#does anyone here know the author personally i couldn't find their socials if they have any

[cryptiduck]

stuff from a view from the bridge by classifiedgenomes because it's been living in my head rent-free lately

[bloodyjuls-blog]

Im gonna fight for both of us

P4

So here we go with part 4, sorry it takes me too long but I'm working and hate work haha...

When Alexia entered the hospital she had no idea what she would find there, in one hand, she could find y/n awake but with some tiny injuries (it was what she wished) but what she found was a nurse informing her that they needed someone to give consent to perform an emergency surgery because y/n's accident is a serious life threatening emergency and Alexia knew well, the only person who could do that was your sister, she had the obligation to call her and inform her, she didn't bother to call your parents because she knew that you were not the most beloved daughter in that family, moreover, she knew that they wouldn't even miss you if you died, because she heard many conversations with them in which they clearly told you that you were a failure.

While Lilah, your sister, gave the authorization over the phone, the doctors explained to Alexia what had happened to y/n. First, when they arrived at the hospital y/n went into cardiac arrest due to the impact, then doing a general sweep they found cervical and spinal injuries that compromise her mobility, hence the emergency surgery. What worries them the most is the injury of her brain, apparently it has a severe inflammation and they are concerned that when she wakes up (if she does) she will have compromised her cognitive functions such as speaking, moving, remembering things, most likely she will have memory loss.

When her sister arrived at the hospital she was furious, how was it possible that y/n was drinking again and doing these things as irresponsible. Alexia got angry and said a few things to her.

"Look, I don't think that looking for blames is the solution, what I think is that we should support each other without blaming in favor of y/n not dying, because I swear that if she dies I am going with her, you don't understand the things she was going through, and being honest neither did I, and if looking for blames then blame me because I was the one insisting" Alexia said. "Insist on what, what did you say Alexia" says y/n's sister "I insisted so much on the idea of starting a family, having children, that without those things I couldn't continue with her, that all this time was lost, but I swear it's not like that, it hurts me a lot to know that probably the only thing she heard from me was that while she's always being the loveliest person she is told me that for her the family was me and she didn't need children while she was with me, you don't know how much I regret it." Says Alexia crying and Lilah just approached and hugged her. At the end of the day their relationship is very close. "Ale calm down a little and come let's sit down, I think I understand why y/n is like this with the family thing and maybe when y/n wakes up it will kill me because it's something she didn't want you to know" lilah says calmly. They settled into the waiting room chairs.

"Since she was very little, my sister has always been the black sheep, the daughter that nobody wanted, the girl that when she had the opportunity to left home she did and never came back, you know Alexia when my sister left I was very sad but as an older sister I always saw the mistreatment and never said anything, she stopped going to so many events, so many Christmas reunions, so many birthdays or things like that because she simply knew that they didn't want her, they didn't show it love of support, the only thing that accompanied her in her gray days and well not so gray, was her bottle of whiskey, what can you ask from a teenager who has social pressure for what she does and no support or family that can tuck her in and tell her that everything will be okay" says the sister between soft tears. "I didn't know that, I thought that since she was also getting along with you..." Ale said remembering the phone calls from your parents.

"Of course Ale, you more than anyone knows that she is not one of those people who scream her problems and plead for help, she didn't want you to see her as something weird, that's why she gets along so well with your family, she found love in you, to feel loved, tucked in by someone, valued, no matter what and luckily your family is just like you, if you see the relationship my parents have with me and have with her you would surely get angry because you and I know what is y/n and how important it is to have her in our lives, Ale I'm not going to lie to you, a while ago I also thought that my sister wanted to be a mother because you know mate, look at how she treats the children, they have a very special relationship, very nice, she is a pure soul, but all her life she has seen examples of how not to be parents, how my mother ignored her and her things, Alexia the fact that my parents are not here is not new, when that 17 year old girl in her peak career broke her cruciate ligament, nobody was there for her, not even to give her a bottle of water, and because of that and more things is that y/n is super strong and every thing she sets in her mind to do she achieves it. For many years it was just her against the world and she has lived many blows without saying a word, so if she gets out of here you will understand that it will be very difficult, she will need a lot of support because according to what I have been told, her injuries are serious, probably the only thing that keeps her alive is football and she won't can do that anymore" says Lilah calmer. "I swear Lilah when y/n gets out of here things will be different, I would have liked to have this same talk but with her and avoid this bump in our road but life gives some people a lot and others very little, I swear I will be in her way as long as she lets me, that girl deserves nothing but good things and I believe that all the people she has given her love have let her down in a certain way, but just like you, I also want to do well, did you know that at home I have the ring to propose to her? I swear that without it I can't live" says Alexia more calm and confident. "I'm glad to hear that Ale, you two do each other good, please don't lose that, you're all would be miserable for life and that's not what you're all deserve." Lilah said as she gave Alexia a hug.

Hours later

"Relatives of y/n y/l" says the receptionist on the OR floor. "We are" say Lilah and Alexia at the same time. "The doctor is cleaning up but he's on his way here to report his relative" says the girl stoically. "Thank you very much" they both say in unison.

Once in the study room with the doctor....

"Well, I must say that it was a very complicated surgery because we found internal injuries that we couldn't see in the x-ray and that compromised her health, I am not lying when I say that she went into cardiac arrest at least three times and that worries us a lot because it means that her heart is weak. About her cervical injuries I am afraid that only when she wakes up we will be able to know if she has sensitivity in her legs and if she will be able to walk again, but I must admit that because of the blows her spinal cord has been affected, I want to be very realistic with you, if we manage to have a satisfactory recovery it will be very difficult for her to return to her profession, because the high impact can cause definitive injuries, now my colleagues are monitoring her brain signals because in the resonance we saw very few but we can guarantee that there is no brain death, but any sequels will be determined once she wakes up, at the moment she is not in coma but she was not awake either, we have implemented a method of sedation a little strong but I insist she is not in coma, so now later when the entrance to her relatives is authorized you're all can talk to her, in this state she can listen hope so. Of course, the view that you are going to find is very strong, because she is connected to many tubes and intravenous lines, also her external injuries are a little strong and her foot has an external fixator because there was a fracture of the tibia and fibula". Says the doctor super calm but forceful.

"thank you very much doctor, the fact that she is still alive is because of your effort, let's hope that the evolution is positive, sure it is" says Lilah calm and Alexia super scared because she doesn't understand anything. "Well Ale, y/n is not well and there are strong changes coming in her life and the only thing we have left to do is be by her side to make it as bearable as possible, I am not so much worried about her physical injuries but mental then we must make sure that when she gets out of here she gets psychological attention, and have faith that she will get out of this because she is a super strong person, she always has been and this will be just a very fat bump for her, are you ready to see her" Lilah says optimistic. "I don't know, I just know that if I will always be even if she doesn't want me to, it will be hard for me to see her like this but that's okay" Alexia says forcefully. Alexia's phone starts ringing, it's Ana and Leah on joint call.

"Hi girls."

"Hi Alexia, what happened to y/n, did you find her" says Ana worried.

"Girls, y/n was involved in an accident and it's serious" says Alexia with her voice cracking remembering the anguish experienced a few hours ago.

"How???? What do you mean accident and serious????, my goodness" says Leah in dismay.

"Yes girls, apparently her car overturned at high speed on Tibidabo and her injuries are serious, she probably won't be able to play football anymore" "if you want to come I'm sure y/n would really appreciate it" says Ale sadly.

"I'm already looking at flights to Barcelona, I just can't believe it, what a downer girls, I'm so sad" says Leah in tears.

"Ale tells me which hospital you are, I'm on my way" says Ana in a hurry.

"We are in the one near Tibidabo" "now I'm sending you the location, I'm going to hang up, I'm going to go in to see my baby" and Alexia hung up.

Before entering the room Alexia calls the team managers to discuss what happened and they tell her not to worry that everything is going to be fine and that she can take all the time in the world to be with y/n.

Lilah takes Alexia's hand and asks her if she is ready to go in to which Ale nods not so sure....

When they enter the first thing they see is y/n lying on the bed with many tubes everywhere, one coming out of her mouth, IV in her arms, one in her leg and the fixator in her ankle adding the bandage on her head (because nothing can be seen from her spine but that's where her surgery was) a tube coming out of her side, Alexia's heart breaks in little pieces to see her like this, the love of her life lying on a bed fighting for her life....

"Ale, talk to her and hold her hand, so she could feel you are here, with her, while I go make some calls" "Ok" alexia says.

"Hello my love, I know that the last time I spoke to you I didn't say very nice things but I want you to know that they're not true, I was very angry with you, it is that you are a stubborn honey, why don't you tell me your things, my life you are going to be very well. You are going to recover and although everything will be very different I am going to be with your sister and you all the way, you are going to be well, healthy, strong and laughing at life as always, I am sad to see you like this, I don't like to see that you are having a bad time, I only ask you to fight and stay here with me, don't go without me, I love you so much, all the girls are worried, even Leah is coming from London later and Ana is on her way, I'm sure that when they see me they will want to tear my head off for being stubborn, and you should know that I don't mind not having children but as long as I have you, nothing happens. .. We will buy the little house on the beach that we want so much and we will be very happy my love, I cannot do without you, you are my life, you have always been my life, I love you, very much and I will not leave here and go home without you. I love you too much, you can't imagine how much..." Alexia says through tears as she comes over and gives you a little kiss on your uninjured cheek. She arranges the chair next to you and doesn't let go of your hand, trying to give you some human warmth in that cold room. And she falls asleep for a while to the sound of the monitors lulling her to sleep.

[olderthannetfic]

I was going to write in and rip into how much I hate BNFs. But then I realised I don't actually hate BNFs as people. They're just people like me. What I fucking hate is the glorification of BNFs and other fans putting them on a pedestal.

I remember you got an ask a long while back where anon was saying they wished they were a BNF because everything they do seems so much more important than what anyone else does. Their opinions, their headcanons etc are more important and, even worse, just blindly accepted by many other fans. This was probably the thing I couldn't stomach most after the anti mob mentality I found when I came to Tumblr. I find it so gross how people fawn over BNF's and treat them like some sort of experts or oracles, as if they have secret hidden source material knowledge that everyone else does not.

Tbh, I read your blog in browser and logged out because I don't want to log back in to my account and see some BNF bs on my dashboard. I've had enough of actually being on Tumblr.

That recent anon talking about how a BNF threw a tanty because some other BNF updated a fic on the anniversary of their own fic is hilarious. The fact that these people think they are that important, and the fact that other people enable their self-aggrandizement is just sad.

I understand that there are BNFs who became BNFs because they produce genuinely fantastic content, but personally, these are few and far between. Most of the ones I've come across are just gatekeeping their husbando and seem to get off on a powertrip that some unwitting people give them that attention and consider them the only one true expert on the husbando.

I've hyperfixated on the same character for almost half a decade and have spent that time roaming a whole bunch of social media platforms but always avoided Tumblr because I heard it was toxic. Eventually, I gave in and joined here too because curiosity got the better of me. And uuughhh....the BNF thing just put me off so much. The way people put them on a pedestal.

I read through some of these long af meta posts they put out and I thought nope, completely disagree with you on your take on blorbo and just stopped reading those posts and continued to write my own fanfics the way I wanted to and eventually just got off Tumblr for the most part. But this fawning over BNFs just makes me roll my eyes to high heaven.

Apologies to any BNFs reading this. Ya'll cool but some of you need to realise you don't actually know anything the rest of us don't.

--

The term has been used lots of ways over time. Long ago, it was mosttly for infrastructure builders (because concoms and zine eds are highly visible compared to a lot of online infrastructure builders). In the LJ era, it was mostly fic authors because fic itself was what the community focused on most.

I'm sure there are people who'd consider me a BNF by now simply for my tumblr turning into some sort of hub.

The main problem is really the elevation of some rando's opinions to Eternal Truth. The so-called BNFs themselves come in all flavors from entitled babies to people who refuse to admit that they are a BNF.

"You should have known about my fic anniversary" is something I've seen from fans whom nobody has heard of too. Entitled, ridiculous people are all over the place, and they're often enabled by those closest to them. We just tend to hear about them when they've gotten popular.

The mistake is to treat BNF-dom as an objective state that can be diagnosed with some definitive test.

All it really means is "Some people think you're more famous/influential than the fans around you".

[mengyao]

4 for strike dear mistress, 12, 17, 22 for fowd, and 46!

4. What detail in strike, dear mistress are you really proud of?

oh jeez. there are a fair amount in there tbh, since it was me trying to cram all of my headcanons about JC pertinent to foowd that couldn't come across naturally via NHS POV into one piece of PWP, but i liked getting to dwell a bit on JC's whole concept of marriage and how miserable he imagines it must be if it's not with someone he's already actively in love with… If he did put effort into looking for candidates, he can’t imagine anyone angling their daughters at him for any reason besides his name and position. Not with his reputation. He’s not compelled by the prospect of being politely—or impolitely—tolerated under his own fucking roof. He remembers his parents. How difficult it is to share a life. he's not even really wrong because i can't imagine that marrying some random 20 year old at this point in time would be emotionally fulfilling for him lol. he's framing it in this scene as being about his Perverse Sexual Desires but that's not really the issue… tfw you got promoted to authority figure as a teen but you're a baby brother to the core :( and you just want someone to genuinely like you for you, not just respect and defer to you out of social obligation :(

12. Are there any tropes you used to dislike but have grown on you?

i think the opposite experience is more common for me lmao but i'm sure this has happened before. let me think. hnmmmmm i'm still very picky about amnesia fics but kitsch's bingqiu amnesia fic you are who you love outsold!

