#also the likelihood of this ever going to court and not just being handled with a settlement is near none

[starvinginbelair]

this is just a thought for the moment, but, i'm wondering (and processing through writing, it's not a full fledged idea) if there's like. a chance if the greater outraged people/suspicious atl fandom could somehow. have a lawyer in their midst and make an offer of their services publicly to the girl who claimed things on twitter and it could be like a fan effort? obv it's a big thing to try coordinate but i'm in the mood for some movie style vigilante shit and i'm just. entertaining the possibility (even though i am definitely not a lawyer). but when i look at things fans have come together and coordinated it def does feel smaller than some things that are outright unhelpful yet people came together for

while i think this would be a better idea than what's currently happening, and of course done with good intentions, i genuinely do not think something like this would never come to fruition, mainly due to the online nature of the allegations and simply how much would actually have to be done on the legal side alone by even the most organized groups of fans.

pls note i'm not an expert on us law. i'm also still in my undergrad, and NOT a law student, but here's how i see it based on my knoweldge of that system.

firstly, i'm not even sure you can bring a legal case on these accusations to a court. i mainly focus on the criminal side in my degree, so i know a lot about this stuff, but because this case was not one that was reported to/investigated to the police (by my knowledge), there's nothing a criminal court can do. this case wouldn't even be brought up there. the reason all time low is able to sue in civil court is because they are suing on defamation charges, and not criminal charges. however, the victim, because they remained anonymous in the original post would not be able to countersue for the same issue. so that's the initial challenge, that i'm pretty sure there's not even a charge that the victims could sue all time low for, it would have to process through a criminal legal avenue.

the only thing i can imagine on the civil level is potentially something to do with not advertising their shows at 18+? but at the same time, it's really hard to think that there's any substantive argument coming out of that, considering there's no us regulation against not advertising 18+ on tickets. and while i don't necessarily think that what all time low was saying at their shows was appropriate, i don't think that it was out of the realm of "acceptable social behaviour" especially for bands in their genre at the time (which they would definitely use as a counterargument for their behaviour)

even if this case somehow did get off the ground, there' still so many other barriers to getting justice for these victims through the legal system. while of course the number of 97 has never been officially confirmed by anyone, there were still a lot of accusations against the band. the difficulty here is that there is no guarantee that all of these people live within the same legal jurisdiction or even the same country. that would likely mean trials in several different areas, which the victims probably would not be able to afford (even if there was a lawyer in the midst of atl fans).

most lawyers don't often do pro bono work, in the first place, and i've personally never heard of it being done across countries like that. logistically, it sounds like a nightmare, because the legal system is so much more than just going to court and pleading your case. it's discovery meetings and motions to dismiss and very much so requires in person or at least consistent online interaction between lawyers and their clients. very rarely do cases actually go to court, with most settling far before it even gets to that stage. and because so much of this broke online and on twitter, with very little other than just stories from victims, it wouldn't be worth it to try to fight it. any lawyer considering picking this up would know that the judge would probably dismiss the case, on the basis of lack of evidence about a year into the process. i say lack of evidence btw, not as away to say i don't believe the stories, but that court admissible evidence is very different from what the average person considers to be evidence. it has to follow a very strict set of guidelines and anything that does not fit the bill is striken from record. and with tiktok and twitter information especially, very rarely does all of it pass through within any issues whatsoever.

anyways, the lawyer would likely realize then that they'd pretty much be wasting a year of everyone's time and money with this case, and simply just not pick it up. it'd probably have to be a very invested lawyer to pursue it in the first place, with more evidence and what they believe is an iron-clad case. but solely on what broke online, i just don't see enough for anyone to want to go after it.

this is also why a lot of sa vicitms don't go to the police or to the courts with their stories. because the system is simply not set up to benefit them, or to get them true justice. they are asked time and time again to prove to the courts that they've gone through this intense trauma, and so much of the time, it is not acceptable just to say that it happened. there has to be stacks on stacks of evidence, and even then, the court can rule against them based on whether or not they truly believed that the defendant did the things they were accused of. it's really tough, and while i would say some places are getting better at adapting their legal system to accomodate these issues, the us is definitely not one of them. with the current way their legal system is set up, it's hard for any victim, with even mountains of receipts and testimony, to receive justice. much less with how little admissible court evidence there would be in this case

[ninyard]

Hiii ! Hope ur doing good :) and I wanted to ask if you talk and give me ur thoughts about riko threatening kevin and making him goes back to evermore instead of Neil on the Christmas break or maybe they both get stuck there, I just feel like you would articulate so well, I couldn’t imagine the reactions, especially wymack’s and andrew’s.

i think i agree with the sentiment that Andrew would've killed Neil if he let that happen - especially if Kevin went instead of Neil. also there's the idea that Riko wouldn't have let Kevin leave again, or that he would've finished what he started and Kevin would've left the nest truly never able to play again. i think that's true, because there's no way anyone would believe that he would transfer back to the ravens if it was under the guise that he would transfer back.

but i do wonder how Tetsuji, or any of the Moriyama's, would've reacted if it had've happened. a part of me feels like they wouldn't have let it happen in the first place, and if they found out Riko had brought Kevin back to the nest, there's the likelihood that they'd make him leave before something happens, because something happening to Kevin now is just too hard to cover up. Kevin is a fox now, the ravens let him go, and if suddenly another "accident" happens to Kevin that finally leaves him unable to play? it's suspicious, it brings up too many questions, and i don't think regardless of if Kevin had've went or not that the Moriyama's would've let it happen anyway.

at the end of the day, Kevin is too big of a face, too well known. there's no ending in Riko's story that leaves him alive. if Kevin goes to the nest, and something happens to him that leaves him unable to play, i think the Moriyama's would have Riko killed. it's what Neil says to Ichirou - he's unravelling, he's becoming a liability, he's getting sloppy. if Riko hurt Kevin in this situation, that truth just becomes clearer to them sooner, and they have to fix that problem. i think they would have Kevin and Riko both killed in a staged car accident or something, or Riko ends up dead, and Kevin is left catastrophically injured, his injury reasonably explained by the accident. but Kevin being left alive is again a loose end they might not be able to afford. i don't know. who's going to doubt that two childhood friends decided to catch up over christmas break and it ended their lives in a tragic and terrible accident?

even if it somehow happened post-championship final, if Andrew didn't hurt Riko, if he didn't try to kill Neil on the court, and his anger afterwards leads him to forcing Kevin to come to the nest: I still think it ends the same. even if Riko thinks he wants to play with Kevin again, he can't. his ego can't handle playing side-by-side with Kevin.

best scenario i could come up with where it could happen is that neil realises VERY quickly that kevin has left, gone to the nest, and follows him. but i still don't know if/how Riko would ever be able to let Kevin leave again.

that being said i would LOVE to see Kevin's reaction to his room and his belongings being left completely untouched. if, somehow, it happened in the way that Neil, and Kevin ended up in the nest, and SOMEHOW, they end up being able to leave? i don't know how anyone would be able to react.

Wymack would be devastated to pick them up at the airport, or to answer the door to his apartment to see Kevin and Neil standing there, destroyed and broken. maybe he'd have to get himself involved somehow, he wouldn't be able to stop himself calling Tetsuji and threatening him because he's so angry. i don't think Kevin would ever be the same again afterwards, either. any recovery he's made, any steps he's made towards putting the nest behind him, i think he'd be back to square one if not even further behind. Andrew would find out, because he just would, and he would truly never forgive Neil for it, even if he somehow decided not to kill him. it would destroy any little bit of relationship they might've had, and I don't think Andrew would ever, ever, give him a second chance afterwards. even if the Moriyama's step in and don't let anything happen to Kevin, i still think if Andrew found out that he went in the first place, he'd react the same.

but i really love it as an idea for an au. Neil finding out that Kevin's in the nest? Kevin not coming back, or Kevin coming back broken? nobody knowing where Kevin is, and then suddenly he's dead, or paralysed, or an amputee, or something? Neil following him to the nest, and trying to protect him, trying to save him. would it work? would he get there in time, would he be able to stop Riko the moment he finds himself alone in a room with Kevin? Andrew killing Neil, or making him leave afterwards? lots of potential for angst and hurt and violence and torture and i would love to read it, i just don't think it's realistic, or something that Riko would get away with at all.

[antixs]

Hello

I graduated 1 month ago and I do not know what I am doing. I have this “plan” to travel but with no real plan. I felt so confident while living in my apartment before graduation about my plans to travel and now that I am back at home, I feel stuck and misguided. I felt this enormous to get a “big girl” job and join the LinkedIn bullshit workforce. I don't want this life. I would sell myself short and be a copout if I did. I have so much potential for other things and I am the ripe age of 23 and ready to figure these things out. I’ve been doing what I “should” be by updating my resume, applying for jobs, going on interviews, and I am miserable. I am so lonely living at home. I feel myself regressing. I know that God only gives their toughest battles to their strongest soldiers, but damn I want out. It’s been rough living at home, without a job, without school, without a purpose. I feel like I do not have any meaning and there is this deep urge to bring meaning to my life. I want to travel abroad. I have never left North America and I am so jealous of all those people out exploring and living their dreams. I guess my fears are being lonely...getting kidnapped...getting raped....and getting robbed. I can take being lonely and getting robbed. However, the other two I don't know about. I mean I’ve already been raped and I am still here thriving so, they can't take that away from me. I guess getting kidnapped or murdered, wouldn't be ideal, but what’s the likelihood that actually happens if im being smart. I think I need to trust myself and just do it. I will never feel ready and I also would regret bringing someone. I need to do this by myself and I need to prove to myself I can. I am so smart and capable. I think the fear holding me back is ... im realizing right now the fears I have are just excuses. I can navigate places I have never been, I can navigate public transpiration and flights, I can talk to people, I can rely on my gut intuition, I can be aware of my surroundings, I can use google translate, I can do this! The only thing holding me back is me ! I feel like im in a limbo stage with multiple directions my life could go. I think I want to go global !!! I would regret it forever if I didn't prove to myself that I can travel the world by myself. I am so friendly and kind and I think it would be a really good way to make friends, meet new people, learn new cultures and languages, experience new things, and make ever lasting memories. I’ve always hated the Orange County bubble and I refuse to stay in this bitch forever. I will be an international woman and I refuse to let anyone, including myself, hold me back. I need to plan. I need to purchase and pack. I need to earn some money. I need to handle my ticket in Utah. It would be irresponsible to base this decision before I attend court. I really hope everything works out the way it's meant to and I learn a lot from these experiences and my future. Today I am no longer going to sit still and be moody. I want to workout again and chase my passions. I want to work at another ski resort this winter. I want to chase powder. I want to work in a national forest. I want to travel the world. I want to give back. I am feeling very inspired by the YesTheory on Youtube. I wish I was friends with these guys and they would just invite me to Europe lol. I think life is about having fun, loving others, giving back, and doing what makes you happy. I refuse to let others expectations of me get in the way of what I really want to do. I think I should start a YouTube too. Ive been saying I want to start a YouTube channel since I was 12 years old. I always think it's too late or too embarrassing but fuck that! I just need to start. It's for me. I want to share with the world my experiences and my hobbies and my dreams. I dream of visiting every country and meeting all types of people, and experiencing all kinds of new experiences. I dream of touching the people I meet and I hope they touch me as well. I dream of personal growth and transformation. I dream of community and friendship. I dream of opportunities. I dream of nature and exploring the vast majority of it. I love this Earth and all the people on it. I want to see it for myself. I have lived my entire life in a bubble judging from the outside. I will not let fear stop me. I want to see how other people live, what other people eat, and how other people experience life! This rant feels amazing and I feel so inspired. I have neglected my spirituality since I moved home and it feels so nice to dive back into it! Thank you! I love you! and you will hear from me soon with adventure updates! This page will no longer be posted on just when I am sad but when I am happy, when I am inspired, when I am excited! 

[halliescomut]

Have these people never heard of acting out...like???

They make it so clear in the show that his actions are mostly about Porsche's behavior for one, but also anything that you could attribute to Kim is literally that he was just the last straw.

I mean, just imagine...from the time you're at best 5, maybe 6, you've watched your brother work so hard to keep shit together, take on so much to provide for you because the adult you were supposed to be able to rely on is full trash. Porsche is likely working under the table jobs wherever he can find them to help support. They not only have to make sure shit doesn't get too bad, but Porsche has to make sure he's not doing anything too shady, because if he gets in legal trouble he and Chay will be separated, either by the courts, or if Porsche ended up in jail, Chay would be left to Uncle Arthee (who as discussed is trash). And while Porsche is doing all of this, he's still in school, and per canon still competing in Martial Arts competitions, and winning. By the time Chay's old enough to where he could start doing under the table work like Porsche had, Porsche is now an adult, and forbids it. He'd rather work himself to death to keep things afloat than let Chay struggle the way he had to. Even though we know logically that if they were both working together it would lighten the load for both (both physically and emotionally).

Then, after yet another visit from Uncle Arthee's shitty creditors, when he's reminded that he's part of the reason they can't pay them, since a good chunk of their money went to his tuition, Porsche disappears. He comes back beat to hell with no explanation. Disappears AGAIN. Is fully unreachable the whole time, after being Chay's only constant for more than a decade. You know, the kid who's already traumatized because he's an orphan.

