#I have a complicated relationship with Scotland

[maedhrus]

what are your favorite malving tropes?

OHHHHH we could be here all day!! i’m now going to hit you with a series of headcanons and tropes both because these two make me insane

obviously, i imagine that john and malcolm are each other’s first love. they met each other when they were around 16 and immediately clicked and fell into place. while malcolm had a lot of friends growing up, john was more lonely. they're both also friendly with kingston, but they know that what they feel for each other is very different than that relationship with kingston

they used to go off alone on the belvidera and could spend hours in discussion over christian theology and the organisation of the church of scotland. while they're both chrisitian evangelists, malcolm is of a Slightly more liberal persuasion, mainly as rebellion against his fundamentalist father, who he is not close to

i see john and malcolm both as gay men though of course they never put a name to this. john is more aware than malcolm that he lusts after other men, whereas malcolm is more aware than john that he's in love with him. i also see, of the two, john more likely to find love with another man whereas malcolm is more likely to wind up in a lavender marriage with a very good female friend

when john lived in australia, he spent so much of his time thinking about malcolm there with him, about them making a life with each other where no one could challenge them. in his most pathetic moments, he imagines being a wife to malcolm in every way that counts, and wonders what their children would look like

john brought malcolm’s letters with him on the expedition, brilliantly portrayed in if not, the next and only your dear individual self which i strongly recommend to anyone. john re-reads the letters frequently and they are his biggest source of comfort, greater even than his bible and it shames him to admit it, so much so that he refuses to think about it, but it's still true

i loovvveeeee the idea that john was the one to give malcolm the nickname "elphie" and he remains the only one who calls him this. malcolm loves it less so for the name itself, but because john created it and it's something just the two of them share

the necklace that john can be seen wearing in ep 8 was a gift from malcolm, who was the one to carve it. it's one of john's most treasured possessions, and he never takes it off

my fc for malcolm is ben lloyd-hughes, but the important things for malcolm's look for me is that he should have dark hair and dark eyes and this is because i enjoy unrequited nedving where john looks at edward little and sees the ghost of another dark-eyed man that he loved

historically, malcolm went on to marry, first all to a woman named mary douglas who died after giving birth to their daughter, and then another woman called charlotte melville, who died a few years before him. my hc is that he married mary because he was getting older and it was the socially expected thing to do (and at this stage the franklin expedition is basically confirmed dead) and then when she died he thought his daughter would need a mother. because i'm evil, i hc that he saw aspects in john in both of his wives, and that's why he married them; mary being pious and shy, charlotte having green eyes and being really good with maths

in a survival au john Has to come home, with malcolm waiting on the docks for him. john ends up retiring from the navy and moving to burnfoot with malcolm where they are the strange bachelor uncles to john's nieces and nephews. john dies first (being older and also having lingering health complications from the arctic) and malcolm lasts no more than a year after. he requests that they be buried in the same grave

[isolapyrena]

Being sad about King James IV of Scotland

I don't usually care about what happened to historical monarchs but I find myself quite upset for this one. Probably because of how he is portrayed in the (non fiction) book I'm reading but also maybe because he was one of very few people who could give Henry VIII a proper headache.

On the plus side, it was Catherine of Aragon, daughter of Isabella I of Castille, and much more interesting woman than she is usually remembered as, who technically beat him. And it was James IV's heirs who took over the English throne after Elizabeth I.

Not really got anyone to talk to about this. Might as well post into the Tumblr void as anywhere else. You never know, the emotional fallout of the Battle of Flodden 1513 might be someone else's interest here as well...

[the-casbah-way]

some people will look at my current wip and say that malcolm running his hands through jamie's hair as he sleeps and singing him old scottish songs is out of character but to that i say a) no it's not just hear me out and b) suck my fat cock you can't stop me from making those old men experience Real Human Emotions

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

Faerie question! What do you think about the relation between their realm and our geography? Your 'white American fae stories' mention reminded me that I was thinking about this a while ago - if someone is interacting with ~fairyland~ from a regular ass non-European continent, is it (Watsonianly!) weird that they are interacting with Welsh-culture faeries? Or is that place decoupled from our land? Conversely, if the supernatural world you access depends on your human world location, does that imply that different cultures' supernatural entities have a similar geographic relationship with each other to human lands? or does it imply that the shape of the fae is downstream of human culture a la Small Gods?

Oh this is FUN and I am going to RAMBLE

So the thing that sort of answers and sort of complicates both of your questions is that Welsh faerie lore and mythology, while having some Venn diagram overlaps, is nonetheless Very Much Different from Irish or Scottish (or indeed English) stuff. It's an interesting one, because while I have increasingly strong Views on the way Welsh faerie lore is used by white American authors who want to write about elves with wings who fuck and think this is the solution, actually a huge chunk of what those authors use - and what Americans in particular more broadly know about faeries - isn't Welsh at all, it's Scottish. Seelie and Unseelie courts, season-based courts, never thanking a faerie to avoid offending them, selkies, the list goes on. None of that is Welsh.

I, as you know, have been writing werewolf erotica, for fun and sport. Set in Wales, of course. I haven't directly included faeries yet, but they've been mentioned, and I know how I'm going to be building that part of my world. And to me, faeries come in different species with a different geographic distribution - if my characters were to approach the Fae in Wales, it would mean entering Annwfn. They would meet very Welsh types of faerie. Welsh rules would apply.

If they were to go to Scotland, they'd be dealing with different types entirely. Seelie and Unseelie would now apply, and not thanking and all that jazz. To speak like an ecologist for a moment lol, it's a question of biogeography.

Soooo, yeah, I find it weird when American fantasy lit describes Celtic fae creatures in America, because to me... surely there's native shit there. Like what is this? Did the Fae colonise with the humans? Has the American Otherworld been invaded and settled? What am I looking at, here? Why is the author ignoring this question? How are there gwyllion in those mountains and what did they displace? Did they follow the people and just naturalise, or are they invasive? Are there gwragedd Annwfn in Lake Superior? How is that working? These are questions I have, but alas, no answers.

(I can allow arguments for Appalachia, given, you know. <same-mountains.jpeg>)

That said, the rules are fuzzy for time/space distortion with entering Annwfn. This is a (relatively) new addition to faerie lore, because once upon a time Annwfn was a place you could just... walk to. It had a geographical location, like Rhyl. You could find it on a map, and that map would tell you it was Somerset, pretty much. But over the centuries, human population density grew; Somerset stops being a place of mystery and starts being the place your flighty cousin ran away to and now grows a cider orchard. The magical realms hidden in thickest forest are demonstrably not there when you cut the forest down and just find a bunch of exposed bears. So the lines, as it were, get redrawn - we know it's there somewhere, but part of the magic hides it; so maybe what we were pointing to on that map wasn't Annwfn, but the doorway...?

By the 1700s at least, the concept of the faerie ring being a doorway between worlds was fixed. The 1800s gave us the Victorian concept of the veil between worlds, two worlds overlaid on one another, which mapped beautifully on and basically reconciles the issue perfectly in the minds of believers (faerie belief in Wales persisted into the early 1900s). Enter that cave and you'll enter Annwfn; not because it's in the cave, don't be silly, it's because the door is in the cave. Step in that mushroom circle and see another world; not because Annwfn is a patch of land three feet across in Mam-gu's garden, don't be daft, it's because that's the way through. Welsh faerie myth was already enamoured of the time distortion element, but this is where spatial distortion kicks in as well.

So understanding all of that means you can exploit those rules to explain a lot. Watsonianly speaking, does a doorway lead to Annwfn if it's in Wales, but Tír na nÓg if it's in Ireland? Or could a doorway for either turn up anywhere, given that spatial distortion? What is it about Wales that ties Annwfn here specifically? Does the land generate the specific type of magic needed to fuel it? Or could it feasibly go anywhere now, as that separation between worlds has evolved - initially they lived in this world, but they evolved to straddle here and another, and then to draw a veil between the two, and now they run parallel and so can send the tunnels between the two wherever they like. It depends on the story you're telling, I guess. As I say, I know how I'm doing it lol! But there are options available

[isabelawritesthings]

My headcanons for EVERY (I think) Mortal Kombat 1 character

— Liu Kang is a big fan of Chinese food, because well, in the previous timelines he was Chinese, so he constantly goes to Madam Bo's restaurant to eat.

— Johnny Cage is a great dramatic actor, but unfortunately, Hollywood studios always cast him as comedic characters or male characters who are himbos, wasting his potential as a dramatic actor.

— Kenshi met Suchin after saving her from being attacked by thugs in Tokyo, and the two's connection was almost instantaneous, with Suchin agreeing to run away with him after Kenshi left the Yakuza.

— Raiden has a huge crush on Kitana, and constantly draws pictures of the two of them kissing (he's a cartoonist btw)

— Kung Lao loves Chinese and South Korean comedy dramas, his favorite South Korean comedy drama is "True Beauty".

— Kuai Liang is extremely protective of Harumi, like, if Harumi gets a scar, he won't rest until the person who did it pays dearly. When he was dating Cyrax, he was also quite protective of her as well (He's not a sexist who thinks women are too defenseless to protect themselves, he just wants to keep Harumi safe because he loves her so much).

— Bi-Han trusts women more than men, thanks to the complicated relationship he had with his father and the loving relationship he had with his mother (thanks to his daddy issues, he doesn't trust masculine nature very much, even though he is also a man).

— Shang Tsung is not a "victim of Liu Kang's intrigues", this guy is a sociopath to the core!

— Tanya is not Mileena's first lover, she had a girlfriend as a teenager, the daughter of an archduke, but was forced to end the relationship because the archduke's daughter had to marry a man, breaking Mileena's heart.

— Kitana is a voracious reader, she loves books, especially about the history of the Earthrealm and Seido, her favorite historical figure of Earthrealm is Queen Mary Stuart, a queen of Scotland, reflecting the thinking of some outworlders who think that she should be empress in place of Mileena, just as some 16th-century English Catholics wanted Mary to be Queen of England in place of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.

