#like yes it only results in her death once (obviously)

[burst-of-iridescent]

Hey does everyone remember when Aang physically hurt Katara via burning her due to his own negligence with fire because he didn't listen at all to her concerns? But all of Katara's concerns were her being worried for him getting hurt and not herself, and then he hurts her badly, this never gets addressed again in the show, but I remember this vividly.

i actually like this scene on its own.

aang burning katara is a good character building moment because it's a brutal reminder of his own capacity for destruction. he needs to understand that his reckless actions can have horrific repercussions in order to fully realize the weight of his responsibility as both a firebender and the avatar, and it makes the moment where he uses zhao's recklessness against him more impactful. it also sets up the "water = life, fire = death" dichotomy that's part of katara's arc on viewing the world in binaries, which will later be broken down in book 3.

but ultimately the incident is still of greater significance to aang, and he's the one to bring it up in the guru and western air temple episodes, telling both guru pathik and zuko about his guilt over burning katara and his refusal to firebend ever again. this experience is also what leads him to accept zuko as his firebending teacher, and then finally forgive himself when he learns the true meaning of firebending. for the most part, it's a well-sustained arc and one of the few narratives aang has that is actually brought to completion.

do i wish that katara and aang had actually talked about his actions beyond this episode? yes. do i wish the aftermath had been focused a little more on katara instead of showcasing the impact of her physical injuries mostly through aang's continued self-flagellation? yes. but as a one-off incident contained to a single episode, i don't mind it.

what i do mind, however, is that this is not the last time the show is going to use katara as a lynchpin for aang's character development.

in the book 2 premiere, katara is turned into a pawn to propel aang into the avatar state. in the guru, her imprisonment is the reason that aang chooses to go back to ba sing se instead of unlocking his chakras. that is three separate times now that katara has been damselled in order to facilitate key turning points in aang's narrative, but not once does the same apply in reverse. there is never a moment where aang is the only one put in danger solely to drive katara's arc, the way she is in his. the closest we get is katara bringing aang back to life, but even then his death is still the result of his own choices and more integral to his storyline than hers.

now, compare this to the final agni kai.

at first glance, katara being put in danger just to complete zuko's redemption looks like the same tired trope, and had the scene ended at his sacrifice, it would be. but crucially, it's katara who continues the fight. katara who defeats the scion of fire nation destruction at the height of her power. katara who saves zuko just as he saved her.

in proving herself a master waterbender powerful enough to defeat azula and save someone she loves - someone who sacrificed themselves for her - from fire nation aggression, katara brings her own arc full circle. it is in triumphing over azula by saving each other that zuko and katara become the people they were always meant to be, and so their individual arcs are brought to their narrative culmination through bookending the other. the final agni kai works where the kat.aang moments fall short because it is of equal significance to both zuko and katara's narratives.

obviously, this is not to say that it's bad for certain characters to exist just to drive another character's arc. it's inevitable that some will be written solely to fulfill that purpose because a story only has so much narrative space, and it usually can't - and shouldn't - be divided equally amongst every single character.

but if we're talking about two main characters who end up in a lifelong romantic relationship, and it's the female character being repeatedly damselled to drive the male character's storyline within an already imbalanced dynamic... perhaps it's time to rethink a few things.

[maddames]

is it possible u can write for platonic yan!claude and platonic yan!athanasia pls? how do they behave around the youngest in the obelia family? 👁️👁️

SWEET DREAMS, LITTLE DOVE.

p!yan!claude + p!yan!athanasia with youngest!obelia child // tw confinement, obsession, possessiveness, violence (both against reader and others), manipulation, death, imprisonment, gn!reader.

BOTH claude and athanasia are rather careful around the youngest, because despite what most think, the two royals see the youngest obelia as someone who's fragile, both mentally and physically compared to them.

despite athanasia's and claude's agreement on trying to keep you as "safe as possible" both of them have very different ways of "punishing" you, with claude being more physical, while athanasia prefers using your emotions against you.

both of them, despite being (obviously) abusive, they treat you very well! anything you wanted would be handed to you without a single doubt, except for freedom, of course. because why would you want to leave the palace? isn't what they're giving you here enough?

the palace servants are extremely careful and watch their words around you, as well, because anything they do could result in them either being imprisoned or killed if they even just upset you, with some servants acting as the emperor's and crown princess's ears and eyes whenever they have to be seperated from you.

athanasia, in my opinion, would treat you much better than claude, as she more or less practically worships the ground you walk on and idolises you, while claude sees you more of a porcelain doll, something to keep his mind off of diana, much to everyone's dismay.

jeanette was most likely your first and only genuine friend aside from your sister, as she wasn't aware of how possessive the emperor and princess are over you.

once claude retires and athanasia becomes the new empress, however, your life from then on would be more hectic, as claude has more time to spend with you now, while athanasia gets busier with her new duties.

honestly, you'd be practically confined to the palace walls, as you're not allowed to leave the imperial palace at all once claude decided to make you and athanasia stay at his own. not to mention that you'd be confined to your chambers if you acted out against claude and athanasia.

in short; they treasure and spoil you, yes, but you'll never be able to have freedom nor true privacy, confined in the palace and having to follow the whims of your sister and father until the either of you die.

[idonotbitemythumbatyou]

Just rewatched Chain of Command and that Gul Madred dude is so fucked once the Obsidian Order gets their hands on him for how badly he bungled that interrogation.

I’m sorry you had Jean-Luc fucking Picard captain of the goddamn Enterprise on your ship and you didn’t just throw him in a cell until you could get him to a qualified Order agent?

You told him personal anecdotes that were… true? You absolute fucking moron? You brought your daughter in? Did you know that children are not a trigger point for him? No of course you didn’t you dipshit.

The only reason he went in that last time when he knew Picard was freed was to try to get something to show for himself to save his ass from Tain’s wrath. “See! See! He was about to break! I didn’t fuck up!”

Oh and that Cardassian captain? (The one who was dealing with starfleet and loving every second of being righteously furious that Captain Picard? Was found? Committing a crime!? Against Cardassia!?) he obviously hates Madred’s guts so I can only imagine when Madred was like “I know we’re supposed to take prisoners like this to the Order but should I just like… do the interrogation myself?” The captain dude was like ‘for the good of Cardassia I should convince him to not do the interrogation, and instead wait until we get back to Cardassia for an expert to–’ “Yes Gul Madred, you should be the one to interrogate Captain Jean-Luc Picard. You are more than capable and I cannot foresee this resulting in embarrassment or death for anyone involved.”

Meanwhile the Obsidian Order plant on his crew is just taking notes shaking her head like “oh god. Oh no. Oh Tain is gonna be so fucking pissed.”

[superman86to99]

Superman #93 (September 1994)

ZERO HOUR CROSSOVER! Due to the time-related shenanigans going on around the DC Universe, Superman meets his Kryptonian parents again -- and this time, his mom doesn't want to puke when she sees him! In fact, she even gives him a motherly kiss. Aww.

We start with Supergirl fighting some 68th century aliens who found themselves transported to present-day Earth and apparently figured they might as well invade it. Superman drops by and deals with the aliens via his usual approach to problem-solving: he just chucks their ship back into space.

As the heroes land back in Metropolis, Lois Lane hands Superman her cellular telephone because he has a call from Ma Kent, who sounds pretty panicked. The call abruptly cuts off, and there's a dramatic moment where Superman wonders if he can really leave the whole "the universe is in danger" thing aside for a while...

...before deciding that, yes, his mom is more important, obviously.