Then, he learns the TRUTH, which is that Porsche has been out getting shot at and beat up with the mafia, you know, the same people who were constantly coming to harass them, that were beating Uncle Arthee, and likely Porsche, on a regular basis, but still lending Uncle Arthee money. [Which as a side note is exactly the dilemma we see Porsche have when they're beating up that guy in ep. 3. Because he recognizes that he's kind of joined the people that had been their enemy his whole life.] And he's not only got to reconcile that Porsche is in tthis, but that he's committed to the head of the Family, and that he doesn't want to leave that person.

So he's sitting there, taking all of that in, and he has two choices. He can ask his brother who has CONSISTENTLY sacrificed for him for over a decade, to give up a person that he truly loves and cares about so that they can leave this mafia world. Knowing that Porsche would do it if Chay asks. Or he can let Porsche stay, and he can adjust. He'll finish school, he'll go to university, and there's still a possibility of something real with Kim at that time. Then he gets hit with the knowledge that Kim is also a part of this whole mafia mess in someway, which he might have been able to work through. And then Kim rips his heart out and throws it on the floor (and there's reasons for this, and I do understand Kim's motivation there, but that's not the point, because Porchay has no awareness of that.)

You notice how there's about 500 words vaguely detailing Chay's trauma before we even get to Kim? Chay's 'acting out' is a clear response to being overwhelmed and not knowing how to handle it. He's in a situation that he hates, that he sees no way out of, he's heartbroken, he's fucked his university chances in a fit of rage, who in the world would not be overwhelmed? And let's be clear, Porsche is in NO way an even moderately okay role model in regards to handling your emotions. There's an incredibly high likelihood that the only person he ever neutralized his emotions around is Chay, because as Chay's protector and caregiver he couldn't show too much. And he doesn't have emotional outbursts regularly, but we can see from the wasabi incident that he definitely gives in to his emotions when he can. And we can have hours of conversation over how he tries to drown out all of the fear and worry and stress with women and alcohol.

So...is Chay dying his hair and going out to get drunk at 17 (or 18) after having to deal with all of the bullshit that's been thrown at him over the course of (let me check the timeline) 7 DAYS!!! (a fucking week y'all) a tantrum? Or is it him following the lead of the only role model he's ever had in an attempt to silence just for a minute the absolute shit show his life has become in A WEEK?!?!

You know, just discuss amongst yourselves. But as someone who is familiar with the types of reactions that traumatized people can have in times of stress, Chay's reaction is understandable, not an overreaction, and not surprising based on the information we have.

I'm actually so sick of people misconstruing chay's actions in the final few episodes as him just throwing a tantrum or like, it just being about Kim and their breakup. like Chay is a boy who had every choice, even before canon, made for him. he wasn't allowed a job to help with the bills. he had to go to university to get a good job. and then Porsche joins the mafia, which could literally kill him, the only family Chay has left. and he did it for Chay. even though Chay would've begged him not to. he would've begged Porsche to stay safe. and then Kim comes along and attempts to get close to him for information and ends up falling in love with him anyway. but Kim makes the decision to break chay's heart to spare him from the dark world of the mafia. only, newsflash. they were born into that mess just like Khun, Kinn and Kim were. Chay is then forced to move from his family home into the cold and unforgiving main family house under the watchful eye of Korn. no fucking wonder he skips the school interview. no wonder he dyes his hair and goes to the club to drink and maybe try drugs. these are the only things he has control of in his life. he's allowed to be angry. he's allowed to be resentful.

[therealvinelle]

I agree that Aro definitely is not straight, but if he is gay and not bi, why window shop for a wife? If he wanted a partner for some reason, why not find a male one? It was a different era, yes, but are vampires really homophobic?

So, for this meta, we’ll have to get historical. Before we do, keep in mind that while I know Ancient Greece better than most, having studied it (introductory level classes only, mind), I don’t know it well enough to be any kind of authority on the matter. History, more than any other discipline I can think of, is not respected as an academic field, and people with poor to no understanding of historical hermeneutics will make very bold assumptions that they then have too poor understanding of history to realize are bullshit. This is a disclaimer because I don’t want to join in on the chorus of authoritative-sounding people on the internet with no verifiable credentials who spout things about history that are then taken to be gospel truth by readers because the author made it sound good.

More, I say this because your question is asking me to explain the morality and social norms surrounding a character from 14th century BC Greece. And this man would not, for the record have been Ancient Greek, he would have been Mycenaean Greek. Very quick history lesson: Mycenaean Greece was a flourishing society that suffered a downfall, Greek civilization fell into its very own dark ages, until around 800 BC when Greeks began forming what would become the Ancient Greece we know and love. This in turn means that I can’t very well read up on the marital and sexual norms of Ancient Greece when I’m researching for Aro, because he was five hundred years old already when Ancient Greece became a thing.

And your question concerns cultural history. And for that we’re going to have to look at how we know the things we know about history. How history is studied.

Historians have two kinds of sources: archeological findings and written records. (I’m aware that oral tradition, like the one carried by the Aborigine people, isn’t technically one of these, but to my understanding it’ll be treated to similar analysis as written records, which leaves us with the two types of sources standing strong.) These sources are analyzed, and we apply various theories and models onto them to make sense of the context they were written in. The more sources we have, the more we can refine or eliminate these theories or models.

More, history is an ever evolving field. There are movements and schools of thought that influence how history is written (marxism in history, that is, history as a class struggle, was heavy in the 60′s and I think until the 80′s), which means that how a certain culture will be perceived today is not the way it was perceived a few decades ago, nor will it be perceived the same way a few decades in the future.

You see why I am daunted by you asking me to give you an answer about sexual and marital norms for a guy who lived 3000 years ago, and I hope you’ll understand why I feel this word vomit is necessary.

Now, the danger with Mycenaean Greece is that it’s a society it’s easy to feel we know a lot about, because it was the precursor to Ancient Greece, and we know a lot about the latter. But, first of, the reason why we know as much as we do about the Ancient Greeks is the Romans. The Greeks wrote about their history, their philosophy, their government, and they wrote plays and told stories. However, that was two thousand years ago and their writings would have been lost to the sands of time if the Romans hadn’t idolized and sought to emulate their society. This meant preserving their written records. This tradition was carried on by the Christians, in part because Hellenistic philosophy was incorporated into Christian philosophy. We have neo-platonism to thank for Christian asceticism, the “mind over matter” cornerstone.

What I’m getting at with all of this is that we know the insane amount about Ancient Greece that we do because of some very unique circumstances, and so we can make very sophisticated theories about what the Hellenistic world was like. It’s still detective work, but not Pepe Silvia type of detective work. This is not the case for Mycenaean Greece. We know a comparative lot about Mycenaean Greece, considering how long ago it was, but there is very much we don’t know.

With Mycenaean Greece, we are dealing with a lot more uncertainty. We haven’t deciphered one of their two writing styles, and a lot of the text we do have is very fragmentary. Coming up with detailed societal models for Mycenaean Greece, and for the 14th century BC specifically, is... well I don’t know enough about what this society left behind to know what historians have to work with, but I imagine they have their work cut out.

More, I haven’t studied this at all, which means that any attempt on my end to research this would be stumbling around in the dark.

One example: the Illiad and the Odyssey, while composed around the 8th century BC, were set in the early 12th century BC, which is nearly Aro’s time period. The Illiad depicts a homoerotic relationship between Patroclus and Achilles, and both works depict a lot of matrimonies, so I wish I could use it as a source. However, not only would this time gap alone make these sources questionable, but there’s also the matter of the Illiad and the Odyssey being transmitted orally, from bard to bard. Changes were made over the years. For example, the technology described in the Illiad is from several eras, as the warriors will be using bronze weaponry in one book and then switch to iron in the next. This game of telephone is what happens when a story is transmitted orally from person to person. So, while it’s tempting to use these works as a sort of reference point, the possibility, likelihood even, that the bards made adjustments to keep the old story entertaining for their contemporary audience is strong.

For this reason, I can’t give you any kind of historically correct analysis on what the marital or sexual mores would have been like in Aro’s time. Even if the knowledge is out there, I don’t have it.

But I can say this, spouses have for the longest time been partners. Men and women got married, even in the gay, gay, Ancient Greece, not just to have children but because they complemented each other, they were partners. Men needs wives, and women needs husbands. And a partner was canonically exactly what Aro was looking for, feelings had nothing to do with it:

After Caius and Marcus had found their romantic attachments, Aro decided to find his own, although rather than finding his other half in another vampire Aro decided to create his own instead. Aro had a certain type of woman in mind and he found what he was looking for in Sulpicia. He successfully courted her and she came to fall in love with him.

As for vampires being homophobic, I think that is for another post about what culture they bring with them into their new life. But to be brief I’ll say that while the individual vampire can be homophobic, there can be no homophobia at an institutional level because vampires have no institutions. And it’s the institutional homophobia that gets ya. It’s what the whole fight for gay rights has been about: secure legislation against discrimination and that protects gay people. (The right to marry and protection from employees firing LGBT employees comes to mind as examples of this.)

So, no one could force Aro to marry a woman. 

And I’d go into a rant here about how the prospect of gay marriage, of even identifying as homosexual (the labels homosexual, bisexual, and heterosexual are very new and, to my recollection, were born off of the Western psychiatric discipline as men who slept with other men were diagnosed with homosexuality. I imagine a man from the Antiquity would be confused at the notion that just because he likes to sleep with dudes he shouldn’t get married to a woman), was unthinkable up until very recently, but I just made this obscenely long rant about how I can’t really make these kinds of guesses, so I’m not gonna.

I think being married to a woman and then banging hot dudes who came along suited Aro just fine.

Also, I can’t believe I’m doing this, but - I’m going to encourage history asks. Because this fandom has a bit of a history problem, as a lot of the characters are from different time periods and many feel unsatisfied with the way Meyer handled that. I am by no means a historian, but I know several of the historical periods the characters of Twilight are from well enough to make educated guesses.

So, hit me with your worst.

[bigskydreaming]

what are your opinions on we are robin?

Massively complicated by the fact that DC's writers don't have an ACAB bone in their collective bodies.

Dunno how new to my blog you are and thus how familiar or not you are with my ACAB stance for Dick and my personal tendency to never acknowledge or interact with the specific idea of Dick as a cop...like there's more than enough material for me to work with without ever having to delve into that and I fundamentally believe being a cop is counter to everything I see as Dick's core premise and makes no sense given the specific origins and continuities I view as most 'him' -

But I WOULD have a lot of thoughts about how Dick would feel about this massive city-wide movement that he had no hand in creating and how he would inevitably feel personally responsible for every life to put on a facscimile of his family's costume AND the things they did in those costumes (such as the kid who was manipulated into killing someone while in that guise, per the Court of Owls' agenda).....

AND I would have a ton of thoughts about the fact that it was Alfred who secretly engineered this movement and how he of all people should know how Dick might feel about that, and thus how Dick WOULD feel about that information, but complicated and coupled with the fact that Alfred most certainly was motivated in part by his grief for Dick and seeing this as a kind of legacy, a way to honor his grandson, and able to justify to himself any transgressions towards Dick's feelings here with the idea that Dick wasn't alive TO be hurt by his actions here....

BUT the reason I avoid engaging with We Are Robin content beyond acknowledging it as Duke's origin story in the background of Duke content I write....

Is I absolutely can not - or more to the point - WILL NOT - attempt to justify Dick's decision to get all the kids arrested and locked up for their own safety while he went after the Court alone.

To be clear - I absolutely am of the opinion that Dick was and always will be right and justified in not wanting to see anyone get hurt in the colors and image of his family's legacy. That this has absolutely NOTHING to do with his impression of any such individual's competency, nor is it about trying to restrict their agency. That its wholly a PERSONAL thing for him, its a private instinct that is entirely reasonable and allowable, for him to have a kneejerk need to keep more people from dying or suffering in that specific mantle that he never intended to BE a legacy beyond just himself.

I headcanon that after Jason himself, nobody hated the memorial in the cave more than Dick, because the last image he had of his family was them lying dead on the ground of the circus ring, just broken bodies colored from high above in the classic Grayson colors and covered in blood. That THAT specifically is the image Dick so often saw in his nightmares in his early years in the Manor, that is the SPECIFIC visual Bruce so often comforted him about upon waking....and that it was a massive slap in the face and an indication of Bruce's most unfortunate tunnel-vision tendencies in his own grief, that it never even OCCURRED to Bruce that in memorializing Jason in the specific way he did, he was also subjecting Dick to a constant, ever present visual reminder of one of Dick's personal most traumatic images....the sight and idea of his family, now not just his parents but also his brother....reduced to just broken, bloody costumes he'd never get to see as anything but that again.

Not to mention then captioning this memorial with "a good soldier" and thus in the process of disrespecting Jason's true bond with Bruce, simply because Bruce couldn't handle that at the time and was trying to literally DISTANCE himself from that view of his loss, the loss of a son, of family....Bruce simultaneously disrespected Dick's legacy of his family and everything he'd created Robin to be, and envisioned Jason-as-Robin to be from the moment Dick gave Jason his own old costume and embraced him as the new Robin and by extension, HIS family as much as Bruce's.....like, no matter what Bruce intended for HIMSELF and his feelings about Jason's death with that caption, he literally reduced Dick's tribute to his parents and expression of brotherhood to his brother to.....nothing more than the uniform of a child soldier, a subordinate of the Batman in HIS personal crusade. Something that Jason never actually was, and Dick CERTAINLY had never created - or gave Jason his blessing as - Robin to be.