— I don't usually do SMUT headcanons, but I like to think that Sindel and Jerrod had an active sex life, and she never married any man after Jerrod because she only liked to have sex with him, she herself was impressed that she only had the twins and not like, three more children!

— The souls within Ermac have been in the living forest for so long that over time they have become one big family.

— Quan Chi was a thief when he was young and was sentenced to work in the gold mines as a way of paying for his crimes, which is why he hates Sindel so much.

— Tanya was not given to the Umgadi when she was a child, she was actually stolen from her mother's arms like several other Umgadi (a bit cruel, but I wanted to make it similar to Marvel's black widows).

— Li Mei has always been in love with Sindel, but she never had the courage to express her feelings.

— Takeda is destined to meet and fall in love with Jacqui, even though in this timeline she is not Jax's daughter.

— Sektor is a lesbian and has a fraternal relationship with Bi-Han.

— Cyrax can speak several African languages, including Zulu and Arabic.

— I'm going to join @rasta-bot AU that Nitara is also a lesbian, there's a 19th century irish lesbian book called "Carmilla" that I really like, it's about a sapphic vampire, just like Nitara.

— Reiko was a mommy's boy, just like Bi-Han.

— Shao suffers from narcissistic personality disorder.

— Syzoth and Ashrah's love language is physical caresses, such as kisses on the forehead and cheek.

— Ashrah is pansexual (yes, another wlw woman, it's "Mortal sapphic Kombat" for me) she has always felt lonely, so she would like any romantic companionship, no matter the gender.

— Baraka prays to Delia every day that a cure for Tarkat will be discovered (this is actually canon btw).

— Slavery is (unfortunately) legal in Seido, and Havik was enslaved (also canon), so he is an anarchist.

— Tomas is a polyglot, he can speak Czech, Chinese, English and Japanese.

[darklinaforever]

It kills me how many people think that the gender of a fictional character doesn't matter.

We are in fiction, where the characters have arcs, or they embody themes. Obviously for some characters gender matters.

Michael is literally named the new heir and freaks out about becoming a new John /basically taking everything he had.

Michaela can't really have this arc... Unless we strangely learn that the laws in Scotland are extremely different from England located in the Bridgerton universe (and I speak for the universe of the series, where we have no idea if they will stick to reality where women in Scotland could inherit), and I doubt it for the moment.

So no, Michaela couldn't necessarily have the same arc as Michael.

I'm not even sure she could be a Merry Rake. Can a woman be called Rake in show Bridgerton universe ?

The fact is that Michaela will necessarily differ at certain times from Michael.

Already there are always drastic differences between the show and the book, this time I think it will be even more emphasized. (I even doubt that we will have as many nods to the book as season 3 dedicated to Polin's story did)

In any case, the very basis of Francesca's story is that despite the loss of true love you can always have a second chance, which is a clear originality compared to the other romances in this series of books ; well, is already changed with the way the end of season 3 happened.

It seems that the marriage to John was a mistake, that the physical aspect of their relationship will not prove pleasant in view of the Fran's reaction to their kiss, and worse, that Fran doesn't feel true love for John.

True love in Bridgerton often results in great passion and similarities to the story of Edmund and Violet, and Francesca literally matches Violet's reaction when she first met Edmund, but this time when she meets Michaela.

Whereas Fran is never supposed to have this kind of reaction around Michael / Michaela as long as John is alive. Because she normaly truly loves him.

So how could the story be the same after such a change to the very heart of the story ?

It's not just the gender change from Michael to Michaela that makes the adaptation of When he was Wicked complicated and uncertain for some viewers, including me too, it is above all a whole.

But for some obscure reason people refuse to accept it.

Beyond that, I repeat, Michael Stirling is a fictional male character who has been around for years.

That people are disappointed, including me, not to see this character, as he is basically on paper, be adapted to the screen is not necessarily homophobic, assumed or internalized.

Yes, some are, but not everyone. Some of us are part of the LGBTQ+ community and no, we do not all suffer from internalized homophobia so as not to 100% validate such a change !

We're talking about an attachment to an image that we have formed in our mind about a FICTITIOUS character for fucking years !

Besides, I didn't even say that I was fundamentally against it, because I have already explained several times that a part of me was happy to see a main romance between two women on screen in the television universe for Bridgerton (and the actresses are magnificent and on top of that, I'm sure, will have very good chemistry). Once again, representation is always cool, but, is this really the right place to do it ? I'm not so sure.

And contrary to what some say, I'm not saying that LGBTQ+ relationships should systematically be secondary in fiction. No way. I'm simply saying that transforming one of the main canon ships of the books without which the Netflix adaptation would not exist is perhaps not the right thing to do, since there is already a community attached behind these characters...

And seriously, if the creators really wanted a main LGBTQ+ romance dealing with the Bridgerton universe, they could easily make a spin off dealing specifically with this part of society and how they live.

I'm sure many, including me, will watch such a spin-off ! And damn I would love for something like that to happen !

You see, the opportunity to have an LGBTQ+ romance at the forefront without changing the kind of characters mostly beloved by an audience that already exists. Not very complicated though.

Do you realize how inappropriate it is to insult someone homophobic for that things ?! I don't know what kind of fucking bubble these people live in...

And it's scary to say that you can be insulted by a community of which you are a part, simply for not conforming to everything that is judged 100% morally correct for them.

If you have the misfortune of delay, sometimes there are those who unleash themselves on you to insult you for things that you don't have, simply for a fictional character...

"You don't 100% validate that a fictional male character who has existed for years and whom you have loved for years, with a fairly precise image in mind as a result, becomes a woman in his adaptation ? Well obviously, it's is that you are, at worst, a homophobe, or at least worse an internalized homophobe, and in any case that is not tolerable and you are not a true ally and you are problematic who deserves to be hated."

I don't know if you realize how STUNNING this is ! There really are people on this app who need to get fucking treatment...

And anyway why am I racking my brains ?

There will always be stupid people to come and tell me that what I say is always homophobic because if I have a problem with the change of gender of a fictional character through an adaptation well I'm the real problem.

As they say, you can't change idiots.

So stay stupid if you want, but at least leave me alone.

[ineffable-endearments]

The Crow Road by Iain Banks

I finished The Crow Road and had a little time to think about it. I'll put my thoughts under a Keep Reading in case anyone is trying to avoid spoilers.

As I speculated before, I think it's likely that The Crow Road is more related to Good Omens in philosophy than in plot. I mean, it's not that the plots necessarily have nothing in common, and we could be very surprised in the end of course, but now that I've read the whole book, its philosophical commonalities with GO are both apparent and kind of inspiring. Also, if I were a writer, I'd be more interested in dropping hints about what themes are important than telegraphing my whole plot ahead of time.

So here, I will describe the book and point out themes that I believe may reappear in Good Omens 3.

This is a long post. If you read it, make a cup of [beverage of choice].

Update on 4/20/2024: I made a second post: The Crow Road and Good Omens: Further-Out Thoughts

Below are mentions of suicide, death/murder, and sexual acts.

The Crow Road centers around a character named Prentice McHoan, a university student in Scotland who starts to sort out his complicated relationship with his complicated family as he explores the mystery of his uncle Rory's disappearance. Although the book is mostly from Prentice's perspective, the narration jumps around in time with the McHoan family. There are quite a lot of important characters to keep track of; the bare-bones summary I put below doesn't even include some of the important ones. I wanted to make the summary even shorter and simpler than this, but the truth is that this book is not short or simple, and if I made the summary any simpler, it might be downright misleading.

There are at least three major cultural aspects of The Crow Road that I am inexperienced with: the overall culture in the 1950s-1980s (I was born in 1988, so of course wasn't here for the relevant decades), the international experience of the Gulf War (again, born in 1988), and the history and culture of Scotland itself (I'm USAmerican with only reading as a source). As a result, I'm sure there are important dimensions to the book that I've missed. If someone has a different perspective taking some of these things into account, I'd love to know about it.

Also, keep in mind, there is a great deal of descriptive writing in this book. There are a lot of pages about the geography of Scotland, and about Prentice as a kid, and about Prentice's father and uncles hanging out together in their youth, and about various family incidents, and about Prentice spending time with his brothers and friends. At first, these passages seem to just make things more confusing, and in my head, I accused them of being "filler." But they definitely serve a purpose. They're a way of showing and not telling the characters' attitudes and relationships to each other. More importantly, because we get to actually live these experiences with the characters, they are what give all the plot points below their deeper emotional impacts. In other words, the everyday experiences give the plot its deeper meaning. They resonate with one of the core themes in the novel: that our experiences in life, rather than any supposed existence after death, are what matters.

The Crow Road's story is like this:

Prentice is rather directionless in life, and he seems to have trouble investing any energy in his own future as he moons over his unrequited feelings for an idealized young woman named Verity. Soon, Verity ends up in a romance with Prentice's brother, Lewis, and Prentice feels that Lewis "stole" her from him. Prentice has also become estranged from his father, Kenneth, over spirituality. Prentice believes there has to be something more after death because he feels it would be incredibly unfair if people didn't get anything other than this one life; Kenneth is not only a passionate atheist, but is offended by the notion of an afterlife.

Prentice's uncle Hamish, Kenneth's brother, has always been religious, although his religion involves a number of bizarre and offbeat ideas of his own, with inspiration from more traditional Christian notions. Prentice is not really sure about this ideology, but he's willing to talk to Hamish about it and even participates during Hamish's prayers, whereas Kenneth is openly scornful of Hamish's beliefs. Hamish interprets this as Prentice being on "his side."

Prentice has a few opportunities to go back and talk to his father, and is begged to do so by his mom, Mary, with whom his relationship is still good. Mary doesn't want either of the men to give up their inner ideas about the universe; she just wants them to agree to disagree and move on as a family. Prentice says he will visit, but he just keeps putting it off and off and off.

