren't being controlled or dependent upon approval in order to survive. and anarchy basically asserted that it had always been there in me, i just hadn't known the name for it. and by then i felt safe and strong enough and had enough faith in others to decide it was okay to have opinions that others disagreed with, and that i wouldn't starve out in the cold if i gave voice to them.

like a lot of people, i had misconceptions about what anarchism really was and writers like Graeber, Wengrow, Solnit, etc really disabused me of that notion and made me understand that it wasn't a scary worldview at all, it was the most human and accepting one there really was out there.

My political journey has not been especially principled or philosophical, it has been emotional, intuitive, and rooted in a lot of social influences. i think that's what most political ideologies are about for people, ultimately, belonging and safety.

I was originally a political scientist by training and in that field's body of research we see that most people do not have consistent political belief systems, they agree to a mish-mosh of statements and support various policies that don't all add up in a logically explicable way. they also don't tend to have stable views over time. just as i think morality is a pretty bad explanation of why humans do what they do, and why we help eachother and avoid doing harm, it's very evident that political ideology is a piss poor predictor of political behavior or affiliation. the far clearer explanation far more consistent with the evidence is that people politically align themselves based on their social milleu and their feelings.

this is why i always feel myself holding back from dying for a cause, and blanch when MLMs start talking about needing to do all they can to bring about communism with an almost religious fervor (beyond the fact that such thinking also doesn't line up with a lot of communist thought and theory about how capitalism falls anyway). i dont think that any of these ideologies really carry all that much weight or influence people's actions, affiliations, or political behavior on the level we all pretend that they do. i dont think they're "real". anarchy is more of a philosophy of how to relate to other people in daily life, for me, rather than a religion about how the world needs to be or where we specifically need to be heading. it's more big-I Ideological for plenty of other people, and again, i blanch when they start preaching about it as if their whole life is in service to the idea of it. I think we do anarchism by living as if we're free, every day. and that's what i care about, if i'm being honest. feeling free, safe, and cared for by some other people, without conditions, right now.

[ginnysgraffiti]

Paul Atreides x reader? Where the reader does not believe in the prophecy of the Lisan-al-Gaib or in any god or Messiah that they say will come, to which Paul is interested in her but also feels anger because the reader does not show fear or submission, and when inquiring about why she has no faith in anything she reads or gods is because she went through many horrible things and when she prayed for it to be a nightmare but it never happened, and that's why she believes in nothing but herself.

thanks for the request! sorry if i hadn't answered before :(

PAUL ATREIDES x yn.

your people lived on arrakis under one name: the fremen. people who have inhabited arrakis for many millennia, originally arriving after an interplanetary diaspora.

your planet became the center of immense interests of the empire following the discovery of the powerful drug called melange or spice, capable of significantly extending the length of human life and increasing.

you have been trained in guerrilla warfare since childhood, reason why you're considered among the best fighters in the universe, the only ones capable of holding your own against even the emperor's ferocious sardaukar.

people can comfortably call you interstellar nomads who follow a particular philosophy, people who live together in desert tents and who are more like a big big family or army.

therefore, you don't hide the fact that you get along very well, despite the fact that fremen have challenging, ambitious characters, and you often want to prove our superiority by fighting or calling sandworms.

if someone has already heard the famous prophecy "blessed be the creator and his water" well, that's you, these are the fremen. that's your prophecy or the thing people think you believe in. or at least, your people believe in.

you worship shai-hulud, the sand worm, a gigantic and dangerous creature that populates the deserts of arrakis and is the source of the spice cycle. your religion, like almost all those of the primitive worlds of the empire, was profoundly influenced by the bene gesserit missionaria protectiva.

if you ask stilgar, he will answer you by saying he believes in the arrival of the messiah, of the lisan al-gaib. so please, don't ask stilgar.

lisan al-gaib, in your fremen language, "the voice from the outside world".

in later use the name messiah specializes to indicate the "anointed one" par excellence, sent as a savior of the fremen, the chosen people, and to turn the desert into the green paradise it used to be. this is how stilgar would happily explain it to others.

bullshit.

the biggest lie you've ever heard.

you have waited ages for the messiah, and the only conclusion you managed to get was that even foreign people made fun of you all by saying they were the famous messiah you had been waiting for. really funny, right...

"the walker of the golden path" they say, just they don't know how much you have suffered or how different you feel about your people's adamant beliefs.

you know paul since a few weeks, and you hated every second of it, and you knew he did too.

at first you avoided him, dodged him or threatened him with your eyes as if he were an harkonnen. or, if you were in a bad mood, you ignored him completely, especially when he entertained stilgar with inappropriate and absolutely not funny jokes but that made the whole for-dinner-tent laugh.

you knew that everyone was at his feet, that they would even lick the sand he walked on.

you often heard your fremen friends talking or chatting about him, and you could have sworn some of them even wondered out loud of it would be to have sex with him.

you had never thought of paul as someone to have sex with, mostly because you hated him on principle.

for the first week you loved showing off your fighting moves when he looked, or throwing barbs at him to shut him up.

you knew that he was intimidated but also angry towards you, that he was curious about your people, and therefore you could show yourself superior anyway. you wanted to crush it like a desert fly and rejoice while it dies under your sole.

then, everything changed.

it was afternoon, and the wind was gently blowing, but not enough to make the sand rise.

he was a little too snuggled up next to you, on the highest dune you could reach from the fremen camp.

at first, you didn't even like the idea of starting a conversation, but paul was the one who talked first.

he told you about his visions first, about his nightmare correlated, about the mental torture he had to kneel upon when he used to live on caladan, because everyone thought he was the kwisatz haderach.

he told you about his training, his father's death and how he felt so alone, abandoned by the little people he loved and betrayed by the ones he barely knew.

something about it woke up a new feeling inside your chest. you felt understood.

and he was not there forcing you to go on your knees and pray the messiah and his rise to power.

he was simply chatting, his eyes almost tearing, playing with some sand in his right hand.

he wanted to understand you, to understand why you were the only one who refused to believe the prophecy and yet the only one who captured your attention.

your mind returned to the morning where a few of your friends wished to have sex with him, but right in that moment, when the sun was melting under the dunes, far away, you could only wonder how plump and soft his lips could become against yours.

that same evening, you got confirmed paul atreides was the best kisser you had ever known.

in your tent, with a slight scent of spice and body

skin and sweat, he held you close as if you were

his only lifeline, as if you were about to become

small microscopic grains of sand, and he would no longer be able to hold the right ones in his hands.

you stood there, under his slim and perfect body, stroking his curls in a slow and sleepy gesture, until he closed his eyes and let his cheek rest against your breasts.

messiah or not, you believe he was the love of your life.

[alicent-vi-britannia]

Lelouch's relentless search for purpose in life

I've previously talked to you about Lelouch's trauma through the enneagram to explain why Lelouch refuses to open up and trust others and insists on doing everything alone to feel self-sufficient and strong. I've also used the enneagram to explain that Lelouch has locked himself into a protective shell and is uncomfortable feeling vulnerable because of his trauma and his upbringing in Darwinian values ​​in Britannia. However, I haven't talked to you directly about one thing that is very important and perhaps because it is so obvious I have overlooked it until I stumbled upon a small thread on Twitter.

In the last conversation Lelouch has with his father, Charles nullifies the meaning and value of his existence by telling him: "But you're dead. You've always been dead, from the moment you were born. Who gave you the fine clothes you wear, a comfortable home, the food you eat, and your own life? I gave you all of that. You are nothing to me because you have never existed." At that moment, Charles kills Lelouch in symbolic terms, causing him enormous psychological and emotional damage from which he never recovers.

We have this flashback in episode 7 of the first season and later Lelouch threatens CC with suicide if she does not let him go to face his sister, Cornelia: "Until I met you, I was dead. A corpse that existed behind a false appearance of life, a life in which I did nothing real. I experienced the emotions of living day to day as if I were a zombie, with the feeling that I was dying little by little. And if I have to go back to that, then I prefer… [And he places his finger on the trigger of the gun]." The series connects those two scenes through a Dutch shot focused on Lelouch's gaze. The Dutch shot is a steep horizontal tilt shot that is used to indicate instability or danger or that something is not right. In this case, it warns us, on a superficial level, that Lelouch has felt dead since his last meeting with his father and that he has been fighting against that (unfounded) belief and these negative feelings and, on a deeper level, that this is a wrong and harmful belief of Lelouch's that has been poisoning his mental health ever since.

(It's sad to compare the two shots. Little Lelouch's eyes show deep pain. As the Bart and Lisa Simpson meme says: it's the exact frame in which his heart broke. Teenage Lelouch's eyes, on the other hand, are empty. A dead look.)

