#I don't think this punishment works canonically because he appears to give no shits about this anymore

[tavina-writes]

I have been pondering the recent rash of "post canon NHS and LXC would never ever reconcile bc even if NHS wanted to have Er-ge back, LXC would never ever forgive him for [insert reason of choice here]" type of posts + the "do you think NHS thinks very hard about how much Da-ge would hate him for becoming [the way that he is now] by choosing to seek vengeance" type of posts, and I think fundamentally the reason these posts do not jive with me is that we have no indication, in the show or in the book that uh, NHS gives a shit about either of these things very much anymore?

The first type of post is predicated on the assumption that LXC's forgiveness or lack thereof some some sort of either extension of mercy (which NHS obviously does not deserve <- or so assumes the post) or some form of punishment (which is obviously the correct answer) but the last scene we get with NHS both in the book and the show make no indication that this is a thing he wants? Or cares about? Book NHS has *sauntered off* with his little hat trophy and Show NHS walks off screen after saying something along the lines of "What is my responsibility I won't shirk, what isn't my responsibility I won't care about." Now, arguably, show NHS is having a worse go of it emotionally, but shows no real inclination or interest in either apologies or making up and being friends again with LWJ, LXC, WWX, or other people. Book NHS seems pretty pleased with the outcome of the events as a whole?

The second type of post is predicated on the fact that NHS finds Da-ge's judgement a horrible burden to bear at this stage in the game, which! He might! But again especially in the book we get no indication that he has any fucks left to give about what Da-ge may or may not have wanted since Da-ge is dead. In both the show and the book, NHS went about revenge taking very specific and complicated actions with the desired result of JGY dying, but he certainly took the scenic route getting there, which, he didn't need to? As I've written about before, JGY didn't see him as a threat. If he wanted JGY dead he could've arranged to poison JGY's tea like, 10 years ago and had done with it instead of his complicated Rube Goldberg life ruining scheme. If he is still sickly anxious about how Da-ge might feel about the scheming and the trouble causing and the whole everything, that's certainly possible, but he must've decided it was worth it anyway regardless of that, and I don't know that it necessarily would've changed just because he got what he wanted at the end.

Overall, I think as a fandom we think a lot about like "will and should this relationship ever be repaired or similar to how it used to be?" and "does this character deserve/not deserve the forgiveness of people they've hurt or abandoned?" which can be interesting questions! I do feel like these are often taken as "is a character morally good (deserves to be forgiven) or morally bad (deserves to rot in hell forever never forgiven ever ever)" and based entirely on if Character is the meta writer's blorbo. Under this paradigm the concept of "Character did bad things to get exactly what they wanted and were happy about that and no relationships were ever repaired and the emotional detachment of people they used to care about no longer matters to them!" is uncomfortable.

It's just that for NHS I've increasingly come to the conclusion that canonically, I don't think NHS thinks he has anything to apologize for, nor is he super interested in being forgiven! He got what he wanted the way he wanted it to happen. Which is potentially supremely unsatisfying but I think is very sexy as a narrative concept.

[chirpsythismorning]

What do you think about the possibility of El and Will not being exactly twins but half siblings? Maybe Lonnie was in the MK Ultra project for money and had an affair with Terry Ivis, so El was born. His sperm was affected, and Lonnie had another child with Joyce, who was born with repressed/hidden powers (I'm considering Jonathan was already born when Lonnie's balls were chernobyl'd). Then Lonnie took Will to the Lab a feel times for test, but they concluded he was born powerless, because he appeared to be a normal kid.

Upon coming across twelvegate, I did initially go down this rabbit hole! I made a shit-post about the possibility of Lonnie being both Will and El's dad, but more recently I've expanded on that evidence in an ask, discussing why I basically don't think that is the case anymore.

The main thing that makes me so confident about this, is that I'm certain Terry isn't El's 'mama'. Like pretty much 100% certain.

There are a few posts where I discuss this (here, here, here) so definitely check those out if you want a deep dive to better understand where I'm coming from with that claim.

To be fair, I did not subscribe to this up until recently. It was as if my brain blocked me from even merely considering the possibility that Terry isn’t El's mom because of how tragic her whole situation was. And so it felt almost insensitive to even speculate, I guess?

But as of now, after actually going back and watching her scenes for myself, as well as flashbacks featuring her that resurface in future seasons, I think that if anything Lonnie is a roadblock to the truth, in the same sense that Terry is. Because the evidence that Terry isn't El's mom is too alarming to ignore. Like, once you see it, it becomes very obvious they've always been trying to hint this to us, as subtly as possible, and they did it successfully bc it went over everyone's heads.

And so since Terry isn't El's mom, and there are certain details tying Terry to having some sort of connection to Brenner (ie Papa/Mama, Bonsai trees, Hopper's line about Terry's 'relationship' with Brenner), then it's very likely that, in the original timeline/universe or whatever we want to call it, Terry could have worked closely with the lab in some capacity, though ended up supporting Joyce’s claims over allegations about the lab and experimentation, ie. the article at the end of s1 including Joyce/Terry's testimonies. And so she was basically a confidant to them who went against the lab and was lobotomized for it and placed in a scenario that blocked out the truth very conveniently for them, while also essentially punishing her.

And when it comes to Lonnie... That is where it gets very complicated. Because I think it's likely that in the OG timeline, Lonnie was not the greatest guy. I think there was a lot of scary subtext surrounding him harming Will in s1 and it's possible that this dude has been given the role of their father in this timeline, which in the original timeline he is not. He's essentially Stranger Things' very own Biff.

This does make me very intrigued about what is going to be revealed in 'The First Shadow' play coming soon. We're said to get the backstory for not only Joyce and Hopper but also Lonnie and Bob (and Henry) apparently, so that is making for some interesting potential Back to the Future parallels from Marty’s parents’ 1955 timeline vs Willel’s parents’ 1959 timeline. Also the synopsis being young Joyce Maldonado and Jim Hopper dealing with the shadows of the past...

Arguably, it is crunch time. We're approaching the final season and this is a revelation that a lot of the audience are probably not going to be ready for, despite a lot of the hints in the details. I presume they wont have much time in s5 to rehash the mysteries of the past, beyond glossing it over, and so this was honestly a perfect way for them to go back and give context for what is to come in a really unique way that is canon, but without having to cram too much into s5 like they had to for s4.

I do think that Lonnie is very likely to return in s5. Though he referred to Hawkins at its most tame as a hell hole, so idk if he would be running back there during an apocalypse, seeing as everyone else seems to be trying to get out ASAP. It is possible though, and yet I just really don't think his arc is about this series long secret that he is both El and Will's father. If anything I think the revelation is much darker in relation to what truly happened to him and El, possibly in relation to the lab, as he could indeed have been an MKUltra volunteer like you said. It could also help to go read up on some of the cases/allegations put against MKUltra back in the day bc, though it is quite disturbing in parts, it could very well hold the answer to at least some secrets seeing as this is partially based on a real life program that did exist back in the day.

If Lonnie was their dad, I think he would have been a lot more prioritized in the overall story over the seasons, and yet they kind of introduced him in s1 with only a couple references to him in passing since then. If anything it's giving we do not want to give this character too much acknowledgement in the story.

I think a return for him would perhaps look like the storys way of revealing to us that he is not actually their father. Either via flashbacks to the og timeline or perhaps vecna visions at a point when we’re still assuming this is Will’s dad. I do think he very likely is connected to the darker secrets behind what really happened though, related to Will and El's original disappearances, leading up to them in the lab presumably.

I won't claim to understand the memory/time-loop nonsense, because I think that it could also have a lot to do with Will's powers related to time and therefore probability perhaps, which ties really well into the whole X-Men 134 reference. And yet, obviously, I feel like it's too much to try to be certain about which angle go at it, despite having a lot of the pieces to perhaps figure it out? Bc we can guess all day what Will's powers will look like, but we still don't really know for certain? And so going too far beyond that feels like too much guessing to me.

I will say that what makes me even more confident about this theory, even more than the Terry evidence, is just the heaps of evidence connecting Will and El from the very beginning, and how that also connects to Joyce and Hopper more often than not.

If you're open to looking at evidence related to the whole Joyce + Hopper = Willel twins + Jon ? gate (?), or even just how byler also fits into this, bc tbh a lot of the evidence connects, these are a few posts below that might peak your interest. And this isn’t even all of it.