So on that front, I have no problem with Dick WANTING to keep all the Robins, every child who called themselves one, safe - and to take on the Court of Owls alone, by himself, because like it or not, that will ALWAYS be personal for him. That is about HIS family in a way that it will never be about the family, the heritage, of anyone else, even his adopted siblings. The Court were after HIM, specifically, and always were and always would be. I don't see anything hypocritical about Dick's desire to keep kids out of that fight when he himself would have never been okay with Bruce benching him as Robin in some random fight....because this fight is deeply personal for Dick in a way that's not transferable, and to be honest, I see his desire to keep anyone else from dying as a Robin, in a fight against the Court ESPECIALLY....I see it as an inherently selfish want of Dick's. 

A selfishness that I think he's entirely justified in having. Its not about anyone but him. Its about HIM not having to deal with the burden of any more deaths in his family's colors, his family's name, when he in all likelihood originally created Robin in that particular guise because he figured he'd likely die as Robin at some point, and thus he'd never have to see anyone die in the image of his family's costume and colors ever again because the only person left TO die in them, at the time, was he himself.....thus kinda ensuring for Dick that when he did die, he'd go out just as his parents did, which in his youth at least was likely a weirdly kinda comforting idea for him.

So on the one hand, Dick's desire to keep the kids out of harm's way was ultimately a selfish - but justifiably so - desire to not see anyone else dead or injured in a literal WAR of CHILDREN being fought in his personal family colors and image....especially when 99% of them had literally no idea what the colors they were fighting in signified and meant for the mantle's original creator.

BUT.

BUT BUT BUT BUT BUT.

Where this all falls apart for me, and why I don't just go with this take and instead just kinda sidestep around the whole story itself and don't engage with it....

Is there's absolutely no way to 'fix' the story as is.....without coming up with an entirely different middle climax, in which Dick finds some way to sideline the kids without getting them all arrested.

Cuz see, what I'm NOT gonna ever do, is try and argue from an in story perspective, that Dick would ever be stupid enough, or try to justify, getting kids - many of them marginalized, and people of color specifically - arrested in the name of keeping them SAFE.

That's just stupid to the nth degree, and unilaterally the fault of DC's writers being oblivious to the real-world realities of police brutality and the interactions and dynamic people of color have with the actual police.

It was DC's fuck-up there, but I - especially as a white writer and fan - am not going to try and fix or transform that fuck up short of entirely rewriting the whole second half of We Are Robin's plot, which to be honest, I don't see as likely to ever be a priority for me as there's so much other content in Dick's narratives I'd rather get to first. Its just way too far down the list, the premise itself doesn't interest or engage me enough to make me WANT to invest in that particular story heavily enough to create a whole other direction for it, that navigates around the issue I have with it here.

So again, I mostly just....don't engage with it. Because I can't see Dick's stance on the issue of his family's legacy ever being other than what I always see it as, and thus see it as here, but I'm definitely never going to find it appropriate to write Dick trying to justify his decision to ENGINEER the police arresting all these kids for their PROTECTION....to a black character like Duke in specific.

Because its not. But again, this wasn't Dick's decision at the end of the day, because he's a fictional character who can only make the decisions he's written making. And thus it was the decision of writers who wrote these characters in situations that contained analogues to real world issues without keeping centered an awareness of how those issues intersect with people of different identities, particularly people of color and black people in specific.

So its not a decision that made me like, dislike Dick, because its one that I don't think he should have ever been written making, but its not a decision I care to justify in universe.

And that's about all I think I ever intend to - or even could - expand on that subject, I'm pretty sure. *Shrugs*

Oh wait, no, I lied!

Quick thought for white fans in particular....because I HAVE seen this subject tackled at least once or twice in fiction, from an ACAB standpoint that had Duke reaming out Dick for his decision here, for the same reasons I'm outlining above.....

This isn't an attempt to gatekeep or police anybody as like, I'm not actually ever trying to do that, I'd have to know every fic writer's personal identity and marginalizations TO do that, and I'm not pretending to know that or asking to, like, its just not on the menu for me so please don't get me wrong, this is purely aimed at a plea for white writers in particular to exercise personal accountability and good, sincere judgment in this regard:

No matter your personal feelings about Dick Grayson, the subject of Robin, or any of this in general, PLEASE keep in mind before utilizing Duke as a mouthpiece for giving Dick shit for this in the name of smearing the latter's character or making him look bad, like.....

Dick is of Romani descent. In the New 52 continuity as well as pre-Flashpoint. That's been made explicitly clear, and as such......there is no substitute in our current real world zeitgeist for the interactions the police have with black people, but please keep in mind that Romani people have a very, VERY long history of being subject to police brutality and persecution in a wide range of countries. Its a big part of why so many people are so uncomfortable with cop!Dick in the first place, and as such, it makes treating him as this naive, privileged white guy when having the realities of police brutality explained to him by another character, like.....not look exactly like you might intend there, because the reality is he's not SUPPOSED to be that character, but too few people at DC, and ESPECIALLY the people writing the We Are Robin stories, like, completely fail to ever extend the idea of Dick being Romani to any kind of examination of what kinds of lived experiences, perspective or perceptions this results in him having specifically.

And that's a failure on DC's part, but you don't need to go making it your failure as well, so for those of us who are white like, this really is something that should be kept centered before we decide to engage with story elements like the above one from We Are Robin, and like, if we do, then HOW we go about that specifically.

[keltonwrites]

I bought a house in the middle of nowhere

“Yeah, I loved it, but she’d never move there.” It was something akin to that, at least. He didn’t mean any mischief, no deceit or planning. It was an honest take on what, at the time, was true. I saw the road into town on Google Maps, noted that it was closed during the winter, acknowledged the reality that a person can own a snowmobile, and I said, “we are not moving there.” But, all good truths are just dares in the making.

And here I am, living in the “there” I said I would not. Two years ago, I left my job at Headspace for a life reset. It was pre-pandemic, and Ben and I were planning a big road trip. Our perfect paradise in Topanga, CA, had crystallized itself as many people’s perfect paradise, and those “many people” all had more money than us. Our options to buy a home were nil, and home-buying was essentially all we wanted. Ben’s a builder and I’m a world builder, and we wanted somewhere to invest that didn’t belong to someone else. We packed the car with the tent and the bikes and the dog and all the things that come with tents and bikes and dogs, and off we went on our own Tour de l’Ouest, looking for a place to call home. We knew what we wanted, knew our odds of finding it, and hit the road anyway. Here was the dream list — concocted by two pie-in-the-sky dummies who married each other:

Not rainy or consistently windy

Notable access to the arts

Remote and challenging to get to/close neighbors

Wild West influenced architecture

Progressive community

Exceptional trail access out the front door

High-speed internet

In our budget

And my personal favorite: had to “feel right” Good luck to us with a list like that, but thus began our hunt. We camped in the snow, tried every dirty chai in the Rockies, and explored every town we could. Whatever a good time it was, it felt useless. Every town Ben was OK with, I hated. Every town I was OK with, Ben despised. And the few places we both loved required money we just didn’t have. We came home with our sails down, limping into the harbor of our rental. But as is the way with romantics, our dreams began to slowly eclipse our reality. Books fell victim to Zillow and Trulia. TV was replaced by the MLS. All writing time was dedicated to Realtor.com. Hours were spent pouring over maps, county records, and updating spreadsheets that tracked price per square foot compared to beds and baths. Over time, all that internetting led to one singular town of 180 people at 10,000 feet in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado with a road that said “Closed Winters” on Google Maps. Look, I don’t know what happened. Ben found this town on a map, I said don’t be ridiculous, and after a year or so of him telling people I'd never move here, here I am, being ridiculous. Was it reverse psychology? Maybe. Was it the charming “town plan” that mandated all houses be rustic cabins and forbade AirBnB? Could be. Was it the fact that when I looked at Strava’s Heatmap, it showed what seemed like thousands of miles of trails just out the front door? I mean, yes. All these things played a part, but all I know for certain is that one day I woke up and said, “we’re going to move there.” Ben doubted this conviction (and the realities behind it) thus cementing it into place in my head. In a town of 180 people there’s only ~60 houses, which means maybe 2 or 3 get listed per year — but my spreadsheet had the proof: we hadn’t missed our chance yet in this tiny town. The data showed a strong likelihood there would be at least two houses listed within the calendar year. This, however, was also our last chance. The spreadsheet also showed that if we didn’t find a house this year, we wouldn’t be able to afford one the next. We called a realtor, made our case, and harangued her until she believed us that we were truly the kind of yahoos who would move to an avalanche field and stay there. And then it happened. A pocket listing. It was a darling home built in 1890. It had the beds, the baths, and the views. We were the first and only to know. We put in an offer, they agreed, and we would come to see the house in a few weeks. But in those few weeks, the circumstances changed. The sellers lost their own sweet deal, and they couldn’t sell yet. Their agent promised we had right of first refusal, it was only a matter of time. Ben lamented, I preached patience, and we went to see the house that was no longer for sale anyway.

It was a quiet winter morning in Covid when we drove across the packed snow to meet our realtor outside the house. The sun was out and the 13 degrees Fahrenheit felt warm. I unzipped my jacket, mask on my face. I took long videos and talked about where I would set up my office and where we’d put the bikes. As we closed up and I settled into a future where this house would eventually be mine, our realtor told us there were comps in the area — other residents quietly interested in potentially closing out. Would we like to see them? Sure, let’s.

One home came with an incredible commercial kitchen. The whole house was a whopping 3500 sq ft if my memory serves me correct, which falls under the category of “houses too big to find your cat in."

Another home had an open-air-to-the-kitchen bathroom.

The third was dark and overpriced with cracked windows and open beer cans scattered about.

And then, plans changed.  “Hey guys, there’s actually one more house we can see.” The last house we saw was a log cabin, nestled in the hillside by itself, with massive A-frame windows looking out onto the peaks beyond. Inside was a labyrinth of a life lived long and large. The cabin was built and loved by a man we’ll call Jack. Jack was 82, and as we walked toward the front door on that sunny winter morning, he exited with two beers in his pockets, headed to the mountain to ski. Jack was an attorney — in his life he’d been both criminal and defender — and from the stories, somewhat interchangeably. There were artifacts from running in the same scenes as Hunter S. Thompson and Willie Nelson; there were stuffed birds, bad books, sheet-covered couches, smoked spliffs, and piles and piles of mouse shit. Every inch of the house was lived in, and not just by people. You think millennials like plants? No. This man likes plants. The biggest monstera deliciosa I’ve ever seen, spanning some 10 feet wide and 15 feet tall. Draping cactuses, spider plants, massive aloes, and an ambitious hoya carnosa clawing its way to the top of the massive fireplace. But there were problems. I’m trying to be diplomatic saying the house was lived in. The wood by the door handles was dyed black from years of hand grease rubbing against it. The carpet in the upstairs was soiled almost everywhere with bat scat. Newspaper was stuffed between the massive logs to keep the wind out. There was cardboard taped over almost every window, blankets nailed over the others. Half the doors wouldn’t open. It was unnerving to touch the crusted light switches. It was early enough in the season of Covid-fear that touching anything felt like gambling. On our way back to our rental in the bigger neighboring town, we shared our awe and our no-ways, lamenting how long we’d have to wait for the little 1890s fixer upper. That night, I sent the video I took of the cabin to my parents. “Can you believe this?” I asked. And do you know what my dad said? “Great log construction.” After that, the cabin was all we could talk about. “Could you believe those plants?” “Did you see how big those logs were?” “I just googled Jack, look at this.” “Do you know what the insulating factor of logs is?” “How much did he say he was asking?” It came down to the plants. Amidst all the chaos in that house, the tender care of those decades-old plants sung the clearest. This wasn’t just a place Jack lived in, it was a place that wanted to be lived in. We made an offer the next day.

Jack had six months to clear out his 30 odd years of collecting, and the town had six months to speculate about the worrisome Californians moving to their high-altitude, high-risk town. The town itself is an old mining town. It rests in a high valley, surrounded by peaks over 13,000ft, and is over six hours from the nearest major airport. Five people died around this town in avalanches this past year. The dirt road into town is littered with avalanche fields, warning visitors to not stop when driving in. The other way out is a pass road, only drivable in the warm months, but you could skin out if it was dire. Most August days, the high is in the mid-60s. The valley is blanketed in wildflowers, and the aspens littering the mountainsides suggest a promising fall display. The town had a heyday, a low day, and now it’s a community of preppers, adventurers, appreciators, and “get all these idiots away from me”ers. We don’t know these people yet, but the ones we’ve met have the same like to live hard attitude we do. Heli-ski guides, ex-CIA agents, woodworkers, bakers, teachers, just a general can-do group of people. The kind of people that see a California license plate and peer with skepticism between the thin gap over their sunglasses and under their caps.

You might say I’m romanticizing the place, but the residents are worse. Like all good old-timers, they’re full of threats: “wait’ll you see the snow drifts,” “let’s see how you do outrunning an avalanche,” “good luck with the winds,” “the last Californians didn’t last a year.” God, what does that remind me of?

“Yeah, I loved it, but she’d never move there.”

