#he did lots of shit and deserves consequences

[henry-fox-biggest-stan]

Out of curiosity: why do you think Philip hates Alex specifically? (cakegate aside) Do you think he'd just be okay with Henry dating some upper-class English guy?

Why I think he hates Alex

He has no been kind to him once in the book. Also Alex ruined his wedding cake. Not a great first impression.

I don’t think there’s more to it tbh. Alex hasn’t been kind to him either, and Philip sees Alex being so “open” with the public, having fun with it, his public persona completely different to their (Philip, Bea, and Henry’s) public persona, and just being the compete opposite to what monarchy considers proper, so he doesn’t like him, let alone want him dating Henry.

Answering your second question,

I think it’s not based on Alex not being an upper-class English guy, but more based on how Alex is as a person, as in his personality. And also the fact than he’s the son of the president of the states.

“I don’t care if you’re gay,” Philip says, dropping that big fat if like Henry hasn’t already specifically told him. “I care that you’ve made this choice, with him”—he cuts his eyes sharply to Alex as if he finally exists in the same room as this conversation—“someone with a fucking target on his back, to be so stupid and naive and selfish as to think it wouldn’t completely fuck us all.”

Alex is, since the start of the book, very different to Henry. Interests and family aside, Alex kind of enjoys being in the public eye. At least at the start of the book. He likes being in front of a crowd, make them scream. Is true than Alex is probably the most private one out of the White House trio, but just because he doesn’t share his private life to the public, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t get along with them. One of the first scenes of him we have is him talking about how he and Nora like creating rumours and being in magazines and all.

I have a point I swear, just wait.

Monarchy (Philip, Henry, Bea), is the complete opposite to this. They stay out of directly interacting with the public, they don’t have fun with it like Alex does. Not because is a personal choice (which that too) but because they can’t, because they have a reputation to uphold. And isn’t everything about monarchy based on reputation?

Alex, Nora, and June, also have reputations, but theirs are handmade, you could say, while Philip, Henry, and Bea’s and premade, they had no choice on them, they are just something they have to do, something the have to look like.

Alex, Nora and June chose their own reputations, they decided how they wanted people to see them. They had control over that.

All three of them—himself, June, and Nora—have their roles.

Nora is the cool brainy one, the one who makes inappropriate jokes on Twitter about whatever sci-fi show everyone’s watching, a bar trivia team ringer.

He looks at June—ahead of him now, caramel highlights in her swinging ponytail catching the midday sun—and he knows her place too. The intrepid Washington Post columnist, the fashion trendsetter everyone wants to have at their wine-and-cheese night.

But Alex is the golden boy. The heartthrob, the handsome rogue with a heart of gold. The guy who moves through life effortlessly, who makes everyone laugh. Highest approval ratings of the entire First Family. The whole point of him is that his appeal is as universal as possible.

For example Alex is not his public personal (aside from heart of gold). That’s something he created. The whole point of him is than his appeal is as universal as possible.

Stopping myself here because if I don’t I’ll go on yet another rant about Alex (I love my boy so much).

But basically in the book there’s a deep contrast between Alex’s family and Henry’s family, one is warm the other is cold. Alex has, and has always had, a choice. Sure, being on the public eye was not something he chose, it just happened because his mother wanted to be president, but he could choose everything else. His public persona, his decisions, who to date and who to not date. They didn’t even stop him from dating Henry. Just told him than he has to know what he wanted, to choose. But they didn’t stop him.

Henry is the opposite. He can’t choose how to present himself, how the world sees him. He can’t even wear ties with patterns.

Patterns are considered a “statement.” Royals aren’t supposed to make statements with what we wear.

They aren’t supposed to make statements.

The Royal Family are, as a rule, expected to stay out of politics, and refrain from giving their personal opinion on certain topics, so as to remain impartial.

Dating Alex, son of a political leader, is a statement. Is saying “I support this and I do not support that”.

And, Alex wants to be involved in politics, he talks about how he wants to make a change, how he genuinely cares, and the fastest way to make a change is making it while being on positions of power, somewhere people can hear you.

Alex’s whole reason for wanting to go into politics, when he knows so many past presidential sons and daughters have run away screaming the minute they turned eighteen, is he genuinely cares about people.

He has a very visible political position. People know what he supports and what he doesn’t, what he wants to do and what he doesn’t. And since he likes being on positions of power, because that gives him the possibly to make a change (even if at the end the change he did was unrelated to politics but about who he was as a person), he doesn’t get out of it. He continues being on it, he doesn’t mind attention on him, as long as they see what he wants them to see.

Philip sees Alex always on the public eye for one reason or another, a photo shoot, a new rumour, etc, and sees how his public persona is different to theirs, “wilder”, not so formal.

And, conservatives hate Alex. He is everything they stand against, even before knowing he was bi. He’s a grandchild of immigrants, he’s mixed race, he’s brown, he’s outspoken about his views (which are opposite to theirs), he’s the son of the first president who’s a woman, and who is also a democrat, he comes from a mixed race family, etc etc. Monarchy is supposed to be neutral. Alex is the opposite from neutral.

Philip’s main problem with Henry being gay is than he wanted to come out. Henry’s gay? Ok but he can’t come out. And that’s not based on homophobia (no matter if it sounds like it), is deeper, Henry coming out would challenge everything. First, he wouldn’t be neutral anymore. Monarchy is built upon manipulation upon privilege upon capitalism, etc. Henry coming out would threaten everything, all the rules, all the stuff would have to change, people would be asking why he didn’t come out before, and if Henry said the truth, their reputation would be dammed. And many many people would stop liking them. Some would not like them for being homophobic, other wouldn’t like them because Henry is gay. People from both sides would be against them. Their reputation (as mentioned as repeatedly through the book as repeatedly as I’m mentioning it now) is something that must be perfect. They can’t make statements, they’re perfect, formal, they’ll continue the bloodline, etc. If Henry is gay and people know, it no longer affects him, but all of them.

And many people see queerness and something political. Again, Henry wouldn’t be neutral.

I think than if Henry married a woman (hopefully a beard, someone who knows he’s gay and doesn’t care to cover for him) and had affairs with men, and Philip knew (than he was gay), he wouldn’t mind. He did what he had to do. Henry’s reputation is good, their reputation is good, they’ll continue the bloodline, etc. Because Philip, like Henry, was taught to leave their wants aside, and focus more on monarchy and what’s good for it.

The thing with Philip is, he isn’t evil. And many seem to forget that. He did bad things, and I’m holding him accountable for them, but at the end of the day, he was just brainwashed by Mary, specially after Arthur’s death. He was vulnerable after his father died, his mother wasn’t there mentally, he felt like he had to step up, be the “man of the house”, and he clung to his grandmother (the only adult in his immediate family who was physically and mentally there for him), and Mary took this opportunity to make him into the version of him monarchy wanted him to be (rule follower, defends their reputation no matter what, cares more about monarchy and what people think of them than what he wants to do.), which is just what Mary tried to make Henry to be too.

But he was on about Martha, and land holdings, and the hypothetical heirs they have to start working on, even though Philip hates children, and suddenly it was as if . . . as if everything you said last night came back to me. I thought, God, that’s it, isn’t it? Just following the plan. And it’s not that he’s unhappy. He’s fine. It’s all very deeply fine. A whole lifetime of fine.”

She probably tried with Bea, but Bea saw the manipulation right away and it didn’t work, or she didn’t get to try because with Arthur alive, that man would have never let her do that to his children, and with Arthur gone, Bea was like Catherine, mentally somewhere else. After rehab, she was still mourning, but she had Henry, she didn’t need her like Philip did. Because I think Henry and Bea were closer than Philip and Henry/Bea even before Arthur died, after it and Mary’s manipulation, they just drifted more apart.

If Casey wanted us to believe Philip was bad he would have made him be bad until the end, made him not change. Philip did change. Henry is even trying to make amends with him. Maybe he hasn’t fully forgiven him, which makes absolute sense and just because Philip was a victim it doesn’t he mean he was a victim inside their relationship, than he couldn’t continue the cycle of abuse. But Philip realized the cycle of abuse, realized he was continuing all this time. And tried to stop. That’s growth. Maybe not forgivable, not after everything, but he’s trying.

Philip came to Kensington two weeks ago to apologize to both Henry and Bea for the years since their father’s death, the harsh words, the domineeringness, the intense scrutiny. For basically growing from an uptight people- pleaser into an abusive, self-righteous twat under the pressure of his position and the manipulation of the queen. “He’s fallen out with Gran,” Henry had told Alex over the phone. “That’s the only reason I actually believe anything he says.”

Mary isn’t trying, Mary didn’t decide to support Henry at the end, didn’t try to do better. No one forgives her, and we are not supposed to see than she’s trying to be better, because she isn’t. “Isn’t Mary also a victim of this cycle of abuse, wasn’t she like Philip, brainwashed by her own parents probably (and her parents by their parents and so on), and continued the cycle?” Yes, but she doesn’t actively try to be better, doesn’t realize that, doesn’t even feel bad about it, different to Philip.

Answering again with shorter answers.

Why does Philip hate Alex specifically?

Because Alex is the whole opposite to what they stand for, he’s a walking statement, and he’s so himself, different to monarchy with their perfect flawless formal public personas.

Would Philip be fine with Henry dating some upper-class English guy (before coming out and everything than happened after he did)?

As long as he kept it secret, Henry could date whoever he wanted as long as he didn’t want to make it public, as long as he planned on marrying a woman and following his duty, as long as that someone was responsible, and didn’t have a “target on his back”, and Philip says Alex has.

Again, holding Philip accountable for everything he did, just explaining the reason why he did it.

Does this make sense? Because in my head it does but I don’t know if it does when I write it down

[savanir]

The cure to vampirism is to never get turned at all

Dick is not ashamed to admit he's in trouble. 

He's surrounded on all sides by vampires (because that's a thing now), he's put in this situation by his sister which is just great. Some ancient vampire lady named Pandora says she needs him to defeat the Queen of Blood named Mary and he's pretty sure that involves him being turned into a vampire as well, which he doesn't want. 

He's good but even he can tell his odds are pretty shit. There is no backup coming and even if he could call them they would never arrive on time. 

And of course he's in his civvies and doesn't have any of his gear. Just fantastic. 

But if he goes down he'll go down fighting.

