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where-theres-smoak-2 · 4 months

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Loki Novel 1x3 Sylki Thoughts

So Loki novel update, I've just finished reading the chapters covering 1x3 and honestly I loved every page, every word of it. For me it was really beautiful watching Sylki's relationship evolve over 1x3 and it was even more beautiful reading it because you had that extra level of their inner thoughts and let me tell you there are some real Sylki gems in these chapters. Fair warning this one is going to be a bit longer than my last post because there is a lot more to cover. Obviously spoilers for season 1 and the novelisation, so lets jump in.

So this first part is less Sylki related and more just Sylvie related but I thought it was a small but interesting insight into just how being hunted by the TVA has effected her. This is a description she gives right after she steps through the timedoor into the TVA.

Circular lights glowed against the dull concrete of the ceiling. They looked like eyes to Sylvie. So many eyes. Watching.

She had finally done it.

She had finally broken into the TVA.

... The voice on the PA system said, All minutemen to the armory. Protect the timeline. The words almost made Sylvie want to scream, but she didn't. Instead, she tied her hair back, as she always did when she was preparing for a fight. (pgs 185-186)

A couple of things caught my attention here, the first was how she describes the lights as looking like eyes and the feeling of being watched. It's a seemingly irrelevant observation but it shows us how after being hunted and chased by the TVA for eons Sylvie is constantly on edge and always feels like she is being watched. Something as normal as lights become something that gives a feeling of being unsafe and threatening.

Then you have the line about how hearing the PA system saying 'protect the timeline' makes Sylvie want to scream. Again its just three little words but they bring out such a visceral reaction in Sylvie because of what they meant to her. Protecting the timeline is what lead to her being taken from her home and family, that lead to her entire timeline being destroyed and to her being hunted her whole life. So its no wonder that those words made her want to scream and got her revved up for the fight that was to come. But this passage did make me feel real bad for Sylvie and it was just a description of her surroundings.

The next part I want to talk about is right after Loki interrupts and confronts Sylvie outside the gold elevator.

He pointed his knives toward her. " A few questions," he said calmly.

Sylvie sighed. "Have you really got nothing else better to do?" She walked slowly toward him, and they circled one another like predators fighting over the same carcass. (pgs 188-189)

This imagery of them fighting over the same carcass is intriguing. I think the carcass is a metaphor for the TVA, that is what they are both fighting over. It's interesting to me because they are both fighting each other, and Sylvie sees Loki as an obstacle to getting what she wants. But really they both want the same thing, are both fighting for the same thing, to get to whoever is behind the TVA (at this point they believe its the timekeepers) and make them pay for stealing their lives from them. They just haven't figured out yet that they are both fighting for the same goal.

I also think it is interesting that in this simile Loki and Sylvie are described as the predators considering they both see the TVA as this all powerful, omnipotent organisation, you would think the TVA would be the predators. But ultimately this simile does come to pass as the TVA is torn apart by Sylvie and Loki, they are the ones that bring HWR and the TVA down making them the true predators and the TVA is indeed the carcass.

Ok next. Sylki have just fallen through the timedoor onto Lamentis-1 and are both scrambling for the tempad and we get this little moment.

He couldn't let her get it. It was the only thing connecting the two of them, his only asset. It was a thing she wanted. And Loki knew that the way to keep someone close was always to hold on to whatever it was they wanted. (pg 191)

Yeah Loki really is down bad for Sylvie he just hasn't realised it yet. Jokes aide though, I do think that this shows that Loki not only still feels a connection to Sylvie but also wants to maintain that connection, he clearly still sees her as his way forward, his destiny.

However this also sheds alot of light on his past manipulations and actions in previous films, and its really rather sad. He's learnt that the way to keep people close to him is to hold onto what they want. Thor wanted to protect earth as it was Jane's home so Loki takes New York hostage not because he wants to rule but so that he can keep his brother close. I think its the same with the tesseract, he knows its something Thor and Odin want so they can keep it safe in Asgard's vaults, so to keep them close he takes it. Obviously I don't think that is his only motivation for doing those things but this line does make me think it was a contributing factor, if so then I think its really sad that Loki feels like he has to manipulate those he cares about into staying close to him, that he doesn't believe that they will choose to be around him because they love him.

Speaking of Loki and Sylvie fighting over the tempad, Loki apparently was enjoying himself to start with:

It was quite fun, he decided. Fighting another Loki. (pg 193)

However he also seems to grow tired of it really quickly and seems to get frustrated that she doesn't want to team up.

"Fine," said Loki, quite tired of being made fun of by a Loki who didn't even want to be called Loki. (pg193)

"Fine!" she said, snapping around and drawing her sword.

Instantly, Loki drew his knives. But exhaustion took over him. This felt like deja vu. He sighed deeply. "Look," he said, "are we really about to do this here? Again?" (pg 198)

"I don't know. A truce?"

The fugitive variant scoffed as if this was the most insane idea she'd ever heard of. (pg 198)

At some point he had put his knives away, uninterested in fighting. (pg 199)

I think him getting tired of fighting her so quickly and being the first one to over a truce goes back to what I said in my last post about Loki seeming to have some level of respect for Sylvie because she is a Loki variant and he feels some kind of connection to her because of that. Speaking of the offer of a truce its, again, interesting that Loki offers one but Sylvie finds the idea insane and how I think that also links back to the difference in the way Loki and Sylvie feel about the Loki identity. To Sylvie the idea of accepting a truce with a Loki is insane, but for Loki its the very fact that they are both Loki variants that he feels he can offer a truce.

The question of what makes a Loki a Loki comes up alot in the first few chapters that cover 1x3. There's also alot of exploration of how Sylvie and Loki are similar and how they are different and how that plays into their individual identities as well as how it relates to the Loki identity.

One of the most obvious differences between Sylvie and Loki is that Loki is proud to be a Loki whereas Sylvie has rejected the Loki identity, which makes sense for her as being a Loki is what led to her being captured and subsequently hunted by the TVA. So of course she would take a new name and make a new identity for herself, however this rejection of the Loki identity by Sylvie is something that clearly confuses Loki.

"Don't ever call me that," she said, circling him like a lioness.

"Tech-savvy?" said Loki, a little confused.

"No," she snarled. "A Loki." (pg 193)

"I'm sorry," said Loki, "but I'm not calling some faded photocopy of me 'Loki'."

"Good," she said, totally unfazed by the insult, "'cause that's not who I am anymore. I'm Sylvie now." (pgs 201-202)

"It's not very Loki-like."

"Yeah? said Sylvie. "What exactly makes a Loki a Loki?"

"Independence. Authority. Style." said Loki, pleased he could sum up his own nature so succinctly. But Sylvie wasn't having it. (pg 202)

"I'd never have done that." Loki stopped walking.

Sylvie didn't pause. "Yeah?" she said. "Well, I'm not you." (pgs 202-203)

It's kind of funny that Loki tries to insult and get at Sylvie by calling her a faded photocopy of a Loki but Sylvie really couldn't care less. It does seem like Loki really struggles with this idea that Sylvie has chosen a new identity and name and I couldn't help wondering why it bothered him so much, why he's so put out that she is not the same as him and I do have a theory on that. I think its because he's been told over and over, and particularly by the TVA, who he is, what his nature is and how that's written in stone and who he is meant to be, how he can't change. But then he meets a variant of himself that has built themselves a whole new identity and is choosing who they want to be as opposed to being told who they are. It's like meeting Sylvie has shined a torch on all the lies he's been told about himself that he has come to believe.

Another way the novel highlights the difference between the life Loki had versus the life Sylvie had is by mentioning several times that Loki feels exhausted whilst Sylvie is full of energy.

Then she kept on running. Where does she get this endless energy? thought Loki. (pg 196)

He tried to catch his breath. He hadn't run like that in a long time. His chest burned. (pg 197)

Loki was exhausted, but Sylvie didn't seem to have lost any of her energy. (pg 203)

This shows how Loki lived a life of luxury and relative safety as a Prince of Asgard. He is used to comfort. Whereas Sylvie has had to learn to always be aware and on the move and thus has a constant high energy, she's never had the luxury of taking life slow or taking a moment to gather herself because for her stopping for a breather could mean death.

As different as their upbringings were though, they are still similar in many ways and being variants of each other means despite being strangers they also already know the other really well. Because of this they are also able to figure out each other's motive's really quickly and we get this interesting to and fro where they are both kind of one upping the other and catching the other out. Like when Loki immediately figures out that Sylvie is trying to enchant him:

Then he felt the fugitive variant's hands around his neck. He flinched, then realised she wasn't trying to choke him. Her touch was light, and a faint thrumming came from her fingertips. When he met her eyes, he saw that she was in a state of deep concentration.

"What are you doing?" he asked her.

"What are you doing?" she echoed.

"You're trying to enchant me?" said Loki. He was still panting. "It won't work." (pgs 197-198)

I really loved this moment when I watched it in the show, there was that underlying energy and tension to it and I loved how their silhouettes made the shape of a heart. Reading the scene in the novelisation reminded me of just how much I loved it in the show. Side note but I do find it kind of funny that at first Loki thought Sylvie was trying to choke him, makes sense so far all she's done is try to fight him. But I love the way he describes her touch and the way her magic feels, it sounds like it feels pleasant to him.

Another instance of them being able to suss each other out pretty quick is when Sylvie figures out Loki's motive for saving her when they were running from the falling asteroids.

"Well you're full of it because you need me to get that thing recharged. That's the only reason you saved me out there."

Takes a Loki to know a Loki. (pg 199)

Them knowing each other so well also means they know how to get under the others skin. There are a few instances where they take digs at each other and are put out by the others comments.

"But now I see," he said panting, "you lack vision."

The words got under Sylvie's skin. She did not lack vision. She had never lacked vision. Vision was what had gotten her this far. (pg 189)

"So naturally," she said, "you went to work for the boring, oppressive time police."

"I don't work for them," said Loki, a little wounded. (pg 202)

"Okay," she said, holding out one hand and wriggling her fingers. "Hand it over."

Loki laughed. "Pitiful," he said. "I'm not giving it to you. You're going to have to try harder than that."

He seemed to have gotten under her skin. She marched past him, her mouth tight. (pg 204)

I think them being so different in some ways and coming from very different backgrounds whilst also knowing themselves and therefore each other so well and knowing how to push each others buttons, creates this really interesting dynamic and fun banter between them. Eventually even they begin to notice the similarities between them.

Sylvie watched. It didn't seem like Loki could resist a good fight. Maybe they weren't so different after all. (pg 226)

Ok now we are at the really good part, the train scenes. Trust me when I tell you as amazing as these scenes are in the show they only get better here in the novel, there are parts that made me feel all warm and fuzzy and there were some parts that stabbed me right in the heart. This is also where I think we see a big shift in the dynamic of Sylki's relationship and this shift comes when the subject of their mothers come up.

They sat forward, their elbows on the table, staring each other down, their eyes in a duel that neither could break.

"My mother," said Loki, not able to stop the tenderness from leaking into his voice.

This seemed to disarm Sylvie. She glanced away. She swallowed. Then, slowly, she turned her head back to Loki and looked at him- really looked at him. "What was she like?" she asked. Softly. Sincerely. (pg 214)

I love that line about their eyes in a duel neither could break, it really captures that intense chemistry and eye contact they have in that scene. But I also do think its interesting that its the mention of Loki's mother that makes Sylvie drop her guard a little and actually look at Loki, to see him as more than just an obstacle in her way. I think hearing that tenderness in his voice, which by the way is so adorable and sweet I always loved the relationship he had with his mother, makes Sylvie see him as a person, he's not just an annoying Loki but a son who clearly loves his mother. In response to this she herself then becomes softer and more sincere when talking to him. Then the subject of Sylvie's mother comes up.

"Hang on a second. So, tell...tell me about your mother."

"I barely remember her," said Sylvie wistfully. "Just blips of a dream at this point."

