#so i have the information and i understand what it means

[writingwithcolor]

how to convey arabic language in a specific dialect is being spoken without lengthy descriptions of how words/specific letters are pronounced?

Anonymous asks:

I believe my question revolves around linguistics, but please correct me if there’s something I didn’t take into account. I’m an Egyptian girl who speaks Arabic (the Egyptian dialect specifically), and I am currently writing an urban fantasy set in modern day Egypt. Naturally, the characters would be speaking Egyptian arabic (i even have a scene where my character converses with a tourist and struggles to speak to them ‘in english’)  But as the story is written in english, I found this is really hard to convey, especially with the entirely different alphabet, and the words that simply cannot be transcribed (sometimes in definition, and sometimes in letters that don’t have an equivalent). What would be a good way to send the message that these characters are by no means speaking English (unless stated) without having to hold the reader's hand through lengthy descriptions of how a word is pronounced at every corner?

Hi Anon! This is a tough spot. I’m no expert, just a mod and fellow writer trying to support your fantastic ask. Any bilingual readers, especially other Arabic speakers, feel free to chime in.

1- Disclose they’re speaking Arabic, even though you’re writing in English:

Example A: “Hey, Noor! Wait up,” he said in Arabic. 

Example B: “Habibti, I haven’t seen you in a while,” she reminded me. It was true - I had missed the lilt of her Darija-Moroccan dialect-so different from the Mesri, the Egyptian twang, that rolled off my tongue.

2- Consider using Arabic semantic structure or phrases and idioms used mostly in Arabic.

Example A: She reddened with embarrassment. // They whitened at the sight of it. ((English would probably say she ‘turned red’ rather than reddened, or ‘paled’ rather than whitened. Since Arabic has this natural and fun ability to let color be a verb, which English can but doesn't have naturally - make use of it! It will read differently in English because it’s an Arabic construct. Use other examples like this that you’d know better than me.))

Example B: Consider using “May the Gods smite her house!,” instead of the classic English ‘Fuck You.’ Or use “On my eyes” rather than ‘min ayooni’ or its English translation of ‘of course.’ Since Arabic language is beautifully expressive, you could lean into that when you can rather than using common English alternatives.

 Example C: Consider interspersing Arabic transliterations of common words/phrases like; habibti/habibi; yani; mashallah casually through the story.  

3- When speaking with English speakers, consider using informal text/chat speak (Arabizi?) to communicate the Arabic, since it’s already transliterated to the Roman alphabet. [disclaimer - I am atrocious at this, and will be surprised if anyone can read it… but for science!]: 

Example A: Instead of (انت طالب بالجامعة) or “are you a student?” it becomes; 

“Ente 6albeh bel jam3a?” I asked, staring at the textbook in his arms. 

He looked at me confused. “I don't understand,” he said. “I can’t speak Arabic.” 

“Wain 3m tedrus? Where do you… y3ni… where do you study?” I tried again in slow, awkward English.

These examples may or may not work for you. It’s important to remember that there’s no single "right" way to do this, but it’s mostly about finding a balance that reads well, and feels good to you. Subtle cues like sentence structure, idioms, the occasional untranslated word, and natural context can help to show the language shift. Good luck and happy writing!

~ Melanie 🌻  

P.S. Mod Meir suggests checking out the book When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb, which handles this issue well. There's a lot of "He said in English" or "He repeated it in Yiddish for the old woman's benefit" or "It took him a moment to realize he had spoken in English" (( Thanks Sacha! @kuttithvangu ))

[fakenewsfactcheck]

It has blown my mind, over the past year or so, to realize how many people don't know how to identify reliable information.

Not only that: a lot of people don't think it's POSSIBLE to identify reliable information.

And a LOT of those people therefore refuse to fact-check anything.

Mini case study:

I have a longtime friend who's a credentialed middle school history/social studies teacher with a master's degree. She had to do A LOT of demographic research to write her thesis. Her dad was a historian and archivist who also, obviously, did a LOT of research.

So I only realized recently that she's terrified of encountering propaganda. She sees propaganda as being something people will uncritically believe.

This means she won't read anything that contradicts her existing understanding of a situation.

And she automatically distrusts any person or source that does.

I don't think this is true of, say, historical eras she doesn't know much about. Or politics she doesn't know much about.

Which is probably what makes it seem like she ISN'T biased and DOES fact-check things.

It only becomes a problem when she has a lot of feelings about a current or historical wrong.

For others, it only becomes a problem when they have a lot of feelings about, say, doctors. Medical care. Shots.

Or when they have a deep level of trust in something or someone that's giving them false information.

Maybe that's the throughline, actually. My friend has a deep level of trust in her family, and she's a red diaper baby. She was raised communist, she will be a staunch socialist/communist her whole entire life.

She could no more question that than she could... I don't know... walk to the moon to snack on some moon rocks.

If anyone in her family has been involved in a particular political movement, or favors it, or has specific beliefs about anything, she's there for it. That's who she trusts.

Not facts. Not research.

Because from that perspective, facts and research can just be propaganda.

You can give her information from an independent journalist investigation by Reuters that explains why they think Russia killed 75,000 civilians in Mariupol alone.

But if it contradicts something else she's invested in believing (like that X ongoing war is actually the worst and has killed the most people ever), she will call it "cherry-picking ridiculous data and statistics."

Relatedly perhaps, she got a really crap science education in school.

My dad, conversely, was a scientist. I learned that the scientific method was a way of determining the truth of a matter. I stumbled into logic and reasoning classes early on, in a local community college's Philosophy department, and learned a lot about determining truth there too.

We need to teach people from an early age how to determine the truth, and how to separate it from the moral or human value of the source.

[owastie]

archives room robert/bob reynolds x fem!reader (fluff) synopsis: you’re tasked with searching through the archives room to find some information on a new threat m.list \ wc: 1.5k

��  "you- uh you mind starting here, divide and conquer?” you look over at bob, hands resting on your hips. 

  the archives room has always been a cluttered mess, avoided by all and enjoyed by none. boxes stack higher than you stand and knick knacks cover the flooring, leaving little room for comfortable movement. however, as rumors of a former adversary flutters throughout new york, you all knew it was time to start checking. and you drew the short straw, literally, along with bob. 

  bob purses his lips, hands clasped behind his back. sallowing hard, his adam’s apple bobs up and down, one foot rubbing behind his ankle. “sure, just, check every box on this side?” he rewords your sentence, clearly making sure every little thing he does is acceptable.

  “yeah, let me know if you see even a mention of this guy’s name,” walking off towards your side, you take a peek back at him, eyebrows furrowing.

  everyone on the team cared for bob, understanding his problems more than anyone else could. you feel that same pull towards him, an unmistakable magnetic pull that he drags out of you. however, you’re still not particularly close to him. even after nearly a year of living together, the room is still awkward when it’s just the two of you. tension so thick you could cut it with a knife.

  even now, you look back towards the problem at hand, hair standing on the back of your neck. at first you wondered if it was his powers that made you feel this way. you were afraid of feeling the same emotions you felt fighting him. now, though, you feel as though you have nothing to fear, besides an awkward conversation that could ruin months of progress.

  grabbing a box down, you flip through the different pages, finding nothing of relevance. tapping the top of the box, and then the bottom, it quickly floats to the ceiling. bouncing off of the concrete, it settles into a comfortable spot. “sometimes i forget how interesting your abilities are,” bob looks over at you, seemingly having watched you send it upwards.

  looking back at him, you give him a half smile. “thanks, i mean it’s just gravity, not nearly as interesting as some of the others,” your shoulders move before you can even think, shrugging absentmindedly at his compliment, eyes returning to your work. 

  bob nods, still pursing his lips, as though he wants to say something but is simply too in his own head to do so. looking back at your portion of the boxes, you get back to work, trying to play some melody in your head to drown out the silence. yet every noise bounces off the walls like an echo. the windowless room feeling stale as you grab each box, dust brushing off against your fingers.

  sending another box towards the ceiling, you pull out a new one, lifting off the lid and setting it to the side. inside is a long list of papers, some envelopes shoved in the box. biting the inside of your cheek, you begin to flip through each page. the process is long and boring, each one filled with bureaucratic nonsense. until your eyes scan the very thing you needed, information on norman osborn’s rising empire.

  “robert- uh bob! i think i found what we were looking for,” you look back towards him, grabbing out the multiple stacks of stapled documents, “this is some of the research that tony stark was building on him- this could totally help us.”

  stepping over a few of the strewn items and papers along the archives room flooring, you head for bob. he’s looking up from a position he took sitting on the floor, immediately dropping a glowing crystal of some kind from an old box. standing up, bob steps over one of the taller boxes. as his foot lowers, he doesn’t notice the small upside down sticky note. 

  pressing his foot down, it takes away the grippy feeling of his shoes, instantly causing him to fall forward. reaching out for him, your hand grabs a hold of his sleeve, dropping the papers you were holding. your powers activating as it slowly starts moving him upwards, you along with him. “oh fuck no!” your feet start swaying back and forth, the loss of flooring beneath your feet instantly messing with your mind.

  “y/n- thanks for the save, but could you bring us down now,” bob looks over at you, unsure if he should grab your hand or not, initiating touch that may make this situation even worse.

  “uh, i’m not sure. my abilities work well with inanimate objects,” looking down towards the floor, you reach your other hand to a painting on the wall, grasping against the frame, “but i don’t really understand how it works with living things…”

  you’ve tried multiple times to fully grasp every nook and cranny of your abilities. worked with the new avengers to try to understand every aspect of it. and yet you could never fully grasp the process of causing a person to float. much less one you’re not entirely close with. “okay, so could you use what you have to lower yourself to the ground? pull me with?” bob suggests, looking over at you, his hair swinging in front of his face.