With every taunt, my teeth ground more enamel, fingers rolling into a clench. And maybe Jack recognized this intensity, because on the day of closing, he hosted a gathering for us in the town's open space. He had us introduce ourselves to the skeptical locals, and I made my case in court, eyes narrowed and lips curled. “I’m the daughter of a smokejumper and wildlife biologist. I grew up watching the wind and the door. I’ve lived in big cities, small boats, and more than one cabin. I always take the stairs, I never use air-conditioning, and I’m a very good shot.” I’m just a girl, standing in front of a town, asking them to give her a fucking chance. Jack stepped forward to speak. “You know, I had my doubts about a couple Californians coming to look at my house. But these people? These are the nicest people you’re ever gonna meet.” And then I helped Jack set up his cot so he could spend his last night under the stars in the town that kept him young. Cooper ran circles with the other dogs. People brought homemade cocktails and bowls of dip and we felt welcomed. Even the mayor, a fellow writer, came and she struck up a conversation. “I hear you’ve got a little bit of a following on social media!” She teased. “I guess, nothing wild.” “Well I just wanted to let you know if you ever geotag this town, I’ll drag you out of it.” She grinned. This was a special place. And every visitor who couldn’t handle the realities of being here threatened the very wellbeing of the people who lived here. This town survives on a delicate balance. They source their own water, manage their own roads, and fervently protect the land and the people around them. Their stories about racing avalanches, snowmobiling in the dark of night to the doctor’s house, hunkering down in each other’s homes as the storms pass — these stories were bylaws. You can join when you’ve proven you’re ready to join. By their own projection, they are hardy and steadfast people, and when they see a Californian, they see something fleeting. Many years ago, I worked in the British Virgin Islands. The people born and raised there were called Belongers. At the customs office, the placards above the lines literally read, “If you belong, stand here” and “If you do not belong, stand here.” Whether or not we belong isn't up to the town council, and it's not up to these residents. It's up to years spent drifting my old Mustang in the snow on the way to school, up to Ben's months and months spent in the backcountry, up to my years of reading fire reports and assisting with evacuations, up to Ben's ability to read the landscape and the weather, up to my doggedness, his diligence, and our pathological love to do difficult things well. It’s up to us, to these old logs, and to this valley. Doesn't mean we'll belong, but it does mean we'll try. And for the record, the road is open in the winter. But do these sound like the kind of people who’d tell Google that? Next week, a tour of the house that we get to call ours — stuffed with newspaper, run by plants, and filled with mice. P.S. Here's where we get our mail.

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[saiyuki]

dhbat#15-1

TL done by me. this is not a precise, 1:1 TL as i took some liberties to adjust/rephrase some parts to help get the point across.

any form of repost or rework of my TLs is prohibited; sharing a link to this post is allowed.

i translated these chapters in order to help readers understand the manga as they read and not as a replacement for the actual chapters.

don’t forget to purchase the chapters (legally!) to support the mangaka!

read this chapter here

Otome: Instead of foolish men who will not stop warring, women will bring forth a new beginning to the world!

Jyushi and Hitoya are seen watching Otome's declaration through the television form their respective places. The next page features...

Kuukou: Farewell... we won't ever meet again.

A scene of Kuukou and Ichiro parting ways.

3rd year of H-Age. Nagoya.

Employee: Amaguni-san, about that one case, did you go to trial?

Hitoya: Trial? Of course not. I settled it before it can get taken to court.

Amaguni Hitoya, 35 y.o.: Hey. You know of a surefire way to not lose?

Employee: A surefire way to not lose... is there anything like that?

Hitoya: You see... it's to not go to trial. If a trial doesn't happen, you won't lose, right?

Employee: I... see...

Hitoya: There are two things that I can't stand: first, terrible coffee, and second, losing. That's why I always have a high-quality coffee machine and coffee beans in my room. Also, that's why I'm known as an undefeatable lawyer.

Employee: By the way... what do you do when there is no likelihood to win?

Hitoya: That's simple. If you refuse to handle that case, you won't lose.

The employee looks taken aback.

Hitoya: There are two things that I like: first, Islay whisky, and second, money. Do you understand?

Hitoya: Money is more reliable than God. In an unavoidable situation, you pray to God if you don't have money. But if you do have money... you can spend it and settle the situation.

Employee: .....

???: I am one who amuses with the nocturnal moonlights, Aimono Jyushi! Bring Hitoya to me!

Hitoya: Tch... that stupid brat. Even though I told him not to come here anymore...

Female Employee: That is... quite troubling...

Jyushi: Why must you be so troubled. Is that supposedly your raison d'être...

Female Employee: Um... please leave...

Jyushi: Ouch!

Hitoya comes to the front desk, where Jyushi is talking... arguing? with the female employee and bonks him in the head.

Hitoya: Jyushi! How many times should I tell you to not come here?!

Jyushi: Ah, Hitoya-san! Please hear me out...

Hitoya: Jyushi, listen well. There are two things that I can't stand: first, fruit in salad, and second, people who don't liste-

Jyushi: You know, actually...!

Hitoya: You're just going to trouble others here... come in.

Jyushi: Got it~!

Female Employee: Phew...

She seems relieved now since the eccentric, big and tall boy has finally been taken care of. She realizes that someone else is standing near the front desk.

Female Employee: Oh, apologies, I've made you wait! What appointment do you possibly have?

???: Everything went as planned, so it's okay now!

Female Employee: ?

Ramuda: Bye then, Miss! If we meet again somewhere else let's go on a date☆

Ramuda: To think he's that troublesome. But whatever - everything's going well.

Kuugen Temple.

Harai Kuukou, 19 y.o.: That hurts! What are you at!?

Shakku: That's supposed to be my line, you slothful son! You immediately slack off if I don't keep watch over you!

Kuukou: This shitty father... I'll render you speechless one day...

Shakku: Floor-mopping too is part of training. Stop chattering and get back to work!

Kuukou: Got... you!

As we know, Kuukou throws a wet mop... and it lands square on his father's face.

Shakku: Throwing a mop towards one's parent, what in the world...!

Kuukou: Heh heh! As they say, "the grudges towards one's blood and flesh are to be rid of"[1]!

Shakku: You foolish son, wait right there!

Kuukou: Waiting after being told to while running, only half-assed people do that!

Shortly after, Kuukou managed to escape his father's... wrath. He sits in front of the temple gate.

Delivery Man: Excuse me!

Kuukou: Yeah?

Delivery Man: I'm with the delivery service. Is Harai Kuukou here?

Kuukou receives a package box.

To be continued (September 10th).

[1] The original saying, as mentioned by Kuukou, is "怨憎会苦なれば肉親なれどこれを撃滅せよ". Still don't know how to translate this properly, so I might change this line.

[oohnoniall]

A Court of Fire and Ice {Tamlin x OC} - Chapter Three

Warnings: Tamlin is being portrayed as he is in ACOMAF and ACOWAR. Trigger warnings include fantasy violence, misogyny, swearing, and Tamlin being an uncontrollable rage beast (no domestic violence !!)

        He went to answer, only to be shut down by Lyriel standing swiftly. He watched as she dropped into a bow that showed nothing but the utmost respect for the woman in front of her. He wondered briefly if she would ever show him the same courtesy.

        "Cursebreaker," her nose nearly touched the ground. He almost laughed. "It's an honor to meet you."

        Feyre's cheeks turned a beautiful shade of pink as she watched the warrior. Tamlin loved seeing that shade cross her features. Although, normally it was him causing it to happen. 

        "Who exactly are you?"

        "Lyriel Chaeren, humbly at your service," she stood then, her spine straightening. She was taller than Feyre by a few inches. He hadn't noticed it until the two stood before you. "I'm here as an ambassador for the Winter Court. My Lord Kallias is busy rebuilding and cannot be in attendance for the wedding."

        The lie fell so easily from her lips that Tamlin nearly believed it. It did send a slight pang through his chest. How could she act as though she wasn't here for him? He had to remind himself that it was what he had wanted her to do. There was no reason at all to worry Feyre about something as silly as a mating bond.

        One that they would never share.

        "I see," Feyre glanced once at Tamlin. He shrugged his shoulders, deciding to play dumb. "Welcome to the Spring Court then. If you'll excuse me, I need to speak with Tamlin for a moment."

        "Of course, Cursebreaker." Either Lyriel didn't notice the look that crossed Feyre's face or she didn't care. He would guess it was the former. Lyriel didn't seem the type to make people uncomfortable for her own amusement.

        Tamlin stood from his chair, taking Feyre's hand when she offered it to him. The small woman led him into the hallway, her grip on his hand tightening just slightly. It almost hurt.

        "Who is she?" Her voice was strained, her eyes glancing back to the dining room that was far behind them.

        "As she said, she's an ambassador for the Winter Court." He hated to lie to her. He hated to do anything that would ever hurt her. But what else could he do? How could he put her through anything more?

        She deserved better than him.

        "Are you certain?" Her head tilted to the left just slightly. He had to keep himself from gently brushing a strand of hair that fell in her eyes. 

        "Feyre, she's here for our wedding. There's nothing to worry about. It was either that or make an enemy of the Winter Court." He explained with a slight smile that bordered on arrogance. "I've told you to let me handle these things. You've done everything you need to. You don't need to worry anymore."

        The look in her eyes sent a rush of pain through him. She was restless. He could tell from the nights she spent in terror, from the way she would look as though she wanted to run as fast as she could away from this place. He just kept holding her closer and closer though. He couldn't let her go. Could not see beyond his own grief and fear.

        Maybe if he could things would be better between them. He could not deny that he knew she was frustrated with him. Perhaps because of the upcoming marriage or because of the fact she would forever be known as the Cursebreaker. He wished that she was allowed to do more but he couldn't risk it. He couldn't risk her. She was everything to him. She had been from the moment he had seen her in that damn shack she called a cabin.

        "We'll be alright," he did brush her hair back this time. "I will keep you safe for the rest of our lives. I promise you."

        She nodded her head slowly, although he wasn't quite sure that she believed him.

        He kissed her forehead once. He tried to show her how much he cared for her in that one little kiss. As he watched her, he released her hand and began to turn away.

        "I need to go back in there before she and Lucien decide to get ... Friendly." Tamlin didn't like the implications that he was making. However, he also didn't want Feyre to think anything was amiss.

        He wanted to make this work on every front. Even if that wasn't possible.

        He had suffered enough. He deserved to have something go right in his life. He loved Feyre, he had found his mate. He knew that he couldn't have both. But couldn't he figure out a way to keep from losing either of them? Was that asking for too much when it came to the hells that he had been through?

        Trouble in paradise? Her voice nearly made him quit walking. He hadn't thought they'd be able to communicate through the bond until they had accepted each other. Apparently, he was wrong. That or she already had and he was unaware of it.

        Everything is perfectly fine. Thank you for your concern. It felt odd to speak to her in this fashion. It was an intimate affair that he had never thought he would have. He felt closer to her than he had to anyone else in his long life. That alone was dangerous. He didn't think he should be that close to anyone.

        Lucien's quite nice, but he seems less certain of this story than Feyre.

        Lucien knows me too well.

        I see. 

        Just don't say anything until I return. She didn't reply. For a brief moment, he missed it. Missed hearing her voice and hearing that chime-laugh in his head. 

        Mother above he was going to end up doing something stupid if they didn't figure this out. Maybe he would just banish her and be done with it. Although that seemed dramatic even for him. Perhaps he could just get what he could from her and then deny their bond.

        He didn't want to. Cauldron knew he would rather keep her around. If only to see what would happen. He was quite curious how she and Feyre would get along. 

        He quickly shoved those thoughts to the back of his head. She had just come to Rosehall. The last thing he needed to do was think of how to be rid of her. Besides, he didn't even really know her yet. He would give it some time. Until the wedding. Then he would decide just what he would do.

        Tamlin slipped back into the dining room, shocked at what he saw.

        Lucien and Lyriel were speaking as though they were friends. Actual friends. 

        Lyriel's finger was lightly running across the lip of her cup, he could smell the spiced wine from there, and was speaking casually about her life at the Winter Court. She didn't look at Tamlin as he sat back down.

        "We've been building up the southern wall and trying to get more recruits," she shrugged her shoulders. He could hear several blades clanging together. He briefly wondered where in the hell she kept them all. It was not a question he should ask.

        "Recruits?" Lucien's metal eye whirred around, glancing at Tamlin and then at Lyriel.

        "Amarantha wiped a majority of our forces out. Surely you've heard this." Lyriel's brow furrowed slightly. He tried not to notice the little crinkles that it caused by her eyes. He didn't need to notice that.

        "No. From what we knew the Winter Court was ... Well ... Struggling in other ways." 

        Lyriel's face darkened, her hands leaving the table. He didn't know what she was doing but he could see the pain flashing behind her eyes. Briefly, he worried that Lucien had overstepped. Had she lost someone in the massacre? She was old enough to bear children.

         "We are," she stated, glaring down at the plate in front of her. "But I shouldn't be speaking of this. Kallias'll have my head if I reveal too much."

        Despite it being a joke the way she spoke showed just how much respect she had for her High Lord. She almost glowed with adoration for the man. It sent a blade of agony through Tamlin's heart. Did she love him? Had she wanted to be something more than a soldier for the man? His stomach churned at the very thought.

        One day, he would ask her about this. He would ask her about her life. What had she been through? What horrors had she seen? He knew that it was none of his business. He knew that he would never get to that point where he would want to share his own horrors. What made him think that she would gladly tell him everything?

        He wasn't completely stupid. He knew that things between them were going to be strained for as long as Feyre was around. As long as he wanted both there was a strong likelihood that he would end up with neither.

        He just wouldn't face that reality.

        Tamlin cleared his throat once, finally drawing her attention away from Lucien. "Would you like to see your room?"

        Lyriel looked at him for a moment before nodding her head slowly.

        He stood, nodding his head once to suggest that she follow him. He turned without bothering to check that she would and strode out of the room. He kept his head held high and his stride long as he headed up the winding staircase. 