Prentice acquires a folder containing some of his missing uncle Rory's notes in the process of hooking up with Rory's former girlfriend, Janice Rae, who seems to have taken a shine to Prentice because he reminds her of Rory. Using the contents of the folder, Prentice wants to piece together the great literary work that Rory left unfinished, which Rory titled Crow Road; however, it becomes apparent that Rory didn't turn his concepts into anything substantial and only had a bunch of disconnected notes and ideas. He hadn't even decided whether Crow Road would be a novel, a play, or something else. The few bits of Rory's poetry for Crow Road read are bleak and depressing.

Prentice also spends a lot of time with a young woman named Ash. They've been good friends since childhood and seem to have a somewhat flirtatious dynamic now, but they aren't in a romantic relationship; mostly, they drink and hang out together. Ash tells Prentice bluntly to get his life back on track when she finds out he's failing at school, avoiding his family, and engaging in shoplifting. She is a voice of reason, and when Prentice insists to her that he's just a failure, she reminds him that actually, he's just a kid.

Prentice's efforts to figure out Rory's story or location stagnate, and he continues to fail at school and avoid his father. He then receives word that Kenneth was killed while debating faith with Hamish. In fact, Kenneth dies after a fall from a church lightning rod, which he was climbing in an act of defiance against Hamish's philosophy when it was struck by lightning; Hamish is convinced that Kenneth had incurred God's wrath. Ash is there for support when Prentice finds out about the death.

With Ash's help, Prentice returns to his hometown again to help manage Kenneth's affairs. Prentice speaks with a very shaken Hamish, who is handling Kenneth's death with extreme drama and making it all about his own feelings. Hamish tells Prentice that Kenneth was jealous that Prentice shared more in common with Hamish's faith than with Kenneth's lack of faith. However, this isn't really true, and as he contemplates his father's death, Prentice begins to internalize one of the last things Hamish reported that Kenneth had argued: "All the gods are false. Faith itself is idolatry."

As the chapters go on, Prentice is compelled by some of the meaningful items related to Rory that he discovers in his father's belongings. He gains a renewed sense of purpose trying to solve the mystery of where Rory went and what happened to him. Among the interesting items are an ancient computer disk of Rory's that Prentice can't access with any equipment he can find; Ash uses her connections in the US and Canada to find a computer expert who can finally open the files on it. This takes quite a while, since the disk has to be mailed and Ash's connection is investigating the disk only in his free time.

Prentice also discovers that his feelings for Verity have changed. He no longer feels angry with Lewis for "stealing her." At first, Prentice's narration describes this as his feelings "cooling" as a result of the trauma of losing his father, but interestingly, this soon means Prentice gets to know Verity as a sister-in-law without getting caught up in jealous romantic feelings. Verity gets along well with the family, and Prentice is actually happy to discover that she and Lewis have a baby on the way. Prentice's relationship with Lewis improves greatly as well, partly because he is no longer jealous and partly because he realizes he does not want to lose Lewis, too.

Ash's connection who was looking at Rory's computer disk comes through and sends the printed contents of the files to Prentice. The files reveal to him that Rory likely knew Prentice's uncle, Fergus, murdered his wife by unbuckling her seat belt and crashing their car. Rory had written out a fictional version of events and considered using it in Crow Road. I'm not clear on exactly how certain Rory was about Fergus's crime, or whether Rory would have intentionally reported Ferg, or whether Rory even had enough proof to publicly accuse Ferg of murder, but people would likely have connected the dots in Rory's work and become suspicious of Ferg. For this reason, Prentice believes Ferg murdered Rory as well.

Prentice confronts Ferg. He doesn't get a confession and leaves Ferg's home with no concrete proof of anything; Ferg denies it all. But Prentice is soon physically assaulted in the night, and it seems Ferg was almost certainly the culprit, because he hadn't been home that same night, and he had injuries (probably from being fought off) the next day. A day or two later, Ferg's body is found unconscious in the cockpit of a plane, which crashes into the ocean. It's uncertain whether this was a suicide, but Prentice suspects it was. Rory's body is then soon recovered from the bottom of a waterway near Prentice's home, where Ferg had sunk it years ago.

As the mysteries are solved, Prentice realizes his feelings for Ash are romantic love. However, it's too late, he thinks, because Ash is about to take a job in Canada, where she may or may not stay. Prentice also hesitates to approach her because he's embarrassed about his previous behavior, venting all his angst about Verity and his father. He isn't sure she would even want to be in a relationship with him after that. But the very night before Ash leaves, she kisses Prentice on the cheek, which leads to a deeper kiss. They finally connect, have sex, and confess their mutual feelings. Ash still goes to her job in Canada, but says she'll come back when Prentice is done with his studies that summer.

The relationship's future is somewhat uncertain because something could come up while Ash is in Canada, but Prentice is hopeful. The book ends with Prentice getting ready to graduate with his grades on track as a history scholar, fully renouncing his belief in an afterlife while he acknowledges the inherent importance of our experiences in our lives now, and enjoying his time with Lewis and Verity and his other family members.

What's the point of all these hundreds of pages?

Well, look at all of the above; there's definitely more than one point. But the main point I took away is that we get this one life, with our loved ones in this world here and now, and this is where we make our meanings. There is no other meaning, but that doesn't mean there's no meaning at all. It means the meaning is here.

It's not death that gives life its meaning. It's the things we do while alive that give life its deeper meaning.

The Crow Road is described (on Wikipedia) as a Bildungsroman, a story focusing on the moral and philosophical growth and change of its main character as they transition from childhood to adulthood ("coming-of-age novel" is a similar term that is interchangeable, but more vague and not necessarily focused on morality/philosophy). And, indeed, all of the plots ultimately tie into Prentice's changed philosophy.

After his argument with Kenneth, Prentice feels childish and humiliated, and as a result, he refuses to go back home, which leads to a spiral of shame and depression. Kenneth dies and Prentice realizes it's too late to repair the relationship, which also leads him to realize it's what we do in life that matters, and that therefore, his father's argument was correct after all.

At the end of the novel, Prentice outright describes his new philosophy. However, I can't recall one specific passage where Prentice describes the process of how he changed his mind (if anyone else can remember something I missed, do let me know). There is, however, a moment when his narration indicates that Hamish seems less disturbed by his own part in the incident that led to Kenneth's death and more disturbed by the notion that his beliefs might actually be true: there might actually be an angry, vengeful God. In other words, Hamish's philosophy is selfish at its core.

My interpretation is that when his father died, Prentice realized three things: how utterly self-serving Hamish's devout faith is, how Kenneth's untimely death proves the importance of working things out now rather than in an imaginary afterlife, and how much profound meaning Kenneth had left behind despite having no faith at all. After these realizations, a determined belief in an afterlife no longer makes our lives here more profound like Prentice once thought it did.

Also, it's worth noting that this incident changes Prentice's idea of partnership, too. He loses interest in this distant, idealized woman he's been after. In love as in the rest of life, Prentice lets go of his ideals, and in doing so, he makes room for true meaning, both in a sincere familial, platonic connection with Verity and a sincere intimate, romantic connection with Ash.

But what about the sex scene?!

Yes, indeed, at the tail end of the story, Prentice and Ash have sex and admit they want to be in a relationship together. Prentice's narration describes them sleeping together and having intercourse not just once, but many times, including some slow and relaxed couplings during which they flex the muscles in their private parts to spell out "I.L.Y." and "I.L.Y.T." to each other in Morse code. This is relevant because earlier, they had been surprised and delighted to discover that they both knew Morse code; it isn't a detail that came from nowhere.

I didn't get the impression that this scene was trying to be especially titillating to the reader. It was mostly just a list of stuff the characters did together. I felt the point was that they were still anxious about being emotionally honest, a little desperate to convey their feelings without having to speak them out loud, and awkward in a way that made it obvious that their primary concern was the feelings, not the sexual performance. They cared about each other, but they weren't trying to be impressive or put on a show; contrast this with previous scenes where Prentice would act like a clown in front of Ash to diffuse his own anxiety. I've always thought that being able to have awkward sex and still enjoy it is a good sign.

Okay, so what does this all have to do with Good Omens?

Here's where I have to get especially interpretive. I'm doing my best, but of course, not everyone reading this will have the same perspective on Good Omens, the Final Fifteen especially. I believe similar themes are going to resonate between The Crow Road and Good Omens regardless of our particular interpretations of the characters' behavior and motivations, but I suppose it could hit differently for some people.

The TL;DR: I see similar themes between The Crow Road and Good Omens in:

The importance of mortal life on Earth

Meaning (or purpose) as something that we create as we live, not something that is handed to us by a supreme being

Sincere connection and love/passion (for people, causes, arts, life's work, etc) as a type of meaning/purpose

Relationships as reflections of philosophy

The dual nature of humanity

Life on Earth as the important part of existence is a core theme in Good Omens, and has been since the very beginning. We all already know Adam chose to preserve the world as it already is because he figured this out, and we all already know Aziraphale and Crowley have been shaped for the better by their experiences on Earth. But Good Omens isn't done with this theme by a long shot. I think this is the most important thematic commonality Good Omens will have with The Crow Road. Closely related is the notion that we create our meanings as we live, rather than having them handed to us. Isn't this, in a way, what Aziraphale struggles with in A Companion to Owls? He's been given this meaning, this identity, that doesn't fit him. But does he have anything else to be? Not yet.

Partnerships as a parallel to the characters' philosophical development also resonates as a commonality that The Crow Road may have with Good Omens. Prentice's obsession with Verity goes away when he starts to embrace the importance of life on Earth and makes room for his sincere relationship with Ash. Note their names: "Verity" is truth, an ideal Prentice's father instills in him; "Ashley" means "dweller in the ash tree meadow" in Anglo-Saxon, according to Wikipedia, and "ash" is one of the things people return to after death. Prentice literally trades his high ideals for life on Earth. We see in Aziraphale a similar tug-o'-war between Heaven's distant ideals and Crowley's Earthly pleasures, so I can see a similar process potentially playing out for him.

