#the reason why I didn't share some of them really just boils down to a lack of motivation to do so when I get maybe one reblog anyway

[echodoctor]

I wonder if part of why Siffrin is the party member most willing to let Bonnie do things the others are worried will be too risky or scary for them is because they were more or less on their own from a fairly early age?

The creator of In Stars And Time mentioned once that Siffrin was a teenager when the Northern Island vanished.

I personally assume that he was thirteen. Now, there's wiggle room there- she didn't specify an exact age, just "a teenager". They could have been older.

But since they were trying to play a prank by "running away from home" (for like twenty minutes tops) when the whole thing happened- and over not wanting to eat their veggies, no less- I feel pretty reasonable in assuming that we're talking about someone on the young end of the teenage range here, not like an eighteen year old with the RPG Fantasy World version of a job and a driver's license.

So, thirteen.

And if Bonnie is somewhere around eleven or twelve, that's... not that far off, age-wise.

Siffrin doesn't really seem to have had anyone looking out for them, before. Presumably someone must have helped them at least a little when they first arrived, but I get the feeling it was less "oh no we have to get you a foster family you poor dear!!" and more along the lines of getting directions to the local homeless shelter and food pantry equivalents- probably a House of Change, since caring for those in need seems like the kind of duty a religious institution would have in a pre-modern society, and what we see about Housemaiden duties from Mirabelle and Euphrasie does appear to involve a lot of community outreach and support.

Which is great in terms of "not actually dying", but larger institutions are usually dealing with a lot of things at once and can't provide a lot of careful individual attention. So Siffrin was likely just... figuring out how to be a functional person on their own.

So all of that basically boils down to: I'm not sure Siffrin actually has any idea what the normal amount of responsibility and independence a kid is "supposed" to have is, because they have no memory of ever having an adult who could look out for them in the first place.

They're just mentally referencing what they were doing when they were Bonnie's age and going 'hmm, well that wasn't great but I didn't die or anything... let's make sure they have some adult supervision and reassure them they can ask us for help if they want to, and it'll probably be fine'.

...Which, it turns out, is actually a pretty decent approach here, because despite the party's best efforts Bonnie is still essentially a refugee from a country-wide disaster, and trying to treat them like a kid who's living a completely stable, normal, sheltered life ignores a lot of what they're going through.

They're not trying to make Bonnie's life fit into what a "normal" childhood should be, because they never got to have one. And Bonnie responds well to that because it's coming from a place of empathy and shared similar experiences.

tl;dr Former semi-feral free range child mentors current semi-feral free range child, results surprisingly positive.

[livinginshambles]

How much are we worth? | James Potter

Pairing: James Potter x Fem!Reader

Word count: 5.8k

Summary: Sirius bets that James can't get a girl to go out with him. James pursues you and falls for you. You are hurt when you find out that you were just a bet, even more when you realise how little they bet on you.

Notes: A classic: Strangers to friends to lovers, Angst, Bet trope, Fluff and happy ending because yey, I believe in second chances :) Existence of a wardrobe that works like newt scamanders suitcase and SPeLLing Mistakes

Masterlist

_________________

In hindsight, you should've known.

"Have you maybe considered giving up on her?" Remus' question caught James off guard when he returned to the marauders at the Gryffindor table after another failed attempt and rejection by Lily.

"Not until she's given me a chance at least," James responded, eyes trained on Lily's retreating figure. "Besides, this chasing game is sort of our thing now."

The marauders nodded sceptically.

"Not particularly the dynamic I'd want to have with the person I fancy," Peter whispered, loud enough for everyone to hear. James shot him a look as if Peter had just committed the greatest betrayal of the century.

Sirius snorted out loud. "Dynamic my ass, yeah." He threw a piece of bread across the table in James' direction.

"He's stuck with Lily now because if he decides to chase some other poor girl and inevitably get rejected, it'll prove that James Potter just can't get some," he added, wearing a shit eating grin on his face.

James pulled a face at Sirius. "Oh please I can get girls. It's just that contrary to you, I actually show commitment to only one," he huffed.

Sirius shrugged. "You say that, but you've never even had a girlfriend. Been pining over Evans since first year. Besides, commitment or being stuck," he weighed his hands in the air. "Same same."

James rolled his eyes and got up. When he turned around, he crashed into someone who had been standing behind him, tripping her, and he sent her crashing into the Ravenclaw table behind him. The Ravenclaw sitting at that table ducked out of the way. She stuck her hands out to brace herself and loudly hissed when her hand ended up in someone's scalding soup.

"Godric, I am so sorry," James scrambled to offer her a napkin. She snatched it out of his hands and dried her hands. James saw that they were scorching red and more apologies stumbled out of his mouth.

"Let me help you get to madam Pomfrey," he offered, concern lacing his tone. He reached his hand out to her and she jerked away.

"Fuck off Potter, I'd rather take a bloody bath in boiling water than go anywhere with you." She spat, and left, hand pressed against her chest, covered by the napkin.

The commotion had everyone turn their heads at him and despite usually being a fan of being at the centre of attention, he embarrassedly sat down again.

"Guess really no girl wants to go anywhere with you, Prongs," Sirius snickered. James offered him a sour look.

"This was just because I literally burned her hand, Pads. Any other time, she would totally go out with me." James boasted, but guilt and concern for the girl who he didn't know, lingered in his mind.

"Right, you wanna bet?"

"The usual?"

"The usual."

They sealed the deal with a nod. Peter and Remus shared a look but they knew that was no use trying to tell them to stop it already. Remus thought back to the scowl on the girl's face and prayed that she would stay headstrong and reject James.

After all, Sirius and James were from wealthy families, so money has never actually played a role during these bets. It’s just the principle of it that counts and is the reason why they only ever bet one galleon. It meant someone would get hurt.

The scowl on your face disappeared with the cool relief of the running water from the girls bathroom on your hand, but the bitter feeling remained when your mind wandered to James Potter. You scoffed to yourself. Arrogant, self pretentious, blood boiling bully. Though never having been a victim of their pranks, you lost several friends to Beauxbatons because of the marauders’ cruelty.

You glanced at yourself in the mirror one last time and left for your Ancient Runes class where you walked to your designated seat next to Lily Evans. You two unsurprisingly got along. Though your personalities were nothing alike, you being rather reserved, you could both value each other’s calm presence and even ‘maturity’ to a certain degree.

She offered you a smile and you nodded at her in acknowledgement. “I’m embarrassed to ask this, but could I maybe share your book? I didn’t have time to pick it up after lunch.” Lily gave you a surprised look but quickly assured you that you could to which you offered her a small but grateful smile.

She opened her mouth to tell you something, when something else, or rather someone else, caught her attention. Before he even reached the table, she had already attempted to ward him off in a monotone voice. “Go away Potter, I’m not interested.”

“Not here for you, Lilypad,” he smugly said and stopped right next to you. Lily raised her eyebrows and looked at you with a concerned look. Without looking up from Lily’s book, you also repeated Lily’s words. “Fuck off Potter, I’m not interested either.”

“I haven’t even said anythi-“

“And I don’t want you to.”

“Okay, but here me out, I-“

“I. Don’t. Want. You. To,” you pronounced every word clearly.

“Come on, just listen-“

You turned around, an incredibly sour look on your face. James couldn’t help but admire you for a moment. You looked pretty, contorted face aside. Especially when you had smiled at Lily. It had caught him off guard.

“Can you spare me a second?” He tried again. For a second, he thought he saw a look of appreciation cross your face at his formulated words, but it was gone in a split second.

“No. Class is starting, get back to your seat Potter,” you dryly responded. You turned back to your book and James walked back to his friends.

James potter was determined though, you had to give him that. You abruptly turned on your heels, ready to walk in the opposite direction, even if it would mean a detour of about 8 minutes to your destination. You were really not into his crap today.

“Y/N!” James called out to you and chased you.

“I told you to call me by my last name. We're not friends, Potter. I don’t want to be. In fact, I don’t want anything to do with you. So, for Merlin’s sake, leave me alone, or I swear on his balls that I will hurt you.” You spat the last part out through gritted teeth and

James took a step back in surprise. He looked at you for a moment, carefully considering his next words. “L/N.” He settled on, voice quieter. When you didn’t immediately walk off, he took it as a sign to continue. “I was wondering if you would allow me to sit next to you during our free period between Transfiguration and Potions.”

You raised you eyebrows.

“My friends all took classes and there’s like a two hour gap and I like company, that’s all,” he hastily explained before you could go and reject him.

“What are you, six years old?” You sarcastically asked him. “Can’t spend what, two hours on your own?”

James’ eyes averted to the ground. “Just not enjoying being alone,” he mumbled, almost embarrassedly. You looked at him, great, now you were being an asshole yourself.

“You know the big old wardrobe in the abandoned classroom on the seventh floor?” you eventually asked. James’ eyes lit up and nodded.

“It’s bigger on the inside.” You said.

“A secret room?” He asked while trying to recall seeing an extra room on the map. You nodded. “Not even visible on your map because it’s not Hogwarts. A pocket dimension, Dumbledore said.”

James’ jaw fell slack. “You know about the map?” he whispered.

“You can join me there between classes next week if you want, but I can’t promise you that it’ll be any different to passing the time on your own.” You said, completely ignoring him. You stopped in front of the library. “A word about the wardrobe and I swear-“

“-on Merlin’s balls that you’ll hex me, yeah,” he waved you off with a triumphant smile.

“Witty, are you now.” You looked at him. A small smirk lingering on the corner of your lips. James heart skipped.

“Just one of the effects you have on me, darling,” he winked at you. “L/N,” he quickly corrected when your face fell into a scowl again.

“I’m not kidding though, this is my spot to get away from everything. I don’t feel like sharing it with people.” James felt flattered. So you would share it with him?

“I solemnly swear I won’t tell,” he assured you, a serious expression on his face. “You can trust me, L/N.” He cringed at his own words. Trust him? He was only talking to you to prove Sirius wrong.

“I’ll hold you to it, Potter,” you nodded and entered the library. The door closed and James slouched against the wall next to him. A giddy feeling fluttered in his stomach at the thought of hanging out with you.

“So what happened to rather bathing in boiling water than going anywhere with me,” James couldn’t help but arrogantly ask while trying to keep up with your ridiculously fast walking pace as you two were on your way to the wardrobe. “I’m not going anywhere with you, you’re going somewhere with me,” you denied, your eyes narrowed at him. James put his hands up in mock surrender. “Lead the way, L/N.”

“I am,” you deadpanned.

