#another one for the Mac kin list i fear

[charmac]

Me when I'm 6 drinks deep and the bar has a pool table

[takadasaiko]

One Hundred and Eighty Days (a Veronica Mars one shot)

FFN II AO3

Summary: Logan returns from his six month tour in the Persian Gulf. Part of my Spanning Years. Continents. series.

One Hundred and Eighty Days

Six months.

One hundred and eighty days.

It had seemed doable, especially following the nine years of silence that had spread between them after she'd left for Stanford. It wasn't like Veronica didn't have plenty to focus on with her father's recovery and getting back into the swing of the PI business. It helped to have her friends by her side rather than across the country, and the ability to - at least on occasion - Skype with Logan while he was away. She never would have anticipated that one hundred and eighty days could feel so fucking long.

She hadn't been sure she could meet his ship as it came into port. Forty-eight hours before she was knee-deep in a new case and twenty-four hours before she was neck-deep into it. Logan had told her not to worry about it. She'd be there or she wouldn't, but he wouldn't hold it against her if the case wouldn't give her a chance to get away. He knew how hard she was working. That carefully cool voice of his over their last Skype call rang in her mind and drove her crazy. So crazy that three hours before he was due in - up to her eyeballs in the case - both her father and Mac had demanded that she drive down to San Diego. He'd left his car with her anyway, right? Right. She should go pick him up.

Veronica made record time down to the Naval base where he would be docking and was shuffled through each checkpoint. Every time she expected to hit a snag, her name appeared on all the right lists. Logan may have said that it wasn't a big deal if she couldn't make it, but he'd clearly made sure she had a straight path in if she chose to show.

The docks were busy with husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends. New mothers pointed at the ship to their babies like they had any clue that that's where their dads had been for the entirety of their short lives. Veronica weaved in and out of the crowd, watching and listening and observing. Conversations about how long they'd been gone, about information sent home, about plans once they disembarked. Everybody was excited, which left Veronica - as she often was - the odd one out. She should be excited, she knew, but really she was just left with a tremendous amount of anxiety.

It wasn't that she wasn't excited to see Logan again, but she was equal parts terrified. As long as he was gone they were both looking forward to his homecoming. It gave them a goal, a north star to focus on. Now that his ship was docked and it looked like they'd start letting the officers off soon, Veronica couldn't push down the overwhelming fear that they'd fall back into old patterns. Chaos came to their door, they gave into the magnetic pull that felt so right in the moment, but it inevitably turned bitter as one or both of them did something to spoil it. There'd been so much pain in their past that sometimes she wondered if either of them were capable of healthy relationships. Logan, at least, seemed to be trying in a lot of ways, but it was easy in the short sprint of time that was her arrival back in Neptune to help him choose a lawyer and him shipping out. Now that they were both going to be in the same town, she knew it could make or break them, and after everything she wasn't sure she could take another break.

This was where she usually ran. Distanced herself and fled for the hills.

But here she was. Waiting for him.

She hoped it wasn't going to crush her.

Cheers sounded from the crowd and Veronica looked to where sailors were disembarking in their snazzy white uniforms. She waited and watched from her place where she could actually see - at least at a distance - who was leaving the ship, and finally spotted a familiar figure. Her heart leapt in her chest and her feet were moving before she gave them permission to. "Excuse me. Yeah. Sorry." She pushed her way through the crowd in the general trajectory of where she'd seen Logan making his way down and finally broke through the other side to find no familiar faces.

She'd missed him. He must have already gone…. wherever they went when they got home.

"Veronica?"

Veronica turned, recognizing the voice instantly above the rumble of the rest. Logan stood with the same bag he'd had slung over his shoulder the day he'd left, his hat perched on his head, and his thin lips slowly stretching out into a smile. "You made it."

She echoed his smile and then some as she launched forward and heard the sound of his laugh - full, not the amused chuckle she so often got over Skype - in her ear as he wrapped his arms around her. Her legs went around his middle and she felt him spin her around, kissing the side of her head because it was the only part of her he could reach.

He shifted her just a little so that she could lean into a real kiss, her lips melting against his and she felt him set her down carefully, deeping it. His hands rested on either side of her face and one of hers reached around to the back of his neck. He wasn't getting away until she let him, and that wasn't going to be anytime soon.

"Echolls, that her?" someone shouted off to the side and Logan reluctantly broke the kiss. He was still grinning and the other man that was wearing the same wings on his uniform that Logan sported gave him a mock salute and a wink, even as a woman slugged him in the shoulder, laughing.

Logan turned his attention back to her. "You got some time?"

"For you, I can make it," she answered.

Somehow his grin grew and he pecked a kiss to the tip of her nose. "Let's get home."

                                                   ---------

Home was a relative term. Logan had been living out of a small, studio-styled guesthouse off of Dick's main house on the beach before he'd shipped out. While Dick had another high school buddy - was there any other kind for Dick Casablancas? - moving in soon, he wasn't there yet and Logan still had run of it for at least his first few days back. If he needed to find a new place was a problem for another day. That night, he was home, Veronica was going to take full advantage of the fact that they had privacy there that they never would have gotten at her father's place. She really hoped one of those apartments she'd been looking at came available soon. This was going to be problematic if they had no place to go other than her dad's place.

