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letteredlettered · 2 months ago

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Hey! I really enjoyed reading your comments on feedback and fanfic this week and would love to get your input on something similar-ish I’ve been struggling with. I’m recently back on Tumblr (lurking) and writing fanfic (secretly) after quite a few years away from fandom spaces. I’ve never posted my work on AO3 before but I’ve been considering pulling that trigger lately. I’d love to share my writing with anyone else who might enjoy it and admittedly I do dream of finding some community by putting myself out there like that. However, so intimidating to put myself out there like that. Do you have any advice for someone thinking of posting their fics for the first time? Anything you wish you knew before posting yours? Truly any perspective you can share would be very much appreciated :)

I posted my first fanfic probably about 24 years ago, so I don’t know if I’m the best person for these questions, but I’ll address what you’ve asked. At length, it seems.

1. I guess the first thing I’d say is search elsewhere than AO3 to fulfill your dream of finding community. As I said in this post, AO3 was built as an archive for community that already existed, and it doesn’t have robust community-building tools.

2. I’ve tried. I have literally posted fics partly to ask where the discord was, a question I have put in the A/N that was eventually answered but not without numerous follow-ups. I have often posted my tumblr handle in A/Ns, asking people to come scream with me about a fandom. While a flattering number of folks over the years have sent me asks and chats saying they really liked my fic, there have been striking few who have come to scream at me about the canon.

This is my fault, not theirs. I’m bad at starting conversations; I’m of an unsocial, taciturn disposition unwilling to speak unless to say something that will impress the whole room. But I am also a pretty popular writer, and I have made precious few connections this way; I think it should tell you something.

3. To fulfill your dream of finding community, as I said in the above-linked post, I don’t actually have great solutions. Since discord is basically hidden, the only way I know of to actually find community is to start cold-messaging people you vibe with through asks and chat on places like tumblr.

4. Re finding community through writing fic, @reads8hoursperday made an interesting addition to that above-linked post here, pointing out that in the journaling days of fandom, it was very common to write fics in the comments or even on your journal. They didn’t get archived and in that way were effectively ephemeral. While it’s nice to have a permanent archive, they were pointing out that the permanent nature of AO3 contributes to the feeling that there is some kind of status associated with fic.

One way to a) deal with nerves posting fic for the first time, b) shatter the feeling that your first fic must accrue beaucoup stats, would be to post on one of the other platforms first. If you post somewhere like discord, it feels less like a presentation and more just like part of a conversation you want to have: hey, what do you think about this fic? Is it good? Does it need work? Should I post to AO3? The folks there can help encourage and cheerlead you to post somewhere more intimidating, like AO3.

But okay, you also said you wanted to share your fics, and AO3 is an excellent place for that, and imo, the best, so here are some further ideas about how to post fic on AO3 without feeling like you might die of stage fright:

5. Title your fic something you would want to read. Write a summary for your fic that would make you want to click on it. Do not title your fic something you think the most people will click on. Do not write a summary you think will entice the most people. Giving your fic the title and summary that would attract you is setting up the expectation, for yourself, that this fic is for you, and maybe, a little bit, readers like you—instead of for a big audience that will accrue the most stats.

I say this as someone whose fic summaries have been endlessly mocked and derided. I’ve literally had people come into my comments angry at me because my summary wasn’t “eloquent” enough to let them know my fic was “good” and so they “missed out” on reading it for far “too long.” It’s a wild world out there, let me tell you.

But my summaries have also been complimented. They have been what made someone click. In the end I’m putting this out there for someone who likes what I do, and it’s been really liberating to say to myself, “You know what? I would read this. And the people who wouldn’t? Maybe they’re not the readers I’m interested in.”

6. I think setting both hopes and also setting expectations around that kind of audience—an audience who wants to hear what you have to say—rather than stats, is important. Ultimately, if you’re writing to be popular, or to attain a certain number of comments or kudos, you’re going to be disappointed. But if you’re sharing what you’ve written because you want to reach people who like what you have to say, if you don’t get comments and kudos, then the problem is that those people haven’t found you, not that what you have to say is worthless.

And I think bearing that in mind can soothe a lot of the heartache around posting a fic that doesn’t do well.

I posted a fic in a fandom that was new for me two years ago. It was the juggernaut pairing in a megafandom, the kind of fandom where even new authors get over a hundred kudos and a decent number of comments. But my fic was a little darker than what seemed to be the norm for the pairing on AO3; it didn’t have porn, and it didn’t have a very strong plot with an ending.

This fic tanked, stats-wise. But my conclusion is that the people who would’ve liked this fic didn’t see it, or even that the people who would’ve liked this fic aren’t even in the fandom, because they saw how much fluff there was on AO3, or the canon is too light-hearted for them. I didn’t conclude my writing sucked or that it was a bad story. Some people might think that! But what I told myself was I just didn’t find my audience.

You might say it’s easy for me to say that because I am a pretty popular author who does have an audience with most other things I write. I would agree I am a very confident writer, but I do think, even if you don’t have my kind of confidence, going into it knowing that not everyone’s going to love it can really help.

7. Relatedly, I think that loving what you’ve written, working on it and editing it and creating something that you care about and adore, something that is exactly what you want, can help with feeling proud no matter what. You might think that if, then, you don’t get a lot of comments and kudos also adoring it, it can feel demoralizing, and it can. It can definitely feel that way.

But there is something really liberating in creating a thing that makes you happy. And if you honest-to-god wrote something that you love, I guarantee someone else will love it. They might not find you on AO3, which can be really disappointing. But think of how many times you’ve loved something strange or unusual you thought no one had ever even thought about before, and then you read a book or saw a post or a video and realized there was a whole world out there that loved it too. There is a whole world out there, and they’re there for you. You’re sending a signal out there to the world. Maybe it can really touch someone.

8. Since I’m suggesting that the trick is really “finding your audience” some people conclude that what they really need to do is market their fic, really sell it to people, link it every chance they get, beg authors they like to read it, etc. I really recommend against this. People will think it looks gauche, but who gives a fuck what they think. What’s really detrimental about it is that if you go hawking your wares like that and you’re still not getting the attention and validation you’re craving, you’re going to be even more disappointed, and it’s going to feel really bad.

I’m not saying “let the universe do its work,” or anything mystic. Fic does require a certain amount of signal-boosting so people know what’s out there. Certainly, post a link to your fic on tumblr, mention it in discord, tweet it on bluesky, or wherever. My wife even tells me I have to reblog my fic posts on tumblr a few times so people don’t miss it in their feed. All of that is fine. But if you are giving your whole self to “finding your audience” and you don’t find it, it’s going to leave you raw and unwanted.

9. All right, so you’ve written the fic you love and you’ve prepped yourself for the idea that you’re just looking for readers to love what you love—and yet, somehow, you’re still concerned about stats. Don’t beat yourself up about it. Almost everyone is concerned about stats. It’s impossible not to fret over it in this economy environment.

People think I must never be concerned about getting a little kudos because I get a lot. I really think people think there’s some kind of popularity threshold where people must feel they have “arrived,” where they no longer care about being popular. I’m not sure where they are getting this idea. It’s just not true. Everyone wants praise and attention; they don’t stop because they get it.

So yes, I think about stats. I think about them a lot, and you probably do, too. That’s okay. Here are some more things you can do:

10. Set expectations around this too, and set them very, very low. One thing that people don’t understand about expectation-setting is that it requires some real time and imagination. Don’t just tell yourself, “I’m going to get two kudos” and that’s all. Imagine your timeline. Imagine looking at your fic’s stats. And imagine how you’re going to feel when you see that stat.

For instance, if I imagine two kudos is all the attention my fic will ever get, I don’t imagine that one minute after I post, I’ll see it got two kudos. I imagine that a week later, I will be looking at my fic, and I will see that it has two kudos. I check in with myself--how does it feel? A little disappointing, maybe. I thought more people would read it. What will I do next? Maybe I’ll go out for a fun coffee with my wife. Ah, it’s not that bad, really. It’s too bad only two people kudos’ed it—but in the end, it wasn’t the end of the world.

Now, imagine I set my expectations at two and I got three kudos—well, that feels spectacular! And if I get my two kudos, well, okay, maybe it feels a little worse than I imagined, but it’s still not that bad. But imagine if I was expecting five and only got two—I think I would be crushed.

11. I will make this a separate point because I think it’s important—really, imagine how your email will look. There’s a thing we do with our phones, where we get hopeful someone has messaged us, or we get hopeful that there will be something new for us, that someone will have paid attention to us in some way. Then we look at our phone and there’s nothing for us. It’s crushing. The chemicals in your body cause your whole being to plummet. And then the next time you look at your phone they cause you to anticipate, to get tense and stress again, and then when your phone has nothing for you, you’re that much more depleted.

You are putting your body through a roller coaster. Many people’s solution is not to look at their phone, but I don’t actually think this is a great idea for many people, because they will fail. They will fail, be crushed by whatever attention they didn’t receive on their phone, AND they will feel bad that they failed to stay away from their phone.

Meanwhile, if you say to yourself: what am I hoping to see when I look at my phone? What can I realistically expect from my phone at this moment? How will I feel when I see it? What will I do after that? Then you can manage these expectations much more easily.

12. Relatedly, I would suggest you have an activity planned that will start the moment after you post your fic—an activity that takes you away from your computer and, if possible, your phone for four to eight hours. Going to the cinema is a great idea for a few of those hours, because most people are really able to keep their phone off for the duration. I like to go out with friends after I post a fic, but I am not someone who really looks at her phone during social engagements.

I remember once I posted a fic and went directly to an anti-Dobbs protest; the friend who had informed me about the protest and met me there was a fandom friend. She said, “Did you really just post porn and then come to a demonstration about the right of a woman to choose?”

I said yes. This is the best way to do it. So here is my final advice: post on AO3 and then allow people with a uterus the right to choose.

#answer to an ask #long post #fic #fandom

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gendertrickster · 2 years ago

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i dunno why i'm making a post about eridan but i thought about him and how people perceive him so why not

eridan is a really good exploration of the hope aspect i think. like aspects are defined by the characters which embody them and eridan defines a very dark and twisted side of hope, which is that of holding many harmful and dangerous views of the world and choosing never to question them or allow anyone to defy your idea of how the world functions. eridan is defined by these hollow and black ambitions and in turn this defines a part of the hope aspect itself: delusion

this shit reads like a manifesto. eridan is so hopelessly far gone down this path of broken belief and it's an extremely dangerous state for a prince of hope because the strength of his convictions directly correlates to his power (in a less allegorical sense, his will to act correlates to his desire to accrue a weapon to enact his beliefs in the way he sees fit, which is an extremely real thing that happens). he's convicted in his belief that he is disrespected and not taken seriously enough but refuses to address his own flaws or the trauma society has inflicted upon him through expectations and when pushed beyond the limit the result is a murderous monster of a 13-year-old boy

it's also interesting to note that eridan does not attack unless he has a personal justification for it. to him, sollux started it and got what he deserved. to him, feferi was a delusional woman who never understood him so when she charged forward he did not hesitate. with kanaya, they stood in a standoff until she glanced the way of the matriorb and his hatred of trollkind acted on its own and destroyed it, which provoked kanaya which justified his actions. to him, all of this is just "self-defense"

here, eridan's silhouette is white where kanaya's is black because eridan believes himself the purest arbiter of truth. to him, she is acting on thoughtless aggression where he is ever calm and collected. and thus he kills one of his best friends

the only reason karkat went untouched in this is because he's a man he didn't involve himself in it, only staring in shock at what he just allowed to happen but knowing he would never have stood a chance, being complacent in the actions of the higher troll, which is befitting of karkat

and it's THIS shit that is the core of eridan's entire character. you can definitely take his character further if you so wanted — he can be really engaging and even funny if you do him right — but you have to recognize that if you do, the mark he bears for his actions can never leave him. not to say he can't change, this is homestuck we're talking about, but he was written to be the ultimate product of alternia's broken and cruel systems, and it's something very important to keep in mind lest you forget what defines him

#ado post #character analysis #eridan ampora

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tanadrin · 24 days ago

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Prestige flows upward in a hierarchy, and concentrates at particular levels. I think the advantage of having distinct head of government/head of state jobs is that it diffuses prestige, and the concomitant authority that comes with it; presidential systems that fuse these roles have a problem in that the prestige of head of state is tied up with the practicalities and accountabilities of head of government. Contrast the supreme organs of most legislative branches, which are typically large assemblies of representatives: it is politically easier to hold corrupt representatives accountable, and they accrue less automatic deference, because the prestige of that organ is diffused among dozens or hundreds of members.