James sceptically looked at the oak wardrobe. He and his friends had rummaged through this room already. It included the wardrobe, but it had looked pretty normal.

“Doesn’t look very special,” he said while you were busy locking the door behind you. You made your way over to James and pushed him out of the way roughly. He gaped at you with an offended look on his face. “You know, being a bit more chivalrous wouldn’t hurt you,” he exclaimed.

You shrugged and opened the door. James stared in amazement as he realised that the inside was in fact bigger. He walked to the wall that the wardrobe was standing against and squeezed his hand between the wall and the wardrobe.

“Why are you so surprised?” you asked. “We literally learned about the Extension charm yesterday?”

“We did?”

Maybe hanging out with James Potter wasn’t as terrible as you had expected it to be and so, it became a routine. James had finally realised that his persistence to flirt with you or try to impress you wasn’t getting him anywhere and had opted to actually be considerate of you.

He respected you when you not so kindly told him to fuck off and was sitting next to you quietly while you studied between hours in the wardrobe. He had read the book that he’d seen you read in the courtyard- and was surprised to find himself interested in the story- so that he could talk to you about something when your demeanour told him that he could speak again. He stuck to calling you by your last name and learned to read your mood when he could joke around.

Most importantly, he’d learned to enjoy himself in a comfortable silence that didn’t require him to do or say anything and just let him be.

You two were laying on the couch again, feet propped up, both on opposite sides, but feet touching in the middle. James was admiring you. The way your eyebrows crunched up in a frown, eyes squinted, and lips mouthing the words you were reading.

“You’re careless with spelling, Potter.” You eventually looked up from correcting his assignment. “But that’s a brilliant essay.”

James beamed up at you, relief, pride and happiness all washing over him at once.

“Also, you have a nice handwriting,” you added after considering whether or not you should mention it.

James was now fully grinning, pushing himself to sit up from his relaxed position. “Two compliments?” he asked teasingly and you immediately huffed and looked away. “Don’t let it get to your head, Potter. It’s big as it is.”

“But you think I’m brilliant and that my handwriting is nice.” He repeated happily.

“Your essay was brilliant,” you attempted to correct him, but he seemed to be lost in happy thoughts. You looked at him. He had his arms up behand his neck because he had laid down again. He was grinning from ear to ear and his eyes squinted in delight and satisfaction. He looked so... harmless.

“You know,” you began and James looked up at you, propping himself up a little in curiosity at the fact that you were starting the conversation for the first time.

“I used to think you were the biggest asshole ever. Astoundingly stupid and good for nothing but hurting people.” You were looking up at the ceiling now and missed the way James eyes flashed with mixed feelings.

“I had a few friends, you know. They were great, but everyone called them boring and a stick in the mud.” You turned your head towards James. “You and the rest of the marauders used to tell us to “lighten up already,” and pranked us separately, one by one until all five moved schools.”

James looked down, feeling horrible and guilty. It was true that in his early years at Hogwarts, he and his friends had been going too far with pranks. That kind of stopped after that prank.

“So I’ve held a grudge against you, like any good friend would do,” you smiled to yourself at the thought of your friends. “I think maybe I no longer have to.” James heart melted at your confession. Over the course of weeks, he’d become desperate for your approval and friendship.

“You’ve changed since then,” you concluded out loud. “Not cruel anymore.” You hesitated for a moment.

“James?” You then asked and James looked up at you with wide eyes. He knew that this was the first time that you’d addressed him by his name instead of ‘Potter’.

“Yeah?”

“I really value our friendship,” you whispered. “It’s worth a lot to me.”

James heart both warmed and tightened. “It’s worth a lot to me too,” he whispered back.

“Where were you,” Remus asked when he returned to the Gryffindor common room. “We looked on the map, but we couldn’t find you.”

“And we couldn’t find Y/N either.” James fought the urge to correct them and say that they shouldn’t use your first name like that. That he had worked for your friendship to stop calling you by your last name.

“Do I owe you a galleon now?” Sirius popped up from behind him. “What? No,” James said, thinking of another subject to talk about, wanting to ignore the existence of the bet in the first place.

“I was hanging out with Y/N,” he admitted. “But because we're friends now.”

“Yeah, but where were you hanging out?” Peter asked. “Because we weren’t allowed to leave Hogwarts today.”

“Did you find another secret passage?” Sirius gasped and James immediately shook his head to deny it. “Oh come on, we’re your friends, you have to tell us!”

Remus watched James shift uncomfortably and tried to intervene. “Let him be, Padfoot.” Sirius wasn’t having it though, and when James said that he promised not to tell, he responded with, “What, you value your fake friendship with that stick-up-her-ass girl more than us?”

“It’s not a fake friendship,” he weakly fought back. “Don’t call her that.”

Sirius sighed. “I’m sorry Prongs. I didn’t mean to call her that, hell I don’t even know the girl, she’s probably alright. But you’re keeping secrets, it’s not fair.”

You stared in disbelief at the marauder who wasn’t James, having a hook-up in your wardrobe. When he noticed you in the entrance, Sirius merely held his hand up at you in a greeting. “Thanks for letting me borrow this, this is the best spot for not getting caught.”

You backed away and slammed the door shut. James.

“Potter!” you yelled at him when you saw him leave the Gryffindor chambers. Your face was contorted in anger and you were seething.

He looked up at you, happy feeling in his chest and he was itching to show you the paper behind his back.

You stabbed your finger in his chest, effectively wiping the happy grin on his face off. “You promised,” you hissed. James immediately knew what you were talking about. “I’m sorry, I had to tell him,” he tried to justify his actions and you scoffed. “Fuck you,” you spat and walked off.

James stood there, frozen and stared at the empty spot in front of him. His arms hung by his side and he looked down at his essay which wore a big ‘O’ mark and right next to it in Professor McGonagall’s handwriting, ‘Keep this brilliant work up, Mr. Potter.’

James was watching you, sulking. He had made such progress and now it felt as if all those baby steps were for nothing, instead taking eight long strides back. You had closed yourself off again and James was too intimidated by your glares every time he walked in your direction, so he would change directions last minute every time you burned a hole through his head with your eyes.

‘This is so stupid’ he thought to himself when his body automatically steered him away from you again. He mustered up all of his courage and headed straight for you. He would rather face your wrath head on than go back to being strangers. Especially when tomorrow was free period again.

“Is it okay if I talk to you for a moment?” he asked, nervous.

You scanned him up and down. Everything about him looked remorseful, from his posture to dull eyes to his tone when he asked you if he could have a word. You waved at him to take a seat next to you, and he gratefully took the opportunity.

“I’m sorry. I swore I wouldn’t tell and I did and I shouldn’t have. I would go back in time and stop past me from telling Sirius, but I can’t, but I also don’t want to lose you because I meant what I said. This friendship is worth so much to me.” James took a deep breath. “So please let me make amends?” he finished.

“Okay.”

James blinked. “Okay?” he dumbly repeated.

“That’s what I said.”

“Wait, so that’s it? No grovelling? No conditions?”

“Would you like me to add conditions?”

“I mean..” James stuttered. “Sure?”

“Fine. Consider this your second chance , even though it technically is your third after your horrid behaviour towards my friends. It’s also your last.” You said that last part sharply. “Do you accept those terms?”

James nodded in relief and agreed. It was only when he laid in bed at night that he realised that he should’ve probably gotten clean on the matter of the bet right when he had the chance. He was on his last chance after all. But it would be alright. He would simply call off the bet and then it would be as if nothing ever happened. No one had to know, no one had to get hurt.

He waited after Transfiguration and grinned at you when you made your way to him. He had really looked forward to spending time with you again at your spot. Even if the marauders knew its location now, too.

“Lead the way, Y/N.”

“I am,” you retorted with a hint of amusement in your voice. James grinned and followed you, only noticing after a while that you were walking around on the third floor instead of the seventh. “Did you find a new spot?” he curiously asked.

“Yes. And no.” James huffed at your vagueness, imploring you to explain. “Let’s just say that Dumbledore got himself off my blacklist.” You turned the corner and moved a portrait to the side. James knew of the passageway. It was moist in there and cold so it hadn’t interested him and his friends very much. But behind the door you just opened, stood your wardrobe.

He looked at it, amazed. “You got Dumbledore to move a wardrobe for you?” he asked incredulously. You slyly smiled but didn’t say anything except for “I did the cleaning myself.”

“So what’s going on with you and James,” Lily curiously asked you. You shrugged and brought your water bottle to your lips. “Kept bothering me into a friendship, I guess.”

Lily laughed. “Well, whatever keeps him away from me,” she joked and you let out an audible laugh. She leaned in towards you. “But if he’s no longer fighting for my attention, but yours, I think it might mean that he fancies you.”

You choked on your water. “Most certainly not!” You strictly assured her and composed yourself. Lily laughed. “No need to get so defensive over his feelings. You make it seem as if I suggested that you fancied him,” she said, chuckling. You turned your head away and she gasped. “Do you fancy him?”

“What’s with all this gossiping and boys talk,” you grumbled, unpleased. “But for the record, I don’t think so.” You stuck your nose up.

“You don’t think so?” Lily repeated. “What do you mean?”

“I gravely appreciate him and I feel very comforted in his presence. We’re friends. It doesn’t mean I fancy him.” You answered. “Besides, I’ve never fancied anyone. Not sure I know what it’s like.”

“Okay, how would you feel if he starts dating someone, right now?”

You pondered over the question for a bit. “I guess he can do whatever he wants, but don’t expect me to share our spot with some random girl,” you said, the last part coming out more bitter than you expected. Huh. ‘Did you fancy James Potter?’ you wondered.

“I fancy her,” James told his friends while they were out in Hogsmeade.

“L/N?” Peter asked. James nodded in affirmation. “Well damn Prongs,” Sirius started. “What happened?”

“Y/N and I are good, I think. We fit and it feels amazing. It seems surprising, but we can talk for hours or sit in silence together without it being weird at all. Everything is comfortable with her, in like the good way,” James struggled to express all his feelings about you.

Sirius whistled. “Almost envious of you, Prongs. What about Evans though?”

James shrugged. “Not the kind of dynamic I want.”

“So are you going to tell her?” Remus asked. James puffed his chest. “Of course. I’m not shy about my feelings. I publicly chased after Lily for years,” he reasoned. But despite his big words, he felt like a nervous wreck. Because what if you rejected him?

James found you in the library. “Is now a good time?” he asked. You sat up straight. Last night, you had done a lot of thinking and came to the conclusion that yes, you fancied James Potter. “Yes, actually. I wanted to talk to you,” you replied. You got up and and started to gather your belongings. James grabbed your books for you and you left the library.