Logan's kisses were as desperate as her own as he carried her into the little apartment, his bag forgotten in the car parked outside and she was already tugging his uniform off. It was a blur of motion as they moved towards the bed that she hoped had been made up since the last time she'd been in it. They fell back and Veronica reveled in the fact that he was there with her and that he wouldn't have to leave first thing in the morning.

Some time later she was still reminding herself of that fact as they both lay back, pillows thrown from their place and neither of them wearing anything that they had been before. They were wrapped up in the sheets and she was curled up against him. She ran a bare foot up his leg and his fingers sent chills up her spine as they moved up her back, his touch light and delicate like he was savouring it.

This wasn't their first time back together after nine years apart, but it was the first time where they didn't have something looming over them. If it wasn't a false murder charge and her father in the hospital, it had been his orders to ship out as soon as everything was cleared. Now, back on shore-duty, they had some time. Time that left them lounging in bed, her hands traveling over exposed skin, and Veronica couldn't ignore the scars that she knew hadn't been there years before.

Logan caught her hand as it lingered against one just below his ribs, maybe two inches long, and pulled her fingers up to press a gentle kiss to them. He didn't say anything, but she caught his gaze and held it. "Am I allowed to ask?"

A rough chuckle left him. "You're Veronica Mars. I didn't realize you needed permission to ask anything."

Her fingers curled around his and she pressed herself up on her elbow so that she was looking down at him. His expression was soft. He wasn't going to volunteer anything, but he also wasn't telling her not to ask. He was just waiting on her.

"Where'd you get the scar, Logan?"

He pushed a long breath out from his nose. "About four years ago we were flying over… an undisclosed location -" he offered her an apologetic smile and she nodded the small acceptance - "and we came under fire. Shit happened, we had a hard landing, I took some shrapnel."

"Holy shit," she breathed, her fingers moving back to the scar that stood out against his skin.

"Yeah, wasn't fun, but I bounced back."

"Wallace always said you had nine lives."

His lips tugged outward at that. "I should probably check in on how many I have left."

"What…. happens?" she asked carefully, not sure exactly how she should phrase the question. "When you're on deployment and you get hurt, I mean."

He leaned back a little deeper into his pillow, loosing another breath. He wasn't comfortable with talking about this, that much was clear, but if she were to make a bet on it he wasn't used to it. Logan had never been one to volunteer certain things about his life. If people didn't push, he wouldn't say anything. She'd always been one to push. No stopping it now. If they were going in on this, they were going all in.

"When you enlist you have to give them a next of kin. I mean, technically, mine is Trina, I guess? Hell if I was gonna list her though."

Veronica snorted softly, her fingers moving across his torso to lightly scrap his ribs. She felt him tense at that, but certainly not in a bad way. "So who'd you list?"

Logan grimaced at the question. "Dick."

"Casablancas?" she choked out.

He shrugged. "Listen, I know Dick's an… acquired taste, sometimes, but he's loyal. More loyal than most of the people in my life." He sighed and Veronica felt him tighten his hold on her just a little. "People around me leave in one way or the other. Lilly died, my mom died, Duncan left… I'm not blaming anybody, just…. the way it is. Dick can be an asshole, but if I ever need him he's there."

She lay there for a long moment, her fingers still tracing up and down his side and she let his words soak in. If he had died overseas in these last six months - hell, if he'd been injured - she would have been at the mercy of Dick Casablancas to get her the news. Loyal he might be - at least to Logan - but that wasn't acceptable. Not in the longterm, and she wanted this to be longterm.

"Can you change it?"

"Change what?"

"The person who… I don't know. Gets that call?" Again, she felt like she was floundering for the right terminology. As she'd filtered through the crowd on the docks earlier that day it'd felt like people had been speaking a different language. She hadn't known what the acronyms meant or how to decipher what was being said. It was fine. It had all been in passing. But it wasn't, not really. Not if she was honest about wanting Logan in her life.

"Sure," he answered. "I'd just have to update my file."

"Then do it."

He huffed a small laugh. "Do what?"

"Change it. To me."

He tensed at that, catching her gaze. "Veronica….You'd be listed as my next of kin," he said slowly, as if somehow he thought she didn't understand that.

"I know."

"And you're good with that?"

"Are you?"

His lips twitched upward. "I am, but you..." He sighed. "What if the call comes in the middle of a case? What if you should have your focus on something else and you -"

Veronica leaned down, cutting the words off with a kiss. She felt his hands travel up her sides and pull her deeper into it. "I want you," she breathed out, her lips still dangerously close to his. "And I want you to know when you're out there that you have me to face if you let them hurt you."

Logan chuckled at that, leaning up to steal another kiss. "I love you. I never stopped."

"Me neither," she admitted softly. "I wanted to, but…. I think it was pretty obvious when you called after nine years and I flew cross country."

"I didn't know if you would."

"Yeah you did, you asshole," she laughed, kissing him again. "You knew it."

"I hoped." He shifted, easing her around so that she was on her back and he leaned over her. "You really want me to make the change?"

"I do."

"It's a big step. I know it doesn't sound like it, but -"

"Logan," she breathed, "I'm not going anywhere. Not this time. You and me, we're epic."

He grinned and leaned into the kiss. "Years and continents," he whispered.