There are several moments in the story that give us an idea of ​​the young prince's struggle. For example, in the first Audio Drama, "The Uninvited Prince," a young Suzaku rescues Lelouch from some children who are beating him and reproaches him for not standing up for himself and disregarding the hospitality his home provides him and his sister, to which the child Lelouch replies, "I am here and I will live. If I live by my own strength, then I will never be dead again." Little Suzaku, of course, finds Lelouch's statement absurd and just thinks he is a strange child. But this response reflects the boy's insane desire to be self-sufficient (to the point of rejecting the help of others) in order to feel that he is alive (remember that Charles told him that he is alive because he has given him everything he has).

We also have a Picture Drama (I'm sorry I don't remember or have the exact number of the PD, but if it's part of the alternate universe, we can ignore it because they are different universes that shouldn't be mixed) with a monologue by a teenage Lelouch: "I've made a vow to use the strength I have to save Nunnally. That will be the proof that I exist in this world."

These words evoke in me a part of Lelouch's song "Back to Zero" (for the fantastic Code Black album in Ashford) in which our hero sings: "Oh! Can you hear me? This fight is how I know I'm alive."

That is, Lelouch tries to prove his father wrong by looking for a purpose to live that reaffirms his existence and, in principle, Lelouch finds it in Zero and the rebellion since they are the means he has to destroy Britannia and create a kind world for Nunnally. And that's why later on he abandons Ashford Academy, the Zero mask and his friends and gives in to depression (in the future, I'll talk about this moment in more depth in another analysis). Then his goals change and his motivations are reconsidered for a series of reasons and events that I won't stop to explain here, but I will point out that I find it interesting and moving how Lelouch goes from clinging to a purpose in life to giving up on it and dying, in order to fulfill his new goals, obtain results and atone for his sins (the magic of a powerful script and a narrative arc, Larry).

Also, all of this explains why Lelouch lost his temper in the season 1 finale when Suzaku yelled at him that his existence was a mistake and that he needed to be wiped off the face of the Earth. Not only did it bring back memories of Vietnam for Lelouch, it was another important person to him who was denying his existence. Suzaku's words hurt him because, as President Snow said in the Hunger Games trilogy, "the people we love the most are the ones who destroy us." I'm not sure if Suzaku knew what Charles told his friend since Lelouch never reveals his secrets to anyone (people around him, including his loved ones, find out on their own), but Suzaku certainly hit a sensitive button that mentally unsettled Lelouch.

Poor Lelouch. He just wanted his existence validated.

[saidrabbles]

now i know

a/n: hello !! i know i literally fell off the face of the earth and i don’t know if i am fully back but i had the sudden power to write. i have several ongoing drafts that are unfinished, but this one might be the oldest. i wrote this after the first few eps of tomorrow aired. so it's only fit i come back w a joong-gil story!

pairing: park jong-gil x reader

warnings: mentions of suicide, self-harm

summary: park jong-gil has been working for jumadeung for a very long time, he had his principles and was strict in following them. that was until you came along. you were part of the risk management team that he hated so much, but he couldn't help but become curious about you.

.

he was feared and respected by all who worked in jumadeung. he was one the elite members, and he was known to be the most strict leader of the escort team. he portrayed no sympathy to the dead souls that are to be escorted, and he believed suicide is a murder. the biggest crime a person could commit against oneself. or so everyone thought. the number of suicide deaths were slowly but surely decreasing, thanks to the risk management team that are led by ko ryeon. he understood that deaths are increasing endlessly. but why would a person take such extreme measures only to feel the will to live after a few words of encouragement? it made his blood boil.

he wanted to avoid this team at all costs, but then you came along. you were young, full of empathy and love. joong-gil knew of the newbie that joined (through a course of unexpected events) and he found you quite annoying intriguing. when he heard about a suicide victim with a very high percentage on the red light app, he went to watch. he wanted to confirm his beliefs with his own eyes.

but when he reached there, he saw you talking to the writer, named eunbi, who was on the edge of the building. you were taking cautious steps towards her, trying to talk her out of it. how pathetic, he thought. but after looking again, he wasn't sure if those were the correct words to say. he was shocked to say the least. not because the writer jumped off, but because you jumped right after. you were reaching out to her, trying to hold her. you held her so tight, preparing for impact. can a reaper die? is what you thought as you waited for impact.

however, it never came. you never felt pain. on the contrary, you were feeling the air breeze softly kiss your skin. you looked up, and there he was. the seemingly heartless reaper, holding you in his arms. you couldn't keep in the shocked expression, neither can he. you then frantically looked around for eunbi. she was laying on the ground. no...did she die? "she's not dead." you heard a deep voice say.

he was still holding you, staring at you with his dark black eyes. "what? what..happened?" "i think i should be the one asking that?" you could hear the disbelief in his voice. why am i holding this woman?.."are you out of your damn mind?" he threw you on the ground. you grunted. "why would you jump after her? were you trying to die with her ?! you're insane?!! " you were taken aback by what he said, and before you know it – tears started forming. you tried to gulp down the lump in your throat, you didn't want to break down infront of him. he wouldn't understand anyways. the other team members catch up to you, checking if you're okay. you stand up, looking at joong-gil one more time before walking away from the scene, with your head hung low.

a few days had passed. he didn't know if it was the tears you were holding in, or the look in your eyes, but jong-gil found himself thinking about you more than he'd like to admit. he wondered why the pain behind your expression is imprinted in his mind. but he had work to do. shaking thoughts about you away, he got to work. he was going to catch a well-known mafia, and he knew it was going to be a tough one. he prepared backup and left. after a few fists and punches, he found himself on the ground, in pain. he had been stabbed. the mafia was injured too. he was strong. and he knew that he should have planned this more carefully, because he's in a bit of a trouble now.

the mafia got up, took out a knife and was headed towards joong-gil. but before he could do so, a hand yanked the knife away from his hand. Joong-gil looked up, only to find you standing infront of him, wrestling the weapons off the mafia. after a few punches here and there, you knocked him out. breathing heavily, you looked at joong-gil. you immediately noticed his abdominal injury.

you find a piece of cloth and walk up to him. "what do you think you're doing here?" he hissed in pain. "i don't think you're in the right state to be asking me that, i need your cooperation to stop the bleeding." he was reluctant but he obeyed. you tied the cloth around his injury, and put his arm around your shoulders, trying to pull him up with you. he grunted in pain as he stood up. "does it hurt alot..?" you looked at him, worried. worried?? why were you worried? joong-gil thought as he looked at you. maybe this is the way you are to everyone, he shouldn't get it confused.

"are you stalking me?" he said as you furrowed your eyebrows and moved your head slightly to look at him. "if you believe you're the center of the universe, you're mistaken" you scoffed. "then why are you here? helping me?" now your mind is blank. why did you save him? you were on a mission that happened to be near where the fight occurred. before you left, you heard grunting and breaking glass. as you came closer and saw who it was, your body started acting on your own.

..."because you're an important member in jumadeong. and it wouldn't benefit me to leave you to die here." he was staring at you with an expression you can't quite decipher — it was a mix of gratitude and playfulness — he wasn't used to getting help from others, especially not from the rm team. you finally reach jumadeung, but instead of leaving joong-gil to the guards there, you took him to the infirmary. "looks like only the mighty joong-gil got hurt today" you slightly giggled at this unusual scenario.

usually joong-gil would have a comeback ready, but this time all he did was stare. stare at you. why were you so kind to him when all he does is ridicule the rm team? there must be something wrong with you...was your death so horrible it messed up your brain even in the afterlife? well...he definitely guessed the first one right. "...can you stop rubbing it in my face, it's not like i jumped willingly off the roof-" shit. shitshitshit. "i didn't mean to-" he grunted as you threw him on the medical bed, turned around and left. he didn't realize that he said the last part out loud.

people in jumadeung ridiculed you for doing "too much" to suicidal people for as long as you can remember, but why do you feel your eyes burning with tears? why did that heartless leader have such an effect on you? you couldn't understand. you kept walking, almost sprinting, to get to the place you loved the most - a hidden roof garden that only you knew about (or so you think). you always went there when you needed to take a breather, and to let your tears fall down freely. as you opened the door to the garden, your tears rushed out of your (e/c) eyes, as you were unable to hold in your sobs. you cried your heart out, knowing well no one was there to see you.

but you were wrong. standing at the door, someone was holding onto to their heart, feeling immense pain. joong-gil felt like knives were stabbing at his heart, the air rush out of his lungs. he couldn't believe what he's seeing. that he was the reason that triggered it.

after a while, you had calmed down, your sobs turning into sniffles. you now noticed the spectacular view of the city, bright lights shining under you. you collected yourself, and realized that you had spent way more time than you should here, work isn't gonna work itself. joong-gil sensed that you were about to get up, and hid before you could see him. feeling pathetic for his cowardly action, he felt his eyes burning. me? crying? he didn't know his tear ducts were working at all, after too many years working in escorting the dead.

after that incident, joong-gil decided you were better off without him looming over you all the time. however, that's not how it was for you. what he said lingered, rather, took over your mind. you couldn't fathom why you wanted his understanding, why you wanted his dark eyes to look at you like you meant something to him. you decided to pile your desk with work to give no space for your racing thoughts.