So, Superman flies to Smallville to check on his parents, only to find two surprise characters in their home: freaking' Psi-Phon and Dreadnaught. Wait, no, it's his other parents, Jor-El and Lara, just standing in the Kent's kitchen. Jor-El explains that, after sending little baby Kal-El's rocket to Earth all those years ago, they realized Krypton wasn't exploding after all, whoops. A scientist called Jen-Em had figured out how to stall the explosion, and then, after years of work, they managed to cure Krypton of its explosive tendencies for good.

Superman quickly figures out that this must be the result of the weirdness caused by Zero Hour (after all, he's been to Krypton and saw that there's nothing but a big ball of green gas there), but he agrees to put on a Cyclops-esque visor that will show him Jor-El's story in more detail.

Through the futuristic Viewmaster, Superman learns that in this timeline, Krypton's near-death experience caused the Kryptonians to re-evaluate their priorities and abandon their cold, emotionless ways (hence this Lara not being repulsed by her son). In fact, Lara became the first modern Kryptonian to get pregnant and have a child the old fashioned way -- meaning that, yes, Superman has a brother, Zan-El. Zan not only grew up to become "prefect over the entire planet" (so, world president) but, more importantly, he also brought back the shorter togas and fashionable headbands of Krypton's ancient, Mike Mignola-designed past.

Meanwhile, Jor-El had spent all those decades working on a cure to the genetic defect that kills Kryptonians if they try to leave the planet. He finally came up with a serum that temporarily allowed him and Lara to visit Earth, but it's already wearing off. So, Superman has to decide quickly: will he go live in alternate, non-exploded Krypton with his biological family? Or will he stay with his adoptive one that actually raised him and made him who he is?

Superman agonizes over the choice for a moment, but then he's like "hey, wait a minute, I can just go visit!" He informs the Els of his decision and they're overjoyed -- until a poorly-timed thunderbolt full of chronal energy strikes their spaceship and erases them from reality.

"The last son of Krypton is orphaned once again." Damn, Jurgens.

Metron of the New Gods comes to remind the grieving Superman that all the other superheroes are waiting for him at Zero Hour #3 (now on sale!), but Superman says they can wait a little longer because he has something important to do: hug his Earth parents and tell them he loves them.

CONTINUED IN ZERO HOUR!

Plotline-Watch:

This is a classic issue, obviously, but my problem with it is that one of the "next issue" blurbs in another Super-Title had teased it as "Guess who's coming to dinner?" -- and yet there's no scene of the Kents and the Els enjoying any type of meal. I haven't read the recent Zero Hour 30th Anniversary Special by Jurgens (I will once we're done covering the event), but this scene better be in it.

At the start of the issue, as she fights the aliens, Supergirl sees the Superman hologram that he and Metron created with Green Lantern's help in Zero Hour #4. We'll go over every DC comic that got spammed with green holo-Superman in another post.

It greatly pleases me that Superman specifically mentions the time, exactly 75 issues ago, when Hawkman took him to see Krypton's remains (at which point Superman hallucinated a timeline where the Kryptonians survived by becoming even bigger assholes). Sure, it later turned out that this was an evil Hawkman impostor who inexplicably helped save Superman's life, but Superman probably doesn't know about that whole mess, plus I think Zero Hour is about to delete it from continuity anyway.

The reason for that genetic link to Krypton that Jor-El mentions was the Eradicator, as revealed in Action Annual #2, but Jurgens also refrains from opening that particular can of worms in this comic (especially since the Eradicator is currently running around with a superhero team and even appears in Zero Hour).

Metropolis Mailbag:

Imagine our delight (and our embarrassment) when we opened the newsletter archive page for Man of Steel #37 last week and saw there was a comment there from Mr. Jon Bogdanove himself, which had been sitting there unanswered for over a month! Agh! Here it is in full:

"Don—Outstanding job identifying all the Batmen ( You even got Walt!!). The only one you didn’t get reflects my failure. What you guessed was Marshall Rogers was meant to be Bernie Wrightson. However I deeply regret NOT including Marshall. I really should have. I also left out Norm, mainly because I didn’t think I could do him justice. I tried a few sketches and was able to identify a number of tropes we took a similar approach to—but I just wasn’t satisfied that I could really nail Norm—at least in the time I had left. Teaching myself all these different styles really pushed the drop-dead deadline to the limit. I really put poor Dennis and Whitty under the gun on this one. I did learn a hell of a lot drawing this issue though. Nothing like studying the masters to help you learn!! BTW: Weezie and I love that everyone hated Jeb so very much. One gets to draw many villains in one’s career, but rarely does one get to create so dislikeable a douchebag! I consider Jeb a genuine achievement. I know 90’s Jimmy annoys some people, but to me Jimmy was always meant to be comic relief. I liked playing Jimmy as this doofus kid with a middle-aged dad’s sense of cool. He still cracks me up. I would love to do a Retro look at Zero Hour—perhaps a vignette from that same night— in which 90s Jimmy meets himself from various other timelines—Golden Age office boy Jimmy, Silver-Age drag queen Jimmy, Kirby-era Jimmy, etc. I’d dedicate it to Max!"

And my shamefully late response (gonna go ahead and blame the time disturbances for it):

"I am mortified that we hadn't seen this comment until now! (Didn't realize the newsletter wouldn't alert us, argh) Sir, if you don't draw that Jimmy idea, I swear I will commission it from you one day. I would add Turtle Boy Jimmy, My Adventures with Superman Jimmy, and of course bald, Superman-hating Jerry Ordway Jimmy. Just no Jebs, please."

(I now check the newsletter archive pages for comments 75 times a day, unless I forget.)

Shout Outs-Watch:

Time-displaced shout outs to our SUPporters, Aaron, Chris “Ace” Hendrix, britneyspearsatemyshorts, Patrick D. Ryall, Mark Syp, Ryan Bush, Raphael Fischer, Kit, Dave Shevlin, and Dave Blosser! Join them (and get extra non-continuity articles; the latest one was about Superman fighting a guy called BONECHILL in the 1989 cartoon) via Patreon or our newsletter’s “pay what you want” mode!

And now: more from Don Sparrow, who sent me his section weeks ago but it also got lost in time (actually, I decided to cover Zero Hour #4 first). Keep reading:

Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):

We open with the cover, and while it’s a bit broad, it’s certainly accurate for the story within.  I kinda dig that “DC Universe” trade dress, though it didn’t seem to last very long.  Inside the issue, we’re met with a lovely full-page splash of Supergirl amidst a LOT going on—thunderclouds, lightning, a firing spacecraft and a Star Wars style holographic projection of Superman.

I wasn’t sure which review to tackle first, Zero Hour #4, or this one, but since they seem to take place more or less at the same time (with the holographic message coming early into issue 4, but the New York meeting coming in Zero Hour #3), I flipped a coin and went with this one as happening first.  As the story progresses, Supergirl gets an assist from the Man of Steel in dealing with the timelost aliens, brusquely tossing them into space.  This issue exemplifies a trend I’ve noticed with Jurgens’ layouts since the Death and Return storyline—he uses a lot fewer panels per page than he once did, often with a near full page splash and then two or three panels laid overtop.  Visually, it’s very arresting, and Jurgens knocks the background splashes out of the park—on pages 4 and 5, despite being nearly identical scenarios (Superman and Supergirl flying in a stormy sky), they’re both so well handled, you don’t even mind the repetition.  But from a storytelling standpoint, it really does feel like a little less to read each issue, so the Superman issues seem a little thinner in terms of what actually happens.  Anyone else notice this? [Max: For me at the time, the shorter plots were balanced out by the fact that I spent more time looking at the big, awesome pictures, as opposed to the smaller, lamers ones in the backissues I was buying, with all that wasted white space between panels. I'm paying for the full page to be used, dammit!!!] 

