#corrected it in the op now but if you see the other version going around... my bad

[the-gay-prometheus]

Thank you Dean and Cas, you can go back to superhell now or whatever.

OK. Now that I have your full and undivided attention.

What the &#!* is happening in Pennsylvania?!?

Hi. You can call me Jay or Victor (I go by both interchangeably). Who the heck am I? I'm just a guy who happens to be privy to a few of the finer details about some of the things going on regarding the election here in Pennsylvania due to my proximity to someone who is involved in the electoral process.

Skip to the "keep reading" if you don't care about the how or why I'm making this post and just want the details about what's going on.

You may have recently seen a post going around talking about how somebody has paid for many many many mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania to be challenged and therefore slowing the ability for those ballots to be counted or putting them at risk of being discarded entirely.

Note - the version of the post linked there is the EDITED version that includes my initial responses (thank you to OP @/feralcringeman for editing my addition onto the post!!!! and also a massive thank you for making the post in the first place!!!!! I'm glad more word is getting out about this situation!!!!)

I am not trying to undermine this individual's post by any means. However, thanks to the way Tumblr works, I am concerned about the fact that most people are only seeing the initial unedited version of the post and are not looking into the reblogs to see my responses.

THESE RESPONSES ARE IMPORTANT.

I'm not just saying that to be self-important or whatever - I'm saying that because it is extremely important that people understand exactly what is going on so that, if and when they take action, they take the correct action and don't start throwing accusations that will ultimately end with them not being taken seriously.

To make sure this updated information gets out to a broader audience, I am making my own post with everything you need to know included. Find out everything you need to know that I am able to tell you under the cut.

Here are the key things you need to know:

The emails in the original post are legitimate. Mail-in ballots are in fact being challenged in Pennsylvania, and there will be court hearings regarding the legitimacy of these ballots

These challenges are not being made by Donald Trump himself - they are being made by avid supporters of his.

These challenges ARE LEGAL by Pennsylvania law, and the law does require a payment to be made per ballot being challenged by the challenger

There was recent news about fraudulent voter registrations being received in Lancaster County. These have absolutely no connection to the individuals responsible for challenging the mail-in ballots

In Pennsylvania, there is a law stating that any Pennsylvania citizen may come to their county's director of elections and claim that certain mail-in ballot applications may be fraudulent. When they do so, they must pay cash out of pocket per ballot application challenged. This money will go toward whatever the county needs to put it toward (usually paying off debt). The amount required to be paid per challenge is $10.

A group of avid Trump supporters worked together to make use of this law in 14 counties:

In my county specifically, I am aware of an individual who paid over $7,000 in cash to challenge ballots - that is between 700-800 challenges in my county alone.

Across these 14 counties, the number of ballots being challenged is over 4,300. That is over $43,000 paid in cash out of pocket by Trump supporters in Pennsylvania specifically with the intent of attempting to, at worst, nullify perfectly valid mail-in ballot applications and void valid votes, or at best, slow down the vote counting process by forcing the counties to conduct court hearings regarding the legitimacy of these ballots.

The good news is, many of these counties are not taking these challenges seriously whatsoever. In some cases, the judges are literally just throwing out the challenges. In other cases, the ones who made the challenges are withdrawing their challenges because it's clear that their challenges won't be taken seriously. That said, some counties may take them more seriously and hold more intense trials. In some cases, the challengers may appeal the more swiftly made court decisions and force yet another court case, slowing things down even more.

What does this all mean?

Trump didn't cheat (at least not in this specific case). Technically his supporters that made these challenges didn't either. These challenges are 100% legal under Pennsylvania law. They're ridiculous, but they are legal.

So does this mean you shouldn't raise your voices about it? That you shouldn't contact the White House and include this situation in your note about how there was foul play in this election? Absolutely not. You should include this situation, but do not frame it as cheating, because it isn't. Frame it as just another way that this election has not been run entirely fairly, because while it is legal, it means that there are perfectly valid votes that are still waiting to be counted while extremely tight races are already being called.

~~~

With all that out of the way, what was that thing I said about fraudulent voter registrations in Lancaster?

This is a completely separate issue, as I've mentioned, and it's already been discovered that the vast majority of registrations flagged as potentially fraudulent have been verified as legitimate. What is important to note is that these were voter registrations, NOT ballots.

News of this situation has gone national, so of course Trump picked up on it (and visited Lancaster not once but twice after the entire issue came to a head). But Trump is Trump, so what did he say? He said that these were fraudulent ballots, fraudulent votes. That is not true.

The issue was voter registrations, potentially being conducted by paid political canvassers that were being given quotas on how many registrations they needed to get in order to be paid. Whether that bit is true or not is still being investigated - if it is true, it's very much illegal.

As I said, the good news is that the vast majority of the over 2000 flagged registrations have been verified as legitimate, and the number that actually does seem to be fraudulent so far is hovering below 20% of the number of registrations initially flagged.

Again, this issue is completely separate. You may see it being lumped together with the current issue of ballots being challenged, but these fraudulent registrations are linked to an entirely different situation and have nothing to do with Trump or his supporters.

~~~

So! That's the tea on what's happening here in PA. It's not as bad as it initially might sound - not to say it isn't bad, it's just not as bad. Feel free to ask questions, I'll do my best to answer with the information I have/the information I'm allowed to give.

And also, on a slightly lighter note, I think we should all collectively laugh at the idiots who paid a grand total of $43,000+ in cash for literally no good reason considering most of these challenges are just being or going to be thrown out. Lmao. I hope our counties' treasuries are enjoying those donations.

[softceleste]

The Strangers: Chapter 1 (2024, dir. Renny Harlin)

Froy Gutierrez as Ryan Madelaine Petsch as Maya

Please do not save, repost, or edit these gifs for any reason, use the reblog button instead. Also please do not interact if you’re a celeb rp blog or if you write taboo content on your blog, thank you!

[12percentspider]

No you know what, I'll slap it together.

So our first bit of evidence comes from the new blog itself.

Now if you compare to the other insulin scammer I've looked at, this one acts a lot more like that paypal-jumper scammer from a while ago. About that time, though, I got an angry anon (lol) to mind my own business. Funnily enough, I had at the time assumed it was from the insulin scammer that was going around then, but actually, I may have been hit by "apollo's dodgeball"...

The cipher at the bottom of the reply?

"But Spidermod, that doesn't-" Hold on. Let's get back to the current scam for a second. [And here's where I put a cut, because it's going to get long and very uh, "Charlie in the mailroom".]

So the first thing of note here is that it's the same exact scammer. But I didn't go looking up Key's post until AFTER I had found the old URL. I needed the url in order to do that. See, it turns out that my twitter investigation turned out a reply that upon donating, someone got harassed by money requests. The user denied this and claimed to be unable to do so. [Reminds me of someone!]

I had a name to work with from the twitter and stumbled across this. Of course, the OP was deactivated. So uh, that's when I decided "I bet Key's got it archived". CORRECT. So if you look at the original version of the post with the archived "old paypal", a smashed-in version of the name given looks a lot like uh... wanngera.

Which happens to be another scam blog that I tracked to a twitter with an extremely similar twitter-matching situation. It just so happens that this time someone called out the scammer for spamming, and I was able to see that before it was deleted. This previous one though, that went down really fast before there could be any further slip-ups.

So I think it was last Tuesday 11/7 when a blog had the exact same scam as the wanngeras blog up. I had not registered the url in my mind and there wasn't proof yet so I didn't make a proper post about it until I remembered it was familiar. I also uh, was out for the count that day. HOWEVER. The only blog that didn't have THAT good of proof yet was 'milkydonutsh'. //Laura admitted to being milkydonutsh.

Below link: LONG AS HELL but it has a detail that I further want to take into consideration. It's important and probably a helpful read but the whole thing isn't immediately relevant to this post, most of it is context at this exact moment.

So there was the "cancer girl that didn't get very far" and that blog was deleted very quickly. I propose that that particular blog was wanngeras. Laura's known for taking her crap to twitter.

I propose that since the widelys blog (also Laura) whose story mirrored a twitter I found and the fact that I was able to get the exact same situation for the wanngeras blog, AND the fact that the same thing came true for the current scammer... the current insulin scam is in fact Laura Deramas.

If you research/know Laura's general tactics/behaviors it matches up actually pretty well. To the point where even if anyone else were to admit to this [extremely likely not], they'd have to be absolutely hellbent on copying her for some weird reason or another, and I doubt anyone would attempt that.

[decepti-geek]

The one issue I take with the stuff like 'if you're bothered by a post don't correct the OP because they probably weren't talking about you' - is that I feel like... it kind of makes an assumption that any challenging viewpoint added to a post, is intended first and foremost as a direct confrontation/correction of the OP, personally?

And I've gotta be honest that like... if there's a popular advice-ish sort of post going round, and I'm adding a dissenting viewpoint, I really don't give a shit about the OP in particular. If a post with thousands of notes is going around, and I can see how the content of the post could unintentionally reinforce something harmful - I don't really care who made the post, or which people shared it.

All that matters to me is that enough people contributed to/shared it that a lot of other people are gonna be seeing it, and there's gonna be people seeing it who will be affected by the potential for harm that it contains. So I want to put a version of the post into the world that tries to balance the potentially harmful part of it, and maybe, hopefully, becomes a more accessible version of the post; one that allows people who would otherwise internalise the harmful bits, to access the good bits without that added internalisation.

Like, personally, I don't expect anyone's posts to be perfectly rules-lawyered and watertight. But the other side of that coin is that actually - I do expect people not to take it personally, if they see me trying to mitigate some unintentional harm that a very, very popular post, which happens to be written by them, could do for some people. You're human, you're gonna fuck up sometimes and say stuff that has unintended consequences for people. I'm not gonna judge you for that by any means, but also... please try not to stand in the way of, or decry my attempts to mend some of the unintended consequences, or mitigate them before they happen.

At that point, if I'm doing that, it's not about you as a person. If your post has thousands of notes, it's got much, much bigger than you as a person - and that may not even be what you ever wanted! It's almost certainly not your fault. But you can't change the fact now that it is big, and through the interconnected actions of lots of different people, it has a greater capacity to cause internalised harm. And that's bigger than you, and it's bigger than me even if I'm trying to reduce it for whichever people see my version of the post (I might not succeed, but I'm still gonna try).

So, I'd never expect that the OP of a given post Should Have thought of what I'm voicing - I'm voicing it because I hope it's useful to some people, not because I think it's mandatory to everyone. But I do expect people to try and not take an effort at general harm reduction, as a personal attack, when it's attached to a post that countless people have had a hand in spreading all over the hellsite.

