Calliope

Black 🇳🇬 a writer when writer's block permits me

[theladykalliope]

Where The Sun Kisses The Meadow

🏵️A Mel and Jayce Fic🏵️

Summary

Upon recommendation by her cousin, Mel attends an academy a few months after her banishment, discovering a bond she never realized she needed.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/76429891

[soncee]

Water tribe siblings !!!

[lutza97]

Finally I'm sharing this MelJay collab 🫶

Art by me • @samael-jpg brought it to life with colors.

Inspired by a vintage art we found

[theladykalliope]

Long-haired Jayce and Pixie cut Mel, when???

[theladykalliope]

I think some ppl are being disingenuous about the fact that a big part of why Zutara is hated with that level of vitriol is because of misogyny. It is a ship that falls into tropes that appeal to women. The way zk antis talk about the shippers reeks of misogyny.

The way Bryke discusses them reeks of misogyny. They literally said in a room full of young teens that girls who ship Zutara would end up in abusive relationships because Zuko's a “bad boy”. Their overall behavior towards the ship, and to some extent Zuko, screams of misogyny.

The way Katara's possible role in the dynamic is framed by antis reeks of misogyny. The portrayal of how Aang feels towards the possibility of those two being a couple, both in canon and in fandom, reeks of misogyny.

And the misogynistic vitriol becomes more potent when Zutara, in terms of popularity, sits right next to a ship that has a lot of male-centeredness & self-insertion in its writing. As lovable as Aang is, the way he's written, romance-wise, does fall into negative tropes. I mean, there is a reason a lot of dudebros are drawn to that ship over Zutara, Taang, and Sukka despite hating Katara to the moon and back.

[danykindaforgotaboutdre]

I barely go here (I watched Avatar as an adult so I didn’t really end up shipping anyone like that), but calling Zuko a bad boy feels like a massive oversimplification.

[theladykalliope]

The Zuko being a bad boy came directly from Mike and Bryan, the creators of the show, mainly because Zutara was a more popular ship. They didn't like that and demonized it pretty badly, and that extended to Zuko.

[theladykalliope]

I think some ppl are being disingenuous about the fact that a big part of why Zutara is hated with that level of vitriol is because of misogyny. It is a ship that falls into tropes that appeal to women. The way zk antis talk about the shippers reeks of misogyny.

The way Bryke discusses them reeks of misogyny. They literally said in a room full of young teens that girls who ship Zutara would end up in abusive relationships because Zuko's a “bad boy”. Their overall behavior towards the ship, and to some extent Zuko, screams of misogyny.

The way Katara's possible role in the dynamic is framed by antis reeks of misogyny. The portrayal of how Aang feels towards the possibility of those two being a couple, both in canon and in fandom, reeks of misogyny.

And the misogynistic vitriol becomes more potent when Zutara, in terms of popularity, sits right next to a ship that has a lot of male-centeredness & self-insertion in its writing. As lovable as Aang is, the way he's written, romance-wise, does fall into negative tropes. I mean, there is a reason a lot of dudebros are drawn to that ship over Zutara, Taang, and Sukka despite hating Katara to the moon and back.

[avatar--fanart]

Onward by xcgirl08

[janadoesstuffwrong]

It's kinda their thing

[bblackthing]

I finally finished it...

I think I redid it like 4 times, and I still not satisfied with the end result, but to this point I'm tired,

maybe I'll redo it somewhere in the future, who knows ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Anyway here you go!

[itsfirelordazula]

THIS IS SO CUTE 😭😭

[batsandboba]

“scientists don’t want you know” is a phrase that always cracks me up because if you actually meet a scientist they will be shaking and crying like an overstimulated chihuahua with the need to let you know

[tea-and-la]

we need to get to the real reason why antis claim that zuko’s part in TSR was only to manipulate forgiveness from katara. it’s because they don’t have HALF the effort into reconciliation from their mc towards katara when he’s in conflict with her. Not after burning her (accidentally), yelling at her in the desert (and the day before the final battle), after kissing her in EIP, and i’m sure there are others. every apology is “implied.”

