#but this is the case i have made in an altered loyalties twist on how a breakdown death could in fact have narrative significance outside of
Note
Since you have answered asks about messmer do you think that he loves/cares for his mother and is loyal to her? alot of people seem to believe this esp after the last trailer but i couldn't see it? if he was loyal after all then why Marika has made everything related to him symbols of blasphemy? it doesn't make sense
jghdfjgd Well as for me and the girls, we were semi-joking about it especially taking a bad turn because Miyazaki has a very strong adoration on 'mother figure', and you can see in every single work there is at least one male character who is fixated on motherly figure too! You can sooooo tell he is projecting ( /nm)! Combine that with Martin's fixation on incestuous relationships and.....
OK OK but again let's assume they restrained themselves and he just expresses loyalty as son and her blade! I personally got that impression since the first trailer in how he spoke towards her. She would accept a Tarnished (presumably, from what information he has, because there is also 'she now wants us to in-fight forever, actually' twist Gideon discovered)! He would not, because "eww they're touching her Golden Order with their GRACELESS hands"! @val-of-the-north suggested an idea that his symbols became synonymous with blasphemy in this ( x ) post which I think is very good! The gist of it is that Messmer was the first to attempt burning of the Erdtree, for "good intentions" in his own mind, that Marika didn't agree with to say the LEAST. I had my take on it in this ( x ) post! Yet, he still considers himself wiser on the matter, maybe even thinking that she was "too kind" to the "blemishes" on Golden Order like Crucibles, allowing them exist in oppression instead of just burning them! In this case, it has the "I know what you and your order deserves better than YOU do!" tune to it. More loyal than anyone else, herself included, only in his head, but loyal nonetheless!
Alternatively, since I wonder about inspirations in religious archetypes, if he represents 'Satan' (so, adversary), or 'Devil' (so, punishing force and owner of Hell), he is naturally blasphemous! He is "evil" because she is "good", he is the light of hellfire because she is the golden light, he is destruction because she is prosperity. And so on! So say he led that war in her name destroying whatever it was that she "betrayed" and discarded, while she was nurturing new life and order in the outside world! It might be not that he did something to earn hatred and negative association, but that he represents that evil. Something more sinister conceptually than warcrimes of herself, her Radagon alter, Godfrey and so on, but also something inseparable. It is his eye being sealed that makes me lean more towards the former option where he believes he is loyal, but we just don't know yet!
These are just my thoughts on what could give off these impressions, maybe there are some clues I haven't considered yet!
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Pizzagate, QAnon and the ‘Epstein List’: Why the Far Right Is Obsessed with Sex Trafficking
Aday before the so-called Epstein list was supposed to drop, far-right conspiracy theorists buzzed with excitement over the expectation that it would crucify prominent figures on the left for their involvement in sex trafficking. It’s a wildly popular notion in that world, where Pizzagate and QAnon fantasies run rampant.
The truth, of course, was far different: The material made public in federal court last week, with more now being released, wasn’t some kind of Jeffrey Epstein client list, as had been speculated online. It was actually documents from a court case filed by one of Epstein’s victims that did include people’s names, but provided little new information on whether they knew of or participated in Epstein’s heinous crimes.
To get a sense of why conspiracy theories centered on sex trafficking and pedophilia — and now the “Epstein list” — are so buzzy in MAGA circles, POLITICO Magazine called up Mike Rothschild, author of The Storm Is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything and Jewish Space Lasers: The Rothschilds and 200 Years of Conspiracy Theories.
Rothschild pointed to a toxic stew of age-old antisemitism; the worst incentives of today’s social media; and the right’s unending obsession with Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Donald Trump pops up in the documents, including some released on Monday, but that’s typically not a problem for his hard-core supporters. As with most conspiracy theories, adherents create their own reality.
“There’s nothing Trump can do that will lose these people’s loyalty,” Rothschild said. “Anything that is inconvenient, that alters their worldview, they’ll just ignore it, or they’ll make up some bizarre justification for it.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What are the conspiracy theories surrounding the so-called Epstein list?
The conspiracy theories are that this new release of documents is going to finally be the thing that brings down the elite trafficking cabal that’s been running the world for 6,000 years. There’s this perception that there’s been information that’s been held back by the courts or by politicians or the media, this is finally going to put everything out in the open.
And because I’ve studied these movements for so long, I know that these movements really revolve around this idea that there will be a document or a memo or a list or a recording. And that will finally be the thing that finally ends the evil grip of the New World Order, and it never does. They always move on to the next one.
A common misconception is that the list documented Epstein’s clients who partook in sexual acts with minors, but that’s not the case, right?
It’s not the case at all. It’s a dump of documents related to the case. It’s not the smoking gun that’s going to finally bring down all of these powerful ones. A lot of the information and many of the names that are being revealed in these documents have already been known. Some of them were redacted.
But so far, I don’t really think there’s much of anything that we’ve learned that really changes our perception of what Epstein did and kind of who in his orbit knew what, because we know a lot of that already. We know it because of tenacious reporting, and the courage of the accusers who have faced him.
Then why was there so much excitement for the list within MAGA circles online — especially when the list itself wasn’t even documentation of Epstein’s clients?
I think it really ties back to this industry of conspiracy theories about the Clintons. I think they really feel like this will be the thing that brings down Bill and Hillary Clinton. They’re still obsessed with the Clintons. And so anything that can serve as the final nail in their coffin, they’re going to rally around, even if, of course, Trump and a lot of the people around Trump are also implicated in all of these documents. They don’t care about that at all. It’s about the Clintons and the rest of the liberal establishment.
What is it about the Clintons that captivates far-right conspiracy theorists like this?
Part of it is that it’s already been three decades of this: The Clinton conspiracy industry started in the early 90s. It started with stuff like Whitewater, Travelgate, stuff that is ancient history now. But there was a really well-funded, very organized and popular effort to bring the Clintons down. And then of course, it resulted in the impeachment, it resulted in the dump truck full of conspiracies about Hillary Clinton when she ran for president. And even though they’re not really in the public eye much anymore, it’s so prolific that conspiracy theorists have stuck with them because they know what works. They’re just like a classic rock band playing the hits.
You wrote a book on QAnon. Based on your research, why are conservatives so obsessed with the theory that prominent left-wing figures like the Clintons are running pedophile rings? Where does that conspiracy theory originate from?
There’s always been a certain amount of salaciousness in these conspiracy theories, and there are theories going back about the awful sexual depravity of the Catholics or later on of the Jews. So you’re always going to find a certain amount of attention paid to any kind of conspiracy theory involving sexual proclivity of trafficking. And if it involves children, people immediately just lose their mind — even if these children don’t exist. There are no children who have been trafficked because of Pizzagate because Pizzgate isn’t real.
But if you just put out the suggestion there, it grabs ahold in a way that is difficult to dislodge. I think a lot of it has to do with antisemitism. I think a lot of it has to do with fear of the occult and Satanic panic. So you get all of these things that are mixed together: the anti-Jewish sentiment, the fear of Satanism. And, of course, now it extends to social media. So you have these powerful figures, in media, in politics, in culture, academia. It’s very easy to kind of put these people together as part of this vast conspiracy. And if there’s a conspiracy of them, well, they’re probably doing horrible things to children, too, because that’s what evil people do.
You’ve mentioned that all these conspiracy theories are connected. How does the Epstein saga fit into the broader ecosystem of far-right conspiracy theories, including QAnon and Pizzagate? Particularly when Epstein was never even a figure on the left?
The QAnon and Pizzagate people — they really have embraced Epstein as the most obvious example of these sort of high-level traffickings. Of course, with Epstein, a lot of it was true. He was doing these things, he was connected to this absolutely abhorrent behavior.
But part of what happens is we lose the ability to discern noise from signal. So you’re tarring as a pedophile anybody who had any kind of association with Epstein. And of course, most of the people who were associated with Epstein had nothing to do with what he was doing. Some of them may have known about it, some of them may have looked the other way. And they certainly have a lot of hard questions to answer about their associations with Epstein and what they knew. But just because a person had a meeting with Jeffrey Epstein doesn’t make them part of sex trafficking rings. But it’s very easy to point at all of these people and say, “They’re all working together. They’re all hiding the same things. They’re all doing the same horrible things. And we’re the only people who will talk about it.”
Do you think if the Clintons weren’t involved, the “Epstein list” wouldn’t have blown up like this?
I really don’t think it would’ve. I don’t think it would have gotten quite the attention. I think there would have been some attention; you do have people in that world who are really obsessed with the idea of trafficking and Pizzagate and all that other stuff, but I think the Clinton connection is really what vaulted it into the stratosphere.
How did these people use the “Epstein list” as ammunition for their conspiracy theories, and how does the role of the internet factor into all this?
Internet is a huge part of it, and social media in particular. It spreads incredibly quickly, because it sounds believable and if you share it with some documents, it doesn’t matter if they’re real or not. The people who are passing this stuff around don’t care.
It’s very easy to spread these things around and very easy to ignore the parts of it that you don’t find to be palatable to your worldview, such as Donald Trump’s connections to it, and you play up the connections of people like Bill Clinton.
Do you see that misinformation about Epstein has been spreading more than other conspiracy theories?
I think it’s definitely spreading more. I think part of it is the fact that Twitter (now called X) has been so completely eviscerated as a source of truth. As soon as the documents came out, I started seeing fakes. And they were getting passed around by verified accounts with a million followers, who are making tons of ad money, because Elon Musk has completely eviscerated verification on Twitter. They have every incentive to pass fake documents along and if somebody says, “Oh, that’s not real,” who cares?
Disinformation and conspiracy theories spread so quickly and so readily on social media, while the rest of us are doing our research and writing our articles and doing our interviews, trying to figure out what this actually means. The people who believe this stuff have already decided what it means. And they don’t want to be told differently.
Twitter and people like Alex Jones and people like Steve Bannon, they have an alternative media ecosystem. These are not fringe people anymore. This is not the guy standing outside the football stadium waving a sign about the end is coming. This is a massive industry. You’ve got billions of dollars being pumped into misinformation, into these products, into these podcasts, into these books. It’s a job for a lot of these people, and they’re very good at it. They spread this stuff very quickly. They know it doesn’t matter whether it’s real or not, their audience doesn’t care.
Trump’s appearance in the documents unsettled some conservatives, like Alex Jones. Others like Jack Posobiec rushed to Trump’s defense by posting screenshots from the released court documents, claiming that Trump was exonerated. How does Trump’s presence here complicate the worldview of MAGA conspiracy theorists, especially those who thought Trump would save the nation from pedophiles?
It doesn’t complicate it at all. They just sweep it away. There’s nothing Trump can do that will lose these people’s loyalty. Whatever his involvement is, they just pretend it’s not there. Or they say, “Well, he was only there because he was getting information on Epstein to give to the FBI.” I saw tons of that early on in QAnon. The idea that there’s some sort of undercover sting operation. I’m like, really? I don’t think Donald Trump could stay quiet about that for five seconds. But you believe it, you talk yourself into it.
So it’s a lot like a lot of Trump’s other associations, and I write about this in my book on the Rothschilds. The Trump Taj Mahal was actually saved from bankruptcy by Rothschild Inc. Their bankruptcy guy was Wilbur Ross, who helped structure the deal that got the Taj Mahal out of bankruptcy. And, of course, Wilbur Ross later became Trump’s commerce secretary. You’ve never heard a peep about it from Trump believers, they just sweep it away. Anything that is inconvenient, that alters their worldview, they’ll just ignore it, or they’ll make up some bizarre justification for it.
With Epstein, we know how bad he was. And there may be some people who have a difficult time because they wind up in one of these documents. But ultimately, it’s not going to change that Epstein was a horrible person, and that it was people who were connected to Trump who helped him get out of prison the first time, that it was the incompetence of the jail that allowed him to take his own life. That is not going to change. There’s not going to be a document that completely alters our understanding of what happened.
What does it take to change the minds of conspiracy theorists, especially when it seems they’ll jump through all sorts of hoops in order to distort their reality for the sake of their own beliefs?
Most people will not change their mind. Most people will double down, they will show absolutely no interest in being wrong. For a lot of these people, that’s the worst thing that can happen. They have to go back to their friends and family and say, “You were right, I was wrong, and I’m an idiot.”
Sometimes it does happen. You will find people who have gotten out of movements like QAnon or have broken away from the hardcore Trump worship because they’ll read something or they’ll hear something that they just can’t reconcile with how they see the world. And once you find one thing that doesn’t work for you and these movements, you start to find more of them. I liken it to a tapestry where if you pull on one thread, the whole thing immediately unravels. But you have to want to pull on that thread, you have to prepare yourself for the possibility of it all, and you being left with a view that is completely collapsed. For a lot of people, that’s just too difficult. They just can’t handle it. So they just burrow into it more, and the more things go wrong, and the more predictions fail, and the more things don’t come true, the more they believe because they just have nowhere else to go.
#Epstein #EpsteinList #Epsteinadasi #EpsteinClientList
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Pizzagate, QAnon and the ‘Epstein List’: Why the Far Right Is Obsessed with Sex Trafficking
#Epstein #EpsteinList #Epsteinadasi
Aday before the so-called Epstein list was supposed to drop, far-right conspiracy theorists buzzed with excitement over the expectation that it would crucify prominent figures on the left for their involvement in sex trafficking. It’s a wildly popular notion in that world, where Pizzagate and QAnon fantasies run rampant.
The truth, of course, was far different: The material made public in federal court last week, with more now being released, wasn’t some kind of Jeffrey Epstein client list, as had been speculated online. It was actually documents from a court case filed by one of Epstein’s victims that did include people’s names, but provided little new information on whether they knew of or participated in Epstein’s heinous crimes.
To get a sense of why conspiracy theories centered on sex trafficking and pedophilia — and now the “Epstein list” — are so buzzy in MAGA circles, POLITICO Magazine called up Mike Rothschild, author of The Storm Is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything and Jewish Space Lasers: The Rothschilds and 200 Years of Conspiracy Theories.
Rothschild pointed to a toxic stew of age-old antisemitism; the worst incentives of today’s social media; and the right’s unending obsession with Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Donald Trump pops up in the documents, including some released on Monday, but that’s typically not a problem for his hard-core supporters. As with most conspiracy theories, adherents create their own reality.
“There’s nothing Trump can do that will lose these people’s loyalty,” Rothschild said. “Anything that is inconvenient, that alters their worldview, they’ll just ignore it, or they’ll make up some bizarre justification for it.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What are the conspiracy theories surrounding the so-called Epstein list?
The conspiracy theories are that this new release of documents is going to finally be the thing that brings down the elite trafficking cabal that’s been running the world for 6,000 years. There’s this perception that there’s been information that’s been held back by the courts or by politicians or the media, this is finally going to put everything out in the open.
And because I’ve studied these movements for so long, I know that these movements really revolve around this idea that there will be a document or a memo or a list or a recording. And that will finally be the thing that finally ends the evil grip of the New World Order, and it never does. They always move on to the next one.
A common misconception is that the list documented Epstein’s clients who partook in sexual acts with minors, but that’s not the case, right?
It’s not the case at all. It’s a dump of documents related to the case. It’s not the smoking gun that’s going to finally bring down all of these powerful ones. A lot of the information and many of the names that are being revealed in these documents have already been known. Some of them were redacted.
But so far, I don’t really think there’s much of anything that we’ve learned that really changes our perception of what Epstein did and kind of who in his orbit knew what, because we know a lot of that already. We know it because of tenacious reporting, and the courage of the accusers who have faced him.
Then why was there so much excitement for the list within MAGA circles online — especially when the list itself wasn’t even documentation of Epstein’s clients?
I think it really ties back to this industry of conspiracy theories about the Clintons. I think they really feel like this will be the thing that brings down Bill and Hillary Clinton. They’re still obsessed with the Clintons. And so anything that can serve as the final nail in their coffin, they’re going to rally around, even if, of course, Trump and a lot of the people around Trump are also implicated in all of these documents. They don’t care about that at all. It’s about the Clintons and the rest of the liberal establishment.
What is it about the Clintons that captivates far-right conspiracy theorists like this?
Part of it is that it’s already been three decades of this: The Clinton conspiracy industry started in the early 90s. It started with stuff like Whitewater, Travelgate, stuff that is ancient history now. But there was a really well-funded, very organized and popular effort to bring the Clintons down. And then of course, it resulted in the impeachment, it resulted in the dump truck full of conspiracies about Hillary Clinton when she ran for president. And even though they’re not really in the public eye much anymore, it’s so prolific that conspiracy theorists have stuck with them because they know what works. They’re just like a classic rock band playing the hits.
You wrote a book on QAnon. Based on your research, why are conservatives so obsessed with the theory that prominent left-wing figures like the Clintons are running pedophile rings? Where does that conspiracy theory originate from?
There’s always been a certain amount of salaciousness in these conspiracy theories, and there are theories going back about the awful sexual depravity of the Catholics or later on of the Jews. So you’re always going to find a certain amount of attention paid to any kind of conspiracy theory involving sexual proclivity of trafficking. And if it involves children, people immediately just lose their mind — even if these children don’t exist. There are no children who have been trafficked because of Pizzagate because Pizzgate isn’t real.
But if you just put out the suggestion there, it grabs ahold in a way that is difficult to dislodge. I think a lot of it has to do with antisemitism. I think a lot of it has to do with fear of the occult and Satanic panic. So you get all of these things that are mixed together: the anti-Jewish sentiment, the fear of Satanism. And, of course, now it extends to social media. So you have these powerful figures, in media, in politics, in culture, academia. It’s very easy to kind of put these people together as part of this vast conspiracy. And if there’s a conspiracy of them, well, they’re probably doing horrible things to children, too, because that’s what evil people do.
You’ve mentioned that all these conspiracy theories are connected. How does the Epstein saga fit into the broader ecosystem of far-right conspiracy theories, including QAnon and Pizzagate? Particularly when Epstein was never even a figure on the left?
The QAnon and Pizzagate people — they really have embraced Epstein as the most obvious example of these sort of high-level traffickings. Of course, with Epstein, a lot of it was true. He was doing these things, he was connected to this absolutely abhorrent behavior.
But part of what happens is we lose the ability to discern noise from signal. So you’re tarring as a pedophile anybody who had any kind of association with Epstein. And of course, most of the people who were associated with Epstein had nothing to do with what he was doing. Some of them may have known about it, some of them may have looked the other way. And they certainly have a lot of hard questions to answer about their associations with Epstein and what they knew. But just because a person had a meeting with Jeffrey Epstein doesn’t make them part of sex trafficking rings. But it’s very easy to point at all of these people and say, “They’re all working together. They’re all hiding the same things. They’re all doing the same horrible things. And we’re the only people who will talk about it.”
Do you think if the Clintons weren’t involved, the “Epstein list” wouldn’t have blown up like this?
I really don’t think it would’ve. I don’t think it would have gotten quite the attention. I think there would have been some attention; you do have people in that world who are really obsessed with the idea of trafficking and Pizzagate and all that other stuff, but I think the Clinton connection is really what vaulted it into the stratosphere.
How did these people use the “Epstein list” as ammunition for their conspiracy theories, and how does the role of the internet factor into all this?
Internet is a huge part of it, and social media in particular. It spreads incredibly quickly, because it sounds believable and if you share it with some documents, it doesn’t matter if they’re real or not. The people who are passing this stuff around don’t care.
It’s very easy to spread these things around and very easy to ignore the parts of it that you don’t find to be palatable to your worldview, such as Donald Trump’s connections to it, and you play up the connections of people like Bill Clinton.
Do you see that misinformation about Epstein has been spreading more than other conspiracy theories?
