#and the irony of how all of the fine things when used by a corrupt system are still traumatizing for the victors

[thesweetnessofspring]

The last tribute alive receives a life of ease back home, and their district will be showered with prizes, largely consisting of food. All year, the Capitol will show the winning district gifts of grain and oil and even delicacies like sugar while the rest of us battle starvation.

HungerTown 14/?

[merrivia]

I feel like one of the things I enjoy most about the Captive Prince trilogy is where you really glimpse the hidden complexity of the books, those flashes of the engineering under the bonnet which Pacat only allows us glimpses of, here and there. There’s so many moments like that, but I feel like the idea of Auguste as a protector and Laurent’s hero-worship of his brother, has particularly stuck with me and made me want to delve into it more today.

We know Auguste is quite a bit older than Laurent; Laurent was 13, and Auguste 25, when he died at Marlas (Pacat loves her doubling and mirroring; it’s no coincidence to Laurent’s developing feelings for him, that Damen is a mirror image of Auguste in many ways, and symbolically 25 at the start of Captive Prince, like a dark resurrection, living the life Auguste should have had in Laurent’s eyes). We know that Auguste is a doting older brother; allowing Laurent to win against him when they horse raced, that they had brotherly discussions over sexuality and relationships, August giving Laurent advice (sweetly, we can assume Auguste also gave him The Talk, and that Laurent no doubt explained primly that thank you but he had already read all about That). We know that Laurent idolised Auguste, and that it was common knowledge that the two were “devoted” to each other. Even in the mind of the reader, Auguste seems special and golden; we know so little about him, and yet we love him too, especially for how much he loved Laurent. We know that tragically, Damen’s killing of Auguste, metaphorically killed Laurent also- his heart broken by the loss of Auguste compounded with the killing off of his childhood, all of his innocence, and the locking away of all the softer sides of himself, as he is abused and manipulated by his uncle.

I think a particularly heartbreaking part of it all is the rumour of Laurent having unnatural feelings for his brother.

Obviously, the source of this was the Regent, and it goes without saying that the Regent’s corruption is so malignant, that he invented this rumour to take the cleanest, purest love in Laurent’s life and turn it into something disgusting, to undermine Laurent psychologically, to disrupt his grieving process and to manipulate the political landscape. As soon as that rumour was floated, whenever it was, to grieve too much too openly, to try to honour his brother’s memory in any public way, would feed into the rumours of incest (and I am sure the Regent liked the neatly villainous irony of the fact that it is he who had the incestuous desires, and he gets to displace that onto the innocent Laurent). That’s perhaps one of the reasons why Laurent’s grief turns into such rage; firstly, there is the loss, secondly, his grief is manipulated into sexual abuse but thirdly, he was never allowed to openly grieve as he would have liked. Like a wound that festers, Laurent cannot heal as a consequence.

The really tragic thing here is that the Regent got to have Auguste; he took him so completely away from Laurent, that even in death, Laurent was denied his brotherly relationship to him, to completely and utterly emotionally isolate him. The Regent in doing so, got complete control- he could subtly destabilise any hold the memory of Auguste had over the Council and court which would transfer to Laurent, and instead cleave himself to the image of Auguste. He became the only one who gets to mention the perfect golden prince, weaponising him against Laurent, using him to highlight Laurent’s shortcomings, and his own strengths. 

And poor, poor Laurent is just not completely isolated in general, which is bad enough- he also has no-one to even talk to about his brother, it seems (especially someone who he can confide in, who might be the same or similar rank as him, which is what he needs). Even before the incest rumours, that would be a fine piece of manipulation against Laurent- boys are weak and grieve and need to talk about how they feel, where men are strong and keep hold of their emotions. And so any sign of his grieving too much, would weaken Laurent further politically. The only thing that he has then, is revenge. Revenge is his grief. I think in a way, one of the reasons why Laurent could never quite beat his uncle at his own game, was not just because he always underestimated how evil he was, but also how he was always split in two- to revenge himself on Damianos is his only way of holding onto the memory of Auguste, and yet he also needs to beat his uncle, which divided his goals. Yet I also think his rage sustained him, gave him a goal to keep living, to keep training his body hard, when he must have felt so worn out and afraid and helpless against the power of The Regent. In a way, Damen has always kept Laurent alive, whether as a shadowy figure of hate that motivated him, or as a warrior guardian, powerful enough to throw a two handed sword and impale a fellow Akielon to save him or, finally, as the man who loves him and will kill to protect him.

So Laurent’s mother died, and his father paid no real attention to him, and it is clear in the novels, that Auguste’s presence was the one barrier that stood between him and the Regent. Who guarded Laurent’s bedroom door? The Prince’s Guard under Auguste? At first I wondered whether Laurent noticed his uncle’s attentions previous to Marlas; whether in subtle ways, he went to his brother for protection. But that doesn’t fit with the phrasing Laurent uses about himself as a young teenager (”think of the greenest innocent you have ever tumbled”). Incidentally, it is heartbreaking that he cannot see the idea of a youthful boy and/or himself at that age unless it’s on sexual terms; it is a reminder of how to be young for Laurent means to be sexually exploited and how the abuse traumatised him, took away his childhood, and shaped him into this razor-sharp blade of a man in the form of a beautiful prince (it also shows how insidious it is that the Regent keeps calling him a boy, to try and reduce him over and over to the abused child he controlled). So I don’t think Laurent did see it; was too young to see it. In fact, I don’t think Laurent saw what was going to happen, until the first time he was forced onto his knees by the Regent. But I wonder whether Auguste did.

Laurent does mention that Auguste is like Damen-  as Laurent says ”“He had no instinct for deception; it meant he couldn’t recognise it in other people.”. But as I have discussed before, being an honourable warrior doesn’t mean you’re stupid, and the sexual proclivities of the Veretians doesn’t quite fall into the same category as political machinations to me. Even Laurent can recognise that yes, his uncle is a paedophile, a predator, but he can’t seem to believe that the Regent would kill his own brother or kill him till there is stark evidence to prove it. It stands to reason then that Auguste may have never thought the Regent would do as he did, but that he could see the signs of his prurient interest in Laurent. 

This also might tie into Laurent being so beautiful, and how Veretian beauty standards glorify young males (from pre-pubescent onwards). He tells Damen that he has been the recipient of offers for “as long as he could remember”- a highly disturbing statement, which suggests as a minor, Laurent was sexually propositioned over and over. Auguste must have stood in the way of that, silenced the mouths of any man who dared speak about his brother like that. Perhaps just knowing that Auguste would cut the hand off of the man who touched his brother was enough to keep Laurent safe. Did Auguste actually explicitly stop the Regent abusing him, though?

If the Regent’s victims start as young as 11, then that was a few years of sexual interest he may have had in Laurent, which Auguste may have thwarted. And just like Damen wouldn’t hear of a word against Kastor, I wonder whether Auguste knew his father wouldn’t hear a word against the Regent- after all, Aleron trusted his brother’s word so much, he marched his army on to the field at Marlas instead of keeping to the security of his fortress, a tactic that made no sense and led to his assassination. We only see the court of Vere as the Regent’s court too- was he ever so open about his child pets before the death of Aleron? We know he had them, as Paschal was the Regent’s physician and tended to them (and the medical attention they might need to their too-young bodies is another layer of quiet horror), so perhaps we can assume that it was something that everyone knew about, but simply turned a blind eye to. 

My feelings are it could be either way- Auguste may have seen the Regent’s paedophilia and kept him away from Laurent instinctively, or he may have seen him openly display sexual interest and thwarted him deliberately, or he may have simply stood in the way of anyone who tried to get to Laurent and the Regent steered clear as a consequence. We will obviously never get a clear answer on this, so I think what’s more important is simply that Auguste was a barrier and how that feeds into Laurent’s beliefs. The reader can imagine that Auguste would perhaps never have said anything too openly to him about such things (beyond advice...I can picture him sternly telling Laurent to never go anywhere alone with an older man at court or to tell him if anyone said anything inappropriate him or tried to touch him), but Laurent can see that no-one dared harass him before Auguste’s death and then after...well. Abuse at night, we assume, and at Chastillon, and any number of attempts at ‘seductions’ in the day. All Laurent knows is that the abuse wouldn’t have happened had Damen not killed his brother, so in his mind, Auguste as the shining golden protector-hero is so sacrosanct that he cannot, even after all this time, truly believe or accept that Damen beat him. It’s why, when they fight in King’s Rising, Laurent says the “ludicrous” words that Auguste would have “stopped” Damen, when we all know he didn’t (yes there is the argument that 19 year old Damen had not been fighting for hours, was fresh from the sidelines, and that played into his victory, but the point is moot...). Laurent knows what he’s saying is absurd, but Auguste is perhaps semi-mythical to him at this point, this lodestar of an ideal to live up to, the ultimate white knight, brightly alive still in his mind, who would/could/should have saved him.

The Regent’s plan to kill his brother, King Aleron, must have included a secondary plan to kill Auguste, as an obstacle to the throne, even though we don’t know what that was. Damen coming along to kill him, neatly did this for him. I wonder if it added another layer to the victory over his brother and nephew killed, to finally have access to Laurent at, horrifyingly, just the right time, less than a year before true puberty would hit and the Regent’s sexual desire in him would fade. Very little of the inner life of The Regent is revealed to us, everything being layer upon layer of machinations, facade after facade, to hide his utter cruelty, but you do wonder whether this abuse of Laurent made him feel particularly gleeful. Or whether it was simply to kill two birds with one stone- to get a man (boy) underneath you is the ultimate power play, and thus the Regents gets to both enjoy Laurent’s beauty sexually, and set up a dynamic which will ruin Laurent in the present and future and allow the Regent to have a power over him that fits in very nicely to him getting the throne. It is breathtakingly cruel I think, that the ruination of Laurent on a personal level was probably secondary, a mere byproduct of a wider plan.

One of the beautiful things about Damen and Laurent’s relationship is he can talk about Auguste again, even with the memory of his death at Damen’s hands casting a long shadow between them. Laurent does this naturally, almost unthinkingly, before he even admits to himself that they’re in love. I think the reason why is Damen’s sense of morality, his pure, uprightness. As he awkwardly says in response to Laurent trying to make clear that what Govart said was a lie, he never believed that to be true. This is a man to whom incest is unfathomable, where there is no suspicion, no cynicism, no reading into Laurent’s words to try and find the incest that isn’t there because there is no smoke without fire. Laurent finally can talk about how much he loved his brother, without being dragged in the mud for it, restoring it back, openly, in words spoken out loud, to the purity it had.

[beevean]

@hypermascbishounen

Interesting how the concept of the gifted child and the consequences of being favored is at the core of all the major rivalries in CV.

Hugh seethed when his father gave the Hunter Whip to Nathan and not to him, which lead him to feel worthless, and Camilla used that jealousy to corrupt him.

Maxim wanted to become better than Juste, but for the sake of relieving him of his "cursed" fate, so he took it into his own hands... which lead to nothing but disaster. Of course, Evil Maxim implies that he was born also from Maxim's own resentment against Juste and the "wall" that had been erected between them once he got the Vampire Killer. I also find fascinating that the worst ending has Juste technically accomplishing his fate as a hunter, but utterly failing as a friend, cursed by Evil Maxim to hunt for the rest of his life because that's clearly the only thing he's good for.

Isaac was jealous of Hector being Dracula's favorite, but Hector himself hated being Dracula's favorite because it came at the price of his self. This jealousy is what makes him obsessed with Hector and wanting to defeat him, but there is also the irony of the favorite one being the one who threw everything away because being appreciated simply wasn't worth the turmoil, the guilt and the dehumanization.

And at first Albus is framed as being jealous that Shanoa got to be picked for the Dominus ritual over him, but in reality, he wanted to protect her from it - being Barlowe's chosen one meant that she was to be sacrificed. (I see the parallels with Dracula and the Forgemasters so clearly but I can't word...)

HoD as a prequel to RoB/SoTN shows well the cracks that were starting to form in the family. Juste's own theme is not called "Successor of Fate" for nothing. However, Maxim seems to be more concerned than Juste is: and while on the surface it might seem that the latter is not very fleshed out, to me he seems to be rather... hyperfocused at best, and in denial at worst. He wants to get the job done. He has no time for Maxim's doubts: they have to save Lydie. And after Lydie is saved, well, you don't want to trouble her, do you, Maxim? Let's leave all of this behind us :) it's all fine :) we won and now we're happy together :)

(which is why I find the worst ending fascinating, on top of it being utterly depressing. It's the only ending where Juste can't hide his own feelings: not only in the best ending he outright prevents Maxim from telling Lydie what happened, but in the "mid" ending, she convinces him that blaming himself is the same as blaming Maxim, so Juste can put on a mask for her sake. In the worst ending, it's only him, his guilt, and the rest of his life)

I'm not sure if Juste was deliberately meant to evoke Alucard as a character (Juste may look like Alucard 2.0 because that's Kojima's type lol, same with Hector being Masc Alucard), but Alucard himself was meant to echo the Belmont legacy and its issues, with Richter being the symbol of them - as I said, Alucard himself feels pressured to honor Lisa's wish, even if it causes him great pain. But while Richter eventually could not deny that his sense of self-worth is tied to his destiny to fight... Juste still has the chance to hide from what his name entails, and be nothing but the perfect Belmont successor.

[quetzalpapalotl]

reverse hot take meme: tell me why I should care about Prowl?

I assume you’re talking about IDW1 Prowl. Truly I love him. I love how everyone is so passionate about him whether they love him or hate him. Mmm this was a fun ask and it got long, so under a cut it goes!

He seems like a good character to me, because I can always see where he’s coming from, even if he’s what we call an awful person. I think Prowl is the Phase 2 character with the most cohesion across his different writers. I know that may sound strange, Barber, Roche, and Roberts write him with a different flavor, yes, but I think they all have the same core understanding and just focus on different things according to their respective genres.