“I fancy you.”

James blinked. Were his ears deceiving him? Were you joking? Did you have a bet of your own going on with someone?

“I’m sorry?” he managed to get out, his voice an octave higher than usual.

“I fancy you,” you stated again. Matter of factly. “I came to the realisation yesterday and they do say honesty is the best policy.” James laughed softly at your sad attempt to lessen the awkward atmosphere.

“I actually wanted to talk to you to say the same thing,” he breathed out in a relieved manner. You stared at him in surprise. Okay. Definitely not what you expected.

“So you fancy me.” You repeated to make sure.

“And you fancy me.” James nodded.

“Do you want to go out with me?” you asked.

James’ heart leaped. He had spent so much time asking that question, he realised that how amazing it felt to hear the question directed at him. He grinned. “Glad you asked, darling. Yes, I’ll go out with you.” He reached out to you carefully wrapped an arm around you. You fully leaned into him in a hug and breathed him in.

“Think our relationship just went up in value.” You mumbled, your words slightly muffled by your face, hidden in his sweater.

You felt him laugh. “Well, we upgraded from friends to couple. How much are we worth now?”

You pretended to think about it. “We’re worth all the money in Gringotts bank.”

“That’s a lot of money,” he hummed.

You had taken James out on a date in the middle of the Gryffindor Quidditch stands at night, after curfew. James was the first to lean in and kiss you and when he did, he practically melted into you, your arms slung over his broad shoulders. He’d muttered something about how lucky he was and you’d told him that he better know it, before admitting that you felt the same way.

After you had left him several hickeys, scattered across his neck, he had insisted on returning the favour. He was only on his second when you two were interrupted by Filch, who had spotted you two. You two ran off to the third floor and decided to hide out in your wardrobe until he was gone all while continuing making out. You and James fell asleep in that position. You on your back on the couch, James draped over you like a weighted blanket with his face nuzzled in your throat, and your legs entangled.

Though very surprised at first, your fellow Hogwarts students quickly got used to the idea of you and James in a relationship. It wasn’t long before you were walking down the corridors together, James hand on your lower back and inching lower. You shot him a warning glare and he bit his check when he splayed his hand over your ass with a cheeky smile. You elbowed him in the ribs, earning a huff and let your hand rest on his ass in turn.

Everything was perfect, which is of course why everything had to become a disaster very quickly. James wasn’t even sure how such a perfect night had turned so horrible. One moment, you were partying, everything had been great, and he had been envisioning you and him for the rest of your lives, and the next, he was pleading with you through a locked door.

“Y/N, we can call you Y/N right?” Sirius had drunkenly slurred. You had rolled your eyes at his antics, but nodded. Though you would never admit it out loud, you appreciated the elder Black.

“I like you. We all like you and we’re happy that it’s you and not Evans anymore,” he mumbled on and he stumbled over his own feet, barely reacting in time to not drop to the floor.

You internally smiled at his words.

“I’m sorry that I was an asshole to you. You’re really great. If I had known, I wouldn’t have targeted your friend group for pranks or risked your feelings by making you part of a stupid bet.”

It was as if the world stopped spinning for a moment, music only barely in the background. “A bet?” you spoke in a dangerously low voice.

Sirius seemed to catch on to your change in demeanour and sobered up at an incredible rate. “Shit, no-“

But you had already turned around to find James, Sirius stumbling behind you to try and stop you.

“How much?” you spat out angrily when you found him. The music was luckily loud enough to hide your argument from other students.

James looked at you, confused. “How much?”

“How much are we worth?”

James frowned at you question. “All the money in Gringotts bank,” he calmly answered you and moved to embrace you, thinking you were just very drunk.

You pushed him away and he stumbled a few steps back.

“No,” you hoarsely responded. “That’s how much I think we’re worth. How much did you bet on me.”

James’ blood ran cold. “I-“ His words opened and closed like a fish. “Because the amount better have been fucking worth it, James,” you cut him off.

“Darling-“

You felt numb. “How little?”

“A galleon.”

You nodded and stepped back. “I was wrong,” you shakily breathed out. “You, James Potter, are still cruel.”

James chased you. “Wait, please,” he begged. You ran out of the room, towards the third floor and into the wardrobe hidden behind the door behind the portrait.

James followed you and pulled on the knob to open the wardrobe that you had locked. He sunk down against the doors and took a deep breath.

He had to explain. He had to let you know that you meant everything to him. And that everything was real. Honesty is the best policy after all, right?

“I’m sorry. Darling, I am so sorry. It’s so stupid how it happened. They were saying that I couldn’t get anyone to go out with me and then I accidentally hurt you with the soup incident, so Sirius bet with me that I couldn’t get anyone you to go out with me. I was never planning on hurting you, I swear,“ James rambled.

“I wanted to apologize and make up for your hand anyway. Not that it was out of pity or anything,” he immediately added.

“I did think you were beautiful. I did want to talk to you. And when you rejected me at first, yes, I did want to prove Sirius wrong. But then you were everything. I wanted so desperately to be friends with you because you were right. The bet was stupid, but it was never about money. It was never even about you per se, but I’m so fucking happy that it ended up being you, because I’m in love with you. Please believe me.”

You sucked in a breath at his words. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

James jumped at your voice from the other side of the door. “I wanted to, I really did. But I had already screwed up once and you weren’t going to give me anymore chances, so I thought that if I just never told you and called of the bet, pretending it never happened, I could keep you.” He leaned back against the door, eyes tightly shut. “And if we break up, then I don’t regret it, because the past months with you were perfect,” he whispered.

The door abruptly opened from inside out and he stumbled back, having leaned against it. He looked up at you, hovering above him. He knew you. He knew how to read you and right now, you needed space. “I’ll wait for you,” he said, hesitantly and left you alone.

You needed your friends right now.

When James didn’t see you the next day, he accepted that you didn’t want to see him. But by now, almost an entire week had passed and James and his friends were itching to apologize to you at least once more. He decided to ask Lily where you were and was absolutely not prepared for her answer.

“She went to Beauxbatons.” Lily pursed her lips at the boy in front of her in disdain. She knew what had happened but couldn’t help but pity him a little bit when he looked at her like that. Devastated.

James’ world stopped and for a moment he thought he couldn’t breathe. Did you leave? Had he managed to push you away to a whole different school? He thanked Lily for her answer and sat down at his own desk in a daze. His body moved on autopilot for the next few days. He was falling into a routine that he didn’t like.

During free periods, he hid out in the wardrobe, face up towards the ceiling as he imagined you were lying in his arms right then.

You had been gone for a week and a half and had returned to Hogwarts. Feeling lighter in your heart and decisive steps carrying you towards the Gryffindor Quidditch stands, right on time for the match.

You saw James and your heart jumped. He looked good. He had definitely looked better before, but all in all, he looked good. You bit your lip, suddenly insecure and doubting his promise to wait for you. Another twenty points for Gryffindor and admired James from the distance.

When you had arrived at Beauxbatons, you had wallowed in self pity for a day or two before your friends had pulled you out of it and reasoned with you. Surprisingly on James’ behalf.

You knew they were right. You were madly in love with James and he was undoubtedly madly in love with you too. Though it had all started off as a bet, how could you stay upset when it only brought you and James together.

James eyes scanned through the crowd, automatically trailing to the spot where you two had been sitting and kissed during your first date. He had to do a double take when he saw you in the crowds and almost fell off his broomstick when he rubbed his eyes with both hands to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.

He started making his way towards you when his eyes locked onto the golden snitch. His eyes flickered between you and the snitch, but you had seen it too, so you flashed him a grin. His shoulders relaxed, and he started the chase.

“Darling?” James appeared in the doorway to the boy’s changing rooms.

“James,” you nodded. You were smiling at him, and your warm, inviting tone had him move forward until you were within reach.

“I’ve missed you so much, I thought I lost you.”

“Hm, you’re just lucky that I really really love you too.” You sassed back. James was in front of you in two big steps. “Yeah?” he asked a twinkle in his eye. “Just like that? No grovelling? No conditions?”

You kissed him. “Would you like me to include grovelling?” you laughed at him.

“Yeah actually. You see, I’ve already prepared at least eight different ways to make up to you.”

He pressed his lips to yours again.

“Get a room!” Sirius yelled and you shot him a sour look. He held up his hands in surrender, a shit eating grin still present on his face.

“Fine, but don’t expect your captain back for the celebratory party. He’s mine tonight,” you shot back.

“And every other night, I hope?” James coyly smiled at you. You shook your head in amusement and dragged him away, hand slipping to rest on his ass, his own hand finding its way to yours.

“Lead the way, Darling.”

@elsie-bells @charlie-weasley-is-underrated @dreamingofmarauders @moonyslibrary98 @wildernessflora @hollandweather @queerqueenlynn @locklyebrainrot @thisrandombitch @moonys0chocolate @grac3aph3lion @someonesuggestmeaname @mel-yldrm @yrseline @apiec @earfquak3 @yourvvenicebitch @venomsvl @leyla-ravenclaw @spacedangel @darrarii @shrekscrustybudassy @unsleptwriter @middle-of-the-earth @sirene-noir @bettytaylorversion @littlepoisonmushroom @faumpje @iloveutwice @katelebate @moonysupremacy01 @marina468 @fangirl-kimora @bellesowl @badasswlthafatass @sjprongs

@targaryenmoony @its-a-ittle-bit-cold @quackitysdrugdealer @gaysludge @acciotwinz @in2meijasworld @shadowbriar @kategables @prongsprincessworld @devilsnightz @lavandersblues @inesven

[malereadermaniac]

ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ Fever ~ Ukai x male reader

Word Count: 1.6k

Plot: Your husband takes care of you while you're ill, in more ways than one (Fluff & Smut)

Featuring: Top!Ukai x Bottom!Reader

Warnings: Nsfw / MDNI ~ amab m!reader / FDNI

"Why d'you think coach left halfway through practice?" Shoyo looked up at Daichi as he questioned the taller man

"Not a clue... but he looked real worried, and he left in a hurry, I guess" Daichi responds, a quizzical look on his face

"Are you on about coach Ukai? Kiyoko told me that he had to leave to be with his husband. She was with him when he got the text that his husband was sent home with a fever" Yaichi says with a small smile as she makes her way into the conversation

"Really?? How bad is it?" Daichi says

"Really?? HUSBAND??" Shoyo says unanimously

"What? You didn't know? Coach never shuts up about 'the love of his life'" daichi says in a funny voice, mocking Keishin

The highschoolers laugh about at their conversation - in contrast to their coach, who had just arrived home in a slightly worried state

The disheveled blonde barely took the time to remove his shoes, kicking them off in random directions as he darts towards your shared bedroom

He finds you in bed, completely covered in blankets and still shivering while visibly sweating and bright red

"Oh babe... you should of just told me you weren't feeling too good" Keishin coos at you, feeling bad that he let you go to work - you'd even packed his lunch for him

"Nggghh... I didn't feel this bad this morning though..." you whine, visibly uncomfortable from your cold

Ukai continues to baby you as he sets out on his plan of action

You'd think the man was running the navy at how seriously he was taking his caring for you

The muscular, older man had opened a window slightly to air the room out, brought you cold, wet towels, gently placing them on your forehead as he stroked your face lovingly

Ukai brewed you a quick soup and kneeled down next to you in bed, sitting you up slightly and feeding you the warm liquid

It was moments like these that reminded you of the many reasons you loved your husband to death and back

Ukai was so caring, he didn't mind looking after you, he even enjoyed it

You could see it in the blonde's eyes, the love and compassion he felt strongly for you - He's such a cute hunk of a man

After spending most of the afternoon looking after you, Ukai finally took a little break, changing out of his work clothes into a tank and some grey sweatpants

But just as he sat down for a quick second, Keishin heard you calling for him

However, he could tell from the tone of your voice that you weren't calling him due to your cold...