Loki looked into her eyes. There was real sadness there. Real grief. He remembered his own mother. Just like this train was hurtling toward the ark, he was hurtling toward losing her. (pg 215)

Just like Loki talking about his mother made Sylvie really look at Loki and really see him for the first time, hearing Sylvie talk about her mother makes Loki stop and really study Sylvie, he sees her sadness and her grief and that makes him think about his own sadness and grief, that line about how he was hurtling towards losing his mother really is a gut punch, I mean pull my heart right out because it would've hurt less. However it is interesting because here we are seeing Loki relate to Sylvie, empathising with her and it also makes him reflect on his own life.

"You know," he said, "when I was young, she'd do these little bits of magic for me. Like turn a flower into a frog. Or cast fireworks over the water."

This time Sylvie did not look away.

"It all seemed impossible," he continued. "But she told me that one day I'd be able to do it, too, because..." He paused, his voice trailing off. "Because I could do anything," he finished. Yes, he had been lucky. He knew that now. (pgs 215-216)

Seeing Sylvie's sadness and her admit she no longer really remembers her mother makes Loki realises how lucky he really was, he had a mother that doted on him, that believed in him and who took the time to teach him magic. This next bit I really do love and that is Loki's reaction to seeing Sylvie sad.

Sylvie nodded, but she looked sad. She stared off into the distance.

"You wanna see?" said Loki, hoping to cheer her up. He held up a hand. Out of his palm, fireworks crackled and exploded in miniature, making a delicate bouquet of light and color. (pg 216)

When I saw the scene in the show I thought that Loki made the fireworks because he was thinking of his mother and also because he wanted to show off a little because he was trying to impress Sylvie. I loved the scene because it was just so sweet and tender and was a side of Loki we hadn't really seen before. Seeing, here in the novel, that he did the fireworks because he could see that Sylvie was sad and wanted to cheer her up adds a whole new level of 'aww cute' to the scene. I'm really looking forward to going back and watching that scene again with this added context. I think that is what makes reading the novel so fun is it is giving me all this new context to scenes which makes rewatching the show feel like a new experience again.

But Loki using the fireworks to attempt to cheer Sylvie up is also interesting because, firstly, it shows that he is capable of feeling compassion and empathy for another person despite being portrayed as being a very selfish and uncompassionate person in the past. Secondly it shows that even in this short amount of time that Loki has known Sylvie he has come to care about her enough that he doesn't want to see her sad. Already he just wants her to be ok.

A couple of other small details to note, is that throughout this bonding scene there is quite a bit of focus on them keeping eye contact and them looking at each other. The other thing of note is the way the fireworks are described as a bouquet, this makes me think of first dates and how you might give someone a bouquet of flowers, maybe its just me but this train scene always gave me first date vibes.

So now lets talk about love. Yes we are at the Love is hate, Love is Mischief conversation Sylki have and again this a scene that only gets better when you read the novel and get that insight into what the characters are actually thinking and feeling.

"What was that?" He pretended to write. "Love is...Love is... hate."

"Oh, shut up," said Sylvie.

Loki smiled with amusement and disappeared the paper and quill in a spray of green light.

Sylvie looked like she was trying not to find his joke funny, but she still smiled, ever so faintly. (pg 218)

It's nice to see Sylvie starting to let her guard down a little. As I said earlier, it really is during the train scene that we see Sylki's dynamic begin to shift. Whereas before they were very hostile towards each other and would look for ways to get under the others skin, here we see them actually enjoying each others company. What is even more interesting is that right before this we get this inner thought from Loki.

Sylvie stared at him. She looked unimpressed. Did she have to be so serious all the time? He thought a change of subject might help. (pg 218)

Just like how when he saw her sad he tried to cheer her up, now Loki is actively trying to get her to loosen up, to relax and have some fun and again I just find that interesting that even at this point he cares enough about her to want her to be happy and to feel safe and relaxed. Its also interesting that the subject that ends up being brought up is Love. Especially as this conversation seems to lead Loki to a bit of a realisation about his feelings.

"Managed to maintain quite a serious long distance relationship with a postman whilst running across time from one apocalypse to another."

Loki laughed. She was- genuinely- very funny. He almost...liked her. (pgs 218-219)

Loki has this realisation that he might actually like Sylvie, with the emphasis on the word like it makes me think its less like as a friend and more like in a romantic way and what's fascinating is that not long after this revelation he begins to become uncomfortable with the subject of love.

Sylvie didn't take her eyes off him. She raised her eyebrows like a question. "Love is mischief, then," she said.

Loki swallowed, the bubbles burning down his throat. "No," he said. "Love is..." The train rumbled along its tracks. The diamonds of purple sky had darkened slightly. "Uh... something I don't want to think about."

If in doubt, he thought, avoid the subject. That tactic had always served him well. (pg 219)

Now quick disclaimer, alcohol does not exist in this novel, if they were drinking alcohol in a scene in the show then it is substituted for something else in the novel. Because of this the line Loki says in the show 'something I might have to have another drink to think about' has been changed. Obviously they would had to have substituted it with a line that had the same meaning and sentiment behind it. They could have gone for something like 'something I need more time to think about' but they went with 'something I don't want to think about.' So Loki has had this realisation that he might like Sylvie, which is followed by a very personal and intimate conversation about love and then a flirtatious line from Sylvie and in his panic and confusion over these new feelings he is experiencing he slams on the brakes hard. It's straight to avoidance. I also think the imagery of the train rumbling and the sky darkening really shifts the tone of the scene, almost like Loki is turning away from the possibility of love and back to the lonely darkness of self isolation, but I could also be looking far too deeply into that.

It's after this that, in the show, Loki gets drunk and sings the Asgardian song to Sylvie, though in the novel he's not drunk just having fun, which not going to lie does come across as a little silly but I can look pass that. Sylvie has an interesting reaction to the song which she describes as 'mournful' and as something that sounded like a lullaby or funeral song.

"He had a beautiful voice, and the melody stirred something in Sylvie's chest, but she pushed all of that to the side. (pg 222)

This actually tells us alot about Sylvie and is another instance that shows the difference between Sylvie and Loki and their lives. Sylvie has this emotional reaction to the song Loki is singing and yet she pushes those feelings to the side, we see her do this alot, whereas Loki is often driven by his emotions such as attacking New York because of how hurt he was by his Father's lies etc, Sylvie very much is the opposite and will push those emotions aside so that she can focus on her mission. This is how she survives.

The atmosphere turned lively and jolly again. Loki smiled widely.

It must be fun to be so oblivious, thought Sylvie, glancing around the room nervously. (pg 222)

I get the sense that here, Sylvie is feeling some envy towards Loki, towards the fact that he can let loose and have fun, even when in the situation they've found themselves in, because he hasn't gone through the same experience and trauma that she has. I think she is envious of the life he had, the life that she could have had but missed out on because the TVA stole it from her.

Next I'm going to talk about the Love is a Dagger scene, and yes I've said it before, I'm saying it again, the novel only makes this scene better.

"Hey!" said Loki. "Change of subject. I thought of an answer." Suddenly he was standing closer to her, staring deeply into her eyes.

She bristled. "To what?"

"Your question." Loki stared into her eyes and the silence stretched on between them. "Love," he said, "is a dagger." Just like that, a dagger appeared in his hand, magicked and beautiful, the blade straight and shining. "It's a weapon to be wielded far away or up close. You can see yourself in it. It's beautiful." He turned the dagger's point toward his chest. "Until it makes you bleed. But ultimately, when you reach for it-"

Sylvie did reach for it. The handle was beautiful. It was right there. But it disappeared before she could take it in her hand.

"-it isn't real," she said, finishing his sentence. (pgs 224-225)

Let's talk about Loki here first because I think this metaphor he uses to describe love is very telling given the new context learned of him having the realisation that he may have feelings for Sylvie and then becoming uncomfortable with the subject of love. He clearly kept thinking about it after their conversation. But really what this metaphor says about Loki's view on love is really sad. Ultimately he sees love as a weapon that can be used against him, something that can make him bleed, something that will turn out not to be real. Something beautiful sure, but something dangerous none the less. It's sad because I think he has always felt unloved by everyone but his mother. Everyone has always seen the worst in him and he has felt like love is something you have to earn especially when it came to his father's love. I really do think that learning he was adopted, that his father lied to him, that he was a tool to be used, a monster in the tales Asgardian children were told. This all really messed with his head, he wanted his father's, his brother's love and instead he got wounded. If we go back a little, for a moment, to when Sylki were talking about their parents and how they were adopted, we have this:

"What? They told you?" He couldn't believe it.

"Yeah," said Sylvie. "Did they not tell you?"

"No," said Loki, trying not to get emotional. (pg 215)

Loki is so traumatised from learning that he was adopted the way he did that even just talking about the subject makes him emotional and he struggles with the knowledge that Sylvie's parents did tell her the truth. So it makes sense that he has a warped idea of what love is. It also makes sense that because he sees love as a weapon that can be used against him, that when he realised he might be catching feelings for Sylvie he rejected it and instead reminded himself how love can wound you.

When I first watched the episode I'll admit that I got a bit annoyed at Loki for getting drunk and breaking the tempad, as I didn't really understand why he would do that and the 'I'm hedonistic' excuse didn't really fly with me. But now I can't help but wonder if the real reason why he got drunk on the train was because he was so shaken by this realisation that he had feelings for Sylvie that his tactic for avoiding those feelings was to drown himself in drink and distract himself. It was a way of coping for him.

But lets go to Sylvie because her thoughts during Loki's love dagger speech were so interesting to me. It really does seem like she becomes mesmerised by the dagger, she is thinking about how beautiful it is and she wants to reach out and grab it. It really is like she's under a spell, bewitched by this dagger. The reason why that's interesting is because the dagger in this metaphor represents love. Love really isn't something Sylvie has experienced before, I'm sure her parents loved her, but she was taken from them so long ago that she barely remembers them so likely doesn't remember their love either. Because she has never experienced love she's never been wounded by it like Loki. So where Loki sees a dangerous weapon, Sylvie sees this shining new thing and its something that in the haze of the moment she is desperate to reach for.

Unfortunately this dagger metaphor tragically comes true for the both of them come the season end at the citadel, but I'd rather not think about that so lets move on.

Since the show aired I've seen too many posts in the main tag talking about how Mobius changed Loki but arguing that Sylvie didn't change him, that she didn't have any effect on his character growth at all. I always called bull on that personal but these next few parts I'm going to talk about, I think show just how Sylvie did influence Loki's growth. The first comes right after they have been thrown off the train and the tempad is broke, Sylvie is very understandably upset.

Did Loki feel a tiny twinge of remorse? Maybe a tiny one. But he wasn't going to stop arguing. (pg 229)

It's a very small moment, but its an important one. Remorse isn't really something Loki often feels so the fact that he is feeling it now when seeing Sylvie upset is significant. And there is more. After Sylvie screams and walks off to sit by herself Loki has this thought.

"Okay," he said, under his breath, walking to her. It wasn't in his nature to feel compassion, to see the perspective of another person- especially another Loki. It wasn't in his nature to feel remorse, either. But hey, it was the end of the world. Maybe the end of the world did something to you. (pg 230)

Earlier I talked about how Loki trying to cheer Sylvie up showed that he was learning compassion and learning to empathise with another person. Here we get the next step because now he is recognising that he is feeling compassion and that he is feeling remorse, he is also now able to see things from another person's perspective, he's able to understand why Sylvie is upset with him and actually feel remorse. Of course he blames it on the end of the world but really its Sylvie that has brought these new emotions out of him.

Here's another small but important moment.

He sat down tentatively beside her, on the mound of gravelly stone. It wasn't exactly comfortable, but he could endure it. (pg 230)

Loki is someone who enjoys comfort and who is very unlikely to put himself in any kind of uncomfortable position for the sake of someone else. Yet here we see him not only putting himself in discomfort but saying he'll endure it and once again it is for Sylvie, this is again a case of Sylvie being upset and for a reason that Loki himself can't yet fathom, he wants to make her feel better, even if that means sitting on an uncomfortable rock and trying to comfort her.

And the character growth just keep on coming with this next part.

"I just... need to know if I can trust you."