"Bloodshed," she answered back and he laughed.

"You do love the bloodshed."

"Because anyone that comes after you -" her fingers danced across the four-year-old scar - "they have to come up against me too."

"And this is how we win the War on Terror," he chuckled as his kisses moved down to her jaw line and her neck.

Veronica wrapped her arms around him, pulling him in closer. This was it. One hundred and eighty days or nine years, it didn't matter. They always came back to each other. This time, though, she was determined that they would stay. She was his family now.

                                                  ---------

Notes:

I actually started on another fic and then this one just sort of tumbled into place as a compilation of a couple of different ideas that ended up fitting together very well. I love the idea of Veronica being listed as his next of kin if anything were to happen and that being a way that she's choosing to support him when she can't physically have his back.

I do feel like I should mention that I am not a member of the Navy, nor are any living members of my family, so there's a better than even chance I'll get a detail or ten wrong along the way, though from what I've heard canon does as well so there's that. :P

[awake-and-strange]

This obituary by Janis Ian about Anne McCaffrey is very A Passion for Friends:

There've been so many mentions of Anne McCaffrey in the post below, I thought to post this homage I wrote for Locus Magazine when Annie died. I miss her, a lot. I kept a few of the most precious books she gave me, but last time I opened one I burst into tears... I feel fortunate to have loved someone so wonderful, to have been loved in return, and to miss her this much. From Locus Magazine: THE MASTERHARPER IS GONE "I have a shIelf of comfort books, which I read when the world closes in on me or something untoward happens." —Anne McCaffrey I miss her fiercely, more than I have any right to miss her. I remind myself of this whenever I run into her at the library and am stricken with tears. She was not kin, was not connected to me by family ties, not even a distant cousin. Not even Jewish. I have no right to miss her this much. And once in a while, when I chide myself for my silly sentimentality, the sudden lightning that pierces my heart gives way to a duller, deeper pain. One I can live with, perhaps. Like today, waking to a terrible cold, with headache and foggy brain I reach for solace. Put on my red flannel comfort shirt, add my favorite PJ bottoms, then a pair of  fleece-lined slippers. Make my favorite tea, cover myself with an old patchwork quilt, and reach blindly for a book on my “comfort shelf.” Of course. I can’t escape her. Hours later, still miserable, I finish "All the Weyrs of Pern"  for the umpteenth time, and scold myself for the tears that fall – first, because she is gone, and second, because I never really succeeded in telling her just how much she meant to me. I’d never heard of her when I stumbled across for "The Ship Who Sang" at my local library. I wrote to her, saying that it had moved me profoundly, wondering how a prose writer could have such a clear understanding of a musician’s soul. Being one myself, I said, a musician that is, and would like to send a copy of my last record in gratitude. She responded with a laugh that she had never heard of me but oh my, her children had, and could we trade books for recordings? And so, we began. I raced through everything she sent – such generosity, so much that it took two large boxes to ship it all. She, in turn, told me that while she appreciated the beauty of my “Jesse” and the clarity of “At 17”, she was writing her current novel to the beat of my one disco hit, “Fly Too High.” I laughed aloud because it made an artist’s sense to me – dragons flew, and Anne flew with them, regardless of the beat. It was the third or fourth email that she began with the salutation “Dear Petal,”.  Petal. Me? I responded that of all the things I’d been called, no one had ever dreamed to name me “Petal”. She answered briskly that obviously, they’d never seen me bloom. From that day forward, I was her Petal, and she my Orchid. We corresponded ferociously, both all-or-nothing no-holds-barred types, Aries to the hilt. Weekly, daily, sometimes hourly. Dropped out at times when one of us was “on tour”, came back to it as we could. The time passed. Her beloved agent died. My parents passed away. She got a scathing review; I sent a few of my own. She was stuck on a chapter, I was stuck on a verse. We got unstuck, stuck again, and through it all we talked, comforting one another as only a “good hot cuppa” can. She picked me up herself in Dublin, leaning on a cane, nervous to meet in the flesh until I ran into her arms and smothered her with hugs. She drove between the hedgerows with complete abandon, a total disregard for ruts or speed limits, while I clutched the seat and wondered who’d get the bigger headline if we crashed. Annie, I decided, for she was truly a two-column, bold print kind of gal. By then, she was always “Annie” to me, or “Annie Mac”. My larger than life friend, who consorted daily with dragons and starlight, her own luster never dimming  beside them. Once, after she showed me the rock cliffs of the Guiness Estate and explained that Benden Hold looked just like that, she asked if I would write a theme for it. For the movie? I said. “Yes”, she said, “A theme. Because if Menolly came to life, it would be with your voice.” I say this not to brag, but to indicate the trust between us – such trust that when I got home, with no film in sight, I began sketching out some notes for “Lessa’s Song”. I wanted it to be haunting, the way her words haunted me. I wanted it to be sweeping, like the thrust of dragon wings. I wanted it to be everything I could bring to her, a gift for someone whose words took me out of my world and into hers. As she said herself, “That’s what writing is all about, after all, making others see what you have put down on the page and believing that it does, or could, exist and you want to go there.” I hope someday to finish that melody. I hope it’s good enough for a MasterHarper to sing. I hope she regarded me worthy of the title. Because that’s what she was for so many of us – the MasterHarper, singing in prose, songs that reminded us of where we’d been, and what we could become. She came and stayed with us in Nashville, bringing a broken shoulder and trusting me to care for her. We visited Andre Norton, Annie insisting I not just drive but sit with them and listen to “a bit of gossip”. These two women—one writing at a time when pseudonyms were necessary for a woman to get published, the other cracking the New York Times bestseller list with, of all things, a science fiction book, and by a female at that!