This is the MAIN one so if you read any of them, read this (first and foremost)

Twelvegate Evidence going back to s1 and oh so many unanswered questions

Twelvegate Evidence going back to s1 + Willel Twins

Deer Imagery following The Hoppers/Byers Family

David Harbour cryptically changing his IG pfp to twins, multiple times before S4 dropped:

The fact that Star Wars' big plot twist was that Luke/Leia were twins... That the Duffers are twins... That Noah Schnapp is a twin... 'IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT (MIKE), THEY'RE IDENTICAL'...

El: Me? I'm twice as happy now *cut camera to estranged twin Will opening van door for him and El*

The Wright Bros

Parallels between El being confronted, with Will standing by frozen

"She missed her dad. We all do."

El and Will reuniting at Nina and the remaining timestamp is 12:00

"Mom!"

I will alway say that I am subject to be wrong. The only thing I'm very confident about now is that Terry isn't El's mom, and it just so happens that everything else sort of falls into place after that.

[romanceclub-lovers]

✨ Alexander Jester answered a few questions:

Part 1

Question: While going through MB (Victor) and LOW (Kazu), I noticed that you used your favorite quote “If you are afraid, don’t do it, if you do, don’t be afraid...”, paraphrasing it a little. Will it be in Psi?)

Or maybe Kay already had it, for example. I just haven't read this thread yet

Answer: Frankly, I didn’t do this intentionally. Whether there will be anything in the story remains a surprise.

Question : Is it possible that in the Psi universe people found information about old religions and secretly created small religious communities? Would this be punishable by the main Church?

Answer: I think it would have been stopped.

Question : What did Ivo do when he went to events with orgies? Did he sit on the sidelines with a stoic face or did he simply leave the event? For some reason I don’t see anything more

Answer: History is silent about this.

Question : Are there museums with preserved works of art in the Center? Which masters' works would you like to save from the storm?)

Answer: There are museums. The more masters, the better.

Question : Do you think that some of the characters in your stories have anything similar to you in their personality or appearance?

Answer: Of course, for many people, including me.

Question : I really like Jonas, a favorite favorite in RC. So I would like to buy a pillow/dakimakura with him.

Is there a chance that Romance Club will start releasing such merch? Who should I contact for this?

Answer: For questions about merch, please contact the official app platforms.

Question : Alexander the Jester, why don’t you give spoilers?

Answer: For three main reasons. First, the screenwriter is prohibited from doing this. There are official app platforms for spoilers. Secondly, I don’t consider it acceptable for myself to look for the line between where the information is insignificant and where there is already a full disclosure of part of the story. I don’t make exceptions because it’s impossible to derive a rule. Third, I don't like to spoil the surprise.

Question : Since the release of the story, the question has been tormenting me: why did you decide not to translate shit?

Answer: When displaying the spoken language, I find it illogical to translate all slang foreign words. When conveying, for example, the colloquial speech of a modern person, it is quite appropriate to use the Anglicisms “cringe” or “crash”, “vibe”. Words with 18+ translations are excluded. The appearance of the Russian “pancake” in New Paris is less organic than the Anglicism “crap”, since the latter are found in many languages. Part of the audience finds it difficult to accept unfamiliar words, even existing ones. Therefore, we had to abandon the use of the authentic analogue of “massaraksh”.

Question : Why is it that on the symbolism of the Church (if I understand correctly) there is a circle and a square with diagonals, while the square extends slightly beyond the boundaries of the circle?

Answer: The symbol of the Unity Church is an interpretation of the "Vitruvian Man", which, in turn, reflects the tenets of the Unity Church. The square is a symbol of materiality - science. The circle is a symbol of the spiritual - faith.

Part 2

Question: It’s interesting to know how you feel about the “non-canon” portrayal of your characters, and whether it’s worth sharing “alternative interpretations” with you.

your stories (non-canon pairings, time/place setting, etc.)? Or maybe you won't like this?

Answer- I'm interested. I have a positive attitude. This is creativity.

Question: Last time you said that the release of two episodes was due to your vacation. And now I’m sincerely at a loss as to why there are two episodes. I hope that everything is fine with you and this is not due to personal reasons.

Answer- One update with two episodes was related to vacation. Naturally, I had to work in it too. The second update was due to a decrease in my efficiency. The same standard actions, for example, editing, description of technical documents. tasks took longer. More than 110 chapters without long breaks, and the general uneasy surrounding environment, unfortunately, still took its toll. I did not consider it advisable to speed up due to less elaboration of the chapters.

Question: At least theoretically, you could complete someone else’s story, would you take it up? Considering that the short story is almost completed and, apparently, you will already have to work with the vision of the plot component of the previous author, since there are only 6 chapters left until the end. We are talking about the story "Path of the Valkyrie".

Answer- Of course, I would not have succeeded as organically as the original author, however, technically it is possible.

Question: Psi is already in its third season, and we are quietly approaching the finale. So I want to ask, do you have any thoughts about your new story? Like, what kind of genre will it be, the theme of the story, etc.?

Answer- Yes, I have.

Question: Jester, please tell me the new feature “thanks to the developers” with diamonds at the end of the series - what exactly does this affect? Will you and your Psi team be given a bonus to your salary? Or, for example, does it only affect the story's popularity report? I would like to understand who and how we support with this action. If, of course, you have information on this matter and you are allowed to talk about it. Thank you. And if you have already given 150 diamonds and restarted the series, will the same enrollment be considered the second time or do you need to take a different choice in order for something to work for you? During a diamond rush, such a choice is probably useless?

Answer- I will answer in a little more detail, since there were many related questions.

The "Thank the Devs" choice affects the story and team in exactly the same way as any other paid choice. The popularity of a story is determined solely by the number of readings. It is not connected at all, or is connected only indirectly, with other historical indicators. There are several indicators. For example, previously the player could see the average story score. Any high indicators have a positive effect.

Why did you decide to introduce this function:

Answer -First: at the request of the audience and the desire to support the story. Secondly, this function is also interesting to me because it allows, in some cases, to give the player the opportunity to independently evaluate the content after receiving it, avoiding increasing the starting cost of completing the chapter. Psi is present in every chapter in order to look at statistics and dynamics. It is not correct to evaluate based on one or two updates. And also that when replaying the system is preserved. When two, then three chapters are released, chaos will appear.

Question: Lord, you are probably very tired (Get more rest.... Just working on vacation... It’s hard!

Answer- Otherwise there will be few chapters. I don't like it when a story comes out slowly, I try to avoid it if possible.

Question: Do you like to spend time with friends?

Answer- Sometimes.

Question: Please tell me, are you not too verbose in life?

Answer- That's right, not too much. However, from the outside it is clearer. Ask Amy, Dmitry, for example, we talked on the phone more than once.

Jester -(I don't envy Amy and Dmitry, I don't envy Amy and Dmitry, I don't... I envy Amy and Dmitry).

Source: Alexander D aka the Jester

[highqueenofelfhame]

Hi I saw your post about fics being in character and I thought this could be a good opportunity to share some insight to help people who struggle with their characterization. I love your writing and ask could you share some traits you see as 'core' Rowan and Aelin traits? Maybe more valuably, would you be open to sharing your process for what you look for in the text when understanding characters, what stands out to you and what you make sure to include vs what you don't? I understand if this isn't something you want to share and I send this ask with good intentions and respect and hope this can start a productive discussion, no drama. Thanks :))

totally okay that you asked this!!

i think part of it is that i have read everything up to EoS so many times. like at least four times each and i've read heir of fire and queen of shadows probably six times each. i've only read kingdom of ash once bc it's still too painful to read again lmaoooo.

when i write i also always look for any chance i can to make parallels. i love making canon parallels to anything from small moments to bigger ones that are more recognizable. like the rowaelin qos reunion, rowan's "where is my wife" moment. rowan and aelin sparring in any capacity, like, anything like that. because i think that helps when you're pulling from the text and putting them into situations where you know how they interact with them, and it makes it easier to add in bits and pieces before and after. if that makes any kind of sense. (this also goes for legit any ship that i write. nessian, feysand, etc. pulling from the text and putting them in familiar situations will always help.)