"DANIEL!!"

everything screeches to a halt as the furious booming male voice echoes through the room. 

A large ornate wooden double door in the back slams open and a young man rushes through slamming them closed behind him.

Intricate red and green flashes of energy cover the doors and then the young man turns to the crowd in the fancy crypt.

"Our young gifted prince? There is no need for you to attend this meeting, But if there is a way we may assis-?" The question hovers in the air, choked off as the young man runs forward and with hands shimmering in eerie venomous green and deep blood red energy he tears through the random vampire's throat, startling all the others. 

"I'm putting an end to this madness, here and now" He drops the gradually disintegrating corpse on the ground. 

"Young prince!?" Exclaims lady Pandora.

For Dick things become a blur after that. Screaming and screeching and inhuman growling. The young man easily tears through them all with his powers. It seems some form of backup did arrive, but if this is a blessing or a curse remains to be seen.

Dick doesn't understand though, he seems to be one of them so why...?

One second they are all still fighting then the next the old vampire lady is lying dead on the ground, gradually turning into dust. The vampires who remain all stare at the young man in shock. “he… he killed Pandora, our oldest. The strongest of us” 

None of them seem to know what to do now. There are a lot of dead vampires all around, in Dick’s humble opinion this meeting could not have gone worse for the acolytes of shadow. He’s not feeling too upset about that though considering what they wanted from him. Still, the fact that they aren’t outright trying to kill this young prince in retaliation… he must be someone special, that alone is more than enough for Dick to keep his guard up around him.

Then the young man darts forward and grabs Dick's wrist, "we have to leave, the seal I put on the door is about to break. I won't be able to protect you from him"

"Who?" Dick can’t help but ask as they both start running for the exit. The young man quickly dragging him up the stairs. For a split second does Dick think about Melinda, he’s not entirely sure if she was among the ones killed or not. She was the one who tricked him into that mess. 

Well, she absolutely knew the consequences, she told them about him being Nightwing, if whatever is left down there decides to punish her for this fiasco that’s probably what she deserves.

"I'll explain everything later, I promise, but we need to go now!"

The furious noises behind them grow steadily in volume. Danny pushes Dick forward as he slams the red fake fridge door closed behind them and another flash or red and green covers that as well, another seal of sorts most likely. The one other person in the kitchen startles as the two of them run past him.

"Who are you?"

"Call me Danny, now this way, quick!" the young prince, Danny apparently, faults over the Waffle House front desk Dick not hesitating to do the same.

"DANIEL HOW DARE YOU!" comes faintly from behind them as Danny slams the fake establishments front doors open and pulls Dick out of there.

"Oh he's next level mad" mutters Danny as they are running again. Meanwhile Dick is just very glad to be breathing in the fresh cold night air of Bludhaven. 

However, his legs are having trouble keeping up with the pace, he has taken some serious hits and those things definitely don't pull any punches. 

He can’t help the faint pained groan and the speed with which the other man snaps his attention back on him almost makes him flinch. 

"Do you need a hand?"

"I'm fine"

"Here let me-" 

Next thing Dick knows he's being carried, if he wasn't friends with so many supers and speedsters he'd probably be flailing. Instead he's just kinda used to it and lets it happen even if it’s a bit awkward what with Danny being a bit shorter than him.

He's glad when they get to a safehouse and Danny puts him on the couch. He then goes to fetch Dick the first aid kit. 

"Who were we running from?"

"Old as balls vampire lord named Vladimir Masters, he’s in cahoots with the acolytes of shadow. And I guess he’s now fully in charge seeing Pandora just had her final death."

Dick pauses and just looks at him. 

"Yes he's really named that" Danny looks rather tired.

"And I'm guessing he's the sort who is going to be a massive headache"

"I mean they had this whole plan of world domination, you were a key player in that plan which is now completely ruined by the way. I was part of it too but I really don't want anything to do with any of that so... here we are"

"Here we are"

It's only when Dick is fully bandaged that Danny flops down in the nearest arm chair and drops his head in his hands and takes a deep shuddering breath. Perhaps all the murder is catching up to him? 

"Are you okay?"

"Don't mind me, I'm just... thirsty... I'll be fine" 

"Ah yes of course, vampire."

"I'm unfortunately a vampire yeah but don’t get it twisted, I'm absolutely not one of them" Danny looks up and sneers, Dick can now clearly see the fangs. “Seeing humans as cattle… the absolute moronic-” Danny trails off in furious muttering. “living in a world with demons and angels and aliens and whatever else but no we’re the ones who deserve special treatment.”

Dick makes a choice and then gets up, Danny watching him go and curiously listening to him opening and closing something in a different room before coming back and holding out a blood bag with a bit of IV tube hanging out of it. 

"Here you go."

“Oh! thank you,” Danny gladly takes the bag, "You just have bags of blood in your house?"  

"You never know when you need an emergency blood transfusion. Especially considering my nightly activities." … you know that sounds kinda vampiric in it’s own way doesn’t it?

Danny snorts and starts drinking. It kind of looks like a huge capri-sun that way. It's sort of adorable. 

If only it wasn't a massive plastic bag of Dick's own blood but whatever. 

They both fall quiet as Danny focuses on his drink and Dick takes a moment to think about the absolute mess he just went through.

“Someone called you gifted… what did they mean by that?”

“This mostly,” Danny holds out his hand and shows Dick the strange glowing mixture of red and green energy he saw down in the crypt. “I am a huge anomaly because I became a vampire while I was half alive and half dead. What that means for the most part is enhanced powers, I am even harder to kill than a regular vampire and you cannot fix my vampirism with one of those disgusting smelling pits of… what was it called? Lar- Lazard?” “Lazarus,”

"Yes that! Anyway I am like.. the backup to their world domination plan, initially they just wanted me to be their weapon but I have morals, pesky things, super annoying according to them. Which is why they decided to ‘recruit’ you. But I managed to screw that up too.” Danny looks very satisfied with himself about that. 

“Thanks for that” Dick says genuinely earning him a cheeky sharp fanged grin from Danny. Though he wished it had not involved such a massive carnage, he’s very glad he’s not a vampire right now. Beggars can’t be choosers he guesses.

“It would probably be best to get the League involved, root them all out. Vlad is definitely going to make more drastic moves now that things have turned out this way.”

Dick ponders to himself, “Yeah… let’s be Helsing about it,” He already got a Vampire on his side too.

Danny dejectedly looks down at his empty blood bag, “... can I have another?” He asks carefully.

“Sure!” responds Dick with a smile that finally manages to ease the tension out of Danny’s shoulders.

[rafesbuzzcutseason]

wicked game

chapter 6 - talk of the town

synopsis: y/n is sarah’s roommate and the embodiment of sunshine. rafe, on the other hand, is her complete opposite. when the boys place a bet that he can't win her over, rafe takes the challenge without hesitation. after all, he never backs down from a dare. the closer rafe gets to y/n, he finds himself drawn to her warmth in a way he never expected, and for the first time, he wants to be more than just the guy with a bad reputation.

but secrets don’t stay hidden for long, and when y/n finds out the truth, rafe is left to face the consequences. now, he has to prove that somewhere along the way, the bet stopped mattering, because losing her was never part of the plan.

masterlist

cw: language

that morning, you had spent time with john b and sarah before class, when you got the notification that a new newsletter had been uploaded.

"what the actual fuck" you muttered under your breath as you sat down in the lecture room to finally read it. you felt multiple eyes on you, heat rising to your cheeks. how did people know it was written about me?

you glanced around, trying to act nonchalant, but everyone seemed to be looking at their phones, glancing up at you, and then looking away quickly. your face burned as you scrolled through the rest of the post, each line making you cringe further. lived to tell the tale? what does that even mean?

your eyes flicked to the person sitting beside you, who was now pretending to be absorbed in their notes, but the smirk was obvious on their face. great. you were the topic of conversation, and you hadn't even done anything to deserve it.

the moment the bell rang, signalling the end of class, you wasted no time packing up your things. you couldn’t get out of that lecture hall fast enough. you were halfway out the door when you heard a familiar, irritating voice.

"y/n," rafe’s voice called from behind you, making your stomach twist.

you froze, clenching your jaw. you hadn’t expected to run into him so soon. you turned around slowly, keeping your expression neutral.

"what do you want, rafe?" you asked, your tone colder than you meant it to be.

he was leaning against the doorway, a smirk on his face like he had all the time in the world. his eyes flicked down to your phone, where the newsletter lit up your screen.

"first newsletter feature. how do you feel?" he teased, pushing off the doorframe and walking toward you.

"absolutely great thanks." you snapped, stepping around him.

"where’s the rush? you don’t want to hang out?" his grin was mischievous, knowing he was pushing your buttons.

"i’m not in the mood for whatever this is,” you muttered trying to move past him, but there was no way around it. you weren’t getting past him unless you physically shoved him out of the way.

he tilted his head, glancing down at you. "so, what’s up with you? not enjoying being the talk of the town?"

you felt your face flush, "i don’t know why you care."

rafe's eyes twinkled with amusement. "i don't care. i'm face of the paper a lot. you, however, seem to care a lot."

"and i'm sure you’re loving that,” you shot back, your voice tight with irritation.

"oh i really am." he smiled tightly.

"how do people even know it was me you were talking to?" you questioned, curiosity getting the better of you.

"people know everything around here y/n. probably twitter or some shit."

"ugh" you groaned, "you just have to make everything fucking difficult."

rafe’s smirk never faltered as he leaned back slightly, clearly enjoying your frustration. "wouldn’t be me if it wasn’t, right?"

you clenched your jaw, taking a deep breath to calm yourself. "i don’t need this right now, rafe," you said through gritted teeth, trying to push past him once more.

he took a step closer, caging you in. his eyes scanning your face like he was looking for something. "you know, it’s not every day i get to see someone that mad about a little attention." his voice dropped, a bit of mock sympathy creeping in. "it’s kind of cute."

you shot him an angry look, your frustration rising once again. "it’s not cute, rafe. it's annoying."

"well, no backing out now. anyway, we're hosting another party this weekend. come?" he asked, the first hint of sincerity present.

"what, so you can make fun of me more?"

he held his hand to his heart in a wounded pose, "what me? never!"

