#there wouldn't be a second chance. no possible redemption.

[changefirst]

i think often about how the team has a file on harry's past legal cases and how one of his sins include defending a company whose product caused cancer in children. moreover, i think about how absolutely fucking lucky he is that nate wasn't around to see that.

[babeyun]

modus operandi ✩ enhypen (m.list)

welcome to precinct seven! balancing the demands of justice with their own demons, the detectives must confront their pasts and navigate the blurred lines between right and wrong in a gripping tale of mystery, betrayal, and redemption.

✩ general warnings: !!SLOW BURN!! fluff, angst, possible suggestive themes/smut for hyungline but unlikely (and if so, it will be tagged individually.) darker/heavy themes (descriptive mentions of crimes.) warnings for individual fics vary, please read them accordingly before proceeding.

✩ series playlist: modus operandi ✩ enhypen [spotify + ongoing]

✩ starry night - yang jungwon ✩

✩ synopsis: your favorite constellation is cassiopeia, and you talk about it as often as you can. what you don't realize is that your eyes hold all the stars, and jungwon sees that more than anyone.

✩ pairing: detective!yjw x delivery driver!reader

✩ genre: acquaintances to lovers | idiots to lovers.

✩ read here!

✩ falling alone - lee heeseung ✩

✩ synopsis: cold cases were heeseung's specialty, and he cracked every single one. cold hearts were your specialty, and you have yet to make a single chip in your husband's.

✩ pairing: lieutenant!lhs x housewife!reader

✩ genre: established relationship to ??? | opposites attract.

✩ teaser! | read here!

✩ speed drive - park jongseong ✩

✩ synopsis: meeting you is like looking in a mirror of what could have been, who he could have been. it doesn't help that your passion runs deep, deeper than his love for his job.

✩ pairing: detective!pjs x clandestine racer!reader

✩ genre: fated lovers | star-crossed lovers.

✩ read here!

✩ easy, kitty - sim jaeyun ✩

✩ synopsis: after years of being referred to as a white whale by your respective detectives and being poorly sought after by single (and...not-so-single) suitors in your department, you're rescued by sim jaeyun - only for information in return.

✩ pairing: detective!sjy x bookkeeper!reader

✩ genre: fake dating au | unrequited love.

✩ read here!

✩ radio silence - park sunghoon ✩

✩ synopsis: in which you break sunghoon's heart just a little bit more every time you ask him to help you run background checks on any of the suitors on your roster.

✩ pairing: private investigator!psh x radio host!reader

✩ genre: former friends with benefits to ??? | childhood sweethearts.

✩ read here!

✩ dilemmas & desires - kim sunoo ✩

✩ synopsis: kim sunoo was by far your biggest opponent - both in and out of the court room. he fought his way to the top, and you hated coming in second to his wins...much like you hated being second priority to his studies when you dated in law school.

✩ pairing: attorney!ksn x attorney!reader

✩ genre: rivals to lovers | second chance romance.

✩ teaser! | read here!

✩ first impressions - riki nishimura ✩

✩ synopsis: first impressions are everything - so when riki spills coffee all over you the first time you meet, it's safe to say you're not very fond of him...right?

✩ pairing: rookie detective!riki x rookie detective!reader

✩ genre: coworkers to lovers | mutual pining.

✩ read here!

author's notes: special thanks to @enhaeven for encouraging me to write this series. i wouldn't be doing this without you, and thank you for always thinking of me and believing in me. i love you! ♡

author's note pt.2: none of these stories are meant to romanticize criminal activity and i do not encourage breaking the law. keep your buffoonery at a minimum. thanks!

babeyun © 2024. no translations, reposting or modifications are allowed. do not claim as your own. viewer discretion is advised. your media consumption is your responsibility.

[erodingsinner]

okay so since white collar is getting a reboot and leverage redemption is still in production there is an actual chance for a crossover to happen somewhere in the future. hear me out for a second.

1: leverage was at some point supposed to have a crossover with psych which makes me think they wouldn't be opposed to crossovers & white collar did that one promo with gus from psych. which doesn't mean anything. but

2: both shows have thieves/con-men in the main cast.

3: Damien Moreau, Kate Moreau... Need I say more ?

4: A lot of people hc neal as bi during the original run of the show. The showrunners enjoyed how people shipped Neal/Peter which again doesn't mean anything. but considering Matt Bomer is gay and has been involved in a lot of queer movies/shows if he's producing in any capacity there is a possibility that Neal will be confirmed as bi. A lot of people also think Eliot is bi ( and in love with Parker & Hardison but whether that's canon is debatable, I'd say no )

So what I'm saying here, white collar/leverage crossover where Neal & Eliot have a fling it will happen this is not an if it's a when. thank you good night.

[crooked-wasteland]

The court scene in hazbin leaks seemed empty .

Lute had no arguments, she was yelling in void, the seraphim and female stolas were just there waiting for plot to happen, Sera answer to anything lute saying was "shut up" literally, which isn't only unprofessional for a governor to do but also it helped at portraying lute as crazy hysterical woman no one respect without the presence of her man.

If hazbin hotel was really interested in discussing the concept of good and evil then here's the right moment, we could take this scene as opportunity to talk about the the justice, lute should represent the concept of the justice is inflexible only bound to the rules that kept people safe for decades . her arguments is that they are currently in war with hell and they can't let a sinner in might be dangerous he might attend some harm upon them or play the role of spy for the morningstars . Emily or stolas-evil-twin or anyone, will represent the concept that there's no justice without mercy and rules should have an exception for cases like this their argument is his sin didn't come from malicious place but rather from a genuine fear so is his act of redemption and therefore we have right to assume that his soul is inherently good and he attends no harm and we should welcome him in heaven .

And I remember a saying in writing goes like :"write an argument where everyone seems to win"(I forgot the actual quote) and I think this one of the scene where we should apply that in order for scene to have a depth

I agree, except on the account of Lute's argument being pointless. Unfortunately, you need the other leak of Seraph talking to Able and the one of Vox to grasp the points being made.

Major spoilers incoming!

The argument Lute makes in the courtroom is nonsensical because we were never given the information. At the start of the season, Charlie has a fairytale book of her parents and it mentions Lilith using music to rally demons against heaven. Vox says this explicitly in a reminder lore dump of 12 whopping seconds that Lilith was prepared to go to war with Heaven before vanishing.

So there's that aspect of the world we never had mentioned or hinted at in the main series. It would have actually helped a lot with incorporating Lilith's army waiting for her in Happy Day in Hell. It also could have been tied back to Rosie and her cannibals. Maybe hinting at the Rosie and Lilith connection more appropriately, or at least opening the idea that Lilith had an army waiting on her still.

Additionally, Seraph mentions how Hell will "want revenge". So even if Hell wasn't a threat before, her greenlighting a genocide is going to make peace a relative impossibility. It's inevitable for Hell to fight back, so now Heaven has to figure out if they will risk their own safety by ending the cullings, or continue and admit they are oppressors keeping Hell weak intentionally. It would make the suggestion of redemption unappealing, regardless of being possible.

But the issue the series will have to patch over is the idea that Sinners would want to be redeemed if it wasn't for Heaven's yearly census shaving. The conflict in the pilot was that Sinners wouldn't want to be redeemed. The exorcists were actually a believable motivation for why anyone would even consider redemption when you have the right to suffer and cause suffering forever in Hell. The issue of the Sinners' immortality questioning how the show is going to believably instill the idea that the discomfort of staying the same is going to outweigh the discomfort of change. And the exorcists seem, frankly, necessary to maintain the pressure on Hell to give Charlie a chance. Meanwhile, maintaining a genocide is going to turn away people who are probably good at their core. The pressure of being oppressed will leave them nowhere to go and without options that don't in some way contradict their own values.

So the story is actually focused on the major plot issue for once. However it isn't staying there. Then we have to remember the sneak peek Medrano shared of Baxter and how the concept of Redemption at all is what is being challenged. Not if Redemption is desirable. So that is where the two sides of the story lose cohesion. Honestly, the Heaven storyline will be far stronger than the story taking place amongst the actual main characters. And between the Baxter/Alastor/Lute reveals, I'm wondering what time there is left to even tell any story about the main character. Once again, we're looking at too many plot threads not being given enough time to expand.

[anna-dreamer]

Finwean generational trauma is so real. I imagine, after Maglor and Maedhros kidnapped the twins, there was a clear and brutal understanding that that was not them giving those children a good life; but also, also, with Maglor and Maedhros being prone to the Oath, with their lives and souls tainted and fractured by bloodshed and murder and violence and loss and despair, they'd think there was no chance in the void for them to make something good out of it. Not with the Oath, not with the Doom, not with the way their father was. Their grandfather, due to whatever eldritch horror haunted his childhood in Endorë, felt that he had to have as many children as possible, so that his family would not fail and he wouldn't be left alone and scared in the dark. As a result, their father, abandoned and traumatised and angry, felt that he had to have as many children as possible, so that he would never be abandoned again, alone and scared in the dark. And he made sure of that. He had seven children, and he tied them up with an unbreakable Oath that would sooner destroy all of them than let them give up on him. So many hurts in this family were attempted to be healed with the use of children. And now here are Maglor and Maedhros. Alone and scared in the dark. True, there are two little boys on their hands, yet they have already wronged these boys so deeply. If there is a small chance of salvation or even redemption through them, Maglor and Maedhros would not take it. Besides, it would not work anyway. Refusing to repeat the old pattern is a first step in the right direction, and on itself it wouldn't be enough, but...

But then Eärendil appears in the sky. This is Elrond and Elros' father up there - and at the same time there is Fëanor too, because it's the silmaril that shines, the unobtainable, unreachable, illusory silmaril, like a father Maglor and Maedhros still desperately long for. Oh, but he will not come back. He is as far away as any star in the sky. The twins can't have their father back, and neither can the last two Fëanorians.

And then it hits Maglor. True, his brother and him are Doomed. True, there is probably no happy ending for them two. But it doesn't have to be this way for Elrond and Elros. With whatever strength and will to live and hope that he has left, he will try to do better by them. Maedhros would try to argue, but Maglor would tell him, They did not have Fëanor for a father! And they will not.

He can only hope that his genuine love and care he will give to the twins is just enough for them to turn out better than Maglor and Maedhros did. Maglor and Maedhros took them in. Now they are responsible. They will try. If redemption comes, it's not through acquiring someone to love you, but through loving them as sincerely and selflessly as your broken heart can. And if redemption doesn't come at all, so be it. It was not about redemption anyway. The second step, to consciously break the chain, is made.