as far as traits go, one of my major ones that i always try to keep in mind is rowaelin's loyalty to each other. rowan is like loyal to aelin almost to a fault sometimes. he will do anything and everything for her. when it comes that's why their thing is "to whatever end." they will follow each other to whatever end and beyond.

aelin has a very low opinion of herself. she thinks that she's expendable compared to those around her. she is very depressed sometimes and i think it gets overlooked a lot. (when i get my books back from my sister, i plan on doing a meta about this.) but she's been through a lot in her life and i try to keep that in mind in a lot of au's. some au's that are heavier (like iihasts and fafs) i try to pull on that. her mental health is very important to a lot of the way she handles things. post KOA, i know this girl has PTSD. it's evident in the way she handles a lot and takes a long time to warm back up to rowan in kingdom of ash. but she was tortured and manipulated for months. she's not okay.

people (in the books) also call her selfish A LOT but most of what she does she does for other people. she even spared dorian the weight of killing his father and told him she did it. like, come on.

as celaena, she does lean on the more selfish side, but as aelin she's doing everything she does for the greater good of the entire world. she didn't forge that lock for herself. she forged that lock for a better tomorrow for everyone she loved. which is incredibly selfless. she would also completely throw down to keep her loved ones safe.

the arrogant behavior is such an act. she's not really like that, it's a cover to hide everything she's truly feeling inside, to protect herself, to keep people from truly getting to know her. she can flip her personality to better suit the situation and the people she's around. she's mostly only her true self around aedion, lysandra, and rowan. i don't even think she really reveals herself to the rest of the cadre for probably a very long time. she picks fights when she's hurting the most and rowan is really the first person to see and recognize that. (very evident in hof when she sees what a good person gallan appears to be and goes and picks a bar fight immediately. or when arobynn humiliates her and she wears her nicest jewels to try to intentionally get robbed so she can start a fight.)

the reality is that she's an insanely hard worker, she keeps going and going and going to meet to meet her goals. she's a master strategist and very quick on her feet in any situation she finds herself in. she feels isolated (which goes back to her depression and ptsd) and she feels misunderstood. but she has been known to literally give the cloak off her back (with kaltain) and the money in her pocket (with yrene) and doesn't expect anything in return. literally nothing in return. she just did it out of the goodness of her own heart, yet she's constantly filled with self doubt that she's a bad person because people tell her that she is (chaol literally calls her a monster and she holds onto that and ends up asking rowan if she is one.)

she gives a lot of forgiveness and second chances, except to abusers. she pulls no punches with them. yet even with arboynn, she made sure there were no redeeming qualities left before letting lysandra kill him. instead of seeing it as a victory, though, she just felt hollow. she doesn't take joy in killing these people. she is not a bad person.

she feels a lot of guilt when she feels she could have stopped things. i think she carries those moments with her. which is why she helped those people the king wanted dead to escape in com. she has no problem ending people that deserve the punishment, but when they don't, she does what she can to help them.

rowan is so respectful. he finally gets his mate and his wife and his love back and he's consistently giving her the space she requires when it's so hard for him to not just touch her. he puts his own needs aside consistently based on what aelin needs.

he's a complete and total hardass to other people but is so soft for her. but he's also territorial about her. he's protective of her. but never at the cost of what she needs and wants. however, he will put his foot down and make people swallow their own tongues if they're disrespectful toward her. but he's also respectful toward everyone, not just aelin. he can prove his points without physical violence even if he would want to.

in that same vein, if you're doing enemies to lovers, he doesn't understand her at first. he think's she's spoiled and doesn't have a single clue about the trauma she's been through and he's very hard on her. he treats her like another warrior in their training. he doesn't go easy on her just because she's a woman (which also still comes from a place of respect) but the second he finds out about her trauma the way he treats her shifts. he becomes protective because he doesn't put up with that kind of shit. he isn't torturing her in their training, in fact aelin in hof says that he's brilliant even if he beats the shit out of her every damn day. a lot of people try to twist that into a thing of abuse, but again, he's training her like a warrior. he doesn't coddle her and she doesn't want to be coddled. again, this comes from a place of respect.

he also learns from his mistakes and tries to right them, and takes action to better himself from it as soon as he can. this is important. he has the humility to apologize, whether it be by actions or words. he doesn't ask for credit in the things he does and ends up kind of making jokes about it. i think he has a lot of humility at the end of the day. he is quick to forgive others when it's deserved but has a lot of trouble forgiving himself. this is also important.

but rowan also has a playful side with aelin. they have witty banter that they exchange even when they're not totally on board with the other. he's funny in subtle ways, and toward the end of the series we see that he's so wholly comfortable with her that he even gets a little silly.

after his own trauma, he also falls into a very deep depression. for centuries. it took aelin coming along for him to come back out of his shell. everyone gave up on him, but aelin never did. just like he never gave up on her, and they were able to walk out of that darkness together. i also think he feels a lot of guilt when innocent lives get put in danger and risk or die at his hands when he felt he could have stop it, much like aelin.

rowan is also very calm in most situations. he's able to work out solutions like the warrior that he is even when other people are losing their minds, which makes him a very good soldier and eventually king.

i could keep going but this is getting wildly long lol. i hope this helps even a little. thank you to @westofmoon @whimsicallyreading @punkassbookjockey26 for helping me with my thoughts as i'm still exhausted from surgery and healing.

[caitsyoi]

I made a post about the Seraphites, so now I want to make one about the WLF. This post is mostly about the WLF's home base, aka the stadium and the area immediately around it. I've included some of my favorite pictures, and my thoughts and observations about where they live and their culture.

Under the cut again to keep things nice and clean.

I gotta say, this blew my mind when I first saw this as Abby. The WLF really have their shit together. Multiple power sources, a bunch of the resources FEDRA left behind, and multiple food sources. The field has cattle, sheep, and chickens plus some farming. On the steps they have even more areas for farming. They have a way to collect water, and even people to design and string up their logo everywhere.

It makes sense, supposedly thousands of people live here (you can't see it unless except via glitch, but there is also baseball stadium immediately next to this that they might also occupy).

We only see where Abby and other soldiers (perhaps squad leaders?) live. They have a pretty cushy life, two per luxury box (the rooms NFL teams overcharge for that run along the upper level of stadiums). Mel also mentions a special area for young families, I wouldn't be surprised if these areas were further divided. Perhaps there is also housing for larger families and single people who aren't soldiers or squad leaders. I very much wonder if those who join the military get better housing than those that work as farmers (or dishwashers, teachers, laundry washers, cooks, etc.). As mentioned earlier, Abby and Manny live in a luxury box, and there are 112 of those in the stadium this is based on. That's housing for 224 people, if they all live like the people in Abby's hallway. That would mean there has to be more housing in other parts of the stadium.

This stadium was once used by FEDRA, and you can see the concrete barriers they left behind along the edge of the field. They have to have more cattle than this, to feed all the people that supposedly live under the WLF. There is farmland around the stadium (more on that later), so maybe they mostly let them graze out there, then move some in when they plan on slaughtering them soon.

I love that they have wind turbines AND solar panels. You can see the influence that the Fireflies had on Issac and the WLF, they really focus on stability and restoring what was lost (at least when it comes to comfort). So they have electricity, sustainable food sources (and multiple kinds too), and a way to collect water (you can't see it in this shot, but they use a system similar to Jackson's, just on a much wider scale).

They teach a curriculum similar to what was taught to kids before the outbreak. We only see two classrooms, but from what I can tell they try to give the gives the type of education they could have received in the old days (as best they can, at least). Both the teachers you see are pretty young, which makes me wonder who taught them.

Most of the kinds you see in class are pretty young, like less than 10. These look a little order (they are outside the stadium in the market area, which I will talk about more a little later). I wonder how long WLF children are required to attend school (I think I saw a sign for 1st through 6th grade, so at least that?). I imagine they get a basic education with some broad looks into various topics, and maybe the ones most apt for study are selected to do specialized careers like teaching or meteorology. Other children are probably pushed into farming or the military portion of the WLF. Regardless of what they study, they probably also get a heavy dose of WLF propaganda. That aligns with how gung-ho many of them are to fight.

I wonder if military service is compulsory, like everyone has has to do at least so much time and then they can do other things if they want. Or maybe they make it so you don't have to fight if you don't want to, but those that do get better perks.

