#what do you mean the integral is the sum of??? this was not how it was taught at french bac or uni undergrad w.h.a.t

[kquil]

POLY MARAUDERS | HEROES IN TATTOOS PRT.8

08 : TONIGHT

CHPT. SUM. : you finally get to call them yours and they finally get to call you theirs and it's amazing! but something's missing...and it absolutely has something to do with the ache between your legs! 

LENGTH : 6.1k

TAGS. : very suggestive chapter ; boys and reader being horny for each other ; but do we blame them? no. we. don't! ; james being a pest ; sirius being a hot biker ; remus being a gentleman ; reader being a brat ; remus not being a gentleman anymore ; prologue to nsfw chapter

← PREV. : 07 | APOLOGIES & COMFORT | SERIES M.LIST

You don’t know what you expected when the boys slowly began integrating you into their already-established relationship. In the beginning, you were worried about feeling like an outsider. From what they’ve shared with you, the boys have been best friends since their secondary school years, meaning that their history with each other was deeply rooted and you were intimidated, to say the least. You’re just a simple girl they helped protect from a creep a year or so ago. You couldn’t possibly stack up to the type of love they have with each other.

This was a reasonable insecurity to have, the boys understood that and were always there to reassure you of its negligible influence. And when their words weren’t enough, they happily showered you in affection, from loving kisses to warm embraces. They flirted shamelessly, left lingering touches scorched along your exposed skin and pulled you into kisses that ranged from feather-light to deeply passionate, they were eager to kiss and squeeze that vulnerability away until it no longer remained in your beautiful eyes. And you appreciate them so much for their efforts.

Not a second goes by when you don’t feel loved by them, or underappreciated. The love you reciprocated, although much softer and, somewhat, apprehensive, always made them melt into your arms. It was quite the trial considering how much bigger these men were compared to you. But you didn’t mind. Their warmth and weight against you only reinforced the realness of the situation, your situation, your relationship.

This was a dream come true – the best-case scenario for the mounting love you were amassing for each of the three tattooed and pierced men working at the parlour. If you told yourself this would be the outcome months ago, you wouldn’t have believed your ears.

“You’ve got that starry look in your eyes again, dollface,” Sirius chuckles as he presses a loving kiss to your fluttering eyelids, “what are you thinking? Hmmm?” The tattooist currently had you in his lap, disregarding the clock face on the wall. He was supposed to be preparing for a client who would be arriving soon but, instead of being a responsible tattooist, he had himself preoccupied with you.

“Sirius, you’ve got a client coming soon,” you pout, appearing more stressed over his appointment than he is.

As dramatic as always, Sirius put on a big show of missing you, his arms flailing about with his voice fluctuating in his theatrics, “But I’m feeling very deficient in vitamin ‘you’, sweetheart! I need to get my necessary second dose,” you roll your eyes at his playfulness and quietly argue about how this wasn’t his second dose.

“Rather, it’s been your fourth or fifth dose already,” giggling, you endeavour to kiss his pout away before trying to leave so he could have the time to prepare for his appointment while you caught up on your university assignments. Next thing you know, he has you nestled into his lap with your coursework papers set aside and your laptop closed shut. All your attention needed to be on him; he wanted it all.

“We have eight minutes,” he wagered deviously.

You’ve come to find out that Sirius was pretty spoiled when it came to affection. The distinction becomes even more apparent when you compare him to Remus and James. Thankfully, that translated into Sirius happily initiating affection as much as he pleads for it. He’s just this handsome, broad man with the most beautiful grin and the prettiest grey eyes separated by his perfect nose – he’s irresistible, really. And you know that he knows it too; all he has to do is pull those puppy-dog eyes and he gets anything and everything he wants. It’s almost frustrating how he wins your favour each time but you never regret giving into him.

No. Never for Sirius.

…Or Remus. Or James. God, you love these men so damn much!

“Doll?” he tilts his head adorably, a habit he’s picked up from the personified golden retriever himself – James.

“It’s nothing,” you hum, combing your fingers through his hair and pressing a kiss to his slightly scratchy jaw. His stubble was growing out ever so slightly and began to cast a light shadow across the lower half of his handsome face.

“Can’t be nothing,” he protests, delivering a loving nuzzle into the crown of your hair, “are you falling for me?~ Tell me the truth, beautiful girl,” he’s as playful as ever, an expert in heating up your cheeks for his own entertainment, “I know you’re shy but you’re also very honest, hmm?” you don’t respond and keep your focus trained on the rose tattoo creeping up his neck, with its expertly shaded thorns and petals. “I might just give you a reward if you’re honest with me,”

With a small smile, you peek up at him from beneath your lashes. The shadows they cast over your vision distract from the obvious pink hue exploding across his cheeks as soon as he catches your gaze, god! Could you get any more beautiful? You need to stop looking at him like that but also, please keep looking at him and never look away again! “I’ve already fallen for you, Sirius Black,”

Sirius’ jaw goes slack as his playful demeanour collapses under you. The prettiest smile he’s ever seen stretches across your plump lips, so kissable and laced with a shy playfulness he’s fallen in love with.

You drive him absolutely mad…

… and he loves it!

James adores scooping you up into his arms. Not only is your resounding squeal the most adorable thing he’s ever heard but he just cherishes the feel of you tucked up in his embrace. For the first time, he fully understands the expression of describing one’s significant other as their whole world. Because when he has you giggling in his arms, clinging to his neck and nuzzling your face into the space under his jaw, James feels as though he’s got the entire world in his arms – he can accomplish anything and everything he sets his mind to. With you in his arms, he’s invincible; there’s a power that surges through him, a little like adrenaline but not quite so. It’s more powerful. He doesn't know what it is or how exactly to articulate its distinctions but he feels its fullness and capabilities like no other. He is the ruler of an empire, a conqueror with his perfect queen ruling beside him.

He is the leading character of a poignant Shakespearean play with you as his equally established partner. He is one half of a star and you are the other. Each is a ridiculous example but each also feels so fitting.

Of course… Only you could have ignited such an unfounded emotion within him.

“You feel it too, right Moony?” James whispers whilst he and the tall body piercer observe your happy movements gracefully puttering about their upstairs office, organising stacks of paperwork for them.

“Love?” Remus asks. It should be the obvious answer – you’re the protagonist of their conversation after all – but astute to James’ unique expressions for the natural and mundane, the brunette knows it’s going to be one of those times when James strongly feels a certain way and finds it hard to put into words. It makes Remus smile knowing that it’s about you – it’s surely something he can sympathise with James on.

“I guess but… it's different, somehow,” he doesn’t quite know how to articulate it, he just feels it. In his chest, in his fingertips, in his throat, in his stomach, even in his toes – he feels it everywhere. How could he not? Just looking at you, James can already justify that what he was feeling was perfectly admissible, whether he could put it into words or not. What he feels is true, it’s real and it gets stronger (almost achingly so) whenever he looks at you. The apple of his eye… never had an expression fit so well.

“I understand,” Remus voices after a deep, rumbling hum. His gaze soon turns to the tattoo artist beside him, fond eyes softening and stepping much closer to him, “I feel it too — for her and you, and Sirius,”

“That’s a given,” James grins boyishly up at his best friend and precious lover before he’s pulled into a loving kiss.

Tucking your chin a little over your shoulder, you glimpse the inviting image of your two lovers locking lips. It was heartening to see that their love for one another hadn’t changed because of your recent entanglement with them too. There was always a little corner of worry in your heart for potentially breaking their bond due to your interference.

The last time you let that same emotion control you, the aftereffects were explosive and unnecessarily wounding to all parties so you keep the emotion in check often, the boys too. But there was no complete dismissal of it. As much as you adore the boys and their love for you, you also adore their love for each other. It was incredibly inspiring to see what they had built together. Their parlour, their love, their quaint, shared flat.

But now, you also had the privilege of seeing them share more intimate acts of love and it was leading to a bad habit, a bad staring habit. So much so that you didn’t notice the two breaking away from each other until their devious smirks were solely directed at you.

“Care to join us, my dear?” Remus calls his voice like a hypnotising whisper, pulling invisible strings to shift your feet forward and lure you in. In no time at all, you’re close enough for the two to lock you between their strong, tattooed arms and finally launch their attack. You’re not complaining.

You’re so grateful to be able to join in their love and be with them like this. And you’re curious about what the four of you would end up building together one day. Rather than a small flat, maybe a house? A family? With kids? Fur-babies? A cat or dog? Maybe both? Regardless, one promise was absolutely certain: a happy life that’s bursting at the seams with love – it was a very compelling thought.

Finally winding down for the night, you separate from the boys and remain tucked away in their neatly prepared spare bedroom. James and Sirius were proud to announce that they had tidied the place up for you; Remus would have contributed as well if it weren’t for him being the main man who handled the paperwork for the parlour.

You thanked the two for their thoughtfulness with a kiss but also kissed Remus for his hard work in ‘keeping their business alive’. It was a cheeky remark but one that got an adorable pout from James and Sirius along with a well-humoured laugh from the tall brunette himself. There was a love in his eyes that made you weak in the knees, his chocolate pools staring down at you, threatening to drown you in their warmth, his fingers ghosting the skin of your chin and ever so gently tilting your face to admire your features better. He moved as if he were propping up a delicate art piece, not wanting to press too harshly but enough to warrant a sensitive and lingering touch.

“You spoil us,” he utters as a heat blooms across your cheeks and a small peep pushes past your lips. Mistaking your incoherent squeak for verbal thought, Remus bends down at the waist with curious and furrowed brows, “What was that, my dear?” James and Sirius lightly snicker to themselves from the interaction. You would have scolded them for their childish behaviour if Remus didn’t have you melting into a puddle from doing absolutely nothing!

“I-It’s nothing, Rem,” thankfully, he didn’t need much convincing. Having him that close was intimidating – you just can’t believe that this beautiful, soft-spoken, loving and gentle giant of a man is yours.

The boys had allowed you to use the bathroom first and followed after you for their night routine. From where you sat at the vanity, you often catch yourself smiling and sometimes even giggling when you hear their antics echoing through the hallway. It was all very amusing and you had to bite your lip when thoughts of normalising this scenario into a nightly routine materialised in your head. It was still early on in your otherwise unconventional relationship and you didn’t want to risk anything. An eagerness for more was healthy but over-eagerness wouldn’t be worth potentially commencing an accelerated rate of negative interactions.

Going through your nightly skincare, you hum a soft tune to yourself. It felt like you were at your own flat, getting ready for bed as if it was any other night and the familiarity was surprising. You didn’t feel out of place at all despite the new environment. Although, you wouldn't expect anything less from your boys. They really knew how to make you feel welcome. At least you know that you’ll be sleeping restfully tonight.

“Almost ready for bed, Angel?” James’ sudden appearance in the doorway makes you tense before playfully pouting at him, especially when he has the gall to giggle at your startled reaction, “Awww~ don’t be like that, love~” he coos, walking up to stand behind your seated form. He, too, bends at the waist to kiss behind your ear and trail loving pecks down your neck to the slopes of your shoulder.

“My night routine is meant to be relaxing, Jamie,” you huff but he can hear the smile in your voice and looks up with his beautiful eyes, meeting your gaze in the vanity mirror. Slowly, he pulls his lips away from your exposed shoulder.

With a devilish smirk, he brings his lips to your ear and whispers, “I can help you with that…” You feel his feathery touch tracing the curves of your waist, coming up from your hips, “Relaxing, I mean~”

“James!”

He throws his head back with a laugh that makes his shoulders shake and his pretty curls bounce ever so slightly. He’s risen to his full height now and resists the urge to caress the skin of your cheek, respectful of your freshly applied skincare — he’s had to put up with Sirius’ grumbles and whines after mistakenly kissing his still dewy, moisturised cheek on previous nights. And James wouldn’t want to ruin your first night here like that. He’s no amateur. Instead, James concedes to caressing your hair and placing a loving kiss onto your crown. He loves the combined smell of your hair products and natural scent. It’s solely you; a fragrance that could never be contained in a bottle, which is, both, a pity and a relief. A pity that he can’t carry a small bottle around whenever he’s missing you horribly bad. But a relief that something so intimate about you couldn’t be shared beyond him, Sirius and Remus. James would rather set the world ablaze before that ever came to fruition.

“Alright, my love, I’ll leave you be…” you begin to sigh in relief until, “-for now~”

“James!” you giggle sweetly, and he joins you not too long after, “You’re such a pest!”

He cackles adorably as he walks back to the door, making his exit swift and injury-free – he, just barely, evades your swatting hands. The two of you gradually allow your shared merriment to fade into a comfortable silence. You return to completing your skincare routine while James remains at the doorway.