  “no… because our forces will equal out and we will be stuck in one spot.. until i eventually pass out and we fall to the floor. which is not ideal with how tall stark built the ceilings,” you look back at him, pursuing your own lips apologetically, “i’m sorry. i haven’t quite gotten the hang of this yet. not everything at least.”

  bob lets out a deep sigh, laughing in an attempt to brighten the mood, “at least you’re not trying to kill me, so this isn’t too bad.”

  “right, it could be worse,” you laugh with him, trying to ignore the feeling of weightlessness that’s affecting you. you’ve never quite had a fear of heights, especially with your powers, but right now it feels like the scariest thing there is. “okay, how about i grab your sleeves and you grab mine? maybe it’s emotion based? get me to calm down and we lower.”

  bob looks over at you, unsure what to say. it wasn’t his first time in the air, but he really doesn’t want this to be his last. making eye contact with you, his eyebrows lower, softening from his usual wide eyed expression. “okay, let’s try it,” holding out his other arm, you wrap your hands around his covered wrists, him doing the same.

  staring over at him, you take in deep breaths. “what’s your favorite movie?”

  “what?”

  “your favorite movie? just to calm me down.”

  “oh- right. uh, i’ve always quite liked uh the original jurassic park. it was a good movie, i haven’t watched it in a long… long time,” bob tilts his head, looking away as he seemingly searches his mind for such information. nodding your head, you try to think of something to ask him, only to be asked a question that he poses, “what’s your favorite thing to have for breakfast? you usually seem to favor bagels.”

  he looks back towards you, face seemingly warming up as a slight blush crosses his cheeks. smiling, you wonder how he noticed such a thing, when the two of you are hardly friends. “yeah, my grandma used to make homemade ones when i was younger. none are ever quite as good, but slathering them with cream cheese definitely helps some. sorry we don’t talk as much, i’m just now noticing that we’re not as close as the others.”

  “it’s okay, i’m used to that by now.”

  “you shouldn’t have to be though. you really are nice, anyone would be lucky to be your friend bob,” you nod, hands tightening around his wrists, only for you to look down and see your mere feet from the floor.

  bob looks down with you, smiling. letting go of each other’s wrists, you situation your feet against the flooring, finally feeling the sweet floor again. “oh i have never been happier to feel this tile flooring again,” letting out a deep sigh, you look towards bob, who’s already looking at you.

  “thanks for what you said,” he nods, looking down towards the ground. 

  “i meant every word,” nodding, you wait patiently for him to look up, only for your attention to slip from the boxes above, all of them loosing your effect on them as they fall to the ground. 

  slamming around you, they fall into piles of mess, covering the papers you had previously found. dust barrels back into the air, the overhead light revealing every little particle of dust spreading through the open air. “shit,” you press your hands against your hips, looking around the room. peering back at bob, you can see he has a smile on his face, making the idea of searching again not too bad. 

[theliving-radio]

Big brother malleus ... I love him 🥺 . What about a baby sibling who had a brother back at their world ?? How would he feels about that ??

“You have an older brother back in your home world?” Malleus asked after you told him the new information.

Currently, you were showing Malleus how to sculpt with air dry clay. He’s been showing you the process of how gargoyles were made, and you suggested how you want to make small little figurines of them. Malleus was ready to get his supplies ready to carve mini stones, but instead you just showed him a small container you got from Sam’s. Curious on it, he joined you in your little arts and crafts endeavors.

Malleus was happy to spend time with you. Anything you two did together was a special moment for him. When both of you were talking, you confessed how you had an older brother back in your home world.

That threw him for a loop.

“Why haven’t you told me about him?” Malleus sets his little clay sculpture down and turns to you.

You avoided his gaze as you sprayed more water onto your creation, not wanting it to quickly dry out. “I dont know, it just never got brought up. How my life is like at home, I mean…”

“What makes you bring it up now?”

You huff out a laugh as you roll a small piece of clay, then attaching them to the head of your sculpture. There was a long pause of silence before you let out a sigh. “He’s a college student, Art being one of his majors and he took an interest in sculpting.” Your hands dip in a small bowl of water to get some of the clay residue off.

“I would watch him bring home his projects, amazed by what he’s created. There was one time he brought home a sculpture of a woman holding a vase. And you were able to place flowers inside her vase! He gifted it to me after I graduation from middle school.”

Malleus was listening intently as you recalled memories with your older brother. Your ACTUAL Older Brother. Not him. He watched as you rattle on, telling stories with a bright smile.

And slowly that smile started to fade.

“On my seventh birthday, he gifted me air dry clay like this. We spent the whole day making figurines, and little trinkets. We made so many that mom couldn’t even find a place to display all of them…”

You set your gaze down at the small gargoyle you made. He was lumpy looking. Cracks started forming from the clay not being set properly.

Malleus watches you as you zoned out staring at your own figurine. He notices how your eyes were starting to gloss over, and that pained him.

He crossed his arms and closed his eyes, deep in thought. He then hummed as he opened his eyes again and stared at you.

“I’ve made up my mind.”

“What?” You sniffle and quickly wipe your eyes.

“I’m going to find a way to meet my Baby Brother.”

There was a long pause as you slowly turn to face Malleus.

Did he really just say that?

“Crowley says he’s trying to make progress on how to make it back to your home world, yes? I do not doubt for a second that my magic will allow me to come back to Twisted Wonderland once we visit your home world.” Malleus nods to himself, already planning on how the meeting will go with his Baby Brother. If he’s just as kind as you, then there’s no doubt that they will get along.

The fae prince opens his eyes when he hears your loud laughter, a few tears roll down your face as you went ahead to wipe them away. You look at Malleus and he only tilts his head at you, causing you to laugh even harder.

“My dear Baby Sibling, I don’t understand what’s so funny.”

“You! You’re what’s so funny!”

“I still don’t understand how.”

It took awhile for you to calm down, and when you did, you got up from your chair and hugged Malleus. His eyes widen at the gesture, but after a few seconds he wraps his arms around you as well. He didn’t know what caused you to hug him all of a sudden, but a hug from his Baby Sibling is always welcome.

“Thank you, Horton. You’re a great Big Brother.”

“I’m glad you think so. I would do anything for my Baby Sibling.”

You pulled away and went back to your own chair, going back to playing the air dry clay.

“So, would my new Baby Brother like Gargoyles?”

“Like them? He wrote about them for an Art History Project. He even made a miniature one for our house.”

Malleus could hardly wait to meet his new Baby Brother.

————————————————

A/n: Hello! I enjoyed this small idea! I really like to think that as soon as Baby Sibling mentions this to Malleus, he’s just “My family is growing bigger by the day”.

[persesphonestears]

Hybrid Task Force 141 x gn! Raccoon! Reader

A/N - Hybrid Task Force 141 inspired by @bluegiragi ‘s au (I did receive a request from @supdockto to make the reader have siblings but it didn’t really fit in with what I had in mind so I hope you don’t mind!) (not proofread cause I needed to get this posted) [✮] - stands for ‘your name’ instead of (y/n)

You still don’t really understand how you found yourself sitting here, restrained and honestly a little scared. Four big, buff, military men standing around you, all looking down on you with blank and menacing faces. An odd group of different hybrids, what looks like a dragon, a harpy, a werewolf, and even what looks like some type of wraith hybrid. The dragon, who seems to hold more authority over the rest of them, steps forward, a cigar hanging from his lips, smoke billowing out from past his lips. “Want to explain what you were doing sneaking around with those files?” His gruff voice breaking through the tense silence as his hat casts a shadow over his eyes.

“Uh- I mean not really” You huffed out, “but I’m guessing that I’m not going to be getting out of here so I can get the other half of the money I’m owed for said files, soo..” Your shoulders raised in a shrug, doing your best to act nonchalant about the whole situation. The feeling of burning gazes scorching into your skin as you wriggled uncomfortably in your restraints. The bearded man nods to the masked one as he starts walking over, tall and imposing, causing fear to run through you. 

Standing to the side of the chair, a large hand speeds past your head grabbing a fist full of hair and forcing your neck backwards. “Who are you working with?” The masked man asks, his voice dark and menacing. Black smoke emerging out from under his mask and gloves, the air turning cold as the sight. A string of chittering and growls surface from your throat, the feeling of tears pricking the corner of your eyes as they squeeze together. “I d-don’t work with anyone! I-I’m being paid to get the f-files!” Your voice stammered, the burn of your hair being pulled suddenly stopping as your head is slightly pushed forward as your hair is released.

Another low growl escapes your throat as you look up at them through your brows, lips slightly curled, sharp teeth being exposed as you do so. “Well who paid you to get them hm?” One of the men voiced. “I don’t fuckin’ know, they give me half the money before the job and the other half when I give them what they needed. I don’t ask questions, I just need the money.” Your voice grumbled out, frustration and annoyance evident in your tone as you speak to them.

The men continued to simply stare at you as you stayed seated, arms and legs bound ensuring there wasn’t any possibility to escape. After a few moments of silence, the air was heavy with tension when the man with the fishermans hat spoke, “Well, if you don’t give us any names, guess you’re not worth our time.” With that he and other men turned on their heels and began their walk out of the dingy room. At the realization they were leaving you alone, in the musty room still bound and imobile, you yell out, “HEY! You can’t just leave me in here!” but almost as soon as your words rang out, so did the slamming of the door. Left alone, ears ringing slightly, and the prospect that you won’t be escaping any time soon finally started weighing down on you.

*Timeskip* (sorry I just really wanna actually post this for y’all lmao)

Eventually the men came back down to the room where you were being held, noisily walking into the room, confirming your suspicions about the subtle noises that were happening outside the door. The sound of a chair dragging sounded throughout the room, scraping across the floor as the man with the fisherman hat stopped it in front of you, taking a seat, clearly showing off the file in his hands, something you guessed held as much information that whoever he works for could find.

After a staring contest between you and the man, neither of you directing your eyes away from the other, he finally spoke up, his voice loud and intimidating. “Well, we got your file here, so you may as well start speaking, we’ve already got what we need.” You knew what he was doing. You already knew he was lying, for the simple fact that you ran out of the childcare system when you were young, they didn’t have anything on you except your past up until you were about 7 or 8.