Most of the WLF you see appear to be in their 20's or 30's, or at least the fighters. That would mean they have spent most (if not all) of their lives under military rule, and they would have a special allegiance to the WLF since they manage things so much better than FEDRA did. Plus, you know, all that propaganda. I imagine they are told a lot about how the WLF is restoring society and how the WLF saved them from FEDRA/Scars/infected.

Sorta related, I thought of an WLF AU. Ellie grows up in Seattle under the WLF, perhaps with Riley and Dina and the other characters from canon. So many interesting things can be done with this, but that's for another post maybe.

This is one the cafeteria's the WLF use. I believe this is one of a few, although this is the only one you see. There is also a butcher and small market for clothing and items here too. They prepare food here, but I think the majority of cooking is done in an area set up for it in the stands.

They have posted meal times for groups A-F, and separate meal times for children and the late night patrol. So maybe this is the only cafeteria? Each end is blocked off, so maybe they use some of the corridor that circles the stadium for more living quarters.

This is also community space where they can play games, chat, or read. There also seems to be a mix of soldiers and other workers eating together, as well as young families (there is at least 1 or 2 women with young babies in here).

This little detail was super cute to me, but it also tells you a lot about WLF society. Everyone has a job to do, there is a role and place for everyone to contribute.

I'll talk more about this in another post (titled "It's Silly to Call a Post-apocalyptic Group 'Fascists', but Still the WLF Is Pretty Messed Up"), but an important thing to remember about the WLF is that everything comes down to Issac. He has the final say on everything, he makes all the major decisions, he picks squad leaders, he decides who needs to be punished, he's basically the Supreme Leader. Issac has been shown to be somewhat progressive with some things (you can follow whatever religion you want or none at all in the WLF, the WLF has no problem with LGBTQ people, you can get medical waivers for military duty, they provide support for pregnant women and parents, etc.), and in other ways he is very much the opposite (he punishes anyone who disagrees with him - this could be a relatively light punishment of a crappy assignment or it could be a beating, then there's the whole attempted genocide thing). Anyway, my point is that there are good things about the WLF, but also there is a serious darkside.

Anyway, when I saw this lady and her baby I immediately thought of Dina doing this with JJ while she gardens.

I absolutely loveeeee this little detail. A mural for the fallen. This really reminds me of some stuff you could see today, just replace the wolf with an eagle and make the uniforms camo.

There are 46ish names on this wall, so I wonder if it is continuously updated or if there are multiple murals, because they definitely have lost more people than that over the years. Also, there are about 150 people at the FOB (the amount of bodies at the FOB, yes I counted) that will need to be added. Maybe the war with the Seraphites just really exploded in the last few weeks (or maybe longer) leading up to Ellie's arrival.

I love that you can pause during the ride with Abby, Mel, and Manny to look around the outside of the stadium. Immediately outside there are train tracks and what appears to be a large market running along side of it. This is on the west side of the stadium, I believe. A major highway intersection is also nearby.

The market has all sorts of goods, food, gas, clothing, cleaning products, TVs and other electronics, records, and even more. I wonder if this is some sort of intake area for any goods they bring back to the base. But who runs these little shops? From some notes you can find we know their economy runs on trade, so how does this work?

Once you get past the market area, you see a pretty vast section of farmland. I loved this shot because it also shows one of their rain water storage areas. They mark this water as to be used only for irrigation, so they must use something else for people to drink and bathe with. Or maybe they just filter some water for people to use, and the rest goes to the plants.

In the background you can see the wall and a guard tower. There is a larger wall (like much larger, I'm talking maybe 5 stories) around the QZ, and a smaller one that runs around the stadium.

This is labeled "Checkpoint #4", so I'm not sure if that means there are other gates, but this is the only one we see in game.

The wall is pretty thick, and you can see these guard towers spaced out all alongside it (much like in Jackson). Once you leave the walls you are immediately surrounded by the wasteland that is post-apocalyptic Seattle.

[revasnaslan]

I'll be honest about Annilis, I love him and his sympathetic background AS well as his awful approach to keeping Hec-tor safe, because he's probably in some legitimate danger but he took it too far. I love HP, but I also wanna beat his ass too. Just grab him by the ears and yell, "What are you doing you idiot sandwich?!" I just wanna ask him "Are you even happy? And no getting pegged by a Shade isn't happiness." Don't want him to die though, only because it's a cop-out for actual punishment.1/2

2/2 That's what kinda bummed me on HP in-show, he did so much horrible shit, was an arrogant living "God", and he was just killed? That easy? HP's hubris was grotesque and he deserved a worse punishment than just a lightshow to the face. HP was also a non character in the end and whatever characterization he did have was lost quickly, gonna admit. But, an arrogant jerk dying that quickly is too easy a punishment, he has to suffer the consequences of his actions and experience his loss in detail.

sorry I'm sending you so many asks about HP. But dear God did the show drop the ball on Horde "supposedly endgame villain who was woefully underutilized until the last minute and even then was handed the villain ball to make sure what credibility he did have was lost" Prime. Could have been great, his story was there, but Crew-ra wasted time on frivolous characters(star siblings might have been cool but s5 needed to work on its existing characters, not introduce new ones)and wasted plot points.

I actually have done a ton of analysis on why prime just doesn’t work as a villain for pretty much six months now. Like I started doing this pretty much the day that the finale dropped cause I never liked S5 at all. There’s just much wrong with it, strictly from a narrative prospective than I cannot get over it, which I why I’ve kind of retreated into doing Fuck Canon aus. And I don’t think the major problems plaguing prime is that he’s a bad person or a cult leader or whatever, that would be fine. This is a matter of set up and pay off. This is a matter of narrative structure. Those are my major problems with everything about this.

Anyway, I guess we’ll try a flaccid attempt at positivity, just to make it clear that I am not coming strictly from a point of view of hate… the one thing I remember liking about prime is that creepy dinner scene. Loved that scene, I was so giddy when they dropped it as a teaser clip, and I got to enjoy it in peace for like a day and a half before my love for the show went crumbling. Prime is absolutely on his game in that scene, I can very clearly see his mind working, because my interpretation of the scene is that he’s trying to bait glimmer into giving him information. Did he actually intend to harm adora? Who knows! Does it matter? Not really, considering he got the information he wanted, which was what was needed to work the heart. I can feel the tension in that scene, that is how he should have been for the rest of the season.

So what the fuck happened? *cracks knuckles* well let’s see shall we.

Foreshadowing It’s Fun Cause It’s A Thing I’ve Heard Of

So I think we all remember just how shocking it was when prime actually showed up, and he wasn’t anything like we’d all come to assume he’d be based on what had been said about him up until that point. What we had been fed was essentially that he was cold, calculating, and didn’t look upon “defects” well. He saw the clones as disposable. And they set up that aspect of his character just fine, and I don’t have a problem with how that was set up.

What they utterly failed to properly set up (and even contradicted themselves on) was the cult thing, and how prime is essentially this messiah figure to the clones. I highly suspect this occurred because they were writing the show as they went along, and hadn’t fully fleshed out prime’s whole deal until he actually appeared at the end of S4, but that’s just my own speculation given some of the things that had been said in interviews regarding other aspects of the writing (namely that micah was apparently not supposed to be alive in the first place and that happened because of a miscommunication between noelle and one of the other writers).

Regardless, there are a number of things that should probably have been done differently in order to properly foreshadow prime’s cult leader status, that actually would have heightened hordak’s characterization as well. For one thing, there’s a reason we all assumed that the galactic horde was merely a military program and it’s because of how hordak acts throughout the first four seasons. We can talk in circles about headcanons until we’re blue in the face (i.e., he might have memory problems), but the fact of the matter is that those are headcanons and that hordak’s entire narrative changes from one of an ableist family to one of a religious trauma seemingly on a dime come the very end of S4 when prime shows up.

imagine how satisfying the foreshadowing would have been if hordak had actually been spouting dogma the entire show (i.e., “cast out the shadows” and “all beings must suffer to become pure”) only for it peter off once he’s befriended entrapta, if he had been calling those who he respected brother/sister instead of force captains (which is a far more militarized word to use, and judging by the galactic horde isn’t even a term they use), if he had still been dressed in his uniform and only actually started dressing differently after entrapta had helped him? Hell, he never even so much as implies that entrapta is leading him astray before he’s back with prime, he doesn’t even seem particularly distressed about being around her most of the time, and the only reason he even gets persnickety with her is because of his medical condition.