From afar, the tattooist quietly admires your figure, elegant and so… so girly as you go through your nightly regime. It wasn’t a bad thing seeing your femininity shine through was refreshing. Sure, Sirius partook in the same self-care religiously, at the start of every day and the beginning of every night but you, with your cosy pyjamas, fuzzy slippers, panda ears headband and prettily laid out products, have James bewitched; entranced in the most blissful way. He likes seeing and observing you like this. So comfortable that there isn’t a single change in your routine; so comfortable that you’re humming to yourself; so comfortable that you look like you belong here. Truthfully, he’s wanted to ask you to move in for quite some time now but understands the importance of going at a steady pace and one that everyone agrees on.

You all finally have each other to call your own, that’s what truly mattered at the end of the day. So he holds himself back.

The routine you have is quite thorough so you’re not one to exclude your neck area or chest. As you adjust your clothes to prep your neck and chest area, James glimpses more and more of your skin each time. Naturally, his cheeks colour a soft pink while his thoughts are gradually consumed by all the things he wants to do to you — bending you over every piece of furniture in the flat, not discounting the walls or the carpeted floor, even atop and inside his beloved car. Every hot and crude detail is uncensored, the images that flash in his head are dangerously explicit and encompass you wholely. Your pleasure is his top priority. He’ll have you moaning in his ear, panting for breath as he goes faster, harder, whatever you want, as long as you keep singing for him. Singing until you’re screaming and reaching your peak over and over and over—

“The door locks, y’know,” James mentions casually, not surprising you as much this time. Although his random comment does make you raise a brow.

“Oh?” you apply your berry-flavoured lip mask and smile at him through the mirror with a hint of curiosity, “Okay, thank you for telling me, Jamie,” it still wasn’t clear to you what he was trying to get at with his casual but warning remark.

“Are you going to lock it for the night?” his question makes you stop for a moment, what was he trying to say? “I think you should lock it, angel… you don’t want any surprise visitors — it’s hard resisting you this long,” he had a teasing smile on his lips but there was a dark look in his eyes that made you shudder. That’s what he meant…

“A-alright,”

He pauses, appearing to contemplate something as he leans forward but ultimately decides against his earlier intentions and straightens his posture accordingly, “that’s my good girl,” you watch his sly smirk disappear from the vanity mirror. It takes you a few moments longer to return to your skincare routine.

Sirius smirks at you with an amused glint in his eye, “do you want to sit on it?” he asks, his big hand gently patting the seat of his bike. Being able to see right through you and read your inner thoughts was one of Sirius’ many talents. It amazed you but also made your cheeks flush in embarrassment. Were you really that transparent and readable? To Sirius, you were, but that’s only because he’s grown to have a keen eye for you and your little quirks; he finds them adorable and adores being able to read your thoughts, so that he knows he’s catering to you well.

Your hesitation is obvious. It’s not like you haven’t ridden on his motorbike before; you’ve ridden on it plenty of times. However, it was usually with you seated behind Sirius. For a while, you contemplated whether or not it would feel different to be the actual biker. You didn’t know how to ride a motorbike so you were secretly hoping that Sirius would allow you to hop on after he did his routine motorbike maintenance. It was common to do these checks and services every 6 months, but because Sirius used his motorbike so often, he tracked the regular services based on the miles he covered. He’s already crossed 4000 miles so his bike was due for some maintenance already.

“Are you sure?” you ask in a voice that’s so soft and sweet, Sirius can’t help but temper his smirk into a warm smile.

“It’s safe, sweetheart, and I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t okay with it,” the bright grin you gifted him made Sirius question why he hadn’t thought to make such an offer sooner. It was clear that you were interested in his bike but he didn’t know whether or not he was deciphering your intentions correctly, until now. With a skip in your step, you make your way over as Sirius chuckles to himself.

You’re just too cute~

“Thank you, Siri,” you reach up to cup his jaw and gently guide him down to press a loving kiss against his cheek.

“Anything for you, Doll,” he kisses your cheek as well, just before you get the chance to pull too far away from him. Sirius then guides you onto his motorbike, offering to stabilise you with his hands on your hips as you get settled on the seat. With his strength alone, he takes the bike off his kickstand and straightens it from the back so that you can experience what it’s really like without the bike being slanted to the side. The tattooist is much taller than you and so you aren’t able to fully flatfoot your feet, instead your toes barely brush the ground. Seeing that you’re able to just swing your feet back and forth, a quiet giggle escapes you – music to Sirius’ ears.

“This is fun!” you cheer softly, still quite shy as you glance over your shoulder with a flutter of your lashes, meeting eyes with the inked-up biker, who was grinning brightly at you. His strong arms are on full display, tattoos and all, as he holds the bike straight and steady from behind. He’s dressed in a simple black tank top and loose grey joggers. It’s a style that James often wears around their flat but you’re not surprised that Sirius was able to pull off the look too. With a face like his, you can easily determine that he’d suit any style he tries on.

“Why don’t you try pretending you’re actually riding it by grabbing onto the handles,” he encourages, excited. Having James, Remus and you as his loves were heaven on earth, but being able to share one of his favourite hobbies and his beloved motorbike fostered a different kind of haven in his heart. It’s overflowing and shows easily in his voice.

“Okay!” eagerly, you lean forward to grasp onto the handles and, with a feverish buzz, pretend you’re actually riding the bike out on the road. From backpacking behind Sirius so often, imagining the shift in positions and being the actual biker was quite easy. What a thrill! No wonder Sirius makes up any excuse to be out on his bike.

Yes, you’re still stationary but it’s just too easy to imagine everything, from the wind in your hair to the adrenaline pumping through your veins, encouraged by the rapidly passing views on either side of you. A view of the seaside at sunset is very appealing but winding country roads also offer great scenery. You can hear your heartbeat rising to match your vision and you have to bite your lip to contain an elated laugh. There’s no need to embarrass yourself even more, especially with Sirius behind you.

So stuck in your pretending, you miss Sirius’ partially restrained groan of frustration from behind your leant-over figure, “Fuck. Me…” he has the perfect view of your ass. And when you’re bent over his bike like this, his joggers tighten up around his crotch alarmingly fast. Never mind that the joggers were already very loose-fitting, he can’t help himself when you’re offering him such a spectacular view. And to have it be on top of his motorbike too…

The things you do to him… the things he would do to you.

Suppressing another groan, Sirius hurries to free his kickstand and lean his bike over before you realise what’s happening. It takes a lot of strength and agility but his focus has narrowly concentrated on you and nothing was going to get in his way. He has to resist going all the way – for now – but that doesn’t mean resigning himself to zero contact at all.

“Siri–?!” you squeal in surprise when he lifts you off his bike and positions you in a way that forces your legs to wrap around his hips from fear of falling, while his arms circle your hips, “what’s this all about?” you give an adorable tilt of your head as you look down at him, perched a little higher on his torso so that your hands could place themselves on his sturdy shoulders while his arm provides a sort of seat for you underneath.

“I’ll show you what this is about,” his voice is several octaves lower, barely recognisable from where they resonate at the far back of his throat. His big hands grab the globes of your ass and lower you down from your upper perch so that he grinds your covered pussy lips against his erect cock. Even through the fabric of his joggers, the sheer size of him is obvious and it’s mortifying how wet you get. He keeps you pressed against him as he swallows your shocked gasp, prying your lips apart with his tongue so he can explore your sweet mouth.

“...you can’t be showing your perfect ass like that – so pretty on top of my bike – without facing the consequences, dollface,”

“But!” you manage to protest between his eager lips, “but you said–!”

“I know what I said,” he bites at your lower lips and grinds against you, “I guess we’re both at fault that I’m like this right now, huh, baby?” he pulls away to suck and nibble on your neck, loving the moans he draws from you, “Nothing a little loving can’t fix, right?”

He won’t go too far… just a little grinding here and there while he devours your pretty little mouth. That’s all he’s asking for. And, being the lovely, kind princess that you are, of course, you oblige him.

“A-alright…” you conceded, finally trying to match his level of eagerness when his lips connected with yours once more.

“That’s my girl~”

The initial week everything came to a head, where all was revealed and you ended up spending the night at the boys’ flat, only for disaster to hit in the form of your period the next day was weeks behind you now. You're surprised that a week after that – when you had finally gotten off your dreaded period – Remus didn’t pounce on you. Nor did James. Or Sirius. Now an entire month has passed and still nothing. James and Sirius have been more impassioned than Remus but it appears as though they’re more united than ever on the simple fact of ‘going easy’ on you.

The tall brunette insinuated such provocative things that night. Thinking back to that moment makes butterflies explode in your stomach, all while a ravenous heat spreads chaotically throughout your body. That same heat then stubbornly settles between your legs and in your lower belly. You’re ashamed to admit that you were really looking forward to what Remus planned on doing to you…

But now he’s being the perfect gentleman again and you don’t know what to do!

You love how gentlemanly he is, kissing you sweetly on the cheek, whispering loving, poetic words only for you to hear, listening to anything and everything you wanted to say with the utmost attention and interest, pulling doors open for you, doing little favours that made your days go by smoother and so much more. It felt incredibly unreasonable to complain when there was nothing to complain about! Though… were you really complaining? If you think about it, all you would be doing is expressing your opinion and providing some constructive criticism for what you want out of the relationship – there’s nothing wrong with that, is there?

When you officially became theirs and them, yours, it was established and emphasised heavily by Remus, himself, that communication was key to having a successful and loving relationship. If something was wrong, you could go to them without any hesitation; they promised to never disregard your worries or dismiss them apathetically. And you made the same promise to them, in return. If they were ever feeling insecure about something in the relationship then they could communicate any concerns they have to you without feeling an ounce of fear. By verbalising your, somewhat, embarrassing internal torment, you’d be keeping your promise and prioritising communication — just like you all promised each other!

So you have nothing to worry about…

It’s just a little hard to verbalise that’s all…

…maybe you should wait until after dinner tonight? Remus looks a little busy right now…

“Don’t look at me with those eyes, pretty girl,” Remus’ low, bordering seductive, voice tenses your nerves, pulling a lazy chuckle from the back of his throat at the adorable sight of your surprise, “you’re distracting me,” he emphasises his statement with the tap of his pen onto the papers laid out before him. Despite his comment, however, he doesn’t sound angry and he’s not frowning either. Instead, Remus has his chin in the palm of his hand and tilts his head at you, smiling fondly at your visage.

“You look like you don’t mind it,” you shot back, voice shy but quippy, parallel to the defiant folding of your arms.

Remus throws his head back with a laugh before shaking his head at you. His smile widens and he bites his lower lip to force it down just a little bit. As you put on a playful pout, your earlier thoughts slipping from your mind, the tattooed body piercer rolls over to you on his wheeled office chair.

Reaching you in a few long strides, knee to knee, he disregards your sassy comment and simply asks, “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

A heat crawls up your neck and settles on the apples of your cheeks as your earlier contemplations return. It’s a little hard to muster up your courage to speak right now. And, conveniently, the carpeted floors look very interesting all of a sudden.

“I-It was nothing,” you unfold your arms and fidget with the hem of your pleated skirt; your gaze still fixed onto the office’s dark grey carpet.

He quirks a brow but doesn’t say anything despite the question evident in his chocolate-brown eyes. His gaze holds onto your own, the small smile on his lips calming your earlier taut nerves. In your peripheral, Remus slides his fingertips over the skin of your thighs, his movement careful and feathery until he hears you suck in a sharp breath. As soon as your eyes widen, shocked by his unexpected touch and you release a sharp gasp, Remus throws all care out the window. He proceeds to slide his grip under your thighs and, hoists you up and over to sit on his lap. Thankfully his office chair doesn’t have any armrests so he’s able to comfortably seat you there, pretty as can be.

“You’re sure you can’t tell me?” he asks in a murmur, muffled by the skin of your temple as he presses a soft kiss there.

“It’s really nothing!” you squeak, avoiding his eyes and missing his fond smile as he watches you fumbling with your hands. He keeps you perfectly seated on his lap from where he firmly grips your outer thighs. Your skin is so soft and smooth with the perfect amount of fluff, to fill it in – he loves all of you but if he had to choose, he’d say your thighs were his favourite feature.

“You can be honest with me,” you don’t answer, tucking your flustered face into the crook of his neck instead. Fondly, he begins to caress the back of your head with one hand, the other still on your thigh. He lowers his voice into a quiet murmur so only you can hear, “Why don’t you whisper it to me instead?”