I think it’s definitely spreading more. I think part of it is the fact that Twitter (now called X) has been so completely eviscerated as a source of truth. As soon as the documents came out, I started seeing fakes. And they were getting passed around by verified accounts with a million followers, who are making tons of ad money, because Elon Musk has completely eviscerated verification on Twitter. They have every incentive to pass fake documents along and if somebody says, “Oh, that’s not real,” who cares?
Disinformation and conspiracy theories spread so quickly and so readily on social media, while the rest of us are doing our research and writing our articles and doing our interviews, trying to figure out what this actually means. The people who believe this stuff have already decided what it means. And they don’t want to be told differently.
Twitter and people like Alex Jones and people like Steve Bannon, they have an alternative media ecosystem. These are not fringe people anymore. This is not the guy standing outside the football stadium waving a sign about the end is coming. This is a massive industry. You’ve got billions of dollars being pumped into misinformation, into these products, into these podcasts, into these books. It’s a job for a lot of these people, and they’re very good at it. They spread this stuff very quickly. They know it doesn’t matter whether it’s real or not, their audience doesn’t care.
Trump’s appearance in the documents unsettled some conservatives, like Alex Jones. Others like Jack Posobiec rushed to Trump’s defense by posting screenshots from the released court documents, claiming that Trump was exonerated. How does Trump’s presence here complicate the worldview of MAGA conspiracy theorists, especially those who thought Trump would save the nation from pedophiles?
It doesn’t complicate it at all. They just sweep it away. There’s nothing Trump can do that will lose these people’s loyalty. Whatever his involvement is, they just pretend it’s not there. Or they say, “Well, he was only there because he was getting information on Epstein to give to the FBI.” I saw tons of that early on in QAnon. The idea that there’s some sort of undercover sting operation. I’m like, really? I don’t think Donald Trump could stay quiet about that for five seconds. But you believe it, you talk yourself into it.
So it’s a lot like a lot of Trump’s other associations, and I write about this in my book on the Rothschilds. The Trump Taj Mahal was actually saved from bankruptcy by Rothschild Inc. Their bankruptcy guy was Wilbur Ross, who helped structure the deal that got the Taj Mahal out of bankruptcy. And, of course, Wilbur Ross later became Trump’s commerce secretary. You’ve never heard a peep about it from Trump believers, they just sweep it away. Anything that is inconvenient, that alters their worldview, they’ll just ignore it, or they’ll make up some bizarre justification for it.
With Epstein, we know how bad he was. And there may be some people who have a difficult time because they wind up in one of these documents. But ultimately, it’s not going to change that Epstein was a horrible person, and that it was people who were connected to Trump who helped him get out of prison the first time, that it was the incompetence of the jail that allowed him to take his own life. That is not going to change. There’s not going to be a document that completely alters our understanding of what happened.
What does it take to change the minds of conspiracy theorists, especially when it seems they’ll jump through all sorts of hoops in order to distort their reality for the sake of their own beliefs?
Most people will not change their mind. Most people will double down, they will show absolutely no interest in being wrong. For a lot of these people, that’s the worst thing that can happen. They have to go back to their friends and family and say, “You were right, I was wrong, and I’m an idiot.”
Sometimes it does happen. You will find people who have gotten out of movements like QAnon or have broken away from the hardcore Trump worship because they’ll read something or they’ll hear something that they just can’t reconcile with how they see the world. And once you find one thing that doesn’t work for you and these movements, you start to find more of them. I liken it to a tapestry where if you pull on one thread, the whole thing immediately unravels. But you have to want to pull on that thread, you have to prepare yourself for the possibility of it all, and you being left with a view that is completely collapsed. For a lot of people, that’s just too difficult. They just can’t handle it. So they just burrow into it more, and the more things go wrong, and the more predictions fail, and the more things don’t come true, the more they believe because they just have nowhere else to go.
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Pizzagate, QAnon and the ‘Epstein List’: Why the Far Right Is Obsessed with Sex Trafficking
Aday before the so-called Epstein list was supposed to drop, far-right conspiracy theorists buzzed with excitement over the expectation that it would crucify prominent figures on the left for their involvement in sex trafficking. It’s a wildly popular notion in that world, where Pizzagate and QAnon fantasies run rampant.
The truth, of course, was far different: The material made public in federal court last week, with more now being released, wasn’t some kind of Jeffrey Epstein client list, as had been speculated online. It was actually documents from a court case filed by one of Epstein’s victims that did include people’s names, but provided little new information on whether they knew of or participated in Epstein’s heinous crimes.
To get a sense of why conspiracy theories centered on sex trafficking and pedophilia — and now the “Epstein list” — are so buzzy in MAGA circles, POLITICO Magazine called up Mike Rothschild, author of The Storm Is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything and Jewish Space Lasers: The Rothschilds and 200 Years of Conspiracy Theories.
Rothschild pointed to a toxic stew of age-old antisemitism; the worst incentives of today’s social media; and the right’s unending obsession with Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Donald Trump pops up in the documents, including some released on Monday, but that’s typically not a problem for his hard-core supporters. As with most conspiracy theories, adherents create their own reality.
“There’s nothing Trump can do that will lose these people’s loyalty,” Rothschild said.“Anything that is inconvenient, that alters their worldview, they’ll just ignore it, or they’ll make up some bizarre justification for it.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What are the conspiracy theories surrounding the so-called Epstein list?
The conspiracy theories are that this new release of documents is going to finally be the thing that brings down the elite trafficking cabal that’s been running the world for 6,000 years. There’s this perception that there’s been information that’s been held back by the courts or by politicians or the media, this is finally going to put everything out in the open.
And because I’ve studied these movements for so long, I know that these movements really revolve around this idea that there will be a document or a memo or a list or a recording. And that will finally be the thing that finally ends the evil grip of the New World Order, and it never does. They always move on to the next one.
A common misconception is that the list documented Epstein’s clients who partook in sexual acts with minors, but that’s not the case, right?
It’s not the case at all. It’s a dump of documents related to the case. It’s not the smoking gun that’s going to finally bring down all of these powerful ones. A lot of the information and many of the names that are being revealed in these documents have already been known. Some of them were redacted.
But so far, I don’t really think there’s much of anything that we’ve learned that really changes our perception of what Epstein did and kind of who in his orbit knew what, because we know a lot of that already. We know it because of tenacious reporting, and the courage of the accusers who have faced him.
Then why was there so much excitement for the list within MAGA circles online — especially when the list itself wasn’t even documentation of Epstein’s clients?
I think it really ties back to this industry of conspiracy theories about the Clintons. I think they really feel like this will be the thing that brings down Bill and Hillary Clinton. They’re still obsessed with the Clintons. And so anything that can serve as the final nail in their coffin, they’re going to rally around, even if, of course, Trump and a lot of the people around Trump are also implicated in all of these documents. They don’t care about that at all. It’s about the Clintons and the rest of the liberal establishment.
What is it about the Clintons that captivates far-right conspiracy theorists like this?
Part of it is that it’s already been three decades of this: The Clinton conspiracy industry started in the early 90s. It started with stuff like Whitewater, Travelgate, stuff that is ancient history now. But there was a really well-funded, very organized and popular effort to bring the Clintons down. And then of course, it resulted in the impeachment, it resulted in the dump truck full of conspiracies about Hillary Clinton when she ran for president. And even though they’re not really in the public eye much anymore, it’s so prolific that conspiracy theorists have stuck with them because they know what works. They’re just like a classic rock band playing the hits.
You wrote a book on QAnon. Based on your research, why are conservatives so obsessed with the theory that prominent left-wing figures like the Clintons are running pedophile rings? Where does that conspiracy theory originate from?
There’s always been a certain amount of salaciousness in these conspiracy theories, and there are theories going back about the awful sexual depravity of the Catholics or later on of the Jews. So you’re always going to find a certain amount of attention paid to any kind of conspiracy theory involving sexual proclivity of trafficking. And if it involves children, people immediately just lose their mind — even if these children don’t exist. There are no children who have been trafficked because of Pizzagate because Pizzgate isn’t real.
But if you just put out the suggestion there, it grabs ahold in a way that is difficult to dislodge. I think a lot of it has to do with antisemitism. I think a lot of it has to do with fear of the occult and Satanic panic. So you get all of these things that are mixed together: the anti-Jewish sentiment, the fear of Satanism. And, of course, now it extends to social media. So you have these powerful figures, in media, in politics, in culture, academia. It’s very easy to kind of put these people together as part of this vast conspiracy. And if there’s a conspiracy of them, well, they’re probably doing horrible things to children, too, because that’s what evil people do.
You’ve mentioned that all these conspiracy theories are connected. How does the Epstein saga fit into the broader ecosystem of far-right conspiracy theories, including QAnon and Pizzagate? Particularly when Epstein was never even a figure on the left?
The QAnon and Pizzagate people — they really have embraced Epstein as the most obvious example of these sort of high-level traffickings. Of course, with Epstein, a lot of it was true. He was doing these things, he was connected to this absolutely abhorrent behavior.
But part of what happens is we lose the ability to discern noise from signal. So you’re tarring as a pedophile anybody who had any kind of association with Epstein. And of course, most of the people who were associated with Epstein had nothing to do with what he was doing. Some of them may have known about it, some of them may have looked the other way. And they certainly have a lot of hard questions to answer about their associations with Epstein and what they knew. But just because a person had a meeting with Jeffrey Epstein doesn’t make them part of sex trafficking rings. But it’s very easy to point at all of these people and say, “They’re all working together. They’re all hiding the same things. They’re all doing the same horrible things. And we’re the only people who will talk about it.”
Do you think if the Clintons weren’t involved, the “Epstein list” wouldn’t have blown up like this?
I really don’t think it would’ve. I don’t think it would have gotten quite the attention. I think there would have been some attention; you do have people in that world who are really obsessed with the idea of trafficking and Pizzagate and all that other stuff, but I think the Clinton connection is really what vaulted it into the stratosphere.
How did these people use the “Epstein list” as ammunition for their conspiracy theories, and how does the role of the internet factor into all this?
Internet is a huge part of it, and social media in particular. It spreads incredibly quickly, because it sounds believable and if you share it with some documents, it doesn’t matter if they’re real or not. The people who are passing this stuff around don’t care.
It’s very easy to spread these things around and very easy to ignore the parts of it that you don’t find to be palatable to your worldview, such as Donald Trump’s connections to it, and you play up the connections of people like Bill Clinton.
Do you see that misinformation about Epstein has been spreading more than other conspiracy theories?
I think it’s definitely spreading more. I think part of it is the fact that Twitter (now called X) has been so completely eviscerated as a source of truth. As soon as the documents came out, I started seeing fakes. And they were getting passed around by verified accounts with a million followers, who are making tons of ad money, because Elon Musk has completely eviscerated verification on Twitter. They have every incentive to pass fake documents along and if somebody says, “Oh, that’s not real,” who cares?
Disinformation and conspiracy theories spread so quickly and so readily on social media, while the rest of us are doing our research and writing our articles and doing our interviews, trying to figure out what this actually means. The people who believe this stuff have already decided what it means. And they don’t want to be told differently.
Twitter and people like Alex Jones and people like Steve Bannon, they have an alternative media ecosystem. These are not fringe people anymore. This is not the guy standing outside the football stadium waving a sign about the end is coming. This is a massive industry. You’ve got billions of dollars being pumped into misinformation, into these products, into these podcasts, into these books. It’s a job for a lot of these people, and they’re very good at it. They spread this stuff very quickly. They know it doesn’t matter whether it’s real or not, their audience doesn’t care.
Trump’s appearance in the documents unsettled some conservatives, like Alex Jones. Others like Jack Posobiec rushed to Trump’s defense by posting screenshots from the released court documents, claiming that Trump was exonerated. How does Trump’s presence here complicate the worldview of MAGA conspiracy theorists, especially those who thought Trump would save the nation from pedophiles?
It doesn’t complicate it at all. They just sweep it away. There’s nothing Trump can do that will lose these people’s loyalty. Whatever his involvement is, they just pretend it’s not there. Or they say, “Well, he was only there because he was getting information on Epstein to give to the FBI.” I saw tons of that early on in QAnon. The idea that there’s some sort of undercover sting operation. I’m like, really? I don’t think Donald Trump could stay quiet about that for five seconds. But you believe it, you talk yourself into it.
So it’s a lot like a lot of Trump’s other associations, and I write about this in my book on the Rothschilds. The Trump Taj Mahal was actually saved from bankruptcy by Rothschild Inc. Their bankruptcy guy was Wilbur Ross, who helped structure the deal that got the Taj Mahal out of bankruptcy. And, of course, Wilbur Ross later became Trump’s commerce secretary. You’ve never heard a peep about it from Trump believers, they just sweep it away. Anything that is inconvenient, that alters their worldview, they’ll just ignore it, or they’ll make up some bizarre justification for it.
With Epstein, we know how bad he was. And there may be some people who have a difficult time because they wind up in one of these documents. But ultimately, it’s not going to change that Epstein was a horrible person, and that it was people who were connected to Trump who helped him get out of prison the first time, that it was the incompetence of the jail that allowed him to take his own life. That is not going to change. There’s not going to be a document that completely alters our understanding of what happened.
What does it take to change the minds of conspiracy theorists, especially when it seems they’ll jump through all sorts of hoops in order to distort their reality for the sake of their own beliefs?
Most people will not change their mind. Most people will double down, they will show absolutely no interest in being wrong. For a lot of these people, that’s the worst thing that can happen. They have to go back to their friends and family and say, “You were right, I was wrong, and I’m an idiot.”
Sometimes it does happen. You will find people who have gotten out of movements like QAnon or have broken away from the hardcore Trump worship because they’ll read something or they’ll hear something that they just can’t reconcile with how they see the world. And once you find one thing that doesn’t work for you and these movements, you start to find more of them. I liken it to a tapestry where if you pull on one thread, the whole thing immediately unravels. But you have to want to pull on that thread, you have to prepare yourself for the possibility of it all, and you being left with a view that is completely collapsed. For a lot of people, that’s just too difficult. They just can’t handle it. So they just burrow into it more, and the more things go wrong, and the more predictions fail, and the more things don’t come true, the more they believe because they just have nowhere else to go.
0 notes
Text
Pizzagate, QAnon and the ‘Epstein List’: Why the Far Right Is Obsessed with Sex Trafficking
#Epstein #EpsteinList #Epsteinadasi
Aday before the so-called Epstein list was supposed to drop, far-right conspiracy theorists buzzed with excitement over the expectation that it would crucify prominent figures on the left for their involvement in sex trafficking. It’s a wildly popular notion in that world, where Pizzagate and QAnon fantasies run rampant.
The truth, of course, was far different: The material made public in federal court last week, with more now being released, wasn’t some kind of Jeffrey Epstein client list, as had been speculated online. It was actually documents from a court case filed by one of Epstein’s victims that did include people’s names, but provided little new information on whether they knew of or participated in Epstein’s heinous crimes.
To get a sense of why conspiracy theories centered on sex trafficking and pedophilia — and now the “Epstein list” — are so buzzy in MAGA circles, POLITICO Magazine called up Mike Rothschild, author of The Storm Is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything and Jewish Space Lasers: The Rothschilds and 200 Years of Conspiracy Theories.
Rothschild pointed to a toxic stew of age-old antisemitism; the worst incentives of today’s social media; and the right’s unending obsession with Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Donald Trump pops up in the documents, including some released on Monday, but that’s typically not a problem for his hard-core supporters. As with most conspiracy theories, adherents create their own reality.
“There’s nothing Trump can do that will lose these people’s loyalty,” Rothschild said. “Anything that is inconvenient, that alters their worldview, they’ll just ignore it, or they’ll make up some bizarre justification for it.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What are the conspiracy theories surrounding the so-called Epstein list?
The conspiracy theories are that this new release of documents is going to finally be the thing that brings down the elite trafficking cabal that’s been running the world for 6,000 years. There’s this perception that there’s been information that’s been held back by the courts or by politicians or the media, this is finally going to put everything out in the open.
And because I’ve studied these movements for so long, I know that these movements really revolve around this idea that there will be a document or a memo or a list or a recording. And that will finally be the thing that finally ends the evil grip of the New World Order, and it never does. They always move on to the next one.
A common misconception is that the list documented Epstein’s clients who partook in sexual acts with minors, but that’s not the case, right?
It’s not the case at all. It’s a dump of documents related to the case. It’s not the smoking gun that’s going to finally bring down all of these powerful ones. A lot of the information and many of the names that are being revealed in these documents have already been known. Some of them were redacted.
But so far, I don’t really think there’s much of anything that we’ve learned that really changes our perception of what Epstein did and kind of who in his orbit knew what, because we know a lot of that already. We know it because of tenacious reporting, and the courage of the accusers who have faced him.
Then why was there so much excitement for the list within MAGA circles online — especially when the list itself wasn’t even documentation of Epstein’s clients?
I think it really ties back to this industry of conspiracy theories about the Clintons. I think they really feel like this will be the thing that brings down Bill and Hillary Clinton. They’re still obsessed with the Clintons. And so anything that can serve as the final nail in their coffin, they’re going to rally around, even if, of course, Trump and a lot of the people around Trump are also implicated in all of these documents. They don’t care about that at all. It’s about the Clintons and the rest of the liberal establishment.
What is it about the Clintons that captivates far-right conspiracy theorists like this?
Part of it is that it’s already been three decades of this: The Clinton conspiracy industry started in the early 90s. It started with stuff like Whitewater, Travelgate, stuff that is ancient history now. But there was a really well-funded, very organized and popular effort to bring the Clintons down. And then of course, it resulted in the impeachment, it resulted in the dump truck full of conspiracies about Hillary Clinton when she ran for president. And even though they’re not really in the public eye much anymore, it’s so prolific that conspiracy theorists have stuck with them because they know what works. They’re just like a classic rock band playing the hits.
You wrote a book on QAnon. Based on your research, why are conservatives so obsessed with the theory that prominent left-wing figures like the Clintons are running pedophile rings? Where does that conspiracy theory originate from?
There’s always been a certain amount of salaciousness in these conspiracy theories, and there are theories going back about the awful sexual depravity of the Catholics or later on of the Jews. So you’re always going to find a certain amount of attention paid to any kind of conspiracy theory involving sexual proclivity of trafficking. And if it involves children, people immediately just lose their mind — even if these children don’t exist. There are no children who have been trafficked because of Pizzagate because Pizzgate isn’t real.
But if you just put out the suggestion there, it grabs ahold in a way that is difficult to dislodge. I think a lot of it has to do with antisemitism. I think a lot of it has to do with fear of the occult and Satanic panic. So you get all of these things that are mixed together: the anti-Jewish sentiment, the fear of Satanism. And, of course, now it extends to social media. So you have these powerful figures, in media, in politics, in culture, academia. It’s very easy to kind of put these people together as part of this vast conspiracy. And if there’s a conspiracy of them, well, they’re probably doing horrible things to children, too, because that’s what evil people do.
You’ve mentioned that all these conspiracy theories are connected. How does the Epstein saga fit into the broader ecosystem of far-right conspiracy theories, including QAnon and Pizzagate? Particularly when Epstein was never even a figure on the left?
The QAnon and Pizzagate people — they really have embraced Epstein as the most obvious example of these sort of high-level traffickings. Of course, with Epstein, a lot of it was true. He was doing these things, he was connected to this absolutely abhorrent behavior.
But part of what happens is we lose the ability to discern noise from signal. So you’re tarring as a pedophile anybody who had any kind of association with Epstein. And of course, most of the people who were associated with Epstein had nothing to do with what he was doing. Some of them may have known about it, some of them may have looked the other way. And they certainly have a lot of hard questions to answer about their associations with Epstein and what they knew. But just because a person had a meeting with Jeffrey Epstein doesn’t make them part of sex trafficking rings. But it’s very easy to point at all of these people and say, “They’re all working together. They’re all hiding the same things. They’re all doing the same horrible things. And we’re the only people who will talk about it.”