        Lyriel slipped beside him as silent as a wraith. He kept this in mind for later. He didn't exactly want her sneaking up on him later on.

        "When do your men train?" Her question caught him off guard. He knew that she was a soldier, this had been the reason behind bringing her to his home. But he had not expected her to bring up anything of the sort while she was in his court.

        "Why?" His tone was filled with uncertainty. He hated himself for it.

        "If I'm to be here long, I would prefer to keep my skills sharp." The way she looked at him was as though he was an idiot. The biggest she had ever seen before. 

        "That's not appropriate, Lyriel." If word got out that he allowed his mate to fraternize with his men ... He didn't want to think of the consequences that would show. He would be seen as weak. Or worse. "You're supposed to be here as Kallias' ambassador. You'll be spending a majority of your time with me."

        Her cheeks heated to a lovely shade of pink. He doubted it was there because of embarrassment or arousal as it was with Feyre. Her eyes were a darker shade of icy green than he had seen before. She clenched her fists as though she was about to swing at him. 

        While he doubted that she could do much (if any) damage to him he did not wish to test this theory any time soon. 

        "I take it that you'll be the one I spar with then?"

        He laughed, a light sound that seemed to echo along the walls instead of his usual deep rumble. "Of course not. That would be more inappropriate than you sparring with my guards."

        "And why is that?" One of her brows arched as she looked at him. He swallowed drily as the two reached the landing of the second floor.

        "You may not have noticed but women don't fight in the Spring Court." Tamlin looked down the bridge of his nose at her, showing her just how respected women were in his court with a single look. "We would prefer our women to be flower-like."

        "That doesn't make any damned sense." Her words came out in a snap. "Women are just as capable of wielding a blade as a man. Your precious flowers have thorns, My Lord." 

        The title was not said with respect. She put all the venom she could muster into the word. Briefly, he thought that he would have preferred to be slapped. At least that would have hurt less.

        "Lyriel, please," he wanted to rub his temples but figured that would be allowing her to win. "You're not to spend any time sparring with any of my men. Nor should you ask Lucien. Just stay quiet and away from attention. I don't want there to be questions about you and your arrival."

        He didn't need anyone to find out what he wished to hide. He didn't need anyone to see her and make a connection they shouldn't. It made him feel sick to his stomach to think of anyone finding out the secret they were trying to conceal from even themselves. At least, he was trying to.

        "You're going to have to learn to accept me," she stated stubbornly. "I can't imagine your blushing bride feels the same way."

        His worry turned to rage at her words. How dare she assume how Feyre felt about this? He clenched his hands into fists, trying to keep the beast from surfacing. He hated to show that side of himself. Hated that he could not control his rage. Tamlin's emotional state had always been something that he worried about. He wasn't in control. He knew that better than anyone. But what could he do about it?

        "Feyre understands what she needs to do. What's expected of her." His voice came out as a growl. He could feel the fangs beginning to shove out from his gums. He could taste the blood beginning to pool in his mouth from it.

        "And what is that exactly?" Lyriel either did not notice his anger or didn't care. At this point, he was beginning to assume it was the latter. The fire in her eyes did not dim, the air around her was growing colder. "Sitting around and having no say in her life? Do you expect anyone to be happy with that?"

        "Lyriel," he growled out, pain lacing his features as his fingernails were replaced with claws. While the shift could take no time at all, it was always painful. Painful but he felt oh so powerful when it happened. Now if only it gave him that sense of control that he craved. "Now is not the time to discuss this."

        Her eyes seemed to glaze over, more ice than evergreen. "I think this is the perfect time for this discussion. You want a wife to sit and be pretty. Surely it makes sense that your ma-"

        She didn't get the word out. He exploded before she could, sending bits of banister towards her as his body took the form of the beast that he so quickly had become. The walls were scratched, his claws having raked over them as he let out a roar of frustration. Not once turning it on Lyriel.

        None of the debris hit her. A dome of ice had come over her, shielding her from the explosion of wood. The dome encased him as well. The cold seeped into his fur, chilling him to the bone. 

        Her eyes locked onto his. His heartbeat slowly began to slow, the beast losing the hold over him as he came to his senses. He wanted to scream. To cry out in pain. He had known of her for less than a week and already he had lost control in front of her. He needed to be better. He needed to be stronger.

        "Sorry," he gasped out, his body in pain and his mind still reeling from what he had done. "I'm sorry. I didn't ... I couldn't."

        "It's alright," her voice was shaky, her hands clammy from the use of her magic. Or from her fear of him. He didn't know. "I was pushing you."

        "It's been a long time since anyone's done that." He admitted, glancing once at the dome that surrounded them. Pure ice. He could see small cracks from where the wood had hit it but otherwise, it was perfect. He was certain it would have kept out anything that had been thrown at her. Perhaps even himself. 

        "I can't imagine why." She cracked a slight smile, although he was certain that she would not trust him after that. He could have killed her. 

        "How are you doing this?" He asked, one finger reaching out to touch the ice. It was solid, cold to the touch. Considering it was ice that was a safe judgment to make regardless.

        "I just thought about keeping you from hurting yourself. It's not a big deal," she admitted, releasing the shield with a slight flick of her wrist. He knew that she didn't need the hand motions but they more than likely made her control easier.

        "I've never seen someone do that before," Tamlin admitted as he looked at her. She didn't look as tired as he would assume. A small bead of sweat dripped from her temple but he would assume that was from the heat of the Spring Court.

        "The Winter Court has many secrets," Lyriel brushed him off. It was obvious he would not get to speak with her about this. 

        Had Kallias been hiding a powerhouse from them? Had she been able to do that for a while? Perhaps it was a new development that Kallias had no clue about. Or, the most reliable answer, she was powerful in order to keep up with him. Some thought that mates were equals in every way. Tamlin had never believed that. His parents had painted a picture that was vastly different than that assessment.

        "I'll, uh, take you to your room. Allow you to freshen up if you wish," he bowed his head awkwardly before he walked to the end of the hallway. The room was as far from his and Feyre's as physically possible. 

        He opened the door and allowed her in, staring ahead as he did so. The room was on the smaller side but the bed was one of the softest and the walls seemed to match the color of her eyes. He hoped that she would be comfortable but he wasn't certain if she would see it as an insult or not.

        He didn't know why it would have been. Perhaps because of the size.

        "I hope it's to your liking." 

        "It's perfect," she wandered into the room as she spoke. She seemed to be taking in everything she possibly could. "Thank you, Tamlin."

        He nodded once more as he took in the sight of her in the room. She stood tall, regal even. The room seemed to be smaller when she stood in it. She commanded the very room. More than he had ever thought that she would.

        He quickly left the room, heading to his office. He had to stop this. Had to stop worrying about what she had seen from him already. He couldn't let this affect how he handled things. Nor could he let her cloud his judgment. He was focusing on Feyre. Focusing on their wedding and what he would do to make her feel more at home. Maybe that was where Lyriel could come in. If he could make that warrior feel at home in his court he could do the same to anyone.

        Any way he went about this would end up with him using Lyriel. He didn't know if that was a good thing or not. Surely, it wasn't the safest thing to do. If she could make a shield of pure ice surely she could do more ... Interesting things with her magic. Things that would end with him being frozen solid or his court never being able to come back from a blow she dealt.

        He would have to go about this very carefully.

[sam-roulette]

hey, i really love your shakespeare au!!! it's so beautifully written and the newest chapter has me Deceased from how perfectly you managed it!! so just as a question, what's a normal day in Lord Blackwood's Court like? especially between him and Jon..

oh this is incredibly sweet, thank you!! 

cw for an immediate abuse mention because Dame Blackwood comes up and her vibes are rancid at all times, and also for just uuhhhh royalty being royalty. 

also i have no idea if this actually answers your question, but. here you go! //

Lord Blackwood has spent the majority of his days in Blackwood Manor being either verbally accosted by his mother or adored and then immediately abandoned by whatever “brave” soldier thought they could fix him. Historically, company has never been peaceful and affection has always been accompanied by something biting and cold. And of course the Kingdom itself hasn’t changed, and Lord Blackwood is still labeled a bastard and a harbinger of war for reasons unbeknownst to him, but at his door, hostility hangs its sword and shield and moves to warm its troubled soul by the brick fire pit in his garden. 

Sir Jonathan and Timothy build the fire pit as a surprise for him roughly three days after they take up residence in his manor, and though its appearance pales in comparison to the ornate stonework of the castle walls, it holds more life in its crude construction than this place ever has. The day he finds them sitting around it, he vows never to make them work again.

This new, bright company, of course, comes with its fair share of chaos. Our dear Fool and Sir Jonathan really do love to bicker--especially when it comes to their Lordship’s… affections--and Sasha is nothing if not an enabler. But there’s a certain levity to their quarreling, and each new echoing retort paints the halls with pink and golden laughter. Timothy and Sasha have been sources of joy and brilliant humor since Lord Blackwood first met them, brandishing their ringing brushes high, but he’s surprised the first time Sir Jonathan’s laugh leaves its mark in the ballroom. The paint is thin and pale, but it coats the walls and fills his lungs and leaves him entirely breathless. He is unable to articulate why this happens--why he didn’t see it coming and hold his breath in the first place--but he hopes that, should it happen again, he is at least able to give Sir Jonathan better paint and brushes.

It does happen again--and again, and again--and after a fortnight of witnessing this household of artistic brilliance, the hues are blinding and the fumes are suffocating and he needs to have a lie down. 

//

Occasionally, Sir Jonathan wakes up and forgets that he lives in Blackwood Manor--or rather, he wakes up and fears remembering that he lives in Blackwood Manor and being wrong. On those days, where he feels the possibility--the likelihood--that he could be anywhere else cloying at his tired frame, he spends the first moments of the morning with his eyes closed, and focuses.

What are the familiar sounds? Voices his ears have only just met. Birdsong that, in his former place of residence, was substituted with silence. The soft scratching of his nails against fabric as he lifts the bedclothes off his body and moves them aside. He sits up, eyes still closed, and takes a deep breath.

What are the familiar textures? The rough stone against his feet as they touch the floor. The soft silk of his morning robe as he lifts it from the carved wooden table next to his bedside and drapes it across his shoulders. The table itself against his hand as he stands and makes his way to what he hopes--is starting to believe--is his chamber door. The soft, cool metal of its handle. He opens the door, eyes still closed, and takes another deep breath.

What are the familiar smells? The post-rain earth from a window that opens outward to the garden. The dampness of that rain against old stonework. Steam wafting upward from something small and solid that he accidentally bumps with his foot. He takes a final breath in, and lets it out, and opens his eyes.

He looks up at the window near his door, and then down at his feet, and smiles. He picks up the silver tray, upon which rests a delicate cup of strong, sweetened tea and a piece of warm bread, and makes his way to the garden.

[wandyrlust-a]

MY MUSES + PARENTHOOD

under cut bc long post

poppy balfour

poppy doesn’t dislike children, per se, but she’s terrified of them. as the maiden, she barely had contact with people her own age, let alone those who could depend on her to function. she has a lot of empathy for children and their innocence and can relate to them in that way, but because she knows just how fragile they are, she’s not convinced that she’s equipped to handle them herself without causing harm. she’s still new to her independence and getting to know people on her own terms, and so as she grows used to this, especially with kieran’s new sibling soon to be born, she might slowly get used to children around, though she’s not interested in having her own for now. i think over time, decades probably, possibly a century or two (assuming they fix their lil aging issue), she might decide she wants one. poppy will never be the type of person to oogle over babies, but would be fiercely protective of her own, especially with the unique traits her own would inevitably carry. in all likelihood, she and casteel are going to end up with an accident sooner than they plan and depending on the timing, she might consider abortion, but that wouldn’t mean she would always never want them. when she does, she models her parenting style after vikter and trains them herself. she also spends a lot of time working with them on their abilities, given she had no one to really help her to teach herself. i can only ever see her having one or two children, but they have her whole heart.

kieran contou

kieran fucking loves kids and knows he wants them. he’s also really fucking excited for his sibling to be born (i feel like it will be a boy). there isn’t much more to say here. just a kick ass future wolven dad.

casteel da’neer

casteel likes kids as much as he likes people in general. he’s pretty good with them, though indifferent to whether or not he wants his own. as someone who has rejected not only the crown, but formal courting and marriage for two centuries, he has always assumed that unless for an accident, he would never have his own. that being said, when it comes to poppy, he wants whatever makes her happy. if she doesn’t want children, he’s happy to have whatever life with her he can. if she decides she does want them one day, he can picture himself being happy with that, too. he also entirely supports any doubts she has or desires to abort, should an accident happen. as a dad, he’s very fun, and probably one of the best equipped to handle it. their child will be the heir to the atlantian throne and will have plenty of nannies and tutors available, but because his trust of others runs thin, i think he tries to do as much as he can himself despite his limited time (by the time they have kids, he is almost absolutely going to be king). while, like poppy, he takes good care to ensure that his children are highly-trained in combat due to the inevitable future attacks on their lives, he also is deeply passionate about education and spends a lot of time with them to make sure they take it seriously, especially their history. despite how he acts sometimes, he’s a very serious person and a responsible parent. 