And his suspicions got confirmed once Ukai caressed your cheek asking "what's up, baby?" - and you responded by biting your lip and looking up at your husband with a look he knows all to well, grabbing his arm gently with your boiling hand

It makes sense for you to be horny in this moment, work stress and the cold coming onto you had made you not want to engage in sex with Ukai

Now that you had a moment to relax, that pent up sexual frustration had caught up to you...

"Heh... baby you can barely stand up, we're not fuckin'" Keishin chuckles at you, pouting slightly

"Ughh pleassseeeee~ Keishin I need you... I need your big dick in me right now! I wanna feel you~" you practically beg your husband to fuck your guts up

And Keishin can only deny the best feeling he's ever felt (fucking you to high heaven) so much

And whats even better is that because of Ukai's caring nature, the blonde won't allow you to put in any effort due to your fever

Hey, you're not complaining!

In a matter of seconds, your clothes are discarded to the floor along with your muscular husband's tank top - his muscles on full display for your hazy, tired eyes to oggle at

You lie on the bed, breathing slightly heavily as your body is slightly flushed and sweating - Ukai touching you as gently as he can as he bends down over you and goes in to kiss you

You sum up all of your strength and effort you have left for the day to block your mouth before Ukai can kiss you

The now horny man moves away and gives you a confused look

"You shouldn't kiss me, I'll get you sick..." you say with a sad smile, moving your hand to your husband's broad shoulder and toned chest

Ukai smiles sadly and chuckles, moving his mouth to your boiling body instead

"Doesn't mean I can't kiss your sexy body~" Keishin mumbles, making you chuckle as the sensation of your husband's lips on your overly sensitive body (due to your cold) makes your dick go rock solid instantly

Ukai's lips somehow feel cold on your body - the heat of your body fucking up your sense of temperature

By the time the blonde had reached you desperate dick, Ukai's fingers were already covered in his spit and prodding at your hole

Your lazy moans bounced around the room as Ukai licked and sucked your cock as he fingered your hole - his long, masculine digits pushing against your prostate with every move

"Shit babe, your ass is fuckin' warm, my fingers are melting~" Ukai mumbles against your dick, grinding his own against the bed - excited by the thought of getting his dick inside of your oven of an asshole

After what felt like hours, Keishin finally removes his fingers from your now loosened up entrance

Resisting the urge to kiss you, Ukai instead kisses your forehead and then gives you a warm smile as he moves one of your legs onto his strong shoulder

You take a deep breath as you wait for Ukai to start pushing in

Your moans increased tenfold, your cold making you much more sensitive - Ukai's moans joined yours, your hole tightening around his thick cock making your husband feel euphoric

Once Ukai had bottomed out, the man hovered over you, letting out a shaky sigh as his muscular arms held him up - positioned on either side of your head

"F-fuck babe...! You're boiling my dick like a 7-11 hotdog! Heh heh..."

Your fever was really serving a purpose in this moment, the heat of your tight walls already pushing Ukai near the edge of his orgasm

With Ukai breathing heavily above you, waiting for you to adjust to him as he tries his hardest not to cum

After a couple of moments, you weakly bring your hot arms around your husband's muscular neck and shoulders

"Haaa... can you start moving? Please, Keishin?~" you plead, squirming around under your husband from the uncomfortable fever and also your horny desperation

Ukai chuckles from above you, mumbling a curse word as he starts to gyrate his hips

The blonde's muscular body was starting to sweat, completely covering you, his groans and moans echoing in the room as his body rocked against yours

You joined Keishin in a harmony of moans, whines spewing out of your mouth from Ukai's veiny, long dick pounding into your prostate - rubbing his cock against your gummy walls, stimulating you both to the brink of orgasm

As Ukai keeps his thrusts going at a steady pace, one slightly slower than usual to make room for your weaker state

"Fuuuuck baby~ So good fa' me... So fuckin' warm" Keishin moans above you, moving his head down to the crook of your neck and kissing and biting at it

You lazily move your hips in tempo with Ukai's, eagerly anticipating the orgasm you so desperately crave for

As your husband's sweat makes his blonde hair stick to his forehead, his pace starts to become uneven - his rhythm disrupted by the oncoming pleasure of his incoming climax

Your moans of Keishin's name increased in volume gradually until your voice came to a halt - unable to resort to anything else, you just silent scream in pleasure

Ukai's hips come to a halt, his heavy balls slapping against your plush ass, his fat cock buried inside of you - stuffing your ass fully

"GAHH! Fuuuuuck, [Name]... shit, babe!" Ukai moans loudly from above you, filling your hole with his thick cum

As Keishin stuffs your guts with his seed, your own dick spasms and spurts out long strings of white cum up your body and even covering Keishin's abs

Your muscles tense to such an overstimulating extent due to your cold, your moans start to fall of deaf ears as you writhe and whine and moan is immense pleasure

After getting yourselves together, Ukai and you stay in your previous positions, recuperating your breaths as you relax your muscles

Keishin chuckles and pats your cheek, snapping you out of your little come down

"Heh... thanks, pretty boy - I needed that" Ukai says with a soft smile

" Hmhm... yeah... I did too, thanks, sexy~" you chuckle, your voice nasaly from your cold

As Ukai carries you bridal style to the tub, he kisses your head, taking in the scent that he dreams about

After washing up together and getting into a pair of fresh clothes, Ukai sets you on the couch in front of the TV as he changes your sheets - the linen currently stained with your sweat and both yours and Ukai's cum

The rest of the day was spent cuddling, Keishin taking care of your every need - which, of course, meant taking care of any sexual needs that reared their beautiful heads

[beifong-brainrot]

Honestly for the small flaws it does have, I did overall really like Ashes of the Academy. Like, perhaps it's because of the all-girl's school trauma that I like to brag about ❤️, but I do genuinely like Mai's character development in it, and it warms my heart to see her grow.

I think (or at least I like to think) that a lot of what I expected Mai's character development would be in the comic in my post before the comic came out was on the right track, so I'll try not to repeat myself too much here.

For some reason this panel hit really hard lmao. In a hopeful way

I think my observation that Mai was often forced into things she didn't want, mainly by her parents chasing status, and later Azula. This is, most likely, why she pushed down her emotions, since in her adolescence, her emotions and desires did little to help her. Of course, this led to Mai struggling to express herself and using mainly passive aggressiveness to get through negative emotions.

Though I don't know how I feel about the comics seemingly completely handwaving Michi's involvement in how Mai was brought up. Michi seemed to be at least eager to bolster Ukano's political career at the cost of Mai's psychological wellbeing, mainly being the one to quash Mai's self expression and even scaring her with stories of evil spirits. Also the potential Tom Tom neglect but we won't talk abt that right now.

Mai : My mother said I had to keep out of trouble. We had my dad's political career to think about.

But this isn't too much of a retcon, I suppose, more of a... recontextualisation. Michi could just be incredibly unaware, and, once she realised her husband wasn't great, she decided to step up and try to do better as a parent. Which is commendable.

I know a lot of people were a bit upset about the notion that Azula and Mai's friendship wasn't "organic", but rather due to Mai being pressured into it by her father, as Mai and Azula seemed at least a little bit fond of each other in the show.

Though I don't think this necessarily duscredits Azula and Mai's relationship. I think it was always a complex thing, with both characters having a lot of layers to themselves and their interactions. And Mai befriending Azula at her father's behest doesn't mean she stayed Azula's friend for that reason. We see that Azula had many sycophants, but seemingly only her relationships with Ty Lee and Mai endured.

I also know some people disliked that Mai wasn't a "meanie" like Azula, but, honestly, just because she wasn't as eager and active about it as Azula. Though it is important to note that Mai is implied to have participlated in Azula's bullying (throwing le knives at your fellow middle schoolers may be a little more than bullying though), as well as being complacent in Azula's bullying of others. Which, if you haven't been bullied before, even if only one person is actively bullying you, there's a whole lot of difference between them being alone, and then having a friend standing there menacingly.

And we've already seen that Mai will often do the bare minimum for Azula, and even shunning her "duties" if she thinks she can get away with it.

I think, boiled down to its bare essentials, "Ashes of the Academy" is about characters in the Fire Nation who were previously complacent despite potential doubts taking an active role in dismantling the Fire Nation's harmful traditions and unlearning their compliance.

This is where the mild parallels between Mai and headmistress Shihan come in. They're both characters who were complacent in their environments, bolstering the power of dangerous people and systems just by keeping their heads down. It was safer, easier to comply.

Shihan grew to become one of the Fire Nation's regime's upholders, directly contributing to the indoctrination of new generations. Mai could've easily followed a similar path, if it weren't for Zuko. While I don't think, at the time of atla, she shared much of his 'redeemed worldview', he was still someone she cared for, someone she was willing to rebel for. And it was the first step of Mai unlearing what had been drilled into her from her childhood.

And although the Gene Luen Yang comics weren't the most graceful about this, we did see Mai growing to be more opinionated and genuinely believe in dismantling the system. Once she realised it was possible, and she had gotten more freedom in her life, she grew as a person. Shocker.