Do you think if the Clintons weren’t involved, the “Epstein list” wouldn’t have blown up like this?
I really don’t think it would’ve. I don’t think it would have gotten quite the attention. I think there would have been some attention; you do have people in that world who are really obsessed with the idea of trafficking and Pizzagate and all that other stuff, but I think the Clinton connection is really what vaulted it into the stratosphere.
How did these people use the “Epstein list” as ammunition for their conspiracy theories, and how does the role of the internet factor into all this?
Internet is a huge part of it, and social media in particular. It spreads incredibly quickly, because it sounds believable and if you share it with some documents, it doesn’t matter if they’re real or not. The people who are passing this stuff around don’t care.
It’s very easy to spread these things around and very easy to ignore the parts of it that you don’t find to be palatable to your worldview, such as Donald Trump’s connections to it, and you play up the connections of people like Bill Clinton.
Do you see that misinformation about Epstein has been spreading more than other conspiracy theories?
I think it’s definitely spreading more. I think part of it is the fact that Twitter (now called X) has been so completely eviscerated as a source of truth. As soon as the documents came out, I started seeing fakes. And they were getting passed around by verified accounts with a million followers, who are making tons of ad money, because Elon Musk has completely eviscerated verification on Twitter. They have every incentive to pass fake documents along and if somebody says, “Oh, that’s not real,” who cares?
Disinformation and conspiracy theories spread so quickly and so readily on social media, while the rest of us are doing our research and writing our articles and doing our interviews, trying to figure out what this actually means. The people who believe this stuff have already decided what it means. And they don’t want to be told differently.
Twitter and people like Alex Jones and people like Steve Bannon, they have an alternative media ecosystem. These are not fringe people anymore. This is not the guy standing outside the football stadium waving a sign about the end is coming. This is a massive industry. You’ve got billions of dollars being pumped into misinformation, into these products, into these podcasts, into these books. It’s a job for a lot of these people, and they’re very good at it. They spread this stuff very quickly. They know it doesn’t matter whether it’s real or not, their audience doesn’t care.
Trump’s appearance in the documents unsettled some conservatives, like Alex Jones. Others like Jack Posobiec rushed to Trump’s defense by posting screenshots from the released court documents, claiming that Trump was exonerated. How does Trump’s presence here complicate the worldview of MAGA conspiracy theorists, especially those who thought Trump would save the nation from pedophiles?
It doesn’t complicate it at all. They just sweep it away. There’s nothing Trump can do that will lose these people’s loyalty. Whatever his involvement is, they just pretend it’s not there. Or they say, “Well, he was only there because he was getting information on Epstein to give to the FBI.” I saw tons of that early on in QAnon. The idea that there’s some sort of undercover sting operation. I’m like, really? I don’t think Donald Trump could stay quiet about that for five seconds. But you believe it, you talk yourself into it.
So it’s a lot like a lot of Trump’s other associations, and I write about this in my book on the Rothschilds. The Trump Taj Mahal was actually saved from bankruptcy by Rothschild Inc. Their bankruptcy guy was Wilbur Ross, who helped structure the deal that got the Taj Mahal out of bankruptcy. And, of course, Wilbur Ross later became Trump’s commerce secretary. You’ve never heard a peep about it from Trump believers, they just sweep it away. Anything that is inconvenient, that alters their worldview, they’ll just ignore it, or they’ll make up some bizarre justification for it.
With Epstein, we know how bad he was. And there may be some people who have a difficult time because they wind up in one of these documents. But ultimately, it’s not going to change that Epstein was a horrible person, and that it was people who were connected to Trump who helped him get out of prison the first time, that it was the incompetence of the jail that allowed him to take his own life. That is not going to change. There’s not going to be a document that completely alters our understanding of what happened.
What does it take to change the minds of conspiracy theorists, especially when it seems they’ll jump through all sorts of hoops in order to distort their reality for the sake of their own beliefs?
Most people will not change their mind. Most people will double down, they will show absolutely no interest in being wrong. For a lot of these people, that’s the worst thing that can happen. They have to go back to their friends and family and say, “You were right, I was wrong, and I’m an idiot.”
Sometimes it does happen. You will find people who have gotten out of movements like QAnon or have broken away from the hardcore Trump worship because they’ll read something or they’ll hear something that they just can’t reconcile with how they see the world. And once you find one thing that doesn’t work for you and these movements, you start to find more of them. I liken it to a tapestry where if you pull on one thread, the whole thing immediately unravels. But you have to want to pull on that thread, you have to prepare yourself for the possibility of it all, and you being left with a view that is completely collapsed. For a lot of people, that’s just too difficult. They just can’t handle it. So they just burrow into it more, and the more things go wrong, and the more predictions fail, and the more things don’t come true, the more they believe because they just have nowhere else to go.
0 notes
Text
Pizzagate, QAnon and the ‘Epstein List’: Why the Far Right Is Obsessed with Sex Trafficking
#Epstein #EpsteinList #Epsteinadasi #EpsteinClientList EpsteinIsland EpsteinFiles EpsteinDocs
Aday before the so-called Epstein list was supposed to drop, far-right conspiracy theorists buzzed with excitement over the expectation that it would crucify prominent figures on the left for their involvement in sex trafficking. It’s a wildly popular notion in that world, where Pizzagate and QAnon fantasies run rampant.
The truth, of course, was far different: The material made public in federal court last week, with more now being released, wasn’t some kind of Jeffrey Epstein client list, as had been speculated online. It was actually documents from a court case filed by one of Epstein’s victims that did include people’s names, but provided little new information on whether they knew of or participated in Epstein’s heinous crimes.
To get a sense of why conspiracy theories centered on sex trafficking and pedophilia — and now the “Epstein list” — are so buzzy in MAGA circles, POLITICO Magazine called up Mike Rothschild, author of The Storm Is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything and Jewish Space Lasers: The Rothschilds and 200 Years of Conspiracy Theories.
Rothschild pointed to a toxic stew of age-old antisemitism; the worst incentives of today’s social media; and the right’s unending obsession with Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Donald Trump pops up in the documents, including some released on Monday, but that’s typically not a problem for his hard-core supporters. As with most conspiracy theories, adherents create their own reality.
“There’s nothing Trump can do that will lose these people’s loyalty,” Rothschild said. “Anything that is inconvenient, that alters their worldview, they’ll just ignore it, or they’ll make up some bizarre justification for it.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What are the conspiracy theories surrounding the so-called Epstein list?
The conspiracy theories are that this new release of documents is going to finally be the thing that brings down the elite trafficking cabal that’s been running the world for 6,000 years. There’s this perception that there’s been information that’s been held back by the courts or by politicians or the media, this is finally going to put everything out in the open.
And because I’ve studied these movements for so long, I know that these movements really revolve around this idea that there will be a document or a memo or a list or a recording. And that will finally be the thing that finally ends the evil grip of the New World Order, and it never does. They always move on to the next one.
A common misconception is that the list documented Epstein’s clients who partook in sexual acts with minors, but that’s not the case, right?
It’s not the case at all. It’s a dump of documents related to the case. It’s not the smoking gun that’s going to finally bring down all of these powerful ones. A lot of the information and many of the names that are being revealed in these documents have already been known. Some of them were redacted.
But so far, I don’t really think there’s much of anything that we’ve learned that really changes our perception of what Epstein did and kind of who in his orbit knew what, because we know a lot of that already. We know it because of tenacious reporting, and the courage of the accusers who have faced him.
Then why was there so much excitement for the list within MAGA circles online — especially when the list itself wasn’t even documentation of Epstein’s clients?
I think it really ties back to this industry of conspiracy theories about the Clintons. I think they really feel like this will be the thing that brings down Bill and Hillary Clinton. They’re still obsessed with the Clintons. And so anything that can serve as the final nail in their coffin, they’re going to rally around, even if, of course, Trump and a lot of the people around Trump are also implicated in all of these documents. They don’t care about that at all. It’s about the Clintons and the rest of the liberal establishment.
What is it about the Clintons that captivates far-right conspiracy theorists like this?
Part of it is that it’s already been three decades of this: The Clinton conspiracy industry started in the early 90s. It started with stuff like Whitewater, Travelgate, stuff that is ancient history now. But there was a really well-funded, very organized and popular effort to bring the Clintons down. And then of course, it resulted in the impeachment, it resulted in the dump truck full of conspiracies about Hillary Clinton when she ran for president. And even though they’re not really in the public eye much anymore, it’s so prolific that conspiracy theorists have stuck with them because they know what works. They’re just like a classic rock band playing the hits.
You wrote a book on QAnon. Based on your research, why are conservatives so obsessed with the theory that prominent left-wing figures like the Clintons are running pedophile rings? Where does that conspiracy theory originate from?
There’s always been a certain amount of salaciousness in these conspiracy theories, and there are theories going back about the awful sexual depravity of the Catholics or later on of the Jews. So you’re always going to find a certain amount of attention paid to any kind of conspiracy theory involving sexual proclivity of trafficking. And if it involves children, people immediately just lose their mind — even if these children don’t exist. There are no children who have been trafficked because of Pizzagate because Pizzgate isn’t real.
But if you just put out the suggestion there, it grabs ahold in a way that is difficult to dislodge. I think a lot of it has to do with antisemitism. I think a lot of it has to do with fear of the occult and Satanic panic. So you get all of these things that are mixed together: the anti-Jewish sentiment, the fear of Satanism. And, of course, now it extends to social media. So you have these powerful figures, in media, in politics, in culture, academia. It’s very easy to kind of put these people together as part of this vast conspiracy. And if there’s a conspiracy of them, well, they’re probably doing horrible things to children, too, because that’s what evil people do.
You’ve mentioned that all these conspiracy theories are connected. How does the Epstein saga fit into the broader ecosystem of far-right conspiracy theories, including QAnon and Pizzagate? Particularly when Epstein was never even a figure on the left?
The QAnon and Pizzagate people — they really have embraced Epstein as the most obvious example of these sort of high-level traffickings. Of course, with Epstein, a lot of it was true. He was doing these things, he was connected to this absolutely abhorrent behavior.
But part of what happens is we lose the ability to discern noise from signal. So you’re tarring as a pedophile anybody who had any kind of association with Epstein. And of course, most of the people who were associated with Epstein had nothing to do with what he was doing. Some of them may have known about it, some of them may have looked the other way. And they certainly have a lot of hard questions to answer about their associations with Epstein and what they knew. But just because a person had a meeting with Jeffrey Epstein doesn’t make them part of sex trafficking rings. But it’s very easy to point at all of these people and say, “They’re all working together. They’re all hiding the same things. They’re all doing the same horrible things. And we’re the only people who will talk about it.”
Do you think if the Clintons weren’t involved, the “Epstein list” wouldn’t have blown up like this?
I really don’t think it would’ve. I don’t think it would have gotten quite the attention. I think there would have been some attention; you do have people in that world who are really obsessed with the idea of trafficking and Pizzagate and all that other stuff, but I think the Clinton connection is really what vaulted it into the stratosphere.
How did these people use the “Epstein list” as ammunition for their conspiracy theories, and how does the role of the internet factor into all this?
Internet is a huge part of it, and social media in particular. It spreads incredibly quickly, because it sounds believable and if you share it with some documents, it doesn’t matter if they’re real or not. The people who are passing this stuff around don’t care.
It’s very easy to spread these things around and very easy to ignore the parts of it that you don’t find to be palatable to your worldview, such as Donald Trump’s connections to it, and you play up the connections of people like Bill Clinton.
Do you see that misinformation about Epstein has been spreading more than other conspiracy theories?
I think it’s definitely spreading more. I think part of it is the fact that Twitter (now called X) has been so completely eviscerated as a source of truth. As soon as the documents came out, I started seeing fakes. And they were getting passed around by verified accounts with a million followers, who are making tons of ad money, because Elon Musk has completely eviscerated verification on Twitter. They have every incentive to pass fake documents along and if somebody says, “Oh, that’s not real,” who cares?
Disinformation and conspiracy theories spread so quickly and so readily on social media, while the rest of us are doing our research and writing our articles and doing our interviews, trying to figure out what this actually means. The people who believe this stuff have already decided what it means. And they don’t want to be told differently.
Twitter and people like Alex Jones and people like Steve Bannon, they have an alternative media ecosystem. These are not fringe people anymore. This is not the guy standing outside the football stadium waving a sign about the end is coming. This is a massive industry. You’ve got billions of dollars being pumped into misinformation, into these products, into these podcasts, into these books. It’s a job for a lot of these people, and they’re very good at it. They spread this stuff very quickly. They know it doesn’t matter whether it’s real or not, their audience doesn’t care.
Trump’s appearance in the documents unsettled some conservatives, like Alex Jones. Others like Jack Posobiec rushed to Trump’s defense by posting screenshots from the released court documents, claiming that Trump was exonerated. How does Trump’s presence here complicate the worldview of MAGA conspiracy theorists, especially those who thought Trump would save the nation from pedophiles?
It doesn’t complicate it at all. They just sweep it away. There’s nothing Trump can do that will lose these people’s loyalty. Whatever his involvement is, they just pretend it’s not there. Or they say, “Well, he was only there because he was getting information on Epstein to give to the FBI.” I saw tons of that early on in QAnon. The idea that there’s some sort of undercover sting operation. I’m like, really? I don’t think Donald Trump could stay quiet about that for five seconds. But you believe it, you talk yourself into it.
So it’s a lot like a lot of Trump’s other associations, and I write about this in my book on the Rothschilds. The Trump Taj Mahal was actually saved from bankruptcy by Rothschild Inc. Their bankruptcy guy was Wilbur Ross, who helped structure the deal that got the Taj Mahal out of bankruptcy. And, of course, Wilbur Ross later became Trump’s commerce secretary. You’ve never heard a peep about it from Trump believers, they just sweep it away. Anything that is inconvenient, that alters their worldview, they’ll just ignore it, or they’ll make up some bizarre justification for it.
With Epstein, we know how bad he was. And there may be some people who have a difficult time because they wind up in one of these documents. But ultimately, it’s not going to change that Epstein was a horrible person, and that it was people who were connected to Trump who helped him get out of prison the first time, that it was the incompetence of the jail that allowed him to take his own life. That is not going to change. There’s not going to be a document that completely alters our understanding of what happened.
What does it take to change the minds of conspiracy theorists, especially when it seems they’ll jump through all sorts of hoops in order to distort their reality for the sake of their own beliefs?
Most people will not change their mind. Most people will double down, they will show absolutely no interest in being wrong. For a lot of these people, that’s the worst thing that can happen. They have to go back to their friends and family and say, “You were right, I was wrong, and I’m an idiot.”
Sometimes it does happen. You will find people who have gotten out of movements like QAnon or have broken away from the hardcore Trump worship because they’ll read something or they’ll hear something that they just can’t reconcile with how they see the world. And once you find one thing that doesn’t work for you and these movements, you start to find more of them. I liken it to a tapestry where if you pull on one thread, the whole thing immediately unravels. But you have to want to pull on that thread, you have to prepare yourself for the possibility of it all, and you being left with a view that is completely collapsed. For a lot of people, that’s just too difficult. They just can’t handle it. So they just burrow into it more, and the more things go wrong, and the more predictions fail, and the more things don’t come true, the more they believe because they just have nowhere else to go.
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Pizzagate, QAnon and the ‘Epstein List’: Why the Far Right Is Obsessed with Sex Trafficking
#Epstein #EpsteinList #Epsteinadasi
Aday before the so-called Epstein list was supposed to drop, far-right conspiracy theorists buzzed with excitement over the expectation that it would crucify prominent figures on the left for their involvement in sex trafficking. It’s a wildly popular notion in that world, where Pizzagate and QAnon fantasies run rampant.
The truth, of course, was far different: The material made public in federal court last week, with more now being released, wasn’t some kind of Jeffrey Epstein client list, as had been speculated online. It was actually documents from a court case filed by one of Epstein’s victims that did include people’s names, but provided little new information on whether they knew of or participated in Epstein’s heinous crimes.
To get a sense of why conspiracy theories centered on sex trafficking and pedophilia — and now the “Epstein list” — are so buzzy in MAGA circles, POLITICO Magazine called up Mike Rothschild, author of The Storm Is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything and Jewish Space Lasers: The Rothschilds and 200 Years of Conspiracy Theories.
Rothschild pointed to a toxic stew of age-old antisemitism; the worst incentives of today’s social media; and the right’s unending obsession with Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Donald Trump pops up in the documents, including some released on Monday, but that’s typically not a problem for his hard-core supporters. As with most conspiracy theories, adherents create their own reality.
“There’s nothing Trump can do that will lose these people’s loyalty,” Rothschild said. “Anything that is inconvenient, that alters their worldview, they’ll just ignore it, or they’ll make up some bizarre justification for it.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What are the conspiracy theories surrounding the so-called Epstein list?
The conspiracy theories are that this new release of documents is going to finally be the thing that brings down the elite trafficking cabal that’s been running the world for 6,000 years. There’s this perception that there’s been information that’s been held back by the courts or by politicians or the media, this is finally going to put everything out in the open.
And because I’ve studied these movements for so long, I know that these movements really revolve around this idea that there will be a document or a memo or a list or a recording. And that will finally be the thing that finally ends the evil grip of the New World Order, and it never does. They always move on to the next one.
A common misconception is that the list documented Epstein’s clients who partook in sexual acts with minors, but that’s not the case, right?
It’s not the case at all. It’s a dump of documents related to the case. It’s not the smoking gun that’s going to finally bring down all of these powerful ones. A lot of the information and many of the names that are being revealed in these documents have already been known. Some of them were redacted.
But so far, I don’t really think there’s much of anything that we’ve learned that really changes our perception of what Epstein did and kind of who in his orbit knew what, because we know a lot of that already. We know it because of tenacious reporting, and the courage of the accusers who have faced him.
Then why was there so much excitement for the list within MAGA circles online — especially when the list itself wasn’t even documentation of Epstein’s clients?
I think it really ties back to this industry of conspiracy theories about the Clintons. I think they really feel like this will be the thing that brings down Bill and Hillary Clinton. They’re still obsessed with the Clintons. And so anything that can serve as the final nail in their coffin, they’re going to rally around, even if, of course, Trump and a lot of the people around Trump are also implicated in all of these documents. They don’t care about that at all. It’s about the Clintons and the rest of the liberal establishment.
What is it about the Clintons that captivates far-right conspiracy theorists like this?
Part of it is that it’s already been three decades of this: The Clinton conspiracy industry started in the early 90s. It started with stuff like Whitewater, Travelgate, stuff that is ancient history now. But there was a really well-funded, very organized and popular effort to bring the Clintons down. And then of course, it resulted in the impeachment, it resulted in the dump truck full of conspiracies about Hillary Clinton when she ran for president. And even though they’re not really in the public eye much anymore, it’s so prolific that conspiracy theorists have stuck with them because they know what works. They’re just like a classic rock band playing the hits.
You wrote a book on QAnon. Based on your research, why are conservatives so obsessed with the theory that prominent left-wing figures like the Clintons are running pedophile rings? Where does that conspiracy theory originate from?
There’s always been a certain amount of salaciousness in these conspiracy theories, and there are theories going back about the awful sexual depravity of the Catholics or later on of the Jews. So you’re always going to find a certain amount of attention paid to any kind of conspiracy theory involving sexual proclivity of trafficking. And if it involves children, people immediately just lose their mind — even if these children don’t exist. There are no children who have been trafficked because of Pizzagate because Pizzgate isn’t real.