For example, JRo’s Prowl feels way pettier and more emotional than Barber’s, which fits with how Mtmte puts a lot of focus on interpersonal flaws. However, I’d argue Barber’s Prowl is just as petty, I mean *point to the whole ordeal with Spike on Earth* or like, he’s willing to let Caminus die so that Starscream doesn’t try to rule all the galaxy which while Starscream did wanted to control the Colonies, he would not start a war against the cosmos again, he knows better than that. Prowl’s motivations are influenced by the fact that he hates the Decepticons and he can’t let Starscream win, but he’s able to rationalize his actions so he can keep telling himself he’s entirely reasonable.

But you asked me to give you specifically reasons to care about him, so I will argue he’s a lot like Megatron (and oh, Prowl would flip a table if he heard me, that’s so fun):

Both Prowl and Megatron are people extremely Machiavellian and willing to do anything for their specific vision of the Greater Good and both are lacking in self awareness and won’t admit to their actual motivations or that their methods are antithetical to their supposed goals. There are both convinced they are the only one that can do what needs to be done. To Prowl’s credit, he’s far less vainglorious, while Prowl does want credit, he doesn’t need a whole cult to worship him. Prowl wants influence rather than power and unlike Megatron he doesn’t actually like violence. He’s actually quite disgusted by it, which is part of the reason he needs other people do it for him.

But both run on paranoia, spite and a need to be war. They both need the war to give them meaning. Again, to be fair to Prowl, I think he actually does genuinely want the vision he claims to want, but anything else will mean he was wrong and all the things he did was maybe not as justified so he has dug himself into a hole of keeping the war running until he gets his desired ending or his whole idea of himself falls apart. While Megatron will use this unrealistic vision to have an excuse to keep on fighting because fighting is what gives him meaning.

Okay yeah, they’re not exactly the same, but they do have neat parallels and you like Megatron, right?

Prowl feels deeply tragic to me, because while he was always kind of a prick, his pre-war self really did seem to operate on a belief that rules and order are good. He had a lot of ideas of the old Cybertron internalizes, yes, but he does attempt to make things better for everyone. He prevents Sentinel from eradicating the Decepticons, he tries to stand against corruption, tries to keep Orion in check. Yet everything still goes to hell, so he sort of goes “fine, if everyone is going to make compromises I will too, except I will do the right ones because I can tell what they are” and now he’s trapped in a cage of his own doing and he’s aware of it but too deep in his own head to change even when he wants to. There’s some delicious irony because more than anything Prowl wants to be understood, but he won’t value anyone’s input over his own.

He's interesting, there's a lot to chew about him. He's a good character. This is fiction so I think that more important than anything else you can say about him. Thinking about Prowl is endlessly entertaining, he's so full of pathos and irony.

Also fun fact: he's Barber's favorite character dasfhgjsa, I believe that, Barber has such fun playing with him. I think JRo also mentioned him being a favorite at some point(?)

[cicada-and-pomegranate]

The Red Pool, This is Where I Died, and Art About Nothing

I think there’s a lot of value in art that’s weird for the sake of being weird. I used to really like SCP (I’ve kind of gotten detached from it more recently), and while I think SCP-3002 (Attempts to Assassinate Thought) is my favorite, and SCP-5000 (Why?) is the best-written thing on the site, there is a lot of value in pieces like SCP-354 (The Red Pool) which has a very good story but isn’t really about anything.

I often times rag on media like The Office for not being really about anything, but I think 354 succeeds at not being about a whole lot because it gives a good unsettling atmosphere that makes no sense in or out of context.

We’re taught when writing that if you’ve written a mystery that you have to have an answer to it, or at the very least a couple conflicting explanations that the audience can bicker over. (the SCP style guide has the same rules for redactions; if something is redacted there has to be a reason for it to be redacted and the author has to know what was redacted) I legitimately think SCP-354 was written by some 14-year-old who is good at writing on a technical level, but mostly picked a bunch of unsettling things to happen and a bunch of places to put data corruption. It works; it’s successful, but I doubt it means anything. SCP-5000 means something; when you are unable to interact with other people, you cease to be human. SCP-3002 means something; your memories are what makes you you. SCP-354 means nothing and that’s absolutely fine because it’s a good story and it works.

SCP-5999 is one of the weirdest SCPs because it has a similar idea to SCP-354, where a bunch of weird semi-correlated things happen in it, but it has a lot of repeated imagery and numbers, which seems like it should mean something but the explanation is that it means nothing and in-universe is designed to lead the reader on for Watsonian reasons. This is fundamentally unsatisfying, and I think the only thing it actually says is “SCPs which are just a mystery and don’t say anything are unsatisfying”, which is kind of weird because, as mentioned, SCP-354 is great.

I like SCP-5999 for its writing and its horror and what happens in it, but the way that the author self-describes those stories as cliché and kind of treats their own writing as bait is kind of odd. It seems like they’re kind of going after SCPs that are horror for horror’s sake and berating the reader for enjoying them. You aren’t meant to enjoy them, that’s how the Foundation gets you.

There’s irony in that a piece of art about how a style of art is uninspired works well as a piece of art in the style it’s criticizing. I want to say that 5999 doesn’t get 354, but there isn’t a whole lot to get. It’s a simple story that’s kind of about fuck all, and is valuable because it’s well-written and succeeds at its main goal of unsettling the reader.

Modern SCP has a major problem with how it makes new authors come up with a good story in order to get their articles approved. The only article I’ve ever gotten approved was one with an inventive concept and a story to accompany it and its implications. Arguably the main issue with this is a Watsonian one; why are so many SCPs large stories when logically most should be shit like one of those pens with four colors that you press down on the sides to use but no matter which one you press down, the one you pressed down becomes the blue pen? The gateway to SCP is the older articles which were written by the aforementioned 14-year-olds trying to write something unsettling, while now not only is there a (purported although not enforced because it can’t be) rule against minors writing articles, but also there’s a process making you include a greater meaning to your story within your pitch. 

Weird for weird’s sake is arguably dead in SCP, to the point that authors actively criticize it, and I think that’s a shame because we need to be more appreciative not only of art that is weird for weird’s sake but of the platforms that allow authors who are technically skilled although not necessarily great at symbolism to create their weird art.

[dollmother]

"if you truly loved someone, why would you hurt them?"

i often think back to the time when the first person i've ever loved told me i was incapable of doing so. that it was impossible to love someone AND hurt them. that the moment you hurt someone close, all the love you thought you held for them dearly dissipates like fine dust in air after a sudden draft. then, i often wonder if the love i clung onto for those who came and went was ever genuine. i question if a lot of things i've felt was real--if anything was real. most of all, the remorse that came flooding in the aftermath of my emotional instability.

it was like if someone bumped into a switch and flipped my shit upside down. i lose all the good in me and turn wholly selfish. i forget others still exist and burgeon into a mindless state of dull self-preservation. i dont know how to deal with all this. there's too much going on and it aches my brain to think about it. my skull rings and the insides feel all numb. eyes they shake then suddenly i am removed from my body. all sensations cease and thoughts stop lingering in my head. i feel at peace in selfish preservation.

there are many instances when i desperately wished there was no responsibility to care about anyone other than myself. how it would be so much simpler to live a life never having to worry about anything. like nothing matters but you. there would be no reason to stress over how my actions could potentially be collateral damage.

i do believe at my very core, there is something rotten and festering hiding beneath the skin. i have always held this burden. the knowledge of something terrible nesting underneath the layers of irony and sarcastic humor. i am deeply unwell. horrified by the creatures that lurk inside. they squirm and writhe to be freed. something wicked, something tainted, something corrupt, something unclean. i do not wish to curse anyone with such a grotesque darkness. it seeps through the cracks of my lens and cuts on the surface of my skin. each time i feel hurt, i can feel the essence leak from underneath. a harrowing experience to witness after its wake. my thoughts tell me i must ruin everything. the classic self-fulfilling prophecy of a cynic. everything is flawed and will cease under its defects. you feel as if there is no escape from this tragic fate, spiraling under the consuming dark.

how freeing it must be for us to dream of disappearing completely. free from obligation, free of negotiation, free from fear. the solipsist's ambition, to be alone in your peace. i think about that a lot---not having to worry about anyone or anything. to be selfish without the guilt that comes with it sounds like the best thing anyone could ask for.

my eyes turn blank and i forget about all the fucked up shit i piled on top of myself. i go to sleep and iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

i am always craving for a chronic isolation. where no one who cared about me existed. where i am free to yearn. to chase after a feeling i'll never obtain. purpose without responsibility. devotion without commitment. why must i be desperate for something so justly unachievable?

was it all just a lie i told myself? a denial of the words once said to me, words that tore into me? did the love i held so dearly between my fingers to the palm of my hand an illusionary trick? i don't know. i can never know for sure. have i internalized what others have accused me of to the extent where i have forgotten who i am?

[short-wooloo]

The Jedi leading the Clone army is not corruption

Corruption has a very specific meaning and this scenario does not fit it, corruption is the abuse of power, usually with bribery, to benefit ones self or ones allies...

And I don't think I need to explain how the Jedi very much did not benefit from leading the Clone army...

Corruption also is also the willful choice of those engaging in such practices, a person being forced to participate in corrupt activities does not make them corrupt

Which is relevant because the Jedi were forced into this situation (which is kinda the whole point, its a trap), they were drafted into the war by the senate/Palpatine, the other side is an army of murderbots committing atrocities and mass-murder, and the leader of the murderbot side is an ex-Jedi, someone they would feel responsible for

and while were at it, let's just make it understood that the clones were not created with the Jedi's approval (which is EXPLICITLY stated in AOTC), it was done by one slightly-off-his-rocker Jedi without anyone else's knowledge, save for Dooku who was manipulating him

(and when the Jedi become aware of this and hide this knowledge its not corruption either, they're not doing this to benefit themselves, they're doing it to protect the clones)

The Jedi also are not the owners of the clones or the ones who approved their use, both cases are the Senate/Republic, because that's what we literally see/are told in AOTC, the clones are made for the Republic, and the senate votes to sanction their use

"well the Jedi could done (unrealistic option)"

no they couldn't

leading the clones was the best possible option (and again, they were drafted into it), out of several bad options, as it would allow them to help and protect the clones from both the enemy that the clones were ordered to fight, and from the apathetic nat-born officers like Tarkin

the Jedi's other options were:

stay out of the war by leaving the republic, note that this basically amounts to "do nothing" (oh the irony of people saying the Jedi do nothing for the clones yet seriously present this as a preferable/viable alternative), the clones still have to fight, this time commanded only by nat-born officers who see them as canonfodder, and Palpatine carries out his plans without having to maneuver around the Jedi, the war ends, the republic becomes the empire, the clones are used as its enforcers and the Jedi are wiped out, nothings changed, and honestly its a bit worse, but hey! the people who are now all dead didn't "compromise" their morals by leading an army!

2. and the other option is to overthrow the republic...

I really should not have to explain why this is a problem

so aside from the fact that in this scenario the Jedi have overthrown a democratic government on the grounds of "it didn't do things the way we wanted", it doesn't solve the whole war issue, Dooku's still leading that murderbot army that's conquering and murdering across the galaxy, and the sith plans are still active, even if you got Palpatine because ahem, Dooku, seems to me that in this Jedi coup situation their only option is to fight a war against Dooku leading that clone army that still exists

so essentially we've changed nothing except maaaaaybe palpatine's dead and the Jedi are now apparently the self-installed rulers of the Republic

great

and now its time to discuss the narrative intent

popular fan interpretation of the clone's situation is that they're a slave army, and because the Jedi don't comment on it that means they were fine with/approved of it,

while its certainly understandable how one could see it that way it must be stressed that such was not the narratives intent

Lucas, Filoni, and the tcw crew clearly didn't think of the clones as slaves, much as they didn't see the droids situation as such

that isn't to say we can't criticize it, we absolutely can, but we cannot take the silence on the clones' status as indicative that the Jedi approved/had nothing to say

because that wasn't the intent

the Jedi's lack of word on the topic isn't a flaw (and it certainly isn't corruption) of the Jedi, its a flaw of the writing, the Jedi have nothing to say on the status of the clones because the writers didn't care/think about the implications of the Clone's existence

(and there's a whole meta-analysis on the clone's purpose narratively and they evolved in it, from how the original idea was that they were the enemy the Jedi fought in the clone wars inthe initial drafts of SW, to how the role they serve in the movies is to rescue the heroes in aotc, be predecessors to stormtroopers, and to be the instrument that destroys the Jedi, and how tcw and its focus on clones complicated all that)

but importantly we cannot assume that because the Jedi do not comment on the clones' status that means they're fine with it, that kinda goes against everything we know about the Jedi (plus while we don't see Jedi talking about the clones rights-probably because of the lack of thought/care from creators about implications and because tcw is a show meant to entertain children-every Jedi we see displays care and concern for the clones' well being, and the ones who don't are krell and anakin, nuff said)

also no one else in universe comments on it

no one else in universe has anything to say about the clones and their rights, so why are the Jedi (who are forced into this situation) solely responsible? Why isn't it the senators' (who are the ones who actually own the army, sanctioned it, and commanded the Jedi to lead it) responsibility? why do they get a pass? Particularly the anti-war ones like Padme, Bail Organa, or Chuchi, they don't ever comment on the subject either (yeah yeah, in tbb s2 chuchi cares about clone rights, AFTER the war is over, its a retcon) despite wanting to deescalate the war and bring it to a peaceful solution

"tHe JeDi WeRe CoRrUpT-"

FUCKING HOW!?

[lazyliars]

/rp

Before I get into it, I want to state that is EXPLICITLY an analysis of the Characters, and is not intended to touch on how the cc’s played them in a meta sense unless specifically stated otherwise.