I don't particularly recall a ton of thematic exploration of free will in The Crow Road. However, there is a glimmer of something there: Prentice feels excessively controlled by Kenneth's desire to pass down his beliefs, and part of the reason Prentice is so resistant to change is simply his frustration with feeling censored and not being taken seriously. As the reader, I do get the feeling that while Prentice is immature, Kenneth made major mistakes in handling their conflict, too. And Kenneth's mistakes come from trying to dictate Prentice's thoughts. There is likely some crossover with Good Omens in the sense that I'm pretty sure both stories are going to take the position that people need to be allowed to make mistakes, and to do things that one perceives as mistakes, without getting written off as "stupid" or "bad" or otherwise "unworthy."

Suffice it to say that the human characters in Good Omens will also certainly play into these themes, but it's hard to write about them when we don't know much about them except that one of them is almost certainly the reincarnation of Jesus. This also makes me suspect perhaps the human cast will be 100% entirely all-new, or mostly new, symbolic of how Aziraphale and Crowley have immersed themselves in the ever-evolving, ever-changing world of life on Earth. Alternatively, if we encounter human characters again from Season 1 or 2, perhaps the ways they've grown and changed will be highlighted. For example, even in real-world time, Adam and Warlock have already, as of the time I'm writing this, gone through at least one entire life stage (from 11 in 2019 to 16 in 2024). They'll be legal adults in a couple of years, and if there's a significant time skip, they could be much older. If characters from Season 1 do reappear and themes from The Crow Road are prominent, I would expect either some key scenes highlighting contrasts and changes from their younger selves or for stagnation and growth to be a central part of their plot.

The more I write, the more I just interpret everything in circles. Hopefully this post has at least given you a decent idea of what The Crow Road is like and how it may relate to Good Omens.

I'll end this post with a quotation that feels relevant:

Telling us straight or through his stories, my father taught us that there was, generally, a fire at the core of things, and that change was the only constant, and that we – like everybody else – were both the most important people in the universe, and utterly without significance, depending, and that individuals mattered before their institutions, and that people were people, much the same everywhere, and when they appeared to do things that were stupid or evil, often you hadn’t been told the whole story, but that sometimes people did behave badly, usually because some idea had taken hold of them and given them an excuse to regard other people as expendable (or bad), and that was part of who we were too, as a species, and it wasn’t always possible to know that you were right and they were wrong, but the important thing was to keep trying to find out, and always to face the truth. Because truth mattered. Iain Banks, The Crow Road

[historia-vitae-magistras]

I think Arthur’s origins are just soooo interesting! Especially his mother’s ties to the land - and then passing along to him and his brothers. I wonder if Arthur was a surprise to her? She already had 3 children in that time, what could another mean for her? What would raising 4 immortal children be like whilst also fending off invaders?

The usual caveat when I'm this far back into history and have to use archaeology and just general story telling to fill in detail: this is not a history book but perhaps just better informed than average historical fantasy.

I think Arthur was a surprise! And he’s a very welcome one at first. Her first three children are columns holding up her power. Brigantia was either a confederation of tribes united under a more powerful ruler or a series of clans and septs that just spread really far and got really important with an unusual amount of centralization by the time of the Romans. We’re not exactly sure. But, the Celts both on the continent and in Britain and Ireland had a very long tradition of hostage taking as political control. Brigantia’s hold on eastern Ireland, southern Scotland, and a nebulous area of England and Wales could have been very artificial and based upon holding her children. And hostage taking need not have been the only form of this purposeful political organization of their family life. Welsh, Scottish and especially Irish writings detail fosterage to raise children in other’s households as a way to create otherwise very rare political stability amongst the numerous tribes and petty kingdoms that otherwise defined political life in Iron Age Europe.

When Arthur first comes into being, she could have easily interpreted his existence as a sign she would soon be able to exert more power and create more social control over the more fertile parts of the island she can feel. Perhaps the Roman conquest of Gaul and the subsequent refugees will destabilize Britain just enough for her to campaign into the south and bring more land into Brigantia. She’s probably having a torrid affair with her neighbors in Yorkshire when the Parisii appeared and have links to the same culture that will give Paris its name. We don’t know how accurate the Roman accusations of how the Iron Age Britons practiced human sacrifice actually were but nonetheless, sacrifice and worship is powerful and there are many more people in the south who’s belief and blood could flow into her as power. The channel protects her southern neighbors and Rome was defeated by the those same neighbors the one time they crossed. And she is far more fearsome than they are, surely.

Her three eldest children aren’t entirely sure what their original relationship to her may have been but its also not something that bothers them overly much. Mother was a Celt at least by the end of her life, they speak Celtic languages. The mechanics are complicated but the results, at least to them, were not. Brighid especially had more of a mentor/menteé relationship with Eirian but she has no real issue with it being a mother/daughter bond. Eirian could have just been young enough with her first child that they had a more equal dynamic. But regardless of the specific circumstance with she acquired her first three children, they were very purposeful acquisitions. The ancient world understood everything to have a spirit. In her mind it would make more sense to have a child for every field and tree and spring and tribe but I’ve gotta limit characters somewhere so its usually just easier to write leaving large gaps where the historical accuracy could actually be lmao.

At the advent of the Roman invasion, they are a family of the same structure as are found in a wide range of ritual deposits that contain human remains and I’ve kind of borrowed from the concept. We don’t know what this significance was to the people who practiced the religions that deposited these bodies and bones but there seems to have been some relationship to fertility. The pattern seems to be one older adult, one young adult, an adolescent, a child and an infant.

One older adult: Eirian has been chilling since the Bronze age and might have initially made a solid base for herself as the primary tin dealer on the island. One younger adult: Brighid is nearly grown in the 1st century as she pops up around when the Celtic cultures of Iron Age Ireland form as La Tène culture explodes into importance. One adolescent: Alasdair is 12-13 and the ancient version of a lego kid as dry stone building and new technology seem to coincide with La Tène culture as well but with somewhat later adoption of bronze and iron and the curving art so he gets a date a little more in line with the Pictish art style coming into being. One child: Rhys appears about 5-6. He comes into being as a geographic distinction centered around the mountains between Wales and the rest of the country that to develop some kind of distinction in the material culture. One infant: Arthur is born just before the Roman invasion, as a new identity culture in Britain seems to form around new developments like coins, a move towards proto-towns and a seeming intensity in the archaeological record of an obsession with heads perhaps in response to Roman religious practices or just general upheaval.

When she’s raising these children, one already grown, one mostly there, two quite young its really a demonstration of both her pride, some arrogance, a whole ocean of realpolitik and the ability of Rome to grind her down over time.

Not long after Arthur is born, Eirian and the personification of Parisii I have yet to name but who gets a summer home in Yorkshire in the Iron Age (the Parisii of Yorkshire seem to be an offshoot of the Paris-Parisii) are sucking and fucking. They are both new mothers, Parisii for the first and only time, Eirian for the 4th and last time. Parisii moves back across the channel to her native territory when the Romans win. Francis’ ‘actual’ father is less her speed and she takes the opportunity given to her by the Roman invasion of Gaul to strike a deal with Lucius. She becomes one of his favorite mistresses and her boy one of his favourite ward/pseudo-stepchildren. Parisii tells Eirian if she was smart she'd just take Lucius up on claiming legal paternity of her two youngest sons. After-all, nothing is permanent.

Eirian absolutely fucking refuses. Lucius is not overly frustrated by this at first and justifies himself as no good Roman would take a child from the breast of a she-wolf. He’s content with a pragmatic half-defeat in the beginning, leaving Brigantia and Eirian as a semi-independent client kingdom. She’s fairly adept at keeping that for a long time and Lucius is patient, not immediately forcing her to hand her children over even when she quietly supports the resistance in Wales. But when Wales is largely pacified and the power centers of the Druids are largely gone, she might have ultimately betrayed the father of her third son and sent him packing to Rome to preserve her and the children’s independence. But whatever happens, the direct invasion of her lands begins. She loses most of her autonomy and the Romans become invaders on her land rather than neighbors she can have her do her bidding. Hadrian's wall goes up. She is forced to cut a deal with Lucius so that he can educate her two youngest sons as they age, with some kind of established legal relationship, perhaps fostering or wardship. Soon, he will set his sights on her firstborn.

And I'm going to stop there because I am about to speed run the entirety of Roman Britain and it is dinner time but she Boudicca on my destruction until I horizon.

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Five Fics Friday: April 25/25

Happy Friday everyone!! Here are some fantastic fics to get you through the weekend! Hope you enjoy, and give lots of extra love to the Boosted Fics! :D

SIGNAL BOOSTING

Like I Never Came Back by BeanieBugBlue (T, 2,535 w., 1 Ch. || Post-TRF, Multiplw POVs, Suicidal Thoughts, Hurt/Comfort) – John gets drunk and visits Sherlock's grave, with no intention of coming home again. He's lost everything- his hope, his purpose, his best and only friend. Sherlock is still in London when he's notified that John has finally left the flat after two weeks of isolation. Mycroft has warned him, over and over, how risky it would be to give up his staged death now, but Sherlock knows something is wrong.. and honestly, since when has he listened to Mycroft?

The Sign of Four... Stars on Yelp by dinosaremissed (G, 17,348+ w., 5/? Ch. || WIP || Multifandom Crossover || Only One Bed, Fake Relationship, Love Confessions, Idiots in Love, First Kiss, Love Declarations, Mutual Pining, Vacation, Friends to Lovers) – John invites Sherlock to a romantic couple’s retreat in Scotland after his girlfriend breaks up with him. They pretend to be a couple for the week, joining in on spa days, crepe-making, couples' therapy, and more—hosted by the eccentric Aziraphale and Crowley. What starts as a harmless ruse turns complicated as the line between fake and real blurs, with teasing, tension, and unexpected (and unwelcome) feelings bubbling to the surface.