But if you just put out the suggestion there, it grabs ahold in a way that is difficult to dislodge. I think a lot of it has to do with antisemitism. I think a lot of it has to do with fear of the occult and Satanic panic. So you get all of these things that are mixed together: the anti-Jewish sentiment, the fear of Satanism. And, of course, now it extends to social media. So you have these powerful figures, in media, in politics, in culture, academia. It’s very easy to kind of put these people together as part of this vast conspiracy. And if there’s a conspiracy of them, well, they’re probably doing horrible things to children, too, because that’s what evil people do.
You’ve mentioned that all these conspiracy theories are connected. How does the Epstein saga fit into the broader ecosystem of far-right conspiracy theories, including QAnon and Pizzagate? Particularly when Epstein was never even a figure on the left?
The QAnon and Pizzagate people — they really have embraced Epstein as the most obvious example of these sort of high-level traffickings. Of course, with Epstein, a lot of it was true. He was doing these things, he was connected to this absolutely abhorrent behavior.
But part of what happens is we lose the ability to discern noise from signal. So you’re tarring as a pedophile anybody who had any kind of association with Epstein. And of course, most of the people who were associated with Epstein had nothing to do with what he was doing. Some of them may have known about it, some of them may have looked the other way. And they certainly have a lot of hard questions to answer about their associations with Epstein and what they knew. But just because a person had a meeting with Jeffrey Epstein doesn’t make them part of sex trafficking rings. But it’s very easy to point at all of these people and say, “They’re all working together. They’re all hiding the same things. They’re all doing the same horrible things. And we’re the only people who will talk about it.”
Do you think if the Clintons weren’t involved, the “Epstein list” wouldn’t have blown up like this?
I really don’t think it would’ve. I don’t think it would have gotten quite the attention. I think there would have been some attention; you do have people in that world who are really obsessed with the idea of trafficking and Pizzagate and all that other stuff, but I think the Clinton connection is really what vaulted it into the stratosphere.
How did these people use the “Epstein list” as ammunition for their conspiracy theories, and how does the role of the internet factor into all this?
Internet is a huge part of it, and social media in particular. It spreads incredibly quickly, because it sounds believable and if you share it with some documents, it doesn’t matter if they’re real or not. The people who are passing this stuff around don’t care.
It’s very easy to spread these things around and very easy to ignore the parts of it that you don’t find to be palatable to your worldview, such as Donald Trump’s connections to it, and you play up the connections of people like Bill Clinton.
Do you see that misinformation about Epstein has been spreading more than other conspiracy theories?
I think it’s definitely spreading more. I think part of it is the fact that Twitter (now called X) has been so completely eviscerated as a source of truth. As soon as the documents came out, I started seeing fakes. And they were getting passed around by verified accounts with a million followers, who are making tons of ad money, because Elon Musk has completely eviscerated verification on Twitter. They have every incentive to pass fake documents along and if somebody says, “Oh, that’s not real,” who cares?
Disinformation and conspiracy theories spread so quickly and so readily on social media, while the rest of us are doing our research and writing our articles and doing our interviews, trying to figure out what this actually means. The people who believe this stuff have already decided what it means. And they don’t want to be told differently.
Twitter and people like Alex Jones and people like Steve Bannon, they have an alternative media ecosystem. These are not fringe people anymore. This is not the guy standing outside the football stadium waving a sign about the end is coming. This is a massive industry. You’ve got billions of dollars being pumped into misinformation, into these products, into these podcasts, into these books. It’s a job for a lot of these people, and they’re very good at it. They spread this stuff very quickly. They know it doesn’t matter whether it’s real or not, their audience doesn’t care.
Trump’s appearance in the documents unsettled some conservatives, like Alex Jones. Others like Jack Posobiec rushed to Trump’s defense by posting screenshots from the released court documents, claiming that Trump was exonerated. How does Trump’s presence here complicate the worldview of MAGA conspiracy theorists, especially those who thought Trump would save the nation from pedophiles?
It doesn’t complicate it at all. They just sweep it away. There’s nothing Trump can do that will lose these people’s loyalty. Whatever his involvement is, they just pretend it’s not there. Or they say, “Well, he was only there because he was getting information on Epstein to give to the FBI.” I saw tons of that early on in QAnon. The idea that there’s some sort of undercover sting operation. I’m like, really? I don’t think Donald Trump could stay quiet about that for five seconds. But you believe it, you talk yourself into it.
So it’s a lot like a lot of Trump’s other associations, and I write about this in my book on the Rothschilds. The Trump Taj Mahal was actually saved from bankruptcy by Rothschild Inc. Their bankruptcy guy was Wilbur Ross, who helped structure the deal that got the Taj Mahal out of bankruptcy. And, of course, Wilbur Ross later became Trump’s commerce secretary. You’ve never heard a peep about it from Trump believers, they just sweep it away. Anything that is inconvenient, that alters their worldview, they’ll just ignore it, or they’ll make up some bizarre justification for it.
With Epstein, we know how bad he was. And there may be some people who have a difficult time because they wind up in one of these documents. But ultimately, it’s not going to change that Epstein was a horrible person, and that it was people who were connected to Trump who helped him get out of prison the first time, that it was the incompetence of the jail that allowed him to take his own life. That is not going to change. There’s not going to be a document that completely alters our understanding of what happened.
What does it take to change the minds of conspiracy theorists, especially when it seems they’ll jump through all sorts of hoops in order to distort their reality for the sake of their own beliefs?
Most people will not change their mind. Most people will double down, they will show absolutely no interest in being wrong. For a lot of these people, that’s the worst thing that can happen. They have to go back to their friends and family and say, “You were right, I was wrong, and I’m an idiot.”
Sometimes it does happen. You will find people who have gotten out of movements like QAnon or have broken away from the hardcore Trump worship because they’ll read something or they’ll hear something that they just can’t reconcile with how they see the world. And once you find one thing that doesn’t work for you and these movements, you start to find more of them. I liken it to a tapestry where if you pull on one thread, the whole thing immediately unravels. But you have to want to pull on that thread, you have to prepare yourself for the possibility of it all, and you being left with a view that is completely collapsed. For a lot of people, that’s just too difficult. They just can’t handle it. So they just burrow into it more, and the more things go wrong, and the more predictions fail, and the more things don’t come true, the more they believe because they just have nowhere else to go.
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The Fall of King Romulus
Summary: Twin Princes Remus and Romulus are cursed at birth with Honesty and Obedience. When Romulus, who cannot disobey any order, is told to kill his brother the next time he lays eyes on him, he changes his name to Roman and runs away. Roman joins up with a misfit group of adventures and plans to never return to his homeland. But the fae have other plans for him...
This was originally a fake fic but I decided to turn it into a real fic because it looked like fun, The fake fic can be read as a prologue.
Warnings (for whole fic not necessarily individual chapters): Violence, mind whammying/memory altering, curse of obedience related consent issues, references to sex, references to war related injuries/PTSD, references to child abuse/neglect (YMMV on that one but just in case), antagonstic-but-not-exactly villian!Janus, Extremly-moraly-dubious-but-not-exacty-unsympathetic-Remus
Chapter 1
Previous (prologue) Next Chapter 2
When Roman had first left home, he had no intention of making friends.
Romulus had never had them, unless you counted Remus in their younger days. Royal life was often one of seclusion and once his… particular problem… had come to light, his parents took the necessary steps to ensure he was as isolated from others as possible.
This was for his own good. Romulus could not protect himself. Romulus was a liability to the himself and the Kingdom. One slip before a supposed playmate could lead to discovery and disaster. His father explained this to him when Romulus was eleven, and had taken to following the young Marquis de Orenlla around like a love sick puppy when the family visited the palace.
“Suppose that boy notices,” his fathers voice was a hiss, his hand gripping Romulus small shoulder hard enough to bruise “suppose he realises you will do anything he asks, and he asks you for family secrets? Suppose he waits until your are older and orders you to favour his family, to give them position in court, to promote them above their deserved station- or to harm their enemies. Do you understand the risk you’re taking Romulus? Swear to me you will keep to yourself. Please.”
Phrasing, Romulus had come to learn, was extraordinarily important when dealing with his curse. The final ‘please’ from his father had turned the order into a request – something Romulus could technically choose to ignore. But the grip on his shoulder suggested it would not remain his choice for long. So he nodded at his father and swore to keep away and was rewarded with a smile and a hand stroking gently though his hair, before he was dismissed to go and study before his afternoon lessons.
He should have been lonely. But he had his parents and his instructors and his servants. And the occasional, highly orchestrated, public appearance wherein he would adopt a practiced air of aloof politeness, wave and make measured conversation with those who would never dare to give him an order. It could have been worse.
Still, he understood that once he left it would be necessary to speak to many more people then he had up to now. He would need food and shelter and work and direction, none of which he had had to procure for himself before.
So he prepared himself to make conversation with strangers, perhaps acquire acquaintances. He expected to find admirers once he was far South enough that he could perform with his lute without fear of recognition from the crowd. He hoped, perhaps, for some romances, some temporary but dashing companions to join him on adventures. He had read about such things during hours spent locked up in the palace library and told to entertain himself.
He had not planned on making friends. Traveling with anyone for too long, getting to know them and allowing them to learn about him – it inevitably increased the chance of them discovering his secret. Of exploiting him as his parents had warned against. It was not worth the risk.
And yet.
And yet somehow, he had acquired three.
Virgil and Patton and Logan.
Brave and kind and wise.
Not a drop of aristocratic blood between them but without doubt the most noble companions a man could wish for. When he thought of them, of how they had accepted him into their little band of misfit adventurers, his heart felt more full, his mind more alive and sharp than it had been in years. His blood buzzed with creativity and songs of friendship, love and loyalty sprang from his lips almost unbidden.
Not right now however.
Right now sort of wanted to kill them. Specifically Virgil.
Roman scowled at the surrounding trees “If there are any depressingly dressed half elves out there who want to APPOLOGISE for being JERKS the floor is open!” he called.
The trees remained silent. They had done that the last three times he tried.
Roman left out a dramatic exhale and flopped back on the ground.
The thing was. He knew, intellectually, that this wasn’t Virgil’s fault. Not Intentionally.
Virgil was prickly. And unpredictable. Last night, Roman had wailed in dismay at the sorry state for a fire the young man was building. Virgil had responded that they would be lucky if there was no fire at all, since that would mean no one would have to be subjected to Romans cooking. Roman had insulted Virgil’s hair. Virgil had made a creative suggestion for where Roman could stick the firewood he was holding. And back and forth the insults went until between them they had built up the fire and set the stew boiling upon it.
It was banter. Virgil had been giggling the whole time, Patton hadn’t interjected once to tell them to be nicer.
And then this evening they’d gone hunting for firewood together. And Roman had made some sly remark, hoping that Virgil’s fire building skills had improved somewhat overnight.
And Virgil had turned round and snarled at him to “shut UP Princy. I don’t need you to help me – just, just get lost.”
Virgil didn’t know about the curse.
Romans mouth had dropped open in surprise. And before he’s had time to close it, his feet had spun round one hundred and eighty degrees and marched him away from his friend, away from the path, deeper into the heart of the forest.
His feat had carried him on a winding route, over one shallow stream and through an extremely dense thicket of brambles that left Roman desperately hacking away at the thorns in front of him before they could shred him to ribbons. He had eventually stopped after an hour of relentless marching and sprawled at the foot of an impressively knotted oak tree.
Unsurprisingly, his surroundings were totally unfamiliar. The trees grew so thick here it was impossible to see more than twelve feet in any direction. He was well and truly lost.
Roman had spent an unsatisfying few minutes ranting to the trees about elves and their unpredictable mood swings and marching and blisters and curses and Virgil’s still subpar fire lighting skills until eventually he had run out of steam and settled himself down for a good sulk.
Phrasing was important. Virgil had told him to get lost but he hadn’t said to stay lost. And now that he was lost, there was nothing to prevent him being found again.
Patton was an excellent tracker. The idea of sitting around waiting to be rescued stung Roman’s pride, but his feat had already been aching from the days travel before his unintended march. His stomach growled, the smattering of cuts from the brambles burned, and evening was already turning to night. The most sensible thing to do was for Roman to stay where he was and wait to be found.
Assuming they wanted to find him.
Roman bit his lip sharply to try and banish that line of thought. They wouldn’t leave him.
Although, he drew his legs up and wrapped his arms around his knees to fend off the evening chill, There was a strong chance they wouldn’t find him tonight. Patton had looked exhausted when Virgil and Roman and left on their hunt for firewood, in fact he’d been falling behind all day and –
Oh.
Patton and Virgil were born in Krutova and Finaley’ed respectively. Two small neighbouring kingdoms, politically insignificant and famous only for their densely forested landscapes and their intense dedication to wiping each other off the face of the Earth. For the past eighteen years bloody war had raged between the two. Roman had never asked directly, but he was fairly certain that this conflict was where Patton had acquired his enormous broadsword, his limp and, quite possibly, Virgil.
Neither of them liked forests. They carried extra tension as soon as they stood under the shadows of the trees. In addition to that, the uneven terrain aggravated Patton’s hip, sometimes leaving him hissing between his teeth with every step.
Roman had been walking up front with Logan all day, arguing the merits of modern Raspanzean poetry compared with the old masters. He had thought they had called a halt to the day a little early, but was tired enough himself not to question it. And really, since he and Virgil had been on fire and cooking duty last night it should have fallen to the others today…but Virgil had scampered into the woods as soon as Patton was settled on his bed roll, and Roman had gone chasing after.
Virgil fretted. He fretted after all of them, but Patton most of all. And Roman had chased after him when he was already stressed about his best friend and then started needling him about his fire making skills.
Roman groaned and pressed his face into his knees.
Maybe he was the jerk.
“It sounds like it.”
Roman sighed, hating the whine in his voice as he replied “but he still shouldn’t have taken it out on –“
Romans head snapped up so fast he hit his skull hard against the oak tree behind him. Wincing he twisted his head left and right, but the area remained deserted.
He frowned. Perhaps he was more exhausted than he thought –
“You certainly are over tired little Prince,” Roman made a sound which he refused to think of as a shriek and scrambled to his feet.
Standing not three feet- two feet – five feet- three feet from him, stood – hovered - sat – stood a figure in – black – yellow- black – shadow – gold - black. He- she – it – he? Laughed sweetly and stepped – slunk – prowled – flew – stepped closer
And drew back abruptly as Roman held up his dagger between them.
Roman’s sword was the best he could buy, made of blended steel with a bronze handle. He cleaned and sharpened it religiously and practiced often. It was beautifully made and perfectly balanced, suitable for a solider but ideal for a traveller in who knew how to use it.
Romans dagger was old and brittle. And more than once Logan had tried to surreptitiously throw it out and convince him to replace it with something usable.
But it was made of pure iron and it kept the scowling fae at bay.
Looking directly at the fae made something in Romans stomach twist. But he kept his eyes at a squint and held the dagger firm between them, even as his arms shook from the effort.
“What do you want from me?” he gritted out
“What do I want?” The fae’s face would not quite settle, the edges shifting and billowing, but when he smiled Roman was certain he saw fangs “You’re the one trespassing in my home, little Prince, I should be asking you”
Suddenly the fae was as close as he could come, his face less than an inch from the daggers edge. Up close, Roman could see two eyes clearly, one black and one pulsating with a sickly yellow light. “Come to make a deal with the devil, Princey?”
Roman squeezed his eyes shut and held himself firm, even as the shaking began to spread over his entire body.
“I am. A. Lost. Traveller.” He gasped out “I. mean. No. disrespect. To you. Or. Your court” for what felt like an eternity the shaking continued, rattling his brain and sending one knee crashing to the floor. And then it stopped.
Hesitantly, Roman cracked one eye open and looked up. The fae had, mercifully, settled its form. It had picked a face identical to Romans own, save for the yellow eye and scales that spread over its left side. A cloak of shadows hid most of its body from view, but when it moved towards Roman now it seemed to slither rather than step.
“You mean no disrespect” it nodded towards the dagger still clutched in Roman’s sweaty hands “but your bring a weapon to my home?”
“it is a shield, my lord, not a sword, despite it’s shape”
The fae harrumphed, a disconcertingly human noise, and circled Roman once. “You’re not from around here.”
“I’m lost, my lord.”
“I know that” The fae stopped in front of Roman again and rolled it’s eyes. “I meant you are not one of the town folk who trespass in my wood so regularly. You know how to speak to me.”
Roman opened his mouth to say ‘in my fathers Kingdom the Fae are welcomed, and representatives of the Saelie court attend each ball and function’ but managed to snap it closed before he made a sound. Rule one for dealing with the Fae, even those considered allies, was not to give them any information that they didn’t already know. “You flatter me my lord” he said instead.
Roman still hadn’t moved from his half kneeling pose and now the fae coiled down so that they were once again face to face. “Most humans in your position” he said, “would have already started begging for a deal to relive them of their…little problems. What’s the matter Princey, curse got your tongue?”
Roman couldn’t help the way his heart rate sped up at the faes words. But he did his best to keep his outward face calm. It was true, the first deliberate order he had received when his curse was discovered was to never talk about it, he couldn’t have brought it up to this fae if he wanted to.
But more than that – the fae who allied themselves with his father’s court had done everything in their power to remove the curses from him and his brother. Nothing had worked. “A gift once given can only be taken back by the gifter” an elder sprite in the guise of a kindly woman had told his mother. “And their gifter is unlikely to return here.”
The gifter was also unlikely to be a snake shaped creature tied to a southern forest. “I want nothing from you my lord, except to be allowed to leave your home” Roman intoned honestly. He had wondered, for a moment, when the creature had called him Princey – but Virgil and the others often called him by that nickname. If this was a lord of the forest he could have heard them when they passed by.
The fae stared at him for a long moment. And smiled. “Liar.”
Roman frowned – “what-“
“Roman!”
Roman jerked his head to the side, the shout had come from close by, he was sure. “Pa-Padre?”
A whisper in his ear: “time to go home Roman.” Roman quickly looked back to the fae, but it was gone. On the ground where it had been, lay a single oak leaf dyed a brilliant, autumnal, yellow.
He didn’t need to look up at the oak trees leaves to know they, like every other tree in the forest, were still a vibrant green.
“Roman! Roman are you here?”
Without much conscious thought, he reached forward and snatched up the yellow leaf, burying it deep in his pocket.
“I’M HERE. Patton? Virgil? I’M OVER HERE”
Within minuets all seven foot of Patton was crashing through the tree line and baring down on him, Virgil not far behind.
“Roman, oh my goodness we were so worried! Are you hurt? Can you stand? Why do you have your dagger – did something happen?”
“Princy! Shit are you – are you okay? I am so, - I’m really- We looked EVERYWHERE“
“I’m fine.” Roman promised ‘Its fine’ he added to Virgil, “I just – I figured you needed some space so I tried looking for wood on the other side of camp. Guess I got a little turned around” He allowed Patton to pull him to his feet, giving them both his best sheepish grin. Embarrassed but ready to laugh at himself. He really had got lost. Silly Roman.
It’s not like he could tell them about the curse.
“We’re not the far from camp” Patton told him, he glanced around frowning slightly “I’m sure we searched through here before.”
“I was trying to make my own way back,” Roman lied easily “I probably ended up walking in a circle and missed you.”
It’s not like there was any point telling them about the fae.
“You sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine Pat, what about you? How’s your leg?”
“Oh this old thing?” Patton gave them a wide smile “it’s just fine, Ro, don’t you worry. Now I think I know a short cut back, you two follow close to me alright?” and with that the large man spun round and headed into the trees.
Virgil and Roman shared an exasperated glance. The man was clearly in agony.
“Listen, Princy I-“
“I’m sorry too.” Roman cut him off. Bumped his shoulder against Virgil’s and winked. “Now lets get back to camp before Logan paces a trench in to the ground hm?”
Slowly Virgil nodded, although he was still staring at Roman guiltily. The two of them headed into the trees together, collected Patton from where he was half collapsed against an elm, and the three slowly made their way back to camp.
