#let's say this is for any law enforcement characters ( although if you can think of a way to spin things

[stillresolved]

"See the sign there?" He's pointing to it before he goes back to wiping the glass. "Doesn't matter if you're off duty. We don't serve cops here."

[tubbytarchia]

pause. zoom. enhance. good universe smallidarity being the one where joel isnt homophobic. i need to know more about your bad universe smallidarity joel <3

LMAO well "bad universe smallidarity" is how I interpret smallidarity personally. I know my following has been curated a lot by this point but I still get anxious to comment on it out in the open, so I'm just gonna: This is about characters. It's about characters. Hello I'm talking about characters and this says absolutely nothing about any relationships present in the real world and I wouldn't have it any other way than it is now. This is about characters and I am a big fucking fan of Jizzie, don't even doubt me (said in general, not to you lol)

Anyway. I made a long post about this before but it's a little bit cringe so I'm gonna try to sum my thoughts up again: I love analysing Joel's freak behavior and to me his character reads as homophobic but in a deeply closeted way. His relationship with Lizzie is extremely cute but I get more aroace vibes from it than anything honestly. Their characters would have gotten together because, it made sense to. "Hey we like each other, might as well get married" and good for them, but although they are cute and every now and then proclaim their love, it feels more like an obligatory sentiment to make to me, their characters within the Life series and other SMPs I've watched with them just don't strike me as a couple if you take away the specific terms they use that confirm it. Like honest to god someone can try and make a compilation of that and I'm willing to bet that the compilation of him and Jimmy being weird would be at least comparable in length. And frankly I don't think Lizzie gives much of a fuck anyway

Joel's treated Jimmy very undesirably in the past, main culprit being ESMP2, until out of nowhere he chooses to end their rivalry and proclaim them two best friends instead, which Jimmy very easily goes along with. This very sudden change in their relationship being enforced by Joel makes me think he came to some revelation and had a good think about it. That's a lie, he's bad at that, he probably had a meltdown instead and didn't know how to fix things other than to go tell Jimmy "hey lets be friends now and um impose new law". This is where he contributed to the Jimmy ecosystem (AKA the harmful environment and people that enforce the idea that Jimmy is inherently lesser than them) the most and then abruptly stopped. Instances of him belittling Jimmy one way or another still happen afterward but it really has changed and become both more lenient and less frequent. What has been a constant however is the weirdass homoerotic behavior

This since and before ESMP2, but it really gives vibes of someone in love but neglecting to acknowledge it and/or combating those feelings with vocal disapproval of any intimacy that could be inferred. He has a wife after all, in fact, he'll remind you every chance he gets. Joel has no problem indulging in and joking about more sexual approaches vs more affectionate ones. Eg, the neck kisses, calling Jimmy babe, having pillow talk with Tango and literally making a baby with both Jimmy and Sausage in ESMP. But anything affectionate makes him feel vulnerable and so that's a no-no. I have no good explicit examples for this other than the fact that he just doesn't engage in affectionate engages/jokes much (not even with Lizzie) and him refusing to hold Jimmy's hand in SL. It's all jokes, and if it does get too sus, no worries, he can always just proclaim "I have a wife!!" as a no-homo safety net. But methinks he's just in denial. Unfortunately when he starts to grapple with his feelings I think he becomes homophobic and has probably called himself every slur out there. It'd make sense to me given how he often acts around Jimmy. It's not that he has anything against the concept of gay, he just doesn't know how to handle himself being gay

But, along with him trying to step out of the ecosystem and instead wanting to support Jimmy, he's also become more open to intimacy? For lack of a better word. He's been much less outward about his interactions with Jimmy being jokes, eg the RL and WL kisses where they're both just fucking soft about it man and just carry on, or him declaring himself to just be flirting with Jimmy to Gem and Scar in WL with no caveat. Still, Joel absolutely can't express genuine love or care in any conventional manner to Jimmy which hmm. Why might that be... WL puts Joel's worry for Jimmy to the forefront where he is VERY vocally upset about almost each of Jimmy's deaths but can't express this to him any other way than to call him a loser. Other people might hear of his worry (eg Gem) or he'll defend Jimmy to them (disapproving of the premature grave people built for him in SL. This in general is really important in signifying his departure from the ecosystem by disapproving of others within it). He is very nice to Jimmy, like in WL (especially considering Jimmy's several attempts at killing him for no real reason) but only outside of vocal confirmation

This is why in the smallidarity compilation I included clips like him in Phasmo just saying he was worried about Jimmy TO Jimmy because this fucker never says that so this is substantial material for me. It's character development, maybe he's slowly exiting the closet and coming to terms with his feelings and that he can be "vulnerable". Anyway that's why I label him homophobic but the point is that he really does care Jimmy a lot and he's been much better to him and by virtue less homophobic towards himself

[eugenedebs1920]

To those of us who still hold reverence to the Constitution of the United States, to those of us who still believe in the rule of law, and that in this country we have no kings, the judiciary is real and accountability is key for a civil society, things can seem bleak.

Of late there has been one man in particular who skirts any accountability, whether him personally taking responsibility for his words and actions, or under the law, with his stall tactics, unethical lawyers, and stacking the odds in his favor.

It’s important to remember that the power resides in us, we the people.

I’m decades too young to have been there for the civil rights movement, and all the struggle, pain and hardship that those fighting for their freedom endured. Yet I enjoy reading and learning about the history of our country, to better understand the present.

Think of how disheartening it must have been at times. When sitting congressmen, local and state officials, law enforcement, your fellow citizens were against you, they didn’t believe you were worthy of the same rights as them, that you were somehow less than them. Yet they never gave up. They kept up the pressure, they kept up the fight, they insisted upon their cause.

This moment doesn’t compare, as most moments don’t in one way or another. Each generation has its own battles to fight, principles it stands for, causes it must defend.

Today we stand on a precipice of autocracy, our founding documents ever closer to losing relevance, our rights slowly being eroded. But we can do this. We are strong. We are intelligent. We are many.

Don’t let the loudest voices in the room drown out the whispers of hope. For those obnoxious loudmouths are only that extreme because they don’t have the numbers we do. Their volume and absurdity is to mask the fear they have of losing in this moment.

In my heart of hearts I know that there are more good and decent people than there are bigots and fascists. That the true patriots of this country, who believe in the Constitution, who believe in equality, who believe in freedom, in liberty, in America are the overwhelming majority.

So don’t get down. Know you aren’t alone. That if we don’t give up, we will win. Justice will prevail. Freedom will overpower tyranny. Love will conquer hate.

Below is a letter I wrote to my Senators and Representative. You are only allowed X amount of characters so I had to kinda squeeze a lot into a finite amount of space. Write your representatives, let them know what you think. Or copy and paste this. The more pressure they feel, the more likely they are to do something that’s moral and adheres to the true American values.

Dear Congressional representative. What line needs to be crossed in order for you to uphold your oath and defend the Constitution of the United States? It doesn’t seem to be clear violations of the 14th amendment section 3. Or the rescinding of the 14th amendment section 1. For all the bluster on 1st amendment protections your claims fall short when universities are being dictated as to what they can and can’t teach, or what can or can’t be protested against. Don’t get me wrong, I find the pro-Hamas protests despicable, but under the first amendment (if it still means anything) they have the right to do it. Your so called 1st amendment absolutism falls short when pushing for publicly funded religious schools (although I have not directly heard you call for such lately). The assault on any press organizations that would dare report on this administrations questionable doings is a blatant affront on the 1st amendment, you have neglected to protect that. What about your silence, or defense for the disregard when it comes to the 4th-8th amendments? You have been complicit in the utter corruption being perpetrated in contrast to Article 1, section 9, clause 8. That being the luxury jet, the crypto scheme, the publicly traded DJT stock, the trump towers all across the globe, Trump golf courses, bringing the PGA to the White House, holding White House receptions for the largest holders of Trump’s meme coin. The list could go on. You have abandoned your power of the purse so obviously granted under Article 1 of the Constitution. Why? One man should not be allowed to destabilize our economy, and the world economy, while enriching himself, his family and his cronies on a whim. So ask again. When are you planning on serving your constituents, protecting and defending the Constitution of the United States, and simply supporting America? These actions are not without consequences. For Trump, for his associates, and for you. This is a democratic representative constitutional republic, not a monarchy or an autocratic dictatorship. We would all appreciate proper representation through you. We would all appreciated adherence to the Constitution. We would all appreciate the following of the law. If that means articles of impeachment, so be it. We do not have kings in America. Period. Full stop. Show your allegiance to this country, its principled documents, and its people. Thank you.

[fandomtrash-whataboutit]

Fairy Tail Freed Justine Thesis

Part 1 (of ???)

Magic

The most detailed explanation I have found describes Freed’s magic as having two distinct parts: Dark Ecriture and Jutsu Shiki. The former is responsible for everything enacted on people, things like Pain, literally inflicting pain, and Darkness and Absolute Shadow (we’ll come back to this. Jutsu Shiki is responsible for the barriers of all kinds, both from season 1 and season 9.

First, and most important, point: what got me started on this insanity? Well, when activating Jutsu Shiki on several occasions, the terminology is ‘Enchatment Activated’ in the English dub and similar vocabulary across the board. But,,, Wendy’s magic is enchanting? To make a long story much shorter, I agonized until I came to a true epiphany: Wendy enchants people and objects, whereas Freed enchants TIME AND SPACE.

Let’s talk about that. Freed’s enchantments are, for the most part, absolute, but I can’t just leave it at that. As far as I can tell, there are two (main?) types of barriers: those that are laid out ahead of time and those that need to be maintain. The former of which are ones that are absolute. As of season 1, Freed is able to keep Makarov himself contained without any strain. For further clarification, the absolute barriers are presumably laid ahead of time and have set rules once activated. The maintainable barriers are presumably shorter notice and/or covering much larger areas, resembling magic shields. Very significantly, I would like to clarify the unintentional details of this magic to desperately try to justify how insane I am about Freed. Thus far I have explained the steps in my thinking so I would hope to justify the assumptions I have had to make because this awesome character has been sidelined. Operating under the assumption that Freed is enchanting space itself (and what else am I supposed to assume?) that means that in the areas that Freed enchanted (think those squares and rectangles in the battle of fairy tail) are spaces in which Freed has absolute domination over the laws of reality in every cubic millimeter of space within his runes.

And, now that that tangent is done, let’s talk about runes. I’m willing to admit that I am not super sure about the exact canon lore surrounding the Magic Counsel’s Rune Knights, because their appearances are so sparse, but I am simply going to try my best. There isn’t as much to say here as one might think, at least for me, but a couple of points still exist. For one thing, as the rune knights are THE enforcement agency of the magic counsel and possibly the government depending on the circumstances, the government’s default way of apprehending people is literally inaplicable to Freed. The counsel’s cops literally can’t do shit to him. And Freed can outclass the government officials.

Next we can get on to the very important thing:

Dark Ecriture: Darkness and Dark Ecriture: Absolute Shadow.

