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wisteria-lodge · 3 months ago

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Manipulative/Morally Grey Dumbledore? An In-Depth Canon Analysis

So when I look at Harry Potter, my goal is to separate what I think the books are intending to say, from what they actually say, from what the movies say… and what the common fan interpretation is. So today I’m interested in Dumbledore, and specifically in the common headcanon of Manipulative/Morally Gray Dumbledore. Is that (intentionally or unintentionally) supported by the text?

PART I: Omniscient Dumbledore

“I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here”

In Book 1, yes Dumbledore honestly does seem to know everything. He 100% arranged for Harry to find the Mirror of Erised, publicly left Hogwarts in order to nudge Quirrell into going after the Stone, and knew what Quirrell was doing the whole time. It is absolutely not a stretch, and kind of heavily implied, that the reason the Stone’s protections feel like a little-end-of-the-year exam designed to put Harry through his paces… is because they are. As the series goes on this interpretation only gets more plausible, when we see the kind of protections people can put up when they don’t want anyone getting through.

Book 1 Dumbledore knows everything… but what he’s actually going to do about it is anyone’s guess. One of the first things we learn is that some of Dumbledore’s calls can be… questionable. McGonagall questions his choice to leave Harry with the Dursleys, Hermione questions his choice to give Harry the Cloak and let him go after the Stone, Percy and Ron both matter-of-factly call him “mad.” The “nitwit, blubber, oddment, tweak” speech is a joke where Dumbledore says he’s going to say a few words, then literally does say a few (weird) words. I know there are theories that those particular words are supposed to be insulting the four houses, or referencing the Hogwarts house stereotypes, or that they’re some kind of warning. But within the text, this is pure Lewis Carroll British Nonsense Verse stuff (and people came up with answers to the impossible Alice in Wonderland “why is a raven like a writing desk” riddle too.)

This characterization also explains a lot of Dumbledore’s decisions about how to run a school, locked in during Book 1. Presumably Binns, Peeves, Filch, Snape are all there because Dumbledore finds them funny, atmospheric, and/or character building. He's just kind of a weird guy. He absolutely knew that Lockhart was a fraud in Book 2 (with that whole “Impaled upon your own sword, Gilderoy?” thing after Lockhart oblivates himself. ) So maybe he is also there to be funny/atmospheric/character building, or to teach Harry a lesson about fame, or because Dumbledore is using the cursed position to bump off people he doesn’t like. Who knows.

(I actually don’t think JKR had locked in “the DADA position is literally cursed by Voldemort” until Book 6. )

Dumbledore absolutely knows that Harry is listening in when Lucius Malfoy comes to take Hagrid to Azkaban, and it’s fun to speculate that maybe he let himself get fired in Book 2 as part of a larger plan to boot Lucius off the Board of Governors. So far, that’s the sort of thing he’d do. But in Books 3 and 4, we are confronted with a number of important things that Dumbledore just missed. He doesn’t know any of the Marauders were animagi, he doesn’t know what really happened with the Potter’s Secret Keeper, doesn’t know Moody is Crouch, and doesn’t know the Marauders Map even exists. But in Books 5 and 6, his omniscience does seem to come back online. (In a flashback, Voldemort even comments that he is "omniscient as ever” when Dumbledore lists the specific Death Eaters he has in Hogsmeade as backup.) Dumbledore knows exactly what Draco and Voldemort are planning, and his word is taken as objective truth by the entire Order of the Phoenix - who apparently only tolerate Snape because Dumbledore vouches for him:

“Snape,” repeated McGonagall faintly, falling into the chair. “We all wondered . . . but he trusted . . . always . . . Snape . . . I can’t believe it. . . .” “Snape was a highly accomplished Occlumens,” said Lupin, his voice uncharacteristically harsh. “We always knew that.” “But Dumbledore swore he was on our side!” whispered Tonks. “I always thought Dumbledore must know something about Snape that we didn’t. . . .” “He always hinted that he had an ironclad reason for trusting Snape,” muttered Professor McGonagall (...) “Wouldn’t hear a word against him!”

McGonagall questions Dumbledore about the Dursleys, but not about Snape. I see this as part of the larger trend of basically Dumbledore’s deification. In the beginning of the series, he’s treated as a clever, weird dude. By the end, he’s treated like a god.

PART II: Chessmaster Dumbledore

“I prefer not to keep all my secrets in one basket.”

When Dumbledore solves problems, he likes to go very hands-off. He didn’t directly teach Harry about the Mirror of Erised - he gave him the Cloak, knew he would wander, and moved the Mirror so it would be in his path. He sends Snape to deal with Quirrell and Draco, rather than do it himself. He (or his portrait) tells Snape to confund Mundungus Fletcher and get him to suggest the Seven Potters strategy. He puts Mrs. Figg in place to watch Harry, then ups the protection in Book 5 - all without informing Harry. The situation with Slughorn is kind of a Dumbledore-manipulation master class - even the way he deliberately disappears into the bathroom so Harry will have enough solo time to charm Slughorn. Of course he only wants Slughorn under his roof in the first place to pick his brain about Voldemort… but again, instead of doing that himself, he gets Harry to do it for him.

Dumbledore has a moment during Harry’s hearing during Book 5 (which he fakes evidence for) where he informs Fudge that Harry is not under the Ministry’s jurisdiction while at Hogwarts. Which has insane implications. It’s never explicitly stated, but as the story goes on, it at least makes sense that Dumbledore is deliberately obscuring how powerful he is, and how much influence he really has, by getting other people to do things for him. But the problem with that is because he is so powerful, it become really easy for a reader to look back after they get more information and say… well if Dumbledore was controlling the situation… why couldn’t he have done XYZ. Here are two easy examples from Harry’s time spent with the Dursleys:

1. Mrs. Figg is watching over Harry from day one, but she can’t tell him she’s a squib and also she has to keep him miserable on purpose:

“Dumbledore’s orders. I was to keep an eye on you but not say anything, you were too young. I’m sorry I gave you such a miserable time, but the Dursleys would never have let you come if they’d thought you enjoyed it. It wasn’t easy, you know…”

It’s pretty intense to think of Dumbledore saying “oh yes, invite this little child over and keep him unhappy on purpose.” But okay. It’s important to keep Harry ignorant of the magical world and vice versa. fine. But once he goes to Hogwarts… that doesn’t apply anymore?�� I’m sure when Harry thinks he’s going to be imprisoned permanently in his bedroom during Book 2, it would’ve been comforting to know that Dumbledore was sending around someone to check on him. And when he literally runs away from home in Book 3… having the address of a trusted adult that he could easily get to would have been great for everybody.

2. When Vernon is about to actually kick Harry out during Book 5, Dumbledore sends a howler which intimidates Petunia into insisting that Harry has to stay. Vernon folds and does exactly what she says. If Dumbledore could intimidate Petunia into doing this, then why couldn’t he intimidate her into, say - giving Harry the second bedroom instead of a cupboard. Or fixing Harry’s glasses. In Book 1, the Dursleys don’t bother Harry during the entire month of August because Hagrid gives Dudley a pig’s tail. In the summer between third and fourth year, the Dursleys back off because Harry is in correspondence with Sirius (a person they fear.) But the Dursleys are afraid of all wizards. Like at this point it doesn’t seem that hard to intimidate them into acting decently to Harry.

PART III: Dumbledore and the Dursleys

“Not a pampered little prince”

JKR wanted two contradictory things. She wanted Dumbledore to be a fundamentally good guy: a wise, if eccentric mentor figure. But she also wanted Harry to have a comedically horrible childhood being locked in a cupboard, denied food, given broken glasses and ill fitting/embarrassing clothes, and generally made into a little Cinderella. Then, it’s a bigger contrast when he goes to Hogwarts and expulsion can be used as an easy threat. (Although the only person we ever see expelled is Hagrid, and that was for murder.)

So, there are a couple of tricks she uses to make it okay that Dumbledore left Harry at the Dursleys.’ The first is that once Harry leaves… nothing that happens there is given emotional weight. When he’s in the Wizarding World, he barely talks about Dursleys, barely thinks about them. They almost never come up in the narration (unless Harry’s worried about being expelled, or they’re sending him comedically awful presents.) They are completely cut from the last three Harry Potter movies, and you do not notice.

The second trick… is that Dumbledore himself clearly doesn’t think that the Dursleys are that bad. During the King’s Cross vision-quest, he describes 11-year-old Harry as “alive and healthy (...) as normal a boy as I could have hoped under the circumstances. Thus far, my plan was working well.”

Now, this could have been really interesting. Like in a psychological way, I get it. Dumbledore had a rocky home life. Dad in prison, mom spending all her time taking care of his volatile and dangerous sister. Aberforth seems to have reacted to the situation by running completely wild, it’s implied that he never even had formal schooling… and Albus doubled down on being the Golden Child, making the family look good from the outside, and finding every means possible to escape. I would have believed it if Molly or Kingsley had a beat of being horrified by the way the Dursleys are treating Harry… but Dumbledore treats it as like, whatever. Business as usual.

But that isn’t the framing that the books use. Dumbledore is correct that the Dursleys aren’t that bad, and I think it’s because JKR fundamentally does not take the Dursleys seriously as threats. I also think she has a fairly deeply held belief that suffering creates goodness, so possibly Harry suffering at the hands of the Dursleys… was necessary? To make him good? Dumbledore himself has an arc of ‘long period of suffering = increased goodness.’ So does Severus Snape, Dudley‘s experience with the Dementor kickstarts his character growth, etc. It’s a trope she likes.

It’s only in The Cursed Child that the Dursleys are given any kind of weight when it comes to Harry’s psyche. This is one of the things that makes me say Jack Thorne wrote that play, because it’s just not consistent with how JKR likes to write the Dursleys. It’s consistent with the way fanfiction likes to write the Dursleys. And look, The Cursed Child is fascinatingly bad, I have so many problems with it, but it does seem to be doing like … a dark reinterpretation of Harry Potter? And it’s interested in saying something about cycles of abuse. I can absolutely see how the way the play handles things is flattering to JKR. It retroactively frames the Dursleys’ abuse in a more negative way, and maybe that’s something she wanted after criticism that the Harry Potter books treat physical abuse kind of lightly. (i.e. Harry at the hands of the Dursleys, and house-elves at the hands of everybody. Even Molly Weasley “wallops” Fred with a broomstick.)

PART IV: Dumbledore and Harry

“The whole Potter–Dumbledore relationship. It’s been called unhealthy, even sinister”

So whenever Harry feels betrayed by Dumbledore in the books - and he absolutely does, it’s some of JKR’s best writing - it’s not because he left him with the Dursleys. It’s because Dumbledore kept secrets from him, or lied to him, or didn’t confide in him on a personal level.

“Look what he asked from me, Hermione! Risk your life, Harry! And again! And again! And don’t expect me to explain everything, just trust me blindly, trust that I know what I’m doing, trust me even though I don’t trust you! Never the whole truth! Never!” (...) I don’t know who he loved, Hermione, but it was never me. This isn’t love, the mess he’s left me in. He shared a damn sight more of what he was really thinking with Gellert Grindelwald than he ever shared with me.”

Eventually though, Harry falls in line with the rest of the Order, and treats Dumbledore as an all-knowing God. And this decision comes so close to being critiqued… but the series never quite commits. Rufus Scrimgeour comments that, “Well, it is clear to me that [Dumbledore] has done a very good job on you” - implying that Harry is a product of a deliberate manipulation, and that the way Harry feels about Dumbledore is a direct result of how he's been controlling the situation (and Harry.) But Harry responds to “[You are] Dumbledore’s man through and through, aren’t you, Potter?” with “Yeah. I am. Glad we cleared that up,” and it’s treated as a badass, mic drop line.

Ron goes on to say that Harry maybe shouldn’t be trusting Dumbledore and maybe his plan isn’t that great… but then he abandons his friends, regrets what he did, and is only able to come back because Dumbledore knew he would react this way? So that whole thing only makes Dumbledore seem more powerful? Aberforth tells Harry (correctly) that Dumbledore is expecting too much of him and he’s not interested in making sure that he survives:

“How can you be sure, Potter, that my brother wasn’t more interested in the greater good than in you? How can you be sure you aren’t dispensable (...) Why didn’t he say… ‘Take care of yourself, here’s how to survive’? (...) You’re seventeen, boy!”

But, Aberforth is treated as this Hamish Abernathy type who has given up, and needs Harry to ignite his spark again. There’s a pretty dark line in the script of Deathly Hallows Part 2:

Which at least shows this was a possible interpretation the creative team had in their heads… but then of course it isn’t actually in the movie.