By the time they were explaining what had happened to Logan, the memory of the fae had faded like mist.
With a days more travel they would be out of the forest and on a path to Steveange. The largest and greatest city of the Central Kingdoms. From there they would have to chose whether to head east, towards the coast line, west to catch the merchant festivals or north, where Roman had always refused to travel.
Stuck between two pages of Romans notebook, a unseasonably yellowed oak leaf shivered.
Time to go home.
#sanders sides fic#roman sanders#janus sanders#virgil sanders#patton sanders#logan sanders#remus sanders#but not in this chapter#creativitwins#sidespart writes#TS: Fall of Romulus
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((Just something inspired by the new Mysteries of the Lost Gold Trailer. Probably not canon-compliant and at least a little OOC. Luke x MC/ Raven x Rosa.))
WC: 1854
His Rosa was scrutinizing something from a market stall when he found her. Luke watched fondly for a while before softly tapping her and taking her hand, careful now to startle her. She rewarded him with a relaxed smile.
“Look, it’s seaweed!” She showed him the hair clip. At first he thought it was a regular poppy flower, carved out of wire and cloth. But as his Rosa had observed, the texture of the flower, the thin carved veins on the surface, and the way it was folded resembled red seaweed with small silk beads for stamens.
“I didn’t even know red seaweed looked so different,” she mused. “It must have taken a lot of effort to carve the flower like that.” She set the hair clip down and turns to him. “Did Adjudicator get in contact with the dealer?”
“Yeah,” Luke replied. “We’ll talk about the details later.” He pinned the hair clip on her, replacing the usual clip. “It’s cute. You should get it.”
“You always say that,” she said, but her cheeks blushed happily from his compliment.
“Well, you’re always cute.”
“You silly….”
“Excuse me storekeep, how much for the hair clip?”
———
Rifle. Check. Scope. Check. Ghille. Check. Wind. Check. Target…in sights.
Luke carefully tracked the man between his crosshairs as they walked to the meeting point. He looked up and could see Libra and Rosa standing a few feet away, calmly keeping the target in position. He hated that she was so close yet so far away, and he hated that she was in danger again. But he was proud of how calm and brave she was even facing off a notorious criminal who called himself the “God of Death.”
Luke returned his eye to the scope. In the National Security Bureau, snipers were sometimes called gods of death themselves, for being able to rain silent death from afar. He preferred his Sherlock Holmes moniker, but if being a God of Death was what it took to take down this criminal, then that’s what he would have to be.
Luke took a deep breath…And fired.
Luke’s heart jolted when the rifle went off. It wasn’t the recoil or even the dulled bang of the gun. It wasn’t even the prospect of killing another human, even if the shot had been lethal. But just as he’d fired, he could have sworn he’d seen a flash of familiar red through the crosshairs.
———
Artem Wing was having a very surreal day. Raven and Rosa flirting over a hair clip was nothing unusual, and neither was arguing with King or even Adjudicator agreeing to this whole ridiculous plan with a creepy smile. But the sunny beaches and clear waters seemed too idyllic to be hiding a gang of murderers. For the legend of gold to be poison…this whole paradisal island was built on poison and blood.
Still, setting the target up for a sniper’s bullet—even if it was simply a tranquilizing bullet—sounded awfully like an assassination to him. Artem was an attorney after all, a pillar of justice and legal operation. Due process wasn’t just a motto, it was a creed he solemnly swore by. But the dealer this time was a confirmed killer, and had already escaped justice multiple times. Taking him down by normal means was simply out of the option. And if Raven was as good as he was confident, if they got the right suspect immediately…then this could be over in one shot.
The meeting and conversation itself seemed to go smoothly. Too smoothly. It was like he was in a dream world, and he didn’t even have to think to say the right words to placate the dealer. As the interaction was wrapping up, his partner suddenly whispered to him. They had the wrong guy. This had been a set up—They had to let Raven know the right target right away before a potential innocent was hurt in the crossfire—
But when that one shot happened. Artem watched in slow motion as the supposed dealer was flung back, clutching his shoulder and screaming in shock. His partner collapsed on the ground. Her eyes squeezed shut. There was blood in her hair.
Next to her laid the tattered remains of the poppy hair clip. The tiny beads scattered like dark red grains of pepper sunk into the pristine sand. The carefully carved red seaweed folds were torn to mangled shreds of cloth, like another life sacrificed before the golden alter of the God of Death.
———
According to the plan, Artem would be doing most of the talking. She glanced around, noting the dealer’s bodyguards around the space.
The dealer seemed nervous, but that wasn’t itself unusual. They were attorneys after all, and anyone would be hesitant to talk to lawyers, regardless of how many times they had gotten away. But she studied how his too-casual crossed arms contradicted the fidgeting with the cuffs of his sleeves—which were a tad too long for a dealer that could more than afford to have every suit hand-tailored. Yet his head seemed unusually still, as though the hat on it was a crown. Hm…
She kept one ear on the conversation as she studied the bodyguards again surreptitiously. The dealer hesitated. And then she saw one bodyguard shift—his face barely moved, but his neck moved as though he were speaking. He stopped, and the dealer spoke again.
She suddenly remembered how the ex-con had said the dealer was particularly paranoid, and how he continued to avoid capture and death. Calling himself “God of Death”, he seduced his victims with golden poison, and commanded loyalty through fear and an antidote just out of reach. All who voiced complaint would mysteriously vanish….
The conversation was coming to a close. The dealer signaled for his bodyguards to leave, and she knew the way were running out of time. The suspicious bodyguard was turning around to leave, and she noticed he was slightly taller than the dealer. And his shoes—brand new boots, without a scratch.
“This is the wrong man,” she said quietly to Artem. “The real culprit—“
She held her hand up to reveal the decoy, and suspicion and alarm flashed through the fake dealer’s eyes. He dealer grabbed her, pulling her in front of him and shouting for Artem not to move, else he’d snap the pretty girl’s neck. But before anyone could do anything, an invisible force whistled past her head, throwing the fake dealer back. He howled, but all she felt was ringing in her ears and a forceful tug, like someone yanking her braids. The world around her turned black for a moment, and she found herself on the ground, covered in sand.
“The bodyguard!” She called out, pointing. She struggled to move but her legs felt like jelly and her head was spinning like she was thrown into a centrifuge. She tried calling out again, because Artem wasn’t looking—he was kneeling by her side, eyes blown wide with concern and fear. “The bodyguard is the real dealer! He’s getting away!”
The suspicious bodyguard was running without a backwards glance for his decoy, and the groups as quickly collapsing around him. She fought through the throbbing in her head to keep an eye on him. Marius was nearby, she knew, ready to be backup. Her fingers trembled on the phone. “King! The real dealer is reaching the road now, the one on the motorcycle—don’t let him get away!”
———
It was over. Marius had pulled some crazy motor-cross stunts and managed to take down the suspicious bodyguard. The police had arrived to take all involved into custody, and the decoy had joined them once the tranquilizer wore off. As obnoxious as the little brat was, Luke had to give Marius credit for understanding what happened and taking down the target before they could get away.
The real hero though, was perched on the couch talking to him. He handed her a cup of tea, and took the ice pack from her ankle. “Wasn’t this supposed to be for your head? Are you feeling that much better already?” He asked lightly.
Rosa simply nodded, sipping lightly on the tea. Luke had made sure it was cool just enough so she wouldn’t be dangerous even if she did spill it. “The ringing stopped a while ago. I think I twisted my ankle trying to run in the sand though.” She sat up straight. “Are you okay?”
Luke sighed self-deprecatingly. “Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that? You’re the one that nearly got shot.”
She set the tea aside, cupping his cheeks to look her in the eye. “Dr. Ritcher said there doesn’t seem to be any damage, psychological or physical. I guess I was too focused on the case to realize I was nearly shot. You and Artem were the ones that had to watch.”
He nuzzled into her soft touch. “My heart nearly stopped,” he confessed. “He moved so suddenly. I thought I’d accommodated for that, but then I saw you fall….”
“But it was a tranquilizing dart, not a real bullet.”
“But he’s a much bigger person!” Luke exclaimed. “That dose might have been lethal for you. And it wasn’t supposed to be delivered to your head! And then…there was blood in your hair…I’m so sorry.”
His Watson—his brave and clever Watson—was undeterred. She patted him gently as she explained again. “It was just the decoy yanking my hair so suddenly and the sound of the dart so close that startled me. And it was his blood. I’m fine.” She smiled brightly, banishing the dark clouds that had been swirling around his heart with radiant confidence. “I never doubted you’d hit your target precisely. You’re my beloved Sherlock, right?”
He hugged her close, hoping he could shelter her from everything, even himself. “I’m yours.”
———
It had been a few days since they returned to Stellis. The bell of his antique store announced a visitor, and Peanut’s excited chirp announced his girlfriend. “In all the commotion after the case I forgot t give this to you,” she said, approaching the desk. She paused to hold out a finger to Peanut, who landed with a happy trill. “I thought your old keychain could use a well deserved break.”
Luke took the tissue-paper wrapped gift. It was a keychain of a distinctive detective’s hat and pipe, carved out of a seashell and coated in resin. “This was what you had gotten? I thought…I thought you’d gotten yourself a present.”
“A present for you is a present for me, silly,” she replied, entertaining Peanut with a toy. “Do you dislike it?”
“No, it’s amazing,” he said, immediately attaching the keychain to his camera. “Actually, I have a surprise for you too,” Luke said. He set a hair clip in front of her: gentle red cloth and wire, etched to look like red seaweed, but folded like a flower.
“The hair clip! You remade it?”
“Except this time as a rose,” he said shyly.
She pinned it to her hair immediately, twirling to show it off. “How is it?”
“Cute,” he said, wrapping his arms around her gently. “You’re always cute.”
“I think I like this one better,” she murmured against his chest. “You made it for me after all.”
“I do too. Truly, a rose represents you best.”
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Anidala Fic Recs
I got asked for fic recs for these. NSFW will be in a private post (that I’ll make later GOING THROUGH YOUR AO3 HISTORY IS TEDIOUS) for easy DMing purposes. All recs under a read more.
So first for authors:
Just about anything by SkywalkersAmidala and Gemma’s Writing (@gemmaswriting)
Everything I’ve read by them is absolutely fantastic, and believe me, I’ve read pretty much everything from them. Multiple times in some cases. They’re just very good. SkywalkersAmidala in most cases writes more silly lighthearted AUs and Gemma’s Writing does a bit of everything, all of which are good.
Padme Lives/Anakin Doesn’t Fall:
(Anything on my Vaderdala fic recs list, you need Padme alive for Vaderdala)
Precipice by Shadowsong26
An AU in which Anakin Skywalker does not follow Mace Windu and the others to Palpatine’s office after they leave to arrest the Chancellor. As a result, he doesn’t get that final push over the edge, and doesn’t Fall.
(Padme returns to the Senate with Luke, Anakin to lead the Rebels with Leia. Things get better is the absolute best way to summary this one.)
To These Memories by KatieRoseFun
After Darth Sidious is defeated, everything changes. Some for the better, others not so much. Mostly better though. (Or: Anakin becomes a dad. Rex rehabilitates clone troopers who no longer want to be a part of the army. Ahsoka gets a call from an old friend. And maybe Obi-Wan finds out it’s not just his enemies who don’t stay dead. Basically, everyone gets the happy ending they deserve.)
Pocket Full of Sand Verse by Philthestone
Anakin goes missing, Padme is captured, and this causes Leia Skywalker and Luke Amidala to meet.
Clash of Fates by AliceBDS (In Progress)
Sometimes, the course of life is changed with one decision.
When Ahsoka Tano requests the help of her former master in liberating Mandalore, a twist of destiny sends them to Coruscant to rescue Chancellor Palpatine instead, altering the course of galactic history forever.
When Dead Men Walk by Ellapromachos
Anakin hesitates just a few minutes longer, and the entire galaxy is better for it.
or; Anakin is at the Temple for Order 66, but not as Darth Vader. And when Palpatine comes for him, he plays his cards just a little bit better. He digs his heels in, and prepares for the long con.
My Loyalties Lie by Stranestelle (In Progress)
When Anakin initially rejects Palpatine's offer to 'help' him, the Sith Lord, in a rare moment of hastiness, ships him off to Kamino to have a control chip implanted.
Nobody Needs to Know by Elizaham8957
The twins are born in the middle of the Clone Wars, and Anakin and Padmé try to continue hiding the fact that they're married and now have two children.
Nobody buys it. Like, seriously, nobody.
Hunter by Zinoviev
Leia is offered a chance to escape Bespin when Boba Fett enlists her help to prevent Luke from falling into Vader's clutches. She has plenty of questions, however. Who is this mysterious bounty hunter, and what does he want with her friend?
The Bantha in the Room by Estrangedlestrange
concept: anakin sitting in the council room bouncing baby luke on his knees as he adamantly denies having children or attachments
Time Travel:
Stand the Hazard of the Die by KeelieThompson1
Baby Luke is sent back in time by Obi-Wan to the prequel era. Needless to say, things change.
Just One Wish by LadyVader23
On a trip to Dathomir, Anakin Skywalker finds a spell that will grant him one wish. Anxious to return home, he wishes for a way to end the war. As a result, he ends up accidentally kidnapping his future children...moments after they've escaped Bespin. Luke is quite done dealing with his mess of a father, and Leia is convinced telling the future Darth Vader about the future will only make it worse. Desperate, Anakin calls in the only person they might listen to: Padme Amidala. Too bad Padme has a surprise of her own...
Temper With the Stars by Pipionem
After being pulled through the World between Worlds, Ahsoka finds herself in the final days of the Clone Wars, on a Separatist ship holding the recently kidnapped Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. Saving the galaxy from the horrors to come is a lot to get done in a week, but Ahsoka has lost everything before - this time, she won't let that happen. Of course, that doesn't mean it's going to be easy.
Skywalker Family Fics:
Skywalker Family Values by Ariel_Sojourner
Camp Chippewa is proud to be the Empire’s foremost camp resort for privileged young adults. Located on the picturesque forest moon of Endor, your child will have the opportunity to participate in wholesome outdoor activities and socialize appropriately with their peers. We invite your offspring to join us for the experience of a lifetime and a bright future in service of the greater glory of the Empire.
On opposite sides of the galaxy, on opposite sides of a civil war, Darth Vader and Padme Amidala unwittingly send Luke and Leia to the same camp during school break. Chaos naturally ensues.
Mild AU:
Desideratum by Sithanakin (In Progress)
As a young Initiate in the midst of a childish crush, Padmé had always dreamt of Anakin Skywalker becoming her Master. But she was to turn thirteen too early for that to be possible.
Then, at sixteen, she loses her Master in the battle of Geonosis. In the confusion of all her grief, she does not expect newly-knighted Anakin Skywalker to offer to take her on as his Padawan.
The Wise Thing by Stranestelle
Warning: Very dark, not happy ending.
Padmé Amidala may not be all she seems. Anakin Skywalker wears his heart on his sleeve. People have crushes every day, it’s not the end of the world. Is it?
or, if you will, a sith!Padmé AU
Bonded by Betts
(Okay I’ll out myself slightly with smut but just one on my mostly SFW recs.)
Padmé had always been better at the mental half of the Jedi code—coercion, manipulation, meditation. Anakin had always been better at the physical half—beating shit up with his lightsaber.
Heirs to the Empire by Aldojlc
Alternate Universe. En route to Endor, Luke, Leia, and Han during the events of ROTJ find themselves transported into a different universe and a different Empire, with a different Vader.
Heavy AUs:
(it’s not so bad) being dead like me by Estrangedlestrange
Recently deceased Anakin Skywalker (killed in an taco truck explosion) finds himself not in the after life but recruited as the newest member of the undead, he’s become a grim reaper. He’s told that it’s his destiny but really he thinks it’s just rotten luck. Rotten except for the fact that one of his fellow reapers is Padmé Amidala, the most beautiful woman Anakin’s has seen, dead or alive. As he struggles to come to grips with his death and his new role in the universe, Anakin finds that taking souls isn’t the easiest job out there, he also finds himself falling in love.
Skyborn by Silverdaye
Senator Padmé Amidala enjoys spending her time in a bookstore, one made of real flimsi books where each one costs a small fortune. It is there she meets a strange man, Anakin Skywalker, who is searching for long forgotten planet, Kesh. 4,500 years ago a ship crashed on Kesh. The survivors told the natives they were their gods, the Skyborn. Anakin is one of them.
For Even the Very Wise Cannot See All Ends by UncorrectGrammar
When people think of Anakin Skywalker, they think of the Chosen One, the Hero With No Fear. They think of an accomplished duelist, of the best flyer in Hogwarts, of the prophesized savior of the wizarding world.
They don’t think of gardens diligently kept or dirt under fingernails.
Or: Anakin Skywalker and his legacy. Hogwarts AU.
General Prequel Era (Non Anidala Centric, but still contain Anidala)
Like Fire In Our Bones by AcuteNeurosis
With all of the most important things in the galaxy literally exploding around her, Leia is given the chance to go back and help keep a promise she never personally made.
But then, for Skywalkers, saving the galaxy was always a family matter.
Well It Goes Like This by Corde_and_Dorme
At the end of it all, the thing is: Palpatine breaks his heart.
(or the one where Anakin makes the hard choice, the right choice, the other choice. Then he keeps making it.)
Vode An by Epsiloneridani
There are millions of lives on the line, clone and Jedi alike. Every second brings them one step closer to the chip's activation - one step closer to the endgame. The truth is shrouded in secrecy and clouded by doubt. The clock's ticking down.
It's a race against time.
Fives is gone. Echo finds the courage to ask why.
Bonus: ObiAnidala
For We Are A Woven Thread; Find the Strand by Shadowsong26
The night before Obi-Wan was to leave for Utapau, he and Anakin and Padme agreed that, regardless of the Council's orders, Anakin should go as well. They split up over the course of the battle--and when Order 66 is given, they cannot find one another in the chaos; Padme, on Coruscant, is left with the knowledge that neither of them is coming back.
This story covers the next four years in their lives; how they survived and coped with the loss; how they began to fight back--and how they found their way home.
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And I would love to tell you. @spiiderbiites
Fun fact: It does have a name, Deep Seas and High Stakes, but I am pretty sure it’s going to be tagged on both blogs as Mermaid AU That Needs a Name forever, because there were a lot of posts made with that tag, and even though tag replacer is a thing, so is laziness. Also, SOMEONE keeps forgetting the name. It’s me. I am someone, even though I came up with the name. I blame the fact that the title does not reference anything and isn’t a joke. It’s just “what sounds like a swashbuckling adventure romance mermaid and pirate au title?” title. The AU’s real name is Bless the Woodpecker anyway. Don’t ask.
Once Upon a Time, Eraqus and Xehanort ruled the Kingdom Below, comprised of the seas surrounding the Destiny Islands, together, the wisdom and magic of both rulers renown even in far off seas . Then there was a big, gay, magical, underwater divorce a falling out. The stories say it was over King Xehanort's dabbling in dark arts, though other legends place the blame on King Eraqus's xenophobia and King Xehanort's belief that the denizens of the surface world could be easily manipulated negotiated with. This argument took a darker turn when the trident that they shared (a single conduit of unmatched strength that represented the harmony of their rule and their bond) was shattered, and with it, a large portion of both Mer-kings' power was lost.
Eraqus retained rule and loyalty of their subjects and Xehanort was banished to deep trenches to nurse his grudges and seek still more twisted ways to rebuild his power. Good King Eraqus himself, suffering from broken heart and diminished strength, survived not long after (in mer terms) but it was not his wasting that killed him, but human menaces, cementing the lesson that the most dangerous creature of all in the mind of the young princess now queen, Aqua.