The Tether by crushedupcashews (T, 19,852+ w., 4/? Ch. || WiP || Post-S4, Angst, Drama, Mystery, Eventual Hurt/Comfort, Anger Issues, Panic Attacks, Autistic Sherlock, Alternating POV, Good-Parent John, Post-Mary) – Sherlock Holmes is trying to keep his head above water, rebuilding his life from the ground up. After Mary...after Culverton, the Baker Street duo is barely making their ends meet. Of course, nothing will change. Sherlock will be fine because it's all fine. John will drink and crack a smile and it'll be fine too. The mantra repeats and repeats. Sherlock knows they can't last like this. And somehow, the universe seems to know this too.

RECENT MFLs

Would I have you in my dreams tonight? by 221Bug (E, 3,444+ w., 4/5 Ch. || WIP || Alternate First Meetings AU || Dreams, Porn Without Plot, Pining Sherlock) – John is having dreams of wild adventures with a madman, which turn out to be great plots for the short stories he’s publishing. Meanwhile, Sherlock is having different kinds of dreams and his marks keep getting away from him.

ANYTHING GOES (BOOKMARKED)

Pleasure to Burn by scullyseviltwin (E, 17,863 w., 1 Ch. || Firefighter AU || Firefighter John / Arson Investigator Sherlock, Slow Burn, Pining, Case Fic-ish) – “If you’d kindly stop knocking about in there and destroying all of my evidence, it would be most appreciated!” John groaned and for a moment rested his head against the side of the truck. Of course he was the only captain left on the scene, which meant he would have to be the one to deal with the arson investigator.

[georgeharrisonsmiling]

ok since you talked a bit about john/geo relationship, i wonder why do you think paul and george never seem to understand each other after a certain period of time.

was it the business/money that destroyed the trust they had between them? or did their personality just clash and they out grew each other? bad communication?

or was it the circumstances in which their reconnecting happened that allowed resentment to grow ,john's death kind of forced them to be together don't mean that in a bad way they didn't want bad blood/regret to continue but it was never comfortable.

its bizarre because their interests alien more with each other, but for some reason it seem that it was never smooth with these two (at least publicly i know both said its not that bad).

also, ringo why did he betray(mureen thing) and threaten to sue him? was he self sabotaging his relationship with ringo? i know it was a bad time for him.

So let's start with Ringo.

I think Ringo was a safe relationship for George, meaning that he could get angry at him and he knew that Ringo would hear him out later. With the almost lawsuit, George not liking Ringo's version of his song was probably the last straw in what had been a really bad strike of events. Luckily, they got to talk it out and the situation didn't escalate.

The situation with Maureen is more complicated, everyone was in a dark place during that time. I find strange how public both Maureen and George were, maybe it was an (hypocritical) way to punish their spouses? Could also be George wanting to cut ties with everything and using Maureen for that. Neither of them talked about it so I guess we will never know.

And about Paul 🚬🚬🚬. There are way too many things I can say about them.

Personally, I think that a lot of it had to do with Paul burning bridges at a very sensitive time for George (when his mother was dying or had just died). Also about how their experiences as Beatles were quite different with Paul wanting to recreate the past while George didn't want to repeat it.

Paul thrived in the Beatles. He could do what he wanted, have all his ideas listened to and have the full Beatles team at his disposal. Eventually, he listened to the others less and less to fulfill the vision he had and was encouraged by George Martin. It got to the point where Paul was offended when someone didn't like his input and he talked about it decades later.

George didn't thrive that way. Most of the progress he had he made it on his own and there are multiple comments from people who worked with them that they thought working on George's work was a task that needed to be checked out. If that wasn't enough, his guitar work was being looked down because it wasn't what Paul or G. Martin wanted. (I think G. Martin has a lot to blame for G&P falling out).

There is also a basic miscommunication during the breakup in part because Paul focused so much on John that he never truly explained his side to George and Ringo until anthology. George thought that Paul was in Scotland having the time of his life during the breakup while Paul thought George was part of a conspiracy to destroy him. Neither of them were right.

With John and George we can point up specific moments that transformed their relationship, Paul and George don't have them. It looks to me that their working bond gradually dissolved. Paul tried to bring it back but maybe he took the wrong approach for a long time.

[monkberrymoonsdelight]

A Monkberry Moon Delight lyrical analysis because it is the greatest song of the 20th century

Monkberry Moon Delight is a song from Paul McCartney's 1971 album Ram. The song is generally considered to be surrealist 'nonsense' lyrics a la Lennon's late Beatles work like 'I am the Walrus' and 'Glass Onion'. But if we know anything about Paul (and Lennon-McCartney in general), he tends to put deeper emotions into his songs, often with out meaning to and without his direct knowledge:

"I don't write anything consciously, Sometime when I'm pissed off with John over Apple business a line might creep in." - Interview with Disc And Music Echo (Nov. 20, 1971)

"Songwriting is like psychiatry; you sit down and dredge up something that's inside, bring it out front." - Interview with Robert Palmer for the New York Times (April 25, 1982)

" But in a song, that's where you can [share your innermost thoughts]. That's the place to put them. You can start to reveal truths and feelings." - Interview with John Wilson fork BBC 4's (May 24, 2016)

And my favorite because it's y'know...in a song: "And when I'm gone, I leave my message in my song" - Beware My Love (Wings at the Speed of Sound, 1976)

All that being said, in my opinion, Monkberry Moon Delight is a projection of Paul's feelings of anxiety about his post-Beatles public/critical reception and his reaction to John Lennon's antagonism post-divorce. Specifically, he details his writing of Too Many People as a response to John's antagonism and the making of Ram as an attempt to recapture public attention/praise.

For context: Monkberry Moon Delight was first written/demoed at some point from May-August 1970 on his farm in Scotland. Paul's late 1969-1970 Scotland era is complicated. He often describes it as being one of the most difficult periods of his life because of the break-up of the Bealtes, the Apple financial troubles, his frayed relationship with John, and starting a whole new life which all compounded into a deep depression and alcohol abuse.

Let's start with the title and chorus. In Paul's own words, Monkberry Moon Delight comes from his kids mispronunciation of the word 'milk' and establishes MMD as a fantastical drink like 'Love Potion No. 9'. I think Paul obviously hides behind the surrealism of the lyric but its association with family and domesticity makes an interesting contrast. Though he is happy to be in his escapist domestic fantasy in Scotland, he juxtaposes this with the underlying pressure to be acclaimed (especially after being considered the greatest artist in the world for ten years). Though the song has a peppy, jaunty beat there is an air of anxiety developed through the songs key of C minor and the staccato of the piano and bass parts. His vocals also have a similar strained desperation like 'Oh! Darling'.

The lyrics:

So I sat in the attic, a piano up my nose

And the wind played a dreadful cantata

Paul starts with himself, writing. 'The attic' may be a reference to John Lennon's recording studio that he had built in his attic in Weybridge where he and Paul would often go to write.

"We nearly always went up to his little music room that he'd built at the top of the house, Daddy's Room, where we would get away from it all. I like to get away from people to songwrite, I don't like to do it in front of people. It's like sex for me" - Many Years from Now. Whether or not this is a direct reference to 'Daddy's Room', Paul is known to prefer small, confined spaces for songwriting.

'Piano up my nose' to me shows a rapt attention, leaning so close to his piano its almost up his nose. He is intently and passionately composing his 'dreadful cantata', this cantata I believe refers to "To Many People". Based on this record of the order of demos on the Ram cassette, it seems that Too Many People may have been written (or at least recorded) before Monkberry, which furthers my belief that Paul is making a meta narration of the writing of his song which he recognizes was very pointed or dreadful.

Sore was I from a crack of an enemy's hose

And the horrible sound of tomato

Here he describes what spurred him to writing this song, and this album as a whole. The 'crack from an enemy's hose' could refer to Allen Klein's treatment of Paul during the final months of the Beatles and his attempted mishandling of the release of McCartney (1970). (Note: The crack could also be from Phil Spector, the press, Ringo, George, Yoko or John; Paul is kind of getting shit from all sides right now). The 'sound of tomato' implies the idea of throwing tomatoes at an artist to express dislike or dissatisfaction, referencing the poor critical reception of McCartney (1970).

Ketchup, soup and puree

Don't get left behind

Ketchup, soup, and puree; liquidy tomatoes because splat, splat, splat go the critics. And ketchup because catch up pun.

Don't get left behind is the central theme of this song. He is worried that the public is going to forget about him while he's depressed, away in Scotland, and making critical flops. This is him desperately clinging onto the hearts of the public. Because we all know how much Paul needs to be liked.

When a rattle of rats had awoken

The sinews, the nerves, and the veins

The 'rattle of rats' could be any of the number of people who were getting on his nerves, sinews, and veins (pissing him tf off) in 1970. This could again be referencing the great "Let's all gang up on Paul McCartney" game of 1970 but because of the subsequent lyrics, I think this may be more specifically about John (and Yoko). Either way, it was these rats who annoyed him into getting to work.

My piano was boldly outspoken

And attempts to repeat his refrain

'Boldly outspoken' again connects this song to TMP. The line is similar to the TMP lyric 'This is crazy and baby, it's not like me' in the sense that both show how audacious he sees this songs as. In 'attempting to repeat his refrain' I think Paul is using the 'well he started it' justification for TMP because he's sees it as a repeat, of him rising to John's level of insults.

So I stood with a knot in my stomach and I gazed at that terrible sight

Of two youngsters concealed in a barrel, sucking Monkberry Moon Delight

Ah yes my favorite moment in all of music ever. This is the verse that really convinced me that this song may be referencing JohnandYoko. The 'youngsters in a barrel' alludes to John and Yoko's bag piece, where they would get into a black bag for...peace? As seen in Get Back, this particularly irked/disturbed Paul. "Go get in your bag. The Merseybeat award for couple of the year, goes to John and Yoko" (Get Back Episode 2). He also refers to them as 'the young lovers' in Get Back during the infamous January 13th 'and then there were two' conversation. Even though it makes him nervous and sick, part of Paul releasing TMP and Ram is to face up to the JohnandYoko powerhouse which was a non-insignificant portion of his early 1970 criticism.

