#but clearly that is not her point because she is participating in the dismissing and deriding and will only serve to affirm those beliefs

[avicecaro]

“you think you made all the right choices and became the perfect woman who would be safe and loved and okay but NEWSFLASH your husband will reveal his misogyny once you’re used up and ugly and he’ll cheat on you to feel powerful and he’ll abandon you when you’re sick or pregnant and won’t you regret registering republican THEN” is not a sick own to conservative women.

that is what evil men do. they lie. they trap you. they drain the life out of you. and this is what women do, we try to make the very best choices with all the information we can get. and one day you may be forced to come to the realization that there is no perfect formula to living as a woman in a world that is dangerous for women. it is not just conservative women who might have their lives and convictions fall apart around them. do you think liberal men do not LIE? that liberal men do not also convince women that they’ve found the one good guy and the one safe marriage and then reveal their misogyny when you’re stuck? do you think your liberal politics have saved you from male violence — and if you do, why do you think you’re different than the conservative women who say the same about theirs?

[amiableness]

𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐔𝐬, 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞

Pairing: Modern!Uni!Remus Lupin x Fem!Reader

Interaction and feedback is what keeps me motivated to write, so I would love to hear you thoughts 🤍

Warnings: Language!

Word Count: 677

One of Us Series Masterlist!

“No, I’d rather not. Thanks, though.” You reply dismissively, siping at the cocktail Lily made for you. Every game night, she always had something new for everyone to try, whether it was a unique drink or a recipe from her grandmother’s cookbook. Tonight, it was a turquoise-colored concoction with the rim of the glass dipped in sugar. And at the moment, it was the most interesting thing to look at in the room.

“Sorry, love, but this isn’t up for discussion.” James says from where he sits directly across from you, looking ridiculously cozy with your well-loved pink teddy bear, Mr. Cuddles. Clearly, creativity had been your strong suit at nine years old. The third Saturday of the month meant it was your turn to host game night. Your small living room was filled with familiar faces, cozy blankets, and an assortment of snacks and drinks. The scent of freshly popped popcorn mingled with the sweet aroma of the cocktail Lily had crafted for the evening.

To your relief, Remus had stepped out to take a phone call twenty minutes ago. You thought his absence would calm your nerves and help you relax. However, just as the game ended, James sprung a dare on you, shattering your brief moment of peace.

“The game has ended, Potter. I will not be taking any more dares.” You shoot him a pointed look, and he responds with that infamous grin, the kind that signals he’s about to turn your night upside down.

“That’s funny. Because you didn’t take any at all, actually.” James emphasizes his point by lifting his own cocktail in your direction, as if to underline his words.

You shift uncomfortably, “Sorry?”

“You know the rule. All of us have to participate in a dare.” James grins, and you fight the urge to snatch Mr. Cuddles from his grip. If he wasn’t going to be nice, then he wasn’t going to cuddle your bear.

“Well, the dare wasn’t just for me—it was for both Remus and me. And Remus must have taken a turn. So give me another dare.” You usually didn’t keep tabs on what Remus Lupin was up to, nor did he on you.

“He didn’t, actually. He picked truth as well.” Lily chimed in. You shot a look of disbelief at your so-called best friend, who offered a sheepish smile in return before leaning into James.

“Not even when I left to get more snacks?” You asked desperately.

“No. Not even then.” James confirmed.

You paused, glancing between Lily and James unsure, “Did you plan this?”

“How would we have known you two wouldn’t pick dare? It was all luck, truly.” James shrugs, but you know better than to believe that.

Sirius, who was seated next to you on the loveseat and unusually quiet, draped his arm around you and pulled you into his side.

You glanced at him and narrowed your eyes unhappily. “Please, don't make me do this,” you whispered desperately. Sirius laughed softly and pressed a kiss to your temple.

“It’s just a couple of hours. You can handle that.”

“Why the fuck do you look like you’re about to cry?” Your gaze sharpens as you lock eyes with Remus, who is staring you down intently from the doorway. You hadn’t heard him come back in.

“You should’ve picked dare earlier; saved us both the trouble.” You huff and shift slightly beneath Sirius’s arm, drawing Remus’s gaze. His eyes flicker to the way you’re nestled against his best friend, the tension in his expression momentarily giving way to a flash of something unreadable.

“What are you talking about?” He snaps, his brow pinched as he stares at you. James stands up and claps a hand on Remus’s shoulder, his face alight with eagerness to reveal the news.

“Congratulations, Rem! You’re having a sleepover with your favorite girl.” James cheers, his voice ringing with enthusiasm, and Remus’s eyes snap back to you. His jaw is clenched, and his posture is taut with tension. 

One of you was going to end up dead, surely.

[theerurishipper]

A few more things because I am not done talking about this finale.

I know a lot of people think that this issue of Gabriel being seen as a hero and Marinette keeping the fact that Adrien is a sentimonster and that his father is Monarch is going to come back as a major plot point, or that Gabriel isn't really redeemed and that this isn't the end. And I'm not saying I have evidence that it's not going to turn out that way, but like... this is Miraculous we're talking about.

The show which famously tries to offer sympathy to bad people because of their tragic backstory by:

Trying to half-assedly "redeem" Natalie into some kind of super mother figure for Adrien, even though she enabled and participated in his abuse for years and never showed remorse for it, or even took accountability for it. Her callously killing Sentibug is never brought up again either. And she still does not give Adrien the Amok that helps him choose for himself or tell him he is a sentimonster, and yet is framed as a good parental figure for him.

Trying to redeem Andre Bourgeois and frame him as some kind of great person by having him adopt Zoe and send Chloe to live with her abuser by disowning her, even though it's his shitty parenting that let her get to this point. And letting him get off scot-free for all the times he abused his power as Mayor.

Trying to redeem Felix by glossing over such crimes as him giving all the Miraculous to Gabe, him committing genocide, him trying to ruin his cousin's life, him victim blaming Adrien, him returning Adrien's Amok to Gabe, and many such things. All because he had a tragic backstory and cared for sentimonster rights (even though he killed two on-screen with only regret for one of them) so that clearly means that he did nothing wrong and does not need to be held accountable for those things, even though he showed no remorse for it or desire to do better.

And the show which also famously ignores major plot points and leaves them behind with little to no resolution in favor of dropping new bombs on the audience, such as:

Choosing to ignore the Ladynoir conflict in Season 4 by having Chat Noir just push aside his legitimate grievances with Ladybug's bad decisions to continue being her emotional support partner. This conflict was not addressed ever again, even in Season 5, and was left without any resolution.

Neglecting any exploration of Chat Blanc beyond some obligatory mentions now and again to remind the audience of why the show needs more seasons.

The whole plot with the alternate love interests Luka and Kagami, which was built up across a whole season and dismissed within two episodes of the next season so that the writers could focus on the new Love Square drama they came up with for Season 4.

Luka's conflict about knowing Chat Noir and Ladybug's identities, which was written out in one episode, only for it to have been ultimately pointless in favor of having Kagami know it anyway.

These are great examples of how the show neglects to build up and conclude previously established plot points and conflicts in favor of substituting them with other ones and/or does the absolute minimum to somehow write them out in order to move the story forward and focus on other new plot points that they came up with for the new season.

From these, we can understand that:

Trauma is a valid excuse for everything, and a tragic backstory frees you from accountability unless you're Chloe.

And:

Previously established conflicts are not brought up or explored in any meaningful capacity in order to make way for new ones.

Knowing this, I think it's highly unlikely that the show will ever explore this idea of Gabriel not having truly become a martyr and a hero, and that even if it is the case, it will be neglected as a plot point in order to push this Lila thing to the front. At most, we will get a moment where Adrien learns the truth and instantly forgives Marinette for doing what his abuser asked because she did it out of love, and no one will question the implications of this in any meaningful way. This is because Adrien is not allowed to have feelings that inconvenience Marinette in any way, be it his hurt at her keeping secrets from him, or now her siding with his father and outright lying to him, because his role in the story is now that of Marinette's love interest and emotional support partner, and that's all he's good for. And as for Adrien acknowledging that Gabriel was a bad father again, combining the redemption that simply having trauma gives him and the fact that Thomas "Chloe is not an abused child" Astruc doesn't seem to understand the severity of such things, I doubt we will ever see him outright reject his father ever again.

For all these reasons, I really do believe that it is wishful thinking to expect this to be addressed in any way that matters. If it is not forgotten, it will be relegated to a single moment and forgotten after. That is, if it was ever meant to be explored. The writers of this show are... not the best at dealing with this sort of thing, after all. After all I've seen, it is not surprising to me at all that Gabriel was redeemed. There is a clear trend of characters with any motivation that could be construed as sympathetic or with a tragic backstory portrayed as being justified in their actions, having their actions erased and ignored or at the very least severely downplayed for the sake of making them out to be better than they are. Gabriel has been consistently given sympathetic scenes throughout the season, which culminated in this finale which absolves him of every wrongdoing.

And I know people feel like this is clearly not the end, but that's how a lot of people felt about the Ladynoir conflict in Season 4, and look how that turned out. This show has always been bad at dealing with nuance. An abused child is portrayed as irredeemable and evil, and her enabling father is portrayed as a good person for giving up on her (I don't even like her, but damn). There is a trend of demonizing those characters who really should not be, and offering sympathy to characters who haven't earned it. I have no trouble at all in believing that Gabriel is supposed to sympathized with and redeemed by the end. He gets his happy ending, he gets what he wanted, and his actions make the world a better place.