matthew murdock

matthew michael murdock is the last person who should be having children but he fucks like a jackrabbit so here we are. i don’t think matt has ever seen himself having children because he sees his life as a fucking greek tragedy, but when it happens, it inspires motivation for him. it forces him to grow up a little and get his priorities in order. he has to draw harder lines around his work and daredevil life, and while one might think being a dad might pull him away from daredevil, it actually does the opposite. he becomes even more protective of his city, wanting to maintain a place he feels good about his child growing up in. his life is violent and dark, and his repressed need for family comes out in the form of overprotectiveness and deep affection when he finally has one again. a hard dad to have, though, RIP to his daughter (matt does not spawn boys, thank you). she can never pull one over on a dad with a built in lie-detector, try as she might (which she will try, her mom is likely an assassin).

stefan salvatore

look i think we all hated the valerie/stefan baby storyline and my canon doesn’t acknowledge it anyway. my stefan is divergent starting in season 4, during which he leaves mystic falls and cuts ties with his brother, and i think he’s really not interested in family from there as a result. stefan is good with kids, but mentally is not in a place to take care of his own. i think in the meantime, he’s more interested in trying to work on his mental health and find people for his life who aren’t toxic for him. this is all for vampire stefan. human stefan is different.

bonnie bennett

interestingly, bonnie is the most likely of everyone to actually achieve a white picket fence life if she doesn’t fucking die first. bonnie wants kids probably around the time she’s 30 and, in usual bonnie fashion, is almost overbearingly protective of them. as bennett witches, she takes care to teach them magic as early as they’re able so that she feels secure in that they’re able to defend themselves later in life when, inevitably, the supernatural comes to disturb their peace. 

liv parker

no. not interested in her own, partially so they wouldn’t be condemned to her coven, but also because she simply doesn’t want them. she’s definitely the “cool aunt” to lizzie and josie, though. i would call her a wine aunt, but she’s more of a weed and whiskey aunt.

hunt athalar

he doesn’t know it, but he likes kids. hunt would actually be a really great dad. he knows he’s more interested in them than bryce is though, so he doesn’t often push it. it’s not something he realizes he wants until after they’ve been together for a while. he spent a lot of time alone before her and the longer they’re together, the more he realizes just how much affection he has to give. he’s never had much and for the greater part of his life, his life wasn’t even his own. similar to matt, he wants something stable and dare i say soft. he’s inspired by his mother, and while he has a pessimistic outlook on happiness, he wants to be a good parent in her honor and give his kid what he knew she wanted to give him. because of the hand he’s been dealt, he sees the ability to consensually have a family as a privilege. he takes it at bryce’s pace, however, and when the time comes, he does all he can to be as prepared as possible, especially so that he can support bryce. he’s definitely a cool but embarrassing dad, he buys his toddler a little sunball hat to match his own. his children are shy, i can feel it, but he’s very comforting and soft with them and it’s adorable because he’s this massive, often terrifying man with angel wings holding this tiny person who is just overwrought in his arms in the grocery aisle because a stranger called them cute. 

hypaxia enador

regardless as to whether or not she wants them, she’s pressured to have them. i think she enjoys children though, and while she doesn’t fantasize about having her own, she is pretty sure she’d like to have them one day. i doubt she will want them for a long time, especially given what that would entail, given her child would be the next heir to her throne, but she would even consider having one by herself, if she doesn’t have a partner (so step tf up, ruhn).

cal calore

this man canonically loves kids, is great with them, and kids love him. he couldn’t hide his desire to be a dad if he tried. 10/10 dad status, i’m glad he got to have them.

jess mariano

i think jess is also pretty indifferent about whether or not he has kids, but he does like them, especially thanks to his sister. he doesn’t feel entirely himself around them sometimes and so he puts on a much sweeter, kinder face for them and thinks they deserve to be around better people, but he likes them and while he doesn’t admit it, he sees himself having them one day. he just happens to be bad at staying in one place long enough to do so. his feelings toward kids are very similar to casteel in how he values education and is actually a far more responsible parent than anyone expects him to be.

evangeline samos

she’s far more likely to be the wine aunt than a parent, but i also think she would be a badass mom if elane wanted them. if they don’t adopt, though, elane is having it. she would never do it herself.

wade kinsella

is canonically a dad

[happymetalgirl]

Black Lives Matter (adapted from previous post)

I was finishing up my April albums post but I honestly couldn’t write about the albums I needed to without getting this out there first, and (as usual) it ended up being really long, so I separated it and made it its own post here.

I’m writing this part now at the beginning of June after an already tumultuous April and May, and now I’m just making myself sit down and do this because, well, honestly, it’s been pretty hard to justify spending my time writing about anything else with all all of what is going on right now. (I can’t wait to see what July throws at us.) But again, in all seriousness, I’m not looking for any pity or sympathy for my relatively mild circumstances at all because in all honesty, my assorted privileges have allowed my life to be pretty okay and proceed mostly uninterrupted in the midst of everything going on.

I’ll start by disseminating any ambiguity on what I’ll be talking about in these paragraphs. As I write this in the midst of a respiratory virus pandemic, another epidemic (possibly pandemic) of racist police brutality that has always existed in a culture of unhinged toxic masculinity in the United States has exploded to unbelievable and disgusting levels against Black people and peaceful protesters, ironically in wake of protests against fucking police violence, all of which is only emboldened and encouraged by local and federal leadership that is showcasing its oppressive, totalitarian ambitions in its unprecedented attempted revocations of its citizens constitutional and human rights.

I’ll make the necessary side note that this increasingly oligarchical government subservient to the will of military and prison industry has already shown its complete disregard for human rights for decades upon decades now through its violation of human rights through offensive wars and sanctions against other countries and its dehumanization of the refugees and immigrants who its actions create.

If you haven’t already checked out of this from all the political correctness breaching your conservative bubble (good job not being that person), but you’re upset because tHiS iS sUpPoSeD tO bE a MuSiC bLoG, uh, you’re on the wrong website buddy, and the potential tipping point of a long-awaited revolution in the midst of an economic depression, a viral pandemic, and a dual crisis of grotesque police violence and evolutionary transformation of proto-fascism into fascist dictatorship is no time to go about business as usual.

BUT OKAY, ENOUGH INTRODUCTION AND ENOUGH ABOUT ME! The point of this is to spotlight what to do in the wake of all of this. First of all, I don’t have all the answers and my perspective is as limited as any person’s, so if you’re an expert on any of these matters or if you have insight from having experiences that I as a white cis male have not had, if anything I’m bringing up here could be better in any way, feel absolutely free (but not obligated) to let me know.

Okay, so lots of problems at hand. The big, all-encompassing one facing all of humanity of course is the ecological disruption caused by industrially driven human-catalyzed climate change, and the rot of everything crystallizing at this current moment feeds into exacerbating that catastrophe, the next wide-reaching issue being capitalism, whose prioritization of profit and short-term gains is incredibly ill-equipped to handle a slow emergency like climate change or a more acute emergency like a global pandemic. Here in the U.S. we have a federal government so infested with corporate corruption to maximize capital profits for the country’s most wealthy that they couldn’t even choose the obvious solution of pausing the economy and providing for its people for the duration of the pandemic in the interest of public health over the appallingly quick choice of protecting the financial interests of the corporate “donors” that help them hold their positions of power, at the risk of maybe closing the gap a tiny bit between the truly despicably wealthy and the growing number of hopelessly impoverished. So while the wealthy get protection of their assets from the slow-down of business (you know, ‘cause the pandemic), the people in most need of help because of that slow-down and plunged into spiking unemployment get shit from the people meant to represent them. And that’s just the corporate rot that rears its head as a result of a pandemic!

Even in “normal” times, capitalism in this country has built its foundation on slave labor and justifying the use of slavery through racism (even after it became illegal to outright own people as slaves). That cornerstone of free/cheap labor that this country’s economy is built on whose role was served by slavery was filled by outsourcing to countries with an easily exploitable lower class (whose conditions are often exacerbated by U.S. meddling on behalf of business interests) and prison labor made possible by mass incarceration that has targeted similarly vulnerable people and communities of color through strategic, racially profiled over-policing of minority communities trapped in poverty through historic systemic racism.

The study of that global climate change I mentioned earlier is referred to as a crisis study because there isn’t an unlimited time to do something about it, and the ever-changing conditions and pivotal events of the world effect what needs to be done to combat it (and what it is too late to do). This current crisis of police brutality is one of those types of critical moments, for climate change and social justice. Police brutality didn’t become an issue when George Floyd was murdered on May 25th 2020; it’s been an ugly facet of this multifactedly ugly country for a long time now, but its being brought to light has instigated an uprising the likes of which has not been seen in a long while, and with it, an especially insidious aggression toward it by the increasingly fascist government and its authoritarian figurehead (to the point of threatening institution of martial law and suspending first amendment rights and habeas corpus) that at this point serves only to maintain complacency for the benefit of the ruling class and to the detriment of the disproportionately non-white lower working class (treated as a slave class). Consequently this is a pivotal time that obligates widespread action and ceasing of silence from privileged people like me who have been able to get away with writing about music largely apolitically for years. This is a time when we either plunge unfathomably further into the depths of fascism at the hands of the ruling class and the silence of the less-effected or we consolidate in this moment of broad energizing to both enact substantive change on the critical issue of police brutality and set a precedent and build momentum to achieve justice for LGBTQIA+ folk, other racial minorities and marginalized groups, and make the critical changes need to avoid civilizational dissolution in the face of the imperative to mitigate our impact on global warming.

Speaking of that change and the actions that this moment implores of us all to contribute our energy to: the most immediately critical issue at our feet, to both save human lives from being taken unjustly at the hands of police brutality and to galvanize this revolution to be able to demand further justice and critical social transformation, is ending police brutality. Being an institution born out of rounding up escaped slaves and given the state-supported monopoly on violence that attracts largely those seeking to satiate sadism with the license to that monopolized violence, police culture is inherently toxic and not worth even preserving for the sake of transforming structurally. While abolishing the police is obviously too ambitious of an immediate goal, there are a lot of proposed steps to defunding and largely dismantling the police as a whole. The project Campaign Zero outlines and pushes for ten tangible reforms that would (some of which have recently been proposed in Colorado) decrease police violence, especially in the majority-Black communities that suffer from it the most. The “8 Can’t Wait” proposal that has been making rounds lately is part of Campaign Zero, and donations to these projects are of course, quite helpful and a good start for this blossoming movement. Furthermore, donations to local bail funds is especially important at this time with police making wanton arrests of peaceful protests (and also just random Black people not making any disruption) to support the people going out and protesting. Because this money of course gets siphoned into the courts, and then partially to law enforcement, it’s important to also direct funds to organizations where that money will not later be used against us, but again, keeping people able to protest is of utmost importance, since that it what is driving positive change in this moment.

Also helpful is direct support of the people on the frontlines of these protests. It is a time for privileged people to take action in solidarity and support, but not one for privileged groups to take over or “lead” the movement. Right now, this is about who is hurting the most and who is being oppressed the most, and right now that is Black people, by police, hence BLACK LIVES MATTER. Now is not a time for even underprivileged white people to use these protests’ likelihood of escalating to indulge in venting frustrations against the system by inciting police violence that puts Black people disproportionately in more danger in such situations. Now is the time to use that privilege of being less prone to racism police violence to whatever extent possible to protect the people of color protesting. And again, this isn’t about being white saviors or martyrs, this is about supporting people in the way they wish, so don’t listen to my advice over the insight and requests of what Black people and the Black community have. And by all means, fucking listen to them! Read from them! Engage in good-faith conversation with them (though don’t expect any individual Black person to give you a seminar on racism when there are ample resources that don’t demand someone devoting their precious time to you)! Learn where the limits of your perspective fail you! And for fuck’s sake, don’t just cherry pick the word of one token Black friend that happens to have some class privilege to conveniently discount the testimonies of other Black people!

Lastly, on a personal note to the metalheads that read this blog, I think this is a particularly important time for the metal community, not to center itself, but to bring itself alongside social justice in a more complete way than it has in the past. Former Opeth and current Soen drummer Martín López said last year in an interview published in Blabbermouth that the metal community is very behind the curve on sociopolitical issues, and the response to his saying that from the metal community that floods Blabbermouth comment sections basically just made the case for the exact point he was making. And it’s a shame because I think such a huge part of metal is about standing up to injustice as part of or in support of the oppressed, or at least such a huge part of the metal I gravitate toward is. Without sounding too spiritual or cheesy because I’m not a really spiritual person, I feel like when I see the injustice going on, I feel that spirit of metal in all of it on the side of the oppressed. I feel like all the grindcore and deathcore and thrash and death metal I’ve been binging lately is in the spirit of the protesters standing up to and, when they have to, fighting back against the unjustified aggression of the police, and looking back at old, certified classic albums like …And Justice for All, Toxicity, and Chaos A.D. and more recent albums like Machine Head’s The Blackening, and Thy Art Is Murder’s Human Target, and Venom Prison’s Samsara, it’s always been about standing up to this kind of bullshit. So I think if there ever was a time since Sabbath birthed it for metal to prove that it’s as important as it makes itself out to be and as important as it is to everyone who listens to it in such a way that they read an obscure blog about it, now is that time to show that it’s not just about being an angry white guy. Now is the time to make Martín López happy by proving him wrong.

Well, in typical Happymetalboy fashion, I can’t seem to make anything brief.

[techmomma]

Being Prepared

In uncertain times, now, perhaps more than ever, is an important time to discuss a difficult subject: 

Advance Directives, aka “What if I or a loved one are in the hospital and cannot make decisions for myself or them?” 