Again, Loki realised he was telling the truth. Not saying something to get his way. But saying something because he truly meant it.

It was a new feeling. (pg 233)

During his time with Sylvie not only has he experienced what it is to feels compassion, empathy and remorse he is also now learning truth. He says something because he actually means it and not just to manipulate someone to get his own way. What is also interesting is the potentially first meaningful thing he's ever said is on the subject of trust. Something else that I think is a bit of a foreign subject to Loki. He is rarely trusted and I don't know how much he trusts others, I think he's more of a rely on himself kind of guy. But here he is wanting to trust and to be trusted. Again he is feeling something new and again its Sylvie that has brought it out of him.

The subject of trust comes up again when they are entering the city, trying to get to the ark.

"Do we trust each other?" asked Sylvie.

"We do, and you can," said Loki. Trust wasn't normally something Loki thought about very much. But for better or worse, he and Sylvie were a team now. They needed to trust each other to survive. (pg 237)

Again this is showing the beginnings of change, not only is he thinking about trust, what trust is and what it really means to trust someone, but he is also actually choosing to trust. Right now its because he knows that they need to trust each other to survive but it is still a huge step for them both. He is also seeing them as a team now.

Something really interesting happens after this, when they are fighting their way through the city trying to reach the ark, and that is that Loki seems to become really tuned in to where Sylvie is often mentioning the feeling of her presence and they also often seem in sync with each other, one stops so does the other etc, not only that but he takes comfort in having her there, in having her on his team.

Loki stopped. He looked around, surveying which way would be best, and Sylvie did the same. Somehow they had really become a team. Even in this chaos, this comforted Loki. (pg 238)

Loki stared at it, feeling Sylvie's presence beside him. He wondered if she was thinking the same thing he was thinking. (pg 238)

People started screaming, running, and Loki ran too, feeling Sylvie's presence as she ran beside him. (pg 239)

To his right, Sylvie was fighting off yet another guard. "Just go," she said to Loki. (pg 240)

Loki ran the same way as the man, and Sylvie followed him. (pg 240)

Loki stopped. Sylvie stopped beside him. (pg 242)

Considering how much chaos is around them it would have been really easy for them to be separated and to lose each other. But there really is alot of focus in this passage on showing them side by side, or mirroring each other, of them being aware of where the other is and staying in sync with each other, they really are shown as a team and as working together.

Ok we are nearly at the end, I promise, just a couple more things I want to talk about. So this also caught my attention and that is that it seems like the more Loki gets to know Sylvie the more in awe and impressed he is of her. Like when she tells him how her enchantment works.

Loki shook his head. He was at least a little bit in awe of her. "And you call me a magician," he said. (pg 234)

He couldn't help but be impressed with the way she fought. She was all elegance and grace, all skill and fire. If they hadn't been in the middle of an apocalypse, he might've stopped to watch. (pg 241)

I mean he seems pretty whipped if you asked me, but I do find it amusing and sweet that he's so in awe of her that even in the middle of an apocalypse he is tempted to just stop and watch her fight.

The last thing I want to talk about is Loki's reaction to the ark being destroyed.

He didn't want to look at Sylvie. He couldn't stand to see the look in her eyes. All their hope- gone.

They were going to die here.

On Lamentis-1. A doomed moon. In a strange, otherworldly city surrounded by dust and fire.

Well, Loki found himself thinking, at least we're not alone. (pg 242)

I really do think this is the culmination of all the growth we see over the episode/chapters. Not just Loki's own personal growth but the growth of the Sylki relationship. At the start Loki was someone who thought about himself, Sylvie was a tool to help get him what he wanted. Sylvie saw Loki as an obstacle to be removed. Here though when the ark is destroyed Loki's first thought is of Sylvie. Not only that but he has come to care for her so much that he can't bear to look at her and see the look of despair in her eyes, just like he didn't want to see her sad, but here I think the emotion is deeper and more intense. Loki is also now talking about 'their hope' not his hope showing that he really does now see them as one unit, as a team. But I think the most significant part is the line about how at least they aren't alone. They believe they are going to die here but Loki is still taking comfort in having Sylvie with him.

I really did enjoy reading these chapters, there were so many moments that I loved and it felt good to be excited about Sylki again, it really did remind me of why I love them. I know this was a long one so if you have made it to the end thank you for reading. As soon as I finish reading the chapters for episode 4 I will post some more thoughts but for now let me leave you with this.

Her eyes were daggers, and she growled a little, like an upset puppy. (pg 213)

No notes I just thought it was really funny that Loki compares Sylvie to an upset puppy when she's angry.

#sylki #loki #loki x sylvie #sylvie #loki novel

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cvm-jpfilm · 3 months

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Shinoda - Double Suicide

This movie was awesome! I think this might be one of the most creatively shot and directed film I've ever seen. I really loved the use of contrast in this film because despite clearly being in the era of color, they decided to go on with black and white. And it pays off! The movie creates some hauntingly beautiful shots just through contrast and brightness of the set. Even more so, the film's dedication to its Bunraku origins creates such unique sets, characters, and themes.

I think Double Suicide covers two main themes: one's agency over their choices and selfishness/selflessness in the family structure. The meta commentary through bunraku speaks about fate, while the actual narrative of the movie speaks about family. Let's discuss the first: Shinoda's focus on maintaining the Bunraku influence.

Through his portrayal of Bunraku traditions, Shinoda comments on an individual's agency over their choices, aka the individual against fate or even society. See this movie could have just portrayed the plot of the play, but Shinoda kept the meta structure of Bunraku intact within the film. Why? Well, the Bunraku itself is not merely for display, it's a legitimate force within the story. The most obvious examples go hand-in-hand: the kuroko and the prologue. Kuroko refers to the general name for stagehands seen in traditional Japanese plays like Bunraku, Kabuki, and Noh. They dress in all black and are in charge of moving props and stage equipment, but in the case of Bunraku, they also operate the puppets--the characters. Yes, in this film, the use of kuroko to guide, help, and restrain the characters likens these characters to puppets in a Bunraku play. I think the best example of this might be when Jihei is caught by his brother and restrained. Despite being tied up, we see the kuroko hold Jihei still. When the kuroko let's go, Jihei too relaxes.

It's not just this scene either, the film is filled with shots of exclusively the kuroko, despite being invisible figures in Bunraku, and scenes of the kuroko aiding the characters themselves. They have a presence, and it is through this that Shinoda communicates that greater otherworldly forces are at play in the story. The decisions that these characters make are not just of their own accord, they are manipulated like Bunraku puppets by fate. But does it end at fate? I thought so initially but I think the movie is meta in of itself. The prologue to this movie is a long conversation between what seems to be the screenwriter and the director discussing the filming of this movie, including a plot point that will occur much later, with the film visually showing the set of what seems to be Bunraku. I think that not only does this reinforce the fact that the characters are not just mere puppets, but puppets of the real production staff of this film. The film breaks the fourth wall to literally signal how despite seeming like people, these characters are ultimately puppets, which to me shows the utmost dedication to its Bunraku source.

Additionally, I think Double Suicide's actual narrative is a commentary on the family structure and selflessness the family exhibits to protect each other. Jihei, one of the main protagonists of the movie, is the antithesis to this. His selfishness endangers the family structure when he prioritizes only himself and his love. Constantly throughout the movie, it is through the consideration of his family that the structure is slowly repaired. The wife's, brother's, and even Koharu's (a sort of family) selfless attitude that make progress to restoring the balance. Yet it is through Jihei's selfishness and cowardness again that the family is torn apart when he chooses to not stop his wife's father from taking his wife back.

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demon-road-musings · 9 months

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Unpopular opinion:

SPOILERS FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVEN’T READ DEMON ROAD 3

If they were going to kill off one character, Kelly should have died instead of Milo. I hated Milo initially but grew to love him, and then you kill him off? Whereas Kelly I was like “meh” and never truly loved her lol.

You hated Milo initially?? Omg I'm so interested to know why, I've never heard of anyone hating him.

I 100% agree with this opinion, although I think I've made that very clear through my constant complaining on this blog lol. The tragedy of Milo's death is that that he died right after finally finding people (or a person if you dont count his relationship with glen as a friendship) that he genuinely cared about, and he was just beginning to find meaning again in life and let go of his past properly. He was killed off right as his character arc was finishing, and I think that's what makes me never able to move on from his death even though it's just a YA fantasy book from 7 years ago, because he never truly got to a place of contentment and yet he was so close to reaching it. Also, the fact that there were so many loose ends (like his past) that were never tied up make his death feel so brutal and frustrating. Him being shot is such a quick, boring and detached death for him, and from such a minor character, that it just adds insult to injury. Throughout the series, characters were beheaded, eaten alive, ripped apart, killed by magical potions, torn apart by chainsaws, and then milo's death is just so simple and casual for such a main character that it feels even more abrupt and disturbing. He was a complex, morally grey character that made mistakes, but he was trying to make up for his past killings, and the fact that he was murdered despite all of his efforts to change just feels so unfair for that reason. I probably wouldn't be saying that if he'd killed my family though.

KELLY on the other hand is such a shallow character in comparison. Her only personality traits are cool quips, being a redhead, being fit and hot, seducing 16 year olds and having tattoos. Oh, and the constant reminders that shes one of the 'good guys'. In reality, her and amber knew each other for 3 days, and in this short time period they already showed fundamental, clashing differences in personality and views on the world (prime example is kelly slapping amber over a moral disagreement). Kelly had this naive, black and white view about good and evil and wanted to fight the good fight, while amber was a kid who had been dragged into this world and was just trying to survive. That paired with their ages and power dynamic (amber constantly idolised kelly), I just know that in reality, they would have broken up so soon after milos death, leaving amber alone with glen as her only companion. Kelly would never be able to actually replace milo as she did in AM ending scene, and I'd actually imagine it's more likely that amber would end up alone, bitter and regretful (kinda like milo at the beginning of the series).

And that concludes my ramblings on why milo's death was so bad, and why Kelly should 100% have died instead, both for reader satisfaction and for Amber's wellbeing. Also, kelly and glen would never get along, she'd definitely think she was too cool for him.

#demon road #derek landy #milo sebastian #amber lamont #kelly demon road #kelly hate blog #it always has been and it always will be #american monster spoilers

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sukibenders · 1 month

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yeah the two little bitter betty Edwina stans you fuck with love Kate so much they constantly wish and revel in the idea that Kate and therefore Simone will be shafted in future seasons and publicity of the show, those silly little immature mean girls who giggle as they pat each other on the back for coming up with the name “kantoni” to talk about kanthony like I’m sorry but you are the company you keep and you keep company with dumb bitches who subtly and overtly hate on Kate and by extension Simone oh but you’re all just so misunderstood, you’re all so fair in your criticisms, it’s all bullshit and y’all know it. The root of your problem isn’t Kate, it’s that she’s a widely adored character despite your best efforts and wishes, I know it eats y’all up inside.

Man somebody really pissed in your food because now you're coming up with shit that I have, and other Edwina fans that I talk with, never said. Like where are you getting this information from? Because it surely is not on my blog. And "Kantoni"? Did you just make that up for some point of yours? Because it's always been "Kathony", but if you were really a fan of the ship you would know that. And where have I ever said that I want Kate or Simone sidelined? Like that's a weird thing to say, especially because there's no proof of that anywhere on my blog. Unless you see me making headcanons about Edwina, most of which have her living a life of her own and in no way overshadowing Kate (but getting that through your head sounds tiring), so it mainly seems like anything that involves liking Edwina is a problem for you. Oh well, it'll continue to be if you keep stalking my page 🤷🏾‍♀️.

And you're really one to talk about "silly mean girls" when you're in my inbox, anonymously, and spreading misinformation while also calling me names. Idk about you, but that itself screams mean girl to me so....do what you will with that. I could be wrong, but you sound oddly similar to another hateful anon that I received earlier. I could be wrong but still....🤔.