So in the end, insane trust in Dumbledore is only ever treated as proper and good. Then in Cursed Child they start using “Dumbledore” as an oath instead of “Merlin” and it’s weird and I don’t like it.

PART V: Dumbledore and his Strays

“I have known, for some time now, that you are the better man.”

So Dumbledore has this weird relationship pattern. He has a handful of people he pulled out of the fire at some point and (as a result) these people are insanely loyal to him. They do his dirty work, and he completely controls them. This is an interesting pattern, because I think it helps explain why so many fans read Dumbledore’s relationship with Snape (and with Harry) as sinister.

Let’s start with the first of Dumbledore’s “strays.” Dumbledore saves Hagrid's livelihood and probably life after he is accused of opening the Chamber of Secrets - and then he uses Hagrid to disappear Harry after the Potters' death, gets him to transport the Philosopher’s Stone, and he’s the one who he trusts to be Harry’s first point of contact with the Wizarding World. Also, Hagrid's situation doesn’t change? Even after he is cleared of opening the Chamber of Secrets, he keeps using that pink flowered umbrella with his broken wand inside, a secret that he and Dumbledore seem to share. He could get a legal wand, he could continue his education. But he doesn’t seem to, and I don’t know why.

So, Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality is a well known fix-it fic that basically asks “What if Harry Potter was a machiavellian little super genius who solves the plot in a year?” I enjoyed it when it was coming out, but the only thing I would call a cheat is the way McGonagall brings Harry to Diagon Alley instead of Hagrid. Because a Harry Potter who has spent a couple of days with McGonagall is going to be much better informed, better equipped and therefore more powerful than a Harry spending the same amount of time with Hagrid. McGonagall is both a lot more knowledgeable and a lot less loyal to Dumbledore. She is loyal, obviously, but she also questions his choices in a way that Hagrid never does. And as a result, Dumbledore does not trust her with the same kind of delicate jobs he trusts to Hagrid.

Mrs. Figg is another one of Dumbledore’s strays. She’s a squib, so we can imagine that she doesn’t really have a lot of other options, and he sets her up to keep tabs on (and be unpleasant to) little Harry. He also has her lie to the entire Wizangamot, which has got to present some risk. Within this framework, Snape is another very clear stray. Dumbledore kept him out of Azkaban, and is the only reason that the Order trusts him. He gets sent on on dangerous double-agent missions… but before that he’s sort of kept on hand, even though he’s clearly miserable at Hogwarts. Firenze is definitely a stray - he can't go back to the centaurs, and who other than Dumbledore is going to hire him? And I do wonder about Trelawney. We don’t know much about her relationship with Dumbledore, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if she was a stray as well.

I think there was an attempt to turn Lupin into a stray that didn’t… quite work. He is clearly grateful to Dumbledore for letting him attend Hogwarts and then for hiring him, but Lupin doesn’t really hit that necessary level of trustworthy that the others do. Most of what Dumbledore doesn’t know in Book 3 are things that Lupin could have told him, and didn’t. If had to think of a Watsonsian reason why Remus is given all these solo missions away from the other Order members (that never end up mattering…) it’s because I don’t think Dumbledore trusts him that much. Lupin doubts him too much.

“Dumbledore believed that?” said Lupin incredulously. “Dumbledore believed Snape was sorry James was dead? Snape hated James. . . .”

We also see Dumbledore start the process of making Draco into a stray by promising to protect him and his parents. And with all of that… it’s kind of easy to see how Harry fits the profile. He has a very bleak existence (which Dumbledore knows about.) He is pulled out of it by Dumbledore’s proxies. It’s not surprising that Harry develops a Hagrid-level loyalty, especially after Dumbledore saves him from Barty, from his Ministry hearing, and then from Voldemort. Harry walks to his death because Dumbledore told him too.

Just to be clear, I don’t think this pattern is deliberate. I think this is a side effect of JKR wanting to write Dumbledore as a nice guy, and specifically as a protector of the little guy. But Dumbledore doing that while also being so powerful creates a weird power dynamic, gives him a weird edit. It’s part of the reason people are happy to go one step farther and say that the Dursleys were mean to Harry… because Dumbledore actively wanted it that way. I don’t think that’s true. I think Dumbledore loves his strays and if anything, the text supports the idea that he is collecting good people, because protecting them and observing them serves some psychological function for him. Dumbledore does not believe himself to be an intrinsically good person, or trustworthy when it comes to power. So, of course someone like that would be fascinated by how powerless people operate in the world, and by people like Hagrid and Lupin and Harry, who seems so intrinsically good.

PART VI - Dumbledore and Grindelwald

“I was in love with you.”

I honestly see “17-year-old Dumbledore was enamored with Grindelwald” as a smokescreen distracting from the actual moral grayness of the guy. He wrote some edgy letters when he was a teenager, at least partly because he thought his neighbor was hot. He thought he could move Ariana, but couldn’t - which led to the chaotic three-way duel that killed her.

One thing I think J. K. Rowling does understand pretty well, and introduces into her books on purpose, is the concept of re-traumatization. Sirius in Book 5 is very obviously being re-traumatized by being in his childhood home and hearing the portrait of his mother screaming. It’s why he acts out, regresses, and does a number of unadvisable things. I think it’s also deliberate that Petunia’s unpleasant childhood is basically being re-created: her normal son next to her sister’s magical son. It's making her worse, or at the very least preventing her from getting better. We learn that Petunia has this sublimated interest in the magical world, and can even pull out vocab like “Azkaban” and “Dementor” when she needs to. She wrote Dumbledore asking to go to Hogwarts, and I could see that in a universe where Petunia didn’t have to literally raise Harry, she wouldn’t be as psychotically into normalness, cleanliness, and order as she is when we meet her in the books. After all, JKR doesn’t like to write evil mothers. She will be bend over backwards so her mothers are never really framed as bad.

And I honestly think it’s possible that J. K. Rowling was playing with the concept of re-traumatiziation when she was fleshing out Dumbledore in Book 7. We learn all this backstory, that… honestly isn’t super necessary? All I’m saying is that the three-way duel at the top of the Astronomy Tower lines up really well with the three-way duel that killed Ariana. Harry is Ariana, helpless in the middle. Draco is Aberforth, well intentioned and protective of his family - but kind of useless, and kind of a liability. Severus is Grindelwald, dark and brilliant, and one of the closest relationships Dumbledore has. If this was intentional, it was probably only for reasons of narrative symmetry… but I think it's cool in a Gus Fring of Breaking Bad sort of way, that Dumbledore (either consciously or unconsciously) has been trying to re-create this one horrible moment in his life where he felt entirely out of control. But the second time it plays out… he can give it what he sees as the correct outcome. Grindelwald kills him and everyone else lives. That is how you solve the puzzle.

If you read between the lines, Dumbledore/Grindelwald is a fascinating love story. I like the detail that after Ariana’s death, Dumbledore returns to Hogwarts because it’s a place to hide and because he doesn’t feel like he can be trusted with power. I like that he sits there, refusing promotions, refusing requests to be the new Minister of Magic, refusing to go deal with the growing Grindelwald threat until he absolutely can’t hide anymore, at which point he defeats him (somehow.) I like reading his elaborate plan to break Elder Wand’s power as both a screw-you Grindelwald, the wand’s previous master, but also as a weirdly romantic gesture. In Albus Dumbledore’s mind, there is only Grindelwald. Voldemort can’t even begin to compare. I like the detail that Grindelwald won’t give up Dumbledore, even under torture. And, Dumbledore doesn’t put him in Azkaban. He put him in this other separate prison, which always makes it seem like he’s there under Dumbledore authority specifically. Maybe Dumbledore thinks that if he had died that day instead of Ariana…he wouldn’t have had to spend the rest of his life fighting and imprisoning the man he loves.

And then of course, Crimes of Grindelwald decided to take away Dumbledore's greatest weakness and say that no, actually he was a really good guy who never did anything wrong ever. He went all that time without fighting Grindelwald because they made a magical friendship no-fight bracelet. Dumbledore is randomly grabbing Lupin’s iconography (his fashion sense, his lesson plans, his job) in order to feel more soft and gentle than the person the books have created. Now Dumbledore knows about the Room Requirement, even though in the books it’s a plot point that he's too much of a goody-two-shoes to have ever found it himself. He loved Grindelwald (past tense.) And Secrets of Dumbledore is mostly about him being an omniscient mastermind so that a magical deer can tell him that he was a super good and worthy guy, and any doubt that he’s ever felt about himself is just objectively wrong and incorrect. Also now Aberforth has a neglected son, so he’s reframed as a bit of a hypocrite for getting on his brother’s case for not protecting Harry.

So to summarize, I think Dumbledore began the series as this very eccentric, unpredictable mentor, whose abilities took a hit in Books 3 and 4 in order to make the plot happen. He teetered on the edge of a ‘dark’ framing for like a second… but at the the end of the series he's written as basically infallible and godlike. I’ve heard people say that JKR’s increased fame was the reason she added the Rita Skeeter plot line, and I don’t think that’s true. But I do think her fame may have affected the way she wrote Dumbledore. Because Dumbledore is JKR’s comment on power, and by Book 5 she had so much power. In her head, I don’t think that Dumbledore is handing off jobs in a manipulative way. She sees him as empowering other less powerful people. That is his job as someone in power (because remember - people who desire power shouldn't wield it.)

Dumbledore’s power makes him emotionally disconnected from the people in his life, it makes him disliked and distrusted by the Ministry, but it doesn’t make him wrong. That’s important. Dumbledore is never wrong. Dumbledore is always good. That’s why we get the Blood Pact that means he was never weak or procrastinating. That’s why we get the qilin saying he was a good person. It’s why we get the tragic backstory (because giving Snape a tragic backstory worked wonders when it came to rehabilitating him.) And that is why Harry names his son Albus Severus in the epilogue, to make us readers absolutely crystal clear that these two are good men.

#hp #jkr critical #albus dumbldore #albus dumbledore meta #harry james potter #the dursleys #gellert grindelwald #albus x gellert #anti jkr #minerva mcgonagall #petunia dursley #severus snape #draco malfoy #close reading #hp fandom #literary analysis

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loveburrowx · 10 months ago

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Performance

Request - Y/N performs with her group and Joe is her biggest supporter

A/N - This is my first fluff story! Enjoy!

As the first note of the bass drum echoed through the cavernous arena, Y/N felt a surge of adrenaline course through her veins. She took a deep breath, steadying herself as she prepared to step out onto the center of the stage. This was it; the moment she had been training for her entire life. She was the main dancer and rapper in a group of four ladies, and tonight's performance was going to be one for the books. Little did she know, her boyfriend Joe was in the audience, about to witness the show of a lifetime.

Her heart raced as she glanced around at the sea of faces, the lights reflecting off of their eager expressions. She couldn't help but feel a sense of pride and accomplishment wash over her as she took in the enormity of the moment. The group's choreographer had outdone herself with their latest routine; it was sexy, sultry, and full of energy. Y/N knew she was going to absolutely kill it tonight.

As the first verse of their latest single began, she stepped forward, moving her body in perfect synchronization with the music. The crowd erupted into cheers, and she felt a smile tug at the corners of her lips. This was what she was born to do; this was her purpose. And as she caught a glimpse of Joe's beaming face in the crowd, she knew that he felt it too. He was the reason she danced, the reason she rapped; he was her everything.

The choreography grew more complex as the song progressed, and Y/N found herself lost in the movement, lost in the music, lost in the moment. She felt a rush of adrenaline course through her veins as she executed a series of intricate dance moves, her body glistening under the stage lights. The audience was on their feet now, shouting and screaming, their energy feeding off of hers. She could feel her heart racing, but it only seemed to make her dance better.

The solo performance was finally upon her, and she took a deep breath, stepping forward once again. The music switched to a slow, seductive beat, and she began to unleash her inner siren. Her hips swayed, her body undulated, and her movements were both fluid and powerful. Every move was for Joe, every breath was for him. She could feel his eyes on her, burning into her skin, and it only made her dance with more passion, more fire.

As the final notes of the song faded away, she stood before the crowd, her chest heaving, her heart racing. The cheers were deafening, but all she could focus on was Joe's face, his beaming smile, and the way his eyes never left hers. In that moment, she knew that she had given him everything she had, and that he was proud of her. And in that moment, she realized that no matter what happened in the future, she would always have this memory; the memory of dancing for Joe, and the feeling of his love surrounding her like a warm, protective blanket.

The rest of the concert flew by in a blur of music, lights, and movement, but for Y/N, it was as if she were still standing alone on that stage, her heart beating in time with Joe's. Even as she shared the spotlight with her fellow group members, she couldn't help but feel a sense of contentment and peace wash over her. This was where she belonged; with them, and with Joe.