"no. i won't be there. thanks for the invite though."

rafe tilted his head, "you sure about that? i promise i won’t get under your skin again. no one’s gonna bite… well, maybe just me."

you crossed your arms over your chest, "i don’t need your bullshit, rafe. i’ll pass on your offer."

he raised an eyebrow, clearly not used to being turned down so easily. again. "alright, princess. but you’re gonna miss out on a hell of a time."

"good,” you shot back, "I don’t need to be part of your little frat drama. keep me out of it."

for a moment, there was a flicker of something in his expression, almost like he was disappointed, but it was gone in a flash, replaced by his smug grin you were becoming far too familiar with.

"suit yourself,” he said, stepping back and pushing off the doorframe.

you rolled your eyes. "whatever, rafe."

he winked at you, finally walking away. "see you soon sweetheart."

a/n: i am sorry this is such a slowburn, it just needs to get there and it will i promise

🏷️: @heartzshiftamy @hoefordrewstarkey @luvrclub  @leleee3 @yktayy9669 @miumiuestmoi @anacamofficial @cokewithcameron @bloodofadoll @shorttandsweett @mysticbby2009 @emmiesummers @wintercrows @drewrry @starkeyxcameron @xxbirkindoll2 @stoned-writer @drewstarkeyslover @hannieskzzz @verycherryblossomhideout @letstryagaintomorrow @@jjsbbg7 @mariamadison6-blog @laniirackssss @xeneasworld @countryclubwhore @drewsphswife @mattyskies @moonywhisp3rs @starkeygirls @lmaolmaos @thereallifebambi @emeloyy @vcnillafairy @rafecameronswhoore @st8rkey @angeldiaryy @therealfairybatman @drewsephrry @vanessa-rafesgirl @dreamybabbyy @pogueprincesa @happy-mushrooms @hannaa20002000 @whoismxtti @darlingstarkey @mattssweetheart @wuluhwuhmaster @harringtonsbowgirl @my-name-is-baby @rrosiitas @davinashifts333

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

you've given me too much animorphs inspiration (animorspiration?) and I'm now drowning. help. I wrote like half an essay on The Tragedy of David and how it's not really about whether he deserved a chance to change but the fact that they just straight up did not have the luxury (or tools) to give one. I think that while rachel's only regret is not giving him a clean kill, at the same time she would have done almost anything to be able to throw david at a competent adult role model and watch him face a nonlethal and constructive consequence for his actions.

I think a lot of things about david, too many for the little shit. he's such an asshole, he's cruel and sexist and so fucking unpleasant to read about I can barely imagine the horror of actually being in a room with him. but he's also just fucking thirteen. I want to grab him by the scruff of his neck and send him to therapy. even better I want a story where his family lives and it doesn't magically make him a decent person, he's still awful because he's goddamn david, and *then* he's dragged to a good therapy program and has a real incentive to change. also I guess the child soldier thing would be happening too in the background or whatever.

I couldn't agree more, with all of that. The decision to nothlit him (and kill him) is excruciatingly well-justified in canon. He's so despicable that I often want to reach through the page and throttle him. He reminds me of myself when I was a spoiled, damaged 13-year-old sick to death of being The New Kid at every school.

Maybe I was never quite that misogynistic. But at 13, I thought Light Yagami had the right approach to ethics. I thought the world would be better off if people would just shut up and give more power to the government. I was naive, I was awkward, I was a rich white kid with more experience being excluded than befriended and my social skills reflected that. Oh, and did I mention my obsession with snakes and horror comics and trying to shock adults? Because that's the root of my personal desire to stomp David's face in.

He's a normal kid, with normal problems, with a normal amount of teenage self-centeredness and temperamentalism. And the other Animorphs have basically no choice but to kill him to get him off their team. Because he's not ready for the tremendous soul-crushing responsibility they're forced to take on, to keep their species alive.

You know that old joke, about including exactly one normal athlete on every Olympic team so that we can really appreciate just how astoundingly good all the Olympians are? That's David, for the Animorphs. He's not superhumanly selfless, and he's the only one on the team for whom that's true.

[bleedingoptimism]

It’s a little after eleven when Eddie finally manages to get Tarja to bed. It’s hard for her without her plushie. And really, Eddie is very thankful having a hyper-fixation with her toy seems to be the only ‘consequence’ of having divorced parents Tarja seems to have right now. He always worries if having two homes and constantly moving between them is good for her or not. Especially with Tommy being Tarja’s other dad, but against all odds, he’s good to her. So their kid is doing just fine. She’s happy. And if she’s happy, Eddie is happy.

He’s getting ready to open a beer and relax when there’s a knock on the door. He smiles, assuming is Steve bringing Toothless over and almost knocks his beer to the floor when he opens the door.

Steve looks… well he looks amazing, dressed to the nines. Must’ve been date night. But his eyes are red and puffy, his face covered in dark blotches, and his lips are swollen like he’s been biting them too much.

He’s hugging Toothless to his chest and he smiles at Eddie when he sees him, but he looks so sad it breaks his heart.

Eddie throws the beer behind him, sure it will land on the couch and cradles Steve’s face between his hands, “What did that asshole do?

Steve leans into his touch and shuts his eyes for a moment before sighing and stepping away from him, walking inside and sitting on the couch still holding Toothless like a lifeline. 

“Nothing, he was just-” Steve shakes his head and chuckles darkly, “He’s just so mean,” 

Eddie drops to his knees in front of him and dips his head to look Steve in the eye just like he did that day in the park.

“Break up with him,” he says.

“I can’t.”

“Tommy doesn't deserve you, Steve. You are worth so much more than what that asshole makes you feel. You deserve better. More. Everything,” Eddie pleads, placing his hands on Steve’s knees and squeezing, “If it’s because of Tarja, we’ll figure something out, ok? Lots of people keep in contact with their parent’s significant other after they break up” He rushes, the speech he didn't have quite prepared last week coming out of him in a single breath, “We are friends, right? So you can still visit and see her. Visit me. You don’t have to stop being a part of our lives.” 

Steve is staring at him right now like Eddie just gifted him the moon and he’s so beautiful it’s kind of hard for Eddie to keep eye contact, but he squeezes Steve’s knees again to ground himself and does. Steve needs to know he’s very serious about this. About him.

Eyes shining, Steve takes a deep breath and nods slowly, a tear falling down his cheek that Eddie follows with his eyes and watches until it hides under Steve’s v-neck shirt.

“Hey, even I didn’t put up with Tommy's shit for Tarja’s sake and I birthed her,” he jokes awkwardly, trying to make him laugh and feels like doing a little victory dance when Steve snorts cutely,

“Okay,” he hiccups.

“Yeah?” Eddie smiles back at him, relieved.

“Yeah,” Steve sighs, “Fuck Tommy.” And drops back on the couch, looking exhausted, “Can I stay here tonight?” he asks in a whisper, like he’s afraid Eddie will say no. As if.

“Yeah, of course,” Is what he answers, and has half a mind to invite him into his bed but knows it’s a terrible idea. So he lends Steve his favorite flannel pajamas and sets blankets and a pillow on the couch and they say their goodnights.

And if he does a little dance when he closes the door to his room, no one is there to see.

In the morning, Steve stays for breakfast. And attempts to kill Eddie by making his heart explode, cooking it himself from scratch with Tarja’s help, who is so happy she won’t stop running around the kitchen making Toothless fly and sing about ‘happy family breakfast time’.

It’s actually hard to tell if she’s happier to have her plushie back or that Steve is there. Eddie, on the other hand, knows exactly what he’s happiest about. Death by tenderness. Is that a thing? He amuses himself thinking about a couple csi’s with sunglasses saying it, 

“He died because he witnessed something too cute,”

“Ah yes, death by fondness. I’ve seen it before.”

After, Eddie walks him to the door and Steve smiles sweetly at him, and holds his hand, squeezing it once before letting go, “Well, see you. I guess,” he says bashfully and there’s a moment there, a second where time stops and Eddie thinks he should kiss him. Wants to kiss him, needs to kiss him.

But he doesn’t. Because Steve is still dating Tommy, and just because he said he was going to break up with him doesn’t mean he wants to start something new with Eddie.

Eddie himself called him his friend for the first time last night for christ sake. ‘Fucking chill’ he thinks to himself.

🧸

And then a week goes by without hearing a word from Steve. But Eddie doesn't hold it against him.

At first, he figures he needs time to think but then he starts to wonder if he really is going to break up with Tommy. Four days in, he gets paranoid about it. Maybe Steve got brainwashed into thinking Eddie is bad for him. Maybe Tommy told him Eddie was putting ideas in his head, that he shouldn’t talk to him anymore… With him telling Steve to break up with his boyfriend and all... 

He’s well aware of how manipulative Tommy can be and has seen the way he belittles Steve to keep him around, so he knows it’ll be hard for Steve to actually go through with it.

And he can’t exactly show up at Tommy’s and steal Steve away, no matter how appealing the idea might be. The only thing he can do is just think of Steve, wish him well, and send him strength to do what he needs to do. At the end of the day, it needs to be his decision. His choice.

As Tommy’s week with Tarja approaches he starts getting more and more anxious, wondering if it’ll be Steve or Tommy who picks her up.

When the day finally arrives, and the doorbell rings, Tarja runs to open the door and Eddie peeks his head through the hallway.

“Daddy!” Tarja screams.

“Hey, Tata! You ready?” Tommy says and Eddie steps into the hall to greet him too.

“Not yet!” Tarja chuckles and Tommy smiles at her,

“Okay, go get ready. I’ll wait here,”

Eddie walks to the door and leans on the doorframe, “Hey,”

“Hi. Long time no see,” Tommy says and then adds, “You look great,”

“You don’t,” Eddie answers, because it’s true. He looks like shit. Greasy hair, bags under his eyes, chapped lips, wrinkles on his clothes, “What happened?”

“Steve broke up with me.” 

Eddie’s eyes go wide and he smiles, he doesn’t even try to hide it, “He did?”

“Don’t smile, fucker,” Tommy says but there’s no heat behind it. He knows he deserves it.

“Sorry,” Eddie says, not sorry at all.

“Stop,” Tommy whines because Eddie’s smile is actually getting bigger,

“Sorry,” he repeats and then clears his throat, “Did he tell you why?”

“Because I’m a horrible person,” Tommy groans.

“Hey, the first step is to ad-”

“To admit it, yeah, yeah. I know” Tommy interrupts him, groaning again.

