#it's an incredibly complicated legal situation

[alicedrawslesmis]

(sorry this is from a week ago but) Wait, what's going on right now that's complicated with Amazonian farmers' land rights?

Not farmers, indigenous people

See, recently they put a new law through congress that severely reduces indigenous land to the borders established during the late dictatorship, or immediately post-dictatorship, in 1988. An absolute joke of a border that was dreamed up by some military assholes. People in america may recognize this type of society from the times of westward expansion and think this is a thing of the past because for you guys it is. But here it is a reality. Murder is rampant. The reach of the law is incredibly limited. Government is just too weak and landowners basically run things. THAT'S WHY it's so important to donate directly to the native peoples instead of random NGOs because native people are fucking there and the more power they hold in the land the safer the land will be from agroindustrial expansion.

Well the law was vetoed by the the president and the Supremo Tribunal Federal, aka supreme federal court, labeled it as unconstitutional. Which it is, because our 1988 constitution describes native american land rights in some of its first articles. We thought this would be it for the law

But then the senate (that already overrepresents landowners in rural states) just went along and approved it anyway. I had no idea they could approve something unconstitutional. The progressives and particularly the socialists are fighting this in court. But it happens that for now the legal border is the severely reduced version.

Doesn't mean they'll just give up, because as it happens we don't have any stand your ground laws so even if you own a piece of land, you cannot legally speaking just shoot everyone there. Or attack or threaten them in any way. They'll just have long legal battles individually for the rights to occupy land based on use. Also the Xingu national park, the largest preserved land of the Amazon described as 'larger than Belgium', is being encroached by huge farms that are poisoning their water supply. The border is Visible. I'll try to find video of it but essentially you have a forest and a desert separated by a strict line.

Just last week in the south of Bahia (not the Amazon, let me explain more about the Amazon situation in a bit) Hãhãhãe leadership Nega Muniz Pataxó was shot and killed by an armed militia group that invaded and occupied the Caramuru territory.

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The situation in the Amazon, specifically the yanomami territory in Roraima our northernmost state, aka deep forest, is more dire than average given difficulty of access, sheer size, and government abandonment. It's a place that depends on government aid for medicine. It's land that is being systematically invaded by gold miners, pandemic, toxins from nearby farmlands, wood extraction etc. (wood extration is rampant everywhere tho). Early 2023 saw a massive federal government operation by now president Lula to empty the mines and try to look for where funding comes from. Yanomami land is still being invaded to this day, the struggle is ongoing.

The yanomamis need support right now more than any other. Last year saw a massive heat wave that (well, one, caused a girl named Ana Clara Machado to die during the Taylor Swift concert. This is unrelated but I feel like not enough foreign media covered this, Taylor even lied about it as well.) dried up a lot of rivers, killed a LOT of fresh water animals including an unprecedented amount of pink dolphins. Access that was already hard became damn near impossible without boats. I cannot overstate how many pink dolphins were found dead.

Another technique that landowners use to clear space for farms is to just set things on fire and then occupy the empty land, which they legally can do to land that was naturally burned in a forest fire. It happened that Pantanal, another national park of swampland, was massively devastated by fires last year too

this article is from 2020, the year that the worst fire happened, but in 2023 there was another one. It's been happening yearly now due to a) deliberate action and b) climate change aggravation.

And this is not nearly all. Just off the top of my head. If you speak portuguese I recommend following the APIB or the COIAB on instagram to keep up with the news. The FUNAI is the government branch of indigenous organization, but it's not generally that well liked. Still.

[reasonsforhope]

I keep seeing news about charges and what-not being piled onto Trump, and all I can keep saying to myself is "but is he going to experience one (1) single consequence of this?" So... is there any iota of a hope that something could come of this circus that will make the slightest ding in his capacity to run in 2024?

So, the answer to this is a bit complicated - partly because there are a lot of factors and a long time scale, and partly because it depends on how you define "consequences"

If you mean "any serious consequences at all," good news, that has already happened!

If you need to catch up on the whole "cases against Trump" situation, read this: The Cases Against Trump: A Guide. Via The Atlantic, November 1, 2023

1. The New York Fraud Case

A judge has ordered that the Trump Organization must be dissolved in a ruling that is being widely described as a "corporate death penalty." This is an incredibly rare ruling, and a huge deal.

The details will take a while to hash out - currently, Trump's kids are in the middle of testifying in a trial for this fraud case, but it's not to determine whether he's guilty - only the extent of the damages and the outline of how the org will be dissolved. It's extraordinarily unlikely Trump will be able to get out of this one. And high up on the list of things he's probably going to lose? Trump Tower itself.

Now, admittedly, this actually isn't because of, you know, the whole attempted coup thing. It's because the Trump Organization's finances were built on decades of absolutely massive fraud - including the very wealth that Trump lied about in order to explain why people should vote for him.

Oh, and let's not forget that in this case, Donald Trump spent weeks absolutely shit talking the judge to try to "poison the jury pool" (make sure that people on the jury would go in with a negative opinion of the judge already). ONLY TO FIND OUT THAT THERE IS NO JURY IN THIS CASE because his attorneys forgot to request one, so the sole arbiter of his fate is the judge he just spent weeks absolutely slandering in an attempt to win over the jury! And all else aside, judges very infamously do not like being insulted

Oh yeah, and the prosecutors are seeking a permanent ban on Trump doing business in the state of New York

Fraud trial explainer (New York Times, no paywall) Sources: x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x

2. 14th Amendment Lawsuit

Okay so I did all the other sections first, then came back and wrote this one. It's shorter because of that, and because this issue is a lot newer and doesn't have nearly as much legal stuff or investigations going on yet.