Back to the art, page 7 has a great drawing of a pensive Superman. Page 9 is a great image, but a bit of a missed opportunity—the last panel would have been more impactful had Jor-El REALLY looked identical to Kal-El (which I’ve mocked up). [Max: I also made a small change to the panel, see if you can spot it...]

I do appreciate Jurgens’ and Rubinstein’s effort to still give the Els expressive faces, without eyebrows.

As Jor-El shares the alternate history of Krypton, Superman in the VR visor is pretty reminiscent of Cyclops from X-Men.  It’s compelling to see the flowing outfits that Zan-El and his bride wear, in opposition to the robes of Jor and Lara—much more like the early more Roman look shown in the first issue of the World of Krypton series.  My guess is the group that attend Zan’s nuptials are all members of the El family--I had thought that the different Kryptonian houses would wear different colours rather than everyone in green, but aside from the odd panel from Action Annual #2, I can’t seem to find much corroboration of that assumption.  The sweet image of Lara giving her son a peck on the cheek is quietly powerful, with a great expression on Superman’s face on page 17.  Lastly, the tragic page of chronal discharge (which sounds like a rap metal band name) and electrical storms is well drawn.

SPEEDING BULLETS:

When Superman is hemming and hawing over whether to focus on the extinction level event the superheroes are facing, or head to the farm to help his parents, Supergirl posits “There’s only one choice and you know it.”  I completely thought that it was setting up for him to focus on saving all of humanity rather than popping home for a visit.

Perhaps it’s because they were trying to have the Zero Hour books serve as a jumping on point for new readers (particularly the zero issues, which are coming soon) but some of the dialogue in this issue feels clunkily expository, like when Superman reminds his fiancée Lois and quasi-family member Supergirl that the Kents “may not have been {his} genetic parents, but they’re real as they come”, or later when Superman explains to Jor-El and Lara (and the reader) about Krypton’s explosion, and the Matrix chamber rocketship.

They kinda gloss over whether there was any fallout about being wrong about Krypton exploding, though I suppose it was more about Jen-Em stabilizing the core rather than Jor being wrong. [Max: "Krypton is gonna blow up, guys" is definitely a meme among the current Kryptonian generation because the scientists did such a great job stopping it, like Y2K or the hole in the ozone layer here.]

Have we ever seen a post-Crisis Kryptonian depicted as having anything but black hair? [Max: I'm pretty sure there were some non-black haired ones in World of Krypton, but it's hard to tell with the eyebrow-less, nun habit-wearing ones. It's possible they made other hair colors go away once they got all into eugenics, though.]

It’s interesting that this alternate Krypton goes one step further than Byrne’s origin, regarding the Els.  In Byrne’s history, Jor-El was a rebel in his society because he had actual affection for his lifemate, Lara.  The notion of natural conception and birth goes even further than that, and was explored in the Man of Steel film, where (spoiler alert?) Kal himself was the first child naturally conceived in love in generations.

This issue also reveals that the familiar robes and headpieces worn by Jor-El and Lara aren’t simply traditional garb, they’re referred to as life support suits.

Though the Kents are worried about losing Clark to his Kryptonian parents, Jonathan is all man, which explains why he picks this particular moment to go to second base with his elderly wife. [Max: He instinctively wanted to get working on a replacement son, forgetting he's been shooting blanks since youth...]

While Superman cries in anguish at seeing his biological parents detonate, Metron simply refers to them as “unfortunates”.  All heart, that one.

Missed an issue? Looking for an old storyline? Check out our new chronological issue index!

[anantplayingdnd]

Oh Hellos' songs and what Curse of Strahd Characters I associate with them!

Oh boy they are my favorite band of all time and boy do I have things to say.

Also this does contain spoilers, so if you're a player, maybe get your DM's permission before reading through this.

Ireena: "Trees" "Notos" "Dear Wormwood" "Exeunt" "Boreas" "Lay Me Down" "On the Mountain Tall"

Oh boy, it's quite a few, if I'm being honest. "Trees" is about her relationship with Izmark, obviously. "Notos" is largely vibes based, but it's a lot of freedom and being willing to fight against the circumstances you find yourself in, which is a major theme for her. "Dear Wormwood" like... come on. Do I even need to say anything about this? Strahd has been controlling so much of her life, and now she's realized who he is and how bad he is. The whole song is about rebellion against an abuser and making your own way, without their influence. Similarly, "Exeunt" is about... leaving. Running away. Saying you've had enough of the treatment you've endured and getting the hell out of there. "Lay me Down" picks up right where that leaves off, bold and determined to get away, if not in life than in death. It's her hope of one day not being trapped in the soul snowglobe of Barovia. "Boreas" and "On the Mountain Tall" are both a little more abstract, but I think Boreas relates to the periods of depression she's been through as a result of.. you know. Strahd. And as for "On the Mountain Tall" like.. tell me you can hear the line, "I know you want me to be afraid, I know you want me to love you," without thinking of her and Strahd.

Izmark: "Trees" and "Soap"

"Trees" is there for symmetry with Ireena, being a song about their childhood and how, for a little while, they were happy. "Soap" is one I just like, can't explain properly. Frankly it came to me in a vision, and sometimes I know a song fits a character long before I figure out why. I think what initially drew me to associating it with Izmark is the lyrics about having a softer side, but needing to become tougher to survive in the world, and trying to figure out how to make who you want to be compatible with who the world says you have to be.

Rahadin: "Pale White Horse"

I feel like there's little to say that isn't obvious. The Pale White Horse is the coming of death, something twisted and horrible that makes even the bravest cower in fear, and if that isn't Rahadin, I don't know what is.

Doru: "The Valley"

Doru hates being trapped in Barovia (I mean, they all do, but Doru really hates it). And because of how much he hated everything about the place he was raised, it made him very eager to follow someone who said they would lead him into something better. Unfortunately, that individual bit off a little more than they could chew in this brilliant attack on Castle Ravenloft, and that's how Doru ended up undead.

Strahd: "Like the Dawn"

One of my favorite things to do with Strahd is take things that are super cute and wholesome, like Adam seeing Eve for the first time and realizing how wonderful it is to have someone who understands him, and making it about how horrible and fucked up Strahd is. This song is normally really romantic, but I dare you, just go imagine Strahd singing this about Tatyana and come back to tell me how icked out you are.

Sykane (OC): "Eat You Alive"

I'll talk more about her one day, but you know that weird Dark Power who can let you reanimate the dead if they've only been dead for a few days? Yeah, she's the Warlock/Necromancer's patron :)

Ezmerelda: "Thus Always To Tyrants"

A song about bringing life back to a dry valley by overthrowing the corrupt tyrants that have destroyed it? Yes, obviously it's the most badass Vampire Hunter out there. (I also think that some of it, especially toward the end, that's in reference to Van Richten).

Ludmilla: "Rose"

My Ludmilla has been hiding who she is from everyone, including Strahd. She was once good friends with the party Druid, but under a different name. Also, the lyrics about appeasing your leviathan groom? Love will get you slaughtered? Ugh. I love her.

Kasimir: "Rounds" and "The Lament of Eustace Scrubb"

"Rounds" is a song I personally use a lot to help myself get out of depressive slumps, due to it's slow building and references to taking in deep breaths, learning how to speak again. In his playlist, this song comes just after everything Rahadin does to the Dusk Elves, and is him slowly trying to pick his life back up after unbelievable pain. "The Lament of Eustace Scrubb" is honestly a bit of wishful thinking on my part, since our Kasimir hasn't quite realized that he has the ability to change and grow from the many, many mistakes he's made. But one day, maybe he'll realize that he can be set free.

