#NOT indicative of his character.. you understand..

[maxdibert]

Well, I was going to be a minimally civilized person, but considering that you called me a TERF out of nowhere, when I haven’t mentioned anything related to gender issues, when I haven’t alluded to that topic at all, and you just pulled that out of thin air as a fallacious argument to try to discredit me from the very first paragraph—well, I’m going to be a bit of a bitch and choose violence.

First: idk what book this person read, but Snape's obsession with Lily was creepy to the extreme. That their friendship started by him all but stalking her and Petunia should have been red flag #1. I mean, sure, he was a traumatized kid without friends, but that doesn't absolve him of his continued obsession. He literally stood outside the Gryffindor common room, refusing to leave, until she came out to talk.

Are you saying that a nine-year-old boy watching other kids play is a creepy stalker? I suppose you, at eight or nine, would just jump right into groups of kids and start playing with them for no reason, but let me introduce you to the quintessential representation of an introverted child. Because yes, introverted kids exist, although to you, it seems all of them must be stalkers just because they don’t know how to introduce themselves to other kids and just stand there watching. That’s something normal for any introverted kid who wants to socialize but doesn’t know how.

Severus and Lily were friends, mutually so—not because he was following her around. Some of you really need to learn to deal with the canon of the books. They were friends before Hogwarts, and clearly, during their school years, the relationship weakened until it eventually ended. But during that time, there is absolutely no indication that Severus was following her around because it was a CONSENSUAL childhood friendship. Did he wait for her outside? Of course he did. I’m sorry your personal life is so pathetic that your friends always ignore you when you’ve had a disagreement, but in my circle, it’s quite common that when we argue, we even knock on each other’s doors if needed to talk it out and resolve it. So, I don’t know, girl—it seems like a pretty normal attitude to me, wanting to fix things after a fight. What doesn’t seem so normal to me is a guy coming up to me and saying that if I date him, he’ll stop bullying my friend, as James Potter did. Nor would it seem normal for a bunch of kids known for bullying and casting spells on others to have a magical GPS to track where everyone at school is going, like the Marauder's Map. That’s super stalker-ish and creepy as hell because you can see where everyone is and what they’re doing. But I guess in your psychotropic view of reality, that’s just some mega-fun thing, while a nine-year-old not knowing how to introduce himself to other kids is the devil reincarnated. Truly, you have a totally coherent and undistorted view of reality, honey.

And yeah, he did switch sides out of guilt. But he canonically didn't give a damn about Harry. If he was actually trying to protect the kid, he would have done more than bully and abuse (occlumency lessons anyone?) the kid. Teaching at Hogwarts was never about redemption. It was about staying out of Azkaban. (And Dumbledore's manipulation, but he's a whole 'nother can of worms)

And what does it matter? I mean, Harry doesn’t have to care. Again, these are moral assumptions you impose on the character just because you feel like it. I don’t give a damn if he cared about Harry or not; what matters to me is that he did his job effectively. What’s canon is that he spent seven years saving the ass of a kid who was constantly trying to get himself into trouble and who, along with his friends, was a constant headache. But thanks to Severus, they didn’t end up dead more than once, so whether or not he cared deep down about those kids doesn’t matter because what matters is that he did his job properly and kept them alive.

And well, I’m sorry if you don’t understand how sentencing works, but not all sentences involve going to prison. Community service is a type of sentence, for example, so maybe Severus didn’t go to Azkaban, but he paid his debt to society in full by serving Dumbledore for 16 years and then continuing his legacy even after his death. I don’t care if he was a bad teacher; that’s Dumbledore’s fault for putting him there at 21, with massive trauma, zero chances to heal emotionally, and an overwhelming workload. Good or bad teacher, he paid his debt to society, so sorry, but your whining is, once again, utter nonsense based on your ethical and moral expectations that don’t matter for presenting the facts.

Second: the books actually say that Snape was 'up to his nose in the dark arts'. He was an active participant. He didn't just 'hang out' with to-be-DE, he WAS one. He joined up of his own free will. He became Voldemort's RIGHT HAND. He didn't regret calling someone a mudbl***. He regretted that it was Lily.

It’s funny that you attack me, calling me a TERF, and two seconds later, you talk about Severus as if he’s pure evil incarnate without taking into account his context and how he perfectly fits the usual target demographic for far-right groups to recruit new members. How the fact that Severus came from a poor and extremely violent environment made him a perfect victim to fall under the influence of people who offered him a better life, recognition, and support, when outside of that environment, all he knew was not even having enough to buy clothes and being tormented by a couple of rich pure-blooded kids making his life miserable. And yes, girl, he called Lily a Mudblood, but honestly, Lily had been about to smile at her bully while that bully was sexually assaulting him, and he had just come out of a highly stressful situation. We all say things we don’t mean in moments like that because we act completely irrationally. Plus, Severus could also be considered a Mudblood, considering he was a half-blood with a Muggle father and had grown up in a Muggle neighborhood surrounded by Muggles, so it doesn’t seem like such a big deal to me, but whatever.