[leafonground]

i think toby fox isnt great at writing trans characters actually. like -napstablook despite being referred to as they/them for the literal decade its been since the undertale demo ppl still he/him them. cus tobys never gone out of his way to say anything. and then he MADE THEM a COP in DELTARUNE what the FUCK is WRONG WITH YOU -mettatons backstory is at least existent. but like. why didnt he talk to his literal nonbinary cousin. who he lived on the same snail farm with. about the fact he was trans and got alphys to be his nurse practitioner. or when their other cousin became a nintendo-exclusive trans girl. the underground is supposed to be tightly-knit, the level of community you see in places like snowdin and even in places like the ruins or hotland is one of the most charming parts of the game. why dont they hang out. why is mettaton hunting humans and not terfs no but really, mettaton being done SLIGHTLY better is like. the bar one should have to pass, like everyone who knows the games lore sees the transmasc allegory, even those insistent on misgendering someone like napsta or kris. -mad mew mew (mad dummy) is also a very clear transfem allegory but done slightly better. that being said all of these characters being ghosts that can possess objects in order to have a shortcut to their transition goals makes apparent an issue toby has that ill elaborate more on when i talk about kris. overall shes not done badly in the switch version but the fact that its only in one version is a bit ?. ill let it slide tho -kris is the big one. yeah yeah toby corrected people in the 6th anniversary stream with an incredibly quiet tts voice that the ppl he was playing with didnt hear half the time. but not everyone watched that stream and not everyone cares. plus, kris is a human kid. theyre not a ghost who can speedrun their perfect transition goals like mew mew or mettaton, which toby used in undertale to make the trans allegories stick for people who dont pay attention-- but now that he cant do that he doesnt have any other ideas. so while they look like your average nobinary kid (someone whos prolly never seen an afab enby in their lives in OP’s replies keeps insisting kris looks amab probably only because theyre wearing pants. if youre that person hi please block me) people just project amab onto them cus thats whats “normal”, whats “usual” for video game main characters in our patriarchal society. its like what happens to people in real life. and while a real life enby can correct people themself kris is a video game character so its up to the creator of that character to do it. and toby just like. isnt doing it. i swear to god all he has to do is tweet it. like i get kris isnt like mad mew mew where you can give them boss fight dialogue to spell it out and isnt like mettaton where you can find a secret key to kris’ secret house. and kris has a lot more going on in their character that has nothing to do with their gender. thats fine, thats actually GOOD! but when it comes to kris and napstablook, where unlike mew mew and mettaton their whole character arcs dont revolve around that transition, just. have it written down somewhere. its all you need to do. in a perfect world you wouldnt need to but we dont live in that world and writing trans characters well means taking that into account. tl;dr trans/nonbinary characters whos character arc is “i’m trans” like mad mew mew and mettaton, tobys ok at those. but anyone who isnt a transphobe would be ok at those. writing trans/nonbinary characters who have literally anything else going on and toby completely faceplants. all he has to do is tweet it out. or give teacher alphys a piece of throwaway dialogue about how it took berdly 6 months to get over the fact that you can use singular they/them in sentences. literally anything.

toby fox needs to add like a bit of narration in deltarune abt kris like "they themmed they/themily down the stheirs" cus i cant go on seeing them constantly get he/himmed in yt comment sections

[kiricat]

Reposting this post of mine from one of my Cohost accounts because I like it

I tend to overthink "favorite" questions. I tend to tie myself into pretzels trying to answer them, to come up with some kind of objectively and permanently "correct" answer, as if such a thing were even possible. But instead of doing that this time, I am going to go with what my heart is saying (screaming!) [my favorite retro game is] right this moment:

Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

You see, my sister was my best friend growing up. Pretty much any time I wasn't on the computer (and some of the times I was), I was hanging out with her. It wasn't that I didn't have other friends; it was that she was my favorite person in the whole world, even if (regrettably) I didn't always act like it.

For reasons I don't wanna go into right now, our family didn't have a lot in terms of video games. We had a NES, I personally had a Game Boy and Game Gear, and then we had our computer. Now, of course, I had played SNES and Genesis games (in fact, I sought out and savored every possible opportunity to do so), including the 16-bit Sonic games right around when they first came out. (Hell, I even got to play one of them before it came out, but I'll save that story for another time.) But actually owning a 16-bit Sonic game was just out of the question, or so I thought.

Then, one day, in like 1998 or so, I was puttering around the Internet and found demos of Sonic games for the PC. The one that intrigued me most was the Sonic CD demo, but I also checked out the one for the Sonic & Knuckles Collection. This was a PC game that included Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, in all their locked-on and non-locked-on permutations, plus the full Blue Sphere minigame. It could output either Adlib or General MIDI music, but otherwise seemed completely identical to what I remembered of the Genesis version, which I thought was amazing.

The demo only included Angel Island Zone, but that was enough for my sister and me for several months. Usually, we did the pseudo-co-op thing (I played Sonic, and she played Tails), and sometimes, she played as Tails by herself. We both scoured every square inch of Angel Island, and learned the first four special stages. We put so, so many hours into this demo. So, naturally, I asked for the full game for my sixteenth birthday, and got it. Not only did we have an absolute blast exploring the full game, but we played the Competition mode excessively (she literally always beat me at Balloon Park). It was our favorite game, by far!

(Side note: if you know much about S3&K, you know that the PC version had some different music, most notably in the last three zones of Sonic 3. I didn't know this at the time, so the PC tracks were the ones I heard first, and the ones I'd later become nostalgic for. So, when I first played Sonic 3 on the Genesis, and got to Carnival Night Zone, I had the exact same "GAH WHAT THE HELL IS THIS" reaction that I'm sure Genesis players had to the PC music. I had to listen for years to people saying that my preferred version of the soundtrack was "wrong" and "not the REAL music" even though, in my opinion, the PC songs fit classic Sonic better. You wouldn't believe the vindication I felt when the community discovered that, actually, the PC songs were prototype songs, and were therefore the original tunes all along!)

So, time passed, we grew up and grew apart, and I finally got the courage to come out at age twenty-nine. (I wish I had done it much sooner, but my parents were fundies and I had to deprogram from that, sooooo yeah.) Most of my family just rejected me outright. But not my sister. Don't get me wrong; she still was (and is) a fundiegelical. But she felt that there was no sense in being a dick to me about my transness, and therefore made good-faith efforts not to deadname or misgender me.

In fact, she went even further than that. I remember, several years back, when she and her husband and son were visiting my town, and I trepidatiously agreed to meet up with them. Upon seeing me for the first time, my nephew asked me what my name was, and I told him truthfully, "My name is Alyssa." And my sister was like, "Can you say Alyssa?" Just. Wow. Wow. We've talked a few times since then, and I wish we could talk more. I also wish she was more accepting, yes, but I truly think that she is doing the best she can within the mind prison she's in. And I treasure that.

So, yeah. I play it because it reminds me of her, and I like that. Specifically, I still play the PC port (albeit with Sega PC Reloaded and the S&KC Mod Loader), because every little detail of that port is seared into my mind and heart. And I don't just mean the music; I mean, all the little inaccuracies. The jittery special stages. The slightly mistimed credits. The way the pallette gets all fucky in that orb bonus stage. Sound effects playing when they shouldn't. I even went as far as to use MainMemory's music config program to make the game use my old sound card's soundfont for MIDI playback, just because that's what reminds me most of the time we spent playing this game.

And it doesn't hurt that S3&K is, like, super glorious just as a game. All the characters are fun, there are so many levels (and most of them are great with fun gimmicks), the music (no matter which music or how you enjoy it) is exquisite, and idk, I just love Sonic!! Pretty much the only thing I don't like about S3&K is that last Hyper Sonic fight, which I find clunky and awkward. The rest is magical. <3

[thequietmanno1]

TheLreads, Vigilantes ch 110, Replies Part 2

1) “Oh hai McBee, didn’t saw you up there, sulking dramatically in your beat form.

So, what’s the next big move in this chess game?”-The ultimate chess move – pulling a gun and shooting the other player. They never see that one coming.

2) “Oh trying to get a namedrop there you smartass? Well something tells me you’re the careless one, because Soga is coming and he’s gonna be a real bastard. As usual.”- Actually, it’s the vigilante helper we’d (mostly) prefer to show up instead. Like, little bit late with the milk run Knuckles, but still, appreciated keeping Soga out of this fight.

3) “That’s where you’re wrong McBee, he’s not thinking that

He’s not thinking anything in fact.”- Nomura trying to get inside Koichi’s headspace is an amusing exercise in failure. He may as well try and become an astronaut to experience the vacuum of space.

4) “Uhhhh- What now”- Knuckles’ little near-miss sniping on Nomura left a pretty big mental impact on him, such that he brought along the components to copy the tactic himself if he ever wanted to. His speed didn’t save him from nearly getting his head blown off, so understandably he’d want to mimic an effective tactic on himself used by his “master”.

(Vigilantes ch 107)

5) “Again, Koichi trained daily against the guy that created the knuckle flurry, you’d have more luck pulling an actual gun against him.”- Well, here’s the gun, but it seems his luck with sniping goes about as well as Knuckle’s own near-miss on him, courtesy of the man himself.

6) “…what now”- Ok so….where were the rifle parts being held inside him when Nomura goopified himself to escape Phelps’ handcuffs?

7) “You do you Green Ojama, your deck is OP but I don’t think it counter’s Koichi’s omni-negate”- Doesn’t matter much if he’s never given a chance to play it properly.

8) “So, what’s faster, the boy that can outmaneuver someone using a quirk to go so fast that time seems to stop, or a rifle bullet which travels around 3000 Km/h?”- The correct answer is C: the old janitor who saw that move coming before the night even started, and got into position to counter it several hours before. 9) “Okay koichi, just give a glance towards his “scope” so he knows he get got, and you’re already ahead of him”-One thing about Knuckles’ interference here is that it does sadly again prevent Koichi from having to think himself in order to out-play her opponent. Like, I get that it’s basically his power move, but I really do like how Izuku always pulls a successful version of Nomura’ “cobble together a plan on the fly” tactics here in a fight. 10) “Oh, look at that, the sniper got sniped, I wonder who did that…”- Not the guy you were expecting to show up at this final stretch. 11) “…

wait a second”- Time for the trashman to have his final hurrah!

(Vigilantes ch 104)

12) “And Koichi was so close, so damn close to finishing the job, but his guilt about Pop’s state are holding him back. Goddammit are we gonna need to have her die so he can finish McBee?

Hopefully not, but I don’t trust Furuhashi, In wouldn’t put this past him. The same way I’m not putting past him bringing Knuckleduster or even All Might here to finish the job. Oh good lord, that thought itself makes me terrified.”- Well, that’s 2 for three. Bets about Furuhashi bringing in All Might as well?

(vigilantes ch 109)

13) “The Crawler ejects from the trash pile left by Knuckles years ago. 

That man had good foresight, he knew that Koichi would fight a super-powerful Nomu that would get a one-winged angel transformation and would eventually resort to new strategies to get Koichi by surprise, therefore he left this pile here, just in case.”- Knuckles has enough foresight to know exactly where Nomura’s going to wind up in a high-speed battle between him and Koichi should one erupt, and make use of it even with a crap-ton of injuries against a super-speedster.

(Vigilantes ch 109)

14) “Oh yeah, now he can make good use of those mobs

Sure, it won’t matter because I bet Soga is gonna show up with a gun to cover for Koichi, but at least it was an attempt.”- Well, not Soga…. 15) “ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME”- It’s time for a bit of Brain vs Fist to round out this fight, rather than Brain vs Void.

(Vigilantes ch 95)

16) “…

So it’s not McBee, it’s Knuckles that is back. McBee wouldn’t be so stupid to- No, I mean, he would, but he is at least trying now, so he wouldn’t make it obvious he’s in there.”- Knuckles has never been one for entering a building without breaking something. (Vigilantes ch 95)

17) “…

oh

my fucking

GOD

IT IS KNUCKLES AFTER ALL

HE TOOK THE BANDANA BACK

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME HE’S NOT DEAD AFTER THAT SEND-OFF AGAINST McBEE

WHAT IN THE FUCK WAS ALL THAT FOR THEN”- It was kinda necessary in getting Koichi to “grow up” without having his mentor there to support him or take over in a moment of Crisis – plus it was also evocative of All Might’s own last stand in his role as the Hero of Peace, given how Knuckle didn’t come out of the fight unscathed either.

18) “I suppose I should never wish on a monkey paw after all. 

And that’s all I have to say about the matter.”- “Starts huming When You Wish Upon a Star” @thelreads

[spider-xan]

What misinformation DD is spreading about Dracula again?