.

but to their dismay, they both couldn't stop thinking about the other, both throwing themselves at work, like they couldn't handle the life moving on around them.

.

part 1 | part 2

[sepublic]

When discussing the benefits but also the dangers of fantasy in TOH, it makes me consider how this ties into Belos’ bigotry, religious superiority, white supremacy, etc. Because I see how in the parallels to Luz and the depictions of his witch hunts as a ‘game’ he played as a kid, the show is getting into the thought process behind white supremacy and the like; Specifically, by suggesting that it comes from the same core principle of “I was born special, I’m a hero.”

Because think of it this way; I was born inherently better than others, it’s in my blood, I have to defeat evils? These aren’t unlike what white supremacists believe about themselves. After all, TOH is coming off of Harry Potter, which is criticized for the “It’s in his blood” trope with the protagonist.

This is foiled by Luz, who wants to believe at first that she’s special and things will automatically come to her because of it, but then Eda has to explain; Sorry kid, but if you want things you have to work for and earn them, just like anyone else. Some things can be attributed to luck on Luz’s part, but it’s not as if she’s blind to this and saying it’s ‘destiny’ (unlike someone else), plus in general we all have a bit of privilege in some ways.

And again, that ties back into Christian white supremacy, particularly the Puritans, who believed their colony would be a "City upon a Hill." That it’s their goal to enlighten people, or else root out the evildoers; You can see how this evolves into evangelicalism in the U.S. and the right’s obsession with anything new as satanic, even if it’s something like Elvis Presley or Pokemon (which Dana grew up with, coincidentally), or more recently, furries.

(No really, this actually happened I kid you not. It seems like an exaggeration but I swear it genuinely happened and it truly is absurd that it did.)

Anyhow I think that’s important, because it’s not just the message that Christian white supremacy is bad, it’s why people even believe and buy into these things to begin with. A lot of alt-right 4channers and the like fall into these rabbit holes because they feel cheated out of the implicit, unconscious promises of white supremacy and feel as if they’re owed something; So obviously women and PoC, the queers, the ‘diversity hires’ and affirmative action, this is what’s cheated them.

And you can see the connection between white christian ideas and how that can translate into a lot of fantasy stories, hence “It’s in your blood” and “It’s destiny,” as well as Isekai Colonialism; The idea that what if another world and its inhabitants just existed for you. These tropes are inspired by outdated ideas that Christian white supremacy, an outdated belief, has plenty examples of and sometimes even inspired.

And this is why it’s important to engage with these things critically and question them… But at the same time, Luz is still allowed to love Azura, it’s just about maintaining a critical eye and being self-aware of what you internalize and don’t. Hence her learning to differentiate reality from fiction and not become delusional; Hence King doing the same!

By making that connection, it does explain this type of bigotry by framing it in a way that viewers can actually relate to, even if they also condemn it just as much, if not moreso after understanding. It ties even the genocide with tropes like the dragon slayer, the endless horde of monsters you don’t ever have to feel bad about or question killing, or the DnD Evil Race; Which on their own, these stories aren’t necessarily in advocacy for genocide of course, some of them are just inspired by previous ones without making that connection. And most people know not to let it affect how they see reality.

Because it’s one thing to let yourself be petty and find catharsis against a genuine, extreme example who has gone out of their way to hurt you (those definitely exist, alas); But it’s another to actively search for people to feel angry towards, amidst groups unrelated to you, and provoke them until they give you that ‘justification’. Because you’re not responding to anything, you are the aggressor; In essence, you are performing a witch hunt, in a need to feel like a hero enacting righteous judgment.

Because you’re desperate for the power of putting someone else beneath you, which is what the mundane bully does, out of the belief this conversely translates into you being above others; Again, the ‘chosen one’ beliefs, the Christian white supremacy. And suddenly you better understand why Evangelicals raged over something as innocuous as the Pokemon games that Dana grew up with, back when they first came out.

So Luz understands; She does understand, better than some people, in fact. She understood the Collector. But just because she understands, doesn't necessarily mean Luz approves or excuses; She still has every right in condemning Belos because she never let herself go that far, and this behavior would be condemned even by those trying to make up for it; It’s why they try to make up for it. And the fiction Luz wants to happen for herself (which isn’t the same as the fictions one enjoys) isn't centered around there being hidden bad actors amongst the populace to constantly root out; Luz is only going to react, not act, and consistently, predominantly sees the best in others.

In the end, Belos latched onto Caleb marrying Evelyn, and then the Grimwalkers, and finally Luz, as a way of a proving a point to himself; That wiping out witches WAS in service of humanity, it would actually help them, by showing how he 'rescued' a human from temptation. I'm sure he genuinely loved Caleb, but in an extreme form of Luz's Wing it like Witches, at some point he subsumed Caleb's input and agency to instead make him into a docile trope to make decisions for.

And when Caleb didn't go along with that story, pointed out how it didn't fit the reality of the situation; Philip killed him! His priorities shifted from doing it for Caleb's sake, for the sake of HIS fantasy; He saw an opportunity to live out the Witch Hunter story and it mattered more to him than actually helping someone, or realizing in relief he didn't have to.

Hence the Titan saying Belos "fears what he can't control" due to "his need to be the hero in his own delusion." It’s a quote applicable to real life conservatives who look for things to outlaw, because hating makes them feel like righteous saviors; Remember Pokemon? Gotta save people from themselves and any potential temptations… Belos couldn't control Caleb, and the Grimwalkers? Belos' way of re-attempting his 'side quest' to again, prove that what he's doing is for the sake of humanity, in the absence of actual humans to work with.

Not that he cares about this for fear of hurting others, but because he fears it means he isn't the special hero. Note that Belos doesn't feel guilt over any witches and demons he killed in For the Future, it's telling; As is the assumption that even if he was treated with hostility when arriving in both Gravesfield and the isles, Belos still understood that murdering the colony was wrong… Yet ignores this lesson when it comes to demons because of hypocrisy, choosing to go after the world that was canonically accepting and would be much harder to attack.

And when Luz shows up, Belos abandons Hunter (showing how much he really cared) because Luz is a real human to save, even if she's technically a queer girl of color; But if you remember how Americans kidnapped Native children and assimilated them into Christian society and culture, it actually makes perfect sense because it's another form of genocide. And it's just as racist and insincere as the murder. And just like many homophobic Christians, Belos selectively chooses what to apply from the Bible because he knows it speaks contrary to what he does and he fears that, it’s something he can’t control despite his attempts to.

[memingursa]

*Talking to a toddler voice* Okay so, you remember *jingles car keys* So you remember in Hamilton, you liked Hamilton right so much music right? *jingles jingles* Okay so, you remember how Aaron Burr *jingles* Remember Aaron Burr? He wanted power so much that he agreed to everything and ran on no principles right *jingle jingle* like remember “Jefferson has beliefs, Burr has none!” You loved that song right? You lovvvvvvved singing Hamilton during Hilary Clinton Rallies right? So *jingle jingle* Imagine Donald Trump as Thomas Jefferson, and Kamala Harris as Aaron Burr. So, as a result of easily discernible polling, it’s obvious That’s why nobody wanted to vote for Kamala- She didn’t run on any strong message and double spoke constantly *Jingle jingle* Oh no don’t cry middle aged liberal!!! Remember Hamilton!! *Plays one of those fucking songs as middle aged liberal tries to call the cops on me crying*

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Sometimes I feel like peoples thinly veiled racism towards Air Nomads is just them projecting western ideals. Like I've seen those "The Unsavory Parts of Air Nomad Culture" posts, and its just them mad that they don't have the traditional nuclear family and that the air temples are gender segregated (which if they really sat and thought about it and did a little research, they'd see that the temples were probably just a home base because they're literally NOMADS, and that they most likely intermingled with each other in their travels).

Sorry for the mini rant. I'm a historian, and it annoys me when people see a culture that's different from their own and they think it's Big Bad™.

Yup, I noticed that too, they are VERY bitter that these fictional people that were clearly inspired by tibetan culture have different beliefs/societal structures.

I'd say that's also part of why they cannot understand that Katara doesn't want to live in the Fire Nation, and why so many people in the fandom cannot grasp that the show constantly goes "Yes, the Fire Nation is the most industrialized nation, and in the context of the show that's bad actually."