Also, this is technically a part two to my other post, which took a more in depth look at Techno and Phil’s reactions to Tommy’s death. It’s not necessary when reading this post, but I don’t address their reactions here.

So. The question must be asked.

Are we [the Syndicate] the baddies?

Yes.

The End.

 Why are the Syndicate the baddies?

They got damn logo is a wither skull.

The End.

That's not how this works.

Yeah, yeah. You’re right.

The Syndicate's goals as an organization are not inherently bad. They seem to have good intentions behind them, and the focus on the freedom of it's individual group members is important to remember when talking about it; It is not a government. There is no hierarchical power system. No one is forced to do anything against their will, or surrender any of their rights or power to remain a member. It is not a government.

I also want to address Techno and Phil backing Ranboo into a corner – I see them getting a lot of flack for this, but I personally do not think it is relevant to the greater discussion, or necessarily representative of any contradictions within the organization. It was clearly played for laughs, and after they back off they clarify to Ranboo that they won't force him. Then later when Phil and Ranboo are alone, Ranboo feels safe enough to express that he felt like he was pressured into it, and Phil assures him he is allowed to leave whenever he wants; He is not being forced to do anything, and he is not being coerced or blackmailed.

None of the Syndicate members have done any wrongs against each other in the context of the Syndicate, OR gone against any of the Syndicate's core principles.

That, said, holy shit are they the baddies.

Listen, there's trying to telegraph a meaning or message to the audience and then there's having your logo be wither skulls on blackstone. That is straight out of the skit I keep referencing, seriously.

Okay, but, they laughed at it! It was played as a joke, just like the Ranboo thing!

The Ranboo thing was improv, the Syndicate's headquarters were planned – the artistic choices that they made reflect on what role they want the build and the organization inhabiting it to play in the future storylines.

Wither Skulls kind of have some CONNOTATIONS. Techno is an English major, I don't think he chose the most threatening imagery possible on accident, and then joked about the way people would interpret it just to stir the pot. This reads as hugely intentional.

And beyond that, the jokes they make during this part aren't “haha yeah, we look bad but we're actually good!” they're “you can tell by looking at these that we're the good guys wink wink, this is good guy stuff right here :)” It is a joke about how they are definitely not the good guys. This isn't even a case of unreliable narrators, this is one step down from flat out saying the meta intent.

But okay, I hear you, I'm talking about things that haven't happened yet. The Syndicate hasn't used any Withers, they could be an aesthetic choice.  Lets look at what they do in practice.

So, they barge into private property, assess Snowchester's right to continue existing based entirely on their own ideals of what Freedom is, and then only once Tubbo assures them that they have no standing leader do they grant the place their approval to, and I gotta stress this part, continue existing.

 In my Quackity meta, I already talked about how Government in the context of a M1necraft RP cannot be compared to IRL Governments on a one-to-one scale. They don't serve the same purposes or have the same type of power. What I didn't talk about was Agency in the context of m1necraft governments.

In an irl government, if you are born into one, you can't really leave without committing a massive overhaul on your life, which can be expensive and difficult, if not impossible for many people. Even in a “benevolent” government, the simple physicality of where you were born can prevent you from leaving it easily.

The same hurdles do not exist in the Dream SMP. People who join M1necraft governments choose to. They want to, either at the beginning when they form one, or later on when they join up. So far, no Government has just Sprung Up and forced the current residents of an area to become dependent on them, except maybe the Eggpire, who's status as a government is... shakey.

And even when people want to leave or separate from the government, they have been historically able to do so without any trouble or any effort from said governments to stop them. Jack Manifold emancipated from Manberg. Fundy and Quackity both left to start new nations. In all cases they were allowed to do so without any attempts on the part of the governments to stop them, either through force, or institutions preventing them from doing so.

The most anyone has lost when leaving a government is their house, which is still usually their property anyway, and is something that is easily rebuilt elsewhere and is inconvenient to move anyway.

The only exceptions to this might be Schlatt exiling Wilbur and Tommy - but even then, they weren’t trying to leave, they were trying to get back in, and of course the original L’manberg revolution, where Dream attempted to force L’manberg back into the Dream SMP, which wasn’t even a government at that point in time.

I don’t consider Phil’s house arrest an example of a government forcing someone to stay a citizen - that was treated less as a matter of a citizen wanting to leave the country and more as a threat to national security. Still pretty fucked up, but it’s a different issue.

What I'm saying is, If Tubbo wants to create a government out in the middle of nowhere, threatening no one, forcing no one to join either through force or desperation, and allowing people to join willingly because they want to, then he should be allowed to do that.

The Irony of the Syndicate, a group of people consisting of some of the richest, strongest people on the server, going around and enforcing 'Freedom' that entails no one person having more power than any other, is absurd. 

It shows an extreme lack of self-awareness and/or self-righteousness, as they seem to think that they deserve to be the ones who decide what constitutes a government.

Snowchester is a small independent nation - they shouldn’t have to live in fear of being obliterated if they don’t walk on eggshells to meet an arbitrary standard decided by people who’s only authority on the matter COMES FROM THEIR PERSONAL POWER. No one elected them! No one chose them! They were not “approved” by the server at large to enact this kind of law.

The Syndicate are not a government, but they are an unsupervised power structure exerting their ideals on a land that did not ask for them. Like, These people have invented an actual Authoritarian-Anarchist faction. How the hell did they manage this?????

Back on topic.

Tubbo shows them the crater left by his nukes. The reaction is oddly positive – the nukes are fine by the morals of the Syndicate, apparently. I'd argue that they come across as more impressed than anything else; they seem to respect Tubbo for having gotten ahold of “real” power.

(There's a few good memes out there about “We can excuse nuclear weaponry, but we draw the line at Government!”)

So. By the Syndicate's standards: A single person or group of acceptably equal persons with weapons of mass-destruction are only worth “keeping an eye on” because they might provoke other people.

Like, I consider Project Dreamcatcher to be one of, if not the most morally ambiguous thing Tubbo has ever done, largely because it was all on his own initiative. He holds some culpability for The Butcher Army and Phil's house arrest, but they weren't his ideas and he was mostly following Quackity at that point.

And Phil tells Tubbo, IMMEDIATELY AFTER SEEING THE NUCLEAR CRATER:

“Looks like you've reformed a little bit Tubbo, I'm proud.”

And it's fine. Crimes against nature? Fine. A sign of healing in fact!! Tubbo is having a sweeeelll time and he definitely didn't make these nukes specifically in fear of being attacked by these exact people! Tubbo is doing great. Tubbo is doing fine. Tubbo. is. FINE.

Anyway.

I don't think this presentation of the Syndicate was an accident. Looking at the greater lore of SMP right now, after the Egg is done, their list of enemies is slim, and considering that they seem solely invested in taking down governments, that leaves maybe Snowchester, Kinoko Kingdom, and Eret and the greater Dream SMP.

Snowchester has not been shown to be corrupt, evil, or have any intent to go down that route. The most ambiguous thing they've done is, again, is the nukes. Other than that, it's pretty much your average cottagecore snow village.

Kinoko is presented in an even more morally 'good' light, Karl having founded it specifically for his Time-travel library purposes, which are currently being treated by the narrative as a selfless act, if not downright heroic.

Eret is also a fairly 'good' aligned character atm. He's been on that redemption grind since the og betrayal, and doesn't seem keen on backtracking. He's actively tried to leverage his position as king to make things better, and hasn't been quiet about that. He was also 'validated' by Tommy*, a character who has been described both by his allies and enemies as “the hero,” so take that as you will.

What I'm getting at is, all of the current potential enemies for the Syndicate aside from the Egg, are currently being cast as 'good,' and if they were to be attacked, they would undoubtedly have the moral high-ground, unless something drastically changed.

The only potential shakeups I can think of is are a Dream escape and/or a Wilbur revival, both of which could draw the Syndicate's attention and ire, depending on how things go. That said, it's just as likely that either or both of them would join the Syndicate – Dream still has that favor, and Phil and Techno both seemed to think Wilbur would've agreed with their blowing up L'manberg.

Both of those characters are currently **villains – the fact that they're both prime candidates for the Syndicate is a huge indication of the direction it's going to go as the plot moves forward.

((*I know some people are gonna come at me for painting Tommy as the “deciding factor” of what is morally good, so lemme just stop you there. I'm not talking about Tommy somehow having the 'right' to decide who is and isn't good, and definitely not the right to decide who should and shouldn't be king. I'm saying that Tommy, a character who the narrative treats as, if not a good person, then a person who is trying to be good, was in support of Eret, a character who has also been trying to be good.

Eret doesn't gain the moral highground because Tommy said so, he gets it because a character who the narrative treats as trying to do better, acknowledged Eret's earnest attempts at doing the same.

**I'm referring to Wilbur here as a villain because Tommy seemed convinced he would be if he were to be brought back. There is always the possibility that he's wrong.))

So, to summarize this: I read the Syndicate as being intentionally positioned as future antagonists, if not outright villains of a future arc. They are NOT a Government but their goals are contradictory with their means, and it is important to keep in mind that they plan to enforce their own brand of freedom on people who did not grant them either the authority or permission to do so.

So, uh. Can you tell I loved these streams? They were seriously so good. I kept switching between Ranboo and Techno's POV's trying to keep up with everything. I still have to watch Niki's!

All in all, I'm super, super excited for whats coming next, egg stuff, Syndicate stuff, Tommy stuff, all of it.

[binkbonkers]

BSD THEORY TIME

BIG CH 101 MANGA SPOILERS

don’t read this if you don’t want spoilers this is your warning :3

ok so this is more from a “things i understand as being essential to the movement of the plot” perspective and less of a “i went and looked at the manga panels to figure out what happens” perspective. from what i gathered after reading the whole thing, the 2 main plot lines are finding the book and dazai building shinsoukoku. this is why i think akutagawa and chuuya are both gonna survive, even given their current circumstances (rip boys). the soukoku and shinsoukoku dynamics have both already proven themselves important to moving the plot forward. like shinsoukoku is a whole main plot line that asagiri set in place. not to mention 6 months hasn’t passed yet! atsushi and akutagawa still have to work out their differences and leaving their relationship without closure like that implies that both of them are gonna end up fine and hash it out (or reconcile or something) later. i think soukoku is gonna be important when it comes to getting out of prison because there’s no way it was that easy to get rid of dostoyevsky and dazai 100% has a plan to get them both out of there. i just don’t think asagiri would end such a well-planned out arc like that. it’s anticlimactic and not his style (he’s a drama queen and we love him for it). personally i think it’s pretty obvious that dazai is gonna get out of prison and i feel like chuuya’s corruption state is gonna be how that happens. it’s gonna be a big dramatic moment like how asagiri has done with every arc building up to a big battle. i also think he’ll pull some irony and have dazai use no longer human to turn all the vampires back into humans (i just would love to see that happen it would be awesome i love irony).

TLDR: akutagawa and chuuya have plot armor. they’re gonna go through some shit to push character development for other characters, but they’re gonna be ok.

[project-paranoia]

Let’s Watch: Yin Yang Master: Dream of Eternity

I have watched this movie 85 Whole Entire Times and I do not regret.  The only thing wrong with this movie is that it wasn't a fifty episode series.  I cried, I laughed, I fell in love.  The cinematography is on point, the acting is amazing, the crew member who put snow on people's eyebrows did an amazing job, and the acting!  The subtlety, the gentleness, the love and affection, the discussion of race is one of the best I've ever seen.

As people have pointed out before in series like X-Men that fear of mutant's is practically if not thematically justified due to the laser eyes in a way that fear of ethnic minorities just isn't in real life.  In Dream of Eternity however humans are equally if not sometimes more super powered than the yao they hunt.  Demons - very much not in the Christian sense - are a mixture of spirits, resentful souls, and animals and plants who cultivated to human form.  They often appear human at first glance and in some cases the extent of their power seems to be the limited to turning into a smaller more vulnerable animal.  Qingming's deliberate care and gentleness not only reflects his upbringing as a Yin Yang Master, but parallels the experience of racial minorities labelled as aggressive.

The movie takes particular care as well in the way it looks at trauma, grief, and love.  The three of which haunt the main characters and send out ripple effects into the world around them.  In the world of Dream of Eternity no loss is purely private, it spools out into the world around the person effected until they make an effect to acknowledge and deal with their experiences.  Qingming's warmth and gentleness isn't just marked by his behaviour but by the orange light he's lit by and his variety of shishen - but he is also separate, standing alone in frame and facing away from the people around him.  Boya's loss has made him unforgiving and as cold as the blue light he's lit in, and yet he is open and instinctive, talking and acting as soon as the thought enters his head.  The Empress is lost and drifting, trapped and grief stricken, vulnerable to those who profess to love her.  The film is simple, it says and shows what it means when it means it - but it is also as complex as the very human characters it depicts.  

The movie is made even more complex by its pull from theaters.  Claims of plagiarism drench the edges of the movie, which as true as the assertion that Fan BingBing went on a spa vacation in 2018.  Although this blog is about Chinese censorship dealing specifically with BL content, Chinese censorship also effects those who criticize governmental policy.  I hope that supporters of this blog will also support Chinese media threatened by censorship for many reasons so that artists and others involved in film making can continue to make meaningful content.