It's also important to note that it was, in essence, Zuko who showed her that rebellion is possible. Which is another reason to as why she may have been so hurt when he left. They both felt trapped by the Fire Nation, but alleviated each other's misery. And then, from Mai's perspective, Zuko abandoned her, going somewhere that she wasn't aware she could follow.

However, Mai has, by the time "Ashes of the academy" happened, learnt that she can, in fact, follow Zuko in rejecting the restrictions their upbringings' had placed on them. And that she can, like he did, inspire others, like Shihan and the children, to strive for a better tomorrow. It's all very sweet actually.

It also makes me happy to see that they've both grown so much and gotten healthier since we last saw them. It makes me happy to see Mai tell Zuko whrn she has an issue with something he's done instead of letting it boil over until she blows up at him. And that Zuko is learning to trust again, and to share the burdens of ruling the Fire Nation.

It makes me happy to see them grow, and it does give me hope for the future of maiko. Do that's nice. I know we didn't get much content that is "technically" shippy, but this is very good groundwork, and I'd rather this than for them to get back again and be handled poorly again.

[bunnypeew]

Hey sweetie, just read that you're taking requests, so I thought I might toss one your way.

How about an Female reader x Alastor x Lucifer, both demons sorta fighting for her, but she doesn't decide for either of them. Alastor was a friend of hers when she was alive, and Luci is a real charm xD so they agree to share 😏 if ya know what I mean hehe please NSFW if you can. Lots of shadow play since Alastor doesn't like sex too much.

Thank you 🥰

HELL YEAH I CAN IM A SUCKER FOR LUCI X READER X ALASTOR LETS GOOO

Sharing is caring - Lucifer x fem!reader x Alastor NSFW

warnings: NSFW, MDNI pls thank you, cunnilingus, shadow play, voyeurism, cumming inside

''you are just being a prick!,,

Lucifer shouted at Alastor while they were both waiting for Y/n to come out for them all to hang out. It had been a while since both of them kinda courted her and were always around her in some way, whether it was physically or just Alastor's shadows following her around making sure she was safe. She loved it, without any lies, one of the most powerful overlords in his time and the literal king of hell, like come on!

''And you are being an annoyance,,

Alastor scoffs at his nails, not interested in what Short Stack is saying. It wasn't until she came out of the door, that sleepiness on her face, her hair all messed up and her shirt hanging barely on her shoulders. She was a sight to be seen for both of them

''sorry guys I completely forgot about our outing today so I slept in,,

she says yawning and stretching he arms upwards, letting the fabric get lifted up by her boobs, exposing her panties and belly. At this, both men were petrified, both for different reasons. Alastor composed himself gripping his cane and giving her a warm smile

''why hello there darling! you seem to be a bit exposed there, care for me to help you out?,,

he says walking towards Y/n and putting a hand on the nook of her back, now looking at Lucifer with a challenging smile, this makes his blood boil making him get near her as well trying to pull her away from Alastor only for him to grab her waist stopping Lucifer from moving her at all. Y/n notices this and sighs

''you guys need to come to some sort of understanding because I'm not making that choice for you,,

she speaks, making them both turn their attention to her instead of their bickering. This makes them think for a little while, they did think of something but both of them didn't really like that outcome, but at this point, they really had no choice but to agree with one another. They look at each other, giving a nod then turn their attention fully to Y/n

''how about, we go back to your room darling, the three of us,,

Lucifer says putting a hand on her waist and getting closer to her face all at once, this time not to make Alastor jealous but to just grab her attention while Al works behind her. From the nod they had before they both agreed that they wanted her, maybe in different ways but they both wanted to make her feel good. Alastor shadow was put underneath her, moving away her panties, this made her gasp making her close her legs in an instant and turn around to look at the culprit. All Alastor had to show was a wide smirk and the bulge from his pants prominent, all three of them knew that he wasn't one for sex but to please his sweetheart he would do all he could without being touched, even if just standing and watching Lucifer take the lead, so that's what happened. They went to the bed in her bedroom, Luci smacking her onto it and getting on top of her, while Al sat down in a chair near them stroking his pants.

This took Y/n by surprise because they never did something for all three of them, it was mostly Lucifer with whom she had sex, Alastor usually didn't opt for this kinda of stuff but today was a first. Lucifer got in between her legs, the panties already moved off her cunt so this gave ease of access to his tongue to slip in, this made her gasp and grab the sheets on the bed. In the meantime, Alastor had pulled his cock out and started jerking it slowly with one hand while the other hand was controlling the shadows to which he made go to Y/n body to play with her, mostly her boobs. Whimpers could be heard from her, suffocated a little since she was getting shy by Alastor looking at her with a lustful look in his eyes, his permanent smile still there, just softer. One of his tentacles with into her mouth making her gasp and moan out loud

''I think both of us want to hear you dearest,,

Alastor speaks and chuckles when he can finally hear his sweetheart in all her glory, in the meantime, lucifer on sucking and licking on her cunt making her whimper and moan even more. He knew exactly what he was doing, eating her out was one of his specialities, after all, he loved to make her feel good. Soon after he stopped, letting his cock come out of his pants to then slam into her right away with one thrust, the tentacle out of her mouth and now around her neck giving her the possibility to speak

''Luci.. holy shit,,

she is able to mutter in between moans, with Lucifer picking up his pace, and Alastor does as well. They both went on until they reached their climax, Alastor finishing in his hand while Lucifer finished inside of Y/n, her legs quivering the same as her cum filled cunt.

They could say they were gonna share you like this more often from now on.

a/n: GOD I LOVE THEM SO MUCH IM SO GLAD I GOT TO WRITE THIS!!!! I hope it satisfied your request and thank you so much for the ask :3c @christineblood

[eternalwanderer-stories]

Maybe I belong to that very small group in the fandom.…

Honestly, I feel a little lonely with my thoughts when almost the entire fandom is obsessed with timebomb and jayvik, and I don't feel the same love for these ships.

This is in no way a hate post – it's great that the people who love these ships have so much content and so many like-minded people who can share the same point of view with each other. It's really cool.

So, jayvik.

I love Viktor so much, but I have quite contradictory feelings about Jayce and my attitude towards him jumps from "hey, you're actually a great and very interesting character" to "gosh, what a dumbass, why do you even have fans?". But perhaps what pisses me off the most is that when I want to talk about Viktor, about his own aspirations, about his character, about his ideals, for some reason the conversation always boils down to the topic of jayvik specifically in relation to them as a couple. It seems as if for some people Viktor exists solely as a part of jayvik, and not as an independent and separate character, or, even worse, just an addition to the Mel/Jayce/Viktor love triangle in order to be more gay-drama, apparently. Viktor seems to be lost as a separate character in all this. By the way, this also applies to Jayce, I see so little of him in the fandom as a separate personality, and not as part of any ships. In any case, my attitude towards jayvik in this case is more due to the attitude of some fans towards this ship than to the relationship of the characters within the ship itself. Maybe I'll change my mind about these two when I finally figure out how I feel about Jayce.

I have exactly 3 problems with timebomb:

I don't feel any romantic chemistry between Jinx and Ekko. We didn't have much interaction between them, but when it was – for me it was more like two childhood friends who were separated on different sides by terrible events of the past. On the whole, I see these two solely as a beautiful and tragic concept of "broken friendship, but there is still hope for reconciliation and the opportunity to understand each other."

I am so tired of the fact that in almost every show/series/movies if we have a male and a female character on the screen, there must be love between them. Seriously, the media pushing the idea every time that friendship between a boy and a girl, if possible, is only possible in childhood, but when you're adults, you either don't know each other, or you definitely have hot sex and three children at the end of the story. HELLO, what about friendship?? Why is friendship not valued at all compared to love??? Especially between a male and a female character? Why is it that the desire to take care of each other, the warm feelings between you, support and understanding must always be accompanied by a loving relationship, whereas this is the basis of a strong friendship too? But no, every time we have a girl and a guy in the show, who must definitely become a canonical couple (just remember at least 2-3 shows where everything didn't end on a romantic note, but they just remained very good friends in the end, without a wedding and children)… I'm really tired of how much the media devalues the friendship between a guy and a girl, elevating an exclusively love.

My personal conviction is that Vi, Ekko and Jinx should move their own way, independently of each other. Especially Ekko, who copes with leaving the tragic past in the past and boldly moving forward towards his future much better than the sisters do. But this is a separate conversation, which I want to return to later with a separate post.

[vladdyissues]

something i noticed and wanted a second opinion on but there's something really interesting i noticed watching s1 again: vlad has all the power and control as a human, we've seen that established over and over again but

he's kinda. not got that as a ghost. he's powerful, sure. and he's got all kinds of artifacts he's been hunting down. but then you have Poindexter and Skulker calling Danny the halfa, or one of a kind, respectively, when Vlad's been operating for nearly 20 years. no other ghosts seem to acknowledge him if they can help it, no one talks to or about him if they can help it, DEFINITELY no one would come to his aid freely if he didn't pass the ball to some other ghost (such as DANNY, the kid in operation for maybe a year and a half by series' end). especially interesting because Skulker works for Vlad more than once, we know they know of each other, but it's Danny who's the worthy prey. there are ghosts that seem to do regular work for him but they all seem notably weak compared to the ones Danny usually fights

it just really sticks out to me that this dynamic could be totally reversed as ghosts and it feels like Vlad is constantly trying to make it so Danny doesn't notice

goblinhoursinsomniaramblings asked: addendum to ask now the sleep gremlins knocked me out for an hour or two: -what i meant by power and control was mainly soft power (fame/connections/fortune/accomplishments) which all have RADICALLY different definitions in the ghost zone, seems like -what i mean by constantly trying to keep him from noticing is: every time danny catches onto vlad, the insults to his human side tick up (bad grades, age difference, being related to Jack, etc). of particular note is Reign Storm, with his parting shot about chess feeling like bluster given everything Danny had just pulled off

Those are some really poignant observations. I think a lot of it, especially this,

but then you have Poindexter and Skulker calling Danny the halfa, or one of a kind, respectively, when Vlad's been operating for nearly 20 years

just boils down to slapdash writing and planning, and if not that, then a need for Danny to be as special and unique and MC as possible. Although it opens an avenue for a lot of really interesting headcanons about Vlad's initial transformation when he was in college—if it even happened then, which I don't think it did. It's not like he was immediately turned into a ghost in front of Jack and Maddie; he didn't even lose consciousness, as was the case with Danny.