Funnily enough, his suggestion, no matter how simple, was convincing. It was meant for his ears only and you didn’t want to risk anyone else hearing your inner thoughts out loud. Also, the idea of whispering your carnal contemplations felt… safer somehow. Intimate too but you ran with it, your thoughts begging to be released.

Leaning up, you place one hand on his broad chest, the other on his shoulder so as to position your lips beside his ear with enough stability, “I was just thinking about…umm,”

“Hmm?...” you feel his thumbs caressing the skin of your thighs — a comforting gesture that you feel embarrassed for being unsuited to your pending admission.

“About you…”

Something flashes in his eyes, “...What about me, my love?” he hopes to god he hasn’t upset you.

You pause to muster up enough courage, “...about what you said you would do to me that night…” Hopefully, he knows what you’re referring to because you don’t think you’ll be able to articulate his exact words or the entire situation properly. You’re already far too sheepish.

Holding your breath, you wait for some sort of reaction, maybe a spoken word? Something… But Remus’ lips are sealed shut and there’s only silence. Your heart hammers in your ears as you slowly pull away from the safety of your lover’s neck and peek up to gauge his reaction, only to find that his face shows no emotion at all. You’re tempted to whisper his name, a soft prompt and an indirect request for some sort of answer when he’s suddenly pulling you into a deep kiss. One hand cups your jaw as the other explores your curves. His movement and the feeling he imbues in the kiss – all of it points to an impatience and a vicious need, the need to have you in every way possible.

Remus explores the lines of your shape but makes a small sound of displeasure when his hands are unable to sneak up the AC/DC graphic shirt you stole from Sirius as it’s tucked into your pleated skirt. Quickly, he moves his large hands back to your exposed thighs. You hold your breath as you feel his warm touch move up your warm skin, far enough to sneak past the hem of your pleated skirt.

“Please…” Remus relishes in the moan that parts your delicious, bruised lips, “I can take it! Please please please,” you gasp and pant, your shaking voice emphasising your desperation for more. You’ve waited so long, you’ve been so patient, you’re ready for this! The feel of his lips against your skin is addictive but your addiction is insatiable from that alone and you beg for more.

“Are you sure about that?” Remus’ lips make it to the shell of your ear, where his husky voice whispers as he grabs at your ass. With his hands full of you, he pulls you in to grind his bulging hardness against your puffy, lower lips and dampening panties. He relishes in the moans that you can’t contain behind trembling, kiss-bitten lips and smirks when he hears the click of the office door opening.

“She’s ready for us then?” James asks, the smirk on his lips obvious through the smug tone of his voice.

“It’s about damn time,”

Remus smiles as you tuck your flustered face into the crook of his neck and gives your ass a reassuring squeeze beneath your skirt, “Tonight, sweetheart,”

You pout at his remark and pull away with a huff, “No!” you protest defiantly, “Now!” You’re tired of waiting! And what’s the use of their upstairs, private office space if you can’t do private things in it?

“Don’t be a brat, dove,” Remus warns, the usual warmth leaving his eyes as Sirius and James step into the room and close the door behind them but don’t step an inch closer.

“But I’ve waited so long, please Rem, I promise I can take it—” you squeal loudly when a harsh slap hits your ass. So caught up in your needs, you completely missed how Remus used one hand to lift your skirt while his other prepared to deliver penance.

“Rem–!” ignoring your whining, he sits down to bend you over his lap and continues beating your ass despite your shrieks of pain. It wasn’t until you were a whimpering tearful mess that Remus finally relented, his big hand returning to their gentle touches as he comfortingly palms your sore ass. He’s sorry. But you were being a brat.

“Brats don’t deserve to get what they want, even if they say please, do I make myself clear?”

Unable to vocalise properly through your tears and pitiful whimpers, you simply nod your head but squealed when Remus cupped your tender asscheek and gave it a firm squeeze of displeasure, “Y-yes sir,”

“Good girl,” Remus hums softly,

NAVI. | SERIES M.LIST | NEXT : 09 | THE NIGHT... →

A/N : next chapter will be where everything goes down my loves! i hope you're prepared and i'm sorry for making you all wait this long; what can i say? i love a good slow burn smut hehe~

again, i'd like to remind everyone that i have discontinued all my taglists but made a side account for you to follow so you can be notified whenever i post something new, just turn on notifications @thekqipond

please like, comment and reblog to show your support, i'd really appreciate it! property of kquil ; all written content is mine and no one else's unless stated otherwise ; do not steal, plagiarise, modify or translate to other sites

[fateandloveentwined]

wuxia and confucianism

Hey. Thought I'd answer the wuxia-confucian question very briefly. I did suggest wuxia being closely knitted to confucianism, but I do understand the other perspective of wuxia being anti-confucian. Quick answer only because I've got little time right now -- might add on to it later!!

confucianism

First the central themes of confucianism:

常 (cháng): Virtues of compassion and courtesy. 仁 (rén)、义 (yì)、礼 (lǐ)、智 (zhì)、信 (xìn)、忠 (zhōng)、孝 (xiào)、悌 (tì) (there are more). These in order in crude translation mean compassion, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom, integrity, loyalty, filial piety, and respect to one's older siblings. These are the main ideas Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, wished to spread through his philosophy.

纲 (gāng): Order. This is about the relationships between people, the filial piety of child to their parents, the relationship between significant others, between friends and teachers, and expanding outwards in the sphere of influence in our circle of life, the patriotism and loyalty of a liege to his lord.

Understand that Confucius came up with these ideas in a time of war. He lived his life traversing different kingdoms and establishing his prominence by getting emperors to trust him as a consultant and employ his school of ideas. As such, these beliefs are very much centred around creating harmony and order in society, and of course entails the respect of commoners and lieges to their lords (because why else would kings employ his beliefs over other schools of philosophy if not so?).

wuxia

Moving on to the wuxia genre, the 侠 (xiá) in wuxia emphasises righteousness. xia, as people, are itinerants and rebels in the fictitious pugilistic society who tire of the power of the aristocracy and seek to use their own, often unlawful ways, to help others through 锄强扶弱 (chú qiáng fú ruò) -- helping the needy and going against the strong (the morals are debatable but that's me trying to sum up wuxia in 5 minutes off the top of my head rip).

conclusions

So I guess that's enough information for you to form your own conclusions, and here's what I think, at the very least.

Against Confucianism -- Subverting the power pyramid. Many of the heroes/xia's in wuxia are lawless rebels. They aren't good, upstanding citizens of the society. Hell, xia was first popularised from 游侠列传 (yóu xiá liè zhuàn) in the Han dynasty records, talking about how a "xia" went against the officials and helped the commoners in the name of righteousness. This goes against the confucian beliefs of respecting your lord and serving the kingdom.* That's why I can understand why some would consider wuxia going against confucianism.

Align with Confucianism -- Righteousness. Ultimately, however, wuxia is about righteousness and nobility and honour, defined by society and commoners and not by royal blood. These values of etiquette, decorum, and nobility were long ingrained in the hearts of all these chinese characters, from when the courtesy and etiquette rules were defined in the Zhou dynasty, and afterwards, from the Han dynasty on, when emperors heavily employed Confucian beliefs in education and throughout society because it helps in rebuilding a harmonious society.

Confucianism is about compassion and righteousness, the staples permeating and defining chinese culture in the last two thousand years, and it is these values that serve as the central impetus of the xia and wuxia genres. People are born into these values; as such they fight against the injustice they see, and thus engenders the lost xia's of every dynasty.

*And well, even Confucius wasn't that dead set on fealty to lords. Confucian highly venerated loyalty, but when the court is corrupt, they acknowledge insurgence over the mindless following of an emperor. This is a story for another day, one I would have to back up with more quotes and citations, but I hope this answered your questions, or even better, let you form some conclusions of your own :)

Confucian philosophy is only one aspect that has correlations/influences over the "xia" genre, there are many other interesting things to say about Taoism and Buddhism as well (e.g. Jin Yong's wuxia classics have quite a bit of Buddhist values in the characters owing to author preferences), it's definitely worth looking up on these things if you're interested!

initially reblogged under the original meta post on wuxia, xianxia, and cultivation differences, but i realised it was too long and would bury the reply, so please don't mind me opening a new post for this again.

feel free to ask and discuss!!

[autistic-robin]

Why “Hiding in the Light” Didn’t Work: Stranger Things’ Psychospiritual Implications

Supplementary Sources: Jungian Theory & A Wrinkle In Time

Alright, buckle in. I’m running on a year’s worth of spiritual awakening, deep dives into Jungian theory and non-dualism, and my own ego’s primary coping mechanism: immersing myself in media as escapism. The purpose of this analysis is to break down the themes of non-dualism and light/darkness in ST (and maybe predict some character arcs), and also to position the narrative of ST as a psychospiritual wake-up call.

For some context: last year, I discovered the work of psychoanalyst (or philosopher, depending on who you’re talking to) Carl Jung. He had a pretty extensive theory about the human psyche that I immediately connected to the themes throughout Stranger Things, specifically Vecna’s mind control and curse. I’m going to break Jung’s theory down as succinctly as I can, and then delve into how it plays out in our favorite gay monster show.

But before I delve into Jung’s ideas, I also think it’s important to define selfhood (you’ll understand why in a minute). For the purposes of this analysis, the experience of the “self” is an illusion created by our senses, perceptions, memories, and consciousness, all of which are impermanent. Therefore, the self is what we call “conditioned.” There is no you or me, just the ideas we have of ourselves.

Now, we can get into Jung’s theory. He posited the following:

1. Every individual has a “persona” they show the world (a constructed self) to feel like they belong. Underneath this persona, everyone has a personal “shadow,” or the part of themselves they don’t want to acknowledge. This shadow is always projected onto others— every negative thought we have about someone else is a product of our own unintegrated shadow. Note: The shadow is NOT bad, it just “is.” It’s actually there to HELP us grow and integrate all the unhealed parts of us.

2. Individuals’ shadows are usually part of their unconscious, meaning most people are not aware of their shadow side or cannot bear to delve into their trauma/darkness and begin to heal it.

3. All of human consciousness is CONNECTED. This means two things. 1: There is a “collective unconsciousness” that contains the sum of all of our unintegrated trauma, and 2: We can heal our collective unconsciousness by healing our own unconsciousness.

How do we heal our own unconsciousness? By becoming AWARE of our shadow side, accepting and forgiving the conditioning that created it, and working to encourage others to do the same.

What— or rather, who— does that remind you of?

Also— great use of lighting here.

We know Vecna has direct access to his victims’ consciousness; not just their memories, cognition, and emotions, but also their awareness itself. This is how he’s able to target and trance people. But it’s not just their consciousness Vecna has access to; it’s their unconsciousness. Their shadow. Their trauma. Yes, he has psionic abilities akin to El’s, but as far as we know, El can’t access the collective unconsciousness like Vecna can. She is only capable of “remote viewing” via the void or piggybacking into people’s minds. So why is Vecna capable of this?

If you want my take on it: the only way to access a collective shadow would be through accessing your own shadow. So is Vecna really Henry, or his unintegrated shadow? And is either really condemnable, considering the larger themes of the show?

We see this theme of non-dualism echoed in Brenner’s NINA pep talk with El:

It’s fascinating to me that they’re communicating these bigger thematic ideas through the show’s “villians”— while the above conversation could be taken at surface-level as Brenner being manipulative, it’s important to acknowledge the truth of what he’s saying. NINA is only successful because El faces “the good and the bad.” This is why “hiding in the light” is a no-go for Max.

Focusing only on happy memories is a form of emotional bypassing. Throughout the show, we’ve been told time and again that hiding doesn’t work. Neither does running away. The only way out for our characters is through their own shadows.

Now, the fun part: predictions. Looking at all of this with a Jungian lens, it doesn’t make much sense to villianize a character or to end the story by “defeating evil.” In non-dual theory, there are no evil people, only unhealed ones.

We know what worked for our characters temporarily (Will in the UD, Max in her first trance, El using her powers against Vecna) was the memory and vibration of love.

This reminded me of A Wrinkle In Time, which is a science fiction novel that’s been noted more than a few times as one of Stranger Things’ primary influences. In the book, a girl and her brother travel through time to rescue their father from an alternate dimension where all beings are controlled in a hyper-individualist suburbia by a giant, all-knowing brain. The climactic “defeat” of the brain is shockingly simple, but incredible impactful— Meg, the heroine, tells it over and over that she loves it. This love ultimately brings her father and brother out of trances they are in, and they’re able to remember her and travel back home.