Both of these are runes that Freed can enact on himself to take on entirely new forms. I specifically want to talk about Darkness, although most everything I am about to say applies to both forms. You see, Darkness is a demonic form. It is, presumably, similar to take over magic. except Darkness is Freed’s demonic form. The implication of this is that Freed first used the technical strength of rune letter magic to REINVENT take over magic and then pulled a ZEREF and MADE A DEMON. Of course, obviously, it wasn’t actually a zeref thing, but you can presume he embutes himself with demonic magic, curses?, to turn himself into a partially demonic creature. WHICH IS INSANE. Im so normal about him.

Honorable mentions include: his ability to teleport, his ability to fly, and a never displayed spell that presumably causes INSTANT DEATH.

Finally, let’s talk about his power level. The first point I want to make is that, judging by the displayed battle and the circumstances of the fight between Freed and Mira at the battle of Fairy Tail as well as the circumstances of the trials, Freed could be considered at the level of an S-Class wizard. I’m not going to say he’s as strong as Erza or Mira or try to say that OOO he COULDVE beaten Cana or if he ended up fighting someone else in the trials he would’ve beat them, because pitting characters against each other is always just confusing and frustrating. However, in terms of a test, like the way we say Gildarts acting with Natsu, I think Freed could succeed in an EXAMINATION against one of the S-Class wizards, and therefore earn the rank. The next big thing is the very obvious: in season 9 Freed single handedly maintains a barrier around the entirety of Magnolia against the combined might of all the long range weapons of 50 of Alakitasia’s flying warships. Come on.

[dragonflight203]

Mass Effect 2 replay, recruiting Jack:

Osun

-Erinie has element zero. Quite a bit of it. Why does a garden world in its last stages with a small salarian colony have so much?

I suppose if it was colonized in the last cycle, the element zero may be from various crashes at that time.

-Purgatory is run by the Blue Suns. So this is yet another Blue Sun mission. Why are they central to so many?

-The Blue Suns were started by humans or a batarian, depending on the story you go by. Yet they sure seem dominated by turians. Warden Kuril runs this place.

-When Warden Kuril gives that little intro speech he sure sounds like he’s selling Purgatory to Shepard. You can tell how proud he is of it.

I suppose it could be viewed that he’s warning Shepard how secure it is, so they don’t try to escape later.

-Kuril and Garrus are actually very similar. They’re both from Palaven, both former law enforcement, and both chose different career paths because they thought governments weren’t strict enough. They hate letting criminals get away.

In a different universe, I could easily see Garrus running Purgatory – although to his credit, I don’t think he’d sell criminals.

(Yes, I know Garrus has special dialogue for this mission.)

-I think Kuril generally does believe he’s doing the right thing. Or at least he’s convinced himself of it.

He’s also just very greedy, and thinks he can perform a public service and line his pockets.

And since criminals aren’t “real people”, it’s okay to beat them up and sell them off.

-Why are all the prisoners we directly encounter human?

The one being beaten, 780 whom we speak to, 403 who’s hearing things, Jack…

Bioware, c’mon. How hard would it have been to make one of them a salarian or an asari?

-Shepard has some autodialogue when Jack is released.

-Jack’s outfit is so bad. I don’t know why she’s even bothering with any kind of top. What was Bioware thinking?

(Between Jack and Miranda, I’m not sure the character designers were thinking.)

-Kuril’s threat to blow out all the airlocks if the prisoners don’t stand down is empty; that might cost him money.

-I think I’m slowly getting the hang of charge, but I am dying so many times. Charge was not designed with insanity in mind.

One of the biggest problems is that Shepard can’t dodge and is so, so slow. If I could run to cover this wouldn’t be so bad.

-The Kuril battle is much easier than the battles before it. One of the easiest fights so far in the game.

-If you ask Jack why it’s a problem that you’re with Cerberus, Miranda says she’s destroyed Cerberus people and property. I don’t think she knows that Jack was raised by Cerberus.

Jack says Miranda will die first. Lovely to see them get off on the right foot.

-Miranda also says Shepard is not authorized to give Jack full access to the databases. This is the first time Jack calls her a cheerleader.

It was hate on first sight.

Normandy

-Crew: I’ve never worked with so many aliens so far.

Strange line. I’ve recruited two so far – Mordin and Grunt. Last one I picked up with Jack. This should have played later in the game.

-Jack tends to respond better to neutral or renegade lines. Paragon tends to make her defensive or think you’re weak.

-The image of Jack’s silhouette in the shadows holding a gun is very well done.

-One of the biggest mysteries is why Jack doesn't bail at the first opportunity. She knows how dangerous Ceberus is. She doesn't give a damn about the Collectors. Why does she stick around?

-Grunt says humans, salarians, and asari are soft. Quarians are not – why?

Tell me more about Qurarian biology, Bioware!

-Okeer wanted Grunt to hate aliens. Why? I didn’t get that vibe when we spoke to him.

-More of Grunt’s complex is starting to come out. He’s strong, but he didn’t earn it. He just is.

The dead may have been weak, but at least they tried. He never had to.

-You don’t get this line if you go renegade and tell Grunt you need him to be strong. He tells you he’ll be strong enough to kill your enemies, and that’s all you need.

Grunt may respect you if you go renegade, but he doesn’t necessarily trust you.

-The amount Grunt thinks is itself telling. Krogan intellect is often mocked – they have no scientists. They just exist to kill.

But Grunt is the perfect krogan, and he spends a lot of time thinking. About what he was told, about what he believes, about who he wants to be.

That’s the antithesis of the view most people hold of krogan, even other krogans.

But they are capable of it. Grunt is proof. Violence is baked into krogan culture, but that’s not all they have to be. They’re capable of much more – they just have to break the cycles they’re trapped in.

It doesn’t even necessarily mean leaving violence behind; Grunt loves violence. But it can be productive violence, for the betterment of their people and the galaxy as a whole.

If Wrex is the Urdnot clan leader in ME3, he touches on this. With him, Bakara, and Grunt I think they do have a chance to rewrite the future of the krogan people.

[everlasting-rainfall]

I have a question, regarding the yandere society au. I think it's SUPER INTERESTING BTW.

How does an Abnormal, or even a regular darling like, reject a yandere? Without being called Abnormal? Like for something like, not being interested in dating for person school/work/life reasons or opposing personalities making them uninterested in the yandere that happened to start pursuing them? Are darlings not allowed to have a say in the yans they might be interested in?

I’m glad that you like my AU, dear! It makes me happy to hear that and trust me that I will be writing more for it in the future just like with Skin into Fur/Animal Shifter AU!

In the meantime, do feel free to send in any asks about it as I’ll be more than happy to answer them even if it’s like “Insert Character with Yandere Society” just be aware though that unless I’m told otherwise then I will more than likely be taking liberties like you gotta tell me if you won’t want something specific in it

Anywho! I’m getting off topic! Let’s get into it, shall we?

!-MINORS DO NOT INTERACT AT ALL-!

!-POTENTIAL TRIGGER WARNINGS-!

Murder, Stalking, Blood Mention, Delusions Trauma Mention, Forced Relationships !-POTENTIAL TRIGGER WARNINGS-!

!-MINORS DO NOT INTERACT AT ALL-!

So an Abnormal rejecting a Yandere is absolutely nothing new in the world of Yandere Society as Abnormals will almost always say no to the Yandere that has decided to pursue them and almost always a Yandere won’t give a shit as they’ll continue their pursuit

Even when it comes to Darling x Yandere which is usually summed up as Yandere x Yandere, the person who was rejected typically doesn’t really care as they’ll continue their pursuit of the object of their affections

Rejection really isn’t a thing that you can do in Yandere Society unfortunately although I guess in some circumstances you could hypothetically reject someone but that’s a long and hard process that would probably result in injury or death of a person

Like let’s say for a moment that you and your partner got together then later on, some asshole who bullied the two of you or just one of you latches on romantically to one or both of you

Neither you or your partner want this person around as you both hate them but they refuse to take no for an answer because Yandere, this would result in the long process of Rejection in order to get this person to stay away from you and your partner

Killing them is an option especially if they really won’t leave you alone as these circumstances would make it an innocent crime but if you don’t want to spill any blood then get ready for a long process of getting the asshole to leave you alone without any bloodshed

You could simply move somewhere where they wouldn’t find you but you could also ignore them until they hopefully lose interest which would possibly cause them to cling onto someone else eventually

Boom! Yandere successfully rejected!

There is always the outcome of the Yandere turning violent and attempting to hurt you though but in that case just talk to law enforcement as they’ll handle it from there as law enforcement are fairly trustworthy in this world

Well… Unless you’re an abnormal, I guess…

Also for people who aren’t interested in dating, if the person being pursued would truly wind up being hurt by a relationship then even if you are a Yandere or an Abnormal or a Late Bloomer or anything, no Yandere’s will come after you until it’s considered that you can enter into a relationship without damage

And I’m not talking about like I have a lot of stress on me at the moment with school and work or I’m just not looking for a relationship right now sort of stuff

Yandere’s will only not pursue you if being in a relationship will truly hurt you like let’s say that there’s some pretty serious trauma going on or you just lost someone dear to you like your previous partner just died or you lost someone very dear to you

People can still feel attraction to you but even Yandere’s know that now just isn’t the time to do stuff like that so a lot of people will still gather around you but they won’t be there to make any moves on you as they’ll just be trying to ensure that you’re alright and try to get you help

Maybe they do have a few ulterior motives like getting closer to you by comforting you but their main goal here is to just help you through this then afterwards once you’re alright, that’s when they can start the Yandere stuff

Because remember, everyone! Even a Yandere knows the correct place and time for these things!

Anyways if this isn’t the case then Yandere’s don’t really give a shit as they’ll still be trying to enter a relationship with you regardless of what’s going on in your life like they’ll be taking it a bit slower as to not further stress you out but that kinda depends on the person as well

Like for example characters like Coby, Buggy, and Sanji would pull back a little on things as to not further stress you out but meanwhile characters like Luffy, Akainu, and Roger wouldn’t pull back although all for separate reasons of course

Like Luffy isn’t pulling back because he knows that if he can get you to come with him then you won’t have to stress anymore but meanwhile someone like Akainu isn’t pulling back due to sheer determination to have you

Also as for the thing that you mentioned with opposing personalities? Personally I think that what would wind up happening there is likely a sort of “You’ll learn to love me” kinda situation if it was the Darling that didn’t like the Yandere

As for if Darling’s are able to have a say in the Yandere’s that they’re interested in? Well like the example that I gave earlier about rejecting the asshole, they only sometimes do

Like if the pursuing Yandere is someone who actively hurt them in the past or they’re someone who hurt people that they care about to an extent where it was considered ridiculous even in the eyes of the Yandere Society then yes, they are allowed to have a say

There are some other exceptions too but let’s not get into those as it’s based around law and shit so let’s continue on

Other than those examples, Darling’s aren’t really allowed to have a say in who pursues them

[magicschild]

Chapter 11

Innocent until Proven Guilty

Summary:

Remus and young Harry have a little chat and Sirius takes his inheritance test...

Notes:

BOLD = Bookquotes ITALICS = Parsel UNDERLINE = Younger Version of a Character

"I think we should take a short break," Madam Bones said. She waved her wand and a magnificent tea set appeared, set upon a lovely marble coffee table. "Have some tea and biscuits, while we resolve the issue of Lord Black's trial."

"What happens if it's true and he hasn't had one?" one of the kids asked.