Alas, it does not work as well on Maedhros. He doesn't feel this bittersweet bliss. He has fallen too deep into despair. And as soon as Elrond and Elros are gone, it becomes not enough for Maglor to heal either. He has just enough hope left to argue with his brother whether or not to go for silmarils. But all those last years spent alone with Maedhros sucked a lot out of Maglor, and nothing is left, apart from the feverish devotion, Nelyo knows better, Nelyo always knew better, like a dark shadow of Father always knows better, we will follow him and we will die for him if needed... No matter that Maedhros is not in his right mind. Neither was Fëanor. Their father's Oath is intertwined with their love for each other, and it binds them together ever stronger. Maglor would not leave Maedhros. But Maedhros loves his brother too. He might have not been healed by a star, but he is still Nelyo. The big brother. And while he could not break any vicious circles with his life, but with his death, for his last surviving brother, he would try.

It was not enough for Maedhros or Maglor. But it was enough for Elrond and Elros. With them, Finwean generational trauma was healed. The chain was broken. And i firmly believe that, despite their own trauma, both ultimately had healthy and happy families.

And if Maglor is still out there, Elrond will find him. He will finish what Maglor - his father - has started.

[aingeal98]

I think there's a misconception among some fans who mostly get their characterisation from ao3, that the reason Cass and Jason wouldn't get along is that Jason kills people and Cass hates murderers. And like. You're 50% right but the key context being ignored is that Cass would literally fight to defend the right of a serial killer to live and change like she believes desperately in second chances no matter how far gone the killer is. She'll knock a man out and break his hand so that he can never shoot and kill someone again but if she sees someone feel bad about their kill or even like. Hesitate to hurt a child. She is all over that like she will fight the world just to save this one kind of shitty assassin and give them a second chance at life where they can do better.

Whereas Jason believes that sometimes there are bad people that are simply too far gone, too much of a force of evil hurting and draining actual innocents. And the best way to deal with scumbags like that is a bullet. He feels that some people don't deserve to live, and he's comfortable ending their lives. Judge, jury and executioner. Because no one else is going to kill these people and they deserve to die so that they can never hurt any victims again.

Of course all of this is kind of irrelevant in current canon since dc basically skipped over the reconciliation and development and went yeah Jason is a batfam member and he doesn't kill anymore. So currently in canon none of this conflict of ideals is likely to be addressed. But a lot of people are interested in writing fics that actually detail the steps of reconciliation which is great and I love those fics. I've just also noticed a trend of fumbling a little when it comes to Cass.

Because the root cause as to why they wouldn't get along is not just because Jason kills people. If Jason was a random crime lord Cass would probably try to help him get free of Gotham and start over somewhere else. Killing people and having conflicting emotions about it is the easiest way to get Cass willing to be your number one sponsor at murderer rehabilitation anonymous. It's Jason being someone personal to the family, and someone who believes that some deaths need to happen, as long as the person is sufficiently repulsive enough to Jason. Or even just as a means to an end to prove a larger point, if they're pathetic and evil enough. That's what would make Cass see red, because she projects herself on every single killer and Jason dismissing the possibility of redemption for them, writing them off as deserving of death, clashes fundamentally with not just everything Cass believes in, but also her whole sense of self. Of course it's not that deep for Jason like he's not going to believe Cass should die because she killed someone as a child. But for Cass is simply IS that deep and you throw in the fact that they're both Bruce's kids and yeah. They can maybe be civil in a room together with the family right up until one of them actually talks. Because like 99% of what they could say is guaranteed to touch a nerve for the other.

It's like: Damian says something hilarious and rude towards Jason and Jason jokes about that time he shot him and Cass immediately connects that with him not feeling bad about shooting Damian and starts grilling him as to why. Because Damian's Bruce's son? Or because he's a killer? Or just to get to the rest of the family? And Dick, Duke and Tim are so tired like Alfred cooked a nice meal can we all just eat pie for one night without having to listen to you two go at it.

Tim: I've literally shot you before do you think maybe we can cool it on fighting about Jason's personal ethics tonight. Because generally that ends with me in pain even if I do nothing but sit here.

Cass: You shot me with consent. Different.

Jason: How are you even more obnoxious than Bruce? Do you ever get tired of being so exhausting to be around with your bullshit righteousness?

Cass: If you're tired I can knock you out. Nice nap for you and fun for me.

Dick: And that's ten minutes in a room together before any threats of physical harm start flying around! Great job you two, a new personal record.

[princess-charlie-of-hell]

Unpopular opinion

But I don't think Charlie would forgive Adam right away

I see in fanarts or fics how she is the one who invites sinner!Adam with opens arm in the hotel because she thinks that "everyone deserves a second chance even him" and am like why does she thinks that?

Don't get me wrong I like Adam, he is hilarious and hell is forever is one of my favorite songs of the show but he is still a massive asshole.

Let's not forget that he was the leader of the exorcists who killed thousands or even millions sinners, a misogynistic, fetishizes WLW relationships, had no problem with leaving Vaggie alone in hell while she was hurt, destroyed with the other exorcists the hotel and the worst of all killed Sir pentious.

He also probably would have killed Charlie if Lucifer wouldn't have come

I don't see a reason why she would forgive him or thinks he is deserving of redemption , I know Charlie is a nice person but even they have their limits. I mean she didn't had a problem with it hurting him if It means protecting her hotel and friends

If sinner!Adam actually wants to live in the hotel, I want to see him beg Charlie on the knees to let him in pathetic as possible because no one can't tell me he doesn't deserve it. Than he is also just allowed to stay if he behaves and apologized to everyone.

*Adam* : I don't want to do it, it is stupid anyway!

*Charlie*: If you don't do it, you will share a room with nifty.

*Adam* : Fine! *mumbling* Sorry for destroying your cane, Alan.

*Alastor* : The name is Alastor!

*Adam* : Urgh! Sorry Alastor, for destroying your cane.

*Charlie* : Good job Adam *patting his head* now you are going to apologize to every egg boy.

*Charlie, glaring at him* : what was that?

*Adam* : With great pleasure, princess!

I like to image evil characters especially the males ones to be ending up either scared of Charlie or completely to fall in love with her

[ckret2]

But to actually answer the "so what are the themes here" question @thedemonsurfer asked, which I like, totally skipped over answering: here's all the stuff I came up with the last time I talked about titles with friends, including titles that aren't quite good enough (and/or are jokes) and talking about the actual themes of the fic:

One title can't do EVERYTHING, there's probably no perfect title out there that'll go "okay so head's up this fic is about bill slowly making friends with everybody while fighting every step against becoming a better person and also a bunch of agonizing identity/dysphoria issues from being trapped in an ill-fitting body and also a major theme is that redemption can't come from Purification Via Punishment but from offering second chances even to people who don't deserve it so that they have a space to grow and also we're trying as hard as possible to keep to the tone & episodic style of the show and also 60% of the cast has issues from being Burnt-Out Former Gifted Kids. Even the ones that are still kids." But like. It'd be nice if a title at least did one or two of those

Fic title that's a song lyric but the lyric is from a song by Robbie so it's really stupid

I'm not against "lighthearted description of what's going on" since that IS a running gag in how i've been "titling" the chapters, and it WOULD both tell what's going on and do a better job of suggesting the tone what you're gonna get out of this fic

Bill Cipher Makes Friends. This Is A Warning The power of friendship, remorse, murder, and MABEL My Little Triangle: Friendship Is Magic Friendship Is Cosmic Horror Okay this is a joke title i won't go with because i don't want the title to be a mlp allusion but this does, unfortunately, unironically successfully capture several major features in the fic: friendship; cosmic horror; bill finding agony rooted in what should be positive relationships and attributing his self-professed "insanity" to the wrong sources; the collision between the friendly gentle earthly mundane and Bill's vast eon-spanning alien history; it sounds goofy; and it doesn't sound like many other fics

Not to give away too much; but in the broadest/vaguest possible sense, the portal is making a return. Which means... i realized recently... bill vs doors is, in fact, a theme with actual symbolic significance, and not just a running gag. I accidentally walked my way backwards into turning a plot convenience to keep him from escaping into something connected to a major plot point. so like. I could actually drop a door reference and it wouldn't be inappropriate.

Bill Cipher & Friends Vs. the Cosmic Horror of Doors It's not a good title but by god you'd know exactly what fic we're talking about "Haha the cosmic horror of doors because the goofy curse means he doesn't know how they work." / "oh no wait the portal is a door to cosmic horror"

"The door is open..." 30 years later, Bill, trapped in a dumb body with a dumb curse: "I literally cannot tell if the door is open"

He literally has been... Working for 1 trillion years,,, to GET A DOOR OPEN "Bill, I don't think it's the curse. I think you're just naturally bad at opening doors." "I'll kill you if you say that again."

So there's our themes.

[super-paper]

Do you think Hawks will die to save Toga?

Personally, I wouldn't like it if either of them died. Like, the potential narrative payoff here would be strongest if both of them lived, imo. I would rather see a situation where Keigo donates just enough blood to stabilize them both, rather than a situation where one person completely exsanguinates themselves and leaves behind a rash of trauma and unresolved feelings in the person they "saved."

I'm definitely not the best when it comes to Hawks meta, but I'll try my best to break down my personal feelings on why I feel both Keigo and Himiko need to live in order to "break the cycle":

1. You Can Start Over. I'll Help You.

This one's the biggest, most obvious point in favor of them both living imo. Hawks made an offer to help Jin start over, but rescinded that offer and immediately went for the kill the moment Jin showed signs of resistance. This was Keigo's biggest failure as both a hero and as an individual, and something he has yet to atone for.

In turn, Himiko believes there are no second chances-- that her only options are death or being locked away forever. So, she chooses death. She needs someone to offer her a third option.

The set up is there.

There's also the matter of Keigo and Himiko both stating that they want an "easier world" as their core motivation, and both of them state that they want to be the ones who help make that world.

Their goals only sound simplistic on the surface and serve as a mask for their respective traumas, but... ultimately, a world that's easier for Himiko to live in (where she is consensually given blood by someone who loves her and she is allowed to give her blood back to the world in return) is a world where heroes can finally take it easy-- because it's a world that nips the endless creation of its own "villains" in the bud, through unified acts of compassion and understanding.

Both characters have caused others intense pain and hurt others in their attempts to take shortcuts to the creation of an "easier world"-- Hawks is the hero that's "too fast," and Himiko is also associated with her near-supernatural speed. They're both too impatient and want the quickest possible results. Having both Himiko and Keigo living and learning the "right way" to create their ideal world-- and then, getting to be a part of that world as they both continue to atone-- feels much more meaningful than having one or both of them die before they can see that future reach fruition.

2. The Big, Suicidal Elephant in the Room

The majority of the LOV members all struggle with suicidal ideation-- Touya wants to set everything Endeavor ever chose over him ablaze, and he wants that inferno to also serve as his funeral pyre. Tomura has got a dissertation's worth of issues regarding his own mortality and self-perception/identity, and his whole "let's-just-destroy-it-all/we-don't-need-a-future-actually-lol" schtick has always been a symptom rather than a legit proposal for a cure. Himiko wants to disappear into the identities of the people she loves, because the world treats her a little more kindly when she isn't "Toga Himiko." The LOV trio's arcs all revolve around "death of the self" to some degree. (That said... resurrection and rebirth are also heavy themes within Tenko, Touya, and Himiko's arcs, soooo....)