Talking about such matters, especially our philosophies, beliefs, and what we want to happen in the event we cannot make decisions for ourselves, is a topic that more often comes up in the midst of emergency. For most, it’s a surprise. And for most, they heap on themselves a stressful situation that can absolutely be avoided with some heart-to-heart discussions beforehand. Below, I will outline some important topics you can discuss with someone you trust, so that they know what to do, in case the unexpected happens.

CW: death, death mention

From personal experience, being willing to discuss such things was one of the few things that saved us during the sudden, unexpected emergency of my late fiance falling into a coma due to diabetic complications. We had a limited time window; hesitating too late, and the doctors would have been legally prohibited from removing his life support no matter what we chose. Luckily, he and I, both believers in the death positive movement, understood the importance of this kind of discussion, and had talked about figures such as Terry Pratchett and dignity of dying. Knowing that my fiance would not want to end up like him helped steer us in the right direction, regarding what quality of life would have been acceptable, and what would not.

Which brings us to the subject: just what do you talk about? How do you phrase it? Who do you discuss this with?

For most of us, the person we discuss this with will be a trusted family member. Perhaps a spouse, or domestic partner, perhaps your significant other. For others, this may be a trusted friend. Regardless, this needs to be someone you trust will honor your wishes, rather than instating their own. Or, if they did, someone you trust to make the right decisions. This is the person you can designate as your Health Care Agent. In addition, as a safety measure, you can designate others as Alternate Health Care Agents in the event your Primary is unable to for whatever reason, and have this discussion with them. Having two or three individuals who know your wishes and can be contacted is a pretty safe bet. This is especially important for those in long distance relationships or persons who live away from home; have your trusted person, but also have someone who is physically close to you who can travel to the hospital. Have people who can contact others on your behalf, or can be contacted if you cannot.

What you want to happen, in the event you cannot make decisions, is called an Advance Directive. For the state of Washington, you can fill and print out this form, if you do not have an attorney. I highly recommend looking it over whether you live in Washington or not; it has a lot of examples of the kinds of things you can make decisions on and what to talk about!

So how do you breech an admittedly difficult and possibly painful subject? That will depend on you, but the person you trust to fulfill your wishes should, ultimately, be someone who is at least willing to discuss this subject with you, regardless of the difficulty. 

If need be though, or in need of a reasonable segue into the subject, this is my permission to you to use the example of my late fiance, who suffered an unexpected diabetic coma in the middle of the night when alone and could not make decisions for himself, eventually culminating in a termination of life support as per his wishes. If it can happen to him, a healthy man in his early 30s, it could certainly happen during a COVID-19 outbreak, which seems to be a russian roulette in regards to whose case is mild and whose is lethal. If it can help you make decisions that benefit yourself and the emotional well-being of your loved ones, I am more than confident he would give his blessings.

So, what do you talk about? Anything and everything. Again, try checking out example Advance Directive forms, and some Financial Power of Attorney forms (you may need witnesses for these forms to be legalized, but in reality, any form you fill out is still technically legal and admissible in a court of law). But I have some subjects that both my late fiance and current significant other have discussed that will, at the very least, give any Health Care Agents you designate a good idea of what you would like done. Also check out your medical provider’s website, if they have online access. Mine actually has a page where I can outright fill out Health Care Agents, so I actually just filled that out today and it’s right there in their records to access in an emergency! Again, make sure the person you designate is informed and willing! Check with family members or friends too, they may be able to provide you with legal forms to formalize your wishes.

Some topics you can discuss:

Your personal beliefs regarding treatment. Do you have a spiritual leader you want contacted? Do you have religious, spiritual, or personal beliefs that might interfere with treatment? In some religions, some medical treatments may not be acceptable! If you do not have any exceptions or clauses, how far do you want medical treatment to go? If your condition is terminal, do you want treatment prolonged even if the end result is still death? Do you want hospice? Do you want to be given life-sustaining treatment (life support), even if it is known that this will only worsen or prolong a terminal condition? Do you want to be resuscitated, even if your quality of life may suffer or will be negligible? (For example, being resuscitated while in a Permanent Vegetative State?) If your condition is terminal, do you wish to pass away at home, or in the hospital? What if you are pregnant while unable to make decisions; do you want to put the survival of yourself or the baby first? If you are unsure, and know that the choices may depend on context, do you want to allow your Health Care Agent to decide? Are they comfortable and willing to make decisions like those on your behalf? Do you want your Health Care Agents to have these powers only during an emergency or in specific ways (springing) or effective and general once agreed to (durable)?

If you are alive and yourself but will need assisted living, such as wheelchairs, help with feeding, changing, bathing, dialysis, etc., who is willing to help you with this? Is your SO willing? Do you want your SO to do so? Do you want nurses and providers to do so? What are your feasible options?

Do you want to be an organ donor? Are you willing to be a full donor, which may mean your family will be unable to have an open casket? Only a partial donor? Do you only want to be able to donate specific things, if able? Where do you want those donations to go? Medical schools, other patients? 

Do you have pets? Who do you want to take care of them if you cannot? Are they able to take care of those pets? 

What do you want to happen to your material possessions? Who do you want to wipe your laptop of those seedy sites you visit? Do you want specific things to go to specific people? Do you want it all to go to your Health Care Agent, who can then decide what to do with those items? Who do you want your money and assets to go to? (Remember, your loved ones cannot be billed for the dead’s debts, no matter what companies claim!) 

If you die, what do you want to happen with your body? How much money are you comfortable with loved ones spending? Is there a specific ritual you want performed or cultural practice observed, is there a specific place you would like to be buried? Do you want to be embalmed? Do you want to be cremated? Where would you want your ashes scattered? Do you ultimately not care, even if you have preferences, and want your loved ones to do what is best for them in regards to their own grieving process? 

These are obviously difficult subjects and for some people, these may be hard to discuss. Death is a hard subject! Especially death of ourselves or loved ones. I can tell you from experience though, how grateful we were that these things were discussed beforehand--and how grateful I was to my late fiance for taking so much heartache and stress off of our shoulders. Talking about these things can, in some cases, be an ultimate act of love to unburden the people you care about. (You may also be surprised at how easy it is to talk about the subject, once you just get started!)

For some of us, talking about these things can feel like paranoia, or obsession over death--or even, if we have a history of suicidal ideation, that we may worry about worrying others. Just state beforehand that you do not have thoughts of self-harm in talking about this; only that you want to be prepared. Your trusted ones will understand--and may thank you, for making your wishes known. 

It is not paranoia or obsession with death to care about the stress your loved ones may be under in a trying time. Remember: we make these to prepare for the unexpected, but make them in the hope and likelihood they will only gather dust.

For more info on the death positive movement, understanding your rights regarding Advance Directives, practical advice on the handling of your body, and greener funeral options, check out Caitlin Doughty’s youtube, aka Ask A Mortician.

[harmonysama]

Favorable aspects of self managed fund

self funded superannuation have got a selection of realistic Conveniences. These comprise of:

diy superannuation with significant account balances are in many cases even less expensive to handle compared with APRA equivalents

Control and flexibility - the actual fact that the regular members of a self managed superfund are frequently considered necessary to serve as trustees helps make self superannuation even more adaptable compared to what different kinds of fund groups, as prospects already have the capabilities to adjust his / her self managed fund simple rules and to form decisions based primarily on the members’ personal needs and circumstance. This flexibleness could depend on a multitude of factors for instance investments made as an example

Household Plans - remembering your will is unable to immediately keep on top of one's own retirement years extra benefits, a self managed superannuation may well help you to workout a advanced degree of regulation during the supply related to some sort of passing away payments as opposed to wider public offer superannuation. In addition to that, self managed super can possibly formulate binding nominations which in turn don't end, that is unlike publicly traded offer superfund which generally have to be repeatedly rewritten

Assets safeguarding - debentures backed by government maintained in superfunds, in particular a self-managed super fund, are typically guarded against financial institutions. Then again, it's immensely important to remember that this kind of rule of thumb just isn't going to be considered where a client has made money deposit inside of their personal DIY Super fund meant for the specified main objective of overcoming assertions due to their particular loaners

Problems linked with SMSF superannuation

It must really be transparent from the article that generally there may be lots of extra benefits in utilising a SMSF Super to save for your special pension. Conversely, you'll find specific characteristics from a self superannuation which often mean it can not be an excellent alternative for you. They include:

Likelihood associated with deliberate non-compliance - where a market participant fails to preserve his or her own Do It Yourself Superannuation in accordance with the law, the Taxation Office in many cases can put in force a handful of penalty charges. Where a penalty is applied, the affected person will usually be privately liable and member won't ever have the opportunity to get re-imbursed from the properties and assets of the self funded superannuation. Virtually any non-complying self superannuation may perhaps be subject to taxes close to 47%

Scams and also robbery - in a case where a SMSF superannuation individuals manages to lose their very own some money as a consequence of scam or damage, they typically are not entitled to obtain government pay out, as might well be presented to industry funds

Concerns plus arguments - when ever dealing with arguments, Super DIY stock traders definitely don't gain access to the Complaints Tribunal, as is readily available to industry funds. Instead, the individuals or groups in conflict may demand to launch legal proceeding to have the problem resolved by a legal court, which generally can become pretty expensive and endless

Trustee Prerequisites

To be eligible for being an SMSF trustee, a man or woman must be older than 18 years and generally not:

be under legal handicap

be bankrupt under administration e.g. an undischarged bankrupt

had action taken to wind up the enterprise

Alert

Persons who purposefully behave as a trustee of a self managed superannuation fund while banned possibly can be subject to substantial penalties, include things like jail time.

A variety of other criteria of trustees may include:

Just about every single trustee of a SMSF superannuation really need to be a registrant of the fund and the other way round - there are separate guidelines for sole participant DIY Superannuation

New associates are required to sign a document recognising their roles and duties

[man-i-dont-know]

BNHA Chapter 183-185: Thoughts and Spoilers

Aiight I’ll be honest, i had to go back and see how many chapters behind I was, summer got me in a funk. So if I did three whole chapters I would bore myself to death so I’ll be selective about what I talk about. With that said, let’s get into it.

The festival turned out great and while Deku was scolded it was only minor, which I am happy about because it shows that Deku made some of the best choices he could and the pros recognize that. Eri had a lot of fun (which is all that matters), the upperclassmen apologized, and the beauty pageant was won by Nejire (she was phenomenal, flying around like a fairy confirmed her victory). On top of all that, Deku somehow found time to make candied apples for Eri since the school wasn’t selling them. Anything with Eri is heartwarming.

Gentle and La Brava are being questioned, but is seems that the police officer that is interrogating Gentle is actually quiet understanding and hasn’t full condemned him as a criminal. Well like he obviously is a criminal but the officer is... sympathetic. Or at least not as hard as he could be. I really like this touch for a handful of reasons. A lot of series that deal with villains don’t exactly deal with them legally (a.k.a., beating the tar outta them), but when it is done, the outcome is essentially predetermined. What I’m getting at is that justice systems in action comics of any type are painfully rigid and or simplified so that the villain having been beat is a guarantee that they will be in prison forever and simply isn’t an issue anymore. I would give One Piece as an example for a rigid/simple justice system, but the only prison we have really seen has been broken into and out of so that doesn’t really apply. I suppose that the “jury” works for my example, meaning One Piece courts are really straight forward, just not really the actual containing of prisoners. So seeing Hero Academia put effort into  making the system seem much deeper and much more real is greatly appreciated (though I could argue that since there is more emphasis on it, the likelihood of something going wrong is much higher, like prison break theories that have floated around since when Stain was arrested).

Next chapter starts with the surprise announcement that Eri will be living at UA (dreams do come true). It is for public safety reasons but I will take it. Amajiki suggests that it is actually possible that with time, Mirio could make a return to the heroing world, but I think that statement will just get our hopes up so I am not listening to it at the moment. The Wild Wild Pussycats, plus Kouta, makes a surprise appearance and a handful of nice things occur. Tiger apologizes to Bakugou for not being able to prevent his kidnapping (Bakugou shrugs it off); Kouta is embarrassed but is already buying Deku merch (rockin’ red shoes); Ragdoll is still without a quirk, but will be taking a desk job to provide support; and the Pussycats are thrilled with how high their Billboard Hero chart ranking is and want to continue to work for their fans. Their is an ominous monologue that All for One gives in his prison cell, about wanting to get out to “give back” the quirks he stole (honestly, villain dialogue has so much potential when they can offer something nice and it still come off as a threat). Then we see the Top Ten Heroes. Almost all the familiar faces have some kinda costume upgrade which makes me wonder if that changing costumes just happens all the time or if it is a response to All Might retiring, though almost anything could be a result of All Might retiring. Dragon lady Ryukyu is there, Old Man Samurai has a rad design, there is a washing machine, Kamui Woods is 7th which surprised me, I didn’t realize he was that popular, there’s an aggressive rabbit lady, Edge Shot, Best Jeanist, Hawks and Endeavor.

The next chapter begins with a brief speech and each of the top ten are suppose to give their remarks. Hawks seems to be the restless type and is whispering to Endeavor before the introduction is over. Seeing he won’t get a response for the fire man, Hawks zips his lips shut (that motion struck me cause I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone else do that in a comic, besides the CP9 guy in One Piece but that is an extreme). The first handful of heroes give pretty generic speeches, with the exception of the Rabbit Girl who calls out all villains and that she is ready to beat the crap outta them. Hawks, now thoroughly bored/irritated, cuts off (unzips his lips cause they were still zipped from when he tried to talk to Endeavor) Edge Shot who is talking about conserving the peace, saying “Who cares?” Edge Shot isn’t surprised by this and the Rabbit Girl respects his guts to do that, Hawks then snatches the microphone and gives his own speech.