Maybe his transformation was more gradual, especially seeing as he was blasted by a much smaller portal—but it also could have been much more powerful, concentrated emission—and only from the neck up*. Did he look like Plasmius from the get-go, or was the look something he had to build over the next twenty years? Or if his ghost half immediately took on the appearance of Plasmius, perhaps that would lead the rest of the ghosts in the Zone to believe he was fully ghost?

*I think this is where a lot of the "Danny is the One True Halfa because he received a full-body dose of radiation and Vlad is only partial ghost" fan theories come from.

Of all the humanoid spectral entities, Danny still appears the most mortal, at least in terms of a normal skin tone, so maybe that's another reason why he received the label of "halfa" while Plasmius was able to keep his status more ambiguous. Or at least only share it with his minions and mercs.

Pariah was pretty surprised.

his parting shot about chess feeling like bluster given everything Danny had just pulled off

Exactly. I think he was impressed by Danny—after all, he successfully copied Vlad's duplication technique for the first time (come on, he had to feel a little bit of pride; the boy he wanted to be his son copying his moves? Implementing them successfully? A chip off the old block. Vlad was smiling and smug for the rest of the episode). The little gloating jab he made as Danny passed out was as mild as they come. Danny's taken worse insults from his friends and family.

He's literally making this face ⁀▽⁀ like, come on.

[yukirayu]

These I've also shared on Twitter, but I thought I'd share them here before someone tries any sort of libel.

You know what's funny about this whole discourse about the Slow Damage patch ? The whole discourse reminds me of game mods, in a way.

Game mods are made by fans, for free no less, for you to download, and only if you wanted, to help improve your experience with a game.

Whether it's improving the aesthetic (character or background design) or tweaking some of the gameplay elements itself. Or adding new elements, or even changing things purely for shits and giggles.

That way, mods are akin to patches. More often than not, mods are made because the base game had flaws in their design (technical or otherwise) that the mod intended to fix or improve.

But these mods are optional. And naturally, most mods are going to use preexisting assets from either the game they're modding or from another game, assets that they'll either refine or combine with other assets to make something better.

While some mods earn a raised brow, if the mod isn't to one's liking, most generally just ignore it.

Except in this specific instance, some don't like the mod that is the patch and feel that it doesn't sit right with them for whatever reason, believing that its existence would be "spitting" on the original game or because it no longer sounds as snarky as they themselves would like to read it as.

But instead of ignoring the patch, which they were explicitly advised to do if they take offense to it, they decide to make their dislike everyone else's problem, and by poisoning the well, no less.

And one quick way to ensure that is to accuse the patch of bigotry towards the LGBT community.

I'm already aware that this same accusation is spreading like wildfire, both in Reddit and especially in Twitter, and in some Discord spaces, most likely.

But did anyone, and this includes the accusers, even play at least 40% of the patched version, and intensively at that, before making that claim?

Oh, I'm all too aware that bigotry is a real, serious and widespread issue.

But in most online circles nowadays, accusing something of bigotry right off the gate is also one surefire method of turning people off of it before they can even check it out for themselves.

I mean, what better way of publicly dragging something you don't like through the mud than to spread accusations/misassumptions that are quick for others to believe before anyone can even try and personally fact-check anything?

Especially in a place like the internet itself.

The note stating the avoidance of using a specific pronoun for some characters to not assume their identity could've been phrased better, yes, and the patch team did clarify their stance on the matter. Alas, anything can still easily be misinterpreted and used as flame bait.

But what's odd is that the people who first touted this claim (either here or in other platforms) have one thing in common: they never checked out the patch (let alone played through one certain route in full) to personally confirm if that really is the case.

Taking all this into consideration, I think that no matter how the patch was presented, it'd get backlash.

Even long before any of us knew this patch was even going to be a thing, even giving constructive criticism about the localization and any mistakes/goofs it made already drew ire, and it's those same people who took offense that are spreading the hate about this patch.

It all really boils down to the matter of the patch even existing, since - as some detractors point out - it's what they call to be a disrespectful spit to the face, even without factoring the false accusations of transphobia and plagiarism.

Let's say they used the JP game files instead and have the patch work with that version. They'd get decried for copyright infringement and they risk a C&D order.

Use the EN files? We already get the claims that they barely did anything to the text, among other things. Why?

Because they didn't adjust every single syntax and change every single word in every single sentence… when English isn't exactly the most versatile language and there's only ways you can translate something, especially in the simpler sentences like "Who are you?".

Using a thesaurus on everything would make it sound weird. Heck, the patch being more verbose and detailed and impersonal (which is what's to be expected when it's third person and in a visual novel, no less) already got it accused of being no more than a fancy MTL.

And it doesn't help that many already assume that the statement that MTL can be a helpful tool is also the same as "MTL being the superior translator of all time", and people will find anything and I mean anything to hate on something and discredit it.

And as for the preferring 1st person over 3rd person and vice versa? It's a matter of preference, yes, and that can't be helped.

But let's get one fact out in the open: Out of N+C's 5 main VNs, only one is told in first person POV in the JP/original version, and that's DMMD.

The other game that used 1st person narration is Slow Damage's spinoff game, Clean Dishes, but not the main/parent game itself.

And even years before they got licensed, the fan patches followed the intended narration viewpoint of the first 4 VNs. Third person for Togainu no Chi, Lamento, and Sweet Pool, and first person for DMMD.

Their respective localized versions (except Lamento), also followed the intended narration viewpoint, and nobody complained because that was all they knew.

But because Slow Damage's localization took the creative liberty of changing the narration from third to first person, with people exposed to it, it's not really surprising some have gotten accustomed enough to end up preferring it.

Even when another version that retells the game in original narration comes up, for the past two years, the localization has been what they knew, and that is what many usually then decide to stick to.

In the scenario where the localization - even if it would still be a mess - never changed the narration, would people still say "Oh but they should've changed it to 1st person since it would've enhanced the story"?

It's telling that it never happened with Togainu no Chi, Sweet Pool and DMMD, no?

And before anyone tells me that I just hate localizations overall, you don't hear me complaining about the official translation of any of the BLVNs that Mangagamer licensed, do you? I also have plenty of gripes with DMMD's fan translation over what it did to Mink.

[mytearsbuckochet]

What's your most hated Bummy scene?? I'll tell you mine. It has to be the kiss in the hospital lobby and buck getting outed because of his soot covered mouth. Never hated a 911 episode more than that. I love Buck. They just made a mockery out of him by that scene.

Where do I even start.. Couldn't agree more about the soot scene, although I'm more angry at the writers about that one than I am at Tommy, given how important it was to Buck that he came out to Eddie and Maddie on his own terms and how much weight he gave those interactions I feel like even though that one was supposed to be a cute little "hehe look this is very Buck coded", it fell short in that I would've liked everyone else at the 118 to find out in a more heartfelt way ya know??

In terms of my least favourite(s), the whole arc with billy boils was a very interesting play by the writers in that it highlighted the differences between Eddie and Tommy in a meaningful way. On one hand, Eddie, who has presumably been with Buck in the hospital the whole time he was being treated for his boils, is used to Buck's hyperfixations and Wiki deep dives, and finds them wholesome and cute. I reblogged a post a little bit ago where Buck told Maddie about how her and Chim always finish each others sentences and that theyre basically already dating, and then contrasted with how Eddie was finishing Buck's sentences in that scene. Buddie fanatic aside (I will admit im obsessed with these two idiots), THIS is the kind of domesticity I've always wanted for Buck's partners, where they acknowledge and love those little moments that he has.

Now lets go ahead and look at Tommy's side of this whole thing: Tommy's reaction to seeing the boils + how he treated and viewed Buck's obsession as exactly that, an obsession + the graveyard scene??? You can break it down into "oh well Buddie have known eachother since s2, Bummy have been together 6 months", but from my perspective the fact that Buck didn't even realise Tommy didn't like women until their 6 month anniversary (???) just goes to show that they don't really know that much about one another. Tommy was completely right in the breakup scene; he was definitely not Buck's last, and the poor guy is definitely in need of some self exploration (#letbuckfuck) before I'd be happy to see Buddie honestly (and thats not even considering the work that needs to be done on Eddie, my guy is going through it rn with Chris). Anyway; I just read this amazing fic by playinginthundestorms (on ao3) and I think the way they described Tommy (slightly Tommy bashing), was overall how I imagine he sees Buck. It never really felt like Tommy was fond of these little things Buck does in the way that Eddie (and the rest of the 118) are, more seeing him as childish or juvenile as the fic described. And it makes sense, tommy is older than Buck. A whole other can of worms and probably the icing on the cake for me was the Abby debacle, the misogyny really showed??? like man you have not changed since Hen my lord. Calling Abby out for running off with some "himbo half her age" was wild considering thats what he is currently doing with Buck? Especially with all the shit she had to go through with her mum at the time? Like what on earth is your excuse Temu? Anyway, to cut a long rant short, I actually have given you like 50 reasons, but i definitely think that Tommy was a well placed plot device and it was obvious from the start. Also, ABC could've chosen ANYONE to be Buck's first experience with a man and they were like yep lets use the racist homophobe from Chim and Hen begins cos why not?! I probably would've had a far less negative opinion of him if he was a fresh character, and I think that's on purpose, I think it would be really interesting if they go down the road of hen and chim sharing their experiences with Tommy now that they've broken up, and that they didn't say anything cos they just wanted Buck to be happy. Definitely after that heartfelt scene with Hen especially, that I didn't get cos of that bloody soot scene.

[audaciousanonj]

Concept: the senjuchiha feud was started when the Uchiha blamed the Senju and their mokuton for a new disease that started afflicting Uchiha, yet never spread outside their clan- a disease where flowers started growing in the lungs of someone in love, and never stopped until the one they loved kissed them on the lips.

Many years later, Konoha jounin Obito starts coughing up flowers...

Anyways the real concept for this fic idea is Obito starts coughing up flower petals, is in denial for the first few moments and thinks "Rin? I got over my crush ages ago..." and so to test, he thinks about kissing Rin, and keeps breathing normally. Then, his mind wanders over to when he was a genin, taping over a picture of Kakashi because he felt weird pretending to kiss Rin with Kakashi staring at him- and he starts coughing. (Obito internally: that's what I thought you'd say you dumb fucking flowers.)

And like! if it was Rin then he could summon up his courage to ask for a healing kiss, probably, because at the very least Rin is a medic and if he just made it seem like a version of cpr Uchiha need sometimes then he could probably get away with minimal awkwardness, but Kakashi?? yeah Kakashi and him are friends now but Obito doubts Kakashi'd be willing to kiss him, and if Obito's gonna die anyway then there's No Reason To Tell Kakashi His Feelings.