I got some variation of this Ask twice, so I'm only going to answer this one!

There is a very popular post with tens of thousands of notes going around (ie. definitely breached containment) about surprising things the OP discovered were in Dracula - except two out of three are not true, and the one thing that is true has the wrong image attached:

The first point is that vampires in Dracula have brown eyes that are iridescent in light to that they appear red - except no vampires in the book are described as having brown eyes! Dracula and two of the sisters have red eyes, and the one blonde sister explicitly has blue eyes!

The second point is correct that in the book, it's garlic flowers that ward off vampires, rather than the garlic bulbs of popular culture and maybe folklore - except the photograph in the post is of purple flowers when the ones in the book are explicitly white!

The third point is that the book has a cowboy - but this isn't incontrovertible fact! If you run a keyword search, the word 'cowboy', nor any of its synonyms like rancher, appear in the novel at all, and while Quincey could be read as one and it's popular fanon, he is never called a cowboy in the actual text, and as popular as the idea of him being a working-class rancher is, the details in the novel don't really point in that direction, and once again, the fandom is not great at class analysis; I think what happened here is the DD header and fandom priming people to see 'cowboy' as canonical to the text when it's a possible reading at best and a misunderstanding at worst!

Also, that post was not by a DD BNF, but there was another post going around that was doubling down on the cowboy thing being actual canon to the text when, once again, it's just one possible reading that happens to be very popular for understandable reasons, not a definite fact.

I think this goes back to an issue others have brought up where the Dracula the DD fandom is obsessed with is, at this point, divorced from the actual text in a way that goes beyond there being multiple possible readings of a text, some being more valid and supported than others, to a version of the text that is warped at best and a totally different book at worst, and it would be less frustrating if the fandom accepted it as a fanon-poisoned reading that is nevertheless fun for them than being dogmatic about it to the point where someone have been harassed and run out of the fandom for either pointing out basic facts about the actual text or not subscribing to popular fanon that is now considered canon or suffer the consequences, like being accused of being an illiterate TERF who hates hetero marriage or whatever it is now.

[daytura]

OP nails the analysis. I skim-binged Homestuck in 2016, just around the time it ended, and even with all the fanfiction I've read there's still little I remember about it. But I constantly come back to alt!Calliope's quotes and dialogues. The Calliopes to me embody the balance between idealism and utility, the subjective and the ideal, and the way fiction and reality switch places and flow into each other.

See also: Hyperstition, joking about outcomes you want, meme magic, and multiversal views on language models

What's interesting to me structurally is that Calliope is fandom self-insert and represents tendencies, traits, and patterns we find in transformative fandom. John may be the audience, but Calliope are the fans. Calliope theorizes, stays on the outside, conducts hyperstition, waiting for someone to bootstrap her into reality. She is the one in the ivory tower, the one with Pinterest boards. She is the outsider. We've all been Calliope three times over.

Hussie created a character [...] for who inaction is the ultimate action. /r/Homestuck

CALLIOPE: how can i go in search of myself if i am blown to smithereens the moment i set foot oUtside? / pg. 6672

The second interesting thing to me is that alternate versions of characters, like Davesprite and the Aradiabots, operate as derivations of an ideal. Canonically, yes, Davesprite and the Aradiabots "occur first" in the sense that these events must happen in order to reflexively correct the main course of events. But functionally, as structural elements, they're derivations. alt!Calliope derives from Calliope; the archetype of alt!Calliope, then, is someone who has transcended fandom, filed off the serial numbers, and "won". alt!Calliope is life after fandom, or life without fandom outright. A writer publishing without ever reading fanfiction. They don't transform and derive, they invent. They are the outsider with utility.

Tangent — utility seems to be a theme running across the space players. Kanaya and the matriorb, Jade and the Yellow Yard.

JADESPRITE: but i dont know whats right JADE: yes you do! JADE: even though you dont want to be, youre here now, and there are still people who need you JADE: there is still something worth fighting for! / pg. 3244

Grandma English and the Condesce.

The blackness warped like it was laughing or shaking its head. "I can't do that, Jade. Please stop crying, it's just awful and awkward for both of us. Ugh, please! If you keep going like this, I'm going to cry, too." "And why should I stop? Why couldn't you stop this?" Jade clutched Dave tighter. "What does any of it matter if they all die?" The blackness flared. "Shoosh!" it commanded, and she shushed, blinking tears. It continued to roil itself, collapsing like a dwarf about to go nova, like an atomic warhead before the blast. It took form before her, growing limbs, weaving starlight into its hair. Jade's thirteen-year-old self stared back at her over Dave's corpse, lip bitten defiantly, eyes sparking. She bared too many teeth. "There is still something worth fighting for!" / Hold the Line, dashery.

But utility is not enough. From the Homestuck Epilogues, Meat!Rose:

ROSE: I observed more power and emotion in the single ragged notebook [the one she wrote] than the full span of the bestselling series. [the one her post-scratch self wrote] ROSE: It’s more raw. It betrays considerably more sincerity than my young self was surely ever aware of stitching into the prose. ROSE: It meant something.

At the moment alt!Calliope de-masks Calliope's trollsona, all abstractions collapse, the character evaporates, and the real-life actor remains. The ultimate story has always been the one you live now.

I'd like to end this rambly reblog with David Foster Wallace's response to metafictional and ironic literary (and to an extent, personal) trends in "E Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S. Fiction":

The next real literary "rebels" in this country might well emerge as some weird bunch of anti-rebels, born oglers who dare somehow to back away from ironic watching, who have the childish gall actually to endorse and instantiate single-entendre principles. Who treat of plain old untrendy human troubles and emotions in U.S. life with reverence and conviction. Who eschew self-consciousness and hip fatigue. These anti-rebels would be outdated, of course, before they even started. Dead on the page. Too sincere. Clearly repressed. Backward, quaint, naive, anachronistic. Maybe that'll be the point. [...] The new rebels might be artists willing to risk the yawn, the rolled eyes, the cool smile, the nudged ribs, the parody of gifted ironists, the "Oh how banal". To risk accusations of sentimentality, melodrama. Of overcredulity. Of softness. Of willingness to be suckered by a world of lurkers and starers who fear gaze and ridicule above imprisonment without law. Who knows.

Perhaps the antidote to our counterfactual tragedies were already here.

ok but the conversation between calliope and alt!calliope is was and remains one of the most touching moments of the entire comic both in how it deals with themes of depression and survival. 

alt!calliope is technically more “successful” than calliope. she’s stronger, smarter, less vulnerable. she dominates caliborn and takes his blood color, instead of the other way around; she’s a fully realized god tier, and in the end, she’s in large part responsible for the success of the session. she creates the new world. she saves everybody. and yet she clearly isn’t happy. she is calliope without any of calliope’s self-consciousness issues, the calliope that calliope wishes she was, but that isn’t enough. it’s chilling: no matter how “useful” or technically capable calliope is, the feelings of emptiness and despair remain. maybe she’ll always feel that way. 

even more brutally, alt!calliope literally tells her that she doesn’t serve any purpose except to prompt others to be helpful. she says flat-out that calliope isn’t “relevant” anymore.

that’s got to be incredibly hard for callie to hear, given how desperate she’s always been to help others. being trapped in a state of passivity for most of her life, not even always in control of her own body, calliope clings dearly to the hope of someday reclaiming agency, and helping others. that hope probably resonated with a lot of the audience, too. to hear a more confident, more successful, more competent version of herself tell her that she isn’t useful at all is a brutal move. for someone with depression, especially, that could be a devastating thing to hear.

except here’s where the conversation shifts. instead of using this to insult calliope, alt!calliope turns this into something else, something uplifting: she says that not only is calliope’s irrelevance not a mark of her character, but that it gives her a unique and incredible opportunity. 

alt!calliope’s speech rejects the idea of an existence defined by one’s utility to others, and says instead that regardless of how useful calliope is, regardless of whether she realizes her full potential, and regardless of how much she contributes to some epic scheme, her life still has worth. the very fact of her existence gives her infinite opportunities to take chances and do things that alt!calliope, for all her competence, never could. 

it speaks to a very deeply rooted fear in a lot of people, i think: that somewhere out there is an alternate version of yourself that’s done everything right, and done everything better than you, and anything you do is fruitless because it’ll never be as good as it could be. that sentiment generates a lot of despair and self-loathing, and can make it hard to get motivated to do things you love. alt!calliope is that person, for callie, but this conversation says that it doesn’t matter. this conversation says that the one crucial difference between you and that theoretical person is this: you exist. you have the chance and the choice to do whatever you want. even if it isn’t perfect, even if it isn’t grandiose, even if you never change the world. your life is enough. you are enough.

[ridhearts]

my love’s got a bad rap {misc.}

somebody’s got a bad reputation...but are they really as bad as they seem?

characters: cater + deuce + floyd + vil + rook + idia + malleus + sebek

reader: gender neutral!

cw: none!

masterlists ⇿ request 

• • • • • • • Cater

"What is he doing? Is he doing another dance trend?"

"Oh my goodness, and did you hear all the abbreviations he was using in Crewel's class? Half the time I don't even know what he's saying."

"Honestly, I doubt his mind is ever on anything but Magicam likes. He's so shallow, my feet wouldn't get wet if I stepped in him."

Cater says it doesn’t bother him, and he detests wasting time on convincing you that it’s true. He’s a master at switching the subject at hand, swapping topics almost as easily as he does his many masks. No need to sweat the small details, right, Prefect? Plenty of people love him, if his Magicam follow count has anything to say about that! Having haters comes with having fans, so why let them rain on the parade? There’s no such thing as bad publicity! Now, if you’re done bringing down his vibe, he’s got a few cute photo-op ideas that he’d love to tell you about…

But Cater isn’t as convincing as he likes to think he is. The truth is, it does kind of bother him that people think he’s so shallow. One thing Cater has been deprived of is a true, genuine relationship he can call entirely his own. But the people he considers closest to him don’t always hold him in the same regard, or they’ve grown attached to a fabricated version of himself. Now people think there’s nothing within him worth getting to know? The world loves reminding him of what he can’t have, doesn’t it? He holds people at an arm’s length for a reason, which makes it easier to tell himself that they think these things about his persona, not him. That’s about as successful as you’d think it is, which is to say, not at all.

Deep down, Cater is a lot of fun. He notices little details about the people he cares about, and he wants to spend time with people he thinks truly get him. It hurts to be reminded that there’s a rift between him and them, maybe one that he cracked into the earth himself. But you’re still sitting with him on the other side, and when he hooks one leg over yours and gives you a cheeky grin you lean into him instead of away. It’s not going to change a lot of his behavior, and it won’t change the way people see him. But it’s reciprocation, and it’s enough.

• • • • • • • Deuce

"Did you hear about the big fight by the botanical gardens?"

"Yeah, I did. Isn’t that one Heartslabyul kid getting into a lot of fights?"

"I heard he used to be a delinquent. Guess he never grew out of it."

Deuce doesn’t really mind, at first. If anything, he’s frustrated that people are worried over gossip that’s none of their business, then he worries how many people know about his old delinquent days. He’s positive you didn’t tell anyone, and he’s pretty certain Ace hasn’t, either - but maybe it’s a meaningless rumor that happened to be correct. He did get into a lot of fights, even despite his best efforts to stay calm and collected.

The worst part of it isn’t that his reputation follows him - he was prepared for that, to a degree. Deuce worries that they might be right. While not the most self-conscious person out there, Deuce was most certainly out of his depth in trying to be a model honor student. His foundation was shaky, and on bad days he worried that maybe his efforts were for nothing, and he’d always be a rowdy delinquent that was too quick to anger over things he didn’t understand.