"Then he will be presumed innocent until he can receive a proper trial," Madam Bones said. "And if enough evidence comes to light during this reading, I will do everything in my power to have his freedom restored to him."

"What if there's no evidence?" Harry asked nervously. "Or at least, no evidence you can actually use."

"There already is," Madam Bones remarked. "He has your testimony, I believe, and he is your blood adoptive father. That magic would not allow him to betray your family. Although it doesn't prove his innocence of the murders of the muggles so we'll have to wait and see."

"Can I come with you," Harry asked, hesitant to let Sirius out of his sight.

"I don't see why not," Madam Bones agreed, "so long as Lord Black is comfortable with that."

"Yeah, fine by me," Sirius said with a shrug.

Younger Harry watched them go, feeling uncertain. He didn't really know any of these people but they all seemed to know him. His older self seemed to trust them and that calmed his nerves a little bit.

Remus Lupin approached him, coming to sit next to him on the sofa.

"I was friends with your father," Remus said softly. His voice was low and soothing. "He was a good friend."

Harry smiled up at the man. He had so many questions about his parents. Not that he'd actually ask them. That was one of the Dursleys' rules after all. Do not ask questions.

He couldn't help but wonder why none of these people, people who apparently cared about him, never bothered to check up on him. Never so much as wrote a letter.

"What was he like?" Harry asked in a quiet, timid sort of voice. He didn't want anyone else to hear.

"He was loyal and kind," Remus said. "He was a bit of a bully in school. A little bit spoilt. But he quickly grew out of that. But you couldn't have asked for a better friend."

Harry didn't say anything. He didn't like the idea that his father was a bully. They'd said he looked just like his dad. He struggled to imagine a boy just like him, behaving just like Dudley.

"He loved you," Remus continued, "and so did Lily. They were so proud of you. Bragged constantly about your accidental magic. In fact, they bragged about you constantly. It didn't matter what you did, they told everyone about it. The first time you crawled, we all got a letter with a photograph attached. The first time you spoke... I don't even know what you said but they wouldn't stop talking about it. I think your dad's colleagues actually hexed him with a silencing charm after awhile."

Harry laughed at that. It was nice hearing something different from what he'd always been told. Hearing the truth. His father wasn't a drunk and his mother wasn't a whore. They were real people, good parents, and if Remus and Sirius were to be believed they had loved him.

"You used to know me as Uncle Moony and Sirius was your Uncle Padfoot," Remus continued.

In the room that the ministry officials from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement had designated as their offices, Sirius and Harry were practically bouncing with excitement. Finally, they would be able to prove Sirius's innocence.

Harry watched as his godfather repeated the steps that the two Harrys had taken earlier and soon writing was appearing on the sheet of parchment before them.

The aurors around them seemed to be holding their breath.

INHERITANCE TEST OF SIRIUS ORION BLACK Name: Sirius Orion Black Date of Birth: 3rd November 1959 Parents: Biological Father: Orion Black Biological Mother: Walburga Black Siblings: Brother: Regulus Black Children: Blood Adopted Son: Harry James Potter (Date of Adoption: 1st August 1980) Family Gifts and Abilities: Metamorphmagus - Latent - Black Family Line Animagus - unregistered Titles: Black - Lordship - claimable now - (Inherited through biological father) Black Family Vault (Number 181) - contents: magical artifacts, jewellery - including extended family signet rings, wands, and portraits, and 481,821,191 Galleons plus change (see detailed portfolio for more information) Black Heir Vault (Number 182) - For use of Heir Harry James Potter upon majority - contents: heir ring (to be given to heir upon eleventh birthday), 300,000 Galleons (to be replenished each year).* Black Consort Vault (Number 183) - For the sole use of the Lord's consort - contents: consort ring, jewellery, 300,000 Galleons (to be replenished each year).* Black Trust Vault (Number 184) - For use upon acceptance at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry - contents: 300,000 Galleons (to be replenished on birth of a child).* Black Dowar Vault (Number 185) - For the sole use of the Dowager - contents: Dowar ring, 300,000 Galleons (to be replenished each year).* *Montitary contents determined by previous Lord's last will and testament unless altered by current Lord. *See full portfolios for investments. Magical Interference: Potions: None found Compulsions: None found Curses: None found Binds: None found  

"Well, there we have it," Madam Bones said. "You couldn't have received a trial or you'd be ineligible for the Lordship."

Sirius opened his mouth to tell them that he'd been saying that all along. But decided to hold his tongue. He needed to grow up. He had a child to care for now.

"It would seem we owe you an apology, Lord Black," Moody said gruffly. "Not saying I think you're innocent but I'm willing to consider it's a possibility."

"Now what?" Harry asked nervously.

"Now we carry on reading," Tonks said with clear excitement.

"We'll need to get a statement from you, Lord Black," Madam Bones said, rolling her eyes at the young auror, "but that can wait until later. For now, Auror Tonks is correct. We would be best not to keep the others waiting too long. No doubt they are eager to see young Harry off to Hogwarts."

She paused before turning back to Harry. "You should know Heir Potter, I have every intention of pursuing a criminal case against your relatives for the way they treated you."

Harry wasn't sure how to feel about that. On one side, it was nice that people seemed to care. But he really didn't want the whole world to know.

"Will it be public?" Harry asked timidly.

"It doesn't have to be," Amelia said gently, "especially if it makes you uncomfortable."

"But," Moody interupted, "if it's public..."

"Moody!" Amelia scowled at him.

"No. I'd like to know what you think, sir."

"If it's public, you might be able to really help someone. Someone just like you. If people know that this happened to their precious Boy-Who-Lived, - I know you hate that but you can use it for good - you might actually be able to change laws. Make it so this can't happen again."

"How?" Harry asked.

"All those blasted seats on the Wizengamot, of course," Moody said gruffly. "You can write laws about the things you care about. Potter, tell me, what would have been better for you, what could have helped you?"

"If I wasn't living with the Dursleys," Harry grumbled before considering it properly. With a sigh, he added, "If Dumbledore had checked up on me, if there was a magical primary school..."

There were countless things that could have been different. Things Harry could really change. And not just for himself but for children like Tom Riddle and Severus Snape too.

[brilliantorinsane]

I've finished data gathering for Cunningham Heritage and will post it shortly, but I added a few sections. I'll stick with appending the definitions of categories to this post so they're all in one place.

Crimes for Fun and Profit: Holmes loves doing fun little crimes. Chemistry and investigation are his passions, his hobbies are violin and crimes.

None in Pennsylvania Gun I don't think.

Watson and Law Enforcement: I talked at length in my Pennsylvania Gun analysis about Watson being drawn to law enforcement insofar as it promotes his facade of normality, while Holmes allows him to be his true and unhinged self. By the end of the series he's much less liable to suck up to law enforcement; I'd like to trace the character arc.

I'll let the Penn analysis stand in for the data for this episode.

Want to go on a Dat—Murder Investigation?

Not sure this will come to anything, but there’s a moment in ep9 that (intended or not) straight up reads to me as Holmes trying to ask Watson out, then going ‘haha I meant let’s investigate the case!’ when Watson doesn’t pick up on it. On this watch of Cunningham Heritage I noticed a moment that reads much the same, although to a milder extent. It made me wonder if there's a pattern of Holmes testing the waters with a 'wanna hang out?' but with built-in fallback of 'on a case of course!' so he doesn't have to be vulnerable about it.

Realistically I think this and other potential instances are likely just a subset of Holmes refusing to to communicate so he can do a proper dramatic reveal on his own time. But that wouldn’t stop me from putting it to use for a little ‘Holmes thinks Watson is turning him down but really he asks so weird that Watson has no idea he’s being asked out’ subplot in my head.

Maybe Holmes pitching murder trip as a fishing trip could qualify? Watson has already picked up on it being a case before he starts that though, and the fishing schtick is explicitly a buildup for the show Holmes plans to put on for the case.

Speaking of ...

Showtime: The Holmes equivalent of Watson's persona vs reality section below. The performances Holmes is always putting on, with special attention for if there's anything he might be hiding under it.

I mean the episode start to front is an extended bit he's doing about fishing. I didn't spot it as a cover for anything; there's always the possibility of it having an element of anxiety about not being interesting enough without the show and mystery, but I didn't spot particular evidence of that in this case. And I don't want to suggest all his shows cover some secret angst—the guy is also just a theatre kid and a prankster who loves a bit 😁

Intricate Rituals: Adding this subsection section because: am I convinced any of Holmes antics are absurdly elaborate schemes for getting close to Watson? No. Although I am squinting very very hard at two instances in particular. But is it theoretically possible to read some some of his shows as among the strangest creativity ever to manufacture excuses to touch the skin of other men? Absolutely. Do I find it really really funny to read his antics that way? yes. yes I do.

Nothing to note for this episode however.

Watch What I Say, Not What I Do: Again, I talked in both my Lady Beryl and Pennsylvania Gun analysis posts about Watson performing normalcy as a cover for his true self. My baseline rule when it comes to 1954 Watson is that you have to learn about him from the actions he takes, not the things he loudly proclaims about himself—in fact the louder he proclaims, the more suspicious you should be. This will be a backbone for a lot of my interpretations of Watson going forward, so I'd like a solid block of evidence to back it up.

The main thread of it in this episode is him siding with the Inspector and being at times embarrassed by Holmes, but unequivocally choosing Holmes in the end.

Also recall him successfully convincing the inspector he's sane and normal, while in the safety of home the messenger boy clocks him as 'mad as a march hare' along with Holmes.

Data Gathering: The Pennsylvania Gun

Because apparently I've decided the episode write-ups aren't sufficient, I'm also going to start recording a list of specific details from each episode for future collation and analysis. I'm not sure how readable these posts will be, but I'll post them for my future reference and for anyone interested.

In this first data post I'll briefly detail what each section pertains to and why I'm tracking it. In future posts I'll just stick to the data itself.

If anyone has corrections or details to add, I'd love to hear them!

You can read the Pennsylvania Gun analysis post here.

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Writer: Sheldon Reynolds

Director: Sheldon Reynolds

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First Shot: I decided to track the final shot of each episode because of a specific trend I want to look out for, then decided to also track first shots, in case it leads to anything interesting.

In this episode: an old man greets a police officer in front of Baker Street. I have none thoughts about this. Following this, Holmes and Watson in morning robes reading the paper in Baker Street:

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Introductions: This section records how Holmes introduces Watson to others. Because of Holmes' reputation, people they meet often already know who he is and what they want from him. This leaves Holmes to introduce Watson in a way that is succinct and explains why he's there. After a bit of workshopping, in ep 7 Holmes lands on a default introduction. I want to note the development of this script, and the occasional variations.

In this episode: he doesn't introduce Watson to anyone on-screen.

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Private Matters: Holmes and Watson are always up to shenanigans, and on occasion they’ll be in 221B doing some shit when there’s a knock on the door and one or both will go ‘well. we probably shouldn't let anyone walk in on whatever the hell this is’. I’m curious how often this happens, and if there’s any noticeable dividing line between their private and public buffoonery.

4.25 - 4.38: There's a knock on the door while Watson is sitting on the reclining sofa and Holmes is standing on it waving around fishing tackle. Watson re-situates himself in the chair with his newspaper before calling for the visitor to enter.