It resembles modern societies more, therefore people see it as "advanced" and "good", so OBVIOUSLY everyone wants to live like that. No way Katara wasn't super impressed by the Fire Nation and didn't feel a big connection to it. No way she wants to go back to her tribe - even though that's the heart of her culture and where her family is.

It's the same principle of Sozin and all the Fire Lords after him wanting to "help" the other nations? Help them with what exactly? Some famine? Inequalities like the North forbidding women from fighting? Some unjust, corrupt government like the one in Ba Sing Se?

Nope. Just invading their territories, conquering them, banning their styles of bending, forcing them into slave labor, KILLING AN ENTIRE PEOPLE GROUP, ya know, that kind of "help." The kind that says "Be like me or else"

Honestly, that's part of why I'll forever be mad that Korra is far too americanized for a world that was supposed to be medieval Asia. It just feels like a deep betrayal of not just the setting, but of the theme the original show had of "Not everyone has to live the same way as you, my guy"

[queenvhagar]

"Average Team Green fan is bastardphobic" "Team Green thinks irl bastards are worse than other people" "Team Green fans are bad people because they actually don't like bastards"

Not sure if y'all know this but... fiction is not real life, and recognizing or discussing the actual dynamics of a cruel and unjust fictional world as it is written by the author does not equal an endorsement, promotion, or adoption of those elements or beliefs as they exist in that fictional world or in real life.

In real life, I and likely most if not all Team Green supporters could care less about the institution of marriage as one of making legitimately born babies. Personally I don't care if your parents were married to each other. Many people don't get married and still have families together. Children are children, people are people. Luckily in the modern world, in many places, having children out of wedlock is not really even that much of a taboo anymore. People can do what they want as long as they're happy. If I get married and/or have kids ever, that's my own business. I have no specific duties expected of me by my family or the world and the messages coming from society that I as a woman need to be married and make babies before I get too old? I can just ignore that. Nothing happens if I do.

In the fictional world of ASOIAF though, this is very clearly and unequivocally not the case at all. Westeros is obsessed with blood and bloodlines. Blood brings power. Blood continues power. The blood and the name together bring power. Great houses intermarry to bring themselves more power and alliances, under the agreement that the next generation will share the blood of their parents and families and that blood will preserve their power and status as it has for generations. This is essential to feudalism and the way that power and inheritance works (in Westeros and in the real-life history upon which it was based).

This is why it's such a taboo to have or be a bastard in Westeros, and why it's illegal to try to place a bastard in the line of succession. Marriage alliances are built on the principle that the trueborn children made from those matches will come from those particular parents and pass down that particular family's blood. If someone without that blood tried to claim that name and power, people would view that as the family losing the power they've held for generations. They would see it as an injustice. Wars would be willing to be fought over it. It's an indisputable fact that in this world trying to place a bastard in the line of succession will lead to bloodshed. This is especially the case for the Iron Throne. If you don't agree, read the source material and rethink how this world views women, bastards, bloodlines, and the right to the throne.

I'm not sure when people started thinking that the discussion of in-universe conflicts and issues as they exist in fictional worlds actually reflects on an individual's real life personal values or feelings. People knowledgeable of the world of ASOIAF criticize the character of Rhaenyra for birthing three obvious bastards (while she is already on rocky political ground as the first woman named heir) and then attempting to unsuccessfully gaslight everyone into thinking they are legitimate heirs despite the opposite being so clearly true. This criticism stems from knowledge and awareness of the world, beliefs, and laws of Westeros (that Rhaenyra herself also knew but believed herself to be the exception to). Yet when people point out how dangerous or stupid it was of her character to do this, knowing everything that is known about the world of ASOIAF and this specific conflict, suddenly stans feel the need to defend the vision of her that exists in their heads (one incorrectly furthered by the show's adaptation of the character as a modern feminist girlboss who can do no wrong) and make up fake scenarios or claims about the world of ASOIAF or about the critics to support their incorrect takes.

Saying Team Green fans, those who are not a fan of Team Black, or those who criticize the show's adaptation are bastardphobic in real life is similar to those Team Black stans who claim that Aegon's actor is a morally corrupt rape apologist because he plays a character who got written to be a rapist (likely after he was cast, by the way) or people who say authors shouldn't write a scene about murder or murderers because it endorses or promotes such behavior. Y'all really out here rewriting the Hays Code and essentially campaigning for censorship of media because you can't distinguish between real life and fiction. It's crazy that media literacy is at such an appalling state, though unfortunately it's clear that certain forms of internet fandom have really exacerbated issues that have already existed. Now, any character can be shoehorned into specific categories or types or memes that fit their understanding of media and those who disagree or desire actual thought, complexity, and analysis to go into stories or characters apparently shouldn't have a voice or platform to express their point of view, or if they do, it means something about them as a real-life human beyond this person is interested in discussing the story.

I've previously expressed that despite the fact that I love this story as a truly a morally gray conflict with gray characters that tells a rich sociopolitical story of a family tearing itself apart for power, and despite the fact that there are no winners, heroes, or correct sides to this conflict, I would call myself a Team Green supporter. And largely this is due to the lack of media literacy and understanding of the source material that the writers and general audience (see: uncritical Team Black fans) seem to have and the absolutely insufferable ways that they seem to constantly want to demonstrate to everyone that actually they're right and correct in their surface-level takes.

[saintsenara]

What do you think about Hermione and Ron using the surname Granger-Weasley for their children in The Cursed Child? I've always thought that Hermione would change her surname when she got married. I don't think that would be a problem for her, since she's clearly distancing herself more and more from the muggle world.

I know it's silly, but I've always had that impression and I'd like to read your opinion on it, because you always bring up very interesting things.

thank you very much for the ask, anon!

it's never something which has seemed particularly surprising to me, because [unlike quite a lot about cursed child...] it makes perfect sense on the basis of hermione's character.

if we're thinking about hermione's relationship with the magical world versus the muggle one, we see right on the page, as deathly hallows builds towards its conclusion, that she explicitly rejects any previous efforts [deliberate or not] she's made to distance herself from her muggle heritage:

"Why shouldn't I?" said Hermione. "Mudblood, and proud of it! I’ve got no higher position under this new order than you have, Griphook! It was me they chose to torture, back at the Malfoys'!"

i can absolutely see, then, her choosing to retain her name after marriage and to double-barrel her children's pureblood name with her muggle one, as a statement that they're not pureblood, and they should never be mistaken for being so, and that she's proud of this.

but, let's be honest, this isn't what jkr/the writers of cursed child were going for. the reason they didn't have hermione changing her name isn't a class- or blood-status based one... it's a gender-based one.

hermione is born in 1979 and presumably marries ron around the turn of the millennium. she's also the creation of a woman born in the mid-1960s, who is clearly considerably influenced - including in those of her beliefs which are contemptible - by thought which emerged out of the second wave of feminism.

jkr came of age in a world where not changing your surname after marriage was an explicit statement of feminist principles, and was connected to other second wave aims - such as efforts to achieve educational, sexual, economic, legal, and employment equality for women.

the hermione of canon believes sincerely and admirably in all of these things - although she also has [and i suspect this wasn't intended by jkr as something the reader should interrogate and/or criticise] a milquetoast, no-class-or-race-consciousness, "women are inherently more emotionally intelligent than men" flavour one often finds in second wave writing which more contemporary feminist thinking challenges...

and so there was never any chance that jkr would imagine her as someone who'd take her husband's name.

obviously, this is an anglophone assumption first and foremost - since conventions about married women and their children's surnames vary hugely across the world - and it's also one which seems a bit less declamatory today, since - in many anglophone countries - attitudes towards keeping and/or changing your surname upon marriage have become less polemical.

[although i must admit i am often struck, as someone who would never consider changing my surname - since it's a gendered patronymic one, so there's still the patriarchy involved - and who has encountered plenty of men this bothers, by how many women my age i know who have taken their husbands' names because "it's just what's done"...]

and - with these changing attitudes in mind - i think hermione can plausibly be made to do anything: use weasley in all areas of her life, use granger professionally and weasley privately, use granger-weasley [and get ron to change his name too], invent a portmanteau which they both take [wranger nation, rise up], have ron start going by granger, etc. etc.

but i can also easily imagine why someone her age, with her canonical beliefs, wouldn't change her name upon marriage, and would insist on her children having a double-barrelled one.

[raayllum]

Faith and Relationships in TDP

Relationships in TDP—familial, platonic, romantic, etc.—place a lot of emphasis on belief. Do you believe me? Do you believe in me? Is the way you see me the way I see myself, good or bad? This has always been an undertone of course, but some Rayla-Aaravos parallels and Viren with Kpp'Ar made it ping in my head, so I thought it was time to talk about.