But you don’t seem so convinced. Sure, when you noticed his bloody knuckles you huff in exasperation, but you’ve started carrying around a mini first aid kit just for him. Deuce insists he can dress his wounds on his own, but he rather likes how tenderly you hold his hand when you turn him down. It’s almost like he’s somebody fragile, who would break if the wind blew wrong and doesn’t throw punches without caution. Sometimes, if you’re feeling particularly fond, you bring his hand up to your lips before he can protest and call him your sweet boy. If nothing else, that gets him motivated. He might not feel as sweet as you say he is, but he’s fervently dedicated to being someone you still want to say it to!

• • • • • • • Floyd

"Surely one of the twins would know what to do, but no way they're worth approaching!"

"Our best bet is asking Jade. He's the more reasonable one, I think."

"Yeah, for sure. Even if we wanted to ask Floyd, he wouldn't be able to get himself to do anything."

Floyd cares more about the incessant noise these rumors make way more than he cares about what they're actually saying. Azul and Jade have both mentioned that it might be worth toying with the expectation people have of him, but that would require planning, which would make everything predictable and boring. It's no secret that Floyd hates being bored more than anything. He lets other people do what they want because he does what he wants, and if he wants people to stop talking, he's very persuasive when he's squeezing somebody.

You both know that saying anything bad about the Leech twins is a bad idea, and that anything that's said about them makes its way to their ears eventually. If a rumor really bothered one of them, it'd be 'taken care of’ by dinner time. But Floyd has only ever paused to consider the thoughts of a few people in his life, and even then he still pushes buttons if it's the right opportunity for the most fun. So if you insist on yapping like an angry Chihuahua on his behalf, go ahead! Floyd doesn't mind the extra reminder that Shrimpy likes him the best!

It is rather amusing, though, to watch you get flustered or upset whenever you hear what people are saying about him. Whether you just scoff and walk away or make a show about correcting them, it lifts Floyd's spirits to know you've got a whole list of things in your mind that you like about him. He's got one for you, too, Shrimpy! Item number one is that you're just soooo squishy…

• • • • • • • Vil

“Ugh, I have just about had it with him! If I have to listen to another lecture about beauty standards I’m just going to start biting people.”

“He’s got a lot to say for somebody that’s probably only famous because of daddy’s money anyway.”

"Right? Like, who died and made him queen?”

Vil hated baseless, idle gossip with a passion. It wasn’t because he couldn’t take it - years in the spotlight have hardened him from the harsh words of ill-intentioned critics, and sometimes he simply did not actually care - but he did hate how such ugly words were only spoken because some little potatoes didn’t feel like doing the work they needed to. They’d see the results if they just listened to his advice. But instead they insist on trying to tarnish his reputation and succeeding in tarnishing their own with the mud they flung so carelessly. It was quite a headache.

He does, however, worry about such rumors reaching you. Vil trusts you and believes you’ve got a good head on your shoulders, but he does not like that he can’t simply plug your ears and direct you away from the lies he knows are out there. He cannot act preemptively and tell you they’re false, for he isn’t sure just what you know and doesn’t want to bring them to your attention when the both of you can leave the rumors to rot as they should. Vil is normally well-respected and admired, but he knows that he can come across as harsh or haughty, and sometimes tabloids just need content. He cannot control what you hear about him, and he is still learning to relax when life insists on taking the reins from him.

Of course, he is an excellent judge of character and would never get along with someone who so blindly trusted celebrity gossip. It brings him great joy to see you smirk at the exaggerated headlines and laugh at how preposterous they are. He also values the way you carefully bring up any details they may have a point about. You have gained his trust, and he relishes in seeing that he has gained yours. Few people in this world have had the privilege of seeing the real Vil behind the glitz and glamor, and yet he can think of nobody more deserving of such a gift than you.

• • • • • • • Rook

"He's such a creep! I hate even being in the same room as he is."

"And if you're unlucky enough to get stuck in a conversation with him, isn't he kind of…..weirdly mean half the time?"

"There's no way this isn't some sadistic warm up for his future career in serial killing, or something."

Rook is another one who doesn’t quite care exactly what is said about him. He knows the reputation he holds, and he doesn’t do much to counteract the image. As long as the Pomefiore dorm is not caught in the crossfire, he simply works with the way people see him. They get so skittish when he approaches, and yet they make no effort to hide their tracks! The beastmen on campus get so nervous around him, ears angled towards him and tails twitching in his hands wonderfully! People rarely show hostility so openly - perhaps he is blessed to see such a hidden side of his classmates in full view!

Although, he must admit, unrequited love stories get a bit old after they’ve been told time and time again. His heart remained unbruised but his mind grew restless, yearning for a different tale to catch his attention. School life doesn’t exactly allow for a lot of new acquaintances to be made once the entrance ceremonies have come to a close. Perhaps that is why he values the interactions he has with his Trickster so much; with your original skepticism reaching to every student and not just him, and your stubborn tendency to figure things out for yourself (and forgive great transgressions, if his peers who have Overblotted can be used as evidence), you are one of very few relationships that has grown organically with him.

It revitalizes him, to give such enthusiasm out and have it returned. You, with all your cunning and tenacity, have begun to slowly figure him out, unwinding the threads he has allowed to fray and pursuing him still. All his other quarries have allowed his arrow to pierce them, killing any chance at a benevolent relationship between them, yet you manage to evade him every time. Truly, you have been the most fascinating chase he has ever embarked upon! Should his arrow ever strike you, he hopes it pierces your heart as you have done to him, rather than chase you away to never return.

• • • • • • • Idia

"Uhhhh…is Idia finally out of his cave today?"

"I think there's a practical in Crewel's class. In person. Can't miss it."

"No wonder the mood is so down today…"

Idia knows what people think about him, and he’s convinced himself they’re saying more than he can hear. He truly is his own worst enemy, having already called himself what others have and so much worse. Idia hates how it feels like he’s stuck in his head and everybody else’s too, caught in an echo chamber of self loathing - but he double hates letting people know about it. The last thing he wants is people thinking he’s a paranoid weirdo, and the second to last thing he wants is more attention for him to second guess.

There are few instances where he can feel what he imagines normal must feel like - online, for one, where he can hide behind a custom avi and let his skills speak for themselves. When there’s a job that must absolutely be done and he is (regrettably) put in charge, he can point out the direction to the end just fine. Everybody can get behind finishing their work early, right? Just like everybody wants to finish the final boss battle and get those sweet, sweet rewards. Idia knows he’s capable and he thinks he’s got a few tricks up his sleeve that are worth hearing about - convincing other people takes more energy and effort than he’s willing to give for what seems like a hopeless, pointless endeavor.

…which is why it’s so strange that you’ve stuck around, and you’ve stuck so close. It’s not that he doesn’t like it, he does!! It’s just…well, you’re the super strong and determined prefect who’s saved the school and Crowley’s skin several times over. He’s the weird shut-in…and that’s one of the nicer titles he’s earned! Idia doesn’t dare voice his curiosities, lest it be enough to snap you out of whatever’s taken over you and send you packing once you realize he might be as bad as people say. All the same, it feels really good when you comment on his achievements and praise his skills, even for the small stuff like placing high in his mobile gacha game events. Before, the thought of you knowing what people think about him used to embarrass him to no end - but now he wishes you have, just so he can be reassured that you won’t suddenly come to your senses and push him away. He’s beyond happy that he let you in, but the leap of faith he took was so large…should you leave, it might prove difficult to make his way back over.

• • • • • • • Malleus

"Gyah-! Malleus is coming this way!”

“Huh?!? Why? Did he look mad?”

“You think I stayed around to check? Quick, let’s hide in one of the conference rooms - who cares if people are inside, they’ll understand!”

Malleus is quite aware of his rather foreboding presence. It’s not like anybody is trying to keep quiet, but even so, an entire school of arrogant, risk-taking mages-to-be avoids him, so clearly something is scaring them off. He’s not very good at appearing more approachable (which he thinks is because his attempt at pleasant, polite smiles come across as “terrifying snarls from a creature on the brink of devouring somebody,” as Lilia once put it). It’s rather lonely.

Malleus isn’t subtle about this loneliness, either. Ask Lilia, and he’ll be happy to tell you about the many times he’s found Malleus moping, or had to fight through the rain and narrowly avoid being electrocuted by his angry lightning over another forgotten invitation. Lilia finds it endearing, but Malleus is nothing short of chagrined. Yet his bemoaning does nothing when nobody dares hover around him to listen.

For someone that doesn’t want to be taken so seriously, he makes even the smallest of things seem like life-or-death occurrences. Once you spared him a moment for casual conversation - my, has there ever been anything as wonderfully mundane as that? - Malleus decides that You Are The One. He isn’t even sure what that means himself, but he does know that he might implode from the isolation if you were to decide to stop talking to him all together. (“First love,” Lilia swoons in the background, “Always so dramatic.”) It only took a kind word to make yourself one of the most important people in a future king’s life, and every word only makes things sweeter. Malleus has never been so thankful that his reputation, for once, didn’t precede him.

• • • • • • • Sebek

"Dear Seven, I’ve got the most massive headache…and here he comes around the corner.”

“What does he even yell about? I’ve learned to tune him out but I can’t imagine it’s anything too special if it comes from him.”

“Talking to him isn’t worth the trouble. Let’s just use the ground floor hallway and avoid him completely.”

It’s hard to say if Sebek knows what other people think of him. On one hand, he must not be aware, because he never tones his voice down and always looks surprised when somebody finally snaps and tells him to can it. On the other hand, Sebek is very firm in his beliefs, so he’d be unlikely to back down because a few pesky classmates of his can’t handle a few shouts. Does he not know, or does he not care? It’s a toss-up, and there hasn’t been anybody curious enough to have a talk about it with him.

The most he ever shows is annoyance. How utterly impolite of you to leave while he was in the middle of a sentence! Were you not listening yesterday when he explained the expectation Professor Crewel had for this afternoon’s alchemy lesson?! WHAT DISGRACE DO YOU INTEND TO LAY ON THE YOUNG MASTER’S NAME WITH THAT BEHAVIOR?!?!?! And yet, he sees his peers laughing and huddling in groups, sees them smiling in response to what one of them said, and part of him feels…weird. Like these humans are purposely trying to tear his pride apart, brick by brick.

At first, you’re certain everybody was right and Sebek hates you on the basis of being a human. He’s definitely as loud as everybody makes him out to be, and it’s difficult to hear his true opinion when his words so often fall to praises for Malleus. You suggest he stick to what he thinks, and Sebek acts as if you’ve slapped Malleus in front of him. The relationship takes time. But, eventually, Sebek starts turning his praises to you, whether it’s because you got the top score on a test or he’s impressed with how well you can command the rowdy Grim. He also starts telling you more about himself, almost like he’s expecting you to praise him now. (You do, of course, but it’s sweet how he does it.) Sebek doesn’t really change - perhaps his reputation is more justified than others - but sometimes, if you can catch him feeling contemplative, he’ll spare a moment to be grateful that you’re stubborn enough to seek the truth. (What a display of integrity! Perhaps it isn’t such a disgrace to invite you to Diasomnia one day and dine at the same table as the young master himself!!)

[godtierwallflower]

Some of the things I REALLY LOVE about New so far, off the top of my head:

Changing the random kid that fell overboard into one of Pudding's brothers.

Pudding bringing her siblings with her on the boat so they could have fun gave us more chance to see her as a big sister early on, and Lettuce's extended interactions with them gave it even more feeling when she was desperate to save him. 