One point I’m going to expand on for a moment is the whole “brother” thing, because that is actually a very good way of explaining what I mean. Now, hordak doesn’t actually mention any other clones at all from what I remember. This is contrary to all of the clones in S5 referring to each other as “brother” pretty openly and it being seen as a term of respect. However, the only person that hordak actually calls “brother” up until S5 is prime, and this inadvertently ended up making the word seem far more neutral than it should have been considering the context of S5. The word “brother” is actually a control tool, and if they had wanted to establish that sooner, hordak should have been calling anybody he respected that.

So, either the writers hadn’t actually thought of that part of the narrative yet, or they’re just that bad at foreshadowing.

There are also three instances of the narrative contradicting itself with regards to prime, one in S3, one in S4, and one in S5. The first is that hordak wanted to make a new body for himself. While one could argue that this was meant to be foreshadowing that prime takes new bodies whenever his old one failed (which is fine, that works as foreshadowing), the act of hordak admitting that he was intending to do that is what actually creates the snag. With the context of S5, we learn that becoming a vessel is meant to be a place of honor, but this comes with the caveat that it seems like only prime is allowed to take new bodies. So why the ever living fuck would someone as “pious” and “unworthy” as hordak think that was something he could ever be allowed to do, much less that prime would welcome him back with open arms if he did it. But there’s zero hesitation on hordak’s part, he doesn’t even mention that this is something usually only reserved for prime.

The second is that prime literally looked at the heart of etheria and said it was “unlike anything [he had] ever seen” despite canonically fighting the first ones, so he’d presumably have recognized the energy signature that first one’s tech gives off and be like Oh Shit. This one in particular drives me absolutely nuts because if I was writing a villain who had lived long enough to fight the people this mystical weapon was created by I would never write them saying that what the actual fuck. My gripe here is not that prime is ancient, that’s fine, I could’ve vibed with that. But the fact that he not only fought the first ones but also recognized mara is really egregious in a way that borders on parody for me. Like what a flimsy excuse for him to be connected to adora (and we’ll get to that!)

The third and final one is that hordak was allegedly thrown out for his defects. That’s what we were told, that’s what a major facet of hordak’s trauma is centered around. However, at the same times, prime seems like… oddly fixated on hordak in a way that usually implies something deeper is going on here. That was why I was so convinced that hordak wasn’t remembering something clearly, because why would prime spare him instead of killing him immediately after returning if he was defective enough to warrant being thrown out? Come S5, prime seems to have forgotten about the pesky little plot detail that is hordak’s defects, since they never come up again! Nope! Hordak is not only completely healed of his ailments (which Can I Get A Yikes?) but he’s also been welcomed back to his original position as prime’s right hand by the mid-point of the season, and he stays there until the finale unless the plot demands he be elsewhere to interact with entrapta cause hordak was added in post. You can’t even argue that he was keeping hordak alive because eThErIaN kNoWlEdGe because he has those fucking mind chips. Literally every single person he’s chipped is connected to the hivemind because of that. He’d have every single bit of knowledge that he could possibly want right there at his fingertips. He doesn’t need hordak alive at all.

Which brings us to…

It’s Almost Like He Wasn’t A Villain To The Proper People

The thing about villains is that, in order for them to not feel out of place, in order for their defeat to actually give a true feeling of satisfaction, you kind of have to put them up against the right people. The reason that prime ultimately fails in this respect is that he is not adora and catra’s villain, despite the narrative pushing him as that…

I actually once joked on twitter that if the rise of skywalker had come out when S5 was being written, then prime would have likely ended up being revealed as adora’s long lost grandfather in some attempt to make his fixation on her seem warranted. That’s the level we’re at in terms of how connected the two of them appear to be for the villain and hero thing. They just are not connected, and prime has absolutely no reason to be this fixated on her. They tried to explain it with she ra and prime being old enemies, but that’s equally as confusing because a) mara hadn’t mentioned him up until that point, b) this inclusion actually makes the first ones creating a superweapon look justified since prime is such a huge threat, and c) she ra is explicitly stated to have been on etheria long before the first ones even colonized it, so why the fuck is she just gallivanting around the cosmos fighting cult leaders?

And to be clear, if this whole prime versus she ra had actually been hinted at, I would not be taking so much issue with this. But as there was absolutely zero mention of him, it just comes off as egregious and very, very sloppy on their parts.

Prime also should not be as fixated on catra as he is, that doesn’t make sense at all. I know why this happened in particular, though, and it’s because the writing team was so in love with her that they just had to give her this arc. That just makes its inclusion all the worse to be honest. Why does he go to such great lengths to use catra to torture adora, why does he go into a total breakdown after catra escapes? He isn’t connected to either of them…

… because he is hordak and entrapta’s villain.

that prime didn’t immediately want entrapta dead continues to confuse me to this day, nearly seven months after the fact. Like you mean to tell me that this cult leader, who is presumably used to complete obedience from his followers, finds one of the wayward members of his proverbial flock lost on some backwater, who didn’t want to be found, and he knows exactly who is responsible for sewing those seeds of discord in this poor lamb’s head. And he doesn’t immediately want entrapta dead?

Not only does prime never mention her, despite it being very easy to push a plotline about how it’s necessary because she’s perceived as a danger to the rest, and especially to the poor lost soul who was ultimately returned to him. Instead, prime just doesn’t seem to realize entrapta exists. He doesn’t know who she is despite literally reading hordak’s mind. He doesn’t even seem to interpret her as threat considering he wasn’t worried about putting her and hordak right next to each other in the finale. He should have been using hordak to torture entrapta, and he should have had his break because hordak escaped him. That whole scene where catra is under mind control and adora was trying to snap her out of it was textbook entrapdak. Hordak should have been the one to delve into the hivemind to help adora. It was his story and it was taken from him when he was sacrificed on catra’s narrative arc altar.

And this is ultimately completely fixable. Because they had a villain they could have been using for adora and catra the whole time. Shadow Weaver. Y’know, their mutual abuser who was the main cause of strife between the two of them, and the person who kind of set the plot in motion since she’s the reason catra is the way that she is?

He Blew It. Super Hard. Complete Buffoonery.

Ultimately one of the biggest writing fumbles with prime is that he is just really fucking dumb as the plot demands, and it doesn’t make any kind of narrative sense for him to be that way, it is literally just him being at the mercy of the writers who need him to do something stupid so they can push the plot forward since they made him too overpowered for it to happen any other way.

There’s numerous instances of this across the season, including him bringing entrapta aboard the velvet glove when the very person he would have had very good reason to not let her near is standing right there, and him deciding to give catra pretty much free reign of the velvet glove and seeming to decide to trust her despite him knowing damn well that she’s likely to betray him the second he does something she doesn’t like, and the time he literally left adora to be beaten by catra instead of just killing her outright when she couldn’t even activate she ra. And in all these cases he had the fucking nerve to seem surprised when it happened?

However, there is one plot point that I feel illustrates how goddamn stupid he is to move the plot forward, and it’s the mind chips.

I mean one of the reasons I dislike it is going back to how little foreshadowing the writers actually seem capable of committing to. There is nothing to indicate in the narrative that prime actually employs mind control on anybody besides the clones, and this becomes especially egregious when we later meet the star siblings, and we find out that there are large swathes of the universe that are seemingly not chipped? It just screams like they needed some type of angst plot point for catra, so they had to find a way to make it work.

But the very inclusion of the mind chips as a plot point makes prime look so ridiculously dumb, because we are told those chips connect people to the hivemind, we are explicitly shown this for catra angst. So a) why does he need hordak around at all, because the excuse he needs to know about etheria doesn’t work since he literally chips like half of the etherian population later on anyway, b) if he needed information on the heart of etheria, why didn’t he just chip glimmer outright, it would have saved him a lot of time and hassle, and c) if he knew damn well that catra had betrayed hordak numerous times and was likely to do the same to him, why didn’t he just immediately chip her so he could mitigate two problems. If he had chipped catra immediately, he wouldn’t have lost glimmer, and it would have been next to impossible for adora and bow to storm the velvet glove through the means that they did.