Hatchmates Sora, Vanitas, Roxas, and Xion were eggs when the big, gay, magical, underwater divorce falling out happened and small fry when Eraqus passed, but they have heard far too many versions of the story. We don't talk about how the royal siblings came to be. We just don't. Don't ask. Magic was involved. IDK. "I Will Do Anything for Love but I Won't Do That" will start playing in the background if you start talking about seahorses and try to lock down details.
Anyway. Fast forward to the hatchmates grown.
Vanitas has always been an outsider among his siblings, or at least he's always felt it. He's drawn to different currents, and his siblings don't understand, citing their own restlessness and desire to explore and to lead less sheltered lives when he tries to explain how his purpose lies elsewhere. He seeks out the only other family that he might have a connection with, Xehanort, and ends up staying with him to become his apprentice. Queen Aqua and his other siblings do try and go after him at different times but they are thoroughly discouraged by Vanitas himself.
Kairi, princess of a different sea kingdom, comes to live with our royal family. She's a gift--a description Kairi herself highly resents--a future wife for one of the princes, part of an arrangement made long ago. The marriage isn't to happen for a long time; she is allowed to get to know the princes and they her, and see what personality suits, but that is far as the freedom goes as Kairi's kingdom needs the alliance and the young Queen Aqua is regrettably convinced she cannot dissolve or alter the contract without incident. Kairi and Sora do hit it off immediately, so the choice would seem easy, but they are both still far from enthusiastic about the forced aspect of it all.
Life under the sea is really shaken up though when rebellious Prince Roxas, long time sneaky boat chaser, meets a sailor named Axel and is struck dumb in love. He starts disappearing more and more often and it doesn't escape notice. Even worse, this "human madness" spreads, Prince Sora and Princess Kairi both independently becoming obsessed with Axel's crewmate aboard the Dawnfire, Riku. Xion does not feel the same kind of bolt but she is convinced of Axel and Riku's good intentions and to keep this "hatchmate secret" from Aqua.
Ventus, a dreamer who was first to start weaving tales of mermaids even though he's not met any, and, the solid, reliable Terra, who Axel and Riku don't dare tell about their liaisons with the deep for fear of being laughed at in the best case and put in an asylum at the next port at worst, round out the crew of the Dawnfire.
Xion finds what she thinks is a match of her own when she follows the music of a "land siren" one day and meets Demyx. Unfortunately, Demyx and Xion are not as sneaky or as lucky as some others, and Demyx runs with a rougher crew than Axel and Riku. Xion's Land Siren proves as dangerous as his nickname implies when Xion finds herself caught in a trap of the infamous Thirteen ( a pirate crew that is admittedly down a few numbers from what their name implies, which we blame on frequent mutinies) and then used in turn as bait for a bigger catch after Demyx is caught meeting with Xion by Xigbar and bullied into betraying her trust.
Why do they want the mermaids? Sell off mermaid scales as having magical and medicinal use when used as potion ingredients. Harvest mermaid tears. Sell the mermaids themselves to a sideshow. All valid reasons even if you discount that some larger plot may be at play.
What happens next? That's spoilers for one day when writing cute, funny scenes about Sora and Riku breaking down the language barrier or drawing Axel and Roxas snuggling isn't more pressing.
The mermaids aren't the only prisoners aboard the Thirteen's vessel though. There is also the fair Namine, a nobleman's daughter kidnapped for the ransom, though she is treated with far more accommodation.
Just put tagged/mermaid au that needs a name in my or Shaky’s blog for more, or ask more questions if you want.
#mermaid au that needs a name#mermaid au stories#spiiderbiites#akuroku#xehaqus#sorikai#soriku#rikai#sokai#demixi
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19. tibny
Prompt from the drabble challenge list
Part of the “Take It Back Now Y’all” (TIBNY) timeline; follow-up to this
“And that’s how you ruin a life. Congratulations.”
Connor comes to with a half-snort just in time for what feels like a newspaper to smack him full in the face.
“The hell, Tommy?” he grouses, doing his best to disguise the high-pitched whine underneath a jaw-cracking yawn. He flounders with the blankets to groggily push himself up into a seated position against the wall behind the bed, before belatedly snapping, “Get out of my room, asshole” like a sullen teenager.
“Happy to oblige,” his brother replies cheerfully, yet Connor doesn’t hear any shuffling or footfalls to corroborate that statement. After a moment, he finally cracks one eye open (immediately protesting the sun’s glare through an opening in the curtains) to see Tommy standing directly in the doorway, making jazz hands.
“Threshold, it doesn’t count!” The Cheshire grin doesn’t waver—it grows, even—when Tommy contorts his body to evade the pillow that Connor subsequently lobs at him.
Not willing to try again and further feed into this childish back-and-forth, Connor lets his head fall back against the wall as he scrubs a hand over his face. “Do I want to know why you thought it was necessary to use the spare key I gave you for emergencies and come barging into my place at…” He fumbles his free hand blindly over the nightstand. “…where’s my phone…?”
The very distinctive sound of a throat clearing makes Connor pause in his poorly-planned search. “If you’d turn your attention to your morning briefing,” Tommy prompts, nodding towards the jettisoned paper now resting in Connor’s lap. He clearly means to phrase it like a joke, but there’s an undercurrent of unease in his tone.
The reason for it becomes clear once Connor’s vision defogs enough for him to make out the contents of the front page.
(It’s admittedly not very difficult to do so, not with the font choice and very recognizable subjects of the blown-up photo positioned front-and-center.)
“Oh.”
“Yeah, ‘oh’,” Tommy parrots, finally sinking down to sit with his back propped against one side of the doorframe. “Just wanted to make sure you knew that this is what you signed up for and very casually accepted when we told Dad.”
“I guess I just… wasn’t quite expecting it to be on this level,” Connor confesses, a whole truth that he so rarely tells these days. He had, indeed, been ready for the Starling City media outlets catching wind of a lookalike to one of their questionably-favorite headline-makers, and whatever fallout ensued from telling their father.
(So far, it’s just been a simple press release pulled together through the preferred Merlyn Global PR channels—Malcolm forwent any sort of public address, likely so he could regroup and reexamine how being pulled into the spotlight like this might affect his plans moving forward. Neither of the twins have crossed paths with him since securing the future of the clinic, putting them into direct contrast with Malcolm’s ghostwritten wishes of “reuniting and getting to be a family with [his] two sons.”)
But this?
FROM RICHES TO RICHES: CHICAGO DEPARTMENT STORE HEIR REVEALED AS SON OF STARLING CITY BILLIONAIRE
Connor could maybe live—albeit uncomfortably—with being demoted from (up-and-coming, at this point) surgeon to just “that Rhodes.” Being called Malcolm’s son is toeing a line, but it’s an admittedly necessary evil. Even the accompanying photo—snapped by some paparazzo or another during one of Connor’s carefully-coordinated excursions through downtown Starling City—gets a pass, having captured Connor with his eyes squeezed shut in laughter and Tommy’s arm slung playfully around his neck.
No, the thing that really smacks Connor with his miscalculation is the newspaper’s logo printed across the top, and how it decidedly does not match that of any of the local publications.
“This is a big day for you,” Tommy says, falling just short of teasing as he rolls his head towards Connor and his eyebrows shoot up. “You made national news, you overnight celebrity, you.”
Connor groans, tipping to the side and unceremoniously face-planting into the mattress.
. . .
“You are seriously lucky that you told Claire that all of this was coming down before word got out,” Tommy declares around the slice of toast dangling out of his mouth when Connor steps into the kitchen, freshly showered and dressed for casual comfort.
(Evidently, he’s not going to be showing his face outside of his apartment today, so faded jeans and the first t-shirt blindly unearthed from one of the boxes yet to be unpacked it is.
…At least the sunglasses-wearing Golden Retriever screen-printed on the front is adorable.)
Cringing—both at the reminder and the ill-mannered voicing of it—Connor yanks open the refrigerator to retrieve the orange juice bottle. “I know, I know, and I should be grateful that you were the one who pushed me to do so…”
“Damn right.” Tommy takes a bite and then waves the remainder of the bread for emphasis. Miraculously, not a single glob of cherry-berry jam slips off and plops onto the kitchen island as he does so. “You almost forgot entirely.”
“I didn’t… forget entirely,” Connor counters weakly. He ignores Tommy’s displeased look in favor of grabbing a clean juice glass from the cupboard. “I was trying to handle one reveal at a time, and getting the clinic back was the higher priority.”
“Right. And that’s why you yelled, ‘Oh shit, Claire!’ and whacked your knee on the dashboard as we were about to pull out of the parking lot after dropping the bomb on Dad. Clearly a smooth transition into the next stage—I commend your planning skills.”
Connor takes a swig of orange juice rather than giving that a verbal reply, daintily lifting a finger that’s decidedly not his pinky as he does so.
“Hey, it might be made for spreading delicious jams and jellies, but I will use this knife if you keep being rude,” Tommy warns, pointing the utensil at Connor threateningly enough that the dulled edges can be excused.
Withdrawing the glass from his lips, Connor raises his hands in casual surrender before setting it down on the counter. “Alright,” he starts, blowing out a deep breath, “so maybe I had a bit of… tunnel vision about all of this.”
Really, that’s the nicest way Connor can phrase it, without exposing the full ugliness of the truths underneath. Tommy’s right—Connor owes him credit for getting that conversation with Claire in motion immediately after the realization hit. But he’s also mistaken, thinking that this was something that just slipped Connor’s mind and to-do list.
In actuality, the idea had never truly crossed his mind, not until after they’d confronted Malcolm.
It’s a cruel confession, one with many layers that drive the knife in deeper and deeper. Connor had been single-mindedly focused on saving Tommy’s life, uniquely capable of doing so due to his knowledge of the months to come—as a result, everything else took an automatic backseat. And while that alone admittedly isn’t the healthiest mindset, the situation worsens the more Connor thinks on it and can rationalize what might have been, had Tommy not intervened.
He can tell himself that things would have been fine, leaving Claire be for a while. He’s lived through this before, knows that his relationship with his sister was as simple and distant as exchanging a few texts on birthdays and major holidays at this point in the timeline. It would still be a few years yet before they’d begin to repair things, after both are in Chicago again and Russell is brought in and Claire reaches out and Connor finally breaks, one mid-May night. He has time.
That would have been justification—cold, but still reasonable—enough, had things transpired as they did before. But with Connor doing everything in his power to alter the timeline, to avert mass casualties and his own personal loss… if everything goes right, he’s never going to hit that breaking point. Never going to move back to Chicago, at least not under the same circumstances. Any time he thought he had doesn’t so much run out as become nonexistent—no progress with rebuilding their relationship, but also no further decay.
At least, that’s what would have been the case if he didn’t fix things with Claire and didn’t reveal himself to Malcolm. It was moving forward with the latter that finally sent the consequences careening into Connor’s face, and slapped a definitive countdown clock on the former.
Saving Tommy while flying under the radar like Connor’s always done would be one thing. Doing so by coming forward as a Merlyn, and leaving the Rhodes family to hear the news along with the rest of the public, though?
Banging his knee against the dash at the realization was only going to be the beginning of Connor’s pain, if he didn’t handle things right and immediately.
Sacrificing his relationship with his older sister has never been on the table, even if Connor wants nothing to do with Cornelius Rhodes ever again. Yes, they aren’t blood-related, and yes, Claire’s loyalty to Cornelius (and discrediting of Connor’s issues with him outside of genetics) was still a rift even after reconciliation the first time around, but those are, in no way, grounds for complete severance.
“You can’t risk irreparable damage with one sibling just so you can officially be recognized as a brother to the other,” Tommy sighs, dragging Connor out of his thoughts even as the sentiment grounds them. Brushing stray toast crumbs off the island and onto his plate, Tommy slides off his chair to bring the dish over to the sink. “So no more of that ‘tunnel vision’, okay? I was actually hoping to invite Claire out for a visit once things settle down, and that isn’t going to go well if the two of you aren’t talking.”
Connor’s stomach twists at Tommy’s request—it’s too easy to equate giving up that laser-focus with risking Tommy’s life—only to plummet, heavy with guilt, when the rest hits him. “You were?”
“Well, yeah.” Tommy shoots Connor a confused look over his shoulder as he turns on the faucet. “She’s your sister, and even if that doesn’t really make her mine too, I still want to get to know her. Especially since I’ve had ‘Claire for Fashion Help Only’ saved in my contacts list for years and never put two-and-two together.”
Right, that had been a surprise. Knowing that Claire and Tommy had met once before at Dolan Rhodes and that Claire remembered it enough that she kept the receipt had been one thing; finding out that she’d given Tommy a means to contact her and he held onto it even as the memory of where it came from faded was something else entirely.
It meant that, even as Tommy’s existence shattered the truths she thought she knew about her family, Claire still cared enough to quietly anchor him to the Rhodeses and ensure that he wouldn’t be lost again. It meant that, even though the encounter didn’t linger and the gravity of it was concealed, Tommy was just aware enough of that tether to keep a grip on it.
Most importantly, though, it meant that this was a link that had existed in Connor’s original timeline, and could have surfaced in a quieter and more personal way than over a hastily-placed phone call, warning Claire of the oncoming explosion of her family’s private life.
It would have been entirely possible to keep both—eventually all, with the addition of Thea—of his siblings and forge bonds between them without causing a big fuss. Claire might have balked at first over not telling Cornelius anything, but Connor has enough faith that her wishes to reconnect with one brother and accept a new one would have won out in the end. Tommy, if his latest confession says anything, would have smothered the eagerness, but still jumped at the chance to acquire a new sibling. All Connor would have had to do was give his two family ties a tug, and that thin, invisible connection between them would keep the ends close while drifting to center.
But that was a could-have-been in a timeline gone by, one that Connor had never grasped for even though it was fully in his power to do so. Any second chance he has this time around is going to come with a sea of new complications and resistance, and that’s after he almost let it slip from his fingers at the very start.
It’s a certain painful irony, Tommy salvaging Connor’s fraying family life while Connor does his damndest to ensure that Tommy remains alive in general.
“We’ll shoot for this summer to get together,” Connor finally says, throat tightening around the words as if fearful he’s promising too much. “Let the fifteen minutes run out and give the media time to go rabid over something else.”
Tommy hums in acknowledgement, setting his clean plate on the drying rack next to the sink. “We could probably make it a little earlier, really—beat out the summer heat wave, but still leave enough time for the story run its full course. She could come in mid-, late spring, maybe?”
Connor is incredibly grateful that Tommy’s back is still turned, because the agonized cringe that suggestion provokes is insuppressible.
Tommy is going to survive—Connor won’t accept any other outcome (never again). But in the event that he can’t bring an end to Malcolm’s plans ahead of time, or prevent them from being put in motion, or…
“Nah, I’m thinking July,” Connor manages after a moment, keeping his voice level and casual before he takes a final swig of orange juice. “We’ll get Claire in town for a few days, then maybe do a short road trip. Get out, see some sights—you know, family bonding stuff.”
Tommy lets out a snort of laughter at that and flicks some lingering soap suds at Connor’s face before toweling off his hands. “Long hours in an overstuffed, overheated car with your adult siblings—that sounds like the perfect set-up for a successful fratricide.”
“Come on, a little positivity here. Claire’s going to love you.”
“Oh, no, I’m not the victim here, and neither is she,” Tommy corrects. “If you pass out in the back and start saying weird shit in your sleep again, I get the feeling that she’ll be on the same page as me about booting you out of the car in the middle of nowhere.”
Connor allows himself an exaggerated eye-roll at that, but otherwise lets it slide.
Tommy shoots his balled-up paper towel into the kitchen trash can before turning his attention back to Connor, his eyes stopping pointedly on the grinning, shades-sporting Golden. “Alright, since you’re clearly not dressed to be going anywhere in broad daylight, what do you say I run you off Rainbow Road a couple times? Don’t think I didn’t notice that you prioritized hooking up the Wii over all of your other unpacking.”
“Big talk for a guy with a shell-shaped target on his back,” Connor swipes back, but he grins and heads into the living room to grab the remotes and wheel controllers.
As driven as he is to save his brother’s life, a few Mario Kart victories are a worthy-enough detour.
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okay so here’s that promised post about 𝐁𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐔𝐀𝐍 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏/𝐖𝐄𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 but it’s under a cut because it got crazy long & no one wants all that on their dash. not all of these traditions are still around, but some are & others are slightly altered.
𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓𝐘𝐋𝐄𝐒 & 𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐃𝐒. some of the traditions about hairstyles are a bit outdated & not really popular anymore, but there are still some (who have long enough hair) who follow them. in the past, those who weren’t interested or open about being courted by another would always wear their hair in some form of updo that may or may not have included braids. anyone who kept their hair in sort of half-down, half-up styles were potentially interested in a romantic relationship, & anyone who kept their hair loose was fully open to being courted. once one was being courted by a potential suitor, they would always wear their hair up in public, but typically down in private with their partner. this also worked out because generally those with longer hair wore it up when they were working, & so they weren’t interrupted in their work by those looking to court them. those who were married wore marriage braids, which consisted of two small braids at the back of the head & a larger braid between them. often not all of the hair is braided to leave a sort of backdrop for the marriage braids or they’re all twisted together into an updo. these braids represent the uniting of two people, & two families, into one cohesive unit. during weddings, one parent from each family would braid one of the smaller braids & then their partner would braid the center one. in cases where parents could not be present, generally someone close to each of the wedding party would participate in the braiding. out of all of the different hairstyles, the marriage braids are the ones that are still rather common on batuu. mostly, they’re only worn during wedding ceremonies or anniversaries & some still feature the braiding as part of those ceremonies.
𝐊𝐄𝐘 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆. to show interest in courting someone, generally men (but anyone of any gender could), would gift them a very uniquely hand-carved key to symbolize their possession of the only key to their heart. mostly, the key was carved from wood but some got more creative & carved it from chunks of spire, shaped metal, or even knitted or wove the key. typically, it would include some symbol related to both parties such as part of a family crest, some object important to them, or something to do with their occupation & would also have the person receiving the key’s name engraved somewhere on it (usually in their native language). accepting the key would begin the start of their courtship & denying it would result in the key being burned & usually the one who carved it attempting a more elaborate key design. the key was a way of showing off their skills, & even those interested in the courtship were free to decline accepting the key as a way of truly testing how dedicated their potential partner is. often, the key would be incorporated into a necklace that the receiver would wear in public as another way of signifying that they are currently being courted. this isn’t still super popular, but a lot of those in the more artistic industries do participate in it.
𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐕𝐄𝐒. so like i’ve said before, weaving is a highly respected art on batuu, so it makes sense that it both plays a part in the courting process & wedding ceremonies. at some point during courtship, as a symbol of love & also how seriously one is taking the relationship, couples will often gift each other a woven scarf. in the past, it was expected that each half of the couple would weave their own scarf, but nowadays most just buy them from the market or have them custom made. the scarves would generally be in the favorite color of the receiving person, & included a lot of elaborate designs that usually symbolize events that have occurred during their courtship or anything they feel has progressed their relationship or holds a lot of importance in it. a lot of the time, the couple would be the only ones able to truly interpret the scarf’s design. sometimes the scarf would even include a romantic poem stitched into the inner side for only the wearer to read. these scarves would somehow be incorporated into the couple’s wedding attire. some wear them as intended, some cut them up & gift pieces to their families, & some weave them into socks or headdresses. most scarves gifted these days are far less elaborate, but it is still a really common tradition, especially in relationships where one party is a native batuuan & the other is an off-worlder.
𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐒. it was expected that one would pick up their date from their home regardless of where they lived or where you were going on your outing. you going to the cantina at black spire but you live in galma & she lives in peka? too bad, you’re taking your speeder all the way there & back; there’s no meeting halfway. you were also expected to always bring a small gift, usually flowers or something sweet from the local market. this got lost as batuu became more criminally oriented & practicality overtook what was previously seen as just good manners. there are a good many, mostly those from families who have lived on batuu for many generations, who still adhere to this, particularly the part about bringing gifts.
𝐖𝐄𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐈. yeah you saw that right, batuuan weddings take place over three days. the first day is a big welcome party for anyone coming from other planets & just to help the guests of both parties get to know each other before the big day. typically the party takes place in the evening & after the wedding rehearsal (if there is one). the family/friends of one half of the couple will typically make all of the food & serve, but this isn’t necessarily part of modern batuuan weddings. there’s also usually a lot of drinking involved. a tradition that hasn’t stood the test of time as well is that of the friends & family of typically the bride will have a series of tests for their potential partner to undertake to prove their worth. this used to be full on braga bear hunts & feats of strength & such, but became modernized to just embarrassing acts like singing love songs in front of everyone or having their clothes stolen & hidden from them. obviously, this isn’t limited to being only between brides & grooms. anyone is welcome to test either partner regardless of gender. there’s not really anything particularly formal about the first day, it’s mostly about partying & having a fun, lighthearted time with each other.
𝐖𝐄𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐈𝐈. the actual wedding ceremony & reception takes place on this day & not much else. some ceremony traditions include the couple not seeing each other until the ceremony, their vows including poems that they’ve personally written for each other, tying a single ribbon to the trilon wishing tree together, & asking the black spire for good blessings & safe travels in their future. often, there will also be a very young, potted trilon tree that guests are free to tie their own ribbons onto as good wishes for the couple. the plant will usually be placed in the couple’s home & eventually planted outside of it. the reception afterwards is either catered by both families of the couple or by an outside party. the ceremony & reception are also timed in order to have fireworks at the conclusion or, for those who cannot afford fireworks, a chance to do a bit of stargazing. the stargazing in particular is meant to evoke an appreciation that in a galaxy this expansive, the couple managed to find each other.
𝐖𝐄𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐈𝐈𝐈. a last chance to give gifts, say goodbyes, & such before the couple leaves on their honeymoon. this usually consists of a brunch provided by the family/friends of the other half of the couple. it’s a chance for the couple to spend more time with their guests as a married couple than they likely had time to during the reception. sometimes, the food is themed to the planet the couple will honeymoon on. just before they leave, the couple will release a pair of pipa birds as a blessing for safe travels & a sign that they will always return to the place they were married: batuu. in the past, it was expected that each would capture their own bird but in modern times the birds are often raised domestically. it’s considered to be a sign of a marriage that won’t last if the birds fly in different directions.
𝐖𝐄𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐒. they are always bright, bold colors & typically on the warmer side of the spectrum but it isn’t out of the realm of possibility to have a cooler themed wedding. red wedding attire is considered to be symbolic of a passionate relationship & good luck. orange symbolizes vitality & a long-lasting marriage. yellow is for a happy & adventurous marriage. blue is life-long loyalty & stability in the marriage. traditionally, the warmer colors were popular because they symbolized the inevitable rising of batuu’s suns & the hope of a new day & fresh start they bring with them.
𝐖𝐄𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐑𝐄. typically, dresses & suits aren’t overly elaborate. this has changed a bit with time & the introduction of more marriages between batuuans & off-worlders, but batuuans are just more practical people than anything. the usual colors are listed above & i also mentioned the inclusion of scarves gifted during courtship, but the couple will also wear bracelets or necklaces with beads amounting to the number of months they’ve been courting. the beads are typically a light blue with other colors symbolizing different events such as the proposal, first kiss, first date, etc. each couple chooses the other colors for their beads together so they could literally mean anything & only each other would know.
#long post //#wedding //#alcohol mention //#∘⡊☆˚⊹ ABOUT ⊹ —⋟ she was the finest arranged stardust#∘⡊☆˚⊹ BATUU ⊹ —⋟ black was the spire that called me to stay#ughhhh i'm tired but i'm happy with this#catch me thinking about myla with marriage braids tho#🥺🥺
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Also please publish a list of your aus to whip up the rest of your fans into a frenzy 😉
pfffff okay to try and keep this at least marginally reasonable I’m going to limit descriptions to one/two lines
Crown of Shadows/Shrouded Throne: A split-path narrative where, to stop the civil war raging in Plegia, Robin comes to Ylisse to beg aid from Exalt Emmeryn. After getting drafted by accident into the Shepherds, the Plegian and the Ylissean prince become fast friends – and very soon, something more.
Cursed Fate: Following Robin’s death, Chrom takes his body back to Plegia for burial; when a disembodied whisper confirms that there may be a chance to restore Robin’s life, Chrom goes on a quest through the Grimleal nation to bring together Grima’s remains.
Affectionately Yours: Accepting Plegia’s invitation to visit in his sister’s stead, Chrom rapidly comes to realize that everything he thought he knew about the halidom’s neighbor is at best a wild exaggeration thanks to the guidance of Plegia’s sovereign, Robin.
Accursed Divine: Robin is trapped in a curse that transforms her by day into a fell beast. Once the curse is broken, the ensuing political drama follows Robin and Chrom uniting their countries after Robin’s ascension to the Plegian throne.
Sigh No More: Arranged marriage AU where Chrom is married to Robin, who due to Validar’s ritual in her early life bears several Grima-esque features (including wings, tail, horns, etc).
The Future Built Upon the Past: A look at the events of the doomed timeline and how it led to the course of events that eventually led Lucina to alter the course of fate.
Butterfly: A split-path narrative where, after ascending to the Plegian throne, Robin reaches out to Emmeryn in an attempt to forge diplomatic ties that have long been neglected. Initially distrustful of the Plegian emissary, Chrom is forced to come to terms with his own prejudices (and eventually his deeper feelings).
Beyond Twilight’s Veil: When Risen begin appearing in Ylisse, Chrom ventures into Plegia on Emmeryn’s behalf to try to find a joint solution, meeting and readily befriending Robin along the way. When things go wrong, leaving Robin half-transformed and Validar dead, the Shepherds are forced to flee Gangrel’s pursuit; two years later, Robin claims the Plegian throne and reaches out to Ylisse in an attempt to rebuild lost friendships.
Pride and Joy: Raised in Plegia under Mustafa’s care, Robin is drafted into Validar’s assassination attempt on Emmeryn – but decides that the orders should not be fulfilled and defects, saving the Exalt’s life. In the trials to follow, Robin tries to keep the Ylisseans safe from Gangrel’s forces without exposing her own wavering loyalties.
Speaker for the Dead: Raised under Validar’s cruel abuse, Robin exists as little more than a hollow shell, surviving each day on the battlefield. When Chrom reaches out to him on the battlefield and offers a glimpse of something better than the threat of death, Robin cautiously accepts and gradually begins to recover from the traumas of Validar’s upbringing.
Prisoner of War: The Exalt’s war has left Plegia in ruins, its citizens scattered and the remnants of the army using guerrilla tactics to oppose the crusade. When his father calls him to the front, Chrom is captured by the Plegian resistance, and rapidly discovers that everything he thought he knew about Plegia (and the Heart of Grima who took him captive) is wrong.
Twist of Fate: A role reversal AU where Chrom awakens in Plegia with no memory and Robin finds him. With the Exalt mounting a new push in his crusade, Chrom struggles with the questions about who he might have been before – and with his growing feelings for the Plegian who took him in.
Manwearer: After becoming separated from his mother, Robin is raised by the taguel of Panne’s warren. On hearing about a threat to the Exalt’s life, the warren mobilizes to her aid, and Robin and Panne ally with the Shepherds to uncover the deeper mystery behind the attack.
As You Are: Robin comes to Ylisse on a diplomatic mission, hoping to warn the Exalt of a potential threat. When an attack leaves the Plegian blind, Chrom confesses his feelings – only to be rebuffed as Robin believes that the feelings are born of guilt, leaving Chrom to grapple with what he fears are unrequited feelings.
Hard Reset: A bad-end Heroes AU where Muspell invades Askr and wipes out the Order of Heroes – but before Surtr can kill Kiran, they fire Breidablik, which somehow transports them to another Zenith. Taken in by the Emblians, Kiran sets about trying to prevent the ruin that befell the world they were first summoned to.
Kintsugi: A Golden Deer-based Three Houses fix-it AU, where Claude decides from the outset of his reunion with Byleth they’re going to save as many lives as possible.
BONUS
Smoke and Mirrors: Pokemon AU where Robin and her Zoroark Reflet (who prefers a human guise that passes for her brother) join with Chrom, a Pokemon Ranger branching out into competitive training; and his sister Lissa, an aspiring pokemon medic. This brings them into conflict with the Grimleal who are hunting for the Legendary Pokemon Giratina – a pokemon that Robin and Reflet have a very curious connection to.
Design Defect: A modern AU where Robin is the son of the head of the Grimleal mafia who enters Ylisstol University and meets Chrom, son of Exalt Corp’s CEO and the heir to the family company. While Robin might have some ulterior motives for getting close to Chrom at first, he quickly gets in over his head.
Second Chances: After Chrom is summoned to Askr and finds the tactician he lost in the conflict with Grima, the two are finally free to have the relationship they were so long denied during their life in Ylisse.
A House Divided: A speculative AU exploring what might have been had Alm and Celica not attacked Grima in the Thabes Labyrinth and instead took the dragon in. He eventually befriends Tiki, and the two eventually come into conflict with Naga, who wants to destroy the abomination she fears is corrupting her daughter (and in so doing destroys her relationship with Tiki).
Heroes Canon: The constantly evolving situation in Zenith, which includes the dragon creche and the curious cases of villains truly going Hero.
Pre-Timeskip Fix-It: A Black Eagles-based Three Houses fix-it AU where Byleth gets to shut down Edelgard’s alarming rhetoric every time she opens her mouth, and the Imperial princess stumbles her way through the process of becoming a better person.
Spire Project: A Three Houses canon-divergent AU where the question of “what would have happened if Edelgard had hired Miklan to kill Claude and Dimitri at the start of the year?” snowballs into madness (when the summary is 17.5k words and 30 pages long, you know it’s gonna be a monster).
Daycare AU (collab with AcquaSole): When single father Chrom switches his young daughter into Robin’s daycare center, he quickly finds himself getting close to the soft-spoken Plegian that Lucina has gotten so attached to.
Feles Regem Aspeciat (collab with citadelity): Naga has possessed Chrom and taken over rule in the halidom. Robin volunteers to become the inside man for the resistance in the hopes of finding a means to free Chrom from the divine’s control.
War Crimes (collab with anankos): The Exalt of Ylisse becomes willing host to Naga’s power in a bid to wipe Plegia off the map, but the Fell Dragon’s return puts the war in a deadlock. Chrom is kidnapped and brought to Plegia in a desperate bid to open diplomatic channels, but when that fails he ends up as as a guest and becomes unlikely friends with Robin, the son of a Plegian tactician (who has more than a few secrets).
Assassin’s Creed: Awakening: The result of me playing too much Assassin’s Creed. When Emmeryn is kidnapped and slated to become a Grimleal sacrifice, Chrom and the Shepherds rush to save her – only her rescue comes at Plegian hands, instead. Defying his crusading father, Chrom chooses to stand by Robin and ends up embroiled in a millennia-old conflict between secret forces.
Sibling AU: Grima as Robin’s protective older sibling. When Emmeryn invites the recently-crowned king of Plegia to Ylisse for diplomatic discussions, Grima sneaks his younger brother along to show him the world he’s been missing, and both unexpectedly find new friends in what they long believed were enemy lands. (Also woe betide poor Chrom when it comes to dating.)
Promare AU: I saw Promare. It was great! So much so that my brain folded Awakening’s setting and characters up all nice and neat and shoved them into Promare’s narrative arc. And also it’s Chrobin because that’s who I am as a person.
Cardcaptor Lissa: Rewatching Cardcaptor Sakura blindsided me with the realization that Lissa would make a perfect Cardcaptor and things spiraled from there.
Vampire AU: Robin is a charming young man hired on to be Chrom’s manservant and bodyguard; unbeknownst to anyone, he hides a secret (vampiric) affliction.
Mermaid AU: Everyone’s mermaids what else do you want from me
Life Goes On: My friend wrote a thing and it made me want to write things for the thing it’s all anankos’ fault i’m writing promare stuff now
#answered#2goldensnitches#fire emblem: awakening#fire emblem: heroes#chrobin#i'm pretty sure i'm missing a few aus but honestly this is already outrageous#au list
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A Devil Like Jesus (4)
ReaderxSeed Brothers
Ch1 Ch2 Ch3
A/N: I have been super slow in adding these on here, I’m up to Ch 12 on AO3 if that gives you any idea of how far behind I am. You can read up to the most recent chapter HERE
Warnings: Blood and Violence, torture, slight smut
You left John’s as quick as you could and headed for the VA Center where Jacob was, you needed to figure out where they had been taken and the best course of action from here. Your foot never let up on the pedal as you drove up to the Whitetail Mountains. You felt a pit forming in your stomach at the thought of someone harming John or Joseph, even though just a few days ago you would have killed them, but nonetheless no one touches your Seed boys. Your mind went to all of the darkest places, that they were already dead and there was no point in trying, tears pooled in your eyes but you pushed the thoughts out and decided not to think about that possibility. As soon as you pulled up at Jacob’s you were surrounded by his Hunters, weapons pointed at you. They escorted you inside where Jacob was waiting on you.
“Where are they?” He stood towering over you.
“The fuck should I know?” You furrowed your brow, you had been with him when they were taken.
Jacob wasn’t playing with you and smacked you across the face. You brought your hand up to sooth the pain radiating through your cheek.
“You seriously think I did this?! I literally just saved your fucking life! If I wanted any of you dead, you’d already be rotting in the ground.”
“If you’re behind this, you’ll never see the light of day again.”
“I came here to help find them, if you don’t want my help then I’ll leave.” You turned and headed towards the door.
“No, where do we begin?” He was asking for your help, he didn’t know what to do.
“There are too many places the Resistance could have taken them, we need to get Region-specific information at least then we’ll know where to start. I’ll be back.” You turned and left without allowing him time for any questions.
Jacob hovered over a table with a map of Hope County, trying to figure out where they would have taken John and Joseph, suddenly you burst in with a young man blindfolded and tied up.
“Who’s this?” He looked at you confused.
“This is… um, I don’t know his name yet, but he’s going to help us.” You grabbed the man and guided him to a chair in the corner, making sure to tie him to it just in case. You pulled the blindfold from his eyes and the gag out of his mouth, he looked around panicked.
“P-Please let me go. I don’t know anything.”
“What’s your name?” You stood in front of him.
“It’s J-Justin. Plea-“
“Justin, you look like a smart kid, well maybe not smart, but you look like you have common sense.” You leaned down in front of him
“Insult the kid, he’ll definitely help us now.” Jacob scoffed as he watched you, you turned and narrowed your eyes at him before looking back at Justin.
“Justin, I know the Resistance has John and Joseph, what I need is for you to tell me where they are.”
“N-No, I-I don’t know anything. They don’t-“ He struggled against his restraints.
“Shhh… Justin, I’m not a patient woman and the more you spout lies the more impatient I become. Tell me where they are.” You placed your finger against his lips quieting him.
“How old are you, Justin?”
“I’m 22.”
“Got a girlfriend?”
“Are you applying for the position?” Jacob laughed at your interrogation.
“N-No, I don’t have a girlfriend.”
You pulled up a chair and sat directly in front of Justin.
“Your father a big part of the Resistance? Pull you into the family business of killing Peggies and taking down the cult?”
Justin nodded his head as he shifted his eyes from you to Jacob, who looked annoyed at your choice of words to describe the Project.
“Bet he’d be super proud of you if you brought in one of Jacob Seed’s Hunters. Bet you’d be a hero around here. No girl would be able to keep their hands off you.”
“Y-Yeah, I guess.”
“Tell you what, you tell me where John and Joseph are and I’ll let you take that guy there, the big one.” You motioned towards one of Jacob’s Hunters by the door.
“What?! The fuck you will.” Jacob argued, you raised your hand to silence him and to your surprise it worked.
Justin looked at the guy and back to you, he was considering your offer, it wasn’t like it would be easy for you to get to John, not with the amount of security he had around him.
“S-So, you’ll let me go with a hostage?”
“Yep. All I need is for you to tell me where John and Joseph are. Tell me that and you’re free to go.”
“Okay, J-John is in an old barn in Holland Valley, near Fall’s End. I don’t know specifically where Joseph is, b-but I heard them say they were taking him somewhere near Moonflower Trailer Park.”
You knew he was telling the truth, he was too naïve to think about withholding information until he was released. You looked back at Jacob who turned to his map on the table, marking the two areas.
“Thank you, Justin.” You smiled weakly and nodded to the man behind him and walked away from him. The man held his gun up to Justin’s head and pulled the trigger.
Jacob watched you as you leaned over the map surveying the areas he had marked.
“You had no intention of letting him go, did you?”
“Of course not. Couldn’t take the chance.” You stared at the map, you knew his fate the second you saw him, guilt pooled in your stomach and you knew he wouldn’t be the last one to die at your hand tonight.
“You go after John and I’ll head East to find Joseph.” Jacob pointed over the map.
“You still don’t trust me?” You looked up at him, he didn’t want you finding Joseph, he was still worried you’d turn on them.
“Just because you didn’t let me die last night, doesn’t mean you’re on our side just yet. I’m not as easily swayed as John and Joseph in where your loyalties lie.” He glared at you before leaving the table.
You both gathered supplies you’d need, he let you take two of his Hunters with you and you parted ways. You were fairly certain you knew which barn they had taken John to, it sat in the middle of a field, open, avoidant of any areas for sneaking in. There was a small farmhouse on the property as well. When you were knee deep in the Resistance, before the whole four-way love thing with the Seeds, you helped get this place set up for hostage interrogation, you knew the ins and outs of it well. You hoped they hadn’t made too many alterations since then. It was about 2:00am when you arrived at the area, you ditched your vehicle and went on foot with the Hunters.
“Alright, you two take out the guards around the perimeter quickly and quietly. I’m going to head in the window in the back. Once I have John we’re going to take that truck and head back to his Ranch.” You whispered and moved to leave.
The two men stayed low as they made their way across the field and you headed to the back of the barn. You jumped on some boxes and hoisted yourself up to the window, glad you had worked out while you were in John’s basement. You crouched as you entered, you could hear faint voices as you got closer. You hid behind a crate and peered down to the main floor of the barn, there sat John, strapped to a chair, slumped over. You decided to get a better look and moved closer. He was still breathing so that was good, but you could see a knife sticking out of his right thigh, just above his knee, blood soaking his pants and puddling in the floor beneath him.
“I-If you ask me a question I’ll be more than happy to answer it.” He lifted his head shakily looking at his captor.
“You think we want information from you? No… This is just for fun.” The woman reared back and punched John in the face, causing him to spit out blood.
They didn’t take him for any reason other than to torture him. He kidnapped people too but at least he tortured them for a reason, to obtain a confession and unburden their souls so they could- You stopped yourself, you were rationalizing John’s actions, you really must be insane to be protecting these cultist idiots. You didn’t see any other guards inside, but you waited to make sure, and of course you wanted to see John get a little bit of what he gave to you. She continued to hit him and twist the knife deeper into his leg, his cries of pain started to make your heart ache for him. Finally, she stopped and left the barn. You jumped down and knelt in front of him.
“T-Took you long enough.” He coughed.
“I may have been enjoying the show for a little bit.” You smiled up at him as you undid the restraints around his hands and feet.
“Did you get Joseph? I heard him earlier but nothing since.”
“Wait, he’s here?” You looked up at him confused.