I've seen the idea that Gabriel actually lost floating around, but did he? He already knew he was dying, and he had, to some degree, come to terms with it. And in the end, he was clearly very happy with just dying if it meant being able to make his wish. His end is clearly portrayed as him making the ultimate sacrifice to wish for a better world, as one last good thing he does for his son. It's portrayed as him asking Marinette to hide all this from him to protect him. Of course, anyone with common sense can see that this is still really controlling and manipulative, but the show pretty clearly frames it as a selfless act. The line "all the times I tried to be a good father," isn't framed as the delusional statement it is. He's smiling in that scene, surrounded by light, and that's not the framing for someone who's supposed to be read as manipulative and evil at that point. The writers seem to genuinely believe that the man was a good father at some points. I've also seen others say that clearly Gabriel was not redeemed by the end because he refused Marinette's hand, but that's not really true. He did paralyze her, but then he freed her and returned all the Miraculous, and Marinette ends the season by fulfilling his dying wishes and letting the world know he was a hero. He paralyzed her, but then he also clearly listened to her. He was also genuinely emotional. Her words did reach him and it is framed as him making a "selfless choice" even though it clearly is not.

I've also seen people say Adrien's reaction isn't necessarily acceptance of Gabriel's heroism since he might be trying to cope with his loss by convincing himself Gabriel was a hero, or that abused children often cannot recognize that their parent is not a good person. And I agree, but that is clearly not what is happening here. Adrien has already expressed disgust for who his father is, and it is possible for him to fall back onto old thoughts and feelings regarding him, but that isn't what's going on here. This here, is Adrien being fed a lie that his father was a good man and a hero by people he trusts. This is Adrien being told what to think and feel, because there are statues of Gabriel being erected and Ladybug spreading the word that he is a hero. This is Gabriel's abuse being erased to portray him as good. And Adrien, after spending the whole season working up to calling Gabriel out, ends the season with hoping to be like him.

And I've seen arguments about how episodes like Chat Blanc and Ephemeral were there to show us that Adrien facing his father isn't a good idea because his reaction makes him vulnerable, but then... why would you write that! Why would you set the protagonist up with this plot point only to write reasons to leave him out of his own plot and character arcs? What about that is good writing? It only makes this finale more deserving of critique! It is not the defense it's trying to be. It just shows they couldn't care less about their own narrative.

I get that this could lead to a potential arc about trust and honesty and all that, but... we've done that before. How many times will Marinette learn the same lesson? How many times will Adrien forgive her for it? How can you even forgive something like this? And even if it all comes to light, what purpose does this serve in anyone's arc? Gabriel is dead, so there's no consequences for him. Marinette has been "learning" the same lesson for two seasons now, and not even losing all the Miraculous made her stop keeping secrets. And what more does it contribute to Adrien's arc to have him learn the truth later rather than now? How does it add to his story to know that everyone he trusts lied to him? Nothing, if you think about it. It really takes away from his story, because he can no longer confront the man who did this to him, he can no longer get that closure, because Gabriel is gone! Sure, it'll be dramatic and all, but that's all it is! But that is how Miraculous operates: shock value and dramatic scenes over consistency and character arcs. Which is why characters like Marinette aren't allowed to retain the lessons they should have learnt ages ago, and characters like Adrien are actively pushed away from their arcs to make way for some other drama.

And this is me saying this while believing they aren't going to bring it up anyway. How many times have we seen this kind of thing happen? For a conflict to be set up only to be ended unceremoniously with no proper conclusion? What reasons are there to believe that the show will actually follow through with this plot? Other than speculation, I mean. I don't see any. The ending did not indicate that there was anything wrong with what happened. The seasons prior set up the conflicts for the next season in the finale episodes. In Season 3, we had Gabe fixing the Peacock and Marinette becoming the guardian. In Season 4, we saw Monarch rise and Marinette lose all the Miraculous. In Season 5, we see Lila get the Butterfly Miraculous and that light that scared her or whatever it was. But we never see any set up for this being a plot point. There is no point in which we are supposed to think this is wrong. A set up, for example, would be something like Marinette looking to the Gabriel statue with a frown, or Adrien feeling unsettled somehow. But there's nothing like that. For all intents and purposes, Gabriel is done and there are new threats to move on to. And removing all that stuff with Lila, it just seems like it could be a solid series finale. The conflict is over, all the characters are back and together and happy, the main couple kisses as the theme music plays in the back in a scene that's clearly the sort of scene used in the ending of a show, and no one even hints at anything being wrong. It's all audience interpretation, and quite frankly there's no real reason to believe it's setting up something. Something was already set up and it wasn't the thought that this ending is in any way flawed. It's a charming, idyllic ending where all the characters are clearly happy and content, basking in the end of Monarch.

And what he did is not clear at all. Did he not actually rewrite the world? It seems like he just traded his life for Natalie's (and Emilie's???? Is that her?), because Hawkmoth still existed here, the Alliance rings still exist, which means everything happened exactly how it did, and the only thing that's changed is that Natalie has recovered. But this just makes the "clearly something isn't right" argument less valid. This isn't Gabriel's "ideal world," which needs to be fixed, this is just the normal world, where there is a statue of Gabriel only because Ladybug told everyone he was a hero. The things that are being done are completely against everything Gabriel ever believed in, so clearly the world is not based on his ideals, and it hasn't been rewritten. So, the only one really responsible for Gabriel being seen as a hero is Marinette (this is not a criticism of Marinette btw, just the writing). This is just the normal world, and the only thing that needs to be "fixed" is that Marinette should tell the truth. But the writers clearly think that Gabriel is fully redeemed, so there isn't anything that needs to be fixed. So why would they address this plot point again? They have no reason to.

And if he did rewrite the world, then the writers just made Gabe rewrite everything and everyone's memories so that he didn't have to be held accountable by anyone, especially the son he abused. That's going to be even harder to fix.

Any resolution to something I don't believe will be resolved anyway will undoubtedly a side story or a minor plot point. Remember, this is the show which is notorious for setting up plot points only to do nothing with them in the end. Everyone was so hyped about the resolution to Luka discovering both Mari and Adrien's identities only for the writers to decide Kagami fit that role better and shittily write Luka out in one episode. Everyone was talking about how Luka keeping secrets would undoubtedly have massive repercussions only for no one to give a shit about it and simply write Luka out for a few episodes and have him come back with no consequence in the finale. And this is a pattern for this show.

All this to say that no, we're probably not going to address this. It hasn't happened before, and I doubt it will happen this time. I've tried to give this show chance after chance, but it never delivered, and I don't trust it to do so anymore. I'll take all this back gladly if it does deal with this conflict well, but as of right now, I feel very confident in putting this post up.

[dwtdog]

Hello, I'm the anon who talks about curious facts about Shadoune, I should be doing my Spanish project but instead I will inform you about the lore of C!Farfadox

Well, Farfadox has participated in multiple series which one of them is Elitecraft created by Richmc (if I remember correctly) he was in all three editions but the most important are 1 and 2 In this first edition the concept of team 51 was created, where he and his friends made a lot of jokes to the rest of the people on the server (creating fame for it) then at some point due to a kind of discussion (roleplay) of RichMc and Gona starts a war in elitecraft where the entire team 51 (Farfadox, Rubik, Shadoune Conterstine, Silithur, Crisgreen and I don't remember who else) joins together with RichMc to finish off Gona and his team, then the war is about Pranks (Ranging from level 1 to 5) and in the war stage both RichMc, Farfadox and Gona are forced to have their Prank level at Level five, the little I remember is that Farfadox and RichMc end up filling Gona's base with Obsdiana (and it was not a small base, it was stuck in a deep crater in a meceta biome, If I remember correctly, there were more than 100 chests full of obsidian and Rich and Farfa stayed up late getting it to the point of going crazy LMAO) and along the way they put an old guardian on it, which caused Gona to surrender

So I think it was piolacraft? But I don't know much about Piola other than a nuclear bomb exploded at the end of the series

Elitecraft 2 follows where the real lore begins, at the time of this edition the netherite is added, where farfadox intends to make a netherite beacon alone (btw, at this stage the base called the hexagono is created, which is literally the outlines of a hexagon where inside it are the things of the entire team 51, as a curious fact Shadoune made the iffel tower at its base)

Getting back to the topic, Farfadox goes to the nether around September, where he spends TWO months in there (literally) chomping like crazy and filling chest after chest with netherite, clearly his friends are going to visit him constantly and help him by giving him TNT or gold or things so In the end, Farfadox's skin begins to have strange blue and red cracks, in addition to the fact that the gem on his helmet begins to turn those same colors. On a visit, if I remember correctly, Shadoune questions him about this, but Farfadox dismisses him by saying which is nothing

In the end he leaves the nether in November, where he is received by his companions and makes the netherite beacon, with the entire Team 51 taking a photo and congratulating him for his achievement.

but after finishing the beacon, farfadox feels (and looks) strange, he starts to have nightmares about the beacon and the cracks only become more light blue/red, the orange gem on his helmet at that point was no longer orange, so is when Farfafox disappears

The entire mafia team + RichMc receive a book in a chest outside their bases written by Farfadox, in the team 51's book he says that he has fallen into madness because of the beacon and that he knows that only they can defeat him, meanwhile RichMc's book says to join his side (also in both books there are coordinates to the castle that Farfadox builds on the roof of the nether) In short, team 51 manages to defeat Farfadox by the skin of his teeth, and Farfadox is "freed" from the curse now only wanting to rest at home and gets a dog he calls Walter

