#it’s about time we had a fandom cleanse anyway

[accio-victuuri]

well i just think that if you feel like wang yibo singing SEA means that bjyx is broken up then maybe being a cpf isn’t for you. i’ve always said this. it’s not for the glass hearted. if you know his and xz’s preference for love songs you would understand and there wouldn’t be any question. this is my problem with cpfs who always want some “proof” and then ignore all the ones we had for the past months and years for a song that was yibo’s artistic choice.

that’s all. good morning! 🟡🟡🟡💛💛💛

[lisbeth-kk]

Sherlock fandom

You Weren’t There

He never thought he would get here, doing what Ella wants him to do. Even Sherlock has nudged him in this direction. Gently, without any snark. 

“You’ll feel better, John. And no one has to see it. It’s a matter between you and the past,” Sherlock said softly and kissed his forehead.

So, here he is. Alone in 221B, pen in hand hovering over a sheet of paper. Ready to face and confront his parents, his only weapon a rollerball with black ink.

Mum and Dad

Once, I was your pride and joy. When and why did that change? Was it because of my lack of physical strength as a boy? My empathy for Harry when she came out as a lesbian? Or maybe it had to do with my trust issues. The issues you two are responsible for. Yes, you read that right. You. Both of you.

 I see now that you may have suffered from the same thing, because you never engaged with the other parents. They always thought you were happily married. You were always good at keeping up appearances.

Neither of you liked that I enjoyed music and wanted to learn to play the clarinet. You only allowed it because of my teacher who insisted that I’d join the music group, but you never cared. Not once did you attend a concert. You weren’t there. Never. Not for me. Not for Harry.

You’re both egocentric people who never should’ve had children. My miserable childhood notwithstanding, I’m glad of one thing; my life. Because I’ve finally found someone to love and who loves me in return. I know you won’t approve because it’s a man. The most brilliant, kind, loving, amazing, and extraordinary man who’s ever lived.

Because of your phobia against queerness, and my childish reluctance to disappoint you, I’ve been hiding my true self for decades. I even hurt this man, my Sherlock, for years since I was too afraid to come clean as a bisexual. And that fact haunts me the most. That I’m still having issues with this. I can’t blame you for all of it. I’m a grown man, but bad habits die hard.

This letter is supposed to be closure, a goodbye if you like. I have yet to decide if I want to send it to you. It’s about getting it all out, more for my sake than yours.

We married last month by the way. Harry was there. You weren’t invited. I know you never would’ve come anyway. Besides, I didn’t want you there. 

I’ve always detested weddings were everybody you know and are related to must be invited. Only people we love and care for were present.

You always had high hopes that I would marry when I became a doctor. It would be the perfect façade. Something you could brag about to your colleagues or whomever cared to listen to you.

If you ever get this letter, or if you already know, I bet everything I own that you’ve never mentioned it to anyone. To you, Harry and I are damaged goods. And when I write these words, I realise that I don’t care what you call me anymore, because I’m happy. For the first time in my adult life. Thanks to my husband, Sherlock Holmes.

John

He's mentally exhausted when he’s finished writing, and heads for the bathroom to wash off what feels like grime. The shower is like a cleansing and his entire body is relaxed. A considerable burden has been lifted off his shoulders and all that’s missing for this moment to be perfect is Sherlock.

When he opens the door to the bathroom, Sherlock waits for him with open arms. John’s heart skips a beat and his face lights up with the sight of his husband.

“I’m so proud of you, John,” Sherlock murmurs into John’s hair.

So, he’s read the letter. John left it on the desk for Sherlock to see, and he feels relief wash over him.

“It was easier than anticipated. Something I should’ve done ages ago.”

John cradles Sherlock cheek and locks eyes with him.

“Thank you for caring, for never faltering in your faith in me, for being there, for loving me” John says warmly.

“Always,” Sherlock retorts and kisses John’s palm tenderly before he seeks out John’s lips.

@flashfictionfridayofficial @totallysilvergirl @keirgreeneyes @calaisreno @phoenix27884 @a-victorian-girl @helloliriels @safedistancefrombeingsmart @gregorovitch-adler @raina-at @topsyturvy-turtely @peanitbear @7-percent @ninasnakie

[bittrlys]

I have heard some people saying that the show is going to address the issues of humans being discriminated against will be addressed in season 7 dark. What do you think about that?

Personally, I think it might be a bit too late for them to properly address it and do it in a satisfactory way especially because the main ship rayllum had rayla being prejudice against humans but her actions don't get called compared to Callum so i doubt her actions will be called out next season as both the fandom and the narrative love to frame her in the right when she can sometimes be quite hypocritical and in the wrong.

Also, I want zubeia to be called out for her actions and zyms father but I doubt that will happen either.

Another question I also don't like the series framing of dark magic. Now in season 6 (took us 6 seasons) to learn that dark magic creates a hole in your spirit and it corrupts you to aaravos but that feels like the writers adding it in there so people don't bring up the whole arguement that dark magic is bad because the narrative says so. Also the show doesn't convince me dark magic is so bad that viren SHOULDN'T of used it to save soren or that Callum SHOULDN'T of used it to save rayla.

Idk to be honest the handling of dark magic within the narrative is so confusing and bad.

Anyway sorry this got so long

My very upfront opinion is that there is clearly some dissonance, and perhaps even conflict, in the writer's room about Viren and Claudia, dark magic, the cost of it, and the intended take away from these characters and their actions.

Now, when writing, there's no particular requirement to be honest with your audience or to not accurately represent how history can be muddled and shift. "Humans learned dark magic" to "Unicorns taught humans magic and were slaughtered in thanks" to "Aaravos is implied to have taught humans dark magic" to "Aaravos's daughter Leola (a uni-horned elf) taught humans magic and was killed" is cohesive enough, even considering the writers are on record saying they may be changing things as they go, as happens with writing. (With dark magic being the main sticking point of anti-human sentiments, how and why it occurred matters.) I also don't think the show has never wanted us to sympathize with humans or not see their discrimination -- the sight of them in tears as they're exiled, evoking the Trail of Tears (still bonkers), or Ziard's bitterness over how humans starved or his terror when Sol Regem tricks him in hopes to destroy Elarion are moments of raw feeling where the camera centres humans and their pain. Most of our protagonists are humans, and Callum, though occasionally punished for his ambitions, is a character who wants magic who is heroic.

The ultimate problem, however, is that the show wants to have its cake and eat it too, which goes back to my earliest complaints in how they 'meta write' from what we expect of fantasy and muddle their own messages. Certainly this show could be a long-form exercise in tricking people into rooting for ethnic cleansing racists but like, it's a show for kids. Sol Regem is a bad dragon and he is obviously bad. Zubeia is a good dragon and she is obviously good. We're supposed to understand Sol Regem kinda had it coming and understand that Zubeia being hurt is allegedly sad. There's no deceit to this straightforward presentation. Viren, Claudia, and now Aaravos are sympathetic villains, but they're still villains. And when your villains come in two main flavours of Team Anti-Human (arising after humans wronged Xadians initially, natch) or Team Human (or adjacent) and every hero is Team Xadia because humans fighting against the disparity of their world is Causing Trouble while humans who extend the hand of friendship to Xadians are Bringing Peace, it ultimately teaches us that "Maybe humans had a hard time of it, but it's time they suck it up." I don't think there was anything more explicit to this than having our Out Of The Mouth Of Babes protagonist Ezran's Zubeia-backed speech at the Many Thunder Victims Memorial Valley.

A lot of writers like villains who have a point, because they feel it adds depth to them, but they often jump straight to "the villain is a marginalized person who is fighting for change in the Wrong Way" and this creates an implication that Fighting For Change At All is wrong because our heroes are never passionate champions for equality. They may like equality, but they say "Not now -- not like this --" and it isn't central to their beliefs. Team Xadia are not nominally Anti Equality or Anti Humanity, but their framing vis a vis our villains makes this lack of investment in the liberation of humanity quite clear.

All of this is to say that I agree, it would be too little, too late, and that the fact the show has *already established* humans as being victims of discrimination makes the narratives around them all the more galling and difficult to untangle. I absolutely would like to have the show deliver one of its extremely straightforward, directly to the camera-type messages on how humans were discriminated against, yes, but it doesn't fix six seasons of presenting all anger on behalf of humanity as something that is ultimately morally unsound and in need of changing. And how much further can they take it? Can they portray Xadians as a whole as privileged beings who have benefited from the mistreatment of humans? Not just a few bad apples -- can they actually, truly acknowledge Xadians as less than idealized? Can they take seasons upon seasons of trying to make us love Xadians and turn it around with frank questions about things like "reparations" and "acknowledging generational trauma without both-sides-ing it"? Can they give us a purely heroic human protagonist who is firmly Team Human and centres human interests? I don't think so. They prefer keeping to their "Callum and Amaya and Ezran constantly apologizing and putting down humanity in favour of their Xadian betters" agenda. (So bonkers they do this with three characters of colour, sidenote.)

Rayla is interesting because I think they have a fundamental disinterest in her inner world. She's so defined by her relationships with others and traumatic things that happen to her personally are ignored (her feelings on her banishment getting sidelined into Callum stuff, or her overcoming her fear of water to save Callum and Ezran happening off screen.) Her prejudice is a standard result of her upbringing but it's another thing that hasn't really come up in a while. I don't know if they so much want her as a character to be right, or prejudiced, or whatever, so much as they use her as a mouthpiece for particular opinions they need stated. She was learning about humans as much as Callum and Ezran were learning about elves and now she's learned she's just chilling being another one of Ezran's inexplicably pro-monarchy shooters.

Onto the second half of your ask about dark magic -- this season has firmly shifted the dark magic usage into an addiction metaphor, and so we get the "hole in your soul" (the anti-Birdhouse In Your Soul.) I do think this makes sense with earlier seasons. Dark magic has always been shown as corrupting the user (hence the monstrosity, and hence Viren being likely to die if purified of it, because it's become so entwined with his inner core) and this destruction of the self has been a reason to avoid it. I'll even be generous and say it's not entirely "Evil People Are Ugly" but instead a lot of "Self-Destruction Is Terrifying." However, I've been obsessed with this since I saw it:

"He shouldn't be monstrous in his final moments of heroism" is very funny. The writers are aware they have thoroughly codified Ugly, Monstrous = Bad and would try to bend themselves over backwards to let a Good Act be done via Evil Means in a way that minimizes the evidence of the evil means. This is why you have to put that "inherent evil" in quotation marks because real inherent evils don't tend to get a pass. And because they want dark magic to still exist in the show and still be used by sympathetic characters like Callum and Claudia without rendering them utterly reprehensible they have to make it the hole-in-your-soul addiction metaphor and say it costs the user as much as, if not more than, it costs the world around them.

Which is, like, fine, but at a certain point it is like -- Yeah, if we can see times where dark magic is basically a necessity because your choice is either "dark magic, or let your child die" or "dark magic, or let a dragon flambé your people" -- which many of us would consider non-choices -- then you have to respect that people maybe will have to make that choice. And if the cost is more on them, then ...? It's practically a noble sacrifice. To oppose it for reasons of Aaravos is a non-argument. Viren was mainlining dark magic for decades and it wasn't until he got that mirror that Aaravos became a problem and Aaravos isn't always going to be around ... not to mention that now that he's free I think he has abilities that go well beyond "souljacking." Aaravos in this case represents more the 'spiritual death' associated with this internal corruption. So can we find reasons to oppose it that go beyond The Harm It Causes To An Individual, Who Should Be Allowed their Autonomy?

They still throw half-hearted nods to the previous seasons much more heavy-handed "omg the beautiful butterfly" "omg the baby deer" (single crying tear) "stop hurting the environment" "magical beings are superior to you" type anti-dark magic rhetoric (see Claudia and the cat thing) but it seems the writers have come to realize they need dark magic to exist as much as the people in universe need it to exist, and so they're trying to focus more on the internal cost. Personally, I think this is a fine place to take it and if the intent is to return the discussion to how humans have been discriminated against, it's a wise thing to do. So I won't protest it much, although we can discuss villainizing addicts and so forth and why Rayla's lack of compassion in approaching Callum's dark magic use is difficult to watch.

It's funny, because I wouldn't even call myself "pro dark magic" as I do see it as harmful, but the hypocritical and condescending treatment of dark magic users in the narrative is something I take issue with more than the use of dark magic itself. This is why, if they are leaning into this more sympathetic reason for rejecting dark magic, I hope we see increased sympathy as to why dark magic is used and why, until humans are liberated (i.e. given equal access to magic and Xadian resources) it's pretty much essential.

Thank you very much for the ask! ♥ Don't apologize for the length, as you can see I love to ramble away myself. Also yeah didn't fit this in anywhere else but fuck that narrative deadweight Zubeia. Thunder at least got shaded by Rex Igneous even if Rex Igneous was Mean and Scary.

[survivalove]

Seriously gonna need certain people in the atla fandom to stop talking about colonialism with this singular definition of going somewhere, planting a flag and living there when there are so many different measures colonizers used (and still use tbh) to subdue and erase a people’s culture before “officially claiming” a country as their own, not even gonna get into those shady official means.

The 2 most common ways western media depict settler colonialism:

1. ethnic cleansing - wiping out the inhabitants and their culture by any means necessary: violence, disease, forced migration etc.

2. disrupting cultural traditions and economic advancement - imposing your way of life on the inhabitants making it impossible for them to survive on their own.

[P.S. This isn’t meant to be an all inclusive definition of colonialism as I’m sure there’s a lot of different ways you can talk about this that I’m probably leaving out from what I was taught growing up in a newly former colony myself.]

Frankly, I’m just tired of this fandom acting like the South Pole was not directly and indirectly affected by the Fire Nation’s colonial practices when:

1. ethnic cleansing:

Hama: They came again and again, each time rounding up more of our waterbenders and taking them captive. The Puppetmaster, Avatar the Last Airbender.

The Fire Nation literally tried to wipe them out continuously. They came back over and over until every single waterbender was captured and if another one was born (Katara) they came immediately back to keep the Southerners in their place.

As said by Katara and Sokka, waterbending was not just a means of fighting but an “ancient art unique to their culture”. The Fire Nation didn’t just physically subdue the South by taking away all their benders but literally wiped out an integral part of their culture which so much of functioning water tribe society depends on, which will be expanded on in part 2.

The Fire Nation also did this in the Earth Kingdom colonies as seen in Imprisoned, the only difference being the soldiers actually stayed in these places, but this did not stop the Fire Nation from coming back to the South and enforcing the same colonial practices they used in the Earth Kingdom over and over.