When your main villain is that fucking stupid, the tension is completely sapped out of your narrative, and prime doesn’t have enough character unto himself to continue holding up his own arc. He is a sexy lamp cardboard cutout that just happens to be brought onto the scene when they were in need of someone to throw the idiot ball at. Prime is supposed to be this thousand year old body hopper who has the wisdom of the ages, and yet he was defeat by a group of teenagers driving a clown card held together by nothing but duct tape and prayers.

Anyway!

Guess Who Just Got Murdered!

Anon, I completely agree that the way prime got taken out was just… hm. Well, it was a choice, given how they had written the rest of the season.

I’ve said this before, but I really wish I could actually enjoy hordak yeeting him, but I just don’t feel anything. That scene is a culmination of an arc that never happened because hordak was barely on screen for S5. It feels like we’re missing this whole season-long arc about how hordak managed to break free of prime and was actively working against him, and that scene is the lowest point, right before the greater scope villain is ultimately defeated by the protagonist. Which just furthers my point that prime is really hordak’s villain, because hordak reads more like a protagonist than I think the writers actually intended for him to.

Since you mentioned anillis, I feel the need to comment on him as well, because I do know exactly what happens to him at the end of my au, because I actually planned for his ending from the beginning and built his arc towards that point. The very bare bones spoilers is that he isn’t going to die, because a) he needs to live with the consequences of his actions and b) him dying would affect hec-tor horribly, especially since if anybody had to deal the killing blow it would be hec-tor. And hec-tor doesn’t deserve to be forced to do that. He wants freedom, he doesn’t want his brother dead by his own hand.

So, I completely agree that just killing prime off feels a little… like a cop out? I’m not going to get into a discussion of how he was defeated by the power of (romantic) love because my issue there is not with the trope itself, but ultimately how it was handled, and that also has to do more with my grievances with how catradora was ultimately handled than my grievances with prime. However, him being like… exorcised…

Well it sure does clean up some loose ends that we don’t want to discuss huh?

[crystallized-shadow]

Rating: Teen Pairing: Tobirama/Kagami Word Count: 4278 Warnings: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Pre-Heat, Blood, Canon-Typical Violence Summary: Injured and stuck in a cave deep in Uchiha territory, Tobirama's not even surprised when his heat starts. He just hopes the only alpha that finds him is his brother.

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Tobirama tenses as he hears the nearly silent footsteps approaching him, footsteps that could only belong to a shinobi; civilians were never that quiet and had no reason to venture out this far. Given where he was hiding, and just how far he was from his closest allies, the chances of it being a friendly shinobi were nil. Normally Tobirama wouldn’t be worried, he wasn’t the second strongest shinobi of the Senju Clan for no reason, but normally he wasn’t poisoned, suffering from severe blood loss, dangerously low on chakra, and fighting off the start of his heat all at once. Usually the universe was kind enough to limit his disadvantages to just two or three things. A quick sniff alleviates some of Tobirama’s fears, at least it wasn’t an alpha coming to take advantage of him.

“Who’s there?” A voice calls and Tobirama is struck by just how young they sound, maybe he would have a chance.

Holding his breath, Tobirama hopes the kid will just leave but as luck would have it a curly head of dark hair appears around the bend. A flash of red alerts Tobirama to the Sharingan and before the Senju can stop himself, he lunges at the teen, a kunai instantly in his hand.

The Uchiha gracefully dodges and disarms Tobirama in one easy move, much to the Senju’s annoyance. “Easy there, you’re hurt.”

“Why do you care?” Tobirama huffs, struggling to get out of the younger man’s hold, even as he is gently lowered to the ground, “I’m your enemy.”

“Actually you’re Izu-nii’s enemy,” the teen chuckles and instantly Tobirama recognizes Kagami, Izuna’s younger brother, “not mine.”

“I’m a Senju, you’re an Uchiha,” Tobirama points out, batting away the hands tugging at his clothes. “You’re too young to want anything to do with my heat, so knock it off.”

“I’m trying to see your injuries” Kagami states, pausing in his actions to wait for Tobirama to calm down, “you don’t look so hot.”

“No shit.”

“Listen I’m trying to help you, so stop being an asshole and let me see what’s wrong.” Kagami orders and Tobirama reluctantly does as he’s told. They are both silent as Kagami gets the bloody rag that used to be Tobirama’s shirt off. “What happened?”

Tobirama very carefully doesn’t react to the sting as Kagami cleans his wounds, still surprised an Uchiha was helping him.

“I need to know what I’m dealing with.”

“I was poisoned,” Tobirama finally admits, abelit reluctantly, “I ran out of my medicine and the shit I bought was spiked. An ambush was waiting for me, I got away by the skin of my teeth.”

“That must have been a strong poison,” Kagami remarks, carefully feeling Tobirama’s forehead after off his wounds are bandaged, “Izu-nii often complains about how strong you are.” The Uchiha frowns at the heat radiating off the Senju, it was too much to just be his heat, which spoke to a very potent poison.

“He does?” Now that makes Tobirama blink, he couldn’t imagine Izuna of all people complimenting him, even in a backhanded way.

“I don’t think he means to,” Kagami chuckles, the melodic sound soothing some of Tobirama’s frayed nerves, “but he still does.”

“Why are you helping me?” Tobirama asks, hesitantly taking a drink from the Uchiha’s canteen after the younger man takes a drink first, “isn’t this treason in your clan or something?”

“I know you Senju think poorly of us, but we don’t fight dirty,” Kagami states with a frown, “at least not now that Mada-nii is in charge and has taken care of the child and omega killers.”

“Madara did what?”

“Aniki never approved of Tajima’s policy of taking out people unable to defend themselves,” Kagami says, the use of his father’s name surprising Tobirama; clearly he wasn’t the only one with daddy issues. “The second Madara took over anyone who hunted down children or omegas in heat was severely punished, a few people were executed.”

“Are you trying to tell me that Madara of all people gives a shit about omegas?” Tobirama asks with a raised eyebrow, “because I’m not nearly drugged enough to believe you Uchiha treat omegas any better than the other clans.”

“Of course Madara cares about them, he’s an omega.”

“What!?” Later Tobirama would be embarrassed that his exclamation was less of a word and more of a yelp, but right now he was trying to wrap his head around how an omega had become clan leader.

“I suppose the other clans don’t know,” Kagami mutters sheepishly, scrubbing a hand through his hair as he fidgets, “but it’s well known in the Uchiha about his status; we don’t care. His strength and Mangekyo mean more to our clan than his birth status.”

“How progressive…” Tobirama grumbles, waving off the Uchiha’s questioning hum.

“I need to get back before Mada-nii gets worried,” Kagami says, passing over his supply pouch, “feel free to use any of that if you think it will help. I’ll bring you some real food and medicine tomorrow, so please don’t try and run away.”

“We’ll see,” Tobirama shrugs, even though they both know he’s still not in any shape to move yet. Kagami just grins before he leaves, careful to cover Tobirama’s scent with his own.

Tobirama puzzles over his newest piece of information, could it be possible that Madara was an omega? He didn’t think so, surely Hashirama would have noticed; sage above he probably would have mated the Uchiha by now if given the chance. It could be that Madara, like himself, used an herbal suppressor to keep his status a secret; even if the Uchiha accepted him that didn’t mean other clans would and an untimely heat could be deadly. Their clan must have a good supplier of the herbs, Tobirama had to grow his own because so few Senju omegas tried to hide their status. It was an easy way out of the war, provided they lived long enough to actually present.

Tobirama’s not sure when he nods off, but the next thing he knows a damp cloth is gently dabbing his forehead as Kagami’s muted scent washes over him. “You actually came back, alone,” Tobirama mutters, unable to hide his awe; he was sure a party of Uchiha would follow the naive boy to kill him.

“Of course,” Kagami scoffs, pouting at the accusation, “why must you think the worst of me?”

“Oh I don’t know, maybe because our clans have been at war for generations?” Tobirama shoots back, wincing when he tries to sit up himself, only for his arm to give out on him.

“Easy,” Kagami murmurs, carefully helping the Senju into a more comfortable position, “your injuries are bad and my iryo ninjutsu isn’t the greatest.”

“You know healing?” Tobirama asks, unable to keep the accusing tone out of his voice.