Now if I remember correctly, first they steal the dog, causing an argument between Mictia, believing that she stole her dog (this in the team 51 meeting room, which is a hexagonal table with the map of the base and chairs with frames with items for each member of team 51) and many things happen, causing a mini war where one day Farfadox wakes up with his house destroyed, now it was not known who had done such a thing, the obvious thing is that it would be the team that is against them (team 51) but even so they couldn't confirm it, several things happen like a fight and many Pranks etc etc, until a few days after the end of the war, Mictia calls Farfadox guiding him to a kind of alien ship where they talk things things that I didn't particularly understand but that shows that she had Farfadox's dog (Walter) and that he was not dead, half the world arrives at the place and they start arguing to the point that Farfadox gets angry and ends up killing Walter, then RichMc tells Farfadox that he will reveal who the person is who burned down his house and stole his dog, and RichMc tells him something like "just promise me, that when I tell you who it is you have to kill him and give him a level 5 Prank" Everyone who is there gets in a line in front of Farfadox, and RichMc starts a countdown, when it reaches zero, Shadoune joins the server, appearing behind Farfadox and starting to attack him (Revealing that, Shadoune was the one who burned the house of farfadox and robbing Walter, betraying team 51)

Shadoune ends up dying, and it is revealed that Shadoune had done all this to free herself from RichMc's enslavement (because by some kind of dare, Shadoune ends up becoming Rich's slave, FORCED to do everything he says, at one point RichMc offered him that if he gave a level 5 Prank to Farfadox, he would be freed from slavery)

(And there is more but I have to finish my project, anyway, you can see the farfadox batch on his official channel, he has a complete playlist, I also apologize for my bad english lmao)

whatttt this is so cool !! the full netherite beacon is insane and the lore of farfa getting corrupted is EPIC

[randomreader92]

Hazbin Biohazard AU

Based on the AUs from @nunalastor's posts

Notes for pre-Baker Estate Alastor:

His smile is still present but less unhinged.

Alastor has some trauma from an abusive father and serving in the trenches as a Radio Operator but is still a relatively normal guy... for now.

Alastor is an up-and-coming radio host and waiter.

Alastor was roommates with his best friend Guy Winters, a detective, who went missing during a case. After three years of hounding the local police, spreading the word on the radio and amateur detective work, Alastor finally receives news via a letter written in Guy's handwriting asking him to come to the Baker Estate.

He comes armed with a hunting rifle since Guy is likely in danger.

Alastor does call Mimzy to let her know what's going on, just in case.

Notes for Beginner Baker Estate Alastor:

He thought he was prepared for anything. He was not.

Manages to fight off a crazed Guy with his rifle, only to get ambushed and then shot by Jack. By his own rifle, no less.

That Jack Baker is bringing back all sorts of repressed childhood trauma.

He is force fed the "Special Feast" Marguerite made for him before the cop can interrupt them.

He finds the Officer (an older white gentleman) through the window and tries to ask for help but isn't understood. The man is dismissive of Alastor's ramblings, accusing him of trespassing and maybe even being the one responsible for the disappearances in the area.

This experience taints Alastor's perception of the Police (not that he had a high opinion to begin with).

Despite his dismissiveness, the Officer is compassionate enough to give the clearly terrified Alastor a knife to defend himself.

Notes for Expert Baker Estate Alastor:

He is no longer terrified of the horrors around him, just so very tired.

Neither Guy nor Alastor was happy with their decision to “put down” Eveline, a severely traumatised victim of abuse, but the danger she posed to herself, and the world, was too great to be allowed to continue.

Alastor has a stronger psychic bond with Eveline than the others because he understands what she’s feeling. He remembers what it was like, being a powerless child surrounded by adults who are either indifferent to your suffering or active participants in it… and the catharsis of striking back against your abusers and finally having the power to take control of your own fate? He knows it all too well.

Notes for Post-Baker Estate Alastor:

After the Baker Estate, Alastor has a new mission; to hunt down those involved with the creation of the E-Type series and those who abuse the fairer means.

It is during these hunts that Alastor notices, even though Eveline and her Mold is gone, he still has a craving for human flesh and rotting meat. He starts making a secret meat box specifically for himself, so that Guy never finds out. However, Guy is a detective and figures it out anyway.

Chris and Alastor become good friends after the Baker Estate, Chris acting almost like an older brother figure to Al. Chris even calls him “a good guy” when Alastor confesses to his guilt over Eveline’s death after one too many drinks. However, Chris does notice Alastor’s darker tendencies coming to the surface as the years went on but is unsure of how to act on it.

Guy is diagnosed with a incurable lung condition as a result of the exposure to the Mold and poor living conditions at the Baker House.

Due to Guy’s fragile physical health, Alastor starts overworking in order pay the medical bills to the point of mental and physical exhaustion. They get into fights over it, with Guy begging Alastor to “please look after yourself!”

At some point, Guy accidently gets another woman pregnant. When the woman confesses that she doesn’t want a child, he decides to take the newborn in himself after discussing it with Alastor.

Alastor was secretly terrified a little nervous about living with a child, but it was love at first sight.

[bookishwithathought]

ACOSF Bonus Chapter Breakdown

Part II - Azriel and Elain

***IT IS LONG, BUT I WANTED TO DOWNLOAD ALL MY THOUGHTS ON HERE. IF ANYONE READS IT THROUGH, BLESS YOU. WILL CONTINUE IN FUTURE POSTS***

Part I: https://www.tumblr.com/bookishwithathought/749493410186117120/acosf-bonus-chapter-breakdown-part-i-azriel-and

**This is just me, analyzing the life out of the bonus chapter and all the possibilities. My thoughts and no one else's. If you agree, great. If you disagree, love it. If you want to share why you disagree, love it even more. If you are disrespectful while disagreeing, I kindly request that you move along and if you insist you will be left to argue with yourself**

How did I miss this important bit from the first part?

This implies that Az and his shadows are a package deal. The shadows are an important part of his character, his very being. Throughout the series there are so many comments and observations about the shadows, and if they weren't important then the author would have no need to give them the amount of attention she has.

BACK:

These details are important, especially since it's been established the shadows are an important part of Az's very being.

When comparing the shadows' behavior toward Elain to everyone else in Azriel's life, it's worth noting that they vanish in Elain's presence, or move in a way that implies uncertainty, insecurity or fear.

Elain was a social butterfly prior to being turned Fae, open and inviting, and this subtle forwardness seems to point to her being on her way to returning to herself, moving forward from mourning Graysen and her mortal life.

Azriel is letting his emotions override his reasoning.

To consider:

It can either be positive, where emotion leads to action for good, or negative, where it can lead one to ignore warning signs.

2. His conscience was warning him and he chose to ignore. His wants and needs broke forth, overriding his senses and dismissing any potential repercussions or fallouts from this decision.

"I want what I want, consequences be damned"

*Clearly Elain is attracted to Az, otherwise she wouldn't have leaned into him. We see her beginning to just want again.

(I'm redacting because I want to keep it as PG as I can)

Why wait for his shadows to go to sleep to allow himself this freedom?

Possibilities:

His shadows know it's wrong and would encourage him against it

Azriel knows it's wrong and doesn't want to have his companions whisper into his conscience

Azriel felt uncomfortable acting on his desires in the presence of his shadows and didn't want an audience

My personal thought: It's like hiding something important from your greatest friend who'll always be honest with you and hold you accountable because you don't want to be honest with yourself and you don't want to leave any room for your conscience to be awakened.

Personal note: I love the half-hearted attempt at resisting lol at least their conscience wasn't completely thrown out of the window.

Her arousal: reminds me of Violet Bridgerton and wanting to be "gardened" in Queen Charlotte (iykyk) lol. In all seriousness, this points to Elain being ready for love again. She is ready for touch, for intimacy.

Side note: Shout out to Azriel for still showing self-restraint, letting Elain take the lead on this. It's possible that he's letting her take the lead to appease his conscience, to be able to point out that he wasn't the initiator (not that it matters, at the end of the day, if you're still a willing participant. If there is blame to be had, you share it regardless of who started it) but I'd rather think the best of him in this moment, letting Elain set her level of comfort and pace here.

Trusting and hopeful and open:

Possibilities

Elain was ready to think forward, of the future, of the possibilities

Tied with her not knowing the darkest/roughest/morally grey parts of Az so she only has an image of him that's incomplete. Implies her desires for Az is incomplete because she doesn't know him wholly

Terrible...sacrilege...tainting...:

Possibilities

Az feels unworthy of goodness because he sees himself as unworthy of goodness

He idolizes Elain, putting her on a pedestal

He sees himself as not good enough for Elain, not even his presence is good enough for her. It corrupts, it taints, it stains.

He views Elain as innocent and pure, which in itself can be patronizing. We could point to the following excerpt from ACOSF

Personal note: I wondered, while reading this passage, if this was also directed at Az himself (I fail to remember the right terminology for this), because based on the bonus chapter he certainly believes he has a darkness Elain shouldn't be exposed to. So much so that he comments he knew she had no idea of his "unsavory" side, and the only way for one to truly know another is if the other person reveals who they are. He hid parts of himself, either because he thinks Elain is too good and pure or because he's worried of how she would react to who he honestly is. Either way, hiding parts of yourself is dishonest.

Immediate satisfaction. Here Azriel isn't thinking of a future with Elain. He has a desire he wants to see satisfied. After that? In this one moment, there is no "after that." Not to say there wouldn't be later. For now, there isn't.

{Side note on "Offer and permission": love to see on page consent.}

To be continued...