Sitting there you contemplated whether you should play along or try shattering their resolve a little bit, choosing the latter of the two, you allowed a smirk to adorn your face. “Unfortunately *sir* I know you’re bullshitting me. I know you don’t have anything, I’ve kept myself off the radar of any government since I was a little kit. All you’d have is everything up till I was 7 or 8. Nothing more nothing less.” A clear smugness was evident in your voice as you spoke mockingly to the man seated across from you, watching as his face tightens.

The masked man stepped forward, his eyes squinted, implying his anger. “You understand we can kill you right?” his voice growled out, his hands tightening into fists. The silence throughout the room was deafening, the tall group of men staring down at you, their gaze unwavering. A deep sigh escaped from your chest as you rolled your eyes at the men, “I already risk my life by stealing the shit I get paid for, you threatening to kill me isn’t all that scary.” You tell them honestly, though you honestly thought they’d realize that by now seeing as you were sitting being interrogated by them. 

After another bout of silence the door opened, a blond woman stepped in, an air of authority surrounding her as her face held no emotion. “Boys” She spoke, the men created space for her to stand in front of me. She held a file in her hands as she took a seat in front of me, “Look [✮], you have skills, you’re extremely good at what you do, so I’d like to offer you a proposition.” Her voice was steady, calm, and clear, she kept eye contact with you as she spread out the file in front of you. “You work for us, you’ll be paid, and you will have our protection. You will need to have further training and you will be kept under mine, and captain Price’s supervision. You can have a decent amount of free range around the base but you will need to report to any of the four men, Captain Price, Lieutenant Ghost, Sergeant Soap, or Sergeant Gaz.” Her voice trailed off as you took in the information, you’d have a free place to sleep with an actual bed, you’ll have free food, a shower anytime you could want. The only downside would be living with a bunch of army men but you could get over that fairly easily.

“So, what do you say, [✮]?” The question brought you back to the present, your eyes flicking up to the men stood behind the women, examining their faces, as you pretended to contemplate the offer. 

A small sigh came from your lips before you remade eye contact with the woman in front of you. The corners of your lips quirked upwards as you stared momentarily before finally answering. “Sure.”.

A/N - RAHHHHHHHH I FINALLY FINISHED IT! I'll probably make a part two cause I love raccoon reader! I'm so sorry this took so fuckin long btw, hope you enjoyed :3

[goldfishinaplasticbag]

Here are the memes!

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

Tim: takes one (1) break

Scarecrow: *appears* no can do

Tim thinking of giving the greatest detective a fair chance to figure his identity since he discovered his at nine: *giggles internally*

Oracle: asks Angel for his informant’s contact.

Tim thinking about how he could roast the Bats: yeah, sure.

The Bats trying to understand Angel’s motives: *squinting suspiciously*

Tim, a real life angel basically, doing things from the goodness of his heart: ?

Tim: thinks he’s “acting” when he’s really just behaving like the real fanboy he is.

Me: I’m not going to cry, no.

Jackson: sends Oracle a little description of his relationship with Angel that screams problems in bold capitals.

The Bats: power dynamic and manipulation or a preoccupied brother/father figure? Vote now: 1, 2 or leave a comment with your theories!

CHAPTER 3

Tim reflecting about how he’s black-haired and blue-eyed like all the Waynes: “I’m just some random kid who looks just like any other Gothamite.”

Batman: takes out the adoption papers discreetly.

Tim: um…whatcha got there, Mr. Batman?

Batman: …a cookie.

Tim: cannot buckle his seatbelt for the life of him.

Bruce: fatherly instincts activated

Tim: *confused noises* ?

Tim hearing Batman’s “hn”: okay, let me see what my memory book, obtained through obsessive stalking, says it means.

Batman: *grasps Jackson’s shoulder*

Jackson: *flinches violently*

Batman: *jaw tightnening and squinting suspiciously*

LATER

Nightwing: do you know our agreement with Angel?

Jackson: yeah, this is a loan situation, no?

Bruce: *jaw tightening more and squinting more suspiciously*

Tim when meeting the Red Hood: dying to get as tall and beefy as him would be worth it.

Jason if he could hear his thoughts: wtf, kid.

Me: if I had a nickel for every time Tim thought about committing suicide in chapter 3 I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot but it’s disconcerting that it happened twice.

(Firstly when he couldn’t buckle the seatbelt, then when he forgot to remove the Bat-stickers from his laptop)

Dick after discovering about Jackson’s existence: proceeds to delude himself, in every way possible, that he's not a child.

Dick thinking about how Angel called him “Mr. Nightwing” and now Jackson is calling Bruce “Mr. Batman”: they must be brothers.

Dick in another universe possibly:

Dick and Jason: awwwww the kid has a fake Bristol accent he tries to emulate from his brother/father figure.

Tim, the lying liar who lies (by omission): yeah, totally. This is so my real hidden accent. I prommy, guys.

The last two are spoilery for chapter 15!!!

Tim in chapter 1: thinks that he would die of joy hearing Dick say his real name.

Me: (:

Tim in chapter 15: actually gets crushed by a chandelier with Dick screaming his name.

Me: ):

Dick: thinks that kids like Jax should be happy and safe.

Jax in chapter 15: (;

i am yelling at EVERYONE who likes 1-800-GOTHAM to look through all these memes. i definitely want to draw some of these (originally, i was going to answer with some things already drawn but i want everyone to see these memes first). i love these. they're so, so good. thank you!!!!

[kitchenisking]

The Key by aussiebee - (Rating: G, Words: 7,450)

Eligible bachelor Derek Hale has announced that whomever can take the key from around his dog's neck will be the person he marries. Stiles Stilinski think this is utterly ridiculous.

The Moon Gave Me Permission by Melpomene (Aconitehart) - (Rating: Explicit, Words: 57,572)

“I probably shouldn’t tell you this,” Scott says, eyeing Stiles’ fries. “But Derek Hale is back in town. I saw him at the gas station the other day.”

This piques Stiles’ interest. Oh yes it does. Like any good true crime aficionado, Stiles has his favourite case. His pet cold case. His hometown murder. The thing he brings up when he’s tired of small talk and just wants to get real.

The Hale Family Fire and the suicide of Katherine Argent.

Stiles knows this case inside and out. He’s racked up thousands of karma points on reddit for his thoughtful analysis, his pictures of the crime scene, and of his reporting of local gossip. Beacon Hills is a small town, small enough that Stiles is the only one on the Unresolved Mysteries subreddit to have actually seen the burnt out shell in person.

He’ll tell anyone who listens what he finds fascinating about the case. Absolutely no shame. He’s read all of the articles, he’s pestered his father’s deputies for more information, and he’s read every cold case compilation book that so much as mentions it.

No one knows this case like Stiles does.

-

In which Derek Hale is a man with a dark past, and Stiles is completely obsessed with him.

you know you're on my mind by bibliosexual - (Rating: T, Words: 16,371)

If there’s one thing Derek’s learned in life, it’s that crushing on someone who lives on an entire other fucking continent is probably a bad idea.

An Understanding Passed In Silence by cjr  - (Rating: G, Words: 4,464)

It started off as something of a joke. One moment he was talking Scott’s ear off about some homework assignment and Scott made a joke that Stiles couldn’t spend a day without talking if he tried.

A Little Less Conversation by sweetbutterbliss - (Rating: T, Words: 1,316)

From anon on tumblr "A prompt if you are interested. Derek telling Stiles to shut up, like usual, but then, to the surprise of everyone, he does. And continues to do it, never speaking in Derek's presence and asking the pack to warn him when Derek arrives. Derek then needs to find a way to get the spastic kid to START talking."

Desperate by Hedwig221b - (Rating: Explicit, Words: 12,175)

Derek understood perfectly well how young Stiles was. Just how many times did he stop himself from digging his teeth into that lovely neck to claim him?

Maybe, next time he shouldn’t.

The thought, wild and sudden, came to him, and once it did, there was nothing he could do to get rid of it. If he got Stiles pregnant, then the omega would be his. Fully his. They would be bound for life. Stiles wouldn’t refuse the mating bite, then.

Stiles was his omega. Derek would do anything to keep him.

Anything.

dashing through the snow by EvanesDust - (Rating: G, Words: 636)

…or the one where Stiles and Derek created new traditions.

Did You Really Mean It by In_Over_My_Head - (Rating: Explicit, Words: 1,846)

Looking around the empty loft, Derek reminded himself that he liked to be alone. It wasn’t too quiet with no one there, he repeated to himself for the hundredth time that night. The relief that flooded through him at the sound of his text message chime might have worried him if the message hadn’t been so confusing.

Stiles: you’re beautiful

Derek stared at the message for a minute not sure how to react. His heart raced, palms went a little sweaty, his breathe caught in his lungs, but that was just because he wasn’t used to hearing things like that from Stiles, right? It wasn’t a sign of any sort of emotion on his side. It couldn’t be. He’d squashed that a long time ago. This was Stiles, spastic, skinny, trip on his own shoelaces Stiles. The man that didn’t see Derek in any sort of romantic way and never had. There’s no way he really meant that, right?

5 Times Derek Experiences Sensory Overload + 1 Time Derek Experiences Sensory Joyby Warlock_Nerd - (Rating: G, Words: 5,604)

Derek is Autistic but he hasn’t told anyone in fear of not being taken seriously as an Alpha. Stiles, however, figured it out and made it his mission to help Derek not only for Derek’s Betas but for Derek to finally accept himself.

In other words, Derek has sensory issues and Stiles helps him through each one. :3

Ps - Author is Autistic and sees a lot of Autistic traits in Derek :3

Like Clockwork by quackquackcey - (Rating: Explicit, Words: 6,111)

In which Stiles meets a handsome higher-up in his company by chance one afternoon and falls for him, hard.~ 💘

[maochira]

Good news. [Chapter 6]

previous chapter

synopsis: An unexpected call from Doflamingo and a new plan that sounds too good to be true.

tags: gn!child!reader & Corazon & Law, angst

Awoken by a familiar voice you haven’t heard in months, you quickly sit up to see Law and Corazon staring at a transponder snail.