—talked of publishers, rumors, scandals old and new, while I sat as silent as an unopened book, wishing I’d thought to bring a tape recorder. At first, as her health declined, she bore it cheerfully. “I’m bionic now, Petal, complete with metal knees!” she declared. “Better than ever, and no pain.” She kept to her writing schedule, doing what she could to help her body retain its youth. Swam every day, bragged about her granddaughter’s accomplishments at school – “First prize, don’tcha know!” and commiserated over our various surgeries. We sound like a couple of old Yiddishe mamas, comparing whose surgery was worse! I laughed, and she laughed along with me. Neither of us reckoned on the psychic toll. “Old age is not for the faint of heart,” she quoted, as her energy began to leech away. How is it we artists always forget just how hard it is to write? how much work it is? How can we ignore the vast psychic drain that accompanies every act of creation? We both knew it from her Pern books, when going between enervated even the hardiest of dragon riders. But somehow, we never expected it in “real” life. It’s only when we lose that effervescence, through age, through illness, through sheer attrition, that we realize how necessary it is to our work. How fundamental to our beings. “I can’t write.” She confessed the shameful secret to me not once, but dozens of times, as if repetition would prove it a lie. At first, playing the friend, I tried to reassure her. Then don’t! Take some time off, Annie. Restore your body, and the brain will follow. Talent doesn’t just disappear, you know – it lies in wait. But she knew better. “I'm still not writing.  I think I know how Andre Norton is feeling, too, because I suspect that she's finding it very difficult to write, as the wellspring and flexibility that did us so much service is drying up in our old age. And no false flattery. AT 76 I AM old, and she's in her nineties.   It takes a lot of energy to write, as much as it takes you to keep on adding flavor to your song presentation. Sorry to blah at you but you're one of the few people who does understand the matter when an artist questions their output.” I responded in kind. "No worries talking to me about not writing... I sure as hell know the amount of energy it consumes. Every time you sit down to write, it's a performance. Only you don't have the luxury of props - no lights, sound, other actors to step behind when the inevitable fatigue hits. Heck, Annie, I'm feeling it more and more now, and you've got a quarter century on me.  I notice it mid-show; two hours used to be a piece of cake. Now I feel myself flagging at 45 minutes, and I really look forward to that 20 minute intermission, if only so I can have some water and sit for a few minutes. "Same with writing, for me. Used to be able to sit and write for 6 hours at a stretch. Now I'm good for two if I'm lucky. Part of it's my back, but most of it is - I fear - just that I'm older. It sucks." And she wrote back. “Must write. There are IRS problems. You wouldn’t believe. Mouths to feed, people depending on. Advances already spent and gone. Must write.” And so, she wrote, but for a while there was no joy in it. Still, I loved what she wrote, and told her so. I was proud of our friendship, not because she was so damned famous, but because she was so damned good. She even used my name in a book – Ladyholder Janissian in Skies of Pern – and roared with laughter when I admitted I’d been so wrapped up in the story that I hadn’t even noticed. But she knew – as artists always do – that while her ability to plot continued apace, the actual writing of it was becoming an endurance contest she couldn’t hope to win. “Turn more of it over to Todd,” I argued. Her son had a real knack for a sentence, but it was hard for Annie to let go. Of course. What artist can? “His words may not sing the way yours do – yet. He doesn’t have your lyrical grace – yet. But he will, Annie, you’ve just got to let him breathe!” I said it and said it and said it, to no avail. Then came a day when, 25 years younger and an ocean away, I finally lost patience and angrily berated her. “Damnit Annie, quit complaining and just stop! By God, you have created a mountain of work, an incredible legacy that will endure and be read by zillions of people long after both of us are gone – so quit whining about what you cannot do and start looking at what you have done. It’s time, Anne. Take this unbearable weight off your shoulders and stop!” I sent the email off and waited for her response, fearing I’d gone too far. A day. Then another. Finally, sure I’d lost a friend, I called to ask just how angry she was with me. Oh, no, not at all, she’s “in hospital.” She took a fall. She’d write soon. And she did, quoting me and saying “I knew you, of all people, would make sense.” A sweeter absolution I’ve never had. We continued our friendship, bitching about our bodies, menopause, the inevitable “drying up” of everything that comes with the feminine mystique. You cannot imagine the luxury, for me, to have a compatriot a quarter-century older. As an artist, I admired her work. But as a woman, I was relieved to have someone relentlessly honest about what was to come in my own life. We traded constantly. I sent her Lhasa de Sela, Sara Bettens. She sent stories about her animals, and the garden. One spring she changed my salutation to “Dear Crocus Petal – there are eight coming up now!” We planned  to visit Prague together in September ’01, but then came 9/11, and I chickened out. To be brutally honest, I was afraid to fly. Annie gently took me to task, then went off with someone else instead. I will regret that for the rest of my life. She went into the hospital for the last time while I was touring the UK – just a ferry boat and an ocean of commitments away. Knowing how out of touch she’d feel, how fretful she’d be, I tried to call every day. We fell into a pattern – I’d wait until I was in the van, then phone her up and tell an off color joke, a bawdy story, a bit of kindly gossip. Sometimes about people we knew in common, Harlan perhaps, or Scott Card, whose work she admired. Sometimes just a silly series of puns I’d found on line. Whatever it was, I wanted to make her laugh, because I loved to hear her laugh. She died while I was on vacation, just days after the tour’s end. I’d brought a copy of Dragonsinger with me because on vacation, I always brought a few “comfort re-reads.” I’d fallen asleep over it, waking to an email from Gigi. Please keep it quiet until I can reach everyone, she asked. My older brother Alec is still in flight, and we don’t want him seeing it in the paper before I can reach him. I called with sleep still in my eyes and heard the hum of people behind Gigi’s answering voice. It was fast, it was painless, it was everything Annie had wanted. No lingering. A “good death” for her. But not for me. It’s hard to open my computer knowing there will be no “Dear Petal.” It’s hard, after knowing such a warm and giving shelter, to go without. Sometimes I run across a sentence that sings to me, and jot it down to show her. And sometimes, when she leaps out at me from the cover of a book, I remember she is gone, and it hits me like lightning, fast and lethal and completely unexpected. It stops my breath, until I remind myself that she is gone, but I am still here. When the lightning hits, I comfort myself with this. The beauty of Anne’s writing is that she makes it all seem, not just possible, but normal. For men to go dragonback. For women to become ships. For young, unwanted girls to become MasterHarpers. For brains to pair with brawns, and sing opera under alien skies. And for an unlikely friendship to bloom, a pairing no one could have imagined, between a petal on earth, and an orchid in flight.