Well I know my banana is older than the rest

and my hair is a tangled baretta

Here I think he is reasoning to the listener, the public, over why he thinks they've abandoned him. Paul recognizes that he has been in this music game a long time (so people may have grown bored of him) and has been depressed (and thus out of the game), his tangled 'baretta' of hair like the wily depression beard he grew out while in Scotland.

Also banana = dick, just so everyone is clear (can anyone find that banana poem from his poetry book? Also this just perpetuates my tinhat theory that all the banana milkshakes Paul got in Paris were just **** **** but I digress). Also something about Paul likening songwriting with sex so him not being 'musically desirable' is because...his music dick is old? Ok Paul.

I leave my pajamas to Billy Budapest

And I don't get the gist of your letter

This is the one lyric I am pretty unsure about. Not that every line has to fit perfectly into my interpretation but I genuinely could not make heads or tails of it. My initial interpretation was that this was referring to Billy Shears, and how during this period the Paul is dead theory regained popularity. This reference adds to the feeling of dissolution he builds in this verse.

But mike on the Beatles Bible seems to remember Billy Budapest as being a children's pajama designer though I have found not evidence of this. However going with this shot in the dark, leaving his pajamas to Billy Budapest could draw back to the theme of his current domesticity and occupation with his children.

The letter in question I believe refers to the infamous letter John and George wrote to Paul changing his McCartney release date that they had Ringo deliver which really set Paul off and kind of began the messiness of the divorce.

Catch Up, cats and kittens

Don't get left behind

Finally we get the pay off to the ketchup-catch up pun and see the resurgence of the theme; Paul feeling like he's falling behind his contemporaries and desperation to catch up.

In typical McCartney fashion, Monkberry Moon Delight is a seemingly shallow and superfluous song but actually reveals a lot about his inner turmoil at the time. Him dealing with the rejection by the critics and John by turning to his piano and creating the absolute banger that is Monkberry. This is why MMD is one of Paul's best, because of how quintessentially Paul it is. Veiling tough emotions behind ambiguous and surreal lyrics masked by a fun and light melody. Oh, the juxtaposition! Oh, the Lennon-McCartney of it all.

Anyways this is a barely organized rambling of thoughts but Monkberry Moon Delight deserves a mega analysis because it is genuinely one of the best songs Paul McCartney has ever made.

[unhetalia]

any headcanons for alfreds relationships and/or friendships and/or toleranceships with other nations?

Honestly I tend to have a few different versions of one relationship depending on my mood, and for every Alfred ship I like (England, Russia, Germany), the other two relationships have to change with it.

For England, it's the most complicated, because I either have him and Alfred as endgame, or I frame their relationship as father/son, which a lot of people are understandably confused about.

For me, it's pretty simple: these two will always be important to each other in a way that is completely unique from their relationship to anyone else. Don't want to spend too long on them, but their father/son relationship tends to be close, and you can't avoid one if you want to be around the other.

In their endgame universe, things are fraught for a long while, and this tends to be the slowest burn out of all the 'ships. However, Arthur does not let Al out of his sight easily, even if their relationship isn't the most friendly. This relationship basically needs a post of its own, but "complicated yet as always, filled with love" might have to sum it up.

Ivan and Alfred start working together after the Cuban Missile Crisis, when Alfred is forced out of hiding civilian life in order to prevent all-out nuclear war between their countries. They hate each other, at first — Ivan thinks Alfred is selfish for abandoning his government despite disagreeing with them, Alfred thinks Ivan is a coward for not leaving, but eventually they grow to really understand each other. They're together by 1980, and in public AU, Ivan really helps Al when he's ostracised by his people.

If they're not endgame, Ivan is in love with Alfred and he either carries on a charade of hating him in order to be in his space and to make it so Alfred's at least THINKING of him, or they're just... colleagues. Which is sad.

I always have Kiku as being quietly in love with Al, but unwilling to do anything about it. Sometimes, their friendship is unimpacted, and they're close, but sometimes I like to have Al more lonely, and Kiku's feelings will lead to him distancing himself from Alfred. When they're close, Alfred tends to have a bigger group of friends - Taiwan, nyo Philippines, South Korea, nyo India - but when they're not, it usually means I'm craving for a loneloer Alfred. I guess this means his friendship with Kiku leads to his friendship with these others, somehow.

Belarus is (alongside Tony), Alfred's best friend. Alfred isn't scared of Belarus, and Belarus is surprisingly a really good listener - she doesn't get impatient when Alfred talks about x topic for too long, and will even ask (practical) questions. They're not touchy feely, but the two of them accept the other as they are, and both of them need that.

Matthew is another one that needs his own post — I default to a Matthew that both resents his brother yet loves him to the point of obsession. Alfred is oblivious, and always forgives Matthew when he lashes out.

Mexico is their older sister who blatantly favours Alfred (further adding to Matthew's issues). She and Alfred have similar life trajectories - violent revolution and rejection of the traditional "Nation works for government." Matthew's the complete opposite on both fronts, so she just finds it hard to connect with him. Mexico is incredibly independent and can go years without seeing either of her siblings, so she's not in the picture very often, and is not really the type you would talk to about your problems or feelings.

France and Alfred are very close, and I've spoken about that a few times, so I won't go on (/tagged/re: face). There's a lot of mutual respect there.

Scotland adores Alfred, and Alfred adores him right back, and he treats Al completely different to Arthur's other colonies. Northern Ireland and nyo Ireland are similarly close with Alfred, and it's only Wales who does't actually care for Alfred at all and doesn't approve of him.

China is fond of Alfred but mostly in a distant way - he's mostly concerned with his siblings and himself.

Cuba loathes Alfred because he believes if Al had done his job, his people wouldn't have been impacted the way they were. Most people who dislike Alfred are in the same boat. These include, surprisingly, Spain and Portugal, who both see Alfred as irresponsible and "not doing his duty right."

Similarly, there's a subsection of England's colonies/ex colonies who resent Al. Anguilla, Barbados, Bermuda, Gibraltar, Falkland Islands. (Canada).

If you have any characters you want to ask about in particular, please do!

[alaskan-wallflower]

Do have curtis parents headcanons

BOY DO I!!

Mrs. Curtis

Trying to decide whether she’s be named Cynthia or Carolina

She was born and raised Jewish (religiously)

Shes about 25% Jewish ethnically (from her mom’s side-her mom was half Jewish half Irish)

She’s half Scottish on her dad’s side (her dad was like FROM Scotland)

She grew up on a farm with a lot of pets and such

She was always a bit of a tree hugger/hippie kind of person

She was never the richest person in the world-but she knew how to be resourceful

She has a twin sister actually (either named Cynthia or Carolina, whichever one Mrs Curtis isn’t named)

Her and her twin sister had a really complicated relationship because Mrs Curtis was the brighter more outgoing of the two while her twin wasn’t-so that obviously made for tension (which is why it hurt so bad to see Soda and Darry beefing when they were little because Darry’s as seen as smarter and Soda wasn’t)

She was a gardener and really wanted to go to cullinady school or music school or something but she just couldn’t afford it

She was an incredible cook though. Thanksgiving at the Curtises was always incredible

Food was also her love language-Mr Curtis definitely gained some weight lol

Shes smol (5’3’’ or so)

Mr Curtis

Darrel was always kind of…”different”

Not in a bad way! But he was raised alongside 8 other boys and their dad was this super strict man who wanted his kids to be “manly”

He was ethnically Iabkut 80% Irish and 20% English

But Mr Curtis wasn’t like that-he liked joking around and just being a boy, not being confined

He was in the middle-fifth born. Smack dab right in the middle.

One of his brothers was definitely the asshole uncle who always harassed Pony, Soda and Darry

I also headcanon Mr. Curtis had ADHD and dyslexia (which makes him a demigod in percy jackson standards)

He was the one who passed his appetite down to his boys (and would make sure to tell them that all the time 😭)

He went into the military fresh out of high school (he fought in WWII and would’ve graduated HS in 1943 if my math is right-)

He came back for small periods of time (which was when Darry was conceived) and he felt absolutely horrible that he wasn’t there for his wife during her pregnancy

But he ended up with really terrible PTSD (his kids have walked in on him having panic attacks on multiple occasions)

He tried to hide it but it was kind of hard to

He was the neighborhood dad if i’m being honest

He’s the one who nicknamed Two Bit Two Bit. He did the same to Cherry and both names just stuck (he’d see her cheering at the football games-she’s only two years younger than Darry I think?)

Whenever he got serious he got SERIOUS

Like when Darry got arrested (side bc) but he was absolutely just heartbroken

Hes BIG too—like 6’7’’

Hope these are good!

[beylinine]

looks like someone was 360 behind the back no-scoped in the 17th century. and you know what? its only going to get worse

Arthur James Kirkland headcanons

There will be no intermission and I will try to be normal. Relating to EN and his relationships and general person ig. History words will be used just fyi i gotta make use of this degree i can taste it already. Will I bring up the fact that I'm studying history everytime I ramble about hetalia? Yes, anyways. 

Was Arthur’s life ever truly peaceful? Well no. personifications never know peace ToT:

I sorta mentioned this in (this) ramble on personhood, but oh my god, when he was a 'preteen' to 'early adult' he really was 360 behind the back no-scoped throughout the late 16th to early 19th centuries (which inspired my drawings)

He did go out and explore during the 16th century (and a bit during the 18th cen.) but between the reign of James I (left pic) and Will & Mary (right pic),,,just,, yikes. but puberty does that to all of us.