“Is that you… Corazon?” Doflamingo’s voice echoes from the small creature. “It’s been half a year since you three jumped ship… Are Law and (Y/N) there with you?”

Corazon replies by tapping his finger, as his brother is still unaware that he isn’t actually mute.

With your mind still tired and the exhaustion from the previous days of travel, you don’t really understand much of Doflamingo’s rambling. You only pick up something about a Devil Fruit, since Law and Corazon are shocked by the new information.

“I need my most trusted man to eat it, given the nature of its properties. And that man is you, Corazon.” Doflamingo goes on, not bothering to wait for any responses. “Then you can heal Law’s disease.”

And that’s what really gets your attention. Law can be healed? By Corazon?

“Forget about the doctors, we can cure your disease!” Corazon cheers excitedly once the call ends. He lifts Law up into the air, startling the young boy in the process. “You’re the perfect person for the Op-Op Fruit! You have all the medical knowledge for it!”

“But… Doflamingo said you should eat it…” Law mumbles while somehow escaping out of Corazon’s grip and falling back onto the ground in the process.

“Law… cured?” You ask, as if afraid this is nothing more than a dream.

“Huh, you’re awake? You heard all that?” Corazon’s eyes widen slightly, then walks towards where you’re sitting and kneels down to be at least a bit closer to your height. The tall man ruffles your hair, holding himself back from picking you up like he just did with Law. “Yes, we finally have a way to cure Law! All we need to do is get the Op-Op Fruit.”

“But Doflamingo said you should eat it!” Law repeats, this time a little louder.

Corazon shakes his head. “That’s because my brother doesn’t know I already ate a Devil Fruit. If I ate a second one, I’d die. Besides, you have way more medical knowledge than I do.”

Still not convinced by the whole thing, Law opens his mouth to protest again, but then Corazon speaks up once more.

“None of us will be able to return to the family. By now my brother must know that I’ve betrayed him. But just as I promised, I will provide a safe life somewhere else for you two, okay?”

Silence. Law and you both knew you’d never return to the Donquixote Family, but never felt real. Now that the end of this journey seems close enough to grab, the realization sets in.

Breaking the silence, Corazon gestures for Law to come closer so he can pull both him and you into an embrace.

“There’s another reason my brother wants me to eat the fruit…” Corazon begins to explain, his grip tightening slightly. “He knows I can’t refuse him, that’s why he wants me to use the Op-Op Fruit’s powers to give him eternal life. And… that’d mean I’d have to sacrifice myself for him.”

Sacrifice.

The word causes you to tense up while an emptiness that had so long been gone returns in your eyes.

“(Y/N)? What’s wrong?” Corazon asks as soon as he notices something is wrong with you. “Don’t worry, okay? We’ll get the Op-Op Fruit. I won’t die, Law won’t die. We’ll all be okay, I promise.”

[the-most-faithful]

I take down MovieFlame video (Morgan Ross) In Defense of Snape

I found a video in my YouTube feed that deals with a comparison between Snape and James and who was worse, now we know well that this clash has been going on for years and I don't think it will ever stop. The beauty of fandom is also the fact of being able to explore the subtexts, give personal interpretations and compare with other fans. So I don't want you to understand my intervention as a declaration of war against one side or the other. Whether you are supporters of Snape or James we must be honest and say that what we know through the canon is partial. We know many things, but not enough objective. James Potter is a character that we see only through the memories of a person and that is told to us. It is unfair to judge a person just by hearsay. So the comparison between Snape who appears in all the saga, and James who died in the time of the story is an unequal comparison.

My annoyance, however, comes from the certainty with which some fans, often Marauders stan (although not always) maintain that James was better than Snape. They assert it forcefully but when you dig deeper you realize that they have no solid evidence. If we don't know enough to judge James negatively then we don't have enough evidence to consider him better than Snape either. We can't have double standards on this. Either we know or we don't know. For this reason I usually avoid embarking on a comparison like this, but it is James' fans who first started, for years, to throw mud at Snape and to justify their hatred towards the character. They started comparing him to James, elevating the latter as a hero based on the little information we have. So let's move on to specifically dismantling this video, which reports most of the points that are brought up by James' defenders. (for fairness I invite you to watch the original video HERE, so you can get a personal and balanced idea) The first point brought up in the video is this:

“it's true that James bullied Snape when they were kids which wasn't right but Snape took part in this rivalry as well oftentimes going after James but people just conveniently forget that”

I would like to point out that the first part, absolutely correct, which admits that James bullied Severus, admitting that this was wrong, is followed by a BUT as big as a house. Bullying is always wrong, it doesn't matter if the victim is a good person or not, I've already discussed this point other times but I will never tire of repeating it. If you think that bullying is less serious because the victim is someone you don't like then you are blaming the victim. And this is what many fans have been doing for years. First they try to minimize the seriousness of what James (and Sirius) does, then they justify it until they deny it by claiming that it wasn't bullying. And in the first minutes of the video this is exactly what the boy tries to do.

Snape took part in this rivalry as well oftentimes going after James

Again, attention to detail, the linguistic choice, first he admitted that James was a bully and now he is instead very subtly invalidating the first part by saying that it was a rivalry, because Snape also attacked James. This means that either the first part of the sentence is false or this one is and let's look at the facts. How do we know that this thing happened? In which case in the canon are we ever shown Snape attacking James? In none, because as I said at the beginning we know little about James, we only see snippets of his life, of his attitude and then we are told what he was like by his best friends, boys who even as adults justified his bullying. How can they be reliable? The fact that Snape attacked James is not shown to us, it is only told to us and by Sirius and Remus in the fifth book, after Harry has spied on Snape's memories in which he sees James and Sirius attacking him for no reason in the worst memory. (and don't try, memories in the Harry Potter world are objective, not emotionally modified) Sirius and Remus explain to Harry how Lily started dating James, the two say that James toned down a bit in seventh year and stopped hexing people just for fun. And when Harry asks if James stopped attacking Snape, Remus says this:

"Well," said Lupin thoughtfully, "Snape was a special case. I mean, he never missed an opportunity to curse James, so it was only natural that he would react..." (Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix)

This is the only part used by the Marauders Stan to justify James. The subtext is clear, James stopped cursing his classmates, but not Snape because he had to defend himself. But this is simply a reversal, James has heavily bullied Snape for years, and this is canon, but if Snape defended himself and responded to the attacks according to James' defenders this makes him on par with James. In short, if a victim rebels, he is no longer a victim according to them. While on the contrary, after years of heavy bullying, if Snape attacks James and James responds then Gryffindor is the poor victim who in short has the right to defend himself? Am I the only one who smells double standards? For consistency, we should always use the same approach. Either James was a bully for six years and Snape was entitled to defend himself, so they were not on equal footing. So in the last year Snape was in the wrong and James was just defending himself. Or they were equally in the wrong all along. This second hypothesis is absurd, after all, if someone attacks you, do you just have to take it? This message is terribly dangerous. While in the first hypothesis, that is, that it is legitimate to defend oneself (even for James), then the scales tip to one side. To be clear, we are comparing six years of James's severe bullying of Snape to just one year, the last one, in which Snape instead began attacking James at every opportunity. 6 against 1 How can one year be worse than six? Six in which Snape's life was ruined, in which he was humiliated, stripped naked in public and even risked being killed in the prank? Even if we take Remus' words for granted, it means that what Snape suffered from James is clearly worse than what he inflicted on Gryffindor. So first point dismantled. (and we're only at the first minute) Let's continue:

snape disliked James because he was jealous of him he envied James' popularity but meanwhile he spent his time practicing the dark arts with other future Death Eaters there's a reason he wasn't popular like James people saw him

Once again FALSE. All this information comes from the opinions of unreliable people. I have debunked the idea of Snape's alleged jealousy of James in the past but let's get back to it quickly. Who says Snape was jealous of James? Guess what, Sirius:

“The thing is,” said Sirius, “James and Snape hated each other from the first moment, it’s one of those things… you can understand that, can’t you? Because James was everything Snape wanted to be: popular, ace at Quidditch… ace at pretty much everything. Whereas Snape was just a little weirdo up to his neck in the Dark Arts, and James – believe me, Harry – has always detested the Dark Arts.”

This is an opinion of Sirius, James's best friend. He lists things that he considers essential, being popular, an ace at Quidditch. Things that Snape has never cared about. When did Snape ever try to be popular? When did he ever care about Quidditch? The truth is that Snape hated James because from the first train ride James was hateful to him, insulting the Slytherin house that Snape hoped to end up in. James butted into the conversation between him and Lily and already on the train James and Sirius started calling him Snivellus and tripped him up. Do you really think that the antipathy was born because James was popular? James started to annoy and bully Snape right away, it is clearly shown in the canon, in the seventh book. And the question of the dark arts? Same thing is Sirius who tells us, also giving an unflattering opinion, he considered Snape "just a little weirdo immersed up to his neck in the Dark Arts" Do we trust the words of a bully to judge his favorite victim, really? “my ex was really crazy” said the ex-boyfriend who cheated on her several times. Little angel.

It's true that Snape was fascinated by the dark arts, so what? How do we know that he spent his time practicing the dark arts with other future Death Eaters? When is it shown or said? Do you really want me to believe that at Hogwarts, the safest place in wizarding England, students practice dark magic undisturbed?

“There’s a reason he wasn’t as popular as James. People saw him.”