(Tangent: And God. The implications of that, outside of analyzing ST, are powerful. How do we live in a capitalist hellscape that is so caught up in the mind— in acheiving, obtaining, securing, protecting the ego— that many of us have forgotten our hearts? The answer is love. Loving ourselves more deeply to love all beings more deeply, “the good and the bad.” But love does not negate accountability, and it does not excuse harm.)

Our characters are all struggling with self-acceptance and self-love in some form or another. Each is wrestling with secrets and lies, and the desire to hide parts of themselves they think others can’t accept.

Mike is clearly struggling with self-loathing, guilt surrounding what happened to El in s1, and a crippling hero complex.

Will is also on the self-loathing train, continually self-sacrifices to his own detriment, and is hiding his identity out of fear (not at all villifying that, just for the record.)

El struggled to reconcile her abilities and forced weaponization with her identity outside of the lab pre-s4.

Max was suicidal and had a lot of self-hatred after B*lly’s death.

Nancy parallels Mike in her survivor’s guilt post-s1 and exhibits the same lack of self-preservation and self-sacrificing tendencies.

You get my point. So how will these characters overcome their trauma? Not through hiding, or running, or bypassing. Not through the light alone. Through love— acknowledgement of their own darkness, compassion for the unhealed nature of others, and commitment to being honest with themselves and their loved ones. We know Will is El and Henry’s mirror/foil and will play a central role in S5, and with all of this in mind I think it’s safe to say he will break the cycle of bypassing and hiding from trauma and pain once and for all. He won’t fight it like El, hide from it like Max, or run from it like he did as a kid.

Only by integrating their shadows can our characters become truly “themselves,” or as Brenner puts it, “whole.”

I will probably have much more to say about this after my re-read of A Wrinkle in Time, but for now, that’s all I’ve got. :) Hope everyone is doing well!

[alexrosekey]

Hermione-centric and HP World Building Expansion edition

A late entry from me. Beware that this list is based on my personal preference. If you don't like the ships, remember the rule - don't like don't read. Ship and let ship!

That being said, it has been a while since the last time I've come up with a rec list. But reccing great fanfics has remained one of my greatest passion. Having decided to fully integrated myself into the Harry Potter fandom again, I'm amazed at how creative and talented the authors of this fandom are. There are a plethora of interesting ideas and premises, with various themes and genres along with inquisitive, thoughtful observation regarding the characters and the world building of Harry Potter.

Without further ado, let's dive in to my submission for today's @hprecfest prompt: fics with over 100k+ words. All the fics below are Hermione-centric (one less than the other two but still), with amazing social commentaries on the HP world and impeccable observation on the magical world, which to me are the best aspect of HP fic.

unsphere the stars by @cocoartistwrites (M, 222,827, Hermione Granger/Tom Riddle)

When you can't change time, but you can't go forward, what is left? Hermione learns how to be the protagonist of her own story.

To quote one of the bookmarks: Hermione is more than she ever was. This story is a journey of Hermione to grow, to love and to explore magic and its beauty more than she could ever be. Don't let the pairing deter you, this is no doubt one of the most memorable fanfic reading experience I have in my years of being in fandoms. Hermione and Tom are both portrayed spectacularly and thoughtfully, and the prose are some of the most poetic I've ever seen.

To sum up the whole of my reading experience, I laid on my bed and stared at the ceiling for 30 mins after reading the last chapter, completely shell-shocked.

All I could say is, if you want an astounding character arc for Hermione, with in-depth magical system and immersive world building, plus interesting OCs and breathtaking writing, then this fic is definitely for you!

*This fic could also be placed under the prompt of Day 7: A Canon-Compliant Fic.

2. What's Past is Prologue by ABitofWit (E, 244,611, Hermione Granger/Lucius Malfoy)

It's eight years after the war and Hermione Granger has taken a break from her career at the Ministry of Magic to compile an oral history of the conflict. She's interviewed just about everyone she can get her hands on but she wants to be thorough. And that means getting in contact with a very unwilling Lucius Malfoy.

Listen, I know the pairing is weird as fuck. I know, I had my doubt too before reading it. But the raving bookmarks convinced me to give this a chance. And boy, it was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

This fic is more than just a ship fic, it's about love and what we would do for it, the greyness of life and choices, of redemption and finding one's self worth outside of pre-existing, archaic ideas and values. It's about change and how we're never too old to learn. WPIP is everything I've ever wanted in a fic, emotional, sincere, humorous, gorgeous, sexy, steamy and sweet. Full of heart and soul.

Most of all, the development of and between Hermione and Lucius is so natural and makes a lot of sense, without them being OOC. This fic reminds me that Hermione is not at all flawless (the opposite of the usual Mary-Sue, little-miss-perfect trope that Hermione tends to be portrayed in fics), while successfully humanizes and makes Lucius Malfoy one of the most interesting HP characters in my eyes. (Who would have thought that I've spent years not giving a jot about this guy, only to fall in love with such a mess of a man like him??)

Combine with sharp commentaries and observations on the British Wizarding World, Wizarding politics and a not-canon folder supporting cast, this is no doubt one of the best HP fic, and one of the best fanfic I've ever had the pleasure to read.

*This fic could also be placed under the prompt of Day 2: A Comfort Fic and Day 9: A Rare Pair Fic.

3. Six Pomegranate Seeds by Seselt (E, 185,965, no pairing but implied Theodore Nott/Hermione Granger)

At the end, something happened. Hermione clutches at one fraying thread, uncertain whether she is Arachne or Persephone. What she does know is that she will keep fighting to protect her friends even if she must walk a dark path.

Sooo, this is one very weird fic. One of the oddest fics I've ever encoutered, in fact. I've read it twice, one before I read the book series in full, one after I've finished the books. And let me tell you, SPS is a stunning work.

The odd, floating third-person POV, the dry and sharp, straightforward tone of Hermione. Her competency, her compassion despite all the pain and the emotional repression. This is definitely not your usual time travel fix-it fic.

Most of Hermione's work happened in tandem with the 7 books' main storyline. Hermione's soul is put into the body of a young orphan Pureblood heiress. This gives the fic one of the most interesting spin on the Hermione-is-a-pureblood trope.

Through Hermione, we have a closer look into the background and the context of the main events of the books, plus a deeper understanding of the Pureblood society and a much more sympathetic view into the students Slytherin house. All without whitewashing and offsetting the corruption and the effects of the Purebloods and the Slytherins' stuffy, archaic views on not only the young generation of students but also the British Wizarding world.

I lost count of the amount of time I slapped my knees while reading this work the second time whenever I encountered a particularly sharp line of thought/commentary from Hermione in this fic. I'm also amazed at how much work and research the author has put into SPS, particularly in terms of making up tons of new magical theories and the use of exotic and lesser known vocabulary (seriously, if you decide to read this one, prepare a dictionary next to you, or get ready to regularly stop mid reading in order to look up certain words 😆)

*This fic could also be placed under the prompt of Day 7: A Canon-Compliant Fic.

That being said, thank you for checking out my list! Thank the admins of @hprecfest for holding such a fun activity. Feel free to join in yourself. Happy reading 💋

Day 16: A fic that made you laughed

Day 19: Fic with the hottest smut

Day 22: An unfinished fic (hasn't updated in 10 years or the author stated it has been abandoned)

Day 26: A fic with an ending you can't stop thinking about

[thestrongestjewel]

Hi! I have been loving your UVtale art posts and had some questions!

1) Will the other souls(Justice: Clover, Integrity: Raven) also be a part of the cast?

2) How did you choose the color scheme for UVtale?

3) Since Asgore lives in the ruins and Toriel is the queen, does that mean in this AU, Toriel killed the fallen children? Or were the children never killed?

This au is very unique and has a lot of potential! Keep up the good work! 👍✨

oh well first of all thank u so much :DDD i'm glad you enjoy my story(same w/ anyone who also enjoys uvtale,,)

see i was gonna answer all your questions in a single post, but not only sum of those questions could b considered as spoiler-ish but also might as well do a separate post explaining some things about the au :DDDD

what I can say however is that yes, clover will be part of the main cast :3

[survivalove]

Kinda random, but what made me really start shipping Kataang was how determined Aang was to get Katara's necklace back from Zuko, especially when we know how important said necklace is for her both as part of her family and part of her culture. And the thing is, Aang is always doing nice things for Katara without expecting any reward, like offering to fly her to the North Pole and refusing to train under sexist Pakku. Things that made me go from "this is a cute ship with good development" to "this is my OTP."💙🧡

So true, anon that’s a great scene!! Hmm I don’t know what made me ship it cuz I was 5 when I watched it for the first time so I really didn’t care about ships. But as I got older I started watching the show for Katara and she kept touching him and asking him how she looked dhdjfj it was beyond obvious TO ME (bass amplified).

That and every time she cried over him. It just felt really intense I’d be like why are you crying queen 😫😫😫 she’s so extra I can’t.

But I think a singular scene that really made me ship them was in The Serpent’s Pass when he said she made him believe in hope and she cried. When I think about it, Aang’s opinion seems to mean a lot to Katara and I think he notices that and makes sure to praise her so she won’t doubt herself. I liked seeing the fmc be praised and loved by the boy she liked without having to grovel and look pathetic, you know?

That reminds me of a meta I read the other day about how Sokka (yes I have to mention sokka or katara when I talk about the other 🤪) doesn’t really take compliments and I think Katara is also like that in a less extreme way.

Like when she tried to discredit herself when she revived him with the spirit water and Aang was like hello you literally saved my life??? dhdjdj I don’t care what delusional fanon shippers have to say, Aang compliments and appreciates Katara more than anyone, and that’s my fave part of their dynamic.

Anyways yes I agree with you. Aang always does what Katara wants simply because he wants to and she wants to. They don’t really force the other to agree with them either, even tho they both clearly care a lot for each other’s opinions. I think the show does a great job of setting the foundation for their romantic relationship this way through all these platonic moments.

Back to my fave scene in the Serpent’s Pass, I especially like how that scene shows Aang letting go of one of his beliefs for Katara which is linked to bigger moment of him refusing to let go of her to master the avatar state in the Guru, and eventually finding a whole new way to end the war while still staying true to himself. I don’t wanna say Aang and Katara getting together is integral to his arc or her arc, but I do think they link it in this way on purpose, and it’s why a lot of people that claim “Aang never changed” often don’t ship Kataang and the same for people that hate Katara and call her annoying then say they didn’t understand the ship. Like clearly my guy.

Anyway, to sum up this ramble 🤭 this is why I love the Serpent’s Pass scene and think it’s very underrated among kataang fans. I’m curious to know what kataang scene made oomfs ship too? I loved this ask and thank you for sharing that with me anon xx

[scriberat]

tagging @thydungeongal since you're the one who got me thinking on it.

the post regarding severity of HP and hits and depth of damage on the body in ttrpgs has got me thinking about airships again (what doesnt)

SO

on a watership, there are a few layers of differing severity for an attack to land on: below the waterline, above the waterline, the masts, and the powder room. here, ive outlined how immediately fucked you are based on what gets hit. - mast, whatever, steering is screwed (also goes for the rudder, youre not done for but your steering is.) the bottom part specifically is highlighted because thats the part most likely to hit the deck and deal additional damage when it does - above the waterline, way worse as that is a hole in the ship itself. structural integrity is down but overall, it's not the end of the world and you can limp without really limping until you get to port to fix it, and things might collapse from above but youre still in good shape - below the waterline is... obvious. while it can be patched, someone has to be there to do so within a few minutes or youre going to sink where you are, and the larger the hole, the less time you have. a badly wounded ship means fewer fighters as you need to dedicate the bodies to fix the issue before everyone goes under - powder room. if you've got cannons you have a powder room which means an entire central spot full of explosives <3 one hit here and you're looking at a catastrophic event. best case scenario, you lose half the ship in a kaboom.

now, of course, not a lot of people are going to be aiming for the powder room, as a captured ship is a solid 40k in your pocket, 20k after repairs, and since most crews dont even number a hundred, thats a hefty sum in your pocket post-sale, or you can increase your own sea strength for higher payloads along the way. worth it to box the crew and save the boat.

airships, on the other hand, seem to have that in reverse, in which the hull itself is mostly expendable as long as you have the mode of locomotion and standing room. the integrity of an airship comes down to how it floats and how it propels. traditionally on that front, there are balloon types and sail types with engines. - with balloons, popping that balloon will result in the entire airship sinking. the balloon is "below the waterline." - with a sail-and-engine, the engine is akin to the powder room, a OHKO spot

THEREFORE

to roll this well, the dice master in question would need to roll a die per cannon. if the ship being attacked takes up 10 squares and you have 5 cannons, each cannon would have a chance of dealing damage. the cannonballs should be able to pierce about 50 feet, so the closer you are the further the cannonball can go. then you have to consider if the cannons are on the gunwhales or gundeck for the elevation, and the further they are away, the more likely theyll hit the next layer down, though the power is also reduced.

rambly

nat 20 roll on the cannon that's facing the powder room will cause an explosion. anything less won't as it's difficult to ignite powder with a lump of iron.

so basically: roll for each cannon involved, calculate based on map distance, account for any armor that the ship may have (plate the sides), and you can make the ships themselves into players in a battle, and each table player can handle a part of it, from steering to loading and firing, etc.

grappling and boarding are also a part of this, but i havent gotten to that yet. itd shrink the focus lens from the ships (environmental) to the decks (stage) though

[compacflt]

Would you ever consider writing about a different path Ice and Mav could take, one where they choose to leave the Navy and pursue a more open relationship and civilian life? Thinking it would be easier but maybe the sacrifice to their careers brings its own challenges?