And Snape CANONICALLY attacked the marauders just as much as they went after him. Just because they went after him first in that ONE memory, doesn't mean he didn't instigate too.

I don’t know if you’re still drunk after Christmas Eve dinner or what, but the books never establish such a thing. That’s something Sirius says, who is a completely unreliable source because, at 36, he was still calling the guy he nearly killed by that shitty nickname. So, sorry if I don’t trust anything from a guy who showed zero remorse about being a disgusting bully, but what do you want me to tell you?

What is established in the books is that Severus and Lily were calmly talking on the train, and James Potter interrupted their conversation to make fun of Severus. What is established in the books is that Sirius committed attempted murder. And what is established in the books is that Severus was walking along minding his own business, and since Sirius Black was super bored and wanted it to be a full moon, his best friend James Potter decided to attack Severus Snape and humiliate him in front of the entire school. They attacked him two-on-one, outnumbering him. Not only that, but they were also two rich kids from upper-class pure-blood aristocratic families going after a half-blood, working-class kid who didn’t have a dime to his name and no parents to defend him. Ignoring the extreme inequality between Severus and his bullies shows a tremendous lack of social awareness and absolutely zero understanding of class dynamics. I’m surprised that some of you claim to be activists and call yourselves social justice warriors when you haven’t cracked open a book in your lives. If you had, you’d see how problematic it is to defend a couple of rich bullies over their poor victim. It’s absolutely classist and disgusting, and pretending they were on equal footing and it was just a rivalry is to completely ignore all the power imbalances inherent in relationships affected by pronounced social and economic disparities. James and Sirius were two abusive rich brats who constantly mocked a kid for his appearance, which was directly tied to his lack of financial resources. When they laughed at him in the school courtyard, they made direct references to the state of his underwear, which relates precisely to his economic and social condition. You’re defending a couple of classist jerks, and then you throw around buzzwords like "she must be a TERF." Well, I’ve never excused anyone’s transphobia—you should stop excusing classism because, in that sense, you resemble J.K. Rowling far more than I do, clown.

And let's talk about the werewolf incident for a minute because i am sick and tired of Snape Apologists using this as an excuse. That was NOT planned. That was a lapse of judgement on Sirius' part alone (yeah, fucked to hell and he is fully responsible for that). At the same time though, NO ONE MADE HIM GO. Snape was given a vague instruction and he was so focused on 'getting back' at the marauders that he put HIMSELF in danger. That is just as much on him as it is on Sirius.

Ah, there it is, the one who calls women TERFs but then engages in victim-blaming. Yes, it was planned—Sirius planned it. And it’s called attempted murder, which not only should have resulted in expulsion but in the real world would have landed Sirius in a juvenile detention center for a few months if the prosecution's lawyer had been good. But setting that aside, I really like how you say “nobody forced Severus to go,” blaming him for what happened. It reminds me of when I was almost raped in a nightclub a few years ago, and the security guard I told about it to catch the guy said something like, “Well, no one told you to make out with that guy, you know.” It’s exactly the same goddamn speech that any basic straight guy would give to a woman who’s been assaulted or nearly so, questioning her about how she was dressed, where she was, or how far things went with the man in question. A round of applause—besides being a classist jerk, you re-victimize abuse victims. You really have it all, my friend.

Then the sexual assault? This is another common thing I see and it took me forever to figure out what it was even referring to. The pantsing? You cannot tell me he was the only one that happened to. If the levitating spell was really as popular as it's stated, this incident wasn't special. I'm willing to bet Snape did it to others too.

I’d like you to imagine Severus as a girl for a moment, and James exposing her in front of the whole school in her underwear. Then I’d like you to picture her in her bra and panties and imagine James’s voice saying, “Should I take off her knickers?” And now I want you to tell me that’s not sexual assault. It’s incredible how Marauders stans try to come across as super progressive and woke, but you just can’t, because your entire personality is based on defending rich elitist kids. And, of course, the mask slips. I have to laugh because seriously, it’s pathetic.

Third: Lupin not taking the wolfsbane. Yes, serious lapse in judgement. He also just saw Peter and Sirius on the map. The argument of it being criminal and a ticking time bomb is honestly werewolf prejudice and exactly why Remus has such a hard time finding a job in the first place. Way to go. You've discovered discrimination.

And no, I don’t feel sorry at all for the bullying accomplice who grew up to be an irresponsible adult, ended up knocking up a 24-year-old at 38, and then bolted. As far as I’m concerned, Remus Lupin can go to hell a thousand times. But hey, no problem, let’s keep defending accomplices to abuse who treat their partners like garbage. Why not? Poor thing.