[heloflor]

A Matter Of Principals : why Discord feels regressed

After the episode “A Matter Of Principals” aired, a lot of people complained about how it regressed Discord's character to his old self, and I won't hide that I told myself “This episode would have been awesome...back in season 4...”. But for those who don't understand this point of view, here's a personal list of things that make Discord feels off in this episode.

Note : This is just a personal opinion that you have all rights to disagree with. Also, be aware that, despite the way Discord is in this episode, I still found it very entertaining with good jokes and with especially a Spike who was on point in his supporting role, especially by not defending one character because of his affection but because he felt like the person is in the right (the best example being before Starlight banishes Discord because we actually see Spike defending both of them). Finally, this post will contain spoilers for this episode but also from previous Discord episodes and from the comics.

Now, without further addue, here's a list of things that gave me the feeling of a S4 Discord :

WARNING : VERY long post ahead !

1. Fluttershy : Remember when in season 6 Discord was ready to go in a changeling hive without magic just to save Fluttershy ? Remember how one season later he was ready to act completely normal because he feared for his relationship with the pegasus; and that behavior almost destroyed him ? Remember how Spike mentioned the possibility of Discord being in love with Fluttershy, and the draconequus barely defended himself ? Well here, Discord sends the mane 6, including Fluttershy, on a fake map mission; and in the end, Pinkie talks about worms that may have been deadly, meaning that Discord was ready to put Fluttershy into deadly danger just so he could run a random school he never showed interest into. I think you can easily understand what's so off here.

Heck, to add even more into this, when you think of it, in “Discordant Harmony”, Discord was ready to be completely normal, which means giving up his chaos, the thing he had been doing all his life, just for Fluttershy. In a way, it could mean that Discord loves Fluttershy more than he loves his own chaos, which is again what he always did and what defines him (let that sink in for a moment...yes I'm a Fluttercord shipper; just ignore that remark if you don't care about shipping or dislike this one). But in “A Matter Of Principals”, he's ready to put her in danger. I mean, sure, the others are here; but she could still be hurt, so his behavior doesn't match with his over-protectiveness from the season 6 finale.

2. Spike : This one hurts even more with “The Breakup Breakdown” being only four episodes ago. Thing is, in “The Breakup Breakdown”, Spike and Discord are shown to be like best bros, being all snarky towards each other with even Discord not getting mad at some of Spike's comments (like when after Discord fails to make Big Mac feels better and Spike calls Discord's methods off; all the draconequus does is rolling his eyes). But in “A Matter Of Principals”, there literally is some Spike abuse. I mean, he gets hurt by the thunder-bees bugs (sorry I forgot their name), splashed by a giant smelly cheese, is the one to get rid of Discord's mess (in the background for example with the fire extinguisher or the paper bin while Starlight is talking with Discord), gets the artifacts falling on him and gets “hugged” against his will. And I swear, thinking of previous episodes, I only remember two times in which Discord was a jerk to him, excluding the murder attempt in “Dungeons and Discords” (the two times being putting him in a bubble that goes up in “Twilight's Kingdom” and putting dirt on him in “What About Discord ?” but it's possible that I forgot another moment). And the worse with this point is probably the fact that, throughout the entire episode, Spike keeps being nice to Discord and even defend him at some point. But on the other side Discord couldn't care less about him, which really feels OOC; again, especially after an episode like “The Breakup Breakdown”.