[allwormdiet]

Insinuation 2.9

And now everyone is cool and nothing is wrong :)

Y'know, obviously the actual violence involved in the bullying, both physical and social, is like the chief source of harm for Taylor, but I think what's almost equally terrible is that it's made her into her fourth-worst enemy after the main trio, scared of being disliked and trying so hard to find ways to justify not bowing to others

Also, I don't fully know enough about Alec to say, but low-key I get the sense that Taylor just doesn't like him that much, which is a little funny but also a little sad

Yeah, like, he's a little immature but this kinda feels like her interpreting his words in bad faith

This is kinda cute? Alec is being a bit of a brat, yeah, but Brian is immediately charmed by someone else who automatically did a Responsible Thing and Taylor clearly flourishes with his attention. I'm sure they both think they're the token sane ones

Maybe it's just me but I think Alec's power can be pretty busted. Like that's a great way to get an enemy to score an own-goal if they're not careful with their weapons, or if they're on a flight of stairs.

Also think I'm getting a marginally better read on his character through this chapter. He does seem to be earnest, or at least trying, the sarcasm comes off as much of a front as Brian acting like an adult or Lisa acting smug.

Rachel speaks up and it's just to defend her dogs, this is relatable

Also smart call on the infosec tbh

Also also, lmao Taylor's still mad and not shy about that, very telling that she's still thinking of Rachel as Bitch

Makes sense that Rachel has to be careful about what dogs she can use her power on, it only takes one beast like that to go off the rails and cause a whole world of hurt that she didn't mean for. Five bucks says there's a story to how she learned that one.

Sweet But Heartbreaking: The Hebert Family Story

Few things, semi-conflicting in my head but I'll talk through it all anyway

I like the Undersiders and know that they're broadly good kids, or at least trying to be good kids, but I don't think they're so upright that they're above doing crime that would cause harm to others, even if it's "just" financial loss and a scare

And it's interesting to me that as much as Taylor likes them, as much as Taylor yearns to be on this team with them (to the point where she'll tolerate Rachel), she still sees herself as in some way apart from them, even better than them, because she's a hero. Or going to be a hero at the least.

Wonder how long that attitude can hold up

Current Thoughts

I like seeing the Undersiders play off each other more, and I like seeing Taylor slide into a niche alongside them. Had I the power I would make the next *checks notes* twenty-eight arcs just about them all being friends and having adventures, but I do not, so. Reality will ensue at some point, I imagine.

I think it's a little easier to see Taylor's exact problems with more people to bounce off of. She's got this ongoing struggle between needing to belong, needing to fly under the radar, and needing vindication for what she's been put through, and it's given her some bad habits. The self-loathing is a major component, but as I'm looking at it I think her swiftness to dismiss others as less-than-her could just as easily be a byproduct of Emma's tender mercies as a lot of her other bad habits. All of Winslow High has either participated in her suffering, or else stood by and did nothing about it; is it any wonder that she feels alone in a crowd, that she's so harsh in how she views others who provide any reason to doubt their intentions towards her? Rachel is obviously an extreme case but she even raised her hackles a bit with Alec back in 2.7 and what he said could barely count as teasing.

Little shocked that this arc is over already, but I guess it's longer than Arc 1, so maybe I'm just getting wrapped up in the flow of the story and getting thrown by the interruptions. Interlude next, then my meditations on Arc 2

[olderthannetfic]

Re: https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/720791837582983168/tbh-im-quite-shocked-by-all-the-anons-here?source=share

The thing about the OTW publicly suspecting an ex-volunteer is that a) the ex-volunteer was the one who had theorised in a public post that she might have been a suspect first. And she identified herself by username in it. And speculated that she'd been unjustly suspended after that email attack she was the suspect of. So b) the OTW was responding org-internally to current-volunteers' questions brought on by the ex-volunteer's post and they c) did not name her, so only the current volunteers who knew about the ex's post would've been able to identify her as that ex-volunteer. You can't cry defamation if you self-defame, first, and defamation requires that the other person is lying about the reasoning for their suspicion.

As for the CSEM ticket handling and the treatment of the PAC members, esp that ex-vol who worked CSEM tickets, I'm of the opinion that if you take on that work, it's your job to make a call whether or not the material in front of you contains an actual minor. Yes, 99% of it is going to be tickets about cartoon porn or GOT fanfic or whatever, but live-action porn is very much something that you might have to evaluate, too, and she straight-up said she wasn't able to tell with certainty, and so wanted to ban the content (which was fan*fiction* + the ambiguous porn gif) based on it being tagged Underage just to be safe. And it's fine that she said she couldn't tell, but she doesn't get to complain that she was forced to evaluate and eventually dismiss (due to the person in it not being clearly identifiable as a minor) that content, when by her own words, she wasn't forced. She'd also stated that she was working these tickets by choice so the other members wouldn't have to, but now people spin it as if she was chained to her desk and given nothing but CSEM reports. That's unjust framing.

Neither is it ok to want to suspend a user for tags that from context clearly pertain to a *fictional* work. She says she was told she couldn't ban it despite wanting to because "Legal says gifs are transformative fanworks and Disney had recently implied it wanted to crack down on gifs", which, to me, carries the implication that Legal said to ignore CSEM if it comes in the form of gifs or other transformative works. When what that actually is, is the obscenity exception about visual sexual content in which no real kid appears to have actually participated (if the pics are not of a child, but meant to be about underage sex, they need to be obscene under the Miller test to be illegal, and transformative works have artistic value). Which is stuff that she, as the former go-to CSEM ticket girl of the OTW, should actually know. Granted, the one bit I don't doubt at all is that unpaid volunteers don't give or receive enough training, but personally, when questions of legality and attached morality (is this ruling fair, or harmful?) haunt me, I look shit up. And I don't believe for a moment that Legal did not look that shit up despite specialising in IP-law, or had misunderstood CSEM laws to such a degree that they'd actually say it's not CSEM if it's a gif.

I've seen people now - that ex-volunteer among them - demand a mental healthcare budget, at least for post-emergency-use, and call failure to provide that neglectful. The lack of mental health support in a unpaid-volunteer run org for the people who do this kind of important work is unfortunate, and was even more so in the aftermath of the email attack, but the OTW can't just magic that money for 900 people's healthcare up. Them continuing not to pay (cause that's what it is) their volunteers after a crisis is not abuse or neglectful.

The majority of their (the ex-vol's and allied vols) points seem either ignorant or deliberately framing themselves as the victims of some horribly abusive organisation who made them look at and shelter CSAM and is now bullying them after they blew the whistle on it. I don't really see anything worth getting the whistle out for, here, so yes, I think it's a smear campaign.

--

[dearweirdme]

Yubi posted a picture wearing a ring that JK has. It's really obvious by her pose what she was trying to do. I just find it so interesting now that JK is getting bombarded with the cult rumors that she also emerges stirring the pot 😮‍💨her family is allegedly super problematic too with money and the religious center they run/participate in.

Do you think it could be a coincidence or she's maliciously trying to link herself to him? I saw someone talking about this on X, and they believe they're back together because of what Yubi has been posting on insta. She repinned a photo that she took off when the video/pics of him leaked. Then she uploaded a photo of her wearing Adidas clothes the same day JK opened Bams insta, and coincidently, he's wearing Adidas in his profile picture and now looking back at that photo she's also wearing the ring but I feel like nobody caught it so that's why she uploaded the new picture to show it off clearly lol.

Now the reason I don't dismiss the yubi rumor entirely is because I've noticed that JK does seem to be a very impulsive guy. When he was around mijoo he got all those tattoos at once. You can tell he was either super infatuated with her or inspired because he got really similar tattoos to her. Once they parted ways, he got his sleeve redone, clearly regretting it. With Yubi, he got into the whole buddist thing. He has a buddist symbol tattooed, was allegedly going to a temple, wearing those bracelets etc.. then once the rumors of them parting ways happened, we have him on live saying he's not religious. Now she's posting things that seem to link to him, so maybe they're back in contact? When it comes to taekook, I do wonder if maybe they took a break or decided to be open because it does seem like the taennie and yubi timeline overlap

Hi anon!

Lmao, not that ring 😂😂😂! Is she in a relationship with the whole of Wooga as well?

Listen, I think connecting the dots like this take a lot of assumptions. You assume she knows/knew about the Bam insta on the same day it launched. Why? Also.. if they are actually together (they're not) the SK celeb thing to do would be to keep things a secret. Her rying to hint at being with Jk (she's not) would mean she's trying to out them (not very beneficial at this point I'd say). Also, why would she want to connect herself to Jk at the moemnt they go through all this shit? WOuldn't the wise thing be to keep a distance from scandal? I think it's all just coincidence anon. The ring is a common one amongst celebs. Adidas is a common brand.

I don't think Jk is that easily influenced at all. If anything him having tattoos shows that. He probably would have been adviced against getting tattoos from many sides (having tats is a bit frowned upon in SK I believe). Jk likes to try different things. He was pretty young when he got his first tattoos, it's very possible he did change his mind about them later on. I think that's due to age, not due to who he's with. Your twenties are probably when you go through the biggest search for discovering who you are. That goes for JK as well.

[mdhwrites]

In Helluva Boss, why do you think we still know nothing about Octavia's relationship with Stella? We know all about how she feels regarding her dad, but not her mom. At the time of me writing this, S2 is almost over and they still haven't so much as exchanged dialogue together.

Do you think their relationship functions the same way as Sasha and Marcy's, as in "it's not important to the story, so there's no need to focus on it," or do you think we ought to know how Stella and Octavia feel about each other?