Fashion historians please dont come for me regarding the outfits i tried ToT. But on the topic, while he would be out sailing the seas he enjoyed having his hair messy and natural, brushing it slightly imo for royal occasions. But as he had to grow and learn more, he began 'dyeing' his hair with different powders (i cant explain but google can sos ToT) as blonde hair was seen as a more 'feminine' hair colour and Arthur was a growing into a 'man' so he wanted to appear as such (especially when you think of his older brother, the dark haired Alasdair) Green eyes were also seen as odd (i think?) but cant do anything about that lol.

-Lots of burnt hair when the brothers would attempt to curl their hair for royal occasions oop

As the personifications are their own persons, with their own emotions and beliefs and whatnot, that can sometimes get clouded with the intent of the 'boss'. So do all his brothers 'hate' him? I don't truly think so, but since they have all had long complicated histories as themselves and as nations, the reality in their minds get murky. But when Arthur was a 'boy & teen' and was having to fight his older brothers? Oh yeah, he was crying whenever he could 😭 Like to believe that as the older brothers, Alasdair (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿) and Dylan (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿) did feel bad in some way seeing as they had to go years fighting and personally ignoring their baby brother.

Pre-roman Britain brother relationships my beloved. Little infant Arthur (based on The Beautiful World Christmas episode where they showed little FRA and tiny ENG wrapped up in a blanket)

and I say pre-roman because the Romans built a wall between England and Scotland and tried to build a ditch between Wales and England (that wasnt done until Anglo-Saxon times (which is when I believe Arthur managed to at least stand on his own two feet and talk yee old english), Offa's Dyke for those interested), brothers were definitely not happy about that (canon cue the brothers sending little Arthur curses and birds to attack him).

and pre-Norman because France doesn't start appearing around Arthur until Arthur is slightly older. Dylan took care the little nugget, a bit reluctant of letting humans coddle the 'baby'. Get that baby practicing magic ASAP (stayc girls its going down).

Speaking of Anglo-Saxon times, vikings! Vikings invaded different parts of the British Isles. So you would think there's bad vibes between Norway and Denmark and the British bros, but we don't see that in the show (some in the comics over blockades i think). If anything, Norway and England are friends that bond over magic (Christmas 2011 comics), All this to say some of the behaviour the personifications demonstrate are deliberately their own (i just wanted to say that FRA is just a big douche).

I know i said earlier that Arthur didnt leave England much during the reign of the Stuarts, but I believe he would sometimes just have enough and try to runaway onto new world ships and eventually was officially sent more often in the early 1700s

More on Arthur's relationship with his older brothers Dylan and Alasdair!

Based on geography alone, Arthur spent more time with Dylan. Even when the humans would try to separate them, they would find ways to meet by the marches (areas between ENG & WAL) or in Northern ENG whenever Alasdair had time to meet.

ENG and WAL were not "united" until the 15th century and SCT joined two centuries later, so it wasnt until then that the brothers were allowed to officially meet or gather (and then civil war breaks out, take a shot everything i mention it)

I like to think the brothers had a place in each of their nations where they could go get away from the humans and just live together (and that continues to this day, they yearn for the mountains; it was mentioned in the Hetalia Collezione profile that Arthur just wants nothing to happen -a phone that doesnt ring and a newspaper with no news or smth- like omg,,, he wants that grass so effing bad)

Real brotherly relationships through and through, the bants, the fights, just lads being bros. i love the family relationships hetalia has ToT <3

This is where I ramble about Arthur's relationship with Alfred and Matthew sit down yall:

Going off to see his younger brothers was a relief for Arthur from the national and international chaos he had over his 'late teen to early adult' years

Being the youngest after so many years, this was his chance to raise others, it would work out gr- (i was then shot 47 times)

-Ok but honestly, he constantly mentions (in manga panels relating to colonial americas) how being in the new world and being able to take care of his brothers like make food for them, is a stress reliever. He always apologizes for having to be away or having to leave quickly, saying how he knows what its like to be alone (curse you romans)

-And Arthur is just genuinely interested in having a good relationship with his new brothers (see: him looking at Matthew as his own person when they meet and not as just a piece of land with resources, I will talk about this manga chapter until the end of time HWS Chapter 192 my beloved) (also: when Alfred is trying to find Davie's flower and Arthur brings him some from England, even if it had to take a while but again, chaos at home so ToT it all ties back to how things that happened are out of his personal control even when he tried his best to make stuff work out) and he wants to do his best 'raising them' for the scary reality of being what they are after he just had his centuries of chaos

Mentioned this in my last ramble as well, but this genuine connection being then cut in the late 1700s went beyond mental and emotional turmoil, leading to Arthur getting ill and being looked over by Matthew for a bit (leading to Matthew and Alfred having a genuine argument not relating to them as countries, yall i cant do this anymore) 

General current person headcanons:

He is an excellent baker, I will die on this hill populated by sheep. All the brothers are, really (can personally only vouch for GB bros, I have not set food in the land of Ire for more than a layover sos ToT) Yorkshire puddings my beloved

Loves to bake pastries and desserts from other places and will send said representation an email/whatsapp asking for recipe ideas (he is so email/whatsapp just like me,,, just like me.)

Yes, Arthur is a London Boy…but before there was London there was Manchestaaa! That man spawned somewhere in (historic) Lancashire, I know it (plus War of the Roses and all that, fun little historical importance tie 

He can drive and I would trust him to do so, but definitely prefers public transport (and will complain about it at the same time, proper brit!)

Can he swim? Yes…not very well. He can stay afloat for a few minutes before he begins to panic. 

Arthur needs so much therapy but that is not an option so collecting old books and writing as a hobby to cope it is then? 

Truly would be a great writer (going off of all the famous English works ofc), but would dabble in painting, knitting and sewing, and music (which, as we all know, he loves to the point of having an electric guitar tattoo on his ass) 

Definitely one of those pretentious old music collecting snobs, but enjoys supporting small and local indie-punk rock bands (is loving the Charli renaissance and PinkPantheress era he's so proud)

He is an emotional and sleepy drunk as seen in the comics and show. He will be crying over his past mistakes one minute and snoring over the table the next.

Sports are serious business in the british household. World cup 2022 wales vs england? Oh that was a weekend rager even though the match was during a weekday (based on witnessing the rivalries irl, it was serious yall) Snacks are always a must and even when absolutely hammered, he will clean up as to not deal with it the next day

Would put his phone of selective notifications or Do Not Disturb from time to time until the government comes knocking

Human stuff:

Between 28 to 32 years old. Would have gone to school for English literature and publishing up to Masters, getting a job at a publishing company with the dream of one day being published himself. 

Lives the London hustle life in a fancy flat, but is very Montgomery Ricky “you want a garden but you got a balcony” coded as he had grown up in a suburban house with his family and yearns for that quiet life again but believes he needs to be in the city in order to get somewhere. 

Unlike in Gangsta AU, the brothers are actually related in my head and heart ToT. All raised by their mummsy. Dylan and Alasdair different dad from Arthur, but its the mom’s side that counts as we all know

loser failure bisexual of course 

Cant think of anything else rn, so i’ll end it here by saying he would use reading glasses by like age 25 lol

[lakeofflowerss]

RESCUE CHAIN

"It is a chain of rescue love, you to the world, me to you, James to both of us and, I hope, Kreacher to all."

As you know, English is not my first language, so I apologize in advance for any possible errors.

"Kreacher come home! Take this away, it must be destroyed old friend, take care of James and Remus. Take care of Sirius. Do it for me."

"Kreacher cannot leave his master Regulus. Kreacher will take his master home."

"No Kreacher! Get out. That is my last order.”

The elf shook his head softly as Regulus turned and began to move the inferi out of the way. His partner gone, he felt his friend's departure. He tightened his grip on his wand and began to fire spells in all directions but only seemed to increase the numbers of those beings. A wave of them rushed over him and landed near the shore. With his wand held high he lunged at them again but it was too late, behind him several more pulled him into the murky, cold water.

The spell on the end of his wand was the only light there. He felt the weight on his chest, the air escaping as something hit him. He closed his eyes, dizzy and tired, but he didn't stop trying to ascend. This was not the way he had imagined dying. No. He was going to die in the field, defending his beliefs and those he loved. His Moon and his Sun. His brother.

Now only the faces of James and Remus filled his mind with memories. The first kiss with each other, how complicated it was for Remus to understand that they both wanted him, that they both craved him. Sirius' faces when they told him about their relationship. The secret meetings when Regulus took the mark and joined Lord Voldemort's ranks to be a spy not for the Order but for them.

His brother, he would blame himself. He always did, for everything bad. Surely he would feel he didn't do enough. Regulus stopped swimming, let himself be pulled under. His wand remained held high, as if a part of him refused to give up but wasn't strong enough to continue. The last thing he did was imagine himself in Remus and James' arms, he wished he had died that way in old age.

Remus felt the time had been too much, it was taking too long. It was supposed to be a three hour job but it had been over five and he had no news about Regulus.

James would be back in a few more hours, he was on an Order mission with Frank just as Sirius was with Peter in Scotland gathering information from some allies. He didn't know where to start, he didn't even have Regulus' right hand man there for questioning.

As soon as that thought crossed his mind Kreacher appeared in the kitchen, completely wet and shaken, he ran in Remus' direction with his face contorted into a grimace of pain and despair. He was breathing heavily and as he tried to recover the words that his mind seemed to want to release but that his lack of air prevented him from releasing.

Remus knew immediately. He conjured water for the elf, turned to scribble a note with the old quill Regulus always left within reach and without a word the creature understood. He took his hand and appeared them in the cave and then went straight back to number twelve Grimmauld Place to deliver the message.

Remus at another time would have been fascinated by the place so similar to the entrance to the mythical spirit world, but now he only cared about getting to Regulus. It was late, but not too late. The screams of agony, the shrieks that the inferi uttered were heartbreaking. A faint glow disappearing in the tide of bodies urged him to act. There he was, sinking in the murky water, being dragged down by those entities.

His repertoire of spells never seemed so sparse. His head was splitting trying to find something that would work, that would serve, that would help, but he couldn't find anything useful. His desperation acted through the wand, the concentrated magic product of the situation burst forth. The cavern was illuminated by the imminent fire and he just threw himself into the stormy sea.