Eddie sighs, and punches Tommy’s shoulder lightly, “Look, Tommy, I’m just going to say this because, well… you are pathetic. You need to do better.” And then he points to his back, to where Tarja’s disappeared to get her stuff, “She’s going to grow up and realize you are an awful person and she’s not going to want you in her life. And I’m not going to dissuade her from it, because I already don’t want you to be in mine, you know that, right?”

Tommy looks at him seriously and then nods once, fast and hard. Like he gets it. Like he agrees and is determined to change. And Eddie hopes for Tarja’s sake he is. But knows, deep in his heart, that either way, she’s going to be fine.

“Also, just a heads up. I’m in love with Steve and I’m going to ask him out,” he adds in a rush when he hears Tarja running up behind him.

“You are shitting me,” Tommy whispers, shocked and clenching his teeth.

Eddie laughs, “Nope,” he says, closing his lips loudly around the P.

“Eddie,” Tommy warns him like he’s waiting for Eddie to say he's joking.

“What? I hear he’s single,” Eddie smirks.

“You motherfuc- Hey Tata!” Gathering Tarja in his arms, Tommy drops the subject but he glares at Eddie as he kisses Tarja’s cheek goodbye and murmurs ‘unbelievable’ as he’s leaving. Eddie closes the door and starts laughing at the look on Tommy’s face.

He needs to call Steve.

He tries a couple of times but he doesn’t pick up and he starts worrying Steve might not actually want to talk to him, and then there’s a knock on the door but Eddie, too preoccupied with his anxiety, opens without looking, thinking Tarja forgot something.

When he doesn't hear her, Eddie looks up from his ‘ignored calls’ screen to see nonother than Steve standing there, looking nervous and like a fucking dream with a bouquet of flowers in his hands. A fucking bouquet of flowers. For him. For Eddie. All different shades of red, because he knows is his favorite color.

Eddie just blinks at him a couple of times and Steve flushes even more and drops the hand holding up the flowers, scratches the back of his neck nervously, “This was stupid, the flowers were fucking stupid. They are stupid. I’m stupid, right?”

A laugh bubbles out of Eddie and he grabs him by the scruff of his shirt and pulls him inside. He closes the door once they are both in and slams Steve against it, crushing their lips together. Steve circles his arms around Eddie and holds him close, instantly returning the kiss with fervor. 

They kiss as if it were fate. They kiss until it's hard to breathe and Eddie pulls away only to kiss him again, and again, and again.

“Not stupid,” he murmurs between kisses and feels Steve’s smile against his lips.

Eventually, Eddie takes a step back and lets Steve into his home properly, “Hi,” he says cheesily.

“Hi,” Steve says back grinning, then he lifts up the bouquet again, which is now completely ruined by him still holding it strongly while they made out like crazy, and his smile drops,

“Shit,” he pouts cutely, god Eddie wants to eat him. He laughs and takes the flowers anyway, putting them in an empty glass bottle, because he doesn’t own a flower vase, because he’s a normal human being. ‘Who the fuck owns a flower vase?’

“Come here,” he says, holding out both hands for Steve to take and follow him.

Steve takes his hands but doesn't move, instead swings them from side to side, “Wait, let's talk,”

Fuck, yeah. They should. That’s a good idea. Fuck. Damn, Steven Whatever-The-Fuck-Is-His-Middle-Name Harrington and his sensible and very logical choice…

Eddie huffs exaggeratedly making Steve chuckle and redirects them to the couch, where they sit still holding hands, “Alas,” he says dramatically, “You are right, we should talk. I actually wanted to ask you out properly, not debauch you the second you walked through the door. Sorry about that” he lies, not sorry at all, again.

Steve blushes and smiles, drawing little circles with his thumbs on Eddie’s hands, “Yeah me too. I wanna do this right. Ask you out. Go on dates. I think we should take this slow,”

Eddie makes a face and groans at that. He doesn't want to take it slow. He wants Steve to move in right now or something. Steve rolls his eyes amused at his interruption and keeps going,

“I came here to ask you out the right way because I want you to know I’m committed. But we should think about how this will affect Tarja… and Tommy too. We should go out a few times, spend some time alone, and I want you to meet my friends and my parents and I want to meet your friends and your uncle too and just do this properly and-”

Eddie interrupts him with a kiss, he can’t take it anymore, he’s been dying to kiss Steve for months now and he’s so sweet and thoughtful it makes Eddie insane, makes him feel like he needs to ruin him, but in a nice way, like with devotion and love.

Steve lets go of his hands to wrap his arms around Eddie’s waist and hoists him until he’s straddling Steve. Eddie leans his elbows on Steve’s shoulders, and buries his hands in his hair, pulling and messing with it.

“Okay but have you considered having hard, hot, wet sex, and then maybe we do what you said?” He asks panting against Steve’s lips and actually feeling how that punches the air out of him.

He hugs Eddie closer to his chest and whines, “Yeah okay, we can do it your way,” and gets up, lifting Eddie with him as if he were weightless. Eddie squawks and laughs all the way to his room.

🧸

They spend the week together, talking, eating, drinking, laughing and fucking. Except it’s more than that because when Eddie is inside Steve, with his tongue, his fingers, or his strap, it feels like more. It feels like love. Like fate.

Steve, still determined to take things slow, doesn’t stay there all the time, going back to Robin’s where he moved back to after breaking up with Tommy. He actually brings her over one day and the three of them spend the afternoon together. Eddie decides they are going to be best friends immediately because Robin is hilarious and merciless. When Steve gets back the next day he kisses Eddie so good and hard his knees almost give out on him and tells him he has Robin’s seal of approval. Something he knows Tommy never got.

When the week passes Eddie says goodbye theatrically as if they were cross-star lovers in a bad soap opera and Steve chuckles and calls him ridiculous but kisses him so passionately that Eddie drags him right back inside and they say goodbye again a few hours later.

They had decided to wait until Eddie talked to Tarja about her feelings over Tommy’s and Steve’s breakup and whether she still wanted Steve around or not before having him over again.

But when Tarja gets back home she’s gloomy and silent. She hugs Eddie in greeting when she arrives and then spends the rest of the day lying face down on the floor and occasionally sighing loudly, obviously trying to make Eddie ask her what’s wrong.

And really, Eddie shouldn't find it as funny as he does, but he thinks about calling Wayne and telling him he gets it now when Wayne used to tell him he had too much personality.

Eventually, he lies on the floor next to her and asks. Tarja looks at him with big sad eyes and says, “I haven't seen Steve in a million years! And Daddy said he is not his boyfriend anymore! So I’ll never see him again and I miss him”

Eddie coos at her, “I’m sorry you miss him little dragon, but you can totally see him again! Would you like me to call him? Since he’s my friend too?” Already trying to strategize on how to tell her they are more than friends.

Tarja lights up and jumps off the floor and onto Eddie, punching the breath out of him, “Yes! Yes! Call Steve! Steve smiles more when he’s with you than he did with daddy anyway. Why don’t you boyfriend him instead?”

Well… that was easy.

He chuckles and shakes his head, “That’s a great idea sweety, go grab my phone,”

Tarja runs and grabs Eddie’s phone off the table and hands it to him, he doesn’t bother getting off the floor so she kneels beside him listening attentively as he dials Steve’s number. 

“Hi, handsome, you talked with Tarja already?” Steve greets him after it rings twice.

“Yeah about that, turns out Tarja talked to me, actually,” he chuckles, “Hi, by the way”

“Hi,” Steve repeats lovingly and laughs, “What do you mean?”

“She had this awesome idea!” he says winking at her and she covers her mouth with her tiny hands to hide her giggles, “That, since you are not with Tommy anymore, you should be my boyfriend instead,” he continues, voice going soft and chuckles when he hears Steve's breathless ‘oh’ on the other side of the line, “Come over?”

“Of course, gimme an hour? I'm with a client” Steve hums and Eddie whispers he’ll give him anything he asks for and hangs up.

An hour later Tarja is still lying on the floor, only now it’s with papers and crayons spread all around her when the doorbell rings. She looks up at Eddie excitedly and he nods at her, “Go on then”

Tarja runs to the door and opens it wide to reveal Steve standing there as beautiful as ever, giving Eddie a deja vu of the first time he saw him.

“Papa Steve!” Tarja yells and jumps up to hug him.

Steve gasps and falls to his knees with her in his arms and looks up at Eddie with shocked wet eyes.

‘So much for taking it slow,’ Eddie thinks with a smirk.

Fin.

☝️first part

☕🥐💕?

[rei-ismyname]

Magneto arrives to save Iron Man

He's back and he's even hotter!

I LOVE his shit eating grin, rippling cape and muscles, and most of all his cunty posture. 'Hello Stark, check out these thighs.' It's true that his wife (Emma Frost, it's a sham thing but Tony catches feelings) sent Mags to rescue his dumb ass as he makes a huge mess in the Australian Outback, but this is a newly resurrected, kinder Magneto. I suspect he'd have done it anyway. For drama, if nothing else.

Tony only knew that one singular mutant was coming to bail him out. He didn't expect his 'nemesis' (citation needed) mainly because Tony was there when Magneto died on Arakko during Judgement Day. He's surprised, but not unhappy about it. Maybe. See, Mr Stark just had his shit kicked in, and he had hallucinations of the Master of Magnetism while knocked out.

T-Bag is feeling guilty about the whole Stark Sentinel situation (as he should. Not the first time Stark Sentinels have been made for genocide.) That guilt manifests with the face of Magneto, here to judge him. In a petulant reply to this most recent charge, Stark brings up some old shit ( X-Men #1 from 1963) but Mags has a zinger for him. Considering Stark's subconscious is doing all the talking, some part of him thinks he's just as bad as Silver Age Magneto. It's not a competition, but I think he's worse. Mr Military Industrial Complex Billionaire over here can fuck right off.

'The world doesn't need arms merchants' is both true and relevant. Tony has changed, he's been redeemed! Yet engines of death bearing his name are stalking the planet yet again and plan to purge it, having already carried out mutant genocide. Tony will never see any legal or social consequences for this, but perhaps he believes he deserves this judgement. I don't really care about Tony Stark, to be honest. I'm here for Magneto, and this is the war in Tony's subconscious when Max Eisenhardt arrives.