And, as you said I am the company I keep, most of whom have been nothing but nice and actually have better communication skills than you (eg. not sending hate to others through anon, but rather actually talking things out, etc). And most of the things they have said about Kate have, surprise surprise for you mainly, involved 1.) giving her more plot and justice than the show 2.) having connections with her family (including her sister and Mary bc you guys like to include them but go off ig) and more, but you and others like you, the company you keep per your words, wouldn't know that. You make it your job to be hateful to random people, but then use it as the guise of defending a character who wasn't even being as torn apart as you believe.

It isn't that hard to criticize and love a character at the same time. Also, maybe this is just me, but if you don't like the things that I say or whatever wouldn't it make more sense to just block me and carry on? Wouldn't that seem less stressful than what you're doing now? To each their own.

#anonymous #anon

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senseiwu · 2 years

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Hello! I know this is kinda a weird Au idea but I'm a sucker for the “enemies AND lovers” trope and Goldsmith buuuuut, We have a ~happy family au~ so why not a ✨dysfunctional evil family au✨?? Maya and Ray are evil and are working with the time twins on their own terms behind the elemental alliance's back and Wu knows about it but doesn’t tell anyone as he loves the both of them. The war ends at some point and Kai and Nya were already born around this time so May and Ray don’t have any evil overlord to work for and Wu is excited to have his partners with no conflicting ideologies but then Garmadon offers Maya and Ray to work for them and they do. They have a small fight about it and how Wu feels utterly frustrated about them working for his evil brother and how he’s not going to let them take Nya or Kai to which Nya refuses to leave her parents and Kai refuses to leave Wu, so Nya grows up with her parents and works for Garmadon and Kai grows up as normal in the series but rather than wanting to be a ninja to save his sister like in the show, he wants to be a ninja to defeat his sister and maybe see if she can be redeemed. Lar was born at some point during Garmadon’s rampage and is constantly conflicted with the “evil vs good” as he has constant interactions with Kai but also Nya when trouble breaks out in New Ninjago City and the ninja protecting it. Maybe Lar sneaks off to meet Nya and talk to his long lost sister and Nya just emotionally manipulates him into thinking Kai doesn't want to be a ninja to actually fight for good but simply for the publicity and how he’s selfish and narcissistic and then Kai tells Lar that Nya is rotten, no-good person who’s only destroying lives for the approval of their parents or rather she doesn’t have much of a choice but to please her parents and in turn, Lord Garmadon. Overall siblings hissing and barking at each other and Lar is just trying to not upset anyone. Wu still does his whole not telling the ninja anything until the very last minute and he keeps his relationship with Maya and Ray a secret, even from Kai and Lar as none of the ninjas even know that Wu, Maya, and Ray are a thing and gave Kai and Lar the impression he’s no longer in love with them but he very much is. He simply can’t stop himself from being madly in love with them, even if they’re evil and working with his worst enemy. Eventually, the whole Garmadon coming to live with them on the bounty happens and he brings Nya with him and they both of them drop all sorts of bombshells about Wu’s relationship, who Nya is exactly, and that Lar has been talking to Nya behind their back leaving Wu does his iconic, “there’s something I haven’t told you, ninja..” line

gfjaklfdajoifdaffhajdfhdajkgtioaefdajcflkasjfkldfauaehfnlkdasfadlkfujailkdjaflkeudfajoidf

Oh my gosh

That's not my usual type of thing honestly, but,,,, I'd be interested to see how that plays out 👀

Gosh, this family just keeps getting torn apart, huh,,,,,,, ;-; brother vs brother, father vs son, brother vs sister,,,, I hope Wu doesn't have to fight his beloveds,,,,,,,

#asks #ninjago #goldsmithshipping #sensei wu #ray smith #maya smith #kai smith #nya smith #lar smith #sorry this took so long to get around to!! didn't wanna answer it on my phone cause i have trust issues with tumblr mobile lmao

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acepalindrome · 3 years

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Friends, if you enjoy D&D/tabletop actual plays or fantasy or just great stories and great characters that are equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, I am begging you on bended knee to give NADDPOD (Not Another D&D Podcast) a try. It is truly so good and never gets enough love. To compare to other well know actual plays, it’s closest in vibe to TAZ Balance, so I would especially recommend it if you love TAZ Balance.

The episodes are about 90 minutes long on average and are very listenable. I tend to get bored with combat in actual plays sometimes, but the fights in NADDPOD are so fun and fast paced while not cutting any of the zaniness of a bunch of goobers playing D&D.

And what do you like? World building? DM Murph’s worlds are so fun and fresh and play around with existing D&D concepts of alignments and gods in ways that are so very satisfying.

How about some fantastic characters? The PCs are so entertaining and can be extremely goofy but they will make you cry, that is a threat and a promise. And Murph’s NPCs range from being complex and fascinating and lovable to the biggest shithead losers that are so fun to hate.

Want some queer characters? We got you covered, both the main campaigns and Trinyvale have canon queer PCs who end up in canon relationships.

Okay, but where do you start? There are two main campaigns and a ton of side stuff! I would recommend starting either Campaign 1 (Bahumia) or Campaign 2 (Eldermourne.) I love Trinyvale but I don’t think it’s the best introduction to NADDPOD, and Hot Boy Summer is best saved for after finishing Campaign 1. If you listen to the Donkey Kong oneshots first you might die in real life. You gotta build up to that shit.

I think Campaign 1 is overall the stronger story, but it does take a bit to get really really good, about 12 episodes in. It’s fun enough before that, and you should listen to the first chunk to get to know the characters, but once you hit the Galaderon arc the show goes from about 7/10 to 12/10. The basic plot is that it’s the ‘campaign after the campaign.’ The world has already been saved by a team of legendary heroes, but it turns out maybe the world isn’t as saved as we thought and maybe those heroes actually fucked some things up in a pretty big way. ‘Kill your idols’ is a big theme and it’s fantastic.

Campaign 2 jumps right in and is good from the start, but it’s a much shorter campaign and it has some pacing issues. That said, it’s still an excellent campaign and I’ve been crying about the finale all day. This campaign takes place in a dark fairytale inspired world torn apart by a conflict between two gods, the Reaper and the Trickster. Deals a lot with religion and faith and how they can be used to manipulate (like me, Murph is an ex-Catholic and his portrayals of this stuff hit me so hard.)

One of my favorite things is how well NADDPOD balances humor and drama. It’s easily the funniest actual play I’ve ever listened to, and someday I will learn to stop listening to it on earphones when I’m out on public because I always end up laughing out loud like a weirdo. But when the drama hits? It’s so good and poignant and both campaigns have god-tier found families that constantly destroy my heart with how much they love each other and make each other better and stronger in their darkest times.

I really can’t say enough good about NADDPOD. Please give it a try if you haven’t. And then tell me all about it because I love seeing people enjoy my favorite things.

And also be warned that if you start with campaign 1, there is a long bit about dragon genitalia in the first episode. People either love it or hate it. You’ve gotta just get through it.

#naddpod #eldermourne #d&d

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misscrawfords · 3 years

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I really like Moo Hak and Dali a lot and I disagree with a lot of what I'm seeing written about them here.

So, the views I see boil down to:

The romance is unnecessary

Dali is becoming a damsel in distress for Moo Hak to save

He's just... idk... unpleasant

Anyway, here's my refutal that nobody asked for. :P

Starting with the last point first, I mean, sure, Moo Hak is not always likeable. He's crass and overbearing and often insensitive but, like, it's episode 4 of a 16 part kdrama so I don't see what the problem with that is. He's got lots of room to develop and that's good. It's also the entire point of his character that he values money over literally everything else and has a massive blind spot about it. He came from nothing, has no education, and money is what has allowed him to have any kind of status. He is ruthlessly pragmatic about it. He's also not wrong about the fact that the gallery putting on free educational programmes when it is millions of dollars in debt is, uh, maybe not what it's top priority should be. Clearly this gallery has a lot of problems. But it strikes me that these free educational programmes may turn out to be important. After all, they're the sort of thing kids like he used to be would have really benefited from. Back in episode 1 (I think?) we were told that he has the money but is looking for a way into culture. He knows that he is lacking in this area. It's a source of embarrassment for him and an area he knows he needs to improve on. It makes sense he is defensive and clutches firmly to what he knows and what he knows works to maintain his sense of control in a world in which he is laughed at and perceived as ignorant and weak. He must have got that a lot growing up.

And he isn't a jerk! While his professional persona (as it were) may be overbearing, every single time he is with Dali, he is kind and interested and trying to do the right thing, even when he is torn between his instinct to help her born out of a sudden and deep attraction and his need for financial pragmatism and the demands of his father. He's a really interesting and nuanced character we've only just started to see.

As for Dali, I also think she's really well drawn and I don't think it's a simple case of her losing agency and becoming a damsel around Moo Hak. From episode 1 we see her as a profoundly lonely young woman who is academically stellar but detached from her family and who prefers staying up late with books to being with friends. She also has a complicated relationship with food. I hesitate to say she has an eating disorder, but it's clearly not healthy. In manner, she is always poised and calm and professional. When she returns to Korea, she has to deal with an absolutely humungous pile of total shit while dealing with grief and guilt over the death of her father. This is really, really big. She does it all calmly and politely and with absolutely infinite grace. It's also worth pointing out that she has inherited a gallery and while her academic background is in art and curatorship, there's a big difference between that and being able to be the director of a failing gallery. It's also noticeable how few people are on her side. Her relationship with her (adopted?) brother is not very close and she doesn't seem to have any friends in Korea apart from her deeply shady ex that she clearly has a real aversion to. Girl needs help and support! It doesn't make her any less strong. It seems to me that she is constantly wearing a facade - perhaps because of her upbringing in the highest echelons of Korean society? - and that is must take a collosal effort not to just scream into the void. Her dad just died, let's not forget! Honestly, it seems to me to be one of the greatest fantasies imaginable for a busy, talented, capable, strong woman who always has to be "perfect" and who is never allowed a moment to be emotional and real and messy, for that person to have someone who will step in and take charge and just for five minutes be someone who will defend her so she can take a break from defending herself and everything else. She's not a damsel but she is struggling and Moo Hak's acts of kindness and support are always done when there is the least in it for him. Buying her shoes does nothing for him. Taking over the gallery and paying off her creditors makes his life even more complicated. Sitting with her in a restaurant and trying to make sure she has somewhere to stay has nothing to do with her debt to him. In these respects of being there for her when she needs him, he is the only person in the drama actually doing that.

And finally, that the romance is unnecessary or forced: well, it is literally a romance drama. The romance between them is the point. The name of the show is them! So I don't really get this. They are very different and they had this sudden and profound attraction in Amsterdam that has affected them both and now they are dealing with the complications of that in their real lives. They suit each other very well. Moo Hak needs her restraining influence and someone to care about that has nothing to do with money and ambition. Dali needs someone to look after her with warmth and humour and food and physicality and not care that she is upper crust or knows about art. They will be very good for each other. And ultimately they make each other laugh. They get on. They can talk to each other. I think it's delightful!

#dali and the cocky prince #anyways I just felt like writing about them because I love them #and i actually think the drama is doing a great job with their characters

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athenawasamerf · 4 years

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Feminism in Egypt, Part 2

FGM

FGM has a long, bloody history with African and Arab women. Some people say it originated in Ancient Egypt; others lean more towards it being a Bedouin Arab tradition. I’m not here to discuss the origin story of one of the most horrific human rights infarctions on earth. I’m here to talk about the current feminist struggle against it.

FGM was outlawed in Egypt in June of 2008, and a 2014 survey showed that a whopping 92% of married women and girls between 15 and 49 years old have been subjected to FGM (I will talk more about the inclusion of 15 year olds in official surveys of married women in a post about child brides), and that 72% of these crimes were carried out by doctors. In 2008, a DHS survey of women and girls in the same age range showed that 63% of them were in support of FGM as a practice. Of those 63%, 60% cited husband preference for ‘cleaned’ girls, and 39% cited religious reasons. All of these are easily googleable facts, but these things always sound so clinical when they’re presented like this. Cold, sterile, detached. So, let’s get a little deeper into it, shall we?