17. What highly specific AU do you want to read or write even though you might be the only person to appreciate it?

[shaky deep breath] Beefleaf. Madoka Magica. Fusion,

i litchjerally don't have more details about this concept than a very vague moodboard about um. girls who become witches (who pretend they're girls). cosmic entropy. does this make shi wudu kyubey or is kyubey jun wu? who can say. this is all part of my compulsion to assign all of my faves with "homura akemi vibes" regardless of if this is a real thing that they have

22. Who is your favorite character in flight of a one-winged dove and why?

[rihanna mario tweet voice] nie huaisang baby! nie fucking huaisang!!!!!

the reasons i love nhs (and foowd nhs specifically) are manifold so i shant elaborate on them here besides to say that for me personally, the characters i feel the most affection for are the ones who have a lot of problems that they didn't create but then who go on to create a bunch more problems for themselves and others, and you understand why they did so and they probably think they had no choice but it's like hmmmmmmmmm girl but did you really. did you really,

i like to pity my favs. just a bit. but also i want them to be happy whether or not they deserve it. you know how it is

46. Do you prefer writing on your phone or on a computer (or something else)? Do you think where you write affects the way you write?

i hate writing on my phone because it's so un-ergonomic and i have an on-and-off repetitive stress injury so i try to minimize the amount of typing i do on there BUT i do find that i often make different connections or get different ideas about how to write things when i'm on a phone, just because you're physically looking at the words in a different way, they end up arranged on the screen differently, etc… the "shape" changes… you can see much less words at a time vs. opening up a page on a computer screen… so i often do nitpicky little line edits on my phone, especially if i'm just reading a draft/wip file over idly on the train or before falling asleep etc (both of which i do a lot.)

my desktop computer in my room is where i do either my best or my worst writing, because i either get super in the zone or i'm sitting there totally distracted by everything else i can do on my computer/in my bedroom and have no sense of the external accountability that i'd have in a public place, or even out at the desk in the living room where my roommates can pass back and forth (i'm pretty good at writing deranged stuff in a small font stonefacedly which is the only way this is able to work)

[camillomea]

I'm not sure if it's readable but here's part 4

4- sacrifices for family

Notes:

and here are the 4th chapters. I hope you like it. I hope you will tell me in the comments whether you like or not your thoughts. I especially need help with the social media part, I am not sure and I have a lot of things in my mind but since I have not done it before, I am not sure if I did it myself. Anyway, I have talked too long, enjoy the new chapter, enjoy reading <3<3

The man still had the gun pointed at him. Bruce's hands were still in the air. The man injected him with a needle. He felt his body go rigid. He couldn't move. His body stopped moving. He collapsed to the ground. The man said, "Oh, this will paralyze you for a while, Mr. Wayne," he said, tying something over his eyes so that he couldn't see what was going on around him. Then he tied it over his ears to deafen him.

***

Oliver said, "He knew who you were," Bruce nodded silently. "You protected your children, and not just them," Oliver said angrily. Bruce nodded silently again. Oliver clenched his fists, "Son of a bitch. I'll kill that son of a bitch myself," Bruce said. "Oliver," Oliver shouted, "DON'T CALL ME OLIVER. DON'T START THAT NON-SENSE AT ME." Bruce sighed.

Hal said, "My friend, Oliver is right. Yes, we both agree with you, and in all the years I've worked with you, I've never killed a single person out of respect for your way of thinking. But what happens when you find that son of a bitch? What happens if you catch him? Won't he give the information to anyone else?" Bruce said when he heard this, his fists clenched. A voice said, "I don't think any of us need to do anything." When they looked there, Selina was looking at them with her arms crossed at the door. Bruce looked at her in disbelief.

"What do you mean?" Hal asked. Selina said, "Oh, the Big Three don't seem to like it when others mess with their rivals and then throw them in front of them like garbage." Bruce sighed. Oliver said, "When you say Big Three, you mean Joker and the other two idiots, right?" Bruce and Selina nodded. Hal said, "When you say throw them in front of them like garbage." Selina said, "Oh, when the son of a bitch was done with Bruce. He told the Big Three where he was. The son of a bitch decided that since he was having enough fun, someone else could have some fun too." Oliver and Hal shouted, "WHAT?"

Bruce asked, "Which one did you talk to?" Selina said, "None of them. But I know who sent me the message with the Nighthawks,” he said with a grin. Bruce sighed and knew that look. “I guess I’m lucky that he’s not just a psychologist but also knows first aid,” he said. Selina said, “Yeah, just like you’re lucky that the Joker or the other two didn’t kill you or make you sweat to death there or that you and your children didn’t spread your identity to the whole world?” Bruce shut his mouth at that. Selina said, “That’s exactly what I thought ^^.” Alfred came and said, “Master Bruce, breakfast is ready.” Bruce said, “Let’s eat something.” They got up. They went to the kitchen and sat on the chairs.

***

Gotham social media:

@G533: Batman is back, there have been people who have seen him for the past few days. #gotham #batman

 @G452: I saw it, I saw it! #batman

 @G534: Does this mean things are going to get chaotic again? Things have been very calm lately. Is it so unusual for me to find the calmness strange? #gotham #batman

 @G134: I share your feelings 100%. I think it's because of the weather in Gotham. #GothamWeather

(author's note: my first attempt, I probably won't get up again or keep it short like this)

***

Bruce was working on his armor in the Batcave. He had to make sure everything was okay with his knee implant before the patrol. Otherwise, he would only get in the way of his patrol and get himself in a bad situation. He was focused on the armor when he heard voices coming from the door. He looked up. It was Oliver. He was looking at him and what he was working on. "Do you need help?" he asked. Bruce, I'm doing it, I'm just making sure everything is in place," he said. Oliver nodded and came over to him. Hal was right behind him.

Bruce was very aware of their stares. "I don't want to talk about what happened. Or what happened to my leg. So please don't ask anything," he said, focusing on what he was working on. Oliver sighed. "You can wait until it's fixed, Bruce," he said. Bruce sighed "Oliver there is nothing left to fix. So waiting won't change anything" he said. Hal asked "But how come there are no problems when I am in armor" Bruce said "I have an implant that stabilizes me and reduces the pressure on my leg" Hal said "And you don't use it normally because?" he asked as if asking. Bruce because it's not a little shit I suffer for a long time when I get out of the armor" Oliver said angrily "that little bastard" he growled. Bruce remained silent.

Hal said "How do you still stay so calm" Bruce said angrily "Because my anger won't do any good and it won't keep me alive. It won't make me useful. Yes I am very aware of what my situation is and what is happening to me but thanks to me not fighting my family is still safe and well that's what matters to me. Protecting my family is much more important to me than staying alive. I don't care if I can never walk properly for the rest of my life or if they become disabled" he said.

Part 3

[daddyfuckinlonglegs]

part 2 What I really liked about these two posts and the authors' interpretation is how much they're pulling out those themes of loneliness - fundamentally, I think the stories of all the companions, and the player character, and Shaun, and a bunch of other NPCs, maybe the game as a whole, are about loneliness.

Imo, it's absolutely spot on to observe how lonely Danse is, and how, to quote the original post, he "doesn't even have that connection to the world, of being born into it", how once he's not welcome in the military he's lived for, he has nothing, and struggles to understand his place in society (and to recover his self worth, what a fucking blow it must have been for him). There's a lot of writing out there about how ex military people often struggle to settle into civilian life, and how it affects their entire lives afterward - and some specifically interesting (to me) stuff about how the intense homosocial bonds encouraged around WWII were in fact so strong that lots of men either realised they were queer, or if they weren't, couldn't find a companionship that lived up to what they'd had with their "buddy". An angle I'd love to see explored with an ex-military Sole and Danse, for the record. I'm getting off track. Next point. I like how much both OPs have reckoned with the social pressures of these character's positions, vs the characters' sense of self worth. It's clear that both of them feel tremendous guilt, and have made life changing choices based on that. And here's where I'd bring in the other companions' experiences. Look at MacCready - also parentless, also forced to leave the only community he ever knew, and one where he had an immense responsibility (as a child too), also disconnected from the family he built through the harshness of living in the wasteland. Joined a military organisation, could not find that connection there, now a complete "lone wolf" when Sole meets him. Piper, also parentless, trying to care for her younger sister, routinely harassed by people who hate what she stands for (and literally locked out of the city when Sole meets her, a metaphor I hope Bethesda intended), socially isolated because she stands up for what she believes. Deacon, where do you even start hah! It's too dangerous for him to connect to anyone because of being connected to the railroad, and he lies about everything, to everyone, all the time. Strong, exiled from his community for being different to the others around him. X6-88, as courser he can't be attached to anyone (because what happens if he needs to recall them?), and what does it mean to be a synth living inside the institute - is companionship for synths even considered important or necessary? Cait led such a life of trauma that her entire personality is a front for her addictions and she literally spends her life fighting people, Curie literally locked in a vault for hundreds of years, Codsworth waiting at the house after the entire world died around him, Preston watching his hope for the commonwealth and everyone he was close to destroyed by the Institute, Nick Valentine tossed out by his creators and living as the imitation of a dead man in a city that makes it's hatred of synths very clear, presumably with the memories of the warmth and connection that man had in his pre-war life... Hell, even Dogmeat is alone. And the sole survivor, waking up 200 years out of time to a world they don't recognise, knowing their spouse is dead and their child is missing and they have nothing to connect them to the world except the need to find their kid - then finding him. Finding what an isolated life he's led. All of them have experienced so much loneliness. And I think that both of those initial posts really explore the ways that we, as the audience, as readers of this text, can connect with that loneliness, through our modern experiences, through our own trauma or loss or isolation, through our frustrations and anger at the way society is built and how it rejects us and keeps us disconnected.

This post is meant to be in conversation with this post about Danse from slocumjoe and this post about Hancock from serknighted. Reading them first means this will make a lot more sense. To be clear, I am not saying that their interpretations are wrong, I am in favour of reading any character in a way that allows you to explore your own existence and relationship with the world in more depth, and if you've been around my blog long enough you'll have heard my takes on MacCready that exist for very similar reasons. Deliberately reading a text with a certain lens on it can be good for you. That out of the way, I want to both agree and disagree with both posts.

Firstly, where I disagree: I don't have any strong opinions on whether either Danse or Hancock is autistic. I don't read them that way, but I'm not in charge. I do think that many of the experiences that the original posts ascribe to autism are not a singularly autistic experience. I think what you're both describing is just a very human way of experiencing isolation, in a world where community connection has been destroyed and rebuilt in an image of it's predecessor. I don't agree that Danse or Hancock don't have friends; Danse specifically for the simple reason that a military does not operate without a strong inter-unit bond between soldiers. As serknight put it, "he has all but given up his sense of self for what he believes is right", which is a large part of how militaristic organisations operate - you are a unit, not an individual, you are the lowliest creature on earth until you are trained into the corps, and then you embody your duty to your unit. Hancock also reads to me as having some strong connections - Fahrenheit, for one - and what we each individually categorise as "a friend" is so variable that I don't think we can get into it about video game characters without getting into the reeds. For me the issue here is that the game has limitations on how it shows interpersonal connections; I'd argue that none of the companion characters are shown to have "friends". And although I know it's common for autistic people to experience the very particular type of othering and isolation that comes from not following the secret unspoken rules of society, and a sense of utter rejection and disconnection from other people, I don't think Hancock is shown to feel disconnected because of that. I think he's shown choosing to flout those rules, self destructing, living with addiction, and then trying to rebuild that community differently. I also think he is well liked within his community (as much as any politician is), just not by the people who would prefer to have the power he has. I also don't agree that the synth stuff is a metaphor for autism, I don't think it wholly maps onto what Bethesda did with the idea*. For the record, I don't think the slavery angle was well executed either, too many implications they hadn't considered, but that's a post that's been written a hundred thousand times before. And I think the McCarthyism needed a touch more... importance in the story to really land with any power, but I do really like the idea. I also wish Piper had been more utilised in this regard, and that brings up another point I'd disagree with; I don't think Piper knows shit about who's a synth and who isn't. She makes those comments about Danse's way of speaking pointed out in the original post ("...have you heard him talk?") but not all synths behave like Danse. Glory, and Magnolia, and Sturges all have totally different personalities and approaches, and Piper has no evidence (afai remember) for McDonough other than a plucky journalist hunch. She's a part of the McCarthyist paranoia angle, making accusations against a figure of power that she doesn't agree with. I'm glad that it resonated with people, that idea of autistic people being othered for the way they speak is a great point in and of itself, and the dialogue definitely works to support the reading of Danse specifically as not-used-to-NT/informal-conversation, I just don't think the rest of Piper's character is a good basis for it to go further. And now, before getting too point by point critical, I'm going to post this, and write part two of this, where I will explain where I think you're right, and hopefully extend some of this out over the other companion characters.

[pussymagnetmadara2]

FIXING THE TRUTH ABOUT IZUMI UCHIHA

I think it's time to set the record straight on some of the Uchiha clan members, especially for itachi fans who are trying to do some mental gym to figure out why Itachi didn't contract his MS because of fucking Izumi Uchiha and pretend that she was his lover... LMAO.

This will hold on 2 points or maybe 3.

Izumi Uchiha is a non-canon character, used in a specific context.

Izumi was only introduced in the anime to try to push the pill on Itachi being a very introverted kid, who couldn't make friends, let alone date anyone romantically. Itachi, had only one canonical friend, Shisui, who was already much older than him. Itachi not having a friend his own age made so much more sense to the character. Itachi is introduced as a kind of autistic person who lived outside the world in his own mind but had to wear a social mask in all circumstances because people liked to remind him of his genius and this potential should not be wasted. And yes he was the kind of guy who would go for a walk alone in the forest to think deeply about the basis of his life here, or try to throw himself off a cliff to figure out why life is so important. When did you in the manga, Itachi take a romantic turn with anyone? Literally nobody. It wasn't like him.

Izumi is a character created from scratch for Itachi Shinden.