Doing a watchthrough of a movie is not feasible, but please enjoy a few thousand words - with spoilers on Yin Yang Master included:

* That gentle chiming and rain soundscaping is so soothing, what a great way to calm and lull the audience before the movie even starts * Qingming is so small and isolated in the frame - cinema! * The lighting and cinematography is just so good * Shifu, soft gentle teacher * So much love stored in the Shifu * Instant grow * This boy is Sassy * This theme of deflection in Qingming's character is established early * Deflection with a teleportation portal and then immediately deflection verbally * Shifu is certainly an attractive man aged up, but his face is also soft and gentle, something to note when his double pops up later * Also the awkward question of don't you have someone you want to protect, maybe part of the problem is that shifu is just really bad at wording things * The answer that yes he does has several meanings, one of which is immediately apparent when Shifu acts out one of those Father Saves Child By Yeeting them youtube videos * ACtion MuSIC * I love them your honour * The spirit guardian's design is so specific and elegant, absolutely superb you funky little shishen * I wonder if Qingming ever thinks about that if he didn't come back with all his fellow disciples that Shifu would have been fine * Maybe it's not that he doesn't have someone he wants to protect and more that he believes that he's not capable of protecting those he wants to * subtle indication Shifu's qi is corrupted * Precious Magic Childe ;-; * The framing, I'm living for it * The Serpent graphic is lovely * Also the way they set things up * Qingming cares so much about his shifu * Mark Chao just has the ability to crumple his face like paper * Sad Time exposition involving the corrupting influence of desires * "When you're gone I'll be all alone" in just about all you need to know about Qingming at this point in the story * Also like, sympathy for Shifu in raising this lonely child.  By all accounts he was an absolutely superb father figure, and Qingming I'm sure was not an easy child to raise.  He's the sort of kid that would take a lot of calm and patience. * Slumber party! * It's kind of interesting that this is an activity Fangyue and He Shouyue are doing together.  He's definitely obsessed and in love with her and she's just doing friends and family activities with him * Also yellow/gold lighting is kind of their thing * It's interesting how they do the make up for He Shouyue.  The actor is very attractive, but they make him up to look doll like, a little too pretty, a little too shiny.  Like a porcelain doll. * Cool lit Boya and warm lit Qingming appear! * Camels! * The framing is so good, they're careful to be sure he's shown as obviously isolated as much as possible * And it should go without saying that I adore the City * The matte painting is outstanding * But there's also the lighting, the vignettes, the clusters, the foliage * It is a supremely beautiful set * The irony that Killing Stone is playing along with Boya's music and then it's Boya who kicks him around * A small note, but one I appreciate - even when Boya has warm highlight's they're red instead of orange * "It's Jason Bourne!" * I hope Qingming paid for that water taxi * It's interesting how Killing Stone goes from the safety of Qingming's orange light to the danger of Qingming's blue * Colour related foreshadowing! * Look at this poor sweet man, how could anyone suspect him of anything.  He's just a sad man who loves his dead wife * Qingming's use of a fan is interesting - battle fans show up all over wuxia and xianxia, but it feels like it also ties into the way he's so very careful in how he presents himself.  There's that quote that a sword can only be a sword but other weapons are also able to serve other purposes - not a perfect quote but the point is got across. * The way Qingming just knocks Boya back, like get An Clue, my dude * The way that Killing Stone curls around the pipa ;-; * So the movie is based on the book series 'Onmyoji' by Yumemakura Baku.  The books start with Seimei (Qingming) and Hiromasa (Boya) already in a relationship talking about various cases Seimei has recently experienced.  Plotwise, obviously the stories are different, however thematically Seimei and Hiromasa discuss why some yao stick around and solutions to the difficulties and dangers they might cause - which is generally from Seimei's very successful perspective to listen and treat them like humans.  So in that way the plots of the books and the movie are quite different, but the themes are just about identical. * Boya says Don't Talk Me I Angy and also that demons don't have feelings and Qingming's face takes out a billboard that's just like Ah, Another Fantasy Racist, Excellent * Qingming also does what should be done in this situation, taking care of the victim not the racist * Fight scene!  Fight scene! * Qingming's first few moves aren't to attack, they're to distract and just hold his fan up to block Boya's way and his view - it's only when Boya persists in attacking that Qingming fights back * Qingming's sassy smile, he is very much deliberately irritating Boya as much as he's refocusing his attention and distracting him * "nICE sWORD" * I've sighed that sigh before * This boy is taking great pleasure from teasing Boya, but also he makes a really good point * I understand and relate to what Qingming did, but also I can understand why Boya was ready to throw rocks at Qingming when he saw him again * Killing Stone lit in Qingming's orange light again * Killing Stone, my beloved * A good gauge to the state of the world for yao is no one has told this sweet boy before that demons have feelings too * There are several lines like this in the movie that just drop kick you with Implications * The same way Qingming clung to Zhongxing, Killing Stone wants to join up with Qingming to have some compassion in his life * The way he asks to be a spirit guardian is so formal too, and Qingming is so gentle with him, I cry ;-; * The warm orange light of Qingming's love ;-; * He heals the wounds * It took me an embarrassing amount of time to realise it's the actual imperial degree speaking and not one the of Jingyun Temple Masters * The mutual this guy again is delicious * "Is it because of your pretty face" * Boya draws his sword so fast and Qingming is so amused by it * Longye!  Queen!  I love her! * The two of them seem to understand each other instantly * Those sassy little smiles * He Shouyue looks even more like a doll than before * Longye has her head on a swivel from second one, she plays the Maiden so well like she's not a skilled master * And her customer service smile * Qingming is shooketh

* What happens next?  You'll have to watch and find out!

[schweiggiemydear]

Regarding the Super League - A Rant

Ok, since the League was more or less officially announced today, I want to talk about it. If you haven't heard about it, you can read the Sky Sports article explaining it here.

I want to add a disclaimer that since I am an Arsenal and Real Madrid fan, my views are biased since both teams have been selected for the league.

However, there are a few things I want to address as a general football fan that are not affected by my club loyalty. I'll include a section at the bottom of this post on my opinion on the new league just because. Editing to add another disclaimer that I do NOT support the Super League. I am just discussing the issues I have seen brought up about it.

Fan Response

A lot of football fans have taken to social media to voice their opposition to the league. Maybe I haven't looked hard enough, but I haven't actually seen any reason for this hatred towards the new league other than "It will ruin football" and "It's just another way for the clubs to make more money." Again, maybe I just haven't seen it, but these two "reasons" aren't really explained at all:

"It will ruin football": It's another competition that only the "elite" and "best" clubs of Europe will be a part of. This is basically the Champions and Europa leagues already. These two competitions will not be eliminated and you can still see underdogs play European football.

Is the concern here that this elevates top clubs at the expense of smaller clubs? (like Champions League already does?) Is the concern here that mechanisms for fair competition will be dropped for the sake of greed? (like Champions league already does?) (Like FIFA does every time they make a decision?) Is the concern here that it undermines the concept of competition and the idea that any team can win a trophy in Europe? This is the only valid criticism I can understand and support, but when was the last time a big club didn't win the Champions league? When was the last time a small club Leicester or Roma held the trophy? If you can count Olympique de Marseille as a "small club", then the answer is 1993.

"It's just another way for the clubs to make more money.": I hate to break it to you folks, but football is a business. (I have a lot of opinions on this - mainly regarding women's v. men's football and equal pay - but that is not the point of this post.) Clubs are always looking for ways to make more money and this pandemic has killed revenue for every club, even top league clubs, and they are looking for new and more steady sources of revenue.

Is the concern that without a ruling body like FIFA, the money for the competition will not be handled fairly? Is the concern that fans will have limited access to matches? If you take even a cursory glance at what FIFA/UEFA done regarding finance, transparency, match fixing, and fan access, you would know this isn't a valid criticism. Well, it is valid. But only if you also regularly call out FIFA, UEFA, Premier League/FA, Bundesliga, La Liga, League 1, Serie A, etc., for these same infractions. Which people don't.

Now if the criticisms were closer to "I think this brings unnecessary competition to top clubs already vying for European trophies", "This competition will make these clubs think they're better than everyone else", or "This puts a strain on players in these clubs who already play for club and country", I'd understand the concerns and would absolutely agree. But right now, the actual fan backlash seems more guided by a general misunderstanding on how football really works. Which leads to the next issue I want need to address.

FIFA/UEFA Response

Now here's where things get interesting because the backlash from FIFA and UEFA has been swift and aggressive to say the least. They are refusing to allow players who play in the Super League to be eligible for the 2022 World Cup and will likely impose fines or even ban clubs from the leagues that do participate. The Premier League/FA and the other major European leagues have issued a joint statement condemning the league. The statement mentions solidarity, a united front, fair competition, and sporting merit and claims that this new league is greedy and self-serving.

Ironic words come from institutions that are all well-known for their own corruption. Absolutely banger response from institutions that milk fans, players, and leagues every year. In fact, people on twitter made really great points and I'm going to provide the tweets here because they said it better than I could:

(including the last one because of Slavia Prague specifically)

We all know the main reason FIFA and UEFA are against the Super League is because they wouldn't get a cut of the revenue. I don't have any money to bet, but know that if I did, I would bet it all that if the Super League offered FIFA and UEFA each a significant cut of the continued revenue, they would get the green light immediately and that trophy would be physically bigger than the Champions League cup.

I just cannot get over the irony, hypocrisy, lack of awareness, and just BALLS of these organisations to make claims of greed and lack of fair play when they are guilty of these exact things. I think Toni Kroos said it best:

"European Super League? We are just puppets of FIFA and UEFA. If there was a players' union, we would not be playing the Nations League or Supercopa de Espana in Saudi Arabia." (Kroos in a podcast on 11/11/2020)

My Humble Opinion

Now here's what I think. And again, my teams would be involved in this Super League so I do have a stake in the game here.

Firstly, I absolutely agree the Super League is elitist in nature and affects the fair play nature of European football competitions and domestic leagues. No doubt that smaller clubs would be financially hurt by this new league and it puts these "top teams" on a pedestal, especially when the last thing they need is an even more inflated ego (Arsenal included). Every club has been hurt by this pandemic and needs funds. Every club has been hurt by FIFA's practices and there's a good chance this will really mess with smaller teams' chances of earning revenue themselves.

Second, FIFA and UEFA can go fuck themselves.

Third, FIFA plans to ban players and clubs who participate in this Super League and to that I say good fucking luck with that because those clubs are your biggest earners. Absolutely no hate or shade to the Bundesliga or League 1, but they just don't bring in the same revenue as Barca, Real Madrid, or Premier League teams. Bayern Munich did recently overtake Man United as the 3rd richest club in Europe, but they are still vastly out-earned by RM and Barca. PSG is #7 (after 3 english teams) and Juventus is #10 (after 5 english teams) (source). The revenue FIFA and UEFA would lose from banning Super League teams would be astronomical. Not just in the domestic leagues themselves, but the Champions League, Europa League, and the World Cup. I mean, what's a World Cup without Messi? (personally, I'm okay with that but you get my point)

Fourth, and hear me out, I genuinely believe that the Super League is a good TEMPORARY idea. The Super League should be used as an experiment to see how competitions would function outside the influence of FIFA and other regulatory agencies. This would be a League run by clubs and players and is a better representation on how football SHOULD be organised. If these clubs take a stand against FIFA, maybe, just maybe, we can get rid of some of the corruption inherent in football. Don't get me wrong, the Super League is definitely meant to be revenue generating for sure. But it's also a middle finger to FIFA and, if its done well, the rest of Europe might take a harder look at how much they don't actually need FIFA. Do I think this is the right way of doing it? No. But has it clearly stirred things up and now people are talking about the issues? Yes.

Lastly, I want to talk about Kroos' comment above. A players union is a brilliant idea and I think the European Super League is actually a great way for players to argue for it. They can use the leverage of the new league to bargain for better rights and a union that actually tells FIFA to go fuck itself when it decides things like revenue gouging Brazil in 2014 or a Qatar World Cup. Or the many hundred other shitty things FIFA has done. For a full list, please see John Oliver's amazing coverage of FIFA in his series "Last Week Tonight" (found on YouTube or HBOMax).

If you made it to the bottom of this post/rant, thank you! Let me know what you think about this Super League and what would you do if you were one of the teams involved?

[dasweet]

Aunt Le

Synopsis: You're working part-time, especially after having your son. Your husband... He renovates houses. And I'm the cool single aunt. Somehow, we build our life.

Author's Notes: My first time writing here, so please be patient with me. Also, inglish is not my native language. be patient with me x2

Fluff

Afghanistan was a mess – that was one of the only thoughts around Yelena’s mind since the US government sent her squad to support the armed forces there. Shelters were built. People were taken off the street. Bombs were detonated, too. Yelena swears she can still hear the noise of explosions in her ears, even though the jet’s noise was the only real sound she heard in the last thirteen hours of the trip. And she tried to sleep. Tried to rest. But as a soldier who is constantly on the field, she has lost the ability to nap peacefully in public spaces (a disturbing ability that saved her life and dozens of others more times than Yelena can really count).

Still, at times like this, she wished she had this talent.

The last six months on a mission, rarely alone, rarely resting, constantly rescuing people from high-rise buildings and battling extremists has taken a toll on her nervous system. Thirteen hours of travel and a time-zone break didn’t do much to help either. But none of that matters. Not the incessant pain in her musicians, the aching twinges in her back that still can’t handle the jet’s seats, the heavy dark circles under her eyes that Yelena swears have already become a natural tattoo set. No. When she parks her car and the first thing she sees beyond the manicured yard, with neatly trimmed green grass and a red tricycle near the porch steps, it’s like the last few months hadn’t existed. Her heart swells up like a wet cotton ball and she opens the car door. A smile coming when the front door is flung open and a human being’s project passes through it faster than the speed of light.

“Aunt Le!” Hux squeals happily, shooting in her way like the small energy missile he is. Yelena leans over to catch the boy in mid-jump, ignoring the thud her suitcase makes when it hits the ground. She squeezes the boy a little tighter and is squeezed back in a death hug. His scent of baby shampoo and blackberry syrup has never changed.

“Hey buddy” She hums under her breath “How’s my champion doing?”

“Good.”

“Good, huh?”