The final encore came and went, and as the crowd began to file out of the arena, Y/N made her way backstage, her body aching from the exertion of the performance but her heart full to bursting with joy. She found Joe waiting for her, a huge grin on his face, and she couldn't help but laugh as she collapsed into his arms, feeling the warmth of his body and the strength of his embrace.

"I knew you were going to be amazing," he whispered into her ear, nibbling gently on her lobe. "You are incredible, you know that?"

Y/N leaned back, looking up into his eyes. "I couldn't have done it without you," she replied, her voice barely above a whisper. "You're my everything, Joe."

He smiled down at her, his eyes shining with love and admiration. "And you're mine," he said, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. "Always."

And as they stood there, wrapped in each other's arms, they knew that no matter what the future held, they would always have this moment; this memory of the night they danced together, their love burning bright on the stage.

The afterparty was a blur of music, laughter, and champagne, but for Y/N and Joe, it was a quiet oasis where they could escape the chaos and revel in their own little world. They danced together, slow and sensual, their bodies moving in perfect harmony. They ate and drank, savoring every bite and every sip, knowing that it was a celebration of not only their success, but their love.

As the night wore on, they found a quiet corner of the room and collapsed onto a plush couch. Y/N nestled herself into Joe's side, feeling the warmth of his body against her own. He ran his fingers through her hair, tugging gently on the ends as he watched her, his eyes filled with tenderness.

"I love you so much," she murmured, her voice barely audible over the music.

He smiled down at her, his expression softening. "I love you more." And even though she knew it was impossible, she felt her heart swell with happiness at the thought.

They spent the rest of the night like that, lost in each other's company, lost in the moment. As the sun began to rise, signaling the end of the party and the beginning of a new day, they knew that they had created a memory that would last a lifetime; a memory of love, of passion, of two souls intertwined forever.

Hand in hand, they made their way through the crowds of revelers, stepping out into the cool morning air. The city lay before them, still asleep but bustling with life, and for a moment, they stood there, taking it all in. Y/N leaned into Joe, her head resting on his shoulder, and she felt the warmth of his body, the beat of his heart, and she knew that she was exactly where she was supposed to be.

As they started to walk, their fingers laced together, she glanced up at him, her eyes shining with love. "Where to now, handsome?" she asked with a grin.

He smiled down at her, his gaze never leaving hers. "Well," he said, "I was thinking we could grab some breakfast, maybe take a walk along the beach...?"

She laughed, her head tilting to the side. "Sounds perfect," she replied, squeezing his hand. "Just you and me, huh?"

He nodded, a fond smile playing at the corners of his lips. "Just us," he said. "Always." And in that moment, as they walked together through the city, their future stretching out before them like a blank canvas, they knew that no matter what challenges they faced or how the world might change, they would always have each other. They would always have this love.

#joe burrow #joe burrow fan fic #nfl #nfl football #nfl imagine #explore #joe burrow x reader #joe burrow x y/n #aesthetic #y/n

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the-cat-and-the-birdie · 7 months ago

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In the past, I’ve spoken AT LENGTH about Hobie Brown’s dialogue lines, and it’s because I think every single one of them are interesting on their own level - each telling us more and more about his character.

I’ve almost gone through them all - ALMOST. But if there’s one line that I find to be super interesting - and super misunderstood - it’s this one.

What does Hobie mean by - “Eh, What of it?”

It’s one of his shortest lines, but I think those four little words can tell us a lot about Hobie, not because of what he said - by WHY he said it.

Often when people reference this line, they say that this shows that Hobie is unaffected or apathetic to canon events - either as a whole, or his own. We usually assume that this is some insight into his background in some way.

But I think this might be something else. Would you believe that this line was him looking out for Miles?

It’s been a while, but hear me out on this. So the question I’m answering today is - ‘Why does Hobie say this? And what exactly is he trying to tell Miles?’

[A SHORT-ish essay where I break down one of my favorite of Hobie's lines. Because I miss writing essays lol]

---------------------------------------------------------

Now, I know we all know the context of this scene - we’ve probably seen it dozens of times now - but I just want to reiterate why we’re here in this moment and what’s happening, just so we can begin to get inside Hobie’s head.

The scene takes place shortly after Miles meets Miguel, and in order to explain, Miguel gives Miles a seemingly rehearsed speech starting with ‘This is Everything.’ The ‘Everything’ speech is a basic introduction to the Spider-verse, to canon events and how they bind all Spider-people together.

At this point in time, Miles has not mentioned his father or his incoming canon event. And Miguel has made no indication that he plans to tell Miles that he’s an anomaly - there’s no reason to, so long as Miles plays along.

So from what we can tell, this speech is something every Spider-person gets.

But what exactly is Miguel trying to do?

I think it’s safe to say that The Spider Society is a cult of personality in many aspects - but not towards Miguel - but towards Spider-man as an entity or, more accurately, an identity.

And in this moment, he’s trying to portray the personal tragedies of Spider-people as a part of a bigger narrative. Miguel is showing recruits that their trauma is not just an individual scar, but a collective one shared for the greater good.

Sounds cultish? Well, because it is. There are many ways you can explain this, but I think Psychology Today’s article ‘Understanding Cults’ says it best.

What does that have to do with Miles?

Miguel is showing Miles his trauma along side all others as a way of ‘creating’ or solidifying his new identity as Spider-man, in order to suppress his own identity as Miles Morales. In order for Miles to submit to canon events for the ‘greater good’, he must choose his identity as Spider-man over his individual identity of Miles Morales.

He shows Miles’ his own canon event, beside dozens of other Spider-people facing the same trauma, in order for Miles to feel included, apart of something bigger than himself. This, of course, is a common tactic of real life cults - the prevailing idea that the victim is apart of a larger, inescapable - often religious - narrative within the universe.

In this moment, Miguel is trying to thread Miles into the fabric of the Spider-verse, in hopes that in doing so - Miles will be more inclined to submit to the tragedy of canon events.

In short, he wants Miles to feel guilty and sorry for those around him.

And it’s working.

Let’s look at the sequence of events in this moment. Miguel introduces Miles to ASM-90, the Death of George Stacy. As soon as he hears the words ‘Captain Stacy’ - Miles looks to Gwen. We can see the concern on his face, and the somberness on Gwen's. Already he is starting to feel the weight of the others’ emotional reactions.

Next, he looks to his most trusted person - Peter B.

Already, Peter B. is facing away, clutching Mayday to his chest. We don’t just get a shot of Peter B’s back - but we also get a shot over Peter’s shoulder. And we see Miles, and his growing worry. This shot signifies, to me, that this moment isn’t just about the canon events of each character - but Miles’ emotional reaction to it.

Miguel’s tactic of guilt-tripping his working. Because look who speaks next.

Miles says to Peter B. - “That happened to you?” - But it’s not Peter who responds. It’s Jess. Undoubtedly, Miguel’s biggest ally in the room. Jess says to Miles -

“And me.”

Jess works for Miguel. And in that moment, it seems like she’s trying to drive home the point that this whole presentation is about. I mean, think about it.

If we are to believe that this speech is a routine one, given to new Spider-recruits to tell them about the existence of canon events, then Jess saying this ALSO isn't unique to Miles. Her saying this, her reiterating Miguel's underlying point in all this -

‘We’ve all faced your trauma - we’re all like you.’

In this moment, we don’t ever SEE a shot of Jess’s canon event - because that’s not the point. We see Miles’ reaction, because that’s what this is truly about. Miles’ feelings, his emotional connection to these people, in order to manipulate him into empathy - and conformity.

But then we get to Hobie.

“Eh, What of it?”

As always, Hobie stands out of the crowd.

He’s always the one to think differently and to choose his words carefully. And we know for a fact, he’s always on Miles’ side.

When we watch this moment, many people assume it’s some insight to his background. That maybe Hobie was responsible for his own canon event, or have grown apathetic to the idea as a whole. And while those are interesting theories - I think the answer is much simpler.

Hobie isn’t saying “What of it - what happened to me isn’t a big deal.”

He’s saying - “What of it? What does any of this have to do with YOU?”

Think about it, most times we say ‘What of it’, it’s meant to mean ‘what relevance does that information have?’ or even ‘why does it matter?’

Let’s look at an example. Let's say someone eats your friend’s powdered donuts, and your friend questions the group, looking for the culprit. Someone might say ‘X, your favorite food is powdered donuts!’ X might say ‘Yeah, and what of it?’ - as in ‘Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?’, as a way to show that the information being mentioned is true, but also doesn’t affect the situation.

And that’s exactly what I think Hobie is saying.

Hobie isn’t downplaying his own trauma but saying ‘What of it?’, he’s telling Miles - “Okay, but what does all of this have to do with anything?”

What does their canon events have to do with Miles, and his feelings? Why should Miles have to take on their trauma and their pain, when he just got there?

Hobie knows that Miles followed Gwen, and that him and Gwen care about each other deeply. Upon their reunion, Hobie can see that Miles looks up to Peter - he knows that seeing them in emotional pain hurts Miles too.

And Miguel knows this as well. Miguel probably knows that the best way to convince Miles is through Peter, and Gwen.

But that shouldn’t matter. Miles shouldn’t have to relive their tragedies in his own life just because they went through it. He shouldn’t feel guilty for trying to be different or choosing his identity over the mold Miguel is presenting him.

Sure, Hobie might’ve been hurt in the past. He might still be hurting - but this isn’t about him, it isn’t about any of them.

It’s about Miles, so what does his pain have to do with it? Why should Miguel get to bring up their trauma, and make them rewatch it, for the sake of pulling Miles’ heartstrings?

Why should Miguel get to weaponize their canon events for his agenda of getting Miles to conform? What they’ve been through has nothing to do with it. And Hobie knows this.

So literally, ‘What of it?’

In this moment, Hobie isn’t focused on himself - he’s focused on Miles. So when he says ‘What of it?’ this isn’t a comment on his past experiences, it’s a comment on Miles’ current predicament.

‘Yes, that happened to me, but what does this have to do with you, Miles?’

This interpretation follows the characterization we've seen of Hobie this far.

All of his words to Miles are chosen carefully, all of his words are there to back Miles up - and support him in some way. It’s all Hobie’s thinking about.

And we can see it in Hobie’s face.

Back to the scene. Jess says “And me.”

For a second, Miles’ eyes lingers on her. But after a moment, his eyes goes to Hobie. Hobie, the guy Miles has already decided is cooler, more level headed, a friend of Gwen. Already in this moment, Miles it looking to Hobie’s reaction because he no longer sees Hobie as a threat. In this moment, he’s looking to Hobie for support.

But look at Hobie’s face.

For a moment, he looks visibly somber. For a split second, we’re shown the emotion on Hobie’s face, he’s looking down, lost in thought. [I'm screaming iAHHH i want to know what happened to him SO BADLY he looks so sad :((( I'm gonna cry but also I'm editing this drunk so I'm extra emotional :((( Sad Hobie :((((]

And then he realizes that Miles is looking at him.

But why would the animators show us that, if he truly didn’t care about his canon events? What would be the purpose of this shot?

I believe this split second shows that maybe, just maybe, Hobie does have scars from his canon events, ones he still thinks about, ones that still illicit and emotional response from him.

But when Miles looks at him, immediately, his expression changes.

He tucks away his feelings and returns his attention to Miles. He chooses to set aside his aside his trauma, to play it off and hide it away, because he knows that if he doesn't - Miles will internalize that pain, and that guilt.

In that moment, Hobie can tell that Miles is looking to him for some reason. And that reason is support.

In that one moment, Hobie takes the chance to push his own trauma aside - to be the voice of reason for Miles. The voice to tell Miles that ‘whatever happened to us, has nothing to do with you’.

By saying "Eh, What of it?"

These four words, often thought to be Hobie playing it cool, could be so much more.

It could be one more push to Miles to choose his own path - and it echos back to Hobie’s first monologue to Miles:

In this moment, Hobie chooses to remind Miles, that this isn't about them, or what any of them have been through.

It's about him, and his independence. Hobie is imploring Miles to reject Miguel's narrative - to reject the collective identity of Spider-man.

Because to Hobie, that's what being Spider-man means. Independence, and individuality. He doesn't want Miles to carry his burden, or anyone elses.

And I think this line is the perfect example of that, it shows the depth of Hobie's dedication to Miles, and what Hobie believes in.

________________________________________

In every scene, in every shot, and every line - Hobie is looking out for Miles in anyway he can. And although this theory doesn’t tell us much about his past, it re-enforces who Hobie is as a character: an agent of good and a driving force in Miles’ story.