“Are you always this critical of what people say?” Kagami huffs, his tone reminding the omega greatly of Izuna.

“Yes.”

“Oh,” Kagami mutters, a startled laugh slipping free as he’s caught off guard by the blunt answer. “Anyway, yes I know some healing; all Uchiha know the basics, but few specialize in it.”

“Are you sure you’re an Uchiha?” Tobirama blurts and Kagami jerks back with a frown, chakra sparking behind his eyes, a warning of the terrors he can inflict.

“Excuse me?” The words are snarled Tobirama feels like he’s facing down Madara, not the gentle young man that was too pure to be a shinobi.

“You are too pleasant,” Tobirama says, hiding a wince as he shrugs, “and too honest. Were it not for your temper just now I would doubt your relationship to the other hotheads.”

Kagami remains silent for several moments, just long enough for Tobirama to brace himself for an attack, before the other man sighs.

“Mada-nii and Izu-nii have protected me from a lot,” he admits softly, unable to meet Tobirama’s eyes as he speaks, “so I do my best to live like our mother did.”

Did, past tense; not that surprising considering the war going on, but clearly it had been a traumatic death. “So what else have the Senju gotten wrong about you Uchiha?” Tobirama asks, wanting to distract Kagami from his darker thoughts for some reason.

Just like Tobirama had thought he would, Kagami quickly launches into a whole spiel about all the misconceptions surrounding his clan. Really the teen reminded him of Hashirama, which is probably what lets Tobirama’s mind drift as his wounds are carefully checked, cleaned, and rebandaged. Tobirama’s not surprised when his thoughts quickly return to his anija; he wondered if the elder Senju had figured out where he’d run into trouble? He should have returned yesterday and given how protective Hashirama had become after Tobirama had presented, he didn’t doubt the alpha was searching for him; he just doubted his anija was looking in the right place. Why would Hashirama think to look for Tobirama of all people deep in Uchiha land?

“You’re not listening, are you?”

Tobirama blinks in confusion as the words bring him back to the present, only to recoil at the Uchiha staring deeply into his eyes. “What are you doing!?” Tobirama growls, shoving Kagami away from him despite the painful way it pulls his wounds.

“I was admiring your eyes,” Kagami laughs, not at all ashamed of his actions, “you weren’t paying attention and they’re pretty.”

“Do you have any idea how jarring it is to find an Uchiha staring into my eyes?” Tobirama demands, his body protesting at keeping his still injured muscles tensed for too long.

“Oh, yeah, forgot about that,” Kagami mutters, at least having the decency to flush in embarrassment, “sorry.”

Tobirama just nods, neither accepting nor outright rejecting the apology.

“Anyway I can’t stay any longer, Mada-nii will worry since the Senju are restless today,” Kagami explains as he stands up and brushes his clothes off. “I know why but it’s not like I can tell anyone without one of us getting hurt.”

“Just don’t engage them,” Tobirama requests, wishing he was well enough to travel, “I’ll try and rejoin them tomorrow.”

“You’re still too wounded!” Kagami protests, his eyes dropping to all the bandages on the Senju’s torso and the worrying gash on one leg.

“I need Hashirama to get the poison out of my system or I’ll die,” Tobirama points out, “I’m sure you noticed it’s chakra resistant; Anija’s Mokuton can get around that.”

Kagami is silent for a long moment before he wordlessly hands Tobirama the storage scroll he’d brought with and bolts.

-

Kagami runs from the cave, ignoring the nagging voice telling him to go back and protect his omega; Tobirama wasn’t even his yet! He knew it was a little underhanded to keep hiding his status from the Senju, but revealing he was an alpha when the other’s heat scent had been muted enough to ignore would have just put Tobirama needlessly on edge. Plus it was kinda cute how Tobirama thought he was so young; he was only a year younger than Izuna but clearly the Senju didn’t know that. Coming to the river, Kagami takes a deep breath and looks down at the bloody cloth in his hands; he’d swiped Tobirama’s ruined shirt before he left. Tearing a chuck off, Kagami ties it to the end of a kunai and whips it into the Senju land as far as he can. Now he just had to wait for a Senju to pick up Tobirama’s scent and track it this way, he wasn’t sure who he hoped it would be.

Kagami doesn’t have to wait long, the scent of a furious alpha alerting him to Hashirama’s presence even before the trees start to shake in fear or anticipation, he can’t tell.

“Where. Is. He?” Hashirama demands, biting off each word harshly as his eyes hyperfocus on the shirt.

“Calm down or I’ll keep the omega,” Kagami snarls right back, his normally repressed instincts flaring to life at the clear challenge. Instead of calming the other alpha like he’d sort of hoped it would, Kagami grunts as he suddenly finds his skull bouncing off the ground and an immovable mass of muscle blanketing his smaller form.

“WHAT DID YOU DO!?” Hashirama roars, tree roots twining around the Uchiha’s limbs.

“Nothing!” Kagami yelps, quickly wrapping himself in his Susanoo to force Hashirama back.

“What…?” Hashirama blinks in confusion, seeming to finally realize he’s facing Madara’s youngest brother for the first time.

“Are you calm?” Kagami asks warily, releasing his Susanoo to avoid Madara sensing it and bringing a war party.

“I think so?” Hashirama mutters, head tilting to the side like a curious bird, “I’m sorry but I need to find Tobirama, I don’t have time to fight with you.”

“I know, that’s why I’m here,” Kagami explains, raising his hands in a peaceful gesture, and allowing the protective alpha to visually see that his scent glands are still unmarked.

“I’m confused.”

“Are you alone?” Kagami asks and Hashirama nods, still not understanding the situation, “good, follow me.”

“Tell me what’s going on,” Hashirama demands as he follows Kagami, though his tone just makes him sound pitiful, “have the Uchiha taken Tobirama?”

“No,” Kagami assures, carefully leading Hashirama toward the cave without running into any of the Uchiha scouting parties. “Someone poisoned him, he’s in bad shape and I can’t help him anymore than I have.” The two stop at the mouth of the cave and Kagami nods toward it. “He’s in there, I’m going to run interference for you, leave as soon as you can.”

Hashirama nods and runs into the cave, never once considering it could be a trap as Kagami runs in the opposite direction.

The next time Kagami meets Tobirama is on the battlefield and he’s both relieved to see him recovered and terrified by the glare the Senju sends him. He has a brief moment to try and figure out why Tobirama’s so pissed before he’s forced to block the omega’s blade.

“You lied.” The words are growled right in his face and suddenly Kagami understands. He hadn’t lied per se, merely withheld the truth, but now isn’t the time to discuss it. Pushing Tobirama back leaves Kagami’s arms trembling, omega or not Tobirama was still stronger than him. Kagami’s almost grateful when Touka bulldozes her way past the omega and lunges at him, leaving Izu-nii to go after Tobirama.

Touka wasn’t Kagami’s favorite Senju to fight, she was the overly brash type of alpha Madara had threatened to drown him in their koi pond if he ever turned into. He figured it was due to the Senju’s attitude on women, alpha or not, on the battlefield, so while he understood her behavior, it didn’t mean he liked fighting her. Just before he can truly lose himself in the battle, something makes Kagami turn to check on Izuna; Madara was clearly enjoying himself based on his chakra, so the youngest brother knew his bad feeling wasn’t about him. The sight of Tobirama ruthlessly cutting Izuna down greets him and not even Touka’s blade tearing through his own shoulder as he rushes for his older brother is enough to redirect his rage.

“You bastard!!!” Kagami snarls, forcing Tobirama back and away from his wrongly still brother. He feels wetness on his cheeks, but the Uchiha ignores it, his desire to make Tobirama pay his only focus right now.

“You deceived me,” Tobirama growls, his anger slamming right into Kagami’s own.

“What!?” Kagami pushes the Senju back with new found strength, how dare that pale bastard act like he had any right to be furious!

“You’re an alpha!”

“So you killed my brother!?” Kagami shouts, his Magekyo spinning to life behind his tears, “I tried to keep you calm while you were hurt and you fucking killed my brother!!”

That must stun Tobirama because Kagami manages to break through the Senju’s defenses and bury his sword in the other’s armor. Tobirama staggers back a few steps, his eyes widening as he meets Kagami’s glare.