This speech kinda threw me for a loop and I had to think about it for a while, and my interpretation may be quite different from yours so bear with me. He starts off by saying that the most important thing right now is the approval ranking, which is only one of the factors that goes into this ranking system. He says we can no longer stick to the status quo, we can’t do things as we have before now that they are missing their symbol. He calls out the other heroes for not changing during this major transition period, he wants the heroes to act their part and talk like heroes. My interpretation from this is that the current hero system only worked because of All Might, and now that he ‘s gone, it can’t continue like this. That tied in with the fact that he favors approval ratings above all else, what I am guessing his goal is to change the public’s opinion of heroes in general and gain their support. He is already suggesting to do what the principal at UA is trying to accomplish, mass produce heroes in the absence of their symbol. Hawks goes a step beyond saying that the only way to win is if we have the approval rating of All Might among all of our heroes. He goes on later to say to Endeavor that he doesn’t want to be All Might nor does he want to be a leader, so the idea of trying to make a whole slew of heroes the symbol would make sense since if there is only one symbol, one hero falling brings all the peace with it. So that’s what I think he was getting at, we need the people to trust us again, but the current heroes aren’t doing anything to actually fill that gap (at the end of his speech the narrator comments that Hawks is 22 and rose to the top ten when he was only 18, which by then he had his own agency, the kid is a damn powerhouse and is funny but is arrogant as well).

Hawks hands the microphone over to a genuinely pissed Endeavor, who says that despite trying to stir up trouble, Hawks kinda had a point, and that all he has to say is “Just Watch Me.” But how he said it is filled with power and confidence and shook an audience who had been shook by a loud mouth bird man. Off stage Endeavor is pissed off and trying to get answers from Hawks, who laughingly said that he did what was necessary, shook things up, and set the stage for Endeavor. Hawks was actually quite impressed with how Endeavor handled the situation, and then asked a serious question. Hawks is having Nomu activity in his part of town and he wants Endeavor to team up and help out. The next scene is someone from the League of Villains talking to a Nomu named “High End” who is not only bigger and with a much more badass design, but is also intelligent and capable of understanding and replicating speech and taking orders. High End gets me so hyped up but also strikes fear into me because we know how powerful Nomus are, and this one is obviously much, much more dangerous. And that how the chapter ends.

I am purposefully leaving out discussion about the relation between Hawks and Icarus because by now you’ve probably seen it. This analysis really watered down Hawk’s character, but I do like him quite a bit, if he shows some genuine niceness, then he will become a fast favorite, I just worry his arrogance will be too much (again, Icarus). I would pay to see Tokoyami’s internship with Hawks cause I think Hawks would be chill with whatever edgy thing Tokoyami said but still have no real clue what he actually said. One last thing: I spoke with a friend about how some of the heroes don’t really seem to belong in the top ten (mainly the washing machine), but I look at it this way, ostracizing people in this universe doesn’t really occur because your quirk is “weird.” My case is that both of Tsuyu’s parents are straight up frogs, her friend is a snake with hair, trash grape boy is a trash grape boy and every hates him cause he’s a pervert and not because he is three foot flat with odd hair and a diaper, Sero has tape in his elbows, just to name a few. Our weird doesn’t really work in Hero Academia, so a washing machine in the top ten wouldn’t be strange if he has the credentials (I also said that Mister Clean is probably more famous than some sport stars, and that was the argument that convinced her so I’m not sure if my other one needs more work).

So that is it. Thank you for sticking to the end and reading all, some, or just parts of it, I write these just to get ideas out there and start conversations. Take what you want from my opinions and ideas if that will start a discussion. Again, thank you fro reading, and I hope you have a great day.

[lizzybeth1986]

Quick Thoughts on TRR Book 2 Chapter 18

• Predictions I had made for the two Finale chapters (probs not on my blog but I did say this to several mutuals):

1. Chapter 18 would be filler, Chapter 19 would be likely where shit hits the fan.

2. Diamond scenes would be split between the chapters, 2 LIs per chapter: Hana and Maxwell this chapter, Drake and Liam next chapter.

3. Why? Because Drake was the only LI with a diamond scene last week, and because given how ominous Liam’s future would be, there is a chance they will up the drama/tragedy quotient by having his diamond scene just before it strikes (remember how we got a love scene just before the fiasco at Coronation??). Hana and Maxwell have not had diamond scenes since NY, so obviously they would get a lion’s share of this chapter.

4. LIs would have significant conversations with the MC about their relationship during the diamond scenes. The scenes will be priced at 30 diamonds each - that was exactly how much they priced “last moments with LI” in Book 1. (I see they didn't do this for Maxwell possibly because no sex compared to what the other LIs are getting) (Future prediction: I think Drake’s scene might have some stuff on his real role in court but I can’t be sure, and hopefully Liam’s will expand on family history).

5. Another future prediction: We may or may not get another plot related diamond scene (similar to Olivia’s in the Book 1 finale).

• I didn’t anticipate the impromptu photoshoot or Bertrand and Savannah reuniting or Madeleine appearing at the end (tho I wasn’t exactly surprised she did, we were bound to see her sometime or other). But the rest? On. The. Money 😎

• Okay let’s start this shizz fam!

• Today’s title: Noble At Heart. Though it actually should have been I Got Land and A Fancy Title Only Because Pixelberry Wants to Justify Getting Me Involved In Some Really Complicated Political Shit The Next Book.

• We’re still not done impressing people. In fact we’re never going to be done impressing people. I fail to understand why the MC is so surprised about this. Boo, this is what you signed up for by being royalty/nobility. You’re not GOING to have a life of your own from now on *shrug*.

•

The epic shade Bertrand Beaumont, Duke of Ramsford, gave to Prince Leo tho 😂

•

I KNEW naming my duchy Daniel Henney was a good idea! 😁😁😁

• There are mixed responses on Liam’s new suit but I kinda like it? It defines his chest quite nicely I think xD xD I wish it had been a slightly duller/lighter shade of blue tho, similar to what we saw on the cover. The blue suit on the cover wasn’t this bright.

• I really wish his bow could have been silver instead of gold though? Blue and silver are Cordonia’s national colours and it would have been fitting to have him wear those to the Homecoming Ball.

• Also I think the extra diamond scene if you’re engaged to Liam is such a lovely bonus, even if I think the dress for that picture was a little too top-heavy for my tastes and WTF why does my MC have two left hands. But the picture looked sweet xD

(See the skirts are flowy and wonderful and the sleeves are lovely but I feel like there’s too much going on with the bodice!)

• Sample this dialogue exchange (if the MC says “we would have still found a way to be with each other”):

Liam: I know we have our share of history [in the palace ballroom], but to me, it will always be the place where I first saw you in Cordonia…the moment I realized you had come into my life to stay. Since then, I’d wondered time and again if I would ever stand beside you like this. Now that we’re engaged, there are a million memories I want to make with you.

MC: No matter how bleak things were, or how hard it got…I knew we’d find a way through.

Brb crying 😭😭😭😭

• I have a feeling there might be some emotional importance to this photograph later if you buy it - esp if something happens to Liam or they are not able to get married yet. It could be a reminder of happier, more hopeful times, or Liam could look at this and view it as motivation for a future he wants to give the MC. IDK how it will work out but it would be great if they did that.

• MC: Together, we’ll be unstoppable.

Liam: I think we already are.

Hold on to that thought, you two. You’ll need to prove it pretty soon the way this book is going.

• @feisty-mary pointed out that we get a caption for impressing Justin and speculated on a likelihood that it might have some importance in the future. That kinda depends on how the writers are going to spin his cryptic “our paths may cross again”. Ally? Enemy? He’s like Madeleine now, you don’t know yet which direction this character will be headed.

• Why did they make Hana’s selection look like an over-frosted cupcake? 😣 Stop doing my fashion queen dirty.

• Olivia’s selection was nice but I’m not sure about the tiaras for either.

• It’s interesting how they have gowns that are custom-made to suit what Liam is wearing (Hana mentions this): the pink gown I’m guessing is meant to suit Liam’s blue suit overall, and the gold one to match his bow.

• Fam this tiara is clashing with my pretty gold hairclip help.

• Now that Olivia has found out who was responsible for the threats, can’t do anything about it because it would hurt Liam, and basically feels she has nothing left to investigate, her work seems done. But is it really?

• There’s still so much story left to Olivia. Esp re: her parents. That’s why they’re keeping her appearances limited to just helping the MC this book. Book 2 is supposed to be about the MC clearing her name and defining her relationships, but Book 3 will undeniably be about Cordonia. Olivia’s story is a big part of that history so I guess it makes sense for them to put it off till then. @ladynevrakis and I have this theory going on about how Olivia’s parents might have been trying to protect Liam’s mom - I personally think that would be a great way to tie those two stories together!

• Only Olivia Vanderwall Nevrakis, Duchess of Lythikos, would suggest placing her future queen in a dungeon. Only Olivia 😂

• I’m not going to say much about the Hana lake scene, esp since it’s largely a sex scene and the non-diamond buildup is just as important, BUT HANA STANS CONGRATULATIONS I’M SO HAPPY FOR YOU.

• So Hana’s going to stay with us, Drake might stay/visit, Maxwell might visit, Olivia might return to court when she hears about Liam and Liam…man that depends on what happens next chapter 😟 So we’re kinda starting to get a clearer idea of where the gang will be at.

• The scene with the guys, Bertrand, Savannah and Bartie was sweet, but my lack of investment in Bertrand/Savannah doesn’t really let me enjoy it. I think PB did all three characters (Bertrand, Savannah, Maxwell) a disservice by handling that story the way they did. Savannah’s story started out as this very emotionally charged mystery that kept Drake going in Book 1, and people got invested enough, but IMO it was handled so shoddily you end up feeling irritated at Savannah and Maxwell for how they handled things, and saddened because Bertrand’s entire character gets shortchanged so that the only thing he seems to care about anymore is Savannah (which is fine, but the reason I liked Bertrand in the first place was the way he was depicted before she came along). So Savannah is still a big part of Drake’s story, and the Beaumont brothers’ history, but the investment in her is simply not there anymore. At least for me. Sigh.

• Also CONGRATULATIONS MAXWELL STANS! The screenshots I saw looked sweet and I’m glad they had that all-important chat about how they want to move forward. I’m guessing Maxwell’s relationship will take time since they’d just confessed to their feelings in NY and they’d need a lot more development as a couple before they reach that stage. But I’m guessing that will happen in Book 3! Splurge on those diamond development scenes like your life depends on it till then! XD

•

If Liam is sending his personal security detail to guard me…then who’s guarding Liam?? 😱 😱 😱

• Adeleide looks very happy for the mother of a thwarted almost-queen. But she did mention that becoming royalty was changing Madeleine for the worse so I’m guessing she thinks her daughter almost dodged a bullet there. Plus, free booze.

This is Adeleide when she talks about Madeleine.

• I’m totally waiting for you to get that “hip hopera” of yours’ ready, Maxwell. Like Elvis Presley would say…

• I like the idea of Bertrand getting some love in his life…I just want to be able to enjoy the good ol’ curmudgeony go-getter Bertrand we all grew to love while we’re at it. Is that too much to ask for, PB? Is it?

• “Will Madeleine spoil your big night?” - I don’t think you would have placed her so early in the next chapter if that was the case, PB, cmon (then again, the message at the end of Chapter 18 last book didn’t sound that threatening either and look what happened there. So I could be wrong). Plus, I think we have bigger threats to worry about, threats we don’t even know about yet.

• So I saw a screenshot of what would happen if you’re with Liam and tell Hana you still want her, and she seems okay with it. I have the same problems with this scene that I have with the other scene - in fact more so because at this stage the MC is officially engaged to the other LI. But you know what worries me more? That there was such an intense reaction when Liam did it (including people stating they were glad they did not choose him and comments on Liam’s “integrity” - thankfully most of the people I followed pointed out how OOC it was) but almost-radio-silence when it came to the other LIs doing the same thing. I mean Drake last chapter still got to imply that he’d be more than happy to take us up on that offer if we chose the “tour of the room” option, and Hana here immediately agrees to what the MC wants if she implies that she is willing to cheat on Liam with her (unless the MC has Liam’s consent on this, that’s what it is). Very few actually commented on either. That’s not fair, fam. You can’t hold one LI accountable for something like this and not say anything about the others.

(People who may have taken the option to have sex with Liam while being with the other LI, and continued the chapter, does the MC inform their LI about this development?)

For me, the problem in both cases is that the MC doesn’t bother to ask the other person. She doesn’t say “look this is what I want to do, but I want to talk to both you and my fiance before I move forward”. She just takes what she wants from whoever she wants and the LIs just let her. It makes me feel sorry for them and really angry at her.

• Is it me or will Hana have an outdoor kink too? Homegirl has her first time with the woman she loves just as the setting sun kisses the lake xD

• Next chapters the finale, fam. The sex is going to be HELLA. The drama is going to be HELLA. And the wait for Book 3 is going to be…not hella.

• Will Liam finally have sex with my MC in a bedroom? Or will we find some other nice outdoorsy place since the hedge maze is already done? Whatever it is, we’d better get a scene absolutely worth 30 diamonds. No fade-to-black bullshit. LIAM STANS WILL RIOT.

• This is my MC to Liam next chapter:

Credit to @callmetippytumbles the genius who began the trend of putting gifs on her “Thoughts” posts. I can’t imagine NOT using them now thanks to you 😂