Girls in Egypt are mutilated anywhere between birth and marriage, but mostly before the age of 15. These are children. Every single year, we have cases of babies, toddlers, children, young women dying from botched mutilations and infections, especially after the 2016 criminalisation of FGM practitioners. Parents will take their daughters to backwater clinics, or have ‘doula’s who have no medical experience of any kind visit them at home, and cut into the flesh of their young daughters with non-sterile equipment, often without anaesthesia.

I’ve heard and read first-hand accounts of girls who got topical anaesthesia that wore out halfway through. I’ve heard and read first-hand accounts of girls who were dragged, kicking and screaming, and held down by family and neighbours forcefully as their bodies were torn into. Of girls who bled for days, of girls who had to have their legs bound to each other for weeks, of girls who couldn’t stop screaming in pain every time they went to the bathroom, to complete apathy and even disgust and anger from their families, of girls who were snarled at for making noise while their bodies were being torn away on their own beds, of girls who still have constant pain over a decade later, of girls who hate themselves and hate their vulvas, and hate their lives. Of girls who are suicidal, of girls who are terrified of marriage, who have trust issues, who can’t handle the thought of anyone touching them there again, after the first time being so traumatic and painful and horrifying. All of this is done while the family, and even friends and neighbours, celebrate in joy. It’s even tradition in some rural areas to take all the female children of the family to get ‘fixed’ together, dressed in pretty dresses and fancy shoes.

I’ve also heard of women who are asexual due to trauma, whose husbands rape them continuously, who are abused for refusing sex, whose families disown them for being such a disgrace, whose husbands divorce them and leave them for dead, whose husbands marry multiple women besides them, and they are left to fend for themselves, unable to get a divorce and move on, and completely abandoned by the people they trusted the most. They’re told the angels will curse them all night for refusing sex, but what about their trauma? What about their feelings? What about them, as people? Nobody cares.

So, how did we get here? There are 3 main reasons.

The ’’religious’’ folk will cite a (weak) hadith as their proof that FGM is a good, healthy practice. It goes that the prophet saw a woman going to get her daughter cut, and he told her to ‘not cut severely, as that is better for the woman and more preferable to the husband’. Apart from any implications of misogyny in this hadith, it has been disputed multiple times, along with a couple others in support of FGM. You can read more about that here.

Regardless of the truth of FGM having Islamic support, the reality of the matter is that a huge amount of actual, real life Muslim people cite these hadiths as their reasoning to mutilate their daughters, and everyone sees that as completely justified. The truth of the matter is this: Someone put these hadiths into the public conscience knowing full well they will be used to abuse, maim, hurt, kill women for centuries. Whether that someone was prophet Muhammed himself or later scholars, no one can actually ever know.

The second, more indirectly religious and directly misogynistic reason, is to ensure ‘purity’. You see, as I’ve talked about before and as many of you already know, women in Islam and in MENA in general are seen and treated as property. The family’s honour lies between a woman’s thighs. A young girl who speaks to boys her age in the most innocent context possible can be subjected to house arrest, beatings, forced stopping of her education, even death, for daring to put the family’s honour in jeopardy. A girl who has a boyfriend, well...

In a society that places so much value not only on women’s virginity, but also on their complete removal and separation from the male sex at any cost, it’s not very surprising that tips and tricks like using FGM to ‘cull a woman’s sexual desire’ spread like wildfire. Girls are mutilated to make sure they don’t become wh**es. This is said frankly, openly, it’s common knowledge. If you refuse to hurt your child in this way, you will be met with disdain and disgust, and even wails of despair, with shock, with animosity. “Do you want her to become like a prostitute and ruin your family name? Do you want her to walk around uncontrolled? Don’t you know what shame she will bring on you?” These statements are directed at girls as young as... in the womb, if you show your dissent early enough.

And the final reason is the least of them to hide under religious pretences, and the most misogynistic: Because this is how men prefer their wives to be.

You might think when I say preference here, I mean it in the way I mean, “Oh, I personally prefer brunette hair,” but you would be sorely mistaken. By prefer here, I mean demand. I mean a man could force his grown wife, through physical force or through abuse, to mutilate her body for his satisfaction. I mean that men will sneer at un-mutilated women. I mean that men will beat their wives on their wedding night to within an inch of her life for ‘cheating’ them if the wives are not mutilated. I mean men will suspect their wives of adultery and murder them, which carries a reduced sentence of ‘time served during investigation’, just for the simple act of having intact genitals. I mean men will divorce their wives on their wedding night for being unharmed, for being whole. I mean men will act so entitled to women’s bodies that they will always have the assumption that the ‘product’ they are ‘buying’ is cut to taste, and they will become violent and aggressive and murderous if they find out this is not the case.

I personally don’t know whether or not I’ve been mutilated. With such high numbers in Egypt, the likely answer is yes, but I genuinely have no clue. I am not allowed to ask about these things, or I’ll be seen as a loose wh**re. My parents would beat me up and they still wouldn’t allow me the dignity of knowing whether my own body has been altered against my will. I don’t know if I’ll ever find out.

The feminists fighting constantly for tighter regulations, for harsher punishments, for longer sentences; these women are seen as the spawn of the devil. Accusations of loose morals are thrown their way day in and day out. Death threats and rape threats (’that’s what you want anyway isn’t it?’) are hurled at them from every direction. They are silenced. They are ridiculed. But they are prevailing. This year, the Egyptian president has decided to alter the FGM laws to cover loopholes, and possibly to increase enforcement. He has also altered the charge set to doctors who perform FGM which results in death from manslaughter to first or second degree murder.

The problem, however, remains in lack of reporting. Ever since the criminalisation of performing FGM in 2008, and the setting of punishments in 2016 as a minimum of three months’ jail time, to a maximum of 2 years, or a minimum of 1000EGP to a maximum of 5000EGP fines (63.71 to 318.53 USD), and until 2018, and possibly until today, not a single mutilator had been convicted.

Imagine being fined as little as 60 dollars for the permanent mutilation of a little girl’s body. And even that is not happening.

People refuse to report the monsters who do perform this, despite a 2012 gynaecology convention condemning the practice, and calling it an inhumane act, and stating quite forcefully that it is not a medical procedure, and that it is an infringement on the human rights of women and girls, which medicine and medical ethics do not condone. And yet, the public opinion remains the same: this is their business, it is not our place to intervene. It is not our place to get this fine young man thrown in jail, or fined, for performing a ‘cleaning’ procedure, and besides, wouldn’t you rather they had a medical professional perform it, rather than an uneducated woman, or a barber, or a butcher? It is not our place to report this family and tear them apart - what did they ever do to us that we may hurt them like this?

No one ever asks what little girls have ever done for us to fail them like this.

#egyptian feminism #radical feminism #RadFem #fgm #female genital mutilation #tw: violence #tw: rape #tw: abuse #tw: mentions of death #tw: misogynistic slurs #tw: fgm #feminism #anti-fgm #islam critical

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ultimateshixiongfuckertournament · 24 days

Text

Round 2, Match 4: Jiang Cheng vs Yoshikazu Miyano

Match 4 is between Jiang Cheng (shixiong: Wei Wuxian) from Mo Dao Zu Shi vs Yoshikazu Miyano (shixiong: Shuumei Sasaki) from Sasaki to Miyano

Propaganda under the cut (Miyano's propaganda is going first due to how long the Jiang Cheng propaganda got)

Yoshikazu Miyano:

A fudanshi who bonds with his senpai over BL. Sasaski actually fell for and confessed to Miyano first but Miyano is took his confession very seriously and made sure to sort his own feelings out before giving a proper response (which took like a year lol) beause he didn't want to be careless with Sasaki's feelings.

Jiang Cheng:

Clinged to WWX constantly for 7+ years, wanted to have WWX as his right hand man forever after becoming sect leader, cried after WWX left, cried when he discovered what WWX sacrificed for him, was TORN APART when it got explained to him that if they were more outwardly close knit, WWX might not have died

PROPAGANDA!! to start, i'm still very bitter about how fairy lost the sentient animal poll and i want to win this badly. very very badly. current stats are 50.6 in favour of jc but that's too less of a gap for me. jc should be winning this by a landslide, y'all hear me? anyways. starting with a class act, like the clown i am->

a few links ( because i'm chengxian trash, as always and i'd love if poll-guy could copy paste them on the og post): one, two, three, four (gif), five, six, seven (gif), eight (thoughts on different wavelengths), the absolute circles of them saving each other, the fucking golden core reveal scene. golden scene reveal part 2, jiang cheng will always forgive wei wuxian

to start with. jiang cheng is literally the picture of "i knew from the moment i met you that i'd spend a lifetime forgiving you".

the earliest dynamic of jiang cheng and wei wuxian is jiang cheng giving away his dogs (the only gift his father has ever given him, btw) because wei wuxian is scared of the dogs. tis only the start of it.

his father very obviously prefers his shixiong over him, his mother berates him for not being as good as wei wuxian and tells him his inheritance is in danger, and his sister (in my opinion) has more care for him (visibly. maybe jiang yanli doesn't show it because jc is an emotionally complicated purple grape, maybe because jc doesn't need it, or wei wuxian is traumatised but that's my opinion). but still. still. Jiang Cheng loves Wei Wuxian. so much. jealousy is like. the most tame response i can think of. and jiang cheng is proud of wei wuxian, okay? he'd believe his big brother if he'd said anything. want proof? well, here you go-> link

to paraphrase the link:

Jiang Cheng had just lost his family, his home, and his very golden core, and his older brother - his brilliant older brother who could fix anything, who could sneak wine into Cloud Recesses and defeat an ancient turtle nearly-god and make Jiang Cheng share a smile when Jiang Cheng’s mother was disappointed and furious at both of them - His big brother smiled and said, “I can fix this.”And Jiang Cheng believed him then, and believed him three months later when Wei Wuxian crawled out of the Burial Mounds (just the second miracle in three months), and believed him every day of the next seventeen(?) years until the pieces were shoved into place for him to see.

also. the circle these two go in protecting each other. (gif set by @sandushengshou), the 'if one of us is to die, then, i beg, let it be me' that they both do for one another in a seemingly neverending loop of sacrifice. via this post a la my lovely @backtoyunmeng

jiang cheng is a cannonically ruined woman archetype, justified via the countless posts you'll get in the top posts of jiang cheng tag. he keeps chenqing, wwx's flute in perfect condition even when he hates wei wuxian, even when wwx, if only indirectly, has a part in jiang yanli's murder and oof okay someone pointed out to him that he's known to have killed wei wuxian and he almost cries. he absolutely believes, with his whole heart, that wei wuxian lives even when the world is sure he doesnt. and it always read to me like, i'd know if he was dead. he's a part of my soul, so i'd know if he was dead. he can't be dead.

this is getting too long, so, to sum up, some absolute poetry by @jiangchengsjawline

#JC On The Other Hand Has His Entire Life Shaped By His Shixiong And Ended Up Cast As The Ruined Woman By The End

#jiang cheng though. wasn't able to fuck his shixiong but his shixiong definitely fucked with him

#hello?? the answer is Jiang cheng pls#he's the shixiongfucker or all shixiong fucker you wish you could be as pathetically in love with your shixiong as he is#chengxian

#i do not go here (chengxian) but the propaganda is incredibly correct they are insane abt each other#also sorry jiang cheng ik you're suffering but they are so funny to me#neway VOTE JIANG CHENG FOR CLEAR SKIN

#look I rarely go here#(here being chengxian)#but by GOD their lvoe compels me#they’re tragic and doomed and they love each other without knowing how to say it in words the other would understand#or in words at all because communication??? we don’t know her???

he didn't even think about sacrificing himself, and consequently his entire bloodline, his sect, pretty much everything that depends on him for his shixiong??????????

is this not convincing->

#had to vote jc though i have more feelings about chengxian#i think jc should have a huge gege kink

#like. jiang cheng should win the entire tournament hands down period

#yoshikazu miyano #sasaki shuumei #sasaki to miyano #jiang cheng #wei wuxian #chengxian #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #the untamed

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skellebonez · 3 years

Note

You like soulmate aus? 44 with a soulmate au where there are countdown timers for important events and if you concentrate you can see the lifespan of your romantic and platonic soulmates except immortals. MK realizes he can see Red Son's life countdown and he only has 1 year left

ANON I WANT YOU TO KNOW THIS WAS THE SADDEST PROMPT I HAVE EVER BEEN GIVEN AND I HAD TO TAKE IT OUT OF THE WAIT LIST TO FILL IT ASAP. Just. Damn. You came for my heart and crushed it. @kitkat1003 you helped make this sadder so I wanna make sure you see this.