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Looks: Standout glances and stares between Holmes and Watson. In the smile lists, those tagged with 'unseen' refer to ones that aren't seen by the person they're directed at; 'hidden' refers to any the smiling individual seems to be deliberately hiding from the other. This may or may not lead to some points regarding Holmes later in the series.

Best Holmes@Watson smiles:

4.20

6:51 & 6:56

11.50 (why does Holmes look like a michevious forest imp here.)

18.07

18.39

25.12

25.16 (unseen)

Best Watson@Holmes smiles:

6:56

7.05

9.31

18.19

18.30 (unseen)

18.38

21.01

25.13

Assorted looks:

3:48 - 3:58: Personal space?

11:43, 11:35 - 11:49, 12:09 - 12:12: Holmes is always so attentive to Watson’s medical assessments. It's cute!

16:06: Holmes’ “Oh god, Straight People / oh no is Watson Straight People??” looks. (Don’t worry Holmes, Watson isn’t straight people, just a little repressed).

18.38: Wink!

20.27: ‘Why don’t you slide down banisters Watson? This is a very important question.’

21.07: One more glance at Watson as he takes off, just ‘cause.

21.25 - 21.28: This funny blink of a moment that I almost didn't include because I was embarrassed to let on that I'm over-analyzing this hard, before I remembered that ship has sailed: so McLeod runs past where Watson and Holmes are lying in the grass, and both start to turn to look back at him, but because of their angle that means looking past each other:

Watson succeeds at turning towards McLeod normal style, but Holmes seems like he gets stuck halfway through because his gaze gets caught on Watson? Then he realizes what he’s doing and looks forward again really quick? Before remembering the goal was turning past Watson to look back at McLeod, which he manages on his second attempt with only a half-beat pause at the looking at Watson stage of the turn. Mission accomplished.

24.00: Watson’s ‘oh so that’s what Chekov’s tape measure was about’ eyebrow raise.

25:14 - 25:17: Holmes' two glances at Watson. He's standing a bit behind Watson, so Watson can't see the looks; they're a purely personal overflow of fondness on Holmes' part.

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Touches: Not all the touches between Holmes and Watson, because I'm not kidding when I say they live in each other's personal space. Also standing/walking shoulder to shoulder doesn't count, that's just how people stand and walk in this universe.

18.20, 18.22: Poke poke poke … poke

18.30: Arm tap

21:42: Hand touch!!

25.13 - 25.17: Holmes puts a hand on Watson’s back to prompt him towards the door, and keeps it there for several strides.

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Endearments/Compliments:

Homes @ Watson:

11:49: "Excellent Watson, excellent!" when Watson analyses the body.

Watson @ Holmes:

No Watson compliments for Holmes this episode …

Meanwhile the inspector gets three 🫢: “Well done McLeod, well done” (14.33), “Well done McLeod, you’ve certainly got your man” (15.11), and “Oh, very wise!” (15.23).

It’s fine Holmes gets alll the compliments from Morell

And both are fun details for meee because they play right into my read of the episode in the analysis post.

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Jealousy: I unsure about tracking this, in part because I'm on the fence about whether half the moments I'd put in here actually are jealousy. I'm going to start tracking, but may drop it later.

16.10: Lots from could read as jealousy from Holmes this episode, but the most definite is him cutting into Watson and McLeod's laughter.

25.00: From Watson—tbh reads less as jealousy than a wry "Holmes stop flirting while I, your husband, am standing next to you."

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Medical Examinations: I think the show might have Watson give his medical opinion every single time there’s a body to examine, and I could swear just about every time Holmes specifically asks for his input. I want to see how true my impression of that is.

11.37: Watson is already examining the body, then Holmes kneels next to him and asks for his input.

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For Watson’s Ears Only: Holmes is always doing this thing where he makes a statement that's equally relevant to all parties, but makes clear he straight up only cares about if Watson is listening. Holmes shows off for Watson so hard so constantly it’s embarrassing. It’s my favourite.

10:15 - 10:24

16:10 - 17:11

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You've Gone Too Far: This is a common refrain leveraged by Watson at Holmes. I'm tracking it based on an instinct that may or may not lead somewhere.

17:48: "You've gone too far now Holmes. I think you've made [Inspector McLeod] very angry."

This could be read as either defensiveness on behalf of McLeod, or concern for Holmes getting in trouble with law enforcement.

Might be the first appearance of the phrase—I'll have to review the first two eps to confirm.

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Watson and Women: Right so. This category. It’s not for every time Watson interacts with a woman ofc. It will tend to come up when Watson expresses romantic/sexual attraction to women, but not strictly because he’s expressing those things. I mean, I tend to read Watsons as bi, so him experiencing romantic/sexual attraction to woman wouldn’t be any sort of puzzle except. He’s so weird about it. Very possibly he’s just being weird in a regular 1950s man way, but it’s also in a way that I can and have input into my read of Watson’s queerness in this show. So, I’ll gather the moments for future synthesis.

15.23 - 16.11: This is the bit where he’s discussing possible murder motives with McLeod. He’s not expressing attraction to women exactly, but he sure is being weird!!

Note: Watson’s first guess for the motive was revenge; McLeod brought in the jealousy angle.

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Violin: I don't have any particular thoughts about Holmes and the violin. This irks me. I'm going to track mentions and see if anything jumps out.

5:41 - 5:49: The violin case is being held together by a tape measure. “holding the … case together” is the phrase used—unclear from that if it’s being used to hold it closed, or if the case is straight up falling apart.

Holmes corrects the messenger boy rather severely about it being a violin, not a fiddle.

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Gender fuckery: This section is because of a trend that appears in the second half of the series. I want to see if I can spot it any earlier, and if not when it first comes up, and how often it comes up. Nothing I spotted in this ep though!

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Climax Precautions: This section is to detail any precautions Holmes takes around the typical 'facing the violent murderer' episode climax. I'll explain the reason I'm tracking this when I write about ep7.

N/A to this ep, as no violent criminals are present.

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Final Shot: This category is self-explanatory I think!

Perhaps the most frequent episode closer is Holmes and Watson walking off, one of their hands on the back or shoulder of another. The end of this episode is the first gesture towards that close: while the actual finish is Holmes poking his head back through the door to grab some forgotten tackle and exchanging a few final words with Morell ("Thank you Mr. Holmes", "Not at all, not at all"), just before this Holmes places his hand on Watson's back to lead him to the door.

I quite like this—they're not yet at the level of intimacy they'll later reach, but even if you buy into my read of both being drawn to others in the course of this episode, the conclusion of their wandering eyes is only for them to draw closer together than they've yet been.

[bentosandbox]

Some thoughts on Chen and the summer event story (TL)

(Sees event discourse on TL) oh yeah there was this blog post I translated a while back about Chen’s characterisation in Dossoles and the writer let me share it sooo (you can read a summary here)

Overall the story feels average, there are parts that I like very much and parts that I think could be better. Lungmen group interaction is the biggest bright colour in summer! From their casual clothing to their beauty to dialogue... It's all so cute!

But the failure of Chen's characterisation is obvious. Maybe it doesn't matter to a non-chef(someone who doesn't make fanwork), but I can clearly recognise that the character I like and love is not the Chen here. From the very first time I looked at her file: "When an idealist finds out the world may not be so black and white, "Chen doesn't know? Chen wouldn't know? Chen Hui Chieh, Chen Sir, Chief Lungmen guard Department Special Inspection Unit wouldn't know?! even if you want to express this kind of meaning you shouldn't be using such silly words (not saying hoshiguma but the [copywriting]) you make her look like a hot blooded fool who has yet to experience the world.

And then the event is like this, the art(the whole chen art sucks debacle) made a group of people quit, and the story probably made another group do so. Is Chen's character that hard to grasp, or has HG given up on shaping her character just to make her seem like she's grown?

I remember the Chen from the main story, she clearly knows plenty of evil exists but is not afraid to stain herself with the blood of others, is aware of the blood on her hands, and will adhere to her own bottom line and sense of justice. Her justice is never false and empty. She will treat the infected harshly, while going to the slums to leave them some hope, she will resort to covert operations to achieve her goal, but never involve the innocent. She will firmly enforce the laws of lungmen and procedures that she approves of, and will put up a resistance when wei yanwu does more than what should be done.

"It's because I am like this, that I should see, and must see."

She will not run away or back down.

Which is why I was so dumbfounded when she rebuked Lin for sending people into the residential areas to steal bombs for the fun of it. I felt so powerless in my anger as she repeatedly emphasised her confusion and lack of understanding. I just wanted to sneer when her voice and file implied that she wasn't so sharp anymore.

I'd be disappointed if her epiphany and dissimilarity stemmed from the things she couldn't change in this strange city...were all the cases she worked on before absolutely black? Is lungmen that peaceful? No class conflict at all? Did the conflict between the infected and non infected not cause any tiny ripples in her psyche? If she was really incapable of empathy, how could she have said this line when Amiya faced Misha:

"If you want to hate, then hate me."

She will bear it and take responsibility.

"Fate is unfair."

"Everyone has to bear the consequences of the choices they make.

Infected or not, it makes no difference."

"Make your choice and bear the consequences of it."

Her incisiveness isn't reckless from not understanding the cost, it's not that she has never been in pain and does not know the severity of things, but that she understands she will be bruised and may even be betrayed, but she still wants to reach out to those who ask for help.

She will bear the consequences of her own choice.

Kindness requires a price, she understands this, but she still chooses to be kind.

Return my incisive Chen to me HG.

About the conflict between Chen and Lin. Procedural justice presupposes recognition of the process, and Chen also recognizes Lungmen's system of regulations to work there, but when it comes to Dossoles, these do not apply. They both need to re-adapt, although because of the different positions Yuxia will adapt faster, but their essential conflict has no place to stand, they just want to prop up their biases and give them a reason to be angry at each other. You could say they were trying to explore the concept of "don't follow the ways of the ones before you" But if it's just because of this that they fight, it's really easy to make Chen look quite reckless and unreasonable......

When a modern person meets a feudal society, will they sincerely recognise and adhere to their rules? Will they not live to rebel against the revolutionaries who rise up to say "bloodshed is injustice"? Even if the insurgents may not know what a right path is, or that history proves they won't improve things, it doesn't prevent the rulers from being wrong. Criticism can be more grounded in reality, such as the consequences of resorting to foreign forces, rather than saying that there should not be bloodshed and resistance.

But another thing I appreciate in the story is the portrayal of Candela, who "entertains everything and is under her own rules" (not that I agree with her philosophy), like when DDD woke up and thought it was worth writing a song about their "conversation". Candela is not crazy or absolutely evil, she does it because she believes it is the only way - the way shaped by money and desire. This is her limitation, but instead of giving in to her desire, she wants to control it completely - just as she would not compare herself to the sun. The sun is 'great', and the ideal in her heart is as well, but she maps it out perfectly. From this point of view, she and Wei Yanwu are indeed characters who can stand side by side.

Both of them have a lot to live up to. Young people have to progress and question, but that shouldn't stop us from offering applause for the previous generation that had flawed but worked hard to build the paths that brought us to where we are today. But after the applause, you'll still have to find your own way.

From this point of view, it is not inappropriate to say that this is a supplement to the (Lungmen crew's) main story, the core is very similar and a dedicated event that is not easily dispersed by the huge amount of information. It also puts several of them in a more unfamiliar environment, pulling them out to re-examine their choices and thoughts.