Really? People saw it and what did they do? Didn't they warn the teachers, didn't they try to intervene? The truth is that this is an idea of ​​Sirius that is passed off as fact without any proof. Snape was fascinated by the dark arts as were other housemates, period. People, teachers or classmates never saw him practice illegal spells, no one ever saw even the future Death Eaters do it. The strength of the precursors of the Death Eater, the Knights of Walpurgis in the era of Tom Riddle was that no one knew. Only Dumbledore SUSPECTED but he never managed to prove anything. Do you want to tell me that years later some teenage kids knew for sure what a capable wizard like Dumbledore never managed to prove about the dark wizard par excellence? This is simply ridiculous, an act once again only to try to justify James's bullying of Snape. I repeat, the subtext is always the same: Snape was a bad person, strange, passionate about the dark arts, jealous of James and therefore deserved to be bullied. This mentality, in addition to being horribly wrong, is dangerous. And do not forget, most of these suppositions are either false or unproven, so even if they were true, and it is a very big IF, they cannot justify the bullying suffered. The next point is very interesting instead, the creator of the video says this:

Lily also called Snape out because she wanted to join the Death Eaters.

This is a half-truth. The conversation you quoted comes from Snape's memories seen in the chapter The Prince's Tale in the seventh book and takes place after the worst memory in which Snape was bullied by James and Sirius, and threatened to be stripped in public, (which happens a few months after the prank) here Snape insults Lily after he saw her smile or almost while James was bullying him, he called her Mudblood. That same evening Snape went in front of the Gryffindor tower to apologize and Lily didn't accept the apology, and by bringing up the fact that Snape hung out with shady people, like Avery and Mulciber and that he himself wanted to join the Death Eaters she ended their friendship. But that's a later thing, Lily had known for a long time how Snape thought about Muggles, she knew who he hung out with and what his Slytherin classmates did and yet she remained his friend. The rift came after Snape insulted her. Lily, even if she badly tolerated Snape's ideas for years, as long as she was the exception it was fine, the problem arose only when she was personally insulted. But what interests me most is the sequel, the boy in the video says that Snape did not change his mind even to save his friendship with Lily, I quote:

“can you which for Snape is more damning than anything else I can think of thinking about this the person whose opinion he valued more than anybody else saw him as a bad person and he still didn't try to change let me repeat that Snape could not make himself a better person even for the woman that he loved like nobody else if he couldn't do it then it's clear that he could never change

This point would require a much longer and more in-depth discussion, but I will try to be brief. Snape was prejudiced against Muggles, there is no point in denying it, he frequented future Death Eaters and aspired to join them, not to torture Muggle-borns, but to gain power, to become respected. Something he never experienced. The same "good guys" who were supposed to represent good marginalized, mocked, humiliated, bullied him and were never really stopped. Snape had no one but the future Death Eaters to welcome him. Lily, his best friend, in all these years, even with the authority of Prefect, has never managed to stop the bullying or protect him properly. From his point of view, Snape's distorted one, the Death Eaters were the only way to gain respect. Statements by the author. So the idea of ​​changing sides, of joining the good guys who humiliated or marginalized him didn't make sense. Snape improved in the future, he understood his mistakes and tried to redeem himself as an adult, but as a teenager what did you expect would happen? After his best friend also turned her back on him what should he have done? Improve in what way? Marginalizing himself even more from the only ones who accepted and appreciated him? I understand what the video is saying, if Snape loved Lily so much he should have changed for her, but in the real world it doesn't work like that. If you change just to please someone, the change is not genuine but only superficial. It's a very manipulative attitude. Real change must come from within, it must be desired by the person who implements it, not be performative. Snape will change, even if it will be many years later, precisely because he will understand his mistakes, but as a teenager he lives that separation as something definitive, so much so that he no longer gets close to Lily, respects the girl's wishes and leaves her alone. On the contrary James does the opposite, he pesters her for years, threatens her so that she agrees to go out with him. He bullies her best friend as a moral lever, lies to her and in the last year he shows himself changed to go out with her. As I said before this is a superficial change, since we know that james continues to attack snape in the last year without telling Lily. James has never apologized, he has never understood his mistakes, if there has been a change in his not cursing his classmates for fun it was precisely in function of Lily. This distorted idea that changing for the girl you like is a romantic sign is problematic. You don't have to show that you've changed for the person you like, you have to change to become a better person for yourself first and this must happen for a personal desire that cannot have any exceptions.

If James continues to attack Snape then he hasn't understood his mistakes, he has only learned to hide them. If he had really matured he wouldn't have hidden it from Lily, if he had really been the victim in his last year he could have told Lily and instead he doesn't. Shortly after the boy in the video confidently states that James has changed since in his last year Dumbledore makes him Head Boy. And this simply doesn't make sense, why should Dumbledore's judgment be a moral compass to judge James? I don't know if you realize this but every time someone tries to show how good a person James was you have to go on trust with weak assumptions:

-Lily started dating him so he got better. - Dumbledore made him head boy so he matured. - Lily married him so he was good.

These are all assumptions with big gaps. Dumbledore also gave Remus the Prefect badge in the hope that he would keep his friends at bay and we saw how it went, it didn't help. The next point really made me turn up my nose. The boy in the video brings up a very interesting point, many people who were bullied as teenagers feel empathy for Snape and understand what he felt, but the video states that no, it can't be the same thing, because someone who is bullied in real life doesn't plan for years to join a group of assassins, such as the Death Eaters. On this point I can see the logic, but saying that you understand a character, that you feel empathy for him, maybe even because it reflects a personal experience in a small way does not mean justifying his mistakes. Understanding and justifying are two very different concepts. I rationally understand Snape's actions, but on many occasions I don't agree with them. Fortunately, most people who are bullied have not joined violent groups, but that is not an absolute. The world is complex, people react differently to trauma and yes, unfortunately in reality there are victims who have joined violent groups. The classic phrase "the abused becomes the abuser" must not become a way to justify wrong actions, but as I said before it is a way to rationally understand situations.

Bullying someone, even a bad person, is never justifiable for this reason too. What you trigger in the victim is a sense of helplessness and anger. Feelings that in the worst case can lead a person down dangerous paths. Those who understand this understand how strong she was when she was young, how difficult it was to remain a good person. The saga teaches us clearly, you have to choose between what is right and what is easy. But I breathed a sigh of relief when the boy in the video said with clear feeling that he was sorry for all the people who were bullied because they didn't deserve it. I smiled slightly and thought: "finally a nice message, thank you." But before I had time to inhale, he dropped the bomb, I quote:

“you guys did not deserve to be bullied and I am so sorry that that happened to you... but Snape kind of did deserve to be bullied”

The hypocrisy of this sentence makes me tremble. He clearly said that Snape deserved to be bullied. *Ok I'll take a breath* I'll repeat it clearly: NO ONE DESERVES TO BE BULLIED. If you justify bullying you are mentally a bully. The reason why he then justifies bullying is somewhere between absurd and exasperating, once again falsehood

"Snape himself was a bully, he and his little Death Eater friends picking on the other Muggle-born students"

FALSE, I know exactly where this idea comes from and it's so tiring to have to repeat the same things over and over again. Snape never attacked or cursed any of his fellow muggleborns. Was Snape a bully? In a way yes and I'll tell you why it might be correct to call him one (the fact that I have to do it is absurd) because he called muggleborns Mudblood, all except Lily. And we know that in fictional narrative that is a very serious slur. This is where his bullying begins and ends, and yes using insults like that is a form of bullying, I agree with that.

Now, what does this tell us? That using insults is a form of bullying and therefore those who use them deserve to be bullied? Again I smell double standards. By this logic then even James deserved to be attacked by Snape last year, because for years Snape was attacked, bullied, mocked with the name of Snivellus, stripped naked in public, suffocated etc... Why is Snape a horrible bully to demonize if one uses the term mudblood while the people who tormented him for years are justified? After years now I understand the game, I know perfectly well where people want to get with this. They want to make James look like a vigilante, someone who bullied Snape to defend the muggleborns. But once again it is false. James was a bully who attacked those he considered inferior, when he was in numerical superiority. He never attacked people like Mulciber, Avery or Malfoy. James started bullying Snape as early as the train ride, long before Snape had even heard of Death Eaters.

“Snape has always been a racist, even at 11 years old.”

.Funny how the video clearly quoted the part where Lily worriedly asks if it makes a difference to her being a muggleborn and Snape says NO. Snape hesitantly says it makes no difference.

“the only reason why he said no was because he wanted to make sure that Lily liked him the way that he liked her”

Excuse me? This is your baseless assumption, Snape has been her friend for years, he defends her, helps her understand the magical world. I understand not wanting to sanctify Snape, really, he has so many flaws and no, he wasn't a wonderful person, but if you take his clear words and start from the assumption that he is lying you are being unfair. Also because I would like to point out that this is exactly what James does. He shows himself to have changed ONLY to please Lily, didn't he praise him for this just now? Even taking the boy's false interpretation as true How come if Snape does it he is a manipulative liar while if James does it he is to be praised? Oh look, another double standard has entered the room.

"James's bullying is not responsible for Snape joining the Death Eaters."

This is a simplification of the speech, the bullying that Snape suffered is not the reason why he joined the Death Eaters but it is one of the reasons, not the only one but one of the. The difference is clear. If Snape had not been bullied and marginalized, if he had been able to live the Howarts years in peace with his best friend he would not have felt the need to be accepted by the future Death Eaters. Mind you I'm not saying that he would not have been attracted to them, his childhood experiences, the violent Muggle father would have remained, but with a positive contrast and a part of the "good" who defends him and helps him he would have been much less inclined to approach the Death Eaters. But we know that with the if you don't make history, it went as it went, but pretending that the bullying suffered did not play any role means denying reality. As well as trying to make it less serious than it is.

When we then go to compare the more "adult" versions the discussion becomes even more partial because we know even less about the first war. The fact that James joined the Order as I have reiterated several times is not a sign of maturation, he has always been against the dark arts and not by choice. His parents were against it, as they were against the purist ideology. He did not have to rebel, he simply adapted to the ideals that were fortunately right. Could he ever not have been interested in the war? Actually not since his wife was a target because she was Muggle-born and shortly after his son too. It is not a sign of maturation and if I may say so, not even of who knows what reasoning. Even Peter Pettigrew joined the Order, what does this prove?