Maybe Hobie does have canon events he’s still grappling with, and skeletons in his closet. Maybe we’ll one day understand the meaning of his blue laces. But in that moment, none of that mattered. This is Miles’ story, not theirs’, and Hobie knows this.

And that’s true punk tactics. I love Hobie Brown so much i could cry AHHHHHHHHHHHH

_________________________

SOOOOOOO I know it’s been a while but if you read this far - THANK YOU SO MUCH. Sorry if I’m a bit rusty at this, but this is something I’ve been wanting to write about for months now! And Im SOOOO happy its finally done GOLLLY JEEEE

Anyway, here’s Hobie. Bless up.

(right is actual photo of me writing this drunk as hell in my bed lmaooooo im so turnt right now Im sorry if this dont make sense anywayyyyy hes so fine whys he so perfect Hobie I Love YOuuuu wtfffff)

BYE.

#god i love him so much #i love him so so so much #spiderman #atsv #spider man #marvel #across the spiderverse #spider punk #hobie brown #spiderpunk #atsv analysis #meta #meta analysis

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dr-futbol-blog · 7 months ago

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Our hero, Major John Sheppard is stationed at McMurdo base in Antarctica at the start of the series. We learn that he likes it there. Sheppard himself tells Teyla in Sateda (S03E04): "Well, that [having no social skills] is why I enjoyed flying choppers in the most remote part of my world before all this craziness."

This is what John Sheppard tells us but we learn that what he tells us is not always the truth and certainly not the whole truth.

The alien AI that created a hallucination from Sheppard's own subconscious in Remnants (S05E15) poses him the question: "You're either someone with a death wish or someone running away from something. So tell me: what are you running away from?" Running away to the most remote part of his world, running away to another galaxy.

In fact, he has both been banished to and self-isolated in the most remote part of his world ("You torture yourself every day, John.") due to his "black mark" acquired in Afghanistan. We are never explicitly told what this black mark was, only that it bothered Gen. O'Neill and was something that Dr. Weir could live with. We are left wondering.

While we are shown something of what happened in Afghanistan during the episode Phantoms (S03E09), through the hallucinations from Sheppard's past of him failing to save Capt. Charlie Holland, it isn't until toward the end of the series that we find out what happened through the mirror of a parallel reality in Vegas (S05E19), where alt!Rodney tells us "You were a helicopter pilot in Afghanistan but were dishonourably discharged for disobeying orders and trying to rescue a field medic trapped behind enemy lines. You were shot down – obviously survived, but unfortunately the crash killed four American soldiers along with eight civilians. You avoided jail time; the record was sealed for various political reasons."

The field medic in the Vegas-verse, one where "infinite variations of our own known reality where alternate versions of you and I play out events", is female; this revealed in a mumbled 'ur' (I didn't even catch it on first viewing even though I knew about the gender swap in advance; it might just as well have been "knew 'em") in alt!Rodney's line: "That field medic – the one you defied orders to go back and try and rescue. You knew her personally. You were... involved."

This was one of the differences between the two realities, perhaps even the most defining one of them, the point of divergence.

Vegas Sheppard dies to the tune of Johnny Cash's Solitary Man because that's what he was, a recluse (and note that the importance of Johnny Cash was underlined in the episode by Sheppard taking nothing but his poster, the same Johnny Cash poster that our Sheppard had in his quarters for all of the five years, with him once he walked away from his job; it carries weight):

I know it's been done havin' one girl who loved me Right or wrong, weak or strong Don't know that I will, but until I can find me The girl who'll stay and won't play games behind me I'll be what I am

But our Sheppard is not a Solitary Man (he has self-confessedly found something of a family in Pegasus). He's the Man in Black (in fact, he is dressed in black throughout the series even in situations where other fatigues would have made more sense; it is only in the very last episode that we see him in lighter colours):

I'd love to wear a rainbow every day And tell the world that everything's okay But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back 'Til things are brighter, I'm the man in black

We know the background. When the series begun, DADT was still in full effect, the franchise had a long-standing co-operation with the USAF, Prop 8 was still several years into the future. The non-normative sexual orientation of an All-American Action Hero was never going to be main-text. Even heterosexual romance between characters was mostly eschewed by the franchise. But damn if the subtext doesn't lay it out thick for us.

There are so many obvious parallels and comparisons in the show that I need to write them down somewhere, and while this is a day late and a dollar short, this fandom could do with some meta. So this marks the beginning of my journey through Stargate Atlantis with an eye on its bisexual protagonist.

#stargate atlantis #sga #john sheppard #sheppard is bi #sga meta #ep. phantoms #ep. vegas #ep. sateda #ep. rising #ep. remnants

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girlactionfigure · 3 months ago

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Debunking the antisemitic Talmud quotes meme promoted by @DanBilzerian and boosted by @RealCandaceO and her ilk

A thread.

Preface: None of this is new; most of these fake quotes originate from a couple of antisemitic German books that are over a hundred years old and they've been debunked over and over in many places. Sadly, most of them are not so accessible so I'll go over them myself.

As far as my credentials, I'm a Rabbi who is in his second decade teaching Talmud for a living. This is something that occupies a large part of my day.

It's truly an eye-rolling moment whenever I see these quoted. Let me show you why:

1) Soferim 15

Mistranslation + taken out of context.

In a discussion about generalities, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said that even the best members of your enemy nation, you should kill in a time of war instead of having mercy on them. This is rooted in the exodus from Egypt:

It says that after the plagues, when the Jews were in the midst of the sea, they were pursued by Pharoh and the rest of the egyptians on chariots. Now, how could they have chariots if all of their animals died in a plague?

Those who feared G-d brought them inside as per Moshe.

So, they believed in the words of Moshe, they believed that G-d was sending those plagues on Egypt, and yet they still decided after seeing everything all the miracles they saw and knowing what they put the Jewish people through, to pursue them at sea in order to kill them.

This is why Rabbi Shimon says that, in a time of war, don't have mercy on 'the best' of your enemies but rather kill them. We can see from this that they might have been the best members of their society but they still ultimately wanted to go through with their murderous intents.

Yevamot 98a

Fake translation, and out of context.

There's a discussion about what happens when identical twin brothers converted, one marries a Jewish woman and he dies without having an heir: does his existing brother perform levirate marriage, or give her a form of divorce.

There's a whole debate about whether or not he's permitted to do a levirate marriage.

One of the arguments that is brought is that since there's so much licentiousness in the non-Jewishness nation at the time, we don't know who is anyone's father as such, we don't allow it.

To back this opinion, a verse from Ezekiel about the licentiousness of the Egyptians that compares their views on relationships with the way animals mate with each others without caring about who they mate with.

So, in no way does it say that "children of non-Jews are animals."

3) Bava Metzia 114b

Fake translation, and completely out of context.

In short, there's a discussion about the idea of ritual purity, and whether the corpse of a non-Jew renders you impure if you touch their grave or not. According to Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel, no. Here's why:

He quotes a verse in relation to ritual purity that says that only Jews are called "Adam."

Now, antisemites translate this as meaning man. Except, there are four terms that define man: Adam, Ish, Enosh and Gever. They all have different spiritual meanings.

So, Rabbi Shimon is not saying here that "non-Jews are not human", there's nothing about how non-Jews are beast at all mentioned there. In fact, the ones being compared to animals here are Jews (sheep).

4) Gad Shas 2:2

This is a fake quote. There's no such thing as Gad Shas.

In fact, both the Bible & Talmud prescribe lashes for a Jewish man who engages in relations with a non-Jewish girl whether for pleasure or "marriage" (such unions are not legally recognized as marriage).

5) Avodah Zara 36b

Fake translation and out of context.

Yes, non-Jewish girls are considered niddah from birth. So is the status of any non-Jewish woman who is unmarried as well. And married women for nearly half a month.

It has nothing to do with "filth" at all.

In fact, the reason why the Rabbis decreed that non-Jewish women are considered to be in a state of niddah from birth is to make it an even worse punishment if a Jew were to stay and have relations with one of them.

The Torah is really big into not intermarriage. Lots of verses.

6) Sanhedrin 54b

Fake translation & wildly out of context.

This is a discussion specifically about *forbidden relationships* and whether it makes you susceptible to the death penalty. What's debated here is whether a person who engages in such horrible actions is put to death.

The Sages determined that before the age of 9, children are completely unaware & don't understand what relations are. Between the ages of 9 & 13, while they do understand, they are not considered guilty whether passive or active.

The whole discussion is about their victimizer.

So here, the Jewish that is codified is that if a man forces someone between the ages of 9 & 13 to engage with him, that person gets the death penalty (and his victim does not) and under the age of 9, he does not get the death penalty but rather he gets lashes in public.

The fact that he gets lashes for it instead of the death penalty doesn't mean that it's less than a crime. It's because it's considered something other than having relations, because a child that age is unable to understand what is happening and as such it's a different crime.

For the record, Halacha also permits you to straight up kill this victmizer if you catch him in the act and it's necessary to stop, so it's not like he's being protected or we don't believe his crime is not something heinous.

7) Sanhedrin 58b

Fake translation

The opinion of Rabbi Chanina is that if a non-Jew strikes a Jew, he is worthy of receiving the death penalty, as we saw when an Egyptian struck a Jew and Moshe killed him.

Jewish law, however, says that a non-Jew is not executed for this.

This is why so many of these are infuriating. This is one opinion talking about how someone "ought to" get something for doing something, but somehow it becomes transformed as "This is what Judaism believes."

8) Sanhedrin 57a

Fake translation, plus out of context.

Here, there is a whole discussion about the 7 Laws of Noach and whether a non-Jew who transgresses them is liable to the death penalty or not.

Here the Talmud states that laws against murder are stronger for non-Jews.

As is codified in Halacha, a non-Jew who kills a fetus for example is going to be put to death, while it might not be the case for a Jew depending on the case. Same if he killed someone who was dying, or put them in a situation where they died indirectly because of him.

So, if a non-Jew hired a hitman, locked someone and left them to starve to death or pushed them in front of a lion, they will be put to death while a Jew might not be in this situation.

That doesn't mean that a Jew is allowed to do such a thing; the Jew will in fact be punished.

The only distinction here is that "7 mitsvot you can't violate, you can do whatever you want but otherwise you deserve the death penalty if you violate them."

Think of it like Adam in the Garden being told he has one thing to do, and one thing only. Breaking it is much worse.

Since for Jews there are 613, there are more punishments than just the death penalty/nothing, which means that in certain cases, a Jew might be punished with lashes or spend the rest of his life in prison versus being put to death. Doesn't mean that non-Jewish lives don't matter.

9) Tosfot Yevamot 84b

Fake quote.

I mean, I went through the Tosafot on that page twice and there's absolutely nothing even close.

It's also confusing, because why with a dog specifically? That has no meaning to us, dogs aren't seen as particularly bad in Judaism.

10) Bava Metzia 24a

Out of context.

This is the closest one to being accurate, and yet at the same time wildly out of context. We start by discussing a case where a man saves a lost object from a wild animal, at sea, the flooding of a river, or finds it in a public place.

There's a debate: did the owner despair of finding the object and, as a result, it is considered ownerless so the person who saved it is permitted to keep it, or does it still belong to his original owner who still hopes to retrieve it eventually.

"Is the item owned or ownerless?" is the basic gist, and the answer is that if you find it in a place where it's a majority of non-Jewish inhabitants, it is considered ownerless (even if it belonged to a Jew in the first place) because it is not the way of people to get them back

So it has nothing to do whether the owner of the object isn't Jewish (so you can keep it) but if he was Jewish you'd give it back.

It has to do with whether the majority there are likely to give back such lost items or not, and it simply was not the case in those societies.

11) Bava Kamma 113a

Fake quote, and out of context.

This is a discussion that has to do with tax collectors who were ripping off people at the time and enriching themselves on the back of citizens by claiming taxes that didn't belong to them. Doesn't matter if Jewish or not.

So there is a discussion about whether you are allowed to lie in order to protect yourself and your money from those thieves.

The same way you'd be allowed to lie to "circumvent" a non-Jew about whether you were hiding a Jew in your attic during the Second World War.

12) Avodah Zara 22a-22b

Mistranslation, and out of context.

Basically, it says that you're not allowed to leave your animals alone in the inns of non-Jews at the time since you're putting a stumbling block in front of the blind as they commonly engaged in bestiality back then.

I mean I don't think there's much to say about this, it's clear that in many places in the world this is just as common today as it was back then, and even in the more rural areas of the "developed" world it's still something that happens.

The less said, the better.

Conclusion:

This wraps up this ridiculous piece of propaganda. None of the quotes were 1) accurate, 2) complete and 3) in context. Some of them, straight up lies.

Don't learn theology from memes, people.