I struggle with this section of toxic fandom quite regularly, lights novels are not canon and do not extend the manga canon. The canon of a story only refers to what its original author writes and that's it. The rest is just stories or fanfiction to try to make sense of a secondary character and why do even? Should we have known that Itachi was actually a little marshmallow heart so that it would ease our pain for the actions he committed? Izumi was a young girl born to an anonymous lambda father and an Uchiha mother, that's all we learn at the beginning. After her father's death, Izumi and her mother are allowed to rejoin the clan but still have a hard time being recognized as true clan members. She meets Itachi at school and literally falls under his spell. He's handsome, smart and powerful, and a full-blooded Uchiha, I can't blame her here but she's just one simp among many. Sasuke will have the same success with women years later. She tries to blame herself for Itachi making him a friend by forcing her friendship on him and making him feel guilty for not giving her time while he repeatedly pushes her away, (hey Sakura) while he is majority busy between a genius, used for his out of the ordinary abilities, between the village and the Uchiha clan. He ends up being a little interested in her when he discovers that she has awakened her sharingan… that's literally it. But when I say he is interested in her, I'm not talking romantically, he is just jealous of the fact that he didn't succeed in awakening his sharingan and how did a half Uchiha succeed before him? Is Izumi the real genius here? And yes Itachi was clearly jealous of her and that's all. Finally he managed to awaken them and the interest in her disappeared again. What a jerk. Izumi trying to find comfort in Fugaku is my favorite laughable section… Fugaku being obsessed by the interests of the clan didn't actually notice by himself that Itachi was an asocial kid and it's only after his wife Mikoto's worries that Fugaku also wonders: Itachi needs friends otherwise he'll end up in a bad way. But Itachi had a friend, the good Shisui, but after his death what does he have left? Izumi has always been irrelevant for him. Itachi Shinden has just softened the horrible Itachi's character with the death of Izumi. Wanting to kill her first and soften her death in a genjutsu in order to give her what he could never give her from the beginning was literally not adorable but just horribly cringe.

Yes, but Obito said that Itachi killed his lover.

Yes, in the translated versions of the manga. But on second thought, what did Obito know? Did he know Itachi well enough to say that he had a lover? No. Obito only made presumptions based on nothing. Then, it is possible that Obito lied to Sasuke to make him gain ground in his own manipulation. Finally, Obito stating that Itachi went as far as to kill his lover, never pronounced a name. Who said that it was Izumi? Nobody, not even Obito.

In the anime, Obito is the one who kills Izumi, why would he refer to Izumi as the lover that Itachi killed if he was implying that Izumi was Itachi's lover? Things lead us to think that Obito was talking about Shisui instead or that he was simply lying.

Conclusion: The lights novels are so flat that even the anime which is more than 40% filler doesn't even come to the same conclusion. What to do? READ THE MANGA.

ps: sorry for the grammatical typos or else, im not an english native speaker.

[millakatariina64]

Happy Saiou Day!! 💙💜

So if anyone remembers last summer I said I'd post the complete portraits of my talentswap designs and a climactic scene from the AU with a full summary when they're finished? Well, I didn't forget!

So, below are my headcanons for Ultimate Supreme Leader Shuichi and Ultimate Detective Kokichi~!

(I'm really passionate about this AU, I hope you read it ':3)

(Tho no climactic scene unfortunately)

Ultimate Supreme Leader Shuichi

So first of all Shuichi's parents are still celebrities, move overseas and leave him with his uncle. However in this AU Shuichi's uncle is a politician who actually has a really good reputation. Problem is, his uncle is incredibly busy and is almost never home because of that. Still, he wants to be like his uncle (though the wish is fueled more with wanting to be good enough and accepted). Shuichi's personality is basically the same.

So then one day I Alligator girl's (Gonna call her Wani) alligator gets stolen by some group who're going to sell it and they threatened Wani to not call the police or tell anyone. So she asks Shuichi to help. Somehow they manage to retrieve the alligator together secretly (idk) and right afterwards one of Wani's friends is in trouble with some shady local business. So Wani suggests they make a group to stop these sorts of people and that Shuichi would be the leader. He agrees, he still wants to do something to make this world a better place like his uncle.

After that Wani starts asking her most trusted friends at school if they'd like to join (Shuichi would never have the social courage to ask someone that). When they get to 10 members (all girls) they stop growing for some time and decide to get themselves uniforms. When they're finally considering getting more people into the team since Shuichi doesn't really know these people, he decides to start wearing a mask to be safe. He also starts using the code name "Crow". The other 10 members go by flower names.

The group then grows a lot. And by the time Shuichi's officially scouted to be an Ultimate, it has around 1500 members. And it's making him very worried as Shuichi's not even sure anymore if he's skilled enough to lead it. The group started out stopping or changing corrupt businessmen, unethical businesses and other evil groups. And although that still is what they do, he's realized that the way they go about things is pretty illegal. (When he first realized this, he started wearing a hat.) Obviously he forbids violence, but they still use blackmail and steal information. Also they need money for the group to function at this point so they've had to get it through illegal means that Shuichi's not sure of anymore. So Shuichi is immensely scared of being revealed as the organization's leader because it would completely destroy his organization and it would also annihilate his uncle's as well as his parents' careers on the spot. Basically everything would get ruined and it would be a nation-wide scandal. Perhaps even an international scandal.

He gets even more worried when the police finally start realizing there's some sort of group that's blackmailing big businesses and start investigating.

When he gets scouted to Hope's Peak, the letter comes to his base and even HPA doesn't know his identity, just that he's a high school student. He doesn't think like he deserves the title at all since it's really his organization that does the hard stuff and Wani's the one that's made it grow and he shouldn't be panicking like this if he really was a "great leader". But he still decides to go due to "If you manage to graduate from Hope's Peak, you will be set for life!". But as his family can't know of him being scouted there as the Ultimate Supreme Leader, he forges a letter claiming he's the Ultimate Lucky Student which he shows to them. And at HPA he requests he be referred to by that title.

Problem is, now his year group has 2 Ultimate Lucky Students and a certain Ultimate Detective gets suspicious.

Miscellaneous: Shuichi really wants to use make-up but he's really afraid to at home since he feels his uncle would think it's really weird. So at the organization's base Wani heard about it and got him some makeup and now Shuichi wears makeup when on missions and at the base. Also the organization has a helicopter. (It's a central part of that climactic scene I talk so much about.) Shuichi thinks about becoming a detective perhaps, but he's not sure how he'd be able to leave his group anymore so...

Ultimate Detective Kokichi

For Kokichi I still have my pretty elaborate origin story. His early years are great until at some point his real father finds out that Kokichi's mother had actually had the Kokichi and his older twin brother with him and not her husband leaving him alone. And thus he murders Kokichi's mother out of spite. Kokichi and Tamotsu (my headcanon name for his twin) see the murder take place and flee. However, they were never actually able to make out who the murderer was and they knew even less of why their mother was murdered.

The murder never gets solved and this mystery stays in Kokichi's mind. Who ruined his life, who killed his mother?

(I feel they'd have like an uncle and their mother's husband lived with them obviously. There'd also be other factors like disposed evidence and the suspects vanishing making the murder so much harder to figure out afterwards.)

So Kokichi and Tamotsu end up at an orphanage, one related to the one Maki's at. It's kind of a terrible place, but it's where Kokichi meets (most of) Dice. They become inseparable friends (tho don't form a group with the name Dice. I'll still call them that here for clarity's sake though). However Tamotsu who had always been supporting Kokichi and being there for him at his side starts becoming bitter (jealous?) against Kokichi due to dice and starts turning against them. This is the time when Kokichi starts developing his lying to protect himself from Tamotsu as well as the borderline abusive authority at the orphanage. He's also started to figure out the dark secret of the orphanage training children to become assassins.

I feel like during this time a detective was investigating the orphanage. So when things get too dire and Kokichi and Dice escape the orphanage the detective ends up taking them in after finding them on the streets afterwards since he can't just send them to an orphanage at that point. So Kokichi and Dice end up staying with the detective and start helping him out. Kokichi's especially interested in the orphanage now and he and the detective with the help of the other Dice members figure out a lot of stuff. (This is also the time the rest of the Dice members "join".) Until one day the detective gets assassinated by someone from the orphanage sending them a message to stop the investigation.

So Kokichi takes over the Detective's office and to get by he starts working on all kinds of small cases with the help of Dice. And that's what they mostly do. Among those small cases are often cases that have something to do with saving children. However Kokichi occasionally also takes on homicides and investigates organizations. He wants to be prepared for when he finally investigates his mother's murder as well as the organization behind the orphanage. He wants those people locked up in jail forever.

Personality wise Kokichi's pretty much the same. He still loves pranks, lies all the time and would have elaborate stories (lies) about like for example how he was the one who managed to put the previous Queen of Novoselic's assassin behind bars. (The previous Queen was not even assassinated). He'd also jokingly blackmail people by claiming he knows something about them or could figure out something incriminating about them. He never really means it, though he would like try to find out harmless embarrassing secrets to mess with people.

Around the time he gets scouted to Hope's Peak he's specifically requested to assist in the investigation of a mysterious organization that steals information and sends blackmail and other such things. It's a huge flashy case, so of course he picks it up.

At Hope's Peak he then meets an (surprisingly mysterious?) Ultimate lucky student who seems really interested about his Ultimate detective talent and his lying.

Bonus

The original portraits from summer 2020. My laptop just broke when I finished the lineart and then I couldn't really edit them on my new tablet anymore and they were getting really old so I just decided to completely redo them. Also lmk if you want the sketch of the climactic scene since I'm not sure if I'll finish it even though I really like it. It looks pretty okay even if it's unfinished.

Also hope this is coherent and that I haven't forgotten anything aah. And damn if you actually made it this far gezus. This took like 4+ hours?? oops.

[chicoriii]

Season 4, Episode 4 - Mr Pigeon 72

I have no idea where to start. This episode has some good things and some extremely stupid.

Marinette isn't still completely fine, but I prefer when she deals with it through being hyperactive than being a whining crybaby.

I know people don't agree with me, but personally I don't buy the whole revealing identity to Alya. It's not a problem with Alya herself, I would say the same about every single character who is not named Alix Kubdel at this point of the story. I haven't written anything in my post about Gang of Secrets, because I thought it would be undone in some way at the start of the next episode. The creators did nothing to explain why revealing identity of Ladybug to anyone was super dangerous and would result in a catastrophe in seasons 1-3 and the first two episodes of S4, but it's magically fine in episode 3. Only Alix made sense to me, as she will be the rabbit Miraculous holder, so she is destined to discover identities of everyone sooner or later and Marinette is aware of that. While it's not necessary to learn identity of anyone to other temporary Miraculous wielders, including Alya. Also that reveal hasn't been foreshadowed in season 3, while the show usually does it, especially if it's about something as important as that! More, in late S3, it's been shown that Alya still can't resist to not talking about Marinette's love life with Nino, despite she asked her to not do it. Now the girl, who is overly excited about superhero stuff, has no problems with even accidental revealing anything to Nino or someone else. She's even "stealing" Bunnix line that she's great at keeping secrets (sorry but you, the creators, haven't shown us that she's indeed is before!). This is why I think that reveal hasn't been planned before they started writing season 4.

But okay, I can deal with it, even if I don't buy it, but things these happened in Mr. Pigeon 72 are even more inconsistent with previous seasons. I have been worried about it, so it doesn't surprised me. For some reason Guardian related-things that have been kept in a secret before from everyone minus current Guardian and the future Guardian, are now fine being done in front of Kwamis (remember, they haven't been allowed to learn about making potions before!) and a civilian who is just a temporal Miraculous holder, not someone who is supposed to be trained to be a new Guardian. You can say - new Guardian, new rules, but why? Marinette has been portrayed as someone who respect authorities, she has never questioned any Fu's rules. It wasn't even said in the episode that she's going to change the rules. I hate that the writers don't even bother to explain us what's going on. Probably they don't bother about consistency, they think the audience is going to be too excited about Alya knowing Ladybug's identity and helping Marinette to question anything about it? How Alya could be allowed to learn the Guardian secrets? She is just best friend of the protagonist, she is not one of the main characters to get that special treatment. I makes zero sense to me. Especially since Su-Han will be introduced in episode 6 and he should help Marinette with understanding the Grimoire, Alya isn't necessary here for any other reason than fanservice.

In my opinion the way how they discovering how to make charms that protects from akumasitation was the most stupid thing that happened this season and one of the most in the whole show. Marinette who is the new Guardiand and portrayed as someone extreme intelligent and creative couldn't find the solution for days, but Alya with zero training magically discovered it in a few hours at worst. And when she told her the solution in not even very clear way, Ladybug did it immediately with no effort. That was so anticlimactic. At least the animation was fine, but other aspects of it was just a big disappointment, and I was looking forward for it. Thank goodness it's just the beginning of the season, I hope later important events of the season will be better written and portrayed.

Also I find it absurd that Rena Rough is walking with a page from the Grimoire like it's just an ordinary book and she's talking about it in front of a random civilian, like things that are written there are nothing special. She or Ladybug are not careful about Miraculous lore anymore. Not to mention that they are giving hints that Rena is very close to Ladybug in public, suspiciously close. And now with them being too careless, that's not hard to suspect that Rena Rouge is someone very close to Ladybug, maybe even as a civilian. Shadow Moth knows Rena Rouge's identity, and it's easy to him to learn who is Alya Cesaire's best friend if he doesn't know it yet, after all his son is in the class with her. Marinette has always been super careful and serious about her duties before, why that sudden change with zero explanation? It's just very out of character to her in my opinion.

I didn't like the akuma battle either, it's now the worst fight of the season in my opinion. It was so short and felt very lazy. I only liked that Plagg got some action and interaction with Ladybug (though it should be suspicious for her that he managed to reach to her that fast). He should be aware now that Alya knows Ladybug's identity but he acts like nothing happened. Not a word about it being unfair towards his kid or something, weird.