BONUS ROUND WITH NO EXPLANATIONS

Escher: "Danse Macabre"

Abbot: "Smoke Rising Like Lifted Hands"

Lady Wachter: "Hieroglyphs"

Volenta: "Torches"

Sergei: "Grow"

[seraphtrevs]

I feel as dense as Jesse because I just don't see it about Walt loving him even more than Skyler and going completely feral when other people hurt him? Like obviously he loves him because he can easily manipulate him but I just... don't get it? Is it that he wants to be the only one who hurts Jesse?

But Walt doesn't think he's hurting Jesse. He thinks he's protecting him. Every time Walt does something shitty to Jesse, he convinces himself it was for Jesse's own good.

Like when he let Jane die. Walt's true reason was that Jane tried to take Jesse away from him. But Walt thinks that the reason he did it was to protect Jesse. Jane got him hooked on heroin. If he stays with her, she'll kill him. In a way, Walt killed her for Jesse.

And I don't think Jesse was actually that easy for Walt to manipulate at first. Jesse kicked and screamed the whole way as Walt dragged him into their partnership. Things changed when their relationship became more intense - when they loved each other, Jesse became easier to manipulate. But Walt didn't fall in love with him because he was easy to manipulate since that didn't come until later.

A big part of the reason their relationship is so intense is that they've been through several life-and-death situations together now, starting from the beginning when Krazy-8 comes for them. Walt kills Emilio in defense of himself and Jesse. Later, he kills Domingo, sparing Jesse from having to do it.

When Walt killed Emilio, he wasn't doing it specifically to save Jesse (he was saving them both, so it was as much self-interest). But once the dust settled...I think Walt felt excited about the idea of killing someone in defense of someone else. A huge part of Walt's psychology is that he loves the idea of being a protector (and a provider). In mundane life, there's no opportunity for doing something that primal. He can't kill for Skylar and the kids...

...but he can kill for Jesse.

The other thing he can do for Jesse is provide. (Yes, they're partners, but Walt views himself as the leader.) The only person in the whole show who ever feels happy about getting money from Walt is Jesse (that doesn't last long, but he was very excited at first).

Heisenberg is Walt's ideal self - powerful, rich, dangerous, feared. But he has to hide his ideal self from Skyler and his son, even as he's in the process of fully realizing fantasies he's had for years. (btw Heisenberg is nowhere near as cool as Walt thinks he is, but that's how Walt feels when he's running his empire). A huge part of this fantasy is being a protector - he can't be Heisenberg unless he has someone to protect. So that person becomes Jesse

Jesse used to be his student, so he already had some residual protective feelings for him, which puts Jesse in the role of a child - a son. But at the same time, these fantasies are VERY sexy to Walt - he tries to bring it home to Skyler to mixed results. So with that energy frustrated and needing a place to go, Jesse also becomes like his wife. (What can I say, he's a sick person.) Their relationship plays out more like a romance than a father/son story, in my opinion, but there's definitely an element of both, which is what makes it so disturbing and fascinating

[numericalbridge]

One headcanon that i just can't agree with is the idea that Darius would/should just stay at home post canon and care only about Hunter and Eber, at best other close friends and whoever he is shipped with, but not about anyone or anything else.

Like, yeah, obviously there are people who are the closest to him, and i definitely think he would need to take a break and revaluate his position as the former Coven Head and take a real vacation for once, but Darius is just so flanderized in the fandom into one direction or another, and i just don't vibe with it. And yes, i understand that sometimes it's simply the result of what people want to focus on in fanworks, but i've also seen it spelled out as headcanons in general, like 'oh, Darius hates all the kids for real and only Hunter is the exception', or 'Darius actually can't stand other people other than his loved ones' (and not in the sense that he is easily annoyed, or it is difficult for him to interact with others, but fully, for real).

First, I am pretty sure Dana herself had said in one interview that Darius wants to care about his loved ones but also to help others in general. And you can see it in the show too - Raine says specifically that he was 'protecting' them even though they were not close at the time of ER, Darius laments how 'we' (the rebels) were too late during the DoU, hinting that he always wanted to save the whole Isles ("but he gave up for Eber" you might say, well, my first meta was about what i think of 'Darius easily chose Eber over the Isles' interpretations - Post). So in one way or another he probably would want to help others post canon as well.

Second, he clearly has several interests and, of course, his passion for abominations that he would likely want to continue to persue. He also seems to be quite happy to conduct Raine's ceremony, so he might also enjoy the role of a public figure in general.

And third and probably the most important thing for me, it just fits the narrative of the show better if Darius opens up to other people who are not the closest to him. Yes, found family is great, but it is not the only thing that matters. There are many instances in the series where it is shown how important community is or how its absense is damaging - and not only to the kids but to adult characters too - and i think it is a very deliberate choice, and one of the good things about toh. (And by that i don't mean - and i don't think the show means either - that every character should become an extrovert and completely change personality, or that every character should like and interact with everyone, it can mean different things).

The biggest example is Eda - she starts the show isolated, and while it's not her fault, in season 1 she is, as Luz had put it, individualistic. But through getting to know Luz, Eda not only develops better relationships within her own found family, but she goes from only agreeing to help Bump in the school because it will help Luz and being distantly playfull at best towards other kids, to trying to reach out to Hunter and to mentor Edric in season 2, and finally to opening her own school; she goes from not wanting to free the conformatorium prisoners to saving a wild witch in ER. Yes, the paternalistic conformity of the EC is shown to be bad, but personal isolation and individualism are also not good. And the same happens with others too. The Bat Queen not only opens up to the palisman adoption program but praises the good qualities of the kids when they tell their wishes. Alador improves his relationship with his children, but he also works on using his inventions for the good of the Isles in the epilogue. It is at least implied that if Camila and Luz had bigger support from the adults around them, and Camila had more friends other than her husband to help her, their life after his death would've been easier. Not as noticable with Raine because of how their arc is written (/negative), but it is at least hinted in the ER that their rebellion wasn't very sucessful because of how small it was. This is more headcanon-y, but i can easily see how Lilith's single-minded focus on finding the cure for her sister caused her to ignore the harm done by the EC. And then, of course there are villains like Belos and Odalia whose focus on the family is twisted.

So, i really don't know why Darius's development should go in a different direction and be focused on isolating rather than opening up to more people - in one way or another, it can take different forms, and doesn't mean that he can't be a private person. It doesn't even mean that he must be a public figure (although i think he might be happy in a position like that), he might just sit and write more text books. But I think getting to mentor someone like Willow (not in abominations but in general sense) or Jerbo would be good for him too.

(And tbh with the way Darius's grief over his mentor was twisted into bitterness, and how he seemed to be very much not over his broken friendship with Alador and possibly Odalia (maybe even Raine) for so long, i can see an interpretation where it would be healing for him to learn to expand his circle and through that to learn how to easier let go of his grievances and adjust to change.)

[rachetmath]

Grimm Day

Winter: So, Mr. Arc, what is your relationship with my sister?

Jaune: Non-existent.

Winter: Really?

Jaune: I mean I liked her back at Beacon but after asking her out a bunch of times and still be second to Neptune- yeah I got over it. Plus she didn’t like me back so…

Winter: I see.

Yang: Then what about Ruby?

Jaune: I mean we chill but Penny… Seriously?

Yang: Oh that most definitely could put a strain on the relationship.

Jaune: Exactly. Plus, if anything, her and Oscar are getting closer.

Yang: You lying.

Jaune: Nah they to be close.

Winter: What makes you say that?

Jaune: I mean obviously the battle at Heaven Academy spoke volumes ahead. Then Argus she was quick to defend him.

Yang: Well that is true even before we got there and told you everything she was helping him.

Jaune: Plus when your sister called my name to stop me from hurting him, how’d I responded?

Yang*remembers*

Yang: Oh yeah…

Jaune: Yeah, I was ready to swing on both of them. 

Yang: Damn you was.

