#There are so many reasons to criticize Peter

[mademoiselle-cookie]

I hate to defend Peter B because he's far from my favorite character in this movie, and he's even questionable in this scene, but not for that.

Peter didn't trap Miles. Not willingly at least. He wanted to talk to Miles but Lyla managed to track them down (bc we know the Society tracks and monitors its members even without authorization). On the other hand, I don't know if Miguel knows that Peter was not at all trying to help them capture Miles.

It's obvious for 2 reasons: narration and logic.

Narration

First, the end.

If Peter wanted to trap Miles, willingly and clearly betraying him, then there's no reason the authors want him to be part of Gwen's group. Or for Gwen to want him in her group. It's a thing if he didn't betray him consciously - but just seek to help him and do the right thing (i.e. not destroying a universe) - but it's another to voluntarily choose to stab him in the back.

No one will give a "redemption" this quick to someone who behave like that. On the other hand, if he must above all question his philosophy rather than his actions, in these cases, it can pass (I still think it's a bit crappy, but that's not the point).

Secondly, if it was the authors' intentions, they would just have to show it. They wouldn't have shown Peter being shocked that Lyla announced that she had found them. His face would have been resigned, just like Jess when Gwen gets fired, because she knows what she's doing by refusing to intervene, she is not surprised.

Besides, Peter wouldn't have promised that he didn't know it was going to happen. Peter is not a liar, and he has no reason to do that when Miles is cornered. And he wouldn't panic. He's the man who's still able to kick ass after (during?) a big depression. He has no reason to act like that if he knows what's going on.

thirdly, it would have completely ruined the sincerity of the moment if it was only a manipulation to trap Miles. You can tell me that it's still a waste because they are interrupted and Miles feels betrayed. But no. Even knowing what's going on, seeing that scene again and its sincerity touch, and having it end like this is still tragic. On the other hand, if it is only a low manipulation, all the emotion disappears, and the spectator is just bitter during the whole scene. And that's clearly not the point. (even if the revelations that Miles is responsible for the birth of Mayday does not touch me, this scene remains strong after watching it many times)

Also, he didn't try to stop Miles when he's "discovered". He tried to talk to him. The one who stop the other? It's Miles. Someone with as much experience as Peter B could have outpaced a newbie like him, but he does absolutely nothing while his target is escaping.

Another small point but it's worth what it's worth. Peter is portrayed as a good father in the film. He wouldn't use his daughter as bait. He brings his daughter on a mission, yes, but it's used as a joke, it's not supposed to be taken seriously (even his wife doesn't care). He's in the same movie as a woman who fights while being heavily pregnant, which doesn't raise any concerns about the health of the baby either.

Logic

Why does Lyla audibly warn Peter? Plot reasons. There's no real logical reason behind Lyla's action, it just shifted the plot, to hell with logic. Miles need to think Peter betrayed him. Because really, if you tried to sneakily trap someone, do you think warning your target that he is cornered is a good method? In advance to give him time to escape?

And why bother to do that? Miles was hunted by the entire Spider-Society. Did he need to be trapped like that to be captured? Miles is a kid with a year of experience against hundreds of Spider-heroes, some with decades of experience. There is no need to corner Miles for the Society to get to him because the Society was already doing that.

When Peter makes the decision to use another method, it's not because he thinks that Miles will miraculously beat all this 'losers' (even though he doesn't yet know he has a plan, Miles seems to be content with flee). It's because he wants to convince him to not save his father. If Miles is no longer on the run, there's no more pursuit, and no need for violence. Period. He doesn't want Miles to get hurt and he think the Society is in the right. He had already managed to make him listen to reason before, so he was trying again.

Peter protested against Miles being locked up before the hunt, and he was glad he managed to trick Miguel on the train. It's not the bahavior of someone who really, really want him to be captured, to the point of betrayal.

Also, he never tried to immobilize Miles. Yes, he tried to give him his baby. But it's not a method to immobilize someone, at most to occupy his hands, so long as he keeps the baby. But if you want to immobilize someone, you IMMOBILIZE them. You tie it up with webs for example. LIKE IN THE FIRST MOVIE.

But no. Even though Peter nags him to take Mayday, Miles moves. He is free to move and he is looking for a solution to escape. Peter is not stupid, he sees that. He didn't corner Miles in the oven (?), Miles got in there on his own and the first thing he does is try to open the grill. Grill that he will indeed use to escape. I'm not going to be told that with the sources of information that Miguel has at his disposal, Peter couldn't have found a better place to corner Miles. Or that he doesn't have enough experience to drag him there.

Another small point, we agree that spider-senses react to danger. That's why Miles manages to run away from all his attackers. So if Peter wanted to cause him harm and Miles is using his spider-senses to the fullest, how did he manage to capture him and take him somewhere else? Because trapping him IS a danger for Miles. So why is it not reacting at all?

Y'ALL I'LL URGENTLY NEED YOUR IMPUT RIGHT NOW

BECAUSE LIKE AM I READING THIS WRONG

So in this scene:

Peter is consistently and very pressingly trying to get Miles to hold MayDay, before having a heart to heart with him.

When suddenly his watch says "We got your location, Peter."

DID YOU INTERPRET THIS AS INTENTIONAL OR NOT?

Since my first viewing, I believed it was fully intended and that Peter had alerted them that he was with Miles. I always assumed Peter was ratting him out.

But so far two people have told me they see this is accidental. Which shocked me. Do you think it's intentional, or a complete accident?

Here's why I think it was completely intentional:

So of course we begin the scene with Peter being VERY insistent that Miles hold his baby. Like.. uncomfortably consistent. He's deadset on getting Miles to hold Mayday. Insisting that it'll make everything okay.

They end up in a small enclosed area.

So they're in this enclosed space, and now Miles chances of escape drop dramatically. Going down seriously is the only way he can leave - and he can only do that if both his hands are free.

Peter knows for a fact if Miles is holding MayDay - 1) he can't swing and 2) he would never kidnap her.

I always interperted Peter's insistence not as a weird fatherly thing, but a ploy to get Miles to stay in one place.

In a space like this, Miles can't wallcrawl with a baby in his hands, and there's no place to swing, besides - Miles would never take her from her father anyway.

Plus there's the Lyla thing. Let me go on.

Peter gets down beside him, putting a hand on Miles trying to get his eye contact. And then MayDay attaches herself to Miles' arm. Peter is really close here - like MayDay doesn't have to lean much to cling on to him.

By the time he says 'And she happened-' MayDay is already on him, Miles just hadn't noticed yet. Peter isn't holding her anymore.

In one shot, MayDay is on the other side of Peter, then suddenly she's on Miles' arm. I assumed this was Peter putting MayDay on Miles, are at least getting her close enough to cling to him.

To me it looks like he literally passed her from one arm to the next in order to get her close to Miles.

Now Miles hands are full. He can't go anywhere. Now all Peter has to do is laugh and joke until they can get to him. Peter even judges the way Miles holds her - I assumed this was him trying to coax him into really holding her, calming down and not focus on leaving.

The better Miles grip on her is, the less likely he is too take off.

Right after this Lyla announces herself - saying "We got your location, Peter."

Now, I always took this as confirmation that yes, he set up Miles.

Why else would Lyla speak out loud to him if he's hadn't spoken to her first. If Peter didn't KNOW he was being tracked, why would Lyla just announce it to him suddenly? Her natural protocol probably would've been to just tell Miguel.

So I always saw Lyla speaking out loud like this as the sign that Peter spoke to HER first, letting her know to track his location, and believing it was safe to respond out loud, Lyla replied back.

Instead of Lyla just talking suddenly and giving Peter away.

As soon as this happened, I immediately understood why he was SO insistent on Miles holding MayDay and holding her well, and calming down.

Because he was intentionally trying to corner/ground him in time for The Society to get to him.

How else would they even know that he was with Miles - and to track HIM and not Gwen - unless he directly told them 'I have Miles with me.' someway?

From Day 1 I saw this as intentional, but I've seen multiple people now who believe it was an accident.

What do you believe? Cause I don't think Lyla would just speak out loud unprompted in a situation like this. To me I always saw it as her responding to Peter, AFTER Peter ratted Miles out.

I mean, look at Miles' face. He LOOKS betrayed. He LOOKS HURT.

Peter says he didn't know, but Miles doesn't believe that. Neither do I.

He says "I didn't know, I promise." But I was like-

Yeah sure, you didn't know the watch you've had for months and the sophisticated ass AI on it can track your location, sure bro.

Sure, Lyla just figured out on her own that you were with Miles and then decided to rat you out. Sure. Her voice recognition picked up Miles being there and she still spoke out loud uh-huh. STFU.

You not making no sense bro CAP. STOP THE CAP!!!!

Like...... Seriously, how else would Lyla know to ping Peter's location, other than him telling her. It's just him and MILES!!!!!

I don't know. That how I always read the situation.

And Peter using his baby to manipulate and corner Miles like that - It DO NOT sit right with me. It don't matter of face I'm sick to MY STOMACHHHHHHH!!!

But maybe I'M the one bugging. If I'm reading this wrong but who knows bit if he deadass ratted him out.....guitar. guitar. Hobie, the guitar!!!!

But how do you read this scene, you think he did it on purpose or nah?

Cause Lyla announcing herself like that is mad random unless he spoke to her first. She could have found him and told Miguel, but I feel like she told Peter too because he actively requested he be tracked.

Hm. HMMMM.

Thoughts, ya'll? We think he did it or nah? Let's hear what the audience thinks fr fr

[mariocki]

Shadows of Fear: Come Into My Parlour (1.10, Thames, 1971)

"A tube ticket?"

"Not a ticket. The ticket."

"Which one?"

"The one that should have been in my pocket."

"Was that your crime? Everybody's done that, some time in their life..."

"Not everybody gets caught."

"It's nothing."

"The most important thing that ever happened to me."

[iamnmbr3]

I was thinking about how fun it would be to do an It's A Wonderful Life type AU where postwar Draco, consumed by guilt, wishes he had never been born and thus realizes that actually his life mattered more than he thought. And as I was thinking about how a fic like that might play out I realized just how much might change and just how central to Harry's narrative Draco really is.

Draco is so intimately connected to so many things that happen in the story. If suddenly Draco doesn't exist, potentially Harry doesn't join the Quidditch team in book 1 and doesn't catch the snitch with his mouth or almost die from Voldemort cursing his broom. He still likes flying and might join the team later though, but he's no longer the youngest Seeker in a century.

Or in book 2 without Draco Harry doesn't speak Parseltongue in front of everyone because Draco isn't there to conjure a snake and consequently the whole school doesn't conclude that Harry is the heir of Slytherin. This also means that Ginny doesn't mention Harry's ability to diary!Tom and so Tom doesn't try to use her to lure Harry into the Chamber since he has no reason to think Harry would be able to open it. Hermione possibly also doesn't figure out how the voice that Harry's been hearing connects to everything and thus the golden trio may not ever realize that a basilisk is on the loose. Tom might end up deciding that the best way to learn about Harry is to fully possess Ginny or to drain her life force and permanently come out of the diary. Potentially she ends up dying and no one ever knows. Harry doesn't get the diary and thus isn't able to surprise Lucius enough that he unthinkingly tosses a sock in Dobby's direction, meaning Dobby is never freed. Dumbledore may not ever return to the school though probably he does and probably Lucius's threats to other school governors still get exposed.

In book 3 depending on whether Harry ever ends up joining the Quidditch team, the whole plot with the Firebolt in book 3 might never happen. Harry's head also doesn't get seen in Hogsmeade which means Snape doesn't drag him into his office and force him to turn out his pockets which means Lupin doesn't find out about the map and take it from Harry. Lupin consequently doesn't follow the Golden Trio into the shrieking shack in the end of the story. Ron and Harry might also notice Pettigrew on the map but they might not. Depending on how things go down in the shack Sirius might not get a chance to tell his story and prove his innocence. Snape might even attack him and hand him over to the Dementors. Potentially Peter doesn't set out to bring Voldemort back. Lupin still probably loses his job because of the curse, but he might not end up outed as a werewolf. Peter might also have been brought back to the castle and Sirius's name might have been cleared.

In book 4 without Draco, Rita doesn't have a secret source about Harry that lays the groundwork for attacks on his character in book 5.

Assuming Voldemort eventually comes back he no longer punishes Lucius through Draco. Instead he likely directly orders Snape to kill Dumbledore. Because Dumbledore is still dying Snape probably does. Harry has no path to getting mastery of the Elder Wand (assuming we go by the canon version of wandlore and we don't believe the wand actually chose Harry). If Harry makes it to the end of book 7 he dies in the forest. Narcissa probably sees no reason not to say he's still alive. Voldemort kills him for a second time and he stays dead. Though quite possibly Harry is immediately identified and killed at the Manor since Draco is not there to lie for him. Also, Dobby may never have been freed and might not be there to help save him.

Of course, lots of the canon events could still happen and things could just play out a bit differently. But this really highlights how critical a part of Harry's narrative Draco is. From a fic POV I think the most fun would come from exploring how much worse book 7 would have played out without Draco there.

[tossawary]

A while back, I had a playthrough of the PS5 "Spider-Man" game going on in the background, and I don't actually remember much from it, but it did do one thing that reeeeeally annoyed me at the time. Although, admittedly, I am not sufficiently familiar with the comics to criticize any of the writing choices with citations.

See, in this game, they had a redheaded love interest for Peter Parker named Mary Jane Watson, BUT this MJ was a journalist. In fact, there were a couple stealth sequences where the player briefly played as journalist MJ investigating some organized crime group.

And I had to stop working to squint at the screen for a while, because I couldn't remember anything about any movie, cartoon, or comic MJ ever doing any work as an investigative journalist. I'd thought that she was a model and actress??? I'd been under the impression that MJ had more of a party girl persona, at least outwardly.

I had to stew on why I disliked this choice, but I concluded that I hated the idea that female characters and their ambitions could be interchangeable. Not all people's personal identities are irreversibly intertwined with their careers, but some definitely are, and for others, career choices are still going to say something about their personality and background.

There are some characters who can job-hop across a wide variety of jobs and it doesn't impact their general characterization much. But there are other characters where I'm like, "If they lost their job, they would have an identity crisis and struggle to shift industries." Someone who is an academically minded scientist is not always going to have an easy transition into a profit-oriented sales job. Someone who likes to fix things with their hands is probably going to dislike switching to a job filling out spreadsheets. Someone who hates kids is probably not going to be a good teacher. Someone who was really professionally ambitious may not adjust well to being a stay-at-home parent, financially dependent on someone else and responsible for the well-being of a helpless little human being. And so on. All for various complicated human reasons.