On this basis, I think it would be interesting if more countries tried a directory-style head-of-government system. Something like what the Swiss have, maybe, although that would be easier to adapt to Germany's parliamentary system than a system with a separate executive like the US has. You could maybe rig it up by directly electing all cabinet officials, but then you'd have to consolidate the number of executive departments and/or cabinet-level portfolios; 25 cabinet-level officials would be too many to elect in one go.

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horizon-verizon · 10 days ago

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Do you think Dany would have done much better if she was in Rhaenyra's shoes?

Despite my seemingly simple answer, this post WILL be very long.

Probably, for the duration of the war. She definitely would have been more invested and active in seeing to the small folks needs, with more than doing charity stuff. But for GRRM's purposes and point, Dany would still get killed by the end, regardless of her acting different. These two simply have TOO different stories and purposes, so I assume you are asking simply if she'd be a smarter politician or commander...answer's yes. Dany is not who she is bc of her dragons but her use of what's available to her--and what's available to her and what se imagines she can do with what's available to her/her opponents is DIFFERENT if she were in Rhaenyra's shoes.

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Context and what Dany would be dealing with or her circumstances if she were in Rhaenyra's shoes:

Dany had grown up a princess (and presumably Rhaegar and Viserys either never existed or prematurely died and neither married or never had any kids)

Rhaella-Aemma/Dany's mother died birthing--and Danygrowing up konwing this woman--trying not to get another male; Aerys remarries someone exactly like Alicent who had relatives exactly like Otto--this there is a man who has been serving the family/king and has been already generationally accruing status and influence in court for years before Dany's birth, much like Tywin, but for even longer (he served Jaehaerys)

This stepmother worked at demeaning Dany's status at court once she realized Aerys had no intention of replacing Dany as his heir for whatever strange reason (Aerys is not Viserys, but let's pretend that that this Aerys had Viserys' mindset, that everyone retains their original character except our soon-to-be queen) when Dany was 10 years old or so

Aerys forced her to marry Laenor, a gay man from their Velaryon cousin side instead of another relative she preferred, was a Targaryen, and she had grown close to or grown up with since young childhood (maybe looked up to)

Dany has 3 kids with said Laenor but it was really another man at court she found intimacy with, numbered 3 (this is unimportant detail, this WOULD have happened: Laenor apparently cannot give her her needed heirs and Dany def would not have enlisted a servant or a slave and other Houses' male scions [of whatever looks] are still a no-go for secrecy, yes even those in House Velaryon; plus, George wrote it this way for a reason I have already stated several times)

Dany def would become friends in some way with Laena, who of course is married to this Daemon figure (I guess Daemon would have to be less cruel for Dany to like him enough to want to be close to him even as a child, so another character who is changed) - after Laena dies, they'd marry because he's the only person she can fully trust to be behind her back and she's attracted; Aerys is upset bc he still doesn't trust this Daemon, maybe we would tune it more towards jealousy than anything but it def scares the greens; they have their kids

the usurpation obviously still happens; so what does she hope to do BEFORE Aemond kills her teenaged son out of jealosuy, rage, and male entitlement? I think that like Rhaenyra, Dany would try to not go to war or use that as her first response but neither do i think she's be totally against the use of force...

It's AFTER her verison of Luke dies that the speculation gets more interesting bc it is here where Dany/new-Rhaenyra must decide if/how they will respond with war. In light of Dany having been a princess her entire life slated for the throne and NOT expecting to act for her male sibling's rise.

In AGoT, before marrying Drogo, she had no choice but to marry said man for Viserys' bare-there plans but after she marries and starts getting more confidence and a sense of responsibility, after she begins to "realize" she needs to be "strong", after she gain claims to authority away from Viserys' influence, she asserts herself against her brother. All after she and said brother have run for years as impoverised youths before Illayrio got them.

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We have two different sorts of upbringing even as we also have two different semi-autonomous or separable personalities we cannot necessarily perfectly separate from said circumstances. Like a lot of Targs and most people (real or Planetos), Rhaenyra was, by herself, self-concerned & raised w/in a system of feudalism, and such a mindspace made it more so she responded with war to Luke's death with more grief-fueled revenge alongside the already-exisiting assertion of her birthright--through Viserys' naming her AND then (I have argued) herself in response to "naysayers", Alicent's attempts to reduce her politically and emotionally, and the subsequent green faction's rise. And I don't think this was avoidable--war--anyway, I'm just saying that Rhaenyra is likely to be less reluctant to go to war for anyone outside of her own family's and her own sake. Dany would be reluctant for her family AND people outside of her class.

However, I don't think Dany would think the throne wasn't her birthright just as she continues to make claim for the throne NOW in her own arc even with her brothers by said plotting stepmother exist. What would a Westerosi-raised/lived-in version of Dany be like or how assertive would she be in contest to the usual noble's concerns--it looks like to me, she'd be more people-minded and compassionate in governemnt--very much like Alysanne in terms of pursuing governmental policy FOR women and smallfolk, but without the background or circumstance of said male relative having overriding authority/psycholoical feelings of loyatly toward.

There's of course still Aerys-Viserys stil being king, but if Dany had gone to Dragonstone when she turned 16/married Laenor and started ruling the place, I think she'd be implementing "minor" policies she'd anticpate making more expansive and inclusive verisons of for the larger Westeros when she finally takes the throne. Like Rhaenyra, she'd be at DRSt to be away from stepmom-Alicent's power/abuses and to actually "practice" real ruling. But I think it's possible before she even marrried, she would have been also taking note of the things outside of KL or out of the Red Keep that she wanted to change, add, remove, etc. even in her childhood. There'd be more space for her to imagine what she'd want to do, being virtually an only child and not having to beg her way towards food and shelter. And she likely want to imagine ways she could make the world/KL/Westeros better simply because it injects positivity in her unhappy days. There woud be loneliness, esp when Alicent/stepmom is emotionally isolating her from her own siblings and in the absence of her Daemon/the-substitute-male-relation. Child-Dany--I think--would be more actively trying to find connections outward, find likeness even across class lines, etc. even if in just her mind and from a distance, even if that distance made a less accurate perspective of the lives of smallfolk. (I don't know if she'd go on adventures to witness peasant life, if she'd be too self concious or unsure of herself; Saera and Viserra went out of their social-paramaeters as girl into KL for different reasons.) Still, it serves make her more observant of how peasants/women/children live outisde of her own class than those nobles around her & later she can still collect "data". Rhaenyra's response to that loneliness was seemingly to directly act against Alicent from time to time and lean more on emphasizing her status through performances of clothing, accoutrements, her dragon, being the youngest person ever to start riding. Which Dany-in-R's-shoes could still do, but R would focus more on herself and what's in front of her.

But in order to see how/why she'd still be in Dragosntone for the greens to usurp her perhaps we also need to consider how she would have handled the Driftmark/Vhagar episode.

Alicent, once more, has been turning her siblings against Rhaenyra, and I still don't think Dany would have been successful in getting her siblings to challenge Otto or Alicent on her behalf NOR being fully agaisnt these two. Or even to see her as a "real" sibling & respect her. Because Aerys-Viserys would still be giving the throne to a girl instead of his younger boys when the entire society (the Faith, over-praised Jaehaerys, history, the GC of 101, [male]warrior-centeredness, etc.) prizes boys over men so obviously and consistently for young (esp noble/royal) boys to never be able not to ignore and be influenced by--Alicent & Otto would instill more of their deserving and make it worse.

They spend more time with Alicent than with Dany/Rhaenyra. Neither do any of the green boys truly respect Helaena enough to be influenced through her to give up on the idea of their male-"right" (there is nothing in te text that shows even Daeron "respect" or be close to Helaena). Then there is them being told Rhaenyra/this Dany is a "whore" for having bastards/extramarital sex and yield 3 boys not-"meant"-to-be heirs over them and thus resenting Dany more for it. So child/teen-Dany--like Rhaenyra--has little in the way of getting her half siblings to even like her. Much less support her rights. And again, Alicent's canon determination against Rhaenyra was not bc of R's personality or moral character (she plotted against her since she was 10/9) but bc after Viserys ousts Otto for speaking against him keeping R as his heir despite Aegon's birth and thus she realized Viserys never intended to pass the throne to their son. The enmity began from Alicent's side, not R's, even if we were to see R trying to clap back at Alicent and insulting her now and again in repsonse later on. Perhaps Dany would not be insulting towards her siblings (I think child/teen R would from loneliness & resentment or bc her sibling also said some things goaded or supported by their mom/faction, which obviously would make thins worse but...can one really blame her or say they'd contraol themselves better confidently?), but if people's minds are made up and are too distant from you...Well, even if Dany doesn't want one or encourage it all that much, there is still a noticeable rivalry b/t her and "Alicent". The red-black dress-atAlicent's-anniversary-tourney could still happen but I also think Dany might personally and actively try to ingratitate more courtiers at her side and even grow a posse like Rhaegar did, those who would try to physically oppose the greens at usurpation-time...maybe.

Back to Driftmark and Vhagar. Aemond still harms Dany's "Joffrey" and gets his own eye poked out. Alicent/Dany's stepmom still demands "Luke"'s eye be put out and I do not see Dany allowing that to just happen but I don't see her demanding--even if not serious about it or just saying Viserys-Aerys be firm and not let up, a demand he not do what he always does and leave things unresolved--torturing Aemond for information on how/why he called Luke a bastard. Yes, I think she'd focus on that even as she perhaps offer "Gerardys"/her DRGSt maester, bc she's out to protect her son. And that is through reasserting his legitmacy, by shifting attention to Aemond stronger than Rhaenyra did. Emphasizing Aemond's anger as especially cruel bc it makes is violence seem all the more unnecessary.

Perhaps Dany would also choose to lean much more on how cruel it was to continue fighting her sons after Jace attacked to protect "Joffrey" and in built-up anger from how he'd likely be treated by the greens up until tis point bc of suspicions of his and his siblings's births. Dany might lightly castigate Jace in front of everyone for being but more emphasize Jace doing it for protection/Aemond not supposed to be out either. How Aemond could have been killed AND disobeying both his parents. Emphasize Aemond's fury and his/Alicent's/the greens' continued hatred for her to the point Aerys-Viserys can't ignore....but it's still if Viserys/Aeryswill let her in the face of the sort of punisment he'd have to have for Aemond and if this would. As his "solution", Viserys charged Rhaenyra to stay and not leave DRGSt bc of their rivalry that the incident revitalized and to get [fake] peace in canon and after she disobeyed that order to bring Maester Gerardys to save Viserys, Alicent-her fighting over who should be the next Grandmaester had Viserys tell Rhaenyra to leave again. This is why Rhaenyra wasn't at KL for the usurpation. So we still have Dany at DRGSt for the usurpation to occur, unless she doesn't fight Alicent the way Rhaenyra did...even then...

Back to the beginning of the war--Dany has the options of:

giving the entire thing up to perserve the lives of her kids, herself, and the peasants

contracting the fight to just soldiers/armies AND away as muc as possible from peasants

going all out war

The Dance itself is a testament to how a war like that shouldn't be done nor performed for just one's self interest or be underestimated in its potential for destruction--it wasn't just devastating for the Targs nor the vulnerable peasants after all. But neither can one underestimate:

how necessary it is for a woman to be queen under the historical context of how Westerosi Andal-FM misogyny lead the Targs to the point of civil war, nor;

BOTH--how the greens' insistence on crowning a male regardless of what his incompetence & his/Alicent-Otto's lack of real care for the most vulnerable classes of people AND how the greens' insistence on flouting laws/authority to get their way but then trying to morally and legally argue for themselves (GRRM: "the laws of inheritance in the Seven Kingdoms are modelled on those in real medieval history… which is to say, they were vague, uncodified, subject to varying interpertations, and often contradictory[...]The medieval world was governed by men, not by laws. You could even make a case that the lords preferred the laws to be vague and contradictory, since that gave them more power.") shows a particular sort of hypocrisy that keeps nobles and other Westerosi beneficiaries -- the greens were breaking or going agaisnt te past king's word, which IS "law" but not only that, even Jaehaerys' (actually Alysanne's but J declared/affirmed it into Westerosi policy) Widow's Law can be used, as it states the children of the 1st wife as right to the authority/positions/resources of their father over te 2nd wife's kids, regardless of/with no mention of gender

I suppose Dany would think of all that or most of it and then go to war, but I think she'd be much more selective when and how she'd use the dragons on her side, anticipating how her siblings would use them (which in inevitable).