Fourth: Get McGonagall's name out of your fucking mouth. She is CANONICALLY shown NOT showing prejudice and treating EVERYONE by the same standards. And, did you forget that 'Moody' here was actually a death eater in disguise? No duh he's using cruel and unusual punishments??? Full of abusive teachers my ass.

I never said McGonagall didn’t treat people equally; I said she was quite a strict teacher, and that’s canon. Severus wasn’t the only teacher who talked to or treated students in questionable ways, and if it had been such a big deal, his colleagues would have called him out—which never happened.

Fifth: What do you mean the kids weren't scared for life? I do believe those CHILDREN will carry that trauma with them for the rest of their lives. Saying that it didn't break them is cruel and completely dismisses the VERY REAL pain and suffering that they went through. They are real heroes because they OVERCAME their trials. Not all of us out here in the real world are so lucky.

It’s funny how you’re so convinced that having a strict teacher will leave children permanently traumatized for life, clutching your pearls over the cognitive and psychological consequences that might result, yet you wrote an entire text tearing down a character who endured violence as a child, suffered intense bullying, and was abandoned by every adult around him. For you, suffering and pain only matter when it’s about tearing down a character you hate. You’re like a typical right-wing politician, only concerned about social issues when it’s time to crush the opponent. Quite hypocritical and double-standard behavior on your part, but then again, not much more can be expected from someone with zero class consciousness.

And saying Regulus accomplished nothing? Disgraceful. Of course it took a catalyst for him to change his ways thats how redemption arcs work.

Ehhhh no. Regulus was a rich kid like Draco Malfoy, thrilled to be a Death Eater. He joined because he genuinely believed he was superior to others due to his blood status and aristocratic family. But when faced with bloodshed, it overwhelmed him, and he backed out. He didn’t accomplish anything—he just acted foolishly, which delayed things for Harry years later. Funny how you see redemption in Regulus but not in Severus, who spent almost twenty years of his life paying his debt to society. Funny how you’re so lenient with Regulus, who’s described as handsome, wealthy, similar to his brother physically, coming from a privileged family, fitting the aesthetic of a mysterious, elegant guy that looks great on Pinterest boards. But you’re not so understanding with Severus, who came from abject poverty, is constantly described as ugly and unpleasant, and clearly lacks that smooth aura. I love it because people like you point fingers at others for things that are really just projections of your own internal prejudices.

If you made it this far, I hope you have a good day. Believe whatever you want, obvy I'm not going to change anyone's opinion. You can't MAKE a person understand. Still, it's nice to rant and remind myself how nice it is that I live in my own little corner of the fandom where I don't have to see this bullshit on my dash

If you’ve read this far, I wish you a Merry Christmas. I hope one day you’ll dignify yourself by opening a book on social politics or class dynamics. I hope one day you’ll bother to read statistics on how violence and economics interplay with predispositions to criminality. And I hope one day you’ll think twice before calling someone a TERF without reflecting on your own disgusting classism, beauty privilege tendencies, victim-blaming, and utter inability to analyze characters. Also, you might want to reconsider defending rich, privileged, abusive kids because it’s seriously cringe-worthy. Kisses.

okay, hold my drink *hands u cursed ancient goblet full of mead* i gotta talk my shit for a second.

ive been seeing a lot of severus snape love recently. and this is fine, obviously, y'all can love whomever you want. but. i need to rant or i will explode. if we're talking about canon. severus snape spends his adult years, seven books of it in fact, abusing children. and his excuse for this is the girl he loved (tho not enough not to join a group actively trying to exterminate her) fell for the hot jock instead of him (a tragedy indeed, i weep 4 him, i really do). and also she died, which, admittedly is very sad.

it is simply crazy 2 me 2 look at that and think *romance* or *genuine care and affection*. LIKE. fo real. snape calls her a slur in public, apologizes in private, hangs out with dudes who commit hate crimes against her friends (CANONICALLY, she says "you've been hanging out with that douchebag Mulciber, how could you do that after what he did to Mary???" this is not a direct quote but like, it's close enough). lame. loser behaviour.

"Oh but what about regulus" i can hear you say "he loves James potter but snape doesn't love lily???" well. idk. maybe. bit different tho, innit? due to james not being the demographic regulus is attacking (which doesn't make regulus a better person but does make the dynamic between him and james different). ALSO. Regulus chooses to turn against voldemort without hope for anything in return. snape doesn't seem to give a shit about voldemort, he's just sad he's not gonna get to bang lily evans. he switches sides for that reason alone. also doesn't care about what happens to her husband or her son which like. considering lily would be pretty fucking destroyed if they died. once again points to my whole, he doesn't really give a shit about her, theory. lame. loser. behaviour.

also. im sorry. I"M SORRY. but what snape does to neville? to hermione? to harry? gross. a grown ass man out here telling an eleven year old neville he's worthless or hermione she's ugly and annoying. or spilling harry's potion and refusing to grade him for it???????????????

reg and draco are children when we see them at peak suckage and therefore they feel like they can be redeemed much more compellingly (CAN be, not SHOULD be, not HAVE to be, just narratively i think they are easier to turn into interesting, sympathetic characters). but snape? snape grows up into a garbage adult. like he doesn't get better. and again, the only real excuse we're given is his obsession with lily. not very demure. not very cutesy.