But the hanahaki reaches late stages (ie: coughing up whole flowers) and Obito is clearly very sick, but Obito is saying it's just an Uchiha Thing, don't worry about it, Obito's dealing with it, so while Rin is trying to help Obito, Kakashi barges into Kushina and Mikoto's tea party and asks Mikoto bluntly if coughing up flowers is really an Uchiha thing and if so how do they fix it-

Mikoto's eyebrows rise, but she is willing to overlook Kakashi's rudeness under the circumstances. "Normally, I would not share clan secrets, especially not to such a rude request, but since it's obviously about Obito... Yes, some Uchiha get it when they're in love. The only cure is for the one they love to kiss them on the lips." Kakashi nods, murmurs a cowed "Thank you Mikoto-san, Sorry for interrupting Kushina-san" at Kushina's glare, and leaves to head back to Obito. Clearly, if his idiot teammate isn't going to say anything, then Kakashi will just have to take matters into his own hands and tell Rin himself that Obito needs her to kiss him!

So when Kakashi gets back, he says Mikoto-san told him what's going on with Obito and what the cure is- Rin needs to kiss Obito! Obito flushes and mutters between coughs that it wouldn't work, and there's a back and forth of insults as Kakashi agitatedly asks why Obito won't try it, which is broken up when Rin says that if it's not contagious she might as well try. So Rin and Obito kiss! and they break away to stare into each other's eyes... and Obito turns away to cough up more flowers.

Obito can't say "I told you it wouldn't work" but he sure is radiating the sentiment, Rin sighs sadly and says it was worth a shot, and Kakashi...

Kakashi is honestly not having a good time of it. Obito is one of his most precious people, somehow, and now he is sick and dying and Kakashi is strongly in the anger stage of grief right now. so when the cure doesn't work, obviously Rin did something wrong!!

...Which Kakashi says out loud. He doesn't know what Rin did wrong, but it must have been something, so try again! and when Rin and Obito shake their heads, Kakashi's anger and frustration and grief and need to do something boils over .

So he says "Then I'll do it myself!", pulls down his mask, and shoves his face against Obito's to give him an emotional kiss.

It's... honestly not the best kiss. Very wet, very forceful, and Obito wasn't expecting it at all- but he can sense the emotion behind it, and his face and heart feel warm... and so do his lungs, actually-

Obito shoves Kakashi off of him and turns his head away from everyone, and Kakashi just knows that it didn't work- but instead of coughing up flowers, Obito breathes out flame... and then doubles over to wheeze out the remaining soot, but his lungs are noticeably clearer instead of the wet and full coughs from the flowers.

When he's finished, Rin silently passes Obito some more tea, and as he sips at it, Kakashi turns to her and says "I told you you were doing it wrong."

[lovely-lou]

Couple of things. Regarding previous anon and being disappointed in Lou's comments, I'm not seeing what people are taking offense. He doesn't say that he is better at playing a gay character because he and OS are so masculine (and presumably straight). My interpretation of his words boil down to this:

When the audience see a man and a women close together on the screen, they assume sexual tension so no surprise when they kiss. When they see two guys that they KNOW are gay, they make the same assumptions. The fact the both he and Buck were presumably straight, it was a surprise because the audience didn't see what was coming until it happened. And that's it. And the use of the term "masculine" doesn't mean that gay guys aren't masculine. It just refers to how certain people perceive certain characteristics. Lou also goes on to talk about hugging male friends and kissing them on the cheek so he's very much about challenging notions of traditional masculinity. I feel like we are so used to assuming the worst of people particularly when only interacting virtually.

In contrast, OS did in fact say that he wants Buck to fuck around 1.0 style all the while forgetting that we didn't in fact LIKE Buck 1.0 until he started dating Abby. Buck 1.0 was an asshole who only got a bit of a pass because he was young and damaged. A return to that from a guy pushing middle age will be just pathetic. One last note, the break up would have been more honest if it came from Buck since clearly Tommy is looking for love and Buck/OS is looking to screw around some more. They couldn't write this honestly because that would have made his character unlikable so they had to perpetrate this fraud of a storyline on the audience. https://www.tumblr.com/ranbling/766617732581097473/if-you-hate-oliver-so-much-now-for-his-biphobic?source=share

Honestly that's how I interpreted Lou's comments as well. His wording could have been better and I am disappointed in HOW he said it, but I didn't particularly see anything offensive. That said, I'm not gay. Even though I don't see his comments as offensive, that doesn't mean someone who is actually gay wouldn't find it offensive.

As I've mentioned though, I am bi and Oliver's comments were offensive. I truly don't understand why certain people can't grasp that fact. I don't think he needs to be shunned or anything, but his comments were very offensive ESPECIALLY after saying he didn't want to play into bisexual stereotypes. And I agree, a return to that phase in Buck's life would be another example of poor writing. In the real world, a person Buck's age could sleep around as much as he wants with whoever he wants. But in a fictional show that will never be able to go on forever? It's time for him to finally settle down with someone. AND that's another reason why the comments are so hurtful. These are fictional characters who often give real people the opportunity to explore themselves. So to be showing us that a relationship with a newly out bisexual person can't work because they have to sleep around first and really experience being bi is just so cruel to the people who may have discovered their own bisexuality because of this storyline.

[mwolf0epsilon]

I'm curious why do you think Dogma woulkd make friends with mouse droids

Honestly it just boils down to my personal interpretation of Dogma's character and the way he perceives the world around him.

He's still fairly fresh off Kamino so he's got that newbie trooper attitude (coupled with the fear and anxiety that's made him cling on so tight to his role as a perfect soldier), most likely got promoted to sergeant for his test scores (and I'll bet someone as meticulous about his duties and conduct as Dogma, would have pretty high marks right off the bat), and he's also on the fringe of the spectrum (not enough to be appointed as a maintenance clone, but just enough that others notice his peculiarities and social ineptitude).

Dogma is not easy to get along with right away (not for lack of trying but hey, when you have a bit of an attitude problem and a hard time reading between the lines, it's completely normal to slam into a communication barrier of sorts). He's rather assertive, highly opinionated, and definitely has that stubborn and unyielding spark that makes the 501st so unique (even if others immediately think he's an ill fit for this battalion in particular due to his stringent behavior). He's also an anxious mess that overthinks situations when he doesn't have all the information, which leads him to jump to conclusions and formulate a plan based exactly on those very conclusions (ex: Deciding that to minimize damages he and the rest of the 501st should follow Krell without question, even at great personal cost).

It's not that he's inflexible to change, it's just that it takes him longer to acclimate to those changes. And, unfortunately, Dogma was simply not used enough to being outside of Kamino's oppressive grasp, to be able to relax enough that he could begin to assimilate the idiosyncrasies of his new battalion and environment.

Combine to that the fact others didn't quite understand why Dogma clung so tightly to order, and that Tup (the only trooper who seemed to get Dogma on some level) was much easier to befriend, and you end up with a trooper who is socially isolated for reasons neither he nor others quite understand. Which brings us to why exactly I think Dogma would befriend and even find some kinship with Mouse Droids:

You're alone. Well, actually that's not quite right. You were actually raised among millions of brothers, all of which share your face and voice but never quite understood you on more than a superficial level. You try to show them you care in your own way. Cling tight to your teachings and convictions (things that have kept you safe for the entirety of your very short childhood), in the hopes that maybe your prowess will help keep yourself and your brothers alive. And yet you're alone. Your one friend and closest brother is pulled away from your side by your older brothers. None of which really cast more than a disdainful look towards you because you're a bit of a nuisance to them. You're alone and you don't know why. And neither do your brothers. But you find someone who comes close to understanding what this particular misery is like. They don't look like you and don't share a voice or language, but you taught yourself how to speak theirs anyway. You share a need for a sense of direction and order. You understand your place in the universe. And yeah, they're maintenance droids and you're a clone sergeant. But at least you're not alone anymore.

Something something, the eternal quest of the individual human being is to shatter his loneliness. And if Dogma can't find companionship with his vode, then at least he can find some solace in a demographic that could definitely use some more kindness and respect.

[livinginshambles]

Preview: How much are we worth? | James Potter

Pairing: James Potter x Fem!Reader

Summary: It was just a bet trope - you're not sure what hurt more, being a bet, or how little they bet on you.

Masterlist

_____________

In hindsight, you should've known.

"Have you maybe considered giving up on her?" Remus' question caught James off guard when he returned to the marauders at the Gryffindor table after another failed attempt and rejection by Lily.

"Not until she's given me a chance at least," James responded, eyes trained on Lily's retreating figure. "Besides, this chasing game is sort of our thing now."

The marauders nodded sceptically.

"Not particularly the dynamic I'd want to have with the person I fancy," Peter whispered, loud enough for everyone to hear. James shot him a look as if Peter had just committed the greatest betrayal of the century.

Sirius snorted out loud. "Dynamic, my ass, yeah." He threw a piece of bread across the table in James' direction.

"He's stuck with Lily now because if he decides to chase some other poor girl and inevitably get rejected, it'll prove that James Potter just can't get some," he added, wearing a shit eating grin on his face.

James pulled a face at Sirius. "Oh please, I can get girls. It's just that contrary to you, I actually show commitment to only one," he huffed.

Sirius shrugged. "You say that, but you've never even had a girlfriend. Been pining over Evans since first year. Besides, commitment or being stuck," he weighed his hands in the air. "Same same."

James rolled his eyes and got up. When he turned around, he crashed into someone who had been standing behind him, tripping her, and he sent her crashing into the Ravenclaw table behind him.

The Ravenclaw sitting at that table ducked out of the way. She stuck her hands out to brace herself and loudly hissed when her hand ended up in someone's scalding soup.

"Godric, I am so sorry," James scrambled to offer her a napkin. She snatched it out of his hands and dried her hands. James saw that they were scorching red, and more apologies stumbled out of his mouth.

"Let me help you get to madam Pomfrey," he offered, concern lacing his tone. He reached his hand out to her, and she jerked away.

"Fuck off Potter, I'd rather take a bloody bath in boiling water than go anywhere with you." She spat, and left, hand pressed against her chest, covered by the napkin.

The commotion had everyone turn their heads at him, and despite usually being a fan of being at the centre of attention, he embarrassedly sat down again.

"Guess really no girl wants to go anywhere with you, Prongs," Sirius snickered. James offered him a sour look.