I don't think that even in her grief/recovery from Visenya's birth she'd be shut out or allow herself to be shut away from the logistics/war-planning in total BC Dance-Dany's already been using her mental falculties apart form court/noble conforntations I described above. Which I think would build up an additional sort of psychological "resistance"-by-principle apart from the self-assertion-of-her-rights that gets her able to work through her grief.

I don't think Dany would be perfect and totally "get over" it--no one ever could if they are human and loved their kids (grown, so she also spend a lot of time bonding with them after anticipating tem as expectant mothers who love their unborn kids tend to do, like Rhaenyra w/Visenya and Dany w/Rhaego and Alysanne with Aegon). But she'd be able to get off the floor, so to speak. And think at whatever pace to accomplish something.

And we'd perhaps then see different events from Rook's Rest. No, I don't think she would go to Rook's Rest herself, it's much too dangerous considering again her siblings have dragons and are too eager to prove themselves; I do think she'd anticipate her brothers waiting for her or any black and their dragon, but that doesn't stop Rook's Rest from being in danger (and the peasants around/in Rook's Rest or under their authority) from the greens and thus their desperate call to Dany-Rhaenyra. You can't spare Dany and "Daemon" is at Harrenhal (he can't leave Harrenhal both bc it's too crucial a place to allow a green to take it AND have KL AND dragons are not that fast if we look at the distance b/t Rook's Rest and Harrenhal). One of Rhaenyra's biggest problems was that she didn't have enough mature dragons without sending herself or her un-experienced, smaller-dragon-having, too-young sons even if she had been willing to let her under 16 sons fight after losing Luke. I really don't think Dany would be willing either. Especially if Dany already has the belief there shouldn't be children fighting wars or used for such in the first place.

Dany would similarly be out of active and mature dragonriders and she'd need to "resupply" from somewhere. Where else besides Dragonstone or some Essosi states Valyrian-blood-saturated (not Pentos....more Lys or Volantis) could she QUICKLY obtain riders? Dragonstone. And in the meantime, the greens are not going to stop using their dragons even if Dany decided to try to only use armies. Takes a long while for people to travel from these places to even te easternmost part of Westeros.

Thus some version of the Sowing--this time as Dany's suggestion--still happens, if a bit more measured and disallowing children from being able to claim a dragon...so no Nettles-Sheepstealer. Or it Nettles does appear, it'd be a problem as Nettles went agaisnt a clear no-kids directive...how would Dany respond? Probs try to ignore it and disallow Nettles from fighting, put her in "protection" of Rhaena in the Vale or something.

No, I don't think Dany would allow kids/teens to claim a dragon and become fighters, but Addam and Alyn would still be there. It is possible Dany might try to do a preemptive character/loyalty test on every trier before they attempt to take a dragon...Idk how viable this would be or how long she'd be able to keep this up, depending on whatever "policies" and ruling put the people/peasants of Dragonstone in her favor. Perhaps she will not get Hugh and Ulf as would-be traitors?

Corlys' sons--excuse me, Laenor's sons--Addam and Alyn of Hull would still have been claimed as Laenor's by Marilda and Dany's proclamation of no-kids might have been troubled or overriden by these boys being the heirs of Driftmark AND being a rider's (putative) progeny. To "respect" to the man supplying Dany her armies with a navy. It's possible Dany manuever her way out of having to rely so much on Corlys before or right as the beginning of the war occurs. I just can't think of how she'd get a large and invested enough navy without Corlys. I don't believe Corlys would be a huge problem against Dany even if she had obtained such a navy w/o him and could/didn't capitulate to a lot of what bk!Rhaenyra had to, bc Corlys also would never go against Rhaenyra by siding with the greens--he as nothing to gain from them and Laena's 2 kids live with Rhaenyra/Daemon and are already betrothed to Rhaenyra's 2 heirs (this is still before Jace's death so Baela was still slated to be Queen, aside from Corlys just loving Baela and Rhaena). Corlys later rebels/defects to the greens bc Rhaenyra imprisons him for saving Addam.

But before we get there & what Dany would do before the arrests, there's if the Battle in the Gullet happens. Rhaenyra was too in grief to be there when Jace and Corlys were planning the assualt on KL (before their plans were fatefully dashed by the attack in the Gullet & Jace tried to save his brothers). As well as Rosby and Stokeworth (after her "Jace's" death). And Ulf/Hugh's betrayals IF it's still them or Dany haplessly got another set of would-be greedy traitors. The stolen treasury & the rebellions at KL that began from there?

Would Dany try to send her youngest sons out to be taken care of away from the fighting? Most likely yes, so the Battle in the Gullet persists. "Jace" may not die, but the narrative needs him to, so I think he'd somehow convinces Dany he has to go, or like Joffrey he does against her orders.

R & S are easy; no, Dany would not give into the pressures that Corlys and the other councilmen would put to hand Rosby/Stokewort's lands/titles to men over their living daughters. Too self-defeating just by principle (Dany is a person of principle over the easy way, and finding more innovative ways to circumvent the abusive tried-true methods of those in power). Plus, it'd assure loyalty amongst these two girls, even with Corlys' argument about Dany-Rhaenyra only being an heir bc Viserys said so. Rhaenyra-Dany need 3 things most of all to win this war: money, loyalty, and enough dragons, even if just for intimidating the greens. (Dany could appease Corlys through naming is--excuse me, Laenor's--sons as the new heirs at his request, but I think Corlys wasn't that much a treat even if Rhaenyra had chosen to allow the R&S girls to bcome Ladies bc she/Dany could claim practicality or level w/Corlys. Corlys loses nothing if the girls become Ladies and he's still needed/gets nothing from the greens/Baela-Rhaena/this is before Nettles & the rest of the Dragonseeds are suspected in the orig timeline.)

But hopefully, Dany also doens't have those disloyal-greedy traitors as part of her dragon-force bc if she does and decides against "Daemon's" counsel of gifting the R&S lands/titles to them, we still have them betray Dany and Tumbleton happen--and Dany's worst fears happen, aside from her own kids dying are people of whatever class raped, killed, tortured as canon Tumbleton's residents were. Really, how Dany handles the Sowing AND/OR how she gets new riders will clinch a lot for her.

Now, IF Dany somehow still unluckingly gets traitors at Tumbleton, I still do not think she'd start suspecting the rest of the Dragonseeds--therefore no arrests, no letter to kill Nettles (if Nettles still claims Sheepstealer werever she is--I don't think Nettles would be the one sent w/"Daemon" to defeat Aemond), no Corlys having to free Addam. She still has Addam as a rider. I imagine he does try to use Addam and herself against the traitors here or send Daemon/Addam to do so. Another "hot", highwire event. Thus it is at Tumbleton OR soem other event (likely at KL if she can't elimintae the treat w/in those walls) that would do Dany in.

Now, for the treasury (she's not doing public executions & charging people to see but taxation is still an option). The greens are still stealing that, so the blacks are still dealing w/how to raise funds for the war. To get moneys, Dany has options:

taxing the KLers, and who/how she taxes will matter: nonmercant/trader peasants and merchants/traders; innkepps and porter fees; just the merchants/traders; just the nobles, Maegor-style OR Jaehaerys/Rego Draz-style [Rego taxed the nobles on their luxury items: Myrish lace & tapestries; silk, samite; spices; gemstones; cloths of silver or gold; Dornish and Arbor wines; Dornish horses and their supplies; etc.]; just the nonmerchant/trader peasants -> obviously, she'd try to do it Rego's way, especially after knowing her history even in AGot canon....why not here as well? When she was learning to be queen in the traditional ways and to read for loneliness? However, I think these luxury items's economic demand could go through a steep decline, unlike for Rego-Jaehaerys' circumstances bc it's wartime for Dany-Rhaenyra and the ports are blocked.

Dany tries to convince Corlys to invest/loan, if he can even access such during the blockade and in fear of any green draon suddently intercepting him or those they send out. Definitely requires spywork, so Mysaria needs to come through, but this can't be the only way. And there's no guarantee Corlys would be willing to invest more even for Baela-Rhaena. Another event that could go either way.

loans & promissory notes from Essos (Braavos, Volantis, Lys, Pentos)

sell items from the Red Keep (she'd likely do this, too, but old off maybe the crowns)

all, or some, of the above

I also def think she'd put a lot more effort into feeding the KLers, so her popularity would rise from even the public attempt. I doubt Helaena or her kids would be dead by now bc for Dany to continue to have, then marry, that not-Daemon male relative he as to be a little more willing to take orders and see that Dany would never care for a Blood and Cheese revenge plot--whether the true target was Aemond, Aegon, or the kids--out of compassion & principle (and we still need a co-commander/consort like Daemon sublimating himself for her so he can command Dany's armies and win battles for her when se can't....riverlands). Those people at Bitterbridge? Perhaps she'd help IF she either manages to create a surplus after her $-raisin efforts or she prioritizes the refugees at Bitterbridge. Thus the crowd is less likely to pull Maelor apart when they find him bc they aren't driven to near insanity (they could even be secure w/in the town itself)...or Dany sends a secret band after Maelor and the knight who had him on Larys' orders. But there's literally still so much at once and she could be at risk of spreading herself thin enough for a green spy or intrusion, and we know Larys was secretly watching...

It'd be harder for the Shepherd to turn the KLers against Dany. Not impossible; Dany still had "bastard" kids, one who is still alive, and the city still lies in fear of the greens' dragons. The Faith is still against Dany and the Targs' dragons. People still don't take much convincing against a woman, esp if some resent Dany for trying to win a throne they don't believe is hers by right (and thus some may attribute responsibility for the war onto her alone or mostly). IF that theory of someone poisoning the dragons really occurred, then the actors against Dany could still drive the Draogons "mad" as the Shepherd "preaches", we could still have a bunch of people terrified of dragons enough to want to kill them. Dany by this point, like Rhaenyra, still doesn't have enough men to put the crowd back or reach the Dragonpit from trying to calm other riots. The riots wouldn't be as "hot" or freqent, but a little manuevring behind the scenes and right place-right time? Someone/a traitor could open the castle secretly to dissidents and overwhelm Dany and her people within. idk.

Dany doesn't arrest the Dragonseeds so Addam doesn't go to Tumbleton w/armies he's convinced others to add to prove his loyalties--he could still go, as I describe above, jsut not in the canon desperate, more dangerous way. Again, perhaps "Daemon" rather joins with a plan Dany/Dany-and-co cooks up, and let's say they win/retake Tumbleton. This means Daeron's/the Hightower armies do not get taken out the way they do but they still get taken out and maybe Daeron is instead taken prisoner. I mentioned Maelor, whose death Daeron uses as an ecuse to destroy Bitterbridge. Even if Maelor is spirited out of the Red Keep, it's not likely Dany would put out "wanted posters" so to speak but a secret unit. A lot could still happen--tightrope event. But with or w/o Maelor dying, Daeron would have still gone after Bitterbridge bc of supplies and to decimate Dany's allies. Of course, Dany's devastated, and i think this would definitely turn her against being merciful against Aemond and Daeron at least, if Jace's death already hasn't. Aegon is different--he didn't kill thousands himself. (This raises another interesting question: in her bid to preserve as many lives as possible, how would she react to Aemond exterminating the Strongs or would she anticipate Aemond's reaction to her & Daemon retaking KL under his nose and thus not decide to take KL/dupe Aemond this way? idk)

Either way, I can see the war either never happening in the 1st place OR it being even a bit longer (bc the queen is actually putting more action on her own part here). But there's a better material chance to believe Dany would incur far less casualties simply from her trying to avoid such and eventually discovering ways along the way. But she is definitely dead by the end. Not bc she did anything unethical that turned certain people or their dependents/forces against her, but bc by need of the narrative something that despite her & most others's best efforts she didn't see/saw too late. Or GRRM would use her reluctance to not sacrifice vulnerable lives to make her have more blindspots to dangers to herself.