Relationships that will be examined roughly in order:

Harrow + Sarai / Harrow + Viren

Viren and Kpp'Ar

Claudia and Soren

Terry and Claudia

Aaravos and Claudia

Rayla and Callum

Janai and Amaya

Ezran with his council and Zym

Janai and her people

I'm sure there'll be others (Ellis is going to make an appearance at one point, Runaan and Rayla, and possibly Karim / Miyana as a contrast) but this is what came to mind most notably. I'm also going to do my best to stay out of the weeds with TDP talking about how characters view things (or their perspectives of each other / actions magic etc.) as beliefs as otherwise we'd be here quite literally all day, but there will inevitably be some of that. But without further ado let's look into it:

Living Up to How People Think of You: Does Being Believed In Make You Better?

Time and time again we see TDP frame faith (and trust though that could be a separate meta on its own, but we'll touch on it a bit here), specifically someone having faith in you, as something that can make you better. If you have faith in someone, you trust and believe in them to behave a certain way—in ways that likely align with why you love them or believe in them—and so long as those patterns are maintained, the love and faith and trust remains. The belief holds and continues to be a steady foundation.

This is something I noticed being particularly prevalent in S1, specifically between how Viren talks about his dynamic with Harrow, and how it mirrors how Viren talks about Harrow's relationship with Sarai.

Now this comparison is actually one of the reasons Viren/Harrow always felt a bit fruity to me ever since S1 aired, since as Viren explains:

He asked me to stand next to him for the portrait because he knew I would stand by him through anything. I have to stand by him through this too. [...] It means there's one more thing I can do to convince him. (1x02)

Your sister made him better. Harrow told me he was never as strong or brave

but he tried every day to be stronger and braver so he could live up to what she saw in him. (1x05)

For Viren and for Harrow, this "I want to live up to how you see me" was ultimately a good thing. In Harrow's relationship, he did his best to live up to how Sarai saw him, and that meant being a loving compassionate father, and trying to be a champion of "strength and justice". She reminded him of his best principles and understood them, and it's clear that her words got through to him in his final days with his rejection of dark magic and urging their sons to break the cycle. For Viren, Harrow's words likewise got through to him, with Viren becoming a better father for the first time since Soren and Claudia's early childhood and in what he sacrificed to save Katolis: his own refusal of dark magic, and acknowledging that like Harrow, he should've been a not just a king, but "a servant".

But in classic TDP fashion, someone believing that you can be better, or believing that someone makes you better, is not always a good thing:

Aaravos believed in humans when all the other elves and dragons thought we were worthless, stupid, dirty animals.

So he gave us magic.

Aaravos' 'belief' in humanity, and in Claudia by extension ("But no matter: your daughter is far more powerful"), is the foundation of her loyalty to him. Claudia is extremely receptive to how other people view her, which is why she's coarse about judgement and tries to maintain a positive internalized viewpoint ("But I'm not evil. It's me. You know me") of her own self and actions, even while routinely acknowledging that she's doing increasingly "vile, dangerous" things. Likewise, her belief in Aaravos begins with faith that he can save her father, evolves into gratitude for what he's given humanity (because until S6, dark magic is always routinely a positive net force to her), and is bolstered by her own feedback loop with a Viren who's trying his best. His assertion that "you do anything for your child never the other way around" while trying to spare her helps her justify Aaravos' actions, since he's acting on behalf of Leola, and therefore whatever he does is "necessary. Like my dad."

Conversely for elf-human relations, we have Callum and Rayla. Callum is also a burgeoning mage, and Rayla is also important to his magical journey, providing a listening ear and occasionally some sound advice. The S2 novelization goes so far as to say that Rayla is the first person to tell Callum

 “I believe in you.” Callum blushed. No one had ever said those words to him before, or at least not that he remembered.

And we see her routinely express faith in her friends, particularly Callum and Ezran, even when the odds are stacked against them, other people disagree (Runaan, Lujanne, Sol Regem), or they don't have faith in themselves:

She has faith that Katolis and her boys won't be like the Silvergrove when she returns (and they aren't). She does her best to believe in Ezran in 1x09, or at least not be a jerk even if she can't totally take him at his word due to her own skepticism. She's another elf who also believes that humans are capable and strong, and sometimes even more so than elves:

The human kicked dirt at her, and Rayla scraped at her eyes, angry—infuriated, even. Humans were frustrating. Humans were clever. Humans could do anything, they could be anything, they could take their own fates and change them—

Which is, of course, the opposite thread of belief that Aaravos actually holds, which is that his pawns will always make his parts and that Callum playing into his hands and being nothing more than a pawn is inevitable. Callum also returns this in 5x01, citing "If she didn't tell me, she had a good reason," and that knowledge/belief is all that needs to not only set Rayla free, but reassert that she doesn't owe him an explanation until she wants to give one free of obligation and guilt — as she eventually does, changing her fate bit by bit at a time.

So does being believed in make you better? Overall TDP says that it can if you let it and work consistently towards it, but it does depend on what the belief is. We'll also loop back around this idea when we talk more about TDP's thread of having faith another section from now, but moving forwards to:

Belief as a Continuing Thread

The distinction between "this person believing in me" as an act of betterment versus "belief as a continuing thread," is, in my head, a difference of actively working towards living up to person's belief in you versus that belief forming a continual relationship foundation of stability and stagnation rather than change. In other words, belief as a continuing thread probably bleeds in the most into worldviews—I am a good person because I do Y, I stand by your side because of X, and as long as those beliefs built on actions aren't disrupted, they are maintained.

We see this perhaps encapsulated most in Terry and Claudia's relationship. Terry's belief in Claudia isn't about any sense of making her better ("Look at her sleeping, she's just perfect"—4x04) or guiding her down a specific path ("I can't [tell you what to do]"—6x04). He's not trying to change her, but instead, it's the foundation of his support for her. His belief in Claudia is built into their dynamic and why he is so loyal to her, as he explains in 4x09:

I've seen you do a lot of awful things, dark magic things. But I always believed in you because you had a reason.

As touched on here in a meta more about Terry overall, this is also why he doesn't like Aaravos in S6, because Aaravos' reasoning isn't love but revenge, and that's Terry's internal tipping point, even if Claudia can't recognize the distinction yet.

Of course, we can also see these continuing bonds of belief be severed. Unlike how Viren was trying to live up to what Harrow thought of him, or Harrow with Sarai, Viren and Kpp'Ar's relationship was a much more outright, direct mentor-mentee dynamic, Viren even following in Kpp'Ar's footsteps to become high mage:

I turned on him. My mentor, my... my teacher. A man who believed in me when... when I was nothing, and spent years of his life invested years of his life helping me become... what I became.

It's worth noting, I think, therefore, that while Viren does have clear regret over coining Kpp'Ar, he does still describe the act as necessary to Lissa in the past and in recounting the event in the letter. It is only after he takes Lissa's tears by force that we see him directly agree with her assessment of him being a monster. We also see Viren's continuing search for importance ("When I was nothing" / "I thought you were going to be something special, something important!" / "You're a nobody" to Kpp'Ar) parallel Claudia's views on dark magic as well ("We weren't born with magic, we were born with nothing" / "Humans had nothing").

This continuing thread of belief is also what allows Rayla to bring people back from being 'monsters' in a way with Esmeray and Runaan later on in the season through her faith that she can get through to them and help them, and that they're capable of receiving help.

In a similar vein of disillusionment of Viren and Kpp'Ar, though, we also see Soren come to this realization (and then back again, in some ways, in S6) with Viren:

I've known Viren longer than anyone here. I mean, because he's my dad, but it took me a long time to understand who my dad really is. And it was hard to see, because I really... I really looked up to him. He's smart, and the way he talks, you really believe that he's a good person, that everything he does is to protect his family, his home, or all of humanity. He makes you think that as long as you do what he says, you must be doing the right thing. Even when he asks you to do something bad. Something evil. So the truth is, someone who wants you to do horrible things and convinces you that they're good, that's a villain. My dad is a villain. And he's only gonna get more powerful, and the more powerful he gets, the more people will listen to him, and believe him, and follow him.

We see the continuing thread of Soren not trying to change Viren or Viren trying to change for him (in arc 1), but of Soren understandably believing in his father and Viren's judgement precisely because of things Soren perceives as lacking in himself ("I know I'm not the smartest / Dad is so smart, so I figured there must be a good reason") and because as a child / young adult, you're inclined to believe whatever your parent tells you at more or less face value. That said, Soren does talk specifically about how belief in others can intersect with belief in leadership, which is interesting in its own way. So let's move onto:

Belief as Faith / Having Faith In Our Leaders

Having faith in our leaders is something we've touched on already, albeit indirectly. Sarai believed in Harrow to be "a champion of love and justice"; Soren and Claudia believed at different intervals that their father would be a good leader. We see this reflected in Janai and Amaya's relationship predominantly in season 6:

Do you think I can lead my people after everything that's happened, all the mistakes I've made?