The subject matter and intention is well chosen, but unfortunately, as mentioned earlier, the characters can not stand on their own, the conflict is not sharp enough, a determined but also entitled and powerful person (Candela) versus a confused person (actually tequila's character is written really well), a person who only wants to fight (Pancho), and a person who just wants to follow her dad (la pluma)... and then the outsider (Chen) blanks out for a few times, and then everything is over... (is it not) too much of a farce? How could a combination like this depict a serious ideological tragedy?

My two most favourite lines in the story is what appears to be a hoshiswire interaction on the outside:

"You know what Chen would do."

"Then my answer is the same as hers."

They're the same (kind of) person after all. I love them so much. I love Lungmen.

[true-blue-megamind]

FAN THEORY THURSDAY – Why Did Metroman Retire?

Happy Almost-Friday, everyone! And even though Minion threatens to smother everything he cooks in old Limburger cheese each time I say it: SPOILER WARNING!

Yes, I know, it’s three a.m. and it’s technically Friday, but I’m still calling this Thursday night, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Okay, let’s be honest, Metroman is a character who seems, on the surface, to require little explanation in the film Megamind. He’s only present in the beginning and end, and we spend half the movie believing he’s dead, and we learn that Metroman has done something almost unheard of among superheroes: he’s chosen to retire. The question is: why? There is a tendency to think that he's simply a spoiled rich boy who, (in his social life, at least,) does what he wants without regard for others, but is that really fair? Or could there be other possible reasons? Well, let’s take a look at a few fan theories that may explain why he chose to abandon heroism for a music career.

Metroman Didn’t Want to Be a Hero

Although he’s clearly based on—and perhaps even poking a little fun at—the Man of Steel, Metroman was no Superman. (I mean, okay, he was technically a super-man, since he had strength, speed, and powers far beyond what a human would possess.) Except, here’s the thing: he’s not a carbon copy of the Man of Steel; Metroman and Superman have completely different lives and personalities. This remains true despite the fact that they share a similar origin—that of being aliens from a dead planet—and identical powers—including laser-vision and flight. Even their code names are comparable. However, if we look deeper, it becomes obvious that Metroman and Superman are two very different characters.

Superman is all about being an upstanding hero. Although he can be annoyingly persnickety, and sometimes displays nearly oppressively unyielding strictures about right and wrong, one thing you can say about the Man of Steel is that he’s generally integral. He is exactly what his public image portrays him to be: a Good Guy through and through. The same isn’t true of Metroman, and in some ways that makes him a more complex and interesting character.

The childhoods of the two heroes are extremely different. As I’ve mentioned in Why Was Megamind Raised in Prison, when a boy, Metroman was a bully, not only making young Megamind an outsider and the object of everything from teasing to physical attacks, but also inspiring other students to do the same. Superman, on the other hand, far from being a bully was bullied by Pete Ross. Rather than using his powers against others, he was too responsible and good-hearted to use them even against Pete Ross. Metroman is adopted by super-wealthy parents, and is essentially a trust-fund baby, while Superman was adopted by a farm family. He grows up with a good work ethic and hometown values. Indeed, this economic discrepancy continues into adulthood. As far as we can tell, Metroman doesn’t need to work and has no job outside being a superhero. Superman, conversely, has to earn a living as a journalist. Finally, in the majority of comics, Superman avoids most public appearances, unless he feels they serve some beneficial social purpose. Indeed, he goes to great lengths to keep his identity a secret and avoid the public eye as much as possible. The first time we see Metroman in the film, however, he is basking in a crowd’s adoration at the dedication of a museum in his honor. Indeed, in the original script, then called Mastermind, Metroman’s real identity seems to be widely known. (In case you’re wondering, this is where the name Wayne Smith, commonly used in the fandom, originates from.) So, we see that these character are actually very different: one is a hero strictly for the greater good, and the other, while he certainly does a lot of good things, is also in it for the fame.

This may seem like I’m being harsh toward poor Wayne Smith, but his flaws do not, in fact, make him a bad person. The issue is that we’re comparing him to Superman who, while still certainly imperfect, is intended to be a better-than-average person in every way, including moral. Make no mistake, Metro City’s former hero isn’t any sort of villain; what he is is normal. If we’re honest, most of us would be pleased by wide-spread accolades and honors. He reacts to positive fame the same way nearly anyone would because, at his heart, he’s really just a typical guy. That is the material point: Wayne Smith really only wants to be an average citizen—a music star, perhaps, but still a relatively ordinary person. In that way, he and Megamind are alike: they both desire, more than nearly anything else, to be normal. The key difference is that Megamind’s sincere and driving concern for his city also makes him ideal for becoming a hero. (You can learn more about this particular fan theory in The Warden and in Megamind and Identity.)

So, why did Wayne Smith become a Defender in the first place, then? Again, I’ve briefly touched on this in previous posts, but it appears likely that Metroman was pushed into heroism just as much as Megamind was pushed into supervillainy. Because he was a bully with superpowers, it’s likely that adults around him realized something had to be done about Wayne. Otherwise he was a danger. So, they constructed an environment—the Li’l Gifted School—where he could be conditioned to seek the praise of others as well as to fight Megamind, who had been singled out as his future nemesis. (In fact, that conditioning is probably why he opted for a career that would put him on stage, aside from a probable love of music.)

Because the path chosen for Megamind involved more hardships and pain, it’s easy to forget that Metroman was in essentially the exact same plight. However, the fact remains that these were both children, and they were both being coerced into perceived destinies they didn’t want. Neither of them were given a choice and, in the end, both of them cast off the expectations pressed upon them to become the people they really wanted to be. The difference is that, because of our natural biases, Megamind’s rise to Defender of Metro City seems more noteworthy than Metroman’s step into Mr. Average Joe. The truth, however, is that both characters were basically doing the same thing: being true to themselves.

Metroman May Have Had Health Concerns

We know Megamind and Metroman are close to the same age—although the latter appears to be about a year rather than days old when he lands on Earth—but what that age is is open to supposition. We know, however, that they are almost certainly in their thirties, probably in their mid- to late-thirties. (Take a look at How Old is Megamind for more information about that.) However, we can see that Wayne is already going gray around the temples. Of course, some people’s genetics simply cause them to go gray earlier, and that’s certainly a possibility, but one fan theory suggest there may be more going on. The idea has been put forward that Wayne’s super-speed may be having an adverse effect on him, forcing his body to work overtime to keep up. The resulting physical stress could be making him age prematurely.

That’s not the only factor to consider. As hard as heroism may have been on his body, the effects on Metroman’s mind would have been even greater. Before the events in the movie, Metro City’s authorities—and, indeed, all its citizens—became too reliant upon their superhuman hero, and as a result that hero was run ragged. That isn’t a mere hypothesis. A scene that was storyboarded but never included in the final film makes Metroman’s plight perfectly clear. We see him being called from one end of the city to the other for everything from a massive explosion to an old lady needing help opening a jar. Keep in mind that, when hearing a cry for assistance, the hero would likely be unable to tell who truly needed him urgently and who was simply making unnecessary demands, thus he would have to rush to every call he heard. Even the city’s law enforcement seems to take him for granted, refusing to take criminals he just hand-delivered to jail because they’re on lunch break. The cumulative effect is that Metroman looks nearly frantic with stress.

This is important because, aside from the obvious mental and emotional concerns, this sort of stress accelerates aging as well. According to an article in the Huffington Post, when glycation and telomere shortening, as well as the over-oxidation, are caused by enduring heightened stress for prolonged periods of time, it can result not only in graying hair and premature wrinkles, but heart trouble as well. Even the memory can be affected, as one study by the University of Wisconsin found that stress can age a person’s brain up to four years faster than normal, and contribute to cognitive problems later in life. (The study was part of a presentation—you have no idea how badly I wanted to write that word in all-caps—and is thus currently unpublished, but information about it can be found in an article from Over Sixty.)

Metroman Retired for the Good of Everybody

As you can see, in a strange way, having a super-powered Defender was actually crippling Metro City. In fact, it may be truly damaging to the local infrastructure and official organizations. Youtuber Olaf Scholtens, in his video Megamind: Power and Identity, uses the metaphor of an airplane manufacturer to explain what’s going on. (If you’ve read my own post Megamind and Identity, you’ve seen this before.) Engineers and factories put a lot of effort and expense into making certain aircraft are as safe as possible, but what would happen if they felt they could confidently assume a superhero would simply catch any plane that crashed, saving everyone on board? Safety standards would probably become far more lax, and people might be in far more danger as a result. Given the way that nearly everyone in Metro City seems to assume Metroman will always save the day, it’s possible that, within the urban area, the same thing could be happening with things like building code enforcement, large construction projects, and even public safety measures. Bridges might not be properly built, fire hazards might not be addressed, and, given the blasé attitudes of the cops in the storyboard, law enforcement officers might not even be bothering to keep an eye on things. By retiring, Metroman forced the city to become more self-sufficient again.

That, however, may not have been the only problem Metroman was trying to solve. Remember the whole discussion about the former Defender’s school boy bullying and the apparent conspiracy to turn one boy into a hero and the other into a supervillain? It’s possible Wayne may have felt remorse for the former and found out about the latter. Having battled Megamind so much in the past, he also may have realized that the blue man never actually hurt anyone, and in fact went out of his way to stage their confrontations in abandoned places. (Again, you can read more about that in both Megamind and Identity and The Warden.) It may be that Metroman real “brilliant plan” wasn’t simply to fake his death, but in doing so to prod Megamind into becoming a hero and thus accepted by society.

There is an alternative theory, put forward in a Reddit post, that Megamind and Metroman’s parents may have known one another, and may have sent both children to Earth with the intention of them becoming a dynamic duo, fighting evil together with Megamind as the brains and Metroman as the brawn. This could have been what Megamind’s father meant when he told his son: “You are destined for greatness.” While there is very little support for this in the movie, it would explain why, in the vast cosmos, both of the young survivors were sent not only to the same planet, but even to the same city.

Whatever the reason may have been, one thing is certain: there certainly is some evidence that Metroman intended his one-time nemesis to become a hero. One of his lines, after Roxanne and Megamind discover he’s still alive, supports this. You know the one. “If there’s bad, good will rise up against it. It’s taken me a long time to find my calling; now it’s time you find yours.” Then, of course, there is another line, when Music Man is watching his former enemy take the role of Defender of Metro City: “way to go, Little Buddy. I knew you had it in you.”

If Metroman really did purposefully help Megamind step into heroism, that could also explain why he didn’t stop Megamind from taking over the city—perhaps he trusted the blue man not to harm anyone and to eventually come to his senses—as well as why he refuses to overtly help defeat Titan. He does, however, clearly subtly assist Megamind, as the latter almost certainly went back to Wayne’s hideout to scan his appearance and voice into the holowatch. All of this together makes it seem quite plausible that Metroman not only wanted to retire, but also wanted the blue man to take his place.

Megamind and Metroman by White-Night-56 on Deviant Art

Maybe this means that, now that Megamind is the Defender of Metro City, he and Music Man occasionally get together to commiserate over the more difficult aspects of being a superhero and joke about the old days.