3. Children : I know some people refuse to see them as canon, but since there are the only thing I have for this point : in the comics, there had been some stories featuring Discord with the CMCs (Friends Forever 2; Main issue 24; Friends Forever 20 and a mention in the main issue 50) and in those, he really shows a friendly side, being kind of a goofy uncle (and heck, in the friend forever 20, he even says at a point “Fluttershy and the kids”, the kids probably being the CMCs; and considering some people believes that by “the kids” he means that in his dream he has some kind of fantasy in which he's married to Flutters and they have children, it shows that Discord can act kind of like a parent for the trio). So in short, in the comics, Discord is good with kids.

Now, in the show, he barely interacted with the CMCs (sadly) but from the little we have : in “Make New Friends But Keep Discord”, the worse thing he does to them is scaring them and two seconds later it's Applebloom who's being kinda rude with him (although he should have seen it coming); and in “The Breakup Breakdown”, when Big Mac yells at Sweetie Belle, Discord is as shocked as the others, which may show he knows there's a line not to drown when it comes to kids.

But in this new episode, Discord is ready to put children into direct danger to get his ways. And these children have nothing to do with his problem ! And yet he lets a bugbear attack them and put two of them in quicksand (although I guess it can be debate whether or not the quicksand was deadly; the same way I didn't include the ursa Major because it only scares the students off and then Discord makes it quickly disappear). Reminder that this is supposed to be a reformed character who, even if he's not perfect, is still shown to have some standards; and if you base yourself on the comics, he would never bring himself to hurt innocent children when he knows what it's like to spend time with some.

(by the way, unrelated note but where were the CMCs in this episode ? I mean, didn't Starlight say that they are better teachers than students in “Marks For Effort” ? Then why weren't they the substitute teachers ??)

4. Behavior and evolution : I kinda started this point in the previous one but when you think of it, Discord have been mostly less deadly with time. I mean, the last time he tried to actually kill someone was in season 6 (in “Dungeons and Discords”), and even so he had to get truly mad before starting to hurt (after all the first thing he did before getting to death was to show what was a guys night to him. Also here I say “season 6” because let's be honest, if it wasn't for the ex-machina throne, Discord would have gotten on a changeling rampage considering his rage when he learns Fluttershy has been captures). Then, in season 7, he gets mad at two shopkeepers but in the end he remains relatively polite and doesn't do anything drastic (and for the firth one he even comes back saying “I'm sorry do you validate ?” or something, showing he really started to learn).

For this part, I would also like to point out two other details : Twilight and the people Discord hurt :

- About Twilight : she had always been the one that Discord seems to like hurting the most (“Three's a Crowd”, “What About Discord”, “Celestia Advice”) but with time, when you think of it, he went from “giant murdery worm” to “terrible feeling of rejection all day” to “stress for a few hours” so yeah, he chilled quite a lot here.

- About his targets : when you look at previous episodes, aside from “The Return of Harmony”, Discord has always targeted people who actually bothered him. I mean, sure, in “Princess Twilight Sparkle” he let people be put in danger but he wasn't really reformed before the end of the season; and in “Three's a Crowd” he did wished to piss Twilight off and also led Cadence into danger, I won't deny it. But after season 4, he stopped hurting random people : in “Make New Friends But Keep Discord”, he only targets Tree Hugger, and the Smooze being all over the room was only an accident (that he did take use off to try blaming Fluttershy for not inviting him, I won't deny it); in “What About Discord” he apparently didn't mean to make Twilight feel that way but it's true that he used the situation to have fun; in “Dungeons and Discords” he only aims at the duo annoying him; in “To Where And Back Again” he only gets mad at Trixie because she's provocating him (and like someone mentioned : in the end of the episode, he actually admits that Trixie earned his respect but she's the one telling him that she still doesn't consider him much);...in “Celestia Advice” he's again being a jerk to Twilight (seriously the episodes with her are the only ones in which he's an ass just to be one), in “Discordant Harmony” he only gets mad at the shopkeepers telling him how weird they feel about thinking he's friends with Fluttershy and in “The Breakup Breakdown” he doesn't get mad at all.

But then comes “A Matter Of Principals”. And in it, not only does Discord put people into a deadly situation; but he also hurt people who did nothing to him (and children nonetheless). Not only is this a regression to S4 from how he's acting towards others in term of his ways to handle magic (since in season 4 he couldn't care less about other ponies' lives) but it's also almost OOC for him to aim at innocent people like that.

5. Apologies : Alright, here, I won't talk about his ways of apologizing (like how he has no trouble when it comes to Fluttershy but when it's to Tree Hugger and his O&O buddies he feels way more awkward) but about why he apologies. Alright so, if I'm not wrong, Discord apologized in four episodes : Twilight's Kingdom; Make New Friends But Keep Discord; Dungeons and Discords; Discordant Harmony.

In “Twilight's Kingdom”, it's not much of a surprise. After all, he kind of hit rock bottom, betraying Equestria, making Fluttershy cry...Furthermore, the “bubble” scene is not only the moment for Twilight to find her key but also Discord's true redemption moment (which is probably why when we see the mane 5 Fluttershy is shown alone at the center of the screen when we see the bubbles at first and we they are put down; because it's both Twilight's and Discord's point of view, and the latter is more focused on the pegasus) so it's no surprise to have him apologizing to Fluttershy and later on giving Twilight the necklace (that I see as a way to apologize too)

In “Make New Friends But Keep Discord”, not much to say. Fluttershy is the one telling him to apologize, although we can see him not understanding at first that he has to say it to Tree Hugger.