#antisemitism #Talmud quotes

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sapphire-weapon · 1 year ago

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I don't know if this is just my perception, but I've noticed that Krauser uses Ashley several times as a way to provoke Leon (especially during their final fight).

In their first encounter, immediately after Leon realizes it was Krauser who kidnapped Ashley, the camera focuses on his angry face and then on his hand about to grab his gun. As if the knowledge that it was Krauser who was to blame for Ashley's kidnapping was Leon's motivation to start fighting back.

Then there's that cinematic where Leon arrives just in time to see Krauser take Ashley away with nothing he can do to stop him. Krauser even walks slower and without bothering to turn to look at Leon, not even when he shouts Ashley's name. In Separate Ways, we see Krauser start running with Ashley in tow as soon as Leon can no longer see them.

After killing Salazar and using the elevator, if we use the rifle to get a closer look at the speedboat, Krauser turns to look at Leon, while Ashley is unconscious in the back seat, almost as if he is challenging him.

During their final fight, Krauser mocks Leon's concern for Ashley, and then tells him that he won't be able to save her, and that's when Leon explodes again.

Krauser taunts again when he tells Leon to hurry up or who knows what could happen to Ashley.

And near the end of the fight, Krauser tells Leon that if he needs motivation, he should think about Ashley.

I think Capcom's intention was to show how deeply Leon cares about Ashley through Krauser. That's why I can't take seriously people who say Leon only cares about Ashley because 'it's his job', it just doesn't fucking make sense, it's like they haven't played the damn game, or just decided to ignore all that.

there's a lot going on here, actually, and it goes deeper than just Ashley herself. Krauser absolutely dangles Ashley over Leon's head, don't get me wrong, because he knows that it's a source of angst and insecurity for him -- but it goes far deeper than just this one woman.

Krauser says at one point that he knows Leon's potential better than anyone -- he knows Leon better than anyone. and he may just be right.

in OG, Krauser asks Leon: "what is it that you fight for, comrade?" to which Leon responds: "my past, I suppose."

now, take that little snippet of a conversation and stretch it out over the course of four years of military training. it's likely that Krauser had to dig deep into Leon's psyche in order to motivate him to perform at his absolute best -- and what's at the center of everything for Leon is what happened in Raccoon City. Krauser likely knows every detail of what happened that night.

and what happened that night was that Leon failed to save the life of a single person.

so, since LeonA is canon in the Remake-verse, let's take a look at the list of people Leon failed to save in Raccoon City:

the cop in the gas station

Officer Elliott

Marvin Branaugh

Ben Bertolucci

Annette Birkin

Ada Wong

I don't know if you're keeping score, but that's... just about every person that Leon meets. the only exceptions to this are Kendo and his daughter (who Leon never attempted to save), Claire (who never needed saving), and...

Sherry, whom Leon then gets kidnapped and held hostage almost as soon as he volunteers to take sole custody of her.

so, when Krauser says to him: "you can't save anyone" he means anyone. the US government sent a man who's never been able to save anyone but himself on a mission alone to rescue the president's daughter. if anyone knew his history and his track record, he likely wouldn't have been the agent assigned to do this.

but the only person who knew it was Krauser, because Krauser's the only one who ever got close enough for Leon to tell. and since Krauser's now a traitor and a terrorist, he uses that knowledge as a cudgel to beat Leon with.

so -- yes, Krauser is purposefully using Ashley as a knife to twist in Leon's heart, and yes, saving her is more than "just doing my job" for him. it's extremely personal for him for many reasons. and as he starts to feel more and more affection for her, this need to save her becomes more and more intense, and it becomes easier and easier for Krauser to weaponize that against him.

and this is just storytelling 101. as the story goes on, the stakes have to rise higher and higher until they reach an absolute crescendo at the climax. and since Leon is so physically capable and very little in RE4make comes off as an actual threat to him, his stakes are mental and emotional in nature. as his feelings for Ashley intensify, so too does his anxiety about being able to save her.

the climax of RE4make's story is the walk to Luis's lab, and by then, Leon's feelings for Ashley have gotten so strong, and his need to save her has become so intense, that he sees her life alone as comparable to all of the people who died in front of him in Raccoon City.

if he can just save her, that would absolve him of his other failures.

that's why the script was written so that Ashley says the actual words to him in the ending.

this is the culmination of Leon's several character arcs in the series so far; it's the payoff for his character development; it's the catharsis for the angst he brings into RE4make with him.

Leon was a man who couldn't save anyone, but he ends RE4make as a hero.

his 21-year-old self would be so proud.

#resident evil 4 #resident evil 2 #leon kennedy #ashley graham #jack krauser #meta analysis

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animeyanderelover · 8 months ago

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Anon: Yandere alphabet with Asano Gakuho?

Since you didn't specify which letters, I just chose four.

Tw: Yandere themes, toxic relationship, forced relationship, possessive behavior, obsession, controlling behavior, monopolizing behavior, isolation, manipulation, gaslighting

Yandere Alphabet

Death-How messy are they? Do they feel guilty/sorry for the lives they take?

🏫Gakuho may never drive a knife in another's heart and he may never use a gun to end someone's life but I would argue that the methods he uses make a normal death through a weapon seem preferable. He may not be an assassin yet he has tremendous influence and power in his hands. The things he can do are numerous and one option is as terrifying as the next one. You would know best just how terrifying Gakuho is as you are the unfortunate victim of his obsession. Gakuho, who believes that Ikeda's death was his own mistake, has since voted to never be so careless again in his life and let another mistake happen. This mindset can be perfectly applied to this topic as well as he does not let anything slide, no matter how harmless it might be. He seeks out total control and that not only includes his school and the students in it but also your life and the life of the people surrounding you. He wants perfection and if the people around you do not fit into his image, he will remove them.

🏫He ignores basic morals in favor of perfecting everything to his own image. He never feels any pity for the people he teaches a lesson as he always sees it as taking care of the pest before it can cause any damage. Obviously a huge part of the isolation he forces on you is a result of his own controlling personality yet I can't help but think that another reason he always reacts so quickly is because of the lingering guilt he feels for Ikeda's death. His former student was driven to suicide due to the intense bullying he had to endure and that memory that has led him to change his very foundation has led to a very intense overprotective instinct as Gakuho grows obsessed with you. If he eliminates the tender bud before it can grow into anything threatening for you, he genuinely believes that he does you a favor. You may not think the same but that's to be expected. You have a soft and good heart after all. He's just making sure that your heart doesn't crumble like his student's heart did.

Earnest-How intense and dangerous are they really?

🏫Gakuho is a freaking monster and he doesn't even hide it as he believes his methods and the way he sees things to be the correct one. Everyone is one way or another intimidated by him although he possesses just as much charm and charisma to convince everyone of his decisions. It is honestly the sum of everything that makes him arguably the worst one of his verse. He has the influence, the money and the power that it takes to imprison you forever. He has the intelligence, the looks and the charm to influence the hearts and minds of the people around you even without having to use his position. He is very controlling and possessive which means that you have essentially no time for yourself as he has a schedule for your own life yet he is confident enough in the grasp he has on your life to even let you wander around freely if you have earned it as he knows that you have no means of freeing yourself from him.

Fight-How do they feel if their darling fights back/says they hate them?

🏫It takes some courage to say this to a man who always emits such an intimidating aura and he gives you credit for doing so as many others wouldn't have the guts to do so. You are going to be the only one agitating yourself as Gakuho is terrifyingly calm as you do so. If he is doing something else whilst you fight back or run your mouth against him, he continues with what he is doing all whilst glancing occasionally at you to tell you that he is listening. You might think that he would punish disobedience but he is quite unbothered with your little temper tantrum. You may spout such claims but do you have any means to defy him? It is the knowledge that by the end of the day you won't be able to do anything that gives him such calmness. There is no need to get worked up over your empty threats after all. Instead he's hoping that venting your emotions out like this will help you to cool down and think rationally again.

Game-Do they see this all as a game?

🏫No. Gakuho has never viewed anything as a fun game anymore since his own student committed suicide and the same counts for his feelings for you. As cruel, controlling and scary as Gakuho can be and will definitely be, he has always made sure to show you that the feelings he harbors for you are sincere. Even if his love may be twisted and dark, he has never considered you as anything less than his lover and partner he plans to keep with him until death tears you two apart. It is instead precisely because he holds you so dearly that he has done all the things he has done so far. He loves you and he protects you in the way he deems to be the right one and whilst those actions are extreme and without any morals attached to them, he does them because he is serious and dangerously committed to the relationship he has forcefully built with you.

#yandere assassination classroom #yandere ansatsu kyoushitsu #yandere gakuho #yandere asano gakuho

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pockykierra · 8 months ago

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Chapter Four of Saying The Quiet Part Aloud is out!!

Thank you for your patience! With this chapter being at 12,500 words, it was definitely a doozy to write, and especially to edit. Hopefully the next one will come a little sooner (no promises, but a person can dream haha)

Also with this chapter, a piece of art I commissioned from a dear friend! I hope everyone loves it as much as I do, I’m SO hyped about it. Make sure to read the authors notes to get the artists links!!

A sneak peek of the first bit below the cut!

Aziraphale had never liked the phrase “to see the light.”

In the grand scheme of things, it was an odd thing to have a strong opinion about - but he had his reasons. For one, projected a level of nonunderstanding he had never thought himself to have. He was not a people person (he couldn’t be, even if he wanted to), nor did he believe himself to be attractive or particularly funny, and he certainly wasn’t getting any younger. But if there was one constant in Aziraphale’s life, one thing he was always sure about - it was that, above all else, he was smart. That, he was sure of. So what point was there in “seeing the light” when he already knew where the light was coming from, when it would arrive, and what it would bring?

It also reminded him of his mother.

The pious woman she had always been, when Aziraphale was a child, she taught him common phrases and idioms that originated from scripture. And Aziraphale - young, eager to learn, and full of faith - had listened with eyes and ears wide open, soaking up every lesson like a sponge. Her lessons were still so clear in his mind she might as well have been sitting there beside him. He could still hear her gentle but firm voice and the careful way her thin fingers flipped through scritta, searching endlessly for that next verse. To that day, he could recall the lesson on the idiom in question with little difficulty.

””See the light,” Aziraphale. God is the creator of light, and so He is light. To see it is to see God himself and accept his truth.”

Well, Aziraphale was no longer religious; whatever ‘light of God’s truth’ that had been there had long since faded. All that remained was a deep, aching bitterness and the question of ‘why?’. If God was true and real, why had He given Aziraphale an ability that cursed him to a life of loneliness? Why hadn’t He given a way to turn it off or to do away with it? Why him?

Yet another reason to hate that saying.

But sometimes, a phrase was apt, even if not enjoyed. And unfortunately, there was no better one.

Aziraphale had seen the light.

And the light was that there was no ‘moving along’ from Crowley.

Aziraphale stared at his ceiling, cursed with another night of tossing and turning as he pondered this revelation. It had haunted him since - Aziraphale’s head lazed to the side, eyes squinting against the beam of his phone as he turned it on - nearly twelve hours ago. He had sat in his office, trying to think of anything but Crowley and failing miserably. Not even all the new and exciting flavors he had discovered at lunch could pull his focus away.

No, all he could think of was Crowley.

It was near the end of the work day when he had been smacked in the face with the realization and the horrible truth of it all. And the truth was that there was nothing he could do to stop what was happening. Crowley was rooted firmly in his brain, and that was that. Trying to remove him, forget him, or ignore everything that had happened between them would be impossible.

There was no going back.

#good omens #good omens 2 #crowley #good omens season 2 #aziraphale #good omens fanfiction #fanfiction #aziracrow #ineffable husbands #ineffable idiots #anthony j crowley #pkfanfics

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victorluvsalice · 5 days ago

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Valicer Polyship Week 2024, Day Seven: Free Day – Only One Bed (Valicer In The Dark AU)

It's Day Seven, aka the finale of Valicer Polyship Week 2024, kindly brought to you by @polyshipweek! Today was the Free Day when it came to prompts, so I decided to scurry back to Day Five's list and grab the other prompt from that day that I was interested in -- "Only One Bed!" A classic fanfic trope to be sure -- and one that, for me, is probably permanently associated with my Valicer In The Dark verse, thanks to the fact that the gang's lair literally only has one proper bed. XD So, naturally, I had to write a fic about their bed situation! From Alice's POV, because I'd noticed that I'd written two fics from Victor's POV and three from Smiler's over the week, and I didn't want her to get shorted. This one was rather hard to bring together for some reason, but I got there in the end. Hope you enjoy!

When the Three Pillars first all moved in together, abandoning their old lives and claiming Elder Gutknecht’s home as their own, Alice had worried that the fact they only had one bed would turn out to be a problem.