“Yes.” Her smile grows even softer when she notices Natasha on the threshold, sneering affectionately as she does whenever Huxley is near his aunt. You see, since the boy learned to walk, he doesn’t let anyone pick him up. Except for Yelena.

“Put me down!”

For a short time, of course.

Yelena laughs, putting the child back on the sidewalk.

“Nice hat.”

“You think? I asked Mom for a soldier’s helmet like yours, but she thinks I’m too young for that.” He shares, tidying up the aluminum colander he’s currently wearing as a military helmet to hide his father’s inherited black hair.

Yelena peers at Natasha under her lashes before leaning in to whisper. “I’ll let you use mine if you promise you won’t tell mom.”

Huxley smiles excitedly. A toothless smile, crooked teeth and wrinkled nose, while half his view is blocked by the barrier of the colander . Yelena barely has time to melt before Natasha finally approaches.

“Stop corrupting my son.” Her hand lands on Yelena’s shoulder with a firm grip and for a second, loneliness and emptiness are filled with shared brotherhood affection. "Моя младшая сестра, it’s good to see you.”

They’ve never been very fond of prolonged physical touch, so their affection is portrayed with looks. Right now, Yelena is sure hers is mushy as hell when she nods positively, holding the older one’s elbow to acknowledge the touch. “Come on. Lets go in. You need to eat and get some rest. Looks like you came out of a war.”

“Ha!” She says, catching the irony of that choice of words in the air. Natasha rolls her eyes. “Where’s Bruce?”

“Mr. Gardner needed help fixing the roof.”

“Are the kids still causing problems?”

“It’s Halloween, Yelena.” Natasha shakes her head heavily “The kids have their trick moment and the neighbors deal with the damage for the rest of the year. Just the usual.”

“Rude. Hey, here, let the aunt-“

“No!” Huxley protests “I take.”

His version of help consists of dragging her bag across the floor, since he doesn't have the strength to lift and carry it in his skinny arms.

"Want help bug?"

"No Mommy! I'm fine!" Shouts the boy back.

Yelena doesn't have time to think that she'll need another suitcase until the end of the trip when Natasha comments something in Russian about how this vacancy for a physical education teacher at the school where she works is open and how nice it would be if Yelena could reconsider her plan of career. Stay in Ohio longer. Yelena rolls her eyes, too in love with her profession to give it up to live a simple life in the suburbs, with a husband, kids and furry pets that would probably make her raise her kids on antihistamines.

She doesn't even like people that much.

"But I could think about the dog" she confides as she crosses the Hall "I want a dog."

Behind them, Huxley pulls her bag up the stairs.

+++

She wakes up the next morning with a tiny body scaling her waist and her reflexes, too fast for her slow mind, kick into action before she can think about it. Her body tenses in preparation for a fight, but instead, all she sees is Huxley's toothless grin and her extra-large helmet unbuckled along the kid's jaw.

“Look, Aunt Le! It fit!"

[the-most-slytherin-hufflepuff]

Open your eyes (Chapter 1)

And the madness begins Here you go peeps chapter 1. I’m posting it now because I probably won’t have time during the weekend.  I loved writing this one and I hope you enjoy it. Credit for the characters goes to @lumosinlove​. 

There are mentions of blood and injury in this chapter

@clearsuitcasecookienerd I think you asked me to tag you but i can’t remember so I’m tagging you anyway :)) 

Masterlist

Remus was going to murder Finn. He read over the letter one more time to check if he hadn’t missed anything, he knew he hadn’t. Remus had probably read and reread that letter about a hundred times since Heather had handed it to him three days ago. It’s contents always saying the same thing. Finn was getting married. His best friend had been courting the crown prince of Hufflepuff for a year and now they were getting married, and Remus was just finding out. 

He was happy for Finn, his friend had had his eye out for the blonde prince for years now. That, however, didn’t take away from the fact that Finn had conveniently forgotten to mention he had started courting Leo in any of his letters during the past year. If he thought that would stop Remus from threatening Leo Knut with death if he ever hurt Finn he clearly didn’t know him as well as he should.  

Remus put the letter down and picked up a piece of blank parchment, dipping the tip of his quill pen in the black ink. He thought about how he should respond, if he should respond at all. Maybe he should just go home and congratulate Finn in person, right after strangling him for being a complete idiot. Before he could decide on what to do he heard the door to the physician's chamber open, he didn’t need to see who it was to know Sirius was there. He was the only person stupid enough to come into Minerva’s working space without knocking. 

“Remus, are you here?” There was a pained edge to his otherwise casual tone that made Remus’s eyebrows furrow in worry. 

“One second.” Remus put the quill in the ink pot carefully and stood from his chair. Sirius was sitting in one of the stools when he came out of his room, his left shoulder was bleeding. “Snape needs to calm down”, Remus said in an irritated tone, “that’s the third time he’s injured you this month. And before you say something stupid about how injuries happen, or whatever other nonsense I’m sure is about to come out of your mouth, I want to point out that the injury is on your back and Snape has absolutely no business pointing the sword at your back.” During his rant Remus had gathered what he would need to clean, possibly stitch, and bandage Sirius’s injury. 

Sirius flinched when Remus pressed a wet rag to his bleeding shoulder blade. “How did you know it was Snape?” Remus made a noncommittal sound before answering. “Every time you come in here it’s either because you decided it would be ok to not stay up all night to do work or because Snape got aggressive during training.” He paused for a second assessing the damage now that the blood was gone. “And since you aren’t being carried in here passed out cold in Sir Pascal’s arms my guess is it was the latter.” Remus went silent, concentrating in threading the silk string through the needle. He didn’t like stitching when the person was conscious to feel it, but maybe he could do something to help with the pain. He knew using his magic on Sirius was risky, but he didn’t want to cause the prince any extra discomfort. 

“You need stitches, just so you know.” Sirius groaned, he hated getting stitches. “Just nod when you’re ready.” Sirius took a deep breath, then nodded slowly, bracing himself for the feeling of metal piercing skin. He winced slightly, but was surprised when he noticed it didn’t hurt as much as he thought it would. 

“How come it doesn’t hurt that much?” Remus stayed silent for a moment, concentrating on the repetitive pattern of knitting Sirius’s skin back together, before answering. 

“I’m not sure. Maybe the pain from the original cut is numbing this one a little.” Sirius hummed, trying to relax as much as he could. He winced every now and then, but barely felt anything. When Remus was done Sirius let out a heavy breath. “Be careful until that’s healed”, Remus ordered in a stern voice. 

“Of course my lord. Anything else.” Remus raised an eyebrow at Sirius, he didn’t appreciate the mocking tone. 

“Yes actually. You’re banned from training till further notice.” He took incredible satisfaction in seeing Sirius splutter in indignation. 

“You can’t do that.” 

“I can and I will.” Remus crossed his arms over his chest and met Sirius’s eyes. “No harsh movements with your shoulder means no training. I will strap you to your bed if I have to, you are not training for at least three days.” 

“Fine”, the prince grumbled. 

Remus beamed at him. “Great. Now, you’re not dying and I already took care of you so, please leave. I have matters to attend to.” 

“Trying to get rid of me, huh?” Sirius feigned hurt. “And here I thought you liked me.” 

Remus hummed. “You know I do, But right now I’m trying to stay angry and you being here is not helping.” 

Sirius gave him a confused look. “Angry. Why?” 

“Because.” Remus threw his hands up in frustration. “Finn sent a letter saying that he’s getting married and I didn’t even know he was courting someone. And since I don’t really have an excuse to go to Gryffindor right now I have to make do with screaming at him through a letter.” 

A look of shock crossed Sirius’s features. “Wait. Finn, as in Finn O’Hara. The prince.” 

“Yes. My father is a member of the King’s council.” Now it was Remus’s turn to look confused. “He and I grew up together. I thought you knew that.” 

“You never told me.  How am I supposed to know, I don’t read minds.” 

“Obviously”, Remus’s tone took on a bitter edge. “If you did you wouldn’t be standing here right now.” 

“What do you mean.” 

“Mind reading is magic, Sirius. You would be exiled or worse, dead.” 

Understanding settled over Sirius like a cold blanket. He didn’t get why Remus sounded so bitter, maybe he didn’t agree with his father’s laws, maybe he knew someone with magic. Sirius did not want to think about sweet, intelligent Remus anywhere near magic or it’s influence. He couldn’t stand to see his boyfriend be corrupted. 

“Right. Well.” The silence that followed was uncomfortably tense. Sirius was the first to break it. “Well maybe you could come with the party that’s going to Gryffindor at the end of the week. Minerva has been really occupied with the illness that has taken over the lower town and she won’t be able to go.” Sirius relaxed when he saw the small smile that formed on Remus’s lips. “We need someone that knows their way around medicine.” 

“You do know that Gryffindor has physicians, right?” Remus asked, though the smile on his face told Sirius that he was going to go with them regardless. 

“I know that.” Sirius rolled his eyes. “Father doesn’t want…” he trailed off. Remus got what he wanted to say anyway, the smile slipping from his face. Orion didn’t want the physicians that had magic. The irony almost made Remus snort. 

“Right. Magic.” He made sure to keep the bitterness out of his tone this time. “It’ll be nice to go back home. I haven’t seen Jules in three years.” 

“Who’s Jules?” Sirius was starting to realize how little he knew about Remus’s life before he came to Slytherin. It made his chest ache. 

Remus’s face softened. “My brother. He should be turning sixteen this summer.” His smile turned a little sad. “It’ll be nice seeing him again.” 

Sirius didn’t know what to say, or if he should say anything at all, he didn’t know what not having his brother around was like. “It’s a pity Reg won’t be coming. I’m sure he and your brother would have gotten along.” 

“They would probably tear the kingdom to shreds, Julian is very chaotic.” Remus’s honey colored eyes shone brightly. “Gryffindor already has to deal with the chaos that is Finn, and I.”

“I want to meet all your friends.” 

Remus narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “Why?” 

“What? Can’t I want to meet your friends without any ulterior motives?” 

“No”, he responded simply. 

“Ok fine it’s because I want the embarrassing stories.” Remus rolled his eyes. “I need teasing material Re. I have nothing on you.” 

“Maybe I just don’t do anything embarrassing.” 

“That is a big lie and you know it. You trip on air all the time.” Remus glared at him. 

“Must I remind you that I can leave you out of knight training for a month.” 

Sirius’s eyes widened. “You wouldn’t dare.” 

Remus crossed his arms, a mischievous smirk appearing on his face. “Try me, sire.” He somehow made the title sound disrespectful, Sirius still didn’t understand how he did it. 

“Ok ok. I’ll behave”. Sirius raised his arms up in surrender. 

“Good.” Remus grinned at him, leaning on his toes to kiss Sirius, nipping at his lower lip. “Come on.” He grabbed Sirius’s hand and dragged him out into the hallway, dropping it once they could be seen by someone else. They spent the afternoon together. They were joined by Logan at one point. The other knight was excited to go to Gryffindor, apparently he and Finn had become friends during the week leading up to Sirius’s coronation, and had been sending letters back and forth for about a year and a half. 

After night had fallen Remus retreated to his room, the letter a distant memory. He passed out as soon as his head hit the pillow, his soft snores the only sound in the room. 

~*~*~*~*~*

Two days later they were riding toward Remus’s home country. He was nervous, he hadn’t seen Jules and Thomas in years and last time he saw Finn was two years ago, when Sirius got crowned as heir to the throne. The trip passed him by in a blur. They reached the entrance to the citadel a day and half after departing from Slytherin. By then the nerves had worn off, replaced by a burning excitement. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that he had to be careful, but that rarely mattered when he saw his brother, clad in knights armor standing besides Finn and Alex. 

He saw Julian’s hand twitch, his caramel colored eyes, darker than Remus’s own, lighting up when he saw him. His face remained stoic, but Remus could tell he was trying to not smile. Besides him Finn studied the crowd, eyes narrowing slightly when he looked at Orion. The King walked down the stone steps to welcome the guests. 

He and Orion exchanged pleasantries and soon enough the Slytherin party had entered the palace. A group of maids and servants took care of guiding the guards and knights to where they would be staying for the week, some of them nodding towards Remus or saying hello. Julian waited for the crowd to thin before rushing to hug his brother. Remus gave a startled yelp, wrapping his arms around Julian and holding him close. There were tears shining in the younger’s eyes when they broke apart. 

“What are you doing here? I thought you were just an apprentice for Minerva.” 

“I am”, Remus answered, “but she couldn’t come. There’s an illness taking over in Slytherin’s lower town.” 

Julian frowned slightly. “That’s awful”, he smiled brightly again, Remus keeping up with Julian’s constantly changing emotions with ease. “I’m glad you’re here though.” He pulled Remus in again, hugging him tightly. 

Remus heard Finn yell behind them. “Jules, don’t be a Remus hog.” 

Julian looked up to where Finn was and yelled back. “He is my brother O’Hara. I will hog him however much I want.” He placed his head just under Remus’s chin, sighing contentedly. 

Remus heard footsteps coming up behind him, Finn appearing on his field of vision. “I would hug you. But I think your hands are full.” Julian glared at Finn, grumbling under his breath before settling into his brother’s arms again. Remus chuckled at his baby brother’s antics. 

He gave Finn a look that promised trouble. “Finn.” The other man visibly paled. “We’re discussing the letter later.” Finn relaxed a little at the small hint of excitement he could hear in Remus’s voice. 

Julian squeezed Remus tighter before letting go, saying he had to get back to training and that he would see his brother at home. Remus looked at Finn who was watching the brothers’ interaction with a fond smile. 

“He looks up to you a lot you know.” Finn said. “The little idiot wanted to use daggers. He got so frustrated when he found out that wasn’t his thing.” 

“What is his thing then?” 

Finn thought about it before answering. “He’s a natural at shooting. Crossbows, knives, bow and arrow.” 