Mags isn't here to point fingers - he's here to save an ally. Red Elon Musk Feilong has a grudge over Arakko, and his fucking face when Mags doesn't know who he is delights me. I don't think Mags is being truthful - he SHOULD know who this ORCHIS clown is, but they've never met. He's been through a lot lately. Besides, they've got bigger fish to fry. Feilong has realised that the AI leopards are eating his face too, so they're on the same side for now and are stuck in a giant Iron Man suit without power.

Luckily, 'I am power.' Mags revitalises the monstrosity and rides to war with two billionaires. After he fucks up a ton of sentinels (a continuity error but whatever,) Nimrod sends one of his bodies (Madrox should sue) to stop them.

Mags is much more effective than the his last Nimrod fight, though he doesn't remember it. Nimrod is weak to Mysterium somehow so he makes the very problematic move of gassing Mags with Terrigen. WTF did he get that from? It's good to know Tony could have easily prevented IvX at any time. I'm sympathetic to everyone who had to deal with the rushed production schedule Fall of X received, but this is Looney Tunes shit.

Nimrod, you chump. You set yourself up for the 'awful lot of metal around here' Magneto classic. Speaking of metal, Mysterium just keeps getting better. SWORD did steal it from the Phoenix's clothes line, so whatever, it can do new stuff if it wants. It's alive, it loves Magneto, it hates Nimrod, and could take or leave Tony Stark. That's relatable. ORRRR, Jean is in the White Hot Room right now, after Moira stabbed her with a blightswill knife. She could be affecting the metal to get this Nimrod jerkoff. Sounds kinda silly - moving on.

Looney Tunes or not, I'm a sucker for Magneto hovering and saying dramatic shit. Preferably hurling vehicles around, but magic metal and a dickhead robot is close enough. Let it be known that Mags is the Mysterium Whisperer. Pretty obvious when you think about it, though his relationship with the miracle metal wasn't explored deeply.

Yes! Haha. Get Magneto'd, idiot! This Nimrod body is dead, as is the Mysterium and Tony's giant robot. Damn, they would have been useful. Anyway, bye losers! Mags has more fascist robots to kill in his wonderful cape. Thanks for fucking everything up only to help at the last minute. Enjoy the Outback (they don't, and Tony leaves a huge mess.)

[theadhddimsenion]

You know something I find ironic about stella defenders and vivis critics? They love to talk a lot of shit about how bad vivi supposedly is at representing male victims of abuse all while defending and regurgitating arguments that are used to condemn and vilify male victims and defended his abuser!!!!

"Cheating is bad!! So stolas is bad!! And they just want to silence us into thinking that this is ok!!!!" No you brain dead peon! Cheating isn't always universally bad especially when it's been on someone who has done nothing but abuse them and actively talked shit about their performance as a way of disrespecting them!! And let's be very clear the only reason stella was upset is because it was an imp and stolas had finally gotten the Courage to stand up to her!!! And let's not forget that stella had been treating him like crap for years before this happened!

"He's a bad father!!" No he's not he's a struggling father. Neither he nor his daughter are bad people and neither of them deserved to be in the situation they were in. Should he have paid more attention to octiava yes. Is he a bad person and never cared about her because he didn't? Fuck no!! He messed up and he suffered the consequences and is trying to learn to better what more can you honestly ask if someone!?

"He's shouldn't have saved blitz because that showed octativa he was willing to die without caring about her!" Bull. Fucking. Shit!!!! How the fuck was he supposed to make a life or death descion and think about every possible situation this could result in when he had about 12 seconds to make sure the love of his life's head didn't go fucking choppy choppy!!!

"He's a coercive rapist reeeeee!!!" Look pal that agurment relies on a lot if's when it comes to bltizs ability to find a alternative means of getting to the human world so this argument is flimsy and relies on circumstances and speculation at best and is outright bullshit at worst. Even if this so called argument had any real validity then it should be clear to anyone with any brain power whatsoever that stolas never meant to coerce anyone!

"He is evil blueblood and deserves the guillotine" no stolas is as bout as much of a noble prick as a thumbtack and he had never once intentionally looked down on anyone and when he did it was never hateful it was simply out of ignorance unlike his wife who you constantly defend!

"Stella was made evil to justify his actions!" No you fools she was clearly always going to be a villain and contrary to what your pitiful Brains think females don't need to be sympathic or even competent and vivi isn't sexist for writing stella this way and for what it's worth I think stella serves her role quite well.

[aliciavance4228]

I've been thinking about this for a while... the Trojan War took place about at least one century after Perseus killed Medusa. He was dead, which means that his image probably already started to become distant and vague, and he began to be viewed as a legend rather than a person. He founded Mycenae on top of that and became the ancestor of many other heroes or important figures, thus building an entire legacy.

I cannot help but wonder wheter or not the people from that mythological timeline idealized him and viewed him as a symbol of greatness and masculinity, as the ultimate image of a hero that must be achieved above anything else. After all, Alexander the Great idealized the shit out of Achilles and wanted to become like him as well, without understanding him to begin with.

Speaking of Achilles though, one major aspect that should be pointed out is the misinterpretation of said heroic image. I bet people would've talked about Perseus as the demigod son of Zeus who gloriously fought Medusa and then eventually became king, but don't go too much into details and point out that he did everything in order to save his mother from an unwanted marriage above it all. Most of the original heroes had noble purposes, and sought justice above wealth, glory or fame at the time when they achieved their greatest deeds. Achilles, on the other hand, found meaning in his role as a warrior and felt purposeless whenever this role was questioned. He became easily vulnerable when his pride was crushed and did a lot of reckless things out of ego rather than strenght. He wasn't able to seek anything meaningful beyond fame and glory, which should technically make people realize that the real tragedy of this man was the emptiness of his character.

So I'm wondering wheter or not Achilles heard stories and legends about Perseus back when he was little, but instead of understanding him he only took the heroic image of Perseus, whom he then romanticized to the point of not only loving, but also identifying with it, thus misinterpreting the real meaning behind it instead of asking himself how did Perseus remained one of the few heroes who had a happy ending in the first place.

It becomes even more interesting once you go deeper into their different philosophies and perceptions on their actions. For instance, this is a line from Euripides' Andromeda:

In other words, Perseus had a "Karma" type of mentality: Both good and bad luck are consequences of your previous actions. And this type of mentality specifically, as simply as it may seem, actually means a lot considering the fact that all the people Perseus harmed deserved it in one way or another. And most of the heroes who haven't considered the consequences of their own actions, including Achilles, are those who ended up having a tragic ending.

And yet the way they two are perceived by the modern people speaks to itself. Perseus is generally presented as this flawless, unidimensional Mary Sue-kind of hero who is here to save the entire world, which is perhaps part of the reason why a lot of people with a surfface-level of knowledge in Greek Mythology developed an unnecessary hatred towards him, due to his non-relatability. Achilles, on the other hand, ended up being admired less for his warrior persona and more for his complexity (and bisexuality) that are highlighted in pieces of Media such as The Song of Achilles. However, this approach that is supposed to be more nuanced leads to Achilles having his flaws getting glamorized, and ultimately encourages a romanticized perception on his destructive behaviors. He ends up becoming a toxic idol, whereas Perseus becomes an unachievable pattern of heroism. What both of them have in common though is misinterpretation: possibly of Perseus' character by Achilles, but surely of both of their characters by the modern audience.

[cr4zy-cycl0n3]

Yo! I'm doing a Heroes of Olympus rewrite!

I'm not a huge fan of how some scenes go in canon and how the characters esp the gods are handled in Hoo, and after reading one too many rewrite/AU fics, I've decided fuck it, imma make my own.

I'm changing quite a few things, like:

- making Piper's memories not be tampered with and as a result be way closer to Leo (credit to Heroes of Juno by @queenjunothegreat for this idea!)

- MOTHERLY HERA/JUNO WHO PSEUDO-ADOPTS JASON FTW also parental Lupa but that'll be more apparent in a Jason prequel/sequel(depends on how I wanna format it) I’ll write after TLH is done

- slowburn valgrace instead of comphet jiper

- Leo and Piper QPR(+Jason when Piper stops being his #1 opp). Jasipereo ftw babyyy

- the whole series is just gonna have a good deal of focus on the Lost Trio. I'm not gonna shaft anyone ofc but my favorite punching bags characters are just gonna get extra love :3

- Jason's gonna be considerably more feral cuz CMON MAN WAS RAISED BY WOLVES(this is more prominent in the later books cuz in TLH he was alr feral, going at 2 giants with his BARE ASS HANDS)

- Jason has more bite cuz DAMMIT HE DESERVES TO BE ANGRY/BITTER AND CLAP BACK. HIS LIFE IS SHIT, LET MY BRO BE MAD

- more exploration into Jason's character cuz man was shafted so hard :(

- exploration of characters' powers in general, def buffing the Big Three kids to be as strong as Percy cuz holy cow he's OP. I love Percy and his OP-ness, but the other Big Three kids should be just as OP

- Zeus is the God of Justice, which we don't see much of in PJO's characterization of him, but Jupiter is Roman and hence is much more strict in the RRverse, so consequently I think his domain of law and order is more central to Jupiter than his greek counterpart, so I'd like to explore Jason having powers related to that and being an absolute powerhouse when it comes to debates and politics despite hating them

- characterizing the Gods differently from canon as I'm a Hellenist and writing them as they are in canon makes me like. Kinda uncomfortable. I will be using mythic literalism as that is what PJO/HoO's based on and I'm not rewriting the very foundations of the series, so they will still have committed the things they did in mythology, though I'm keeping them largely unaltered from the Og greek mythos and unsanitized as this isn't intended for a young audience like PJO is. Their behavior won't be exactly like their depictions in myths nor how they actually are irl, it's a mix of both(Ex: Zeus has still done heinous shit so he won't be as great as he is irl, but he isn't supremely petty and bitchy like he is in PJO.). This uhh. Will probably mean that PJO events would go differently which would influence HOO but if I think about that too much I'm gonna wanna do a PJO rewrite too and akbhdhd so just imagine that everything that goes on in PJO goes as canon (for now at least) for some reason or another.

- Octavian and Jason are were best friends cuz I said so. This change is inspired by To Storm and Fire(a Heroes of Olympus rewrite) which I am in LOVE with. The antagonistic side characters(like Drew and Octavian) got very little development or character exploration so l'm definitely giving them that in my rewrite!