We see this similar theme in how Opeli and Corvus interact with Ezran in S3, where they support him as a monarch, specifically, as well as a person:

Ezran and Janai are also characters who tend to have a lot of faith in others, as well, which is part of their leadership. Janai has "patience and faith" that they can rebuild, that the architect can make her amends, etc. Ezran routinely has steadfast faith in his loved ones and their ability likewise to be better (not executing Viren, setting Soren and Claudia free, "She'll know what to do" / "she's alive, and wherever she is, she loves you too" about Rayla, "I think he would want you to, if you wanted to" about Callum and Harrow, etc). Even with Zym in season two:

But we'll get it, no matter how impossible it seems. We believe in ourselves, and we're not giving up, are we?

which is also a sentiment Janai extends to her people:

So we can have faith in others, in ourselves ("I will learn magic. It's who I am"), in our leaders, some prejudiced worldviews ("No, humans are liars" / "Are they really your friends, or are they just taking advantage of you?") and have all those things intermingle. We've talked briefly about disillusionment in threads of continued belief, and failing to live up to the beliefs / views of how others see us, or when belief breaks. I want to close this out by talking about Runaan and Rayla, briefly, namely:

This fits in this section (in my head) precisely because Runaan is Rayla's leader as well as her father, which is a unique dynamic that only Viren-Soren&Claudia get close to replicating, of being believed in by someone who also very explicitly tells you what to do (hi Claudia with Aaravos). Runaan lived in one reality (Rayla can be an assassin) and then immediately went to the other (she never will be) with no in between.

Meanwhile, we have characters like Ellis and Callum, who are able to acknowledge other people's realities even if they can't (for a variety of reasons) fully commit to them and sit somewhere more in the middle, which I think is interesting, particularly when it likewise comes to changing plans or acknowledging other realms/perspectives of reality.

And if I go any further into those weeds I'll start talking about TDP's whole emphasis on trust that is twice as long as this meta already is, I'm sure, so with that I'll wrap things up (sort of).

Conclusion, Kind Of

This doesn't have a real conclusion because this is so sprawling with like, a hopefully but not necessarily coherent common thread, but basically:

When you act in alignment with how others see you, this can help you live up to your 'full potential' — good or bad. And if it's bad, that might be a time to break their continued thread of faith in you, or you towards them, in order to be something truly better and new. All relationships, positive or negative, depend on faith/belief because they depend on reliability and expectation, and when those things are broken, this can either transform a relationship for the better or demolish it completely.

Are you having fun? Was this fun?

Anyway can't wait for S7 to ruin my life with Terry-Claudia, Callum-Ezran, and Callum-Rayla's threads of belief in particular.

—Dragons out

[wlfhardinc]

@akhillaous This is in response to your comment because it’s too long to say it in a reply. Plus this will explain my post for everyone else

Ok this is going to be long. I’m not great at explaining so this won’t be coherent plus this would have been way easier if I had visuals but alas The song of Achilles is a book so I’ll just have to try. In season 1 I think Jayce has more similarities with Achilles and Viktor has more similarities with Patroclus. Achilles and Patroclus were very innocent in their beliefs and whatnot in the beginning of the book. Jayce and V too in season 1. However that’s when Thetis/Mel come in. Yes I know this is kinda weird- I don’t want to compare Mel to Achilles’s mom either but hear me out. Mel sort of manipulated Jayce to do what he did for her benefits . Thetis did the same to Achilles to get what she wanted. Anyway, when Achilles and Patroclus end up going to Troy to fight, it all begins fine. Achilles protects Patroclus as much as possible because Patroclus has no fighters genes whatsoever. Jayce was also kind of protective to Viktor in some ways. My point is everything begins well. Both ships have the same principles. Achilles vows to not kill Hector (because of the prophecy that if he does, he will die) which is what Patroclus also wants, Jayce wants to make the world a better place which aligns with Viktor’s ideology. It is only later on when Achilles starts to get too prideful with all of the newfound fame as aristos aichon (best of all the Greeks) He makes dumbass decisions and Patroclus starts to get a little pissed. This is similar to season 1 Jayce and Viktor. Also I just want to quickly mention the women. Sky and Briseis both have a platonic but great relationship to Viktor and Patroclus. Mel and Deidama both had a romantic relationship with Jayce and Achilles where it is unclear whether they truly loved each other. In the Song of Achilles Achilles seems to have been forced to have sex with her while other perspectives on the Greek mythology says that they loved each other. In arcane everybody has different opinions and perspectives on Jayce and Mel’s relationship. I think those are all the parallels I could muster up for season 1. Next is season 2. In season 2 Jayce=Patroclus, Viktor=Achilles. There are definitely more evident similarities in season 2 I feel like. Viktor obviously leaves Jayce, ending their partnership. Whilst Achilles doesn’t exactly leave Patroclus, they do get into more and more arguments and differences. Viktor goes back to the undercity and becomes Jesus 2.0 or whatever. Achilles becomes prideful and starts getting high on all of the glory he’s receiving. Although both characters still have the same principles, they execute it terribly which leads to some problems with their partners as we know. Viktor goes crazy, Achilles goes crazy. At the end because of Achilles’s mess ups and arrogance, Patroclus basically sacrifices himself. Jayce did the same with Viktor. In the end, Jayce and Viktor sort of die and just become eternal beings or whatever. Patroclus and Achilles are also both dead in the end and also meet each other in the afterlife, becoming eternal beings in a way. However in the Song of Achilles, Patroclus was at first not buried properly which is why he was just a wandering ghost for some time. When Achilles died his situation worsened as literally the only person who would have buried him was dead. Achilles was buried because everyone loved him so there was no way he wasn’t buried. It was only when Thetis decided to let him go to the afterlife that he was able to meet Achilles. I thought that was pretty similar to the ending of Arcane when people would write the names of their loved ones who died during the war and no one wrote Viktor’s name because the only person who would’ve was with him. Also as I said in my post, ‘historians’/the general audience will know both relationships as close friends or brother. I’m sorry that this is so badly explained but I tried my best😭😭

[aettuddae]

HONEYCOMB — chapter 9.

— late november, 2013.

꩜ synopsis: the lavier-choi's, a french-korean family from seoul's elite that runs an electric vehicle production business, has been preparing to face a looming economic crisis that could crumble their empire, and it all takes a turn for the worse when, unexpectedly, their patriarch, who headed the company, suddenly passes away. at the news and her mother's desperate call, albany, the eldest daughter, is forced to abandon her life in paris representing france as a professional fencer and return to her homeland to face her mom's old-fashioned whims in order to help the family. amidst all the frenzy, the only positive thing she finds is that, after years, she will be reunited with her siblings and all the friends she grew up with, especially the yu family from across the street.

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[written chapter]

seoul's elite children were a difficult species to deal with. mired in the hysteria of not having everything the world had to offer and the greed of possessing too much even so. convinced that they were the only ones who deserved proper treatment, that the rest deserved no respect, they were driven by the belief instilled by their parents, and possibly the rest of society as well, that they were the best this country had to offer, when in reality most were idiots with possibilities obtained in dubious ways.

when your parents had earned their money through hard work and raised you with dignity and care, it was hard to be an elite child among other elite children.

although not all the children in the choi family had the working principles of their parents, they were nice people, the kind of people who doesn't ask if you're high, middle or lower class before speaking to you.

albany enjoyed the facilities that life had given her, she didn't deny it, after all, without her parents' money she probably wouldn't have been able to dedicate herself to a sport as expensive as fencing, but she had never let it consume her head, never have her material goods been stronger than her moral goods. she wasn't the typical spoiled child who would do everything to keep her fortune, and she wasn't a capricious person either.

as she entered her teenage years she began to notice that she was the opposite of her mother. not everyone in the family could be different from the community in which they lived. during those times they fought a lot, among all the causes, the one that stood out was eveline's need to impose her beliefs and lifestyle on her daughter who did not want that for her and hated to obey her orders.

"albany dress this way," "fencing is not for ladies," "you don't have to help him, that's his job," "do you like any boys? someday you will marry a rich man."

the eldest of the choi daughters was not capricious, but she looked like she was when she constantly had to fight to maintain the identity she was developing before her mother's corrosive hurricane.

eveline was not a bad mother, albany had never lacked for anything and she always had her there when she needed someone to protect her, but she was a complicated woman who could rarely identify the things that others felt or thought. her whole life had been about trying to survive the robot that was her mother who seemed to have an unrelenting operating system with strict orders to hunt albany down and transform her into one of her own.