I don't remember enough about the aforementioned game to be criticizing it specifically here. But generally speaking, I disliked the basic concept that a female character couldn't be interesting and challenging if she had a "shallow" and "feminine" career. I disliked the general concept that MJ could be "improved" as a character by being given a more "serious" / "intellectual" career. I disliked the idea that Peter Parker was REQUIRED to have a redheaded love interest named MJ, as per many preceding comics, but who MJ actually was as a person in terms of hobbies she enjoyed, ambitions she dreamed about, her opinions and fears and messy behaviors, could just be swapped out as if none of that internal richness mattered.

In my very basic knowledge, the "Spider-Man" comics have a wide cast of female characters, some of whom have been journalists or employees of the Daily Bugle! Peter has had MANY love interests over the years! And MJ apparently being "shallow" gave her specific (admittedly often misogynistic) relationship dynamics with other female characters like Gwen, which made MJ stand out as a unique personality. Not all superhero love interests have to be Lois Lane, investigative journalist!

To me, it's a little like making Lois Lane NOT a journalist, and making her into a model and actress instead. Like, you COULD do that. In fact, if you were really willing to put the work in for an AU, I'm sure you could do a fascinating character study about what would have to be different about Lois Lane's life to put her on a wildly different career path. But if there was a "Superman" game and you randomly changed Lois Lane's career without a great reason, you would get tomatoes thrown at you.

This game did have a reason to make MJ into a journalist: she became a source of information to move the plot forward and it briefly made her a playable character. Which is... fine. That's fun, even. I think you could have probably written the story in such a way that actress MJ was involved with something that ended up being a front for organized crime, to achieve similar results, but it is easier in some ways to just make her a journalist, I guess.

And hey, for all I know, this game really did a great adaptation of comics MJ into a journalist; maybe the writing had some really solid AU characterization for her. I do not remember it well enough, but I do remember the writing in other areas of the game being pretty solid. As a standalone character, I didn't think that this game's version of MJ was bad or anything.

But, lacking those citations to study her as am adaptation of the comics character, I still feel a little suspicious and salty about it.

I think this came to mind again because I was thinking about fanfiction AUs which change a character's career, and why they occasionally don't work for me. Sometimes, you take a character who is ordinarily fighting genetically engineered aliens in an apocalyptic wasteland, plop them in a Modern AU, and say, "They're a daycare worker now!" And I might be like, "Yeah, that's exactly where they'd be. That's their happy place. Hell yeah." But with other characters, you do the same thing, and I'm like, "I'm gonna be real, I think this would be this character's personal hell."

[apoloadonisandnarcissus]

Of Sauron [Hypothetical] Redemption

Is Sauron redeemable?

This question is particularly active in the Sauron x Galadriel fandom, for obvious reasons. But it can be of interest to any Tolkien fan, really. Brace yourselves, this is a long read and we are going deep into Tolkien legendarium, here.

To many, the idea that Sauron is redeemable is absurd in itself because of how Tolkien describes him as “the second visible incarnation of evil”; “reincarnation of Evil, and a thing lusting for Complete Power” (Letter 131); or “shadow of Morgoth” (The Silmarillion). All of this means that Sauron is absolute and pure evil, yes? And hence, he has no possibility of redemption, whatsoever? 

Not quite.

For starters, there’s an idea that needs to be deconstructed here: Tolkien lore being “black and white”, or pure Evil vs. pure Good. It isn’t.

And this was actually, a grievance Tolkien himself had ever since his work first got published. The critics and the public, seemed determined to judge his books on an absolute dichotomy, without any nuance. Ironic, many are doing the same until this day (and probably the reason why Christopher Tolkien hated the Peter Jackson adaptations so much).  

Some reviewers have called the whole thing simple-minded, just a plain fight between Good and Evil, with all the good just good, and the bad just bad. Pardonable, perhaps (though at least Boromir has been overlooked) in people in a hurry, and with only a fragment to read, and, of course, without the earlier written but unpublished Elvish histories. But the Elves are not wholly good or in the right. Not so much because they had flirted with Sauron; as because with or without his assistance they were 'embalmers'. They wanted to have their cake and eat it: to live in the mortal historical Middle-earth because they had become fond of it (and perhaps because they there had the advantages of a superior caste), and so tried to stop its change and history, stop its growth, keep it as a pleasaunce, even largely a desert, where they could be 'artists' – and they were overburdened with sadness and nostalgic regret.  Tolkien Letter 154

Tolkien admits his lore doesn’t deal with “absolute evil” because he doesn’t believe in such a thing:

In my story I do not deal in Absolute Evil. I do not think there is such a thing, since that is Zero. I do not think that at any rate any 'rational being' is wholly evil. Satan fell. In my myth Morgoth fell beasts and monsters, and the Unknown. The defence of the realm may then indeed become symbolic of the human situation. Before Creation of the physical world. Tolkien Letter 183

Tolkien's Sauron

Did Tolkien created Sauron as a nuanced villain in his lore? What does he say about him? 

And there is Sauron. In the Silmarillion and Tales of the First Age Sauron was a being of Valinor perverted to the service of the Enemy and becoming his chief captain and servant. He repents in fear when the First Enemy is utterly defeated, but in the end does not do as was commanded, return to the judgement of the gods. He lingers in Middle-earth. Very slowly, beginning with fair motives: the reorganising and rehabilitation of the ruin of Middle-earth, 'neglected by the gods', he becomes a reincarnation of Evil, and a thing lusting for Complete Power – and so consumed ever more fiercely with hate (especially of gods and Elves). All through the twilight of the Second Age the Shadow is growing in the East of Middle-earth, spreading its sway more and more over Men – who multiply as the Elves begin to fade. The three main themes are thus The Delaying Elves that lingered in Middle-earth; Sauron's growth to a new Dark Lord, master and god of Men; and Numenor-Atlantis. Tolkien Letter 131

Mairon, the Maia of Aulë, was not evil in the beginning (because nothing is, in Tolkien lore).  He was corrupted by Morgoth. He repents of his crimes under Morgoth but doesn’t do penitance. During the Second Age, he begins his rise to power, being a cautionary tale of “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”.

In Season 1 of "Rings of Power", we saw "repentant Mairon" aka Halbrand:

In Season 2, Annatar was introduced, and he symbolizes "Sauron the reformer", who wants to rebuilt Middle-earth with good intentions:

Sauron was of course not 'evil' in origin. He was a 'spirit' corrupted by the Prime Dark Lord (the Prime sub-creative Rebel) Morgoth. He was given an opportunity of repentance, when Morgoth was overcome, but could not face the humiliation of recantation, and suing for pardon; and so his temporary turn to good and 'benevolence' ended in a greater relapse, until he became the main representative of Evil of later ages. But at the beginning of the Second Age he was still beautiful to look at, or could still assume a beautiful visible shape – and was not indeed wholly evil, not unless all 'reformers' who want to hurry up with 'reconstruction' and 'reorganization' are wholly evil, even before pride and the lust to exert their will eat them up. Tolkien Letter 153

During the Second Age, Sauron begins his rise to power, with good intentions, at first. However, his pride and lust for power becomes too great, and he aspires to become a “God of Men” (no longer a mere Maia).

And this is probably Sauron's greater crime (sin) in the legendarium, since Eru himself is called to intervene: Sauron was first defeated by a 'miracle': a direct action of God the Creator, changing the fashion of the world, when appealed to by Manwë [...] reduced to 'a spirit of hatred borne on a dark wind', I do not think one need boggle at this spirit carrying off the One Ring, upon which his power of dominating minds now largely depended (Letter 211).

Because of his admiration of Strength he [Sauron] had become a follower of Morgoth and fell with him down into the depths of evil, becoming his chief agent in Middle Earth. When Morgoth was defeated by the Valar finally he forsook his allegiance; but out of fear only; he did not present himself to the Valar or sue for pardon, and remained in Middle Earth. When he found how greatly his knowledge was admired by all other rational creatures and how easy it was to influence them, his pride became boundless. By the end of the Second Age he assumed the position of Morgoth's representative. By the end of the Third Age (though actually much weaker than before) he claimed to be Morgoth returned. Tolkien Letter 183 (note)

Let's dig in the "Sauron the supervillain":

The corrupted, as was Melkor/Morgoth and his followers (of whom Sauron was one of the chief) saw in them the ideal material for subjects and slaves, to whom they could become masters and 'gods', envying the Children, and secretly hating them, in proportion as they became rebels against the One (and Manwë his Lieutenant in Eä). Tolkien Letter 212

In my story Sauron represents as near an approach to the wholly evil will as is possible. He had gone the way of all tyrants: beginning well, at least on the level that while desiring to order all things according to his own wisdom he still at first considered the (economic) well-being of other inhabitants of the Earth. But he went further than human tyrants in pride and the lust for domination, being in origin an immortal (angelic) spirit. In The Lord of the Rings the conflict is not basically about 'freedom', though that is naturally involved. It is about God, and His sole right to divine honour. The Eldar and the Númenóreans believed in The One, the true God, and held worship of any other person an abomination. Sauron desired to be a God-King, and was held to be this by his servants; if he had been victorious he would have demanded divine honour from all rational creatures and absolute temporal power over the whole world.   Tolkien Letter 183

What these quotes tell us, is this: while Sauron isn’t “absolute evil” (because Tolkien himself didn’t deal with this in his legendarium, nor did he believed such a thing exists), Sauron's will (desires; intentions; goals) came pretty close to “wholly evil”.

Sauron is unmistakable evil, obviously distinguishable from “good”: he’s not a grey character, nor an anti-hero in any way, shape or form. He’s a full-on villain, some might even say a "super-villain", really. However, he’s not pure irredeemably wicked evil in Tolkien lore.

Why?

Tolkien's Ideas of Redemption

This goes back to Tolkien’s religious beliefs (Christian-Catholic) and how they are present in his legendarium; in 1953, he wrote this about the Orcs: 

the Diabolus Morgoth did, and started making things 'for himself, to be their Lord', these would then 'be', even if Morgoth broke the supreme ban against making other 'rational' creatures like Elves or Men. They would at least 'be' real physical realities in the physical world, however evil they might prove, even 'mocking' the Children of God. They would be Morgoth's greatest Sins, abuses of his highest privilege, and would be creatures begotten of Sin, and naturally bad. (I nearly wrote 'irredeemably bad'; but that would be going too far. Because by accepting or tolerating their making – necessary to their actual existence – even Orcs would become part of the World, which is God's and ultimately good.)   I have represented at least the Orcs as pre-existing real beings on whom the Dark Lord has exerted the fullness of his power in remodeling and corrupting them, not making them. That God would 'tolerate' that, seems no worse theology than the toleration of the calculated dehumanizing of Men by tyrants that goes on today.  Tolkien Letter 153 

In 1965, W.H. Auden asked Tolkien if the notion of Orcs (an entire race that should be seen as irredeemably wicked) was not heretical:

With regard to The Lord of the Rings, I cannot claim to be a sufficient theologian to say whether my notion of Orcs is heretical or not. I don't feel under any obligation to make my story fit with formalized Christian theology, though I actually intended it to be consonant with Christian thought and belief, which is asserted somewhere, Book Five, page 190,1 where Frodo asserts that the orcs are not evil in origin.   Tolkien Letter 169 

And now you know the reason behind Orc families in "Rings of Power".

Tolkien himself went back and forward with this notion, or even if the Orcs had “souls”, to begin with, but in the end his faith probably got the best of him. We also see this with his thoughts on Gollum:  

In which case (as I believe) salvation from ruin will depend on something apparently unconnected: the general sanctity (and humility and mercy) of the sacrificial person [...] Gollum had had his chance of repentance, and of returning generosity with love; and had fallen off the knife-edge.  Tolkien Letter 191

On the importance of repentance, even among the Valar:

The Fall or corruption, therefore, of all things in it and all inhabitants of it, was a possibility if not inevitable. Trees may 'go bad' as in the Old Forest; Elves may turn into Orcs, and if this required the special perversive malice of Morgoth, still Elves themselves could do evil deeds. Even the 'good' Valar as inhabiting the World could at least err; as the Great Valar did in their dealings with the Elves; or as the lesser of their kind (as the Istari or wizards) could in various ways become self-seeking.   Aulë, for instance, one of the Great, in a sense 'fell'; for he so desired to see the Children, that he became impatient and tried to anticipate the will of the Creator. Being the greatest of all craftsmen he tried to make children according to his imperfect knowledge of their kind. When he had made thirteen, God spoke to him in anger, but not without pity: for Aulë had done this thing not out of evil desire to have slaves and subjects of his own, but out of impatient love, desiring children to talk to and teach, sharing with them the praise of Ilúvatar and his great love of the materials of which the world is made. The One rebuked Aulë, saying that he had tried to usurp the Creator's power; but he could not give independent life to his makings. He had only one life, his own derived from the One, and could at most only distribute it. 'Behold' said the One: 'these creatures of thine have only thy will, and thy movement. Though you have devised a language for them, they can only report to thee thine own thought. This is a mockery of me.'  Then Aulë in grief and repentance humbled himself and asked for pardon. And he said: 'I will destroy these images of my presumption, and wait upon thy will.' And he took a great hammer, raising it to smite the eldest of his images; but it flinched and cowered from him. And as he withheld his stroke, astonished, he heard the laughter of Ilúvatar. 'Do you wonder at this?' he said. 'Behold! thy creatures now live, free from thy will! For I have seen thy humility, and taken pity on your impatience. Thy making I have taken up into my design.'   This is the Elvish legend of the making of the Dwarves; but the Elves report that Iluvatar said thus also: 'Nonetheless I will not suffer my design to be forestalled: thy children shall not awake before mine own.' And he commanded Aule to lay the fathers of the Dwarves severally in deep places, each with his mate, save Dúrin the eldest who had none. There they should sleep long, until Ilúvatar bade them awake.   Nonetheless there has been for the most part little love between the Dwarves and the children of Iluvatar. And of the fate that Ilúvatar has set upon the children of Aulë beyond the Circles of the world Elves and men know nothing, and if Dwarves know they do not speak of it.  Tolkien Letter 212

This is pure Christian doctrine.

Even though Tolkien legendarium is not a copy-paste from the Bible (and it has several other inspirations), it’s pretty clear that Eru Ilúvatar represents the Christian God. And even though God himself had different interpretations throughout History, I think we should see it as the God from Tolkien’s time (and our time, too): “God the Father” (which makes sense with what Tolkien created on his lore).

In Catholicism (Tolkien’s religion), God is just (God’s justice) but he’s also merciful, and he loves all of his children, even those who fallen into sin. No one is unredeemable in the eyes of God (no matter how deep one has fallen), if one truly repents and makes amends for his sins ("the virtue of penance"). God is always willing to give their faithful a second chance, if they accept him as their one true God, and make penitence in His service (whatever that might be).