It’s also quite possible that all of these fan theories could be true. The film Megamind is, among other things, surprisingly subtle, complex, and subversive for an animated movie. Every time I dive deep into some aspect or other of the plot, I am once again impressed by the amount of thought and detail that went into this work. No wonder Megamind—and its characters—have so many dedicated fans.

[firelxdykatara]

You’re doing a LoK rewrite, correct? Would be really interested in hearing how you plan on fixing Suyin’s character and the Lin-Suyin conflict because……. oh boy. Man there’s a lot to unpack there. This is what happens when we don’t let Toph just raise her fucking kids for the sake of pushing a stupid as hell narrative about working women and single motherhood.

I am indeed!

In... you know, the way I'm doing most of my big potential projects, in that I have a folder with some documents that have plot notes and... some day I may actually get full, finished fics out of them (h2o AU is in there, as is my voltron!atla fusion AU, and uhhhh my book 3 atla rewrite, and a few other things), so... but I will say that the docs I have for my LoK rewrite so far amount to roughly 4.2k words of just Plot and Character Notes, which may some day turn into words of Story, hopefully.

ANYWAY, POINT IS: yes, this exists, and I have Many Many Thoughts.

Including how the Gaang kids would shake out! Cause I know I'm doing Zutara, and maybe Tokka???? Although I don't wanna just leave Suki out either... maybe a throuple??? Or Sukka having an amicable breakup before Sokka and Toph get together--maybe she already has Lin by then, and Sokka helps support her through the grief of losing Kanto???? Idk honestly, I haven't actually figured any of that out definitively yet except that Aang was perfectly happy to settle down with an Air Acolyte from one of the rebuilt temples because he grew up and out of his crush on Katara pretty easily once he hit puberty and matured a bit.

UHHH none of which is actually an answer to your question, because it's a valid one! Which is why I've been sitting on this a while (10 days I'm so sorry) bc I haven't made any solid decisions but I've been letting it percolate around my head a bit. And the more I think about it, the more I really like the Sukka -> Tokka idea (and I don't want to kill off Suki since the kids all deserve their awesome Kyoshi warrior auntie in their lives, and also I want a Sukka kid to be besties with Iara [zuko and katara's youngest] so maybe she gets with someone else after she and Sokka split? I could be talked into Ty Lee/Suki actually, the more I think about it....), but obviously having a stable father figure and a Toph who is... not what LoK made her out to be will dramatically change the Beifong family dynamic.

That said, I think I actually have a solution. (I'm so sorry for what I'm about to do.) Toph has Lin with Kanto--and he passes away when Lin is two or three, which is why she has very few memories of her father. (Although none of this 'she doesn't even know his name until she's 50+ cause Toph didn't tell her daughters about their fathers' bullshit.) Sokka is there for her through it all (all of the gaang is, of course, but you know that it sometimes just hits different when it's someone you're also starting to fall in love with, especially when there are older and much more deeply buried feelings there that are now resurfacing, because at least in my version Toph was deeply in love with Sokka when they were teenagers, but he was in love with Suki and she also loved Suki so she didn't want to mess up anything about their family or the group dynamics by making her feelings anyone else's problem), they fall in love, get married and have Suyin.

(Sokka may jokingly refer to it as a shotgun wedding, but the truth is he wanted to propose well before he found out she was pregnant, his attempts just kept getting messed up in increasingly comedic fashion.)

Throughout all of this, Republic City has been established, Sokka is Chancellor, Toph is something of a defacto police chief--mostly because, at the time, no one else was willing to volunteer, and she jokingly offered to whip the law enforcement, but unfortunately everyone else at the meeting took her seriously. However, she is also the founder of the probending league, and basically her feelings about law enforcement are complicated and she actively discouraged her kids from joining the force which is part of why Lin did. How else do you have a teen rebel phase with a parent like Toph? (Which, in this instance, means tough and firm but fair, with a 'you break it, it's up to you to fix it' attitude and very little desire to actually control her daughters and their behavior.)

Ah, but here's the rub.

Suyin is ten years old when Sokka dies, and Lin is sixteen. I'm not sure how he's killed--maybe by Yakone, to tie it into my plans for Amon and book 1. (Note that I'm not sure when the Yakone bloodbending trial happened in canon, but it doesn't matter. The timeline I'm gonna build will be completely different post-comet, and I'll eventually write it all down so that I can keep things straight.) Which would incidentally provide excellent means of having Katara have a very personal stake in the Amon conflict, and perhaps color the fight between him and Iara, but I'm getting off track. And I think Sokka being killed by Yakone, and Toph being unable to protect or save him, or deliver her own brand of justice to avenge him (because Aang is there to stop her and.... shit probably got ugly, I suspect she didn't talk to Aang for at least twenty years after Sokka's death--and this isn't to say I think Toph is particularly violent or murderous, but in that moment, she absolutely wanted to kill the man with her bare hands, and however much she may have regretted it afterwards, she took a very long time to forgive Aang for stopping her in the first place), is what results in Toph stepping down as police chief.

She didn't withdraw from her daughters or fuck off into the swamp or anything (words cannot express how much I hate that part of her canon history), but she did grieve for a very long time. Lin, meanwhile, felt like it was up to her to keep her family together, while also feeling a desperate need to... prove herself, I think. And because her mother was so adamant that she not join the police force, that's exactly what she does. I think Lin completely misread Toph's intentions, too, and believed that the discouragement was because her mother didn't think she had what it takes, when in reality I think Toph was scared of Lin losing herself in the job like she herself had begun to, and eventually coming up on something she couldn't change or fix and making the same mistakes she had.

(I think Toph and Lin have communication issues largely because they are both headstrong and willful, but where Toph thought she was giving her daughters the room they would need to make their own way, what Lin desperately craved was direction and she felt like that was something her mother simply couldn't understand.)

Suyin, on the other hand, fell in with a bad crowd like in canon. I think that what she desperately needed was attention, similar to Lin craving direction, and Toph was trying so hard not to be her own parents that she went a little too far in the other direction and Suyin began to feel like it didn't matter what she did, her mom wouldn't care, or get angry, or discipline her, or anything. Lin and Suyin butted heads a lot growing up, too, especially after Sokka's death, because Lin tried to rein in her sister's behavior and this was met with resistance and derision because Suyin felt like Lin was trying to be both mom and dad and she was neither but her big sister would never admit to being just as lost as she was and it made her furious.

So when Suyin is sixteen, and Lin is twenty-two and new to the force, The Big Rift happens. Lin catches Suyin and her gang, tries to apprehend her, gets a scar on her face in the ensuing conflict. But instead of abusing her power and sending her problem child off to her mother before fucking off to the swamp to avoid the consequences of her actions, Toph tries to actually fix things. Suyin cools her heels in prison for a while, because she was paralyzed by guilt at the time when she hurt her sister (a few inches lower and she could have slit her throat), and was still there when Lin's backup arrived.

Uhhhhhhhhhhh..... I'm so sorry I rambled for so long, BUT THE UPSHOT IS: I think Suyin learned a bit about culpability and taking responsibility for her own actions, Toph realized that her daughters had different needs than she did at their age (and I think a lot of the problem was that grief clouded her own ability to connect with her daughters, and in trying to not be her own parents she lost sight of how to be the parent her own daughters needed), and Lin, I think, had to realize that she had never fully processed the loss of not one but two fathers and had turned to her job in order to avoid actually confronting the grief that had overshadowed her childhood.

However, she did not forgive Suyin, at least not right away--and she wasn't forced or expected to. Suyin understood that she crossed a serious line, she took her lumps and did her time, and no one shamed Lin for her anger. I think, as a result, she had less reason to hold onto that bitterness, and perhaps by the time the story actually begins, she and Suyin are on much better terms, though I haven't worked it out exactly yet.

UHHH yeah I went on for days lmao. All of this is subject to change, too, depending on the needs of the story whenever I get around to actually writing it all down, BUT these are my initial thoughts, at least.

[saezurufeels]

Handling the cards we are dealt

Since I can't get enough of Yashiro, last night I started thinking about possible explanations of what might be going on in his mind, post-timeskip. Obviously, my ideas here are completely hypothetical, because there is not much information about Y's internal state/thoughts since the timeskip. I'll be using a lot of my imagination, and less actual "primary evidence." So, I don't expect any of this to necessarily be true; I'm moreso looking into possible explanations of character-change, because it's fun to theorize :-) So, if you're interested keep reading.

First thing I want to mention is, plot wise, using a timeskip gives the author a lot of room to surprise us (just look at AoT); so as an audience we won't know anything at all, until it's completely over. Super fun, right?! So, that's why I think it's important to look at Saezuru chapter by chapter, and change any ideas or expectations we had from before. At least, I find that I'm constantly questioning my previous convictions when I see a blurry, out-of-context, cropped-out panel from a 40-page chapter that hasn't even been translated yet. Life is so fun.

That being said, let me begin by saying that since the timeskip, it occurred to me that we, the audience, have not seen Yashiro have sex at all. Remember in the first three or four chapters of the manga, Yashiro's sexual endeavours were the focal point of his character? Yoneda Kou made sure to add it everywhere, including other characters' descriptions of Y, Yashiro's own admissions and thoughts, but most importantly, in actual sex scenes. It was to reinforce this idea that Yashiro is reliant on sex; he couldn't remove it from his daily life, because it was a dependence.

In my first post on this blog, I talked about this phenomenon as Yashiro having sex addiction. In that post I said that many experts believe that sex addiction is an obsessive-compulsive disorder. To give you a quick run-down of how that works in relation to Yashiro, I'll quote myself:

"When individuals with SA begin to feel anxiety, they engage in sexual behaviour (the compulsion) to get rid of the cause of their anxiety (their obsession). For Yashiro, feelings of worthlessness (due to being unloved, alone and abused) cause him anxiety, which compel him to be on the receiving end of sadistic sex so that he can convince himself that he is a masochist and likes to suffer, thereby relieving his feelings of worthlessness."

So, in line with this definition, Yashiro was having rough sex constantly because he was constantly feeling unloved (or in the way I described above, worthless). Keeping up with this logic, then, what has changed? Why aren't we seeing Yashiro have sex all the time? Keeping something visually hidden keeps it ambiguous. Let's discuss.

Remember, seeing an action play out in fiction is different from hearing it about it from other characters, because those characters can be unreliable narrators, or simply unknowledgeable. So, although Nanahara tells Yashiro not to pick up random strangers for sex, it doesn't mean that he understood what actually happened when Yashiro "almost got kidnapped." Yashiro even said, "what does that have to do with my sexual tendencies?" The scene is ambiguous because we didn't see Yashiro have sex and because we know that Y isn't always forthcoming about his private life, even with Nanahara.

More evidence to suggest that Yashiro isn't the same as before is evident in his reaction to Misumi's aggressive attempt to get him naked and riled up. Yashiro claimed that Misumi was "so sexy," but based on his attempt to stop him during the act, we can just as well guess that Y wasn't being truthful.

Before I move on, I'll mention that I do believe Inami and Yashiro have a sexual relationship, but I think it's out of necessity, rather than lust. Yashiro needs a guy in law enforcement to know when to switch casino locations and to keep up with other yakuza dealings. I've talked about this lots before, so I won't bore ya'll with it again. Okay, moving on.