“Yeah, they grabbed me and had him in the back of the van already. We came here and they took him into the house then brought me in here.”
You grabbed the radio from your backpack, “Jacob?”
“Little busy.” His voice cracked over the radio.
“Jacob, Joseph isn’t there, he’s here. John said they were brought in together.”
“Damn it. Can you get to him?”
“I’m gonna try.” You put the radio away.
John wrapped his hand around the knife, taking a few deep breaths, trying to ready himself to pull it out.
“Wait, let me.” You pushed his hand away and held the knife.
You leaned up and kissed John, he welcomed the sudden attack and pushed his tongue into your mouth as he grabbed the back of your neck and pulled you closer. Once you knew he was distracted you pulled the knife from his leg causing him to stop kissing you immediately and growl in pain. You reached up and began undoing his belt.
“I’m all for public sex, but I don’t think this is the time or place for it, Sweetheart.” He tried to stop you.
“Shut up.” You pulled the belt from his pants and wrapped it around his leg, tightening it making a tourniquet.
“Can you walk?” You stood up and held your hand out to him.
He grabbed your hand and stood shakily, favoring the wounded leg he tried to keep his weight off of it as you helped him. The two Hunters were outside when you exited the barn with John, you handed him off.
“Get him in the truck, I have to go find Joseph. If things get bad don’t wait for me, you leave and take him to Jacob.” You turned to leave, John was going to say something in protest, but he knew it would be pointless, so he just watched as you left.
You crouched and made your way to the house, you didn’t see anyone outside, you peered into one of the windows and saw two men sitting in the living room. You took a deep breath and entered the backdoor. You silently walked up behind the two men and pulled out your knife. You had to do this quick if you were going to get them both. You stood up and brought the knife around the first man’s throat, slitting it quickly, before the second man could react you did the same to him, they gasped for a moment as the blood poured from their necks. You put your knife away and headed upstairs where you heard someone talking.
“We have your brothers and we’ll let them go if you end this.” It was the woman’s voice from before.
“I cannot stop the Apocalypse. It is coming whether you believe it or not.” Joseph’s voice sounded weak.
You made it to the top of the stairs and moved closer to the room where the voices were coming from. You peaked into the crack of the door, Joseph was tied to a chair just as John had been, he was covered in blood, though you didn’t see any wounds on him from this angle. Where is it coming from?
“Do we really have to do this again? You know I can have John here in a second and his blood covering you as well.”
You moved closer, trying to see better, you could see a body in the floor, just feet, nothing else. You pulled the gun from your holster and exhaled the breath you had been holding in before you kicked the door open. The woman stared at you as did Joseph. You held your gun pointed at her as you looked in the floor, you suddenly felt sick, it wasn’t just one, there were bodies. Bodies of Joseph’s followers, their throats slit open, blood soaking into the floor.
“You? What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to take The Father.” You replied, looking over at him, he was wounded, a gash on the side of his face.
“The Father? So, you’re one of his sheep now? Pathetic.” She scoffed.
“You should fucking talk, what the fuck is this? At least he isn’t doing anything this fucked up.” You motioned to the bodies, finding it hard to look at them for long.
“You shouldn’t have come for me.” Joseph spoke weakly.
“Too late for that. Untie him.” You pointed to his restraints, she leaned over and untied the ropes around his wrists and feet.
“You won’t make it out of here before my men kill you.”
“Oh, you mean the five men around the perimeter, or the two down in the living room?” You laughed at her.
“Wh-What did you do to them?” Worry spread across her face.
“Technically, I only killed two. And don’t look at me that way, Joseph. I had no choice.” You could feel his judgmental eyes on you for killing people.
“Bitch!” The woman lunged at you suddenly, knocking you to the ground.
She straddled you as tried to fight her off, she hit you in the face over and over, your consciousness fading with each punch. You reached up and wrapped your hands around her throat, squeezing as hard as you could. Joseph hesitated for a moment, he didn’t want to kill her, but you were in trouble. He picked up the gun and aimed it for the back of her head, pulling the trigger. Her blood poured over you as her lifeless body fell limp to the floor. You pushed her off you as you laid in the floor breathing heavily.
Joseph held the gun as he stood over you, you stared up at him, briefly hoping he’d end your life as well, end the destruction and pain you bring with you wherever you go, but he didn’t. He reached out his hand to you, you grabbed it and he helped you up to your feet. You gazed into his eyes, both of you completely covered in blood, suddenly he grabbed you and pulled you to him, his lips pressing into yours hungrily. You kissed him back, resting your hands on his forearms as his hands gripped your shoulders. He sighed into your open mouth at the contact, he told you not to come, but he was glad you did. He pulled away from the kiss, leaving you wanting more.
“Where is John?” He asked.
“He’s outside with Jacob’s Hunters. That reminds me.”
You pulled the radio out of your backpack and switched it on, “Jacob?”
“About damn time, I’ve been trying to get ahold of you. What the fucks going on?” He shouted.
“Calm down, I have John and Joseph, we’re headed to John’s Ranch, Meet us there.”
You made your way downstairs with Joseph, he stopped briefly looking at the two men slumped over on the couch. You followed behind him closely, glancing back at the bodies one last time, making sure to ingrain their images in your head to join the countless others.
The ride back to John’s was silent, you sat in the back with him, trying to keep pressure on his leg, the bleeding had slowed but it still needed to be cleaned and sewed up. Joseph glanced at you from time to time in the mirror, watching your compassion for his brother. You finally arrived at the Ranch, Jacob rushed outside to help with John. He helped him lay down on the couch as you went to gather medical supplies for his wound. You returned with scissors in hand, starting at the bottom of his pants you cut them apart up to his wound.
“Jacob, hold his feet.” You commanded.
You tried to find the best angle to be able to stitch his wound and decided you’d have to sit on him. You straddled his lap facing away from him. His hands immediately slid up to grope your ass as it rested on his stomach.
“John, really?” You sighed at his never-ending libido.
You leaned in close to the wound, cleaning it first you poured alcohol into the wound, next came the hard part. You steadied yourself as you punctured his skin with the needle, he tried to struggle but Jacob held his legs tight. His hands grabbed your hips, squeezing impossibly hard as he fought back screaming out. Joseph watched as you carefully mended John’s leg, softly assuring him it would be over soon. You finished and placed a bandage over it, sliding off of his lap you bent down and kissed him tenderly.
“Jacob, can you help him up to his bed while I clean up?”
Jacob nodded and grabbed John’s arm, helping him off the couch, he put his arm around his waist and headed for the stairs. You began cleaning up the bloodied supplies as Joseph approached you. His hand rested on your shoulder, turning you to face him.
“Thank you. For everything.” He gazed down at you.
“I need to clean that up as well. Sit.” You pointed to the gash on his face.
Joseph sat down on the couch, you went to the kitchen sink and washed your hands of John’s blood before returning to him. You stood in front of him and leaned down to start cleaning his wound. His eyes never left you as you worked. You would have expected it from John, or Jacob, but not Joseph, his hands moved from his lap up your thighs as he tugged you down into his lap. You shifted yourself to straddle him so you could continue tending to his wound, his hands resting on your hips.
You gently cleaned away some of the blood from his face, though his entire body was covered in it, you still needed to keep the wound clean. You placed a bandage over his wound and glanced down at both of you, the mix of dried blood covering your bodies, your mind flashed back to Justin and the two other men you had killed tonight. You felt the guilt pulling at you, beginning to unravel within you, other faces of people you had killed began to flood your mind, you fought so hard to push all of them back for so long but you couldn’t any longer. Joseph saw the tears start to roll down your cheeks, his thumb reaching up to wipe one away, his touch set something off inside you and you began to sob.
“Such turmoil within you. Why?”
“I bring death wherever I go and-“ Joseph’s hands cupped your face.
“Death goes where it will, you killed tonight to save my family. We have all made mistakes in our lives, but the choice to do better, to change, is what makes them mistakes and not who we are.”
You knew he was right, but no matter how hard you tried to change, you ended up killing again and again. You stared into his eyes as he held your face in his hands. He pulled you closer to him and kissed your forehead softly before touching his lips to your own. You leaned into the kiss, resting your hands on his shoulders you closed the distance between your bodies and pressed your chest against his. For a brief moment you were able to escape your thoughts. He released your face and placed one hand behind your head and the other on your hip. He continued to lazily kiss your lips, reveling in their softness, in the taste of you, until you heard Jacob clear his throat. You pulled away from each other and turned to look at him.
“Um, John’s passed out. I’m going to stay here tonight, just in case the Resistance decides to retaliate.”
You slid off Joseph’s lap and stood, straightening yourself and cleaning up the supplies.
“I think it would be best if we all remained here tonight.” Joseph said as he glanced over to you.
“I’m going to check on John, make sure his stitches are holding.” You smiled slightly at them and headed upstairs.
When you were out of the room Jacob approached Joseph, “Can she be trusted?”
“Why do you continue to doubt her?”
“She has caused so much havoc for us in the past, she has threatened to murder us all at one point. I know she saved you and John tonight, but what happens if she decides it was a mistake and turns on us?” Jacob argued, trying to keep his voice down.
“She won’t. I have seen it in my visions. She will remain loyal to us, she is vital to the Project now.”
You approached John’s bedroom and looked over him briefly, he looked so peaceful asleep, not at all like the sadistic idiot he is. You pulled the blanket back to check his wound causing him to wake up.
“Why did you help us tonight?” He asked as his fingers lightly touched your hand.
“Because I’m just as insane and stupid as you all are.”
“Hmm, I don’t think that’s it. I think you lo-“ You covered his mouth quickly with your hand.
“Finish that sentence and it will be your last.”
You made sure his stitches were holding and the bandage was covering it completely, leaving him to sleep. You walked downstairs to see Jacob asleep on the couch and Joseph passed out in an armchair. You were tired, but you couldn’t go to sleep now, not with the thoughts continuing to race through your head. You walked out on the front porch and watched the sun come up. You began to wonder about what would happen now, things were so confusing and messed up you didn’t know what to expect tomorrow. You stayed up for a few more hours, keeping watch.
You scratched at the dried blood on your hands and decided it was time for a shower. You walked back inside to find Jacob and Joseph where you left them. You quietly crossed the room and headed upstairs, John was still asleep in his bed, snoring softly. You walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind you. Once the shower was warm enough you stripped out of your blood covered clothes, deciding to just burn them instead of washing them. You let the water wash over you as it pooled in the shower floor it turned red. You leaned back against the wall and closed your eyes, trying to think of anything other than your fucked up situation. Your hands moved over your body as you let one slide between your thighs. At first, your mind went to John.
He stepped into the shower behind you, his arms wrapping around your body as you rolled your head to rest against his shoulder. A moan escaped your lips as his hand travelled down between your legs. He nipped and licked at your neck softly as your breathing quickened.
It wasn’t enough though, you needed more. Your mind knew what your body needed, and Joseph entered the daydream.
Joseph entered the shower in front of you, leaning down to place a soft kiss on your lips before moving down to your chest, his lips so gentle against your skin. His hands kneaded your breasts as he kissed over the tops of them, stopping over one of your nipples, his mouth hovered over it before he began licking and sucking on it.
Your hand moved faster between your legs, your fingers circling your clit, you were so close to the edge, soft moans of their names escaping your lips as the water continued to wash over your body. Suddenly the shower curtain swung open, stopping your daydream immediately.
“Fuck you, John!” You yelled when you saw him standing there as your heart almost beat out of your chest.
“Sounds like you were about to.” A smug grin spread across his face.
“Am I not allowed any fucking privacy? A minute to myself.”
“Not if you’re in my house. Don’t worry, as much as I’d love to help you finish, I wouldn’t exactly be up to par with my stab wound and all. Joseph wants you to join us downstairs.” He turned to leave.
“Oh, and I’d try to be a little quieter with your lustful daydreams. Don’t want all of Hope County to know just how wet you are for us Seeds.” He smirked at you before he left the room.
#far cry 5 fanfiction#john seed#joseph seed#jacob seed#john seedxreader#joseph seedxreader#jacob seedxreader#fc5#far cry 5
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I still owe a number of things, but I wanted to take the time to explain my interpretation of the Joker's romantic inclinations - particularly in regards to Harley Quinn and Batman. Heads up that this is incredibly long, hence the readmore!
To understand the Joker, you have to first understand that he is completely and utterly insane. That's not to say that he doesn't follow logic or make rational decisions, simply that if normality is a spectrum with pale house, picket fence, a 9-5 job, and two pets on one side, the Joker is on the exact opposite side. He is the embodiment of chaos, and so he cannot feel 'love' or anything similar in the way that the average, mentally sound human can. Love is something that he's capable of processing - he loves jokes, he loves violence and death - but when it comes to loving creatures that are alive, what he feels would be more comparable to curiosity in varying levels. At his most curious, you have Batman and Harley Quinn. His least curious would likely be harmless animals, newborn babies, and mundane tasks. The more curious about something the Joker is, the longer he keeps it around, and the more he attempts to mold it to fit a shape he finds most pleasing.
I'm sure most of you who have read this far already know the story of how he came to meet Harley Quinn, but just in case, I'll summarize briefly. She worked as a psychologist fresh out of college at Arkham and talked her way into getting Joker as her first patient. She wanted to write a story on him to gain fame and fortune, but he ended up seducing and manipulating her, turning her into the Harley you know today. The reason he put so much effort into twisting her into something he finds pleasing is because he saw her potential on their very first meeting. The Joker is incredibly intelligent, especially socially, and is capable of picking up on the subtlest of hints. He spent (likely) somewhere around a year as he patient, testing her, prodding for minute details like her favorite colors, her hobbies, and her grades in school, and given all that time, he was able to learn enough about her past and personality to successfully get inside her head. The more she fell for his lies, the more she stretched as he pulled, the more he wanted to do more. She became an experiment of sorts, a test to see just how much he could change this prim and proper pencil skirt wearing doctor to someone like him - a murderous clown who views life as a joke. When she finally snapped and became 'Harley Quinn', he had intended to toss her aside, since his test had been a success and there was nothing more to see. But she continued to surprise him. She proved herself to be competent as a henchman where no others had before, she proved that she could match his pace, complement his theatrical appearance and mannerisms, and that she had far more to show him than he'd thought possible.
A fact worth noting is that the Joker never intended for her to fall in love with him. He doesn't suffer from any self esteem issues (in fact, it's quite the opposite as he has Narcissism), but he assumed that a woman nearly half his age would have no interest in an asylum inmate. When she first showed signs of romantic attraction, Harley genuinely surprised him. The Joker's past has never included romantic relationships (note, I mean the Joker and not the man he was before), and he never intended it to aside from his pining for Batman. He wasn't sure how to react for the first time in ages, and it was the fact that she was able to render him speechless and stunned that began his spiral into what he later realized is love. After she joined with him, after the months of pet names, hand holding, hugs, and soft kisses on cheeks and foreheads, the Joker realized that he enjoyed her company. And not in the way that he enjoyed a crying, screaming victim's, but not entirely dissimilar to the way he felt about Batman. The Joker wanted to keep her around, keep her happy (as he does so enjoy her laughter and excited squeals), and name her his number two. Once he came to that conclusion, he became ill. He knew that it wasn't 'The Joker in love with Harley Quinn', but rather, the man he was before (Jack, John, or Arthur if you please) in love with her. She appealed to what tiny scraps of sanity he had left. Harley showed him unconditional affection and kindness, she was patient with him, supportive, and an ever present source of camaraderie. Sure, she had fallen for The Joker's clowny antics, but she fell for the glimpses of sanity that only she had been able to see. The Joker worried that keeping her close would ease some of the symptoms of his insanity, that he would cease to be 'The Joker' if he and Harley remained an item. So he attempted to kill her. And when she didn't die, he learned that she was no pushover - he had turned her into something near an equal. At that point, he had little choice but to keep her close. She knew his secrets, had seen him cry of all things, and he had unknowingly given her power over him that no one else, not even Batman has. He loves her, not just his sanity, but even the Joker himself came to love Harley for her tenacity, insanity, bloodlust, and theatrics. It makes little sense why he would abuse her as he does if he loves her, but the Joker, as I mentioned, does not process love in a sane way. He continues to test her to this day, and the most common test is of her loyalty. No one is a constant in his life aside from Batman, the other Gotham Rogues shift from friend to foe in moments, and he'd convinced himself she would be the same. You could say that he's incapable of accepting that he's loved, and because he refused to believe she would stay with him, he continued to prod her in search of the button that would trigger the 'leave' response. Now that he found it and she has truly left him, he can't accept that, either. He made her, his tests are the reason she is who she is, and she will always love him. She has to love him, because his sanity will always love her. It's similar to not knowing what he had until it was gone - although he knew what he had, he simply wasn't capable of carrying the weight of love.
In Batman's case, the Joker loves him because he created the Joker. Think of it as a sort of... accidental 'Mad Love' scenario. In many of his origin stories (the Killing Joke being my primary inspiration), Batman led the Joker to the chemical vat, and his dark and brooding nature is what encouraged the Joker to take on a light and jovial one. They are day and night, light and shadow, and the Joker feels Batman completes him. A world without Batman simply wouldn't make sense (a concept he's currently struggling with here in isola), as you can't have a left hand without a right. It would just be a hand. Batman would just be a man dressed as a bat, and the Joker would just be a clown.
The main point to take out of the differences in the Joker's feelings for Harley and Batman, is that the Joker is obsessed with Batman. Their relationship is one of need. It is the stage on which the Joker's theatrics take place and Batman's stoic and determined nature shine. What he feels for Harley isn't need, but rather, comfort. He doesn't have to put on a show for her like he does the rest of the world. He doesn't have to wear the lipstick or the suit for her to see him for who he truly is. If our resident Harley wants to explain her feelings for the Joker, she's more than welcome to as I can't speak for her interpretation, but what I do strongly believe is that Harley will continue to love the Joker because he's the first person who looked at her and saw her, not what she presented. They have this in common, the ability to understand one another as no one else can, and thus they will always be connected - whether it's romantic or platonic. They claim to despise each other, and while Harley is more likely to be vocal about her hidden desire to care for him, the Joker feels the same. He's said as much to her on a few rare occasions, even though most only see his aggressive and violent behavior toward her. That's just one aspect of his emotions, and it's crucial to keep in mind that the Joker sees himself as an actor, the co-star alongside Batman, and he's nothing if not dedicated to performance. He has many faces (no pun intended), and there are as many Jokers as there are comics, movies, and shows he appears in. Each writer has their own opinion, their own ideas, and I have mine.
In conclusion, I ask that you take a moment to consider that the Joker is more than he appears. Yes, he is a serial killer and a terrorist dressed as a clown. But he is also a man whose wife and child died the day before he fell into a vat of toxic chemicals that forever altered his physical and mental state. I don't want anyone to sympathize with him - The Joker is intended to be a truly terrible and awful villain, someone who feels not a single ounce of regret, unlike Harley who sometimes feels guilt for her actions and draws moral lines. There is some small piece of who he once was deep down inside, but it's not going to surface. He will have no redemption arc. He will never be a good person. But there is, was, and always will be the potential for him to be a good partner. Whatever happens in Isola will remain a mystery until it happens, as sometimes plans go awry as muses run rampant, but I thank you for reading this to its conclusion, and for attempting to see the small flickers or goodness he shows toward Harley in rare and vulnerable moments. Because even though the Joker represents true evil and rampant chaos, even the darkest depths must have light somewhere nearby - otherwise how would you compare its darkness?
#ǝʅᴉⅎ ʎɯ uᴉ sʇᴉ IMPORTANT !!#sǝʅᴉɯs ⅎo ʇno OOC !!#[ this is so long... ]#[ also I'm posting on mobile! Formatting will be done once I'm home.]#ABUSE MENTION CW#MANIPULATION MENTION CW
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