2. cultural and economic disruption:

I don’t know how much clearer the difference in the South Pole before and after the Fire Nation raids could have been made. The fact that they make it explicitly clear by including this frame in Hama’s story is just another example of how the raids affected the South’s overall development. With the genocide, they lost a huge part of their population to build, hunt and most importantly defend themselves. Like we see in the North Pole, the South had their own ice structures obviously built by waterbenders that people lived in, now living mostly in tents with the village being a much smaller size in general. Katara and Sokka are left to find food for their whole tribe with their benders (and other warriors) gone, and of course when the Fire Nation shows up yet again, they are extremely defenseless and would have been burnt to a crisp if Aang wasn’t there.

Of course, the war meant they also couldn’t celebrate a lot of their cultural and spiritual traditions with their warriors being gone, more an indirect consequence of Fire Nation colonialism since Hakoda made the choice to take the men to fight on his own. The consequences of this are first highlighted in the Bato episode and brought up again in Legend of Korra season 2 by Unalaq.

After 100 years of war, the Fire Nation literally managed to turn the South Pole into a colony in everything but name where they could go and enforce their will on the inhabitants any time they wanted, without having to physically live there in the cold which was least optimal for their living conditions anyway.

I’m tired of people acting as if the Fire Nation couldn’t go and “plant a flag” in the South if they wanted to, when in fact, they didn’t want to and they didn’t have to. They literally already subdued the South by removing them as a threat and was trying to do the same to the North in the Book 1 finale.

Anyways, I’m not an expert on colonialism and I’m not claiming these to be the only ways to define colonialism in real life or atla. This is just a rant based on my personal understanding of settler colonialism and just… my annoyance at how this fandom constantly downplays the already watered down depiction of colonialism in the show.

[jonsnowunemploymentera]

There was this thread on r/asoiaf the other day that was complaining about how ASOIAF stans seem to lose all creativity when it comes to theorizing about Dany’s endgame. The OP argued that people are so sure that Dany’s story can only end in death even though nothing is set in stone and the story would still be very good if she lived to the end.

Predictably, the comments in the thread proceeded to double down on why Dany is 100% “doomed” and marked for death, which is very funny because not only did they completely miss OP’s point, but they started citing statistics that I have personally never heard of. How can anyone except George R.R Martin know what is 100% Dany’s endgame? Are there some mathematic equations I need to be aware of? Can someone share with the class please…

See, I agree with that OP big time. It’s a bit annoying to go through fandom spaces and have to see the same old posts about how Dany is an instrument of death and so she needs to be put out at the end of the story. Others will try to argue that she will die a hero as a means of being a bit more charitable. It seems that everywhere I go, Dany’s endgame always ends in death. There really is an obvious lack of creativity when it comes to speculating about her endgame.

I have an issue with using death to define Dany’s story because she is so much more than that. People get so caught up in the “bride of fire” and “daughter of death” aspects that they forget about what Dany actually does. She goes around liberating people! Yes she brings death…to those who harm others and deserve it. She is not bringing death wholesale to innocent people but she is bringing death and destruction to corrupt institutions. That’s the whole point of her character. She is a liberator. She is a savior! She is a dragon and the dragon cleanses. To the slaves she is the Breaker of Chains. To those who have glimpsed of the coming Long Night, she is the Prince(ss) That Was Promised. To all, she represents hope for the future. Hope for life and liberation from death.

Dany gained so much power throughout her arc so far and she could have taken a ship straight to Westeros, but she used her new found abilities to free people from slavery; she chose to liberate them from death. Really, that’s how I view Dany’s campaign against slavery. Slaves aren’t treated as people; their humanity is discarded, they have no will, no future, no hope. It’s almost like a death of the person though they may not physically be dead. Then in comes Daenerys Targaryen, a young girl with nothing but her dragons and her compassion, who says to them “you may not matter to them but you matter to me and I will save you”. Where the slaves didn’t have free will before, Dany gives it to them. I’m remembering the unsullied who didn’t even have names but Dany gave them the ability to pick and choose their own; which seems like such a small act but means so much more because names are important in humanizing people. She represents new beginnings.

Dany’s crusade across Slaver’s Bay is a big deal. She didn’t have to do it but she did it anyway. There was no personal gain for her but she did it because she cares so deeply about people. And then she gets to Meereen and decides to stay there because her “children” need her. She cannot and will not abandon strangers to a fate of death. And the people know that.

I’m just thinking of this quote:

“I am no lady,” the widow replied, “just Vogarro’s whore. You want to be gone from here before the tigers come. Should you reach your queen, give her a message from the slaves of Old Volantis.” She touched the faded scar upon her wrinkled cheek, where her tears had been cut away. “Tell her we are waiting. Tell her to come soon.”

- Tyrion VII, ADWD

And this one too:

“I told you, I know our little queen […] this Mother of Dragons, this Breaker of Chains, is above all a rescuer. The girl who drowned the slaver cities in blood rather than leave strangers to their chains can scarcely abandon her own brother’s son in his hour of peril.”

- Tyrion VI, ADWD

These people have never even met Dany but to them, she is hope and freedom and life! She is salvation, and that’s the point. She has spent much of her arc fighting slavery which is in preparation for her ultimate destiny as a savior to defeat the Others. Because they not only bring death to the land but they also threaten to enslave humanity through death. However, they cannot triumph over the Breaker of Chains; the great savior that is Daenerys Targaryen! That’s what her story has been building up to. And it’s not that Dany is saving people and peacing out (e.g., dying in a sacrifice). The point is that she herself persevered. And because she persevered, her people will too. It’s that her constant survival ensures that of others.

Dany grew up penniless, homeless, hungry, and even started out as a 13 year old slave to Khal Drogo. She could have given up but she didn’t because through everything, she is resilient. She is determination and perseverance in the face of death. When she walked into that funeral pyre she could have died, but she lived and emerged as the Mother of Dragons - these dragons that have been instrumental in freeing slaves and will ultimately be important in the Other’s defeat. She “died” in that pyre and was “reborn”, and this rebirth is moving her closer to ensuring that the rest of her people overcome death as well.

That’s why it’s more thematically meaningful for Dany to survive the Long Night, in my opinion. She, more than anyone, represents what it means to constantly fight against the odds. She represents what it means to go through all the worst life can throw at you and then not only come out on top, but turn around and use her own survival to ensure that of others’. She has lived through so many trials and persevered; she is the very embodiment of what it means to survive. Because her survival means that where death could destroy, it didn’t. Instead, life prevailed.

If she survives the Long Night, she remains a constant symbol - a beacon if you will - of what’s to come which is better days. Those who are suffering can look to her and see how she went through hell and lived. This would go a long way in boosting morale especially in the aftermath of the Long Night. Because think about it, the people fought against the Others and overcame death, but now they have to survive what comes next. I think Dany is needed because she has already gone through this cycle and will not only be an important figurehead during the War for the Dawn, but she will also be important as the people try to find a will to live beyond death (winter and the Others).

The last book is called A Dream of Spring so I assume this means that it will still be winter - though the Long Night may be over. People will still be hungry, they will be homeless, and they will be tired. They will not know what comes next only that they have to move forward and survive through this new hardship. And you know who has personally experienced these things and knows what it’s like? Daenerys Targaryen! She has survived through it all. So imagine just how powerful it will be for those who survive the Long Night to look at young Daenerys and go, “you know what, I think we’ll get through this one too”. And it will be even more poignant for Dany to lead them to that rest and restoration. Because it’s not just the people who need rest after fighting for so long, Dany does too:

“It is such a long way,” she complained. “I was tired, Jorah. I was weary of war. I wanted to rest, to laugh, to plant trees and see them grow. I am only a young girl.”

- Dany X, ADWD

People take the “dragons plant no trees” part that comes after to assume that Dany will remain stagnant for the next two books and it really is a pity. Someone pointed out a while ago (and I cannot for the life of me remember who this was) that Dany tends to pivot at the end of each book. As she continues to grow and develop as a character, her plans and priorities change. So it’s a bit sad how people assume that she will constantly be in a state of warfare. Because at the moment, Dany’s didn’t isn’t over yet.

Her campaign in Essos must continue and she still has the Others to fight in Westeros. So for now, she cannot truly settle down to plant trees. But she has been learning! She tried to do that throughout ADWD and I don’t see why that learning arc will be discarded at the end of the story. Especially when we consider that few others have actually been learning to lead. The only other character who has is Jon Snow but funny enough, many in this fandom think that he too is doomed to die. I’m not sure why George R.R Martin would kill the two up-and-coming leaders in the story who best answer “what was Aragorn’s tax policy?”

Ultimately, when all is said and done and there are no more wars to fight, I think Dany will finally find her peace and will learn that dragons can plant trees and watch them grow. As all the other heroes in the story, she will probably come out of the Long Night battered and bruised, but everything will be okay because she will still be alive; just like that Bran scene at the end of ACOK, which to me is the very definition of bittersweet. A better ending for her in my opinion isn’t dying in the cold of winter, but rather living and healing and finding a way to build a house with a red door, even though she cannot return to the one she knew as a child. Not only that, she can also provide this house with a red door” for the homeless, beaten, and bruised who survive the Long Night. It’s certainly possible that Martin could write Dany’s death in a way that is poignant and beautiful, but my personal preference is that she lives because of what her survival means for the larger themes in the story.

This whole post has been so jumbled and I’ve rambled a bit but I hope it made sense in the end lol. But anyway….the point is, I’m 1000% Team Dany Must Live!

[tenrousei-kuroi]

I did read Angel Sanctuary! I never finished it, though. I remember that what got me to start was the author’s art style. Her characters are so pretty!

I’m not familiar with A Cruel God Reigns, but by your description, it’s right up my alley (also, with a brief search, I see it has a very traditional style from the 90s/00s mangas that I find very nostalgic). I’ll definitely take a look into it.

As for the Black brothers, I think I discovered the ship around 2017-18, so there was a fairly good amount of work by then, but Blackcest has definitely grown a lot in the past couple of years. I’ve not read many James/Regulus works, mostly because many have a 'cleansed', fanon version of both – which also applies to the Marauders as a whole – and I have very picky views of Regulus’ characterization (my boy canonically had his own fan board of Voldemort 😭 and as far as we know, he never fully – or at all – quit his bigotry, yet in many works, his Slytherin friends and himself diverge completely from this).

But I do think Sirius/Regulus will remain somewhat popular for a long time. The Black family seems to have an appeal within the fandom that I don’t see as much with other families, such as the Lestranges, for example. Also, the idea of two good-looking, rich boys in a complicated family is intriguing (or at least I hope so; if not, you’ll see me signing up to your mailing list). On that note, I'm still hoping for the day Rodolphus/Rabastan gets popular lol

Anyway, thank you for the link, and I'm looking forward fest postings (ngl, I'm pretty confident in my abilities to recognize your writing style in anon fests. Sometimes I read a title and I think "this looks like a title ten would use". Is it a little stalker-ish of me? Maybe 😅).

Yeah Moto Hagio’s a bit more old school, she was most prolific in the seventies and eighties, and her art shows it. I could be misremembering but I believe her work “Sunroom” is typically credited as the first boy/boy manga kiss. And she’s one of the pioneers of the modern boy’s love genre. Real “culture award winning” sort of author.

Jegulus fics are hilarious to me and there’s a reason I call my stuff James/Regulus when I tag it, because that portmanteau has become its own thing. Whenever I read a Jegulus fic in my brain I’m thinking, “you know you can just write Timotheé Chalamet RPF, right? He’s not gonna’ come for you” 😂 And honestly that fanon “style” is bleeding over hard into the Sirius/Regulus section.

No shade, I’m glad people are having fun. Makes it harder for me to find the kinds of fics I like but I’ll survive lol. There’s just a larger selection now. And popular as it all is, I do truly feel people will move on. Because it’s less an attachment to the characters and more to these seriously altered fantasy versions of them, which can be easily grafted onto the next popular thing.

If you had told fifteen year-old me my weird incest and incest-adjacent pairings where two of the three characters aren’t even alive in canon would one day be as common as they are now I’d’ve thought you were high 😂 yet here we are.

I’ve dabbled a bit in Rodolphus/Rabastan but they always end up coming out so similar to my Sirius and Regulus that I don’t like it. I’ve kind of tabled the pairing until I can force myself to be a bit more creative with them. People already put up with all my Sirius/Regulus nonsense being basically the same, I don’t need to be grafting their dynamic onto other pairings 🤣🤣

When I pick prompts for fests I always try to ignore the promoter names until after I’ve chosen, but it doesn’t seem to make much of a difference, roughly 80% end up being yours anyway. Talk about wavelengths.

And let’s blame 2009 LiveJournal for my pretentious and easily-spotted titles, shall we? Specifically a Sirius/Regulus fic from forever ago called “A Thousand Years Good Wine” which basically flipped something in my brain and I haven’t been able to title anything like a normal human since.

That was a stellar fic, by the way. And if anyone ever ever ever finds it back for me I’ll…I don’t know…write them a 100k commission of their choice or engrave their name on my tombstone or something because that fic is LOST beyond belief and it causes me literal pain sometimes lol.

I’m feeling rather inspired today so I might spend my Saturday night plinking away at one of my fics. Odds are it probably won’t be the one that’s due in three weeks but we can always hope TT.TT

[sagehaubitze]

I write a lot to deal with my emotions and to process (right now I am processing a lot of anger, still). I don't share a lot of it, but I did write something to post on fetlife yesterday having to do with my friend, Remy's, death. The circles of people I have over there have no real context or frame of reference for any of it though. Since I'm still vaguely furry-adjacent, I figured maybe people (all like.. five of you) would get more mileage out of it here, so I'm crossposting it.

This is a small tidbit of furry history. Before you fly off the handle and send me anon hate, please take a minute to read all of this through. Plus think about what type of person would absolutely fucking loathe both queer people involved in WWII reenacting, and queer people dressing in uniform to do weird kink shit. (it's supposed to be fascists that idealize the era, they would have an aneurysm, but this is a trick question because apparently everybody loathes it)

Anyway. Pushing the Feldpost Envelope (furries and nazis and death in here.)

"History lesson.

I'm at the third year of my home furcon in 2005, attending opening ceremonies, wearing my officer's cap. All day, I've been nervously eyeing someone also in an officer's cap, albeit a different branch, worried that they're either going to be confrontational, or that they're a bad actor and a bigot. We'd unknowingly run in the same circles for a couple years now, but had yet to cross paths in any significant way until today.

"I like your hat" he smiled and piped up after the ceremonies were over. I, a very anxious sixteen year old girl at the time, had a flood of relief wash over me now that the ice had been broken and he didn't seem like a total asshole (joke's on me, Remy was still an asshole, just usually the good kind). "I like yours too..!" I chimed back. And the rest was history. "Living history", actually.