Pudding being the sole caretaker to her many siblings after their father abandoned them all was only visually shown much later in the manga, and barely touched on, so having Pudding bring them all on the boat to let them have a nice evening and get to try more food than they usually do was a much better way to establish that. And Lettuce is less comically clumsy but still more introspective and has more momentum in this show, and having her be so good with the kids was a nice touch.

It gave us some added depth and exploration to both Lettuce and Pudding’s characters, and even gave some more personality to the quintuplets.

I also love that Lettuce doesn’t have the power to breathe underwater anymore. The animal she’s merged with is an aquatic mammal with no gills. Enhanced breath-holding powers, yes, underwater-breathing, no.

How they extended Zakuro's inner thoughts and really showed how the girls were able to change her mind, even after making a good argument for Zakuro’s perspective 

Zakuro felt more understandable for not wanting to be with the others. She really was absolutely correct in the reasoning she gave, and justified from her point of view. She has a busy schedule, she didn’t ask for these powers to be thrust upon her by strangers doing an experiment, and she doesn’t know these girls.

The way Mint finally changed her mind and reached her was really good. Zakuro had good arguments for not wanting to get involved with all this and not understanding why the other girls were getting involved either, and instead of trying to push it on her, Mint decided that she’d respect that and just protect her instead. The fact that Mew Mint’s act of heroism and speech won Zakuro over and inspired her despite that really hits harder. Now, they’re both mutually inspirations to each other.

Her bond with Mint feels much less one-sided in this version overall. They have Zakuro closer with the team, but still as OP as ever.

How they extended Lettuce’s struggle to make friends and be useful, and all the growth and support we actively see her get.

Lettuce's struggle to make friends and later her struggle with self-confidence felt fully realized, especially with Lettuce saying how grateful she is to Ichigo and how much better she's doing now. Her extended focus in the boat episode gave us some great interactions and strengthened her bond with the rest of the team, especially Pudding and Ryou. I like that they didn’t reveal that her drink was a placebo until after she’d done all her amazing feats of bravery, too. And that they kept the first anime’s decision to have Mew Aqua be introduced into the story by having Lettuce come across it first. Seems they’re doing some interesting things with Mew Aqua this time around, too.

We even go from her not even getting to be in a selfie in her introduction episode to saying how much her personal life at her school has improved ever since she met Ichigo and was able to gain some more confidence. 

Having Pudding meet Tart early on in such a fun interaction.

Introducing all the aliens to all the Mews earlier in general was good! But especially Pudding zeroing in on Tart and immediately taunting and teasing him about being shorter than her! They have a really fun dynamic, right from the start now.

Building up the blossoming relationship between Ichigo and Aoyama. 

You can really tell that they love each other but are clumsy about it, and you can get lots of good hints about why their love for each other is deepening. The way they start to grow closer feels so natural, but still has that reasonably written teenage awkwardness combined with the fact that they’re both sort of living double lives that make it even harder.

Ichigo being so inspired by Aoyama’s environmentalism, Aoyama trying so hard to understand these feelings he’s never felt before, both of them trying so hard to protect the other no matter what. They’re clearly shown to inspire each other and help the other feel happier than they’ve ever felt before.

And they throw in plenty of hints that Aoyama already knows exactly who Mew Ichigo is, but is playing dumb for her sake because he knows she isn’t ready to tell him just yet. I love how he chooses to pretend not to know, because it’s her secret to tell, and he won’t take that from her. That’s consistent across all adaptions of Tokyo Mew Mew, but it really feels like they handle it especially well here.

The hinting at Aoyama’s nature

We not only get to watch him fall for Ichigo in realtime and be very confused about where all these emotions are coming from, but we also get to see the hints at his more serious nature.

His moments of being alone and staring off into the distance, sad and contemplative. His misanthropic slip about how sinful humans are. How giddy he gets about sharing nerdy fun facts about his environmentalism and conservation once Ichigo takes an interest in it. The way he never makes Ichigo question whether she’s more important to him than all the girls that surround him at school. How nervous and defeatist he can be sometimes when trying to reach out to Ichigo. How much he blushes whenever they interact. How willing he is to throw himself in harm’s way for her.

He still gets quiet moments of contemplation where he just stares off into space, but he’s showing more an more emotion with Ichigo, and it’s clear it’s all new to him.

There’s a lot to his character, and they hint at it well!

Establishing Ichigo’s desire to find a passion early on, and making that environmentalism so soon after

Ichigo kicks off the series wanting to fall in love, but with her telling her best friends that she’s jealous that they both know what they want to do when they grow up already, it gives the impression that what she really wants is something she can be passionate towards and build a future around. It could be love, but it could just as easily be something else, and I like that they’re leaning on the latter.

Essentially, we’re getting to see Ichigo fall in love with the earth and find her resolve and her career paths. That’s the true answer to her “I wanna fall in love” line.

Seiji and Mint's relationship getting more focus and relevance. 

Seiji wasn’t even in the manga, but the idea of him was a neat idea in the original anime. They just really hit the mark with him here, and even make him a returning character that continues to drive Mint forward.

Seiji being a doting older brother who’s also really proud to offer Mint opportunities that’ll help her career in the future gives Mint a neat little conflict on interest in being a Mew Mew. It also helps establish her interest in environmentalism was pre-existing even before she joined the group, which might explain why they had her be the first girl brought on this time?

I like that they introduced Mint feeling like she wants to be more independent and less seen as a little kid by Seiji, so she was both the first to accept being a Mew Mew, gave her a deeper reason to admire Zakuro for having gone so far even though she’s had just as many years to do it as Mint, AND has a conflict of interest, because continuing to be a Mew Mew would cost her a study abroad opportunity Seiji told her about that would help her further her career. Mint feels like she’s got a lot more going on in her personal ambitions this time around, and I love it.

[eliazine]

Diving into trying to understand the level of Kinn's agency and Korn manipulation.

Third part of my reaction to @dancinbutterfly meta. (done for now ^^)

"The nuance, in this case is that Korn went at Kinn in a very specific way that in my opinion was different than the way it was largely applied to the greater staff. The word I am looking for here is finesse. Korn applied the BITE model with a maestro’s finesse."

As OP clearly demonstrates the major family definitly applies the BITE model to control its staff but I'm not so sure it does apply to Korn's own sons ? and if so how ? I need to ponder on this more.

Edit : on my nth re-read of the original meta, I finally shamefully noted that the emphasis made on the BITE checklist were on the criterias applied to Kinn and not to the staff as I understood it until then. And it is very clear and informative on the staff front but for Kinn, I'm less sure. OP would love to see more of your thoughts on the matter ! (a note to say that these posts are not there to contradict or correct you but just to help me formalize my understanding so I can make up my mind about it all)

So did Korn manipulate Kinn ? (well yes that is kind of his MO but I mean it in a self-serving/sacrificing Kinn to his own cause way)

Korn must also have been groomed by his father in becoming a successfull mafioso, one able to survive, thrive and even relish victory in this cut-throat environment, but I wouldn't define him as trapped by his upbringing (even if he may have his fair share of trauma based on what Gun infered about their "papa" ?).

Taking for granted that they have no moral dilemma regarding the Mafia, for him how would manipulatingly grooming differs from genuiningly teaching his child the skills he deems necessary to succeed in his foreseen carreer ?

Be it for his machiavelic needs or not, it seems telling that he is loved, trusted and seemingly not feared by his sons, most clearly by Kinn and Tankhun. They look to him for guidance, are open to him about their thoughts and feelings and he does seems to adapt his strategy to accommodate them. As an exemple, Kinn reveals his love for Porsche knowing it went against his father (anti)romantic advices but without looking even the least bit worried that it wouldn't be accepted

Do people feels that safe toward a cult leader manipulating them ? Don't they have a feeling even if they love him that they are not allowed to go astray ? I don't know, it may be the sign of a really skilled manipulator.

The only trouble seems that Korn has squeletons in the closet that wouldn't be a problem (well for their particular kind of moral compas) if Kinn was in love with anyone else. And I can see how he would want to avoid the problem by burying them and writing his own version of history.

On the other hand, I can see :

- the attitude of Kim hints at something more for now without explaining why. Kim is noisy but at the same time he doesn't seems to fear Korn (see, their conversation when Kim comes to sneak around but doesn't hesitate to question him openly about Big and Porsche ep5).

- There is also this major/minor dynamic that Kinn has been taught to be necessary because competition makes us stronger (what about now then ? was the lesson considered learned ?)

- The soldier child aspect that the boys were all trained to be killers (could it have been seen as necessary after Tankhun kidnapping ?)

- The singing competition interference (a blow for Kinn ego but well that's what money is for and seeing the way they interract it doesn't seems to be part of a greater list of stabs ? Kinn self confidence seems well established and indeed it needs to be for him to be a good heir)

So, am I missing something ? am I minimizing patterns of abuse ? Would love to be proven wrong and learn from it.

It makes me wonder about real cult heirs, are they really trapped themselves ? What would be the difference between a genuine cult leader and a trapped one not realising he is ? Does it matters ? why so or why not ?

In a more mundane way, I chose my career as a student based on my interest and validated my choice knowingly as an adult because I do like it. It is a path that aligns with what my family hoped for me. Not out of interest for themselves but because that was the way they thought would bring me happiness (understand : a job that is at least safe, stable and reasonnably paid). Was I manipulated in perceiving happiness this way ?

I guess the difference would be in wether or not my family would have respected my choice had it been different (allowing for some back and forth at first as they learn, adapt to the different way of seeing things that my choice may entails and reassure themselves that I will be fine. luckily for me, they did in other area of my life which makes me confident they would have).

So going back to Korn, I'm not sure I would call him manipulative toward his son and not accept at face value that he just tried to pass on the lessons he himself applied in his life (the rusty knife metaphor may have been genuinely given ?).

So the question would be, how would he react to Kinn leaving the mafia behind ? Would he try to break him into staying or would he stay emotionnaly calm, accept that Kinn's life isn't going that way, making him the wrong person for the role and find himself a willing and so more suitable heir (he may have to look for someone out of the biological family but considering the orientation of all his sons and nephews, letting go of the idea of blood dynasty seems to have been accepted some times ago)

[hyperazraphael]

Goodness the reading comprehension on this site IS piss-on-the-poor isn't it? Y'all criticizing op so heavily for being social justicy when op was saying they felt that storywise it made to them that the girls would be ta'veren but they felt like there was a section of the community that was seeing it as a "righting a wrong" issue instead. They did not say THEY thought it was righting a wrong. 😒 You seem to be very keen on making enemies where there are none. ("Social justice cult", good god do you hear yourself? Please go outside and touch some grass.)

Also, on the other half, op is correct even if their description of "insane bullshit" is probably not a very good one and y'all are doing mental cartwheels to dodge around the girls potentially being ta'veren. This weird description of ta'veren as someone who cannot use pre-existing power structures and has to create their own is something you're fabricating. That is not a stated requirement, it's a headcanon, and a silly one at that. (And if you somehow pull a solid book quote out and prove me wrong then fair enough but lol that'd be some damn bad writing.)

A ta'veren is someone who other threads are drawn to and woven around, they shape their own destiny and the destiny of those around them in a way that dramatically affects the tapestry "like a whirlpool." The added rules YOU are choosing to apply as an excuse for why they wouldn't be, not an explanation. Given the definition and explanation presented in the books, both of the girls would EASILY be ta'veren because of the intense way they shape their lives and the lives around them.

They're only not because the story simply wants the three boys to be The Three Special Boys. They are the ta'veren because they are The Special Boys and the story said so and the girls are not because the story said so. I, personally, do feel a lot of that can be attributed to a critique of gender favoritism and the way the female characters are handled in the story, however, you could also simply read it as character favoritism.