[theladykalliope]

They know, deep down, that in that moment, Katara needed support rather than instant demonization. And it was Aang who instantly assumed the worst, not Zuko, and Aang has known her longer. He didn't even attempt to accompany her on the trip to find Yon Rha.

They recognize that the topic of Kya and her sacrifice for Katara is a deeply personal and intimate part of Katara as a person. And in the event where Katara has to confront that side of her, the pain, hurt, and grief that was created by the man who destroyed her family, it is not Aang that accompanies her, but Zuko.

[tea-and-la]

we need to get to the real reason why antis claim that zuko’s part in TSR was only to manipulate forgiveness from katara. it’s because they don’t have HALF the effort into reconciliation from their mc towards katara when he’s in conflict with her. Not after burning her (accidentally), yelling at her in the desert (and the day before the final battle), after kissing her in EIP, and i’m sure there are others. every apology is “implied.”

[faith-thee-slayer]

she’s a poor little meow meow. she was born in a wet cardboard box all alone. she’s suffered more than jesus. she’s misunderstood. she’s a silly guy. she experienced the horrors. she did all those crimes. she has done nothing wrong. she deserves to kill. she’s the most interesting girl in the world. i didn’t say a name, but she popped into your head, didn’t she?

[theladykalliope]

Post canon Jayce would constantly wonder if Viktor was actually psychopathic or if the hexcore was doing a number on his psyche. Because it's only after the war is said & done and everything settles that he will begin to face the damage done to his mind, body, and soul that came from sitting in that ravine for months on end with an infected leg, living off live critters while losing his mind.

Imagine him constantly going back & forth in his head. The friend he built hextech with, went through every scientific breakthrough and failure with him, and the man who watched him starve in that hole are different but the same. Imagine the broken trust and the depressive episodes that would follow, because how could you form new bonds or trust the people that you love after going through something like that?

[colorfulwastelandvoid]

I do love that it’s canon that Azizi AND Ambessa (she can lie all she wants but she ain’t fooling me) spoiled Kino and Mel.

I mean who wouldn’t look at her wittle face.

[colorfulwastelandvoid]

With the execution of Lady Mion, it forced Mel to grapple with her own moral dilemma. The pen or the sword, which Mel chooses the pen.

Azizi’s death was Mel’s point of no return. Does she continue down the path of nonviolence or will she let fear close her off? I often think of Ellie’s words to Joel in the Last of Us game. “After all we’ve been through. Everything that I’ve done. It can’t be for nothing.”-Ellie to Joel. Mel digs her heels in. It’s not explicitly stated but with the way her story has progressed, it feels like Mel needs his death to mean something. Along with all the other tragedies, she needs them to not be meaningless. That despite it all with her own solitude she can make new bonds, bridge gaps and be someone worthwhile to her family (Ambessa), to Noxus and Runterra as a whole. It all blows up in her face, almost spectacularly. It’s a lesson in rejection, woe and betrayal that only Azizi’s death could bring.

Azizi’s death is also seen as the catalyst with many of the other characters as well. Kino would more than likely still be alive, given he would not be as determined as he was to figure out the conspirators around his father’s death. Ta’Fik was always gonna die but Ambessa would not have blamed him for Azizi (she knew he wasn’t the direct cause of it but he’s guilty by association). Gintara and Tivadar would more than likely still be alive as well. Ambessa did not suspect the Black Rose yet when she confronted Gintara. Gintara would be more valuable as a hostage than dead. Mel definitely would not have gotten banished or at least not for as long as she did. I fully believed Azizi would have put the kibosh on all that.

It’s funny the exact moment Azizi dies, the rest of the book all the characters are in free fall to their most dire outcomes.

Postscript: This was supposed to be analysis post through the lens of Mel but morphed into a Azizi post, lol. That last of us quote also applies to Ambessa, know that I reread it.

[tea-and-la]

it's very interesting that some aang stans are appalled at the concept of people not thinking aang is ready for a relationship while simultaneously defending any aang criticism with "he's 12!"