- The Seven feel and are much closer together

- delving more into the sevens' trauma pre-camp, might also do a one/two shot for each of them. Jason’s a given cuz I’m writing a whole ass fic or even series dedicated to his past, Leo and Piper definitely, probably also Hazel and Annabeth, not sure on Percy and Frank cuz for Frank I’m def going into the trauma that comes with growing up in an Asian household but don’t have too many ideas on how to execute that, and for Percy I don’t have all that many ideas in general outside of the little we know in PJO(I used to think we knew a lot but honestly, we really don’t? Like we know Poseidon left, Sally had to work a lot, Gabe sucks, and he got kicked out of 6 six schools in 6 years and the reasons, but we don’t have any concrete details. There might be more in HoH, I haven’t read it yet so lmk if there is). Open to any ideas for this!

- camp is. Tense. It's been only a few months since the war, grief is still fresh, and Jason being tall, blonde, and blue-eyed with a scar ain't helping 💀 some people think Silena was a hero, others think she was a villain, some people sympathized with Luke, others despised him, there's a lotta differing views.

I have loads more ideas that I won't get into here cuz the post'll get way too long, but l'd love to hear what you guys think! What scenes/characterizations should I change? What topics would you like to see handled differently? What should I add? I'm open to any and all suggestions!

Currently outlining TLH, will start posting it on my ao3 once I have the first chapter and 4-5 buffer ones written so I'll prolly start posting it in a month or two? Idk, depends on my workload irl and if I get hit by writer’s block. Maybe less, maybe more, who knows. I'll be writing a bunch of shorter stories for specific moments, time between books, and namely a prequel/tih sequel focusing on Jason's past and who he was before Hera wiped his memory. Open to any suggestions for additional works too. Feel free to drop any questions and suggestions bout the rewrite here or in my ask box!

[chuusheartattck]

THAT’S THAT ME ESPRESSO (TTME)

Chapter 6- Apologies ☕️

You’ve woken up to the sounds of the birds chirping and the morning sun peaking in through the windows. You would’ve loved waking up in the giant room provided by Ayaka, if only you weren’t so violently hung over.

The feeling of being incredibly nauseous while remembering some of the memories from last night, started hitting you like a semi truck.

Why did you have to drink so much? You’re never drinking again.

You always say this but never actually stick through with your word.

You loved being drunk but hated the consequences that come the next morning. Your phone was buzzing with new messages. Have you always hated the sounds of notifications? Or was it the headache talking? Annoyed, you checked your phone.

Bergrudgingly, you got up. As soon as you stood up however, you felt like you needed to throw up.

Quickly, you rushed to the toilet. Expecting for something to come out. Nothing did.

“I hate being hungover.” You quickly muttered before making your way to the dining room.

You noticed everyone had arrived before you. They all looked like shit. Including you. Mona was in deep explanation of how she read Yae’s birthchart. Apparently the woman has a lot of baggage.

You sat down in between Hu Tao and Mona.

Ayaka handed you a bowl of miso soup, “It’s for your hangover. You look rough.” She smiles.

You quietly thank her. The miso soup looks good but were you able to eat this without throwing it back up? You took your chances and fed yourself.

Luckily you didn’t.

Before you could finish the soup, Hu Tao turned towards you.

“So are you going to explain what happened last night?” She questioned.

You cleared your throat and explained your experience at the party. From start to finish. Everyone had listened intently to your story. Someone would occasionally gasp.

.

.

.

“Well he sure does know how to act like he cares about someone.” Mona mentioned. Scaramouche is actually a good actor.

It seems like he practiced on you the most.

As you were showing the group the texts you sent to Scaramouche and Childe, your phone buzzed. It was a text from Childe. Everyone began freaking out.

“Shit what do I say??” You were panicking because you didn’t really expect him to answer.

“Maybe an apology?” Lynette suggested.

So fucking annoying.

He’s so fucking annoying.

How can he be like this? Why was he being like this? You heavily sighed. The audacity of this man.

Lynette looked up at you, “Is everything alright?”

You put your phone in the middle of the table and stood up.

“Yes. Everything is so perfect.” You replied sarcastically, “Ayaka thank you for the breakfast and sleepover. Have fun everyone reading those stupid ass texts. I’ll be getting ready to leave.”

When the words left your mouth, you walked away and towards the room you were sleeping in.

As you were packing up you heard a knock at the door.

It was Hu Tao. She was returning your phone.

“I’m so sorry Y/n. He’s such a big dick. You don’t deserve this. She pulled you into a hug.

“It’s ok, don’t worry about it. It’s how he is.” You reassured her.

She helped you pack the rest of your stuff.

You then said goodbye to everyone and got inside your car.

Masterlist II Previous II Next

A/N: Hi I’m back! Ik its been a few days but I haven’t been feeling the best so I took a while to update. I’m still sick but I feel better enough to update even if this chapter was a bit short. Another written chapter I hope you guys like it!! Also pls ignore the typo in furina’s text I meant to put ‘parties’ 😭

ALSOOO lmk if you guys want your users to be added to this au and i’ll make you a twitter user :)

Synopsis: You’re a new idol that just debuted under ‘Fontaine Entertainment’ with your new single ‘Espresso.’ You just graduated high school which means all your classmates are shocked to see you into stardom. Including your old situationship, who happens to be an actor.

Taglist: @skyoverkill1 @quacking-simp @lolmeowing @astro-stars @kaitfae @sl-vega @veekoko @scarawiki @yuminako @samyayaya @kur0kki @practicoi @kukikoooo @scaraenthusiast1 @shutingstar @lloovvv @moonjellyfishie @miy-svz @xionri @lalalaloveallmydays @hearts4lizzzz @kathiwis @state-of-grac3 @morgyyyyyyy

[sugoi-and-spice]

Chapter Thirty-Two - One Step Forward and Three Steps Back

Summary: Tomura Shigaraki was her dad’s boss’s son. He was the creep that stole girls’ underwear and tried to grope her in his room. But it’s not like he could get her Dad fired just because she wouldn’t sleep with him, right? …right?

CW: Quirkless!AU, Explicit Smut, Dub-Con, Coercion, Blackmail, Cheating, Sexual Guilt, Humiliation, Unhealthy Relationships, Power Play, Hate to Love, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Slow Burn, Racism (New, This Chapter) Suicidal Ideation, Psychiatric Wards, Forcible Sedation, Depiction of a Suicide Attempt

A/N: I'm alive!!! Thank you all for your patience during my bigger than usual gaps between chapters. As I've said in a few posts here (as few and far between as they've been) this has been a pretty crazy Winter that's left me with very little energy to write. I just had to take ANOTHER sudden trip to Florida only five days after I got back from Philly. Rip my sleep schedule TT_TT But I never stop thinking about Play Nice! So I hope this chapter was worth the wait, and thank you all again for your constant support. ❤️

Read Full Chapter on AO3

[excerpt]

She had to admit, Iguchi went above and beyond the call of duty as far as friends go. 

The rain had only gotten heavier by the end of their talk, but he still drove her home to Setagaya, stopping at a Uniqlo on the way there so that she wouldn’t be walking into her house wearing his oversized clothes. He even paid, since her wallet was trapped back with the rest of her possessions in Shigaraki’s room. It was definitely necessary, she could only imagine the ridiculous explanation she’d need to come up with for walking into her house this late at night, wearing some boy’s clothes without any shoes, after hours of missing her parents’, no doubt, countless calls. But it still felt like more kindness than she deserved at this point.

Never before had she felt so guilty over a knit sweater and yoga pants.

Luckily, she wasn’t in quite as deep of shit as either of them might’ve expected. Her dad was away on a business trip this week. And while her mom certainly wasn’t happy to be up so late waiting for her daughter, nursing a cup of tea at the dining table, she did at least take her explanation of “losing track of time at Shigaraki’s and losing her phone at school” at face value.

Or maybe she just noticed the puffiness of her daughter’s eyes and sunkenness of her shoulders, and decided to postpone the consequences to a day where she didn’t look so utterly broken.

Given the fact that she went straight to covering her with a blanket and pouring her a fresh cup of tea, she had a sneaking suspicion that it was the former.

They sat in silence as they sipped their tea, the same brand she’d just left cold at Iguchi’s, she noticed with a sad smile.

She looked up to her mom across the table. The woman was clearly bothered. She wanted to ask her daughter what the hell was going on. Why was she getting in so late? Why was she spending so much time away from home? Why was it that every other time she saw her, she was either crying or about to cry?

Why wasn’t she talking to them anymore? 

But she didn’t push. After all, she was a good mom, and an even better person. Understanding beyond belief when it came to isolation and hurt in particular. Because she’d gone through a world of it.

“People like you, like your father… They mean the world to those of us who’ve been broken.”

The similarity between her mom’s past and Shigaraki’s was definitely a line that she’d drawn before. They both came from foster care, both didn’t like to talk about it. Because of that latter part, it was something she never told either about.

She definitely considered telling Shigaraki, particularly the few times that he’d opened up about his past, but ultimately, it didn’t feel like it was her story to tell. Especially given the fact that she really didn’t know a lot about it. 

Regardless, there was definitely something similar about him that her mother had managed to pick up. Whether it was the exact shared experience or a worldview more nebulous, she wasn’t sure. But it was clear that she held a lot of sympathy for him. And an understanding that she just couldn’t fathom on her own.

An understanding she needed.

“Hey mom…”

Her mother looked up, unable to hide her eagerness to tackle whatever her daughter was struggling with.

“Yes sweetie?”

Her hands tightened around the mug, letting the warmth seep in, hoping that it could give her some strength.

“I… I need to ask you about something…”

Continue on AO3

[superectojazzmage]

I really like the nuance of how the new episode handles Matt’s feelings about and conflicts with the justice system.

A lazier show would’ve portrayed Leeroy as some innocent wittle woobie who never did wrong and suffers for the sake of liberal white guilt and ego-stroking. But instead they didn’t have him as a perfect victim; he’s a snide, obnoxious, ableist, ignorant, ungrateful, and genuinely kinda stupid asshole who probably brought a lot of his problems on himself. But he’s also still a victim of a broken system that doesn’t seem to have any idea how to reform him beyond punishing him harder and harder after each dumb thing he does.