Now, how that applies to the new series and changes they may have made I cannot weigh an opinion on because I haven't seen it. I can only speak to the original books and my long-held opinion that yes, the girls are every bit as ta'veren as the boys are. I said it when I was 15 and I say it now that I'm 33. Cannoli's description of the show version sounds pretty dismal but considering the prior reading comprehension and condescending tone of their post while stating headcanon as fact, I will have to form my own opinions on it.

I'm basically supportive of the show's decision to make Nynaeve and Egwene ta'veren, to match the three boys. But I feel like among the fandom, there's a divergence in rationale for the change.

For me, it makes sense because Nynaeve has basically always been ta'veren (even more than Egwene). How much random insane bullshit has Nynaeve gotten herself into that she barely managed to get out of? (Randomly running into Moghedien in Tanchico, being the one to knock Birgitte from TAR, being in the right frame of mind to cure Stilling, and so-on).

For a lot of others, I get this sense of "that Nynaeve and Egwene are not ta'veren is unjust and makes them less than the boys". And thus, making them ta'veren rights some sort of fundamental wrong in the story.

[rainofaugustsith]

SWTOR: On "too easy"

I keep seeing posts elsewhere from "serious gamers" saying "waaah, they nerfed the game, IT'S TOO EASY NOW." I keep seeing posts from people who seem to think the only way to "save" SWTOR is to make it really difficult. And posts that cast judgment on those who prefer a more laid-back approach. 

I can't stand that. Truly, one of the worst things about gaming is some of the playerbase. 

I fully believe that where possible, content should have story/veteran/NiM modes available, the way KOTFE, KOTET and the non-story flashpoints do. If someone's idea of fun is to run every single thing with extreme difficulty, and that's what they get a charge from, let them at it...as long as it doesn't mean everyone else has to play that way too. That's where these discussions usually go off the rails, since these folks seem to think that everyone should play at an arbitrary high standard they deem acceptable. 

A lot of different types of players love SWTOR. Some really do want NiM all the time. Others want to decorate strongholds or dress their characters. Some are all about story. Some love the group aspect and always want to play with guildies or friends; others steer clear of all interaction with other players. Some do a mix of all of the above. Some avoid certain activities at all costs. 

I'm a solo story player. For me, extreme challenge isn't fun. It's usually enough to get me to quit. It's not fun for me to die over and over in a game or to struggle with complicated mechanics where one misstep means death. I hate things like the Onderon datacrons. I felt that Spirit of Vengeance was originally tuned way too high and had way too many mobs, even though I was fully able to finish it. 

I've gone in and done some more difficult things like Dread Seeds and veteran flashpoints solo because I wanted to see the content and complete those missions. If the entire game was tuned like the last Dread Seeds mission or those veteran flashpoints, I'd likely leave in about two seconds. In the longterm, it's not pleasant for me. It's physically painful, it's boring and I don't find it relaxing or fun.

No one playstyle is "correct" or "normal." They all are. What's abnormal is when someone insists everyone has to play a certain way. What would I say to those gatekeepers whining about content being too easy? 

The story content isn't getting people ready for endgame. 

So? 

You're assuming everyone wants to play endgame content. They don't. There's nothing Bioware could do, say or bribe me with that would get me into things like Ops, ranked PvP, PvP at all, PUGs or Master Mode flashpoints. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. I am here for the story. Period. 

A training ground for endgame content exists in the form of flashpoints. The flashpoints in the game do get progressively tougher. If someone's truly interested in getting raid-worthy skills they're likely going to be doing solo flashpoints. And using groupfinder or joining a guild that works to help players progress. There are options, and those who are interested in raids will seek them out. 

But the story is so easy. It's a faceroll. Games are about challenge.  

Challenge means different things to different people.

Everyone has different abilities. You might roll through every flashpoint. The next player might die seven times just getting through the first tomb on Korriban. By the way, I'm "next player." I think my first toon may have kicked the bucket before even getting into Ajunta Pall's tomb. The word "easy" is very, very relative. 

Also, for some of us, easier content is relaxing and fun. The same way some people like a leisurely bicycle ride along the bike path and others train for the Tour de France. 

If challenge for you involves very difficult gameplay, it does exist. Go join a NiM guild for raids. Go play ranked PvP. Play another game. Why does everyone else need to play the way you play? 

People aren't grouping. They should be forced to group. 

Because you think they should? What gives you any right to dictate how other people play or who they play the game with? Are you the National Gaming Czar and nobody told us? 

This "grouping should be compulsory!" belief is bullshit. People who want to group WILL group. That's always been the case. Hell, I remember being a kid and playing single player console games with friends. We'd take turns, cheer each other on, and yell out advice to the person playing. We found a way to play in a group because we wanted to. 

Right now, the people in SWTOR there are guilds and healthy incentives to join them. Right now, the people in SWTOR who want to play with a friend or friends can do that. Even in things like class stories or KOTFE where it only progresses for one person, they can still come along and help. There are multiple opportunities in the game for players to meet each other. There are social media sites where they can do the same. There's group finder. There are people who look for groups on the fleet. There are PvP and GSF where they can play against others. 

Bottom line? Anyone who wants to group has multiple ways to accomplish that at this very moment. 

Those who aren't grouping likely do not want to group. They don't have to explain why. If you force them to group one of two things will probably happen: they will do it and hate every second of it and not want to be there, or they will stop playing. Which is more likely? Well, I'm sure we've all finished Oricon, Iokath and Macrobinoculars, right? Oh wait...

This is a game. It's not supposed to be like a job where you have coworkers you detest and still have to interact with them. It's not some life skill. It's. A. Game. Get over it if people don't want to play with you.   There should always be open world PvP. Sure, if you want a mass exodus from the game in about a day. The minute they make open world PvP non-optional or make PvP content compulsory is the day I stop playing. And I don't think I'm alone there. I feel like this comment usually comes from people who are frustrated that others don't accept their duel requests and that there isn't a huge pool of players for PVP matches. They can't get people to play with them voluntarily so they want to force it. And you should be able to tag a mob someone else is working on. I keep seeing this brought up as an ideal in other games. It seems to be a way to force people to group with you even if they've said no to an invite. You know what will happen with this? You'll have players hitting the mob once and getting credit/loot without any effort. Or you will have players following around other players to "share mobs" with them even when that other player wants to be left alone. I'm of the opinion that any type of group play should be consensual in all cases, not forced on players because they happen to be in open world.

*sigh* It's an MMO. 

And? MMO doesn't mean "group all the time" or even some of the time. It means a lot of players are co-existing in a shared online world. It means the ability to group should exist - and it does. 

People come into group content and don't know what to do. 

#1: Everyone starts somewhere. We all know that you were so miraculously gifted that you came out of the womb knowing advanced mechanisms for every boss fight, but most of us didn't. 

#2. If you want to play strictly with a team of veteran players, join a guild, make some friends in the game and have fun. That's a lot more realistic than expecting random players in a PUG or groupfinder to meet whatever your exacting specifications are. 

#3. Blame the devs for forcing players into Groupfinder to complete Galactic Seasons and other objectives. There are plenty of people who wouldn't be there if that weren't the case. 

People come into flashpoints and want to watch the cut scenes. 

Hang on. Let me process this. In a story based game, players want to watch the cut scenes? For real? That's completely unreasonable! /sarcasm

In the latest flashpoints, they've more or less removed all the cut scenes. You have your wish granted. For the older flashpoints, there are still many that don't have solo/story mode. The only way people can see those cut scenes is in veteran or master. If you have an issue with this, start advocating to the devs to make solo story versions of those flashpoints.  I feel like the bottom line is that everyone has the right to ask for the type of gaming experience they want, but they don't have the right to insist everyone else should share that experience.

[fruitcoops]

Eve, I LOVE binging your masterlist. I was wondering if I could request a short lil story where someone reminds Jules that since Remus + Sirius got married, then Sirius and Reg are his brothers now too and Jules gets really excited about having TWO more older brothers after Coops' wedding? If not, totally fine!! Have a great year!!

Part 2 of the Coops Wedding series! It’s finally here after my computer was possessed and deleted the first version--this one is just over 4k words, so I hope that makes up for the delay! Sweater Weather credit goes to @lumosinlove <3

Preparations II Part 1

Remus had never been much of a dancer—despite his speed on the ice, he had two left feet and only the barest hint of rhythm. However, dancing at his wedding was a different story.

Sirius twirled him in a small circle, smiling from ear-to-ear as their friends and family spun around them to the beat blasting through the speakers. They still had three hours until sunset, and Remus was planning on spending every second of it with Sirius’ hand in his own. He pulled him in for another kiss—our tenth today? Twentieth? One hundredth? Who cares—and pulled away with a laugh as Jules and Katie bumped into the backs of his thighs.

“Watch it!” he called, ruffling Jules’ hair as they passed in a dramatic tango. Katie shrieked with giggles as Dumo swept her into his arms, spinning her around with a broad smile. Hope took Jules’ hands while Phil Collins began to sing about love, happiness, and everything Remus was already holding in his arms.

“Hey!” Sirius said over the music, giving Remus a squeeze.

“What?”

“I love you!”

“I hope so!” Remus laughed, spinning Sirius under his arm before reeling him in to bump their noses. “Not bad for a wedding we planned in six weeks, eh?”

Sirius shook his head, grinning. “We were engaged for ten months. How did we put that off for so long?”

“Because we’re busy all the fucking time.”

“We’re not going to be busy for three whole months,” Sirius said giddily as he picked Remus up a few inches with ease. He paused for a moment, scanning his face as if he was trying to memorize it.

“What’re you thinking about?” The were close enough that Remus hardly had to raise his voice above a murmur.

“We get to do this every day for the rest of our lives.”

His words hit Remus like a semitruck of affection and tears prickled his eyes as he leaned down for a kiss; Sirius set him down to kiss him properly, hands gently bracketing his jaw. “You are the most incredible person,” Remus said against his lips. “How the hell did I get so lucky?”

“I could ask you the same.” Sirius smiled and rested their foreheads together. “Come on, I think Celeste wants to cut the cake soon.”

Remus looked over at the folding table on the other side of the dance floor and stifled a laugh; Celeste, in her pretty blue party dress, was adjusting the cake by millimeters and glanced at her watch every few seconds, as if she was afraid people were going to leave. “I’m dying to know what she eventually decided on for the flavors.”

Sirius hummed his agreement and pulled Remus along by the hand—they didn’t even have to say anything before the rest of the small crowd followed them and gathered around the table. “Wait, wait, wait!” Celeste gasped, taking her phone out of Dumo’s pocket. After a few seconds of quiet, she nodded and centered it on them. “D’accord.”

“Ready?” Remus set his hand on top of Sirius’ and the hilt of the knife, pushing slowly down as it cut through the white frosting in a smooth glide. It was perfectly baked; not a single crumb stuck to the blade as they pulled it out.

“Here we go,” Sirius muttered as they took the first piece out. “Vanilla!”

“Orange, actually,” Celeste said, beaming. “The next layer is chocolate.”

“Celeste.” Remus gave her a tight hug before passing her along to Sirius, who bent down so she could kiss his cheek.

“Merci, maman,” he said quietly. “C’est parfait.”

“Surprise!” She did little jazz hands before handing them two forks from the end of the table. “Oh, this is so exciting. You have to try it, I don’t know if it’s good. I’ve never made an orange cake before.”

“Hurry up, Cap, we’re hungry!” Logan called from the back of the crowd. Sirius pulled a face at him and carefully slid the piece onto a paper plate before linking his elbow with Remus’.