In “Dungeons and Discords”, things get more interesting in terms of character development. Indeed, I rewatched the episode some time ago and realized how the scene after the murder attempt was made : the three guys have a small talk about why Discord was invited, followed by Discord feeling bad and deciding to go, with the other two being happy about that. Then, after he exaggerate his exit, Spike and Big Mac start to feel bad for him and call him back, and that's when Discord apologies to them. What's interesting about this scene is that, when you see Discord's behavior towards others, it's obvious that he sees himself as superior to all of them, at the exception of Fluttershy (and possibly the other mane 6 ?) and he clearly states it in his apology. But despite feeling superior, the point is that he apologies, but not because someone asked him to. If you watch the scene, you'll see that neither Spike nor Big Mac asked him to do it; and that's a big improvement ! Again, in season 5 (title too damn long...), he was asked to apologies by Fluttershy; but in this scenario, she's not here and doesn't tell him anything; apologizing and saying what he is sorry for, showing that he knows what he did wrong, was his own choice. And that's some major improvement  coming from him (and that's also the reason why I consider this episode to be the last one in which Fluttershy plays the role of a guardian for Discord since she was the one behind him being invited. After it, she becomes just a friend).

Finally, in “Discordant Harmony”, as said before, after getting mad and mocking the pony at the tea shop, Discord disappear, only to come back one second later and actually saying “I'm sorry”, showing again that he knows what apologizing really is and when to apologize.

But in “A Matter of Principals” ? Not only does he not apologize, but Starlight apologizes for not considering him, while he was the one who started to change the school the moment he arrived. So again, this kind of throw off a character development that may feels rather important considering Discord is a reformed villain.

6. Karma : The final point (considering the last one is more of a bonus), aka probably the reason why the scene with Starlight blasting off Discord feels so satisfying. If you look at every other Discord episode (with the exception of “Celesta Advice” but we can't really say he was much of a pain in it), each time Discord do something bad, karma strikes him. And to prove my point, here's the list (yes I'm that kind of person who needs to justificate everything; if you haven't noticed the wall on text that you already read...) :

- The Return of Harmony : Discord turns the world into a chaotic mess; he gets turned to stone (although yes I know he was a bad guy and needed to be stopped).

- Keep Calm and Flutter On : Discord uses Fluttershy's kindness to get his way through; he ends up realizing that she does matter to him and feels terrible when she rejects his friendship.

- Princess Twilight Sparkle : Discord is happy about the situation and clearly wants Twilight to go back in the Everfree forest to get killed with the others so he could be free from the elements (I'm sorry but that's how I interpret him waving as Twilight goes back); Discord has to keep being a “good” person despite the elements gone and has to help cleaning.

- Three's a Crowd : Discord ruins Twilight's and Candace's day by faking an illness; Discord ends up being truly sick.

- Twilight's Kingdom : Discord turns against everypony including Fluttershy that he started to really consider as close; Discord is betrayed and has to face Fluttershy's sadness.

- Make New Friends But Keep Discord : Discord spends the episode trying to get Fluttershy attention; he gets her attention at the worse moment (aka while about to get rid of Tree Hugger).

- What About Discord : Discord makes Twilight feels like shit for an entire day; he has to face the same feelings for a short time.

- Dungeons and Discord : Discord puts Spike's and Big Mac's lives in danger; he feels terrible and gets rejected for a while (and feels the need to apologize).

- To Where And Back Again : Discord gets all boastful about his abilities at the beginning and screams in the hive, leading for the group to be detected; he gets captured by changelings disguised as Fluttershy while he felt unable to do anything (btw, not related but when you think of it, if he hadn't scream her name but something else, the group may have been detected and able to find their way like in the episode but as a bonus the changelings wouldn't have known how to capture Discord so neither him nor Trixie would have been captured. Because yeah let's be honest here if it wasn't for him Trixie wouldn't have had to sacrifice herself).

- Discordant Harmony : even though he was trying to be a good person for once, Discord completely changed himself; he almost disappeared/died.

- The Break Up Breakdown : Discord claims not to believe in love and encourages Big Mac to break up with Sugar Belle; he sees how sad the others are when they start thinking love is a lie and he has to help fixing things.

But in “A Matter Of Principals”, not only is Discord not punished for trying to murder children but he also got awarded for it (even though it doesn't last) ! I suppose some could argue that it's because he's dealing with Starlight who never got punished for anything so she wouldn't see the point of acting differently towards him but still, it just feels weird to have him awarded for such acts.

7. Episode could actually never had happened : Yes, you read that right, there were actually easy ways to have this episode differently, if not not at all. For the difference in episode, let's just say that, if Discord and Starlight had talked at the beginning of the episode about how Discord could help and improve the school, instead of having him doing shit first hand, we could have had a completely different scenario and, to be honest, even though I have no idea how this could have been in terms of enjoyment, I have to admit that seeing the end of the episode with Discord putting the stuff back but still leaving “a few surprises” makes me feel a bit sad because an episode with Discord making stuff more interesting while remaining harmless would have been great (and could have lead to some cute interactions with the students; heck, this could have been more focused on the students. Also, come on ! Seeing Silverstream react to meeting Discord properly would have been adorable between her excitement over new things and his high self-esteem !) !