A couple months prior, Remy had created the Nazi Furs community, which I wound up co-running and co-moderating. The goal was to create a space for people with a genuine interest in history and reenacting (which despite the name wasn't limited to the German side of things) and/or for those who get their rocks off in uniform, a little more tucked away from early 2000s internet shock value, and most importantly protected from actual racists, bigots, and all around pieces of shit (which took a hell of a lot of work). Furries tend to cover the whole gamut of kink, and while Remy and I both leaned further towards the leather subculture, we tried to make space for all of the spectrum as long as it was related to that specific time period in some way.

We were not a popular or well liked group. But we were a necessary group. This is the south, if you weren't a cishet good ol boy, it was frankly just not safe to venture into any reenacting groups around here at the time. So, we made our own space for it, to be gay and weird and ourselves while we ran around in the woods. Even in kink, we tried to push the envelope for what was "acceptable" in the eyes of larger communities and carve out a little trench for ourselves, because often in the most accepting places, people would still take issue (and still do). We did our best to push back against people feeling closeted or ashamed for what they were interested in, kink or not. Don't be a shitty person is all we asked. We were young and we stumbled a lot, but we tried our best.

Ultimately, with the shifting perspectives in the fandom, in kink, and in general with online spaces being cleansed to be more palatable and marketable, we lost the fight. Part of it came from the evolving political environment in the US, it did become impossibly hard to weed out bad actors, and not be seen/assumed as a bad actor yourself. But part of it is from lingering social norms on what is "okay" and "acceptable" (even in alternative subcultures), instead of remembering that some interests can be solely academic and not a reflection of your own personal world views. Bleeding over to kink, it's exactly the same, and some people have forgotten that kink should be weird and ugly and not acceptable, it should challenge your emotions and perspective sometimes. It is the opposite of social norms, it's not meant to be sanitized and diluted down for the masses to consume. It's meant for you, and your self expression, self exploration, and your kameraden who share that with you.

Remy died on January 26th. He was one of my very best friends, and there are not many people left on this planet who know me like he did. I rushed to clean his house of things his mother did not want, or need, to see, because I was the only one left to do so. He is survived by communities that did not want him and refuse to see the work he put in for people to have a place they felt accepted.

I have no place in community anymore. But if anyone reading this feels ostracized for their interests or kinks, I feel the same so deeply inside me that it hurts my soul. You shouldn't have to feel that way. I do not have it in me anymore to try and create a space like Remy and I worked on in the past, but do know that you're not alone. I'll be here. I'm still here somehow."

-----

I would also like to add this summarized post that Remy made to the original group, the last post in the group, in 2017.

"In the wake of recent social unrest, we would like to take a moment to make a statement regarding this community.

Nazi_Furs was created by a bunch of nerds. Yes, you read correctly. A bunch of big old nerdy nerds started nazi_furs to post stories, art, historical articles, images from WWII museums, reenacting and living history events, and sometimes little animated gifs of dancing hitlers that we thought were funny.

Most of our members were card carrying homosexuals. Almost all of our moderators were gay, trans, or some other color of "unacceptable" to ACTUAL NEO-NAZIS.

Many of us have well researched and thought out fursonas that inhabit a world set during WWII era Germany. The setting used in many movies like Bed-knobs and Broomsticks, Indiana Jones, Iron Sky, and Dead Snow lends itself well to fantasy. Setting talking animal people into this backdrop did not seem like such a huge clusterfuck at the time.

Nazis are a cliche', relegated to "the bad guys" in popular culture. The sharp uniforms, advanced military weapons and tactics, crackpot schemes, and paranormal ties are used all the time in modern media. They are a caricature of what they were 70+ years ago, much like ninjas (paid assassins) and pirates (murderers and thieves) are today. Once you have been relegated to a children's Halloween costume you no longer have the influence to command respect or fear.

Let us allow nazis to be just that, a cliche condemned to be the "bumbling bad guys". Let us laugh at them and rob them of any authority they feel they may have. There haven't been any "REAL" nazis since the downfall of the NSDAP in 1945, and any members of that movement would be pushing 90 by now.

The "alt-right" are not nazi_furs. They are hateful individuals putting on costumes pretending to be like people they do not understand who have been dead for years. These people WANT you to associate them with nazis, and calling them that only feeds their egos. Lets try not to do that.

If you take anything away from our group, let it be a reminder of our origins as nerdy nerds pouring over history books, saturating ourselves in history to better understand what happened in the 1930s and 40s. Take a look at our current situation we find ourselves in and ask yourselves if we are all doomed to repeat our past mistakes. Then focus your rage and disapproval in a productive manner. Get out there and vote the real racist out of office. Mobilize in peaceful protest, advocate for the oppressed and downtrodden. Make the world a better place than you found it."

I stepped away from the fandom when my home convention, RCFM, ended after a decade. I had been run into the ground, my wallet taken advantage of entirely too much, and I was burnt out beyond belief. Remy stayed more up to date on fandom things, I know there were issues with other "nazi" groups popping up that were inundated with the alt-right. There was no avoiding getting lumped in with them, so we eventually just enjoyed our interests in silence, away from everyone else.

To be completely honest, the majority of our time was spent in museums and hunting down weirdly specific esoteric research topics, which we'd then attempt to discuss while drunk around a fire (this is the academic way). It wasn't to idolize these people or politics, it was to understand an extremely complicated time period and what was born out of it. There are SO MANY absolutely fascinating aspects to study, not just "woo big scary gun death ubermench". What people saw most though, convention-wise at least, were the room parties where we could let our hair down and be WEIRD. Furcon room parties are fucking weird just as a baseline, throw some uniforms and sadomasochism in, sometimes some LSD, and... I mean yeah. And of course that's all that stuck in anybody's mind. Though, tbh, a lot of the time for the majority of the night, it was just a small circle of friends watching war movies and drinking. We came up with this (not) great idea to take a shot every time there was a depth charge in Das Boot, yeah I can't recommend that lmao.

Even from the reenacting standpoint, Remy was putting together a US medic impression (not even German! *clutches pearls*) over the past few years, because he was an EMT by trade. I've always reenacted a very inept Wehrmacht artillery officer who is a touch cowardly, not great at their job, and is usually relegated to office/paperwork. It's far from the edgy internet shock value people associated us with.

Nowadays I am usually running around in the woods alone, or getting the shit kicked out of me in uniform (consensually). I'm just less visible about it. I wish I didn't have to be. It feels very lonely, extremely so now that I've lost Remy. I think there was a good opportunity somewhere in there to push back against the alt-right by being very VERY gay and trans and queer and weird in uniform, destroy the image they were trying to create for themselves, but the current culture of the internet wouldn't have allowed that. I'm still going to keep doing that, just.. y'know, in my own space, on my own time.

I hope other people are out there being weird too. I'll be weird with you in spirit.

[thisdiscontentedwinter]

Hey Disco, how are you and your pets? How's life? Anyway, I have to ask: don't you think the Fandom Police are gaining an alarmingly large number of new members? Or am I just lucky enough to run into them more often than others? I'm asking because you've been fighting these people ever since I started following you, and it seems like you might be the one to know if things are getting worse (I noticed you have anon asks turned off, so I took the liberty of assuming) I'll admit that a lot of my arguments are about minors. Others usually climb up high to their moral Everest and start lecturing me about how it's wrong to read ff about fictional relationships with minors. Which is ridiculous if only because the minimum age for sex is defined differently by law in every country and because the characters we're talking about aren't real. It's very frustrating to talk to people like that who simply call me a pedophile and then feel like they're on some grand mission to cleanse a Fandom and bring back a Fandom Jesus or something. I'm not even in most of those Fandoms but every time I turn on tumblr there is another 20 something year old dumbass screaming into the void that anyone who will ship 15 year old with a 19 year old is a vile human being that needs to be punished. Anyway, I'm just interested in your take on the situation. Is there more of them? (I noticed they are all pretty young) or is it just my imagination? Other people's opinions are also welcome. 🙂 Ah and how are you holding up with the porn bots situation?

DW: Me and the pets are well, and I hope that you are too! 

I turned off anon asks after one brave anon kept telling me to kill myself. I think they thought if they sent it 30 times a day, that eventually the sheer volume would make me do it? I just got sick of cleaning out my inbox. Joke’s on them anyway; I’m now intending to live forever out of sheer spite. 

I have so many porn bot followers, lol. Like, hi, porn bots, but I’m not buying what you’re selling.

I don’t know if the fandom police are getting worse, or if they’ve always been this way. Apart from a few notable suggestions, they do all seem very young. I hope it’s something they’ll grow out of as they mature enough to realise that art isn’t a safe space (it has never been a safe space and never will be) and that nobody has any right to tell creators what they can and can’t create. And guess what? It’s up to you to curate you own online experiences--the back button is there on any fic you don’t want to continue reading. 

You can’t hurt fictional characters, however many times you kill them. You can’t protect them either, because there’s nothing to protect. 

When I was 16 I was dating a 19 year old. And we even had sex! (TMI? Probably!) Anyway, although I’m sure the morality police would love to tear that guy into pieces, guess what? Totally legal here... and thanks to stuff ups in both our schooling systems and general life circumstances I won’t get into here, we were in the same year level at school and everything. We actually met when we were put together for a joint class project. 

The fandom police need to spend more time in the real world, and less time attacking creators over thought crimes! 

[imaminoccultation]

Letter 9: The People Who Have Been Guided - Revisiting the Work of OnlyLeigh

Peace be upon those who follow the right path. Which is to say, not just the Muslims: anybody who manifests the best qualities of Imam ‘Ali by being just, generous, and kind is following the right path, however imperfectly. Anybody who has had the Record revealed to them is a follower of the right path: I am inclined to believe Fred Donner when he says the Prophet’s religious community was pluralist in nature. And so, in addition to the People of the Recitation, the Uthmanic Bible recognizes three other Peoples of the Record, or Ahlul-Kitab: 

The People of the Gospel, the Nazarenes, those who follow Prophet Jesus Christ, peace be upon him (Christians);

The People of the Tawrat, those who have been guided (الذين هادوا), the children of Prophet Israel (Ya’qub), the Judaeans, the people of Prophet Musa, peace be upon him (Jews);

The Sabians, who we must discuss another day.

Fuck the state of Israel, Zionists eat shit and eat shit forever, but I’m not gonna up and pretend that anti-Semitism isn’t a problem in the Muslim world and the Arabophone world; I’m not fucking stupid. It means nothing for whether or not the Zionist occupation has the right to ethnically cleanse Palestinians and force them out of their homeland, but it’s also a fact we need to acknowledge, as Muslim anti-Semitism is also a key tool in Zionist propaganda. I want to make my stance clear on the issue before I say:

As a kid, I was the only Muslim I knew at my school. Deadass. Only Sudani I knew at my school. Deadass. Only Mahasi I knew in my whole city. Deadass. I remember one time when I was fucking ten, this Japanese kid was telling this white kid he was descended from samurai, and when I brought up that I was descended from Nubian royals (no less than that Japanese kid was a samurai descendant, anyway), the white kid was clear what he thought about that:

“Who cares?”

Yeah, living in that kind of environment does shit to you, especially if you’re also the only gay kid you know. Not that you know you’re gay: ooh, I took way too long to accept that part of myself. Thankfully, I had a portal out of the fundamentalist community I’d been trapped in by life circumstances: a window to the world beyond Orthodox Sunnism, Evangelical Christianity, and Mormon Christianity. 

YouTube. Alhamdulillah for the internet.

This is where I encountered my first queer Person of the Record. I doubt they remember, but when I was in like middle school or some shit, I wrote a comment on one of their videos and totally lost my shit (or “fangirled”) when they responded. You see, I got into superheroes, fantasy, all the nerd shit that eventually led to the formation of fandoms on the 2010s internet: one of the places so many 2010s kids would find the tools to unpack and understand their own true identity. Tumblr culture, in other words. And I got into one of Tumblr culture’s golden age YouTubers: Leigh Motherfucking Lahav.

You know, as a kid, Musa was like always my favorite prophet. Got me into learning Hebrew, which, you know, pissed my Sudani fam off, and it’s not like the white people I knew were any less anti-Semitic. But for me personally, I always related to the Jewish kids: I mean, we both had to look at the pork dishes at lunch like “aww,” and we would have to step out of class when the real white people would do their Christmas shit or whatever the fuck. Also, you know, Judaism is like the fucking backbone of Christianity and Islam, and even though I prefer the latest rendition, I’ve always had a soft spot for those who have been guided among the People of the Book. I’ve never lost my interest in the histories of the Ethiopian, Mizrahi, and Ashkenazi Jews who, at various points, made parts of Sudan their home.

And so, I got into this Jewish nerd culture YouTuber, and even though I grew up around someone whose response to my saying “you can be anti-Zionist and not be anti-Semitic” was “anti-Semitic is such a Jewish word,” I related to Leigh Lahav a fucking ton. I loved that shit. So today, I’m taking a bowl of the duku, kicking back, and rewatching some classics and posting some random observations. Get tucked in, besties. 

Okay yeah I’m pretty fucking basic, so what? This video is fucking superb, are you kidding me? Could a 2010s shaab-of-the-homosexual-mustaqbal/future-homosexual-of-America possibly ask for more than a parody of Mean Girls set in Lord of the Rings? By the time I’d watched that video I think I’d only seen the Desolution of Smaug because Robbie dragged me to it, I didn’t watch the actually good Tolkienverse movies till way later. But anyways, looking back, definitely parallels between the Bilbo/tall sexy elf relationship and the relationship I had with this one kid in PE class, very queer. I approve. 

I mean, frankly, this is better than the Mean Girls movie. I mean, the Mean Girls movie is a classic of 2010s culture but it just does not age well, its sexual ethics (which are pretty core to its comedy) are just…weird in hindsight? Much more uncomfortable? Also sucks that Janis Ian is fucking Lebanese and it’s nothing more than a punchline. 

I mean, in this trailer, there’s much more romantic tension between Bilbo and the leader of the Elf Plastics and emphasis on that, which I think would make for a much more interesting story rather than the straight mess that Mean Girls is in reality. The scene of breaking down the cliques is also just so iconic and it’s such a wonderful format, and Lahav’s version is frankly one of my favorite renditions of it: recently, I saw the Ms. Marvel show do it and while it was accurate to the Muslim-American masjid experience it was also not funny. But that’s just me. I watched the show high, anyway.