Keigo also struggles with suicidal ideation and places the worth of his own life far, far, faaaaar below that of everyone else.

This has already been said, and shouldn't really need to be said in the first place, but-- people have every right to feel uncomfortable and criticize a story that attempts to validate suicidal characters by portraying their suicide in a noble/redemptive light.

Next!

3. It's All About All Mi-- Err..... Tomie?

"I was fine with that-- not saving her, turning my back on her. Me, who claims he wants to help people." - Hawks, about Tomie.

"I tried to go about things the right way" is a good line that touches on one of the core conflicts of Keigo's character: He suppresses so much of his natural instinct to do good so he can do "right."

Keigo knows in his heart of hearts that "the right way" doesn't save people like his mother, it didn't save Jin, and it's not going to save Himiko. He's been groomed into upholding the society and status quo that caused him and Tomie to nearly fall through the cracks in the first place-- and I've always found it both fascinating and sad that Keigo seems to equate choosing "the right way" (i.e. becoming a hero) to abandoning his mother. Keigo effectively being *sold* to the HPSC is what took Tomie off of the streets and gave her a roof over her head-- it gave her "a chance to start over." But Keigo doesn't seem to view this as true saving. With that in mind, his attempt to "save" Jin by essentially giving him the same offer the HPSC gave Tomie was always doomed end in failure.

Keigo: "My mother feared punishment for harboring a criminal, so she took me and ran."

Tomie first ran out of fear of being arrested after Takami Thief was captured-- which led to both her and Keigo being homeless for an extended period of time. She ran again after Dabi/Touya threatened her for information on Keigo, this time out of fear of her son-- a son who had became synonymous with "the law" she feared so much in her eyes. She can't bear facing him after her betrayal and implicitly fears punishment/condemnation from him (even though Keigo had *no* intention of punishing her)-- Tomie readily leaves behind the "normal" home and "normal" life that Hawks obtained for her through "doing things the right way," bc the imaginary threat of punishment and condemnation is something that comes across as worse for her. This only further convinces Keigo that he failed to save his mother, even though he's the one who's being betrayed and hurt by her.

I can't help seeing similarities between Tomie & Himiko's decisions to run out of an intense fear of punishment/imprisonment, and how this inevitably ties to Keigo. Keigo subconsciously realizes that he can't truly save people like Tomie, Jin, or Himiko as "Hawks" because "Hawks" is part of the problem. He longs to save others as himself-- as "Takami Keigo" (which is why the loss of his quirk kind of has me like "👀 👀 👀 whatcha gonna do next, turkey boy...,,..👀 👀 👀" )

As an aside, I seem to recall that transhawks made a few meta post where they talk about how there are traces of Jin's design in Tomie (esp her eyes, which have the same dead-eyed thousand yard stare) and that their resemblance is likely intentional (edit: link to one post pointing the resemblance out)-- It's not as overt, but imo, Himiko also resembles Tomie (just a little!) when she has her hair down.

Anyway! Both Jin and Himiko dying after Keigo A) has spent his whole life agonizing about how his own mother wasn't able to survive in their current society, B) has expressed guilt about how he didn't even try to save her and didn't make attempts to involve himself in her life, C) has talked at length about he wanted to be "more like Bubaigawara" and then proceeded to roleplay him, badly, for a good third of Act 3 (ohhhh boy ☠️☠️☠️), and D) had demanded that Toga be killed immediately after she arrives in Gunga, only for Ochako and Tsuyu to explicitly challenge and reject the idea that killing was the only option available.... idk, Himiko dying while Keigo does nothing would just feel massively incoherent at this point??

TL;DR The resolution to Keigo's arc currently hinges on addressing his origin, his identity, his guilt, and his ties to these three characters. Keigo feels that he failed with Tomie, and he explicitly failed with Jin-- and I personally don't think his arc can have a satisfactory ending without addressing those failures through Himiko, or without him trying to right where he went wrong by helping her in some capacity. This is a chance for him to finally follow his innate drive to do good over doing what their society dictates as "right."

----

All that being said, if Hori did decide to have Hawks sacrifice himself: Hawks choosing to sacrifice himself because he wants to believe in the future that the hero kids are creating and wants to believe that children like Himiko have a place in that future feels WAAAY more tonally consistent with mha's themes than Himiko choosing to sacrifice herself because she doesn't think she has a future

One message is about healing and hope and belief, the other is about failing to truly save someone who was already suicidal from their inevitable self destruction.

MHA has been defining true saving as "going above and beyond" for hundreds of chapters now-- true saving means saving a person's heart, body, and soul. It means giving them a future. By mha's own definitions, Himiko choosing to kill herself means she wasn't saved. Pure and simple-- You can't save the heart but not the body/soul (Himiko), you can't save the soul but not the body/heart (Touya), and you can't save the body but not the heart/soul (Tomura). There's a lot more work to be done here-- but that's fine, bc MHA has never depicted true saving or true healing as some magical, instantaneous thing. (#recoverygirldni)

[saintsenara]

rare pair tag game

thanks for the tag, @said-snape-softly :)

i'm pretty sure everyone has done this by now, but if you'd like to, please consider this a blanket tag.

apart from all the tomarry and the odd dabble in remadora, i am a rare-pair enthusiast, so i am delighted to spread some propaganda here... the criterion i've used for a rare-pair is less than 2500 works on ao3.

pairs, little metas, fic recommendations, and some suggestions for authors to follow under the cut.

sirius black/severus snape

why i ship it:

this one can just about claim to be a rare-pair.

sirius and severus are narrative mirrors, whose complicated relationship to themselves and to each other is crucial for driving several of the most important arcs in the series.

in particular, sirius - constantly haunted by guilt and grief over his role in the death of the man he loved [you can decide if his love for james is platonic or not, but i definitely think the text thinks it isn't...], trapped in his childhood home, unable to have his real loyalties acknowledged before his death by the fact he's on the run - leads harry through his journey in hero-worshipping, then being disappointed in, then forgiving james. and then promptly dies.

this is one of harry's most significant areas of personal growth - it begins to chip away at his rather black-and-white morality, which is finally destroyed by his ability to confront the complexity of dumbledore in deathly hallows - but it is also key narratively: harry coming to understand james starts to hint to the reader that it is lily - otherwise absent from her son's conception of himself - who is the key to the mystery...

which brings us to severus - constantly haunted by guilt and grief over his role in the death of the woman he loved, trapped in his childhood home, unable to have his real loyalties acknowledged before his death by the fact he's a spy - who gives harry, and us, the final piece of the puzzle. and then promptly dies.

put them together, though? well, you get the delicious tension of two fundamentally broken people - who cannot comprehend the possibility of their own redemption - bound to each other. can they forgive each other and themselves? is it a disaster? the story can go either way.

and even in fluff there is so much potential for d r a m a between sirius' recklessness and severus' cunning, sirius' emotional control and severus' temper, the fact that sirius is canonically hot and severus is canonically not, how they react to harry and draco [i don't usually accept the fanon that severus is his godfather, except when it means snack can be fighting about it], and so on.

and i'm a sucker for two bitter old men getting a happy ending. sue me.

want to give it a read?

if you trust nothing else i say in my life [and why should you] you can trust this - second life by nwhiker and cassandra7 is one of the greatest pieces of writing i have ever seen, not only in this pairing but in this fandom full stop. it's a profound and solemn meditation on loving and grieving, choice and chance, and the great pain caused by the divide between the magical and the muggle worlds.

then, for gorgeous angst with a happy ending - two boys kissing by @writcraft and the merit in trying by brightened

albus dumbledore/tom riddle | voldemort

why i ship it:

the facetious answer is because they wouldn't be so obsessed with each other if there wasn't some sexual tension underneath it.

the facetious and nsfw answer is because it appeals to the part of me whose favourite book aged 11 was lolita

the serious answer is that they should be horrifying together: they're both liars; both incredibly self-righteous; both living behind masks which conceal their true emotions and motivations; dumbledore took one look at tom as an eleven-year-old, said "he reminds me of gellert", and then did nothing about it; tom thinks dumbledore's a hypocrite and is right, although not for the reasons he thinks; there is a colossal age gap; there is virtually no scenario in any timeline where they could be openly in a relationship unless one of them is concealing his identity; and - really, this seems quite minor in the grand scheme of things - they are constantly trying to destroy each other.

but.

intellectually, they are the only two characters in the series who could be the other's equal - i'm sure that violent arguments about the twelve uses of dragon's blood trigger the majority of their sexual encounters, and a man who's passionate about your research is hot.

if either of them ever fancy being honest - so, no - there is a shared cavernous [although, in tom's case, unacknowledged] grief in their lives which has shaped their not-as-divergent-as-the-text-thinks-they-are views on death, love, duty and so on. their active refusal to understand each other [i.e. dumbledore entirely misreading voldemort's motivations in the job interview scene] and commitment to constantly underestimating each other [i.e. voldemort bouncing around like an idiot in the chamber of secrets instead of using his brain and remembering what a phoenix is] could, in time, lead to something almost resembling acceptance. i mean, just imagine the hurt/comfort sex which happens when voldemort finds out about grindledore.

the way dumbledore describes the young riddle - "self-sufficient, secretive, and, apparently, friendless" - is also an exact description of him. that each sees himself in the other canonically drives their hatred of each other, but it could also appeal to two very vain men in a much racier way. after all, who doesn't want to bang their narrative mirror?

and being an orphan probably doesn't seem so bad when you realise your boyfriend's family is aberforth.

want to give it a read?

i can't recommend concordance by @laeveteinn enough, particularly for one of the best-written dumbledores i've ever seen. i find dumbledore is often written either as far more whimsical than i'd like, or far more fiery and radical [when one of his most interesting personality traits in canon is his tendency towards inaction], but this dumbledore is the perfect balance of contradictions, while tom is his canonical feral self, longing to perceived, rather than the emotionless sociopath of so many other stories.

i also recommend as an entire ocean in a drop by eldritcher, which really leans into just how similar these two are underneath all the artifice.

albus dumbledore/severus snape

why i ship it:

well, we've had dumbledore with one lost boy, let's have him with another [i haven't been brave enough to venture into dumbledore/harry yet, but i'll take recommendations...]

as with riddledore, we have the potential for horror here: a vast power imbalance; enormous age gap; the fact dumbledore sends snape out to potentially die every time he goes off to voldemort; and - this is the crucial one - the fact that dumbledore's recognition of himself in snape is pure self-loathing ["you disgust me"] manifested in punishment [allowing snape to be humiliated in front of fudge, not stopping the presumed-to-be-real moody searching his office, making him give harry occlumency lessons, not letting him teach defence against the dark arts].