Thankfully the rest of the episode is generally more or less fun to me. It was nice to see Marinette and Kagami interacting again. I loved Kagami in the episode, although it was a bit weird to me that she isn't seemed to be affected by her breaking up with Adrien. Like her crush was very shallow, so she managed to recover herself from it very quickly. While it's been shown that Luka is hurt, despite Lukanette always seemed to be much more shallow than Adrigami in my opinion. But maybe it's because she's so down to earth, so being less emotional makes sense for her character. I liked how her attitude was opposite to Marinette's hyperactive: "No, I don't want to be in a relationship with Adrien again, he disappointed me, just let me live!!!". And she's another character who said that Marinette and Adrien are made for each other. I'm not surprised that Kagami sees it now when she tried to be with him and that didn't work. She's observant, sees more than many other characters. It seems she's an Adrienette shipper now. It's also good that her issue with Adrien wasn't resolved that easily and too fast. They need more time, but I'm sure they will be friends again.

So, we've gotten shirtless Adrien. I remember seeing a tweet of Thomas in which he answered to a question if there will be a beach episode and he said we will get something similar. I wonder if he meant this episode. Oh, they just remembered that Adrien is supposed to be allergic to feathers. It seems Adrien has allergic reactions only when it's somewhat related to the plot. When it's not, he's completely fine.

The reference to the famous Umbrella Scene™ out of nowhere in a random episode? It probably means something. I can see "reverse crush" supporters interpreting it as a proof to their theory, especially since this time Adrien did something clumsy and Marinette is laughing because of it (actually both of them). Or maybe because it's the first episode of season 4 with Marinette and Adrien interactions, they decided to be that much gracious for Adrienette fans, to compensate lack of it in the first three episodes. Oh wow, Marinette managed to propose spending more time together to Adrien without stuttering. Probably because she has done it spontaneously. Marinette is the most nervous when she's planning and thinking what could go wrong too much. This time she had no time to it, so it went more smoothly. It's like they building development of their relationship, but it didn't seem in Guiltrip (that's episode 11 chronologically) that something changed.

Seeing screenshot above, you can easily imagine how great friends they could be, being very comfortable around each other and laughing together, if not Marinette's anxiety. We need Adrienette development so much to get more moments like this.

Oh and I just realized that it's also one of the veeeeery few episodes with no real Ladynoir at all (the only other one I remember is Style Queen). So if there was no Adrienette it would be an episode without interactions of two main characters at all (although we almost got Ladrien). It could be another reason why this episode is that nice for Adrien and Marinette ship.

After seeing overly excited Marinette dancing in the rain, I can't believe she can manage completely give up on Adrien. It doesn't look like this at all.

Also we've seen three photos of Adrien wearing THAT scarf. It could not mean nothing different that foreshadowing that he's going to discover the truth about it somewhere this season. But I have no idea what Ladybug's mask with shining eyes could mean.

I don't know what to think about the episode. Despite absurd Guardian-related things, I still liked it much more than Gang of Secrets, but I have no idea if I generally enjoyed it more than other episodes of this season or not. At least it's an episode without stupid drama, which is amazing.

---------

I'm currently less active on social media, because my internet connection is very unstable, it often works very slowly to the point I'm not patient enough to visit Tumblr. Also I block spoiler tags again, because I don't want to see spoilers from the episodes those are going to be released very soon, as I feel that they reveal too much to me once more. We're currently in a marathon of the new episodes and since watching them is the more more enjoyable, the less I know about them, I decided to try avoid spoilers as much as I can. The only bad thing is that I can't be read discussions about the new episodes, reblog them and adding something from me until Optigami will be aired.

[heresathreebee]

Brackish and Briny Waters (two)

[Ralph Lamont X Female Reader]

Summary: Settling into your new house Part 1 Masterlist Part 3

Tags: +17 | 1.7k words | just really fucking domestic stuff, one (1) bad attitude, presumptuous behavior, unprotected morning sex, more remodeling.

AN: I kind of know where I'm going with this. The conflict will be subtle at first but it's there I promise.

The first day goes by fast and for Ralph meeting every single person on staff in this prestigious school was like trying cheeses and wines in a vineyard– fun at first but you get a stomach ache because somebody forgot to tell you not to swallow and there are just so many of them each more rich than the last. By the time he crosses the threshold to his new home, he's exhausted and annoyed. 

"I told you not to unpack without me." 

You look at him from the kitchen and shrug. "I needed stuff, baby. I already wrote a list of things to work on in this 'bare bones' house you put us up in and I was bored." 

You don't care for his attitude but offer him the covered plate anyways. "I saved you some dinner." 

All at once, Ralphie's anger melted from his face. He shuffled his tired feet across the still empty living room and pulled you into his side. The plate was warm (still warm or recently warmed up, he couldn't tell) and his stomach growled. 

"M sorry," he said, "I don't mean to be an asshole." 

You smile your forgiveness. "Long day?" 

"Yes," he hisses. "I already can't wait for the weekend." 

You chuckle. "Oh come on, it can't be that bad. Give it a chance, baby!" 

"As you wish." 

After eating, Ralph is right to sleep despite his insistence you finish packing together tonight. A part of you thinks it's the climate here– fresh sea salt air and less artificial light to disrupt the body's natural sleep patterns. You took off his shoes and empty his pockets because he was just 'resting his eyes for a moment,' then slid in right next to him. He's fine without a blanket, but you pull the back of the quilt over your rear and curl into his side. Sleep comes easier tonight than last night and you dream of wallpaper and wood smoke cologne. 

DAY THREE

The rest of the week gets easier for the both of you. You arrived on Monday and unpack the bigger furniture together by Wednesday with the help of some locals. Ralph is getting to study the lesson plan for Ms. Lewis' math class and establishing a gentle authority with his temporary students. He is still excited for the weekend, intent to help you figure out what to do with the walls of the house. 

"Has anybody come to see you at the house yet?," he asks you Thursday night. 

You pause dicing onions to think. "Besides the neighbors to the north and those Vayle boys? No." 

Ralphie raises his eyebrows and drops them, an involuntary gesture made more for himself than you. 

You put a hand on your hip. "Why?" 

Ralphie waves you off and continues mixing the meat with the spices. "Nothing. It's just everybody and their fucking moms has been asking me about you." 

"What?" This was news to you. "Why?" 

"Because they're nosy," he replies, "asking me about my whole life story and I let slip I had a wife and then they just wouldn't shut up about it." 

You swat his shoulder. "Well don't sound so depressed about it. Do you not like having a wife?" 

"No!" Ralph huffs and turns to look at you as he says, "I just hate that every single one of them bugs me about a million personal things and then I mention you and it's the only thing they can talk about now." 

Ralph turns back to stirring the pan and grumbles to himself, "might tell them to fuck off and just hoard you forever…" 

It clicks in your head at least a bit. Ralph's a born and bred city kid. In the city nobody cares who you are, what you like, or where you're from. Strangers don't want to be anything more than strangers. Their eternal social motto is 'don't waste my time' and anyone who acts differently is probably scheming something. 

You chuckle and rest your chin on his shoulder. "You're forgetting these are a different breed of people. Rich and educated socialites more over but suburban, maybe even rural. We're probably the first new thing to happen to them in decades, and communities like this don't have a 'mind your business and I'll mind mine' attitude." 

Ralphie flicks you a look but you know he knows you're right. It doesn't mean he has to like it but at least he understands it's not malicious, at least not inherently. It's out of his element, a little out of yours too, but you'll have to adapt and play by their rules if you want to stay here for a while. 

The dining room table can seat six, but your Ralphie takes a seat right next to you at a corner so he can hold your hand while you eat. Homemade tacos ease your apprehensions a bit and you go over the remodeling plans with him until midnight. Getting ready to sleep, you wear your thinnest shift and wrap around him like an octopus, your warm core brushing over his barely clothed manhood in temptation. 

Ralphie hums, tucking a stray hair back into your bonnet. "We need to get up early tomorrow." 

It's a weak protest. The two of you keep rocking into each other and sighing at the feeling of friction but eventually fall asleep despite the delightful buzz of sexual energy surrounding you. You do wake up when Ralph flips you under him and sucks a few marks into your neck.

You spread your legs to accommodate his breadth, feeling him settle deliciously and glancing at the bedside clock. It's barely 5 o' clock and the sun is rising. You gasp as you feel Ralphie's cock slide into you and he's met with little resistance. You two have sex for the first time since you moved and it's been so long that the affair is short lived. 

Ralph already has an apology on his lips but you shush him and come a moment later with your fingers brushing your clit in tandem. He peppers you with a dozen more kisses as silent promises to make it up to you. 

You shower together, barely bumping elbows as this bathroom is way bigger than your New York City apartment ever was. You chat idly about the weekend and the town and when you're ready to leave, you grab the manila folder where you store the plans for the remodel. You've even got samples from the wallpaper, only taking the ones you like and want to replace. 

"I know we probably won't find exact replicas but I want to at least find something similar." 

Ralph squeezes your thigh. "Ok, ok. We'll try." 

While this town doesn't have a McDonald's (the town over does and it's fancy for some reason), it does have a Home Depot (also pretty fancy). You know you'll need wood and screws and glass panes to finish that solar room but that's not the goal for today. 

Ralph skips right over the green paint swatch section to the creams. He's rambling about paint brand pros and cons, he did his research on the way in since you were driving and he brought the book from the school library. You follow and half listen. 

"What?" 

Ralph finally catches on to your soft smile. You glance around to make sure no one is in earshot because god forbid these gossipers over hear your conversation right now. 

"I guess I got you pretty excited last night, huh," you say with a sense of pride. Ralph feels the opposite about his performance this morning. 

"I just… I think it's just been a while." He occupies his hands by grabbing every single free swatch sample on the shelf and says, "I promise I will make it up to you." 

You roll your eyes in a not unkind way. "It's fine, babe, really. I uh… it feels kind of good to know I still have that kind of effect on you…" 

Ralphie sports a smile of his own and puts you under his arm. "Of course you do, sugar." 

He leans down to plant a kiss on your lips when you're interrupted by a bright voice. It's so startling that your husband bounces away from you. He stares wide eyed at the woman who interrupted you and he gets that dark look in his eye that only you can see. 

"Jesus, Julie," he tries his best not to growl her name. "This is Julie, she's a teacher at the school. Julie this… is… my wife." 

Julie makes a noise like a whistle. "Oh my god you are so much more beautiful than I imagined! Ralph doesn't have a picture of you in his office!" 

"It's on my desk," he huffs, "it's the one turned towards me." 

"And why would you do that?" 

"...so I can look at it while I work…?" 

Julie's… a little too hands on for just meeting you. You're too reserved to say something about it so you sling a loose arm around her back and hope Ralph doesn't say something for you. 

"Hi Julie, it's nice to finally meet you," you tell her. "Ralph's been slowly but surely introducing me to the concept of his coworkers." 

"I can't believe we haven't met before now! Ralph keeping you all to himself, me and the other teachers are just so curious about you," she coos. It feels almost put on, like overindulging in sweet to play up her first impression. You let it slide though, maybe it's just your city lens. 

"Well, uh, once we've got the house fixed up a bit, we can plan a housewarming party," you suggest. "But not a day before and you may quote me on that, miss!" 

Julie laughed and gave you her phone number 'in case you need anything at all.' Ralph breathed easy once she finally left and you tug his ear gently. "She's veeerry friendly." 

Ralphie shoots you a glare like you'd made a joke he didn't find funny and you go back to debating the paint to use for your walls eagerly.

@escape-your-grape @hoodoo12 @softbeej @go-commander-kim @beetlesstuff @imma-fucking-nerd​ @werwulfy​

[sisterofiris]

Hello! I was talking with a friend about this and we couldn't think of any examples but I thought if anyone knew it'd be you: Are there any examples of ancient authors writing speculative fiction or "science fiction" so to speak? Originally we were just talking about people writing about time travel but I realized I couldn't think of any ancient science fiction. If there are no examples, why do you think that might be? Is it just because they didn't see technology change much in their lives?

There is actually some form of ancient science fiction! It’s rather different from the modern kind (which is not directly descended from its ancient predecessors), but if we define science fiction as my dictionary does, which is

fiction based on imagined future scientific or technological advances and major social or environmental changes, frequently portraying space or time travel and life on other planets

then there is Ancient Greek science fiction!

I bolded those bits because they fit perfectly with the main work that has been nicknamed “the first sci-fi novel” - Lucian’s True Story. Lucian’s purpose was not to write speculative fiction but to satirise the geographical accounts of popular ancient authors (especially Homer, Iambulus and Ktesias), which he considered utterly ridiculous. In the introduction to his story, he states that he is about to tell a bunch of big, fat lies and that:

Γράφω τοίνυν περὶ ὧν μήτε εἶδον μήτε ἔπαθον μήτε παρ᾿ ἄλλων ἐπυθόμην, ἔτι δὲ μήτε ὅλως ὄντων μήτε τὴν ἀρχὴν γενέσθαι δυναμένων.

I am therefore writing about things that I have neither seen, nor experienced, nor heard about from others, which do not exist at all anyway and which could not exist in the first place. (Lucian, True Story 1.4, transl. my own)

So as you can see, his goal was a little different from that of modern sci-fi authors, who (usually) intend their work to be scientifically believable. But if we’re talking about content, the True Story fits the definition given above: the narrator and his companions sail into the sky, get caught up in a war between the Sun and the Moon, meet the Moon’s inhabitants, then sail back to Earth and get swallowed by a whale, and eventually find their way to the Isles of the Blessed (the Ancient Greek afterlife for the most fortunate and illustrious heroes). To give you an idea of the text’s style, here’s one of my favourite passages about a city of oil lamps:

Πλεύσαντες δὲ τὴν ἐπιοῦσαν νύκτα καὶ ἡμέραν, περὶ ἑσπέραν ἀφικόμεθα ἐς τὴν Λυχνόπολιν καλουμένην, ἤδη τὸν κάτω πλοῦν διώκοντες. Ἡ δὲ πόλις αὕτη κεῖται μεταξὺ τοῦ Πλειάδων καὶ τοῦ Ὑάδων ἀέρος, ταπεινοτέρα μέντοι πολὺ τοῦ ζῳδιακοῦ. Ἀποβάντες δὲ ἄνθρωπον μὲν οὐδένα εὕρομεν, λύχνους δὲ πολλοὺς περιθέοντας καὶ ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ καὶ περὶ τὸν λιμένα διατρίβοντας, τοὺς μὲν μικροὺς καὶ ὥσπερ πένητας, ὀλίγους δὲ τῶν μεγάλων καὶ δυνατῶν πάνυ λαμπροὺς καὶ περιφανεῖς. Οἰκήσεις δὲ αὐτοῖς καὶ λυχνεῶνες ἰδίᾳ ἑκάστῳ πεποίηντο, καὶ αὐτοὶ ὀνόματα εἶχ��ν, ὥσπερ οἱ ἄνθρωποι, καὶ φωνὴν προϊεμένων ἠκούομεν, καὶ οὐδὲν ἡμᾶς ἠδίκουν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ ξένια ἐκάλουν· ἡμεῖς δὲ ὅμως ἐφοβούμεθα, καὶ οὔτε δειπνῆσαι οὔτε ὑπνῶσαί τις ἡμῶν ἐτόλμησεν. Ἀρχεῖα δὲ αὐτοῖς ἐν μέσῃ τῇ πόλει πεποίηται, ἔνθα ὁ ἄρχων αὐτῶν διὰ νυκτὸς ὅλης κάθηται ὀνομαστὶ καλῶν ἕκαστον· ὃς δ᾿ ἂν μὴ ὑπακούσῃ, καταδικάζεται ἀποθανεῖν ὡς λιπὼν τὴν τάξιν· ὁ δὲ θάνατός ἐστι σβεσθῆναι.