WARNING: I mean, look at the prompt. It's gonna be a depressing read regardless. Read the tags for a major spoiler if you want to know about the end in advance.

The Lunar New Year special is mentioned in passing but NO SPOILERS.

Why are you still awake?

MK never made it a point to concentrate and look at his soulmate timers unless he really felt he had to, tempting as it may have been. Especially not their life countdown timers. The colors one saw differed from from viewer to viewer, some people even saw only one color in varying shades, and no one knew why the colors were chosen the way they were for each individual. But to MK the timers were a whole swath of colors.

It was easy with Mei, her platonic bond with his allowing him to see the bright green (green for all platonic bonds, not just Mei) countdowns to major events (some bad but usually good, like a major race being announced or taking part in a game tournament spontaneously). The familial blue bond he had with Pigsy and Tang went much the same, as well as Sandy's own platonic bond. He didn't learn that immortal beings had their own color, brilliant gold tinted in whatever the proper bond was until he met Sun Wukong, his gold-green timer slowly changing into a gold-blue bond of family found.

It wasn't until Red Son that MK realized his romantic bonds were a brilliant red (which, in retrospect, could have been seen as funny), shining brilliant and bright and almost blinding him when he caught sight of him properly from far above him (and it nearly made him fall before Wukong forced him to, the traitor). He'd mistaken it for some kind of antagonistic bond before he learned that that was also a type of platonic soulmate. So that was something he shoved deep deep deeeeeep down inside to think about later, especially since a lot of people now a days rarely went after their first romantic soulmate and instead waited for a platonic to change in time.

He never told anyone.

It also wasn't until he tested concentrating on timers with Wukong, for fun and out of sheer curiosity if he really was super immortal, that he realized that immortal's life countdown timer just looked like a mass of rapidly changing numbers screaming in confusion and he decided to never do that again.

Until... the Lunar New Year celebration.

He was curious, scared, and Red Son was there and he let his curiosity get the better of him. He wanted to see if Red was still immortal and if his timer did the same thing.

361 days, 17 hours, 8 minutes, and 42 seconds.

That couldn't have been right.

He tried again.

361 days, 17 hours, 7 minutes, and 30 seconds.

And again.

361 days, 16 hours, 56 minutes, and 45 seconds.

And one last time, after everything was over.

361 days, 12 hours, 1 minute, 29 seconds.

Red Son... had less than a year left to live. Red Son, The Boy Sage Prince, the one who almost defeated Sun Wukong on his journey and eternal thorn in his side... was going to die.

MK hadn't ever really imagined that he could die. He had believed that Red Son was immortal, and maybe he still was. There were ways to kill immortals who weren't all powerful Monkey Kings. But he'd always imagined that, maybe, eventually, they could possibly at least work things out and get to know each other eventually after what happened with WBS.

Now he was plagued with the thought 'what if I'm the one who kills him' and he couldn't handle that so he made up his mind then and there and before Red Son could leave he grabbed him by his jacket collar in front of everyone and changed that thought to 'fuck it' and kissed him and pulled away and looked DBK in the eye and announced "I've known Red is my romantic soulmate since day 1 and I am not wasting anymore time with stupid feuds".

Apparently that was just enough to startle the other man into not attacking and to send Sun Wukong into a frenzy of cackling "I KNEW IT"s.

Red Son turned as red as his jacket on his cheeks and just looked at MK in awe. They had-

361 days, 10 hours, 2 minutes, 16 seconds.

Red hadn't left his parents, not immediately, but the sudden relationship that have been revealed between the successor to the Monkey King and the son of the Demon Bull King had forced everything to a standstill. DBK wanted revenge, PIF wanted her husband to be happy, Sun Wukong wanted to be retired, and all three of them were too stubborn to not insist the two men court each other anyway because tradition dictated that when a romantic soulmate pair revealed their bond no one could force them apart.

352 days, 14 hours, 34 minutes, 18 seconds.

MK felt back constantly checking Red Son's timer, but he didn't want to waste a single second. They had less than a year. He'd seen just how smart and resourceful and, as much as he didn't want to admit it at first, protective and caring for the people he had grown close to he was.

By the end of the month they had moved into Red Son's apartment (he had an apartment?).

322 days, 2 hours, 28 minutes, 50 seconds.

MK learned that Red Son was a fantastic chef, on par with Pigsy even. His food was spicy but over time he learned that MK would suffer through food that was hurting him just to try his food and make it less so. Just for him.

315 days, 2 hours, 45 minutes, 34 seconds.

They kissed for the second time well after they had moved in together. Despite rushing into this they had both been too nervous and flustered to do more than hold hands and sleep side by side in different blankets.

They started sharing a blanket by month 2.

292 days, 8 hours, 1 minute, 12 seconds.

DBK was still pissed at Wukong. No one thought his grudge would ever fully disappear. But he and PIF had stopped attacking. For now. For their son. The best thing they had ever done for him was let him be with his soulmate without fighting.

MK never felt more guilty than when he realized he was never going to tell them. He tried once, after they moved in. After he had truly fallen in love with Red Son. He'd cried too hard to get the words out and PIF had looked torn between telling him to leave and comforting him before she put a shockingly gentle hand on his shoulder.

He could never tell them.

267 days, 18 hours, 59 minutes, 2 seconds.

Red got along amazingly well with Mei and Sandy. The three of them together were a mechanical nightmare for anyone on their bad side and the most amazing team for anyone they made anything for. Red was also the new favorite among Sandy's cats. No one was surprised.

He and Red ended up adopting a little one eyed kitten they found outside Pigsy's Noodles. They named her Bao-Bao. They loved her.

245 days, 7 hours, 29 minutes, 34 seconds.

Naturally nothing was going to be calm for the Monkie Kid. Eventually demons far and wide came to attack either him or the city. The only difference was that, now, he had Red Son by his side.

Every time Red took a hit MK felt no fear. He knew that would not be the hit that killed his soulmate. His soulmate had-

208 days, 19 hours, 78 minutes, 21 seconds.

Red and Tang were fast friends. Red and Mei and Sandy were faster. It had taken longer for Pigsy but he came around fast enough.

Sun Wukong, though. Even after 5 months he was still slightly tense and terse and short with Red. But he had been coming around, slowly. Just like with everyone else, Wukong was hard pressed to open up to anyone who wasn't MK.

They visited Flower Fruit Mountain from time to time, and it was one day when Red had wandered off to enjoy the scenery at MK and Wukong had heard the pained screech of a small monkey in the distance.

When they saw Red calming the little one down, tending to it's wound as best he could, MK saw Wukong properly smile at him for the first time. Soon they had-

157 days, 22 hours, 28 minutes, 59 seconds.

There were still fights. DBK and Sun Wukong didn't get along. But things were better.

There were family game nights. Red and Pigsy and Wukong cooked together. Bao-Bao had grown into a beautiful Tortoise Shell cat (with tortitude included). Everyone promised to try to get along and things were going well. Red Son and MK were truly in love, it seemed. At least MK was. He was certain Red was as well.

That's why MK asked him to marry him that night.

Red said yes.

140 days, 19 hours, 34 minutes, 34 seconds.

Was 7 months too fast? Yes. Did MK care? No. Did anyone object?

Only the demons that showed up to fight. They were taken care of quickly. DBK was not entirely happy about how fast things were but for his only son it seemed he would not allow anything to ruin the day.

He'd changed over the 7 months. Not entirely, not enough for MK to completely forgive him for everything since he had awoken. But seeing him punch a demon into the stratosphere for Red Son was a pretty good marker of how much he was trying.

6 days, 37 hours, 8 minutes, 12 seconds.

Everything was amazing for those few months together. They fought demons. They kissed. They spent time with their family. No longer two families but one family.

Then Macaque came back.

MK had thought he was gone for good, he had been so quiet. But apparently he was planning something the whole time.

Something to kill an immortal.

That was when MK learned he was immortal. And wasn't that ironic?

Macaque had meant to stab him. MK didn't move in time.

Red Son jumped in front of him and there was red.

Macaque wasn't seen again after what MK did to him.

They bandaged the small wound in Red Son's shoulder. They would find a way to fix this. They had to. MK knew what would kill Red Son now, it wasn't that he wasn't immortal it was whatever poison had been meant for him. He knew people had beaten death clocks before.

He had to try.

5 days, 12 hours, 29 minutes, 56 seconds.

5 days, 12 hours, 29 minutes, 55 seconds.

5 days, 12 hours,. 29 minutes, 54 seconds.

That was what MK saw when Red Son coughed up blood for the first time.

4 days, 1 hour, 12 minutes, 13 seconds.

Sun Wukong found out where Macaque had gotten the poison.

There was no cure.

Red coughed more red and MK screamed at the Monkey King to look again. Do something. Anything. Anything...

They didn't see him or DBK for over 2 days.

1 day, 17 hours, 34 minutes, 14 seconds.

1 day, 17 hours, 34 minutes, 13 seconds.

MK watched the countdown timer tick down.

"Why are you still awake?" Red Son had asked him as he held his head in his lap.

"I don't want to miss any more seconds with you," MK answered softly.

"Am I going to... die?" Red Son asked softly.

"Not if Monkey King does what I know he can do," MK answered again. "I know he'll be back soon. I know it. I-"

"MK! MK I'M BACK!" Sun Wukong yelled through the apartment, bursting into their room looking disheveled and like he hadn't stopped moving since he left. But smiling. DBK looked much the same as he came through the door behind him.

"I think we found something!"

1 day, 17 hours, 32 minutes, 2 seconds.

MK prayed that Sun Wukong was right. He was Sun Wukong. He had to be.

1 day, 17 hours, 32 minutes... 3 seconds.

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oyukythehumandisaster · 3 years

Text

Dream and Wilbur, Modern AU

Reminder that I do not know English and I am using a translator, sorry for any errors that may be

WARNING: Graphic thoughts about violence, suicidal thoughts, characters dehumanize themselves, rotting bodies mentioned, toxic relationships, manipulation mentioned. If there is anything else that needs to be noted, please give a notice so that I can include it. Proceed with care.

Wilbur loves his father, loves his brothers and loves his friends. Wilbur shines through his musical talent and is known for his charisma. His father looks up to him with pride, his twin tells him secrets he hasn't even told Philza, his younger siblings see him as their hero, his friends rejoice when he's around.

Wilbur is the perfect son, the perfect student, the perfect brother, the perfect friend. Wilbur talks and everyone listens. And at first it was good, it was good to feel like a hero in everyone's story. But it's too much, it's always too much.

He cries himself to sleep, he's given up playing his guitar in favor of studying, people are always looking to him to talk about their problems as if he has the answer to everything. Wilbur is a sham, a paper hero in a story he himself created and from which he can no longer escape. And he can't tell his brothers because they will hate him, and he can't tell his friends because they will abandon him, and he can't tell his father because Wilbur is a coward and his greatest fear has always been to disappoint Philza.

How do you tell your friends that sometimes you feel like tearing them apart piece by piece every time they look for him with worry? How do you tell your brothers that you constantly think of all the ways you could take advantage of their naiveté for your own gain? How do you tell your father that you want to exploit everything and watch the suffering of the people who annoy you daily with a smile on your face? How do you tell your family the darkest parts of you, knowing that they will abandon you as soon as they realize how rotten you are? How do you tell them that you want to fall off a cliff and be torn apart until there is nothing left of you, until you no longer feel anything?