As for the episode not existing at all ? Remember the arguing scene between Discord and Fluttershy in season 5 ? When you think of it, in addition to the lesson Fluttershy taught him about multiple friends, Discord probably also started to learn to open up with good friends to avoid bad situations. And when you look at “Discordant Harmony”, if Discord does put some kind of mask with his new personality, in the end, he really easily opens up to Fluttershy and their relationship, which is clearly a big deal to him (also the beginning of the episode shows that he has no trouble showing her his emotions so, personally, I don't consider that he refused to open to her but more that he was trying his best to stay in his new character in hope to please her more, even while disappearing). So if you think of it, why would Discord have trouble telling Fluttershy, the element of kindness, the one he seems to know he can tell anything to, that he feels left out with the school ? I mean, I guess Fluttershy sometimes talks about her new job during their tea parties. Also, yes I know Discord is a prideful character but again, he accepted to open up about his relationship with Fluttershy, which seems to be one of his biggest concerns considering how he behaves in the S7 episode. So mentioning the school shouldn't be too much trouble to him, which would lead to a situation in which the episode isn't necessary.

So here's my way too long rant about this episode. And again, I said at the begging, I overall liked the episode. If you forget about characterization, it's still a fun episode to watch with one pretty powerful moment (not only Starlight blasting him off but also Discord calling her “power hungry”)

Now, if I had to say two last things : the first one would be to make the promotion of a fanfic from FIMfiction which is an rewriting of the episode and that I find really interesting and that really brings a different view on Discord's actions while still keeping a part of the main picture. It's called “Entropy Arc : A Matter Of Principals”. And please, for those who don't like episodes rewrittings (that this person wasn't the first one to do), please don't go look up for this story just to insult it, this is just a dick and useless move to do.

And finally, I wanted to say that maybe another reason why I wasn't that much invested into how the episode turned out was because I read the synopsis of it (yes I spoiled myself the entire season...) and expected a very different kind of story so, for those who are interested (for those who aren't, know that this is the last part of this post so thanks for taking time from your life to read such a long post and I hope it wasn't too much of a waste), I imagined that :

- The point of view would swap between Discord and Starlight

- Twilight would be called to go to Canterlot for some Princess reason

- Spike would either go with her or stay

- Starlight would be put in charge with the mane 5 staying as teachers (because I didn't know if there would be substitute teachers in the episode so didn't know how it would work without these five in; although the episode did turn out to not have other teachers and having Starlight find some)

- Discord would probably hear Twilight's leave from Fluttershy during a tea party or something

- Discord would want to make a mess at the school for some reason (to be honest I haven't really put much thought into that...but hey ! I was just basing myself on a synopsis so...)

- Instead of doing big, because the mane 5 and especially Fluttershy are in the school, Discord would do small changes that could disturb the class without being to obvious to be him (like making stuff fall for no reason or scaring the students off or changing gravity for a short time, this kind of discreet stuff)

- At one point, Starlight would realize Discord is being the fuss and would call him (like Spike in “The Breakup Breakdown”) to ask him about it. He would probably either plays innocent and later on make a bigger mess to make it clear it's him and piss her off or he would taunt her and make a bigger mess (and by bigger mess I mean something he would do while the mane 5 aren't around)

- Starlight would probably get tired of it and go in Fluttershy class, pulling her out with her magic while being like “Excuse me can I borrow your teacher for a minute ? Great ! She'll be  back in an instant !” and explain her the situation

- Fluttershy would call Discord and ask him about it. He would play innocent

- At that point, I gotta admit, I didn't really know how to end things up so it may not be much of a great scenario and goes away from Starlight.

- After a short time of thinking, Fluttershy decides to believe Discord, thinking it may just be an misunderstanding but Starlight insists

- There would be an argument between Starlight, Fluttershy and Discord that would lead into Fluttershy getting upset and running away, out of the building because she doesn't know who to believe since she trusts both

- Starlight and Discord feels bad about it, especially Discord since he's the one causing a mess

- Starlight would probably be called to do something at that moment, leaving Discord in his thoughts

- Fluttershy is sitting outside, maybe half crying, and Discord suddenly appears and talks to her

- She tells him about how she panicked because didn't know who to believe and he confessed to be the one at fault and apologies to her while probably saying while he did it. She accepts to forgive him if he promises to behave himself. He promises (possible Fluttercord shenanigans)

- Fluttershy says that they both need to apologize to Starlight and that after it she needs to go back to her class

- Either apology here plus moral told or the apology isn't told and the moral is in a conclusion scene

- Conclusion : Twilight comes back and sees that things are good in the school and probably that Discord is helping Starlight while Fluttershy is proud of both of them (+ moral time)

Soooo...pretty sure this sucks but at least you can see why this episode was quite a surprise for me considering how different it is from a perspective made of a single sypnosis (and also of how I kept repeating “oh no come on !” when I saw that all the mane 6, including Fluttershy, were called by the map...the magic of being shipping trash ^^;  )