(hi, jan 2024 me here, this was an ask that I answered when it was sent in in May 2023 & didn't post because I felt I actually answered it fictionally in the "icedad" one-shot the week after [and you can obviously see how these thoughts affected the writing of other pieces like "tremors & aftershocks"], but I still mostly agree with this take [though it's a little overgeneralizing] & I think it sums up a lot of my final "meta" modern-military-theory thoughts on ice & mav & their relationship, so im posting it now before I post the compacflt masterpoast)

see,… the thing is, i just… can’t see that happening!! i have no idea how to write that!!! Maybe i really do have a lack of imagination. But i can’t see that happening for a number of reasons. So short answer, no.

Long answer (and it’s long):

1. lame reason to start out, but it, uh, it’s canon that ice ends up at O-10 and mav ends up at O-6. not saying that im beholden to canon obviously (my mav ends up at O-7 and my ice ends up alive) but I do base my characterizations of them on the implications of the political struggles of both their careers so… taking away ice’s fourth star is basically starting from square one wrt my characterization of him. which is a lot of work. i could start from the beginning with a top gun 1986 ice who knows he’s gay—that would be a fun AU (i think other people than me have definitely done that better, though—I’m a one-trick pony). So if that’s what you mean then disregard the rest of this post. but if what you mean is a divergence from my existing work (i.e. homophobic/rank-climbing ice&mav) then… yeah, can’t see that happening, for further reasons below.

2. wrt my characterization of him: it’s based on a broad historical overview of armed service officers and the expectations of their careers. in my view, high-ranking officers aren’t after power—or maybe they started their careers wanting power, but somewhere down the line, it just becomes an expectation. if you do everything right and follow all the rules, you are expected by the institution to lead, whether you want to or not. That’s just the pipeline. at some point you start losing agency. which is what I mean when I keep saying ice doesn’t have a choice in advancing his career (besides the meta fact that this is fanfiction and canon demands that he have 4 stars lol)—high ranking military officers are continually and continually groomed for bigger and better positions; and the longer they spend in the military, the harder it is to leave that lifestyle for something else. And with ice’s canonical (and characteristically INTEGRAL, as I mentioned a week or so ago) refusal to rebel against the wishes of the navy as an institution, plus this historical expectation to lead placed upon the shoulders of excelling officers, I really do think ice is destined for four stars & nothing less, even if it gives him chronic depression. It’s his highest priority not because he wants it to be, but because…it just is. that’s how the institutionalized system of advancement in the military works. it just is. it has to be.

3. I mentioned in this post that I can’t ever see a foot in the door with them talking about their relationship unless maverick dies and is resurrected, and I feel the exact same way about them & their retirement plans. There’s a lot that ice and mav don’t talk about: the biggest one is obviously Goose’s death, the foundation of their relationship; but also their love for each other obv, what they did to rooster, AND their careers, which have to end at some point. Them talking about everything is totally inevitable, it was gonna have to happen eventually before they died, and I think one foot in the door MIGHT have been them eventually talking about retirement (someone sent in a prompt asking for this exactly & i am brainstorming it furiously) but before the Navy FORCES them to retire… i think they would studiously avoid talking about it. For a couple reasons: a) what does retiring with each other mean? living in the same house until they die together? hard to do if you’re just good friends. talking about retirement is tantamount to talking about Them. and b) what are they gonna do outside the navy? Ice has a lot of options, as I mentioned in the slider one-shot—general/flag officers are SUPER sought after in leadership/intelligentsia/management positions post service, so maybe if he were offered a crazy cool civilian position somewhere in San Diego in like the 2000s he would quit the navy for it… but what about maverick? I have no idea what a non-navy mav would do. Civilian airline pilot? Hoo boy. I think he’d hate that. I could maybe see emergency helicopter pilot, lol, or race car driver (i just watched days of thunder can you tell?) but none of the above offers the institutionalized honor the navy does (that, as a reminder, he *killed people* to obtain in the first place). I suggested his test piloting expertise would make him an attractive technical advising candidate to A&D companies like Boeing, LockMart, GD, etc. so that might be one option. But it might have been kind of a touchy subject for him before he racked up the expertise he’d need for those high-level civilian positions… the navy was kinda his only option. So they wouldn’t talk about it because it might hurt his feelings.

4. The biggest reason: again… open rebellion like rocking the boat by quitting the navy to be in an open long-term gay relationship, in upper mil brass ranks, and even retired upper mil brass ranks, just… isn’t done. And REALLY wasn’t done in the 2000s, when i think the scenario in this ask is positioned. And it’s not like “oh but whatever who cares about the navy, ice and mav are in love, they deserve to be happy no matter what, they should do what they want, fuck the navy…” no. Ice and Mav care about the navy. Clearly. Canonically. By necessity. The military requires cohesion and on some level repression of individuality & personal expression to FUNCTION, even when you’re retired. Yes, maverick certainly strains against that repression (which is why you Could spin top gun as an anti-military franchise if you were desperate enough), but he rebels through his ACTIONS (stupid plane maneuvers) not through his personal IDENTITY. his personal identity (headstrong overtly masculine white male pilot, whether gay or straight who cares) is NEVER challenged throughout the franchise (i.e. no one really challenges his masculinity specifically) & his personal identity does not POSE a challenge to the navy. Both he and ice in their outward-facing personal identities really fit in quite neatly to the navy’s overarching identity & contribute to the navy’s cohesion in a way that is favorable to both their careers and the establishment. Lack of imagination or not… i can’t see a universe in which Ice and mav would actively WANT to rock the boat and wreck the navy’s cohesion and their reputations for an open relationship and definitively rebellious personal identities, with the obvious caveat being Maverick’s death recontextualizing both their priorities (yes we’re in love AND we’ve finally proven ourselves to be ultra-capable officers regardless of our sexuality so no one has a license to judge us anymore etc.).

And also, they’re not enlisted seamen. Nor are they mediocre officers who have the luxury of fading into obscurity. Things are different when you’re that high in the ranks, and when your job publicly matters more. sorry, but even post DADT (probably until about biden’s election), an open relationship would end their careers. They might not be fired, but they’d never be promoted again. Too much of a liability getting subordinates to still respect them, from the higher-ups’ perspective, especially if there are other qualified candidates who fit the navy’s core identity better. Like—sorry. This is such a jaded oversimplification. But if you rock the boat like that (i.e. break the service’s united front to be individualistic in a way that does not match the service’s overarching identity), from the perspective of your officer peers, you simply are a bad officer. Being an open individual in a job where you are required to fit in and represent your service is not your job. You are not doing your job well. Straight-up. Even if you’re retired. I met US Army 4-star gen. David Petraeus (retired obv) in February—he led the successful-ish surge in iraq and Afghanistan in the mid-2000s—and he’s STILL a laughingstock for his disastrous affair with his biographer a decade ago, even after he retired from AD service. That’s what people remember him for, not the fact that he was one of our only successful commanders in any of our Middle East campaigns.

Something like that might be one of ice and mav’s worst fears—being known for their affair/scandal instead of the institutionalized honor they’ve fought and killed for. That kind of thing just Isn’t Done. It's bad taste. You have to keep it quiet. If you’re an officer representing the service, you have to represent it well & according to the service’s preconceived identity, even in retirement. (see, for another shitty example of "not fitting in" even in retirement, Lt. gen. Mike Flynn [his whole scandal is actually kinda geopolitically relevant to my fic if you squint lol] whom everyone fucking hates)

To summarize: i hope I’m not mischaracterizing your ask when i reframe it like this—would you ever write ice and mav without the institutionalized pressure to advance in rank and conform to institutional norms?

and yes, I would (and will if you ask—it looks like this: ice & mav meet & fall in love & it’s boring and fine. end of story), but I guarantee you someone else already has. I’m all about interrogation of institutional norms here. And i think until maverick dies & comes back from the dead, there is absolutely no *REALISTIC* incentive for ice & mav to leave the navy and/or have an open relationship. Like it’s just not possible. Idk how else to say it.

[aedesluminis]

Prieur's first work on the metric system

The calling of the Estates Generals and the events that followed shortly after proved to be the perfect occasion for intellectuals, savants and merchants not only to demand, but also to propose new reforms, aimed to obtain a common metric system for the entire realm of France. A system, whose unity and integrity would have prevented any more frauds and mistakes, caused by the incredible diversity of measurement units in use under the Ancien Régime.

Driven by the optimism and the changes brought by the Revolution, and encouraged by his mentor Guyton, the young Claude-Antoine Prieur – at the time still Duvernois – wished to give his contribution to the cause as well. As some notes currently kept at the archives of the Paris Polytechnic School show, Prieur started working on the topic already 1789. In the early days of February 1790, he sent to the National Assembly the result of his efforts: a memoir titled “Mémoire sur la nécessité et les moyens de render uniformes, dans le royaume, toutes les mesures d’étendue et de pesanteur”. (1)

It is a comprehensive work, which distinguishes itself for the detailed implementation of the decimal scale in all measures, except those of time, and the meticulous description of both the theory behind the new proposed units and the methods to craft their respective standards. The memoir also includes a solid set of historical and scientific reference material, on which the theory in based on, and plans to help common people get used to the new system; things that other notable works on the same topic lack. (2)

Below the cut, one can find an English translation I did of the memoir conclusion, which sums up in the shape of decree articles the whole proposal. Notes related to the post and the unit names are added at the end.

I believe to have proved in this memoir the inconveniences of the diversity of measures and the infinite benefits that a law, aimed to make them uniform throughout all the realm, would bring to science, commerce and arts. I committed myself to find the basis, on which these measures should be founded, in order to make their prototypes immutable, and the principles, from which it would be convenient that they are derived. I showed how these measures could easily be adapted to our needs. I indicated the precautions, by which this innovation would cause neither great embarrassments, nor great expenses. According to these principles and to the measures derived from them, I proposed a type of calculation, particularly appropriate to simplify all operations in the fields of business, trade and civil life; that until now has only been used by some savants, but whose knowledge and even habit are easy to acquire. Lastly, the introduction of this calculation and its advantages led me to wish that the name and value of the smallest coin of our currency should be changed to have more accordance between numeration and effective payments.

These are the subjects that I thought deserved to be treated with all the necessary details to prove them. I took advantage of everything that has been written before me on this matter and one might say that I added little of my own. However, it seemed to me that the most desirable way to clarify the opinions [on the matter] was to present in a single work, and by relying on what other famous authors have already proposed, the true principles, their consequences, their applications to all sort of measures of different materials, the means relative to the execution of the project, the precautions to take in order to maintain its integrity, the education to spread so that the people can promptly enjoy the benefits of an enlightened legislation and the remedies to be applied to reduce the friction that always comes with such changes. This is what I have been aiming to do: I shall leave it to you to judge how far I have succeeded. If there were still some difficulties to clarify, some parts to revision in order to bring this work to perfection, I would be ready to devote to it all the necessary time, with no other ambition than to be useful to my country and, in some ways, to give my contribution to the accomplishment of such a great project.

It only remains for me to give, through articles for a decree, the dispositions that I find most suitable to realise the reform in all of its parts. This project will serve, more than anything else, as a way to judge the merit of [my] work and it is the only reason that led me to propose it.

The reasons for the law could be summarised as follows: The uniformity of measures is no less beneficial to commerce, which must be based on honesty, than to society in general, especially to the progress of science. This uniformity is but a consequence of the unity of laws. Lastly, this reform becomes essential to prevent the inconveniences of the diversity of measures, which the division of the realm in departments would make more evident. Considering all of the above, it could be decreed:

ARTICLE ONE Starting from the 1st of January 1791, all measures of weight and length currently existing in the realm shall be abolished and so shall they remain; so that in every juridical, tariff, commercial and public act, no other units shall be used at the time of said day 1 January 1791 than those indicated below. However, people are still free to use the units they consider appropriate, unless in case of controversy, where they shall be converted into the new ones before any judgement is passed.