ALSO. yall remember that time he got a destitute, struggling Remus Lupin fired from the best job he ever had just because he felt like it? remember that time snape weaponized Remus's lycanthropy and people's prejudice against him just cause. like. literally just cause??? his ego was bruised after the shrieking shack incident so he was like "get wrecked Lupin I'm going to tell everyone your secret so you will be forced back out onto the streets" DO YALL REMEMBER THAT BITCH ASS MOVE????????? THAT HE DID AS A FULL ADULT.

IN CONCLUSION, this is silly and, of course, like i said at the start, everyone can have their own thoughts and feelings about characters, but i simply needed to interject here on behalf of snape haters everywhere because i feel like so much of snape's shitty behaviour as an adult during a time when he was really under no duress and was very safe and cozy, is ignored. and my hater heart just cannot let that stand.

[tgirlblogger]

Wormblr Recommended Reading Order

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: This short novel is needed to understand the power fantasies of most fanfictions of Worm. It is also important to understand the writing style of Mark Twain to understand the next work.

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court: Not only is the Isekai genre a vital part of the Worm fanfiction community, this book also provides a surface level understanding of royalty, needed to understand Twig.

The Holy Bible: To understand most of Pact and Pale you will need to thoroughly analyze and draw allusions to this novel. They both draw from many characters and themes, providing direct allusions to the "Christianity" religion.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: A direct sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, the understanding of the word "sequel" and its connotations is needed to fully grasp Ward, and its subtle relationship with Worm.

Claw: This is the shortest book by Wildbow, and a good starting point. The reader will start to parse his writing style, and understand how to analyze characters.

In Flanders Fields: Clicking on the Support Wildbow tab will lead the reader to his Patreon, where they may learn that he deals in a currency labelled "$CA". Learning more about the author, they may find he lives in a place called Canada. The short poem In Flanders Fields is a crucial piece of work into understanding this "Canada" place. It also helps to ground the viewer when they read Pact and Pale.

Slaughterhouse Five: This piece of work is necessary to understand one of the main antagonists in Wildbow's best work, Pact. The reader will understand this so called "German" phenomena, and fully understand the character Johannes Lillegard.

Frankenstein: It is crucial to understand the monster in Frankenstein to comprehend many parts of Twig. It also introduces the reader to a "superhero", with the character of the monster.

Twig: One of Wildbow's best works, Twig is indicative of Wildbow's peak as a whole. The interplay of the Lambs and the world as a whole is intricately crafted, and the main character Jessie Ewesmont is a very likeable character. Unfortunately the book is ruined by one of the side characters, Sylvester Lambsbridge. It is possible to skip over the sections of the book where he appears though, and it is highly recommended to do so.

Ward: The second installment in the Parahumans series, Ward is by far much better than its predecessor. Victoria and team Breakthrough are much more compelling characters than the pastiche and tropey team Undersiders.

War and Peace: The third installment in the Parahumans series, War and Peace is innovative and complex. Much smaller than Wildbow's other novels, but still sizeably good. The main character Napoleon is very compelling, and is almost as good as Victoria.

Pale: The fourth installment and final installment in the Parahumans series, Pale serves as a good ending for all the characters in the series. The Kennet Trio serve as very thrilling antagonists for the protagonist, and are arguably more interesting.

Pact: Though completely unrelated to the Parahumans series, Pact is still good in its own ways. By far not as good as War and Peace, but Blake Thorburn still serves as a good and interesting main character.

And that's the recommended reading list! After reading in this order, you should be enlightened, and be able to find the true path to Wildbow's treasure. It is said Wildbow's treasure has the secret of immortal life.

[shadesofgreyy]

You’re misunderstanding my point. I’m not comparing who’s “better” or “worse,” but pointing out that Harry is not morally ambiguous like Snape, which is exactly what your post suggested. Harry’s moral compass is clear, his flaws come from emotional lapses, not consistent contradictions between right and wrong. Even his worst mistake, using the cruciatus curse, is an isolated incident, not a pattern of morally conflicting decisions.

You also left out the full context of Rowling’s words, where she explained Harry’s faults: “Harry's faults are primarily anger and occasional arrogance. On this occasion, he is very angry and acts accordingly. He is also in an extreme situation, and attempting to defend somebody very good against a violent and murderous opponent.” This shows that Harry’s moral lapses are rare and come from an emotional response, not from a place of moral ambiguity. His mistakes are not indicative of a pattern of moral conflict; they are moments of emotional weakness, not moral contradictions.