Having sailed throughout the following night and day, we reached Lamptown around evening, having already begun our trip downwards. This city is located in the air between the Pleiades and the Hyades, but much lower than the zodiac. As we disembarked, we didn’t see a single person, but many lamps instead, running around and spending time on the agora and near the port. Some were small, as if they were poor, while a few great and mighty ones were very bright and visible from all around. They have homes, and each of them has his own lamp-sconce, and they have names like people, and we heard them speaking, and none of them wronged us, but instead they welcomed us as guests. All the same, we were afraid, and none of us dared to eat or to sleep there. They have a town hall in the middle of the city, where their magistrate sits all through the night calling each of them by name. Whoever does not answer is sentenced to die as a deserter; the death penalty is to be extinguished. (1.29, transl. my own)

It’s hilarious, creative, and I absolutely recommend reading the whole thing. You can find a full translation online here.

Another passage that can qualify as sci-fi is the description of Hephaistos’ creations in Book 18 of the Iliad. This one is probably closer to modern sci-fi in intention: it’s meant to highlight Hephaistos’ skill at creating things which were (at the time) impossible for mortals. When Thetis arrives at his forge, he is making tripods:

... τρίποδας γὰρ ἐείκοσι πάντας ἔτευχεν ἑστάμεναι περὶ τοῖχον ἐυσταθέος μεγάροιο, χρύσεα δέ σφ᾿ ὑπὸ κύκλα ἑκάστῳ πυθμένι θῆκεν, ὄφρα οἱ αὐτόματοι θεῖον δυσαίατ᾿ ἀγῶνα ἠδ᾿ αὖτις πρὸς δῶμα νεοίατο, θαῦμα ἰδέσθαι.

He was building tripods, twenty in all, to stand around the wall of his well-built hall, and he had set wheels at the bottom of each of them so that the automats could enter the divine assembly and return home again, a wonder to see. (Homer, Iliad 18.373-377, transl. my own)

And when Hephaistos walks over to greet Thetis, he is helped by two unusual servants:

... ὑπὸ δ᾿ ἀμφίπολοι ῥώοντο ἄνακτι χρύσειαι, ζωῇσι νεήνισιν εἰοικυῖαι. Τῇς ἐν μὲν νόος ἐστὶ μετὰ φρεσίν, ἐν δὲ καὶ αὐδὴ καὶ σθένος, ἀθανάτων δὲ θεῶν ἄπο ἔργα ἴσασιν.

Two golden handmaidens, made to look like living girls, hurried over to support their lord. There is sense in their minds, and speech and strength in them, and they know handiwork thanks to the immortal Gods. (18.417-420, transl. my own)

That’s right - Homer, a poet from the 8th century BC, gave Hephaistos robots.

So all in all, while science fiction as an independent genre didn’t exist in the ancient world, its seeds were already present. Even two thousand years ago, people made their characters go to the Moon and told each other “wouldn’t it be awesome if we had robots, though?”

[quirkdotcom]

With the Setting Sun || Awase Yosetsu x Reader

Summary: Though their world is already filled with heros, villians, quirks and everything in between, Awase Yosetsu and Y/N's world is also granted a chance to find one's soulmate through a single dream. 

Authors Note:  So over the weekend I had a little event going for thr BNHA Sanctuary server, where you create a little something for a character you feel is under appreciated! So I decided to do something for Awase ! I hope you guys enjoy !!

×××××

Dreams. Everyone has them. But the one thing people love most about them, is the night where they get to meet their soulmate. 

In dream they have twenty four hours to figure out all they can while in this lucid state, and from there, once the night fades away, people are left to their own devices.

The dream comes at different times for each group of soulmates, maybe when you're young or maybe even when you're old. If you're lucky it comes at just the right time. 

Tonight you were expecting one of your usual dreams, whether about school or work or something mundane, so as it started, you were met with an unsettling feeling of being aware. 

You turned slowly, it seemed that you had been transported to a hillside, once you've never seen before, and were unsure if it existed. It was full of beautiful flowers, all varying in species, color, size and almost in the way that some seemed too magical to be true. 

As you looked away, and out towards the horizon, the sun was rising. 

"Im...im not really asleep am I…" you hummed, mostly to yourself, as the more and more you took in your surroundings, the more and more you seemed to find that you were too aware of it all. 

After a few moments you started down the hill, trying to find another area, maybe see if anyone else happened to be around. 

As you got to the bottom of the hill, the flowers became scarce, and the grass faded into a dirt path, which just by following it with your eyes, it led into a forest. 

It took you half a second to decide that you'd rather explore than sit around and wait. Oddly enough, the forest itself was quite peaceful...and almost familiar. 

You were so immersed in looking around, that you didn't notice the trail ending, and that you had just kept going into the underbrush. 

In fact, it wasn't until you had heard a snap of a branch under your foot that you had even stopped walking, realization dawning on your face. 

"Well...it's a dream so no harm in getting lost ?" You spoke aloud, mostly to keep yourself calm. 

"Yeah that's what I thought. Then I tripped and skinned my knee, dream or not I still felt it," 

You turned to your left, to where the source of the voice had come from,  and there stood Yosetsu Awase, who had been in class 1B with you. 

"Awase? " you krept forwards, wondering if this was just any old dream...or the dream.

"Thats my name," he eyed you back, the same question running through his head. 

The thing about the whole soulmate dream was, that you had to wait it out until the very end. If you waited until the sun set, you would wake up immediately, and according to people who had been through it, they saw a golden light dancing above their chest, where their heart was. 

For those who would wake up in the middle of their dream, or even continued to dream, were faced with the fact that their chance hadn't yet come. 

"I mean. I know that. " you paused, trying to figure out something to say that wouldn't make things any more awkward than they need to be, "So tell me this, where did you start off in this dream?" 

He looked around a moment, then sat down on the clearest space he could find, "Well, I actually started off in my room, so I thought I had just not dreamt..and when I opened the door to my room, I came out into the woods," 

In turn you sat down, and told him about the hill you had started out on, then paused for a moment, looking around once more, "Does this forest seem familiar to you?? Like we've been here before?" 

Part of you asked because you were truly curious, but another part asked to test out if this was any old dream, or if this was the soulmate dream. If Awase couldn't answer, then this was likely just a random night. 

"Actually, I've been trying to avoid that thought." 

Hear this, you shrunk a little, hugging your knees, "oh..I guess-"

"This was where the League attacked class 1A and us at training camp. One of those...nomus, I think, almost killed Yaoyorozu and I…" 

Suddenly a memory flashed through your head, the night was one you didn't remember all too well after being attacked by a member of the Vanguard Action Squad.

"Where is everyone?" You asked some kid from class 1A, he was blonde and had a tail, pretty sure his name was Ojiro or something. 

He turned to you for a brief moment, but the two of you had to keep running towards the main facility, "I don't know. I think we all got seperated, just keep going, okay?" 

You nodded, trying to keep an eye out, unsure of what dangers lay ahead.  Just when you both had figured you could slow down a tad bit, Spinner appeared, he seemed distracted, as he was actually looking for Mandalay.

Both you and Ojiro were weaponless, his quirk was good for close quarters, however neither of you seemed to want to go up against Spinner's sword or rather bundle of blades. 

Really though, you had no choice and took to combat, you trying to be a decoy for Ojiro so he could get in a stronger hit. And at one point you just remember seeing Spinner's weapon flying towards you. 

After that moment everything went dark. You weren't sure exactly what happened, just that he had saved you, and got you out of there. 

"Right. The training camp. That's why it's familiar. " 

It was quiet for a few minutes, until Awase broke it. 

"I visited you in the hospital, while you were still unconscious. At the time I wasn't sure why. I just felt this tug, and couldn't stop myself from going into your room. It was scary, you were pretty beat up. I kept thinking to myself that you were only asleep and that you'd come back to class in no time," 

You looked up, now focusing on Awase, his grey eyes not meeting yours, "We started to talk a lot more after I did come back, and you were the first person to greet me,"  you smiled slightly, glad that you at least now knew about your current situation. 

"Yeah I guess so," he responded, face starting to turn a little red. 

"Hey, do you think we can change the setting of our dream? Like if we concentrate enough? I get the feeling that we both don't like this forest, " 

At this he chuckled, and forced himself to look at you, "Yeah. But where should we try to get to?" 

"Do you remember in our second year when, you, me, Monona, Kendo, Testutesu and Kodai went to that old playground? " you asked, closing your eyes as you did so. 

He didn't answer, nodding as he forgot that you couldn't see him do so. 

When you opened them again, you two were sitting on a set of creaky swings. No kid had used this playground in a long time, it was in a forgotten section

 of Musutafu. 

"Okay. I'll bite. Do you think this is our soulmate dream?" Yosetsu stared down as he asked, trying to press his lips into a tight line, trying to keep from getting his hopes up. 

You toed the ground, trying to swing a little as you contemplated the question.  You weren't fully sure about Awase in the past. 

He was a bit hard headed, had a very brash personality, could be pretty tense, but when it came down to it, he could be counted on. 

You knew that he never meant to be mean or anything, and can understand why being social wasn't exactly his thing, hell it wasn't always your thing either. But ever since you two started hanging out, you were sure that he would stick around. And the thought of that had never bothered you. 

"I think it is," you finally said, breaking the silence, looking back to him.

Awase didn't say anything for a moment, he only turned his head to the sky, where the sun was starting to set. 

"Time went fast…" 

You followed his line of sight, and stood up suddenly, "It did!" 

Slowly, Awase stood up as well, and faced you, finally bringing his eyes to yours, "Are you ready to see if we're right?" 

You nodded, and in a quick movement, you hugged him, "Promise me that if we wake up to that light thing, that you'll try to call me! I still have the same phone number okay?" 

Awase froze for just a second, and carefully wrapped his arm around you as he nodded, "yeah...I promise," 

With the setting sun, you two pulled away, smiling to each other as it all faded away. 

With a startle, you sat up, looking around your room frantically, until you looked down. There it was, a golden orb just floating right next to your heart. It was so beautiful in and of itself. And it felt so familiar.  You brought your hand up, trying to hold it. 

But as you touched it, it blinked out, and instead, your phone lit up. 

You scrambled to grab it, hitting the answer button, "Awase!" 

"Hey there soulmate," 

[arrtemisia]

Hey so... If you could redo cannon Makoto what would you do? How would she change? I'm curious cause out of the main cast she was the only one that I just couldn't get a solid interest in (aside from Ann but that's just cause the idea of her being a fashion model confuses me more than anything I think)

God. So much stuff.

There's a couple big things about her that bug me, and none of them really change at all in her canon vs fanon portrayal, which means it's hard for me to enjoy her even in fanworks. In my opinion, I think her biggest flaw is that she's simply miscast, and her character would have worked much better as a confidant instead of a thief, which would've given her a place of her own to shine and avoid the weird dissonance between different aspects of her character (and this was actually their original plan, so Hifumi would have taken her place which. She would've fit in much better imo bc she's actually suffered under another's will like every single one of the others and she's an actual strategist instead of just """smart,""' but that's a topic for another post), but since we're talking about how I'd personally fix Makoto in the role she currently fills, I'm going to list some of the issues I take with her and potential solutions.

First of all, just to get it out of the way, she needs an actual reason to be here. She doesn't have one, full stop.

The big thing tying the thieves together is that they're all victims of abuse and oppression who rebel against their tormentors and want to prevent anyone else from suffering like they did. I'm not saying Makoto has never struggled, because she has, but it's really, really not the same type of struggle.

This leads to weird moments where everything about Makoto's personality and characterization, such as being a stickler for the rules, idolizing the police, etc mean that she has no in-character reason to stick with the thieves after kaneshiro is dealt with and should maybe even be opposing the thieves' way of doing things, but the plot drags her along anyway because the game really wants her to be a party member. And really, what's up with her awakening? She gets threatened once and then bang-boom-kapow she has a persona? It's weak.

Also before anyone says "well all those things about her personality change when she awakens and she sheds her good girl personality and yada yada," no she doesn't, actually, and I'm getting there I promise

The easiest solution here is also the most drastic. Swap when Makoto and Akechi join. This kills two birds with one stone; Makoto gets an actual reason to awaken through Sae, and Akechi's betrayal hits harder because he's pretending to be with you for longer (although admittedly this is much less needed on Akechi's part ever since royal).