II All measures, both of weight and length mentioned below shall be called national measures, national weights and so shall their subdivisions, to avoid confusion with the previous ones.

III The third part of the length of the seconds pendulum of the Parish observatory shall constitute the pied national and be the prototype for all the other measures.

IV The pendulum length shall be reported with exactitude on a bar of pure platinum at a given temperature and in the presence of the commissioners, who shall be elected by the royal academy of science and who, in case of necessity, shall promptly work towards a more rigorous determination; the aforementioned platinum bar shall be preciously preserved at the Hôtel-de-Ville in Paris as a monument of the operation, to be used in case of need. It shall be redacted by municipal officials a verbal process, both on the deposit of said measure and on the procedures done by the academy commissioners to obtain the silver pied national, which shall serve as prototype.

V The national pied national, determined above, shall be divided into 10 pouches, a pouche into 10 lignes, a ligne into 10 points or primes. The perche nationale shall be 10 national pieds. The milliare national shall be 1000 national perches.  The aune nationale shall be 3 and ½ national pieds. The arpent national shall be 100 square national perches. The moule national, for firewood, shall be 100 cubic pieds nationaux.

VI The measure of capacity or national measure (which can also be called protade) for grains, powdered and fluid materials and all the other ones which can be measured in recipients shall be the cubic pied national. The national measure will be divided into 10 décades. The décade into 10 écatades. The écatade into 10 chiliades. The muid national will be 10 national measures or 10 cubic pieds nationaux. The standards of all aforementioned measures, both those, which are multiples of the cubic pied, and their relative sub-multiples, shall have the shape of a cylinder or that of a truncated cone, for more precision and safety during the calibration, wherever the cubic shape might be inconvenient; all, according to instructions that shall be included in the law.

VII The livre nationale shall be determined by the weight of either distilled or rain water, the latter purged from air, at a fixed temperature, subjected to a volume of 10 cubic pouces nationaux. The livre nationale shall be divided into 10 onces. The once national into 10 gros. The gros national into 10 deniers. The denier national into 10 grains. The grain national into tenths, hundredths, etc. The quintal national shall be 100 livres nationales, or equal to the weight of a cubic pied of water.

VIII A silver livre nationale shall be crafted, whose exactitude shall be acknowledged by the same commissaries of the academy, to be deposited with their verbal process in the archives of the Hôtel-de-Ville of Paris and to be used there as prototype. Another silver livre nationale shall be deposited and preserved in the Paris mint, with the weight standards constituting its main subdivisions, which are: an once, a gros, a denier and a grain, all of them made of silver, verified and approved by the academy commissaries.

IX Standards of both the pied national and livre nationale shall be made of copper, the latter together with its weight subdivisions: 5on, 3on, 1on, 5grs, 3grs, 1grs, 5den, 3den, 1den, 5gn, 3gn, 1gn, and 2 demi-grains, which shall be hallmarked by an official, appointed for this purpose, and sent to every district administration, in all the different departments of the realm and three months after the publication of the law.

X The production of the aforementioned measure standards shall be put out to tender at a discount; and, in order to maintain the uniformity of the pied national and, at the same time, to have it done at a moderate price, the successful bidder shall be granted a two-year time privilege for the manufacture of the said pied national only, whether of copper, wood, or other materials; all, on the condition that none is issued until it has been thoroughly checked and hallmarked, and to always have enough to supply the capital and the entire kingdom.

XI Under the authority of the administrative assembly, a verifier shall be elected in each district, whose duty shall be that to preserve and hallmark the measurement standards, to whom every artisan and merchant shall refer for the calibration and hallmark of their own standards; a fee shall be set for the verifier, according to the quality of said weight and measure standards.

XII The verifier chosen in each district can mark the ancient measure standards, provided that their quality is adequate and only after having converted them all into the new ones indicated above or into their multiples.

XIII At the same time as the verifiers place the mark on the measure standards, whether new or ancient, and principally on those of capacity as well as weights, he shall stamp in figures and initial letters, the value or numerical expression of the quantity of the aforementioned measures and weights.

XIV District administrations shall task the aforementioned verifiers, or someone else deemed suitable, to make a general table with the conversion ratios between all the measures in use in their territory and the national ones; the table shall be posted in the town hall of the chief town of said district.

XV In every account relative to finance, commerce and others, sums shall only be expressed in livres-tournois, tenths, hundredths and thousandths. These words, livres-tournois, shall never be separated, until the habit of replacing one expression with the other becomes sufficiently spread; at that point, the law shall state the suppression of the former one. To facilitate both the relationship between decimal calculation and the actual coinage, and the true fractionary payments, some pieces of two sous or decimes, representing one tenth of a livre, and some pieces of sous or demi-decime, representing one twentieth of a livre shall be produced, when new billon coins are made. Lastly, a coin of lower value, under the name of obole or of centime shall be produced as well. Actual billon coins shall maintain their current usage until it is ordered otherwise.

XVI In all accounts, concerning money sums, delivered quantities or works to be measured, said quantities shall be calculated with enough decimal numbers, so that it results a sufficiently exact approximation for fractional sums. Approximations shall be as follows: For all money sums, at least one thousandth of the main unit, or three decimals of the livre-tournois. For all measures of linear extension, one thousandth of the unit of the specified measure, or three decimals. For all measures of surface, ten thousandths of the specified unit, or four decimals. For cubic and capacity measures, ten thousandths of the unit of all measures above the cubic pied included; and only one thousandth of the unit for measures of a lower quantity. For weights, one thousandth of the unit or three decimals; and in case of precious materials, like gold and silver, the unit shall always be the denier national. All of this shall be applied to all measures mentioned above, unless otherwise agreed or ordered in specific cases.

Notes

As already done in a previous post, I chose not to translate the words of all the measurement units in English, since in most cases there's no equivalent in said language. Italics are mine and slightly different from the original work, because I wanted to highlight the words left in French.

(1) A digitized version of Prieur's work can be found on Gallica. Here's a modern transcription of it.

(2) The other works that received mention during the National Assembly sitting of 9th May 1790, when the matter about the diversity of measures was addressed, were Découverte d'étalons justes, naturels, invariables et universels by Claude-Boniface Collignon, Observations de la Société royale d'agriculture sur l'uniformité des poids et mesures by Tillet and Abeille and Proposition faite à l'Assemblée nationale, sur les poids et mesures by Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord. It was the latter's proposal that caught the attention of the deputies, despite lacking the rigour and the originality of those of his colleagues.

Notes on the nomenclature

pied [pl. -s] = foot; main unit of length. The most common and used was the pied du roi, equivalent to ~ 32,48 cm or ~ 106, 56 ft. The pied national [pl. nationaux] proposed by Prieur would be ~ 33,13 cm or ~ 108,68 ft.

pouche[pl. -s] = inch.

perche [pl. -s] = "long pole", "staff"; unit of length for long distances.

milliaire [pl. -s] = mile; same as above.

aune [pl. -s] = it doesn't have a translation; this unit was used exclusively for amounts of cloth.

arpent [pl. -s] = no translation; unit for land areas.

muid [pl. -s] = no translation; unit for wheat amounts.

moule [pl. -s] = no translation; unit for firewood amounts.

livre [pl. -s] = pound; unit for both weight and currencies.

once [pl. -s] = ounce.

gros [pl. -s] = "thick penny".

denier [pl. -s] = penny.

grain [pl. -s] = grain; unit for tiny masses

décade, écatade, chiliade, protade have no translations, since these words are purely Prieur's invention.

[freyjas-musings]

I think its come to a point where I have to clarify a few things.

To start with , to everyone who reached out , thank you I am doing ok, I am just busy, I have a lot of work related travel in the next two weeks and I am preparing for my deadlines and dealing with real life . I promise I am fine.

As far as people who have doxxed me and have put my username on display subjecting me to bullying and harassment, the irony of the entire thing is not lost to me .

The fact that Elriels accused me of threatening to subject someone to harassment, when I specifically did not mention any username or individual .... while simultaneously displaying my username not only on several public FB groups which I have SS of, but also in several posts on both Tumblr and Twitter is baffling . Don't they see that they literally did what they accused me of "wanting" to do?

Who is the only one who is being subject to harassment and bullying ? Me and somehow I am the person who is in the wrong here ?

Now , coming to the part of character assassination, this isn't about fictional characters or books anymore , these people have written horrible things about me as a person ... twisted something I said on a post which most certainly wasn't said in a serious manner its dumb to think it was ( How would someone force someone to write an English exam ? The entire thing was exaggerated and ridiculous) and have called me different things varying from a Psychotic bitch to a creepy person aka defamation thereby posing a threat to my emotional and mental well-being.

I have been in this fandom long enough and I have interacted with enough people that it should atleast give most people that I have interacted with a general idea of what I really am like.

I have mostly kept well away from Elriels , I don't engage with them in any manner if I can avoid it and I have gone ahead and blocked as many of them and their tags. So , I clearly have no intention of interacting with them irrespective of whether they are decent people or not , I simply don't see the necessity and its not my preference. This is the reason most of my interactions usually revolve around Gwynriels and they are the only ones I usually address even in my posts.

I am a part of this fandom for myself and I commission art because I like the creative aspect of it and I love interacting and supporting artists. This much everybody knows about me.

The locus of my identity is internal to me and my circle of validation is a total sum of 2 people - My husband and my child.

So for anyone who thinks they can bully me into going away from the fandom by twisting things and saying mean things about me... you are really wrong.

I honestly wasn't feeling right about BB milking the ship war and preying on vulnerable people while also not lending their support to artists who are integral to the fandom... which is why , I literally stated 2 days back that I would be stepping back from the SJM fandom till we have news on the next book.

But .....

If this is the sort of shit people try to pull with me then it's not about BB anymore, My priority now is bullies in the fandom. My priority is people who thought they could manipulate my people against me.....

I HAVE A FEW WEEKS OF WORK THAT NEEDS MY FOCUS BUT COME APRIL 21ST .... I AM COMING BACK ... WITH MORE CONTENT , MORE COLLABS , MORE GWYNRIEL INITIATIVES AND BETTER STRATEGIES AND YES I WILL BE BOOSTING SEVERAL GWYNRIEL ART PIECES ....CRY ME A RIVER

This is to Gywnriels, I will totally respect it if you guys would like to unfollow me based on the propaganda that's been in action by the Elriels. But seeing I have gained 15 followers in the last 2 days I am going to assume you guys truly understand what I am as a person and for that I am thankful and incredibly grateful 🙏. If you guys see posts of people displaying my username please report both the post and the blogger.

Now , I would like to go back to work because irrespective of who Azriel gets to fuck in the next book ... my work is what is important... its what feeds me and pays my bills.

[poisonpercy]

i would be most intrigued to know the reason you hate nico di angelo

that sounds threatening oh god no im just gen curious

Lol you’re good and don’t sound threatening (to me)

As the self proclaimed “#1 nico fandom hater” that I am, I love this ask. Anyway, that being said, I don’t hate Nico di Angelo. My problem lies with fandom and how Nico is perceived. Before I get into it, here’s a collage of tumblr posts that represent my feelings on Nico:

And my favorite post that fully sums up my thoughts on Nico:

I’m going to be making some generalizations throughout this which I don’t love, but it gets my point across the best.

Canon Nico (specifically in pjo) = good! I like this little boy! Little cutie and a little shit. What’s not to like! (hoo!Nico = eh, he’s ok I guess. He didn’t need to have POV chapters and should have taken on a more minor role imo)

Fanon Nico ≠ not good! Please burn it with fire 😃

FYI: when I talk about canon Nico, I’m referring to the original characterization of him throughout pjo (maybe some hoo, but no toa).

So this problem happens across every fandom it seems like, and I have a dislike for every character that gets treated like this throughout all my fandoms. Not everyone is like that, but I am.

So what am I talking about? It’s the blatant fanonization of Nico to the detriment of his character and others. It’s taking popular fanon takes regarding Nico (behavior, personality, relationships, etc.) and insisting that they’re canon even when evidence shows the opposite.

A big problem for me stems from the solangelo ship. If you like it/ship it, that’s great! I personally hate it… like a lot. To me it came out of nowhere and the inclusion of it in canon has brought in fanon concepts into canon that overall damages the integrity the the wider scope of the riordanverse.