In the lore, we know that the Children of Ilúvatar are Elves and Men. However, all the deities (Valar and Maiar) were also created by Eru. From a Christian perspective, the Valar are archangels, and the Maiar are angels. This is an on-going debate within Theology, because some agree that angels are “sons of God”, while others don’t. For the sake of the argument, I’ll just add this: Job 38:7 - when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God [angels] shouted for joy. But more on that later.

This means that Sauron is, indeed, redeemable. But he has to make that choice, himself. "Free will"; another major theme in Tolkien lore.

And, the true question, here, isn’t “is Sauron redeemable?” but “is Sauron capable of repentance”? 

In Tolkien “canon”, meaning the events of “The Silmarillion”, “The Hobbit”, up until the end of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy (First to the dawn of the Fourth Age) the answer is no.

After the One ring is destroyed by Frodo, Sauron’s spirit is left so diminished and weak, he can never rise to power, again, according to Gandalf:

If [the One Ring] is destroyed, then [Sauron] will fall; and his fall will be so low that none can foresee his arising ever again. For he will lose the best part of his strength that was native to him in his beginning, and all that made or begun with that power will crumble, and he will be maimed for ever, becoming a mere spirit of malice that gnaws itself in the shadows, but cannot again grow or take shape. And so a great evil of this world will be removed.  

However, this is not as simple. Sauron/Mairon is an immortal spirit by definition. He can’t never truly die, since he’s one of the spiritual forces that first helped shaped the world in the Ainulindalë (the Music of the Ainur), and no soul can be annihilated or reduced to zero (non-existent) in Tolkien legendarium.  

Sauron/Mairon’s whereabouts and fate after the dawn of Fourth Age are unaccounted for, because Tolkien didn’t get the chance to finish his story. We, truly, don’t know where he went, if we stayed on Middle-earth, or to the Undying Lands of Valinor (to finally face the judgement of the Valar for his crimes), because he could go whenever he wanted in Arda, really.  

One theory is that Manwë, the King of the Valar, might have come to Mordor to capture Sauron after the One ring is destroyed, based on this description from “Return of the King”: 

And as the Captain gazed south to the Land of Mordor, it seemed to them that, black against the pall of cloud, there rose a huge shape of shadow, impenetrable, lightning-crowned, filling all the sky. Enormous it reared above the world, and stretched out towards them a vast threatening hand, terrible but impotent [Sauron’s spirit]: for even as it leaned over them, a great wind took it, and it was all blown away, and passed, then a hush fell.” 

Basically this scene but a “great wind” carries away that shadow

Manwë is the one with the power over air and winds, and when Sauron repented the first time (after Morgoth’s defeat), he went to Eönwë, the herald of Manwë, to beg forgiveness for his past crimes. His fellow Maia told him that he couldn't be the one to grant him pardon, because that’s above his station, and he needs to face trial before the Valar, namely from Manwë.

Since we know that Sauron’s pride prevented him from doing this, it would actually make sense for Manwë himself to capture Sauron after his defeat, bringing him to Valinor.

When Thangorodrim was broken and Morgoth overthrown, Sauron put on his fair hue again and did obeisance to Eönwë, the herald of Manwë, and abjured all his evil deeds. And some hold that this was not at first falsely done, but that Sauron in truth repented, if only out of fear, being dismayed by the fall of Morgoth and the great wrath of the Lords of the West. But it was not within the power of Eönwë to pardon those of his own order, and he commanded Sauron to return to Aman and there receive the judgment of Manwë. Then Sauron was ashamed, and he was unwilling to return in humiliation and to receive from the Valar a sentence, in might be, of long servitude in proof of his good faith; for under Morgoth his power had been great. Therefore when Eönwë departed he hid himself in Middle-Earth; and he fell back into evil, for the bonds that Morgoth had laid upon him were very strong. The Silmarillion

Many use Gandalf’s quote as “proof” that Sauron remained on Middle-earth like a shadow of malice, or a ghost. However, Tolkien made the distinction between himself and what his characters say, in Letter 153: “There is, to me, a wide gulf between the two statements, so wide that Treebeard's statement could (in my world) have possibly been true [...] Treebeard is a character in my story, not me; and though he has a great memory and some earthy wisdom, he is not one of the Wise, and there is quite a lot he does not know or understand.”

Gandalf is wise, indeed, but he’s not of the same rank as the Valar (he’s a servant to them), nor he, like Eönwë, has either the power or the permission to pass sentences on other Maiar’s fates. Which means, his quote is his own opinion on the subject, and not actual "canon" on what happened to Sauron after the One was destroyed.

For the sake of argument, let’s assume Manwë captured Sauron: was he sent to the Void like his former master, Morgoth?

Based on The Silmarillion it could appear that way: 

Among those of his servants that have names the greatest was that spirit whom the Eldar called Sauron, or Gorthaur the Cruel. In his beginning he was of the Maia of Aulë, and he remained mighty in the lore of that people. In all the deeds of Melkor the Morgoth upon Arda, in his vast workds and in the deceits of his cunning, Sauron had a part, and was only less evil than his master in that for long he served another and not himself. But in after years he rose like a shadow of Morgoth and a ghost of his malice, and walked behind him on the same ruinous path down into the Void.  

However, this, again, is not that simple, because The Silmarillion was not only published by Christopher Tolkien, and it contains elements outdated and reviewed by Tolkien himself, but it’s also a tale written by the Eldar, and it contains “opinions” and “facts” from which the Eldar themselves had little knowledge about (namely everything that’s connected to the Maiar and the Valar).

This means, not everything that’s in The Silmarillion is true or actually happened (canon): it’s like “Fire & Blood” by George R.R. Martin, a collection of facts, opinions, gossip, myths, etc. written by the Elves. The truth is in Tolkien’s essays and letters, really. And this is why “Rings of Power” can afford to play with the events of this book. 

Tolkien did confirm, in his Letter 297, that Morgoth was overthrown and extruded from the World (the physical universe). But his crimes were far worse than Sauron's:

the Diabolus Morgoth did, and started making things 'for himself, to be their Lord', these would then 'be', even if Morgoth broke the supreme ban against making other 'rational' creatures like Elves or Men. They would at least 'be' real physical realities in the physical world, however evil they might prove, even 'mocking' the Children of God. They would be Morgoth's greatest Sins, abuses of his highest privilege. Tolkien, Letter 153

Morgoth is a Vala (God/archangel), and he did not only corrupted Elves into Orcs, but also Maiar (angels) into Balrogs and other servants of his (demons), including Mairon himself. Mairon, like all the other Maiar (including the fallen ones), was created by Eru, but got corrupted by Morgoth, which means, the way Eru sees him is key. Does he sees Mairon as "equal" to Morgoth, or as victim of Morgoth's corruption? Food for thought. Because if he's just a victim, the Void isn't his fate.

A lot of fans in the Tolkien fandom have the headcanon that the immortal servants of Morgoth were sent to the Void, alongside him, but Tolkien never wrote about this, and their fates are a mystery. I might be mistaken here, but I think only Ungoliant’s fate is mentioned in the legendarium, and very enigmatic, too: went to the forgotten south of the world before the (first) rising of the Sun, and there disappeared from history.

Then, we have the fact that Satan/Lucifer is Melkor/Morgoth because he’s the one who corrupts God’s creation and he’s the symbolic archangel (like Lucifer was). Him being dragged in chains and imprisoned until the end of time, also parallels a biblical event.

Sauron is a satanist, a follower of Satan/Morgoth. Tolkien also makes this distinction in his letters: Satanic rebellion and evil of Morgoth and his satellite Sauron; in which Evil is largely incarnate, and in which physical resistance to it is a major act of loyalty to God (Letter 156). Tolkien also calls Sauron "a reincarnation of Evil"; that "evil" being Morgoth (diabolus).

Sauron’s crimes 

His biggest crimes in Tolkien legendarium aren’t the forging of the One ring, nor the whole “rings of power” project to enslave the Free people’s of Middle-earth, nor even the Fall of Númenor. Because, as Tolkien, told us: “in The Lord of the Rings the conflict is not basically about 'freedom', though that is naturally involved. It is about God, and His sole right to divine honour” (Letter 183).

Sauron’s biggest sins in Tolkien lore are:

Pride

Idolatry (worship of false gods): Thou shall have no other Gods before me. Mairon turned his back on Eru (God) to serve Morgoth (Devil), and this act of treason is a crime against Eru himself;

Rebellion: against Eru’s authority, by siding with Morgoth;

Heresy: he forsake his worship of Eru (his creator) for Morgoth; and also converted many Númenoreans to his Morgoth cult, in the hopes of angering the Valar enough to destroy Númenor;

Blasphemy: he cut down Nimloth, the White Tree of Númenor, a symbol of the Faithful, and in its place raised a great Temple devoted to Morgoth in which human sacrifices were performed to asks for immortality, and persecuted the Faithful;

Usurpation of God’s authority: self-proclaim God. That’s why he’s called “shadow of Morgoth”; because Sauron is a mere Maia, a servant to a God, not an actual God.

Would any of these sins sent Sauron into the Void with his former master? Again, it would depend on how Eru judges him, really.

The Void is quite a mysterious place in the legendarium; it’s located outside Time and Space, it’s the absence of the Secret Fire of Eru (“the Flame Imperishable”), his power of Creation. We only know that Morgoth was imprisoned there, and set free at the end of time.

Eru already punished Sauron once, by removing his ability to take on physical form after the Fall of Númenor; and after the One ring was destroyed, Sauron himself is little more than a shadow of his former self, his spirit severely diminished, powerless, and unable to cause any damage, at all. That’s his punishment, already.

But in order to get any redemption, that choice would have to come from Mairon. He would have to truly and honestly repent for all of sins (confession), starting by forsaken Morgoth and recognizing Eru as his one true God, and, then, fulfill a fitting penitence for his crimes. We are talking about an immortal spirit here, this process can take thousands of years or even millenniums.   

[dangermousie]

I was thinking about what my favorite cdrama OTP is for 2024 and - rather surprisingly even to myself - it is Fan Xian x Lin Wan’er from Joy of Life 2.

Now, JOL2 is my favorite cdrama of 2024 so far and it will take a sizable miracle to dislodge it in the coming three months, so perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that my n1 OTP is what it is.

Except the thing is, JOL2 is not a romance centric drama at all. This is a year with some glorious romantic cdramas (The Legend of Shenli alone is what my dreams are made of.) JOL2, however, is not primarily or even secondarily a romance. In fact, Fan Xian does not even reunite with Wan’er eps and eps into this season.

So why?

I think it’s a twofold thing - one is when I love characters and narrative, their emotional entanglements, all of them - become more vivid and important. Fan Xian is in my Top 3 cdrama leads of all time (!!) so of course I am just generally more invested in his emotional life. But the other, bigger thing is that I just love what this ship does and has.

Wan’er is Fan Xian’s peace in the maelstrom, the person with whom that busy mind can rest. I keep thinking about that scene in her carriage where in the middle of plots and counterplots and countercounterplots you just see him stop and just relax. It makes me think of a quote from Busman’s Honeymoon which probably sums up my fave ship dynamic - it’s what Lord Peter says to Harriet: “you are my corner. I’ve come to hide.”

And I love how crucial she is to him. This is a man who can and has taken on royals and martial legends, who is able and willing to change the world. And yet he is trembling and utterly undone when he thinks he lost her love (in the aftermath of the truth about her brother coming out), he is stripped bare of defenses - or perhaps not because to be stripped of defenses would imply he ever had them against her and he never has. There is something so heady about how someone so self-sufficient needs her and how someone so competent is lost without her.

And then there is Wan’er. I have seen so much criticism of her - she is not a martial genius like Haitang Duo Duo, not a schemer like Eldest Princess, not a budding genius doctor like Ruo Ruo. But I think that is why I love her - because she does not have power (martial or political or genius) but what she has is steadiness and love and warmth. She also shares an understanding of loneliness with Fan Xian because for very different reasons they stood aside from life at a remove like looking through a thick window for a very long time. In the narrative they both escape that glass and join the world for good or ill - he is the reason for that freedom for her and she is a catalyst for his (though eventually there are many more reasons for him not to be removed - once you step out of the glass cage you can’t go back in, you acquire attachments.)

But also - she is just steady. In the world where people rarely say what they mean and mean what they say, where alliances shift and bonds are uncertain, she is one of the few people who puts him first and close to the only one who is always exactly what she is with him.

I think of that scene of her and Wuzhu. Where here is the one who killed her beloved brother and he’s weak enough that she can actually avenge him (that is the only opportunity and she knows it - Wuzhu is grandmaster level and she has no power) and yet - she does not on the off chance Fan Xian may need his help on the mission he’s on. She does not know if Fan Xian will need help. She does not know if Wuzhu would be able to get there to provide it. And yet the possibility of the possibility of protecting her husband is enough for her to forego her revenge in any meaningful fashion because much as she mourns her brother, much as she wants vengeance, she wants Fan Xian safe and protected more.

Fan Xian, for all his glib manner and fast talking, for all his devil may care attitude cares an awful lot about the people he sees as his. He has an enormous capacity for love (which I think is what ironically keeping him safe with the emperor; emperor knows he has so many levers he can pull to get Fan Xian back in line if he needs to.) And with Wan’er, Fan Xian has found someone who would care just as much for him back and I find it glorious.

I guess it turned into a shipper manifesto, huh.

[dreamer0903]

Can we talk about Peter?

So, at first, I didn't like him, I only thought about canon when thinking about him (which is pretty stupid considering I loved Regulus, Barty and Evan from the start...but idk, betraying your best friends is pretty different???).

Anyway... I began to realise that I DO like young Peter and that unless the fic is canon, there is no real reason to hate him?

Especially if in the fic he doesn't do anything bad.

I want the canon story from Peter's POV, not to say that he what he did was okay, but just to better understand this!

But let's be real for a second guys, if we only read fanfics, I see no reason to not include him in them! He was one of the marauders, and I think that many writers just don't put Peter in the fics (or only in passing) simply because he is not really shipped with anyone.

And I think that's pretty sad and unfair 'cause I read some really good fic where Peter was actually characterised and I loved him!

Just now I started "The Scent In Our Clothes" by Antlers_boy

And I love Peter! He is actually a character and not just "Yeah that's Peter".

I also don't understand why if the fic is not canon, people have to hate him and write "the betrayal"...like, if there is a reason that's totally cool! But if it's just to make us hate Pete then idk...why don't you add "The prank" too?

Obviously, this is not a critic to writers bc you are free to do what you want with your works! I'm just saying that as a reader, I want more cute and interesting Peter!