but then this stops, when snape does the tremendously brave thing of agreeing to kill dumbledore, and their dynamic equalises, as dumbledore recognises that snape is courageous, steadfast, and redeemed. i'm always struck in half-blood prince by the fact that dumbledore has it with harry's sniping about snape and straight-up tells him to shut up, as well as by the fact that he very nearly gives the game away and confesses why snape switched sides [the thing he promised not to do] when harry finds out it was snape who gave voldemort the prophecy.

and within this equalised dynamic - so this hot geriatric sex is happening in the afterlife, i guess - we have two men who are intellectual close-to-equals, who understand grief and guilt, whose aesthetic senses are charmingly mismatched, who are rarely honest but might be for each other, and who have lots of profound similarities which might lead somewhere...

want to give it a read?

cheerfully disregarding everything i've just said about how snumbledore could work, i highly recommend in infinite remorse of soul by @perverse-idyll, which is a chilling look at how dumbledore uses the power imbalance between the two to assuage his own guilt through snape's humiliation.

for something much more wholesome, i'm a big fan of byzantium by eldritcher

petunia dursley/severus snape

why i ship it:

because vernon is a dick.

i'm fond of petunia, who i think is one of the most interesting characters in the series because of how full of contradictions she is, and who i think is also a victim in fandom spaces of how the adult cast was aged up for the films [in canon, she's only in her early twenties when lily dies, and the implication is that vernon is a good deal older than her)] which makes her inadequacies, such as her inability to truly care for either child in the household, seem much more nuanced than they do if she's pictured as a middle-aged woman with considerable life experience.

like snape, she teeters on a knife edge between various chasms: she is a working-class girl from the midlands made good in middle-class surrey, he is a working-class half-blood boy who spends most of his life in pureblood circles; she ends up with her whole life wrapped up in a square little house when she's barely out of her teens, he ends up with his whole life wrapped up in spying at the same age; she hates the wizarding world and yet covets it, he hates the muggle world and yet cannot escape it; she loves lily and she hates her and she loathes her for dying, he... well, you know the rest.

want to give it a read?

i was first convinced by this pairing by the lovely regretfully yours by @maria-de-salinas, which takes both snape and petunia's awkwardness and bitterness and moulds it into something really tender.

i also highly recommend barking at the moon by rinsbane, the summary of which speaks for itself.

merope gaunt/tom riddle sr.

why i ship it:

our first canon pairing, and probably the most problematic of the canon relationships, since the series never acknowledges that tom sr. is a rape victim.

but i have found myself recently in my merope era and, in particular, in an attempt to give her more nuance than she gets in canon. as i've said to anyone who'll listen in the three broomsticks discord server, i loathe the implication in canon that merope dies because she just cba to live [since it directly justifies voldemort's belief that her death was shameful] and prefer to see her as someone who was desperate to escape a truly horrifying life [the fact she's going to be forced into an incestuous relationship with morfin is right there in canon...] and so did something she didn't have the capacity to understand the implications of [this is not a woman who's ever heard of consent] because she thought it would give her the first chance to be happy in her life, watched it all crash and burn around her, and would have very much liked to have lived to raise her son.

i doubt there was anything real or tender in her relationship with tom sr., of course, and his escape - while merely a brief stay of execution from his son's perspective - is tremendously brave. it's impossible to write tom/merope fluff [although i respect you if you're inclined to try] but fanfiction gives a space to explore the intricacies of their relationship which canon doesn't allow, and i'm obsessed.

want to give it a read?

i'm recommending myself here, and assuring you that you will enjoy: enchanter's nightshade, which explores how merope's attempts to keep her husband enslaved fail; the snow child, which treats the relationship as folk-horror; and the shack at the end of the lane, in which there is redemption, in the end.

the best exploration of tom sr. dealing with the fallout of the relationship is @phantomato's exquisite ganymede, which feels so truly embodied that you can't pull yourself away from the page.

bellatrix lestrange/tom riddle | voldemort

why i ship it:

our second canon pairing, i am obsessed with these two and the tragedy and - to some extent - tenderness bound up in their relationship [which can be proven to be there because noted softy @whinlatter loves them].

i've written before about my conviction - in contrast to a lot of bellatrix fans - that her relationship with rodolphus is utterly miserable, and that voldemort is the only man in her life who can understand her desire to make a life for herself which is not constrained by the gendered expectations of her social class.

obviously, lord voldemort is not a shining paragon of a boyfriend [and he is an awful choice as a baby daddy, bella, get it together], but i think the enormous power imbalance is perhaps slightly less enormous than is sometimes assumed - certainly, she tells him to his face in half-blood prince that he's wrong to trust snape [she's a clever woman], voldemort never physically punishes her for anything [rip to lucius malfoy, who seems to get picked for this in her stead], and voldemort tolerates a surprising amount of nonsense from her which shatters his mystique.

all of which is to say... the scream when she dies isn't just because he's losing the war.

want to give it a read?

tee hee, i'm recommending myself again, and encouraging you to take a look at: atramentum, bellamort's last afternoon together before voldemort goes to the potters; nor all that glisters gold, bellatrix's life - including her relationship with voldemort - through sirius' eyes; and death (eaters) in paradise, because murderous psychopaths deserve crack fics too.

draco malfoy/tom riddle | voldemort

why i ship it:

because the ship name is taco.

these two are a pairing which i enjoy with my tongue firmly in my cheek [and tom's tongue firmly in draco's], as i do with most other things in which draco is a main character [do i want to read drarry angst? no! do i want to chuckle? absolutely!], although this should not be taken as saying that many of taco's fabulous authors don't manage to make the pairing entirely plausible.

in fact, consensual taco [non-con is, of course, its own beast] often has some of the best characterisation of both tom [fretful, mercurial, stubborn, and nowhere near as charming as he thinks he is] and draco [prissy, a very good judge of character, someone who likes being taken care of, and much braver than he appears if he absolutely has to be] i've seen in the fandom, largely because - unlike other voldemort-centric ships [especially tomarry, but also voldemort + any of the adult death eaters] - there's no sense of inevitability there. these two aren't connected by a shared bit of soul, or a prophecy, or having gone to school together, or having been hooked in by voldemort in the first war when he was unassailable.

they have to choose each other. or, more accurately, draco has to choose tom, and tom has to get chosen.

and the results have me entertained.

want to give it a read?

then you will want to have a look at the travelling cabinet by @the-paper-monkey [and its sequel, bluebeard], truly the gold standard of taco content with an absolutely brilliant draco, whose sheer capacity to cling on and make himself an irremovable part of tom's life may just end up changing the course of history.

narcissa malfoy/severus snape

why i ship it:

because i am in deep with the conspiracy theory that it's canon. i am absolutely certain that narcissa is the person that voldemort is referring to at the end of deathly hallows - "he desired her, that was all, but when she had gone, he agreed that there were other women, and of purer blood, worthier of him". it seems highly unlikely to me that the canonical voldemort would give a shit about snape fancying any random pureblood [although the snapemort version is, naturally, hugely jealous], but snape having had some sort of liaison with narcissa, and the ability knowing this gives voldemort to humiliate snape, narcissa, the memory of lily, bellatrix, lucius, and draco is definitely information he would go out of his way to remember...

plus, how do you know where he lives, babe? v suspicious.

want to give it a read?

if you want some fluff, you will very much enjoy the incredibly sweet the reformed man by gingertart50, which features narcissa nursing snape back to health post-nagini and is a favourite re-read for me when i'm drunk and it's christmas.

if you want some very-much-not-fluff, other women and of purer blood by yours truly will scratch the itch...

minerva mcgonagall/severus snape

why i ship it:

because i'm an equal-opportunity age-gap fan, and there is far too little older woman/younger man in the fandom.

and look, i'll admit it, i'm a fan of the fanon that snape and mcgonagall are friends prior to dumbledore's death - i'm not sure it's canonically plausible, but this sign can't stop me because i can't read - and i like the idea of that blossoming into something more, especially in fics where snape survives the second war. after all, he is a man who definitely needs to be treated quite strictly [and i don't just mean in the staff room], there is a shared loneliness and grief to them both, they're intellectual equals despite the age gap, and bickering about quidditch is absolutely fine as a method of foreplay.

plus, you can't tell me dumbledore's portrait doesn't ship it.

want to give it a read?

for a fic which shows minerva at her acerbic - and yet still sensual - best, always but not necessarily forever by gingertart50 is an old, fluffy, and very funny, favourite.

for something much more bittersweet, that good night by kelly_chambliss has my heart.

severus snape/tom riddle | voldemort

why i ship it:

because voldemort is canonically down bad for it - there is no need to believe snape's ridiculous cover story for not attending his resurrection, to try and spare lily as a treat for his man, and to give him a nice, painful death which allows the narrative to move on and harry to defeat him if the dark lord isn't firmly in his simp era.

more seriously, they obviously have an enormous amount in common, particularly in terms of their backgrounds [harry draws a connection between all three of them, but actually the fact that harry is rich in the wizarding world, not a slytherin, and with a muggle mother, therefore giving him a pureblood name, means he can't relate to the post-childhood experience of both halves of snapemort].

as a result, i think snape is the death eater who comes the closest to understanding voldemort's motivations - above all, the fact that he's not seeking an oligarchy, which the malfoys etc. obviously believe - while voldemort is someone snape feels understands his intellectual interests and his creativity.

want to give it a read?

boy, are you in luck, because i myself have a snapemort wip - scylla and charybdis. it is not wholesome.

tom riddle/myrtle warren

why i ship it:

because it started as crack and now i love them.

in particular, i just have so much respect for being incredibly annoying as a method of seduction, and i think myrtle's commitment to just following tom around chattering at him - and, therefore, without her realising it, preventing him from committing all sorts of crimes - is iconic.

want to give it a read?

then my unhinged rom-com - bookbinding - shall provide.

tom riddle | voldemort/ginny weasley

why i ship it:

because i enjoy seeing my dear friends who ship hinny shake and cry.

but also because ginny and tom have an enormous number of similarities, right down to the fact that they both have yew wands [if you're sick of people saying harry has an oedipus complex, you'll be delighted to be confronted with the mountain of evidence ginny reminds him of the villain who keeps trying to kill him instead].

they are both very good liars, quick thinking, remarkably resistant to shame, possessed of nerves of steel, predisposed to violence, brown-eyed, so hot they have harry gagged, and the profound enemy of someone whose surname is smith.

despite what he claims, tom was absolutely not just sat politely in that diary gritting his teeth while ginny complained about having second hand robes and idiot brothers. as he says, he opted "to start feeding [her] a few of my secrets", and i think it's justifiable from canon that they were at the very least half-truths [for example, i would not be shocked to discover he tells her he's a half-blood orphan brought up against his will in the muggle world - there's no other reason, i think, for him to successfully make her tell him these things about harry without it], which means that ginny has lots of lovely emotional leverage over him.

plus, as with tomarry, you have the element of "this is kind of inevitable" in the relationship, and the mysteries of fate are always sexy.

want to give it a read?

this is a tommary/hinny/tominny triad, but it has had me in a chokehold since the first time i read it - shameful company by merrivale, which, truly iconically, manages to be epilogue compliant.