Anyways, next:

Leftist takes on the didactic closer aside, this is another fucking classic. You see, I have a soft spot for Frozen and you can all get the fuck over it, Disney fans, it is just a good fucking movie. Maybe, anyway. I only saw the first half because one of my teachers was sick of preteens that day or something (we started the movie in class and never finished it). I just didn’t care back then, I was just sick of hearing “Let It Go” because who doesn’t have that collective trauma haha. But you know, I loved learning languages growing up and one of my favorite ways to learn was by listening to translated Disney music. It’s always an interesting experience, and guys, guys: there are Singlish dubs of Frozen on YouTube, okay? And the songs I’ve heard from the movie (never listened to the full soundtrack) do indeed slap. I listen to songs from Frozen more than Moanna, I’m just saying.

Anyways, I’ve also never seen Orange is the New Black. But I fucking loved this trailer, okay, I fucking love Disney musicals, the in-jokes are perfect, Elsa and Mulan seem like they’d be a great match, it’s a cut above the endless sea of Frozen parodies that inundated the 2010s internet. 

Basically me with You Will Die at Twenty, and it still was sort of underwhelming (I still think it’s one of the better Sudani movies tho, fight me). Anyways, got into OnlyLeigh during my MCU phase and man did this video hit, back in the 2010s, there was so much promise ahead of us! We didn’t even know No Way Home could be a thing yet! Back when I had something other than a dreary sense of fatigue at the MCU, finding my opinion of the older films souring now that I have knowledge of the breadth of their cultural impact. But I mean, like also, who gives a fuck it’s superheroes. This is funny, it’s charming, it’s relatable, it’s also the reason I avoid watching movie trailers now if I can help it. Spoilers don’t ruin something, but I do like to be fucking surprised. 

Anyways, this video takes on a new meaning for me as an Ace Attorney fan. Maybe rewatching it high was not a great idea considering Lahav goes through what academics like to call “The 3DS trilogy AA fandom cycle,” for the five of you who know what I’m talking about. 

This is really just my relationship with Jesus Christ Superstar. As much as Andrew Lloyd Webber is really really not great (to put it generously), since I was in fucking high school I was a Jesus Christ Superstar Evangelical and nobody will ever fucking take that away from me. Anyways, honestly, I love this love letter to the culture where some people were just like “okay, whatever, this is cool I guess” and some had become qualified MCU researchers (some of whom are now starring in the MCU, Iman Vellani!) Anyways, even though OnlyLeigh is our tragic villain/protagonist in this story, frankly, I think this video also serves as a decent argument for why if you’re gonna have a movie night at your house, put subtitles on and let people talk. Otherwise just go to the theatre because sitting on somebody’s couch in silence for 2 hours is boring as fuck, no matter what’s playing.

There was a time in my life where I was only friends with people who would have gotten every reference here. Frankly, some of the best friends I’ve ever had, lmao. It’s really interesting to see fandoms form as an “identity” back in that era of the internet, feels like seeing the beginnings of it all, a whole world of literature, shared narratives, and rituals people were building communities around. It’s fun to look at the parallels between fandoms and various Abrahamic religious sects: sharing principles, behaviors, rituals, and stories, but also heavily delineated by what their specific focuses were. You know, Christianity is just the Jesus fandom, Islam is the Qur’an and Hadith fandom, etc. etc. etc. I don’t mean this as an insult: actually, I strongly believe in the legitimacy of the literary culture of fucking fandom. Not to say it’s all good, or even most of it is, but it’s impact on culture is fucking immense. Just cause the adults don’t like it doesn’t mean it wasn’t fucking formative to us queer nerds who could only find people who liked what we liked on the internet, haha. Anyways, funny vid, really ironic to see the fear of the MCU fans here considering the MCU has the global cultural influence of the fucking Roman Empire at this point. Here, “fangirl” is the equivalent of mu’min, Believer: you can be a Sherlock Believer, Doctor Who Believer, you’re all People of the Record (Tumblr), who contribute to certain literary genres like scriptural exegesis (fanfiction). Sometimes there’s crossover between Peoples of the Record, sometimes there’s great animosity, both outside and within. You see what I’m saying?

Shit, this is 7 years old?? Age of Ultron??? Oh, so, so innocent. Weird, now I sympathize more with the Star Wars fans in this video than the pro-MCU headmaster is really just the CEO of the Disney corporation’s Prophet and Messenger. Like that speech freaks me the fuck out, what the hell, that’s too real, you’re right, Leigh, I had to watch Ms. Marvel! I knew I was going to hate it, I couldn’t stop myself!!

Ant-Man is still totally skippable though, really not a great MCU movie. Also, alhamdulillah the DC Universe still has not taken off, تبارك الذي بيده الملك وهو على كل شيء قدير

As somebody who’s been forced to explain Eid to every flavor of Christian fundamentalist rural white America has to offer, my sympathy for the Jewish characters here is unreal. Fuck, as somebody who’s told people they’re Shi’i Muslim and later get asked about Hinduism, this video still fucking hits. Honestly, fantastic educational tactic. Very funny, great way to demonstrate the parallels between traditional spirituality and magic (ultimately, just unregulated, forbidden, yet effective spirituality from the Abrahamic standpoint). 

The content of OnlyLeigh spoke to me because Leigh Lahav was the only queer-positive non-Christian Person of the Record I knew who was also into the MCU - and even then, only as an audience member. It’s not just the humor that speaks to my pop cultural context, but also the themes that always hit for somebody who feels the alienation that’s endemic to just not being born in the best place in the traditional Abrahamic gender/sexual hierarchy. Plus, shit is funny. Animation is cute and solid, the art style is iconic, if I weren’t so into iconography right now, I’d probably let it inspire some new cartoon-style drawings.

Anyways, thanks a ton, OnlyLeigh. You really helped! Peace be upon you, and all others who follow the right path.

But not in a “can we all get along” way, more like a “isn’t the internet fucking great sometimes?” way.

[idabbleincrazy]

We Make Our Own Destiny: Ageless (Prologue)

Fandom: Smallville

Rating: M (E overall)

Pairing: Clex

Characters: Clark, Lex, Martha Kent, Jonathan Kent, OFC (Luthor Manor Staff)

Word Count: 5743

Warnings: fluff, soul-bond related empathy, Jonathan is nice, Lex is slowly gaining the love and support he needs/deserves

Summary: A new development and dinner with the Kents.

A/N: this would have been ready ages ago if I hadn't gotten stuck on trying to figure out Jonathan's dialogue. Now, off to work on the actual episode...

Edit: adding the end of work a/n that I included on ao3, for extra clarity:

I don't write from an outline (the muse never sticks to it anyway), so things may change over the course of writing, but I plan to rewrite the next few seasons with Lionel and Lex mostly switching arcs, i e., Lex being the AI's vessel, and Lionel being the villain/Zod/etc. There will probably still be some Lana drama along the way, and Jonathan will still die, Martha will still take his place in politics.

The Oliver issue will take a more slashy slant, though as of yet, I don't plan on making it go further than an implied jealousy. I may try to find a way to bring Bruce into the storyline, since Smallville had wanted to but couldn't get past some embargo.

I may, at times, incorporate comic or Arrowverse versions of characters into the story, just for my own need to make some characters better than they were.

Part Three:

After a fifteen minute shower, which would have been ten minutes if Clark hadn't insisted on washing Lex himself, very thoroughly, and Lex hadn't insisted on washing Clark's hair, or twenty if Clark hadn't sped through his own cleansing, the two young lovers finally left the bathroom to change into fresh clothes. 

"I made sure to have some Kent-appropriate clothes stocked in your closet, along with some more…adventurous choices, so you don't have to put those back on. Just toss them in the laundry basket in the bathroom."

"Not afraid of your staff finding our clothes mixed together?"

"They know to be discreet, Clark. But if you're worried, there's a hamper in your room, too." 

Clark met the challenge in Lex's eyes, very pointedly grabbing up his clothes and depositing them in the bathroom. Lex visibly relaxed and a small smile graced his lips as he pulled Clark in for a quick kiss. Clark trailed his fingers lovingly over the bracelet circling his wrist and returned the smile. 

"That's settled, then. Now, go get dressed. We've still got about four hours or so until we're due back at your place for dinner, and your mom will probably kill me if I let you starve until then." Lex looked Clark over, his libido too depleted for more than a cursory thrill to run down his spine as his eyes traveled down the bare, muscled torso, stopping at the line of the towel that covered his groin. Which twitched in reaction to his staring. "Go at human speed, please. If I'm still naked by the time you return, we may never make it downstairs for lunch."

Clark flashed him a sunny grin and acquiesced, turning away and walking across the room in what Lex could only describe as a saunter. Lex bit back a moan as he watched the ripple of muscles across Clark's broad back as he walked out the door, closing it softly behind him. 

"Tease", he whispered, knowing Clark would hear him. 

With a wistful sigh he dropped his towel and walked over to his closet. The hint of a smirk played across his lips as he wondered if Clark was in his room yet. He had purposely made that room directly above his back when it was the shrine to his obsessions, and now he couldn't help but think that Clark was using its placement to his advantage, looking through the floor to watch him dress. 

With a sly glance up to the ceiling, just in case, Lex pulled out a pair of dark purple silk boxers, slipping them on slowly and knowing how the color looked against his pale skin. He felt an unexpected shiver of arousal zip up his spine and frowned. Curiosity piqued, Lex tilted his head up slightly, just enough for Clark to see his expression if he was watching. Letting his eyes fall closed, he bit his lip and uttered a soft moan, one hand trailing over his chest to toy with a nipple. 

There it was again, a zing of lust coursing through him that was wholly separate from his own. Interesting. Letting his head and hand drop, he contemplated this apparently new development in the increasingly otherworldly bond that had burgeoned between him and Clark since they'd first had sex. He continued to ruminate on the matter as he finished dressing, noting a warmth of fondness trickling in the back of his mind as his hand hovered over a pair of semi-casual gray slacks that were similar to the ones he'd worn last night, and again as he plucked a silk, lavender button-down from its hanger. 

Belt and socks were chosen with no disturbance within the force, but surprisingly, he felt a shiver of arousal quickly followed by a pang of disappointment as he slid the first sock on. Did Clark have a secret thing for his feet? Slipping his feet into a pair of sleek black Oxfords again brought nothing but silence. Finally dressed, but no wiser on what exactly was going on with this new connection, Lex exited the closet and sat at the end of the bed to wait for Clark to join him. 

Exactly five seconds later, the brunette stood in front of him, dressed in black denim jeans and a dark blue shirt, a perfect mix between Clark's own style of choice and Lex's more visually appealing tastes. 

"You are such a tease! You knew I was watching, didn't you?" Clark stepped between Lex's legs, the result of his spying evident in the slight bulge now level with Lex's face. "So much for giving up your devious behavior."

"Mm. I had a suspicion. It's not my fault if you can't keep your eyes to yourself, Clark." Lex nudged Clark back a step and spread his legs wider, his hand moving from the bedspread to slip between them and cup his own groin, his smug look becoming serious. "Close your eyes."

Clark frowned in confusion, but did as Lex asked. Lex squeezed himself lightly through the layers of cloth, letting his own eyes fall shut as his other hand skimmed across his chest to toy with his nipples. He drew up images in his mind of the way Clark had looked on his knees, up in the loft, his eyes lidded in pleasure, lips spit-slick and parted wide. 

Clark gasped and Lex's eyes snapped open. Green eyes stared down at him in bemused awe.

*What…what was that?"

Lex stood up, taking Clark's hand in his. 

"You felt it, didn't you? I needed to test a theory, I'm sorry if it startled you. When I was changing, I felt what I'm assuming was your own arousal; that's how I knew for sure you were watching. And, how I knew you'd prefer it if I wore this particular outfit." Lex shot Clark a wry look. "I also felt a sense of disappointment when I put socks on; something you feel like sharing, Clark?"

Clark's face flushed an adorable shade of pink.

"I can't help it if every part of you is sexy, even your feet", Clark stumbled over the admission, just loud enough for Lex to hear. "So, what, we can feel each other's emotions, now?"

"That seems to be the case, yes." Lex smirked and led them towards the door, Clark's hand still in his. "As for your burgeoning foot fetish, we'll have to explore that further next time."

"Not a fetish. I just…oh, shut up!"

Lex let out a laugh, one of those genuine, deep belly laughs that Clark suspected few people got to hear, and bumped his shoulder into Clark's playfully. It eased Clark's apprehension over this new development to see Lex actually happy. Looking at Lex, he knew that if he was taking it in stride, instead of worrying and over-analyzing it, then it probably was nothing they couldn't handle. 

Following a step behind Lex as they walked down to the kitchen, Clark kept a loose hold of Lex's hand, letting him make the choice of whether to make the change in their relationship so obvious. Stepping through the entryway into the expansive kitchen, Lex made his choice clear, pulling Clark to his side to wrap a possessive arm around his waist as the cook, Mrs. McCreary, turned to greet them. Her already warm smile widened as she took in the half-embrace.

"Well, it's about time, Mr. Luthor. You know, I've been expecting this moment for the past two years." 

Lex ducked his head slightly, mildly embarrassed that his feelings had been so apparent to the grandmotherly woman. 

"Yes, well, the consent laws of Kansas still don't technically apply same-sex relationships."

"Still illegal to serve ice cream on cherry pie, too, but that doesn't mean we ever stopped." Mrs. McCreary stepped up to them and pulled them both into a warm hug. "That Adams woman won't hear a word of complaint from any of the staff, boys, I'll make sure of that. I've been in your employ since the day you got exiled to this quaint little town, sir, and I know how much of a hand young Mr. Kent here has had in the changes you've made, not only to Smallville, but yourself, as well. You've matured into a fine young man, Mr. Luthor, and that's less a result of the lessons your father taught you than the love you've found."

"Gee, Mrs. McCreary," Clark felt his cheeks flush at her words of approval and the changes in Lex that the woman seemed to attribute to his close relationship with him, "I don't know that I deserve much credit for any of that. Lex always had the good in him, despite Mr. Luthor's influence; surely most of that change was his own doing?"

"That might be, Mr. Kent, but you definitely gave him a nudge back in the right direction." Mrs. McCreary looked fondly at Lex, and let the pair go, heading back over to the kitchen island. "Alright, I'm sure Mr. Luthor's had enough of my fawning for one afternoon. I take it you boys have come in search of lunch?"

"Yes, Mrs. McCreary. And then, you can take the rest of the day off, Mrs. Kent's invited me over for dinner."

"Do the Kents know, Mr. Luthor? I wouldn't want to speak out of turn if I bump into either of them in town."

"Mrs. Kent does. We're waiting to ease Mr. Kent into the change in our relationship as of yet. And, how many times do I have to remind you, it's okay to call me Lex?"