While the context and circumstances, like trauma, privilege etc. is important for fostering empathy and understanding why someone makes certain choices, it doesn’t change the moral nature of those choices. Snape’s decision to join the Death Eaters, for example, is still morally wrong, no matter the context. His entire arc is built around choices that blur the line between right and wrong, good and evil. That’s what makes him a morally grey character, his actions are filled with moral contradictions.

Harry, on the other hand, doesn’t make those kinds of choices. His mistakes don’t push him into the grey zone because they don’t reflect a pattern of moral ambiguity. He does make mistakes, but they’re exceptions, not the rule. That’s why Harry isn’t morally ambiguous, his decisions are generally aligned with a clear moral compass, even when he stumbles.

You mention that Rowling draws parallels between Harry and Snape, but that comparison doesn’t quite hold. Yes, both are flawed and human, but Rowling never calls Harry “grey.” She has said he’s “flawed and mortal,” but that’s not the same as being morally ambiguous. She consistently calls Snape grey, across tweets and interviews, because his actions force us to wrestle with moral contradictions. Harry, however, never consistently crosses that line. So, while circumstances certainly shape their paths, it’s the choices they make that ultimately define their moral clarity. Snape’s choices, influenced by his past, force us to wrestle with moral contradictions, making him a morally grey character. Harry, on the other hand, makes choices that align with a clearer moral framework, even when he stumbles.

I’m tired of how, whenever Snape’s strengths are discussed, some people feel the need to immediately undermine them by saying, “But he’s not a good person; he’s gray.” Let’s be clear: this applies to every Harry Potter character. None of them are purely good or evil. They’re all flawed, complex, and gray—especially Harry himself, whom Rowling has openly described as imperfect and morally ambiguous, much like Snape. .

If we call Snape irredeemable, we must remember that Harry, too, has made morally questionable choices. Both are flawed, both are human.

Goodness doesn’t require perfection or sainthood. It’s about the choices we make in spite of our flaws, pain, and failures. Snape’s story reminds us that even the most broken among us can still choose the right path, save lives, and remain loyal to what truly matters.

[ripplestitchskein]

I’ve been mulling it over and I think where the Octavia storyline falls apart a bit for me when it comes to understanding and empathizing with her character is that the valid reasons for her to be upset aren’t what she’s upset about and we have no indication that the major reason she would be in the frame of mind she’s in during the final confrontation ever came into play.

Stella and Andrealphus haven’t really hidden how they feel about Stolas. Octavia knows his punishment, all of hell does. She knows that he’s been trying to reach out to her, Stella takes her phone and then loudly and for a very long time laughs about how he’s been repeatedly trying to reach her for a month. Like it would make more sense if that had been hidden from her, but it wasn’t, she has been shown that he is trying to reach her. They could have taken the thread that she was mad that he took awhile to reach out to her, Andrealphus even comments on it in the scene, and we the audience saw Stolas too caught up on his own shit and then realizing “oh shit I need to call Via. “. A perfectly logical route to take, we’ve seen it on screen several times that Stolas’s first impulse is to act and then remember he has responsibilities after. But Via doesn’t seem to be mad about that aspect.

And this isn’t a misunderstanding where we the audience see Stolas trying to contact her and she doesn’t know he is. She did see him calling, she heard that he was repeatedly trying for a month, so I don’t see how her major issue is him leaving her when he kept trying to get in contact with her and then showed up at her house putting himself in extreme danger to do so.

I could see her being mad that he got himself banished because of his choices, not knowing the reason it was brought into court was because of her Mother and Andrealphus. Stolas did break the law for Blitz, and doing so resulted in his exile, but she doesn’t mention that in her final speech either.

The episode talks about the cheating and the broken family aspect but Octavia doesn’t even mention that, we see it in her song, her house crumbling around her, but that doesn’t seem to be the issue when she confronts him. She doesn’t mention that he destroyed their home. It’s heavily implied she’s upset he destroyed the image he built up but because of the addition of the antidepressants it comes off as being more about that than the actual cheating and divorce.

We see Stolas being willing to die for Blitz and leaving her that way, he doesn’t in the end, but she would still be understandably hurt by him just being willing to make that choice. I thought for sure that was going to be the crux of her issue after Mastermind. But she doesn’t really even focus on that aspect of the situation. She never really mentions it at all outside of the same nebulous you promised you wouldn’t leave me, you chose him that has been her issue since LooLoo Land. A “You were willing to die and break your promise to not leave me” would have made more sense to me than “You faked your way through a relationship with my mother and lied about being happy all these years”.

Like Stolas’s actual issues we’ve seen are NOT what Octavia seems to be ultimately upset about. And they could have been if we leaned into the precautionary heir aspect of it but they really haven’t.