Not only does this give Makoto a much stronger reason to awaken and join in the first place (Sae starts twisting into something horrible and Makoto wants to help both stop and save her), but it also gives her an internally consistent reason to stick around. Before, unlike the others (who all at least have "I want to stop others from feeling like I did," or in Futaba's case, "I wanna find the ppl who killed my mom."), once Kaneshiro is done with, Makoto has no real big personal reason to stick around other than "I'm a thief now and the plot says so ig." Now, of COURSE she'd want to go after Shido because he's the one that was manipulating her sister, and after that of COURSE she'd want to help take down mr divine sippy cup in order to get Shido tried and jailed.

However, if we're not going to shuffle around the order of party members bc that'd nuke the canon plot a little, then we need to rework the entire Kaneshiro arc and/or Makoto's backstory and values as a whole. Yeah this is why the first solution was the easy one.

I'm going to go in-depth about how I feel Makoto's personality and values should be reworked later I'M GETTING THERE, so I'll talk about that then. As for reworking Kaneshiro, I... don't have a whole lot of ideas. The palace itself is fine, it has one of the coolest atmospheres in the game (c'mon, there's got to be a fun bank heist in a game like this), but Makoto's connection with him is very weak. Maybe have it be that he was extorting her for years in secret and she never said anything? Maybe have him be the one that ordered the hit on her father? I'm not sure what would be strong enough to match to the other palace leaders, without feeling forced. I'll have to come up with more ideas for this one.

The second big issue I have with her is less of one specific thing and more of a collection of smaller problems that all come from the same source. She waltzes in, takes over, and starts acting like she's the boss of things. She then names herself the "strategist" and yet only ever states the obvious and, to use a word I hate, mansplains things to you that you already learned two palaces ago. She's constantly condescending and passive agressive to the other team members, especially Ann and Ryuji, berates everyone for not being as naturally book smart as her when all the other characters are smart in their own ways and just not good at academia, all the while everyone around her, even characters that normally wouldn't take that (ryuji, ann) or are too prideful to admit to anyone bring better (mona), are constantly like "You're so cool, Makoto!"

It's a classic case of show don't tell, and rhe game is obsessed with telling you that Makoto is "smart" and "cool." Once she joins the team, all the characters that were originally shown to be smart in their own ways are never allowed to say anything meaningful ever again bc Makoto is the "smart" one. She never does anything particularly different compared to the other party members, but the game is constantly insisting she's special.

I'm very hesitant to call her a mary sue, because I don't think she is one, and also I disagree with the use of that term at all as these days it's just meant to devalue powerful characters that happen to be girls, but I definitely think she's emblematic of a common writing flaw that can lead to mary sues. The problem with making a character the "smart" one as a personality trait instead of something that just comes naturally is that you have to dumb down everyone else's characterization to make them look smarter or cooler by comparison. It means that the character you're trying to prop up bends everyone else around them, making them act in ways they normally wouldn't in order to make the one character you're trying to look cool seem better by comparison.

This has an easy solution: cut that shit out. Have her slowly find her place on the team naturally instead of forcing her way in as a pseudo-leader. Don't give every single "well, duh" line to her, and cut the scenes where she stands around explaining obvious things you already know in a condescending manner so she looks smarter. Let the other characters actually act like themselves when they're in the same room as her instead of bending around her to prop her up. Have her treat those characters with respect in turn, bc for all intents and purposes when it comes to thief stuff they are her senpai, instead of just having her act like she's better than them, or boss them around, or be passive agressive about the fact that their grades are bad. Show that other characters are smart in other ways instead of acting like Makoto's book smarts are the end-all be-all. And for fuck's sake, stop acting like "smart" and "punches stuff real good" are personality traits, which leads me into my last big point.

Makoto and Queen don't really feel like the same character. Okay, so to explain this, let's walk through her awakening again.

Makoto is a good girl who's a stickler for the rules, sucks up to authority, idolizes the police, is obsessed with her grades and academic performance, and looks down on others who don't do the same. A couple people call her useless and then she gets threatened by a mob boss, after which she decides to live her life for herself and completely shed her good girl lifestyle and rebel against everyone pressuring her.

That is, except for the teensy tiny detail where she doesn't.

Nothing significant about her personality changes all post her awakening and joining the thieves, aside from the part where she sucks up to authority maybe a little less. She's still uptight, her grades (and the grades of those on her team) are still her top priority, she still idolizes the law and those enforcing it.

Y'see, persona has a bit of a common problem with saying one thing about a character, be it making a reveal or saying they're gonna change in some big way, but not fully committing to it. You can see it most in p4 (party members saying they're gonna quit/stop/do whatever and then backtracking in the last two ranks of their social link), but it's rarely so severe that it completely ruins their personality and character arc as a whole. Makoto, I feel, is the main exception.

The writers want Makoto to become this tough, rebellious biker queen who oozes badassery in every move and will never follow anyone's wishes for her ever again, but they also want to keep her old personality of the uptight naive rule-following law-abiding academic. So, instead of altering one to better fit the other, they try to do both... badly.

Instead of integrating the two parts of her personality, it just feels like she swaps between them whenever the plot calls for it which is really, really jarring. She'll be stuttering about following the rules and getting to know her generation one second, and then the next she'll be yelling about mowing down shadows with her motorcyle the next. It feels like Queen and Makoto are two separate uninteresting half-characters, with only a couple personality traits each, instead of one whole well-rounded character.

Either rework Makoto's thief aesthetic to better suit her personality as a whole and give her something other than "I'm totally not a good girl anymore" to make her compelling, or actually commit to Makoto shedding her past life everyone around her had forced on her and change her personality. Have her grades start to slip, have her talk back to Sae, change the way she dresses so it's rougher and less perfect, hell, maybe even have her quit student council. Just, anything to make her more well-rounded as a character.

I have some other nitpicks with her here and there, like the fact that her confidant is actually just Eiko's confidant and doesn't give Makoto herself any development, or the way the game keeps trying to set her up as Joker's waifu or whatever, but those are just that; nitpicks. The three big things I mentioned earlier - her not having a compelling personal reason to be a part of the thieves, the way the writers shove her into the spotlight by putting down everyone around her, and the fact that her characterization is just one badass half and one smart half that don't mesh and have little else in between - are the problems I feel are what's actually holding her character back.

Again, I do think that all of this stems from the fact that she's miscast, but it's too late to fix that now. While I personally really dislike Makoto, I do kind of understand her appeal for others when she's written well, and she's a totally valid character to like. I just wish she was portrayed better.

(Also, if anyone wants to reblog this, feel free I ask that you please don't put this in Makoto's main character tag. I know how much it sucks to get a bunch of negativity in a character's main tags as I am an Edelgard fe3h fan)

[justanotherlifeff]

Levi Ackerman × reader

Genre: Angst, Hurt/comfort, Fluff, matured themes, slowburn

Warning: There's mentions and descriptions of underage rape and suicidal themes and self harm and other triggering stuff.

Hanji POV

I was giving a pep talk to my squad when I saw (Y/N) talking to Levi. We were about to leave the walls in a few moments. For a second, I think I saw shorty with a warm expression. It was surprising really, given that he always looked like a "constipated brat" in his own words. What was more surprising was that he found himself someone shorter than he is. When we were called to the lift, I saw (Y/N) and Levi giving each other some really intense looks and talking about something.

God knows what these two were talking about given that their looks could make new recruits piss their pants. Levi walked away from her when the lift arrived and stood beside me on the lift. I saw (Y/N) move slightly to stand with the crowd.

"Yo shorty, what were all those intense looks about?" I nudged Levi to which he answered, "Shut it shitty glasses". I smiled at his usual behaviour. Seems like even love can't change some things. I sighed at the thought. Moblit and I weren't able to go on a date because of how busy I was with my experiments. I need to make it up to him after the expedition if both of us come back alive. As the lift creaked up, someone shouted from the crowd, " HEY HANJI!". I looked down and saw, "Flegel?" I muttered, curious that he was shouting my name out. "TAKE BACK WALL MARIA! THE FUTURE OF MANKIND IS IN YOUR HAAAANDS!" he shouted.

Following his lead, many others shouted out encouragements. Some thanked Levi for saving the town and to that Levi muttered, "Someone's got a big mouth". " Well, with the commotion we made, of course they'd find out." I muttered, answering Levi. The replacement for Mike said, "The thing is, all the meat we ordered was from the Reeves company." The replacement for Squad leader Ness merely said, "Damn that Flegel".

Suddenly, I heard people beside us shouting "YEAH YOU CAN COUNT ON US!". I turned and saw Levi squad shouting out to the people. Other soldiers were muttering about how the Survey corps never had a send off like this before. Erwin replied to them by saying, "As far as I'm aware, this is a first" before starting to shout himself. Both Levi and I looked at him surprised. I looked down at the crowd to see (Y/N) gaping at the sight too. After all, this was completely unexpected for someone as calm as Erwin.

(Y/N) POV

It was surprising to see Uncle Erwin so excited about an expedition. Specially, one that could cause many casualties. The Survey Corps were gone after a while and the crowd dispersed. I went back to the Survey corps Headquarters to get my squad to help me receive all the furniture and make my home liveable. "I have a home now..." I thought gleefully. I finally was able to find happiness. I took my horse back from the stable and galloped towards the headquarter.

When I opened the door to the common room, I saw my squad complaining about not being able to join the expedition.

[(Y/N) Squad/ Special operations squad 2:

(Y/N) squad was supposed to be one of the four commanding squads beside Levi squad, Hanji squad and Drik squad but due to her pregnancy leave, Marlene squad was a temporary replacement for her.

Members:

Diana Becker: A graduate from 103 trainee corps. Very good at communicating with other soldiers and after being trained by (Y/N), 3DMG techniques are improving. Appointed as (Y/N)'s second in command.

Heinrich Fischer: A transfer from Garrison from 103 trainee corps. Area of specialty is medic. Good at 3DMG and getting better with (Y/N)'s training. Excellent at hand to hand combat according to (Y/N) as he was the only person who knew the right strategy to use on (Y/N), losing nonetheless. Not too good in social skills

Stefan Wagner: A graduate from 103 trainee corps. Area of specialty is Veterinarian. Good at 3DMG and improving. Good at social skills and will implement any command given as flawlessly as possible.

Marie Schwarz: A military police transfer from 103 trainee corps. Area of specialty is dealing with finance. A serious soldier who is good at almost all sectors except hand to hand combat due to a lacking in understanding of the enemy's moves but that could be improved by team activities. However, it seems like she had difficulty with authority, specially (Y/N)'s.]

"Damn it... This was one important expedition and we couldn't join... They will all be awarded as heroes when they return and we will only be watching.." Heinrich complained to the other bored soldiers as I walked in. They were all seniors in case of Trainee corps records but younger than myself by a few years given that I joined a bit late. "Heinrich, if you are so keen on being Titan fodder, go ahead, take your horse and follow them. They haven't gone too far yet." I told him, shutting him up.

"Sorry, squad leader (Y/N). He was just being an ass" Diana muttered, smacking Heinrich on his head. They probably were in a relationship or something, given that I walked onto them kissing one time. I pretended I didn't see it though. "Well, be thankful that you aren't fighting Titans with your lives in your hands and instead you're helping me with decorating my home. I want you all at my home in 30 minutes. I'll be going to the furniture store and getting the furniture." I ordered them as they answered with a "Hai!" before I left for the furniture store. It was already getting dark. I took my horse there, paid the furniture makers, rented a wagon and with the help of the furniture maker's apprentice, took all the furniture home. The squad was already home and with their help, I started arranging the house.

"Diana, go arrange the kitchen utensils. Stefan and Heinrich, move that shelf away from the window." I commanded. Most of the house was already decorated. I just needed to get the bedsheets arranged, bring all of Levi's and my own books from the headquarters, except of course, the work related ones. "Marie, we are going to get the books" I commanded her and we went to the headquarter.

It took a while to arrange all the books as I did that by dividing the books by genres. After the whole decoration process was done, I thanked the squad and dismissed them. It was about 10 pm when I started cleaning the house. After an hour of cleaning, I felt like the house was clean enough for Levi's standards and I locked the front gate and went back to the headquarter. We weren't supposed to be living in this house till we get married. I was tired beyond measures after all the work and decided to pass out on the bed.

A few hours later

Levi POV

"Looks like the beast titan has us in it's sights. This place is about to turn into a honeycomb. Erwin, if you tell me there's no way left for us to fight back, I'll start preparing for defeat." I told Erwin. This operation was meaningless. Of course there was no chance of victory after this. If we had to get some survivors... I would have to give up my life... Would (Y/N) be okay with it? I'm sure she would be devastated... But I had to do this. For humanity and for a good future of my child... Can (Y/N) raise him on her own? "It could be a she too you know" (Y/N)'s voice rang in my head. She always pointed that out whenever I called our child a 'he'.

"Eren's sprawled out there, right? Go wake him up. You and some of the others get on him and run. That way we'll have at least a few survivors." I continued. I remembered the last time I slept with her. She looks so peaceful when she sleeps... "The recruits and survivors from Hanji's squad can scatter on horses all at once and try to head home... How does that sound? With them acting as bait, you and the others on Eren will be able to escape." I concluded. I remember her snuggling into my arms, burying her head in my chest... "And what are you going to do, Levi?" Erwin asked me. Was that really the last time I saw her? And I really made a shitty promise that I couldn't keep that time?

"I'll deal with that beast. I'll lead him away" I answered. Am I really ready to choose humanity over her? Over our kid? "No. You can't even get close to him." Erwin stated. I remembered her rare smiles. I imagined a future where she and my kid will be safe. If this sacrifice is worth it, I can do this. "Probably not. But, if you and Eren make it back alive, there's still hope. Isn't that the kind of situation we're in now? This is a major defeat. Honestly, I'm not expecting anyone to make it home alive at this point." I replied. "True. If we don't have any way of fighting back." Erwin stated calmly. I was surprised. Did he have anything up his sleeve?

"Do you have one?" I asked him, genuinely surprised. "Yes" he stated. At this point, I was annoyed at him. What was he thinking? Why didn't he say this to me before? "Why didn't you tell me earlier? Why didn't you put that ugly mouth of yours to work sooner and say something?" I asked, genuinely annoyed. "If this plan goes well, you may be able to defeat that beast. But only if we sacrifice the lives of all the recruits here, as well as mine." Erwin mentioned. Sacrificing Erwin? Didn't I promise (Y/N) that I'll keep him safe? If he makes a decision like this, how can I face (Y/N) again?