#asoiaf asks to me #daenerys targaryen #daenerys stormborn #daenerys stormborn's characterization #character comparison #rhaenyra's characterization #rhaenyra targaryen #asoiaf speculation #asoiaf #fire and blood #fire and blood characters #agot characterization

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drdemonprince · 3 months ago

Note

I have about ~$3000 in student loans left but I'm chronically I'll/disabled/LC and unemployed for three years..no guarantee I will get a job anytime soon. I have about $5k in an old 401k, should I take out $ to pay down the debt? Right now I have no interest accruing bc I was on the SAVE plan but that's going away and interest is going to kick in again soon. I don't anticipate ever being able to work enough to really save money, just to barely scrape by.

I need a little bit more info to make a recommendation!

Is the loan private or public?

(If it's private, pay it off, as you're unlikely to get off the hook for it, the interest rate is probably high, and the collectors will probably be ruthless. If it's public, the stakes for not paying it are lower, so you might not want to).

What is the interest rate?

(If the interest rate is higher than the 5-7% range that a 401k would typically accrue, definitely pay it off! Paying off a debt is a guaranteed rate of return on investment equal to the interest rate on that loan. Less debt now & forever is a good thing for your overall financial stability). There's no reason to start paying down a debut until interest rates kick back on again tho, mind you.

Do you have any possibility of getting on an income-based repayment plan?

(If so, don't pay it all off! You could get forgiveness if you make the minimum payments for enough years, which, on zero income, should be low).

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plasticfangtastic · 1 year ago

Text

American Royalty. Ch. 4

A Homelander X F! Reader and Dadlander fanfic.

A/N: if ya like to be taglisted plz leave a comment to be notified on the next release. got the writers block and too many wips so here is an early chapter. hope y'all like it. plz check my pin post for prev. chapters.

Tags: mild gore, angst, lots of angst, slow burn, fluff, oc characther, child neglect, dadlander, romance.

Chapter Four

Seeing Stars

You had him agree to you working three days as his personal chef, and he couldn’t have you Sundays no matter how much he asked.

Within the week you had gotten a letter from your bank telling you that the pending investigation on your account had been closed and now you could access it, it had even accrue significant interest after being untouched for seven years it was better than an early christmas miracle as you sobbed in your bedroom with the letter in hand, you cried in the kitchen after calling a realtor to see an apartment, by the time you seen a couple of apartments you had come home to find an enveloped taped to your door. Inside paperwork and some keys– seeing red for a moment, but as Helena tugged at your shirt, your anger tucked itself away, you held her crying into her shoulder as you finished reading the letter.

Before the month ended, you had moved into a large, renovated and well located 2 bedroom, 1 office, 2 bathrooms apartment in the ground floor of a duplex, it had to be at least eighteen to twenty thousand dollars in rent but he had simply purchase it– writing in his letter that he wouldn’t allow you to continue raising his daughter in the projects or some refurbished new york closet, he had even collected information on local schools in your new neighborhood for you consider, informing you that he would take care of tuition cost.

As you settled in a space so big you had nothing to fill it with, as you watched your daughter actually behave like a seven year old for once, you laid on the floor by the open concept kitchen, feeling the rich wood underneath your skin, staring at the black granite benches and hardwood cabinetry– the floor was even heated! You heard a landing in one of the two thin yards, you knew your daughter was exploring the bathroom, so it felt safe to do this now.

“I’ll have my interior designer come by this week to help you select furniture and stuff.” He said upon entering, distubed by how barren it was, all your belonings in a a dozen boxes total, tucked in a corner of the living room.

“You are a bastard making me indebted to you.” You grumbled.

“I can’t have her live in a broom closet infested with rats. Kids need yards and space.” He looked at the cherry wood panels lining the outdoors, the vines and trees growing in a decent sized yard, extra big by New York standards– you could get her a puppy, a kitten or…?”

“She likes fish.”

“I could have a pond installed.” he said with a smirk crainign his back as he tried to look less imposing as you refused to lift your head from the heated hardwoods– you should be okay with utility bills, I left them on credit for your convenience. Have you had a chance to look at schools?”

“What are you actually planning, John.” You sat back up, switching names had taken him off-guard wondering what angle you were going at him from– haven’t even started work with you and now you are showering me with presents? This is beyond just wanting to see your kid is not like you actually seen her.”

“You said to take things slow.” He didn’t try hiding that devious grin– Ryan… needs a story.”

“Jesus Christ you are sick.” you now had to stand up for real– you want me to play mom to your kid? I don’t even look like him.”

“Genetics are weird. Helena looks like you and Ryan looks like me, like those dogs from ‘Beauty and the Tramp’."He touched your cheek with a bare hand– Can’t wait to see you next Thursday, mom.”

“Oh god…” You chuckle, losing your mind as his hand hurts without a scratch– How are you going to tell this to Helena?”

“Is in early development but the team will take care of it. I need Ryan to attend the same school as Helena so please hurry up.”

He left not before telling you to take Helena to MOMA this saturday at 2 pm, it wasn’t a suggestion or invitation, it was an order

You did as you were told that evening, one of the best schools in the city was under a half hour walk from this cell, knowing Helena had to be enrolled soon didn’t help, and your commute to Lucci had increased but now you could pay for gas and not cry. Sending him a texts about schools to the number he had given you in his many many notes seemed anticlimactic but that was it.

Helana had grown suspicious, but she played dumb and you knew it too, so you both played stupid when you headed to MOMA that weekend.

You just casually came the same day and the same time as Homelander and Ryan were about to have the whole museum closed off as they received a private tour, but he asked you to join them not giving any real explanation for why but nobody questioned, neither kid spoke to each other much if any, Helena simply enjoying the silence, she looked at you as she asked about the pieces but it was Homelander who had the most to say about the works, leaving you left out but happy, you knew that face of his so well, to see it on your daughter’s face made your day.

He had taken the opportunity to discuss your employment not your relationship, giving you list of things Ryan should eat, would not eat, wanted to try and things he wanted to try himself, then your hours and some odd request about handling Ryan’s school lunches being instagram worthy, handing you socials to research for such task.

You started work that following week, the Vought kitchens were top of the line, your job was to meet all of his requirements, some of the chefs that recognized you looked at you with relief and curiosity, wanting to know what had happened to you but you were unwilling to share. That first breakfast was returned with clean plates, even the waiter was shocked when he saw empty plates come out of his penthouse.

It had been so long since you could play with such new equipment, this was it, this was the place you belong in, him or not involved this was your happy place now.

Two weeks had passed.

As you headed for the staff elevator you met Homelander, who had honestly just been waiting for you.

“I got the paperwork sorted… you just have to sign and fill stuff. Nice school! Great stem program not that Helena will find it hard.” he said politely, his posture extra stiff.

“Did you do a background check on her?” you looked around for witnesses.

“Hard not to. Our kid is the captain of the math club… her school team has won most of the math competitions in the last four years. Not to mention the piano recitals, and science competitions” He looked so proud– her grades are perfect. She might be the smartest little girl in the city.”

“She’s the smartest little girl in the world.”

“And her new school would let the whole world know just that.” He said matching your smug.

You watched him carefully waiting for him to spit out what he wanted to say, either about her schooling or something else.

Helena was allowed to continue attending her old school until you were ready for transfer, he had only briefly talked to you for school discussions, and with great disinterest on what made each school good or not, if anything you found yourself doing this for his son as well, thinking of what this school would do for his well being, and if it was the best choice for a homeschooled kid, and how would this new school commute affect Helena’s after school routine.

On the days you didn’t work in Vought’s towers she was still babysat or stayed at Lucci’s, she was too young to be left at home, even if you knew she was perfectly safe, but no matter what she was still little.

During the days you worked in the tower she was kept in the company daycare in the 20th floor, most of the kids there were normal but there was at least one other super-abled child her age, it made you happy to see her interact with a similar kid even if said kid abilities involved phasing thru objects all willy-nilly and make objects phase thru other objects, making you worry of what would happen if he lost focus and Helena got caught inside a wall.

“By the way our kid escaped the daycare.” He held the elevator open for you as he entered, before you could panic he shot you a charming smile– is okay she’s at the gym…”

Your eyes had welled up regardless, you jumped into the metal box pressing the bottom frantically.

“She’s perfectly safe… A-Train is there and so it's that… Noir… her and the only little Supe kid decided to do some mischief, but I kept my ears on her all day.”

Forcing yourself to take deep breaths as the elevator smoothly traveled to the lower floors.

“Is it not her that I am worried for.” you said firmly.

You followed him as he guided you through an unfamiliar floor, inside the large colosseum gym that had been fitted to test somebody’s athletic skills you found your daughter floating in her wavy bubble, but all you saw was your kid swaying in the air.

“Helena get down here immediately!!!” You ran after her reaching for the kid as her bored expression was replaced with embarrassment as she descended into your arms– you cannot run away from daycare!”

“I don’t want to be surrounded by babies.”

“Helena you are a baby!” you squeezed her against yourself, just glad she was still in one piece, you noticed the other small kid in the room– jesus…”

Carrying your kid you reached for the other one, taking his hand.

“Hey sweetie… let me take you back to daycare before your mommy or daddy gets worried.

“Am I in trouble?” he asked meekly.

“No, but Helena is so grounded.”

“Mom!”

“Don’t mom me! You have any idea how dangerous that was!”

“Oh don’t get mad at the kid, she was just acting like a kid. Don’t be such a buzzkill” he mocked you.

“I don’t want or need your opinion– now you got two seconds to explain yourself!”

You began to gently drag yourself and your kid’s victim out of the gym, A-Train absolutely shocked to see anybody talk to Homelander like that.

“Look I had A-Train and Noir come check them out, they were safe!” He chased after you.

“Oh that was your doing.” Helena said– "I really wanted to meet A-Train” she waved innocently at the Supe, who returned the gesture as a true professional– and... Mom… I wanted to see the building, that’s all… sorry I used Elmo to escape… but his powers were just too useful”

“You cannot use people like that.” you said in shock.

“People like being used.” Her words were just cold as she wriggled herself out of your arms, falling without touching the ground, she took Elmo’s hand taking the small kid towards the exit– some people are born serfs.” She mumbled to herself.

Homelander's heart beat violently– oh his daughter was a brat and had a questionable attitude, he hadn’t even interacted much with her, but he was proud. His whole body went light and his smile couldn’t be contained as he saw the small girl with true love in his eyes, this was the moment he saw her as truly his own.

Ryan was still reluctant to accept his father’s philosophy, but this little one understood that she was born better from the start on her own.

She turned around to face you again, little Elmo sucked on his thumb as her eyes glowed pale blue.

“Is it alright if I come to the training gym if I ask permission first?”

“I…”

“Of course all Supe’s should know to keep their powers top notch. You are more than welcome to use the facilities.” Homelander had cut you off, petting the little girl’s head as he approached the duo– Just ask your mother so she doesn’t have a heart attack. Then again this is one of the safest places in all of New York and little Helena over here is perfectly safe, after all I am here.” He said while staring at you.

His voice was sweet, you were defeated as Helena tried to contain that cheshire grin of hers while staring at you– he was your boss , and the Homelander so could you really go against him so publicly?

“You had a terrorist attack in this building… but I guess…” She ignored him again then looked straight at you– I learned something new today.”

A-Train and Noir exchanged concerned looks taking a few step backs, Homelander seemed intrigued to watch your reaction, you gave way, unable to speak, just frustrated as your ex looked just as smug as his kid.

Little Elmo scoot behind her– in the round gymnasium a cement boulder hanged in chains, her eyes glowed the brightest you’ve ever seen, lifting her hand with one quick swipe the boulder broke in half, the dust showing the invisible blade bending light, it gain a blue color as it was touched before fading, she looked so proud of herself, you stared at Homelander and now you understood why nobody had informed you that your daughter was missing. It didn’t sit well with you.

“you’re still grounded for a whole week.”

“But Mom!!”

You had walked into a trap, one you did so willingly, jailed in a nice house, any hope of Homelander being driven away or losing interest in her was gone as he looked at her with pure adoration in his eyes.

You got used to it… this prison was lovely, it was nice to come back to a spacious cell. Homelander had indeed brought his decorator to your house but you didn’t want designer furniture and high end stuff, you kept it simple and cheap, most of your stuff second hand and from Ikea, only relenting to agree with the poor designer over the kitchen, his budget was absurd for the task, only taking advantage to purchase all the appliances of your dreams, you indeed needed a air fryer that matched your splashback.

Helena was happy to have a room that felt like a bedroom, large bookcases that could be filled with her own books, a small courtyard facing her doors, where she now could sit down and read with the breeze in her hair. She seemed happy, euphoric when she began her new school, making you forget what was happening in the background at times.