So I still have not watched more Helluva Boss, I'm still like midway through S1, so I'm going to try and talk about this strictly from a conceptual framing. Essentially: If one main character is a character's father and the main antagonist their mother, do we need to know their relationship with the daughter?... And I'll give some thoughts on this overall by the end for Helluva Boss because I do have thoughts.

But, to begin with, as per usual, not always. Some stories will just have there be a kid involved because that's a part of what a family looks like. In that case, the character might be treated mostly as an object. Something both care about or dismiss to show what sort of person they are and to paint where their relationship is. Is the kid just a vestigial element that maybe needs to escape both, is one clearly the right one for her to go with or is it that this is a tragedy because there is love there still, just not with each other? It Takes Two is an example of this where the daughter there is talked about but never properly interacts with the parents. She is more a thing that is a part of conversations but doesn't get to speak, in part because much of the time she's not there.

I'll skip the next one because it doesn't apply here but in a proper family drama, they might be a full fledged main character. They have their own arc to dealing with their parents, the contrasting sides and the extreme conflicts going on. While it's technically generational, El Tigre is quite literally just this. Father is good, Grandfather is evil, how does the new man of the family live up to those expectations, deal with the complexity of their pulls on him, stuff like that. Honestly, great place for character drama that isn't explored a lot and doesn't even necessarily need the parents to be breaking up in the process.

Then we get closer to what Octavia is where she is ostensibly a supporting character to the conflict. Here she is an active participant but more to make the jabs of the first style more pointed. Rather than being told their relationships, we can see some of the nuance and potential unreliability of our narrators simply by getting the other side of the story. In fact, that's the whole point of Octavia's introductory episode. Stolas would tell anyone that he's a great father but that while he's drifted from his little owlet, they're still a great father and daughter duo! But Stella calls him out on his BS and we get a chance to see that the hedonism that is costing him his marriage is also costing him his daughter. That it's actively ruining the chances at the life he claims to desire because he can't keep it in his pants long enough to even make an earnest mistake. He can only make mistakes. Any statement of consideration for his daughter goes out the window when so clearly he played to his own wants, desires and agenda and hardly focuses on her.

Which actually puts an interesting perspective on the void with Stella. Someone who is feeling charitable is able to say it IS saying something about their relationship. Even if Stolas can only make mistakes currently, 1% of trying is still better than not trying at all. If they had a relationship, the show would show us that and so that's what is being said. Octavia is just an object to be put aside by Stella.

...Yeah, you might have noticed the charitable part of that because that's essentially putting in a LOT of legwork for this interpretation. Or all of it really. It's too good faith a reading to be true. The neutral faith reading is that both Octavia and Stella are only amplifiers on the Stolas and Blitzo drama so calling Octavia a main antagonist or even a core supporting character doesn't matter when their characters are mostly just there to make the gay angst more potent. They don't matter outside of Stolas and thus the show is making the smart, albeit shallow, choice to keep them apart because we don't need their relationship. We already have the idea that beating Stella will mean getting Octavia under Stolas' custody and that Stolas will only do that once he's a better man. We don't need to see proof that Stella is somehow a worse mom than Stolas unless you think having her genuinely, actively abusing her daughter is something that has to be portrayed.

But both of these readings have a VERY core problem to them: The reason to bring a child into the equation at all is missing. In It Takes Two, Rose is meant to be the heart that you are working towards by getting these two squabbling parents to love each other again. In El Tigre, the generational problem often comes down to needing to accept family and is a large part of the heart of the show. It allows for very bitter, MEAN conflicts to have an emotional core that makes it a tragedy, a triumph, a tension filled drama etc. like that that you wouldn't get otherwise because just the two that HAVE to be there include a screaming harpy who's ready to murder the other one and a hedonistic asshole who cheats on their partner all the time through blackmailing their boy toy. There is no winning side here for you to root for. Octavia could be that... BUT WE DON'T HAVE ANY REASON FOR HER TO WANT TO BE WITH THESE PEOPLE!

As such, the whole plotline just reads as misery porn. That instead of showing who Stolas could be, Octavia serves to just further prove how much of a fucking awful person he is. That's clearly not the point they were going for but it IS the point that comes across. I don't even think driving her towards the arms of her father would be a great solution though because from what people in my Discord have said about how he sees his infidelity, his refusal to admit fault, Stolas hasn't change in almost a season and a half. He is not becoming the better man so proving that under Stella, Octavia is in active danger rather than passive neglect would kind of just make anyone who cares about the character sick to their stomach. It would also not help the perception of the show of cartoonishly villainizing Stella in a desperate attempt to further attempt to claim Stolas did nothing wrong because... That's literally what it would be doing.

They're in a no win situation that is essentially not Octavia's fault whatsoever. It's just the compounding problems, from what I hear, of how the show decided to do its conflict and how it perceives its main characters. But that gets into the blunt fact that if your main characters are bad, they rot the whole tree, no matter what you try to do to fix it. Octavia's best option as such is just to get out and try to find something who's core isn't so bad.

======+++++======

Sorry for making more judgement calls than I initially planned. I still think a lot of what comes with the more specifics can teach but I admittedly just don't know the show well enough to say my calls on the situation are concrete. I've been given impressions of things but also I don't have someone going hard to bat in my Discord for the show either so I may be missing half the story too. If I am, let me know.

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[bonaesperanza]

Another thing I like about Halt and Catch Fire is how it deconstructs the idea of the creative visionary ahead of their time pushing society into the future.

On that show, everyone is kind of a visionary and no one is. If you think about it, all their breakthroughs are a result of their natural tendencies and interests meshing well with the current state of the technology, and their natural tendencies are a product of their histories and temperaments.

Cameron specializes in software, and what she is obviously most interested in is human-computer interaction. This makes sense - at some point she describes herself in middle school as someone who didn't know how to communicate with others, until she was introduced to computers and was thrilled to learn that she could communicate with something she could understand. Computers fulfill her emotional needs, in a way. So whether Cameron will be the innovator is almost entirely a function of how much the current trends or oncoming trends mesh well with her internal perception of computers as something to interact with. She is heartbroken when Joe takes out the proto-chatbot out of The Giant but easily dismisses Donna when Donna pushes to expand Community, because Community isn't about talking to computers, it's about people talking to other people, which to Cameron is initially incomprehensible. Cameron only recognizes the value of Community when she meets several people with trauma similar to her own, and sees how they resolved it not by talking to a computer but by talking to other people. Cagey, asocial Cameron also likes technically complicated things, because she perceives a kind of intimacy and specialness in being the only one to understand how something works. It's a kind of a shield between her and the world, again deriving from the way she found validation and intimacy in working with computers as a kid. Like a jealous lover, she prefers the conversation to be 1-on-1. No wonder she is aghast at the rise of plotless first-person shooters and demands for game controls to be explained - to her it's stupid, ungrateful people unwilling to put in the work necessary to build an intimate relationship with the computer.

Donna is clearly a hardware girl and her most brilliant moments come from creative hardware solutions, but she also spent at least a couple of years as a housewife with two small children and can see the benefit in being able to communicate with other people long-distance. She also grew up in a very image-oriented household and sometimes struggles with similar tendencies herself, so she is also quick to recognize the liberating potential of being anonymous on the internet (Cameron, who is not only uninterested in socializing or making a good impression but also gleefully shows off her worst traits to everyone else - she is the ultimate "queen big dick" - could never). But Donna really isn't that into software, or the newer hardware - in late S4 she fixes up an old radio and admires its old-school simplicity, contrasting it with the newfangled chip-based technology that she dislikes. The tragedy of Donna is that, probably due to her early pregnancy, she never had the chance to work on complex hardware for long enough to make a name out of herself in that field, and hardware is expensive enough that she can't do it at home on the regular or have access to truly innovative stuff outside of a corporate setting like Cameron or Tom did with their more software-based interests (she had to work a random job late into her pregnancy to be able to somehow hustle up the parts for the Symphonic). So it's no wonder that she opts out of the industry entirely and focuses on getting money to people who might need it, a process whose difficulties she's intimately aware of. This way she gets to participate in the more hardware-based stuff in some way - look how happy she is to explore the robotics lab in late S4!

Joe is clearly into literature so he recognizes the potential for a good story, and he is also obviously good at perceiving power plays and imbalances and similar entanglements that are somewhere on the edge between strategy and sociology and politics in a broad sense. This also makes sense, because he grew up near at least some centers of power, and being a queer kid who was aware from an early age of how his social standing was based on a lie probably didn't help. The best illustration of how his moments of savantry are based around strategy games is what he does with the antivirus software: the idea doesn't come from Joe's great technological insights (LOL), it comes from his analysis of several situations happening to him simultaneously - various people reacting to his trustworthiness or lack thereof, and then Cameron having his and his company's balls in a vice grip because she's able to destroy their data or hold it hostage (as Paul Atreides said, "He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing."). So this is where the idea comes from - it's basically an arms deal for a new kind of warfare. And then he leverages this into telling a fanciful larger story about security and safety and society and human rights, probably inspired by being an mlm during the AIDS crisis, because he is a good enough storyteller to position himself as some kind of a messiah, but also because he is aware of the strategic and sociological implications of large powerful entities getting to pick and choose who and what gets to be safe and the psychological effect this has on people (note how his struggle with the board to keep the software free overlaps with the subplot of him having to deal with the homophobic business partner - someone involved in Joe getting a government contract - who explicitly says that he wishes all the gays would just die of AIDS).