What do I mean? I can’t speak too much on canon since I only read up to The Burning Maze and refuse to read any further in toa or tsats, but generally what I’ve seen from others is that canonical events/their perceptions of them have been skewed in Nico’s favor to put down Percy and other demigods, even when Nico is more at fault. Not saying this is 100% in canon but it is in fanon. And this view is widely spread by people (not all) who like Nico, and it’s very hard to ignore if you don’t like it because it is everywhere.

Saying things like no one cared for Nico when he first came to chb is blatantly untrue and makes me think that if you have that opinion, you didn’t read botl. People didn’t hate him because he was the son of Hades because the vast majority did not know Nico was the son of Hades! He was mostly unclaimed from chub’s perspective. It’s just the people that went on the quest in ttc that knew because of Bianca.

Also like Percy straight up worried for that kid day and night. He felt responsible for Nico even though Percy himself was a child! Nico was the one that was pushing Percy and everyone else away. That was his own doing, though understandable. Don’t push Nico’s actions onto other characters to villainies them in Nico’s story.

Also, for some reason people still blame Percy for Bianca’s death and then come to the conclusion that Nico hates and (still) blames Percy for it. He doesn’t. If you don’t like Percy, that’s fine (but why are you reading the series then?) but don’t spew hate about a character on things that aren’t true. Nico isn’t going to be your bff if you do so.

There’s also the belief that Percy is like abusive to Nico because of that one scene in tlo. Please put on your thinking caps if you genuinely believe only Percy was in the wrong. Percy only lashed out at Nico because Nico betrayed his trust. Also, once again they’re both kids. They’re going to have immature reactions, but you also have to remember the stress of the situation that compounds everything that these characters do.

Ok, back to solangelo. There’s this weird codependent relationship that fans tend to force on Nico and Will. Other ships do it too but solangelo stands out to me. And maybe it’s because I just don’t like solangelo, or have a favorable opinion on Will Solace, or stopped reading toa, but I genuinely don’t think there’s much grounds to Will’s character besides being Nico’s boyfriend. I know he gets some more depth throughout toa (and possible tsats) but that only happened because he was Nico’s boyfriend. Like he was Nico’s boyfriend before he was Will Solace.

And because of this, fans generally tend to make Will this mouthpiece in fandom regarding Nico. He feels like a self-insert and not in a good way. And because of this, there’s a lot of negativity towards other characters in fandom that fans use Will’s “voice” to push in name of defending Nico or whatever. Like babes, you’re projecting. I don’t know Will, but the Will from the limited time we knew him in pjo wouldn’t speak that way/share those views.

Also the weird patient/doctor relationship solangelo has going on gives me the ick. Espresso with how it’s portrayed in fandom. Like there’s this weird power dynamic that just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I’m rambling at this point, sorry. I’m only on 2 hours of sleep right now so forgive me lmao.

I won’t go too much more in depth but Nico also gets infantilized a ton by Nico/solangelo fans which isn’t cool. He’s a kid, but he’s not a fucking baby.

Also making Nico this 1-dimensional emo, sad boi type character is not cool. He’s so much more to him. When you reduce characters to a singular trait, it leads to all the issues I described. Ok I’m just going to leave it at that.

TLDR: I don’t hate Nico di Angelo, I just have a lot of problems with his fans.

[punchratt]

Indulging in my brainrot again, heres that longer bg3 character design post i was talking about! (@dragonageshitpostingelves, i didnt forget you <3) Also, Spoiler Warning, i talk a lot about the companions backstory and quests, so don't read if you haven't finished those. Or do, I don't care.

Im gonna be honest and admit right now that I am sadly NOT a professional character designer, but instead just a nerd who likes to draw. I think the bg3 designs are amazing as they are and deserve a hell of a lot more praise then their already getting. That being said, i have many opinions about these funny little tadpole people. The first of them being that Gale, Wyll, and Astarion should not look like that. I mean, they all literally have the same body model, just give or take few scars and some hair, then swap the head. Which i think is a little shocking considering that the girls have much more diverse body types. Normally its the other way around.

First, Astarion. I love him, but i should not be able to grate cheese on his abs. Dude was a slave surviving off rats and living in the shadows for over 200 years, he's a rouge with 8 strength and no work out plan other then squatting so he can hide better. The last thing he should have is a six pack. I am a firm believer in scrawny Astarion, that man is wet noodle, he is malnourished and it should show. I should be able to see that mans ribs. Play that boy like a xylophone. This twink is not twinking right now and its driving me insane!

Im not saying he cant be sexy, in fact i think its very important that he is sexy. A big chunk of his story has to do with his relationship with sex and how he views romance as a whole. The whole point of his story is that he seems like the sexy vampier stereotype, but is actually a much more in depth character with a very complicated relationship to sex and romance. He needs to look sexy for that to work. But you don't gotta have a six pack to look sexy! Whenever i see him without a shirt all i can think of is that abs just don't look right on him. Everything else i think they've gotten perfect, he really does look like the character he's supposed to be and i can only applaud Larian for getting it so right, just.. lose the abs.

Second, Gale. I feel like I've already summed up how i feel about his design in my last post, but i like talking so i'm gonna say more! Gale should be chubby!! All he likes to do is ponder his orb, talk to his cat, and study magic. I firmly believe that he also has a side passion for food. After all, what is cooking if not potion brewing but different? Gale can appreciate a good meal and it should show! After all, eating and food is integral to his character with the whole arcane hunger thing he has going on. Give me my dad bod Gale and all wrongs in this world will be righted.

But to be a little more serious about this, i think his story becomes all the more poetic and tragic if you view him as someone who loves food. Because just imagine that you have three things you love, magic, food, and your goddess girlfriend. Now imagine that one day, to impress your goddess girlfriend, you do something kinda really stupid and end up with a magic nuke in your chest. But wait, it gets worse! Because of this failed grand gesture your goddess girlfriend breaks up with and banishes you. She leaves you to deal with this whole thing by yourself, all you have now is your cat and cooking. But wait, it gets even worse!! No matter how much you eat, yu arent ful, so you're constantly starvinng now, and thats how you find out that the bomb in your chest feeds on magic! Which means that now Gale has to ether find a way to keep it fed or he's gonna kamikaze half the swords coast. Meaning he has to eat any magical artifacts he gets his hands on while also dealing with the emotional damage of everything else. Food, one of the only things he had left, is now a stressful reminder of the fucked up situation he's in.

Now I don't think that means Gale starts to hate food, or resent it in some way, I still think he's the adorable little foodie goofball dork who insisted on being the camp cook. But i do think it makes his whole relationship with food something much more bittersweet, which is very interesting and something i feel could be reflected better in his already amazing design.

Third, Wyll. Wyll, I believe, is the most likely to be buff out of these three. Though, I don't think he'd show it as much as he does. We know he likes to dance, and that he enjoys a good sword fight more then anything! He used to fence with his father and overall is a very active guy. He is probably the character that most matches his body, there aren't many things I'd change. That being said, he is still a warlock with less strength then a hamster. He wouldn't be that muscly.

My dude is the son of a Grand Duke, he's had a relatively cushy life that didnt really get all that much harder after his dad gave him the boot (dick move btw). He's struggled, defiantly! But i don't think it'd be a reach to say that Wyll might have a little fat on him. I dont really have much to say other then i think he'd benefit from taking those abs away and putting that bulk somewhere else. When I imagine Wyll I imagine a man with some arm game and a pudgy belly. Maybe some calf muscle too, but overall nothing too defined since he doesn't really use strength in combat. I mean, why does Wyll have more defined abs then Lae'zel? Of all the origin characters she should have the most defined abs of the group. Not these three clowns(affectionate).

Wyll is a softie with a heart of gold, he should get to have a soft body to go with it. Plus it'd add more contrast between what parts are devil and what aren't. Sharp rough horns, a scarred face, and striking but intimidating eyes juxtaposed against a soft but somewhat built frame, quick whit, and a generally nice attitude make for a very interesting design! One that i think would be much more compelling then the kinda default muscly hero build he has now.

Now compare those to the secrete fourth option i didnt tell you about! Halsin! I think Halsin is designed perfectly and there is nothing i would change. He uses a unique body model from the other three and his design perfectly captures who he is as a character. He's big, appropriately buff, and looks kind. I look at that man and i think "yeah, thats a guy who occasionally turns into a bear", and he does! He looks like a natural born leader who knows how to make those tough decisions, he looks as inviting as he acts, and he looks like he gives amazing hugs. Bear hugs if you will! That man is a bear in every sense of the word, and whats more druid then that?

I only really brought him up to set him as sort of a standard for the designs of this game, because almost every single design is just as perfect and well thought out as his. I could go on for several more paragraphs about other characters and why their also perfect, or what other small little changes id make to their designs (cough cough, Lae'zel abs, cough) but this thing is getting long enough as is.

So to conclude. Fuck abs, and get them off my boys! If you've actually read this whole monstrosity, thank you. It took me over half a day to write and i still feel like i haven't touched on everything. Like, i didn't get to praise their designs nearly as much as i wanted to, but oh well. Maybe I'll make another post about the girls, maybe ill ramble about what i do like about the boys designs, i don't know. Depends on if anyone wants that, or if i still got gas left in the tank after this. Finally, please excuse any spelling errors and the inconsistent capitals. Its late, i have dyslexia, and i'll probably go back and fix it later. Thanks again for reading!

[floralfractals]

I don't know anything about measure theory, re: f(x)=x on [0,1], what's the deal with integration?

ohh well i guess i did kinda say that without explaining huh. let me elaborate

measure theory is all about sizes of sets, in a generalisation-of-probability-way. the probability of event A is 0.5, the probability of event B is 0.8, the total probability (of any outcome happening at all) is 1. or the measure of set C is 2, the measure of set D is 0.002, the total measure (of the ambient space) is infinity. whatever.

but what is integration if not calculating the space under a curve? is that not dependent of the measures of the sets underneath them?

lets first talk about "regular" (Riemann) integration. basically, suppose you have a function f: R -> R. it has some kind of fun graph, and youd like to find the surface between the graph and the x-axis. one way to do that is by approximation through rectangles. yknow, draw some rectangles of fixed width, put their heights either just under or just above the graph of f, add up their surface areas and bam! you have a numerical method of approximating the integral. or you could make the rectangle width smaller and smaller for exact results. thats integration. heres a visual.

ok cool so problem solved right? we know the area under the graph? surely this holds for every function?

well, no. suppose we have a really fucked up function. for example, let f(x) be equal to 1 if x is rational, and 0 otherwise. the above method wont be able to determine if the area is 0 or infinity, or something in between!

thats where measure theory comes in. we give sets a measure (notation: m(A)). this measure is not negative, and if you take the measure of two sets that dont overlap with each other, then their measure is the sum of their separate measures (in notation: m(A ∪ B) = m(A) + m(B) if A and B are disjoint. this is called sigma-additivity (the sigma means that it works for countable infinitly many sets as well)). easy! now we can define something called the indicator function 1_A(x), which is 1 if x is in A and 0 otherwise, and we define its (Lebesgue) integral to be ∫ 1_A dm = m(A). usual linearity applies for finite sums (so if a and b are numbers, and f and g are functions, then ∫ af + bg dm = a ∫ f dm + b ∫ g dm) (wacky things happen when sums are infinite: they might become infinitely large, or infinitely negative, or not converge at all).

this solves the issue of our crazy function f we just defined: notice that f(x) = 1_Q(x), where Q is the set of rational numbers. thus, ∫ f dm = m(Q), which (in one of the most natural measures, called the lebesgue measure*) is zero. done!

now for your question. the function f(x) = x on [0,1] (for our purposes: f(x) = x if x is in [0,1], and zero otherwise) cant be written as a finite sum of indicator functions. that means that our newly defined Lebesgue integral wont do without a bit of work. as it turns out, we can take limits in the Lebesgue integral, as long as our sequences increase (in math notation: if (f_n)_n is an increasing sequence with limit f, then lim_{n -> ∞} ∫ f_n dm = ∫ f dm). thus, we need to find such a sequence.

it's probably best if all functions in our sequence are finite sums of indicator functions, since we know how to integrate them. one such sequence with limit f is given by f_n = Σ_{k=0}^{n-1} k/n 1_{[k/n, (k+1)/n]}. that looks kinda scary, but if we let n go to infinity, this turns out to be equal to f almost everywhere (some points are counted twice since the intervals [k/n, (k+1)/n] and [(k+1)/n, (k+2)/n] have some overlap, namely {(k+1)/n}, but we dont need to worry about that since m({(k+1)/n}) = 0). heres another visual.