“That’s great”,   Remus said, a proud glint in his eyes. “He spends a lot of time with you I’m guessing.” 

“Yeah. He’s gonna be better than me soon.” Finn sighed. “How do you handle all his energy? I swear even the puppies are less active.”

Remus chuckled. “I don’t handle it. I just let him do his thing until he passes out from exhaustion”, he shrugged, “works like a charm.”

The two of them turned when they heard a squeal. Lily Evans stood near the entrance, her hands covering her mouth. She snapped out of her daze and ran towards Remus. He caught her when she jumped at him, her legs wrapping around his waist. She buried her face on his shoulder, trying to hide the tears that were flowing down her face. 

“What are you doing here? When did you get here? Has Jules seen you yet? How long are you staying?” 

“I’m here because the Slytherin visitors needed a physician and Minerva couldn’t come. I just got here. Yes Jules already tried to strangle me but your giving him great competition.” Lily let her feet drop to the floor soundlessly, but kept her hold on Remus for a little longer. “Probably going to stay for a week.”

“Gods, that’s not nearly enough time.” She looked up at him with shiny green eyes, moving to be at arm's length with him. “I missed you, the castle isn’t as fun without you to help me pull pranks on everyone.” 

Remus laughed, he had missed his friend. “How’s James doing?”  

“Oh you know”, she waved a hand around, “the usual. You just missed him actually.” She gave him an apologetic smile. “He went back to Ravenclaw yesterday.” 

“Maybe that’s for the best. I can’t imagine what would happen if he were to cross paths with Sirius. That’s either going to be a dangerous friendship or they’ll hate each other.” 

She hummed, grabbing his hand and dragging him towards the training grounds. “Come on.” He and Finn followed behind her. When they reached the grounds they saw a small group of knights fighting with blunt weapons. Remus noticed that all the sorcerers were conveniently missing from the bunch. 

She guided Remus to the armory. “Go get your things. You owe me a fight after last time.” She had begun strapping leather gauntlets on her wrists. He looked around the armory to where he usually left his personal stuff, everything was where he had left it. Someone, probably Lily, had kept his daggers sharpened and polished. 

After they put on all of their protective gear, Lily and Remus headed out of the armory and went to the sparring square. “Hey Finn”, everyone stopped what they were doing when they heard Lily’s voice, “mediate for us will you?” 

Finn nodded, a grin appearing on his face, and walked to the edge of the square. “You know the rules. One round. First to draw blood wins unless the other yields.” 

The rest of the knights had gathered around to watch the fight. Remus stood at one end completely relaxed, Lily mirrored his stance. They studied each other for a moment, waiting for who would strike first. Tense silence had fallen over the square, everyone held their breath, until finally, Lily moved. 

The only sound in the clearing was the loud clashing of blades. Lily’s steps were near silent, almost like she were floating above the ground. Remus matched her pace perfectly, able to predict her every move like a well practiced dance. Remus punched her in the stomach making her lose balance, falling to the ground with a small thud. He pointed his dagger at her throat. “Yield”. 

Sirius and Logan watched the battle going on in front of them with wide eyes. They had heard the clashing of steel while walking through the castle and went to investigate only to find Remus fighting a red headed girl. His control with the daggers was almost flawless. The girl, who had a knife in her hand and three more strapped to her hips and thighs, battled with deadly precision. She would’ve made a worthy opponent to either of them. She looked at Remus with steely determination, she refused to let him win so easily. If Logan hadn’t been paying such close attention to the battle he would have missed it. Quick as lightning, the red head swiped Remus’s legs from under him, making him fall backwards, his dagger skittering across the ground.

 She stood up, holding two knives now, and lunged at Remus. He got up, stumbling over to where his blade had landed. He felt the brush of Lily’s blade against his back, it was nothing but a feather-light touch, but it was enough to warn him of what would come next. 

He grabbed the small knife that he kept hidden in his boot and turned, quick enough to meet Lily’s blade. There was fire in her gaze, barely suppressed magic burning under her skin. Remus felt the familiar buzz of his own magic trying to get out, but he kept it down with practiced ease. He felt Lily push harder with her blade, saw her other hand move back to slash at his stomach. He jumped out of the way, landing far enough away that the blade didn’t graze him. 

Sirius watched both fighters as they assessed each other with sharp focus, the silence in the grounds was absolute. Remus looked between his dagger laying on the ground and the redhead, he twisted the knife he was holding and smirked. The girl smiled brightly, eyes sharp. Sirius couldn’t figure out who would win, Remus’s usual clumsy self was gone and in its place stood a skilled warrior. 

They met in the middle of the square, the girl’s twin blades blocking Remus’s attack. She pushed back with enough force to make him stumble, before he could get too far she jammed the butt of her knife into Remus’s ribs making him double over in pain. She tripped him, making him fall back again, pinned his hands down at his sides with her knees and put the edge of her blade to the base of his neck. “Yield.” 

Remus’s glare in that moment would have made any man tremble, but the girl seemed unaffected. She put a little more pressure on the blade. “Yield, Remus.” 

He looked at her face for a moment. Whatever he was looking for he must have found, all the fight left him in a gust of air. “I yield.” The crowd erupted into cheers. 

The girl nodded, sheathing her knives and standing up. Remus took her offered hand and stood up, punching her shoulder lightly. She said something to him that made him laugh brightly, the hostile energy between them seemingly gone as fast as it had appeared. 

Remus locked eyes with Sirius from across the field, a teasing smirk pulling at his lips. He tapped the girl on the shoulder and pointed towards him and Logan. She said something to him and he nodded before walking over, the girl and another red headed boy walking behind him. Sirius recognized the other man as Prince Finn O’Hara.                              

“Did you know Remus could do that.” Logan sounded as surprised as Sirius felt. Sirius shook his head, unable to form words. 

“Hey guys.” Remus sounded a little breathless, but seemed otherwise unaffected by the fight. 

“Aren’t you going to introduce us Re?” The girl’s tone was teasing, but her eyes were looking at Sirius like she was trying to figure out his next move. 

“Right. Sorry.” Remus coughed loudly. “This is Lily. Lily this is Prince Sirius Black.” 

The girl extended her hand in greeting. Sirius shook it. “Please, call me Sirius. No titles unless we’re in my father’s presence.” Lily looked at him with an unreadable expression. She nodded and squeezed his hand lightly before letting go. Sirius felt like he had just passed some sort of test. 

“And this”, he pointed to the other red head behind him who was smiling at Logan, “is Prince Finn O’Hara.” He looked at Logan. “I believe the two of you have met before.” Sirius thought he saw a small blush appear on Logan’s cheeks. 

Finn’s nose scrunched up. “It’s so weird to hear you using my title.” 

“That was a great fight”, Logan praised, “why didn’t you tell me you could do things like that. Do you have any idea how long I’ve been wanting a sparring partner.” 

Sirius made an indignant sound. “I’m standing right here Tremblay.” 

“Yeah, but you don’t know how to use daggers. You almost cut your hand off the one time you tried.” 

Remus looked at Sirius with a disbelieving look, while Lily and Finn tried not to laugh. “You did what?” 

“He’s exaggerating.” 

Logan glared at him. “Really? Because the way I recall it you cut your palm open when the grip slipped.”

A few giggles escaped Lily before she could stop them. She took a breath to try and calm down before speaking. “Let me guess, he tried to handle the dagger like he would a sword.” At Logan’s nod she sighed disappointedly. “Typical.” 

“He never bothered learning how to use them properly afterwards.” 

Remus looked at Sirius, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Well, there’s no time like the present.”  

Sirius made a distressed noise. “No. Remus I can’t.” 

“Don’t worry”, Finn interjected, “Remus and Lily are the best. Besides, Jules will probably want Remus to teach him the basics. You can be his sparring partner.” As if on cue, Julian appeared at Finn’s shoulder, startling him. “I’m putting bells on your feet.” 

Julian giggled, “Sorry.” He moved to stand besides Remus and leaned against his brother, eyes shining with excitement. “You’re going to teach me?” Remus nodded, giving Sirius a look that made him cave in. 

“Alright”, Sirius’s shoulders slumped in defeat, “I’ll try the daggers out.” Sirius smiled weakly at Julian, who was beaming at him and bouncing on the balls of his feet. 

Finn grabbed Logan’s wrist and guided him inside to explore the castle, leaving Sirius and Remus with Lily and Julian. Remus chuckled when Lily looped her arm through Sirius’s and dragged him away, he turned back to look at his boyfriend with a pleading expression. Remus shrugged, leaving Sirius to his luck and Lily’s mercy. 

“Is he going to be ok?” Julian asked. 

“Yeah.” Remus answered dismissively, putting his arm around the younger boy’s shoulders. “Let’s go home.” The two brother’s walked away from the training grounds and headed to the citadel, laughing and shoving at each other playfully. They were both gasping when they reached their house. 

They walked in, Julian signaling for Remus to stay quiet and go hide before announcing his presence. “Hi mom.” 

“Hey honey. How was your day?” Came Hope Lupin’s from the general direction of her office followed by the soft sound of footsteps. 

“It was great. You’ll never guess who I found.” 

She came into the room and Remus had to hold himself back from coming out of his hiding spot and running into her arms. “Are you going to tell me who it was or am I going to have to start naming people?” 

A soft gasp escaped her lips when she saw Remus emerging from where he had been hiding. “Surprise”. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly, resting his cheek on top of her head. She smiled brightly when they separated, a fond look on her eyes. His father entered the room a few moments later, pulling him into a tight hug. There was bright laughter and teary smiles that left a warm feeling in Remus’s chest. They spent the afternoon catching up, laughing and joking like they used to before Remus left for Slytherin.

Hours later, after Jules had fallen asleep with Calliope curled around his shoulders, Remus went into his old room. Everything was the same, the bed sheets had been cleaned and his mess had been organized, but everything else remained the same. His eyes flashed gold, lighting up the candles and stirring the stale air of the room gently. He sighed tiredly, crawling into bed and burying himself under the soft covers, a content smile on his face. 

He thought about Sirius, he wanted to show him everything. All the places where he had spent hours reading or spending time with Finn, the place where he had met Thomas, where he and Lily used to spend time practicing their magic. He knew Sirius couldn’t know about his abilities, maybe someday he could show him, but for now he wanted to share his home with him. Home was everything Remus loved. 

Home were his friends, his family, his magic. Sirius. 

*~*~*~*~*

Two days later Remus found himself alone with Sirius back at the training grounds. Sirius frowned in frustration, trying to make some sense out of what Remus had told him to fix about his technique. He looked to the side, where his boyfriend was standing, staring at him with an amused glint in his eye. “I don't understand why I can’t just use my sword”, Sirius whined, “I’m already good at that.” 

Remus gave him an exasperated glare, Sirius still caught the amused twitch of his lip. “Because, weapon versatility is one of the most important attributes a warrior could have.” He grabbed Sirius’s hand, a small smirk tugging at his lip, and pulled him close. “And, daggers are better when it comes to close range fights.” 

“Is that so?” Sirius raised an eyebrow at him. “And, do tell, why would I want to use a weapon that requires me to get that close.”

Remus shrugged, using the motion to slip the small blade from the sheath at his thigh and letting his hand hang at his side, the point of the dagger clutched lightly between his fingers. “I guess you’re right, but what if you don’t get to choose your range, m’lord?”  

Before he could answer Remus flicked the blade into the air and knocked Sirius feet from under him in one smooth motion. He straddled his hips, catching the dagger, the leather grip landing on his palm, and pressing its razor sharp edge to the side of Sirius’s throat with barely there pressure.  

“Like say, someone catching you unawares and pointing a very sharp deadly object to a very”, he leaned in to whisper in Sirius ear, making a shiver run down his spine, “very vulnerable part of your body.” He took the dagger away from Sirius’s neck replacing it with his lips in a feather light kiss that made Sirius melt a little under him. He stood up gracefully, offering his hand to Sirius who was still slightly dazed. “Come on”, he pulled him up with a grunt, “let’s get back to work.” 

Sirius stared at him, heat spreading through his neck up to his cheeks. “You expect me to concentrate. After that.” 

Remus looked at him with an innocent expression. “After what, sweetheart.” 

“N-Nothing. Work right. Let’s get back to work.” 

Remus giggled, shaking his head fondly and walking to the other side of the training grounds, ignoring his boyfriend’s questions. He had asked Lily to come help him with Sirius’s training, she had a talent for teaching even the most stubborn students. Ha saw her coming out of the armory with her knives strapped to her legs and a pair of blunt daggers. 

“How’s my student doing?” She asked, walking besides him back to where Sirius was watching them with a weary expression. 

“He’s fine. I was just showing him why he should learn how to hold his own with short range weaponry.” She gave him a skeptical look. He just batted his eyelashes at her in faux innocence, she shoved his face away with her palm making him laugh loudly. 

“What did you do?” They were close enough that Sirius could hear their conversation. 

“I just did the same thing you did to James when he tried to show off. Back when he was a pining mess and trying to win your affection.” 

She hummed. “Good”.

“I learned from the best.” They stopped in front of Sirius. Remus gave him a kiss on the cheek and walked back to the entrance that led to the palace. “He’s all your Lils. I expect him back in one piece.” 

“Yeah yeah”, she waved dismissively, “I won’t kill your man. Now go, you’re distracting him and Jules is waiting for you.” 

Lily turned to look at Sirius, a smirk on her lips. He swallowed nervously, back straightening slightly. “Now the real fun begins.” She tossed the blunt blades at him, he fumbled with them for a moment, looking at her with pleading eyes. “Don’t look at me like that Black, I’m not torturing you.” 

“Remus couldn’t teach me how to do this properly. I’m no good.” 

She grabbed his face between her palms, staring into his eyes with a steady look. “Don’t say that. I’m here because I’m the best at this and because you’re my friend.” 