[inastarlesssky]

In Defense of Dramione - an essay

Okay, time for another Ted talk/ soapbox/ pointless rambling...Putting it under the cut because I have opinions.

In Defense of Dramione - an essay

First of all, I want to say I ship Dramione. Which is a recent thing, specifically about half a year ago. I didn't always because well it never occurred to me that you could. Of course, that's how ships are. We ship some ships bc they're canon, okay, fine. But we ship a whole lot others that aren't because you name whatever reason (they've got chemistry, they WORK, they're better than the canonically approved pairings whatever the hell else, idk). My point is, it had never crossed my mind that I myself would actually like the idea of Draco and Hermione. Bc naturally, you look at them and you think, "He did insult her when they were children. He was an asshat, etc etc." But...BUT.

You know that trope Enemies to Lovers? Ever heard of redemption arcs? Yeah, those are things. Of course, I don't speak on behalf of everyone in the fandom because we all have our reasons for why. But I ship them because there is potential in Draco's character for growth, for repentance, for redemption. I believe that he's capable, when he's an adult of realizing that he fucked up and that the beliefs he was spoonfed as a child are not the law of the land. I've read more fics than I can count that describe this character arc for him and they do it masterfully. Honestly, I think he's a pretty complex character and I believe that we see a sliver of that in the last few movies. Like look, in 6th year, Harry hit him with Sectumsempra and nearly killed him. But when the Golden Trio were at the Manor and it was on Draco's shoulders to identify Harry and basically seal their doom, did he do it? Did he rat them out? Nope.

Maybe this wasn't exactly Draco "forgiving" Harry, admittedly. But Draco saw that Harry was their only hope for destroying Voldemort or for having some sliver of a winning chance, of a possibility of surviving the mess Voldemort was orchestrating. He obviously deemed it important enough to dare to lie, especially knowing that Bellatrix would have summoned the Dark Lord himself in the next few moments. If Draco really didn't care about the outcome of everything, he wouldn't have done that. If anything, we see that he cares at least about the safety of his family because that could have also been the motive. But that gets me thinking, couldn't he also have confirmed Harry's identity? Voldy would have arrived, perhaps praised Draco and spared the Malfoys to die another die. So really, Draco might have gotten more out of it if he HAD confirmed Harry's identity. Hmm food for thought.

Second point, I'm not going to judge anyone in the fandom because of reasons stated above, but I will go so far as to say, please, if you don't ship Dramione, that's okay. Everyone has their own cup of tea, but please, do NOT claim that all of us (that every single one of us who happen to support this ship) are and I quote "are just a bunch of horny teenagers desperate for some pretty boy and pretty girl sex". That isn't fair and it frankly isn't true, so please don't. I know many wonderful people who have crafted amazing stories and shown great talent through their writing to express the complexities I've just spoken about.

I'll end by saying that we all have our ships, and that's okay. There's no real right or wrong inasfaras who you ship with whom. But it's a basic gesture of respect, I think, to let others love the pairings that they love. Spreading hatred, ill-will or just unkindness toward those of us who enjoy a particular ship, that's not cool and that's what brings us down in what should be something we all enjoy and go to find joy and share that joy with others.

Okay, it seems I really defended Draco more than Hermione here but I will die on this hill and defend my dorks. Fight me on it (joking here but really though. XD) Thanks for coming to my Ted talk.

[sjsmith56]

A Worthy Fight - A Private Man, Chapter 21

Summary: The Avengers deal with the repercussions of Bucky’s sacrifice. Caught in the moment between life and death Bucky relives two moments in his life, then is given another chance.

Length: 5.5 K

Warnings: Apparent death of major character. Regret, angst, and acceptance of personal failings.

Author notes: I believe in redemption arcs. John Walker, even though I find him to be most irritating on FATWS, gets another chance to be good.

<<Chapter 20

"What is it, what's happened?" asked Rhodey, grabbing Sam to face him. "Why are we turning away?"

"Bucky's backup plan," answered Sam, his voice breaking. "We should be feeling it any second now."

Before Rhodes could ask about the plan a flash lit up the sky and moments later the aircraft was heavily shaken by a blast wave. Clint was able to keep control but everyone swore and were shaken by the event, all asking Sam to explain what had just happened. Going to the visual displays he brought up the rear facing view and they all saw it, the mushroom shaped cloud that signified a possible nuclear explosion.

"Fuck," swore Rhodes, then turned to Sam. "Bucky did that?"

"Yeah, he came up with a theory before the wedding and made a backup plan," said the shaken Captain America. "He called me on a secure comms just moments ago to tell me that he was right. They had a sorcerer, that Karl Mordo guy that Strange and Wong have been looking for. Bucky's theory was that the sorcerer would turn him and the other enhanced beings, then capture us to turn us as well. That's why Ross opposed the formation of the Avengers. He always wanted us working for him. With all of us under his control ...."

"He could take over the world, turn it all into a kleptocracy," finished Rhodes. "With all of us under his control, Wakanda wouldn't have a chance, even with their technology and the Dora Milaje. That Ghost woman could go in, turn off the shields and it would be the battle of Wakanda all over again, with Ross as the victor, instead of Thanos."

There was a sound of someone crying and both men turned to see Kate Bishop in tears, with Peter trying to comfort her. Thor and Valkyrie's faces were grim, and the big man looked up at them from his seat.

"Buck is in Valhalla now," he stated. "A worthy addition to the great hall of warriors. He was the champion of Midguard. When we return we will drink in his honour."

"Can the quinjet get close enough to take radiation readings?" asked Rhodes. "Is it shielded to keep us safe?"

"Yeah," answered Clint. "I'm pretty sure. You want to, uh, confirm the explosion took out the ship?"

Rhodes nodded. "I want to see it with my own eyes before I report it to the President." He looked at Sam. "You better contact Shuri, tell her what happened."

Sam nodded and sat down. He began to activate the call feature on his suit then broke down and wept. Joaquin put his hand on Sam's back, feeling like he wanted to be sick.

"I can make the call if you want," he offered, wanting to do something.

"No, it's okay," replied Sam, straightening up, and calming himself. "I just needed the moment."

He placed the call and saw by her face that she already knew something had happened. Before he could say anything she spoke.

"Tracey felt his presence while she napped," she said. "He said goodbye before .... She's in shock, and we've given her something to help. Tell me again why he did it, all the details this time."

"He suspected that Ross and Fontaine had engaged the services of a dark sorcerer, one who could turn minds, including ours," said Sam. "He wasn't certain when he asked Rocket to make the bomb but he called me just before he activated it to confirm the sorcerer in question was there. You know that he would have reasoned everything out first and only did it because it was necessary. In his opinion with the enhanced humans they already had and the Avengers all turned, Ross could have successfully taken over Wakanda. He never wanted to see that happen."

"But to kill so many, after he vowed to never kill again," argued Shuri, "and the Racoon making a small nuclear bomb. I know that's what it was as we're getting readouts now for the strength of the explosion. I wouldn't have agreed to give the raccoon the arm if I knew this is what he built."

"Shuri, Bucky only did it because there was no choice," said Sam, gently. "We're going there to confirm it was nuclear and read what the radioactive fallout was but he did specify to Rocket that no sea life be harmed. Hold on and connect to our scans before you decide."

She nodded her head reluctantly and connected to the instruments on the quinjet. As the readings came she looked at Sam with puzzlement.

"No radioactivity, but the strength of the explosion equaled a small nuclear device, a fraction of the intensity of Hiroshima," she said. "No one on or close to that ship above water level would survive but it wasn't nuclear. How did Rocket do it?"

"That's why Bucky asked him," said Sam. "He had the knowledge. Wait a minute, are you seeing this? What the hell is happening? Shuri?"

She was just as perplexed as they watched an unthinkable event happening on the visuals they were getting. Sam and the others got up to see it from the cockpit window as they approached the coordinates, and began to have hope.

He was in Brooklyn, 1928 by the looks of it. Below him he saw the dark-haired boy with blue eyes, tying the shoelaces of the smaller, sickly-looking blond-haired boy. Both of them wore shoes that had seen better days, and their socks weren't that clean. Considering they had just spent the last ten minutes in a scuffle with a couple of bigger boys it was no surprise that they also had blood on their shirts and the smaller boy was bleeding from his nose. Bucky smiled as he saw the smaller boy look up at the other bigger boy, remembering this very moment when he first met Steve.

"We sure showed them, didn't we?" asked the smaller boy breathlessly. "I had them on the ropes but until you came, I didn't know if I could take them on my own."

"You're a punk, kid," said bigger boy. "Whatever made you think you could take on Wally Webster and Vinnie D'Agostino by yourself? You crazy or somethin'?"

"No, I just don't take shit from bullies," sulked the smaller boy. "Tell me that didn't feel good, kickin' their asses. I bet they're runnin' home to their mamas, right now. What's your name, anyway?"

"Bucky, what's yours?"

"Steve, Steven Grant Rogers, if you want to know all of it."

With a sigh Bucky told him his full name. "James Buchanan Barnes, but everyone calls me Bucky. Come on, my ma will clean you up."

He put his hand out to the smaller boy and helped him up. Together they walked out of the alleyway and the scene faded, leaving Bucky in a dark void that should have felt empty but didn't. Instead, it felt full, like something was waiting in the darkness, ready to happen.

"That was the beginning, wasn't it?" said a voice and Bucky turned in the direction of the voice to see Dr. Strange standing beside him. The sorcerer looked at him with compassion. "That was a big sacrifice you made to save the team and Wakanda."

"I did it more for Tracey and my son ... how did I know she's having a boy? She's only a few weeks along."

"At a moment like this time and space do strange things," said the sorcerer. "I was with my predecessor when she experienced a similar moment and we watched a bolt of lightning slowly cross a stormy sky. I learned a lesson that day, one that you already seemed to know." Bucky raised his eyebrows slightly. "It's not about you. You didn't hesitate to make this decision, knowing what was at stake. Regardless of whether it was just for your wife and your son, your choice saved many people, including a whole country."

"It was my time, I guess," said Bucky. "No regrets, except that I won't see him grow up and become a man. Tracey will find love again. She's so full of love that it will touch someone who needs it like I did."

"You're a lucky man," stated Dr. Strange. "If you had to live your life over again and could change one thing, what would it be?"

"Jesus, Stephen, you're asking the former Winter Soldier what he would change?" Bucky gave a short, almost bitter laugh then his face grew soft. "For more time with Tracey and Rebecca. I survived the other stuff, dealt with my issues, helped stop a conspiracy from destroying a country that I owe so much to. But if I could have had more time with them, I would die a happy man."