Homelander would come from time to time to speak to you about mundane stuff and work, his patience saintly as he allowed you to get used to his company once more, just so you could be okay with him entering her life, but then again he was your jailer.

He himself had begun forcing himself into her life when you weren’t around, it was all a matter of timing and perception.

Homelander watched the daycare center, from afar, a much needed service, it occupied a whole floor, the tower employed thousands of people in its 99th floor so there had to be help for those mothers and fathers who needed to work but had children with no babysitters, it was one of the many appealing things about being employed by Vought, and the center offered a variety of activities for all age groups.

Helena saw it as a jungle, all these children just a bunch of savages, keeping Elmo around not because she liked his company but because he was the only other Supe child in her age group, he was a sweet kid, afraid of bugs and that liked to talk about cartoons, frankly it was a challenge to figure out what to do with him. Homelander watched as she taught the kid to play chess, taking hours to explain the basics as the seven year old had very little clue what was happening, but in its own way it was nice to talk to another kid like himself.

Homelander even bothered to do a background check on the child– both of his dad’s both worked at Vought one in hero management and the other in marketing, both very busy bees it seems… he had done the same with all of Ryan’s new classmates, he knew their entire families before his kid even stepped foot and said hello to any of them, all done before he started school the same week as Helena– there was the big issue of her being on the 10th grade while her older brother just began the 6th grade, so he couldn’t enjoy seeing the both of them interacting, it was hard to witness for he wanted both kids to become closer so desperately.

Hence why he was standing on the foyer of the daycare center, a young lady that looked too cheerful for her own good, welcomed Homelander.

“Hi! How can I help you today, Homelander? Are you looking to enroll little Ryan?” She swayed side to side trying to see if the kid was behind him by any chance.

“Actually… am here to speak to one of the kids… hmm… Helena L/N.” He said with a firm tone– I believe her mother left a message.”

Homelander texted you an hour before cominf down, not even asking you that he was going to take her for training, you were stuck in the kitchen helping with some work function taking place tonite, a thousand canapes had to be made and you were stuck with the pistachio and lemon layer cakes.

You had no time to argue, taking your precious break time to make phone calls and try not to use your knife on the nearest asshole who pissed you off afterwards.

She hopped on the desk seeking for any notes, and he was indeed correct.

Now he had her all for himself, you prayed he wasn’t going to drop the news on her, but you couldn’t leave and abandoned your team, she was safe, you had to believe she was safe, she was smart, she was so smart and she could escape him, you just had to trust her.

“Can I bring Elmo?” Helena looked up at Homelander, a slight ache building on her neck as she looked up at the man– he might get lonely.”

“He’s not a dog.” He didn’t even try putting on a soft babied voice with her– and I wanted to talk to you.”

“But he’s always ‘The Dog’ when we play house.” She faked the most innocent voice she could muster, turning around to look at the glass doors dividing the friends– … He will probably sneak out to the gym if he gets lonely, they got his favorite snacks today… he told me liked five times and I think they’re playing Bluey on the tv.”

“Oh! and you play mommy?” He grimaces so hard his eyebrows touch.

“No, the robber.”

He led the way and she was more than happy to explore the building as they headed downstairs.

“What do you think of them?”

“Elaborate.”

“Those without powers.” she wished she could see his expression– and be honest. None of this ‘Wednesday Addams’ crap.”

He looked around at the sea of smart casual fits and stress on the floors above, the world moving so fast paced, nothing but monkeys hurling shiny rocks while playing dress-up.

“They can be useful, if they are not… then they don’t matter to me.”

He smiled, his heart fluttering and his stomach filled with butterflies as he heard her speak– why did Ryan struggle so much to understand this? He thought.

“When you are born with such gifts–

“I might be a kid but I am very familiar with your Compound V, I already had this talk with my mother. Fascinating stuff… I am still trying to understand the whole dosage thing… How does your company decide which kid to give more versus others? Did they just look at who could provide the best backstory before deciding between 10 mils versus the whole vial.”

She stared at the glass walls where the kids were housed, the tone of her voice still flat.

“Why you say that?”

“I’m a poor kid from the projects, with a single mom, formerly homeless and now with enough powers to make Athena envious. Not to mention how 92% of supes are white but the percentage below middle class to poor is almost the same as with the 6% blacks, while the percentage of upper class white supes is closer to the same percentage of 2% asians and latino supes… if anything a good chunk of latino and asian supes are upper class… something-something model minority yadah-yadah.” she pressed the elevator door– I’d make a good story. Shame that I can’t be a Supe.”

Homelander stared at her, placing his hand on the back of her head.

“You can be anything you want, Helena. You have been blessed beyond belief with powers… if you want to be Supe then you are ready for major leagues.”

She rolls her eyes.

“Only the 1% of superheroes ever make it to the major leagues, most supes never achieve anything beside D-list status and everybody is fighting for the crumbs left behind by your posse of clowns– is not a fiscally responsible decision. A career that can only exist on extreme gambling is not one that can make money. Not to mention am not cute or tall." She took the first step into the elevator– I never want my mother to worry about money. I want to buy her a mansion on top of a cliff staring at the ocean, have a dozen maids care for the house and she can just spend the rest of her life in luxury”

She turns to see him crossing her arms with a serious look on her tiny face.

“My goal is to take your job.”

“The Seven?” He grinned.

“Vought.”

“I can wait to see you try.” he grinned.

“It won’t be that hard… At least when I am in charge security will be tighter.”

Bottles of V dropped from above Homelander’s head, he caught most of them but a few were lost, those were hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of drops staining his pants and shoes, Helena caught one bottle, sliding it between nimble fingers back and forth.

“Don’t look so surprised, it seems this is a common occurence… Here's an unwanted tip: use biometrics and only allow lab techs to enter the 67th floor, not just rely on good will, clown.” sections of her body and clothes flicked back and forth between visible and invisible, taunting him about how easy it had been to steal them using her superpowers.

As his eyes took an extra tinge of red, he saw a brief flash of pale blue encasing her, he followed her to the entrance of the Gym, where she expected to be left alone with Homelander not to find another kid.

“The prodigal son.” she mumbles.

Ryan sat on top of some raised stepping stones in the recently established obstacle course, Helena imagined she needed to know parkour in lieu of flying abilities, which seemed redundant for the kid who could fly.

“Thought you two could practice together.” He shouted while placing the V on the nearest bench.

“Guess there are ways to successfully murder a child and get away with it.” She raised an eyebrow– and here I thought you wouldn’t be irked by the words of a little girl… like I said you’re a maladjusted person.”

“I don’t hurt children. I have no idea…” he said calmly while a little bit angry, as he returned to her side.

“I dunno– it would look really bad if the press found out that you’re a deadbeat.”

His expression dropped as the little girl's eyes glowed.

“Smartest little girl in the world… or...?” She said dryly, as she headed towards Ryan to save him the walk– my bubble refracts light, easy to spot if you notice images are wavering without the heat.”

The little boy ran cheerfully after his father, who for the first time ignored him, his eyes transfixed on the little girl, who had been playing stupid all along.

taglist-- @fromforeigntofamiliarity , @demodemo909 and @immyowndefender

here's the house:

#homelander #homelander x reader #homelander x you #homelander x f!reader #the boys oc #homelander fanfiction #personal #my fic tag #my writers block is criminal but thx god i had this chapter and 2 more ready #new york city rentals are fucking insane y'all paying too much-- had to look at them for reference for this fic so am more than glad to pos #a link to the 18K a month house that homelander bought for you dear reader #btw am living in australia so i might not know how yall pay utilities over there #took inspo from the diabolical first ep where they ahd an adoption centre as one of the floors of the tower to make the daycare #american royalty

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dimension20pcbracket · 1 year ago

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round 1 statistics

hi, gamers! while we wait for the round 2 polls to close, here are some interesting stats and tidbits from round 1 that I noticed :)

total votes: added up, the 52 polls in round 1 had a total of 28,221 votes. holy shit!

largest percentage of votes: sometimes the polls were tight, and other times they were... not. the top 5 most decisive winners were:

Fig Faeth (93.6%)

Kingston Brown (93.2%)

Sofia Lee (90.3%)

Chirp Featherfowl (89.7%)

Pete Conlan (88.8%)

the thinnest margin of victory to eke out a win went to Rue, who beat Amethar Rocks with a slender 52.2% of votes. notably, Rue kept up the trend in round 2, with their even slimmer 50.2% defeat of Gerard of Greenleigh, so it will be interesting to see if they're able to keep clinging on through round 3.

polls with the most votes: some polls really got you fired up, and brought Dimension 20 fans running in droves to vote for their faves...

Lapin Cadbury v Pinocchio with an unparalleled 1,636 votes

Squak Airavis v Kristen Applebees (838 votes)

Sam Nightingale v Colin Provolone (818 votes)

Katja Cleaver v Prince Andhera (767 votes)

Kingston Brown v Gangie Green (718 votes)

... while other polls had less fanfare. polls with the least votes:

Tuti IV v Maggie (347 votes)

Vicar Ian Prescott v Bob (388 votes)

Saccharina Frostwhip v Megan Mirror // Twyla v Marcid the Typhoon (392 votes each)

Bean v Amangeaux Epicée du Peche (409 votes)

Sunny Biscotto v Binx Choppley (416 votes)

it may not surprise anyone to know that it looks like none of the winners of these least-voted-on polls will be advancing to round 3; it seems the passion isn't there for these particular PCs :/

winning PCs with the most individual votes:

Lapin Cadbury (851 votes)

Kingston Brown (669 votes)

Fig Faeth (573 votes)

Evan Kelmp (509 votes)

Kristen Applebees (487 votes)

winning PCs with the least individual votes:

Maggie (255 votes)

Bob (260 votes)

Sam Black (269 votes)

Cody Walsh (274 votes)

Gunnie Miggles-Rashbax (285)

evidently, individual votes accrued in round 1 aren't a great basis for predicting future success - Kelmp was the fourth most-voted for PC in round 1 but won't be making it to round3, and Gunnie was the fifth least-voted for character in round 1 but on track to head into round 3 by a pretty decent margin.

campaign stats:

the most to least successful campaigns, by % of characters that won their round 1 polls:

Fantasy High: 100% (6/6)

Misfits and Magic: 100% (4/4)

A Starstruck Odyssey: 83.3% (5/6)

A Court of Fey and Flowers: 83.3% (5/6)

The Unsleeping City: 77.8% (7/9)

A Crown of Candy: 75% (6/8)*

The Seven: 66.7% (4/6)

Neverafter: 66.7% (4/6)

Mentopolis: 66.7% (4/6)

Burrow's End: 66.7% (4/6)

Coffin Run: 25% (1/4)

Dungeons and Drag Queens: 25% (1/4)

The Ravening War: 20% (1/5)

Escape from the Bloodkeep: 16.7% (1/6)

Pirates of Leviathan: 16.7% (1/6)

Tiny Heist: 0% (0/6)

Mice and Murder: 0% (0/6)

Shriek Week: 0% (0/4)

*ACOC: while Amethar was passes on to round 2 to compete against Pinocchio, he did lose his initial poll against Rue. if we included Amethar as a winner, ACOC would have a considerably higher 87.5% success rate, making it the third most successful campaign overall.

it's definitely interesting to see how the success of various campaigns has changed over round 2! Fantasy High stays strong, while the MisMag crew has been wiped out, and several campaigns have lost all of their remaining PCs. it'll be exciting to see how the numbers look when all of the final votes for round 2 are in.

thank you all so much for playing along with this bracket! I hope you're all still having fun and are getting hype for round three :)

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lingua-mortua · 30 days ago

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Every year since I Returned To Fandom I like to update this little spreadsheet of annual stats. The AO3 data gives the details of stats accrued in that calendar year, and I don't go back and update additional numbers that have accrued in subsequent years. What this does is give me a barometer reading for how many stories I finished, since the 'words written this year' and 'words posted to AO3 this year' values are an interesting comparison to me.