Remus took a forkful of the cake and held it to Sirius’ mouth—just as he went to eat it, Remus scooted it to the side. “Ope, a little to the left, love.”

“Remus.”

“Oh, you almost had it! Not quite that far.” He could hear Jules giggling and grinned, moving it two inches to the right as Sirius tried to get it a third time.

“Remus!”

“What? It’s not my fault you can’t catch a fork!”

Sirius finally grabbed his elbow and held it in place to get the cake into his mouth, narrowing his eyes at Remus. “Only you would be mean to me on our wedding day.”

“I’m not being mean.” Remus kissed his nose. “Just keeping things interesting.”

“Yeah, yeah, alright.” Sirius got his own bit of cake and held it up. “Close your eyes, sweetheart.”

The second his eyes shut he regretted his decision, but before he could shout a full paper plate of cake smacked into his face with a splat. Everyone gasped, then burst out laughing as the plate fell back down onto the table. Remus slowly wiped frosting from his eyes, flicking it down onto the grass. “That was mean.”

“That was payback,” Sirius corrected.

“See, I would believe you, except I know you’ve been planning to do that for at least three days.”

“Honestly, I’m surprised you didn’t do it first,”

“C’mere, you.” Remus reached half-blindly for his tie, pulling him in for a sugary kiss and feeling around with his other hand for the plate. He pulled away and, before Sirius could open his eyes, smushed the leftover cake right onto his forehead.

Sirius licked his lips. “Celeste, the cake is fantastic. Do you think it’ll moisturize?”

She was laughing too hard to respond, but she blew him a kiss in between drying her eyes. Remus took a napkin of his own and wiped his face off, licking as much of it off his hands as he could. “Oh, please don’t wait for us to clean up,” he said, motioning the still-laughing crowd forward. “We’ll be here for a while.”

“Whose fault is that?” Sirius teased.

“Yours!”

They ended up ducking into the kitchen to wash up while Dumo and Celeste passed out slices of cake. “I hope there will be some left over for us,” Sirius said as Remus washed the crumbly frosting from his hair. “From the little I got, it was amazing.”

“Yeah, she nailed the orange flavor.” Remus leaned on the front of the sink, watching people mill around or return to the dance floor for one more song before enjoying their cake. The buzz of their mingled voices dripped with joy and he smiled to himself, soaking in the feeling of his family’s happiness.

Warm arms encircled his waist as Sirius’ chin rested on his shoulder. They said nothing and waited in utter silence until Remus laced their fingers together and headed back out into the summer sunshine.

----------------------------

An hour later, a dozen mismatched plates of food laid decimated on the folding table with a quarter of a wedding cake left as James headed toward the dance floor alone, clutching a piece of paper. He stopped just in front of Remus and Sirius’ table and winked at them.

“Hey, everyone. If you don’t know me, which I find difficult to believe for a number of reasons, I’m James Potter, the groom’s best friend. Yes, both of them.” He paused for a moment to let the laughter roll through. “However, I didn’t want a fight to break out over who got to have me as their best man—”

“There was no fight,” Remus corrected with a grin. “The loser got you, Pots.”

“And a lucky loser he is,” James shot back playfully before clearing his throat. “I met Sirius Black six and a half years ago, when he was eighteen and awkward. We were both awkward, actually, but he had this uncanny ability to make it look cool while I tripped over my own feet.

“The minute I met Sirius, I knew we were going to be friends. He was quiet, a little shy, and didn’t really know how talk to people. In that way, we were exactly alike.” The laughter was even louder that time and Sirius shook his head. “Ah, who am I kidding. I adopted Sirius as my best friend because I thought it would be hilarious to corrupt him.”

James glanced down at Sirius with a smile. “While I attempted to make an extrovert out of him, I learned several important things: number one, he is the least extroverted person I’ve ever met. Two, he is one of the kindest, funniest people on the planet. And three, my life had been severely lacking without him in it.”

A soft ‘aww’ washed over the group and Remus ran his thumb over Sirius’ knuckles.

James looked back at the other tables as he continued. “Sirius Black is known to most of the world as one of the best hockey players of our time. To me, he’s the dorky little brother I never had, and I am so, so proud of him. I’ve had the privilege of watching him open up, not only to me, but to everyone else on the team that he loves with that big soft heart. When my son was born—you all know my son, right? I think I have a picture here somewhere—”

“No!” half the group shouted as James grinned.

“Just making sure you’re still awake. Anyway, when my son was born, naming Sirius godfather was literally the easiest thing I’ve ever done. I kinda sat back went ‘hmm, who is the first person I can think of to entrust with my child’s life?’ and the only natural decision was the one who is terrified of children.”

“Terrified is a bit of a strong word,” Sirius complained, though his eyes were shining.

“My bad, you’re petrified by children,” James corrected. “But in all seriousness—sorry, couldn’t resist—in all seriousness, I couldn’t think of anyone better suited to the job. I think that tells you everything you need to know about Sirius, actually. Even when he’s scared to death, he goes out of his way to help people when they need it.

“Sirius, however happy you are right now—and you’re basically glowing—I need you to know that it’s one tenth of how happy you have made the people you love.” James’ voice got a little tight and Sirius took an unsteady breath. “You are a natural leader and a great hockey player, but most importantly, you are an outstanding friend. You deserve every good thing coming your way, today and for the rest of your life. As your best man and your best friend, I’ll be there whenever you call.”

Sirius sniffled as James wiped his cheeks dry and turned to Remus. “Loops, take care of my little brother, alright?”

“You got it, Pots,” Remus said, barely above a whisper.

James nodded, then raised his glass of champagne. “To Sirius and Remus, and all the happiness they deserve.”

A loud cry of “cheers!” went up, followed by thunderous applause as Sirius got up and wrapped James in a full-body hug, nearly knocking them both over. They separated after a moment and James stood on his toes to kiss the top of Sirius’ head before they went back to their respective places.

“You okay?” Remus murmured, linking their hands together again.

“Fuck, I knew he was going to make me cry.” Sirius shook his head with a smile and sniffled once again. “Yeah, I’m alright.”

Lily raised an eyebrow as she stood James’ place. “Y’know, Re, I seem to recall you promising me a microphone if I did this.”

“Sorry to disappoint!” Remus called back, feeling a flutter of nerves in his stomach. Lily had refused to share any of her speech with him; when he tried to sneakily grab it once, she shoved it down her shirt and glared until he left the room.

“I’ll get over it.” She rubbed her fingers along the edge of her paper and sighed. “I’ve written and rewritten this speech about a dozen times since Re asked me to do it, but just being here—” She took a moment and blinked back tears. “It’s different. Just ignore me if I cry, okay?

Lily cleared her throat and turned back to the paper. “I met Remus Lupin six and a half years ago, on the same day James met Sirius for the first time. Personally, I think we should make that day a national holiday, since it irrevocably changed the course of both our lives. James found his best friend and little brother, and I found my Remus.

“One of the first things you will notice when you meet Remus is that he is friend shaped.” Several murmurs of agreement rippled through the crowd and Lily winked at Remus as he flushed pink. “Told you so. Honestly, Remus is one of those people who just exudes kindness. When I found out I was pregnant, he was the first person I told besides James. I knew Remus would not only keep my secret, but also be there in whatever capacity I needed because he cares. Truly, madly, deeply.”

Lily looked over to them with a soft, fond expression that made Remus’ stomach twist into knots. “In Sirius’ vows, he said you were sunshine through dark clouds, which is quite possibly my favorite descriptor of all time. It’s really sappy and cute, for one thing, but also true. Re, you bring light and warmth wherever you go. As someone who has been on the receiving end of that light, I can tell you that it is absolutely overwhelming in the best way. There are few places I feel safer than around you.

“And now we’re here, where you just married the love of your life.” The first tear slid down Lily’s cheek, dipping into her dimple as Remus’ own tracked down his chin. “God, Re, this is incredible. You two get to be together for the rest of your lives, and the rest of us have the best seat in the house to one of the greatest love stories of this century! I mean, c’mon, how many people can say they’ve made it through everything you did?”

Lily sniffled and raised her glass, though she maintained eye contact with him the whole time. “To Remus and Sirius, who remind us all what it looks like to be in love, even when the whole world tries to stand against you.”

A second ‘cheers’ began, but Remus was already on his feet and crashing into Lily, pulling her close as she clutched the back of his suit jacket. “I love you, Lils,” he choked out. “That was fucking incredible.”

“Love you too, Re.” She pulled back and carefully smudged her hands under her eyes to keep her makeup intact. “Ugh, sorry if I ruined your jacket with the waterworks.”

“You’re in good company.” She kissed each of his cheeks and fluffed the front of his hair up, making them both laugh as she took her seat again and Remus moved past his table with a last look to Sirius.

His mother’s eyes grew shiny with unshed tears as he held his hand out and guided her to the dance floor, where they swayed back and forth as Here Comes the Sun started to play, gentle and smooth. “Oh, you,” Hope managed as the lyrics began and Remus twirled her slowly. “I bet your father’s crying even though he’s not dancing.”

Remus glanced over to their table—as always, she was right. “He is. God, you’re good.”

“That’s what happens when you’ve been married for twenty-seven years,” she said, eyes crinkling. “Someday, that’s going to be you.”

He huffed softly. Don’t cry on mom, don’t cry on mom, don’t cry on mom. “You can’t just say stuff like that. It’s like kicking me while I’m down!”

“Little darlin’, it seems like years since it’s been clear,” she sang with a grin, tapping his nose. “Here comes the sun, dodododo, here comes the sun, and I say…”

“It’s all right,” Remus finished under his breath. The dance was over in an instant and after a thousand years at the same time—all too soon, people were clapping as they made their way back to the tables and Sirius walked over to Celeste.

She covered her mouth with her hands as he offered an arm, then nodded and accompanied him to the dance floor. He whispered something and she laughed, looping her arms around his neck with a bit of a stretch as a French song Remus had never heard came through the speakers and softened their smiles.

They talked quietly as they danced; Celeste was as elegant as ever and Sirius could be quite graceful when he put his mind to it. She traced his cheekbones with her thumbs and he closed his eyes, looking utterly at peace. Remus’ heartstrings tugged at the sight and he rested his chin on his hand, letting the waltz roll over him.

More applause followed their dance as Celeste held him in a tight embrace until a more upbeat song began and couples mobbed the dance floor. Sirius downed half his water in one gulp before sitting down with a heavy sigh, and dropped his forehead onto Remus’ shoulder. “You looked good out there,” Remus said, running a hand through his hair.

“So did you. I can’t feel my feet anymore.”

“I think we’re supposed to dance at our wedding.”

“I’m so hungry.”

Remus groaned; between the endless congratulations and conversations after the ceremony, they had no time to enjoy the assorted dishes people brought. “Same. We should go somewhere after this.”

“Other than home?”

“Home…” Remus trailed his lips to Sirius’ ear. “Is for other plans. Food happens elsewhere.”

“Good plan,” Sirius said, a little breathless as he sat back up and stood with a stretch. “Come on, sweetheart, the dance floor awaits.”

---------------------------

Thirty minutes after the sun set and Adele’s perfect fairy lights lit up the backyard, the party finally started winding down. Finn had fallen asleep with his head on Leo’s shoulder about ten minutes prior, but nobody had the heart to wake him; as the best dancer of the group, he had been a hot commodity for anyone looking to show off in addition to whirling both his boyfriends around.

Jules stumbled over to Remus and curled up in his lap without warning, snuggling his face into his chest with a jaw-cracking yawn. Regulus came up behind them a moment later, resting his hands on Sirius’ shoulders and scaring the daylights out of him. “Jesus f—frick, Reg!” he yelped, holding a hand over his heart.