"Well, let's see if giving you a couple of minutes over can give you more time," said Strange with a confident smile. "I'll be there with you this time. Together, we can probably stop this conspiracy in its tracks."

"Will it change everything, everywhere?" asked Bucky. "I was with Tracey just before and she knows what I did."

"No, I have to limit it to the ship, and everyone who was in the vicinity close enough to the blast to be destroyed," said Strange. "Everywhere else time will continue unchanged. We can go to Wakanda after we secure the ship."

"Before you do," interrupted Bucky, "can you grant me a favour? I would like to see my parents. Never did see them again after I shipped out. It would just be nice to see them from before I fell."

"I can do that," replied the sorcerer and he pulled out the Time Stone, the one he had "found" during his exploration of the multiverse, changing a setting on it and bringing up another vignette in the darkness.

"Bucky!" called his mother from the bottom of the stairs. "Get up son, you're going to be late."

"Aw, Ma, just a few more minutes," came his sleepy voice, muffled as he was still in bed.

"I'll get him up, Ma," volunteered Rebecca, her hair a mess. "He has to do my hair before he leaves for work."

"Go on then," smiled the older woman. "Knock on the door for your dad as well. Like father, like son."

Bucky smiled as he watched Rebecca, all of eight years old, march up the stairs with purpose. She stopped at the door to to his parents bedroom and knocked on it.

"Dad, Ma says it's time to get up," she called out.

"Alright, thank you, darlin'," came the response and she heard him groaning as he got out of their double bed.

With a smile she crept to Bucky's door and listened, hearing nothing. Slowly, she turned the doorknob and crept inside, closing the door behind her. Pulling the desk chair over to beside the bed she stood on it and with a yell launched herself onto her brother. A laugh escaped Bucky's throat as he watched his younger self curl up in self defence from his sister's assault. Then young Bucky grabbed her and tickled her sides until she was screaming with laughter before stopping and looking at her with feigned exasperation.

"Brat," he huffed.

"Sleepyhead," she retorted. "Ma says you have to get up now and you still have to do my hair. You might as well get it done now as Dad is probably already in the bathroom."

"Fine," he answered. "One braid, two, or seven?"

"Two," she said. "Let me get my ribbons and comb."

She jumped off the bed and young Bucky yawned, then smiled at his sister when she returned with her comb and ribbons. Sitting on the desk chair she sat quietly as Bucky stood behind her and combed out her tangles then divided her hair evenly into two sections, then began the braids.

"Are you going dancing tonight?" she asked. "I could polish your shoes for you after I get home from school."

"Probably," replied young Bucky. "A quarter okay?"

"50 cents?" she asked, hopefully. "Izzy Weinstein asked if I wanted to come with her to the movies tomorrow. I want to splurge on some popcorn."

He smirked. "Splurge, is that your new word of the day?"

"It was on our vocabulary test yesterday. Splurge, to indulge oneself extravagantly. I liked it."

"It is a good word," he said as he finished off the first French braid and took the first ribbon from her, winding it around the bottom and tying it off then curling the last couple of inches of hair around his fingers so they looked pretty. "50 cents it is."

Quickly he finished the second braid then went to the bathroom which was now empty. After taking care of things and washing his hands and face he debated about shaving and decided against it, wanting a smoother face for dancing tonight. He would shave after work.

"That was the night Irene Malone and I ... never mind," smiled Bucky, looking at Dr. Strange. "I had a lot of girlfriends. Let's just say it that way."

After dressing in his work clothes and putting his work boots on he headed down the stairs, to the kitchen where his mother had breakfast ready for all of them. It was an ordinary day for the Barnes family as his dad read the morning newspaper, commenting on the news and discussing other things with the whole family. His mom bustled between the table and the coffee pot, continually topping up his father's cup and his own. Rebecca told corny jokes that made them either laugh or groan. As the older Bucky watched he felt that strange feeling in his throat, the one that made him think he was going to cry. Then the vignette faded away and was gone again. He felt good inside, happy to see that day again, just a normal day from 1938.

"Thank you," he said to the sorcerer. "So what do I have to do?"

"Nothing, I'll do it. Just be ready to call the others back to the ship although they may notice the explosion reversing. I'll take care of Mordo. You guys take care of the rest. Remember that Walker is coming in on that helicopter."

"Then Wakanda after?" asked Bucky.

"Yes, I'll set up a portal for you so you can be with Tracey," he said. "I'm sorry I missed the wedding. By all reports it was a good time."

"You're here now," replied the super soldier. "Let's do this."

Strange reset the Time Stone and Bucky watched, fascinated as Dr. Strange wove his hands around it, making it glow. Then they were in the air, travelling towards the explosion that destroyed the ship, only it was reversing itself. When they reached the ship Bucky was repositioned to the moment he fell out of the portal generated by Karl Mordo, except this time he was standing. Dr. Strange stood beside him, watching the other sorcerer with an intense look in his eyes. Activating his comms Bucky called Sam.

"You guys still coming?" he asked. "Could use some help dealing with all the mercenaries on this ship, especially since I'm down an arm."

"Bucky, you're alive?" exclaimed Sam. "How?"

"A certain doctor in possession of a Time Stone," replied Bucky, already assessing the crowd approaching him. "Just get your asses here. Oh, and Walker is mine."

"No arguments about that, we'll be right there."

Seconds later two winged men and a War Machine flew overhead. The first of several mercenaries began firing at Bucky but Dr. Strange put up a force field that deflected the bullets, sending some of them back towards the men who fired them. As Bucky ran forward to engage the closest man the three men in the air began firing at the others who were coming up onto the carrier deck. There were many, leading Bucky to wonder if Ross had hired all the mercenaries in the world for his attempt to take over control of Wakanda's vibranium. A lightning bolt hit the deck, spreading out and scattering many of them but avoiding Bucky as Thor and Valkyrie landed beside him.

"Valhalla couldn't keep you away from the fight, Buck," said Thor, a big grin on his face. "You're too mighty a warrior. You are a worthy man."

Bucky smirked. "I was just given the opportunity for a do over," he said. "But I do like the fight when it's worth it."

Thor clapped him on the back, smiling broadly, then turned and swung Mjolnir at a group of men who rushed towards them. Both he and Valkyrie waded into the melee. The sound of a quinjet landing was followed by the sound of approaching helicopters. Bucky focussed on the helicopter he had jumped from expecting Walker to leave the confines of it early, and he did just that, leaping onto the carrier deck from about 50 feet up. With a grim look on his face Bucky approached him and focused on the man.

"That was quite the party trick," Walker said. "Too bad our sorcerer deposited you on the carrier anyway."

"You missed part of the show, John," replied Bucky as the two men circled each other, both of them shutting out the battle raging around them. "I destroyed the ship, and your helicopter. We both died in the process."

"You're delusional," replied the other man. "Nothing's happened except you're right where we want you."

"Take another look," said Bucky, glancing briefly towards Dr. Strange and Karl Mordo as they also circled each other. "My sorcerer has a Time Stone. He rewound time, just for me, you, and the ship. You'll get to live this time, maybe, but you'll end up in the Raft, like the criminal you really are."

"You have only one arm," laughed Walker. "You think you can defeat me?"

"Well, I held my own training with the Dora Milaje in Wakanda when I only had one arm," replied Bucky, "unlike you."

That did it and Walker made his move, leaping towards Bucky then tackling him. Rolling with him Bucky bent with the impact grabbing one of Walker's arms and twisting it hard enough for the other man to cry out and attempt to pull away. Using that same twisted arm for leverage Bucky swung one leg at Walker's head, connecting and sending him flying into several mercenaries, scattering them like bowling pins. There was the sound of another aircraft approaching and Bucky smiled, recognizing it as coming from Wakanda. Several fighters descended on ropes from openings including two blue clad figures. One of them, carrying a back pack, approached him and the head covering opened, revealing Okoye.

"General, you're joining the fight?" he asked.

"Just Okoye now, Sergeant," she said, scanning the battleground. "It is good to see you alive. We feared the worst."

"I would do it again for Wakanda," he stated. "You don't have a spare arm with you, do you?"

"I took a portal here with your original arm, but it has changed slightly in appearance," she said. "Try not to damage it as its new owner wouldn't be pleased."

"I'll keep that in mind," he replied, watching as she removed the backpack, and pulled his original arm out, now bluer in colour, and the gold portions a deeper hue. Bucky shrugged at the changes.

Expertly she held his limb close so that the socket in his shoulder unit opened, accepting the arm. Once it was locked into place he reset it by swinging it backwards in a full circle. Turning he noticed Walker was slowly getting up from where he kicked him. Behind him he saw Dr. Strange and Mordo grappling with each other as they rose into the sky. Their spells were flying at each other from their hands and he almost wanted to watch them fight instead, thinking it was like seeing Gandalf battle against Saruman in real life. He looked back just in time to be tackled by Walker, stopping their momentum only by dragging his metal hand into the carrier deck and tearing into the metal surface as it slowed them up. The two men traded blows staggering each other but each got up and kept going. Wanting to finish the fight Bucky ran at Walker, flipping his body over him to grasp him from behind. Jumping up high into the air while holding Walker he scrambled to strengthen his position, circling his metal arm around Walker's neck, and putting him into a choke hold. Both men fell back to the carrier deck with Bucky underneath and he wrapped his legs around Walker's immobilizing him while tightening his hold around his adversary's neck. Walker flailed around with his free hand but was losing strength as he struggled against the lack of oxygen. A moment later Peter Parker came over and patted Bucky's arm.

"He's out, I can wrap him so he can't get out," he said. "Cap needs you."

Releasing Walker, he watched as Peter spun out a different web from his usual ones, wrapping Walker as if he were a mummy with only his head uncovered. Nodding his approval Bucky activated his comms.

"Sam, where are you?" he asked.

"Bridge," came the word. "Get up here."

Running towards the tower portion of the carrier deck Bucky didn't take the stairs. Instead he leaped up and climbed to the bridge from the outside, breaking in through the window. He was joined right after by Dr. Strange who had obviously disabled Mordo. When he got up there he wasn't surprised to see Thaddeus Ross holding everyone at bay with a live grenade, the pin already pulled out but his hand holding the lever in place. The man glared at Bucky as he joined Sam and Rhodes who had a bedraggled Fontaine between them. Several men in suits, also looking a bit battered, who he assumed were the financial backers of this operation stood fearfully at the side between Ross and the others, unsure of what to do.

"I see your arm has magically appeared," said Ross, in a low but threatening voice. "Won't protect you from this grenade. You're definitely more trouble than you're worth."

"I tried telling you that," replied Bucky, putting himself in the middle. "Sam, take Fontaine and these misguided financial geniuses off the bridge."

"Anyone tries to leave I'll let go of the grenade and we'll all go up," said Ross. "Even you can't stop the laws of physics."

"He can't but I can," said Strange. "I can open a portal behind you that will suck you into it and deposit you over the ocean before you take another breath."