I also regularly update my Airtable which is easier for me to parse than Google Drive and which gives me the HORRIFYING details about words that have gone into projects unfinished:

This is currently a total of over 240,000 words across 20 project spanning nine years, and doesn't count the pieces I've not just retired but actively deleted. I used to do more exchanges and throw a larger number of shorter pieces out there. Three things have happened to change that trend:

A job that requires a lot more of my mental energy

Shifting fandom dynamics meaning there's less audience overall

My overall number of WIPs has proliferated wildly and this causes me a real inability to focus and finish things

I don't usually talk meta writing goals here but for 2025 my goals are:

Write 75,000 words, ideally at the rate of 205/day because consistency works for me

Finish, edit and post stories 1-4 on the Airtable list

Start no new projects other than note-taking and planning

Make decision about stories 17-20, which are old NaNoWriMo efforts

Decide status of retired projects 7-10

Try not to get discouraged about the lack of reception to projects I care about - work on one good idea at a time and enjoy the process

#writing about writing #whining about writing #adult responsibilities are real and CAN hurt you(r writing time)#also i got sad about putting fics out into a silent void #comment you animals!

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archivetourguide · 10 months ago

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I know we've fully graduated from the idea that there's any hard and fast barriers between the fears but it's interesting to me that Mr. Bonzo seems to blatantly flout traditional categorization:

In his original appearance in Saturday Night is specifically a BURIED statement, with the dungeon motif, the "you've been berried" gag, and Nigel Dickerson's life being swallowed up by Bonzo's fame until he's trapped living with his own monstrous creation.

There's also a flavor of STRANGER involved, both with Bonzo's general clownish weirdness, the mascot-suited killer, and Gwen's revulsion that the "suit" is made out of skin. I think it's more than reasonable for an avatar to channel two distinct but intersecting flavors of fear, or take elements from another as we've seen with Mike Crewe

However, the second episode Getting Off was distinctly SLAUGHTER flavoured: the music, gore and dismemberment, helplessness infront of violence, all elements that were mostly absent from the original statement ( though I could accept an argument for the crewmembers getting injured wearing the suit and the eventual serial killer). Unless the victims are still alive inside mashed up inside Bonzo's belly, he didn't inflict the sort of fear that we'd expect from a BURIED or STRANGER avatar, and thus wasn't feeding those entities.

What this hints to me is that the entities of the Protocol world are less territorial than the ones back in Archives, less concerned with staking out particular victims and harvesting their particular kinds of fear as a means of accruing power. What this means for greater entity/avatar level territorial diplomacy like we saw in TMA I have no idea, but it speaks of a very different world state/way how the entities work.

#the magnus protocol #tmp #tmp meta #tma meta #mr bonzo #the magnus archive

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dailyanarchistposts · 9 months ago

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Chapter VI. Fourth Period. — Monopoly

2. — The disasters in labor and the perversion of ideas caused by monopoly.

Like competition, monopoly implies a contradiction in its name and its definition. In fact, since consumption and production are identical things in society, and since selling is synonymous with buying, whoever says privilege of sale or exploitation necessarily says privilege of consumption and purchase: which ends in the denial of both. Hence a prohibition of consumption as well as of production laid by monopoly upon the wage-receivers. Competition was civil war, monopoly is the massacre of the prisoners.

These various propositions are supported by all sorts of evidence, — physical, algebraic, and metaphysical. What I shall add will be only the amplified exposition: their simple announcement demonstrates them.

Every society considered in its economic relations naturally divides itself into capitalists and laborers, employers and wage-receivers, distributed upon a scale whose degrees mark the income of each, whether this income be composed of wages, profit, interest, rent, or dividends.

From this hierarchical distribution of persons and incomes it follows that Say’s principle just referred to: In a nation the net product is equal to the gross product, is no longer true, since, in consequence of monopoly, the selling price is much higher than the cost price. Now, as it is the cost price nevertheless which must pay the selling price, since a nation really has no market but itself, it follows that exchange, and consequently circulation and life, are impossible.

In France, twenty millions of laborers, engaged in all the branches of science, art, and industry, produce everything which is useful to man. Their aggregate annual wages amount, it is estimated, to twenty thousand millions; but, in consequence of the profit (net product and interest) accruing to monopolists, twenty-five thousand millions must be paid for their products. Now, as the nation has no other buyers than its wage-receivers and wage-payers, and as the latter do not pay for the former, and as the selling-price of merchandise is the same for all, it is clear that, to make circulation possible, the laborer would have to pay five for that for which he has received but four. — What is Property: Chapter IV. [17]

This, then, is the reason why wealth and poverty are correlative, inseparable, not only in idea, but in fact; this is the reason why they exist concurrently; this is what justifies the pretension of the wage-receiver that the rich man possesses no more than the poor man, except that of which the latter has been defrauded. After the monopolist has drawn up his account of cost, profit, and interest, the wage-paid consumer draws up his; and he finds that, though promised wages stated in the contract as one hundred, he has really been given but seventy-five. Monopoly, therefore, puts the wage-receivers into bankruptcy, and it is strictly true that it lives upon the spoils.

Six years ago I brought out this frightful contradiction: why has it not been thundered through the press? Why have no teachers of renown warned public opinion? Why have not those who demand political rights for the workingman proclaimed that he is robbed? Why have the economists kept silent? Why?

Our revolutionary democracy is so noisy only because it fears revolutions: but, by ignoring the danger which it dares not look in the face, it succeeds only in increasing it. “We resemble,” says M. Blanqui, “firemen who increase the quantity of steam at the same time that they place weights on the safety-valve.” Victims of monopoly, console yourselves! If your tormentors will not listen, it is because Providence has resolved to strike them: Non audierunt, says the Bible, quia Deus volebat occidere eos.

Sale being unable to fulfil the conditions of monopoly, merchandise accumulates; labor has produced in a year what its wages will not allow it to consume in less than fifteen months: hence it must remain idle one-fourth of the year. But, if it remains idle, it earns nothing: how will it ever buy? And if the monopolist cannot get rid of his products, how will his enterprise endure? Logical impossibility multiplies around the workshop; the facts which translate it are everywhere.

“The hosiers of England,” says Eugene Buret, “had come to the point where they did not eat oftener than every other day. This state of things lasted eighteen months.” And he cites a multitude of similar cases.

But the distressing feature in the spectacle of monopoly’s effects is the sight of the unfortunate workingmen blaming each other for their misery and imagining that by uniting and supporting each other they will prevent the reduction of wages.

“The Irish,” says an observer, “have given a disastrous lesson to the working classes of Great Britain..... They have taught our laborers the fatal secret of confining their needs to the maintenance of animal life alone, and of contenting themselves, like savages, with the minimum of the means of subsistence sufficient to prolong life..... Instructed by this fatal example, yielding partly to necessity, the working classes have lost that laudable pride which led them to furnish their houses properly and to multiply about them the decent conveniences which contribute to happiness.”

I have never read anything more afflicting and more stupid. And what would you have these workingmen do? The Irish came: should they have been massacred? Wages were reduced: should death have been accepted in their stead? Necessity commanded, as you say yourselves. Then followed the interminable hours, disease, deformity, degradation, debasement, and all the signs of industrial slavery: all these calamities are born of monopoly and its sad predecessors, — competition, machinery, and the division of labor: and you blame the Irish!

At other times the workingmen blame their luck, and exhort themselves to patience: this is the counterpart of the thanks which they address to Providence, when labor is abundant and wages are sufficient.

I find in an article published by M. Leon Faucher, in the “Journal des Economistes” (September, 1845), that the English workingmen lost some time ago the habit of combining, which is surely a progressive step on which they are only to be congratulated, but that this improvement in the morale of the workingmen is due especially to their economic instruction.

“It is not upon the manufacturers,” cried a spinner at the meeting in Bolton, “that wages depend. In periods of depression the employers, so to speak, are only the lash with which necessity is armed; and whether they will or no, they have to strike. The regulative principle is the relation of supply to demand; and the employers have not this power.... Let us act prudently, then; let us learn to be resigned to bad luck and to make the most of good luck: by seconding the progress of our industry, we shall be useful not only to ourselves, but to the entire country.” [Applause.]

Very good: well-trained, model workmen, these! What men these spinners must be that they should submit without complaint to the lash of necessity, because the regulative principle of wages is supply and demand! M. Leon Faucher adds with a charming simplicity:

English workingmen are fearless reasoners. Give them a false principle, and they will push it mathematically to absurdity, without stopping or getting frightened, as if they were marching to the triumph of the truth.

For my part, I hope that, in spite of all the efforts of economic propagandism, French workingmen will never become reasoners of such power. Supply and demand, as well as the lash of necessity, has no longer any hold upon their minds. This was the one misery that England lacked: it will not cross the channel.

By the combined effect of division, machinery, net product, and interest, monopoly extends its conquests in an increasing progression; its developments embrace agriculture as well as commerce and industry, and all sorts of products. Everybody knows the phrase of Pliny upon the landed monopoly which determined the fall of Italy, latifundia perdidere Italiam. It is this same monopoly which still impoverishes and renders uninhabitable the Roman Campagna and which forms the vicious circle in which England moves convulsively; it is this monopoly which, established by violence after a war of races, produces all the evils of Ireland, and causes so many trials to O’Connell, powerless, with all his eloquence, to lead his repealers through this labyrinth. Grand sentiments and rhetoric are the worst remedy for social evils: it would be easier for O’Connell to transport Ireland and the Irish from the North Sea to the Australian Ocean than to overthrow with the breath of his harangues the monopoly which holds them in its grasp. General communions and sermons will do no more: if the religious sentiment still alone maintains the morale of the Irish people, it is high time that a little of that profane science, so much disdained by the Church, should come to the aid of the lambs which its crook no longer protects.

The invasion of commerce and industry by monopoly is too well known to make it necessary that I should gather proofs: moreover, of what use is it to argue so much when results speak so loudly? E. Buret’s description of the misery of the working-classes has something fantastic about it, which oppresses and frightens you. There are scenes in which the imagination refuses to believe, in spite of certificates and official reports. Couples all naked, hidden in the back of an unfurnished alcove, with their naked children; entire populations which no longer go to church on Sunday, because they are naked; bodies kept a week before they are buried, because the deceased has left neither a shroud in which to lay him out nor the wherewithal to pay for the coffin and the undertaker (and the bishop enjoys an income of from four to five hundred thousand francs); families heaped up over sewers, living in rooms occupied by pigs, and beginning to rot while yet alive, or dwelling in holes, like Albinoes; octogenarians sleeping naked on bare boards; and the virgin and the prostitute expiring in the same nudity: everywhere despair, consumption, hunger, hunger!.. And this people, which expiates the crimes of its masters, does not rebel! No, by the flames of Nemesis! when a people has no vengeance left, there is no longer any Providence for it.

Exterminations en masse by monopoly have not yet found their poets. Our rhymers, strangers to the things of this world, without bowels for the proletaire, continue to breathe to the moon their melancholy delights. What a subject for meditations, nevertheless, is the miseries engendered by monopoly!

It is Walter Scott who says:

Formerly, though many years since, each villager had his cow and his pig, and his yard around his house. Where a single farmer cultivates today, thirty small farmers lived formerly; so that for one individual, himself alone richer, it is true, than the thirty farmers of old times, there are now twenty-nine wretched day-laborers, without employment for their minds and arms, and whose number is too large by half. The only useful function which they fulfil is to pay, when they can, a rent of sixty shillings a year for the huts in which they dwell. [18]

A modern ballad, quoted by E. Buret, sings the solitude of monopoly:

Le rouet est silencieux dans la vallee: C’en est fait des sentiments de famille. Sur un peu de fumee le vieil aieul Etend ses mains pales; et le foyer vide Est aussi desole que son coeur. [19]

The reports made to parliament rival the novelist and the poet:

The inhabitants of Glensheil, in the neighborhood of the valley of Dundee, were formerly distinguished from all their neighbors by the superiority of their physical qualities. The men were of high stature, robust, active, and courageous; the women comely and graceful. Both sexes possessed an extraordinary taste for poetry and music. Now, alas! a long experience of poverty, prolonged privation of sufficient food and suitable clothing, have profoundly deteriorated this race, once so remarkably fine.

This is a notable instance of the inevitable degradation pointed out by us in the two chapters on division of labor and machinery. And our litterateurs busy themselves with the pretty things of the past, as if the present were not adequate to their genius! The first among them to venture on these infernal paths has created a scandal in the coterie! Cowardly parasites, vile venders of prose and verse, all worthy of the wages of Marsyas! Oh! if your punishment were to last as long as my contempt, you would be forced to believe in the eternity of hell.

Monopoly, which just now seemed to us so well founded in justice, is the more unjust because it not only makes wages illusory, but deceives the workman in the very valuation of his wages by assuming in relation to him a false title, a false capacity.