Granted, they’d managed those first couple of days before killing Bumby all right, back before they’d realized they were going to be living together for the long haul – Smiler had been kind enough to immediately surrender any claim to the four-poster to their companions, and Alice had been happy enough to swap with Victor after the first Names (especially after seeing how poorly her new friend had slept on the floor). And yes, once they had realized living together was going to be a permanent change post-flight from the Van Dort mansion, one of the first things they’d done was set up a schedule to determine who got to sleep in the nice bed when, and who had to make do with the cots Smiler had sourced from their fellow Advocates. But Alice hadn’t been able to shake the conviction that, at some point, the bed was going to be a source of trouble. After all, going from an elegant four-poster to a rickety old cot wasn’t exactly the most pleasant experience – she’d been tempted a couple of times to refuse to give up her claim, and she was certain Victor and Smiler had too. It seemed only a matter of time before the schedule broke down and there was a fight over the damn thing. Not to mention she still didn’t fully trust that glass canopy, no matter how many times Elder Gutknecht assured her it was safe. So she kept an eye on the bed, and on her friends, and wondered what crisis would eventually spark.

And then, early one Numbers, Victor reluctantly admitted that, even with access to such a large and comfy bed, he was having trouble sleeping. And Smiler offered up their hypnosis skills to fix the problem, and she insisted on watching just for her own peace of mind. And that – that led to them all sleeping in the bed together, her and Smiler wrapped around an entranced Victor, unwilling to move for fear of waking him and undoing all their hard work. And that had indeed sparked a crisis – just not the one Alice had thought. She’d expected to feel awkward about sharing a bed with Victor and Smiler. To feel uncomfortable about finding herself in such close quarters with them, even if they were people she liked.

She hadn’t expected to enjoy it. To realize that she’d had one of the easiest Names’s sleep of her life in that bed, cuddled up tight against Victor’s back. To additionally realize that she’d actually rather – enjoyed seeing Smiler hypnotize him. That watching Victor slip into trance had been – weirdly inspiring in certain ways. That she wanted everything she’d seen the previous Names to happen again, if at all possible – and the next day, and the next, and the next. That – that she was pretty damn sure she was in love with Victor, and maybe Smiler too, in a different way. And she hadn’t really known how to hell to deal with all of that knowledge. So she’d tried instead to ignore it, avoiding Victor and Smiler’s eyes and refusing to bring it up in conversation. Tried to remind herself that, however nice it had been (and it had been nice, oh God she hadn’t had something so nice since she was small), it couldn’t be repeated. That she would have to just have to go to her cot that Names and go to sleep and try not to think about how warm Victor had been against her, how weirdly sweet it had been to open her eyes and see Smiler looking back at her –

And then. Then they’d gone to that rich toff’s house. And Victor had nearly fallen off the roof. And Alice had gotten a stark reminder that life was short and that she needed to tell the people she loved that she loved them before it was too late. So, once they’d finished the job and made it back home, she’d forced herself to say that they needed to have a talk –

And discovered that Victor and Smiler had enjoyed everything that had happened the previous night as much as she had, if not more. That they hadn’t known how to bring it up either, consumed by the same doubts she’d had. That they – they loved her too. And after that rather a lot of kissing had happened, and after that –

Well. Alice forced herself to be practical and insist that Smiler only take back one cot, and keep the others for emergencies. Who knew if any one of them might need it for some reason or another. But in truth, she didn’t think the extra cot was very necessary at all.

Turned out, one bed was more than enough for three people.

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onboardsorasora · 11 months ago

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Needed a break from all my WIPs and wrote this little holiday bit. It's set in what I'm now going to call the 'Relaxed & Happy Verse' and this AU is going to be only happy fluffy established relationship drabbles. slices of life if you will. This is the same verse as the Love Letters fluff prompt.

Here are the previous fics in this verse.

Christmas Shopping.

Max leaned back into Daniel’s chest, staring proudly over at the Christmas tree the other had insisted on. This was their first Christmas here at home in Monaco. The first one where they weren’t jetting off to be with the other’s family. It wasn’t planned, it kinda just happened that way and Max couldn’t find it in himself to be mad.

This meant that they actually had to put effort into celebrating. The first step was agreeing to decorate the apartment. They argued about the tree– what size, what shape, even the colour. Then they argued about the coloured theme to decorate the tree. It was then they both realized how truly out of the loop they were when it came to actually making a home Christmassy.

So they went to a store and just picked things up that caught their eye. There was no rhyme or reason, no theme or plan. In the end their tree looked beautiful in Max’s opinion. They had unconsciously agreed to not go over the top, so there was still a lot of ‘tree’ to be seen. It was very them but in a simple way.

They didn’t decorate the rest of the apartment, not really. They got a wreath for the front door and Daniel saw some cute tea towels with Christmas puns on them. But outside of that, the tree was the focal point.

Daniel tilted his neck so that his cheek rested Max’s head. He kissed the crown of his head and pulled him closer.

“I have an idea for presents.” Daniel began ominously. Max peeked up at him curiously. “Ok hear me out.”

“Go on.”

“So– well firstly. Are we gonna do that thing where we agree not to buy each other a gift but then buy multiple gifts and like just hand them to each other and not wait til actual Christmas day? Or do you wanna like have everything be a surprise on one day? Because if you do…..”

Max snorted as Daniel’s speech got faster the more he got excited. It was a good thing he was an expert at translating Daniel’s brain trains.

“Do you want us to wait until Christmas morning to open presents?” Max asked instead.

“Uh, yeah. I think it’ll be fun.”

“Then we’ll do that.” Max said it like it was simple. Because it was.

“Ace! Okay! Then that means we have officially entered an embargo on buying things for ourselves. Lock the doors! Blare the sirens! The embargo has begun!” Daniel cupped his hands around his mouth for his voice to echo around the room. Max laughed heartily at his antics.

This would be their second ever shopping embargo. The first one happened when Victoria gave birth to Lio and Michelle to Isabella and they both had just been sending gifts without even thinking about it. Grace had to call to put a stop to it. They embargoed for four whole months. It was a dark time.

“Ok, now what?” Max leaned onto the arm of the couch so he could see Daniel properly while he laid out the plan. He lifted his feet to rest in Daniel’s lap and Daniel immediately dropped his palm to circle Max’s ankle.

“Right! So.” Daniel grinned. “Now, we figure out whatever gifts we wanna get and we buy them. BUT like, they have to be a secret. Like we have to promise to not like search for them or go poking at them when they're under the tree. Deal?” He held out his pinky and Max eyed him seriously for a minute before hooking his own pinky around Daniel’s.

“Deal. Of course we’ll both be here the whole time, Daniel.” He said it clearly like Daniel hadn’t considered that fact. Daniel grinned a wolfish grin.

“Oh Maxy Max. That's the best part!” He rubbed his palms together deviously. “So like, literally use everything to your advantage. If you need to lock me out onto the patio and close the blinds while you wrap, just like give me some water and my phone charger yeah?”

Max gave a confused eyebrow lift and Daniel continued.

“Yeah like for this to work, we actually have to play along- suspend our disbelief, pretend we’re in a play and there's a backstage or whatever. We’re both gonna be here almost the whole time so there's not many opportunities to sneak shit. So yeah, if you ask me to lock myself in the bedroom so you can go pick up whatever and take your time to put it under the tree. I’ll be in the bedroom, headphones on– music on loud. Until you let me out.” He shrugged.

“Ok. I think I got it. Deal.” Max affirmed and Daniel’s answering smile was as blinding as it was mischievous. What had he gotten himself into?

– - –

Max had gotten lucky within a week of their deal. Daniel needed to fly to the Factory for some last minute set up testing before everyone closed down for the holiday. He’d been able to take his time and picked out a gift he knew Daniel would find hilarious and fall in love with.

Max wrapped the box with Sassy’s management and hid it in one of his suitcases in the storage closet. He then ended up buying two more things, deciding they would make perfect dummy gifts and set them for delivery.

Daniel had come back with a flourish, announcing that he had bought Max’s gift and it was on its way. Max had shaken his head fondly. Daniel was enjoying this thoroughly– Max was too, but Daniel was seemingly brimming with excitement about the whole process.

That excitement reached a peak one afternoon. Max was on stream with the Redline boys, playing one of the geography games where Gianni kept lessening the amount of time every round, when Daniel came barrelling into the sim room.

He dipped into the frame and waved to the camera before plucking the headset off of Max’s head. Max’s complaints were heard in the background even while Enzo and Crane both dissolved into giggled and Gianni tried to calm the chat from asking Daniel a barrage of questions. They knew he was only here to cause chaos and leave.

“Hey boys! Can you do me a favour real quick? I need you guys to keep Max distracted for like 30 minutes.”

“Daniel! You can’t just–” Max was laughing in the background, his glee broadcasting for everyone.

“The rules are that I can use whatever is at my disposal!” Daniel argued. “Thanks guys! Hey chat!” Daniel waved and deposited the headset back on Max’s head and left the room. Leaving Max to deal with the fall out while Daniel wrapped whatever gift he’d bought.

“Mate the chat is going crazy, you’re gonna need to give us something here.” Bennett couldn’t keep his grin off of his face. Max sighed in the most fake, put-upon way. They all knew he was extremely private with his relationship– for obvious reasons. It wasn’t as if they weren’t out or open, but they were both very private people.

“Ok ok! I’ll answer three questions. Make them good Crane.”

“Why give Crane the power?” Gianni complained.

“Because he’s gonna choose shit questions.” Max grinned mischievously into the camera.

“Ok got it. First question Maxy Taxi.” Crane steepled his fingers and raised an eyebrow in a poor evil villain imitation.

“Oh boy.” Bennett couldn’t hold back his giggles.

“First question. What the fuck was all that about?” The group laughed loudly and Max covered his face in his hands.

“I think my Christmas gift just came and of course he wants to make sure I don’t see it.”

“That’s a bit over the top mate.” Gianni pointed out.

“Daniel’s a bit over the top, mate.” Crane shrugged as if it all made sense to him.

“I mean– we are under embargo. Shocking, right?” Max announced to the surprise of the group who nodded sagely, remembering him complaining about the last embargo.

“OG chat knows.” Enzo piped up.

“That counts as a second answer by the way. So one more!” Max cackled when everyone started arguing loudly into their mics.

“Ok ok ok! Fine, last question. What did you get him?” Crane asked.

“Of course I’m not telling you! Then it’ll end up all over the internet and spoil the surprise.” Max snorted, thoroughly enjoying how everyone started ganging up on Crane for the silly question. He didn’t even realize the door to the sim room finally opened until after all the games were done.

“Am I allowed to come out?” He called out into the hallway tentatively. Sassy rubbed her body around his shins.

“Yup! You’re free to go!” Daniel called from what seemed like the kitchen. Max walked into the living room and snorted a laugh. Daniel cackled from the kitchen at his response.

The tree was dwarfed by a large wrapped box leaned up on the wall beside it. It was comical.

“It's just a small gift you know? Something tiny that I saw and thought of you.” Daniel’s grin was so wide it was almost manic. It was clear how proud of himself he was. Max couldn’t help but grin back, hopeless against Daniel’s joy.

“Daniel, you told me it was ‘ornament sized’!” Max laughed breathlessly as he looked at the tree.

“Max, it's so tiny! Look at it getting lost by the tree, you’ll never know it was there if I didn’t point it out to you.”

They laughed for a bit before Daniel’s grin got smug. “Well it seems like I’m in the lead Maxy Max. My gift for you is already here. I’m what you call prepared with a capital P.” Daniel folded his arms and nodded his head. All cocky and self-satisfied.

Max rolled his eyes and looked down at Sassy who seemed to be sharing his reaction to Daniel. He’d had a plan, to present the dummy gifts (that actually were small) before bringing the original gift out with a flourish. But Max was nothing if not a competitive asshole who loved to win. So he smirked at Daniel before turning and walking back down the hallway.

“Max?” Daniel called curiously, hearing the sound of a door opening and shuffling. His eyes widened comically when Max re-entered the room with a large box and placed it gently under the tree.

“Actually Daniel. Your gift, of course, has been here.” Max’s lips quirked upwards as Daniel rewarded him with a breathless laugh, complete with a clap and little hop.

“That's the spirit Maxy!” Daniel walked across the room and pulled Max into his arms. Max was curious as to the nature of Daniel’s gift, but he truly didn’t care. Because this was already one of the best Christmases they’d ever shared.

“I love you, Daniel.” Max murmured, feeling warm all over.

“I love you too, Maxy Max.” Daniel planted a wet kiss on his cheek that had Max dipping his head into Daniel’s shoulder, blushing wildly. Even after all this time.