The answer is: you don't tell them. Instead, you watch people and look for someone as horrible and ruthless as you are, and you convince them to show you their worst side through your words because you were always good at manipulating people. And once you get the monster out of the other person, you show them your own monster and hope they understand.

And oh, Dream understands. He understands better than anyone else, because he's also observant and he's also ruthless and sometimes he also wants to tear apart everyone who gets in his way.

And Dream loves his family, and he loves his friends and he loves and loves and loves and loves. And Dream is like Wilbur, because loving doesn't get rid of all the rotten parts that are in your body. It's an infection that eats you up inside until everything human in you is gone and, when you look in the mirror, you can't recognize yourself anymore.

Then they both talk and talk and talk. They are not shy about the details, not when they finally found someone who would stay not in spite of their monstrosity, but because of it.

Wilbur convinces Dream to smoke, teaches him to dance, teaches him how you can convince people to do what you want, sings to him about night horrors and death fantasies. Dream gives Wilbur a gun and teaches him the most effective ways to kill someone, writes poems about starving children and families consumed by fire, teaches him how to execute a flawless plan to achieve your goals even if it is at the expense of the happiness of others .

Many times they don't talk at all, they just sit on the edge of a rooftop and hug and try to talk each other out of jumping.

And sometimes they whisper about dreams of singing on stage or writing a famous book, about the meanings of flowers or how beautiful the stars are, about how much they love their family and how afraid they are of being completely alone.

Their relationship is young and starts in the worst way, but they manage. They both know that they are likely to end in disaster, that someday fury and fear and hatred will make them attack each other like animals until there is nothing left of the other, that they light the match and the explosion takes them both away. Or they may gain the courage to talk about their problems to someone else, one of them may get the professional help they need and pull the other toward healing and love and hope. It's too early to tell whether they will fall together or fly to heaven.

For now, Dream and Wilbur sit side by side and talk about everything and nothing at the same time, and don't think about the future. And for now, that's enough.

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thoughtsbynyx · 3 years

Text

here’s something that might cost me a good half of my following 🧍🏽‍♀️

HOT TAKE / UNPOPULAR OPINION 🏃🏽‍♀️💨

i might’ve missed something when watching ATLA but....

WHY ARE WE PRAISING IROH???

like-

he held siege of a CAPITOL city for 600 days

granted he withdrew the siege but only after his son was killed.... it took him personally losing to go look for enlightenment and atone for his crimes (if he ever did)

was an active member and “supporter” of a war that lasted nearly 100 years before he left the army

sure he seems sorry about what he did later in the show, but given how smart and strategic he is... mans HAD to have known what he was doing wasn’t right (even if he was conditioned into believing it was for a good cause..)

the way the storyline was going, he was line for the throne and must’ve seen how damaging the war was for both sides (FN v everyone else) like he has military experience there’s no way he didn’t see a family or town that wasn’t torn apart by the Fire Nation on his way to Ba Sing Se

(like what Zuko went through in Zuko Alone both went through a somewhat traumatizing and eye awakening experience, and went of on their own to clear their head and think about what they’re doing next)

he clearly favored Zuko and in a way kind of groomed him

like we’ve seen that Zuko has been compassionate and somewhat humane even while being violent and harsh to others, so when he suggests 𝑛𝑜𝑡 doing serious harm and just being merciful to his 14 year old sister (who was also raised by a parental figure to be a child solider) “nope, she’s crazy and she needs to go down (telling this 16 YEAR OLD KID that he needs to be strong enough to 💀 his younger sister in the name of justice when it’s clear who was pulling the strings in her situation, and it wasn’t Azula just to be clear)

also it’s pretty obvious that Zuko doesn’t understand the proverbs that Iroh is constantly talking in (i think it’s because Zuko is Autistic but I digress) and instead of being direct and talking to him in ways he’ll understand (like the few times he has actually done it) he continues speaking like this and doesn’t see how irrational and irritating it could be for Zuko to try to translate whatever the heck he’s saying

he waited until a group of (powerful)TEENAGERS AND PRETEENS to come in before he and his merry band of old men decided “hey, let’s go and help defeat the fire lord….. from 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 you got this buddies 😃”

like i’m pretty sure none of them had a family or something to return to… what’s stopping you from risking it all, not like you had a lot of time left anyway

plus like we see in real life the adults who definitely have the resources and experience to end suffering in the world and/or their respective countries, decide to let the younger generation go in and fix their mess while they loot from the sidelines

at the end of the show (the last 10 minutes of which are ᴀʙsᴏʟᴜᴛᴇ ʙᴜʟʟsʜ-) iroh is whisked away to a tea shop in Ba Sing Se while his 16 year old nephew is the new ruler of a country (without having even been in it in 3 years minus that first half of Book 3)

sure he may want to finally relax or live out his dream serving other people (like the job of a world leader) but Uncle “my nephew senses are tingling, must get to him stat” Iroh would not have just up and left (especially without seeing Zuko’s coronation that he played a key role in getting Zuko there in the first place)

Credits I give to other tumblrs about Anti Iroh content that fills my spite (and each name linked to the exact post i’m talking about) all of which can be found in the #anti iroh tag both recent and top

a-mysteriouys-bastard

wish-i-was-fiction

strawberrymilkyumyum

sayruq

klm-zoflorr

losergrl25

taxfrauddyke (ID: 1 edited twitter post staying: “am not against Zuko. but his stans are all so annoying. God Bless” A second edited twitter post says: “am against Iroh. He is so annoying. God Bless”

catboyjinpa & catboyjinpa again (it’s two different posts lol)

deandevil

cattaralol

transdock

zoryuphobic & zoryuphobic again (different posts tho)

proxissima

#atla #zuko #general iroh #anti iroh #i read towards the sun by muffinlance and it filled my small spite against the old man #i couldn't resist #let me hyperfixate in peace #atla meta #i think #atla iroh #hot take #i’ll see myself out

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skylarmoon71 · 3 years

Text

Tadashi Oneshot (Big Hiro 6)

"(Y/N) do you wanna come with us to the cafe, Hiro is celebrating our newest rescue." Honey Lemon's offer was tempting, but you denied.

"It's okay, you guys have fun. I got midterms next week. Gonna try and shove as much information into my brain."

"Hah, if you were a genius you wouldn't have to." Hiro taunts. You just grab him into a headlock, and now he's struggling. He's at an obvious disadvantage with the height difference. "I don't need to be a genius to beat you up short stuff."

When he finally gets free he's fixing his hair with a little growl.

"Just wait until I get taller!" He hollers. You laugh, and he's running off with Fred and Baymax. Wasabi and Gogo are close behind lecturing them about crossing the street recklessly. Honey Lemon is just beaming as she follows. Tadashi is the one who stops to look your way. The moment his brown eyes meet yours you look away, turning your back and heading in the opposite direction.

"Is that really the reason, or are you just trying to avoid me." You tense, stopping in your tracks. You just clench the bag by its straps.

"I don't know what you mean." It's said so coldly, and you just continue walking, not looking back or even hearing him out. When you're at a reasonable distance you can finally breathe better. It's then that you chance a look back, and Tadashi is still standing there with a solemn look on his face. There's obvious guilt, and you don't pay it much mind turning the corner.

You were a part of their friend group. No, you weren't a genius or even a hero like the rest of them. You were just a friend. You thought it was awesome, not many people could say they were friends with Sanfransokyo's superhero squad. You were just an average teen, enjoying college life. Trying to at least.

After the fire at the University, everything changed. The man behind the crime was caught and locked up, and no one was hurt. Tadashi wasn't hurt. Even though that was the case, you were angry at him. When he stormed into the building it exploded, everyone assumed he was gone, but luckily he'd gotten trapped in a backroom that was built to handle high temperatures. You'd never forget that day.

The fire department stormed the building and recovered his body that was thankfully unharmed. All he'd received was a small burn on his right arm. But for you, it left a lot more than a battle scar. Tadashi had been your friend for years, even when you were kids he was always considered the level headed one. He had to be with his parents gone, and you knew he needed to be the example for his younger brother. You were two years younger than Tadashi. It could have been the fact that he was older that you always admired him. But as you started to grow, that admiration turned into a crush, and that crush formed love. You were in love with him, probably long before you even fully understood what the word meant.

So that day when he rushed into a flaming building, you were just a couple feet outside, and the moment the explosion went off, you felt like your heart had been ripped right out of your chest. You couldn't speak, move, breathe..

Discovering that he was not only alive but fairly unharmed, it was easily the best news you got that day. But since that day, you've never been able to look him in the eyes. Whenever you saw him that dreadful feeling returned, it was like you were being suffocated. Rather than confront those negative feelings, you were trying to avoid it, except Tadashi wasn't an idiot.

Three months passed, of course he would notice. You made sure to never be alone with him. As a group, you could manage, and luckily no one else picked up on your distance. For now, you needed time to sort through your feelings. If you could get over how much you felt for him, maybe you could return to being friends.