(Also, this is my personal opinion. If you still hate Peter, it's okay. We just have different opinions)

Enough with the rant! Take care, babes ✨️

[yuri-for-businesswomen]

a big german newspaper (die zeit) recently published a more critical article on the so called „verrichtungsboxen“ (literally: boxes of execution; boxes on the street where prostituted women and sex buyers can go to consummate the sexual acts; anyone who knows german will know this is a gross terminology, fitting for a gross concept).

while the fact these boxes exist is in itself a tragedy, the letters to the editor are giving me hope that there are sane people left in this country - even though from their names and writing style i would guess they are of the older generation, pension age.

heinz wohner: „if you dont get a visceral reaction of disgust and shame looking at these obfuscating boxes called ‚eco toilets‘ and the image of what is going on in them, you have to be extremely cold. calling what is being done to these women for little money ‚work like any other‘ is sugarcoating the issue.“

wolfgang wendling: „maybe there are women who voluntarily prostitute themselves, but the majority is doing it out of necessity and under pressure. calling the oldest trade in history a profession like any other is pure mockery. its not an honor to call our country europe‘s biggest brothel. but it‘s true. we should be ashamed that women are being exploited, humiliated and abused before our eyes. the more severe the poverty is in the country of origin, the cheaper you can have them. we should finally stop this, which is the only appropriate action for a civilised country.“

brigitte kosfeld: „the photo of these boxes alone speaks volumes on the inhumane practices hidden behind the liberalisation of prostitution. when the law was introduced, there were convinced social democratic women who were holding speeches on ‚prostitution as a profession‘. the intentions behind the law might have been honorable, but the reality has always been deeply anti-woman.“

professor claudia reuter, phd: „the liberalisation of prostitution in germany has failed in all regards. according to a french study, the average life expectancy of a prostitute is 33 years. babbling about self-determination in this case is inhumane. the state is not supporting prostitutes’ workers rights and their health, but their economic and sexual exploitation. its about time for the swedish model: protection for women and consistent punishment for sex buyers and pimps.“

joachim kasten: „social democrat august bebel already wrote in 1879 (…) that ‚honorable family men‘ were contributing to uphold the system prostitution with their money. according to him, they were generously let off their responsibility to disappear in anonymity. apparently today we are still where we were at the end of the 19th century.“

sabine moehler: „the description [in the article] of typical injuries prostitutes have reminded me very much of those women in physically abusive relationships show as well. a man who abuses, humiliates and demeans a prostitute in any way will do the same to his partner, wife or lover as soon as he doesnt like her behavior. (…) even reading about this is upsetting me a lot.“

and of course the one sex buyer who just had to write to the editors, peter müller: „its one sided to use the misery in berlin street prostitution with sex on public toilets as a reason to debate the liberalisation of prostitution. there are many brothels were the ladies are treated with respect. of course working as a prostitute harbors certain risks - but there are women who freely choose this job, and in my experience, some of them are doing it with passion and love. the regular prices are not the dumping prices you mentioned (5-10 euros) [note: which is indeed normal in street prostitution] but actually 80-100 euros for half an hour - not to mention those dont include extras and humiliating sex practices. i met women who earn better in prostitution than some employees in germany.“

loose translation and highlights by me.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Incomplete vs. overshoot

I'm on tour with my new novel The Bezzle! Catch me TONIGHT in Seattle (Feb 26) with Neal Stephenson, then Portland, Phoenix and more!

You know the "horseshoe theory," right? "The far-left and the far-right, rather than being at opposite and opposing ends of a linear continuum of the political spectrum, closely resemble each other, analogous to the way that the opposite ends of a horseshoe are close together":

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshoe_theory

It's a theory that only makes sense if you don't know much about the right and the left and what each side wants out of politics.

Take women's suffrage. The early suffragists ("suffragettes" in the UK) were mostly interested in votes for affluent, white women – not women as a body. Today's left criticizes the suffrage movement on the basis that they didn't go far enough:

https://www.npr.org/2011/03/25/134849480/the-root-how-racism-tainted-womens-suffrage

Contrast that with Christian Dominionists – the cranks who think that embryos are people (though presumably not for the purpose of calculating a state's electoral college vote? Though it would be cool if presidential elections turned on which side of a state line a fertility clinic's chest-freezer rested on):

https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/segments/how-alabama-ivf-ruling-was-influenced-christian-nationalism-on-the-media?tab=summary

These people are part of a far-right coalition that wants to abolish votes for women. As billionaire far-right bagman Peter Thiel wrote that he thought it was a mistake to let women vote at all:

https://www.cato-unbound.org/2009/04/13/peter-thiel/education-libertarian/

Superficially, there's some horseshoe theory action going on here. The left thinks the suffragists were wrong. The right thinks they were wrong, too. Therefore, the left and the right agree!

Well, they agree that the suffragists were wrong, but for opposite reasons – and far, far more importantly, they totally disagree about what they want. The right wants a world where no women can vote. The left wants a world where all women can vote. The idea that the right and the left agree on women's suffrage is, as the physicists say, "not even wrong."

It's the kind of wrong that can only be captured by citing scripture, specifically, A Fish Called Wanda, 6E, 79: "The central message of Buddhism is not 'Every man for himself.' And the London Underground is not a political movement. Those are all mistakes, Otto. I looked them up."

Or take the New Deal. While the New Deal set its sites on liberating workers from precarity, abuse and corruption, the Dealers – like the suffragists – had huge gaps in their program, omitting people of color, indigenous people, women, queer people, etc. There are lots of leftists who criticize the New Deal on this basis: it didn't go far enough:

https://livingnewdeal.org/new-deal-and-race/

But for the past 40 years, America has seen a sustained, vicious assault on New Deal programs, from Social Security to Medicare to food stamps to labor rights to national parks, funded by billionaires who want to bring back the Gilded Age and turn us all into forelock-tugging plebs:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/06/the-end-of-the-road-to-serfdom/

If you only view politics as a game of elementary school cliques, you might say that the left and the right are meeting again. The left says Roosevelt got it wrong with the New Deal (because he left out so many people). The right says FDR was wrong for doing the New Deal in the first place. Therefore, the left and the right agree, right?

Obviously wrong. Obviously. Again, the important thing is why the left and the right think the New Deal deserves criticism. The important thing is what the left and the right want. The left wants universal liberation. The right wants us all in economic chains. They do not agree.

It's not always just politics, either. Take the old, good internet. That was an internet defined by technological self-determination, a wild and wooly internet where there were few gatekeepers, where disfavored groups could find each other and make common cause, where users who were threatened by the greed of the shareholders behind big services could install blockers, mods, alternative clients and other "adversarial interoperability" tools that seized the means of computation.

Today's enshitternet – "five giant websites, filled with screenshots of the other four" (h/t Tom Eastman) – is orders of magnitude more populous than that old, good internet. The enshitternet has billions of users, and they are legally – and technologically – prevented from taking any self-help measures when the owners of services change them to shift value from users to themselves:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/19/twiddler/

The anti-enshittification movement rightly criticizes the old, good internet because it wasn't inclusive enough. It was a system almost exclusively hospitable to affluent, privileged people – the people who least needed the liberatory power of technology.

Likewise pro-enshittification monopolists – billionaires and their useful idiots – deplore the old, good internet because it gave its users too much power. For them, ad-blocking, alternative clients, mods, reverse-engineering and so on were all bugs, not features. For them, the enshitternet is great because businesses can literally criminalize taking action to protect yourself from their predatory impulses:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/20/benevolent-dictators/#felony-contempt-of-business-model

Superficially, it seems like the pro- and anti-enshittification forces agree – they both agree that the old, good internet was a mistake. But the difference that matters here is that the pro-enshittification side wants everyone mired in the enshitternet forever, living with what Jay Freeman calls "Felony contempt of business-model." By contrast, the disenshittification side wants a new, good internet that gives every user – not just a handful of techies – the power to decide how the digital systems they work use, and to be able to alter or reconfigure them to suit their own needs.

The horsehoe theory only makes sense if you don't take into account the beliefs and goals of each side. Politics aren't just a matter of who you agree with on a given issue – the real issue is what you're trying to accomplish.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/26/horsehoe-crab/#substantive-disagreement

[lilbrattyratty]

A Guide to Lewis Hamilton and Peter Bonnington

Recently I have been convincing people to become obsessed with whatever Lewis and Bono have so instead of repeating myself unnecessarily I have decided to make this handy dandy Bible guide to their journey together!

1. The Basics

Lewis and Bono have the longest running engineer and driver pairing in the history of the sport.

————————————

Sir Lewis Hamilton: if you don’t know who he is then I’m slightly surprised you are here but I am not here to judge. Sir Lewis Hamilton is a British F1 driver who has won 7 world championship titles with the Mercedes team! He’s a legend in the sport. He made his debut with McLaren in 2007 and has been with Mercedes since 2013.

Peter “Bono” Bonnington: Bono is senior race engineer for Mercedes. He has been race engineer since 2011 where he worked with other 7 time world champion Michael Schumacher. After Schumacher left Bono was paired with Lewis and they have been together ever since! He has been widely regarded as the most successful and most well known race engineer.

Note: for some reason there was a misconception going around that Bono was 10 years older than he really was. Let’s put this to rest: his birthday is 12 February 1975. Source

It’s Hammertime: maybe one of the most famous Lewis radio messages. Bono explains that during the years where radio messages were more strict they needed a code word to let Lewis know it was time to really go all out. So they suggested “put the hammer down” before it became “it’s hammertime”. Source (timestamp 18:17)

Austrian GP 2014: the very first Hammertime. Link

2. The Partnership

Out on track the race engineer is the critical link from the team in the garage to the driver. They must analyze all the data and determine what the driver needs to know without overwhelming them.

————————————

Platonic or romantic or brotherly no matter how you may view their relationship it has been stated many times by both of them that their relationship takes a lot of trust and open communication. They share a deep bond and connection that they feel is integral to their success.

In this interview you will find Lewis speaking about the depth of their trust and love for each other. Link

“It’s like a marriage, I guess.”

“There’s love, and real friendship, and loyalty.”

This interview is where Lewis speaks about the support that they show for each other. How he feels that they are always there for each other to bring out the best. Link

“I don’t know if I can do this for you…”

This interview where Lewis again talks about how much he loves Bono and how important their bond is to him. Link

“I think he is also one of the few people who can handle me on good and bad days.”

In this Instagram post you can read that Lewis is always thankful for Bono and recognizes that his success is thanks for many people but Bono in particular… Link

“Forever grateful for my guy Bono, blessed to have him by my side.”

Now Bono may be more media shy but he does have this interview where he talks about working with Lewis. Link

“He’s the rockstar and I’m the one in charge.”

Occasionally Bono will not be working with Lewis and you can see how awkward it is sometimes when you aren’t used to the replacement. Link

“That was a lot of information, I don’t understand what you just said.”

A moment when you can hear Lewis trying to calm Bono rather than the other way around. Link

The Egg: Bono brought an egg to the 2021 Brazil and Jeddah GP because Lewis loves the movie ‘Cool Runnings’ and it really inspired him when he was younger. In the movie they kiss their lucky egg. Source

Podiums: Bono has been on the podium a few times with Lewis and each one is super fun and special! A full list can be found here!

3. The Fandom

“I love Bono and I wouldn’t want to work with anyone else. Don’t write that I love him because I haven’t told him.” -Lewis Hamilton

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Below I have compiled fic recs as well as just shippy moments from the two of them.

Notable Moments:

British GP 2014: Lewis wins his home GP and Bono tells him to “lap it up, boy”. Link

Austin GP 2015: who can forget the iconic hug? (pictured above) The way Bono leaps into his arms and he bounced him up and down… simply iconic. Video link of the hug

US GP 2018: Lewis tells Bono he’s not gonna go steady. Link

Russian GP 2019: Bono tries to hide behind the crowd but Lewis won’t let him. Link

ALSO at that same GP! They stared at each other from the podium in beautiful iconic cinematography… link

Abu Dhabi GP 2019: Lewis (and others) dump champagne on Bono’s head and make him very very wet… link

Lewis Hamilton and Valentino Rossi: Where Rossi asks Lewis if “this is your guy?” And Lewis replied “yeah.” Link (timestamp 2:39)

Mexico GP 2019: Lewis dedicated his win to Bono. Link

British GP 2024: Lewis tells Bono he loves him ❤️ Link

Also from that same GP, Lewis says he always feels safe with Bono Link

Notable Blogs:

@storm3326: creates wonderful Bono and Lewis fanart

@queerbenched: makes beautiful Bono and Lewis edits

@still-we-rise @teamroscoes @princemick @l8tof1 @husbono @flatspot: All post a lot of good Bono and Lewis content. I scrolled through a lot of their blogs a lot while making this post.

There are of course plenty of other wonderful blogs out there and I appreciate every single one of them.

Fic Recs:

This thing called us by Dutchiedragon Rated: Gen.

Summary: Brazil 2021 brought so many emotions, it left the Mercedes team completely burnt out. Lewis ends up alone in his hotelroom with a thousand thoughts running through his head, so he seeks out the one person who might bring him peace.

Or: Lewis needs help taking out his braids. Bono is there.

So long, longing by ohfrecklefreckle Rated: Mature.

Summary: Engineering is a dirty job but someone's got to do it. What happens when you're almost telepathic but still can't say what you need to?

The contours of things by The_Orange_one Rated: Mature.

Summary: Lewis belongs to so many people, but Bono mostly just belongs to Lewis.

Love in the major key by ambiguouspace Rated: Teen.

Summary: Bono, in particular, looks surprisingly alert tonight.

In fact, James notices, as his brain clicks out of analysis mode and into observation, he’s positively glowing. His eyes are bright, face a little flushed like he’s been working out. James looks down, catalogues the rest of his appearance. Bono’s t-shirt hangs slightly loose on him, nothing like the cut he normally favours, and the print on the front is unusual, an oversized image of something James can’t quite see but looks oddly familiar and—ah.

Lewis and Bono and the unsubtle art of workplace flirtation.

Lost in My Own Incidents by glasscushion Rated: Explicit.

Summary: “What do you need, Lewis? This bit I can do.”

“This,” he says, his eyes still closed. “Can we just stay like this?”

Lewis lifts one side of the blanket for Bono to take and he grabs a handful, laying it over his own lap, the wool heated from where it’s been resting against Lewis’ skin. The urge to reach out beneath, to soothe, to touch, is almost suffocating.

“Not a problem mate. No problem at all.”

Author’s Note: This is not a complete list and may be updated as they continue to be insane about each other!

[junkgatorswritings]

The Order of the Phoenix

Hello friends, fiends, and everything in between I started reading the Harry Potter books specifically to prove that part of the reason it's such a mess is that JKR never sat down and actually figured out her timeline, also I don't like being a liar so I will eventually be using all these notes I make to do other things not just yelling about how many plot holes there are. I was really busy and very annoyed by Harry so it took me a while to finish this book but I'm done now and that's what matters. So this is everything we learn about the Marauder's area during this book.

Also, I do not support JKR, I got all the books second hand.

I'm using the version printed by Arthur A. Levine Books.