#Sorry if it dragged on and on #I just needed this out of my head lol #maxiel #max/daniel #maxiel fic #happy relaxed au #relaxed happy

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klaineccfanficlibrary · 7 months ago

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do you know of any fics that exist in an au we’re the s4 breakup never happened? like blaine hanging out in the loft with rachel santana and kurt while he was still at mckinley in s4.

From a previous ask, where Blaine didn't cheat in season 4, we have these three below. However, most writers tend to follow canon that they broke up for some reason in season 4. ~Jen

The Secret About Blaine’s Cheating byMadPie

After reading everything I could possibly find, this is what I think actually think Blaine did that night with Eli, and this is how I believe how Kurt will find out.

~~~~~

Loneliness Found Me by CoffeeAddict80

Instead of cheating on Kurt, Blaine finds himself singing about his feelings to what he thinks is an empty auditorium.

~~~~~

Exhibit McKinley by @tonks42

AU Season 4. Living so far apart from NYADA student Kurt, Blaine decides to send his boyfriend a series of letters and objects to chronicle his senior year.

~~~~~

The Air in My Lungs By JButler

Kurt wasn't trying to be perfect, just honest.

~~~~~

Check the Season 4 tag for fix it fics.

Scenes During the Break Upby misqueue

A collection of vignettes set in season 4 across the time in which Kurt and Blaine are broken up. Not in chronological order. For the Klaine Advent 2013 challenge. Stories are consistent with my The Architects of Life canon ‘verse.

Note: Many of the stories have the friends-with-benefits tag.

~~~~~

There are lots of season 4 fics where Blaine hangs out with the newbies, Sam, Tina and Artie when they are split - Killerqueen80 on AOS writes some great stories.

Glee Gen Fictlet #2 Graduation Party By Killerqueen80

The remaining four seniors plan a graduation party, all of new ND and some of the graduates who have helped them at competitions and such are invited to attend. it ends up being biota 2.0. basically just shenanigans with former grads witnessing the drama free family dynamic the current seniors helped create.

~~~~~

If you want Blaine hanging with Kurt, Rachel and Santana, here are some that are set in season 5.

Drunk on You by flaming_muse

It takes Kurt three times to fit his key in the lock of the apartment’s door, partly because Blaine is swaying heavily against his side, a warm, drunk weight keeping him off-balance, and partly because the alcohol in his own system is making the lock swim just enough in the plane of the door that he can’t quite catch it.