"As many times as I have to tell you to call me Lorelei. That goes for you, too, dear." Mrs. McCreary winked over at Clark as she set up two plates of french dip. "I wouldn't worry so much about Jonathan Kent. He's a good, understanding man, even if he's a little gruff around the edges. Now, will you boys be needing anything else?"

"No, thank you, Mrs. McCreary, Clark and I will manage fine from here."

Mrs. McCreary quickly cleaned away the crumbs from the granite island counter and set the towel aside as Clark took his seat in front of one of the plates. She watched as he took a bite of the sandwich, patting his cheek when he flashed her a pleased smile, just managing to keep his mouth closed around the large bite. 

Lex chuckled when she left, walking over to the refrigerator to grab a can of soda for Clark and a bottle of Ty Nant for himself. 

"What's so funny?"

Lex sat down beside Clark, twisting the cap off the bottle and taking a swig. 

"Everything, Clark, everything. And nothing."

"Um, okay…"

"Sorry, Clark. It's just been a very surreal day." Lex dug into his own plate, relishing the tang of au jus. "You know, between Mrs. McCreary and your mother, I'm probably going to gain a pants size before the month is out."

"Well, someone has to make sure you ingest more than just caffeine."

"Mm. She's right, you know." Clark raised an eyebrow at him in confusion. "You do play a large part in the changes I've made within myself. Meeting you, it made me want to be better. To be more than just the man my father has spent my entire life trying to mold me into."

"Lex-"

"Really, Clark. I hadn't had anyone I could call a true friend for a long time before I met you. I had become jaded long before I was cast out of Metropolis, but then I met you, and it was like a breath of fresh air. You opened my eyes to the fact that not everyone is only looking out for themselves, that there is still good in this world, and you made me want to be a part of that." Lex took another large bite of the french dip before pushing the plate over to Clark, who had already finished his own heaping sandwich. Clark made a token protest, but Lex waved him off, knowing now precisely why the boy always had such a healthy appetite. "I know I haven't always gone about things the most morally appealing way, I've slipped, but I am doing everything I do in the pursuit of the betterment of humanity, Clark. I'm only sorry that some of my less than savory actions have put you and your family, and other good, honest people, in harm's way."

"I thought we were going to table the heavy stuff for now?" Clark sighed and turned in his seat, his crumb-free hand cupping Lex's cheek. "I don't expect you to be perfect, Lex. I'm not. The things I've done…my stint in Metropolis alone should have me seeing the inside of a prison cell for at least five years, regardless of the fact that I was under the influence of red Kryptonite. I…I've hurt people. I've caused pain; death. No one's infallible, Lex, not even me, so how could I expect you to be? It's how we try to repair the damage, and how we go forward that matters."

"Have I told you, I love you?"

Clark smiled that grin that Lex would never grow tired of, the one he always missed when things between them were stressed.

"Not in the last half hour."

"I love you, Clark. I don't think I'll ever not love you."

"I love you, too, Lex, even when you're being so stubborn that I just want to shake you until you see reason. I could never feel less for you than what I feel right now."

Lex stood from his stool and leaned in to brush a soft kiss across Clark's lips. Clapping him on the shoulder, Lex left him to finish his food and crossed over to the door to the cellar.

"Okay, I think I've officially reached my sap limit for the day. Now, does your mother prefer red or white wine?" 

"Um, red, I think."

Lex selected a moderately priced Bordeaux and set it in the fridge to chill.

"Alright, movie? Your choice."

"Sure. Star Wars it is."

Lex shook his head in faux-disappointment; Clark watched his Star Wars box set so often that if the Kents owned a DVD player, he'd have given him one as a gift. Maybe he'd give him a player and some DVDs once he started college.

"Grab some snacks and I'll go set up."

Clark clicked the movie off just as the credits began to roll, looking down at the lax face in his lap. He didn't want to wake Lex from his impromptu nap, but they had barely fifteen minutes to get back to the farm in time for dinner. 

They had easily fallen back into their carefree banter and camaraderie as A New Hope began on the large television Lex kept in the entertainment room, play-fighting for possession of the popcorn bowl, quoting their favorite lines along with the characters. Somewhere along the line, it became more flirty than friendly; the two of them scooting closer together, thighs pressed against each other, Lex's arm draping along the back of the couch behind Clark's neck. His fingers brushed through Clark's hair, petting and gentle. A can of soda shared between them like Clark imagined a couple on a date at an actual movie theater would do. 

Halfway through The Empire Strikes Back, Lex began to droop, curling in towards Clark, his head resting on his shoulder. Clark pressed a kiss to the top of Lex's head, and tugged him to lay down across his lap. Without thought, his hand sought out Lex's wrist and absently stroked over where the bracelet lay beneath the sleeve. It was oddly peaceful like this, and Clark finally began to feel like they were a real couple. He knew they wouldn't really be able to go out on dates, not in town, anyway, but at least they could have this. 

He could feel the hum of contentment exuding from Lex, and he hated to disrupt it, but he gently shook the older man awake, smiling at the momentary fuss he made as he was pulled back into consciousness. 

"Did I fall asleep?"

"Only for an hour. Movie's over, and we gotta head back, like, now, if we're gonna be on time."

Lex stretched and stood up, pulling Clark up with him as he headed out of the room. 

"Want me to clean all that up real quick?"

"I have cleaning staff, remember? Let me just grab the wine from the kitchen and we'll be ready to go."

Lex grabbed the bottle from the fridge and followed Clark to the garage, marveling in bemusement and not a small bit of wonder that he had fallen asleep like that. He had never been a cuddler in his previous relationships, had always shied away from excessive touching that had no sexual intent behind it. But with Clark, he didn't even think, just acted. With Clark, he felt…safe. 

Lex snatched a set of keys from the peg board and ushered Clark into the Ferrari, deciding it would be more likely to get them to the Kent farm a hair faster than the Porsche. He was tempted to let Clark drive just to see his face light up at the opportunity, but refrained at the thought of Jonathan catching his son behind the wheel.

They made it to the farm with barely a minute to spare, Lex slowing the car down to a reluctant 30mph once they reached the dirt drive that led up to the porch. As he'd suspected, Jonathan was leaning against the railing, watching as they pulled up. Clark felt a flicker of discomfort tremble through his mind, and he tried to direct a wave of calm over to Lex, unsure how this new aspect of their connection worked. 

"You'll protect me if he pulls out the shotgun, right?"

"Lex, he's not going to shoot you, even if Mom has told him already." Clark wished his Dad wasn't already outside so that he could have done more to comfort Lex's nerves than just talk. "I doubt she has, anyway. Hey, you're a big, bad CEO, remember? You've faced boardrooms full of men a whole hell of a lot meaner than my dad. Hell, you've survived Lionel. You can manage a family dinner with the man who may or may not know you're dating his eighteen year old son."

Lex put the car in park and took a deep breath as he pulled the keys out of the ignition. Grabbing the bottle of wine from where it was nestled in the center console, he flashed Clark a shaky smile and unbuckled his seat belt.

Clark got out of the car ahead of Lex, opting to field his dad back into the house as Lex trudged up the steps behind him, feeling slightly like he was walking up to the gallows. This was ridiculous, he was a Luthor, and Luthors did not get rattled over dinner with farmers like Jonathan Kent. Forcing all the anxiety behind the walls he'd spent years building, Lex stepped over the threshold.

Martha rushed forward to usher them all towards the table once the screen door closed behind Lex, relieving him of the bottle of wine.

"You have excellent taste in wine, Lex, thank you. Though I'm not sure how well it pairs with meatloaf." Martha took in Clark's change of clothes, but kept silent on it. Instead, she shooed the boys into the dinning room as she went to dig out the wine opener. "Clark, could you be a dear, and grab four wine glasses from the curio before you sit? Everything else is set out. Jonathan, the rolls should be ready now."

Lex sent a silent thanks up to whoever bothered to listen to Luthor's that Martha had so smoothly steered them past the need for awkward small talk. Apparently, she hadn't told Jonathan, after all, or there would have been no stopping him from pulling Lex aside the second they stepped through the door. He helped Clark set out the glasses, mildly surprised that the Kents seemed to be allowing Clark to imbibe, perhaps an extension on his birthday celebrations? He wondered if Clark could even get drunk under normal circumstances.

The table was laden with food, all circled around a vase of fresh sunflowers that stood as the centerpiece. A hefty pan of meatloaf, large bowls of mashed potatoes, and green beans, and  a platter that held a small pyramid of ears of corn; all no doubt made with ingredients fresh from either the Kent farm or one of the neighboring residences. 

Taking his cue from Clark, Lex sat at the place set across from him. He was tempted to stick to the rules of politeness, and pull out Martha's chair for her, but didn't want to ruffle any feathers with Jonathan. 

Shortly after the boys took their seats, the elder Kents came in. Jonathan set the basket of rolls and the butter dish in an empty space beside the pan of meatloaf, sitting down at one end of the table. 

"Alright, boys, help yourselves", Martha instructed as she went around filling the glasses, Clark's only halfway. "Don't think this is going to become a habit, Clark. Half a glass tonight, but then I don't want to find out you've touched a drop of alcohol until Mr. Sullivan's eggnog."

Clark flashed a beaming grin up at her, and Jonathan chuckled softly. Even Lex had to grin; he'd experienced Gabe's famous nog at the plant's Christmas party, and that stuff could have fueled the engine room for a month. 

"Thanks, Mom."

Martha placed a kiss on the top of his head as she passed back behind him towards her own seat, ruffling his hair. 

"Thank you, Mr. Kent, Mrs. Kent, for having me over tonight." Lex looked from Martha's warm smile to Jonathan. "I rarely get the chance to sit down for an actual meal these days, unless it's a business dinner, not counting last night, of course."

"It's our pleasure, Lex", Jonathan assured him, to Lex's surprise. "At least this way, Martha gets a bit of the mother hen out of her system."

"Hey!"

Jonathan gave Martha a grin that could only be described as cheeky. For a few minutes, silence resettled over the table as everyone dished food onto their plates, passing bowls and plates to each other that couldn't easily be reached. Lex waited until Jonathan dug into his own plate before picking up his fork and spearing a green bean. 

"We're not waiting for Lois?"

"Not tonight. She's helping Chloe wrap up some big story for her penultimate edition of the Torch", Martha stated simply. "It's part of why I asked you over. Jonathan?"

The elder Kent sighed a heavy breath and wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin before turning in his seat to face Lex more fully. A glimmer of what Lex could only read as shame rippled over Jonathan's sun-weathered features, and Lex felt confusion and a hint of worry tremble through from Clark.

"Look, Lu-Lex. It may have dawned on me that I've been neglecting to keep my end of an agreement." Lex set his fork down to give Jonathan his full attention, an eyebrow quirking in bemusement. "It may have only been a verbal request, but we shook on it nonetheless, and that's as good as any contract typed up on paper out here. When you came back from that disaster of a honeymoon, you had barely even recovered from the whole ordeal, and yet, one of the first things you did was gift us back our land. I know I agreed with only a minor hesitation when you claimed all you wanted in return was for us to treat you like family; I just, well, I just kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

You may have done some questionable stunts over the past two years, but even with this debt between us, you never once tried to wheedle us into anything. I was wrong, Lex, to keep thinking you were just a carbon copy of Lionel. This dinner is long overdue, and I can't help but think that if I'd kept my end of the bargain, maybe some of the recent troubles between you and Clark, some of the less-than-ideal choices you made, could've been avoided. I may be set in my ways in a lot of things, but I know when to admit to my mistakes, and…I'm sorry, son, for holding the Luthor name against you before even giving you the chance to show us who you are. I'd forgotten how very young twenty-one truly is, and immediately treated you only as the full-grown adult you tried to show to the world. And, in the spirit of making amends and keeping the promise I made when I shook your hand, there's a standing invitation for you to join us for dinner whenever you'd like."

"And, consider yourself unavailable for any non-LuthorCorp related holiday parties your father may ask you to attend in his stead", Martha tacked on as Lex absorbed Jonathan's speech. She flashed him a pointed look when he turned her way. "Welcome to the family, Lex."

Lex sat there, stunned, as he let the wave of emotions sweep through him, fighting back the slight sting of unexpected tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. Son. Jonathan had called him son. All the moments of familial love he'd witnessed between these three and felt a pang of envy and longing. All the time he'd spent wondering how much more enjoyable his life would be if he'd had a family like the Kents instead of Lionel's twisted ideas of love and care. He felt a rush of happiness and warmth flow through him as Clark's face broke into a beaming smile, the teenager's feelings so powerful they bolstered his own. He'd spent four years striving and longing for acceptance and approval from the family circled around him, and now, he apparently had it. He couldn not let this fall apart.

"I…thank you, Mr. Kent; Jonathan. I can't say how much this means to me." Lex cleared his throat, taking a long sip of the wine, and looked between the older Kents. "I must admit, it makes me a lot more hopeful about what I had hoped to discuss with you both tonight."

Martha shot him a questioning glance, and Lex shook his head minutely before he continued.

"I was hoping to seek your advice and insights into some of my business plans." Lex focused his attention on Jonathan for the moment, wanting to read the man's face as he spoke. "I want to reincorporate LexCorp as its own company, wholly separate from LuthorCorp. I have control over both companies at the moment, but since my father's release from prison, and his less than savory dealings with Genevieve Teague, I have cause to be distrustful of his future actions. There are parts of the empire that my father has set up and intricated with LexCorp while he had majority control, that I'd rather be liquidated. I'm in the process of moving quite a few chess pieces in the ongoing game between Lionel and I, and I'd like to ask for your support and input. If I may?"

Jonathan looked back at Lex, his lips thinning into a slightly saddened smile. In another surprising turn of events, he reached out and laid his hand over Lex's, squeezing it gently.

"Son, I can't say as to how much help Martha or I can be, but I can honestly say I'm happy to be of service if I can take part in bringing Lionel Luthor down a couple pegs."

"Jonathan!" On Lex's right, Martha took possession of his other hand. "Sweetie, we'd be honored to help you set yourself up as your own man. Remember, I know how hard it can be to extricate yourself from the life your parents steer you towards."

"Thank you."

"Not to be that guy, but, can we eat now?"

Jonathan let out a hearty chuckle at Clark's interjection, and Lex let a flow of gratitude seep through the bond at the welcome change of subject. He'd had as much emotional outpouring as he could handle for one night; he wasn't built for this level of unquestioning care. 

"Alright, Clark. Dig in."