One minute

Two minutes

A fucking eternity

There was no more oxygen

There was no more hope

But Remus came, took that soft hand, the one he caressed for hours in the library, the one that gently held his own and James'. The one that felt so cold at first but grew warmer as the caresses went on. Remus no longer had air in his lungs, nor much strength to handle his body but he had the most important person in his and James' life in his hands, he couldn't give up, he wouldn't forgive himself. The surface that he knew was close looked extremely distant due to exhaustion. He doubted that what was left of his drained magic would be enough but he had nothing else. He gripped the wand tightly and gathered all that resided in his being to surface.

He didn't feel the moment when the water stopped surrounding them, neither when the merciless cold of that place chilled their bones. Only the blow with the stone was what brought him back to reality, taking him out of that cloud of tiredness. A sharp blow that settled his ideas. Everything hurt, every little part of his being burned but it had brought him out of the water. He crawled over to Regulus who had been inches from his body. His lips were purple and his skin was pale, almost translucent, everything screamed that nothing could be done, but Remus wasn't going to let go. He wasn't going to give up.

In the euphoria he began to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. All the Muggle first aid souvenirs were there. He couldn't find his wand and had no time to waste. He kept up the rhythm of massages and mouth oxygen while whispering pleas.

Pleas to God

Pleas to Magic

Pleas to their James

Pleas to Regulus himself

His eyes closed wearily, tears seeping between his lashes cutting the skin on his face. Sobs filled the place, his soul was being torn apart. Not even the worst full moon transformation had hurt as much as this. He massaged three more times and filled the other's lungs with his own oxygen again.

Regulus jerked violently, turned in on himself and released the water his body was imprisoning. He tried to fill himself with as much air as possible. He gasped and sobbed. He was startled when a hand touched his back and he quickly raised his wand in fear and renewed anger. His gaze softened and the element slipped through his fingers as he saw Remus' drenched face. Not hesitating, he threw himself upon him and hugged him tightly, what little he had, as he shivered from the cold and the crying he allowed himself to let out.

"I'm here" Remus also sobbed as he stroked his back and hair "I'm here, my Luz. We're going to be alright, he'll come for us. It is a chain of rescue, love. You to the world, me to you, James to both of us and, I hope, Kreacher to all.

Regulus clung tighter to Remus' wet clothes. They were both shivering. The temperature was dropping torturously. Being wet wasn't helping in the least. Slowly they huddled together on the floor looking for ways to stay warm.

It didn't happen.

And James wasn't coming.

But they both knew he would.

He would have them, he would find them.

The clacking of their teeth was all that could be heard there, in the gloom, in the desolation. They were frozen, their muscles practically immobile. They had no strength, no energy, and if they didn't know how implausible it was, they would say they had no magic either.

Exhaustion gripped their bodies, pain numbed every part of their being and their eyes, tired, closed.

Screams, hands on their faces. Other people's tears bathing their lips. "I'm here, my star and moon, I'm here. I'm so sorry I took so long."

James' broken voice confused them. They didn't know themselves dead or alive but he had arrived. They knew he was coming and there he was.

"Let's go home.”

The sentence was soft and they fell back into a deep, empty sleep. There was nothing else. Only the touch of their intertwined hands and the sweet caresses laden with tenderness that a third pair of hands took care of leaving on their faces.

It stopped being cold.

Everything went dark.

Everything stopped hurting.

James was sitting next to the two couches, in the middle of his two loves. He held both of their hands as he murmured pleas. Kreacher didn't explain to him what Regulus was doing, he could only say that it was important and that Remus didn't know either.

Regulus was investigating some unconnected points he discovered while undercover with the Death Eaters but had not shared all the information with them, not for lack of trust but because he wanted to protect them.

Whatever he had discovered had led him to this situation. Kreacher had shown up at Lily's house, where he lived according to the Order. Few knew the truth, he wanted to have things that were only theirs. Theirs and Sirius's. Theirs and Lily's.

He didn't want people to see Regulus as just an infiltrator, besides, it was the way to find the mole. Because they knew damn well there was one. James sighed and took off his glasses to rub his eyes wearily. It had been over two hours and they wouldn't wake up. They were alive but not awake. His eyes hurt, he had cried from the moment he brought them home. To their home. Kreacher also sobbed but he entrusted himself to take care of them both.

"Mr. Potter," he called to him. James wiped away his tears again and turned to the creature. It held a steaming cup of what appeared to be tea in trembling hands. The elf's fingers had bandages and burns that could not be hidden.

"Kreacher, why did you hurt yourself?"

"Kreacher did not comply with Master Regulus' order. Kreacher disobeyed and should be punished."

"Don't do it again. You saved his life and that does not deserve punishment.”

The creature muttered something under its breath and withdrew from the room, leaving him once again in stunned silence. He sipped the infusion and sighed. Apple cinnamon tea, Remus's favorite. He couldn't help but smile.

Almost at the same time Remus stirred in his seat, he tried to sit up abruptly but James stopped him and forced him to lie down again. He set the cup down on the table next to him and looked at his boyfriend. His eyes filled with tears, he could see blurry but he could make out Remus' expression with great ease. Relief.

Remus' arms pulled him to him, forcing him to fall into his chest and let his face fall into his neck. He inhaled their scent, James had changed their clothes and there was no trace of water, it was just them. As always.

"I thought he was going to die, I thought I wouldn't make it to save him, Jamie. I was terrified." Remus was crying, shaking under his body. "I never want you to see the memory I have of his body there, I would never make you feel such pain, love.”

"You're an amazing man, Moony, you saved him." he pulled away to stand in front of him and deposited a soft kiss on his lips wet with tears that no longer had an owner because it would be difficult to decide if they were his own or someone else's. "You saved you too. I was afraid I was late, you were so cold, I just wanted to...

"You came, Jamie, you came for us," Regulus' voice came out hoarser than normal as did Remus'. The two hugging wizards turned quickly to meet Regulus' figure rising from the couch.

He approached softly, a grimace on his face that fell short of a smile. He settled on Remus' legs as he sat down and James settled in next to him. "Remus kept saying you'd get there. Neither of us thought otherwise. We were sure you'd be there."

"I couldn't get there any sooner, when I got back to Lily's Kreacher was waiting for me there. I was desperate.”

"I'm so sorry I did this. I didn't mean to involve you." He looked at Remus with an apologetic gesture.

"I would go to the ends of the earth for either of you two, Luz" Remus stroked his back as he took James' hand.

"Don't ever do anything like that to me again," James' voice was completely broken. At some point he had put his glasses back on and they were wet at the bottom from tears. "You are the most important thing in my life, I fight for a better future but I don't want that destiny if it's not together with you. Because I want a better future for the three of us. From now on we are going to be magnets, we move together, we act together, we stay together. I cannot contemplate the idea of a life without you. When I found you huddled together on the floor I felt my heart shatter so that my chest burned.”

They said nothing more. The three of them curled up on the couch that had initially been Remus' cot. Kreacher came later to bring more tea and food for the newly awakened. Sirius arrived hours later scolding his brother, demanding explanations and then simply hugged him.

Regulus shared the plan. Why he did what he did. And now they had a string to pull, there was a lead to take down Voldemort but now, the three of them would snuggle again and cuddle until they fell asleep. There was too much to do and too little time to feel the warmth of the love they felt.

If you want you can go to the ao3 link and leave me some comments or kudo. I welcome suggestions of other ships to write about <3

If you don't like this type of relationship you can simply not read this fic. No need to be offensive.

[cassandrva]

let's talk about the fish/water/christ symbolism in the game of kings. with spoilers

fish (as ιχθυς) is an acronym for christ, and it's the first food jesus eats after being resurrected, right? it symbolizes rebirth, life, and christ himself. i personally think fish are slippery and cold-blooded too, but that's neither here nor there.

now look at how the game of kings starts: "lymond is back". we immediately know this book is about returning, it's about rebirth. in fact, the first thing we see is the man himself submerged in a body of water and coming out on the other side, after a baptism of sorts, as the character he will play for most of the book: lymond the outlaw, lymond the traitor.

the first words out of his mouth are "i am a narwhal": he identifies himself as a fish right away, and not just any fish but the unicorn fish; the unicorn of course being scotland's national animal. in perspective, he tells us everything we need to know about him: his status as a christ figure, his destiny to be reborn, his complicated relationship with his country.

the next time he's in a body of water, it's the second chapter and he's dying from a head injury in a bog. he's washed clean, this time, too: from his own identity. he's free to inhabit another character from the lymond constellation. it's also pretty funny that he's found by sym while he's going fishing ("you’ve hooked a twenty-pounder this time, my lad"), and he's nursed back to health by someone named Christian. not subtle.

lymond seems to be pretty into this whole fish and rebirth thing, does he not? he wouldn't lie to us. he wouldn't pretend to embrace life while actively seeking death, right? anyway, no relation at all, when the baby queen mary tries feeding him a fish he pretends to eat it and secretly throws it away. the fish is described as struggling and barely alive, which again i am sure is a coincidence.

then some stuff happens, and the next time lymond is offered fish he doesn't have it in him to keep pretending. he doesn't want the damn fish. newsflash, asshole (richard): he really, really wants to die. this is my favorite scene for many reasons, and one of them is the perfect juxtaposition of its literal and symbolic meanings: richard says he wants to see lymond hanged, but what he does is to drag him away from the tomb-like dovecote and towards running water, makes him eat the damn fish again and again until the miracle is complete. he's holding on to his brother with both hands and teeth before he even realizes he's doing it.

when it comes to an end the fish is off the hook, christ is off the cross and for once he's not sacrificed for the sins of others, and we close on him in his mother's arms in a beautiful literary pietà.

there's so much stuff i purposefully didn't mention and probably didn't notice, this is just a tiny example of the gorgeous figurative and thematic cohesion in this novel. i love it. thank you dorothy dunnett.