I know she’s a teenager, but I have a hard time believing the impulse to learn that someone you love was so unhappy for so many years they just faked their way through it and had to be medicated to cope, and then be mad at them for that? Like, isn’t that a very obvious act of love? Like someone being willing to make themselves unhappy for you for so many years is at its crux a sacrifice. I understand what they were trying to convey, that she feels like he had to use medication to carry out the obligation of being her dad, that she believes that the whole time he was just putting on a show of loving her like he put on a show of loving her mother, but without the tie in of her being a duty he had to perform and “get through” it falls a bit flat when she never mentions that detail, when we’re not even sure if she knows that is why she exists. It would have been a much stronger motivation if she did. If Octavia had found out that Stolas didn’t necessarily want to have a wife or a child, that he was forced to by duty and obligation, and that he had been medicating himself and faking it the whole time and as soon as he had an out he took it, would be a far stronger case for her rage than what actually happened: her finding a box of medicine bottles.

I think we had a strong setup in a variety of directions but in the end they didn’t really commit to any of them. I’ve seen a ton of “I relate to Octavia because I too come from a home where a partner cheated.” Or. “My parents also divorced and that sucked”. And the show was heavily implying that was her issue, with the client having a parallel to their situation, but in the actual confrontation it’s more about the idea that someone taking medication is using that medication to create emotion and feeling where otherwise it wouldn’t exist, but why that fails for me as a reasoning is that just the act and willingness to do that, to force yourself into a loveless marriage and to do everything you can to maintain that facade implies love and care from the outset.

Maybe I’m just too old and being a parent with a now adult child skews my perception, but there were a number of much better reasons than what they ultimately went with, imo.

[dont-f-with-moogles]

My Home For All Seasons

(Merry Christmas, Levihans! Here's my contribution to this year's Levihan Secret Santa 2024! @levihanweek for Nautilidaes on Instagram. Thanks so much to @alemanriq for organising!)

My Home For All Seasons Characters: Levi x Hange Word Count: 1446 words

A sky of granite loomed overhead. Temperatures had fallen below freezing; the heavens could no more threaten snow than promise the relief of sunshine. Instead, pavements glistened with ice, much to the delight of Shingeki middle schoolers who skated their way through the frost-glazed gates. Others stepped gingerly, whilst some of the more unruly boys slid onto their backsides, laughing with raucous embarrassment.

Levi Ackerman, the janitor, rounded the corner of the school building. He was rubbing his gloved hands together partly to relieve the numbness in his fingers, partly with the distaste of having just handled a large bag of refuse. His disgust, however, was short-lived; Levi’s brow furrowed further as his eyes fell on an unexpected and inexplicable scene in front of him.

“Oi -”

Hange Zoe, the chemistry teacher, was engaged in a heated discussion with a cab driver. The man was leaning out of his car window, gesturing emphatically at a grey and white donkey which stood behind them. A leather rein ran from the science teacher’s hand to a loose cord around the animal’s neck.

“Levi!” Hange’s labcoat whirled about their knees as they turned to him. “Tell this mean, old driver that I’ll pay him triple rate if he just lowers the seats in the back. That’s all he has to do to make enough room!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Levi raised his hands. “Context, Hange. Let’s start from the beginning. Now, what’s with the ass?”

“Excuse me?” Hange looked affronted. Levi snapped off a yellow rubber glove and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“The ass. The donkey.” Levi indicated the animal who had his hooves rooted firmly to the icy ground. “Our equine friend right here.”

“Right, right!” Hange scratched the back of their neck, their grip on the rein slackening. The donkey, who had been pulling in the opposite direction, stumbled. He reared his long, white-tipped nose with a grunt of protest. The cab driver waved off Hange with a few choice words; his rear wheel screeched and smoked against the ice as he pulled away sharply.

“None of you seem to understand!” Hange cried, outraged, “this donkey has been subjected to the most horrendous conditions! Forced to participate in the school’s nativity production, he’s been standing beside a manger in the freezing cold all afternoon while grubby-handed fourth graders have manhandled him.”

Levi stared as the animal’s black-tipped ears shivered. 

Trembling, Hange continued. “And once the school returns him to the mobile petting zoo it’ll be another nativity tomorrow, then a kid’s party, then a day of donkey rides at the amusement park… it’s a schedule straight out of hell.”

They stroked their knuckles slowly, fondly down the animal’s soft nose.

“...and I just can’t do that to old Moppel.”

“Moppel?”

With a mournful whinny, the donkey reared his head. Flecks of white stood out against his begrimed flanks. The creature’s dark, almond-shaped eyes were blinded with sadness; a watery grey film seemed to coat them, while grit clumped in the corners. Suddenly, a gust of arctic air ruffled his fur, forcing his aching lids closed. 

“He just looks so… lonely.” Hange’s voice caught.

“Look…” Levi tore his gaze away, gesturing with an ungloved hand. “Let’s be realistic. Say we don’t return him. Where else is Moppel going to go? He can’t come home with you.”