Gordon is an optimizer - I don't think we've ever seen him have a truly innovative idea, ever, but give him a prompt, even an impossible one, and he will perfect it, optimize it, streamline it beyond your wildest dreams. It's no wonder Gordon is underappreciated because he's exactly the kind of detail-oriented person who is cast aside in favour of larger, more bombastic personalities, but when the name of the game is slow and steady improvement Gordon does better than anyone because he takes what already exists and makes it better in every way possible. Gordon is kind of an anxious person, and kind of a nitpicky one in most situations (he keeps correcting other people's exaggerations and incorrect statements, it's no wonder he gets along with Kate so well), and he often resists qualitative change but he pushes "the state of the art" forward as much as any of the others. He is an artisan, as reflected in his idea of custom-built boutique computers. This is why the worst thing that can happen to him is his neurodegenerative disorder - it threatens the attention to detail and precision and finesse that make his work truly stand out.

I really enjoyed taking apart these characterizations but I guess that my broader point is that while all these people are brilliant in their own way, they are also not brilliant in many other ways, and rather than being invincible geniuses their success is based entirely on moments when the constantly shifting technological zeitgeist overlaps with their innate way of perceiving the world for a brief moment before the innovation itself necessarily eventually causes a second-order change that creates a new, less compatible status quo.

The narrative is almost Hegelian in its approach; a great man does not create historical reality himself but only uncovers the inevitable future, because what he is personally striving for currently matches up with the broader movements of the world. But if it doesn't, the great man is fucked no matter how great he is - Ryan was more ahead of his time than arguably anyone, and ended up where he did through a combination of various personality flaws and systemic factors.

[emerald-notes]

Noona! Please! Help! - Part 2

Fandom: BTS Characters: Younger Brothers BTS and Elder Sister Narrator Genre: A Little Dramatic and A Little Comedic Word Count: 1.3K Words Warning: Mention of other idols such as Lisa and Ryujin, tearing down clothes, breakdown, crying etc. Note: It’s a siblings AU story of BTS with the narrator as their elder sister. I tried to write something different from what I usually write about. I had fun making this. Hope it makes you feel good too. Happy Reading Everyone :)

Summary: Her little brothers can’t attend to a single task without her help. Be it a dance competition or asking out a girl for a date, they always seem to be finding everything too hard to go through without her by their side. ‘Our lucky charm’; that’s what they like to call her. But what if she turns out to be a misfortune in different situations in one single day?

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - More to come

Not Really the Best Dancer:

06:45 a.m. 1st September, 2015

I still have more than an hour before Hobi’s aka Hoseok’s dance starts. So, I decided to take a shower and apply some light makeup that would suit all the occasions I am to participate in. I had taken a day off work today. Because, I’m about to meet my seven little brothers, that too, at different times in one single day.

I make a mental note of my schedule and get out of my house (Sorry, it’s actually my granma's house) 10 minutes prior to Hobi’s dance. He is going to participate in the finale of the dance competition he had been practicing for for the last three years. Though a little nervous, I’m pretty positive he is going to win. I mean, why not? He’s the best dancer I have ever seen.

“Come here!” Hobi waves his hand while talking to me on the phone. I go straight to him pushing the crowd ahead of me.

“You should have hurried, Noona!” Hobi says with a pout, “I have to go change. The show’s starting.”

“Alright!” I tell him, “Go on, then. I’ll be cheering you on from the crowd. Are you nervous?”

“Nah!” Hobi dismisses the question with a slight wave of his hand and by putting a bright smile on his face, “Why would I be? I’ve got you.”

I take his hands in mine, clearly noticing the sweaty palms, “Fighting!”

“Fighting!” with a little shake of the hands he disappears inside the dressing room.

Lisa starts her performance with a loud applause from the crowd. I had watched some of the previous dance performances of others in the videos Hoseok brought home for me to see. But I don’t remember watching any of her. Watching her perform live in front of me makes me a little nervous. She has one of the best body controls. And it is definitely something to worry about.

The next participant gets as much cheers from the crowd as her previous competitor. Her name’s Ryujin and I had seen her collaborating with Hobi before. I liked that dance so much at the time. Now, I’m not really sure I’m liking her moves. Of course, she can dance. And that is exactly my problem.

Finally, Hoseok takes the stage as ‘J-Hope’ and the crowd bursts into loud screams from the enthusiasts. All my anxieties take some rest. But as soon as he starts to move along the beat, I feel like I’m holding my breath. As if that would ensure his perfect performance.

Everything goes smoothly until at a point Hoseok rips off his shirt; earning more screams from the audience. I’m shocked at the revelation. Is it a mistake? I mean, Hoseok would never do that. Once he had told me himself that he doesn’t like showing much skin. It’s the choreography that matters more to him.

But it seems like I’m the only one who’s confused. Others around me seem to be enjoying the dance along with that little distraction that he made. However, I gather myself just before the end so that I don’t forget to cheer and clap the loudest for my little Hobi.

There’s a thirty minute break before they announce the winner of the long one month competition. I check my phone and gasp.

Three missed calls from Yoongi.

I check the time. It’s already 8:48 a.m. Yoongi’s game starts at 8:30 a.m. I was supposed to be with him now. I look out for Hobi.

“You did great!” I compliment him hurriedly.

“Thanks but…” Hobi frowns.

“What’s the matter?” I take a closer look at his sweaty face.

“It’s just that” Hobi continues, “I feel like I made a mistake.”

My phone rings before I could tell him anything. It’s Yoongi again.

“Umm…” I hesitate before speaking, “I still believe you’re going to win. Hobi… Please don’t mind but… I really have to be somewhere now.”

“What?” Hobi looks up, “No way! Wait for the announcement at least. Please, Noona! You promised!”

“I promised I will watch you perform. And I did that. Besides, you didn’t mention the results will take that long to be announced. I have to meet Yoongi. Apparently he has an important match too.”

Hobi scoffs, “As if he’s the one playing.”

I can sense the anger rising within him. First of all, he’s upset about some mistakes that he made. Now that I’ve mentioned Yoongi, he’s definitely pissed. Hoseok never liked the fact that Yoongi bets money on basketball matches. According to him, “It’s a waste of money if you lose. And a waste of character if you win.”

“You can go if you want.” Hobi says finally, “It’s not even a huge deal.”

I know he doesn’t mean that. It is in fact a huge deal for him. My common sense tells me it is better to deal with an angry Yoongi than with an angry Hoseok.

I smile and pull him into a hug. He’s surprised by my sudden action. “What’re you doing?”

“Don’t worry!” I say, “Noona will stay so that you win.”

“Oh yeah!” Hobi hugs me back, “Then, I’ll definitely win.”

“I’ll be there as soon as it ends.” I yell at Yoongi through my phone because of the loud audience around me.

“Yeah, take your time.” Yoongi says bitterly, “Looks like Hoba is in need of some luck more than I do today. ‘Cause we’re already winning.” Then, he cuts the line.

I don’t have the time to think about his last remark. The three participants walk to the stage and the crowd cheers louder, as if it is even possible. I cheer for Hobi too, mentally praying to God that my little brother gets the fruit that he’s been nurturing for so long.

With some dramatic speeches and hearts beating up to our throats, the result is finally revealed. And J-Hope is not the winner.

Looks like Ryujin outdid the others this time and she is as shocked as I am to find it out. Both Lisa and Hobi are clapping with bright smiles on their faces. They are both bowing to Ryujin, who in turn is bowing to them. The flower bouquet is presented to her and the rest of the celebration goes on in blur.

I went backstage to meet Hobi. But I only see two girls hugging and complimenting each other. Hobi is nowhere to be seen. I look through the dressing room and he’s not there.

I decide to peek at the boy’s bathroom to check and I sigh in relief. Hobi is bending towards the basin, his hands covering the face while the faucet runs beneath.

“Hobi!” I call him softly.

“Please, Noona!” His voice cracks as he tries to speak, “Just give me some time. I promise I’ll be okay. Just some time is all I need.”

Contemplating on why it is hard for me to believe that he is crying out of failure, I find that it is because I had never experienced Hoseok openly displaying sadness before. He was always the ray of sunshine, the restless butterfly or the sweet smelling flower of our family. As if it is what’s expected of him.

Even right now, in such a vulnerable state of mind, he doesn’t seem to be trusting me enough to have confided in me. Instead, he’s willing to go through a breakdown all alone until he’s ready to smile brightly again.

I am dumbfounded. I feel like I need to tell him something, comfort him and let him know that he’s not here alone. I want to make him feel that it's okay to fail. That he’s still loved and that’s what should matter the most.

My phone rings in my pocket once again and Hoseok looks up from the sink. With teary red eyes he says, “It must be Yoongi Hyung. Don’t make him wait any longer. Just go. I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?” I ask, confused.

“I guess,” he sniffs, “I accept my defeat. Maybe, I’m not really the best dancer that you used to think I am.”

< Previous || Next >

My Masterlist

Tag List:  @sophiatcha,  @lalavione1309,  @jwirecs,  @missmayaarmy,  @sarai-ibn-la-ahad,  @ayalies,  @karougirl123,  @juju-227592,  @coffeepurpleu,  @dreamerwasfound,  @wetfeline,  @phthao2406, @hoshi-is-ult-bbg, @bestloverstan,  @quixoticbittersweet,  @jwirecs-main,  @singukieee,  @l3aecon,  @bangtandoll20,  @gabcats5,  @latina-girl-18,  @kyuupidwrites

[pierayanna]

Thoughts on US election

it’s concerning how normalized performing for social media is. and it’s gotten to the point that I don’t even people realize it because they’re performing for themselves not necessarily to be seen by others. cause how are yall so happy, ecstatic even, to cast your vote for a cop genocidaire but was just posting “Free Palestine” & “Justice for Sonya” ??? Literally publicly celebrating voting for such evil.

and it was plenty of *genuine* bipoc leftists that obviously understood our experience under trump & limitations of third party candidates and were clearly for voting for Harris. even sharing these ideas. but the vitriol yall had for them saying to not just give this woman the vote and push her to not be *as* evil was soo bizarre. Yall keep saying lesser evil and now your red line isn’t even genocide??? These people actually know the theory, practice it, and actually do things besides vote every 4 years, yet yall were so quick to dismiss them and antagonize them for trying to push the candidate *yall both want* to stop killing thousands of people???