"You're absolutely right. No matter what we do, most of us will surely die. Infact, it's most likely that we will all be wiped out. So our only choice is to assume we are all expendable and work from there. We'd have to ask these young people to give up their lives. You'd need the skills of a first rate con man to come up with a reason that convincing. So I doubt any of them will charge forward unless I was leading the way. Which would mean I'd be the very first to die. Without ever learning what was in that basement." Erwin said. "Huh?" I asked, confused.

This man was about to die and all he cared about was a shitty basement? He sighed and said, "I just want to go to that basement. Everything I have done, I did thinking that this day would come. That someday, I would be able to check my answers. There were so many times that I thought it would be easier to just die. Then, the dream I shared with my father would flash through my head. And now those answers are close enough to reach out and grab... They are right here... But, Levi, can you see them? All of our comrades? Our comrades are watching us. They want to know what we will do with the hearts they dedicated to our cause. Because they may be gone but their fight isn't over. But then again, I promised (Y/N) that I will be with her at her wedding... She doesn't deserve to lose more... I broke enough promises to her before. Will the last thing I told her be a promise that I couldn't keep? Or is it all pointless and nothing more than my own childish delusion?".

I looked at Erwin for a while, my mind full of doubt. He was implying that I have to make the decision. This was much worse. (Y/N) would never forgive me. She will despise me. I might lose the only chance I ever had of having a family. Then again, didn't I decide that sacrificing my life for the safety of (Y/N) and our child was worth it? Why should this be any different? If wall Maria is captured, humanity will be much closer to victory. (Y/N) and our child will be safer. I'd rather have (Y/N) hate me than get her killed because I was weak. I knelt down in front of Erwin and told him, "You've fought a good fight. We have only come this far thanks to you. I'm making the choice. Give up on your dreams and die for us. Lead the recruits straight into hell. And I'll take down the beast titan.". To that he smiled slightly at me. "Keep (Y/N) safe. You two have my blessings." he said, startling me before he explained the plan to me.

"You want me to approach the beast by myself using vertical manoeuvring? There's nothing around him! There isn't a single tree or house or anything else I can use!" I asked Erwin, not understanding what he was talking about. "No... You have targets that are the perfect height. They are standing there all in a row aren't they? Use the titans to sneak up on and ambush the beast titan." Erwin explained.

I stood beside him as he convinced all the soldiers to give up their lives. Deep down, I knew it was all my decision. I felt revolted by myself. Does a person like me even deserve the happiness and stability of a family? When I can decide to send so many people to their deaths, bringing tragedy to so many other families... "No. I won't regret my decision now. It is all for the greater good" I convinced myself as I stood, watching the faces of people who knew they were about to die meaningless deaths.

The plan was put into action. I maneuvered towards the beast titan, killing it's titan army in progress. I saw the suicide charge down there. "I'm sorry" I told them in my mind as I slashed the napes of titans.

"Turning into titan puts a heavy strain on your body... So you can't transform again while you're busy healing. Isn't that right?" I asked the blonde man who I had cut out of the beast titan and stuffed my blade in his mouth. I pushed the blade forward, making it come out of an eye socket through his mouth before saying, "Hey, answer me. Don't you have any manners?". "I can't kill him. Not yet. Isn't there anyone still alive? It doesn't matter how injured they are as long as they are breathing... I can use this shot to turn them into a titan... Then I can have them eat this guy and steal the power of the beast titan. Isn't there anyone?" I thought. An image of Erwin passed through my mind.

"Isn't there someone I can bring back-" my thoughts were interrupted by the cart titan's mouth. I assumed that it tried to eat me but I moved away and saw it taking the beast titan and run away. "Hey! Where are you going? Stop. I'm not done with you yet..." I said, my voice sounding like a defeated person. Did I just lose to him at the last moment? The beast titan commanded the remaining titans to come at me. "Wait... I swore to him... That I'd kill you no matter what." I muttered. Anger surged into me as I continued, "I SWORE TO HIM!" as I changed my blades and charged towards the titans coming at me, slashing their napes off as fast as possible so that I could follow the beast and end him.

I flew to the wall as fast as possible to find the beast titan in front of Eren. Eren had his blade to the throat of a limbless figure, possibly the colossal titan. The beast titan saw me and started running again as I flew towards Eren. My gas finished off just as I reached Eren. "That was the last bit of gas I had. I'm going after him. Give me all your gas and blades. Hurry!" I commanded Eren just before a black figure behind him coughed faintly.

The black figure was Armin. Eren was going insane after figuring out that Armin was alive. He shouted at me excitedly to give the titan serum to Armin. A certain gut feeling made me hesitate. What if Erwin isn't dead? I was handing the serum out to Eren when Floch arrived with Erwin on his back. He said that Erwin is alive and gravely injured. I took the serum back, sure that I will inject it to Erwin. "Captain?" Eren asked, surprised and scared. I checked Erwin's nose with my hand.

"He's still breathing. He's still alive...". I can keep (Y/N)'s promise... "We're giving this injection to Erwin" I stated. Eren suddenly stood up, facing me. "You just said you'd use it on Armin.." he told me, tears streaming from his eyes. "I'm choosing to keep alive the man who will save humanity" I replied to Eren. Behind me, Mikasa got her blade out.

"You guys, do you have the faintest damn clue on what you're doing? We are talking about Erwin Smith. The commander of the Survey corps. You're telling me to sit here and let him die? There's no time. Get out of my way." I told them before Eren held the box of titan serum in my hands. "Eren, look past your feelings." I told him. "My feelings? Why did you hesitate before handing over the injection?" Eren asked me. Wasn't it obvious? I was trying to keep a promise that I made. I just had to take the chance...

"I was considering the possibility that Erwin was alive." I answered. "I don't see how you ever could ever have predicted that Floch would bring the dying commander." Eren stated. "You're right. But now that Erwin is here, we're using it on him." I told him my final decision. To my surprise, he still tugged on to the box and I had no choice other than punching him on his face, and sending him flying. Mikasa ran at me with her sword and jumped on me with her blade on my throat. Why couldn't I fight her? I was always stronger than her, but, was it guilt that made me feel this way? The fact that I probably was being selfish? That I wanted Erwin alive more for personal reasons than just the fate of humanity?

Hanji pulled Mikasa off me. She explained to her that everyone lost people dear to them today. She lost Moblit, how she regretted not going out with him even once, how she wished to bring him back too along with many other comrades. I was up on my foot now, kneeling in front of Erwin with the injection out. Suddenly, I felt someone grab my feet. "Heichou, have you heard of the ocean?" he said. He told me how much Armin wanted to see it. Floch tried to stop him but he said it anyway. I realised that he wasn't any different from me. He wanted his best friend back. I wanted (Y/N)'s happiness. I didn't have any right to choose who is to live and who is to die but at that moment, I was forced to make a choice. I chose to give in to my personal gain.

"Troops, clear the area! Erwin will turn into a titan and eat Berthold!" I commanded. "Fools, all of them... Like little kids... The way they scream and flail..." I muttered as I walked towards Erwin with Berthold. Suddenly, flashes of my conversation with Kenny came to my mind. "They couldn't keep going unless they were drunk on something..." he told me. I folded Erwin's jacket up to his elbow. I brought the injection towards his hand. "They were all slaves to something. Even him", Kenny's voice rang in my ear just as Erwin's hand shot up. " Teacher... How'd y... find out that they don't exist?" Erwin muttered.

Realisation flowed through my mind. Someone as self obsessed as Kenny decided to die when he achieved his dreams. I remembered the conversation I had with Erwin before the expedition. The one where he said that he didn't have much plans for after he finds out what was in the basement. The conversation from before the suicide march rang in my head. "There were so many times that I thought it would be easier to just die." I remembered Erwin saying that. Erwin was able to work his wonders only because of his curiosity on what was in the basement. If he found out what was in the basement, he won't have any reason to fight anymore. Sure, he loved (Y/N) but that had nothing to do with this fight. He already gave the responsibility of (Y/N)'s safety to me before the suicide march.

Even if Erwin lived, he wouldn't be able to contribute much to humanity's victory anymore. Armin on the other hand, still has a dream that was far from being achieved. "I need to keep (Y/N) and my child safe. No matter what." I thought. Erwin's death was crucial for humanity's victory. With that thought, I injected Armin with the titan serum.

To be continued...

Taglist: @reality-is-often-disappointing, @kingtamakimurder

[thelucyverse]

Part 1

Autumn and winter of 1980 were so busy for me, I barely had a moment of time to breathe. I heard that the order had destroyed several of Voldemorts' Horcruxes without him noticing- the diadem, the locket and the ring (the latter, sadly, without it destroying Dumbledore's hand and future)- and I was desperate to get my hands on one of the items myself to test several theories regarding soul-pieces, but Voldemort had yet to pass the diary to Lucius or the Cup to Bella, at least as far as I was aware. Did he only plan to part with them before moving in to kill the Potter boy, his predicted mortal enemy? Would he even part with them at all, if such an opportunity didn't come to pass?

I did more theoretical research on the topic while also wondering about the actual Horcruxes. Were they significant objects like the ones he used for his own? Objects that somehow showed his followers' status? Did that mean specific items or something like pebbles to show his superiority to them? Or, if the instances he created (or forced the respective followers to create?) the Horcrux were unplanned- and I was quite certain that he hadn't planned it with Bella, he had done it when she was asking about forming a union with me, which must have come as a sincere surprise to him- did he just use some random object in the room, or did he keep something prepared around?

So many questions, no way to answer them.

Instead, I focused on the theory of the research, on whether I would need the objects to bring both soul parts back together or just the person, or just the horcrux, and whether the soul piece within a person actually died if the person was killed or just became diacorporeal... I started to believe (still mere theory, of course) that while it might make it easier, I didn't necessary need the Horcrux if I managed to make the person want to fix their own soul (but I didn't know whether /regret/ would work as a stimulus if the person had never actually /decided/ to make the Horcrux in the first place), that usually someone would die and leave only the Horcrux part of the soul behind as that one can't be pulled from its object- unless the Horcrux partage was bigger than the killed part, which would make the pull stronger towards the Horcrux(es), keeping the last part on the mortal plane. Was that the reason why Voldemort had made so many Horcruxes, was he actually that clever, did he calculate the risk- or did he not understand souls at all and just thought the more the merrier?

Whenever I am alone with Bella, I try to talk to her, really connect to her again, and I believe that this connection to normalcy as well as any positive emotions I can make her feel seem to have a positive effect on at the very least her psyche if not also on her damaged soul.

A damaged soul would cloud someone's mind, making them unable or at the very least less able to feel things the way they used to, making them detached from humanity, less afraid to take human life, not hurt when killing or torturing others... Of course, Voldemort was already deranged before he made any Horcruxes, so I had no idea how much his influences him if at all... And I hadn't known Bella all that closely before she had had her soul split in two, so I couldn't really tell what was her and what was the Horcrux's influence, either. It disturbed me, to know that I didn't truly know the woman I was all but married to for over two years now at all.

In March of 1981, Voldemort handed Bellatrix Hufflepuff's Cup, to place in her vault in Gringotts and keep save there. Had I not been around, had Bellatrix been completely mad from her split soul, she would have done so without question. As it is, however, she went to Gringotts with the cup, placed it into her vault, left, went back immediately, took the cup, brought it to me and asked to be obliviated of all that happened after she first left the bank.

I hated having to do so to her, but I had also never been so proud.

Now, I have the cup, and I don't quite know what to do with it. While I can feel the evil ooze off of it, I can't tell it's shape or consistency, how it would react to tests. I have written Melodenia again with several inquiries about soul magic and how to feel, to /see/ it the way natural aura seers can. While I am afraid that she might have already started to question how theoretic the nature of my inquiries is, I hope she knows that I am genuinely trying to do good, I hope she understands some of my position here, even if I have never told her my full story, not even in enchanted parchment or the few times we have chatted via fireplace.

In May, I receive an invitation to a research Congress by MACUSA, with personal recommendation from one Professor and Master of magical theory, Melodenia of Ilvermorny- and without a name written on it, it is for myself to fill out. She must have known that I was operating under an alias, which of course won't work on such an official function. I decide almost immediately to attend, no matter the consequences: While I cannot wait to talk to her in person, away from prying eyes, I hate the attention it gains me from the Dark Lord and his followers. He knew, of course, that I had an interest in magical theory, but had thought it a little hobby of a Deatheater's wife. Now, however... I am being informed that after that Congress, which I am not to attend alone, I am to share all my findings with him, and use my skills to develop spells suitable for war if I haven't already done so.

I don't know how he managed, but I am accompanied to the States by Severus Snape. Professor Snape, now- twenty-one years old, a double spy for the two most powerful wizards currently alive in Britain, a teacher barely respected by the students in his own house and loathed by everyone else, trying to cling to what authority he has as a professor by being as strict as he possibly can. He is not a pleasant man to be around, still constantly afraid for the life of his friend Lily, whom he has barely seen in the past years. I don't know whether he loves her as a friend or is /in/ love with her, and I can't bring myself to care.

On our way- after making sure that there are no tracking- or monitoring spells by either of our masters left on us or our luggage- we share news on Deatheater and Order business before comparing our research in magical theory and spell-crafting, which is Severus' forte in theoretical magic. I don't know how I had forgotten about it so far- he is always known as a potions master, but I should have remembered all the spells he had been mentioned to have created in the books. He tells me of several dangerous spells, ones newly created by him as well as old ones that had simply come to be forgotten, that the Dark Lord does not yet know of and that the Order already knows the counters for. If Voldemort is going to ask for results of my work, I will be able to deliver. I do not tell Snape about my research in soul magic, not trusting him not to immediately tell Dumbledore, no matter how bad the old man has treated him in the past.