“But what if that’s not enough?” He sounded defeated, shoulders dropping. 

“I’m the one who taught Remus how to aim a knife properly. And I can assure you he was much worse at that than you are at this.” Her hands dropped to his shoulders, pushing them back gently so he was standing straight. “Chin up, your highness. Everyone has to start somewhere, and there’s no time like the present.” 

*~*~*~*~*

Logan walked to the library with his heart in his throat. Seeing Finn again after so long had been wonderful and painful at the same time. It hurt to know that the man he loved had fallen for someone else, but it was worse, because Logan had also fallen for the man Finn described in his letters. 

Leo had no face for Logan, no body, no voice, no features. And yet he had crawled into Logan’s heart and settled there, at least the idea of him had. The man that Finn described with such love and adoration was someone Logan wanted, he wanted Finn, too. 

He wanted to put a face to the idea and see if he could still love Leo the same. He at least wanted to put a face to the man that had won his affection without uttering a single word. Logan didn’t know Leo, he knew of Leo, but that was enough. Enough for him to fall so deeply so fast, the problem was that there was no one to catch him when he eventually met the ground. 

He opened the doors to the library soundlessly and walked inside, halting when he saw Finn, lying on one of the vibrant red couches, fast asleep, book clutched to his chest. The sight made him melt a little, he wanted to kiss the other boy awake, wanted to wrap him up in a hug, but he knew he couldn’t. So he settled for taking the book from Finn’s grasp, draping one of the blankets that were kept there over him gently, watching him shift to nuzzle the soft fabric with his cheek before settling again.

 He ran his hand through Finn’s auburn curls softly, a small whisper of I love you leaving his lips in a breath, and then he was gone. Leaving the library and part of his heart behind. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

On the third day of their visit to Gryffindor Snape came into the physician’s chamber looking like he had lost a fight with a rabid animal. He had cuts going down his left arm and a bruised collarbone. Remus had seen Snape trying, and failing, to flirt with Lily a few times during their stay at the palace and it appeared she had gotten fed up with his attempts. Remus barely suppressed a laugh and motioned for the night to sit down, turning around to look for the things he would need and so that Snape wouldn’t see him grinning. 

Remus had to fight down a smirk when he heard Snape hiss, the pressure of the wet rag making his arm sting. The cuts from Lily’s knives were still fresh, but no longer bleeding. The knight muttered an insult under his breath that made Remus rub the tender skin none too gently. The man winced, shoulders tense, but remained silent. 

A servant approached them cautiously, eyeing Snape like one would a wild dog. She lifted her gaze to look at Remus, a little of the apprehension leaving her eyes. He finished bandaging Snape’s arms. “I’d suggest you lay off training for today.” The knight rolled his eyes, but nodded anyway, leaving Remus alone with the serving girl. 

Once they were alone she spoke up. “There’s a messenger from Slytherin at the entrance asking for King Orion.” 

A crease of worry appeared between his eyebrows. “Did they say why?” 

The girl shook her head. “He just said that the King needed to head back immediately. I suppose he’ll explain more to his highness than he did to me.” 

“Lord Orion is in the Council chamber discussing some things with the king. Can’t it wait until that’s over?” 

“I don’t think so”, she answered, “he looked worried. I don’t think they would send someone if it wasn’t urgent.” 

“Thank you for telling me.” She bowed her head slightly. “Please tell this messenger to wait for me outside the Council chamber.” She gave another small bow and walked out the door. 

Remus followed behind her, turning to go to the library where he knew Logan and Sirius would be. He tried to think of any reason why the council would send someone to retrieve the king from such an important trip, but he came up with nothing. The only thing he could think was that someone had tried to take over, but that didn’t seem like it was it. 

“If you think any harder your brain is going to melt.” Remus jumped at the voice, he hadn’t heard someone approach him, too lost in thought to sense his surroundings. 

“Hey, Alex. Kasey.” 

The man fell into step besides him, his manservant following a few steps behind them, listening to their conversation in silence. “Something’s worrying you.” Alex looked at him with an unreadable expression. “This has something to do with that messenger right?” 

“How do you even know about that already?” 

Alex shrugged. “I have my ways.” He looked at Kasey with a smile. “So.” He turned back to Remus. “What’s wrong.” 

“I'm not sure”, Remus sighed. “Something happened. Bad enough that the council decided to call the king back knowing he could be about to enter into an alliance with your father.” They reached the entrance to the library. “That’s all I know. I need to get Logan and Sirius to the council chamber, the other knights are probably being notified and should be preparing to leave.”

Remus pushed the doors open, silent chatter feeling his ears. “Sirius”, he walked inside, “are you here.” 

“At the fireplace,” came Sirius’s voice from deeper in the room. “The others are here too” 

He sighed, walking to where his boyfriend was sitting, surrounded by Lily, Finn, and Logan. He looked at them with a weary expression, motioning for his friends to follow him. “We have to go.” 

“Why”, worry seeped into Logan’s tone, “what’s going on.” 

“A messenger arrived earlier today asking for King Orion and his party. He says that they’re needed back in Slytherin.” 

Logan looked at the redhead. “I’m sorry, but who are you and how do you know that?”

“Apologies, my name is Alex. I’m Finn’s brother. And, like I told Remus, I have my ways of knowing things.” 

“Stop smirking like a smug idiot and lead the way,” Finn stood up, the rest following behind. “We have somewhere to be.” 

They all walked down to the Council chamber where a boy was standing, looking at the doors with terrified eyes. He nodded nervously when he saw them, stepping back and vowing deeply. The guards bowed to Finn and Alex and opened the doors, cutting off the conversation going on inside the room. 

“Father”, Alex bowed, “an urgent message was sent to King Orion.” 

“And who has sent this message?” Orion’s voice was ice cold. 

 Alex held the man’s piercing stare. He motioned for the boy to step forward, encouraging him to speak up. “I did, m-m’lord.” The boy bowed. “There’s a s-situation that requires your immediate attention.” 

“And this situation”, the king’s voice remained calm, the boy shivered at the cold tone, “it couldn’t wait?” 

“No, sire”, the boy’s voice shook. “I-It’s prince Regulus.” He took a deep breath. “He’s gone.” 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The ride back to Slytherin was quiet, tense. Orion hadn’t said a word since they had departed and it didn’t seem like he would. Something had changed about him. His face betrayed no emotion, as always, but everyone could tell something was different. 

They reached the Citadel in the evening two days later. The King strode inside the castle and into the Council chamber, leaving his horse behind for some stable boy to take care of.

 Sirius stared after him with an unreadable expression. Remus took his hand in his, making sure no one was looking at them. “Let’s go.” He nodded, squeezing Remus’s hand before letting go and walking through the palace entrance, his boyfriend following close behind. 

The prince fell into Remus’s arm, silent sobs racking his body and making him shake. He held him until Sirius was too exhausted to do anything more than walk to his bed and letting himself drop on the soft mattress, pulling Remus down and hugging him tightly, burying his face in the soft fabric of his boyfriend’s shirt. 

They said nothing. It had been two long days of unsaid words and silent reassurance when they were alone. Sirius stayed in his boyfriend’s arms, trying to ignore the pain in his chest. Trying to ignore the fact that his brother was gone, missing, and no one knew what to do. “What do you think about everything?” He asked softly, words muffled by Remus’s shirt. 

“It was a targeted attack. Someone knew we would be gone.” 

Sirius nodded. “I don’t want to jump into conclusions”, he took a steadying breath, “but is it possible this was done by a sorcerer?” 

Remus wanted to say no. That there had to be another explanation, but he couldn’t find any. Regulus had disappeared without a trace, his room was completely intact, there was no sign of struggle anywhere and no one had seen him going out or anyone coming in. “It’s possible”, was the only answer he could give him. It seemed to be enough for now. They lapsed into silence, night had already fallen. No one came looking for Sirius, there was no reason to disturb the prince when they didn’t know anything. 

Remus ran his hands through his love’s hair, eyes flashing golden. The other man gave a small content humm, falling asleep minutes later, an almost peaceful sleep. A small trick Leo had taught him, if the mind feels safe it’s easier to fall asleep. So he let his magic flow through his fingers, let it envelop Sirius in as much warmth and love as he could muster. It was dangerous, he knew that, but when the love of his life was suffering he couldn’t bring himself to care.

Another flash of his eyes and all the candles went out. Remus almost felt sorry for whoever had dared take his friend, hurting his boyfriend in the process. Almost. 

[ben-10-setting-omnicrom]

Hey there, you made a post recently bashing one of mine. Totally fine to disagree but bashing other people's posts aren't the way to go about it. Both posts you were bashing were speculation and if you really had a problem with it, you could've left a comment to open up a real discussion about it on my post or the other person's.

I think you misread some of the tones in the posts. We were exploring political themes in a fictional universe. These sorts of things aren't for everyone and there's a wide variety of perspectives on the subjects. The other person's was, as I interpreted it, a "hey what if this happened" sort of post. Mine was a theory about the dynamics between species based on what we see in canon. I don't think either warranted the reaction it got from you, especially considering the fact we're talking about a cartoon. Perhaps they are darker interpretations but not impossible. No bold, declarative statements were made. No one was pushing their thoughts on others. Both were just people sharing their thoughts on possibilities we could not see in canon.

Again, it's okay to disagree. You, however, took it a step further. I deal with discourse on subjects more serious than a cartoon so I really don't care if you think there's something wrong with this but I'm getting the sense you are trying to start drama in the fandom which really isn't appreciated. This is generally a positive space and it's not hard to match the tone, even when you don't agree.

If you keep this up, I'll just block you so we don't see each others posts. Can't speak for the other person, of course, but they're a respected member of the fandom so I'm sure people would also appreciate it if you didn't go after them.

But I will ask two things of you. If you continue making posts like this, consider using a more respectful tone. I have no idea how other people you have bashed reacted but you are saying these things about real people, many of them likely minors. It's not hard to be courteous.

The other thing is to not use the delusional tag or call people insane. Maybe some people have some hot takes or discuss theories in a sphere a bit extreme for a cartoon but that does not mean it's okay for you to directly attack them. And, some of the words you used are ableist language. I am not disabled so I am not necessarily affected by it but a bar must be set and I'm setting it pretty low. You can continue what you're doing but do not disrespect people or use ableist language. Even if you don't care what I think, note that chances are people will not take you seriously if you sound like a child throwing a tantrum or speak like you're trying to hurt someone.

Even though I disagree with your tone, I will admit you weren't completely off target. You had some good points. And if you had brought them up in a respectful manner, I would have been happy to have a discussion about it. But, you didn't and here we are.

Where the hell do I even start with this?

Ok, first of all NO I'm not trying to start drama. I'm expressing my distaste on a trend I've seen in posts in the Ben 10 tag where this echo chamber perpetually spews out ridiculous baseless shit.

"A generally peaceful space" lmao, you mean like the time several users INSISTED Cracker isn't a slur and you can't be racist to white people, after a user called another one it while shamelessly and without irony claim they wouldn't stoop to bullying like @xcatxgirlx was wrongly accused of? Or the fact several users adamantly and insistently warp and twist her words to fit their delusional narrative where she's apparently the next spawn of Satan or whateverthefuck? Or the fact if you disagree with said echo chamber they'll call you bootlicker and say you have brainrot.

Also can you quit with the victim complex? I'm not going after anyone, I'm refuting claims and headcanons by pointing out no such thing is even remotely hinted at in canon.

Gods at this point I'm going to have to pin dictionary.com with how often I've had to quote people the definitions of words.

having false or unrealistic beliefs or opinions:

In other words ideas not based in reality or that can be gleaned from pertinent information. Reality in this case being the canon of the series.

Saying Ben wanted to kill Kevin because he was jealous of him saving the day in the Forge of Creation episode is FLAT OUT DELUSIONAL. Full stop.

Saying the Plumbers would practice brutality and gay bashing at the drop of a hat DURING PRIDE MONTH is utterly baseless and ridiculous, not to mention actively insensitive to irl acts of such. Their WHOLE THING is keeping the peace and anyone practicing police brutality would get jailed JUST LIKE THE NUMEROUS TIMES IN CANON THEY'VE DEALT WITH EVIL PLUMBERS.

Saying the Galvans are totally discriminating against a entire species is absolutely baseless especially when shit all is preventing said species from basically doing whatever the fuck they want. Baz-El is literally a damn archeologist after all.

You want to know what all those things have in common?

They take the flimsiest of "evidence", ignore context, and actively distort facts to shine things in the worst light possible, like a corrupted fun house mirrors from hell.

Also why would I ask for permission to document for posterity posts I reference? I'm literally only doing that shit so they can't say said posts didn't say what it did or if said posts are erased. It's no different from using the Way Back Machine to check on old posts.

Also also, like for future reference PLEASE add spaces to your posts. Your ask was honestly kind of hard to read.

[blind-alchemists]

Well, in honor of not only one of my rare fanfics getting way out of hand but also the most productive (writing) year I've ever had, I'll have a look at 2021!

Anyway, I don't write many fanfics. Or finish them, at the least. There are about three or four started longfics on my hard drive vs. the +20 different finished drafts for different prose projects and a ridiculous number of started oneshots for one of these projects. Me writing a fanfic is like finding a four-leaved clover.

I have, actually, written a 150k long fanfiction before. And uploaded it until around November 2020, when I realized I hated everything about it for good reasons. So I deleted it.

The crux of my problem was: I knew how to write first drafts. Put the words out, quickly. But I didn't know what to do then. 'Editing, obviously', I thought and slugged through ~2 years of it with the aforementioned fic. By all standards though, I was just catching up my writing style and the characterization was terrible and there were plot holes and I really didn't like any of it.