“Next time we meet you’re dead.” The promise is spoken and then the elder brothers are there, Hashirama blathering on about peace while Madara is ordering a retreat. Kagami’s instincts rage about allowing an omega to order him around, but he quickly shakes it off as he glances back at Madara supporting their brother’s weight alone. He had more important things to deal with right now than hurt pride and rage without a proper target.

-

Tobirama can only stare at the place the Uchiha had been moments ago. Surely he didn’t mean that right? The Senju couldn’t ignore the way his instincts screamed at him that Kagami would be the perfect alpha for him, but now it seemed like he’d messed that up.

“Otouto?” Hashirama mutters, snapping Tobirama back to the present as warmth slowly spreads over the shallow wound Kagami had given him.

“I didn’t kill him,” Tobirama states quietly, because he needs someone to know that, “I could have, but I didn’t.”

Hashirama is silent for a long moment as he really looks over his younger brother, wanting to make sure the physical injuries are taken care of before he tackles the mental ones. “Were you thinking about courting him Otouto?” Hashirama can’t help but ask, a little giggle slipping free when Tobirama’s nose wrinkles in disgust.

“Of course not, he’s an Uchiha.” The response is expected but it lacks the usual heat Hashirama has come to expect when his brother talks about Uchiha.

“An Uchiha that saved you,” Hashirama points out, “and made sure I could find you.”

“He’s still an Uchiha.”

Hashirama doesn’t stop Tobirama as the omega leaves the clearing, he knew his brother needed some time to process his feelings. He could only hope the trees would alert him before his otouto inevitably tried something stupid. Shaking the thoughts from his head, Hashirama catches up with the rest of his war party.

-

Kagami can only stare helplessly at Madara as they wait for the medics to reveal Izuna’s fate. “I had the chance to kill him Aniki, but I didn’t…” The alpha finally mutters, unable to take the silence anymore, “I am so sorry...if Izu-nii dies it’s all my fault!”

“Kagami…” Madara startles when his baby brother suddenly bursts into tears but he quickly pulls him close and runs his fingers through Kagami’s curly locks. “Shh Otouto...it’s not your fault…”

“I should have killed him!”

“That would have made you no better than Tajima.”

The words break through the cloud of grief and Kagami finally meets his brother’s eyes. He can tell Madara is just as worried as he is, but he’s putting on a brave face because that’s what an older brother does, what a clan leader does. Before Kagami can try and come up with a response, the door opens the medic steps out of Izuna’s room.

“How bad is it?” Madara asks, though it’s clear he’s really asking how soon he needs to start funeral arrangements.

“All his ribs on the left side of his body are broken and he’ll have to remain off the battlefield for the foreseeable future but he should make a full recovery.”

“What?” Kagami murmurs, just barely audible, afraid anything louder will shatter this beautiful illusion.

“It’s more like he was struck with a blunt object than a sword,” the medic explains as he gestures for the two to go into the room, “but I have no idea why a Senju would do that.”

Kagami has an idea but he doesn’t allow himself to even consider it as he and Madara rush in to see Izuna. The middle brother is still unconscious but it’s clear he’s not on death’s door like they thought he was.

“Thank the sage,” Madara breaths in barely more than a whisper as he drops to his knees beside the futon, “I swear to Indra himself I’m going to dunk you so hard in the koi pond once you’re okay.”

“Aniki,” Kagami laughs as he sits beside his brother. The two just watch over Izuna, needing to see him awake to confirm he’s fine. Some time later, Izuna’s eyes start to twitch and they watch him intently, waiting with bated breath.

“Fuckfuckfuck!” Izuna whines, jerking awake as the pain hits him, “did that bastard break all my ribs?!”

“Only half of them,” Kagami supplies helpfully, just grinning when Izuna glares at him, “you’re not dead.”

“I should be though…”

Madara and Kagami share a look before the clan head fills Izuna in on what happened. Kagami flushes as he realizes how badly he overreacted; sage above he’d been such an ass to Tobirama when the omega had actually spared his brother. Deciding he needs to set things straight right away, Kagami sneaks out when his brothers are distracted and heads for the river where he can faintly sense Tobirama.

“Have you come to kill me?” Tobirama asks, his eyes never leaving the river he’s seated by.

“You could have killed him…” Kagami mutters, and finally the Senju looks up at him, his beautiful red eyes clouded over with too many emotions to try and decipher.

“I could have.”

“But you didn’t.”

“I did not.”

“Why?”

“You didn’t take advantage of me,” Tobirama explains as he slowly stands up, never once reaching for the sword carefully placed next to him, “you could have forced a bond between us, but you didn’t.”

“Of course not,” Kagami agrees, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion, “no decent person would.”

“Some would,” Tobirama points out, looking anywhere but Kagami’s face as he talks, “I was hurt that you lied to me but that doesn’t mean I would return your kindness with Izuna’s death.”

“I didn’t intentionally lie,” Kagami points out because now is the time to have this discussion, “I had just come from a mission and my scent suppressor hadn’t worn off yet. I should have told you I was an alpha, but I was afraid you wouldn’t let me help if you knew the truth.”

“I wouldn’t have,” Tobirama begrudgingly admits, “but how come my heat didn’t affect you? Is my scent that repulsive?”

“No!” Kagami yelps, not wanting Tobirama to think that, “your suppressant was still partially working and the smell of poison was overpowering.”

“Oh…”

The two lapse into silence as they process the new information. The day’s events finally crash into Kagami, overwhelming relief making him sway on his feet. Tobirama catches him instantly and pulls him close. A calming, almost sweet, scent washes over him and it takes Kagami a moment to realize it’s coming from Tobirama. “You smell nice.”

“I ran out of my suppressant,” Tobirama admits grumpily, even as he leans down to inhale Kagami’s own smoky scent, “though I’d be lying if I said I was hoping you wouldn’t notice.”

“Why?” Kagami asks, taking a step back once he’s sure his own legs will support him again, so he can really look at Tobirama; the omega was so much prettier now that he wasn’t half dead.

“I...you smell nice too.” Tobirama mumbles, shuffling awkwardly as he flushes.

“Are you saying you wish to court?” Kagami questions, unable to keep the hope and joy out of his tone, especially when Tobirama doesn’t immediately say no.

“You still want me?” Tobirama asks, his tone smaller than Kagami’s ever heard it and the alpha just grins.

“Of course I want you! I’ve liked you ever since you fished me out of the river when were kids!” Kagami smirks at the lovely blush that spreads over Tobirama’s face, “and it's just my luck that you became even prettier as you grew up.”

“Shut up,” Tobirama huffs, yanking Kagami forward for a kiss.

A moan slips free as Kagami kisses back, finally getting to taste the omega he’d wanted even when he thought Tobirama was an alpha. The Senju pulls back much too soon and Kagami whines, keeping his arms wrapped tightly around Tobirama, so he can’t runaway.

“Our brothers are coming!” Tobirama hisses, not sure how he feels when Kagami just shrugs and pulls him impossibly closer.

“So what?” Kagami asks with a raised eyebrow, “if they don’t understand that you belong to me, then they will learn.”

Tobirama wants to protest, but a heated pair of lips meets his and suddenly he can’t remember why their brothers finding out is a bad idea. That is until Hashirama and Madara crash through the trees like a couple of bulls.

“Get away from my otouto!” Madara screams, lunging for Tobirama since the two shinobi are closest to the Uchiha side of the river.

“Isn’t this great Madara!?” Hashirama exclaims excitedly, intercepting Madara and pulling him into a bear hug. “We can finally have our peace! After all even you wouldn’t make a bonded pair fight, would you?”

“Let me go you stupid stump!!” Madara roars, struggling vainly against the larger Senju, “they aren’t bonded yet.”

“Yeah isn’t it great Aniki?” Kagami asks with a shit eating grin as he steps in front of Tobirama, “you can finally get the alpha you’ve been pining over for years!”

“KAGAMI!!!!”

Kagami just cackles as he grabs Tobirama’s arm and runs in the opposite direction, trusting Hashirama to keep a good hold on his brother until he finds out the truth.

As the two run, Tobirama can’t help but roll his eyes as he watches Kagami laugh; the Uchiha’s entire face is practically glowing with happiness and that makes Tobirama grin. He finally had an alpha he could stand, a cute one at that, and he couldn’t wait to see what their future held.