If we assume that Yashiro isn't having sex anymore (other than with Inami), then we can assume that he isn't dependent on rough sex anymore. So, if he's not dependent on rough sex to relieve his feelings of worthlessness, does that mean he doesn't feel unloved anymore? Yes, that's exactly what I'm arguing. I believe Yashiro feels very much loved by Doumeki; it's what helped him overcome his OCD (I'm not a mental health expert, so please don't take this as actual advice in your real life; this is just for the purpose of fictional character analysis). But the more important aspect I want to talk about is: if Yashiro wants to be loved and treated gently deep down, what is keeping him away from Doumeki now? I think the answer to that lies in what he experiences when Doumeki treats him gently.

This is where I get more hypothetical, because I really don't know why Yashiro doesn't like being treated gently in bed. I've tried figuring it out for a long time, but it's beyond my understanding. Maybe it's because I don't have the same experiences, maybe it's not meant to be understood, or maybe it wasn't fleshed out properly (I'm not suggesting that's the case here, but it's a possibility that's worth mentioning). It could be because it reminds Yashiro that he's a victim of abuse, or because of the scene where his step-father equates him to a girl during an assault; maybe it's something that was never brought up explicitly in a flashback. Either way, because I can't find a reason that I can stand behind confidently, I'm not going to focus on the question of why. Instead, I'll focus on the question of what Yashiro is feeling while he's intimate with a gentle Doumeki.

So, what is Yashiro experiencing when he's intimate with Doumeki? Well, the first time, Yashiro was refusing lots; they did it anyway, and afterwards we see Yashiro cry for the first time as an adult, while remembering an abuse incident as a child. This is post-traumatic stress disorder and it happens when a stimulus in our environment (something we see, hear, smell, taste, feel) triggers a memory so profound that it feels like we are re-living a traumatic incident again. It's more intense than "normal" memory and is very difficult to go through. Shortly after sleeping with Doumeki, Yashiro let Hirata attempt to kill him. I'm not saying one caused the other, but I think they are strongly linked to each other. Chapter 46: Doumeki takes his glove off and touches Yashiro tenderly; Yashiro gets a vision of Doumeki touching a naked woman, one thing leads to another, and suddenly Yashiro is reminded that Doumeki is being too gentle. He pulls Doumeki off of him and lands sweating, ungracefully on his stomach. This is just my take, but it seems like that was a scary moment for Yashiro. He wasn't there in the moment with Doumeki; he was in his head, reframing the situation. While Doumeki was trying to be sexy and alluring by taking his glove off with his teeth, wearing this sultry expression, Yashiro's face was literally like: 🤨. The point I'm trying to get at, if I ever get there (jfc), is that Yashiro becomes triggered when he's having sex with Doumeki. He's not having a good time at all. It doesn't mean that he can't be close to Doumeki, because we all know he was imagining that Doumeki would passionately kiss him in the elevator and in Tsunakawa's guest bathroom. But sex is a different story.

Gentleness versus roughness is like a double-edged sword for Yashiro (idk if that's the right expression lol), on the one hand, Yashiro doesn't like being treated rough, because it's not loving, and on the other hand he doesn't like being treated gentle, because it's not rough. Whichever way Yashiro goes, he's up against a wall. There is no path for him to turn, because either one will lead him to his trauma.

And that's the point. I think Saezuru is trying to suggest that some things can't be so easily changed, or at all. It makes the argument that we must to come to terms with the cards we are dealt, and that the healthiest way to deal with unfavourable circumstances is to adjust to them, instead of forcing our conditions to change. Forcing change onto someone, when it simply isn't possible can do more harm than good, as we saw with Yashiro's suicide attempt, following Doumeki's insistence on showing Y that he's "beautiful, inside and out." Post timeskip, Doumeki is trying a different approach to "change conditions": now he seems to be a little more cold, rough, BLUNT (smh), and seductive; is it working on Yashiro? Based on what seems to be a whole-body jerk to get Doumeki off of him, I'd say no.

What would it look like, then, if Yashiro and Doumeki adjusted to the circumstance, instead of forcing change? Again, this is hypothetical, but it could mean that they have to accept that Y can't have sex. He can kiss, hug and touch, non-sexually, because it is not triggering. If anything, tenderness is a comfort for Yashiro. Whereas sex for him has always either been a trauma response or a trauma trigger. I'd like to be proven wrong though :) And again, this is all just hypothetical. There still is not enough evidence, and as I said above, about 50 pages ago (sorry), things are always changing and evolving with every chapter.

[mrs-tsunderemeitantei]

DISCLAIMER: HUGE, LONG RANT AHEAD!

ALSO SPOILERS IN CASE YOU'RE NOT UP TO DATE WITH THE MANGA OR WITH ZERO THE ENFORCER!

Soo in case you missed it, Gosho released the SDB Justice Plus some time last month:

The biggest shocker was the answer to Question number 4, shown below:

Basically this translates to:

Q4: On the Mystery Train, he (Amuro) said to Miyano Shiho that “My comrades who are tracking us have made arrangements in order to retrieve you”, but were those comrades from PSB? If that’s the case, I’m curious about how he planned to deceive Vermouth...!

A: Those were comrades from the Black Organization, so there was no need to deceive them.

Ummmm...what??

Idk about y'all but when I read this, I was livid. It didn’t make any sense to me. And quite frankly, I didn't want it to. Maybe because I am one of those (very rare) people who thought Rei and Shiho could eventually end up together (Don't laugh, it would have made sense, and I'll write about that in a separate post).

Anywho, safe to say Gosho's latest confession left me in absolute confusion. Like why? Just why? Then I realised I'm more butt-hurt about this because I was fixated on a certain idea of Rei's character and chose to ignore his other sides, as if they didn't exist. It didn't help that his past is so freaking depressing which got me sympathizing with his character and led me to either ignore or make excuses for any red flags.

But now that I think about it, it sadly makes sense. It also explains why he didn't show any sadness or regret when he saw Shiho supposedly ‘die’ in the luggage cart in the Bell Tree Train Arc.

Now to let me wrap my head around this, I needed to breakdown his three "faces":

1. Amuro Tooru is a cheerful, friendly, generous, carefree, outgoing man.

2. Furuya Rei is a serious, law-abiding, calculating, patriotic police officer who is willing to die for Japan's security.

3. And Bourbon is a devious, manipulative, cunning, deadly agent.

Yet, ever since we found out he was in fact an NPA agent, we (or at least I), seem to have forgotten about those dark sides he possesses. Also with Zero's tea time showing us a softer side of his character it was easy to get caught up in "he's 100% one of the god guys" when in fact, he's a complex, grey character. 

He has shown on multiple occasions, just how far he is willing to go, to achieve whatever goal he’s set his mind on. Let's not forget how in Zero the Enforcer, he completely flipped the switch. (I know this isn't Canon but...) The man went as far as to create a suspect and jail the innocent Mori Kogoro so he can legally investigate the case and emotionally manipulate Conan into unkowningly help with the investigation.

Also, in the Detective Nocturne’s case he deliberately didn’t tell Ran as soon as he noticed Conan might have been kidnapped by the criminal because he hadn’t finished investigating the apartment.

And in the Scarlet Arc, he was willing to harm Jodie's teacher friend, so he can lure out the FBI and advance his investigation on Akai’s death. Let’s not forget once he figured out the truth, he was willing to expose Akai’s fake death (which I get it he's out for revenge), but by doing so, he would have also gotten Kir killed (even though I'm pretty sure he knew at that point, she was in fact a NOC).

As we can see, be it Bourbon, Furuya Rei or  Amuro Toru, he will stop at nothing to reach his goals, even if it means throwing innocent people under the bus. So, now when Gosho says his "partners" were in fact BO members and not the PSB, I'm no longer surprised.

I mean, why wouldn’t he sell Shiho back to the organisation? Because he knew she was Sensei’s daughter, and that should have meant something to him? Alright, let’s talk about that.

Did he love Shiho’s mum? Yes, he did, there’s no doubt about that (one of the reasons he joined the joined the police in the first place was to find her, so you can't convince me otherwise).

But what if he loved Japan even more? (It's not canon, but he did say in Zero the Enforcer that the safety of this country matters most to him, even if it means he’d end up paying with his own life).

So, I'm going to take a wild guess as to how he could have felt when he found out the woman he loved as his own mother, willingly joined the deadly organisation that threatened the safety of his country. Based on his memories, he remembered her encouraging her husband to join the Carasuma group.

So, if through his investigations, he was able to realise she is the same woman from his childhood, I’m pretty sure he would have been very disappointed.  I’m not sure the extent of his knowledge about the drug, but if he also found out their research created the poisonous APTX-4869, I reckon it would be more reason for him to be upset.

Now let's talk about Haibara/Shiho. To any outsider who's unaware of the truth of her past, she is a woman born into the organisation, then was groomed and taught from a young age by the syndicate and promoted to take on their research. A research that produced a poisonous drug, just like her parents did. Also, she only ran away after the organisation killed her sister. Before that, she was a high-ranking member. With all these facts, why would he think of her as anything but a criminal just like the rest of the BO members? It’d be rather foolish for him to not hand her back to the organisation just because she is the daughter of the woman he once thought so highly of. If anything, he’d be killing two birds with one stone, by executing a criminal, while also gaining higher standing in the organisation.

As fans of Haibara, we are rightfully upset by his intentions of returning her to the organisation because we know her truth. He doesn't. It wasn't until we learnt more about her painful past and kind and caring nature that we grew to love her. We know she never wanted to create a poisonous drug. That she already hated the organisation for using the drug as a poison. That she had to develop the drug to protect Akemi’s life.

There is no way Rei would have known about any of the bullying she or her family faced from the BO. By nature, Shiho is very secretive and reserved and very little of her personality or history would have been known by any of the BO members (except maybe Gin). Therefore, apart from the files the BO would have kept on Shiho and her role in the organisation, that’s all Rei had to learn about her. So, I can’t really blame him for choosing to hand her back to the organisation.

Some people who are still in denial, argue that if he planned to kill Shiho, why was he willing to kill whom he thought was Vermouth instead of handing her over?

Shouldn’t that prove he was going to take Shiho to safety to the PSB, not the BO? Before Gosho's statement, I would have agreed but now...sigh. Now, I get why he did that. If Shiho were to die BEFORE she was returned to the organisation, he wouldn’t have gained the trust he was seeking. If she were to die AFTER he delivered her, I highly doubt it would have mattered to him. Although I'm still hoping he maybe he had a plan of not leaving her in the organisation's clutches after "handing her back" and he never truly intended on getting her killed. But since Gosho also said there was no need to deceive Vermouth, I highly doubt it. (Heart breaking).

After such an explanation, does everything make more sense now? Maybe. Am I ok with it? Hell no! I’m quite angry and annoyed that this is how things turned out to be, but it is what it is. We have to accept that Rei is not a good character, and he's not a bad character. He's a grey character and when you think of it that way, it's easier to understand his behaviour. Not that I agree with it. After Gosho's statement, I think pretty sure Rei is in dire need of some character development. He could stand to learn a thing or two from Conan who manages to reach his goals while preserving as many lives as possible (Akai's fake death being the burst example while managing to drive Kir back to the BO).