Bushwick futurefic, set within the next year or so, after Blaine’s graduation, no spoilers past 5x03

~~~~

Bushwick Game Night by flaming_muse

Pictionary in the Bushwick loft is serious business.

Bushwick futurefic, set sometime in fall 2013, spoilers assumed through but not past 5x07 (“Puppet Master”)

#klaine fanfiction #fic finder #season 4 #seson 5 #fix it #canon divergence

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wickedwitchflungoutofspace · 2 months ago

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My thoughts on: The Ballad of the Witches’ Road (plus deviations)

a highly professional analysis

my qualifications are having listened to the song 2535 times (no joke), and being a little bit of an insane American Literature student

We first encounter the ballad when Agnes/Agatha is humming it in the opening scene of the show. Taking into account that the ballad is not just part of the soundtrack - which could mostly be seen as introducing the theme of the show to the audience - but Agatha herself is humming the ballad and only then it is picked up on the soundtrack. This indicates that Agatha is subconsciously aware of the witches’ road even though she doesn’t actively remember who she really is. I think it might be a sign of the spell starting to lift/her starting to break free; either because Wanda is weakened so much during the events of Multiverse of Madness that she doesn’t have the power to sustain the spell, or, she is weakened to the point that she is calling out for Agatha’s help like Agatha prophesized/offered at the end of WandaVision.

Teen claims that he was the one to break her out of the spell but we don’t really see how he did anything to help her, so I don’t believe he did it. He might have had the intention, or he might’ve helped it along a little but even if he fully intended to, I don’t think he’s powerful enoug to orchestrate lifting a spell cast by the Scarlet Witch. The only person we see really helping Agatha free herself from the spell is Rio during the scene in the morgue and even before, trying to nudge her memory.

But I really think Wanda getting crushed kickstarted this since we see everything from Agatha’s perspective and her sensing what happened to Wanda is why I believe the corpse showed up.

After the inspection of the crime scene we get The Ballad of The Witches’ Road (True Crime Version) with slightly changed lyrics, and from trailers for E4 we’ve also seen that the new version has changed lyrics once again.

Let’s look at the actual lyrics of the sacred chant version:

[Verse 1]

Seekest thou the road

- We’re starting the story, before you can walk the road, you have to want to do so and you have to find it, so this is immediately saying ‘if this is what you want’ and then later moves into ‘you have to do this’ (“gather sisters fire, water, earth and air…”). It’s also the title of E1 and starts us off into the series. Furthermore, ‘to seek’ is not just ‘to look for’ but ‘to desire’ something, I don’t think the door would’ve opened if the whole coven hadn’t desperately wanted it to.

To all that's foul and fair

- Creates uncertainty and suspension, ‘foul and fair’ could be anything, you imagine the worst but hope for the best à la ‘What will you get? When will you get what? Who gets what?’

Gather sisters fire

Water, earth and air

- Fairly straightforward, we’ve seen that different types of witches are needed to open the door, however, I also think we will encounter all four of these elements further, as they are classic parts of historical witch trials and I think our little coven is going to be attacked from all angles. In E3 we’ve seen them literally go under water but in their hallucinations we’ve also seen Jen almost getting drowned, the house Lilia enters seems to be overgrown with plants → earth, Alice’s mom lights up her lighter and Sharon begs Wanda to let [I’m assuming] her husband breathe. So we have seen all four elements through these visions. I’m still trying to figure out what it meant that Agatha did not seem to have either of the elements in her vision in an obvious way. Maybe the reason is her using dark magic - represented by the darkhold.

Darkest hour, wake thy power

- I initially thought this was referencing the door opening at midnight, but upon rewatching I realized that it opened at sundown, also coinciding with the Salem Seven arriving just like Rio had told Agatha that they would find her at sundown. So ‘darkest hour’ cannot literally mean the time they wake their powers and open the door, I also highly doubt that this is a reference to that Winston Churchill movie. My interpretation is that in this case it is directly referring to Agatha’s darkest hour since the Salem Seven are there to kill her and this is quite literally one of the darkest moments of her life.

- Another interpretation could be that the writers are referencing the proverb ‘the darkest hour of the night comes just before the dawn’, not in a literal sense, but in the sense that it can only get better - though that is contradictory of what we know about the road. However, i could see the ‘darkest hour’ referring to the whole journey on the road at whose end the witches get to waken their powers? In the sense that they have to endure the darkest hour to reach a new dawn of their powers.

Earthly and divine

- witchcraft is both, it’s the combination of heaven and earth, magical beings (including witches) can be seen as beings between humans and god; kinda obvious, not a new concept, but I welcome the reminder, witches are better than normal humans (i love witches). I think this line could also be the reason why the witches insist on having a green witch with them to literally have earthly powers and divination powers at their disposal.

Burn and brew with coven true

- We’ve seen the ‘brew’ part in E3, Sharon/Mrs Hart died, bc her hair wasn’t added to the potion and she wasn’t part of the circle, skipping this step ended the journey on the road for her

- We know from Debra Jo, however, that Sharon is coming back but the potion worked without her so the coven is still a true coven even though she wasn’t part of it, makes the theory that she might unknowingly be a witch less plausible

- We’ve seen flashbacks to witch trials in the trailers, but what if burning/fire becomes part of the trials of the road in the present, do all of them have to go through a fire trial?

- Also Agathario are burning for each other, that’s just how it is

And glory shall be thine

- In combination with all the lines before, I think this line indicates, that if they truly work together as a coven and pass the trials they will succeed; the road won’t tolerate deviation, e.g. in E3 the wine keeps refilling for Agatha, no exceptions for our tamper throwing, 350-year-old toddler

[Chous]

Down, down, down the road

Down the witches' road

Down, down, down the road

Down the witches' road

Down, down, down the road

Down the witches' road

- Well obviously they’re going down to the road, literally, the stairs go underground; also maybe an indication that the trials will get more difficult with each one

Circle sewn with fate

Unlock thy hidden gate

- The circle stands for the coven (which is also standing in a circle while singing) and the line probably refers to how all of them have something they need from the road to change their own fate but also signifies that because they are entering the road together, their fates are not separate from each others’ anymore (sewn together by the road)

- Also title of episode 2 – the gate actually opens

- ‘thy’ in my opinion refer to the coven, and indicates this coven specifically, which means that the gate (and the road) is different for each coven

[Verse 2]

Marching ever forward

- Just don’t look back, the door sealed behind (over) you anyway; the doors during the first trial lock them inside the house, the water forces them further forward, back is just not an option

'Neath the wooded shrine

- I have NO idea what this is supposed to allude to? Maybe that they’re walking through the woods, the road is a place of worship/a holy place for witchcraft, they’re closer to their source of power?

I stray not from the path

- Oh we heard Agatha! Stay on the road, Sharon; they really should’ve taught her the song

I hold death's hand in mine

- This could mean that simply because they are on the road, and in danger, Death is always near, but I think it could allude to Death personified walking among them, maybe Sharon comes back but it’s not really Sharon (is her name Sharon? I’ve said the name so often in my head it doesn’t feel real anymore), maybe Teen or Rio are Death? We’ve got a Mephisto mention now… something is up! Anyway, there is a lot of hand/arm grabbing in this show. (I would like to clarify here that I wrote these thoughts down before I got spoilered *insert crying emoji* so please don’t make fun of me)

- Ooh another thought, since the road is underground, what if the road is part of the underworld/hell and they are all dead/have to die, maybe dying is a trial itself? I have lost my grasp on reality, haven't I?

Primal night, giveth sight

- I’ not really sure what to do with this line, I think it could refer to Lilia’s visions during the first (primal) night, but I’m not sure how time is passing in the story; but then'primal' can also be used to describe something raw and uncontrolled in the sense of 'primal instincts' so maybe it could refer to the hallucinations as the poison releases their greatest fears and we get a little bit more of a look into these characters and their histories

Familiar by thy side

- We haven’t seen Señor Scratchy on the road with them, Teen was holding him while the coven was singing the ballad but he dropped him before he went down to the basement, but I do think Señor Scratchy might be Agatha’s familiar. Maybe he can just appear where she is? Maybe we will see the familiars of the other witches? I don’t think it means that the witches are familiar with each other… because they just aren’t (anymore/yet), Agatha just threw this coven together and even though some of them know (of) each other, none of them are close

If one bе gone, we carry on

- RIP Sharon (‘who is Sharon?’)

- Another reminder not to stop and look back, you have to keep going, no matter what happens!

Spirit as our guide

- Once again theorizing that Sharon somehow comes back, she would make a really sick ghost

- might also be referring to their own spirit, whatever they have in themselves, in their being, will determine the road ahead of them and will guide them through what is to come; essentially a reminder to trust their instincts

[Chorus]

Down, down, down thе road

Down the witches' road (Down the witches' road)

Down, down, down the road (Down the witches' road)

Down the witches' road (Down the witches' road)

Down, down, down the road (Down the witches' road)

Down the witches' road (Down the witches' road)

Blood and tears and bone

- Oh it’s going to get nasty, we already got blood when Agatha cut into Teen’s palm to complete the potion, we've seen tears a BUNCH, highly curious about the 'bone' part...

Maiden, Mother, Crone

- The triple goddess on Agatha’s locket, but there has to be more to it, the symbol could mean a whole variety of things for the show, depending on how you interpret it. I know that in neo-paganism the triple goddess can symbolize the different phases of the moon (waxing, full, waning), in E3 Lilia points out the phases of the moon on the door and Teen specifies that its a full moon and thus in its water phase, so I think we will encounter the other phases of the moon as well

- The triple goddess can also stand for the different aspects of life: birth, living and dying, aka the journey every living thing goes through

[Verse 3]

The road is wild and wicked

Winding through the wood

- Yeah, we’ve seen it, don’t trust the road, maybe it’s just the musical theatre nerd in me, but I’m getting into the woods vibes?

- Since Kathryn Hahn's name in the credits appears over a picture of the Wicked Witch I believe that this choice of word is very much on purpose to add to The Wizard of Oz references that we already have throughout the show; i will fully get to the Wicked Witch in a second

Where all that's wrong is right

- Similar to ‘foul and fair’ but leaning more into the chaos. What seemed like the right decision turns out to be the wrong one and what seems wrong might be what is necessary and right to do; maybe also instincts that help you in the real world are to your disadvantage on the road but things that were a hinderance in real life might be of help now

And all that's bad is good

- (oops this turned into a character study) Also similar to ‘foul and fair’ and ‘all that’s wrong is right’ but I think it could refer to Agatha and her character development. She is presented as the villain, everyone hates her, the rumours couldn’t be worse, but I think that her hate and evil is a façade and it will crumble and she will have to show the goodness she actually contains but is hiding because she doesn’t want anybody to see weakness, doesn’t want to get hurt again. Kathryn talked about how Agatha is confronted with having to feel something and for that the protective walls need to come down. I might be wrong, maybe she truly is evil but I just don’t want to believe that. We’ve seen spouts of compassion, mainly with Teen (which yes could be because she thinks he’s important and useful but I think for whatever reason she truly cares about him) but also with Lilia when Lilia is hallucinating. Agatha could’ve been cruel to Lilia in her vulnerable state but she nodded to her in understanding. Deep down she isn’t without empathy, she just chooses to hide it very well.

(On that note: I believe that there are hints hidden in the imagery of the credits, we’ve assumed that because Joe Locke’s name appears in front of a newspaper article about the death in eastview that his character has something to do with it… Kathryn's name is shown in front of the Wicked Witch of the West who has two famous stories. She is portrayed as the villain in The Wizard of Oz, but in Wicked we get to know her true story and how she’s been framed/became the Wicked Witch, but she accepts her reputation and moves on. Well, Agatha also has been deemed wicked and people are spreading rumours… what if just like the rumours about the Wicked Witch, none of them were true and she took the blame for someone else/never corrected anyone in her grief and even welcomed the rumours because they meant she would be left alone with her grief.)

Through many miles of tricks and trials

We'll wander high and low

- Title of episode 3, they’re entering the trials/get through the first trial

- Can be taken literally but I also think the ‘high and low’ part refers to the emotional rollercoaster of fear and relief they’re on

Tame your fears, a door appears

- All of them know how dangereous the road is, so in order to even enter the road, or well for most of them to even show up at Agatha's house, they had to tame their fears in order to take action instead of being frozen and just passively leading their lives

The time has come to go

- Self explanatory, in Agatha's case its literally now or never

[Chorus]

Down, down, down the road (Down, down, down, down)

Down the witches' road (Down the witches' road)

Down, down, down the road (Down the witches' road)

Down the witches' road (Down the witches' road)

Down, down, down the road (Down the witches' road)

Down the witches' road (Down the witches' road)

Follow me, my friend

- We've already seen the coven growing a bit closer, to rely on each other and I think simply because the road and its treachereous nature demand it they will bond through all the crazy shit they have to go through

To glory at the end - Please let this mean that there is a happy ending; however... glory doesn't necessarily mean happiness; I'm too tired to have a philosophical debate on this with myelf rn, so this is it friends <3

I CANNOT WAIT FOR EPISODE FOUR TONIGHT

(also pls don't judge my sleep deprived and feeling a little high brain, god this was a ride)

(I might add an analysis of the music once I have brain capacity again)

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topgunreacts · 1 year ago

Note

for the omegaverse au, who is the alpha and who is the omega?

Explain my non-standard omegaverse system, thereby clarifying important themes and plot points within my story?? Don’t mind if I do!!!!!

I was going to do this anyway at some point because I know a lot of people avoid A/B/O due to some widely used tropes. If you (whoever reading this) are potentially interested in my story but hesitant due to past omegaverse experiences, this may help you make a final decision. Here’s a quick rundown of my treatment of common tropes in list form, and THEN I will answer your very simple question.

When in heat, do male omegas feel an unstoppable, uncontrollable horniness that overpowers any reluctance to have sex?

Not in my omegaverse. Dubcon winds up in a lot of omegaverse story tags because of this trope. But in my version of A/B/O, a male omega’s heat symptoms can look like any number of things. Horniness can be a symptom, but it isn’t for everyone. And even when it is, it presents itself like more of an itch that wants to be scratched. If a male omega in heat is horny but isn’t around someone he wants to fuck, then he will not fuck. This will cause him to feel irritated, though. If sex is among his body’s primary ways to feel safe during a heat and accrue the most biological resources, he may go on to have a really bad time psychologically. But at no point will he be trying to have sex he doesn’t want to have.

Mpreg?

Not in my omegaverse. I have no beef with it, it just doesn’t play a role in my stories. However, I would like to point out that trans, intersex, asexual, and other flavors of queer people exist within my universe. So a male person WITH a uterus could get pregnant if they were able to.

When alphas are in rut, do they possess an uncontrollable urge to mate with someone in heat?

No, and I call that out explicitly in Marrying the Hangman as a line alphas use in court to try and get out of assault charges. Do bigoted in-universe people actually believe this happens? Yes. Does it actually happen? No.

Are alpha and omega designations synonymous with ‘top’ and ‘bottom,’ ‘dom’ and ‘sub,’ respectively?

Absolutely not! Anyone could be any combination of these things, including vers/switch. A male omega in heat who experiences horniness might personally scratch that itch by way of topping in a more assertive manner, for example. I refer to being alpha/beta/omega as a biological sex, not a gender.

The biggest reason why I chose to piggyback this info on that ask submission is because the answer to the question of who is alpha and who is omega is loaded with assumptions due to the nature of commonly seen tropes. So when I say

Maverick is the alpha and Ice is the omega

that does not impact their characterization in the ways you [general You] might think. I saw a post a while ago scoffing at the idea of Iceman being an omega, and that is almost certainly because ‘male omega’ generally amounts to the following overpacked suitcase of assumptions: passive, helpless, sex-obsessed, ditzy. None of those things apply to Ice. While we’re here, none of those traits are inherently Bad, either. It is our treatment of our assumptions and not merely the assumptions themselves that speak to our biases. They just don’t apply to MY story. Ice IS omega. He’s also still Ice.

The big question, then:

So what is the purpose of heating and rutting?

In my verse, each of the six ‘standard issue’ biological sexes come with their own niche to fill. It’s not just about steamy smut. There are Reasons, god help me, why humans evolved four distinct hormonal/pheromonal types. And sex makes up but one piece of a massive evolutionary tapestry.

We humans are strongest in groups, yes? We form communities. We specialize so that no one has to do everything. We protect our own. My omegaverse reflects that. Heats and ruts, as a result, are all about creating and maintaining those social bonds. And sometimes, that involves sex.

For plot purposes, I focus the most on male alphas and male omegas, but here is a rundown of all six sexes.

Typing Characteristics

Male Omegas

0.001% of male population

In-universe stereotypes that are based on bias, not fact: ditzy, impulsive, irresponsible, unintelligent, weak-willed, slutty, high-strung

Average sperm count

Produce slick

Throw out a LOT of Find Me pheromones during a heat—sex was one of evolution’s many great ideas on how to attract and subsequently recruit nearby alphas/betas as protection and (ideally) long term partners.

Evolved to be community leaders. Their hormones are very chatty, always reaching out pheromonally to make connections with other types. The thing that makes them unique is their ability to synthesize pheromonal bonds between individual people. In the same way periods will sync up among people in proximity who have them, a male omega’s pheromones get all of their People on the same heat/rut schedule to maximize group power and efficiency. When they heat, that ability becomes especially strong.

A male omega’s heat is driven by an external goal. Once a month, their bodies release a stockpile of hormones that compel them to identify and carry out ‘missions’ that strengthen their community. They take more risks (with success) during this time, relying on their sharp senses and protectors to balance out any dangers. [see notes for more clarification]

Their biologically-driven goal is to become the center of a community that helps nurture and protect their unique gift. Because they are so singularly focused on their goal during a heat, they need protection. Alphas and betas offer them that protection.

Heats can go ‘bad’ for a number of reasons. The two main triggers for heat sickness (toxic hormone accumulation) are (1) failing to have their personal heat care requirements met and (2) catastrophically failing to achieve their goal.

Male Alphas

30% of male population

In-universe stereotypes that are based on bias, not fact: sexually aggressive, domineering, always horny, can’t think too horny!

Higher than average sperm count

Somewhat more likely to produce more male alpha children

Strong instinct to provide for and protect their People

American taboo: male alphas don’t bottom. It just isn’t done! That’s for wimmin and gays [male omegas]

Have the ability to knot during a rut

Four types of ruts!

Unbonded annual rut: without the influence of pharmaceuticals, this will happen every year for a male that is not part of a stable community, ideally one with a male omega at the center. For a period of about a week, his senses will magnify, especially his sense of smell, and he will feel an extremely powerful urge to roam. This is Finding Mode. He wants to find a community to protect and nurture.

Bonded annual rut: without the influence of pharmaceuticals, this will happen every year for a male that IS part of a stable community. For a period of about a week, his body will completely flush his alpha hormones, effectively hitting a reset button. During this time, it is critical that his community support him; he will feel vulnerable, his protective urges will magnify beyond what is sensible, and that can turn into paranoia and even psychosis at the extreme end. Make him a pillow fort or something and he should be fine.

Unbonded pseudorut: the US military gives alphas pills to trigger these for combat. This version of the pseudorut is a dumbed down version of a bonded male’s heightened sensory period with feelings of purpose. The military becomes a stand-in for a true community leader, and the male alphas will become more aggressive and intent on following orders.

Bonded pseudorut: these are naturally triggered in an alpha male’s body every time he is around a male or female omega he is bonded to, who is also in heat. His senses heighten, and he becomes completely focused on seeing to his community leader’s needs, whether that means following them into combat as their wingman or getting them more snacks from the fridge.

The other groups see less screen time, so I will shorten their descriptions.

Female Alphas

In-universe stereotypes that are based on bias, not fact: basically every sexist thing that haunts corporate women—bossy, mean, not a team player, etc

15% of female population

Average fertility, slightly more likely to produce more alphas both male and female

Experience ruts functionally identical to those experienced by male alphas

Charlie is an alpha female in this story. She is also an ace lesbian.

Female Omegas

In-universe stereotypes that are based on bias, not fact: stupid, obsessed with babies, always want sex

High fertility rates

15% of female population

During a heat, they become even more fertile. Their bodies throw out copious amounts of protect-me, find-me pheromones. They will feel varying levels of desire to reproduce, and that desire can manifest in various ways. It is a spectrum. Some of them will conform to the stereotypical Horny Time model, while others may not care about sex itself so much as the mechanical act of fertilizing their eggs. Still others may feel little to no sex drive, but they are a minority.

Likelihood for twins, triplets, etc very high

Natural partners for male omegas in terms of community leadership. Working together, they both gain full benefits of being surrounded by dedicated protectors. Taboo in some cultures for them to be sexual partners as well.

Female and Male Betas

In-universe stereotypes that are based on bias, not fact: boring, dispassionate, genetically useless, The Other Guys, mediators

The stabilizing factor of every chemically/hormonally bonded community. They keep the balance when they’re bonded to a group by naturally assisting with pheromonal equilibrium.

Their bodies can produce rutting or heating chemicals that don’t trigger their own ruts or heats but instead “keep the peace” in terms of making sure the core team’s train doesn’t go flying off the tracks

Will play more of a role in the sequel

Other Notes

The term “heat” is used for both omega males and females due to various scientific misunderstandings that happened across many cultures many hundreds of years ago. Throughout history there have been periods of activism where researchers advocate for a more nuanced naming system, but how successful those efforts were are highly dependent on culture. American culture likes its three types, six sexes model. Makes bigotry so much easier! You fit in this box, you act this way. Step outside of it and you will be punished. The ‘It’s Complicated’ models are the ideal.

But I said earlier there are four true hormonal types, not three, and this is how: because male and female omega heats are based on entirely different hormones and evolutionary purposes, they really should not be classified together at all. The four “true” types are: male omega, female omega, alpha, and beta.

On the subject of male omegas’ heat missions: those come in various forms, and various levels of intensity. It all comes down to what the individual male omega wants to do (or is told to want to do). That could look like any number of things: a big hunt or agricultural project, leading a military unit, or starting a new company initiative. It could also look like one male omega, one female omega, three alphas, and three betas (they’re using the trunk obvs) driving to a paintball place once a month to annihilate everyone present and then leave. It’s not all about blood and sex and drama. A group of teenagers who live in a culture that eschews pharmaceutical hormone control could form a hormonal bond around a male omega that is really into skateboarding, and they all come together to built a non OSHA compliant skate park in someone’s backyard. Groups can also shift in membership over time, too. Six months later and the group’s membership and ‘missions’ could look totally different.

Okay I’m done. For now.

#icemav #top gun #writing #ask #top gun fanfiction #omegaverse #principles of aviation #lore that no one asked for but which you SHALL receive #pro queer omegaverse

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