Jaune: Then in Atlas she trusted him to look after the lamp. Lets him in on your team meetings. Not to mention the moment when we got back from certain death, she assumed Emerald hurt him and was ready to fight her.

Winter: Wow. T-that’s almost hard to swallow.

Yang: No. No. I refuse to believe that. I’m her sister, I know everything.

Jaune: I mean you may be here sister but just like your mom your  never present in her life.

Yang: *red eyes*

Jaune: I’m just saying the evidence speaks for itself.  Hell, they probably kissed already.

Yang: Put that on something.

Jaune: On my name. And the little lien I have in my pocket.

Yang: How much?

Jaune: Fifty.

Yang: Deal.

Later on the same day.

Ruby: Everyone, me and Oscar are dating.

Yang: *shocked*

Jaune: Wow… … that’s… great. By any chance did you kiss?

Ruby: … … Yes.

Jaune: Before or after you started dating?

Ruby: B-before.

Yang was so devastated she didn’t notice Jaune reached into her pocket stole the money she gambled away.

Jaune: Easy money.

However, Jaune, despite his victory was not as pleased with the results. As he stared at them as well as everyone else. Ren cuddles with Nora. Blake tries to help Yang snap out of her crisis. Weiss still talking to Neptune on the scroll. Jaune was reminded of something he doesn’t to be reminded of. He was silent but then-

Emerald: Hey.

Jaune: *response to her voice*

Emerald: Are you alright?

Jaune sees everyone stare at him but instead of saying anything he throws on a smiles and tells them;

Jaune: Yeah. I’m fine. Really… I’m… … … okay.

The night comes as everyone sleeps while Jaune grabs a guitar he bought after a successful mission. Jaune finds a nearby stone and sits down as he clears his throat and prepares to play.

Jaune: *plays the guitar*

Jaune: Mama told me when I was young

"Come sit beside me, my only son

And listen closely to what I say

And if you do this it'll help you

Some sunny day"

Oh, yeah

Oh, take your time, don't live too fast

Troubles will come and they will pass

You'll find a woman, yeah, and you'll find love

And don't forget son there is someone up above

And be a simple kind of man

Oh, be something you love and understand

Baby, be a simple kind of man

Oh, won't you do this for me son, if you can?

Jaune continues to play as the sadness starts to fill the night. Jaune too focused on the strings didn’t take to consideration that grimm were starting to gather do to his negativity only. However instead of attacking him. They just looked.  Once then they just gathered around him. Surrounding him. And just laid down listening to the song as he processed to play.  

[fallloverfic]

@nnayomaise mentioned you on a post “i don't think enough people understand that, as a...”:

@fallloverfic i think he had to be suicidal before his dungeon, (not as much as he is in the current story ofc) but purely because he chose to become a dungeon lord knowing that it would eat all of his desires and he would wither away and die- and for him having a place to go, he could very easily have left his dungeon and gone back to the canaries (yes they would've killed him but they likely would've just revived him) which would be the right thing to do, he knows this

​(continued): "he knows the process of how they remove dungeon lords, he knows this is how canaries literally save the world from the dungeons, he probably thought a lot about backing out and essentially returning to reality but the goat manipulated him into staying then ate his desire to return"

I don't personally think anything about his decision to go with and stay with the mirror/goat indicates he was suicidal at that point, and you kind of disprove this yourself by indicating the goat - an outside force - was manipulating him into his decision(s). To each their own headcanon, obviously, and I like crunchy background for Mithrun, but here's at least why I don't think we have canon evidence for Mithrun being suicidal before he was abandoned by the demon.

In Bonus: Miscellaneous Monster Tales -6-, we learn just how dangerous magic mirrors are:

The manga notes this is specifically a moment of weakness, to an object specifically designed to steal his heart. Sometimes we all get caught on bad days. This was one of Mithrun's (he made the mistake of not ignoring the mirror). He was strong back then, but he wasn't invincible.

As the Adventurer's Bible notes about the Central Watchtower (his dungeon), "Since it hadn't had a lord for a long time, it was believed to be nearly collapsed. Mithrun was dispatched to investigate a nearby rash of disappearances and got taken in." (133). This was relatively routine/not a big deal, but it got him in a chance moment. The goat struck while the iron was hot. As the Adventurer's Bible explains, "Once, while under the impression that his older brother had stolen his beloved, Mithrun wished for a life where he hadn't joined the canaries. As a result, he fell under the spell of a demon" (74). This is framed largely as an accident/bad luck: we can't all be vigilant forever, after all. He even comments about these things to Kabru earlier, "You wished for those things... . . . You wished, so the dungeon provided. . . . Don't wish often." (p.157, Chapter 61: Roasted Walking Mushroom, Volume 9). Even casual wishes can have major consequences, and that desire attracts the demon (e.g., when Marcille is trying to get control, the demon acts on her subconscious desires for protection, and the only solution they have is to trap it in a book):

A moment of weakness against resolve to continue can perhaps imply he had depression he wasn't addressing, and was likely desperate and missing things he'd sacrificed, and was vulnerable to manipulation, but none of that really indicates specifically that he was suicidal. Knowing a bad thing could happen to you - even perhaps a form of death - when performing your job doesn't necessarily make you suicidal, though it might make you a bit reckless and/or foolhardy. Firefighters are not, by definition, suicidal. And there's really no evidence that Mithrun was in his right mind when he made his wish/went with the demon. As we see with Thistle, Marcille, and Laios, the demon is a master manipulator who knows how to overwhelm its targets, where even casual things you don't actively think about can lead to your undoing.

"and for him having a place to go, he could very easily have left his dungeon and gone back to the canaries (yes they would've killed him but they likely would've just revived him) which would be the right thing to do, he knows this"

How easy would it have been for him to leave? We can see what it took to get Thistle and Marcille to leave (Thistle ultimately fell to the demon, Marcille was a special case that involved large groups of people working together to find alternate solutions), and even what the demon used to keep Laios from enacting his plan when Laios becomes lord of the dungeon (chapter 88 is really great for showing just how skilled a manipulator the demon is; and even with fail-safes, Laios + Co couldn't get around this). And it's clearly indicated from at least Kabru's perception of Mithrun's backstory that Mithrun worked hard to stop anyone from coming in to get him while he was dungeon lord. It's easy to, academically, know how to solve a problem. It's another to make it work in the field. The only reason anyone was able to drag him out was seemingly because the demon "hadn't eaten enough to build up sufficient power" and "vanished" (p.185, chapter 62: Six Days, Volume 9). Mithrun had no apparent desire to leave, and was actively working to stay, likely in part because he was under the demon's spell. He even notes in the Complete Adventurer's Guide that the demon's love is compelling to the point of mental collapse. His knowing, logically, that leaving would have saved him, did nothing for him, because a lot was working against him, including powerful magic and his own human weakness for things he could have if he stayed. And him choosing to stay, despite likely somewhere in his head knowing what would happen if he didn't leave, again doesn't make him suicidal. I doubt he was thinking of the consequences all that much: he was too focused on the fantasy the demon made for him. When you're in the middle of a high, you typically aren't thinking of the comedown.

There's also another reason he probably wasn't thinking about it, that we see with Laios (and Marcille, and even I think with Thistle): a lot of us always think we'll be the one to get one over. We think we're smart enough or strong enough to succeed where others fail. Only Laios managed to succeed in part because his plan was so ridiculous and the demon's own overconfidence got in its way. In the Adventurer's Bible, Mithrun notes that before the dungeon, he "looked down on everyone." (76). He was arrogant. I imagine that part of why he probably wouldn't have given up had he thought about his potential fate was that he thought he'd succeed in surviving. His story is very much one of hubris (e.g., his thinking for why the demon took away his eye and ear ends). In the Adventurer's Bible, we see his confidence when he approaches Milsiril to talk to her (86), and we see how he is in combat. He was confident, and self-avowedly arrogant. That's a dangerous mix.