Lily Evans:

James told Lily about dementors somewhere where Petunia could overhear them speaking (pg. 32 ch. 2).

She was in the picture that Moody has of the old Order (pg. 174 ch. 9).

She was decent (according to Hagrid pg. 564 ch. 25).

She told James and Sirius to leave Snape alone (pg. 647 ch. 28).

She had thick dark red hair and startlingly green almond shaped eyes (pg. 647 ch. 28).

She calls James an arrogant, bullying toerag. And tells him to leave Snape alone again (pg. 647 ch. 28).

She says she would rather go out with the giant squid than james (pg. 647 ch. 28).

She tries not to laugh when Snape is turned upside down, and demanded that he be put down (pg. 648 ch. 28).

She pulls her wand on James and Sirius and again demands that they leave Snape alone (pg. 648 ch. 28).

Lily seems somewhat surprised (?) by being called a mudblood, but recovers quickly and says she won't help Snape again and calls him Snivellus (pg. 648 ch. 28).

She says she doesn't want James to make Snape apologize because he's just as bad as him (pg. 648 ch. 28).

James makes her sick (pg. 648 ch. 28).

She started going out with James in 7th year (pg. 670 ch. 29).

She didn't hate James at Hogwarts (Sirius pg. 671 ch. 29).

She didn't know much about James jinxing Snape after he stopped jinxing random people (pg. 671 ch. 29).

She narrowly escaped Voldemort three times by the time the prophecy was given (pg. 842 ch. 37).

James Potter:

Sirius ran away to his house when they were ABOUT 16 (pg. 111 ch. 6).

His parents treated Sirius like a second son (pg. 111 ch. 6).

James spent too much time in detention to become a prefect (pg. 170 ch. 9).

He was in the picture Moody had of the old order (pg. 174 ch. 9).

Risk is what made things fun for James (Sirius pg. 305 ch. 14).

He wouldn't have taken orders from Umbridge or someone like her (Sirius pg. 371 ch. 17).

He was so arrogant that criticism bounced off of him (Snape pg. 520 ch. 24).

He was decent (Hagrid pg. 564 ch. 25).

His eyes were hazel, his nose was longer than Harry's, he had the same thin face, mouth, eyebrows, his hair stood up in the back the same way, his hands could have been Harry's hands, at 15 he would be within an inch of Harry's 15-year-old height (pg. 641 ch. 28).

He purposefully messes up his hair (mentioned several times pg. 641, 647, 648).

He doodled on spare parchment and wrote down Lily's initials (pg. 642 ch. 28).

He embellished Lily's initials but also crossed them out (pg. 643 ch. 28).

He waited for Sirius to join him before walking out of the room (pg. 643 ch. 28).

He wasn't patient with Wormtail or quiet while talking about spending full moons with Remus (pg. 643 ch. 28).

He thought the paper portion of the DADA O.W.L. was easy (pg. 644 ch. 28).

He stole a snitch so that he could play with letting it go and catching it again in order to show off (pg. 644 ch. 28).

He put away the snitch after Sirius asked him to (pg. 645 ch. 28).

He points out that Snape is sitting nearby as a way to entertain Sirius (pg. 645 ch. 28).

Sirius and James got up while Remus and Peter stayed sitting. James is the one who called out to Snape (pg. 645 ch. 28).

James is able to use expelliarmus as well as impedimenta, he uses both of them on Snape (pg. 646 ch. 28).

He checks to see if Lily is watching him act like a jackass (pg. 646 ch. 28).

He scourgifies Snape's mouth (pg. 646 ch. 28).

He deepens his voice when he talks to Lily (pg. 647 ch. 28).

Says he's bullying Snape because he exists despite the fact that Snape shows later that there are plenty of reasons to bully him (pg. 647 ch. 28).

He's an arrogant, bullying toerag (Lily pg. 647 ch. 28).

Says he won't raise a wand at "Snivelly" again if Lily will go out with him (pg. 647 ch. 28).

After Snape cuts him James pulls him into the air by his legs (pg. 647 ch. 28).

He threatens to hex Lily once she draws her wand (pg. 648 ch. 28).

He takes the locomotor mortis curse off of Snape when Lily told him to (pg. 648 ch. 28).

He gets mad when Snape calls Lily a mudblood, much angrier than when Snape cut him (pg. 648 ch. 28).

He says he would never call Lily a mudblood (pg. 648 ch. 28).

He hexed anyone who annoyed him because he could, he was big-headed (Lily pg. 648 ch. 28).

He did care what Lily thought of him, but he also used his hurt feelings as a reason to further torment Snape (pg. 649 ch. 28).

He and Sirius were described as the forerunners of the Weasley twins (pg. 653 ch. 29).

James and Snape hated each other from the moment they set eyes on each other (pg. 670 ch. 29).

James always hated the dark arts (pg. 670 ch. 29).

James and Sirius were the best in school at whatever they did, everyone thought they were the height of cool and they could get swept up in that feeling (pg. 670 ch. 29).

He always made a fool of himself when Lily was around, he couldn't stop himself from showing off (pg. 671 ch. 29).

In seventh year James was less arrogant and had stopped hexing people for the fun of it (pg. 671 ch. 29).

Snape never passed up an opportunity to curse James, and he didn't take it lying down (pg. 671 ch. 29).

James was an idiot at 15 but like most people he grew out of it (pg. 671 ch. 29).

He narrowly escaped Voldemort three times by the time the prophecy was given (pg. 842 ch. 37).

James and Sirius used to use the two-way Mirror he gave to Harry to talk when they were in different detentions (pg. 859 ch. 38).

Sirius Black:

He was a nasty ungrateful swine who broke his mother's heart (Kreacher pg. 108 ch. 6).

Sirius' mother hated and was disapointed in him (pg. 109 ch. 6).

He was burned off the family tapestry when he ran away at about 16 (pg. 111 ch. 6).

He ran to the Potter's house, where James' parents sort of adopted him as a second son (pg. 111 ch. 6).

He stayed there over school breaks and when he turned 17 he used the money left for him by his Uncle Alphard to buy a place for himself (pg. 111 ch. 6).

He was always welcome back to the Potter's house for Sunday Lunch (pg. 111 ch. 6).

He left because he hated his parents and brother. He was sick of his parent's pureblood mania, who were convinced that being a Black made them practically royalty, and of his brother who believed them (pg. 111 ch. 6).

Sirius spent too much time in detention to become a prefect (pg. 170 ch. 9).

Sirius had short hair while in the Order, at least when the picture Moody has was taken (pg. 174 ch. 9).

He looks at least a little bit like Stubby Board the lead singer of the Hobgoblins (pg. 192 ch. 10).

He wouldn't have taken orders from Umbridge or someone like her (Sirius pg. 371 ch. 17).

He was very good-looking at Hogwarts, and the girl sitting behind him in the O.W.L.s exam had a crush on him. But he didn't seem to notice (pg. 642 ch. 28).

He's not afraid to tease Remus about being a werewolf, it's not mean spirited (pg. 643 ch. 28).

He says that he found the DADA O.W.L.s paper easy, and that he'd be surprised if he didn't get an outstanding (pg. 644 ch. 28).

He's not impressed with Wormtail being a suck up to James (pg. 645 ch. 28).

He says he wished it was a full moon because he's bored, completely disregarding what that means for Remus (pg. 645 ch. 28).

He says he doesn't need to study for transfiguration because he already knows it all (pg. 645 ch. 28),

He takes a lot of joy out of bothering Snape, he's described like a dog that just scented a rabbit (pg. 645 ch. 28).

He and James were described as the forerunners of the Weasley twins (pg. 653 ch. 29).

Sirius and James were the best in school at whatever they did, everyone thought they were the height of cool and they could get swept up in that feeling (pg. 670 ch. 29).

He wanted to die in battle (Hagrid pg. 855 ch. 38).

Sirius and James used to use the two-way Mirror he gave to Harry to talk when they were in different detentions (pg. 859 ch. 38).

Remus Lupin:

Remus was a Prefect while he was at Hogwarts, he thinks it's because Dumbledore hoped he would be able to control his friends (pg. 170 ch. 9).

He seemed to be okay with joking about being a werewolf with his friends (pg. 643 ch. 28).

He rather reasonably wants them to be quiet while they talk about it (pg. 643 ch. 28).

He was good about studying (pg. 644, 645 ch. 28).

He didn't join James and Sirius when they went to bother Snape, he seemed uncomfortable with it (pg. 645 ch. 28).

Remus didn't laugh with everyone else when James was insulting Snape (pg. 647 ch. 28).

He never told his friends off for what they were doing (pg. 671 ch. 28).

He did make them feel ashamed of themselves sometimes (pg. 671 ch. 28).

Peter Pettigrew:

He was sitting between James and Lily in the photo that was taken of the order (pg. 174 ch. 9).

He tried to look at his neighbors' papers during the O.W.L.s and seemed generally concerned (pg. 642 ch. 28).

He watched James catch the snitch over and over getting progressively more excited and vocal about his awe (pg. 645 ch. 28).

He didn't get up with James and Sirius to bully Snape, but he did watch the interaction between the three with anticipation (pg. 645 ch. 28).

He jumped to his feet and watched hungrily when they actually start using spells on Snape (pg. 646 ch. 28).

Voldemort:

He tricks, blackmails, and jinxes people rather than showing up at their front door. He's well practiced at opperating in secrecy (pg. 96 ch. 5).

He didn't know the full contents of the prophecy when he tried to kill Harry (pg. 839 ch. 37).

Death Eaters:

Snape (Petunia just says "that horrible boy", Harry assumes she's talking about his father, but I think that it makes more sense for Petunia to be talking about Snape) told Lily about Dementors somewhere that Petunia could hear it (pg. 32 ch. 2).

Regulus Black was an idiot who was soft enough to belive his parent's pure blood mania (Sirius pg. 111 ch. 6).

Regulus died about 15 years before the events at the begining of the Order of the Pheonix (pg. 112 ch. 6).

Regulus was younger and much better than Sirius as the elder was constatly reminded. He joined the Death Eaters (pg. 112 ch. 6).

Bellatrix and her husband Rodolphus, his brother Rabastian, and Barty Crouch Jr all went to Azkaban at the same time (pg. 114 ch. 6).

Bellatrix got sent to Azkban for using the cruciatus curse on Neville's parents until they went insane (pg. 515 ch. 23).

Antonin Dolohov was convicted for the brutal murders of Gideon and Fabian Prewett (pg. 543 ch. 25).

Augustus Rookwood was convicted of leaking Ministry of Magic Secrets to Voldemort (pg. 544 ch. 25).

The crimes of the Death Eaters who were released from Azkaban during the first wizarding war were legendary (pg. 549 ch. 25).

Snape's parents argued a lot. He killed flies as a teenager (pg. 592 ch. 26).

Snape wrote at least a foot more on the essay portion on the O.W.L.S. than his closest neighbors (pg. 641 ch. 28).

Snape cuts James' face open with a spell that is implied to be Sectumsempra but could have been any kind of cutting curse/jinx/spell in response to their bullying (pg. 647 ch. 28).

Snape called Lily a mudblood after the DADA O.W.L.S. in fifth year (pg. 647 ch, 28).

The Death Eaters seem to not know that Voldemort is a half blood, or Bellatrix at the very least is horribly offended by the idea (pg. 784 ch. 35).

Snape only heard the first part of the prophecy and left to report it to Voldemort (pg. 843 ch. 37).

General Information:

Tonks' father Ted is muggle born and a slob (pg. 50 ch. 3).

In the current era there are at least 20 people in the order but we never really get an accurate headcount for in the Marauder's era so I'll assume that it's around this (pg. 67 ch. 4).

Walburga was heavily against any and all blood status that wasn't pure blood. she calls Sirius the shame of her flesh (pg. 78 ch. 4).

Back when Voldemort was in power there were a lot of strange deaths (pg. 91 ch. 5).

In the Marauder's era Voldemort had huge numbers in his army, people he'd bullied and bewitched, blood purists, and a variety of dark creatures (pg. 93 ch. 5).

A lot of people wanted Dumbledore to take over the Minsiter's job when Bagnold retired but he never wanted it (pg. 93 ch. 5).

Tonks is to young to be in the previous order, and having Aurors on their side is a massive advatage (pg. 95 ch. 5).

The Order ONLY comprises of over age wizards who have left school (pg. 97 ch. 5).

Sirius broke his mother's heart (Kreacher). Walburga didn't have a heart (Sirius). Walburga would have haed that Kreacher was serving Sirius because she hated him (Kreacher pg. 109 ch. 6).

Walburga loved the family tapestry it'd been in the family for seven centuries (pg. 110 ch. 6).

Sirius' parents were blood purist maniacs and were conviced that being a Black made you practically royalty (pg. 111 ch. 6).

Andromeda was Sirius' favorite cousin, she married a muggle born Ted Tonks and was blasted off the family tree (pg. 113 ch. 6).

There were severaly highly dangerous or at least very painful artifacts in Grimmauld Manor (pg. 116 ch. 6).

Moody, Dedalus Diggle, and Marlene McKinnon were all part of the Original order. Marlene and her entire family were murdered two weeks after the picture was taken (pg. 173 ch. 9).

Fank and Alice Long bottom were also part of the original Order, Neville has Alice's round and friendly face (pg. 173 ch. 9).

Emmaline Vance was part of the original Order as was Lupin (pg. 174 ch.9).

Benjy Fenwickwas a member of the Order he died as well, they only ever found pieces of him (pg. 174 ch.9).

Edgar Bones was a member of the Order and the brother of Amelia Bones. He died and so did the rest of their family except for Amelia (pg. 174 ch.9).

Sturgis Podmore was part of the original Order (pg. 174 ch.9).

Caradoc Dearborn was a memeber of the original Order and he disapeared and was never found six months after the photo was taken (pg. 174 ch.9).

Hagrid and Elphias Doge were part of the original Order and Elphias used to wear a stupid hat (pg. 174 ch.9).

It took five Death Eaters to kill Gideon and Fabian Prewett, they fought like heroes (pg. 174 ch.9).

Aberforth was at least in the Order's picture but Moody says that was the only time he saw him so who knows how involved he was (pg. 174 ch.9).

Dorcas Meadows was killed by Voldemort Personally (pg. 174 ch.9).

During the first wizarding war they weren't prepared and they didn't know what Voldemort was up to (Remus pg. 177 ch. 9).

Stubby Boardman was born around the same time Sirius Black was and probably looked something like him (pg. 192 ch. 10).

The sorting hat gives warning whenever it feels that the school is in great danger, theoretically it gave at least one during the first wizarding war (pg. 209 ch. 11).

Frank Longbottom was more talented than his son (Neville's grandmother pg. 513 ch. 23).

Frank and Alice were tourtured to insanity by Death Eaters (pg. 514 ch. 23).