Dinner was eaten in a flurry of busy talk, discussions about the farm and Clark's encroaching graduation. The meatloaf was easily one of the best dishes Lex had ever eaten, simply for the love with which it was made. Clark talked animatedly with his parents, laughing and smiling, and making sure to pull Lex into the conversation whenever he seemed to be drawing back in on himself. Before he knew it, plates were cleared away, and Lex was being ushered over to the living room and maneuvered onto the couch beside Clark as Martha set about serving dessert.

While Martha and Jonathan were in the kitchen, Clark leaned in close against Lex's side, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek.

"See? No shotgun. I told you it would be okay."

"Am I dreaming? Has your dad really accepted me as more than that Luthor boy? Pinch me, Clark. Ouch."

"Clark!"

"Sorry, Mom, he asked me to!"

Martha gave an exasperated sigh as she rounded the couch, hands full of plates laden with large slices of pie. Cherry. With heaping scoops of vanilla ice cream on top. Lex flicked his eyes over towards Clark, and they both had to stifle the laughter building up in their chests. Martha caught their smirks and winked at Lex as she handed the boys their desserts. Jonathan followed behind her with a service tray of coffee mugs, cream, and sugar.

As Martha and Jonathan sat down with their own slices, Lex couldn't help but ask the question that had been dancing on his tongue since Jonathan's speech. 

"So, does this mean you're now amenable to presents?"

Caught off-guard, Jonathan let out a short bark of laughter around the mouthful of pie he'd just taken. Swallowing the bite with a shake of his head, he waved his fork in Lex's direction.

"Within reason. Speaking of, I take it that those clothes Clark's got on is a birthday gift?"

Clark looked over at Lex and decided to field this one himself, not wanting the other young man to say too much and end up bringing about even more questions.

"It's part of it. Lex got rid of everything in that room, Dad." Jonathan turned his gaze to Clark, his eyes questioning. Lex, for his part, busied himself with his pie, allowing Clark to take the lead. "He knew how his inquisitive streak was damaging our friendship, so he destroyed all the stuff he'd been collecting from all the weird goings on around town. And, he turned the room into a kinda guest room for me. These were in the closet."

Clark thought it best not to mention that there was also a room just for him at the penthouse, not wanting Jonathan to become too curious. 

"Well. Thank you, Lex. I hope you don't expect Clark to be using that room too often. Even during the summer, we'll still need him around the house to help with the farm."

"Yes, sir." Lex didn't really plan on Clark using the room he'd set up for him that much at all, now that things between them had changed so dramatically. 

After coffee and pie, and a refusal of help with the dishes, Lex thanked the Kents for the meal, and the sentiment that had been extended, and followed Clark out to the barn. His head full of emotion, his and Clark's, he was happy to be pulled into Clark's warm embrace once they'd reached the privacy of the loft. 

"It's definitely been an unexpected twenty-four hours, Clark."

"In a good way, I hope?"

"In the best way." Lex snaked a hand around the back of Clark's neck and pulled him into a kiss, their tongues meeting and moving against each other slowly, softly, neither of them really looking for more than just this. 

Breaking the kiss when he inevitably felt his body begin to respond, Clark pressed his forehead against Lex's. 

"I feel a bit guilty, not telling Jonathan about us. Especially now that he's finally starting to warm up to me."

"Don't. I'm eighteen now, I have a right to privacy when it comes to my sex life."

Clark let out a chuckle as he heard a voice floating out from the house.

"Mom's warning me not to stay up too late."

"Guess that's my cue, then. Did you want to come over tomorrow?"

"I'm meeting Lana at the Talon to study, but we can meet up there and hang out until she arrives? Mom'll be off shift before we even get close to finishing, so Lana was going to drive us back. Maybe you could drive me home instead?"

"It's a date. The Talon's probably a safe bet since we're there all the time anyway. Say, two-ish?"

Clark agreed and they slowly made their way back down to Lex's car. 

"Can I come over once they're all asleep?"

"Clark…"

"Please? It'll be hard enough sleeping on that couch, alone, after how amazing it was sleeping with you in my arms last night."

Lex sighed. He knew it would be hard for him, too. 

"Fine. But, only for a few minutes. I don't feel like tempting fate just yet."