"I promise I'll always be there (Y/N). We're best friends after all." A childish promise when you were young. It was ridiculous to cling onto something like that.

~~~~

"Food." Your stomach had been grumbling for the last half hour, and you were so in tune to the tv show that you were ignoring it. The buzzing of your phone made your eyes shift. It was a text from Hiro.

"Can you stop by, I wanna show you my newest upgrade to Baymax. "

You were about to respond but another message popped up.

"Don't forget the gummies." you giggled responding and tucking the device into your pocket. Now you really needed to get food.

It took about fifteen minutes to get there. You stepped out of our car, tucking the pack of gummies under your arm as you tried to balance your own meal. Locking your car, you headed into the building, stopping when you got to Tadashi's door. You opened it.

"Hey Hiro you better pay me back for the gummies cause I nearly dropped my chicken for your stupid-" your words stop mid way. Tadashi is standing in the room, having turned when he heard your voice. You placed your food and Hiro's on the table, swallowing.

"S-Sorry I..Hiro said he wanted to show me something so I just dropped by, but I can come back later." you don't want to be in here alone with him, you can't.

"(Y/N)." you're still facing him, and it's hard to not look at him.

"I guess it's harder for you to look at me now. Some of the girls have said this scar is cool, but most people aren't as impressed." Your brows knit at his words. He's trying to play it off as a joke, but there's a sadness that reaches his usually bright chocolate orbs.

"You..you really think it's because of a stupid scar." You're angry now, furious. Was his opinion that low of you that you'd shun him for a wound he got trying to help someone.

"BASTARD!!" Tadashi's is completely thrown by your words, and he can see it now, the sheer anger. "Stupid stupid stupid!!" your screaming, and Tadashi takes a step forward, not prepared at all for your outburst. When he gets closer he can see the tears, and it hurts him to see you so torn.

"Why are you-"

"YOU'RE SO SELFISH WHY WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT!!!" He reaches out to touch you, maybe try and calm you down but you shove him back. "You could have died and you just left me. Y-You didn't even care about Hiro..What would he have done, you're his only brother. Y-You just ran into the fire like you were some type of bullet proof vest! You didn't care!!! You don't care one bit about anything!! I hate you! I HATE YOU!!!"

Now it was starting to make sense. How could he not realize before. You were scared.

Terrified was more like it.

"(Y/N)..." He should have been more understanding of your feelings. Even Hiro was pissed with him when it all happened. It wasn't like he planned for that. It was somewhat of a reflex, he couldn't help it. "I hate you.." you mumble, dropping to your knees, Tadashi went down with you, pulling you into his arms. This entire misunderstanding was solely your fear of losing him. He should have put it together sooner.

You'd known each other forever. Making such a decision without considering the residual effect it would have not just on his family but also his friends. At the end everyone was far more happy that he survived, but it could have just as easily turned bad.

"I'm so sorry (Y/N). I should have done things differently." helping people had always been something he wanted to do. It's a bit impossible to help if you're not there though. Risking his life like that, it was reckless. In a way he acted the same he'd constantly told his brother not to. Impulsive. The sincerity in his eyes, you could see it. This was the first time in a while that you'd been able to really look at him. He gave a small smile, and you returned it.

"S-Sorry I called you a bastard." Tadashi laughed, wiping at your cheeks.

"I think I deserved it. So no harm done."

Now that you were no longer high on the adrenaline of the situation, you felt a bit vulnerable. Tadashi was so close. "You know..I've been thinking about a lot of things since then. These past few months I've come to realize that you aren't just a friend (Y/N). At least..not to me." you held his gaze, unsure of what response was right. His knuckles brushed the last of your tears away, and you pulled in a breath at the way his eyelids lowered. He bit his lower lip, and you could see he was evaluating something.

"Tadash-"

"Shhh..just let me..I just need to.." he didn't finish his statement, just leaned in. His kiss was so sweet, tender. Just like him. He didn't put too much pressure, or hold you down. They way he held you left so much room for you to move away if you really needed to. That's the last thing you were thinking though. You leaned in, hands gripping the front of his cardigan, tugging him forward. He took the initiative, slipping a hand into your hair as he continued to kiss you. The sound of a camera clicking is what made you pull apart. You both separated, and Hiro was standing behind the wall with his phone. He smirked. "Took you guys long enough. I hope you brought a lot of gummies, I should be given a medal honestly. " Tadashi glared, and it dawned on you that he must have set this whole thing up.

"When I get my hands on you!!" Hiro was running out the door laughing, and you could tell Tadashi wanted to go after him, but you took his arm, and he halted.

"I..I love you Tadashi. I always have." It took so many years to finally admit it, but when he smiled, and raised you off the floor, wrapping his hand around your waist, you could have melted on the spot.

"I love you too (Y/N). So much.'' you grinned, pulling him in for another kiss which he returned happily.

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petri808 · 3 years

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Inukag Royalty Au *in honor of Tanabata coming up, it was worked into the chapter 😊

“Oh, look Rin, there’s a traveling marionette show today. Do you want to watch?” She and Kagome had been wandering around the marketplace when they stumbled onto it.

“Yeah!” The child squealed in delight. “I’ve seen them before and they’re really good!”

“I think we got here just in time,” Kagome scanned for a seat. “There,” she pointed, “let’s sit down before it starts.”

It was quite amazing to see this group of traveling entertainers. Such troops would pass through her own kingdom, but Kagome was rarely allowed to leave the castle to watch them. From what she could see on their signs, they put on different shows for adults with a variety of acts, and puppet shows for the children, staying for a few days before moving onto the next town. The story they were about to perform was a classic tale of the star-crossed lovers Orihime and Hikoboshi. It was cute, albeit a bittersweet tale of eternal longing. Just as the show was getting ready to start, Kagome felt a body sit down beside her. She glanced over with her peripheral to make sure they weren’t a problem and noticed a familiar set of claws on the persons hands.

“Prince?” Kagome whispered not wanting to draw attention. “What are you doing here?”

“Miroku and I saw you two,” Inuyasha whispered back.

Kagome leaned forward a tiny bit and noticed Miroku on the other side of Inuyasha who nodded in recognition. “I see…”

“We we’re bored,” Inuyasha threw in, “so decided to join you.”

The comment made Kagome chuckle, which then caught Rin’s attention, who looked over and saw the men. The child’s eyes lit up at seeing her uncle and in her excitement, she got off her seat and quickly plopped herself onto Inuyasha’s lap.

“Guess I’m just a chair now,” he chuckled too. "Behave and watch the show or I’ll kick you off my lap.”

“I’m always a good girl,” the child retorted with a grin before turning back to the stage.

And she was. Rin sat enthralled by the whole production. They really were as good as she’d portrayed to Kagome. From the quality of the marionettes to the actor’s voice work, they truly pulled you into the story. But for the adults, it brought on a different wave of emotions, at least it did for Kagome. While the story was beautiful, she could identify with Princess Orihime’s longing for the one she’d fallen in love with despite her father’s rules… and to be torn apart because of it… At least, the Princess in the tale got to see her love once a year. Kagome won’t be able to do the same. She didn’t notice the small frown growing on Inuyasha’s face, because she avoided looking in his direction. He was her Hikoboshi, but she didn’t want him to notice the moisture clouding her eyes or realize how much the story was having an effect on her.

Once the final act was complete, the puppeteers came out from behind the curtain to bow to the audience’s wild applause. It was a great success for most including Rin who was clapping and bouncing on her uncle’s lap with excitement. Kagome was happy the child enjoyed the performance even though it took a toll on her.

“I love this story…” both Kagome and Inuyasha mumble at the same time, causing them to stiffen and turn to face the other.

“You do?” Inuyasha questioned.

“It’s sweet,” Kagome responded with heat coloring her cheeks. “Even though I feel bad for them.”

“Me too.” Inuyasha mumbled. “It’s not fair.”

Her eyes slightly widen, fully understanding what he was feeling in that moment. But as much as she would have loved to say more, Kagome knew she couldn’t, not in public like this.

“What’s not fair?”

Leave it to Rin to bring them back to the present.

“Oh, um,” Kagome quickly gave her attention to the little girl. “What uncle Inu means is it’s sad that Orihime and Hikoboshi only get to see each other once a year.”

After a brief pause, the child’s eyes widened. “Ohhhh,” Rin acknowledged her understanding. “Yeah, that’s not very fair. But at least they found someone.” She turned around and looked up. “Isn’t that a good thing uncle Inu?”

Again, the innocence of a child worked wonders for lightening the mood.

“Yes,” Inuyasha smiled down at his niece. “It is a good thing.” But his eyes drifted towards Kagome as he continued. “I’m sure Hikoboshi appreciates all the time he gets to spend with his Orihime.”

For several seconds the pair hold a gaze with one another. No words needed to communicate a sense of longing despair. Kagome may have been painfully aware of Inuyasha’s insinuation, but so was Miroku. The princes guard cleared his throat loudly, breaking the moment. “Inuyasha, we should get back to our patrols.” He spoke matter of fact.

“Right,” the hanyo grumped. Miroku constantly warned him about letting his true feelings slip, and even though he knew his friend was just looking out for him, Inuyasha didn’t need to like it. He sighed. “Okay Rin, time to get off. Uncles gotta go back to work.”

“Okay!” Rin jumped off his lap and stood next to Kagome who’d also risen to her feet. “We should finish our shopping and get back to the castle too,” she took hold of the child’s hand. “Say goodbye to your uncle Rin.”

“Bye uncle Inu!” She waved as the pair made their way back into the throng of market goers.

For the rest of the day, Kagome pushed aside the incident in the marketplace. Why think about it when it would only make her sadder at her circumstances, especially since for Rin it had been a fun experience hanging out with her uncle. She didn’t want the child to see that side of life for as long as possible. Even at dinner, Inuyasha was quieter than usual, but Kagome didn’t want to assume anything, so she went about her routines like normal pretending everything was fine. Sometimes it was easier to ignore reality. That is until Rin was already tucked into bed and Kagome headed towards the library to get some reading done. If there was one thing that could take her mind off most things it entailed drowning her thoughts in an academic book.

Most of the time.

Of all the stories that troop could have chosen for a children's play, why a sad love story? Why not a fanciful fairytale like a prince saving a princess from an evil villain or an adventurer searching for treasure and fame? But it wouldn’t be fair to pin all her woes on the performers. The Tanabata story was a popular one after all. Kagome sighed as she shifted in her seat to pull her legs up and under her body. The book she'd chosen was about medicinal herbs because she was curious about useful treatments. She'd hoped the interest would be enough to pull her away from thinking about the play, but it wasn't working. Maybe she just needed to give herself more time to process everything. 'Or maybe you need to do the opposite and stop thinking about anything!' Kagome chided herself. She really did need to stop letting her emotions control her. 'You're supposed to be hiding out here, remember?!'

It was the sound of approaching footsteps that caused Kagome to stop reading and look up from her book. Was it a guard? Nope, just Inuyasha.

“Oh, good, you’re here,” Inuyasha dropped onto the couch next to her. “I didn’t know who else to turn to.”

“Inuyasha? What’s wrong?” She put the book down when she saw the anger brimming in his eyes. “Did something happen?”

The prince let out an annoyed sigh. “I just had a huge fight with my dad.”

“A fight? Over what?”

“You.”

“Me?!” Her eyes widened. “Did I do something wrong?!”

“No, no, not you,” he grabbed her hands. “It’s all me. I… I-I told him— I told him that I refuse to honor the agreement to marry someone else. He wouldn’t even tell me who she is, so how would I ever be okay with it? I just can’t! Not when I’m already in love…”

Kagome swallowed back hard. “You are?”

His grip tightened, gaze turned serious and focused. “I told him I was in love with you. Kagome I can’t deny that anymore no matter how much I tried.”

“But you know we can’t—”

“I know, I know, it’s crazy, but after that story…” Inuyasha let go of her hands for a moment to gesticulate. “I just couldn’t stop thinking about it! I told him I’d rather stay single for the rest of my life if it meant still being around you… even if that’s all I get to have. I just want to stay in your life in any way I can.”

Kagome didn’t know what to say. With all her heart she wished it could work, but knowing she too was living a lie that she couldn’t reveal coupled with such a major potential for scandal… her voice lowered in hesitation. “Inu this is crazy…”

“Do you love me?” Is all Inuyasha blurted out.

“Yes—” she spoke from the heart, “but—”

Inuyasha took her hands again and brought them to his chest. “Then that’s enough for me.”

Despite his efforts to reassure her, Kagome couldn't be happy about this declaration of love. She'd heard some of the whispers starting around the castle about their forbidden relationship. What if someone started to talk? What if someone started to question her true origins? All it would take is someone mentioning to the wrong person the woman in the castle who'd stolen the prince’s attention. And what about the royal family? How will they treat her now? Will they see her as a jezebel? A woman who’d infiltrated their life to cause problems?? Kagome shook her head. “But there must be consequences!” She knew all too well as a hypocrite, the rippling damages that could occur from breaking such trusts. “You don’t just break an agreement like that without consequences.”

“Nothing’s gonna happen to you, I give you, my word. As for me, I can handle my dad. He was angry but believes he can make it work, probably honor the rest of the deal just minus the marriage part.”

“Which was?”

“In exchange for the marriage, we guaranteed to protect that kingdom. They’re smaller than us, so they really have no choice but to take the amended deal because it at least assures them of safety.”

Kagome was so torn in that moment about what to do. She couldn't tell him the truth yet, not because she didn't trust him, but because she didn't want to burden him with it. If anyone were to find out who she really was, they might notify her parents and her life at the palace would truly be over with. It was selfish, but could anyone blame her? This was the first time in her life she's experienced freedom and happiness. Ugh, why’d she have to fall in love with Inuyasha? Why’d Inuyasha have to fall in love with her? Is fate always so cruel? First the idea of an arranged marriage, but now to be stuck in a forbidden one. Was she cursed? Were they both cursed?

“Y-You’re sure your father won’t hold this against me? Because I-It wasn’t planned. I never intended for any of this to happen.” The tears had begun to fall down Kagome’s cheeks at the enormous weight levied onto her shoulders.

“Neither had I,” Inuyasha wiped at the tears and cradled her cheek. “Neither of us could have controlled what our hearts desired.”

“But I’m scared Inu…”

“I swear on my life nothing will happen to you and if it comes to it, we’ll run away, far away and hide just me and you.” He leaned their foreheads together. “I don’t care about my title. I just want to be with you.”

“I wanna be with you too,” Kagome breathed out.

“Then have faith in our destiny.” Inuyasha tilted Kagome’s face up and swept his lips over hers, earning a shivering sigh. He then centered and placed pressure into a deeper kiss.

Kagome melted into the kiss as her fingers moved up and gripped to his shirt. Let her fears be damned in that moment, for if this earned her banishment in the end, just tasting his lips this once… she could die happy knowing she’d felt love. It was more than she ever thought she’d achieve in this gilded life.

“I’ll try,” she whispered an honest answer. “In you… I’ll believe…”

#inukag #inukag fan fic #inukag fan fiction #inuyasha #kagome higurashi #inukag au #royalty au #inuyasha x kagome #inukago #ch 5 #the irony of fate #petri808

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