Bucky put his hand up. "No, we're not going to do that because this man needs to be accountable for everything he's done."

"I've only ever served my country," roared Ross. "Even this is to make sure the United States remains the strongest nation on Earth."

A smirk erupted from behind Bucky and Rhodes stepped forward. "You've always served yourself. We have the files, Ross, and a couple of photographs as well. You were there, in the basement of the Ideal Federal Savings Bank, a guest of Alexander Pierce, as he demonstrated the workings of the memory suppression machine on his Asset, one James Buchanan Barnes, except you didn't know his name then. You coveted that, killers that you could control, that wouldn't question, wouldn't deviate from their orders, and would eliminate anyone who questioned your methods. That's why you wanted Bucky from the moment you recognized him when he reappeared in 2014. You just fooled yourself into thinking he went along with what they did to him because the results were worth it to you."

While Rhodes revealed this bit of information Bucky's demeanour underwent a shift as he focused his gaze on Ross. That man's face set itself in defiance.

"America has been at war for a long time," he stated. "We needed men who delivered results, who would do the job on a regular basis. I'm not going to apologize for the collateral damage. All wars have that."

Bucky's hand went up to the collar of his jacket. Noticing the gesture Sam put his hand on Bucky's shoulder.

"Don't, he's not worth it," he said gently. "He'll be a permanent resident of the Raft, the prison he helped build but we'll make sure he's in a brand new cell."

"He doesn't deserve to live, Sam," snarled Bucky. "I could have been free a lot sooner if not for men like him, men who knew but kept me a prisoner in my own country. He tried to deny me justice, tried to impoverish my sister, take our home, deliberately put my family into danger. I want to kill him, to get satisfaction with my hands around his throat, choking the last miserable breath out of his body."

Ross smiled. "There's the killer. Told you he was still there."

Dr. Strange made a motion with his hands and everyone froze. Only Bucky and Strange were unaffected.

"Now's your chance," he said to Bucky. "Take the grenade and toss it out over the ocean, then come back and get your pound of flesh. I won't stop you. You're right, he deserves to die, and you have every right to be his executioner. Then what? I send you to Wakanda with blood on your hands, to face that gentle woman who loves you, the woman you would die for, that you did die for. What will you tell her? Will you describe the feeling you had as you squeezed the last bit of life of out of him? Will you admit that you liked it, liked the symbolism of killing the man who would have enslaved you, proving his point that you will always be a killer?"

"I am a killer!" yelled Bucky, looking at Strange with a combination of rage and fear on his face. "Look how easily the urge came back when I pressed this button. I don't deserve her love. She's better off without me."

"No, I'm not," said a voice and he turned to see Tracey, standing on the bridge where she had just entered via a portal provided by Wong, who waited uneasily.

"Tracey," whispered Bucky. "Ross is right. Once a killer ...."

She went to him and placed her fingertips on his lips, silencing him. "No, he's so wrong. You did what you had to in World War II because you took responsibility to keep your men safe. What you did today you did to protect a whole country. When you were the Winter Soldier you fought them because you weren't a killer. The lengths they took to force you to comply just meant that they couldn't wipe their hands of you, as they invested so much time and trouble that they had to keep expending that energy on keeping you that way. They spent billions of dollars on you, Bucky. One man, billions of dollars, to keep you compliant."

"I still want to kill him," he admitted.

"So do I," she said. "Does that make me a killer? He tried to rip us apart and he failed because even in death you came to me, to make sure I knew that our child was loved by you, and that I was the centre of your universe. That's the man I want to grow old with. Don't make your sacrifice meaningless because you want to expend any more energy on his worthless soul. He's not even worth a dollar."

She placed her hand on his cheek and caressed it, studying his eyes with hers. Bucky enclosed her in his arms and held her, shaking at how close he came to losing everything for vengeance. She could feel hot tears coming out of his eyes onto her cheeks and pulled back to look at him with all the love in her heart, stroking his wet cheeks with her hands before kissing him softly. Releasing her he went over to Ross and carefully took the grenade out of his hand, then went outside and threw it as far as he could. When it exploded he knew Strange had restarted time. Returning to the bridge he saw Sam had already put cuffs on Ross. His friend turned to him with a puzzled look.

"When did Tracey get here?"

"We'll talk," answered Bucky, opening his arm to hold Tracey against his side. He looked towards the outside. "Do we have control of the ship?"

Strange nodded. "I used some magic while everything was stopped to bind the mercenaries. It's over." He looked at Wong. "Who's minding the store?"

"We have hundreds of sorcerers in our discipline," replied the other man, defensively. "With you holding the Time Stone, it's not like we were a target. I chose to be where I was needed."

"Well, let's send you two back to Wakanda," said Strange, to Bucky and Tracey. "I believe your arm is needed there to fulfill a contract. Before you go, let me get rid of your little collar attachment."

Bucky looked to Sam and Rhodes who both waved their assent to him. Then he turned back to Strange who used magic to gently extract the explosive device from Bucky's collar. Opening a small portal he sent it in there, explaining he sent it to a void. Without further delay he opened a portal to Wakanda, then stepped back to allow Bucky and Tracey to walk through to the other side. After it closed he and Wong both went out to a walkway on the control tower where they watched Karl Mordo, suspended about 100 feet up in a glowing tangle of magic, struggling.

"Sam?" Dr. Strange called back inside the tower. "Do you know if he managed to turn the others that were captured?"

"No, he didn't," replied the winged man, joining him. "Apparently, it was to be done all at once after Bucky arrived and we landed. Ross and Fontaine wanted a big ceremony about it. Why?"

"Mordo tested the process on at least one individual," replied the sorcerer. "I suspected he was involved in all of this. That's why I came back just after Bucky activated the device. I had to make sure it wasn't him who was turned."

"Who was it, then?" asked Sam.

With the look that Dr. Strange and Wong gave him the current Captain America knew who they meant and looked down onto the flight deck to where his immediate predecessor was just coming to, where he was encased like a mummy in a web cocoon.

"Do you know when it was done? Walker asked for help in getting out of his contract with Fontaine but when he went to see Matt Murdock a few days later he had the feeling the man was lying. That's when we figured they weren't going to give up trying to get Bucky."

"I can find out if it's important to you," replied Strange. "Wong and I can undo it. Might be able to help him in a few other areas, like getting him to accept some counselling. He is a super soldier who may have been turned against his will."

Sam sighed. It had been so easy to believe that Walker was always morally corrupt but if he was turned without his consent, then he deserved the same chance that Bucky got. A pardon conditional on him cooperating with the authorities and agreeing to counselling that might help his issues. For now, the immediate task was to get this aircraft carrier back to port, and everyone into custody. Rhodes came out onto the walkway.

"The President is pleased with the results of the first official mission of the reorganized Avengers," he said. "He accepts that our presence is needed to prevent things like this from happening again. He wants to give Bucky the Medal of Honour, for his sacrifice." He looked down at Walker. "I overheard what Dr. Strange said about him. Do you think there's really a good man underneath all that PTSD and misplaced loyalty?"

Sam shrugged. "He did help with the Flag Smashers at the end, without being asked. I think his partner kept his shortcomings in check. Without him he floundered, and both Ross and Fontaine took advantage of that. If he cooperates and agrees to undergo counselling he should get the same chance Bucky got to prove himself. I saw them fighting and Walker seemed to be holding back, a little. Maybe that was his conscience coming through. Or maybe Bucky really is the stronger one."

With a pat on each other's back both men returned to the task at hand. There would be a reckoning for all the participants in this conspiracy. They would both make sure everyone involved in this faced justice in a court of law.

Chapter 22>>

Series Masterlist

Please support the author by reblogging.

[foxwitchaine]

What red flags do you think Adrien has?

First and foremost, Adrien hasn't changed during the series. Like, at all. If this had been any other series with a "Status Quo is God" mentality, I wouldn't be so nitpicky. The problem is we were promised plot all the way back in Season 2. And plot typically involves characters changing, growing, and developing along the way. I know I'm gonna sound like a broken record, but Avatar: The Last Airbender is pretty much the gold standard of what kid's shows nowadays should aspire to be like. The old "it's for kids" excuse is only gonna go so far when we've had gems such as ATLA, the Batman Animated Series, the OG Justice League, the OG Teen Titans, heck even anime like Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z on air. I'm personally not a fan of Dragon Ball Z, but even I can acknowledge what Akira Toriyama accomplished.

Those works also weren't afraid to get dark and scary while still being age-appropriate. Something modern kid's cartoons can all learn from, be it Disney, Cartoon Network, or even Nickelodeon. And something they all have in common? A strong and well-structured plot. Emphasis on "well-structured". I can't claim to know what goes on in the writing room of Miraculous Ladybug, but it's painfully clear hardly anyone knows what they're doing. And it's resulted in the "plot" of the show turning into a tangled tumbleweed drifting across the desert of discarded but better-written ideas.

Whatever the metaphor is, anyway.

Let's continue.

Adrien's second biggest red flag is his continuous defense of characters like Chloe and more recently Lila. I'm admittedly ignoring Season 4 onward because I cannot fathom disrespecting your characters (and audience) so much you turn a kid's show into your own vanity project just to stroke your ego. But that's beside the point.

Adrien has the unfortunate habit of defending problematic people like pre-"redemption" Chloe (I use that word loosely as I'm doing my own Chloe redemption in my fic with Rafe) and Lila. You could argue that it's because of the way his father raised him. But it defeats the whole purpose of Adrien getting to go to school.

School is a place where you learn and grow. And figure out how to deal with unpleasant stuff, such as bullying, incompetent teachers, and apathetic faculty (I'm telling on myself, I just know). The problem is that Adrien, despite all his chances to figure out how to unlearn the behaviors Gabriel instilled in him, has not once made any active attempts to improve himself. Yeah. I know. I may be a little too harsh on him, but that's because I saw potential in Adrien to be much better than he is now. Disregarding the Sentimonster theory being confirmed (again, I'm also ignoring that), Adrien's stagnation is very telling of both the character and the writers. No matter what happens in the show, the universe bends itself backwards to acknowledge his existence. Do you know what that's called in writing?

A Mary Sue. Or, in Adrien's case, a Marty Stu. You could argue that Marinette is a Mary Sue, but she gets torn down so much in the show the argument is pretty much moot.

Do note that this is not aimed to tear down anyone who's written Mary Sues or Marty Stus. I've created several of my own in my early days as a writer. Who hasn't. The thing is, though, as I grew up, so did my characters and my writing.

Adrien hasn't grown up since the start of the show. And that's very telling.

Then there's the third biggest red flag of Adrien: his behavior as Chat Noir. I know it feels unfair to use that against him, but it's been stated multiple times that Chat Noir is, in essence, Adrien's true self without his everyday mask.

If that is who he is without any limits, then I want him as far away from me as possible.

Preferably, with a restraining order.