Looking around for any observers, Clark quickly kissed Lex in thanks, a smile bright on his face in the darkening light. Lex started the car and reversed until he could turn around, Clark watching him as he drove down the dirt road back towards the mansion. The soft smile on his own lips stayed in place until he turned the ignition off, the shroud of loneliness of the empty castle falling around him. He felt a nudge of comfort from Clark as he walked through the drafty stone hallways to his room, and stripping out of his clothes, he let the exhaustion of such a whirlwind day lull him to sleep until Clark could slip into bed beside him. He knew it was more than likely that once Clark was in his room, neither of them would want him to leave until the last possible minute. 

~~~~~~~~~

@leatafandom

[jimin-bangtan]

BTS Fandom

Reposting again... BTS love each other. You cannot sincerely say you love one member of BTS then hate and damage another member who they love and call family. That is not love.

I found BTS rather late but have spent a lot of time catching up with content - original content.  There is some older content that is not my cup of tea and some that is very cringy to me. Much of that was before they had a better footing about what they were and were no longer willing to do.  However, overall you can learn something about human nature or about the guys and their talents and relationships with each other in all of the footage they have released. The more I learn about them and their journey, the more impressed I am with them and all that they endured, did, and achieved.

The most disappointing thing about BTS is how can a group that drew me in with their positivity and acceptance have a fandom that is so ... rough?  I am an older adult and have never experienced a fandom like this. I don't even get into the battles that I witness and it still feels a bit stressful to navigate around the infighting, harsh comments, arguing that I see.  With the strength and support I've seen BTS' fans used to help the guys succeed throughout their career, I am certain the majority of the fans are passionate, loving, well-meaning supporters, but squeaky wheels get the oil, as they say, and I wonder how BTS fans are seen from the outside, if I, on the inside, am stunned and discouraged at times by the activity.  

Granted, unlike the Internet era, fans before couldn't communicate as much with each other within the fandom. This means that outside forces would also not have had as many opportunities to infiltrate the fandom and negatively affect the atmosphere. We also never were allowed into the lives and world of the entertainers before the way BTS has let us into theirs.

Sadly, if I were an entertainer today, I think I would learn from watching BTS and perhaps not expose as much to the public. That is sad because responsible and caring fans would miss out on really getting to know their favorite artist. The artist would miss out on the positive, motivating connections with their true fans. Also, it is probably not even the majority of BTS' fans that are causing the stink and, in fact, some of the noise, I believe, is from people not even fans of BTS at all. There have always been people wanting to sabotage BTS' progress and achievements.  

I do wish the company and BTS had been more proactive in addressing the fandom's toxic side throughout the decade, but I blame the company more than the guys. They were busy and young and were pioneering their path as it happened. They had no other examples to follow.  The company seemed to walk a tightrope between benefitting from the toxicity (and sometimes overexposure) and trying at times to at least act as though they were protecting their financial assets.  Even now, with BTS' legacy firmly in place, I do not see the company leaning in to aggressively help bring some peace or at least expectations to the forefront. It's possible they've done more than I realize. I am only speaking from what I can tell. Anyway, I hope that this break for military service gives not only the guys time to reset, develop, and strengthen, but I hope it also gives the fandom time to reset, cleanse, and unite for the sake of BTS and all they have worked to establish.

I'm looking forward to a Chapter 3 with everyone on the same footing of *fighting* for BTS's longevity & continued success rather than fighting each other.

[voidstilesplease]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💖

Laura, thank you so much for sending this to me even though I haven't written any new fic in a while 🥺. And also, I know this was forever ago but... better late than never? Anyway, here's my favorite 5; four of these are one shots, and one published WIP.

can't believe his luck - steo | 11.5k | 1/1 | T | tags: au - a/b/o dynamics, friends to lovers, werefox!stiles, werewolf!theo

summary: Stiles, Theo, a treehouse, two gold rings, and three hundred sixty-five volumes of Stiles's favorite manga.

notes: this was the last fic I wrote for the ship that wasn't a ficlet for my a-z collection :'( this was written in january

cardinal sins - steo | 4.9k | 1/1 | M | tags: canon divergence, canon-typical violence, supernatural mercenaries!chimera pack, supernatural deadpool, seven deadly sins au

summary: Stiles, Theo, and the vices to end all vices.

notes: this will always own my heart simply for being one of my earlier fics in the fandom. also, the concept of the seven deadly sins, man. it's just perfect for steo <3

enthralled - steo | 4.2k | 1/1 | E | tags: au - vampire, blood kink, prostitution, vampire thrall

summary: “An entire month,” Stiles knew he must look awful - crying like a scorned lover. “You cut me off for an entire month.” But he was done pretending that he wasn’t afraid, because he was scared shitless. Not of Theo – never of Theo and what he was, and what he was capable of doing. But of Theo having enough of Stiles not being enough for him. How could he be remarkable enough for Theo, when he would still be young and beautiful as Stiles withered and died?

“You’re my whore, Stiles,” Theo answered, so casually cruel. “Not my lover.”

notes: this was written to satisfy my vampire lust. also, @its-tea-time-darling read this and thought theo was a vampire in the show. how could this ever not be one of my favorites now just for this reason?

you bet Chiron made new rules after this - steo | 1k | 1/1 | T | tags: au - demigods, demigod!stiles, demigod!theo, camp half-blood, part 8 of the demigod series

summary: In response to: This is weird but a demigod prompt: "we can save water by showering together" after training or capture the flag or a camp tournament maybe.

OR

Theo should've known better than to taunt his boyfriend.

notes: teen wolf x percy jackson. seriously, i had the time of my life writing every single one of the ficlets in this series, but this one in particular stood out. idk. maybe bec i have a shower kink or smth.

there you are, and i run - steo | 32.5k | 5/? | M | tags: au - hogwarts, magic, witches & wizards, slytherin!stiles, durmstrang!theo, triwizard tournament

summary: Whatever the case was, Stiles had concluded to better forget about that night. After all, they might not even see each other in four years, right? He only told his best friend, Scott, about it. But he didn't have to worry about Scott blabbering because he was too preoccupied with his relationship. Stiles could even claim that he was succeeding in his quest to cleanse his memory of the one-night-stand until, of course, the announcement of the Triwizard Tournament.

notes: i need to do lots of editing in this fic, and idk when i can post any update, but this still holds a special place in my heart. harry potter is one of the best things that ever happened in my life, like percy jackson, so being able to drag my teen wolf otp into this world secures a place in my favorites by default.

oops. sorry this got longer than i anticipated.✌️

[terminaxshowtime]

Termina's Fanfic Ideas!

Because I thought it would be cool to write them down somewhere.

For ones that I may write in the future, I will try to avoid spoilers, but I don't care too much about scrapped ideas so you can use them if you find them interesting enough. Most of them are crossovers, though, so yeah.

Don't have that many at the moment but I'll add more here as time goes on!

Scrapped Fic Ideas

1. "A Smoke to Cleanse Our Souls" (I think that's what it was called. I can't find the document :/)

Fandoms: Friday Night Funkin' x Madness Combat

Summary: Here!

2. "Let the Undead Beware, Too!"

Fandoms: Undertale x Genshin Impact (Never written for Genshin before...)

Summary: Two skeletons get lost on the wrong side of Wuwang Hill. A particular starry-eyed funeral director has her eyes on them.

"Come on, I'll help you pass over! What? The afterlife? No, no, pass over the hill, silly! I'm not going to kill you! Hehe, can skeletons even die anyways? Maybe we should find out!"

"let's not."

"Awww, you're such a party pooper!"

(What the summary says. Basically an AU where the UT and Genshin universes are the same, monsters are free from the underground and Papyrus and Sans accidentally end up on Wuwang Hill in the middle of the night. At first, Hu Tao, being Hu Tao, did what she used to try to do to Qiqi- bury them, cuz they're already dead. Of course, she quickly warms up to them and realizes that they're not... dead. So this is just crack and fluff.)

Unused Fic Ideas (May write in future)

1. "Mind Games"

Fandom: Gravity Falls (However, this is also heavily inspired by "Friday Night Funkin': Mind Games" but I wouldn't call it a crossover. More of an AU. Although the Dearests are here.)

Summary: With Stanley being pronounced dead years ago and nobody else to trust, Stanford struggles to find a place to hide his final journal, and worst of all, Bill still has free access to his mind whenever he sleeps, making him hit a complete roadblock. Until, one day, he hears rumours of a real, actual psychic who could help him with his dream demon problem, who is apparently taking temporary residence for a job- somewhere in Oregon.

Meanwhile, Stanley is doing great, or as great as he could. Despite the fact that he's made millions from his service to the Dearests, he's still too afraid to show his face to his family, especially since he had to erase his identity in order to be able to keep his job. His employers assigned him yet another dream demon problem- those had been popping up more and more recently- but who was he to complain? He was doing just great, after all. Even if it was a little lonely.

(Or: Psychic!Stan AU based off of FNF Mind Games. There's A LOT of details and lore here, and psychics work MUCH DIFFERENTLY THAN TRADITIONALLY, but I'll have to make a separate post for this. I can't describe too much of what happens in this fic without there being spoilers. Just watch this.)

Fics which I am writing but have not published yet

1. "Burning in Hell"

Fandom: Friday Night Funkin' x Undertale (Cuphead and BATIM are mentioned as this is based off of this fantastic mod!)

Summary/Excerpt:

Boyfriend hissed, barely dodging the attack as the edge of the Gaster Blaster's laser beam singed his shoulder, taking off a good chunk of his HP and causing the red heart representing his chest to flicker as he took damage.

While he wasn't weak enough to collapse from the pain, per se, it didn't mean that he didn't falter, and he paused for a moment, just to catch his breath if not for another reason.

"Just keep attacking," A voice in his head Boyfriend could distinctly recognize as not his own murmured, the tone comforting at first, yet something about how they spoke put him on edge. "Just let me take control, let them get the ending they want, and you can go home to your girlfriend. You want that, don't you?"

H...Home?

G-Girlfriend...?

He had forgotten what his true goal was, having been blinded by curiosity. He wasn't supposed to be making friends. He was supposed to be trying to survive, to get back to his own universe where he was supposed to be...

How had he forgotten that?

If whoever this was could truly offer him this, then...

Remembering what he had lost, and equally tempted by the offer, Boyfriend obliged.

(Or: The Genocide Route of Friday Night Funkin': Indie Cross, from the point of view of a confused Post-Pacifist run Boyfriend. One-shot. Title of the fic and the fic itself based off this banger of a song.)

2. "Bonedoggle"

Fandom: Undertale x Friday Night Funkin' (Once again, based off of this mod!)

Summary/Excerpt:

"HUMAN! SO YOU REFUSE TO FIGHT... BUT INSTEAD... YOU WANT TO SING SOME TUNES????"

Boyfriend happily beeped in confirmation, causing Papyrus' eye sockets to widen, but he continued grinning nonetheless.

"NYEHEHEHEHEH! WELL, THE GREAT PAPYRUS NEVER BACKS DOWN FROM A CHALLENGE! I SHALL ENGAGE IN YOUR ART OF... EHH... WHAT WAS IT? RAP BATTLING? RATTLING? AND THEN I SHALL CAPTURE YOU, AND BECOME PART OF THE ROYAL GUARD!" Papyrus was practically glowing as his scarf blew in the wind which came from... somewhere, enthusiasm and determination clear in his voice.

Boyfriend flashed a side glance to Sans for permission, who shrugged and gave him a look which said, 'just go with it.'

Facing back to the taller brother, he beeped once more in agreement, making the other laugh once more.

"SPLENDID!! NOW... PREPARE YOURSELF... TO BE MINDBLOWN!!"

(Or: After the pacifist run of Indie Cross, Boyfriend somehow returns to the Underground in a different timeline, yet Sans still remembers him from their time together. After being stuck in Snowdin after a particularly bad snowstorm, he's been tasked by his newfound friend to entertain his brother. Prequel to the aforementioned fic, Burning in Hell.)

[deniigi]

my supervisor fucked me over with all my other coworkers present. can I request a one shot from you to cheer me up featuring Sammy?

Did I give y’all the fic about the hotpot?

Well if I didn’t, I’m giving it to you now.

Title: hotpot

Summary: Ganke checks the comments for the Blindspot comic daily and there’s this one asshole anon who keeps talking shit about BT.

--

The Blindspot comic went live in the fall and Ganke couldn’t stop checking the hit count every five seconds. All night there had only been ten hits.

He told himself not to be disappointed. The only person who really mattered had read and loved the comic.

Miles said that BT had even forced everyone on the team to read an abridged version of Journey to the West, and had gone as far as to make a quiz to determine everyone’s character.

Miles refused to disclose who he’d gotten.

BT had clearly rigged the game to make himself Sun Wukong and Ganke was proud of him.

That kind of enthusiasm was exactly what he’d been hoping for, anything else now was just icing on the cake.

Even though it would be cool if it wasn’t just BT reading his own comics.

That would be pretty cool, right? Like. If people online all started reading BT’s comic. That would be sort of amazing.

Kind of excellent.

Definitely worthy of an A+ and double pats on the back.

Right?

The hit counter didn’t think so. But hey, five more people had opened the page since last night. That was something, wasn’t it?

 MM: dude why not just ask Sam to tweet out the link?

 How dare you, Miles Morales.

How dare you waltz into this place with logical thought.

GL: I can’t do that. That’s like. Idk. Inflating the views.

MM: okay yeah explain to me how appealing to the person in control of the largest part of his own fandom is inflating the views

GL: I see your logic and I’m banishing it

MM: I’m messaging him

GL: DON’T

MM: too late

MM: he says ‘gimme link’

GL: asdksjsjdks

--

 @blindspot: hi I know y’all can’t get enough of me to the point of asking shockingly invasive questions and for you I say good news! Some amazing folks have gone through the trouble of making a Blindspot comic. it’s good guys check it out [link]

--

 It helped.

A lot.

It helped a lot.

--

 People, on the whole, had great things to say. The panels were screenshotted and tagged and sent all over social media and even though Miles was pretending to be chill and aloof about the whole thing, Ganke could imagine him smiling big and bright and white at his phone non-stop.

Mom and Auntie saw a few of the bits on Twitter and tittered over them in the kitchen like pigeons.

The pride rose like a wave. Ganke kept waiting for the crash.

--

 It came two days later in the form of a comment that read ‘Christ, look at all this fuss. BT is fine. I hate his brother.’

It felt like someone punching the wind out of Ganke’s lungs.

He took comfort in the handful of people who leapt in to shout down the commenter. They emphasized that if the anonymous commenter didn’t like the story or the characters, then they didn’t have to read it and they, especially, didn’t have to say anything about it.

Ganke appreciated those guys. He got the feeling that a lot of the people on there knew that the whole thing had been done but a couple of kids.

Not that Anon cared.

Anon replied to all these comments ‘No, I’m gonna keep reading, thanks. Anyways, the brother is lame. The smart part is cool, but why’s it always gotta be a guy?’

The part that haunted Ganke even after he’d shut his laptop and had gone to stick his head out the window for some big breaths of cleansing air was that Anon was kind of right.

--

 GL: should we have made Guotin’s brother a sister?

MM: no

GL: why not?

MM: cause BT’s always wanted a brother

 Oh.

Okay. Then it was fine?

 MM: yeah man ignore them. it’s chill.

GL: k thanks my ego is huge and fragile

MM: trust me I know

 Asshole. Fine, moving right along.

--

 It didn’t stop. Anon commented on every page. Every. Single. Page.

Ganke didn’t know what to do or say. On the one hand, clearly this person was dedicated and deeply engaged with the comic, on the other hand, they needed a Rude Alert button. Ganke wondered if Ned could code one for them and them only.

The latest of their fury was directed at the big reveal in the second issue—BT’s face.

Having now met Sam, BT, Blindspot, Ganke’s whole image of him had changed.

He was not conventionally attractive as far as like, K-Pop idols and famous Chinese dudes went. His eyes were puffy and narrow and his face was round everywhere but the jaw. He leaned more towards ‘cute’ than ‘sexy,’ which Ganke sort of loved about him.

He was friendly. Stressed and grumpy and feisty as hell, yeah, but first and foremost friendly.

Miles claimed that he called it his ‘number one asset in employability.’ Which was wild because hello, Blindspot.

Obviously, BT couldn’t help his face. But Miles and Ganke could help Guotin’s.

Ganke had sent Miles about fifteen different images of Chinese celebrities and had told him to do his worst. They’d reviewed the final few drafts and had picked one that was most like a young Chen Kun. His face was more oval-shaped than BT’s. His chin and lips were slimmer but more defined. He was pretty, but not so pretty as to be called ‘feminine,’ which Ganke thought was a solid compromise between ‘handsome as sin’ and ‘looks like he’s got a quirky sense of humor.’

Anon hated him.

Anon thought that he looked like an idol, and they were not here for it.

They told ‘the artist’ to give him a mole or something, anything to make him look ‘less pristine. God, I can smell him from here and he smells like Dior and staph habitat.’

Ganke had to look up what a staph infection was. He regretted it. He asked Miles if they should censor Anon.

Miles said ‘mmmmm, idk it’s not like they aren’t saying anything that isn’t true.’

Ganke resented that. Clearly this was defamation of BT. This person hated him and was taking their feeling out on the comic.

 MM: I mean yeah but it’s not like they’re talking about the comic, man. They’re talking about the style and like, thinking about it, a mole or smth to help you tell him apart from other folks would kind of be helpful. Like, especially if we ever put him in a crowd, you know?

 HHHHHH.

Fine.

Anon could stay. But they were on thin ice.

--

 It was hard not to be bitter about Anon’s comments, especially when they arrived daily, as though Anon knew exactly what they were doing and which page they’d left off at. They couldn’t possibly be reading the comic one page at a time, this was intentional.

Ganke’s jaw hurt from all the tooth grinding he’d endured as of late.

This latest one read ‘yo, has BT ever mentioned fighting with a sword? I don’t recall him mentioning. Someone should take that thing away from him before someone loses an eye—or maybe even two.’

That felt like a pointed jibe.

That turned the churning irritation in Ganke’s gut into something much, much colder.

Did Anon know about BT’s black and blue eyes? How could they know? Was it a coincidence? It seemed to be more than a coincidence.

The pile of critiques was growing bigger and bigger, and now that Ganke thought about it, they all seemed to take issue with things that didn’t match the real Blindspot’s personality.

It was as if they knew him.

 GL: miles did you read the new comment from AnonTheAsshole?

MM: lol yeah

GL: tell me if I’m talking out my ass or whatever but like

GL: you don’t think they could be Muse, could they?

 Silence.

 MM: oh no

 Yeah. Fuck.

 MM: chances are low.

GL: they know so much tho??

MM: might be stalker? Maybe someone who’s over-invested in BT’s social media pages?

GL: maybe.

MM: hold on let me ask Spidey to screen it

GL: does he know Muse?

MM: no, but he’s paranoid and he’ll get Wade to be paranoid with him, and then they can decide whether its worth giving to DD for verification. He knows Muse.

 Ganke’s head was spinning. His fingers shook with guilt and the thought of Muse’s pale body hunched over a secret, cracked cell phone in a high security prison who knew where.

In Ganke’s head, he smiled wider and wider, until the skin on his cheeks cracked. He dug out scraps of paper and redrew Blindspot—Sam—with gaping holes for eyes and a screaming mouth and he drew dismembered corpses in black lakes and he laughed.