Alice and Frank Longbottom were aurors and well respected in the wizarding comunity. they were highly gifted (Neville's Grandmother pg. 514 ch. 23).

Fabian and Gideon Prewett were brutally murdered by Antonin Dolohov (pg. 543 ch. 25).

Being an Auror is a difficult career path that seems to go years without new recruits (pg. 662 ch. 29).

Dumbledore placed a charm on Harry using Lily's sacrifice and that's what's been keeping him safe (pg. 837 ch. 37).

Dumbledore wanted to get rid of divination as a subject and realized that Proffessor Trelawney didn't have any talent when he went to interview her as a courtesy (pg. 840-841 ch. 37).

Trelawney gave the prophecy, changing Dumbledore's mind (pg. 841 ch. 37).

A lot of stuff is mentioned in the prophecy but I think the most important part is "Born to those who have thrice defied him" (pg. 841 ch. 37).

The prophecy fit two couples and two boys to be born at the end of July. The Potters and the Longbottoms. Both couples had narrowly escaped Voldemort three times when the prophecy was given (pg. 842 ch. 37).

Questions:

Why did the Order exist during the first wizarding war? The majority of the members were Aurors who were already searching out Death Eaters for the Ministry and even though there were a few people spying for Voldemort none of them were in a high enough position to actually imperio the Minster of Magic. In fact as far as we're aware the Order didn't do jack shit to help in a way that the Ministry wasn't. Also for a secret society their members were very well known, of course Peter was spying and feeding information but they really didn't have a spy within the Death Eater's in return?

Why aren't Lily's friends even named? We see her hanging out with them at the lake but we don't get anything else about them.

Why was James Head Boy? He was magcially powerful but it was also common knowledge that he was breaking rules all the time, he was in detention a LOT.

Also how many actually Death Eaters were there? It's supposed to be an inner circle but we know there were at least 25 members who lived through the war, plus other's who died like Regulus and Evan Rosier... for such an elite group it seemed to be pretty large.

[michelle-is-writing]

Food, Peter Maximoff

If you ask anyone, they'd say I'm a clean freak. If you ask Peter, he'd say I'm a "crazy-clean-a-holic." I love him, but he can be kind of messy when it comes to everyday activities. For example, most people would not think eating twenty twinkies within a single day is a normal thing, but for Peter, there's nothing bad about it. He burns off every calorie he eats with his constant running, so it's not entirely a bad thing. However, you would think that he would at least throw away the wrapper to all those twinkies, right?

Wrong.

Without fail, Peter is always leaving his trash all over the place. I have found candy wrappers in the bedroom, the pantry floor, between the couch cushions - I repeat: everywhere. To put it simply, Peter is messy! Plus, he doesn't always watch what he's doing, so when I see him walk into our shared bedroom with a full bag of chips, I pause what I'm doing to stop him in his actions.

"Uh-uh. Go back to the kitchen," I tell him as soon as he steps in the room. Immediately, he stops in his actions with cautious eyes and an impeccable balance. Not even a flying rock could make him budge. "You cannot come into this bed."

Looking at me with pouting eyes, Peter let's out a sigh and slumps his shoulders. "I won't make a mess - I promise!" He tells me, making me purse my lips at him. There is no way he could ever not be messy when he's eating - no way.

"Peter, you always make a mess when you eat anywhere but a table," I remind him, sitting up in bed with my arms crossed against my chest. "Even at the table, you manage to get your food all over the place," I add, watching him closely as he sits down on the bed, his feet planted firmly on the ground with his bag of chips now in his lap.

"Yeah, but I pick up after myself afterward, don't I?" He asks, turning his head back to me.

At his words, I laugh. "Yes, you brush everything into your hand and then toss it back into your mouth," I point out to him, internally cringing at the reminder of my boyfriend's gross habit. "And by the way, it's so gross when you do that! Do you know how many germs you might be putting in your mouth?" Not to mention the lack of table manners, but that's a discussion for another time.

Peter's mouth pops open in response, appalled I would even criticize him for something that is so normal for him. "Well, I don't want to waste it!" He argues back, pulling more of his body onto the bed so he can face me better.

"Peter, we live in school with over a hundred kids constantly running around and making messes - messes which you sometimes help them create!" I exclaim, leaning back into my pillow with a groan. "Just think of all the times they've played outside, covered in sweat and mud, only to run back inside and rub their grubby hands all over the dining hall table," Staring at the ceiling, I sigh. "And then imagine you eating at that table and then eating the crumbs that come into contact- Damn it, Peter!"

Just as I turn my head up from the pillow, my eyes quickly catch onto Peter with his food now on the bed as he eagerly munches on one of the many barbecue chips. On the comforter beneath him is all of the fallen crumbs from the several chips he's undoubtedly stuffed in his mouth with his super-speed. I told him - I told him - not to get in bed for this exact reason.

At the tone of my voice alone, Peter realizes he's messed up and quickly halts in his chewing, and instead, slowly turns his eyes toward me with almost a scared haze filling them. "I didn't mean to?" He lies with a small smile, holding his hands up in an almost shrugging manner. However, despite this being his attempt to appear as innocent, this only causes more crumbs to cover the sheets and blankets.

"Peter, you're getting crumbs all over the bed!" I exclaim once again, laughing as I move to try and playfully push him out of bed. However, with the super-human speed he has, I'm not very successful as I end up landing on my stomach with Peter now standing up beside the bed, his chip bag back in his hand as he resumes munching on his snack.

"Crumbs are easily cleaned, baby," He assures me, a quick flash of grey falling before my eyes as the color of the blanket flashes a few times in front of me a few times. Before I know it, Peter is sitting beside me with his legs underneath the covers and his lips planted firmly on my cheek. Looking down at my blankets, I see them now completely flattened and smoothed out, meaning he tossed the blanket into the air before letting me see and putting it back down on top of me, now free of crumbs. "See?"

At his question, I smile before turning my head and kissing him. Although it isn't long before I pull away and lean my head onto his shoulder, his freshly cut silver hair brushing against my forehead as I do so. "If only you could be this quick in cleaning anything else," I murmur, giggling as Peter quickly pushes me onto my back with his body now on top of mine.

"I tried my best!" He exclaims, smiling as I try to push him off of me. However, he doesn't give, and instead of rolling back over onto his side, Peter lies completely on top of me with his arms wrapped around me tightly. "And because you just had to complain about me showing my love for you, you can't leave this bed for the rest of the night."

"'Showing my love for you'," I repeat his words, snickering. "All you did was clean up your own mess from the bed, Peter," I point out, raising my hands to rest on his sides. He's always so sarcastic, and yet, he's sweet at the same time.

"I love you," He tells me with a small sigh. "But for five seconds, can you not be unsatisfied?" Peter asks me, his voice dangerously close to my ear as he keeps his head beside mine on my pillow.

Turning my head toward him, I find his nose lining up with mine as his dark brown eyes meet mine, a gentleness filling them like always. Just at the sight of the man I love, I sigh with a smile and lean in close to press another small kiss to his lips. "Thank you," I tell him, moving one of my hands from his sides and up to his soft cheek. "And even though you're sometimes messy, I love you too."

At that, Peter smiles back before returning the kiss with a small one of his own. "I love you so much," He tells me, slowly sliding onto his side of the bed with me still resting in his arms. I guess I really won't be leaving the bed for the rest of the night. "And thank you for cleaning up after me - even though you shouldn't have to."

Peter doesn't usually say such raw things, but when he does, I know he means them with all his heart. So, instead of continuing on with my teasing, I let my amusement pass through and let the moment turn into one of seriousness. "I wouldn't have it any other way," I confess, my voice soft as I watch Peter smile once again. No other words have to be exchanged for me to know that Peter feels the same way, and with that, I know that our relationship is a special one that will last - messes and all.

[she-is-ovarit]

Ashli Streeter said Stevens Transport did not hire her because it had no women to train her. Credit...Montinique Monroe for The New York Times

The trucking industry has complained for years that there is a dire shortage of workers willing to drive big rigs. But some women say many trucking companies have made it effectively impossible for them to get those jobs. Trucking companies often refuse to hire women if the businesses do not have women available to train them. And because fewer than 5 percent of truck drivers in the United States are women, there are few female trainers to go around. The same-sex training policies are common across the industry, truckers and legal experts say, even though a federal judge ruled in 2014 that it was unlawful for a trucking company to require that female job candidates be paired only with female trainers. Ashli Streeter of Killeen, Texas, said she had borrowed $7,000 to attend a truck driving school and earn her commercial driving license in hopes of landing a job that would pay more than the warehouse work she had done. But she said Stevens Transport, a Dallas-based company, had told her that she couldn’t be hired because the business had no women to train her. Other trucking companies turned her down for the same reason. “I got licensed, and I clearly could drive,” Ms. Streeter said. “It was disheartening.” Ms. Streeter and two other women filed a complaint against Stevens Transport with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Thursday, contending that the company’s same-sex training policy unfairly denied them driving jobs. The commission investigates allegations made against employers, and, if it determines a violation has occurred, it may bring its own lawsuit. The commission had brought the lawsuit that resulted in the 2014 federal court decision against similar policies at another trucking company, Prime. Critics of the industry said the persistence of same-sex training nearly a decade after that ruling, which did not set national legal precedent, was evidence that trucking companies had not done enough to hire women who could help solve their labor woes. “It’s frustrating to see that we have not evolved at all,” said Desiree Wood, a trucker who is the president and founder of Real Women in Trucking, a nonprofit. Ms. Wood’s group is joining the three women in their E.E.O.C. complaint against Stevens, which was filed by Peter Romer-Friedman, a labor lawyer in Washington, and the National Women’s Law Center. Companies that insist on using women to train female applicants generally do so because they want to avoid claims of sexual harassment. Trainers typically spend weeks alone with trainees on the road, where the two often have to sleep in the same cab. Critics of same-sex training acknowledge that sexual harassment is a problem, but they say trucking companies should address it with better vetting and anti-harassment programs. Employers could reduce the risk of harassment by paying for trainees to sleep in a hotel room, which some companies already do. Women made up 4.8 percent of the 1.37 million truck drivers in the United States in 2021, according to the most recent government statistics, up from 4 percent a decade earlier. Long-haul truck driving can be a demanding job. Drivers are away from home for days. Yet some women say they are attracted to it because it can pay around $50,000 a year, with experienced drivers making a lot more. Truck driving generally pays more than many other jobs that don’t require a college degree, including those in retail stores, warehouses or child care centers.

The infrastructure act of 2021 required the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to set up an advisory board to support women pursuing trucking careers and identify practices that keep women out of the profession. Robin Hutcheson, the administrator of the agency, said requiring same-sex training would appear to be a barrier to entry. “If that is happening, that would be something that we would want to take a look at,” she said in an interview. Ms. Streeter, a mother of three, said she had applied to Stevens because it hired people straight out of trucking school. She told Stevens representatives that she was willing to be trained by a man, but to no avail. Bruce Dean, general counsel at Stevens, denied the allegations in the suit. “The fundamental premise in the charge — that Stevens Transport Inc. only allows women trainers to train women trainees — is false,” he said in a statement, adding that the company “has had a cross-gender training program, where both men and women trainers train female trainees, for decades.” Some legal experts said that, although same-sex training was ruled unlawful in only one federal court, trucking companies would struggle to defend such policies before other judges. Under federal employment discrimination law, employers can seek special legal exemptions to treat women differently from men, but courts have granted them very rarely. “Basically, what the law says is that a company needs to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time,” said Deborah Brake, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh who specializes in employment and gender law. “They need to be able to give women equal employment opportunities and prevent and remedy sexual harassment.” Ms. Streeter said she had made meager earnings from infrequent truck driving gigs while hoping to get a position at Stevens. Later this month, she will become a driver in the trucking fleet of a large retailer. Kim Howard, one of the other women who filed the E.E.O.C. complaint against Stevens, said she was attracted to truck driving by the prospect of a steady wage after working for decades as an actor in New York. “It was very much a blow,” she said of being rejected because of the training policy. “I honestly don’t know how I financially made it through.” Ms. Howard, who is now employed at another trucking company, said she had worked briefly at a company where she was trained by two men who treated her well. “It’s quite possible for a woman to be trained by a man, and a man to be a professional about what the job is,” she said. Other female drivers said they had been mistreated by male trainers who could be relentlessly dismissive and sometimes refused to teach them important skills, like reversing a truck with a large trailer attached. Rowan Kannard, a truck driver from Wisconsin who is not involved in the complaint against Stevens, said a male trainer had spent little time training her on a run to California in 2019. At a truck stop where she felt unsafe, Ms. Kannard said, the trainer demanded that she leave the cab — and then locked her out. She asked to stop the training and was flown back to Wisconsin. Yet she said she did not believe that same-sex training for women was necessary. “Some of these men that are training, they should probably go through a course.” Click the article to read more. The author is Peter Eavis.

[kedreeva]

Hey! So I've been following you since you posted a lot about good omens in 2019ish? I remember you talking about wing fics vividly, but I just want to ask:

How are you doing after season 2?

Good! I enjoyed season 2, and I look forward to seeing how things resolve in season 3.

I think there are a lot of folks upset about various things, for various reasons, a lot of which boil down to "the season didn't go how I wanted it to/thought it should go" or "the season didn't end wrapped up neatly like S1 did." Neither of which, imo, are fair judgments of a season that a) isn't that person's story and b) was meant to be a bridge not an ending. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, of course, and to their feelings, but I do wonder how many have taken honest assessment of those feelings and opinions.

In my opinion, it's unfair to claim a story is bad JUST because it didn't do what you wanted it to do. It's not a bad story just because characters didn't act how you predicted or wanted, either. Some of the responses I've seen hinge almost entirely on "but canon didn't do what fanon/I decided is best" usually with the caveat of "before I even saw the season" and that's... ignoble at best. It's fair to criticize poor storytelling, but I feel like you have to have the whole story, or most of it, to do that, and we don't have that. We're actually smack in the middle of the story, by my judgment.

This season was never meant to be The Whole Story, we have known for a long time that there is a season 3 planned (whether or not it's ever able to come to fruition is a separate issue, it has been planned since a long time ago). As such, I don't think it's fair at all to the story to be angry that the season didn't stop at a nice, neat, happily-ever-after, because this isn't the end of the story.

To quote one of my favorite authors, Peter S. Beagle: "Things must happen when it is time for them to happen. Quests may not simply be abandoned; prophecies may not be left to rot like unpicked fruit; unicorns may go unrescued for a very long time, but not forever. The happy ending cannot come in the middle of the story."

They cannot have a happy ending until they've fixed the problems, and even before the end scene there, problems abounded. The unicorns are still unrescued. It's still the middle of the story.

[tonystarchive]

IRONDAD & SPIDER-SON WHUMP MASTERLIST—PART 1

Last Updated: September 2023

As promised, here is my long overdue Irondad Whump Masterlist! This list took an embarrassing amount of time to compile and over forty pages in my Google Docs (!!!!!).