I have yet to figure out why this keeps happening when Hollywood and other big-name studios write romance — even by female authors and writers — but it has to stop. Men, most sane women prefer it if you accept the first "no" as an answer. That goes for you too, ladies. No, I don't care if this pisses anyone off. I'm an equal-opportunity realist. And I'm gonna say something that will likely have people calling for my head on a pike:

Relationships in general are built on mutual trust and communication. It's hard work maintaining a healthy relationship, it really is. But more often than not, it's one of the most fulfilling things anyone can possibly dream of. No, this doesn't mean everyone is obligated to say yes to romance. There are those who choose to avoid romance altogether.

And that's perfectly fine. I just happen to be a romantic who enjoys romance. That's my personal preference (no, this doesn't mean I like red flags).

The writers of Miraculous Ladybug seem to be under the impression that teenagers should hook up with the first hot person they meet. And that's a very dangerous message to spread. Because what if the first hot person they meet is a domestic abuser? Or worse: a criminal who has no issue using whatever they can to control and dominate their partner.

Adrien — and by proxy, Chat Noir — has displayed behavior that's alarmingly similar to domestic abusers despite his sunshine persona. He's destroyed property because Ladybug told him "no" (Sentibubbler). He set up a date even though Ladybug told him she had plans, then had the audacity to get huffy and upset about it (Glaciator). He's lied to someone about his relationship with her, then blamed her for the resulting akuma.

Note that the last example was from Copycat, a Season 1 episode. Which bears the disturbing implication that this is an ongoing issue, not a one-time problem.

Adrien Agreste had potential to be a great character.

It's too bad the writers have stressed he's too perfect to change.

[blackjackkent]

@lavenderxpetals replied to this post:

Ooo, if you’re still interested, I recently watched https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1nUm9E3Eun4&pp=ygUTZ2FsZSByYXJlIGRpYWxvZ3VlIA%3D%3D and I was super curious as to Gale’s reactions to the other three dialogue options that appear 40 seconds in.

Sure! (Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. :O )

This conversation is part of a much more elaborate dialogue tree in a file called CAMP_Gale_CRD_ROM_BeMyGod; I haven't actually played Gale's romance yet or dug through the whole tree (which seems to reflect all possible outcomes of Gale's ambitions at this stage in his personal quest) but that name seems cute.

The line you asked about specifically is flagged to occur when:

ORI_Gale_Knows_KarsiteWeave - "Gale learned from Mystra that the orb inside him is actually the Karsite Weave"

LOW_StormshoreTabernacle_State_GaleSeeksForgiveness - "Gale goes into Mystra OOM seeking her help or forgiveness"

(I *believe* that OOM stands for "Other Origin Moment", as opposed to AOM, "Avatar Origin Moment". Avatar in this case refers to a Tav or Origin Character under the player's control, vs companion origin character. So in this case, the variable is referring to the scenario where your Tav/player character has told Gale to go in to talk to Mystra and seek forgiveness. I'm not absolutely sure about the "Other" part of OOM, or if that first O stands for something else, so if anyone has a certain answer on this I would love to hear it. :D )

Stepping into this dialogue branch:

GALE: Ah. You're still talking to me then? I wouldn't blame you for giving me a wide berth. I thought the orb's ever-present censure had tamed my wilder ambition, but that wasn't the case. I needed Mystra's intervention. She offered me a path to redemption at last, and it might yet leave my mind and body intact. Please - continue to believe in me. I want to show you the wizard I am capable of being, rather than the poor excuse for a man who's kept you company thus far.

Four options from the player:

PLAYER: I believe in you Gale. Always have, always will. GALE: That's all I ever need to hear. PLAYER: You're willing to give up the chance of unlimited power. I'd say your ambition is under control. GALE: If that's true, it's thanks to you, and the trust you show in me at every turn of this strange adventure of ours. PLAYER: I hope so, because honestly you have been a poor man recently. Especially on the romance front... GALE: I'm sorry. It's not easy living for more than just yourself, when for so long just staying alive was accomplishment enough. PLAYER: You're more to me than magic, Gale. GALE: You stole the words from my mouth.

All of this then leads around to the same node:

GALE: I know what I must do. The Crown belongs under Mystra's stewardship, not mine, and I will ensure she gets it. That means there'll be no permanent place in the heavens for us. But we could still visit.

which then leads into the rest of the boat scene. :)

[shiawasekai]

For Nela!

2. How do they feel about Areelu Vorlesh?

8. What do they desire the most?

26. Did they separate from any companions? Why? (Consider killing a companion too for this question)

Thank you for much for the questions, Dujour!

2. How do they feel about Areelu Vorlesh?

The most vicious and (self-)destructive mix of love and hatred.

Plainly put, Nela herself hates Areelu for taking her entire life. What she did is, emotionally, not different from razing her entire hometown and murdering her family. It's worse in a way, even. Yes, she didn't personally kill them; but Areelu took away her home, her culture, everything she knew and understood from her. Areelu took years of her life, her own self changed irreversibly by aging (both physically and mentally). The world has shifted beyond what Nela can recognize. Her family spent their entire lives thinking she died and she'll never get the chance to correct them. Her parents died thinking she was gone.

Areelu destroyed more than words can express, and Nela understandably despises the woman who did it.

And yet, the experiment was a success. A part of Areelu's child lives within Nela, and that part loves her mother. It disgusts Nela, to feel such a thing for that woman, but she cannot stop it. For two souls that so easily coexist in the diminished state of the child's, that's the one true point of conflict.

Guilt and disgust tend to appear whenever Nela pays these feelings any mind, and the results are never pretty.

8. What they desire the most?

For most of the game? Going back home.

It's impossible, but the desire is made all the stronger because it cannot be fulfilled. There is nowhere to return after the Crusade is over. Everyone else gets to return to their lives before, or set forth to fulfill their dreams. Her dreams, her life before, they're gone.

Moving on feels like a betrayal. Even when Nela starts to build a new life in Mendev, there is the knowledge that this life wouldn't be even possible if she hadn't lost what came before. She wouldn't have met any of them.

I've mentioned it before, but if she was truly forced to choose knowingly between her life before and her life after? For most of the game, she would choose the life before. It would be a hard choice, yes, but one she would take nevertheless. It's one of the reasons it's so hard for her to talk about her issues with others: it means confessing she would abandon them if given the chance. It eats her inside, especially with some of the companions.

Let's leave the romance aside. Saying to Woljif, who considers her after his companion quest his first friend, that she would just leave him behind like that? To Arueshalae, for who she has been such a great support? "Yes, I would leave you to your devices and possibly fail your redemption to have my life back"? Screw your brother, Sosiel. I'm out of here.

It's selfish, it's ugly. She just cannot say it to them. Even when her feelings start to change into something more nuanced, as she grows to love these people, she knows the truth about herself. She knows what she wants most.

26. Did they separate from any companions? Why?

Wenduag dies in Act 3. I had trouble figuring out how Nela would feel about Wenduag for quite long. Nela believes in redemption, but she isn't a fool about it and won't compromise the Crusades for it. Wenduag has obvious reasons to do what she does, you could think there is a chance at redemption. Wouldn't it make sense for Nela to give it to her?

The thing is: Nela despises Wenduag for very personal reasons. In Wenduag, Nela sees who she could have become if she had listened to those darker instincts that one time. If she hadn't pushed back against her fear and decided to risk her life to save those slaves. Sacrificing others without a second thought for power, for knowledge.

Nela cannot believe in Wenduag's redemption, and doesn't want to either. The idea of having her around is simply beyond what she can tolerate anyway, so I won't say it eats at her conscience.

The other companion to "separate," as in die, is Camellia.

This time wasn't out of hate, but it wasn't out of the goodness of her heart either. As I said before, Nela doesn't expect perfect morality from the Crusaders or her companions, to do so would be foolish. What she expects them is to not be an active problem.

After what happens in Act 3, Nela cannot trust Camellia. The waste on resources trying to keep her watched would be ridiculous, and pointless given the mythic powers. It would be an active issue and a constant source of worries. Nela is knowledgeable enough to notice something is off with Camellia's explanation but, even if Mireya were real, Nela would still have no way to ensure Camellia sticks to only pre-approved targets.

In other words, Camellia becomes a liability that only makes her life harder and hinders the Crusade. Nela does wonder sometimes if she did the right thing, if there was an alternative way... but she also knows that Camellia had way too much power for the risk to be worth the potential salvation.

[defira85]

For the new set of Durgetash asks - 10 & 11 if you haven't been asked them already (or feel free to pick another of your choice!)

YES I WAS HOPING FOR 11 that was one of my favourites on the list thank yooooooou lovely 💜 from the new ask meme here

10. The most fucked up thing they did together. The absolute plot, mephista or hall of wonders heist doesn't count.

I have already seen some of the other answers to this in the tag and hoo boy. Also together is the hard part, there were a lot of things they kept hidden from one another either out of discretion for their cult business or out of shame, and I know what Kass' answer would be if it was a separate thing and its bad

Together though... there was that story beat I floated a few weeks back about Kass attending one of his business dinners with rivals and the two of them killing them all one by one around the table while she's dressed like a slutty maid and they fuck on the table etc etc, that one is so hilariously unhinged if only just imaging their terrible acting, it makes me laugh

They also did the experiments mentioned in one of Gortash's in-game notes together, experimenting to see whether the racial background of their victims made a difference in their stamina and longevity and ability to withstand torture

11. What portfolio would they have claimed if they ever got to ascend? Would they simply usurp the current dead three or ascend and claim an unrelated portfolio of their own? What's going on there?

HOW FUNNY THIS QUESTION SHOULD COME UP because those who have read my longfic know that there's a specific point where Ao brings her before a tribunal of the gods, because she's weakened Bhaal to the point where she overpowers him, and Ao says "this can't go on, we literally just did the Second Sundering because of shit like this, you need to either usurp your father and become Murder or you need to surrender what remains of your divinity and become fully human" and Kass does have a long, hard think about whether it wouldn't be better for everyone if she killed Bhaal

(and it's possible that I have an absolutely BEAUTIFUL commission in the works from @lokorum featuring Kassara Bhaal, God of Murder, in her bad ending)

Redeemed Kass would have become the Goddess of Grace. The Lady of Second Chances. Guardian of those looking for a fresh start and redemption.

Enver is SO MUCH HARDER because I don't think tyranny is quite right for him, I don't think he'd slot exactly into Bane's place the way Kass would with Bhaal. He's not quite vengeance, he's not quite mockery... I want to say he'd be like the dark mirror to Gond. Gond stifles a lot of progress for the betterment of the realms (like how E.G. said that anyone isekai-ed into the Forgotten Realms would find their mobile phones exploding, or how he's tried to suppress the discovery of gunpowder) whereas I can see God Enver pushing progress at the EXPENSE of the realms... is it capitalism? Is Enver the god of capitalism? God, what an asshole. Why do I love him.

Redeemed Enver is the god of Wife-Guys