"This was just because I literally burned her hand, Pads. Any other time, she would totally go out with me." James boasted, but guilt and concern for the girl who he didn't know, lingered in his mind.

"Right, you wanna bet?"

"The usual?"

"The usual."

They sealed the deal with a nod. Peter and Remus shared a look, but they knew that was no use trying to tell them to stop it already. Remus thought back to the scowl on the girl's face and prayed that she would stay headstrong and reject James.

After all, Sirius and James were from wealthy families, so money has never actually played a role during these bets. It's just the principle of it that counts and is the reason why they only ever bet one galleon. It meant someone would get hurt.

Full fic

[alliminoobers]

Finding the Truth

also known as "Shirevas (lightly) fucks around and finds out about project Shatter- (The overview that is mentioned can be found here.) Rooks mentioned: Nels - @madrabbit014 Esha - @i-creatied-au Isiah - @a-mumbling-nerd Dáire - @legendstrauma Zeph - @grenyxx

CW; Mentions of torture

Word Count: 904

“Damn stupid wisps.” Shirevas grumbled as they made their way to Esha's office. Their sketchbook was gone again, it obviously being the wisps again, and after checking out Zeph's room to see if it had been brought there, which it hadn't, they had gone to Nels’ office and carefully searched there, then to Isiah's room and then Dáire's room. It wasn't in any of their rooms either.

So Esha's office was the last one out of their siblings. So knocking twice on the door, they opened it, peeking in. “Esha? You in here?” No answer. Guess she isn't here then. She won't mind if I search around.

Closing the door behind them, they placed their hands on their hips. Shirevas would rather not make a mess of things so they should try and be careful. Either way, let's just start.

It clearly wouldn't be an easy search this time, it wasn't like it was disorganized or anything. There was just a lot to comb through and they still were not keen on making a mess. 

So making their way through the room, they kept checking various spots and small spaces, frustration growing by each second.

Not having access to their sketchbook made them feel restless, and worried. They shared their sketches freely with others so they could see any information and so on, so that aspect was fine but their sketchbook just more or less disappearing for no apparent reason was unacceptable. 

Checking over the desk, still grumbling about the stupid wisps and their kleptomaniac needs, either they or something else knocks over some files and folders.

Their sketchbook was not among any of the folders but one file caught their eyes. Picking it up, they noted the text on it. ‘Project Shatter’. Odd.

Shirevas shouldn't do it, but there was a gnawing feeling in the back of their head that this was important.

Taking a look at the closed door, they sat down and tentatively opened the file. Eyes scanning the page, it was like their heart stopped.

Project Shatter was about Nels, and not only that, about those four years they were gone to the military. They really shouldn't be reading this at all.

Shirevas never found out what had happened during those four years, Nels being very tightlipped about it. 

Every word on the page had them grow increasingly angry. They never knew the former Imperator had such interest in their family. The fact they had been under such scrutiny simply for their dad adopting “non-humans”. The thought of them and their siblings being handed over to Imperial custody and essentially becoming slaves had them feeling sick to their stomach.

They knew if they kept reading, it would only get worse. With near trembling hands, they flipped the page to continue.

For each thing they read, the nauseating feeling kept growing. The things they found, from letters to missions, to torture resistance training. They had to stop reading the transcript for those, the image of their older sibling getting tortured was too much to think about. 

“Torture resistance” their ass, they were just plain and simply torturing them for the heck of it. 

There was anger boiling underneath their skin, Shirevas wanted to burn down the magisterium, for all the pain they had caused their sibling, and they wanted to scream because of how unfair this was. Why did no one tell them about this?

Shirevas had to stop reading every few seconds to compose themself so they didn't turn their older sister's office into an ice cube.  

As they continued reading, they kept processing every detail until they gave up and threw the file on the desk, hands still trembling. It was like they had blasted themself with their own ice, every nerve in their body felt numb.

It was clear that only Esha (and Nels obviously) knew of this entire thing, and now Shirevas knew as well. 

Nels was currently away in Ventus for a few days, so they had time to figure out what to do, if they go ahead and come clean that they know or if they just keep it secret.

There was no way they could keep it quiet, this was not a thing you just up and forget about entirely. Shirevas needed to speak with Nels about this and then deal with the possible fallout of that knowledge. 

Shirevas didn’t bother to place the file back in its original place, still feeling numb from what they've uncovered. Tears fell and they hastily wiped them away, fuck, they just wanted to sob. 

The nauseating feeling was still there as they left Esha's office, not caring that they hadn’t found their sketchbook. They were so lost in thought they didn't notice where they were headed until they were in front of Nels’ office.

Biting their lip, they decided to go for it. Opening the door, they peered in even if they already knew Nels wouldn't be there. Esha the kitten was there though, napping away on the bed. It was so tempting to lay down and nap as well but no, not when it felt like lighting under their skin.

Walking over to the desk, they grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and began to write. Once they were done, they left the note folded on the desk and left the room.

—

“Once you are back from Ventus, we need to talk. Please.

-Shirevas”

[pollen-blogs]

Rants from a tired writer 2: "killing *insert name of irredeemable villain here* actually makes us worse than them :("

In the year of our lord 2024, there is not a single reason why I should have to keep seeing this bs without the character who said those words getting some common sense bitch slapped into them. For the last time dearest writers, no, your MC killing the irredeemable villain does not make them worse or just as bad; remember, they are irredeemable for a reason!!

The only show that did this properly (that I can think off the top of my head) is Avatar the Last Airbender, because of course they did, this show never misses. There is such beauty in Ozai being forced to kneel before the last airbender, the only one he failed to kill, as he neutralises him in a way that honours the pacifist way of life of the air nomads. Aang didn't take Ozai's bending instead of taking his life because it was "the right thing to do"; another Avatar would have but that does not make them or Aang any less of a good Avatar for it. It made sense for Aang to choose not to murder Ozai, it was the most in-character thing he ever did and a lot of us could see a conclusion like this coming from a few thousand miles away.

Point is, if you're gonna go down that route, at least make it make sense, because, no, committing regicide on a tyrant that oppressed millions for ages does NOT make your MC as bad as them. Do you think Stanley Pines is as evil as Bill Cipher for burning him alive?

Can we call Luz Emperor Belos 2.0 for letting him rot in the boiling rain?

No! I heavily suggest that instead of recycling this moral dilemma every time the MC has to face the main villain, you should have them focus on rebuilding the "evil empire". Something like "okay, we need to overthrow the tyrant... Then what?" Which is something that the Owl House did really well. The Coven System was successfully abolished and long since forgotten, allowing magic to be explored freely like in the savage ages, and everyone has a role to play in the rebuilding of the isles which makes witches and demons more united than ever before. Nothing is perfect after Belos' death; some of the old Coven Heads were seen trying to go back to the old ways, Luz was pretty much left without magic for a few years and will have to wait for King to grow stronger in order to start using glyphs again, and that's fine.

If you really want your characters to explore the morals of overthrowing a tyrant and taking over, how about this: Let them wonder if they are fit to run a country or to change the system so radically, if it's fair to its people to change their lives so suddenly. I'm once again taking ATLA as an example, but in the comics, Aang and Zuko got into a fight because Zuko did not want to drive firebenders out of earthbender colonies because many people lived there their whole lives and shared both cultures, which the local earthbenders from those colonies did not mind in the slightest. TL;DR: be creative

[thisisntreaver]

okay so first of all I want to say that I have absolutely no intention of starting any kind of fight and everyone is fully entitled to their own opinions.

and second of all let me comment on the state of things in fandom spaces that make me feel like that disclaimer was necessary before actually sharing my opinion

but I never really saw Theresa as evil or 100% selfish or anything? I do feel like she actually means well? we know she can see the future, but it's never really explicit how detailed it is and what she does and doesn't see? unless I missed that somewhere.

the way I thought about the whole logan and hobw thing was that she knew that there were only so many ways it was possible for Albion to survive, and she told logan this, but he reacted to the information by becoming the tyrant he did. so then you step up to tske his place, and you're faced with some of the same choices he is. kind of like she can see the different paths there are, and tries to steer people in a certain direction, but she can't force anyone to make a specific decision.

it's like 2 am for me so this might not be all that coherent but the whole thing boils down to this; I think Theresa does know shit about the future, but she doesn't know or forsee everything. so she tries to make certain things come to pass and to prevent others, but sometimes there are still outcomes she couldn't have predicted.

sidenote, which I think is also why she wants the spire, because then she can have greater control and accuracy in her visions

I didn't take this as you wanting to fight, but I do love a good discussion so thats why this reply is kind lengthy. You're also fully entitled to your own opinion on this but this is why I view Theresa the way I do.

So the thing is you are right in your last paragraph. Thats why she wants the spire, she all but says it to us in the see the future dlc, for her visions to be more accurate and have more of a reach.

That is an inherently selfish want though, as much as she tries to justify it, it wasn't a necessity. In order to get it she takes Luciens grief for his wife and child and twists it whispering to him to push him over the edge to be willing to do anything to get them back.

Then she goes and manipulates Rose into buying the music box so that she and sparrow get called to the castle. Rose is very realistic, she says that they could eat for a week, which would be monumental for them, and Theresa fires back with "and at the end of that week you won't be any closer to your dream of being in the castle." She uses Roses childish fantasies against her and it gets her killed.

In only two actions shes absolutely decimated Lucien as a person by taking advantage of his mental state at the lowest point in his life, and pushes Rose to her death by putting it in her head that this music box can change her life.

With Logan and by extension HOBW I do think its a bit more complicated. At that point she could see all the possibilities. She told Logan flat out that the darkness was coming to Albion, immediately after he watched al his men die by the Crawler. It makes him paranoid, and he goes down the tyrant path because he doesn't know what to do, and she isn't really helping him. Then with HOBW she over corrects and doesn't tell them anything, gives them not even the smallest bit of information about the darkness so that they focus all their feelings on Logan, and think hes just evil for no reason, then drops a bomb on them about the darkness. When the hobw is upset about that she tells them "I told you what you needed to know" or in the case you choose to execute Logan and HOBW upset about that she says "well that was your choice."

She is steering people in certain directions. The ones she deems correct with very little thought in how it effects them or what they would do without her input.

Theresas not evil, but she is selfish. She doesn't tell anything she thinks could harm her cause, she manipulates others for her own needs, and she justifys it by saying its fo the good of Albion. But Fable 2 wouldn't have gone the way it does without her initial inferences, and Fable 3 wouldn't have happened at all if she hadn't made the decision that she wanted the spire and that Albion needed it.