“I know that!”

“Besides which, donkeys are notoriously difficult to train,” Levi continued, “they’re stubborn, noisy and they eat everything.”

“Actually Levi, they’re deeply misunderstood creatures!” Hange contradicted him with a declaratory finger, “you would be a little stubborn too if your handlers were cruel, forcing you to entertain children all day and then locking you in a cage all night! Donkeys are not only intelligent but also have excellent memory retention.”

Levi surveyed the animal doubtfully as it closed its large teeth around the white collar of Hange’s labcoat. 

“You’d know more than me…” Levi conceded, “...even so, the petting zoo will want him back. The guy’s gonna charge the school if we don’t return him.”

Hange traced the donkey’s soft fur. The animal pressed its long nose gently into Hange’s open palm. 

“I wasn’t going to keep him for myself, you know, ” they spoke in a small voice, “my friend Moblit knows someone who runs a wildlife sanctuary not far from here…”

“Hange.”

Moppel lifted his head again, brushing lightly against Hange’s forehead. The scientist closed their eyes, savouring the delicate tickle of grey fur against their cool brow.

“...I know,” they relented, “I know. It’s just… difficult to see him go back to a place like that.”

Hange’s hand slackened over the rein; Levi lifted it from their grasp. Wary of the newcomer, Moppel took one begrudging hoof forward.

“I’m sorry…” The science teacher was contemplating the empty sky. “It’s just… the holidays are hard, you know?”

Levi inclined his head. Without words, the two of them communicated the private pain of their separate burdens.

“You know, some of the site staff are going out for Christmas drinks tonight,” Levi offered, holding Moppel’s rein aloft whilst the creature pawed at the ice, “...come with us.”

Hange returned his invitation with a forced smile.

“That’s okay. I’m not really in the mood to celebrate. Christmas… it’s not my season, you know?” 

Hange raised their hand in parting then, thinking better of it, let their arm drop by their side. They did not look at the donkey as they turned around. 

“Come on…” Levi coaxed as he slowly led Moppel away.

…

Hands stowed within the pockets of their black parka jacket, Hange passed through a plain-walled hallway. Apartment doors were adorned with huge, satin ribbons and embellished wreaths. Some bore doormats with festive slogans; Deck the Walls! and Silent Night, Holy Night. All is Calm, No Titans in Sight.

Levi’s message had been more of an insistence than a casual invitation. And, if Hange was honest with themself, they had been only too relieved to leave the quiet confines of their own rooms. No decorations marked their front door. No Christmas tree stood in their sitting room. There was no bunting trailing Hange’s bookshelves; no lights brightened their apartment windows. A pile of unopened cards cluttered their desk. To Hange, Christmas was simply another day on the calendar.

Stopping before a silver wreath, Hange rapped their knuckles smartly. The door opened by a fraction, revealing Levi’s tight-lipped smile. As he backed into his narrow hallway, Hange recognised the meagre light spilling from his small kitchen and the dark shape of a Christmas tree in the lounge beyond. Its silver baubles trembled. Hange took another step, astounded to find that the rest of Levi’s sitting room was filled with donkey. There stood Moppel, sedately chewing one of the lower branches of Levi’s tree.

Hange’s mouth fell open. 

“You saved him!”

With a short cry they flung themself upon the creature’s soft neck, pressing their face into his grey fur. Hange breathed in his animal scent; earth and straw and cold air. They ran their fingers over his long nose, cradling his head lovingly against their own. 

Levi watched the reunion with folded arms, lips pressed into a thin line.

“Guess you were right, Hange. He is a smart ass.” A husky little laugh escaped him. “Turns out there’s plenty we still have to learn about donkeys.”

He lowered his arms.

“Besides, that mobile petting zoo is suspicious as fuck. I borrowed the school minibus to take Moppel back and… let’s just say my eyes were opened. Animals crammed inside tiny cages… The yard was filthy…”

“Huh…” Hange reflected, “so, is that why…?”

They straightened, stood, to look at the reindeer who was bucking its head up and down slowly, snorting. A beard of white fur lined his chin and front; his antlers rose in beautiful, sculpted arcs.

“That’s Elgelhein,” Levi told them. “...he looked cold.”

Hange’s laughter warmed the air. “Wow, Levi! Looks like you’ve got your own zoo now!”

“Yeah, yeah.” The corner of his mouth lifted in a wry smile. “They aren’t permanent housemates. You see, I thought we could go check out your friend’s wildlife sanctuary tomorrow…”

The breath was knocked from him as Hange threw their arms around Levi’s neck. He uttered a hoarse gasp as he felt the press of their lips against his flushed skin. 

“You’re one stubborn ass yourself!”

Levi was about to retort when Hange’s breath curled in his ear.

“...but you’re the one who always understands me.” They kissed his neck again. “The only one. Thank you, Levi.”