I understanding voting in your best interest. I don’t understand sacrificing millions of lives for it and I don’t understand CELEBRATING & PRAISING people committing atrocities. Just vote. And Harris knows yall don’t care about any of the genocides which is why she had that entire performance telling people protesting HER administration murdering hundreds of thousands of people to stop speaking or someone else would continue the killing. ??? And yall celebrated that ??? Because if yall listened to people trying pressure her with their vote (the way it should be done if you are going to participate in this evil institution) to push her to change her evil policies, she probably would have changed them (or at least claimed to)

And do yall genuinely know her policies… because it’s giving AKA trump

Be the same people who don’t understand our struggles are all connected but want to post Malcolm X. The same people who don’t understand the IDF trains OUR police force. The people that murdered Sonya. The same people who fear monger worse every 4 years to get the democratic vote but don’t understand fascism has been here. The same people that post love, light, & biblical scriptures (I can’t take yall seriously lmaooo). Yall legitimize these evil institutions that only care about capital so much and jump to able to celebrate them. That’s really the part that’s getting me, like okay share your candidate, but to praise and celebrate and glorify a cop genocidaire?? Unconditionally??? No pressure to stop committing genocide, no pressure to change her policies (the few I’ve seen because there’s none on her website lmaooo) that resemble project 2025, just praise & glory for a genocidal lady.

And I hate this but I guess yall genuinely do not care unless it’s literally you or your family (and you’ll probably give a modicum of a fuck then, not enough to not be in service to the empire, eager to celebrate them)

Also (thought I was done lmaoo) yall don’t understand the merit in community. So busy trying to play the empires game in which you will always lose, you don’t see how you can stop playing it without destroying it first. Because people will need support once the empire falls anyway. How about build that community with everything you need first anyway?? Nvm that building sovereignty is how you can escape capitalism’s grip anyway.

[persephoneprice]

thinking about "being unable to see people as just evil." imo it's a useful quality, and with thg/tbosas i like that that perspective is kinda baked into the narrative. that's part of why the mentors are so interesting to me -- most of them are probably doomed to become tools of a terrible system (they're destined for brilliant careers in the capitol, after all) but for now they're all 18-year-olds doing their best and probably hiding what they really believe. if they even know what they believe. AND on top of all that, they survived the dark days together? god

btw i got lysistrata on your uquiz and she's great so i appreciate it lol. her being childhood friends with snow is something i think about a lot because i feel like she actually sees his potential to do good. which is nice but tragic because he doesn't see that potential in himself. like she can Tell that he also hates the games and the many ways that the mentors are being manipulated, but he'll never admit it. just too much of a risk. (he also sees *her* potential to do good, and unlike with sejanus, he respects it, since she generally tries to do the right thing in calculated ways rather than impulsively challenging the status quo. he still finds her strange and disorienting to be around since she clearly doesn't *want* to conform and be accepted nearly as much as he does.) anyway my main hc for her is that she ends up in bioengineering (NOT working for dr. gaul lmao) and is extremely good at what she does. she experiences various ethical dilemmas because she creates something that both can save lives in a unique way And is likely to be used in the games/could have military applications(?), so. idk. she struggles with that a lot because she refuses to turn away from the harm her project could cause

i also hc that lyssie stays friends with snow longer than one might expect -- i think she's surprisingly open to feeling (and acting on) compassion for people she knows she can never fully trust. and she's often been viewed as, like, adjacent to capitol high society without the possibility of being genuinely accepted into its ranks, so she doesn't tend to trust a lot of people. she tends to like or at least be curious about a lot of people, though, and she doesn't see that as contradictory. she keeps her distance when it's necessary, and tbh sometimes when it's unnecessary. i feel like she would be one of (young politician) snow's few positive influences -- even convincing him to make good public health decisions that benefit the districts. something like that. she'd be good at laying it all out as strategically useful, etc. and then their friendship eventually falls apart as it becomes clear that snow really isn't trying to change things from the inside (while lyssie definitely is)

bonus: it seems possible that lyssie's parents know some ravinstill family secrets since they're max's doctors. make of this what you will. dr. and dr. vickers, what do you know?? whatever's going on with them and max could also have Parallels with lyssie being relatively close to snow as he gains power. much to think about

oh coryo, this is such a wonderful ask to receive! genuinely, i am so excited to dive into this (under the cut because this turned into a small novel!)

i completely 100% agree with what you’re saying about the mentors and i think you’ve brought up such an amazing point with this. i think it’s easy to dismiss the mentors as being evil/terrible people, but i truly don’t believe there’s such a thing as a fully naturally evil person (not even urban canville).

the mentors get a lot of hate and i definitely get why (and enjoy participating!) but i think a lot of people forget just how young these mentors are. of course, that may be because so many tbosas fans are so young- but 18/19 is barely an adult. it’s so easy to dismiss them as horrible because of how they acted (and definitely they deserve the criticism) but i think in doing so, we really overlook the situation they’re in. of course this bunch of elite kids who have been spoon fed propaganda aren’t perfectly ready to overthrow the entire system they know at 18 years old. especially considering they’re all traumatized from living through a literal war as children.

not to mention how dangerous it is to speak out or mess with the wrong person as a citizen in panem.

they may not have handled things perfectly or ideally, but that doesn’t mean we need to dismiss them completely. i firmly believe that all people have a capacity for change- especially when the versions we see of them are so young!

imagine being in that position! you’re barely 18 and facing graduation (which is such a difficult phase of life as it is!). you’ve lived through a war and have had to cope with the trauma of that and you’ve been fed your whole life that the reason you suffered was because of these people. then you’re told out of no where that you’re going to be assigned one of the children from the place that caused your, and everyone you know’s, suffering. you get this kid in front of you and your forced to get to know them. looking from the perspective of the mentors view (and i’m not saying i agree!), a lot of these kids prove you right by being violent and harsh because these mentors aren’t able to put themselves in the shoes of the people they view as ‘bad’.

in other cases, the mentors realize that the children really are just children and don’t deserve what’s happening. but what can they do other than offer food and try to help them the best they can? speak out? we see how things like that go in the capitol. sejanus is punished for the way he lashed out and the feed was cut when he tried to do something.

i’m not saying they shouldn’t have done more- i’m just saying it’s not as black and white as people like to think.

i’m sorry- i’ve already rambled so much but i also really want to touch on the part of lyssie! i loved what you said about her seeing coriolanus’s ability to do good- because coriolanus did have the ability to do a lot of good. he ultimately chose a different path- but the option was there. he wasn’t born an evil dictator.

i think think it’s interesting your point about why he respected lysistrata vs sejanus! i also really liked your bioengineering headcanon. i think that’s so spot on!

i’ve never thought about it- but now that you say you think she stayed friends with coriolanus longer than one might expect i completely agree! she has that compassion inside of her and she’s grown up with this person. this was one of her best friends and she cares about him- it’s not easy to just give that up. i can absolutely see her trying to hold on and hold out hope that the coryo she loved will push through and stop the madness- or that she’ll be able to influence better things in the situation. she’s aware that she’s between a rock and a hard place and does the best she can with what she’s got.

and AH that last paragraph! i had a conversation with a friend recently about a hc with the heavensbees & the phipps and all their dark family secrets and how they’re sort of forced to remain close because of all the dirt they have on each other. i could see a very similar situation for the ravinstills & the vickers!! oh that’s such an interesting point but this is already so long…but trust i am thinking!

[quill-of-thoth]

Letters from Watson: A Case of Identity

Crimes in Context: financial abuse, again. Here we have financial abuse of adult daughters / stepdaughters again, with James Windibank being the non-murderous, less wealthy counterpart to Dr. Roylott. We also have a more than typical amount of sexism regarding whether Mary Sutherland has a right to know what Holmes has deduced about her problem, which may also be compounded with classism, especially when one considers that Miss Helen Stoner and Miss Mary Morstan were given much more information regarding their cases - which, though more dangerous, were not entirely dissimilar, since both of them were being denied monetary support that they were entitled to. So why is Mary Sutherland denied the information she sought? I posit that it is the same reason that Watson is so uncomplimentary about her appearance: she's lower class. Helen and Mary Morstan were the children of not just british soldiers, but officers, meaning that their fathers were gentlemen. Mary Sutherland is the daughter of a tradesman - one that clearly supported the family well, but by definition not a gentleman. The concept of who was, and was not, a gentleman is fluctuating and through my research not strictly defined, but the common factors by the 1880's and 1890's appear to have been blood and education. A Peer (Duke, marquess, earl, viscount, baron) is automatically a gentleman, though superior to other gentlemen in rank and importance. A non-peer member of the nobility, for example Lord St. Simon, is also a gentleman, below peers but above non-nobles. All other gentlemen are judged based on their education or profession: being educated at a public (read: open to anyone who can pay) school in latin and the classics, and entering into a profession of some amount of prestige, made Watson and Holmes gentlemen regardless of how little money they may have had to split between them in 1881.