Melodenia is waiting for us at the portkey point. When I indicate to Severus that I would like to be left alone with her, he smirks nastily. "I won't tell anyone" he snarls before disappearing into the crowd with his cloak billowing behind him. I suppose he must think that I cannot stand being with a deatheater and have an affair with Melodenia instead. A laughable idea, even more so considering that Melodenia only seems to be interested in people insofar that they can help her research or carry it on into a new generation. Still- she is a friend, the closest one I have.

"Are you well, my old friend?" Melodenia asks. I wonder if she can see that I am older than I look through the soul-magic, and she laughs when I ask. "I didn't even need to look at that" she says. "but- yes. Now, what /is/ going on on the British Isles that has you in such disarray?" sometimes, she sounds more Properly British than I do- I know English isn't her first language, so I suppose it makes sense that she wouldn't have to have an American accent. Now, what to tell her? I decide to, for once, trust somebody, and go with the truth- the entire truth.

After my speech, Melodenia is quiet for a long moment before pulling me into a hug. "I cannot help you with the problem of your traveling" she explains first. "I can't tell whether you are from a different world or from a different time- although there us something about your aura that does say you do not belong /here/, or have not always belonged here. I can try to find texts on your kind of travelling, but I do not expect to find much, and I do not know how much I could find out from your person when you aren't already travelling away- in which case I would not want to come too near, I need to stay here with my students. Yes, I believe you could take someone with you on your travels" she answers my unasked question. "If you do so- please make sure to ask whether the person wants to leave their universe, and that they understand all that it entails." I nod. Then, Melodenia moves on to the topics current more urgent to me: soul magic, and how to break it. "Fix it, you mean- souls shouldn't be broken."

Over the course of the long weekend, whenever we don't absolutely have to attend a seminar, speech or evening social event, Melodenia teaches me how to manually soul-see, lay and break connections in soul magic (which- hella painful when tested on yourself, which is why we aren't doing it on anyone else), the theory and praxis of soul-healing- "You should try to influence her now even if you do not plan to already bring the soul pieces back together," she says about Bellatrix. "While from what you told me, she does not seem to be in danger of losing connection to the soul-piece entirely, there are other dangers: insanity, effects on the mind that, once completed and left alone for too long, get irreversible even if the soul pieces find back to one another. You must influence her with positivity- any positive emotions, as well as anything reminding her of life prior to the break, is healing for the soul." -, as well as other things she believes might be useful for me in the future, including how to apparate to locations you haven't been to yet: "In 'normal' apparition, the rule is to know exactly where you are going and only focus on this one location, with just slightly emphasis on getting your entire body there, as really, when you only want to go to one place, it automatically takes your entire body there, without splinching. When transporting yourself to an entirely new location or one you can't quite visualize anymore, apparition is more vague location-wise- you might not end up exactly where you want to go, but when you keep your focus on your entire body and to move it to a place, instead of focusing on the place to move to, you will end up somewhere without splinching. It is good to get out of situations when you don't have the power to apparate far and don't know any points in the area, you could just think of a generic secluded ally, a roof, a beach, a field, and end up in any such location you have the power to reach. When you have greater power, of course, you have to make sure not to end up in an entirely different continent."

On Monday, I leave with a newfound understanding of magical theory. I never realised how logical magic really is, when you only look deep enough. There are still things that seem strange to me, but I no longer think that it defies the laws of physics- it merely works with it in ways I hadn't known about. About soul magic, Melodenia ends with the words: "And be careful whom you tell about this. Few people are well-versed in soul magic, and even fewer for the right reasons. Say, are you familiar with the non-magical atom bomb? Yes? It is based on a technology and research completely unrelated to such destruction, but that is still what it was used for. You cannot blame everyone in that field of research for the connection, but that is the stigma they are going to face. It is similar when it comes to soul-magic. It can be used in healing ways, to help with trauma or to connect two people in love. But the only soul-magic many old wizarding families have heard of are dementors, horcruxes and soul-crushers, if they know about soul-magic at all. Be careful- not just regarding what they might do with it, but what they might believe you want to do with it, and what they would do to you to stop you."

When I leave for the portkey point with Snape, once again, as my escort in public, and turn around to wave at Melodenia, I am torn: I'm am sad to leave my friend and our research behind- yet I cannot wait to hold Bellatrix in my arms again.

Part 3

[migleefulmoments]

The Book Club: My Analysis

 I just posted a long look at the ATOM analysis but I couldn't comment on their posts because it would have been too confusing.  Here is where I will make comments to their analysis.  As always my comments in parenthesis and italicized.

In this first post, notice that Abby isn’t looking for big themes and symbols-although she did catch the big ones- instead she is picking out single words and short phrases and drawing analogies to Darren. This is the literature version of cutting up an already short video into 1-2 seconds, slowing it down for drama and making it a gif. It’s how you distort the truth. 

**********************************************

December 26, 2019 by this is a submission to ajw (X)

Submission from a friend (I posted my brief thoughts at the end). Major spoilers below. Scroll past if you haven’t read and don’t want to know.

First off, just in the note to the readers, I knew this book was going to be full of some good stuff.

Obviously, all interpretations are my own, after my first read through.

“A tale of magic follows a group of young fairies as they fight for acceptance in an oppressive world where magic is outlawed and despised. This story is very close to my heart, and writing it was the most challenging and emotional process I’ve experienced as an author to date. …… I hope it encourages and comforts anyone who may be fighting their own battle for acceptance and equality.”

Fairies= anyone feeling different or told they can’t be who they are, perhaps including the LGBT community? Hmm.. Close to his heart? What closer to his heart than the reality he’s living?  (Yes, it is definitely the LGBTQ community. If you couldn’t tell from reading the story Chris says “For me, the magic in A Tale of Magic is an allegory for being gay.” and faires are the people who have magical abilities. This is a story he calls “close to my heart”  because he is a gay man who grew up in a town that is now represented by Devin “the dunce” Nunes- so super fake-religious, judgemental and intolerant. He’s been getting mail from gay kids for a decade and he wrote a story to tell his truth and Abby is turning it into a story about Darren and the reality she has created for Chris to be living)

“If we want to change the world’s opinion it must be encouraged, not forced– and nothing encourages people like a good spectacle.”

Hmm… a spectacle? Sounds familiar. You can’t force anyone to believe anything, but it can be encouraged by opening your eyes to a good spectacle, like say a wedding, and realizing that it just doesn’t make sense if you open your eyes. Nuff said. (Except in this case Mrs. Weatherberry is saying they need to encourage people to accept magic not force them to and a good spectacle is the best way to encourage change. For this to be a reference to the wedding, Chris would have to be happy about the wedding). 

One of the books that Brystal comes across is by Daisy Peppernickel. I think that speaks for itself. It’s clearly known that Daisy is a certain someone’s nickname, especially used by the part of his fans that believe in Daisy. (This is stupid. It’s a silly, British-sounding name- not a reference to Darren. I can’t imagine a Chris celebrating the fandom’s fetishization of Darren’s efferent movements by labeling it “Daisy”) 

“.. each author’s cause of death was EXECUTED FOR CONSPIRACY AGAINS THE KINGDOM. … It was a graveyard for truth and an archive of people the Justices had silenced.”

Deleted tweets, accounts vanishing into thin air. This sounds a lot like the conspiracies against (str8) fandom. It’s no secret that people have been silenced. (yes, deleted tweets, accounts vanishing in thin air (what?) are exactly conspiracy against the fandom.  Both Chris and Darren are super worried about a handful of fans in the Str8 fandom.  You guys MATTER so much Chris included you in his book. He loves you, dudes).  

“All the books in the secret room were written by people who felt and thought exactly like she did, by people who questioned information, who criticized social restrictions, who challenged the systems set in place, and who weren’t afraid to make their ideas known.”

Questioning information? Challenging the system? Not afraid to make their ideas known? Can’t think of anybody that might do that. (It’s almost like Chris was talking about all the brave people who push back against society’s unfair treatment of the disenfranchised and minority persons who are discriminated against whether that is because of their race, nationality, gender, age or income. I know for a FACT he was NOT talking about the cc fandom. who do not do these things for the better good of society but rather for their own needs. Chris was honoring people like Mrs. Weatherberry and MLK, Rosa Parks, Harvey Milk,, people who push boundaries to make positive changes for the good of all people. What you all do is petty and based not on genuine inconsistencies in the system but rather your own refusal to accept that you are wrong and have always been wrong.)  

“Personally, I think life is way to complicated for anyone’s life to be set in stone.”

Even though D seems to be in a death sentence, there’s way more to life and his fate is not set in stone. C believes in his man, and knows he can overcome this. (Um what?)

“Sometimes as  a survival method, fairies suppress their magic so deep within themselves that it becomes extremely difficult to reach it.”

This reminds me of D’s dudebro persona that he brings out. He’s suppressing himself so far that at times he’ll turn himself into a different caricature of himself. We all know Daisy is in there somewhere under the layers of D-bag. (LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL. You mean when Darren is acting exactly like Darren?  People are like onions, they have layers. Dude bro is one of Darren’s layers. Not understanding that Darren is who Darren proves that you aren’t are the one who isn’t actually paying attention. It’s so obvious )  

“It’s very hard watching someone you love in so much pain.”

C watching the person he loves get knocked down over and over, he’s speaking directly from his own experience here. (How do you know this? Chris has never once suggested he finds life difficult right now or that he is in pain.  It’s almost like you made it up)  

“Horence had the misfortune of falling in love with a witch. … Naturally, such a relationship was forbidden, so for over a decade, Horence and the witch carried on a secret affair. When Horence’s soldiers discovered the relationship, the men betrayed their commander. They burned Horence at the stake and forced the witch to watch it happen.”

Using LGBT to equal ‘magical’ (As I’ve found countless references I haven’t even put in here) D fell in love with someone magical (gay), and their relationship was forbidden and secret. Once their secret was out, the team made D pay for it and C had to watch it all go down with nothing that he could do. (Except throw all his angst into his books ;) ) (Good job Abby- you got the most obvious allegory. The one that Chris acknowledged  “For me, the magic in A Tale of Magic is an allegory for being gay.” The rest of your nonsense is silly- the secret isn’t out and nobody except Abby has ever suggested anyone is making Darren or Chris pay anything).   

“We must pity the people who close to hate, Brystal. Their lives will never be as meaningful as those of the people who choose to love.”

The pathetic souls that do nothing but hate on C C and spread hate will never have as meaningful of life as those that chose to love and support our boys. (Um...I guess you don’t believe in coincidences but you believe in Karma. That doesn’t make a lot of sense. I am 100% positive that karma will get the people who don’t support cc. Both Chris and Darren have both denied a relationship and neither has ever suggested any of it is true). 

“We all know how terrible keeping a secret can feel. Secrets are like parasites, the longer you keep them inside you, the more damage they cause.”

The longer D is force to stay closeted, the more damage it does to him.

“If we had had everything we wanted then, we might never have found what we needed now.”

This to me feels like C is actually a little bit thankful for the bumps in the road. He’s trying to look on the bright side. If things had always been easy for them, they might have taken it for granted. Everything they’ve been through has only made them stronger. If they can get through all of this shit alive, they can make it through absolutely anything. (What twisted mind writes crisscolfer so that Darren’s life is a living hell with literally nobody to trust or on his side except his one true love and his mommy and daddy but also Chris is happy to have been put through the “bumps” in the road? ) 

“She dreamed the fairy was repeatedly knocked to the ground by a ferocious monster in a fur coat and snowflake crown.”

The ferocious monster in a fur coat? Makes me think of another monster that wears a fur coat. Shade. (Chris is a vindictive dick when he writes?)

“You can stop pretending, Brystal. I know you’re aware of much more than you’re letting on.”

C knows that we know. He’s not living under a rock. (yes, this is exactly the kind of sentence anyone would add to make sure your fandom knows that you are on to them.  I agree- Chris is sending you messages of support because though all of this, he’s worried about you). 

“I don’t know about you guys, but I refuse to sit back and let a frosty old witch take Madame Weatherberry away from us.”

Frosty old witch= Obviously M (wait I thought Mia was the monster in a fur coat and crown? She can’t be all the villians) 

“Do you guys know what your love languages are? Mine is quality time. It used to be physical touch, but that wasn’t working very well, so I had to change it. People are so picky about personal space and–”

C cherishes any quality time that he gets to have with D, since it’s not always available. (I can’t.... the 5 love languages are specific and about how you communicate with other people. You don’t pick a love language based on what is going on in your life.) 

“Sometimes good people do bad things for the right reasons.”

I have this bookmarked, along with some other passages about the Snow Queen / Mrs. Weatherberry. I know that there’s /some/ significance around this, but I haven’t fully figured out exactly what all it symbolizes. I have a few ideas, but nothing really seems to line up completely to me. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it at some point! (The significance is that Brystal has to made a tough decision to do something that at first glance is reprehensible but is much more complicated than that. Sometimes- like in war- people do bad things for the right reason)  

I think those are the big things that I’ve bookmarked. There’s so much more I could talk about, but I’m afraid it would start to not make any sense if I just started rambling, so I decided to go off of passages from the book and my thoughts on why I think they’re significant or tie into C C.

You can feel free to just keep this for yourself, or post it at a later date, or take pieces parts to post. Whatever you want!

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ajw adds:  know I’ve been really bad about posting on the book. I saved this submission because I thought it was brilliant and a lot of great insights.

My opinion on the Madame W/Horence/Ice Queen? C is Madame W/Ice Queen and D is Horence. I too thought frosty old queen at first referred to m. But once the twist was revealed I’m convinced it’s c and his dual personality like the twins. He is a Gemini as he likes to remind us. It’s his struggle between being happy with the love he was blessed with and his desire to destroy for the people that have so gravely hurt them.

The quote above to think about most.

Sometimes good people do bad things for the right reasons

That’s him talking about their Pr life and I’d guess directly addressing the fraud in NOLA. He’s believed in d and he wants us to believe in him too.  (No, it is just a plot point in a story about “good and bad” written for kids)