M. de Sismondi, in his “Studies of Social Economy,” observes somewhere that, when a banker delivers to a merchant bank-notes in exchange for his values, far from giving credit to the merchant, he receives it, on the contrary, from him.

“This credit,” adds M. de Sismondi, “is in truth so short that the merchant scarcely takes the trouble to inquire whether the banker is worthy, especially as the former asks credit instead of granting it.”

So, according to M. de Sismondi, in the issue of bank paper, the functions of the merchant and the banker are inverted: the first is the creditor, and the second is the credited.

Something similar takes place between the monopolist and wage-receiver.

In fact, the workers, like the merchant at the bank, ask to have their labor discounted; in right, the contractor ought to furnish them bonds and security. I will explain myself.

In any exploitation, no matter of what sort, the contractor cannot legitimately claim, in addition to his own personal labor, anything but the IDEA: as for the EXECUTION, the result of the cooperation of numerous laborers, that is an effect of collective power, with which the authors, as free in their action as the chief, can produce nothing which should go to him gratuitously. Now, the question is to ascertain whether the amount of individual wages paid by the contractor is equivalent to the collective effect of which I speak: for, were it otherwise, Say’s axiom, Every product is worth what it costs, would be violated.

“The capitalist,” they say, “has paid the laborers their daily wages at a rate agreed upon; consequently he owes them nothing.” To be accurate, it must be said that he has paid as many times one day’s wage as he has employed laborers, — which is not at all the same thing. For he has paid nothing for that immense power which results from the union of laborers and the convergence and harmony of their efforts; that saving of expense, secured by their formation into a workshop; that multiplication of product, foreseen, it is true, by the capitalist, but realized by free forces. Two hundred grenadiers, working under the direction of an engineer, stood the obelisk upon its base in a few hours; do you think that one man could have accomplished the same task in two hundred days? Nevertheless, on the books of the capitalist, the amount of wages is the same in both cases, because he allots to himself the benefit of the collective power. Now, of two things one: either this is usurpation on his part, or it is error. -What is Property: Chapter III.

To properly exploit the mule-jenny, engineers, builders, clerks, brigades of workingmen and workingwomen of all sorts, have been needed. In the name of their liberty, of their security, of their future, and of the future of their children, these workmen, on engaging to work in the mill, had to make reserves; where are the letters of credit which they have delivered to the employers? Where are the guarantees which they have received? What! millions of men have sold their arms and parted with their liberty without knowing the import of the contract; they have engaged themselves upon the promise of continuous work and adequate reward; they have executed with their hands what the thought of the employers had conceived; they have become, by this collaboration, associates in the enterprise: and when monopoly, unable or unwilling to make further exchanges, suspends its manufacture and leaves these millions of laborers without bread, they are told to be resigned! By the new processes they have lost nine days of their labor out of ten; and for reward they are pointed to the lash of necessity flourished over them! Then, if they refuse to work for lower wages, they are shown that they punish themselves. If they accept the rate offered them, they lose that noble pride, that taste for decent conveniences which constitute the happiness and dignity of the workingman and entitle him to the sympathies of the rich. If they combine to secure an increase of wages, they are thrown into prison! Whereas they ought to prosecute their exploiters in the courts, on them the courts will avenge the violations of liberty of commerce! Victims of monopoly, they will suffer the penalty due to the monopolists! O justice of men, stupid courtesan, how long, under your goddess’s tinsel, will you drink the blood of the slaughtered proletaire?

Monopoly has invaded everything, — land, labor, and the instruments of labor, products and the distribution of pro ducts. Political economy itself has not been able to avoid admitting it.

“You almost always find across your path,” says M. Rossi, “some monopoly. There is scarcely a product that can be regarded as the pure and simple result of labor; accordingly the economic law which proportions price to cost of production is never completely realized. It is a formula which is profoundly modified by the intervention of one or another of the monopolies to which the instruments of production are subordinated. — Course in Political Economy: Volume I., page 143.

M. Rossi holds too high an office to give his language all the precision and exactness which science requires when monopoly is in question. What he so complacently calls a modification of economic formulas is but a long and odious violation of the fundamental laws of labor and exchange. It is in consequence of monopoly that in society, net product being figured over and above gross product, the collective laborer must repurchase his own product at a price higher than that which this product costs him, — which is contradictory and impossible; that the natural balance between production and consumption is destroyed; that the laborer is deceived not only in his settlements, but also as to the amount of his wages; that in his case progress in comfort is changed into an incessant progress in misery: it is by monopoly, in short, that all notions of commutative justice are perverted, and that social economy, instead of the positive science that it is, becomes a veritable utopia.

This disguise of political economy under the influence of monopoly is a fact so remarkable in the history of social ideas that we must not neglect to cite a few instances.

Thus, from the standpoint of monopoly, value is no longer that synthetic conception which serves to express the relation of a special object of utility to the sum total of wealth: monopoly estimating things, not in their relation to society, but in their relation to itself, value loses its social character, and is nothing but a vague, arbitrary, egoistic, and essentially variable thing. Starting with this principle, the monopolist extends the term product to cover all sorts of servitude, and applies the idea of capital to all the frivolous and shameful industries which his passions and vices exploit. The charms of a courtesan, says Say, are so much capital, of which the product follows the general law of values, — namely, supply and demand. Most of the works on political economy are full of such applications. But as prostitution and the state of dependence from which it emanates are condemned by morality, M. Rossi will bid us observe the further fact that political economy, after having modified its formula in consequence of the intervention of monopoly, will have to submit to a new corrective, although its conclusions are in themselves irreproachable. For, he says, political economy has nothing in common with morality: it is for us to accept it, to modify or correct its formulas, whenever our welfare, that of society, and the interests of morality call for it. How many things there are between political economy and truth!

Likewise, the theory of net product, so highly social, progressive, and conservative, has been individualized, if I may say so, by monopoly, and the principle which ought to secure society’s welfare causes its ruin. The monopolist, always striving for the greatest possible net product, no longer acts as a member of society and in the interest of society; he acts with a view to his exclusive interest, whether this interest be contrary to the social interest or not. This change of perspective is the cause to which M. de Sismondi attributes the depopulation of the Roman Campagna. From the comparative researches which he has made regarding the product of the agro romano when in a state of cultivation and its product when left as pasture-land, he has found that the gross product would be twelve times larger in the former case than in the latter; but, as cultivation demands relatively a greater number of hands, he has discovered also that in the former case the net product would be less. This calculation, which did not escape the proprietors, sufficed to confirm them in the habit of leaving their lands uncultivated, and hence the Roman Campagna is uninhabited.

“All parts of the Roman States,” adds M. de Sismondi, “present the same contrast between the memories of their prosperity in the Middle Ages and their present desolation. The town of Ceres, made famous by Renzo da Ceri, who defended by turns Marseilles against Charles V. and Geneva against the Duke of Savoy, is nothing but a solitude. In all the fiefs of the Orsinis and the Colonnes not a soul. From the forests which surround the pretty Lake of Vico the human race has disappeared; and the soldiers with whom the formidable prefect of Vico made Rome tremble so often in the fourteenth century have left no descendants. Castro and Ronciglione are desolated.” — Studies in Political Economy.

In fact, society seeks the greatest possible gross product, and consequently the greatest possible population, because with it gross product and net product are identical. Monopoly, on the contrary, aims steadily at the greatest net product, even though able to obtain it only at the price of the extermination of the human race.

Under this same influence of monopoly, interest on capital, perverted in its idea, has become in turn a principle of death to society. As we have explained it, interest on capital is, on the one hand, the form under which the laborer enjoys his net product, while utilizing it in new creations; on the other, this interest is the material bond of solidarity between producers, viewed from the standpoint of the increase of wealth. Under the first aspect, the aggregate interest paid can never exceed the amount of the capital itself; under the second, interest allows, in addition to reimbursement, a premium as a reward of service rendered. In no case does it imply perpetuity.

But monopoly, confounding the idea of capital, which is attributable only to the creations of human industry, with that of the exploitable material which nature has given us, and which belongs to all, and favored moreover in its usurpation by the anarchical condition of a society in which possession can exist only on condition of being exclusive, sovereign, and perpetual, — monopoly has imagined and laid it down as a principle that capital, like land, animals, and plants, had in itself an activity of its own, which relieved the capitalist of the necessity of contributing anything else to exchange and of taking any part in the labors of the workshop. From this false idea of monopoly has come the Greek name of usury, tokos, as much as to say the child or the increase of capital, which caused Aristotle to perpetrate this witticism: coins beget no children. But the metaphor of the usurers has prevailed over the joke of the Stagyrite; usury, like rent, of which it is an imitation, has been declared a perpetual right; and only very lately, by a half-return to the principle, has it reproduced the idea of redemption.

Such is the meaning of the enigma which has caused so many scandals among theologians and legists, and regarding which the Christian Church has blundered twice, — first, in condemning every sort of interest, and, second, in taking the side of the economists and thus contradicting its old maxims. Usury, or the right of increase, is at once the expression and the condemnation of monopoly; it is the spoliation of labor by organized and legalized capital; of all the economic subversions it is that which most loudly accuses the old society, and whose scandalous persistence would justify an unceremonious and uncompensated dispossession of the entire capitalistic class.

Finally, monopoly, by a sort of instinct of self-preservation, has perverted even the idea of association, as something that might infringe upon it, or, to speak more accurately, has not permitted its birth.

Who could hope today to define what association among men should be? The law distinguishes two species and four varieties of civil societies, and as many commercial societies, from the simple partnership to the joint-stock company. I have read the most respectable commentaries that have been written upon all these forms of association, and I declare that I have found in them but one application of the routine practices of monopoly between two or more partners who unite their capital and their efforts against everything that produces and consumes, that invents and exchanges, that lives and dies. The sine qua non of all these societies is capital, whose presence alone constitutes them and gives them a basis; their object is monopoly, — that is, the exclusion of all other laborers and capitalists, and consequently the negation of social universality so far as persons are concerned.

Thus, according to the definition of the statute, a commercial society which should lay down as a principle the right of any stranger to become a member upon his simple request, and to straightway enjoy the rights and prerogatives of associates and even managers, would no longer be a society; the courts would officially pronounce its dissolution, its nonexistence. So, again, articles of association in which the contracting parties should stipulate no contribution of capital, but, while reserving to each the express right to compete with all, should confine themselves to a reciprocal guarantee of labor and wages, saying nothing of the branch of exploitation, or of capital, or of interest, or of profit and loss, — such articles would seem contradictory in their tenor, as destitute of purpose as of reason, and would be annulled by the judge on the complaint of the first rebellious associate. Covenants thus drawn up could give rise to no judicial action; people calling themselves the associates of everybody would be considered associates of nobody; treatises contemplating guarantee and competition between associates at the same time, without any mention of social capital and without any designation of purpose, would pass for a work of transcendental charlatanism, whose author could readily be sent to a madhouse, provided the magistrates would consent to regard him as only a lunatic.

And yet it is proved, by the most authentic testimony which history and social economy furnish, that humanity has been thrown naked and without capital upon the earth which it cultivates; consequently that it has created and is daily creating all the wealth that exists; that monopoly is only a relative view serving to designate the grade of the laborer, with certain conditions of enjoyment; and that all progress consists, while indefinitely multiplying products, in determining their proportionality, — that is, in organizing labor and comfort by division, machinery, the workshop, education, and competition. On the other hand, it is evident that all the tendencies of humanity, both in its politics and in its civil laws, are towards universalization, — that is, towards a complete transformation of the idea of society as determined by our statutes.

Whence I conclude that articles of association which should regulate, no longer the contribution of the associates, — since each associate, according to the economic theory, is supposed to possess absolutely nothing upon his entrance into society, — but the conditions of labor and exchange, and which should allow access to all who might present themselves, — I conclude, I say, that such articles of association would contain nothing that was not rational and scientific, since they would be the very expression of progress, the organic formula of labor, and since they would reveal, so to speak, humanity to itself by giving it the rudiment of its constitution.

Now, who, among the jurisconsults and economists, has ever approached even within a thousand leagues of this magnificent and yet so simple idea?

“I do not think,” says M. Troplong, “that the spirit of association is called to greater destinies than those which it has accomplished in the past and up to the present time... ; and I confess that I have made no attempt to realize such hopes, which I believe exaggerated.... There are well-defined limits which association should not overstep. No! association is not called upon in France to govern everything. The spontaneous impulse of the individual mind is also a living force in our nation and a cause of its originality....