The whole next part is based on pointing out that if Snape hadn't told Voldemort the prophecy, the Potters would be alive, but once again what ifs lead nowhere. If Snape hadn't eavesdropped on the prophecy and told Voldemort, the events that led to his destruction wouldn't have been triggered and we would never have had the saga. Drama is the engine of events. In the narrative fiction, Snape was reporting important information to his boss, he didn't torture or attack anyone, he just passed on information without knowing what it would lead to. What's the point of blaming him for what follows? Do we use the same reasoning for all the other characters in the saga? I don't think so, so let's not waste too much time on it.

Another great classic:

snape was going to let Voldemort kill a baby and probably its whole family without batting an eye until he realized that Lily was involved he asked for mercy only for her and even Dumbledore is disgusted that Snape doesn't care that James and Harry die.

I have often spoken about this and it is always the same story, couldn't Snape ask for mercy also for Harry who was Voldemort's main target and poor James? Why would Snape have cared about the boy who made his life hell? Snape dared to ask for mercy for Lily and to be sure he also went to Dumbledore risking his life. Allying himself with Dumbledore is a clear betrayal towards Voldemort, if he had been discovered he would have been killed. And I would like to remind you that Snape is terrified of Dumbledore at this point in the story, so much so that as soon as he sees Dumbledore appear he begs him not to kill him Dumbledore is then disgusted by what exactly? From his interpretation of events. Dumbledore thinks that Snape wants Lily all for himself. How distorted is this thing? It is disturbingly similar to what Voldemort thinks. Snape doesn't want Lily, he just wants her to be spared and is so panicked that he asks Dumbledore for help.

snape aided Voldemortin killing a baby without batting an eye

Ehm, no? Snape couldn't know that the prophecy was referring to a child, the prophecy is not clear, it is only said that whoever has the power to defeat Voldemort approaches. Approaches does not necessarily mean is about to be born.

I also approached the supermarket checkout yesterday to pay, I wasn't born in front of it. Snape learned that the prophecy referred to a child, Harry, only after Voldemort interpreted it that way. As soon as he learned that it referred to him and therefore Lily, he was activated. (and for those who pretend not to understand cause and effect, Snape's request to spare Lily is what allowed Lily's sacrifice to take effect)

james Potter died protecting his family and died a hero meanwhile Snape changed sides because he was obsessed with a girl who he called a racial slur and who probably hadn't given him a second thought since that incident snape holding on to this high school crush is creepy and honestly the fact that he even loves Lily in the first place is

James died protecting his family, true great thing he risked his life to try to protect the ones he loved. Commendable. Snape risked his life to protect the ones he loved by starting to snitch on silent after silent made it clear to him that he was disgusted by him and was clearly trying to use him. He risked his life for years. Disturbing.

Hey look at more double standards. Also this whole obsession thing really tired my soul. You want to think that Snape was obsessed? Ok say it, I don't feel like repeating it all over again, I made a whole video about it, HERE. (Italian Version)

"honestly the fact that he even loves Lily in the first place is pathetic because Lily never showed any sign of feeling the same way i get it if you're hung up on your first high school girlfriend but Lily was never even close to that for Snape in fact most of their middle school and high school career she was questioning their friendship"

Really Morgan? Is unrequited love pathetic? I've had friends confess to having a crush on me and even though I didn't reciprocate I never thought they were pathetic. A relationship like that, as turbulent as you want, wasn't questioned until Lily was insulted, she and Severus had been BEST FRIENDS for years. She had doubts about Avery and Mulciber and exposed them to Snape of course but she never questioned Snape until her worst memory.

"Everyone commemorated James' heroic death"

But don't tell me? James was loved and popular, right? What's surprising about him being praised after his death? Can I remind you that even Peter Pettigrew was considered heroic because he faced Sirius until he lost his life against him? At least in public opinion. Whoever dies in war becomes a hero, wow what news.

Snape became a teacher at Hogwarts spending his days bullying children as an adult people fault James for bullying a kid when he was a kid but Snape bullied innocent children as a grown man there was no excuse for that no matter how hard you were bullied.

Ah here we are, the comparison out of scale. James is dead so he is a hero, Snape survived, the comparison should stop there, you can't make a comparison between a dead person and a living person. Snape treats some students badly? Absolutely yes and I have already spoken about it. Is it unfair? Absolutely yes, but what does this prove? You see him getting closer, right?

The point is simple, James was a bully (so at least he admits he was) but as a boy, teenager against teenager, while Snape (bad guy) takes it out on children. What is there to do with it? first James is a bully, then he isn't, then in reality it's a rivalry, then he still was but he matured and Snape still deserved it and the thesis changes again, James was a bully but less serious because he took it out on those his own age. All aimed at downplaying James's faults. But he is totally blind to the evidence, even at the same age James always took it out on those who were lower than him, he attacked classmates (not just Snape) in numerical superiority 2 against 1, in superiority of magical ability, in superiority of status, he was popular and the others were not. by Sirius' own admission many turned a blind eye when they did these things. Where would the equality be?

But hey the video doesn't end there, everything that is brought up after that is already tired and hackneyed points, Snape bullied the students? I talked about it HERE. Snape was Neville's Boggart I also talked about this HERE. Then he goes on to say that Snape treated Harry badly in the first lesson because he still hates James and also the fact that Snape saved Harry's life in the first book doesn't count because he didn't do it to atone for his guilt but because he had a suspicious account with James, because he had a life debt since James saved him from The Prank.

Snape couldn't bear being in your father's debt i do believe he worked so hard to protect you this year because he felt that would make him and your father quit then he could go back to hating your father's memory in peace

But guess what? This is a supposition of Dumbledore who in order not to reveal the truth to Harry says this thing but it is HIS SUPPOSITION. I understand that Dumbledore is wise and knowledgeable but he really is not the omniscient narrator, not everything he says is true and we know it well. Snape feels guilty and tries to atone as he can. Invalidating his commitment to saving Harry is absurd and unfair.

this was not heroic whatsoever it was immature selfish psychopathic and honestly I would even say evil

Ok there is only one thing I can agree with here, Snape is immature in some ways, he is in his early 30s and has some immature attitudes. but selfish? he sacrificed his life to fight voldemort, he gave up everything, he risked himself over and over again to protect Harry and not only that. How can you call him selfish? If he was, he simply wouldn't have agreed to be a spy, he wouldn't have cared. psychopathic? really a term used inappropriately just because it sounded good, I guess. evil for what? I'm really curious about this

"I will admit that Snape was brave for going behind Voldemort's back..."

oh great, at least this is... no wait talk again

"but the reason why he did this wipes away any credit he would get for it the fact that his inspiration for this was his “love” for Lily is concerning."

Oh well, even a brave thing he did is invalidated because he did it for the love of Lily, what a surprise. Then he tries to get back to the obsession thing and it reaches new levels of detail:

"he had not spoken to Lily since he called her a mud blood 22 years ago his last memory of her was a 16-year-old girl while he was a 38-year-old man thinking about this I'll let you sit on that for a second his obsession with Lily for 22 freaking years is disturbing"

Ok please tell me I'm not the only one with an image in my head here. it's clear what Morgan is referring to right? Snape alone in a dark room that reminds of his adolescence, remembers Lily, her beautiful green eyes, her red hair and then he goes down and... OMG I know I know some James stans are wild but this is just hilarious. You want me to believe that you actually spent time thinking about snape going you-got-it? This is disturbing, the fact that you thought about it. xD This is just a rather sick assumption by some fans, disturbed on multiple levels but with no basis in canon.

Snape may have died a brave man but he also died as a man who brought nothing but harm to the world.

How annoying is it that there is always a BUT? Snape is brave BUT... Snape saved Harry BUT... Snape gave his life BUT... We could do the same with James, but we're better than that, I hope.

nobody was better off because Snape was on this earth.

Of course not, except that without Snape, as mentioned before, the events that led to Voldemort's two downfalls would never have happened. But hey, who cares, right?

everything that made him a hero and made people argue that he was a good person was avoidable if as James said he wasn't alive he should not be commemorated the way James a true hero was

If Snape had died during the first war, you mean? Well, he certainly wouldn't have been considered a hero because he wasn't one yet. Really, what kind of nonsense reasoning is that? If James had died at 14, he wouldn't have been remembered as he is remembered in the canon for fighting Voldemort. But thanks to Zeus, it's obvious. Snape becomes a hero later, and is remembered as such for this, just like James. The fact that James was a bully doesn't erase his merit in fighting Voldemort, but the opposite is also true, merits don't erase guilt. This also applies to Snape, his guilt doesn't erase merits and his merits don't erase his guilt.

snape is an evil person and always was james' bullying might have brought that out a bit but deep down it was always in there

Evil again, I would like to understand why, but obviously it doesn't go any further, because all the things listed are just a constant invalidation of Piton's merits and belittling his suffering. even here, when for the umpteenth time he retracts on the bullying he suffered he ends up saying that the bullying he suffered only brought out that part of him but it was always there.

"if you're still defending Snape after everything I just went over you are absolutely delusional i'll leave you with these words FU*K Snape"

Yes the video ends like this. Very mature I would say xD. I am Snape Stan precisely because I can dismantle all these weak arguments. The real delusionals are those who for years have tried to throw mud on a character as complex and imperfect as Snape, driven by anger and precisely by disappointment because there are those who can appreciate a gray character and see heroism even in a not so nice person. And to justify all this it is precisely the James Stans who have started this unequal comparison that they are always destined to lose, in which they compare a complete character with one who only appeared in past scenes.