It’s not some easy one-way street thing. Leeroy’s a piece of shit who probably deserved at least some of the jail time he’s been through and the system is failing to do its job. Leeroy’s a dick but not a monster and doesn’t deserve such harsh treatment by the court and the court also isn’t staffed by strawman assholes who get off on keeping the little guy down - most of the people involved are doing the best they can and the clerk Matt meets with even bends the rules as much as she can manage for the sake of cutting Matt and Leeroy a break. Multiple things are true.

And the conversation/debate between Matt and the clerk. He opposes harsh justice and preaches about fixing the system, but he doesn’t walk the talk. He wasn’t reforming anyone by beating bad guys to a pulp as Daredevil, hell, he still can’t do it - he beat the ever-loving shit out of Powell and Powell didn’t change at all or suffer any consequences beyond bruises and black eyes. He was entirely on-board with Bullseye getting life imprisonment instead of any kind of reformative therapy (and he was right to do so in that case since Bullseye was never going to let himself be helped and would just kill again; once again, no easy answers). He shit-talks Daredevil and that whole lifestyle but clearly misses it and hasn’t dealt with the personal problems that got him addicted to it to begin with. He insists on everyone around him putting faith in the system but clearly hates that same system. He’s well-meaning, but he’s also a hypocrite.

Matt recognizes that the system has problems out the ass, but were his attempts to cut the red tape actually doing that or was he just recreating those problems in his own way for the sake of feeling powerful? Of chasing that high he got anytime he broke a supervillain’s bones or terrorized a mugger? What does it say when Matt and Kingpin are both spouting the same kind of rhetoric about beating back the bureaucracy and making a change to the broken government? What DOES it take to fix these complex issues? Because clearly Matt and Wilson’s brute force tactics aren’t it.

It’s some good, multifaceted handling of a subject that most media today bungles.

[adhdo5]

I was prompted to post these a bit ago bc of my madness posting abt the Xiyao laundry audioextra upload someone posted like last week and I think there is really a lot there in the Xiyao laundry thing in general (hashtag release the Yunping tapes) and not all of it is smth I see ~talked abt as much as I think it deserves SO . Collected thoughts on Xiyao laundry

OK so like Yeah they're cute. I absolutely get why people's primary reaction to this is that it's cute and I think this is not even wrong. The politics of uselessness r complicated and I Will be returning to this but a legitimate angle of this is that LXC, who has spent his life largely defined by the fact that he pretty much excels at everything expected of him, has nothing expected of him and gets to be incompetent at something he ~feels obligated to do and have that not actually be a fail state, still get offered the same kindness regardless of his ability to be exceedingly capable/responsible etc.; meanwhile MY, who historically has had pretty much no one ever gaf about whether he's struggling or overworked or generally about him as a person (and the audiodrama extra version even has a bit where MY's coworkers are shit talking him including talking abt how he's probably not even actually doing any work), has someone earnestly caring about that, if ineffectually, and materially recognizing his workload as important and effortful and trying to help him with it. That is I think legitimately kind of sweet! Especially if one interprets the "he didn't even know who I was" line as true and as in the audiodrama extra this is set b4 MY figures it out! They appreciate each other in ways they don't usually get to be appreciated and it's nontransactional in this way and ;x;

HOWEVER. #Nuance. There's Other Angles.

I've talked abt this before inc on my blog but I do kind of never get tired of thinking abt it: there's a reason LXC is incapable of doing laundry and it's not just inexperience it's that he is physically incapable of the task bc of his cultivator strength!!!!! And the disparity of cultivation level is explicitly a class thing w/ JGY wrt 3zun especially!!! No matter his intention Zewu-jun CANNOT SULLY HIS HANDS WITH THE TASK bangs my head against a wall. It's such an innocuous detail yet it captures how from even this early on in their relationship and in this context it's not ignorable how much LXC is in fact a nobleman where JGY is not and this is a literal physical difference and it's in his very flesh and it has explicitly destructive results. See again vampire AU posting

And going off that it's notable how this does in fact also end up creating more work and while MY doesn't begrudge that in the moment and it's pettier here and arguably inextricable with the first point (LXC is not only incapable here he's actively bad at something, he actively makes smth worse and he's forgiven for it and that's genuinely kind of nice) it's it's also worth noting more grimly given how their relationship ends. It's not just destructive it's destructive to MY specifically

And on the notes of "inextricable from first point but also tragic" – it's sweet tht LXC gets no external consequences for this (yet lol) but is that really something he can Accept. It is an arguably underexamined element of Sunshot Xiyao how fucking miserable LXC is; he might be in an environment where this isn't fucking him up but he did bring his complexes here and you don't suddenly know how to accept that kind of grace yknow – and, and this is tangentially related to the stuff I was posting earlier today, this is one of the first of several kinds of vulnerability that LXC's almost only able to experience with MY/JGY. Considering how much that's arguably a running theme for them and considering where that leads that's also quite Foreshadowing Dismal!!

This is an audio drama exclusive but the way in the audiodrama extra ver that MY realizes who LXC is here and then ~lies about it is also crunchy as helllllll

AND between the coworkers thing in the audiodrama extra and the added scenes in the donghua and this and the notion in general (which comes from MXTX's post) that it's important they do the laundry themselves bc the robes would give LXC away it's a highlight of how genuinely precarious this is for MY which is another thing that both makes it more sweet and more. Despair.

It's just so lovely how it is both indicative of how genuinely good they are to and for each other, the ways in which they're meaningfully and significantly compassionate and helpful to one another, and also of the ways in which their situation here is precarious and high-stress and dangerous as fuck, AND also the ways in which they hurt each other so so bad, and how all of those things are largely different facets of the same qualities and the same significances. And That's My Post. Stream Apple Pie by the Scary Jokes

[rockrosethistle]

TSH hot takes 🔥

-Julian was actually a dick. He isolated and groomed vulnerable students (do you think it's a coincidence that every single member of the greek class had a difficult home life?) into thinking that these very outdated concepts of love and power were good for them. He compared their dangerous behaviour to that of ancient gods. Then, rather than face the consequence of his actions and take accountability, he left when it mattered.

-Charles was an asshole, but he's not a scapegoat. You cannot blame all the problems on Charles, he was an addict as a result of his trauma. He needed help. This doesn't excuse him from his actions, but it explains them. At the beginning of the book he physically could not bring himself to hurt Camilla. He's not a "bad" person. He's a sick person.

-Bunny didn't deserve to die, but he was also probably going to condemn the group at some point. He didn't just die for no reason. (Believing that Bunny's death was truly pointless also means believing that Henry was an actual psychopath who killed his friend for shits and giggles.)

-Judy, Cloke and Sophie ended up the happiest. That is literally the moral of the book. Judy wasn't all tortured when Richard didn't want to hang out with her, she shook it off and kept living her life. That's literally the point.

-Richard was never in love with Camilla. He loved the idea of her, but didn't see her as a person. Because of this specific dynamic and the fact the Richard is narrating, we know nothing about her actual personality. Anything he says can be disputed, and a lot of it contradicts itself.

-Francis is not blameless or unproblematic, but of the group he probably had the best intentions. Most of his behaviour that can be interpreted as creepy can be chalked up to Richard's internalized homophobia (remember, everything is told from his point of view, and Francis was a gay man in the 80's) When you look objectively at what Francis did, you see that he made a pass, got rejected, then dropped it and moved on. There is (i think) one more attempt made later on in the book, and that is furthered by Richard and only interrupted when Charles shows up.

-Henry may be the metaphorical representative of death when talking about the book, but in the narrative it's important to remember he's also just a person. Otherwise everything he does seems beyond question, and he's assigned this label as just "evil." He was 21!! Literally still a kid

-There were not good or bad characters. The reason they hit so hard is because each of them are so layered. They all have good traits and bad traits, but calling one "evil" takes away their humanity and dismisses their complexity that makes them so great.

[dreamingofmarauders]

𝐖𝐡𝐲?

𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙏𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚

James Potter x Fem!Slytherin!Reader

Previous Part Next Part Series Masterlist

Summary: In which James gets to see your other side.

Warnings: Mentions of injury/death, crying, fluff (maybe…?)

───※ ·❆· ※───

James had woken up a few hours later, finding you still asleep. His stomach grumbled and he decided to get food for himself and you, for when you would wake.

He found the food prepared by Molly and headed back in only to find you standing, gazing outside through the window. James quickly set the food down.

“What in the world are you doing up!?”

You turned around and merely stared at him before saying, “Oh crap, how did I end up in hell!? I was supposed to be in heaven! Now you're going to annoy me for eternity.”

James narrowed his eyes, “You are not dead.” He answered before his eyes softened, “Please sit back down, you’re not supposed to be up and running just yet.”

You rolled your eyes, “Fine.” You replied but James noticed how you winced with each step you took, as the effects of the wound were still very fresh. You let out a small cry of pain as you dropped back onto the bed as the healing skin stretched painfully.

James immediately began to fuss over you, “Shit, are you alright? Where does it hurt? Should I try to get someone? Or should-“

“Potter, relax.” You interrupted him. “I’m fine.”

He nodded before handing you a plate full of assorted foods.

“Molly threatened me that you better have eaten this before she comes back in the morning to check on you, or she'll have my head.”

A small smile crawled onto your lips, “That would have been an amusing sight, but remind me to thank Molly.”

James pouted but bit back the remark sitting upon his tongue. Instead he voiced the one thought that was haunting him.

“Why?”

You paused, raising an eyebrow in confusion, “Pardon?”

“Why? Why did you take my place? Why did you save me from the spell and took the hit yourself?”

You sighed, setting your plate to the side.

“It was better me than you.” You answered, staring off into the distance as your mind traveled elsewhere. “You have family and friends that would be devastated if anything happened to you. And me,” You let out a cold laugh, “My family would celebrate my death, plus I guess so I would deserve it.” You voice cracked near the end.

“No you don’t.” James immediately said, kneeling in front of you. “Why would you think that?”

Your eyes glossed over, “I had vowed to protect someone I considered a younger brother, a-and I left him there in that cruel world.”

“Who?” James questioned.

“Regulus.”

“Regulus?” James asked in confusion, “As in Sirius’ younger brother, Regulus?”