There is some vagueness for how other dungeon lords who weren't Mithrun, Marcille, Thistle, and Laios got out of their situations: we know there are a number, because we see them in the Complete Adventurer's Bible during the group chat scene set up by Pattadol. If it's explained somewhere how they were rescued/removed, and if for some reason Mithrun knew that could be him, too, but he chose not to for specific suicidal reasons, I have no idea. cartchytuns in the notes noted that they were probably freed when Laios got rid of the demon at the end of the story, since the demon in every dungeon was all the same demon, and I think that makes a lot of sense! If this is what happened, that means even fewer dungeon lords left the dungeon of their own volition/abilities, and that decreases the likelihood that Mithrun was able to, and increases the validity that he just actively chose not to.

Mithrun was jealous, angry, arrogant, and had seemingly some form of imposter's syndrome, possibly due to being an illegitimate son when his legitimate brother was someone he viewed as inferior, but his supposed superiority didn't save him from getting sent to the Canaries, which he is bitter about. He perhaps sometimes wished at least somewhat for things he didn't and perhaps couldn't have. As he notes in the Adventurer's Bible, "And instead of [Obrin], my parents sent me to the Canaries. I couldn't forgive any of that." (76). He was also good at hiding/masking all of this and pretending to be light-hearted/have no problems and "perfect" (in Milsiril's words). He was very clearly deeply unhappy and hiding it. His already being suicidal is a neat headcanon! And good luck with it/any fics! The fun part of the story's ambiguity is how much we don't know and how fanworks can fill in those gaps! But as of this moment, I really don't see canon evidence for him being suicidal before he was abandoned by the demon.

[the-punforgiven]

DBD knight and his squad vs. the original 4 FH knights who wins? (My money is on the FH gang because they actually take care of their gear and they have BOMBS)

I think that kind of depends on when and how the fight goes down tbh

I put way too much thought about this here so for the sake of people who don't care I'm gonna put it under a readmore.

Because like, in DBD, the cosmetics for Knight show that under the influence of The Entity, he can essentially fight forever, with his Draugr skin showing that despite being basically being a walking corpse he can still operate with his full mental faculties and power.

Plus, his Squad that he can summon at will is shown to be spectral, capable of phasing through walls and shit at will, but also becoming physical to interact with shit

However, as implied by the item description for the Enchanted Plates cosmetic, this is only in The Entity's realm. Yes, he is suffused with eldritch power, yes he can fight beyond death, and yes, he can resummon his squad if they are Banished but only in The Entity's Realm, it doesn't have the level of power it does outside of it, and most likely wouldn't be able to imbue Tarhos with the power it does.

However despite this, Tarhos Kovács is still a massive hulking man in heavy armor with a huge sword and considerable battle skills.

Now here's the thing though

For Honor's minions are implied to be like, normal average people. As a result of this every For Honor character, therefore, is fucking huge. Plus like, all of them are really good at fighting In Lore:tm:

So without the help of an eldritch god of suffering, it turns into a 4v4 that's pretty heavily in favor of the For Honor knights, by virtue of them just being bigger, stronger, more heavily armored than 3/4ths of their opposition and just flat-out better equipped than the whole group

However in the entity's realm, with the help of an eldritch god of suffering supporting the shit out of one side of the fight, especially letting Knight resummon his boys, that definitely fucks with the balancing somewhat

But here's the thing

See, For Honor had a crossover event with dbd once upon a time, (I've still got a couple of the cosmetics from it tbh, it was really fun iirc), which, if we take as Part of the Lore, we get to see how the entity operates in the context of a trial where both sides are armed and capable of fighting.

During the crossover, the Trapper was still mortal. He was big, similar in height to Lawbringer and Jiang Jun, and certainly had a lot of health and damage, but he could still be killed. However, the fight between the two teams of players would continue, both teams would keep dying, respawning, and fighting, and eventually The Trapper would return.

Because the entity, deep down, doesn't really care if either side definitely wins. Obviously she prefers if the Killers do, but despite her power she still makes victory and escape possible, because she feeds off that hope. In truth, the entity wants both sides to suffer. She offers extra favors and power to those who kill in her name, but their suffering and anger feeds her just as much as their sacrifices do.

So, while Tarhos and his boys would be much more powerful in The Entity's Realm, the entity would do as it always does, keep them suffering. Keep them killing. Keep them feeding her.

So I think, in a fight between The Knight and his Squad and the original 4 For Honor Knights, in the world of For Honor, the FH knights would come out on top relatively easily

In The Entity's Realm, though, I don't think it'd matter, really. Tarhos would be much stronger, yes, but the nature of the place they're in and the powers involved means that no matter who wins it'd still be a stalemate. They'd just keep fighting, keep killing each other, on and on, forever.

At least that's how I assume it'd go down lol, it's been a good while since that event

[baejax-the-great]

been wanting to write fic for the longest time, but i only really manage to make one shots

so i’m curious - how do you plan/start your fics, especially the long ones? do you ever write scenes that are five chapters ahead or do you write it in order?

thank u.. n i love ur work!!!!

I absolutely write scenes that are five chapters out. Sometimes those are the first scenes I write.

Usually my process starts like this: I think "wouldn't it be funny (or angsty af) if this thing happened?" And then I always say yes, because it would.

The next question is then, what caused that thing to happen, and what are the results (and are they also funny)?

This was actually a big struggle with Sunset In Your Veins. My original thought was just, "lmao, what if Achilles was cold and crying on a street corner. What if he thought it was Hell. What if he tried coffee. What if he wanted to fight the L. What if he stole a dog."

But none of those things is actually a story. Sure, Pat falling in love with him makes it a story, but what are the stakes?

This actually took me weeks to come up with (as I remember it anyway), and meanwhile I was adding more goofiness to Achilles in Chicago, writing whatever struck my fancy. Obviously he thinks the lake is a sea. He's going to LOVe the bean. They definitely have to watch Troy.

The only idea I could really get to work was turning it into a fairy tale. he's in Chicago because Aphrodite thought it would be fun, she's given him a challenge, and if he fails he dies. Also Aphrodite has said this is a "Reboot" so obviously Patroclus has to actually die at the end. This gave the overall fic some structure, and then I could get us from point A to point B in whatever way I found funniest.

I write my entire fics in one document, and when I get a silly idea I want to add to the fic, I add a descriptive header and then write the idea before I forget it. Here are some headers from WitD:

The ideas that are super solid, like Ambrosia, didn't need a lot of description because I knew exactly what was going to happen. The ones with question marks not so much.

I like using these headers because it's easy to skip back and forth to sections and reorder them, and I do this a lot. Like a lot.

I think a common pitfall for early writers is to start a fic because the premise rules, but not know how they are going to explain the premise or resolve the issues that stem from the premise. At least, I had this issue when I first posted longfic.

These days, I will only start posting a fic if I know how the story is going to resolve, and something like 'they live happily ever after' isn't what I mean. I have to know exactly how they are going to get that happily ever after, so in the case of Sunset, Pat's death was written within the first third of of me writing the story. Once I knew I had to get them to that intersection, happy, on the cusp of the deadline, and for Achilles to still be wearing stupid ass shoes, then it was a matter of figuring out *how* to get them there.

What has to happen for two people to fall in love? What has to happen for these two people to decide falling in love is worth it despite the massive cultural differences (and the rest of it)? What would give Aphrodite the most satisfaction with her game? What parts of Chicago/modern life would torture/delight Achilles the most? How will Pat reconcile his two identities? How would Ajax?