Due to the sheer amount of fics, I will be posting in parts. Within these posts, each fic will categorized by its most prevalent trope/theme.

I hope the work from these talented contributors brings as much whumpy joy to you as they do to me!

Also, a very special shoutout to my most treasured Irondad authors iron_spider, for_the_night, madasthesea, losingmymindtonight, AdVitemAeternum, MotherKarizma, and so many more! This post is dedicated to you. ♡ 

Adoption/Tony Stark is Peter Parker’s Biological Father

5 Times Tony Acted Like Peter’s Dad by for_the_night

Summary: “And the one time he actually was." *Featuring an award evening, nightmares, a father-son field trip, appendicitis, and a very special gift—oh, and SO many forehead kisses.*

Alive and Healing by Watermeloness

Summary: “‘...bank robbery gone wrong in Queens. We’re receiving live footage from the crime site, where a 15-year-old teenager has been severely injured. Witnesses report a young boy getting shot after trying to stop the perpetrators. The last we’ve heard, his state is critical and he’s being rushed to…’ Statistically, there are a lot of 15-year-old teenagers in Queens. The city is filled with 15-year-old teenagers that are all brave in their own ways. This doesn’t have to be their teenager. But Peter is not picking up his phone.”

Dad Is Just A Word (You Give It Meaning) by madasthesea

Summary: “Father's Day, two years after May dies. Peter has something special to give and something important to say.”

For Want of a Dad (In Need of a Son) by GhostInTheBAU

Summary: “So, have you given the camping trip any more thought?’ Ned asks, and he groans internally at the change in subject.  He'd much rather go back to talking about his non-existent love life, thanks.  The trip is during spring break—a four-day long trek out into the wilderness, camping and hiking and gathering who even knows what, learning all about nature and the great outdoors. But the real kicker?  It's an event specifically designed for fathers and their sons, which is something Peter doesn't have, and something he will never be. Not again." Or: Peter longs to have a deeper relationship with his mentor, a more meaningful connection; but he's managed to convince himself that the only reason Tony Stark spends any time with him at all is purely because of his enhancement. Because of Spider-Man.

Homebound by AdVitamAeternam

Summary: “Shortly after Homecoming, Peter starts having panic attacks. Tony happens to have some experience with those. What do you do when everyone around you has a tendency to die? What do you do when the last person, the most precious, the one you absolutely cannot lose, maybe wants you? Do you give in, or do you run? Do you take what they offer, or do you keep them as far away from the disaster that is your life as you can?”

I Love You More Than Anything Series by iron_spider

Summary: “The highs and lows of Tony unexpectedly becoming a single dad at 31—from Peter’s early baby years, all the way past the defeat of Thanos”

I’ll Always Protect You (Even If You Don’t Want Me To) by JAWorley

Summary: “So much changed with Peter’s body chemistry after the bite that new things are still coming up that surprise him. One day he and Tony are having a fight and Peter is so stressed out he ends up having a seizure. Seizures… great, so that’s a thing now, and Tony has decided that the best thing is for Peter to stop being Spider-Man. The more the seizures happen, the more protective Tony becomes. All Peter wants is to have his life back." Or: May asks Tony to take joint custody of Peter to help with the Spider-Man thing and this new stress seizure issue. Peter learns that sometimes parents do what’s necessary even if it’s not a popular choice with their kids.

Questions of Science, Science and Progress (Do Not Speak As Loud As My Heart) by l_u_c_k_y_c_l_o_v_e_r

Summary: “I had to find you, tell you I need you. Tell you I set you apart." Or: Peter stays with Tony for a few weeks, and the pair get into all kinds of shenanigans. And maybe, just maybe, those few weeks will usher in something more.

These Days I’ll Sit On Cornerstones by Finny3120

Summary: “Tony was ill-prepared to find that the vigilante he'd recruited was a 14-year-old boy. He was even less prepared for Peter Parker to be mute. But Peter hasn't spoken since his uncle died. And the more Tony works with the teen, the less it matters to him. He hears Peter just fine.” 

You’re Stuck With Me by for_the_night

Summary: “I’m adopting you. I don’t care what you have to say.’ Peter gaped. Of all of the entrances he’d expected from Mister Stark after being alone in a hospital room for hours, that wasn’t one of them." Or: Peter gets taken to hospital with a ruptured appendix and Tony comes to a daunting realization of just how little hold he has on the kid outside of Medbay.

Alternate Universe

My Baby, My Baby by SpaceCowboysFromMars

Summary: “Silence falls over them like a warm blanket. Distantly, there’s commotion down on the street as people walk home from clubs. Peter thinks Tony might be his best friend in the whole world. After a long, peaceful moment, Tony says, voice dripping with warmth, ‘Night, kid.’  ‘Goodnight, Mr. Stark." Or: Tony and Peter in the middle of the night, in five alternate universes.

Visiting Hours by Sara (ctrsara)

Summary: “Boss?’ Tony jolted out of his half-asleep state. ‘What’s up, FRI?’ ‘There is a visitor here to see you.’ Tony jumped up. Anyone he knew would usually call or text first, so he was immediately on alert.   ‘Who is it, FRI?’ ‘I need you to have an open mind, and know that I do not believe this person is any threat.’ Oh, yeah, that made him feel better.  ‘Excuse me? How about you let me decide that, Watson?’ He started walking towards the door, activating his watch gauntlet.   ‘Wait, Boss.’ He was annoyed, but he trusted his AI enough to stop and listen. ‘I also need you to know that I have performed biometric scanning, and this person is who they appear to be. However, they insist they’re not from our universe, and that is the part I don’t understand." — In a universe where he never invented time travel, and never brought anyone back, Tony Stark gets a late-night visitor he never could have expected. Prompt taken from @idk-bruh-20 Irondad fic idea #97 on Tumblr. Idea from @derpmallow.

What The Heart Knows by AdVitamAeternam

Summary: “When Peter wakes up, his head is being assaulted by a sledgehammer. He has no idea where he is. He has no idea what happened to him. He has no idea who he is, other than ‘Peter.’ But then, he looks over at the man who is scrutinizing him with worried eyes, and he knows who the man is. That's his dad." Or: The one where Peter gets hit over the head really, really hard and has temporary amnesia, and makes a very reasonable assumption based on the data presented to him.

Angst

A Far Green Country by madasthesea

Summary: “He just wanted Peter to be happy. More than anything in the world, he wanted Peter to be happy. Oh, Tony thought as that realization sunk down into the pit of his stomach and took root. I love him.”

A River To Skate Away On by frostysunflowers

Summary: “Peter has survived a spider bite, a building falling on him, turning to dust and being a teenager. He can handle anything. Except being forgotten.”

Agape by canon irondad (tomlinsoul)

Summary: “It's Tony's first date night with Pepper since the Snap, and Peter can't wait to spend some quality time with his little sister. Too bad a pair of hapless intruders, head trauma, and a panicked helicopter ride throw a spanner in the works." Whumptober 2022 Day 8: Head Trauma + Day 7: Seizures + Day 19: Repeatedly Passing Out + BTHB: Big Brother Instinct

Broken Heart Syndrome by iron_spider

Summary: “Tony is clearly really upset, the kind of upset that Peter’s only seen the likes of a couple of times, and it’s too close after everything happening to really talk about it. He can definitely see that now.  ‘I’m sorry,’ Peter says. ‘I’m sorry, I should have answered—’ ‘Yeah, you should have answered!’ Tony yells. His bottom lip is trembling and he shakes his head, his eyes wild. He runs his hand over his forehead. ‘Okay, okay, I’ll know for next time,’ Peter says. He doesn’t know what’s gonna make this better. Probably nothing. ‘There better not be a next time,’ Tony says, dropping his hand from his face. ‘God, like this? Pete, no one knew where he was but you, and you—you kept it that way so nobody knew what the hell was happening, and you—you weren’t answering, kid, and that asshole sent me all that shit plucked directly from my nightmares, and I was trying to be strong for May because she was worried, too, and you—and you, I—I thought I wasn’t gonna ever—I thought—Jesus, Peter, you don’t think, you don’t—’ Tony bends over, clutching at his arm and breathing hard through his mouth.”

Dead In There, You’re Dead In There by iron_spider

Summary: “Peter, you’ve been acting insane for the past however many days and it’s giving me an ulcer, what’s going on, what did I do? Tell me. Tell me and I’ll fix it.’ Peter is still stalking around, and Friday is listing off his injuries, from a concussion to broken ribs to a sprained ankle, and Tony feels sick looking at it all. ‘You’ll fix it,’ Peter says, glancing over at him with pure disdain, the look bookended by matching explosions somewhere behind them. ‘Yeah it’s something you can’t fix, if it happens, nope, can’t fix it, it would just—but you’re just saying—’ Tony starts forward towards him. ‘Pete, explain to me what’s happening, please.’ ‘The protocol, the protocol,’ Peter insists, waving his hands through the air. Tony shakes his head. ‘The protocol?’ ‘The Avalon Protocol, Tony,’ Peter spits out, with venom.”

Dead-Eyed by iron_spider

Summary: “Hey,’ Tony says, fast, into the phone. ‘Everything alr—’ ‘Hey, no, I don’t know where he is,’ MJ says, in a rush of breath. ‘I don’t know where he is, Tony, and I know I have access to that tracking thing, but it feels weird for me to do that, and it doesn’t feel weird for you to do that, so you should do that. And find him and tell me what’s going on.’ ‘Okay, calm down,’ Tony says, getting up and stepping back from his workstation. ‘You know you can’t tell me to calm down, because I’m calm, and I’m always calmer than you because you’re like, inherently, not calm. At all, about anything, but especially about your family—’ ‘Okay, this is not calm,’ Tony says, starting to pace, even though he’s not calm either, she’s right. She sighs loudly in his ear. ‘When was the last time you saw him?”

Earthly Dust From Off Thee Shaken by ExpectoPatronum

Summary: “It had started with leaving his bedroom light on at night before he went to sleep. For a while, that had been enough. But then it wasn't.”

“Forever” by WithACherryOnTop

Summary: “Peter could feel the darkness creeping up on him again, like it had only moments earlier in the Avengers Compound bullpen. ‘‘ony.’ ‘Just go to sleep, bud.’ Tony gently scratched his nails at the nape of Peter’s neck. Peter collapsed bonelessly in Tony’s arms, all evidence of the tears, crying, and sobs hidden except for a stained shirt and the boy’s even, congested breaths. Tony wiped a hand over his face, a bit flustered. ‘Wow. That went way worse than I expected." Disclaimer: All characters belong to Marvel and/or Sony. I do not give permission for this work to be copied and/or posted to any other sites.

Gonna Pick Up The Pieces by orphan_account

Summary: “I don’t want to talk to you,’ Peter says. He’s been hiding for the better part of an hour, sitting in the cabin’s laundry room, wedged between the washer and the dryer. Something about the sounds coming off of them calms him, weirdly. The swish of water, the rumble of the motors, cotton rubbing cotton, the button on a pair of jeans dinging the side of the barrel.  ‘That’s bullshit,’ Tony says. ‘You always want to talk to me.’ As true as that usually is, this time it rings discordant and tense. Peter clenches his jaw. ‘Not really,’ he says. ‘You just sorta assume that.’ ‘Of course I do. I make for lovely conversation.’ ‘Eh.”

Head’s On The Fritz by augustheart

Summary: "Hello?’ ‘Tony?’ ‘The one and only. What’s up, kiddo?’ The answer rises up in Peter's throat. Stops at the back of his tongue and wobbles there, heavy and leaden. He wants to spit it out, to cough it into the unbearable silence, to not be loud—but, to be steady. ‘I—’ he says. He trembles. ‘Can you—come over? Please?" Or: Tony makes things better

Hold Me Together by An_Odd_Idea

Summary: “Peter still doesn’t feel quite solid. Sometimes Tony can’t believe he’s really there either. They cope.”

I Have You by sweetspiderstew

Summary: “Tony has Peter all to himself, and there's nothing else like some good quality time in the workshop, but little mishaps happen, and there's a lot of hugging.”

I’ll Be Right Here by An_Odd_Idea

Summary: “Peter has a nightmare, and Tony goes to be sure he’s okay. It’s not the first one of its kind.” 

It Came At Night by Marvelous_Writer

Summary: “What’s supposed to be a normal weekend visit to the Compound turns into one of disaster when unexpected visitors show up." (Set after Spider-Man: Homecoming) Whumptober Day Five: Gunpoint

It’s Time to Leave (and Turn to Dust) by hopeless_hope

Summary: "We’re going to help you, I promise, but you’ve got to trust me. Do you trust me?’ Peter looks at his mentor, fear written across his face. He raises a shaking hand back to Tony’s chest, and Tony places his hand over the kid’s. Peter closes his eyes and feels the hard surface of the arc reactor against his palm.  Peter doesn’t like soft things, but this isn’t soft. It’s solid and steady and strong and feels like a truth he can believe in. It feels like presence.  ‘Yeah, I trust you." (In which Peter has trouble coping with the events of Infinity War, but a certain Tony Stark is there to help.)

Meltdown by inkinmyheartandonthepage

Summary: “You said two-thirty,’ Peter said, acting as if he hadn’t heard Tony. ‘I forgot that you changed it to two thirty and not three.’ Tony took a step towards Peter. ‘Hey, Pete. It’s fine. You’re not that late kiddo. Hell, I’ve been to board meetings hours late.’ The joke didn’t land, and Peter’s eyes started to well with tears. He took in a hiccupping breath. ‘Oh god. I forgot. I forgot." Or: Peter isn't coping after Titan and has been doing everything to keep busy and not think about it. Everything comes to head when he forgets that a time was changed in his busy schedule leading to a meltdown.

Mine, And Yours by crowkag

Summary: “Is it Peter?’ He was met with loaded silence. The anxiety spark became an anxiety plunge and twist. ‘Happy. Is it Peter?’ ‘It’s… well. Who else would it be, right?’ ‘Hogan.’ He hated this. The spark, the plunge, the twist. The tension creeping from his shoulder blades, clawing down arms both flesh and metal, somehow, someway, and bunching up inside his palms. The hysteria of it all. ‘It’s—alright, I won’t sugarcoat it. The kid’s alive, but he got shot, Tony. Twice." Or: Tony reunites with Peter in a less-than-ideal manner.

Relax, Just Breathe by hailfire_73

Summary: “Tony,’ said Peter, lifting his head from the glass, his stubbornness spent. ‘I don’t feel so—’ ‘Do not,’ said Tony, through gritted teeth, and meeting Peter’s eyes in the rearview mirror. He had just one hand on the steering wheel as he drove them into the night. ‘Finish that sentence.’ Morgan leaned over, hung out of her booster seat, and whispered, ‘It gives dad attacks." Or: The Starks go on a road trip that goes wrong when Peter gets food poisoning from questionable carnival food.