"you have to attend galas to get contacts and eventually someone to marry."

that was the most annoying one of all the annoying things that could come out of her mother's mouth. she and her father should have been able to distinguish albany's resistance to this idea from a simple tantrum, but her father, as good and understanding as he was, was always at work and her mother was unable to understand why someone wouldn't want to make the life she had.

her parents had met at the '87 seongbuk-dong garden festival. she was never sure if her mother loved her father, but he always told it so excitedly, how she was wearing a long, puffy light blue dress, with her blonde hair tied back and styled in a way that in seoul was not usually seen. he had heard that a new family had recently arrived from france and seeing her face while imagining her accent had only made him more desperate to talk to such a beauty.

her mother told all the stories without much emotion, even the one about minho's birth, which clearly thrilled her, was a bit bland when she narrated it. because of this, it was indecipherable when a memory moved her and when it didn't. she had said a couple of times that her father had come up to her and tried to flatter her beauty with a poor, awkward french, and she had chosen to stay with him because he was the most handsome of all the men at the festival.

of all the rich men at the festival, she chose the handsomest. intelligent woman.

for eveline it was the natural order of things because even when living in france that's what she was taught to do, but albany didn't want to get married, didn't want it at ten years old and didn't want it at twenty-eight. at first, she was just reluctant to the idea, until eventually, she was adding up reasons why she didn't see herself in that scenario.

starting because she didn't want to marry a man, obviously, which over time for society ceased to be relevant, leading her mother to pursue her and suggest that in modern times she could marry a woman if she wanted to. but it was more than that, she didn't want to feel that she belonged to someone, that her life depended on another person, she didn't want to be somebody's woman. she wanted to make a name for herself, to stand out on her own, to fulfill her dreams. her great and only love had always been fencing and it would be with this that she would marry, she had no intention of being a housewife or working in her family's company so she could provide for her partner, that did not excite her. the idea of having to neglect her goals for someone else did not move her. besides that, she had never loved something or someone as much as she loved her vocation.

"if i ever get married it will be because i loved someone else more than my dreams." albany used to say when she and jimin would discuss what they would do in the future.

and although she had loved people, never more.

it took a while for both her parents to understand this decision, until they got tired of asking her to find a wife and let her move to paris. still, when they wanted to send her to her first gala before that, albany made such a fuss about not attending, that she managed to put it off for two years.

the gala's. you dressed up in the most elegant gowns designed by the most important names just for you, and at your fifteenth you attended for the first time. they were events where connections were created, you not only looked for a partner, but also for friendships, future colleagues who could help you in the working and economic world. contacts.

the children arrived there with goals in mind, already knowing the relevant names of who they should approach. they had their heads washed by their families desirous of money and power, they were trained to look for the same and to use whoever they could get their hands on. there were exceptions of course, but most of the friendships they had now in their late twenties were fictitious, conventional because as children they were not taught to create genuine bonds.

at these events, which lasted for a six-month season, there were dances that you had to know by heart and if you didn't it was because you hadn't received the proper education, it was full of the sons with the most relevant surnames in the country. extensive tables filled with delicacies made by the best chefs, which tended to be albany's favorite part, classical music performed live, and decorations that looked like something out of a fairy tale.

they were beautiful, but boring as watching grass grow.

and albany wanted neither a husband nor more friends than she already had, so she refused to expose herself to so many unpleasant people in such a mediocre environment. once, when she was sixteen, she had such a fierce fight with her mother not to attend one of these, that she ended up locked up camping in her room with no interaction with the outside for two weeks, being fed by jimin who had the spidery ability to climb up to her window developed to perfection.

it was only when she reached seventeen that she agreed to attend her first gala, being of her class who later made her debut, thanks to the pleas of minho who by then had attended more of these events than one could bear. he swore he just wanted to see her make new friends and that it would be fun because he would be there with her, although years later she learned that their mother forced him to convince her. albany admired minho more than anyone else in the world and would do anything for him, so she agreed. they had a huge fight when he ended up not spending any time with her during the night, but they worked it out because in the end minho was just acting like an idiot man at twenty-one, and he apologized as soon as he realized how wrong he had been.

when she finally learned the reason why minho had begged her to attend her first of many gala's she ended up going to, any hard feelings left over from that altercation dissipated. more than anyone else she knew how hard it was to say no to eveline lavier.

her only condition for accepting that time was that jimin would accompany her. she wasn't willing to face a night like that on her own, even less so when she knew she would be heavily judged for being an older debutante than the others. so she convinced the yu parents to let little fourteen-year-old jimin be her plus one, and they agreed, mostly because the blackhaired would never have let them say no.

that night she was wearing a dress that eveline had sent a guy with an unpronounceable last name to design for her personally and jimin, who was not going as a debutante but as a chaperone, was wearing one of the dresses she already had in her closet for special events.

"what's the ugliest dress?" asked karina after entering the main hall with her arm tied to the older one's, scanning the group of people in extravagant outfits and hairstyles.

"jimin, it's wrong to ask that!" she slapped the hand she used to hold her. "but that brown one strikes me as an insult to fashion." she twisted her mouth in disgust, making the younger girl giggle as she pointed as dissembled as possible to a girl wearing garments with numerous ruffles of such a color.

"yes, it is ugly." she agreed in amusement. "but no more than that one." she pointed to a yellow one with a tail, both joining in laughter again.

they ignored all the dances that started on the dance floor, as jimin barely knew them and albany didn't care to remember them after not having practiced them for two years. they stood near the table and as slyly as they could they kept some food, as it was not well seen to eat away from the table, and then went to the patio of the place to eat while they chatted and joked about the event.

"i'm bored." warned the blonde, wiping her hands after finishing a piece of cake she had managed to hide and carry all the way outside.

"what should we do?" the other girl thought aloud.

they both kept silent as they contemplated the options the event offered, which weren't very flashy, and looking all around for something that was like a miracle. albany turned her head back and saw the bush entrance. in places like the one they were in there were always wide gardens to sit in or explore, in that specific one there was a short and narrow patio that connected to a beautiful rose garden that was strictly forbidden to enter during the gala, it was reserved for meetings during the morning and afternoon.

"jimin." she spoke with her eyes on the archway of leaves.

the youngest brought her attention to it to understand what it needed, and noticing her with her gaze wandering to the background, she searched for that which she was observing with her own eyes.

"oh." she vocalized as she found the target. "yes." she agreed, needing neither to explain anything else.

they quickly stood up, leaving the remains of what they were eating on the stool they were previously sitting on. they scanned their surroundings, confirming that most of the people were inside the room and outside there were only a couple who weren't paying attention to them. jimin took albany by the hand and began to take quick steps making the older girl follow her, heading to the place they had both set as their destination. the entrance was always open, hoping that people would behave and not pass by, but they didn't count on two best friends with nothing better to do.

they passed the archway and without letting go of each other began to walk through the dark, empty park. their phones had been taken at the entrance as to use the flashlight for illumination. it was barely visible as the walls of vines that enveloped the place blocked the city light and the moon wasn't particularly bright that night. as they wandered, something flew over the blonde, which, because it was night, she assumed must have been a bat. with the creature that had flown close to her and this realization of what it could be, the girl became upset and began to punch at the air, afraid that the animal had landed on her clothes. jimin tried to help her and calm her down, but there was not much she could do. not seeing well because of the darkness and the sudden movements she was making, albany didn't notice that the backward steps she was taking were leading her to a fountain full of water.

her ankles collided with the edge of the water and albany lost her balance. jimin, who was following her trying to calm her down, stretched out her arms with the intention of holding her, but didn't make it in time before the girl fell into the water. jimin covered her mouth in surprise and a little because she didn't want her to see her laughing at how stupid the situation had been, while albany finally stopped moving as half of her body was wet.

the blonde raised her head in search of some reaction from her best friend, who at first managed to hide it, but a few seconds later it was very obvious that she was laughing.

"hey!" she groaned as she noticed how entertained the younger girl was by all this.

choi, still submerged in the fountain, flicked the water in the girl's direction, but the splash barely reached her. in the end she could do nothing but join in their laughter. once they calmed down she showed her hands, wordlessly asking her to help her up, to which jimin agreed. the girl approached, grabbed the older one and when she was about to start pulling, she was drawn in the direction of the structure, without time to react to what was happening and resist, she fell on top of the older one, soaking herself as well.

jimin rested her weight on her hands, which she positioned on either side of albany's waist, and lifted her torso enough to be able to look at the blonde with shock, her mouth open in surprise, condemning her in her mind for what she had just done. she threw her body to the side, causing the water to jump and hit choi again, who, in vain, covered herself with her arms. once away from albany, jimin began to throw water at her, annoying her as a consequence of her actions, causing her to do the same and starting a war between the two of them.

after a moment, albany stood up as quickly as she could, her dress and hair in disarray and dripping, and then got out. she offered to help the younger girl to do it too and the latter, after looking at her with suspicion for a moment, accepted. once they were both out, albany gave her a mischievous look and jimin felt nervous about what was to happen, only to be caught in an embrace by her best friend who was completely covered in water and was now finishing wetting the parts of her that remained dry. she lifted her off the ground, shaking her body a bit, and letting her go finally, not before taking her face in her hands, pulling her close and leaving a long, loud kiss on her cheek, to which jimin pretended to vomit.