He just kept laughing.

 MM: hey ganke

MM: it’s going to be okay. It’s just a comic. I’m sure AnonTheAsshole is a stalker. They’re not threatening anyone.

MM: Sam can deal with a stalker. And we can too, okay?

 There was a reason that Miles was a hero. Ganke wiped at his eyes and swallowed.

 GL: okay. Thanks for doing that.

MM: 👍🏾

--

 It took a few hours because Spidey and Deadpool had lives outside of being Spidey and Deadpool, but not so long that Ganke ran out of nails to chew.

Miles messaged him back and said that Spidey had read through everything and ‘escalated it.’ This meant that whatever he’d seen had caused him enough concern to take it to DP.

Miles said that he’d get back to Ganke with DP’s verdict as soon as he had it. In the meantime, he’d run the comments by the other Spideypeople and they thought that it most likely wasn’t malevolent but was maybe something to keep an eye on in the meantime. He tacked onto all, somewhat stiltedly, that he had a weird feeling all of the sudden. The pink Spidey’s tone had changed. She’d shut down and gone cagey, which allegedly wasn’t like her at all. Then she’d told the taller guy to DM her and they’d vanished from the chat. Miles wasn’t sure what was going on there or if maybe they knew something about stuff going on that he didn’t, but he wasn’t super comfortable with it.

 GL: crossing my fingers its nothing?

MM: same man, same.

--

 DP escalated it.

Ganke couldn’t stay still in his room. There was no comfortable place to sit or stand or lay. There was nothing to do that would make him stop thinking about everything.

 MM: It’s gonna be fine, man, DD always knows what to do.

 Miles kept saying that for every step of the way, and yet here they were. Double escalated. Ganke wasn’t so sure he even knew what was happening anymore.

That was scary. Miles was supposed to be part of the in-crowd.

 MM: Wade doesn’t think it’s anything that can’t be nipped in the bud.

 That was easy for a contract assassin to say, wasn’t it?

 MM: he says that you and I are fine. Doesn’t see any links there. Waiting on DD for confirmation of tone.

 Hurry up, Daredevil. Your apprentice’s life might be about to take a nosedive into a heap of trash.

--

 Two hours. One text.

 MM: >:/

 Ganke couldn’t contain the bubble of laughter.

 GL: good news?

MM: [image]

 He opened it.

 SC: HANNAH YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE. STOP BEING A BITCH ON MAIN

HC: You can’t tell me what to do

SC: I CAN

HC: Mom he’s being MEAN

SC: Mom she’s scaring children online

HC: I scare children everywhere I go why are these ones special???

SC: Because I said so

HC: that doesn’t fucking work Samuel you’re not her

SC: I am your older brother

SC: your ELDEST brother

HC: YOU AINT SHIT

SC: THEY DON’T COUNT

SC: HALFSIES COUNT

 What.

 MM: so.

MM: she’s not Muse.

MM: Red’s laughing his ass off at all of us for taking this to a level three

GL: wait I don’t understand

MM: Hannah is Sam’s little sister. She’s found a new hobby in our website.

 Blindspot’s little sister was reading the comic??? Holy shit.

 GL: she hates him?

MM: no I’ve been informed that they would literally commit murder for each other but this is how they express love.

 No way. Siblings were wild.

 GL: so we’re good?

MM: [image]

  SC: apologize 🔪

HC: eat my ass

SC: apologize or else

HC: or else what? You gonna come in here and sit on me? Huh? Huh????

SC: I know your email password. All 3 you cycle through. What was his name? Uuuuuuuuuh Jing?

HC: you fucking bastard

SC: Hi Jing, it’s me, Hannah. I’ve been in mad crush with you since sophomore year. Please notice me senpai 😖

HC: Die

SC: kill me

HC: I will.

 The giggles that came this time were a mix of relief and genuine intrigue. This lady read the comic every day. She took the time to scroll through pictures of her brother being an absolute lunatic and fighting with a huge monkey. Then she hopped into that comment box and took him—not Miles, not Ganke, specifically Blindspot--down a peg.

She must miss him a lot. Ganke wondered if this was her way of keeping him in her thoughts.

 MM: I don’t think we’re getting a sorry, man. DD says Sam’s been at this all morning and has been tricked into apologizing himself twice

GL: so you’re saying that she’s an evil genius

MM: idk but she’s def Sam’s main nemesis. I always thought that older siblings got like, rights or something over younger ones, but idk anymore. Angel says this is normal.

GL: do you think she misses him?

 Miles took a long time to respond.

 MM: yeah

 Yeah, Ganke thought so, too.

 GL: should we change Guo tin’s brother’s name to ‘hamish?’

MM: ASDLDSDSFKdsjf

MM: one moment.

MM: sam says yes. Hannah says that she thinks our comic is shit and we need to draw everything uglier

GL: she’s kind of funny

MM: 👀perhaps she would like to be a consultant?

GL: 👀👀👀👀

MM: brb asking

MM: sam says no. Hannah says she’s got better things to do than proofread comics on the internet. She’s also not sorry. She wants that to be clear. DD says that the conversation has moved from English to Chinese and to maybe duck and cover for now. He says all is good tho. Thanks for checking in.

MM: Muse doesn’t use punctuation and talks in riddles, so if we get any of that, we’re supposed to send it to DP right away.

 Oh, nice. That was a relief.

 MM: oh

MM: sam wants to put us in a chat. Can I give him your number?

 Uh, only if he wanted Ganke to hyperventilate.

 GL: sure

 --

  [GL has been added to a Secure Chat]

 It was a page of characters and emojis that were somehow more menacing than Ganke had ever seen them before. Miles popped a little waving hand into the fray, as though testing the waters, but the characters just carried on scrawling around it.

Ganke wasn’t quite sure what to do.

 GL: hi? Are y’all okay?

 There was finally a pause. Then a few shorter lines of characters. And then finally, Blindspot switched from Chinese to English.

 SC: yes we’re FINE. We’re GREAT. Aren’t we, sibling from hell?

HC: who’re you? Why are you in our family chat? This is a family only zone, can’t you read?

SC: God Hannah he’s Korean don’t be a dick

HC: I can’t not be I learned it from you

SC: fair but pretend in the face of company

HC: okay fine. Hello losers.

MM: adksadfadsdfldfsldf

MM: hi

GL: hi?

SC: go on

HC: UGH

HC: fine

HC: I didn’t mean to shit talk your creation. Only my brother.

SC: also a sin, we’ll get to that later

HC: no one cares about you Samuel, stop spreading lies

SC: you first. We both know this is no lie, my white dad cares about me a whole lot

HC: well we can’t all have white dads now can we

SC: don’t be jealous

MM: lol you really call Matt your white dad??

HC: who is this person and how do they know our mutual parent’s name?

SC: this is not a mutual parent situation how many times have we been through this. He’s mine. Get your own.

MM: hi! 👋🏾I’m Bitsy! Spidey no. 4

GL: I’m his friend. He draws the comic. I write it.

HC: oh. nerd children x2

HC: anyways yeah Matt is our dad

SC: ffs

MM: he’s sort of dadly ig.

HC: ?? oho

SC: mind your face. Think about your face. Think about how much you like your face.

HC: little spider, did you not hear?

SC: kay everyone out. We’re done here

MM: hear what?

HC: lol Sammy you didn’t tell them about how Matthew Mcconaughey adopted you in all ways but paperwork?

 Ganke held his phone away from his face as far as it would go.

 MM: …wait are you for real?

SC: no. okay out.

HC: awwww Sammy so shy now. What are you embarrassed about? It’s cute.

SC: Hannah literally shut up I’m not playing

HC: damn okay sorry

MM: can I be honest?

SC: no

MM: I’m going to be anyways: I think we all sorta knew.

SC: …

HC: right?

SC: what does that even mean?

MM: idk, it just felt right, you know? You two are always fussing at each other and red lost his shit that time you got shot. He doesn’t treat you the way he treats the rest of us and we’re his teammates. He doesn’t even treat spidey like he treats you. So like, yeah. It fits.

MM: I’m really happy for you guys.

MM: is there a reason it’s a secret?

 Ganke eased himself back down onto the mattress. This was real. This was like, actual, real information. Something that he and like, four other people in the world now knew.

He kind of wanted to forget it. It didn’t feel right to know.

 SC: I dunno.

HC: if sam has an honest emotion towards anything he has to calculate its weight so he can make space for it in his collection of satellites.

MM: wh

SC: you’re so not funny.

HC: it’s called emotional repression, darling. It’s all the rage in this family.  

MM: oh

MM: so that’s why you and Red get on so well

SC: HHHHHHH

HC: HA

SC: okay but listen his is different, I’ve only seen him cry at his wedding. I cry at least 4 times a week. Obviously under the bed, but that can’t be emotional repression. That’s expression. That’s clearly expression

HC: I can make the old man cry watch me

SC: please don’t I’ll die

MM: awwwww

SC: shut up it doesn’t even matter.

MM: AWWWWWW

SC: LEAVE ALREADY

MM: no I like it here. I want to hear you talk about how much you love your white dad

SC: I don’t. He loves me. I’m fine with this because it results in food, shelter, and continued employment.

HC: uh huh

SC: I’m using him

HC: yeah because you’re like the most manipulative person I know.

SC: thank you

HC: /sarcasm

SC: I know I ignored it.

MM: so wait why do you actually pretend like you hate him tho?

SC: wh

SC: what the fuck am I supposed to do? Just go on up for a cuddle? Have you met Matt? The second someone starts crying, he finds trash to take out to the bins. Hell no. Life is easier for everyone if I stab him with a stick and he kicks my ass in training. It’s fine.

HC: Sam is learning how to be a Manly Man. This is step one.

SC: I’m plenty manly

HC: you’re what mom imagined as manly

SC: which is perfect. That’s all I need.

HC: mama’s boy

SC: must suck to suck, no one’s kid.

 Wow. Ganke had never been more glad that he didn’t have a sister.

 GL: That’s kind of cool, though.

GL: that you and DD are close like that I mean.

GL: Its different from all the other mentor/mentee superheroes we see who like, sort of hate each other.

SC: wh

SC: OH. you mean Peter and Kate. Peter doesn’t actually hate Stark, fyi. And Kate calls Hawkeye the Old bi-weekly to make sure he’s still breathing. It’s actually pretty normal.

MM: he doesn’t mean like that Sam. I mean, like those guys don’t associate with their Olds now that they’re grown up and stuff, but you and DD stick together. It’s like you’re family.

MM: and that’s super cool. Idk if Spidey would ever consider me family. I don’t think he wants that for us.

SC: I?

SC: oh shit

HC: CLARITY ON THIS FINE DAY. What was your name again, tiny spider?

MM: miles

HC: PRAISE BE TO MILES

HC: AN EMOTION WAS HAD

SC: get fucked

HC: An epiphany was obtained!

SC: would you shut up

HC: Something has finally permeated that non-porous, two-inch thick skull of my esteemed eldest brother

SC: I’m your only brother

HC: you’re not

SC: they don’t fucking count

HC: now will you FINALLY invite our mutual dad to hotpot?

SC: Hannah he doesn’t want to come to hot pot we’ve talked about this. it’s too spicy for him.

HC: I’ll make it 1/3 less spicy

SC: that’s still too spicy

HC: I’ll make it 2/5 less spicy

SC: 3/5

HC: listen

HC: I have all this fucking equipment that SOMEONE left here callously

MM: what’s hotpot?

SC: 👀

HC: 👀

GL: 👀

SC: well fuck

HC: EYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

GL: have we never taken you with us for hotpot???

MM: no?? is this the sticks?

HC: can be. Where do you live?

SC: Hannah no

HC: Hannah yes. We’ll make one here. You’ll make one there.

SC: do you know how much shit I’ll have to buy? Where are we gonna put it?

HC: this wouldn’t be a problem if you’d taken your goddamn inheritance with you to SF

SC: HHHHHH

MM: you guys are actually being serious?

HC: I am. I am here all on my lonesome. Abandoned by my only kin. I require enrichment.

SC: try doing your fucking homework

HC: did anyone hear something?

MM: lololololol I like you

HC: 😊

SC: wh

SC: oh no. No no no.

SC: you two don’t get to be friends

HC: come here bb pspspspspspsps

MM: I’m here

HC: got ‘im. Let’s have hotpot. Sammy send me resippy. We’ll do it together over video so I don’t fuck it up.

SC: I’ve got to go. This has been traumatizing.

HC: byeeeeeeeeeeee

HC: is he gone? Hell yeah, he’s gone.

HC: hey thanks for making that comic thing. It’s hella rad. He loves it. Mom used to call him Monkey when he was little.

GL: omg aw

HC: ikr? P cute. He misses her a lot so I think it brought back good memories. Anyways, I’m actually going to make hotpot. Come over and have some with me, it’s more fun with more people.

MM: you’re not joking

HC: nope, it’s been ages since your whole team has gotten together, right? Ask them to do it. I’m a shit cook, but Sam’ll show us how not to screw it up. And he’s playin’, he’s totally down to hang out with us. We never had more than three people. It’ll be new. Exciting. Enriching even.

MM: are you secretly a nice person, Hannah?

HC: the fuck do you mean ‘secret’??? I’m a delight.

MM: Okay I’ll ask the team and my mom

MM: ganke?

HC: 👀

 That—

Sounded kind of nice?

 GL: I’ll ask my mom.

HC: nice. You can tell them that it’s a friends dinner or whatever. Idc. I promise I’m not going to kidnap and murder you. I’ve got like, class and work and shit. I don’t have time for that.

MM: 👍🏾

GL: 👍🏼

HC: great here I’ll message you my number. This is legit our sibs chat so Sam’ll freak if you’re still here when he gets back.

MM: thank you! And sorry for thinking you were muse!!

GL: yeah that too

HC: lol np ttyl                                    

 That…had really just happened, hadn’t it?

Ganke needed to sit down even though he was already sitting down.

 GL: they’re so nice???

MM: ikr?

GL: are you actually going to ask your mom?

MM: Im gonna ask BT if its cool first. Then yeah. Why not? Our team really hasn’t gotten together in a minute. Everyone’s been super busy. It would be a nice change of pace, and if everyone brings smth then Hannah doesn’t have to pay for anything.

MM: ah, Sam says it’s okay. He says sorry his sister is weird and that he’ll make sure she doesn’t poison us.

GL: I kind of love her

MM: same

MM: okay will check in with the others. Talk to you later.

GL: yeah see you later

 Damn, at this rate, Ganke’s family was going to triple in size, and all thanks to a comic.

Before he left for downstairs, he made a note to make Guo tin’s brother snarkier.

[therosevest]

hi i'm gonna bitch in here but feel free to ignore me. i think folks on both the pro and anti-ro/nance sides are trying to add in more political meaning to each other's stances than are necessarily there. also one of the posts from a couple of days ago was like "ohh you don't like vickie because she's not as feminine or normal as nancy" and like! are we looking at the same person! i like vickie but she's not canonically gnc. she literally is dressed like molly ringwald. (1/2)

and it's safe to assume anyone shipping ROBIN with anyone probably doesn't have a huge issue with gnc/weird style or being a "weird" person! there's not a moral high ground between ro/nance and ro/ckie, it's just a matter of personal taste. they're all skinny, conventionally attractive white girls anyways. this argument is pointless :( anyways sorry to drop all this on you lol i wanted to put it somewhere (2/2)

hdjskgdksfjghg sorry i didn't mean to ignore this but the first part of this ask... i saw that post and had to go ee er ee er ee er (that's me trying to pretend to cleanse my eyes with a squeaky sound effect) like. HELLO? but yeah this is definitely a gigantic issue in the st fandom at large but esp with the lesbian ships and it's really only relevant in the case of b*lly? idk... personally i have had the thought several times recently that everyone talking about that show should have to shut up about it for at least a week and reflect. EXCEPT my fellow nancy stans/supporters u guys get a pass. but it's genuinely literally wholeheartedly not that real and there's an extent to which you can talk about a character and dynamics and other aspects of the story that intrigue you and analyze and all that jazz and have it be fun fandom stuff and then there's... the discourse that comes about on here all the time. it looks more stressful than fun and for what... but like why should the nancy haters get to say their truths so loudly with no response you know (that's my excuse for ever engaging). i genuinely blame the tiktokification of these discussions largely since that was growing between seasons 3 and 4. but deep down it's mostly lesbophobia/misogyny and/or like you said just. people trying to make everything an argument of morality when it's not necessary.

[asktheheirofslytherin]

(For mun) Thank you for being a non-toxic Bellamort shipper. I love your blog, the way you respond to asks while staying true to the character, the different relationships you've developed with RP blogs, and the meta posts in your own voice. I know it's always going to be a safe space.

TBH, I've struggled a bit to find people to follow who love this pairing because a couple of the more prominent ones can be very rude to non-shippers, treat their headcanons like facts, and/or reblog TERFs and other radfem nonsense. I love Bellamort in all its angst and toxicity but could do without the metas that treat their master/slave relationship (where the master routinely punishes or humiliates the partner for disobedience) like it's wholesome and empowering. One of these bloggers routinely berates other fans for "misinterpreting" canon while doing massive mental gymnastics to align the characters with what they want them to be. They are also radfem-adjacent, reblog TERFs, and push the interpretation that Voldemort was a feminist.

Don't get me wrong. I absolutely adore the character and make excuses for him all the time. I read several Voldemort ships (and really enjoyed your OC Cassie and the way you interpreted V). But not only is there no support for the feminist reading in canon, the structure of his organization and implied pureblood natalism/eugenic cleansing flat-out contradict it. Or perhaps the person doesn't realize fascism and feminism are diametrically opposed in their politics? I wouldn't have an issue if they didn't treat their headcanons as gospel and didn't try to reconcile their politics with what they ship -- that way lies frustration and much brainsquinting -- but they berate others without realizing they sound like a poster on r/iamverysmart.

And they're not the only one who sounds this way; it's a communication style that I've seen on other non-RP blogs that post about V and B. Anyway, it's off-putting to the HP community and makes us look bad on the site. Most importantly, TERF, radfem and "kink critical" rhetoric is a blight on a fandom that already has a massive creator problem. We don't need the fandom exacerbating that problem and making others feel unwelcome.

[[OOC: This ask has been sitting in my box for a couple of days, but I've been thinking about it a lot. Knowing that people see my blog as a safe place to go really means a lot - it is what I have always hoped I was building with this blog, and I am glad it is a reality. I also am thrilled that you actually took the time to look up my A03 when I had mentioned it, then read my fic, and now made a point to tell me how much you liked it! I cant get over how much that fills me with joy.

Fandom is one of the most amazing things that has ever happened to me, but at the same time, fandom can get...ruthless. People in fandom become attached to their headcanons, ideas, perceptions, and can get quite...combative. Especially the HP fandom right now, as we all grapple with and come to terms with the JKR nonsense.

(And to some degree, I can relate to that knee-jerk passion and defensiveness. When I was in high school, I actually was anti-bellamort and made excuses to hate her because I was jealous, lmaoooo.)

In terms of the Bellamort ship, it sounds like you have some issues with one blogger in particular. While that's unfortunate, it sounds like that individual is not going to change, and instead of engaging, trolling, or rage following, I do urge you to utilize the unfollow button with that blog.

(In terms of feminism, I personally feel as though pureblood society is inherently sexist because of its conservative values and traditions. I believe it is slowly evolving because of the shift in generations, and my personal HC is that Bella wormed her way into a fighting role and pioneered the way for female death eaters, and has influenced Voldemort's views on what women can and can not do for the better. Still, Bella also adheres to many of the strict rules of pureblood society; the importance of blood, the necessity of marriage, the family. I am sure she has some lingering conservative ideas regarding the role of women, as well.)

I believe everyone is welcome in fandom, and because of this, there is bound to be a variety of contradicting opinions. While no one has *the* number one opinion, (though I have my favorites and personal headcanons), it gets volatile when people see their thoughts as law and try to force their opinions, interpretations, and headcanons on others.

I've learned you cannot try to change other people. You can certainly let people know if they said something actually harmful (esp if they ask for criticism/input or seem to genuinely not know) and I also support engaging in a healthy exchange of ideas and banter, but ultimately, fandom only works if we treat differing opinions and one another with respect. This means unfollowing as needed, as in the case of TERF's.

Anyway, thank you so much for your ask, and your kind words about my blog, my voldy, and my fic. I hope you have a lovely new year. <3 ]]