His hand lay entangled in their hair as he pulled them closer, savouring the feeling of their body in his arms.

“Merry Christmas, Hange…”

[blushft]

generational cycles of abuse, of course

(+ isolated guys w/o shading because i spent a good amount of time on them)

[heylittleriotact]

I don't understand why you would take a literal character design masterpiece and turn him into a dude who looks like he thinks spraying AXE on his balls is indicative of outstanding personal hygiene.

You guys have GOT to stop putting weird five o'clock shadow ten dollar haircut Emmrich on my feed. No hate to people who like that mod and think he's hot, I'm happy for you but that is NOT Emmrich to me. That's Eric and he works at the Jiffy Lube and when he says "May I show you something of the greater Fade here" he's either talking about your turbocharger or his taint. Take Eric somewhere else he's upsetting my unborn children.

[sskk-manifesto]

Bungou Stray Dogs: Dead Apple and how “ability users” (opposite to “normal people”) learning to accept themselves through the acceptance of their own abilities is a queer metaphor of acceptance of own's sexual orientation and gender: an essay by me

[otaku553]

The eventual kazuha and sanemi dynamic

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

wanna ask how you feel about the eridan bpd headcanon/theory(?? not sure what to call it!) you're so good at your character analysis and i'd love to see your outlook on it

Since I don't have a degree or any formal training in psychology, I feel deeply uncomfortable diagnosing characters. I've made an autism joke before but only because I'm on the spectrum. He's definitely traumatized and anxious, but I mean those as descriptors of his behavior rather than capital-D Diagnoses. I try to focus on those when I can - the cause and effect of cognition, self-image, and behavior - and those factors may very well match up with DSM criteria, but I try not to touch an actual diagnosis with a ten foot pole unless the author has explicitly stated that X character has Y condition.

[amelikos]

Spinel's relationship with Blacky really gained layers, I'm kind of fascinated.. the thought that they live in their world only they can understand.

[an-obligatory-blog]

Is.

Is this a safe space for me to say that I don't like the trope of "Infinite thought his squad was killed by Shadow but in actuality it's a deception by Eggman"?

[happyk44]

It's kinda funny because w/ my Zeus kid OC (who I've been thinking about renaming as Araceli, 'cause it means altar of the sky, apparently, which I like 'cause sky-themed-ish but also like. A little bit I wanted something that meant cloud the way Coral's name means... Coral) the implication is that she takes after her father to an almost mirroring degree because I developed her and my other PJO OCs (who also all got retconned into an OG work) at the same time I was playing around with my ideas on the Big Six, and the gist at the time was supposed to show how the Big Six could've turned out if they weren't so weird.

So the dynamics of the friendship was supposed to be very similar to the dynamics of Big Six's relationship to each other (e.g. Mary having a major crush on Hera's "representative" but also being attracted to literally every other person that walked by, Nico being the soberminded big brother figure, etc). It's also one of the reasons Mary would get angry whenever someone would compare to her dad, because similarly I think Zeus would get angry if someone compared him to his dad.

And then eventually as I got older and the daydream moved around with whatever obsession I had at the time, the characters and general storyline began to change away from that in some ways but core features sort of stayed and so I ended up with a version of Zeus that ignores his daughter's pleas for help because he loves her but her pain hurts him because he can't do anything about it and it's his fault she's suffering.

She got this intensity from him, it's ingrained into the way it's ingrained in him. But he was able to rebuild the world according to his own needs and wants and beliefs. And she can't really do that. So he doesn't have any advice he can give her when she's on her knees begging for help with all the noise and pain in her head. He doesn't know what to do! It's like he can just go and rip it out of her.

But she's suffering because she's different and she's weird and she knows it and she knows it's his fault which is why she's asking but he just doesn't know and he can't handle watching her suffering and listening to her cry when there is no helpful answer to give her because "I don't know" isn't going to fix it.

He's supposed to fix things, he's supposed to have the answers. He's king of the world, by damn! He's a problem solver. He supposed to have a solution, and a million backup solutions. But he doesn't! There's nothing he can do to make the noise stop because truth be told, the noise never really stopped for him! It just got easier and quieter. So he turns away from her because he loves her and he's failing her and he can't handle that.

But also in the same breath, I think he recognizes similar aspects of himself in Jason, who isn't even asking for help, and fucking despises him for it, lol.

✨ Girl Dad ✨

[lem-argentum]

i once saw someone contrast miko.fuu by claiming that f.uuta’s individualistic while mi.koto is not, but i would argue that miko is the one who puts himself first in his mind in most situations…….??? ?

[boysnberriespie]

Honestly sometimes I really hate how pigeon holed Good Representation has become because sometimes I want to write queer characters that just wouldn’t describe themselves with specific terms because it’s not how the character thinks and operates in the world

[dimiclaudeblaigan]

still very disappointed they cheated us by making this guy be able to uwu his way out of being a villain