"thank you for coming with me, fée." she said sincerely.

"anything for you, bany." she gave her cheek a squeeze. "now how do we get back with our clothes all wet?" she looked down at herself.

"don't worry." a third voice suddenly joined the conversation as they were illuminated by flashlights, startling them. "we've already spotted them." reported with obviousness the head of events who was in charge of the gala and had appeared in front of them with two more authorities.

(!)

taglist [OPEN] : @cwpiqwon @yoontoonwhs @aeriuchinarga @sixflame438 @yeetaberry127 @1luvkarina @masuowo @saysirhc @rinapomu @aliceiwk @nwjnsloona @arihiu

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Tbh I don't see the point of Luka learning mirakungfu while Adrien and Marinette don't, even more so if the reason why Suhan teach that to him is because he knew LB and CN identity. Then shouldn't those two learn it also since they basically holding the miraculous that the villain want most? But then again it feels like "adult is useless except for some" seems to be one of the rule in this show.

I kind of despise the concept of mirakungfu because it makes no sense and because it feels disrespectful. I am by no means an expert on Chinese culture, so I don't know if it's actually offensive, but when all the writers are white, the name for the made up martial art is a parody of a real martial art, the box of magic items has nothing to do with the culture it's supposedly from, and the main character is completely removed from her heritage, it's just not a good look, especially since the monks are Tibetan and everything about the miraculous themselves is pretty explicitly Chinese. It just gives me uncomfortable vibes of Asian cultures being treated as both window dressing and an interchangeable monolith, but I don't have the expertise to really discuss that issue beyond "this feels like a bad idea and you probably want to talk to an expert on these topics to make sure you're not doing something offensive."

On the other hand, I love the concept of Guardian Luka! I have actually always wished that he had been given the miracle box instead of Marinette simply because I don't think that Marinette's personality is well suited to the role of Guardian and because I wanted her to have an actual team. Meanwhile, Luka freaking shines when they have him in a mentor role (Wishmaker & Migration) and I am of the firm belief that the Guardian should be a mentor to the other holders. It's why I said Marinette isn't suited to the role. As written, she just kind of hands out miraculous and orders people about. That's perfectly fine for a team leader! It's not so great for what I expect when I hear "guardian who chooses the holders of the ancient and powerful artifacts."

But that's not what they did with Luka. He isn't the holder of the miracle box. He just knows how to fight off miraculous wielders because reasons, so I have no idea what they're trying to do with him. Especially since his existence is straight up breaking their lore. In this case, it's the lore established back in Furious Fu, Su-Han's intro:

Su-Han: Let me remind you about some of the Perfect Precepts that you have broken. (flips pages) Precept 14: Kwamis must not live outside the box. (flips pages) Precept 52: Guardians must never lose a Miraculous. (flips pages) Precept 133: A guardian cannot, under any circumstances, wear a Miraculous. (closes the book)

Su-Han accepting Marinette as Guardian because what's done is done makes sense because of the memory BS (why is there no other way to hand off the box?), but that whole "Guardians don't wear Miraculous" rule is there for a reason! I think it may go a step too far, but the general principle does make a lot of sense. The Guardians should be in more of a support role simply from a security standpoint.

It's another reason I'm iffy on Marinette being the Guardian. The Guardian knows everyone's identities and - in the context of canon - has a direct line to the miracle box that any rando can access by capturing them. This makes it a really bad idea to have them fighting on the front lines as they know too much and are something of a security risk. Meanwhile the snake feels like a perfect miraculous for the Guardian to wield since the snake is meant to watch the battle from the sidelines.

It's all very confusing to me because I'm getting a thing I wanted, but in the most confusing and least interesting way. Instead of this feeling like a big plot point, it just feels like something they did because it's cool. I fear this is going to be like Luka learning the secret identities: a thing that should lead to something big plot-wise, but that ends up mostly ignored because it would complicate things too much. If anything, I expect this to mean that he's left out of big moments because the writers very clearly don't know how to write him now. Like he should have been involved in the Risk/Strikeback fight! His powers made more sense than anyone else's! But he couldn't be because then the Felix thing couldn't happen.

I do very much agree that Luka leaning mirakungfu is a big WTF because, if holders are randomly allowed to learn it now, then Marinette should be learning it too! She's actively fighting against a rouge holder, she knows all of the other holders' identities, and she is the guardian! Why is Su-Han mentoring Luka and not the actual guardian? It's all very annoying and I do not like it. It would honestly make more sense if Jagged and Penny were trained, but Luka was not, because Jagged and Penny are not holders, but they are acting as Luka's bodyguards of a sort. Instead, the writers have once again shat all over their lore in the name of doing something cool for a season finale and I would bet you that they're now going to have no idea how to handle the consequences of that in the coming season because they keep doing that. See: season three ending with a mass reveal and the writers subsequently ignoring the identity rules.

[aziraphales-library]

Hello and thank you so much for your work! Recently I was on kick for het!human!azicrowley and have read a lot of ones where Aziraphale is a women and Crowley a man (or, in one memorable occasion, genderfluid person). But I want to look at the other side! So maybe you have some recs for women!Crowley/man!Aziraphale? Preferable longish fics, especially great if it's hystorical au (any era will be great), and also I would absolutely love if fic plays with Crowley having reputation of some kind of fallen women (good play of words huh!), absolutely not suitable for respectable man as Aziraphale, but it's optional. Crowley also doesen't need to be strictly women, but preferable woman passing for outsiders for mist part!

Hi! We have a #female crowley tag you can check out. Here are some longer human aus, in a few of which Crowley is a woman and a couple where Crowley is genderfluid...

A Collar For Christmas by Quefish (E)

Aziraphale is a farmer in a small village in the country and his life is everything he ever wanted. But a bank snafu sends him into the city where he meets bank manager Toni Crowley. Is he willing to give everything up for a woman he just met?

Seeing You Home by TawnyOwl95 (E)

It’s time for a new start. And just how many of those has Crowley had since she found herself pregnant at seventeen? This time it will be different though. This time she has a job, and a house and she doesn’t need another boyfriend. Especially not one who lives right next door. Aziraphale Angel’s new start is proving tougher than he ever imagined. Eighteen months out of the Catholic Church and he’s still finding it hard to let go of certain beliefs about himself. And his new neighbour is determined to test every one of them.

Incorporation by Ack_Emma (E)

Best friends from rival wool merchant families, Antoinetta Crowley and Aziraphale Fell are shocked when their parents arrange a surprise marriage between them. But this new arrangement is a chance to be on their own side and to be left alone for a bit. Their lifelong friendship is solid, what could go wrong? As it turns out, plenty. Times are changing, and married life is harder than it looks when you're a pair of young, ineffable dorks.

More Than by NaroMoreau (E)

Crowley would like to spend another year without marrying, especially when thrust-forced to pick a husband. She refuses to cave in on a matter of principles. She refuses to cave in specifically on a matter of not wanting to be married to Lucien Morningstar. But she might need a hand to break free from such a burden. And who knows? She might even find something else along the way.

The Sometimes Wife by AgentStannerShipper (E)

It is a truth universally acknowledged that older brothers are the worst. As the youngest of three children, Parson Aziraphale Fell has been given an ultimatum: find a wife, or lose the family's support. The only problem? Aziraphale has never looked at a woman that way in his life. His attention has instead been captured by the family gardener, a beautiful young man who holds Aziraphale's heart in his hands. But when a mysterious newcomer arrives in the village, Aziraphale finds himself falling - quite unexpectedly - for her as well. Aziraphale knows he will have to choose. After all, it's not as if he can have both...can he?

Brave to Stay, Brave to Leave by ChristocentricQueer (M)

“Great, a pastor. Why does he have to be so bloody cute?” Crowley mumbled under his breath. A Human AU where Crowley and Aziraphale are both in their late fifties. Crowley is gender fluid and bisexual (He/Him and She/Her). Aziraphale is a transman and gay (He/Him). Crowley is a botanist who is agnostic. Aziraphale is a Protestant pastor in a fictional denomination. They live in Tadfield, a medium sized town in the United States. Slow build with a happy ending.

- Mod D