For now, I’m looking forward to the developments that will entail. I’m curious to see how Rei and Haibara will react once they eventually meet each other. It'll be interesting to see what will go through his mind once he figures out her true identity. One thing I'm sure of is once they're introduced to each other, emotions will be running high and things will get intense. Which honestly, I can't wait for and I'm counting down the days till I get a proper Amuro/Haibara interaction.

[cursedchilddrarry]

Harry and Ginny are heading for divorce

‘But Harry is canonically straight and married to Ginny!’ said - well, honestly, said no-one ever in the history of Tumblr, but regardless, I want to address this because I have thoughts.

In this essay I will... no, seriously.

(Note I have nothing against Lucy Goleby’s fantastic portrayal of this character in the Melbourne cast!)

Spoilers, I guess? Do I even need to say that at this stage?

Harry and Ginny married and had babies extremely young. Pre-Cursed Child, myself and most other people I speak to found the epilogue of DH fairly uninspired and disappointing, and I was again somewhat disappointed when I first saw the play to learn that it opened on that same scene (in my opinion it actually manages to salvage that terrible epilogue, but that’s another conversation). I think it’s fairly unrealistic that teenagers who suffered so much trauma would instantly get married, get jobs and have babies.

Anyway, per the canon that did happen, and now (in the Cursed Child), far more reaslistically, the situation is thus: Harry is a fairly terrible father, having no example to base himself on (or terrible examples only), and clearly never properly recovered from the trauma of his teenage experiences - how could he? He went instantly from a literal warzone into being married and having three children in quick succession, at the same time as being promoted extremely quickly through the ranks of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement (and probably undeservedly - let’s face it, Harry probably isn’t smart enough or mature enough, even by 40, to be in the job he’s in - however, a white male being given a position he doesn’t deserve is certainly something I can accept as realistic, unfortunately, and wizards aren’t exactly the most tolerant or progressive bunch). Plus, I didn’t see his and Ginny’s relationship as particularly great. It could be argued much of this is due to the conflict of the events in the show, but I felt (whether intended by the writer or not) it ran deeper. Hear me out on this.

They argue a lot (without resolution)

One of the sub-conflicts/resolutions is Ginny wrongly assuming Harry is at fault for Albus running away, and though she later apologises, she makes a particularly harsh comment something like ‘the more mistakes you make, the harder to forgive you it gets’

Albus is honestly a bit of a little shit (I love him! Don’t throw things at me! Scorpius tells him he’s being selfish and he needs to get over his stupid issues with his dad, and Albus himself agrees) and though Harry definitely goes too far in his arguments with Albus, Ginny doesn’t really try to see Harry’s view at all or accept that Albus may be also at fault

Ginny endlessly tells Harry off and lectures him on his parenting, though I don’t see any evidence of her being parent of the year

Ginny makes a snarky comment about how ‘Harry does most of the cooking’, not her - yet we are told multiple times through the play that Harry works very long hours in a very high-stress, high-pressure job. Ginny is a sports editor. Seriously? He does the cooking?

I don’t get any chemistry between them. In fact, I feel she acts FAR more like a mother to Harry, rather than a wife

Which actually kind of makes sense, right? Harry always wanted to be part of the Weasley family and to have a mother like Molly - well, in Ginny, he kind of got that. And he always wanted a family, which explains why he rushed into having so many babies so quickly when he clearly wasn’t ready

I’m not trying to shit on Ginny - on the contrary, it looks to me like she’s in a difficult position with a rather immature husband who she needs to parent as much as her actual children. She constantly feels excluded from the golden trio (she says this explicitly), and even from the canonically-intense relationship Harry has with Draco; her role and her work are constantly overshadowed by Harry, and she has to fight every time for a place at the table, for her opinion to be heard (leading to her shouting a lot) and I honestly felt like she must be thinking maybe she’d be better off without Harry.

And on Harry’s side, in contrast to Ginny, he has fireworks and lightning-strike type chemistry with Draco; he has a lot of maturing he needs to do, which Draco seems to have already done, being far more together and a more natural father (although a bit stiff), and he has a deeper conversation with Draco in five minutes than he has with Ginny in the entire play; and also, although Ginny seems to know about Harry’s trauma, she doesn’t seem to understand it in the same way that Draco does. She just doesn’t have the same experience. Yes, she experienced a lot, but not to the extent Harry or Draco did. Although she listens to and tries to comfort Harry through his nightmares/flashbacks/general angst and misery, it’s more in a practical mode of ‘let’s get past this and move on’ whereas it felt like Harry was nowhere near ready for that - may not ever be ready for that.

In conclusion, my headcanon is (though they seem to make amends at the end of the play) that their relationship continues to deterioriate until Ginny leaves. And then Harry and Draco find each other, which is another topic.

If anyone read all of this, firstly I’m amazed, but also I want your thoughts on whether you agree with this analysis. As I said, I’m not hating on any of the characters or actors, this is just what I felt really strongly in the subtext, and I actually love this dynamic for these characters.

[bluegreenandpurple]

A beard through seasons- Chap 2

Second installment of this four chapter series... let's see what moment is Ron's beard bringing to us!

Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters from HP Books nor do I get a single pound/penny/peso (money) out of this. Rated M because of Hermione's thoughts.

You can also find this work in AO3 and FFN.

Chapter 2: The dad’s beard

Hermione Granger-Weasley hadn't slept one single night alone since five years ago when the news of the conception of her daughter had been delivered to her husband. When Ron found out that he would become a father, he made a resolution to never miss a milestone of his child’s life and spend as much time as he could with his family. And so, he resigned his position with the Aurors and took a full-time job with George in the joke shop. Although, at the insistence of the Minister himself, Ron agreed to keep a connection with his former work as a Consultant for special cases and Professor of Strategy and Planning for the Auror Training Program.

Hermione Granger-Weasley hadn't slept one single night alone in five years until two weeks ago when her new position as Deputy Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement had required for her to present the British Wizarding Community’s advances in the abolition of blood-related laws and regulations for the International Convention of Magical Law.

Actually, Hermione Granger-Weasley hadn't slept one single night alone in five years. Because whatever she had been doing the past two weeks surely couldn't be counted as sleeping. The king-sized bed of the hotel room seemed extremely big and frighteningly deserted without her husband. Despite applying impeccably performed warming charms one after the other, the bed remained cool. And the silence. Hermione could sleep with cold, she had done it countless times during her younger years in the Horcrux hunt. But, as had been proved during said hunt and reaffirmed in the past two weeks, she couldn’t sleep without the soft soothing sound of Ron’s light snores.

Each night for the past fortnight, Hermione had spent hours in bed recalling the warmth of Ron’s body and the comforting feeling of his arms encasing her in a fortress where only his signature smell and his purring breaths could trespass. She would concentrate on every sensation in an attempt to convince herself that he was there and overcome her insomnia. But he wasn’t there and she would subdue herself to night after night of what little hours she could accomplish of restless sleep.

When time passed and Hermione was finally able to return to her loved ones, she was bouncing on her feet in anticipation. The second she stepped out of the fireplace, she heard the muffled voices of Ron and Rose coming from the second floor. Eager to see her family, she sprinted and took off her cloak halfway up the stairs, discarding the garment on the floor. This level of disorder was anomalous coming from her, but the familiar smell of her home combined with her husband and daughter's voice had made her desire for Ron’s warmth and her children's stickiness almost unbearable.

Hermione followed the sound towards Rose’d bedroom and was frozen on her spot at the sight of her family. She was itchy to go and hug them but the scene on display was so adorable that she had to take a minute to commit it to her memory. Ron and Rose were sitting on the petite chairs of her tea time set and she was decorating his beard with a variety of her hair clips. He was curled on himself in an unnatural position, with his knees almost beside his ears and his hands resting palms down on the carpet, probably for balance. He would've been more comfortable on the floor than scrunching to fit on the chair, but Hermione had the suspicion that he was doing it for their daughter.

Hermione’s heart warmed watching as Rose was adorning his father's facial hair with a grin so wide that her eyes were closing from happiness. He was cottoning to her about how beautiful he felt with his new beard style and Hermione chuckled internally as she focused on said beard. She could clearly remember the last time Ron's beard had stolen her attention for so long. It was the day she’d noticed that he was no longer a boy, but a man. And now she was realising that her man had become a full proud and accomplished father. No, not a father. Her colleague's husbands who they continually complain about for not contributing to their children’s care were fathers. Ron was a dad. A fully committed, capital “D”, Dad.

‘Are you done ogling me, or shall I give you a few more minutes?’ Ron was glancing at her from the corner of his eye twitching his lips with the effort to stop a smile.

Hermione shook her head amused by his boldness. Oh, you are so full of yourself, are you? Well, two can play this game . She thought, and narrowing her eyes at him, she asked, ‘What makes you think that I was looking at you?’

Ron chuckled, triggering a reprimand from Rose at the sudden movement of her model. He apologised to her and promised to remain still before he answered, ‘Because if you would’ve been looking at Rosie with that eyes, love... I’ll be calling child support and the Aurors.’

Hermione gawked but recovered quickly, deciding to ignore her husband's ridiculous comment and walked into the room. ‘‘Where is Hugo?’ She queried, noticing the absence of her youngest son, as she squatted next to Rose and wrapped her in a bear hug. The little one immediately left her task at hand to snuggle into her mother.

‘He’s already asleep. Little Rosie here put her brother to sleep - with my help,’ Ron hastily added, as Hermione’s incipient protest died in her throat. ‘And now is my turn to give her night night.’

They ended up putting Rose to bed together, stealing glances at each other, trying to convey through their eyes all the longing from the last two weeks. Once in their bedroom, Ron and Hermione fell into their well practiced bedtime routine. As usual, she was first in bed. Ron didn’t know it, but she had trained through the years to perform the routine in record time so she could watch him peel off his clothes with no interruptions. Contemplating as Ron undressed was one of those little simple pleasures of life.

Whilst Hermione rejoiced with the view of her naked husband, she remembered the story Ginny had told her about the name she’d heard her coworker’s daughter called Harry. Ginny had been so full of herself recalling how she’d caught the girl saying to her friends that Ginny’s husband was a total DILF. When Hermione asked what that meant, Ginny’s grin could have lightened an entire city. “Dad I’d Like to Fuck”.

Hermione surveyed her husband. He was absolutely a DILF. If she’d been a teenager she was sure she'd have a crush on him. She had had a crush on him when they were teenagers and he was still a work in progress. If she’d have to choose, Hermione was completely sure that Ron had never been more appealing than he was at that moment. He didn’t have the body of his early twenties but he was still stunningly fit compared with her colleagues’ husbands. And maturity had brought an air of wisdom that mixed with his sarcastic humour made him more attractive than ever. In addition, seeing him as committed as he was to Rose today, made his sex appeal rise to the sky.

‘Ready to sleep, love?’ Ron had suddenly stopped mid-movement putting on his pyjama bottoms. One leg in the air, contracting his entire body to remain balanced. Hermione bit her lower lip to contain a moan at the sight of is firmed and perfectly sized for a small hand arse.

‘I think there are some other things I’d like to do with you before we sleep.’

Ron’s eyes went wide with want as he dropped his pyjamas and as he kneaded his hands he huskily said, ‘Then what are we waiting for?’ Then jumped on the bed and crawled between the sheets.