In a way, I fill the story in both backward and forward.

HOWEVER. One-shots are awesome. Because sometimes you don't want to world-build or work out the logic of the situation or give everyone a backstory or resolve shit. Sometimes you just have a kick ass scene in your mind and that is good enough.

[plague-karm]

ough I want to see you talk more about Carissa but I love her story and think more people should know about her so I send you an ask and not a dm.

does she have a design? I bet she's so silly

and also I love her name!! sounds like charity in latin!!! :O

Holy FUCK I did not expect this at all lmao, but ye I’ll talk more about her sure :)

She’s heavily based on another character I have from an original story I’m working on but I reworked her here to fit more with Ultrakill :) I can’t draw to save my life BUT I do have a description of what she looks like.

Dark skinned

Doesn’t have a concrete age but physically looks around 30-40 years old

Mid size

Brown eyes

REALLY long blonde hair (it’s hard to maintain but she manages)

Is one of the shorter virtues (Sisyphus TOWERS over her it’s pretty funny actually)

Wears white dresses, starts wearing more pale yellows while with Sisyphus, starts wearing black during the divorce arc and after his death :(

She doesn’t show it but she feels pretty pressured a lot of the time, she feels like a lot of gods responsibilities lie on her and her sisters now that he’s gone (even though they technically don’t have to since they live above heaven and enact their duties either way) she’s one of the only creations of his that he was PROUD of, to the point where he believed her and her sisters deserved better than the heavens, even if he wasn’t here physically she wanted to make him proud…wherever he was. Her pet rabbits were also a gift from him, they’re all white and fluffy.

She has a familial relationship with the rest of the heavenly virtues (they regard themselves as a sisterhood) and confided in them frequently over the wine stash one of them kept hidden in one of their sanctuaries. They obviously never found out about her secret relationship…if the DID however…the gossip would be through the ROOF. They would ask all sorts of questions and Carissa would be mortified, yet she’d answer them anyway because she knows they’re all looking out for her.

As a side note, the reason she takes a human form is because she spends a lot of her time greeting the dead as they enter heaven due to earth slowly becoming more and more inhabitable as a result of the final war, and she wants them to be greeted by something warm and familiar opposed the the strife and famine they suffered on earth. She’s taken this form for so long that she sometimes forgets that it’s not her true one. Sisyphus is the only hell dweller that’s actually seen it, he’s a fan to put it lightly.

Her and Gabriel met a LONG time before she met the kings and the two were very close, often confiding in one another regarding their insecurities and fears. She became distant from him during the councils formation, his once charismatic and cheery demeanour was slowly wilting away and there was nothing she could do about it.

She feels a great deal of empathy for the world god had left them all in, she felt awful for everyone, but she wasn’t sure of what to do. She often comforts new souls entering heaven from the final war with her plant magic and her rabbits as their purpose is similar to hers, it always works.

She used to have similar beliefs regarding hell (the council 100% spread propaganda to make sure no one challenged them) before her faithful venture, believing that everyone who ended up there was there for a good reason, but that obviously changed when she saw The Lust Renaissance.

Personality wise she’s very gentle and caring, embodying her virtue to a fault (just like how god would want her to be), but through the influence of outer forces she gains a bit more perspective and a sense of humour. It’s a bit awkward since she’s still getting used to talking in a way that’s less formal and more herself but hey she’s getting there.

[saintsenara]

Ok I’m curious on your take on Lupin ships now so: Lupin/Lily, Lupin/Molly, Lupin/Mcgonagall and Lupin/Dumbledore ??

thank you very much for the ask, anon! i know I'm often quite harsh to poor old remus as a potential romantic partner, but i actually quite back some of these...

lily evans/remus lupin

answered here - although this isn't one of the ones i back...

remus lupin/molly weasley

answered here - this very much is one i back.

remus lupin/minerva mcgonagall

however controversial a statement this may be, i am a really big fan of mcgonagall/marauders-era pairings. i've always backed her with snape, and i have recently decided to become invested in the concept of her with sirius.

and as i've said there, one of the things i find really interesting about writing mcgonagall is how easily she can be turned into someone who is cynical and jaded when it comes to love - which fits lupin, who believes the great romantic love of fairytales to be something the man he sees himself as has no hope of accessing, to a tee.

and i also like how much of mcgonagall's life is influenced by the twin forces of guilt and grief - and how this is also something lupin shares. i think something fascinating could be done with a story set during prisoner of azkaban which has both her and lupin wrestling with the guilt they feel for not realising that sirius had gone over to the death eaters and would betray james and the way that grief fights against their fond memories of him - and which then explored how their guilt would shift once sirius' innocence was revealed towards them feeling terrible about how they could ever have believed that he might have been a traitor.

i think this one's really got potential, lads. get writing.

albus dumbledore/remus lupin

yes, entirely because it would be so fucked-up.

i find lupin's canonical relationship with dumbledore incredibly interesting, particularly the ways his incredibly rigid loyalty to dumbledore, his placing of him on a pedestal, and his desperate desire for dumbledore's approval all stem from the fact that he is so beholden to dumbledore for the [modicum] of safety he enjoys in the world.

it's implied in the text that lupin is the only werewolf in the latter half of the twentieth century [and so, i think we can argue, the only werewolf in history] who is permitted to study at hogwarts - and, therefore, to receive access to an institution which is integral to maintaining the class system around which the wizarding world functions. as lupin tells us in half-blood prince, he's the only werewolf he knows who bears the "civilising" markers of having been allowed an elite wizarding education - and these give him a level of privilege over his peers even as he's discriminated against by the state.

and every single advantage he ever attains comes via dumbledore. the backstory for lupin on pottermore makes clear that dumbledore offered him the opportunity to study at hogwarts as a result of his personal beef with fenrir greyback [rather than a desire to improve access to education for werewolves more generally] and then protected him over the course of his schooldays. dumbledore is also the only reason he gets his job in prisoner of azkaban - and, with it, access to the lifesaving wolfsbane potion for the first time.

it's clear that lupin feels rightfully grateful to dumbledore for these opportunities, but it's also clear that his gratitude means he is unwilling to criticise, contradict, or disobey dumbledore directly.

which is, obviously, a recipe for disaster in the context of an intimate relationship...

[vro0ms-evil-twin]

how's switzerland in regards to trans people and/or poc? asking for a friend

Switzerland is a traditional right wing country, with a rising far right ideology especially in the youth like everywhere else. Our majority party is a right wing party. They are super duper fucking anti immigration racists. It's extremely hard to emigrate here, extremely hard to find a job when you're not Swiss, and extremely hard to become Swiss. The easiest way is by far to marry a Swiss.

Something you have to understand about European racism though is that it's less about your skin color (although yes very much about your skin color) and more about being an immigrant in the first place, where you come from, and especially how much money you have. A black American with an american passport will get by better at least on the institutional level than a black person from any African country. Islamophobia is widespread and rampant, and your supermarket cashier isn't allowed to wear her headscarf at work but we are oh so happy about Saudi princes living in our hotels, hiding their money in our banks, and buying our watches. Poor white eastern Europeans are treated worse here than rich POCs.

Now how life is for POCs and queer people also depends immensely on where you live, granted that there's a level of racism and queerphobia everywhere anyway. Urban areas are way way chiller than rural areas, obviously. (Once my train had an issue and I had to change trains in a small town's station about 30 minutes away from the capital. I went down the stairs to change platforms and the entire length of the underground tunnel I had to walk through was painted with a gigantic DEATH TO LGBT graffiti). The Swiss Germans are by far more right wing than the French speaking Swiss and Italian speaking Swiss although the Ticinesi are also very anti immigration, because it's the poorer area of Switzerland and they get a lot of Italians immigrants. But of course you'll still get by easier in Swiss german second most expensive city in the world Zürich than in Sion, despite Sion being the French speaking largest city of the mountainous canton of Valais.