Mary Sutherland's father was a plumber and possibly additionally a gasfitter, i.e. someone who installs gas (presumably for gas lighting) in people's homes, or who inspects and repairs such installations. Gas, needing to be piped in via, well, a pipe, would of course be the concern of either a plumber or someone who had experience in plumbing and specializing in gas. Sutherland was probably part of a fraternal order of gasfitters (hence the standing invitation to the gasfitters' ball), which was common within trades at the time. These organizations were not quite a guild in the pre-industrial sense, or a union in the modern sense, but they were focused on mutual aid between members of the same profession, whether that was assisting widows and orphans of their members, coordinating somewhat standardized prices for their trade, or civic participation in terms of organizational events like an annual ball, participation in charity, or forming clubs that had nothing to do with the actual trade, such as a choir or a walking club. Her stepfather is some type of salesman or merchant, which as far as I can tell isn't a gentleman, but isn't automatically not a gentleman. Possibly Mr. Windibank has aspirations of being considered a gentleman via promotion in his profession and earning money, which would explain his haste to sell the plumbing business at a sub-par rate, and his "superior" attitude. These facts likely explain why Holmes and Watson, who trusted in the bravery and understanding of their gentlewoman clients, did not trust in the intelligence of Mary Sutherland, because modern prejudices regarding the capabilities of people according to their social class were definitely descended from these attitudes. In addition, the notion that a person's appearance and physical abilities were connected to their character was very strong. Mary Sutherland, who is nearsighted to the point of disability and is apparently not a snazzy dresser, and who moreover is not necessarily beautiful, has been dismissed out of hand. On the other hand, the selection of this case for Watson's writings, early on in his short story career, may indicate that he later thought better of it and decided that if Miss Sutherland recognized her case, he could tell her that her mother and stepfather had been taking advantage of her years after the fact.

[jjgrace42]

Symphonies: Chapter 41

Read on AO3

First Chapter — Previous Chapter — Next Chapter

Sure Fire

Minato paused where he was smothering the fire, glancing at the person joining him. "Tsunade-sama. Is Dan-san resting?"

"Yes." She grunted as she sat. "He'd much more precise with heart surgeries than I am, but he got a bit too close to chakra exhaustion for my liking."

"He's incredibly impressive." He sat back, letting the wood smolder for just a little longer. "As is Kyoko-chan. I've never seen a medic that skilled so young. You've done amazing work with her."

Tsunade laughed, leaning back for a brief moment and tugging her ponytails loose. "I wish I could take all the credit. But honestly, I don't know where she gets most of it from. Sometimes she just knows things I haven't taught her yet, and it's a surprise every time."

He shrugged, chuckling at the familiarity. "Mine do that, too. Kakashi probably the most, but Obito and Rin also. Occasionally, Obito will mention or do something he's learned from his father or his clan, and it's usually something I've never even heard of because it's a clan technique."

"I haven't gotten much of that from Tiny," she mused. "Excluding her sharingan, of course. But most of the stuff she does or knowns isn't necessarily clan exclusive. It's just . . . ." She waved a hand. "I know what I was like at that age, and it wasn't that."

Despite the one combat that had gotten his own student badly hurt because of one of Kyoko's mistakes, he'd been almost overwhelmed by the skill Obito's sister had displayed. Even more overwhelming was her apparent camaraderie with the hardest to reach of his students. Kakashi barely seemed to hold a grudge, and other than that one failure, the two worked in near perfect sync during combat. He had to wonder just how much they actually trained together, because that kind of synergy didn't just happen overnight. "She's got some growth to do, but she's good on a team."

"She hasn't had much practice with that. Which is unfortunate, since teams are a Chunin Exams requirement."

"I know that problem." Minato glanced back at the tent where their students were resting. "I've been trying to get Kakashi an exception to be allowed to participate in the Exam's team portion even though he's already a chunin. Without a third person for that section, Rin and Obito can't even try for the promotion."

"Hmm." Tsunade leaned forward, elbows resting on her knees. "I've been considering Kyoko for the upcoming Exams, and it sounds to me like she needs two teammates while your students need one."

"You . . . can't be serious."

Her face set. "I'm very serious."

Minato scrambled for some kind of understanding, because— "She's five. Even Kakashi wasn't a chunin at five."

"The Exams are in a few weeks, and she'll be six by that point." Tsunade sighed loudly. "Just— Sleep on it, Namikaze. I'll make sure the fire's out before I bed down."

Minato knew a dismissal when he heard it. He got to his feet and dusted off his pants. With one last nod to her in the dim light, he moved away to the tent. He ducked inside and paused.

Kakashi dove back down to his pillow so fast that Minato worried he might have hit his head. Kyoko, however, met Minato's stare straight on. She was sitting lotus on her bed roll. She was on the other side of Rin and Obito than Kakashi but clearly turned in his direction. After a couple seconds, her gaze slid to Kakashi, who had his back to Minato and was doing a very poor imitation of sleep.

"Kakashi, I know you're awake," Minato murmured, stepping fully inside and dropping the tent flap. "Were you two listening?"

Kyoko didn't answer right away, tossing Kakashi a look that Minato couldn't quite read. Then she said, "Yes. But for what it's worth, I'm not surprised Shisho's considering the Chunin Exams. I've mentioned it to her."

"Hmm. And you, Kakashi?"

Kakashi sat up. He turned towards Minato, gaze sliding away for a moment before meeting him straight on. "I don't think I would be allowed to do the Chunin Exams again. So Rin and Obito do need someone else."

Minato sighed. "I know. I'll think about it. Get some sleep." He glanced towards Kyoko. "You, too."

— — — — —

"Finally!" Obito cheered as the Village gates came into view.

"He's almost more excited than you," Tsunade murmured to Dan, dragging a tired hand down her face.

"Doubtful." Dan had had a spring in his step for the past several miles. "Do you think she'll be waiting for us?"

"Probably. She's too much like you."

Dan grinned at that, and Minato barked out a laugh. When they'd sent a hawk back to Konoha a few days ago, Dan had included a letter to be delivered specifically to his niece about their expected return. He'd been buzzing with excitement for a week now about Academy graduation and, therefore, his niece's team placement.

Now that they were almost—finally—to the Village, he turned his attention to his students for one last look-over before their arrival. Obito's seemingly never ending energy was lagging for the first time the entire mission. Even then, he was still out ahead of the group and comedically playing up his relief. Rin was just a couple steps behind him, shoulders slumped from the exhaustion of their trip even while she laughed at Obito's dramatics. Minato himself was just behind his oldest two students, Tsunade, and Dan. Which meant—

Minato glanced back over his shoulder. Sure enough, his last student was bringing up the rear with the friend Minato hadn't known he had until she'd shown up for ramen. But as an outsider looking in, he'd learned some—still less than he would like—about the two during the mission. Which meant he wasn't too terribly surprised to catch Kakashi and Kyoko quietly training together as they walked. He was surprised that the training seemed to be cracking and reshaping rocks in their palms using only chakra. Neither had a complete mastery over it, though Kyoko was clearly far newer to the technique. The most surprising part of it was definitely the fact that she was an Uchiha, and Uchiha were fire-natured. And—he'd thought this a lot in the past few weeks—Kyoko was five.

Minato shook his head and decided not to comment on it. At least all three of his students were alert enough to be able to stand through debrief with the Hokage.

Dan's niece was, in fact, waiting for them at the gate, and she joined them on their walk towards the Tower, excitedly rambling about her new team. She apparently knew Kyoko, too, because the younger girl seemed like she'd expected it when she was dragged into the conversation. She—Shizune, he found out once she'd excitedly introduced herself—separated from them as they reached the Hokage's Office, promising her uncle she would wait for them.

Once the doors had closed, the Sandaime looked up from his paperwork. He looked more tired than Minato had ever seen before, but he still found it in him to smile at their team. "It's good to see you've all returned safely."

"Hokage-sama," Minato said, bowing before he stepped up to put their completed mission scroll on the desk.

The Sandaime picked it up. As he unrolled it, he ordered, "Report."

Minato stepped back in line with the others and began his verbal report. Once he'd wrapped up, the room fell into silence as the Sandaime looked over the scroll.

Finally, the Hokage looked back at him. "Minato, Tsunade's message said she got your permission regarding the Chunin Exams?"

Minato glanced towards Obito and Rin, who looked excited and nervous respectively. He hadn't talked to them about the Exams since before Tsunade had brought up her own thoughts. "Yes, sir."

"Good. I don't see any reason why that wouldn't work." He nodded to Tsunade. "Your student will fill in the gap on Team Minato for the Exams. Both of you will need to indicate that exception on your forms when you fill out your Exams applications."

Obito snapped towards Kyoko. "You're going to join us in the Exams?" he asked, all grins and not seeming to register that his sister didn't look surprised. She did, however, grin in kind when she was dragged into a hug.

"Ah, and Tsunade," the Sandaime said, looking amused, "you might want to lend some advice to Orochimaru. He gained an apprentice during this past round of graduations, and most of the teaching input he's gotten so far is from Jiraiya."

Tsunade snorted. "I'll hunt him down before his mind gets poisoned too badly."

Minato chuckled and was about to come to a weak defense of his sensei when he caught sight of Kyoko's face. Her grin had vanished. The way her eyes had darkened was so similar to how Kakashi had looked during their early months as a teacher-student pair that Minato could feel his skin crawl. She pulled back from her hug with Obito and turned towards her sensei with a mild smile. Minato blinked. It had been so very brief that he almost doubted it had been there, but for a moment . . . .

For a moment, he had sensed just a hint of killing intent.

— — — — —

First Chapter — Previous Chapter — Next Chapter