You nodded in confirmation. “I took him under my wing at Hogwarts and although he had a hard way of expressing it, I know he loved me a lot too. He was broken after Sirius ran away from home, and I know it must have hurt even more when I decided to escape that dark world. I tried to take him with me, begged him, but unfortunately a small part of him was influenced by his parents. Plus, he was too scared to go against his parents.” You explained, eyes welling up. “I left him there when I shouldn’t have, and perhaps all of this,” You gestured towards your injured body, “Is just the consequences of my actions.”

James was reeling in with shock. Sure he had seen you and Regulus a few times together at Hogwarts, but he never realized you were capable of loving someone this deeply and loyally, and that you both shared such a huge bond. James had always been at the receiving end of hate. You would laugh at him, mock him, poke fun at him, tease him, give him glares, sneers and what not, but apparently that was just for him, and Sirius too.

He had never gotten the chance to witness this soft, loving and caring side to you.

It suddenly came crashing down hard on James. Remus and Lily were right about you. James truly had been wrong about you this entire time.

Your sniffles brought him back and he cupped your face, wiping the tears away with his thumb.

“Y/n, listen, you are not at fault here. I’ll tell you what I told Sirius when he was in a similar state. You had given Regulus the option, the opportunity to start a fresh life. It was his choice to stay behind, no matter how hard you tried. You can’t blame yourself, because you are not at fault at all.” James said, reassuringly. It seemed to somewhat work but you began to hiccup instead and James mentally slapped himself.

“I just wish he had listened and come along. It scares me for what he has to do out there, and I have no idea if he’s safe or not.” You said, shaking your head slightly. “I hate the world, why can’t everyone just be kind and happy? Causing wars and violence does nothing but destroy lives.” You rambled, clearly upset about everything.

James nodded but began to panic when more tears welled up in your eyes, "Please, please, stop crying. You literally have no energy and this is not good for you, please, please stop!" He rambled.

You slowly began to calm down, feeling even more tired and exhausted, with your head throbbing even more. Afterwards, James urged you to eat some more before you were to sleep again. You shot him a tired yet amused smile.

"What?" He asked, feeling self conscious all of a sudden.

"You hate me, remember?"

James suddenly flushed a deep red, mumbling something incoherent.

"What was that?" You asked teasingly.

"I don't hate you."

You arched an eyebrow, "Really? Well you had an odd way of showing it."

He went even more red, if that was possible. "I just- I'm sorry, ok!?"

You smiled gently, "Just because of what happened earlier, doesn't mean you're obligated or owe me something, you know?"

James stuttered, "Why did you behave cold towards me at Hogwarts?" He asked out of the blue, making you narrow your eyes at him.

"Because you made me a target in one of your pranks against Slytherin."

James frowned. Sure he had tried to target you a few times throughout Hogwarts but you had always managed to evade them. Somehow.

"Yeah, obviously you don't remember." You said, your tone tinged with bitterness.

It was your fourth year at Hogwarts, nearing the end as summer break approached. You were already running late for your next class and as you rounded a corner, a huge explosion happened, throwing you against the wall. You cursed and made a move to get to your class but found you were stuck to the wall. You used all your strength but ended up only hitting your head hard on the wall.

"Shit!"

You yelped as something wet and gooey poured onto your head, covering you from head to toe with it.

"Ew, what is this?"

However, before you could get an answer for that, another explosion happened and a huge swamp appeared, going up to your chest. To top it all off, fireworks erupted in the corridor, which finally attracted a crowd as students of nearby classes rushed out.

Two boys led the crowd, their faces looking eager. Although their smiles slightly diminished the moment their eyes landed on you.

"Aw, damn, this is just one snake! The trap was for a bunch of snakes, not just one pathetic Slytherin!" Sirius exclaimed, pointing a finger accusingly in your direction.

James snorted, "But still! Look at her! Such a loser!" The whole crowd laughed. Tears burned your eyes as the laughter echoed off the walls, people pointing and snickering at you. You looked down, embarrassment flooding your whole being. You didn't realize when Professor McGonagall pushed her way through the crowd, nor were you aware of when the swamp vanished or when you were free from the wall. However, tears began to cascade down your face as a sob made its way out of your mouth, when your face broke into hives.

You heard the corridor erupt into shrieks of laughs, all related to your current state. You managed a look up and saw the two boys behind this fiasco, practically rolling around on the ground as they chuckled. You felt hatred for them both. How could they be so cruel? You spun on your heel as the crowd parted for you as you ran and ran until you entered the Slytherin common room. You could see Madam Pomfrey for the reaction to your face after, you just wanted to be alone.

Regulus, who had returned from his class some seconds before you, looked up from his place by the couch, his eyes going wide noticing your state. He stood up and grabbed you by the arm to stop you.

"What happened?" He asked in concern.

"Those stupid boys! I hate them! I hate Potter and Black, they're just plain cruel!"

Regulus' face dawned with realization as a fire burned in his eyes. How dare they hurt you like that?

You shrugged off his hold and ran upstairs to your dormitory, to let out all the pent up emotions. Meanwhile, Regulus' face hardened as he watched you go. He walked out of the common room with determination. No way was someone going to hurt his sister and get away with it.

"And then Regulus hexed us, and kept doing so until Minnie stepped in." James said, completing the story for you instead as the memory came rushing back to him.

"Yeah. The humiliation was horrible and over the summer, I decided to hold a grudge against you two, so began the good ol' rivalry. Later on, as you boys began to change your ways, I felt myself softened but the constant back and forth poking sort of just became our thing." You finished saying, shrugging your shoulders.

"And Remus?"

"What about him?"

"How come you were on good terms with him?"

"Because he was not in on that prank because it was orchestrated by you and your idiotic twin. He felt bad and came to visit me in the Hospital Wing the following day and I appreciated that he was apologizing on behalf of his friends. We became close after that. Oh also," You said, a smirk making its way onto your face, "I only managed to avoid all your pranks meant for me because Remus would tell me beforehand."

A scowl crossed James' face, "That traitor!" However, his expression softened when he heard a chuckle leave your lips.

"Leave poor Remus alone. You lot gave him loads of trouble at school as it was, no need for more."

James grinned mischievously at that before his expression faded into a guilty one.

"I am truly sorry for everything." He sincerely apologized.

You shot him a grateful smile, "Thank you."

James rubbed the back of his neck nervously before extending a hand out. "You want to start over?" He offered.

You looked at him and then his hand. This was an opportunity for the pair of you to forget old enmity and begin afresh. You smiled, clasping his hand.

"Hi, I'm Y/n L/n."

James' shoulders slumped with relief.

He flashed her a bright smile. "Hello, I'm James Potter."

You giggled, "Pleasure to meet you stranger."

"Same here, stranger." He answered, earning another giggle from you, making his heart warm up.

You two had a long way to go but this new opportunity for a better start was something you both would later on be very thankful for.

════ ⋆★⋆ ════

A/N: Hey everyone! I hope you liked this chapter and see you in the next one! Take care! <33

Wizard Buddies (Taglist): @quack-quack-snacks @jamespottergf @themarauderswife7 @amethyistheart

[princelysnape]

a marauders analysis (or why i don't give a shit james potter died)

WARNING: this post does not have the pretension of convincing marauders fans that their faves have shitty personalities. if anything i say comes off as rude or insensitive, it was intended that way. you can stay, or you can kindly fuck off.

i honestly can't believe i have to do this, but here we go. my two cents about the four little pricks.

let's start by acknowledging that the marauders had a clear hierarchy of power and influence within their own group. whether it was ever officially stated or not, we know james potter was their leader and main perpetrator, followed by his lapdog sirius black, the forever-cowardly remus lupin, and the rat.

and it's no coincidence they're arranged this way. potter and black are the pureblood heirs of two of the richest and most powerful families in the harry potter universe. their surnames enter the room before they do, every time. meanwhile, lupin and pettigrew are nobodies, merely their shadows.

keeping that in mind, it's easy to see how they turned out the way they did. there's an arrogance and entitlement that can only come from money and the certainty that you're untouchable. dealing with them meant dealing with their families. which means that, despite their many pranks, continuous bullying, an episode of sexual assault, and infamously, an assassination attempt, they were never expelled.

imagine being lupin or pettigrew throughout all this. they're definitely not innocent—but if they ever tried to cut ties, who's to say potter and black wouldn't have turned on them? no, it was safer to have their protection. and in lupin's case, their secrecy. not very brave or honorable of them, though.

so first point: they were privileged, rich assholes.

they were also cruel and downright abusive to anything they considered "other." And I do mean severus, yes, but also evans (constantly harassed by potter for most of her school years), kreacher (whom sirius always treated like shit due to his servitude and his death eater brother), slytherin house as a whole (though probably targeted half-bloods and muggleborns more, since attacking a pureblood meant fucking with their family), and the unnamed victims referenced in the books.

always good to remember that potter and black grew up being spoon-fed blood purity rhetoric and anti-muggle sentiment, ideas that define wizarding society. even the "progressive" characters say shit sometimes. so it's not a stretch to say they redirected their hate toward more palatable victims to keep their moral high ground intact.

and whether their victims "deserved" it or not, it's disturbing how much glee they took in humiliating people. the other two less so (as far as we know), but they were complicit. black literally used lupin's condition to try to get another student killed—proof he didn't give a single shit about consequences, or about exposing his so-called friend to imprisonment or death.

so second point: they were prejudiced, sadistic, and always covered up for each other's fucked-up behavior.

which brings me to the third point: they had pack mentality. you know that one male friend group where one guy is clearly satan in a varsity jacket and the rest just nod along? or worse, follow his lead? the kind of group that makes you cross the street frantically avoiding eye contact? that's the marauders.

if harry potter wasn't written for a younger audience, i'm convinced at least one of them would have a rape allegation. but their friends would vouch for them, and the victim would be dismissed.

some might argue they "changed" or "grew up," but that's just not true. potter pretended to change for evans, but he was still bullying severus behind her back. black never pretended in the first place, and neither did lupin or pettigrew. then potter died, black went to azkaban, lupin disappeared into the ether, and pettigrew lived as a literal rat for twelve years. not a lot of room for personal growth, if you ask me.

so yeah, arguments like "he asked dumbledore to save lily, but not her husband and kid!" or "it’s his fault harry doesn't have a father!!!" don't really move me. good riddance. getting betrayed by his rat friend was exactly what he deserved—no more, no less. It's a shame a kid got caught in the crossfire, but honestly, how would harry have turned out if he were raised by potter? probably insufferable.

that's it. a word of wisdom from your prince.