(I'm also working on a video answer but it's a long job, for now I hope this post can be useful to you)

@moonlightdancer26 @doeprince-blog @snapedefender @snapedefense @soraya-snape @lilithofpenandbook

[thesorrowoflizards]

one thing i love about harry and sophie's whole thing is that they are both wholeheartedly theater kids. like it's more obvious with sophie given it's explicitly explored in canon but with harry i mean. CMOOON. have you seen how much he SAVORS his roles?? he throws his whole pussy into every con ESPECIALLY when he gets to play a weird little freak (actually very funny that harry's two roles are almost always 1. himself, sometimes literally 2. insane campy little freak. says a lot about 1 doesn't it.) and he's so overjoyed and so dramatic about it he loves it. it's great. anyway honestly this could be a post good enough on its own but i was thinking about sophie being a director and the idea of a like generally-non-criminals au wherein sophie's the director at a local theater and harry is either a) an unhappy corporate lawyer who takes improv on a whim and ends up getting WAY too into it to a frankly embarrassing degree and it literally changes his life b) already quit his job and is looking for purpose and somehow ends up cast as a major lead in one of sophie's plays. there are different ways to take that too like. is this played seriously? is he in a comedy and getting a LOT of laughs and loving it? or are they playing leads opposite of each other and both of them are having the time of their lives hamming it up (harry keeps reminding her of her lines very unsubtly when she needs it which she appreciates) and playing off each other and occasionally veering wildly off the rails into improv and it's horrendous and a trainwreck and critically hated but they have SO much fun and also they may or may not gain a local cult following bc yes, that godawful, but holy shit was it funny. anyway im just saying. harry and sophie theater kids. harry the sad corporate lawyer getting some new life and energy from local theater, improv comedy, and charity work instead of crime. alternatively, all this happens bc sophie retired to do actual theater stuff while grieving and then fell into this whole thing with this weird new guy in her theater group and that could get so complicated so fast. her being aware of his background, him being very unaware of hers, eventually her life crashing into all that (first via her weird family whom he takes in stride bc honestly a central part of harry's character is just Rolling With It. they're so weird and he loves it and he will commit to the bit without fully understanding the bit. and then via some kind of disaster where he is rapidly realizing she is not a random theater director but also the team is reluctantly impressed with sophie's weird boytoy's ability to fast talk his way to helping with almost none of the information) and this really messes up all the themes of redemption and progression of arcs in canon but we're just having fun here so that's fine. i feel like there's more but my brain is messy rn so this is what i got at the moment

[maxdibert]

I’m not a fan of the marauders or Snape. I prefer hjp generation compared to them. Reason for that is everyone’s obsessed with swm, and is over thinking it. I need more context than one scene to form an opinion on a person and since we didn’t get that I’m not into the marauders era. I don’t think the marauders were good people nor do I think Snape was. They were all grey characters. I grew up with 4 brothers and mainly male cousins, who are a lot older than me. I remember them getting detention for pulling other’s pants down in the hallways and doing other stupid shit you couldn’t get away with today. I never understood it then and don’t understand it today, but back then it wasn’t considered that big of a deal. I personally don’t think Snape ever viewed that as sa, it was his wm because he was embarrassed and called Lily a racial slur that basically ended their friendship. What we say or do today will be labelled as something else by the next couple of generations. It’s like watching the show Friends, a lot of things they say will make our generations jaws drop, but millennials and gen x find it hilarious and nothing wrong with it. As readers and from Harry’s pov James was a hero everyone loved, after swm Harry was disturbed saw his father as more of a grey character, and had more empathy for Snape. In the end hjp made mistakes, but he was a better person than Snape and the marauders could ever be.

But the thing is, you're saying we don’t have more information when we actually do. It’s canon that James and Sirius hexed people in the hallways just because they felt like it. It’s canon that they used forbidden spells on random people. It’s canon that James lies to Lily, telling her he’s stopped bullying people, but keeps going after Snape behind her back. So it’s not just one scene, there’s more information. And besides, you don’t need to be shown a character’s everyday life to know what they were like. When a character is recurring or a side character, the author gives you specific information to paint a picture. It’s not necessary, narratively, to dig deep into their psychology: you get a few brushstrokes because that’s all you need, and that’s what the author wants you to know about them. And Rowling makes it very clear in that scene what James was like. It’s a way for Harry to deconstruct the myth of his father and realize that, no matter how loved he was by others or the fact that he’s his dad, he could still be a piece of shit.

Then there’s the whole “it was a different time” argument, which honestly doesn’t work for me. I criticize Rowling for having a pretty racist and stereotypical view of certain characters, just like I criticize her view of women. I don’t care if “in her time blah blah blah,” because the reality is that regardless of what was normalized thirty, forty, or fifty years ago, if something is wrong, it’s wrong. Women weren’t allowed to vote for a long time, was that okay because it was “of its time”? Gay people were subjected to electroshock therapy until fairly recently, was that fine because it fit the context? Is slavery justifiable because of the time period? The Inquisition? Apartheid? The lack of labor rights? If we accept that kind of simplistic and deterministic thinking that leaves no room for self-criticism, then basically any atrocity can be justified depending on the era and context. And no, you can explain something by its historical context, but that doesn’t mean it stops being what it is. Do you know how many women have been systematically raped because, for a long time, people didn’t even acknowledge that sexual abuse could exist within marriage? So should we just let that go because it was “of the time”? And the worst part is, in many countries, there’s still no legislation around sexual abuse in relationships, this is something current.

There are also so many abuse victims who don’t even realize they’re being abused — regardless of the type — and does that make it any less abuse, or mean it doesn’t exist? It doesn’t work that way. There are people who’ll tell you they have a “good” job and that everything’s fine, and they’re clearly under abusive labor conditions without realizing it.

I think there’s a real problem in this fandom, which is basically a huge lack of humanistic education. I don’t know if it’s because there are so many different cultural contexts, and of course, each one comes with its own assumptions and frameworks for evaluating certain situations. But I’m honestly realizing more and more that people justify things that, for someone like me — who’s been involved in political and legal work for years — are honestly shocking to see excused. Like, they’ll villainize actions that are pretty minimal compared to others that actually reflect real-world systemic issues. But anyway, that’s just me rambling. What I really want to say is that context and circumstances matter a lot. I don’t know what your siblings or cousins are like, but it’s not the same if you’re messing around with a friend and pull down their pants after they slap you on the head — like, you’re just being dumb and your dynamic includes that kind of rough teasing — compared to choking someone you consistently bully, stripping them in front of a crowd against their will just to humiliate them, and then not letting them go, like, keeping them there for who knows how long. It’s not the same. When we evaluate crimes, it’s not just about the act itself — it’s about the entire context: Was there a pattern of aggression and abuse? What was the relationship with the perpetrator? Had something similar happened before? Was the relationship good or bad? Could the victim defend themselves? Were they in a position to fight back? Was it balanced or was there a power imbalance? There are a lot of elements that make up a case of abuse, and I feel like in this fandom people either don’t understand that, or aren’t educated enough to understand it, or have certain cultural frameworks that prevent them from seeing it, I’m not really sure. But I’m honestly just tired of having to explain all of this in what feels like aramaic to get the point across.

[transfemmbeatrice]

i took a stab at translating the latin in the perpetua theme. it should be noted that i do not speak, read, or understand latin in any way. i'll post the isolated vocals at the bottom if anyone else wants to give it a shot.

there are 8 little segments. i feel confident about 3 of them. i’m sure there’s stuff i heard wrong, and it's further complicated by the fact that there are two different kinds of latin: traditional/original latin and ecclesiastical latin (which is still used in churches). i'm guessing this leans towards the latter but it was harder to find good translation sources for that so. i did my best. also, jack's accent also makes puzzling out the pronunciation and reverse-engineering the spelling extra complicated.

The first one sounds like nota quaero nota can translate to a lot of things, but most likely here it means a mark/sign, or maybe known facts. quaero means search/seek/desire so this one is something along the lines of I am seeking a sign (or possibly seeking information)

The second one sounds like altare dealbo altare means an altar or offerings, which matches up with the lore we have dealbo is literally 'make white' meaning, in a religious context, to cleanse or purify roughly, Purify the altar.

the third one was harder. i think it starts lōra te and the last word sounds like beno except that's not a word lōra te can mean a laurel crown or more broadly, victory or honor beno isn't a word but it sounds like a variation on 'good' so maybe something about to honor you well?

fourth one is antiquă străbonus* antiquă is ancient or time-honored străbonus means squinting or jealous? so basically... ancient jealousy

*edit: i forgot to say i wasn’t 100% sure on the second bit, and shoulder-lizard pointed out it’s probably draconus and ancient dragons makes more sense!

the fifth one again sounds like it has something similar to bene and then Perpetua. obv perpetua is a proper noun, but its worth noting that the latin translates to continuously/forever. which for whatever reason hit harder for me than "perpetual." very loosely spitballing with what might be a form of 'good', i wrote this down as Blessed Perpetua but i really have no clue

the sixth one sounds like computatus Dĭēs computatus predictably translates to computing/calculating/reckoning dies means day but Dĭēs apparently means The Day or a divine personification of the day. weirdly that one comes from the regular latin dictionary and not either of the ecclesiastical ones. but calculating the day makes perfect sense

the last two i basically got nothing. seven sounds like threasio perpetua but i couldn't find anything even really resembling that as a latin word. eight was very hard to make out, but the end sounds like minĭvato? the closest i could find is mĭnĭtātĭo which means intimidation/threat which does fit but i'm not placing a lot of stock in it.

i would love to hear other people's thoughts, especially if someone actually knows any latin.

[thaltro]

Random question about Psych - Sorry if this is a little outdated as I'm basing it on his old reference sheet. Also sorry it's so long haha.

As I understand it: He has reversion magic - and by touching somebody he can revert them back to a state before they experienced some sort of trauma. If multiple traumas occurred, Psych can exert a lot more energy to go back several stages. However, direct contact with his soul is a lot more potent/unstable and can result in a lot more extreme outcomes.