as you can see, though, when we go from f_2 to f_3 we have some parts that increase and some that decrease. that sucks because now our limit trick wont work! to solve this, notice we dont have that issue when we go from f_2 to f_4, or from f_4 to f_8. thus, the sequence (f_{2^n})_n would work, since its limit is also f!

now we can do a big calculation. please bear with me (its just this paragraph i swear)! we have ∫ f dm = lim_{n -> ∞} ∫ f_{2^n} dm, so lets solve ∫ f_n dm for any n first. we have ∫ f_n dm = Σ_{k=0}^{n-1} k/n m([k/n, (k+1)/n]) = Σ_{k=0}^{n-1} k/n^2 = (n-1)(n-2)/2n^2. we can work with that, so were ready to take the limit: lim_{n -> ∞} ∫ f_{2^n} dm = lim_{n -> ∞} (2^n-1)(2^n-2)/2(2^n)^2. that looks scary, but luckily its equal to the slightly less scary lim_{n -> ∞} (n-1)(n-2)/2n^2, and thats just 1/2.

therefore, ∫ f dm = 1/2. which is also the value of the riemann integral ∫ f(x) dx, by the way.

you see that we needed a lot of calculations, so its probably not surprising that i needed an entire whiteboard to do this.

maybe this would make you think that lebesgue integration is inferior to riemann integration. however, as it turns out, most applications of this rely on proving that a lebesgue integral ∫ f dm is equal to some riemann integral ∫ g(x) dx, and we can just solve that with our calculus skills.

also, since the integral relies on a measure, we can do some silly shenanigans with that. for example, the ergodic probability measure related to my sickly son (lets call it n to avoid confusion with our earlier measure m) has n([0,1]) = 1/2, and n([1,2]) = 1/4 (in general, n([k-1, k]) = 1/2^k). i used this in my thesis to integrate the function floor(x): turns out that ∫ floor dm is infinite, but ∫ floor dn = 4 :)

hope you enjoyed doing some measure theory with me :>

*: the lebesgue measure is probably one of the more intuitive measures. an interval [a, b] has lebesgue measure b - a, so m([0,1]) = 1. this also means that a single point has measure m({x}) = x - x = 0, and a countable union of singletons (like Q) therefore also has measure m(Q) = 0. however simple this measure is, it also gives rise to some wacky crazy properties! for example, there exist sets that cant have a measure, but you can only construct them using the axiom of choice. scary!

[lacerta123]

I was watching a guy react to the Gintama openings, where he was considering maybe watching the show. He asked the audience to compare Gintama to a similar series, since he’s found that’s a good way of gauging what the show’s like and whether he’d be interested. Gintama is a hard show to explain, so I think comparing it to something else is a good idea. I mean, saying it’s a futuristic sci-fi historical shonen-comedy set in the modern day is confusing, and it isn’t really why I watch Gintama.

But Gintama is somewhat unique, so it’s hard to find good comparisons. Saiki K is a good match for its sense of comedy, but it doesn’t really capture Gintama’s moral message.

I thought about it for a day, and I’ve come to the conclusion that Rurouni Kenshin is my pick. It helps that they are both samurai anime, and that I started watching Gintama right after I finished reading the Rurouni Kenshin manga. But I think the connection goes deeper than that.

Both Gintoki and Kenshin are tragic characters. Their glory days on the battlefield are behind them, and have left them with deep gashes in their hearts. They now live in a peaceful era that they don’t quite fit into, and have to grapple with what it means for them to have lived through so much violence. What it means to be a samurai, and what it means to live well.

But Rurouni Kenshin and Gintama diverge in what they do with this moral fertile ground. Rurouni Kenshin is deeply concerned with the idea of redemption. Kenshin points his blade inwards, to fight against himself so that he will never fall back into the ways of the Battosai, and so that one day he might redeem himself for the lives that he has taken. On the other hand, Gintama is concerned with the joys of living life with dignity, and how hardship and pain can cause people to cast that dignity away. While Rurouni Kenshin is a character study of Kenshin, Gintama uses Gintoki more as a moral agent within the plot. He is a man who is living his life with dignity, despite having every reason to curse the world. He points his blade inward, to slay the weak version of himself, that would give in to pain and become like Takasugi, his foil and the series’s antagonist. He refuses to abandon his principles and lash out in pain. Gintoki swings his blade to protect his dignity, and the dignity of the people around him, so that he will never give in to despair.

Kenshin and Gintoki’s pasts are equally important within their story. While Gintama focuses less on Gintoki specifically, Gintoki’s backstory is still the moral stock from which the soup of Gintama is made. Before the reveal, Gintoki’s unstated trauma turns even the main caste dicking around into wholesome moral food, the reward of Gintoki’s struggle. Gintoki’s joy is integral to the plot. And when his backstory is revealed, the whole of Gintama is fundamentally rewritten. Every episode, everyday where Gintoki could live his life in the sun, becomes more meaningful. Gintama becomes more than the sum of its parts.

It’s been a long time since I watched Rurouni Kenshin, so I don’t think I was able to fully express how meaningful that series is. Both are really good, so you should give them a watch.

In short, Gintama is if Rurouni Kenshin and Saiki K had a really weird baby, that really loves dick jokes. Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.

[hqsenvs3000w24]

To learn from the past is to better the future...

This week we were tasked to pull apart and inspect the following quote:

There is no peculiar merit in ancient things, but there is merit in integrity, and integrity entails the keeping together of the parts of any whole, and if these parts are scattered throughout time, then the maintenance of integrity entails a knowledge, a memory, of ancient things. …. To think, feel or act as though the past is done with, is equivalent to believing that a railway station through which our train has just passed, only existed for as long as our train was in it.

(Edward Hyams, Chapter 7, The Gifts of Interpretation)

To start, it makes sense that there is no particular worth in old things like artifacts, however there is worth in integrity, and integrity means keeping together the parts of a whole. This means that in order to maintain the integrity of a historical event, we need to maintain those ancient things that make it what it is. In order to maintain the integrity of the whole, you have to remember why it was ever important in the first place, and that is what makes it important to give merit to the ancient things that make up a whole. In the sciences, we learn about system thinking, and that the whole is merely the sum of its parts. In order to properly remember and interpret history, you have maintain the integrity of all the little things that make that historical event important.

To say that “the past is in the past” is to say that moments are only significant or important if they happen directly to you, and that there is no merit in remembering history, as we weren’t there and therefore it has nothing to do with us. In reality, interpreting history helps us understand ourselves, where we have been and what makes us who we are (Beck and Cable, 2018). History allows us to find inspiration in the stories of creators, leaders and survivors. Interpreting the past gives us the opportunity to learn from others’ mistakes and successes, and create a better future using that knowledge.

One of the most important lessons I took from this week’s content is that we need to always consider when interpreting history is to make sure we are doing so accurately and respectfully. The lessons we can learn from the past can be powerful, and it’s important that we’re portraying the past in the way the story was meant to be told, and avoid bias or personal attachments.

Beck and Cable (2018) said that “every natural site has a history and every historical site has natural resources.” I thought this quote connected this week’s content with past content. Although we have been focused so far mainly on how to interpret nature to others, history and nature have always been intertwined, and it is important as an interpreter to be comfortable with both. Tied into this concept (and every concept) is the impact of privilege that we talked about a few weeks ago. In Canada, it is always important to be aware and mindful that the nature and history that we are interpreting has been skewed by colonialism. One of the most respectful things we can do as interpreters is ensure that the stories we are telling about the history of the land reflects the actual truth.

Besides first-person and third-person interpretation (Beck and Cable, 2018) I think that writing is one of the most common types of interpretation of history (and nature) that we see in the world. All over museums and archives, natural parks and conservation areas, the written word can be found interpreting what you are looking at. Interpreting through the written word makes it possible for there to be an absence of a live interpreter while at the same time forcing a person to pause and interact with the item or place, as well as capture someone’s attention, so that they might learn something new (Hooykaas, 2024). Writing plays an important role in the interpretation of both nature and history, and is also something that helps keep memories alive.

What’s one way you have (or someone you know, or somewhere you’ve been) used writing as a way to interpret nature or history?

One way I interpret through writing is to write down important memories I’ve had (both good and bad) and that way I can go back and reminisce or pull guidance from an experience I’ve lived through :)

- All for now!

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting cultural and natural heritage: For A Better World. SAGAMORE Publishing.

(Edward Hyams, Chapter 7, The Gifts of Interpretation)

Hooykaas, A. (2024). Unit 06: Nature Interpretation through History. [Lecture notes]. ENVS3000 Nature Interpretation. University of Guelph.

[albertfinch]

ESTABLISHING THE REALITY OF GOD’S KINGDOM

"Then war broke out in Heaven; Michael and his angels went forth to battle with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought. But they were defeated, and there was no room found for them in Heaven any longer" (Revelation 12:7-8 AMP).

Notice the phrase, "there was no room...for them in Heaven" --  the war against principalities involves displacement -- Christ filling the spiritual territories once held by satan.

Because this war in Heaven is difficult for us to comprehend, these questions arise:

How do angels and demons -- beings who do not die from wounds, wage war?

With what do they do battle?

And how do they conquer one another?

POWER OF AGREEMENT

All spiritual warfare is waged over one essential question: Who will control reality on earth, Heaven or Hell?

When it comes to angelic and demonic warfare, the battle rests not in physical weaponry but in the power of agreement between mankind and the spirit realm. We read in Ephesians 6 (NKJV) that "principalities" and "powers" occupy the "heavenly places" (verse 12). But we read in Ephesians 1:10 that it is the Father's expressed purpose to sum up all things in Christ, "things in the heavens and things on the earth."

Ephesians 3:10 reveals God's glorious plan, that "through the Church" God has purposed to make known His manifold wisdom to the principalities and powers "in the heavenly places." You see, as the Body of Christ on earth agrees with its Head in Heaven, the Spirit of Christ Himself displaces the powers of darkness in the heavenly places.

When the Church on earth is aggressive in its agreement with the will and Word of God, then the presence of God increases in the spiritual realm, proportionally displacing the influence of Hell on earth. Shortly thereafter, manifesting in the world of men, we see revivals, healings and miracles. But when the Church is passive, indifferent or carnal, the powers of Hell increase their rule over the affairs of men: marriages break up, crime increases, and wantonness becomes unbridled. We must see that our prayers, attitudes, and agreement with God are an integral part of establishing the reality of the Kingdom of God on earth!

THE WEAPON GOD HAS GIVEN US

From the spiritual realm, satan works to corrupt and control the mind of man through illusions built from mankind's carnal desires and fears. But the power of the lie is not merely the speaking of falsehoods, nor is it that this world is an illusion. The lie of the enemy appears most powerfully when men believe that this world, as it is, is the ONLY world we can live in. The truth is, of course, that God is establishing His Kingdom, and ultimately, every other reality will submit to and be ruled by that Kingdom! (See Hebrews 12:26-28; Revelation 11:15.)

The weapon God has given us to combat the lies of the enemy is the Word of God, which the Scriptures refer to as the "sword of the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:17). Jesus said His words "are spirit and are life" (John 6:63), which is to say that the substance or meaning in Christ's words represents an actual reality: the living Spirit of the Kingdom of God.

The ancient Greeks, in whose language the New Testament was written, had no word for "reality." To them "truth" and "reality" were the same essence. If we seek to experience the true work of the Holy Spirit, we should understand that the Spirit has been sent to establish the reality of God's Kingdom in the lives of Jesus' followers. Thus, as we become one with the Spirit of Truth, and as we fully embrace the Word of Truth, we are brought into the reality of God Himself!

This point is essential: in our war over who controls man's world, the singular weapon God has given the Church is His Spirit-empowered Word. The living Word of the Spirit is the truth.

OUR THOUGHT PROCESSES

Paul taught that spiritual warfare deals specifically with the "pulling down of strongholds."

But what are those strongholds?

They are lies the devil has sown into our thought processes which, as we accepted and believed them, became reality to us. We do not fall into sin as much as we are seduced by it; every sin is cloaked in some measure of deception. But as these lies are uncovered and destroyed, as our thought processes are freed from illusions, we will discover the blamelessness, perfection, and truth of Christ in us, the hope of glory (see Colossians 1:27).

To be successful in life (COME TO KNOW AND IMPLEMENT GOD'S PURPOSE FOR OUR LIFE) we must know the Word of God. For all things come into being through the Word. It is the Word made alive in our hearts (through repeated affirmation and meditation), that builds our faith, and wins the war over reality.

ALBERT FINCH MINISTRY