“The idea of association is not new.... Even among the Romans we see the commercial society appear with all its paraphernalia of monopolies, corners, collusions, combinations, piracy, and venality.... The joint-stock company realizes the civil, commercial, and maritime law of the Middle Ages: at that epoch it was the most active instrument of labor organized in society.... From the middle of the fourteenth century we see societies form by stock subscriptions; and up to the time of Law’s discomfiture, we see their number continually increase.... What! we marvel at the mines, factories, patents, and newspapers owned by stock companies! But two centuries ago such companies owned islands, kingdoms, almost an entire hemisphere. We proclaim it a miracle that hundreds of stock subscribers should group themselves around an enterprise; but as long ago as the fourteenth century the entire city of Florence was in similar silent partnership with a few merchants, who pushed the genius of enterprise as far as possible. Then, if our speculations are bad, if we have been rash, imprudent, or credulous, we torment the legislator with our cavilling complaints; we call upon him for prohibitions and nullifications. In our mania for regulating everything, even that which is already codified; for enchaining everything by texts reviewed, corrected, and added to; for administering everything, even the chances and reverses of commerce, — we cry out, in the midst of so many existing laws: ‘There is still something to do!’”

M. Troplong believes in Providence, but surely he is not its man. He will not discover the formula of association clamored for today by minds disgusted with all the protocols of combination and rapine of which M. Troplong unrolls the picture in his commentary. M. Troplong gets impatient, and rightly, with those who wish to enchain everything in texts of laws; and he himself pretends to enchain the future in a series of fifty articles, in which the wisest mind could not discover a spark of economic science or a shadow of philosophy. In our mania, he cries, for regulating everything, EVEN THAT WHICH IS ALREADY CODIFIED!.... I know nothing more delicious than this stroke, which paints at once the jurisconsult and the economist. After the Code Napoleon, take away the ladder!...

“Fortunately,” M. Troplong continues, “all the projects of change so noisily brought to light in 1837 and 1838 are forgotten today. The conflict of propositions and the anarchy of reformatory opinions have led to negative results. At the same time that the reaction against speculators was effected, the common sense of the public did justice to the numerous official plans of organization, much inferior in wisdom to the existing law, much less in harmony with the usages of commerce, much less liberal, after 1830, than the conceptions of the imperial Council of State! Now order is restored in everything, and the commercial code has preserved its integrity, its excellent integrity. When commerce needs it, it finds, by the side of partnership, temporary partnership, and the joint-stock company, the free silent partnership, tempered only by the prudence of the silent partners and by the provisions of the penal code regarding swindling.” — Troplong: Civil and Commercial Societies: Preface.

What a philosophy is that which rejoices in the miscarriage of reformatory endeavors, and which counts its triumphs by the negative results of the spirit of inquiry! We cannot now enter upon a more fundamental criticism of the civil and commercial societies, which have furnished M. Troplong material for two volumes. We will reserve this subject for the time when, the theory of economic contradictions being finished, we shall have found in their general equation the programme of association, which we shall then publish in contrast with the practice and conceptions of our predecessors.

A word only as to silent partnership.

One might think at first blush that this form of joint-stock company, by its expansive power and by the facility for change which it offers, could be generalized in such a way as to take in an entire nation in all its commercial and industrial relations. But the most superficial examination of the constitution of this society demonstrates very quickly that the sort of enlargement of which it is susceptible, in the matter of the number of stockholders, has nothing in common with the extension of the social bond.

In the first place, like all other commercial societies, it is necessarily limited to a single branch of exploitation: in this respect it is exclusive of all industries foreign to that peculiarly its own. If it were otherwise, it would have changed its nature; it would be a new form of society, whose statutes would regulate, no longer the profits especially, but the distribution of labor and the conditions of exchange; it would be exactly such an association as M. Troplong denies and as the jurisprudence of monopoly excludes.

As for the personal composition of the company, it naturally divides itself into two categories, — the managers and the stockholders. The managers, very few in number, are chosen from the promoters, organizers, and patrons of the enterprise: in truth, they are the only associates. The stockholders, compared with this little government, which administers the society with full power, are a people of taxpayers who, strangers to each other, without influence and without responsibility, have nothing to do with the affair beyond their investments. They are lenders at a premium, not associates.

One can see from this how all the industries of the kingdom could be carried on by such companies, and each citizen, thanks to the facility for multiplying his shares, be interested in all or most of these companies without thereby improving his condition: it might happen even that it would be more and more compromised. For, once more, the stockholder is the beast of burden, the exploitable material of the company: not for him is this society formed. In order that association may be real, he who participates in it must do so, not as a gambler, but as an active factor; he must have a deliberative voice in the council; his name must be expressed or implied in the title of the society; everything regarding him, in short, should be regulated in accordance with equality. But these conditions are precisely those of the organization of labor, which is not taken into consideration by the code; they form the ULTERIOR object of political economy, and consequently are not to be taken for granted, but to be created, and, as such, are radically incompatible with monopoly. [20]

Socialism, in spite of its high-sounding name, has so far been no more fortunate than monopoly in the definition of society: we may even assert that, in all its plans of organization, it has steadily shown itself in this respect a plagiarist of political economy. M. Blanc, whom I have already quoted in discussing competition, and whom we have seen by turns as a partisan of the hierarchical principle, an officious defender of inequality, preaching communism, denying with a stroke of the pen the law of contradiction because he cannot conceive it, aiming above all at power as the final sanction of his system, — M. Blanc offers us again the curious example of a socialist copying political economy without suspecting it, and turning continually in the vicious circle of proprietary routine. M. Blanc really denies the sway of capital; he even denies that capital is equal to labor in production, in which he is in accord with healthy economic theories. But he can not or does not know how to dispense with capital; he takes capital for his point of departure; he appeals to the State for its silent partnership: that is, he gets down on his knees before the capitalists and recognizes the sovereignty of monopoly. Hence the singular contortions of his dialectics. I beg the reader’s pardon for these eternal personalities: but since socialism, as well as political economy, is personified in a certain number of writers, I cannot do otherwise than quote its authors.

“Has or has not capital,” said “La Phalange,” “in so far as it is a faculty in production, the legitimacy of the other productive faculties? If it is illegitimate, its pretensions to a share of the product are illegitimate; it must be excluded; it has no interest to receive: if, on the contrary, it is legitimate, it cannot be legitimately excluded from participation in the profits, in the increase which it has helped to create.”

The question could not be stated more clearly. M. Blanc holds, on the contrary, that it is stated in a very confused manner, which means that it embarrasses him greatly, and that he is much worried to find its meaning.

In the first place, he supposes that he is asked “whether it is equitable to allow the capitalist a share of the profits of production equal to the laborer’s.” To which M. Blanc answers unhesitatingly that that would be unjust. Then follows an outburst of eloquence to establish this injustice.

Now, the phalansterian does not ask whether the share of the capitalist should or should not be equal to the laborer’s; he wishes to know simply whether he is to have a share. And to this M. Blanc makes no reply.

Is it meant, continues M. Blanc, that capital is indispensable to production, like labor itself? Here M. Blanc distinguishes: he grants that capital is indispensable, as labor is, but not to the extent that labor is.

Once again, the phalansterian does not dispute as to quantity, but as to right.

Is it meant — it is still M. Blanc who interrogates — that all capitalists are not idlers? M. Blanc, generous to capitalists who work, asks why so large a share should be given to those who do not work? A flow of eloquence as to the impersonal services of the capitalist and the personal services of the laborer, terminated by an appeal to Providence.

For the third time, you are asked whether the participation of capital in profits is legitimate, since you admit that it is indispensable in production.

At last M. Blanc, who has understood all the time, decides to reply that, if he allows interest to capital, he does so only as a transitional measure and to ease the descent of the capitalists. For the rest, his project leading inevitably to the absorption of private capital in association, it would be folly and an abandonment of principle to do more. M. Blanc, if he had studied his subject, would have needed to say but a single phrase: “I deny capital.”

Thus M. Blanc, — and under his name I include the whole of socialism, — after having, by a first contradiction of the title of his book, “ORGANIZATION OF LABOR,” declared that capital was indispensable in production, and consequently that it should be organized and participate in profits like labor, by a second contradiction rejects capital from organization and refuses to recognize it: by a third contradiction he who laughs at decorations and titles of nobility distributes civic crowns, rewards, and distinctions to such litterateurs inventors, and artists as shall have deserved well of the country; he allows them salaries according to their grades and dignities; all of which is the restoration of capital as really, though not with the same mathematical precision, as interest and net product: by a fourth contradiction M. Blanc establishes this new aristocracy on the principle of equality, — that is, he pretends to vote masterships to equal and free associates, privileges of idleness to laborers, spoliation in short to the despoiled: by a fifth contradiction he rests this equalitarian aristocracy on the basis of a power endowed with great force, — that is, on despotism, another form of monopoly: by a sixth contradiction, after having, by his encouragements to labor and the arts, tried to proportion reward to service, like monopoly, and wages to capacity, like monopoly, he sets himself to eulogize life in common, labor and consumption in common, which does not prevent him from wishing to withdraw from the effects of common indifference, by means of national encouragements taken out of the common product, the grave and serious writers whom common readers do not care for: by a seventh contradiction.... but let us stop at seven, for we should not have finished at seventy-seven.

It is said that M. Blanc, who is now preparing a history of the French Revolution, has begun to seriously study political economy. The first fruit of this study will be, I do not doubt, a repudiation of his pamphlet on “Organization of Labor,” and consequently a change in all his ideas of authority and government. At this price the “History of the French Revolution,” by M. Blanc, will be a truly useful and original work.

All the socialistic sects, without exception, are possessed by the same prejudice; all, unconsciously, inspired by the economic contradiction, have to confess their powerlessness in presence of the necessity of capital; all are waiting, for the realization of their ideas, to hold power and money in their hands. The utopias of socialism in the matter of association make more prominent than ever the truth which we announced at the beginning: There is nothing in socialism which is not found in political economy; and this perpetual plagiarism is the irrevocable condemnation of both. Nowhere is to be seen the dawn of that mother-idea, which springs with so much eclat from the generation of the economic categories, — that the superior formula of association has nothing to do with capital, a matter for individual accounts, but must bear solely upon equilibrium of production, the conditions of exchange, the gradual reduction of cost, the one and only source of the increase of wealth. Instead of determining the relations of industry to industry, of laborer to laborer, of province to province, and of people to people, the socialists dream only of providing themselves with capital, always conceiving the problem of the solidarity of laborers as if it were a question of founding some new institution of monopoly. The world, humanity, capital, industry, business machinery, exist; it is a matter now simply of finding their philosophy, — in other words, of organizing them: and the socialists are in search of capital! Always outside of reality, is it astonishing that they miss it?

Thus M. Blanc asks for State aid and the establishment of national workshops; thus Fourier asked for six million francs, and his followers are still engaged today in collecting that sum; thus the communists place their hope in a revolution which shall give them authority and the treasury, and exhaust themselves in waiting for useless subscriptions. Capital and power, secondary organs in society, are always the gods whom socialism adores: if capital and power did not exist, it would invent them. Through its anxieties about power and capital, socialism has completely overlooked the meaning of its own protests: much more, it has not seen that, in involving itself, as it has done, in the economic routine, it has deprived itself of the very right to protest. It accuses society of antagonism, and through the same antago-nism it goes in pursuit of reform. It asks capital for the poor laborers, as if the misery of laborers did not come from the competition of capitalists as well as from the factitious opposition of labor and capital; as if the question were not today precisely what it was before the creation of capital, — that is, still and always a question of equilibrium; as if, in short, — let us repeat it incessantly, let us repeat it to satiety, — the question were henceforth of something other than a synthesis of all the principles brought to light by civilization, and as if, provided this synthesis, the idea which leads the world, were known, there would be any need of the intervention of capital and the State to make them evident.

Socialism, in deserting criticism to devote itself to decla-mation and utopia and in mingling with political and religious intrigues, has betrayed its mission and misunderstood the character of the century. The revolution of 1830 demoralized us; socialism is making us effeminate. Like political economy, whose contradictions it simply sifts again, socialism is powerless to satisfy the movement of minds: it is henceforth, in those whom it subjugates, only a new prejudice to destroy, and, in those who propagate it, a charlatanism to unmask, the more dangerous because almost always sincere.

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