As for my question, let's use a typical fanon Passive Nightmare story as an example (sorry, I'm not really all caught up on Atrophy's whole deal and I think regular UTMV Nm may fit the scenario better LOL), where usually it'll be something like:

Passive chilling -> Passive gets attacked -> Passive eats the apples -> "HELP ME PLZ IS COR---Corrupted.exe: I here HAHAHA"

Let's assume eating the apples here was the main, "big" trauma, and getting attacked, although still traumatic, gets lumped into the general bullying thing and was bog-standard by this point (i.e. that specific instance of bullying didn't lead him to eat the apples, but it was rather the culmination of all the bullying lead up to that incident, and that was the straw that broke the camel's back.)

If Psych were to use his powers on that Nightmare, at what "stage" would he be reverted back to? Would it be right before the Apple incident, (the beginning of Substance Corruption) and then ergo that means Nightmare would still be pretty banged up? Or would he just be 6 years old again with none of the injuries? And if the latter, when in time would his code be? A day before the trauma? A week? Or would it place him in some random time before, with some variability? (E.g. performing two separate reversions on Nm could pull his code an hour before the incident and then 3 weeks before the incident).

OR, if the former, let's assume that one Negative apple is okay for you, but 999 isn't. Would this, again, revert him right before Nm supposedly takes a bite? Or somewhere in the midpoint of Apple eatery? Again comparing this to Substance Corruption, it is noted that:

"A potent substance that shouldn’t be within a monster gets in a monster and overwhelms their code permanently."

This implies that there are possibly instances where a substance does get in a monster's body, but the body is able to fight it off/expunge somehow, if I'm getting that right? So in this example, Maybe Nightmare gets reverted to only having 3 apples, because maybe 3 apples is okay for his body to deal with. But 4? Crossing the line there, bub. SUBSTANCE CORRUPTION INCOMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Again though this is all sort of based around UTMV Nightmare and I know how Atrophy came about is extremely different from the standard Dreamtale story, so I can understand if maybe the semantics here of UTMV Nightmare can't really be applied in Nightwatch as a whole. I also understand the concept of Psych's abilities reversing trauma might've been changed for the concept of reversing corruption, so forgive me if this entire thing is asking questions about no longer relevant information haha.

Also sorry if this was a bit ramble-y and didn't make sense. I tried my best to make it as understandable as possible but I completely get it if there may be some confusion, haha.

Good question, I’ll explain how the cannon reversion works now.

So essentially I dropped the trauma states thing because it brought up many issues, mostly what is defined as trauma or traumatic enough. Didn’t really wanna work through that.

So instead reversion works as a code destroyer. It atomizes parts of a code in some way reverting things to their original basic states. That’s why it’s useful for corruption. Corruption is complex but it’s essentially code with changes or additional features to it.

In nightwatch monsters have an organic code which is code that happens naturally. This code is more set in place and hard to get rid of. Corruption is when inorganic code is applied onto that organic code.

This isn’t always extreme, most commonly flus and sickness are corruption as it’s a foreign code that interrupts the normal organic process. Most monsters can survive this, but reversion shots and pills are made so you can get almost instant reversion of those loose weak inorganic codes.

But Chronic Corruption is different

Think Geno Sans or Atrophy, this is when that loose inorganic code is so strong it becomes attached permanently to the organic codes.

This is when Psych needs to come into play because he is trained to do procedures to manually remove those parts. Which again because the inorganic codes are so potent and viral, it makes it much more difficult to remove as you don’t want to accidentally destroy original organic codes.

Think of how a problem with chemo therapy for cancer, the whole body is affected with the treatment and in the process of removing the cancer it also removes normal healthy cells. Psych is supposed to negate that issue and he guides his magic to only remove the corruption.

Typically resulting in reconstructive surgery as the body might need to be repaired after this very invasive procedure. It’s not always perfect, but psychs reversion procedures and surgeries are very affective to reverting amalgamations. Memory being one of his successes

Now to answer your nightmare question

Atrophy eats one apple and he instantly corrupts btw, his slime just melts and consumes the rest of the tree after. But if I’ll work with typical nightmare, maybe a few apples is corruption that would make one very ill and in need of a injection. But after an overwhelming amount of inorganic code, the corruption would be chronic.

And If psych where to revert atrophy, the code would be set back to somewhat match the bone density of a monster instead of slime, and form something soul like. Atrophy’s soul is dispersed in peices around the slime so it’d be very difficult to selectively protect those parts. Psych would have to take that now purified slop and surgically rebuild atrophy to look like a person again. It’s what he did to memory already.

Mentally he’d still be an adult because psych would avoid reverting that organic code. Just would be free of corruption and with a newer body.

What if psych didn’t selectively revert and instead just,, did it? Without thinking?

You’d die, even immortals could die since their code would be fully atomized. That’s what happens if you jump into the atomization void at the end of the multiverse (where the core leads you) as it indiscriminately disperses your codes across time and space. If you somehow survive it leaves a damaged husk of what you used to be. In nightwatch it’s called atomization syndrome which core frisk and some gasters have!

But most the time you just straight up die. Psych really could kill people if he was smart but he’s not

I know this doesn’t answer everything since the questions framework was on the outdated magical system, but I’m glad I can answer some parts and I just like talking about my dumb dumb world building. I really liked this ask thank you

Other post related to the vial of anti corrupt, there’s a better drawing then what I drew in a few seconds here haha

[autistictaylorhebert]

other people have already articulated very well what the problem with number man's powers are, but i want to complain too. other powers are fine:

"Tattletale has super deduction" yes I know what deduction is so I understand where this power begins and ends. Irregardless of the mechanics she needs some data points to work off of and comes up with new theoretical (ie: not tactile or skill-based) information based off that. We know what her strengths and weaknesses are.

"This person is a combat thinker", "she has danger sense", "he's a social thinker" a little clunkier and breaks immersion a little bit but you still know exactly what's going on.

"He's good with numbers", "He sees the world through mathematics" this tells me next to nothing. I can make assumptions about what I think that means, but then those assumptions turn out to be wrong or only hold up inconsistently, and to my memory the tension of both stories then suffers for it.

[linartblogs]

First, thank you very much for your response ! Also, I apologize for any mistakes, I'm not a native speaker, but I'll try to map out my thoughts as well as I can ! Also, for anyone reading, spoilers ahead for s6 (El Toro de Piedra).

On the Adrien = love thing, I see what you mean, I guess I just tend to ignore certain messages the show seems to push and interpret some things my own way (keeps me sane). s1-s5 already made me so skeptical about Adrien's parents, but s6 is just making them look worse to me, especially Gabriel. Him being involved with the cult they introduced in s6 (idk if you're caught up with that) makes me go "yeah no that guy was still weird even before his wife's death ? And she's maybe on it too ? They both wanted to reform the world ?" or maybe that was after Emilie's death who knoooows.

I guess a reasonable "fanon" interpretation of Emilie and Gabriel would be that while they DID love Adrien, they're still shitty, self-centered people and parents who always projected their own dreams/wants onto their kid, whom they wish to shape into the perfect little man. However, near her death, Emilie seemed to have semi gained some self awareness which is why, in her final moments, she tells Nathalie to change Gabriel's mind and to let Adrien choose who he wants to be. Idc if the show wants me to think that she was a good mom, but to me that seems to indicate that she only had a change of heart towards the end. So she was somewhat controlling at first, but finally understood that she could not mold Adrien into just who she wanted him to be. I guess making her a semi decent mom is a more interesting thing. It also makes her a more complex, realistic character.

So, maybe Adrien is made of multiple complex emotions : His parent's love, his mom's desire for freedom as you said, but also her desire for him to be a "better" version than her, destined for bigger, great things (to go with that theme of her projecting onto her kid). So I see him breaking free from Gabriel's control as a first step, which gets him some extra power, like shielding the ones he loves since he's so attached to his identity as a super hero ? Make him go like, marie-sue style and face off his dad in the finale ? Well, at least it has to be impactful to signify his emancipation from his father's control.

Felix being a copycat makes a lot of sense to me, I think he's naturally a genius (was made that way), which is why he is skilled at so many things. But him being a shape-shifter would add to his manipulator aspect a lot.

As for Kagami, truthfully I'd love for the show to release more information about her or her mom, since we don't even understand fully Tomoe's motivation, or even who actually made Kagami. Her father maybe, since he seems to be absent ?

Globally, Miraculous is a real mess to rewrite, because you have the sort out a looot of stuff. They have so many good ideas but they always execute them poorly or drop something right after being on the good track. I still think it's entertaining, and they seem to be fixing some stuff in s6 although it's a bit late lol.

Sentimonsters are beings made from a single emotion and Adrien's emotion is heavily implied to be love. Sentimonsters can also have any random power the writers decide to give them and have been established to sometimes get powers their creators didn't intend (see Feast). That is the ultimate setup to use the power of love to empower Adrien and yet the show gives us nothing.

(See power of love rant for more)

[balrogballs]

I have never been to Germany but I always giggle when you mention your hometown and I need to ask you what is so bad about it or is it like ordinary hometown slander?

Apologies for tardiness in responding, I am ridiculously drained by travel and in general 🥲

If you mean K*rnwestheim, it thankfully isn’t my “hometown” technically, I was just there for much of my schooling. To answer your question, however:

The only notable landmark is “prison where they kept a bunch of the RAF (Baader-Meinhof urban guerrilla group, not the British air force) and later, somewhat notably, er, solved their RAF overpopulation problem in a single night”.

If you know Slough, in the UK, imagine Small German Slough.

When I was studying for my Abi in the library, some fucker shat in the history aisle (this was neither protest nor illness, I knew the boy and I can tell you for sure he did it for, quite literally, shits and giggles). When the school principal was informed, his response was “alles klar”, as in, “oh ok”.

When we played some old school version of Kahoot, in a class of 15-16 year olds, 66% (I remember this number like my own birthday) misidentified a raccoon as a monkey.

Boy in the class below me used to fleece American tourists (who would only stay there due to its proximity to Stuttgart) by “selling” an overpriced tour “near” the above prison due to its vague historical relevance. As per my understanding of the matter, he never turned up to a single tour. I would be supportive of this endeavour, had he not shat in the library.

I hope this answers your question!