It should be mentioned that I'm a pantser. Straight-up. I loath plotting. I have characters with an appearance and personality, some plot points / scenes, and I know where I want to go. I don't know anything else at that point -- I discover these details as I write. I make the connections between scene A and B as I rush through my first drafts. They get the job done; that's all there is to it.

Origin of "fangs"

Somewhen, a while ago, I also started a different Dragon Age fic. Time Travel, Alternate Timelines, IHW gone wrong, pretty dark, focusing on f!Lavellan as Inquisitor turned Dread Wolf in the dark future, Solas as the Inquisitor, and Dorian trying to undo the time magic before something worse happens. I got about 65k into a draft before I realized I didn't like where I was going. I also knew this could have turned into a very, very long fic, so that killed my motivation very, very fast, too. (Oh, the irony.)

From this fic, I got Ase, Din, Esha, and Dirthamen with his incredibly spoiled ravens. Now, this is crucial going forward.

In December of 2020, I thought, 'has anyone written a corruption arc for their Inquisitor?' So I subjected myself to slogging through AO3 with different filters only to find ... that no one had done exactly what I was envisioning. As it happens so often.

'Bummer,' I thought and let it be, given my dislike for writing fanfics (for a number of reasons that boil down to: perfectionism) and the absence of any interest in writing longfics (lol).

I think I started looking up which achievements I was missing for DA:I around this time, too, and came across the Fair-Weathered Friends one.

So I started a new playthrough and since Ase & Co. kept lingering, I ended up using Din for that save. And I started thinking how he would play out as the Inquisitor if the game gave me more choices. (Spoiler: he doesn't end up becoming Inquisitor)

And then, around the 14/15th December, I said to myself, 'well, I can write just a bit of this idea because it's persistent since I found music to go with it.' I thought it would be started and then immediately abandoned like so many other fanfics.

... Yeah, well, that turned into a little two-week sprint and ended with a ~100k first draft. (Din didn't get a corruption arc. Not sure if he had any character arc, though.)

And then, past!me said, 'yeah, I'll just leave it here, on my hard drive, and come back to it when I want to because I want to focus on my prose projects'.

'When I want to' turned out to be the 3rd January 2021. The idea, stubbornly, refused to leave me.

The 100k first draft swayed me. 'Well, it's not that long', I said. 'It's probably not going to get much bigger*. It'll be fine. I'll just do some editing.' In retrospect, I believe, there are few things I was ever so wrong about in my entire life.

*Remember me posting about that one chapter that had 167k by the time I was done with it?

And so I started the second draft of "fangs".

And that's where I still am!

What did I learn?

I know how to write second drafts.

Scrivener. I love Scrivener. Even if it keeps semi-crashing whenever I load my stats.

I love worldbuilding.

I can whip up +3k character profiles after a certain stage.

I don't describe. anything. ever.

I need to do a lot of research. I lack the ability to visualize things well, so I've built my own personalized ability trees and watched so many playthroughs of the in-game regions again and again to get the mood right.

I write a lot of notes. Scenes, dialogue, bullet points of what could happen. Sometimes culminating in 2.5k squashed into the small "Notes" section Scrivener has.

Everything eventually finds its place. Like, the one scene that doesn't fit in chapter 4? It's perfect for chapter 14. Sometimes, the best thing I can do with my notes is drag them around until they find their place on their own.

I do subconsciously follow the typical plot structures. Kind of. So I don't need to plot much! I just need to put it all in order and pay attention to pacing! (I'm a pantser. I hate plotting.)

My preferred method of organization is sub-folders and sub-documents in unreasonably high numbers.

Chapters are a problem for the third draft that I will address no sooner than that.

Things continue to develop as I write. Characters most of all (in their beliefs, motivations, and convictions) but also worldbuilding, setting, ... I write to learn and discover, and it shows.

I love my mirror themes.

I love de-constructing tropes.

I adore minor characters.

I love older characters as protagonists. Gives me much more time to work with, to give them a definite personality, and ... trauma I can give them.

I love addressing relationships of any kind.

I love subtle foreshadowing.

My goal is to check every checkbox on my "to-do before 3rd draft" list and keep my hands from the (then!) finished second draft until I'm done. Fingers crossed I'll have enough self-control for that.

Stats

And now, the fun (or horrendous) part!

First Draft: 12 chapters, 104k -- finished

Second Draft: 18 chapters (so far), 715k -- in progress

part 1: 15 chapters, 372k -- finished

part 2: 3/10 chapters, 343k -- in progress

part 3: to be done

Playlist: 163 songs, +9.5h playtime

[anythingbutmar]

Family meetings (mistake pt.2)

Diego Hargreeves x reader

Summary: After gaining information from Five you realize that the world is ending and you and Diego need a way to save the girls.

A/N: I know I covered a lot of stuff here, and I promise I’ll eventually get to the 60′s but I just think this serves for a multiparter and that’s what I plan on doing, hope you enjoy it!

Warnings: slight plot changes, teensy tiny bit of angst.

The next few days were a bit of a mess, Diego had to do a bunch of police work regarding some shootings and you gladly took the permit that your job gave you when a close relative died. You were in no way close to Reginald, but you still needed to process the fact that Five had appeared from the future rambling about stuff that Diego couldn’t understand.

After their meeting and the funeral he had told you everything he had gathered from it, which wasn’t much. “It was just a lot of nerdy words that you would have understood better than me.” He had said.

And so, now you were determined to know how the hell was he back there and why he seemed so worried all the time, you just needed to figure out what to do with your daughters, which led to where you were right now: knocking on Allison’s door, after trying with Vanya, who lived close to your place but wasn’t there, apparently.

“Hey girl, remember you owe me one from that time I covered you and Luther sneaking to Griddy’s years ago? Right, so I need you to take care of the girls for the day. Luna has some pending homework and Amber needs to take her vitamins at 2:00, okay? Have fun girls! I love you both!”

“Y/N wait, I have to-”

“I won’t take long I promise! Bye!” You yelled from the staircase.

Game on, little Five.

Your years of nightly adventures with Diego had made you quite observant, which helped a lot, since Five didn’t bother on leaving any information of his whereabouts, but you had seen him staring at what seemed to be a glass eye, and there was only one prosthetics factory near, so you gave it a shot and quelle surprise! There he was, yelling at some doctor, sweet as always.

“Oh jeez I’m so sorry! My son was severely damaged from this one time he fell from a tree and he tends to make up stories.” You interrupted, almost laughing at Five’s face. “I thought I had lost you, silly! Now let’s go.” You grabbed him by the ear with your hand heated and started leaving the room. “I apologize for his aggressive behavior! I promise you won’t ever see him again.” You stated before walking out and then poof! He was gone!

“Little shit.” You muttered before running outside where you found him standing calmly with that know-it-all smirk of his, he was rubbing his ear, which brought you huge satisfaction.

“What do you think you’re doing, Y/N?”

“What? Can’t I look after my beloved brother in law?” You batted your eyelashes and he gave you a deadpan look. “Okay, fine. I need you to tell me how you got here and why the hell do you have a fake eye?”

“And why would I do such a thing?” He asked, tapping his chin with irony.

“Because I can understand you! Your siblings may not but science is sort of my thing, I can help you.”

“Well, can you tell me how to stop the apocalypse?” He snapped.

“The what now?”

--

“The what now?” Diego repeated with a confused look.

“The apocalypse, he said we just have a few days to stop it and our only clue is a freaking eye.”

“And meanwhile Luther’s worried about a goddamned monocle.” Diego shook his head, sitting by your side on the bed. “He came by today, you know? To bring the girls and talk about that stupid thing which doesn’t matter at all, because the world’s ending anyways. The worst thing was that he kept mocking me about naming our daughter after the moon, he said it was because I missed him! I didn’t even think of that!”

“Don’t be like that honey, we’ll figure something out, for now I have an idea to make you feel bett-”

“Mommy?” Luna opened the door, rubbing her eyes. “I had a nightmare.”

“It’s ok baby, let’s go tuck you in ok?” You were about to stand before she gave you puppy eyes.

“Can I sleep with you? Just for tonight, pleaaaaase!” You looked at Diego and instantly knew. He could never resist his older daughter’s puppy eyes.

“Alright, come here, what was it about anyways?” You asked as she climbed on the bed, laying between you two.

“I can’t remember well, I think there was a big boom and suddenly everyone was gone! The whole planet was gone!” She made a gesture with her tiny hands and you shared a wide eyed look with Diego. So far, Luna hadn’t shown any signs of an ability, but how could she know about something that hadn’t happened yet?

You refilled your glass of water with your power before taking a large sip and passing it to your husband, who was caressing your daughter’s sleeping face in shock.

“Are you think-”

“Mommy? Luna scared me.” Amber entered your room and without even asking climbed on your bed and laid on Diego’s chest, immediately closing her eyes at the feeling of her dad’s heartbeat.

“I guess it’s sleepover night then.” He chuckled.

--

Next morning Diego gave you all a kiss on the forehead and left you a note saying he had to work early because there was another shooting at the mall, leaving you to have an all girls morning, which excited you to no end. You loved Diego more than you could ever possibly say, but you also loved having your own time with the kids, who loved it just as much.

You turned the radio on and started preparing pancakes for the three of you, flinching slightly in disgust at the thought of Diego’s favorite breakfast: a raw egg. You never understood him avoiding the possibility of a warm tasty meal, in reality, you never agreed much in terms of habits. For example, you enjoyed drinking sometimes, as you had discovered during that fateful night when you were younger, but he wasn’t bothered by it, and neither were you about his healthy way of living, at least most of the time.

And so, you were having a peaceful breakfast, occasionally laughing at Amber’s syrup stained cheeks, when Klaus knocked on the door looking... much like Klaus.

“Hey Y/N/N! Isn’t it hilarious that you married Diego but somehow we both ended up being Five’s hypothetical parents in the eyes of a corrupt doctor?!” He laughed, entering your place and admiring the decorations. “Anyways, hello there my girlies! It’s time for a family meeting!” He sang, making them laugh.

“A family meeting?” You asked, picking up the plates.

“Urgent matter, according to Luther, could be about his newfound muscle for all I care about, but he wants us all there so let’s go baby!” He whispered so his nieces wouldn’t hear him.

“Alright, just let me get ready.”

--

You arrived at the house and left the girls with Pogo, who started showing them around the greatest places, according to him, and entered the living room with Klaus.

“You’re a bit late, babe.” Diego simply stated gesturing towards everyone’s bored faces.

“Oh, Y/N “just had to get ready.”“ Klaus mocked you, already pouring himself a drink.

“Yeah well, time runs differently when you have kids, buddy.” You said, receiving a glass yourself.

“It so does.” Allison clinked her glass against yours smiling.

After that, Luther showed you a video of Grace and Reginald at the moment of his death, which was followed by a discussion about her state in which you obviously refused to turn her off, she was the closest thing you had to a mother and you would not give up on her, specially knowing how much she meant to Diego and how much Luna and Amber had loved her.

You chose to wait for Five and Diego left to talk to Grace. You were going to follow him but you realized that it was a private matter, and stayed with Vanya, who was the only one left.

“Want one?” You offered and she politely declined. “Alright then, who’s this Leonard?”

“I’m gonna kill Allison.” She turned red and covered her face with her hands.

“Come on Vanya! I might not be your sister but we had our time together too! And besides, I’m a great listener.” You smiled patting the couch, and she finally nodded and sat down. Truthfully, it didn’t take that much to convince Vanya to do something, just a few kind words, which mostly everyone lacked towards her.

And so, the evening went by with both of you laughing at her new crush and remembering past times. You and Vanya had spent many hours together on the academy because for some time she and Grace were tasked with training you because Reginald was too busy with the others, who were on a much more advanced level than you, and so, she kept you running around the staircases and growing plants in the garden. According to Reginald, you could use them as weapons, but you two just thought they were pretty.

In the end the old man was right, you were going to need those damned plants to defend yourself.

After hearing gunshots you saw as the love your life fell right on the couch where you and Vanya had been sitting on.

“Get down!” He whispered and you obeyed, taking Vanya with you. “The girls Y/N, where are they?”

“They’re in Pogo’s room. How many of them?” You asked back, putting your arm around Vanya in a protective matter.

“Just two.”

And right as he said so they entered the room shooting all around until Luther and Allison started fighting them. You stood and saw a large man and a smaller armed woman. Diego and Allison got busy with the guy and you hurried Vanya to a safe corner.

“Stay here!” You told her before running towards the others. They were arguing, for a change and then the couple started shooting again. Diego and Allison ran towards a different direction and you stayed as you noticed the man was now reaching towards Vanya.

“I don’t think so, big man.” You broke the window with a tree branch from the backyard and snatched his weapon with it before kicking him on the stomach, which was completely useless, the guy was huge.

Luckily, Luther appeared which allowed you to go get Vanya. You were about to run with her towards Pogo’s room but you heard screaming, and you looked just as a giant chandelier was about to fall on Luther. You tried to push it with wind but you weren’t fast enough.

Thanks to his strength he was able to lift himself up, revealing his inhumanly hairy chest and arms, a secret well hidden until that moment. Allison tried consoling him but he ran from her. It didn’t matter, you didn’t have time for that.

“I’ll go get them, don’t worry, you go check up on your mom and we’ll meet back home, ok?” You grabbed Diego’s shoulders and he silently nodded, running upstairs.

After making sure there were no scratches on them, you explained what had happened, to which they stopped crying because they both loved a good superhero story. You took both their hands and went home, happy to be in a safe place but with a terrible feeling in your gut, as if you had forgotten something.

You waited up for Diego, who arrived an hour later looking destroyed. “I had to d-do it, s-s-she was already g-gone.” And you understood perfectly, so you cuddled him all night, even though neither of you could sleep. Those guys were still out there, Grace was dead, Five was nowhere to be found and you still felt like something was missing.

Or someone.

“Klaus!” You exclaimed, startling your tired husband.

(Part one here)

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