There are discrimination laws in place but they are barely enforced. You can change your gender but there's no nonbinary option. POCs get killed by the police here as well (justice for Mike, Lamin, Nzoy, Hervé, we don't forget). A large proportion of the population is still opposed to same sex adoption although it is legal. I just read this morning that a law we voted on in 2021 and that makes it illegal to hide your face in public and was purposefully created against muslim women wearing the burqa will start being enforced next year. Surrogacy is illegal so if no one in your relationship has a uterus you can't have biological children. Every time they ask the population about their acceptance of queer people the numbers go down, especially in young people. We vote on making it even harder to emigrate it about once every two years and the results are always very very close. The president of the majority right wing party called urban leftists "parasites" during his national day speech. The other day, one of our seven ministers publically declared that he was more in favour of Trump than Harris. Only half of the population got entirely vaccinated against covid. 40% never even got the first dose.

What I mean is, things might be marginally better here or there, but there's nowhere that's great right now. We all have to fight to make where we are better.

[froguemorgue]

you know, i need someone to tell this to, and unfortunately for you, you have been randomly selected as that person.

Alexander Hamilton's biracial cousin once removed aka Peter Lytton's son was called Don Alvarez de Velasco (you prolly know that) now as non-spanish speaker what i didn't realize was that his ma had essentially named him Lord de Velasco. and by GOD do i need the story behind it. is it like when black men would be named Mister so that their white peers couldn't sidestep the honorific? was there something else at play? Did they live a good life after Peter Lytton's death? mulattos could at the very least reach the upper rungs of society in the Carribean and being a Lytton has to count for /something/ so did Alvarez ever "rise" in Crucian society in so much as he could? Did his mother call him Don or Alvarez?

ofc, im not asking you this directly. but its just. he's been reduced to alexander hamilton's cousin's bastard biracial son and drops off mention in any text i could find. granted I'm also driving my chariot through that road because i don't know another road. the only other mention i came across was a historical society in st croix hosting a lecture titled with his name and was about the lives of mulattos i think, i believe. i was desperate for some info on this figure that i even wrote a mail to the society that was prolly promptly deleted as spam because of how stupidly it was written

who was he, yknw? i wonder if we'll ever know

did you ever have a figure like this? atp I'm just yappin lmao sorry for the long ask!

HOW DID I MISS THIS? i still love you, sorry, was not ignoring you!!

When you ask about whether I have historical figures like this I wonder about, YES! and they're almost always women or non-white people. We know their names (if that) and their general relation to the White Dudes history focuses on. It isn't often we know much else, even with some deep dives into any primary documents and context that would clue us into the rest. Wish they'd all just keep diaries, hahhaha. Of course that wasn't always possible and so many people, if they were even literate or had the means to keep diaries, wouldn't even write about themselves in complete honesty. History loves writers because their poetry, fiction, diaries, pamphlets, and letters give us more to learn about. Again, it was such a privilege to be a writer at all, and people marginalized by history and modernity are disproportionately affected by systemic erasure of their existence. History is told by the victors, or whatever they say.

I'd say I wonder about most historical figures, but somebody like Hamilton's cousin is up there for sure. His mother has always piqued my curiosity because obviously her ex husband Lavien was a major POS but history remembers HER exactly how he wanted her to be remembered: a whore. It pisses me off when biographers (r-r-r-ron) reduce her to that, and as a result, LMM's impression of her in the musical was much of the same and it's TRAGIC UGHHHH. It's actually so disgustinf that I start to foam at the mouth because what a fucking injustice.

After your message to my inbox and during my subsequent response, I actually started to go on a rabbit hole reading AGAIN about Alexander's childhood because the number of times he moved, the adults involved in his life, and how he was treated because of his illegitimacy makes it hard to remember exactly what went down. Now added to the list: Hamilton's cousin once removed who happened to be mixed. And though I will not reduce Alvarez to a prop on his own, how interesting to better understand Lytton, right? Of course every person's existence contextualizes other people, but with that said, understanding Don Alvarez as his own person is much more interesting. I'm happy knowing as the years go on, more and more colleges and historical societies are funding and publishing research for biracial, Black and Indigenous people in history, as it seems the Liberal Arts College of the Virgin Islands has done. And yet... the lack of readable information about Don Alvarez online is so, so disheartening.

If you can't contact the historian and speaker for that talk on Crucian Lifestyles, your only recourse is to go out there and dig through mountains of archives until you can find it out yourself. curiosity is so draining

[sullustangin]

For the WIP ask game: what is Theron Shan and Birthdays about?

Thanks for asking!!!

I've sat on this for months now. Sorry about the wait! In part, I was wrestling with what it was going to be during the last stages of the Yavin fic and the beginning of the Ziost fic. By that point, it was starting to spiral....

Ok, lemme start at the beginning. This is the Carbonite Years fic I'm currently working on. Initially, it was just Theron Shan and his birthdays (which sucked) over the five years Eva was gone. Birthday 1 was him telling her to leave, Birthday 2 was video evidence she was dead, Birthday 3 was finding out the truth, Birthday 4 was leaving the Republic, and Birthday 5 was writing a soppy letter in some field out on Yavin.

....That's not how it turned out.

Basically, Gary from Analytics from the first chronological fic, Who She Is in the Dark, decided to tell me he and hubby Colton (Theron got them a mixer for their wedding) finally found a surrogate and were going to have the kid they'd planned for over the last 6 years. Yes, right slap in the middle of the Eternal Empire's control of the Republic. "Well, the only way the kid's life could go was up from here."

Then Theron's therapist -- and yes, I do make him get one -- turned into Frank, who is useful to the story but also clawing at the edges of other things.

And then Jonas Balkar decides to be introspective and everyone needs a good year to digest that.

And then Juli the Bith from Accounting needed to fill a baby prep class for the local family planning center.

And then the overall "Death of the Republic" theme sort of plonked along in my head, to the point where there is a devolution of powers and faith in institutions to the point where Theron leaves. Checking in on him once a year doesn't give us the perspective to see how someone who so ardently supported the Republic would just leave. In the comics, in the book, and in SoR, Theron pretty much dismisses leaving the Republic or his service to that government. That's just... never going to happen.

And then it does. And he leaves everything behind. Everyone behind, including Trant, the one consistent person in his life since he was a new recruit to SIS.

How do we get to that point? Corruption is part of the Republic -- we saw it the class stories. The Empire is always a threat -- why not now? Why leave? For what? Some popsicle out on Zakuul, who may or may not have had a combative relationship with Theron? (Obviously, I chose the Neutral-LS Rep romance option (easier than others), but imagine Theron having an absolute crap relationship with a Dark Side Imperial -- there is some legwork to be done on the headcanon/writing end to make it make sense.)

Then you add on the personal toll of who lives and who dies over the years, and who do we just lose contact with.

As a result of all this swarming, I decided we didn't just see Theron on his birthdays; we see him on Eva's as well. I imagine that Eva and Theron have their birthdays about 3-5 months apart, so whatever happens on his birthday -- we see the fallout on hers.

As a result, the 5 chapter format quickly became 10 -- His Birthday 16 ATC then Her Birthday 16 ATC and so on. I have it plotted to His Birthday 21 ATC, which is the last birthday without her. Eva is back just in time to turn 26 (finally) in 21 ATC, 5 years later than anticipated. (I did write a short fic for that for Eva's birthday celebration awhile back). I'm currently toying with the transition to Eva's pov after defrost.

So that's the fic that's currently up and running right now over on AO3. (linking to the tumblr post because tumblr doesn't like external links)