Scars Can Heal And Reveal Just Where You Are by parkrstark

Summary: “Jesus Christ, Pete,’ the voice says again, and it's not just a voice. It's a voice that belongs to the shadow. The shadow is light in the dark. It's warm. ‘What are you doing on the floor? You're lucky you're by your bed or else it would have been you breaking my fall.’ Peter blinks at the shadow and can't tell if he's comforted or irritated by the new company. ‘What? No quip about me breaking a hip?’ There's silence. ‘Peter?" 

Shots Ring Out by itsluckyyou

Summary: “Peter Parker had training. Training to deal with robbers, petty crime, and possible alien invasions. Nothing could have possibly trained him for this, though." Or: There's a shooter wandering the halls of Midtown School of Science and Technology.

The Pills (They Gotta Go) by searchingforstars

Summary: “Tony. What are these?’ Tony glances up. Sees the packs of pills clenched in Peter’s fist. He’s sure some of them must be dust judging by the force that Peter is holding them with. ‘My pills?’ ‘Why are they sitting at the back of the pantry?’ Peter asks, voice dangerously low." Or: Tony decides taking his medication is optional. Peter strongly disagrees.

We All Have A Hunger by MotherKarizma

Summary: “Morgan,’ he croaked, throat afire, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. ‘Hey—hey, it’s okay, I’m just…’ ‘You’re sick.’ She mustered up something like bravery, using it to straighten her back and plaster a very grown-up look on her face. ‘I’ll get Daddy!’ ‘No!’ Morgan jumped, eyes wide. Peter fought to calm his voice. He offered her a smile that couldn’t have been convincing, not even to a five-year-old. ‘No, you don’t have to. I feel better  now. You don’t have to tell him.’ Morgan’s lips wobbled. Peter knew what her fake pout looked like well enough to know this wasn’t it. ‘Petey…’ Peter had a lot of reasons to feel guilty. He felt guilty for scaring her. He felt guilty for forgetting to lock his bedroom door, for making scaring her a possibility. He kind of, in a way, felt guilty for doing it in the first place, though not nearly enough to stop. But more than anything, he felt guilty for this: ‘Morgan, promise me you won’t tell him. He…he won’t let us swim anymore if you do. And I’m not sick, my tummy just hurt a little bit, but I’m all better now. Promise me you won’t tell him, okay?’ ‘But…’ ‘Morgan. Promise.”

We’re Here by An_Odd_Idea

Summary: “Comfortember prompt 3: Nightmares Peter has nightmares about when Thanos stabbed Tony on Titan”

Who Needs a Happy New Year When You Can Have a Happy Forever? by searchingforstars

Summary: “Peter's already feeling insecure about his place in Stark family holiday traditions, but it turns out it doesn't really matter because New Year’s Eve is significantly less fun when you’re a pair of PTSD-riddled superheroes, anyway." Or: Tony has a panic attack in a Burger King.

Without You (I Was Broken) by parkrstark

Summary: "How did you get shot? You just webbed me up 5 stories from being shot!’ ‘D-Didn’t know it was coming.’  ‘Dammit, Peter! This isn’t the first time your spidey sense hasn’t worked. I tried to give you the benefit of the doubt because Rhodey told me I was being insane. Why didn’t you tell me it wasn’t always working? You shouldn’t go out into battle like this when your powers are being wonky and—’ ‘You’re here.’ ‘What?’ ‘You’re here.’ He takes a deep breath. ‘I don’t...I can’t really feel the danger when you’re around."

[scoobysnakz]

Hard Luck

Chap iv

It’s hard finding love when your sole reason to live is your daughter, but when her best friends dad is annoyingly attractive and might have something to do with your rent randomly getting paid, who can blame you for being a little curious?

||* mostly fluff, Raya being an undiagnosed autistic child bc I'm plotting something evil, domestic Miguel if you squint, slightly pervy reader, mentions of oral reader receiving, reader being a silly fan-girl, cliff hanger bc why not.

Guilt. It's an overwhelming feeling that sits in the pit of his stomach in a way he's far too familiar with.

Miguel can name all the good and bad things about guilt. The way it allows you to be held accountable for your actions makes, your mind fray with culpability. How it can prevent someone- him- from doing something that will drive them- him- insane and remind them- him- that they have to have morals that keep them- him- grounded. Or else… or else.

There have been plenty of times Miguel has felt culpability and they have all been about something much more drastic than this. He's lost people, a family, so, so many versions of his family.

He needs to get this universe right. The thought of losing Gabi again makes his gut clench and that ticking in his jaw form again.

The first time it had happened, people had been upset for him, Peter had left him alone without being asked more than once and Jess was just the right amount of critical and loving. They were his guilt.

Then it happened again. And again. And again. And then people were becoming concerned for him, but the kind where they scolded and questioned him so he stopped telling people each time he found a universe he could live in. That first universe was the only one he destroyed he's made sure of that.

And yet he's feeling so intensely guilty for his stalker-like tendencies when he's done much worse.

He knows he shouldn't have followed you, waited for you to enter the shop and prayed to anyone above that your card would cancel. But he needed to get your number- for parental reasons of course. And now he has it.

“I can't do that again,” Miguel groans, hand sliding down his face as he slumps into his chair.

Lyla snickers at him, hands covering her face while her legs kick in the air. Miguel looks over at her, expression unamused.

“It was a complete betrayal of her trust,” his fingers drum on the smooth wood of his desk.

“Don’t think the two of you had a trusting relationship, considering you only just got her number.” her teasing earns her a wave of dismissal.

“I’m this close,” he holds his hand in the air, thumb and index finger millimetres away, “from replacing you.” His leg bounces up and down, jaw tightened and lips pursed.

She scoffs at him and waves a blurred-out finger at him before slumping down on his desk. “But if you replace me how will you watch your girlfriend?”

“You aren't funny. I was watching her because I needed… her daughter is Gabi’s friend I can't have her being some scumbag.” his tone is harsh, fed up, and irritated, but he can't bite back the grin that forms at her teasing.

“She isn't a scumbag…”

Lyla hums in feigned disagreement, her minute pixelated frame now perched on his shoulder as she smirks up at him.

“She’s nice… to me, and old people.”

He glances out the window, dark clouds threatening rain as they swarm the grey sky. He sighs and looks back over at Lyla. He came to this universe for Gabi.

But he can't stop himself from thinking back to the way you smelt. The faint coconut and the mellowness of your washing powder settled gently against his skin like a thin, taunting mist, teasing his stiffening cock.

He relishes the way you let him pull you near. How easily you submitted to the man who hasn't even had a proper conversation with you and pretended to be his partner- his wife. How you put up such a lazy fight against it that it felt almost playful. How your eyes softened the moment you saw him. How you allowed him to help you despite the embarrassment that followed it.

“When you’ve finished being hopeless lover boy,” Lyla chirps, “you might want to y’know be Spiderman.”

***

Miguel didn't expect his offer to go so well. He just assumed that being stuck with two nine-year-old girls for a few hours would be hell but it's surprisingly entertaining.

He knows Gabi inside and out, yet when she's with Raya she's different. And it doesn't feel forced.

The two of them spent ages trying to figure out a flavour because they obviously had to have the same one. They both ended up choosing chocolate, much to Miguel’s distaste. And then when Gabi wanted a sprinkle cone but Raya wanted a plain one they ended up getting tubs.

“It's because she's my best friend, papá,” Gabi had stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Which had made him chuckle.

“How was school?” he asks, feeling a little left out of the conversation.

Raya’d attention is immediately diverted towards him, wide eyes following each movement of his face. “It was fun,” she says quietly- shyly, making sure to swallow before speaking. It’s good table manners

“Papá, we’re talking!” Gabi whines with a pout, “Raya doesn't want to tell you about her day because you're boring.”

So he sits there, practically spilling out of the tiny metal chair, watching them laugh at him and whatever else makes girls their age giggle the way they are. He keeps a smile on his face and his phone on vibrate, waiting for you to reply to his text, or read it at least.

***

Your back arches with ecstasy, hips jolting upwards towards the source of your pleasure. You can feel your gummy walls clenching and when you look down to see what it is that's sliding inside your cunt, you’re met with the sight of the top of someone's head.

Thick, brown curls, all unfurled as you slide your fingers away. They look familiar in a way that makes you feel giddy.

Desperate to see who’s providing this bliss, you push their head away. You’re left with an achy, empty feeling as they pull their fingers out of you and drag their tongue off your puffy folds but you'll have to push past it. Maybe whine a little, but you'll manage.

You look down, brain too fuzzy with arousal to even process Miguel’s deep, chocolatey eyes gazing up at you. He's smiling boyishly, fangs poking over the tops of his perfectly formed, lips that are coated in a deliciously thick layer of your arousal.

“Can I keep going, Hermosa?” his velvety voice rumbles, sending chills down your spine.

Before you get a chance to beg for more than his skilled fingers and soft tongue, the sound of a traumatic radar sound blares and you’re forced awake.

You lie there for a moment, one hand lazily slung across your forehead while the other grips your mouth.

You can't tell if it's guilt or arousal but you can't think straight. All you know is that you just had a painfully realistic dream of a man you barely know eating you out. Part of you wishes it lasted longer but that's beside the point.

There's an uncomfortable slickness between your thighs and you're slightly tempted to do something about it but the constant ringing of your alarm reminds you that you do, in fact, have some form of common sense.

Ignoring the guilt that's swimming in your gut, you sit upright, legs dangling over the edge of the sofa. You sit there for a moment, trying to figure out if you should be feeling that guilt or if it's your brain’s fault. You settle for the latter.

Yawning, you pick up your phone, scanning for notifications you know aren't there. A few from the weather app, another from a period tracking app that says your ovulating (that explains the dream- hopefully) and then… a text from Miguel.

It's one of those texts that you don't know how to reply to, it's got a simple answer but that's rude and all of the emojis are far too informal for someone you have saved as ‘Gabi’s dad’

You stare at Miguel’s text. Let the letter jumble up and scramble into unintelligible blobs as your eyes start to sting with tears before you allow yourself to blink.

I’ve got the girls. Could you text me your address so I can drop Raya off later?

He’s got the girls and now he wants your address. That's the part that makes it so hard to reply.

You don't live in the nicest of areas, graffiti in the stairwell that you have to use because the lift stinks of piss, loud neighbours and a possibly dead cat stuffed into one of the bins at the entrance.

It's embarrassing.

Miguel’s a tailored man, with slicked-back hair and freshly ironed clothes. You contemplated lying about your address, tell him it's some random house, meet him outside before quickly running off with Raya to get the bus.

But you don't want her growing up ashamed of not having money. You can't have her becoming a pompous brat who whines about not getting things. Because that's not who is she now, nor will she ever be.

You tap the smooth glass of your phone screen over and over again with your thumb before forcing yourself to reply. And almost immediately you get a reply

‘👍’

You can't stop the smile that forms on your lips at how fast his response is, he was probably on his phone or coincidentally looking checking his notifications when you sent the text.

But now you have nothing to do. You couldn't pick up an extra shift because- thanks to your stupidity- you somehow forgot that you can't randomly change your hours as a carer. And apparently, you can't even sleep without being a pervert.

Sleep sounds nice though. Your eyes are heavy with countless nights of single-digited hours of sleep. It's pulling at your brain in a way that makes your thoughts fuzzy and your body slowly sinks back into the sofa again.

A loud thudding noise startles you from your sleep. It's repetitive and loud so your first instinct is to slam off your alarm but when you see a blank screen you divert your fatigued brain to the front door.

Completely forgetting about Raya being out with Miguel and Gabi, you pull the door open. You look a mess, mascara smudged and eyes heavier than the weights he probably lifts with those delicious arms…

“Mum,” Raya mumbles, her face buried in her chest as pulls you close.

You stumble back, fighting back a yawn, and nearly fall onto the sofa but Raya pulls you forward. “Hey, baby,” you smile down at her, laughing awkwardly at nearly making a complete fool of yourself.

You drag your gaze up to Miguel, his board shoulders filling out the doorway while his hand clutches onto Gabi’s.

“Miguel,” your voice is groggy but cute and it makes him feel safe on the inside, “Thank you for having her.” You go to playfully nudge Raya but she's no longer next to you, now shyly hidden behind you, clutching into your shirt.

“She has beautiful manners,” his voice is like velvet that's been melted by a log fire and poured on top of Valentine's chocolates.

He looks down at you, eyes briefly tearing away from you to discreetly inspect your apartment. It's cute, homely, you. Lots of blankets and cushions, picture frames dotted around, and a random coat stand that stands bare.

“Would you like to come in?” you offer, attempting to stifle another yawn, failing to succeed as pleasantly the last time.

Miguel opens his mouth, pretty lips parted so perfectly that your half-awake brain might just fall for him on the spot.

“Please, papá! Raya said she has a bunch of teddies!” Gabi pleads, her accent bearing a striking resemblance to Miguel’s.

Before he gets a chance to decline, she pushes past him and skips over to Raya. She grabs her hand and almost immediately her awkwardness melts away as they run into her room.

“Sorry, she's really-”

“Bold?” you offer, head cocked to the side.

“Yeah... Let's go with that version.”

The two of you share an awkwardly dry chuckle before you both look away.

“Coffee?” you break the silence.

“Would be nice,” he finishes for you.

Nervously, you lead him to your minute kitchen island, kicking random toys out of the way before he gets a chance to see them.

As he walks through your apartment, your home, Miguel can't help but feel at ease. It's messy but not in an unhygienic way, you can just tell it's lived in happily.

The waterrings on the countertops, a random bag of bouncy balls left on the floor for someone to trip on. Miguel can imagine himself here, not living, but staying.

Maybe his shoes lazily kicked off in a slobbish pile on the sofa, Gabi’s coat slung on the unused coat rack next to Raya’s and yours.

“Sorry it's a mess, I was going to tidy up but I got… sidetracked. But I promise it's not normally this messy, just today. Which is strangely coincidental but it really isn't. And-”

“It's nice in here,” he cuts you off as if he couldn't hear what you'd just said.

His small slither of praise makes you smile. That toothrottingly sweet smile that makes every fibre of his being burn with arousal.

“Thanks.”

You turn your back to him, searching for your coffee before you grab a small glass jar that has instant coffee in it.

“Fuck,” you grumble, “its empty. So… no coffee for us,” you laugh.

He shrugs his shoulders and takes the jar from you.

“Bin?” he asks.

“There,” you point, “left side is recyclable and right is the other stuff.”

He opens the bin and drops the jar, smiling in satisfaction as it lands with a soft third. He lifts his foot from the pedal before catching a glimpse of red. Curious, he presses down on the pedal again and reads the block writing.

EVICTION NOTICE