“Sorry.” He didn’t look very apologetic as he turned to Remus. “Jules has been asking for you.”

“Oh, yeah?” Remus looked down and brushed the soft bangs from his eyes. “What’s up, buddy?”

“I love you,” Jules mumbled. “You got married. That’s so cool.”

Remus smiled. “It really is. Thanks for being the ring-bearer, by the way. You did a great job.”

Jules made a muffled noise before wrapping his arms around Remus’ waist with a sigh. “Mmkay. G’night.”

“You can’t fall asleep yet!” Remus tickled his side lightly. “We’re almost done, I promise.”

“What time is it?” Jules cracked an eye open and fumbled for his wrist, turning Remus’ hand over to check. “It’s not even ten! Why am I tired?”

“You’ve had a busy day. Do you know where mom and dad are?”

“Still talking.”

Remus surveyed the crowd and quickly spotted them next to the cubs, sipping water and sharing a piece of cake. He stood carefully, making sure Jules was steady on his hip before heading toward the table with Sirius and Regulus in tow. “We’ve got a tired munchkin,” he whispered when they arrived, depositing Jules into the chair next to his mother; within moments, Jules laid his head on the table.

“Love you, Re,” he said as he tucked his arms under his head. “Best big brother.”

“Best of all three?” Logan gasped in mock-surprise.

“Three?” Jules sat up straight and gave him a confused look. It was made extra adorable by the crooked cowlick decorating the whole right side of his head. “I only have one.”

“Now that Remus and Sirius are married, you’ve got two more big brothers,” Logan reminded him. “Regulus and Sirius count.”

“That’s crazy,” Jules yawned, cocking his head at the brothers. “Re is still my favorite, but you’re awesome and I love you, too.”

Regulus made a soft sound and Sirius kissed the top of Jules’ head. “Don’t tell anyone, but you’re my favorite Lupin,” he stage-whispered, laughing as Remus rolled his eyes.

Jules frowned. “You married one of us, and it sure wasn’t me.”

“Alright, second favorite,” Sirius conceded with a grin as the rest of the table laughed.

“Mama, I’m tired.” Jules traced the bead patterns on Hope’s dress.

“Okay, lovey, we can go home soon.” She raised an eyebrow at Remus and he nodded. “Do you want to say some goodbyes first?”

“We’ll see everyone tomorrow. ‘s okay.”

Lyall gathered Jules into his arms, then turned to Remus and pulled him close with a kiss to his forehead. “So proud of you, kiddo.” He looked over at Sirius for a moment. “Take good care of him, eh?”

“Sir, yes sir.” Sirius pressed a kiss to Remus’ temple as they separated, then moved aside for Hope.

She scanned his face for a moment, then touched their foreheads together. “Good luck, baby. Not that you need it, but you deserve it anyway.”

Remus pulled them both back in for a family hug, feeling Jules drape a drowsy arm around the back of his neck. “Thank you so much for being here. It means—it means everything to me.”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Lyall whispered. “Now go, you two haven’t eaten anything tonight.”

“Thank you,” both of them breathed at the same time, sending the whole group into a fit of laughter.

They said a few more ‘thank you’s and goodbyes until the other Lions started a loud, incoherent cheer and all but chased them toward Sirius’ car, where a small ‘Just Married’ sign had been stuck on the back window. They were planning on keeping the wedding a secret from the media as long as they could—the reaction would be even more hilarious the longer they waited.

“What if—” Remus broke off into snickering as they pulled out of the Dumais’ driveway. “What if nobody notices?”

“What? That we’re married?” Sirius gave him a disbelieving look. “People are going to figure it out so fast, no matter how many times Pots changes the subject.”

Remus hummed and rested his hand on Sirius’ thigh as he drove, tapping along to the rhythm of the radio; the route was familiar to them both, even after the chaos of the day. A slow, unstoppable smile made his cheeks hurt. “We got married.”

“Damn right, we did.”

“Scuse me for a moment.” Remus rolled down his window and cleared his throat, then leaned out and whooped loud enough that people in the next state would probably be able to hear it. He calmly closed it once more, fighting down a smile. “Sorry, I just had to get that out.”

Sirius slowed and rolled his own window down, sticking his head out into the empty night air. “I got married!” he shouted at the top of his lungs with a wild grin. “I have a husband now! Just thought you should know!”

“Husband,” Remus mused as the car started moving again. “Hmm. I like the sound of that.”

“Me, too.”

[nevermindirah]

Dorothy Freeman facts

By facts I of course mean headcanons, because Nile's mom doesn't get a first name in canon (or even confirmation that her last name is Freeman). All we know about her is the picture on Nile's phone lock screen (which is Kiki Layne's real-life mom and brother!) and a few lines that Nile tells Andy about her. I’ve been collecting my Dorothy headcanons for a while now to eventually make a post, and @mprosperossprite​‘s excellent post giving non-Americans context for what it means that Nile is from the South Side of Chicago prompted me to go ahead and share this. Disclaimer that I’m white and I will absolutely make corrections if it’s pointed out that I’ve caused harm with any of this.

So here have some fun facts about the version of Mama Freeman who lives in my head rent-free:

Her family and growing up:

she was born in the mid-'60s and named after Dorothy Dandridge

I can’t decide whether she was born in Chicago or moved there later on (maybe with Nile’s dad?) and when in the waves of the Great Migration her family left the South

she came of age in the "post"-Civil Rights movement and went to college in the mid-80s when a lot of what are now the foundational classics of Black feminism were being written

she was a young adult when Anita Hill risked so much to report that a Supreme Court nominee had sexually harassed her, and as a result she HATES Joe Biden

Marriage and babies:

she met Nile's father — I can’t decide how they met and I have two competing headcanons for his name, either Gideon for the hefty Biblical masculinity vibes (Giddy for short among family, that man loved to laugh) or Carl, which started out as a shitty Carl’s Jr burger chain joke that turns out to be perfect (it means free man!), and @knoepfchen​ used it in the sequel to if you do take a thief where Carl is alive!! — and Dorothy was a little skeptical of his near-religious devotion to the military but he was really hot and really devoted to her and they made it work

she's a little pissed that she was right but it's unbearable if she thinks about it too often

it's going to be a long, long time before she can look back on pictures of Baby Nile stomping around the house in her dad's combat boots (this is a Gina Prince Bythewood headcanon, whyyyyyyyy can I not find a link to where she said this)

she named their second baby Indus, Indy for short (this is nearly as established fanon in Book of Nile circles as how much Booker loves eating pussy, and Indy Freeman as a young adult is portrayed by either Aldis Hodge or John Boyega I don’t make the rules)

Work:

Dorothy did some office jobs but nothing really grabbed her, and she was probably gonna have to move for her husband's career, so she decided on teaching — high school humanities

she’s been active in CTU (one of the strongest teacher’s unions in the US) her whole career and one year she was on the bargaining committee and her babies know damn well never to trust a boss, not even one who says all the right things — if she ever finds out the way Nile said "like Quynh?" when Andy promised to protect her, she will lose her mind with pride

(Nile was 18 and freshly graduated from high school in 2012 when CTU went on strike for the first time in a generation and she brought her mom snacks on the picket line)

one of her very favorite things is getting her students to laugh despite themselves at her "oh my GOD you're so EMBARRASSING" old-people jokes

she's one of those teachers who can get 30+ teenagers to go dead silent with judicious application of body language

she's known to occasionally go easy on grading subjective things like essays when she knows students are having a particularly rough time at home, but the second she gets the feeling they're taking advantage and not trying their best that shit is over and they better mind their Ps & Qs

she's the kind of person who says old-people shit like that

she gives her students assignments like "help 5 neighbors register to vote" and "write a compare/contrast table about the candidates in this local election" and "research 5 different ways you could get grant money to do X" and other practical civic-minded shit

standardized testing is her supervillain origin story, just kidding it’s Rahm Emanuel, why the fuck did Obama trust that asshole

After her husband died:

she would have lost her goddamn mind if it weren't for her church friends after her husband died, people from the church raised money so they could make ends meet while his pension paperwork was taking forever, church friends watched Indy so Nile could go out for the soccer team, etc etc

she sold her and her late husband's house and moved to a 3-bedroom co-op unit when Nile started high school, it's more affordable and it meant she didn't have to worry about household repairs in the same way, she can use a wrench if she needs to but she doesn't have time and it just makes her grief flare up (co-op housing has a long history in Chicago and other US cities (like Washington DC where I live) as a way for Black people to access decent, affordable housing in the face of entrenched discrimination)

the move meant putting a longer commute between her and church, but she didn't even bother looking for a church closer to their new home, she loaded the kids into the car on the weekends, parking is hell in their new neighborhood but it's worth giving up a hard-won parking spot to not have to wait so long for the L on Sunday mornings

Indy lived with her through college and he was gearing up to get his own place when Nile died, Dorothy was planning to move into a one-bedroom in the co-op building because she doesn't need so much space anymore, Indy took a day off from his new job (not so new anymore, her baby's so grown!) to help her sort things to donate when those dress-uniform Marines came to their door

part of her wishes she could've been home more and not had to rely on Nile so much for help with Indy, but he's turned out such a kind young man, and he's a much better cook than his sister is (was, oh God — no wait, is! she’s alive! what do you mean you’ve been alive all this time??)

some of the girls from church are encouraging her to check out this social dancing thing, nobody's pressuring her to date but there's definitely been some ribbing, and with Indy out of the house... maybe? probably not, but maybe

Her feelings and beliefs and likes and dislikes:

she's an absolute badass and also she's a soft human woman with lots of feelings

she's very, very traditional in some ways, and part of her mixed feelings about Nile following in her dad's footsteps is gender stuff, she's proud of her daughter and would never stand in the way of what Nile wants to do with her life, and if Nile came home and told her she's a lesbian she would never reject her, but if Nile came home and told her she's bisexual maybe she can just try focusing on men? “I love you sweetheart and I want you to be happy I just know how hard it is already for us in this world” type shit

she has been on team natural hair basically her entire life and one of the worst fights she and Nile ever had was over Nile wanting to straighten her hair as a pre-teen

Indy takes more after her and Nile takes more after their dad, she's so proud of both of them, but Dorothy's activism was mostly wearing her natural hair to work and daring bosses to give her shit, Indy's out there marching in the streets like her parents had and she WORRIES

she teases Indy for going to so many protests like he's using it as an excuse to meet girls, but she WORRIES

when she turns 60, she gets box braids with streaks of dark purple, subtle enough that it's still work-appropriate but it makes her smile, she may be old now but damnit she’s still pretty!

she loves Grey's Anatomy and Star Trek and she watched Bridgerton all in one day

she has a dirty-old-lady celebrity crush on Chris Hemsworth

if she's ever masturbated thinking about Donna Summer, well, that's nobody's business but her own (do non-Americans know about the queen of disco??)

If you want to read fic featuring Dorothy:

I won't have to leave alone, 1000 words, Nile has a nightmare and decides to go tell her family she's immortal

I See Your Eyes Seek a Distant Shore, 65k, Nile adjusts to immortality and does a lot of soul searching about what it means to "do what we think is right", Booker goes to grad school for trauma studies, the working title of this fic was Booker Reads Edward Said and Gloria Anzaldúa and Goes Down on Nile and the final product has an annotated bibliography in the author's notes if you’re into that kind of thing, a lot of my Dorothy Freeman headcanons were born of my process writing this

Gather round the table, we'll give you a treat, 2279 words, college AU, Nile brings her Jewish boyfriend home for Christmas

a contribution I made to Shitty Old Guard Deaths: (Booker, USA, 2025, cause of death: a mother’s righteous wrath)