What's happening here is that several states have people who are filing petitions and lawsuits to try to get Trump taken off the ballot for the 2024 election, under the 14th Amendment, which was passed in the aftermath of the Civil War and bars anyone who has committed insurrection from holding office.

So far (as of the first week of November, there are cases to kick Trump off the ballot in about 20 states. Oral arguments have started in Colorado and Minnesota.

Basically, my take on the short version is that this could happen, but we'll have to wait at least a few more months to see how likely it is.

However, even if it does go through, Trump would only be kicked off the ballot on a state by state basis. So, if Colorado kicks him off the ballot, he'll still be on the ballot in the other 49 states, and the process would have to be repeated in each one. Still, even if it was just one state, that could be a big deal, voting-wise - and if he gets kicked off the ballot in more than a couple states, he might not end up being the Republican nominee anymore, given the size of that disadvantage.

Correction, 6 min after posting: It's expected that if Trump DOES get kicked off the ballot in any state, the Supreme Court will hear the case and weigh in. The decision would be binding for all states. Supreme Court probably unlikely to ban Trump from the ballot since they cheated their way into a conservative supermajority and 3 of them are Trump appointees

Explainer: Trial to kick Trump off the ballot in Colorado Explainer: Strengths and weaknesses of cases to kick Trump off the ballot Sources: x, x, x, x, x, x, x

3. The Classified Documents Case

So, the fraud case above is actually a civil case (that is, not a criminal case). The classified documents case, however, is a criminal case, and it's arguably the one most likely to lead to legal and political consequences for Trump, in large part because everything's very clear cut.

Like, Trump has literally admitted he retained classified documents on purpose - which is super against the law! Trump is just arguing a variety of nonexistent technicalities for why that law doesn't apply to him. But he did it! We know he did! We have photos of classified documents stored in the Mar-a-Lago bathroom! We have testimony from the employees he ordered to secretly move the boxes before the FBI probe. We have records proving he asked Mar-a-Lago's IT guy about erasing the surveillance footage of the move! We even have proof that a) he stole nuclear secrets, and b) a recording of him waving around the "plans of attack," bragging about them to other people!

All super damning.

(Post continues below, at length; sources at the end of each section.)

And another thing that's extremely key: Trump is charged in this case with violating the Espionage Act. And the Espionage Act explicitly does not give a single fuck about why you retained documents, or whether there's any proof you intended to show anyone. Any and all hoarding of national defense documents is illegal under the Espionage Act - EVEN if they're not classified, which is great since "I declassified them with my brain" (not how it works) is Trump's main defense here.

So, this case is basically the surest criminal conviction - and the most likely to have electoral consequences. Partly because Republicans, as few issues as they care about, generally are security hawks - "Trump stole nuclear secrets and showed them to people" is giving Repubs pause in a way that the insurrection just isn't, probably esp in the military and ex-military demographic.

Trump could also serve jail time if convicted in this case (which again he probably will be).

However, violating the Espionage Act doesn't ban you from running for or holding public office, which imho seems like a pretty major oversight.

Classified documents case explainer Sources: x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x

4. The Insurrection

So, this is where things get really complicated, because the case is complicated and so many things about it are so unprecedented.

There are two different cases here: a criminal case in the state of Georgia and a federal criminal case (that's the one run by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is also running the classified documents case).

I definitely can't summarize all of this huge situation here, but here's some key points re: whether there will be legal consequences:

I actually have a pretty high level of trust in Jack Smith, in large part due to his record: he's serving as special prosecutor while on sabbatical from his normal job of prosecuting war crimes at the Hague. And he's specifically been prosecuting war crimes from the wars and genocides in former Yugoslavia in the 80s and 90s. That specifically gives me a lot of confidence because - as someone whose family is from the region - I think it's a really strong demonstration of his abilities. It means he has a lot of experience prosecuting high-level government and army officials, in a complicated, multi-year, multi-war conflict, where there were way more sides and factions than we have, along with way less documentary evidence (bc 90s), and a lot of history of political corruption and coverups. I find that really reassuring, especially the "experience prosecuting high-level government and army officials" thing in a situation with, shall we say, extremely contested and variable national leadership, during the course of multiple civil wars

"Schwendiman compared it to prosecuting Kosovo’s equivalent of Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton. “If you indict these people, you’re saying, ‘The founding fathers of Kosovo have committed atrocities, and I’m ready to prove it, in an independent court, with independent judges and rules that apply to everyone.’” And that was Kosovo's founding president. So yeah, I think Jack Smith can handle Trump. Source

Okay now to the points you might have actually heard of lol

The Georgia case is a state level case, which means that no matter what, Trump can't pardon himself in that case

The Georgia case is also charging Trump under the RICO act - aka the rackeeting act, usually used to prosecute organized crime. And convictions under the Georgia RICO Act come with MANDATORY jail time

I think the evidence here is pretty compelling, see: the congressional Jan 6 hearings

There is a pretty high chance that, in a massively unusual step, filming will be allowed inside the trial/hearings. This is HUGE, especially because Trump supporters would actually be watching it too (unlike, generally, the congressional hearings), and that evidence all laid out looks really goddamn bad

Also, if yesterday's fraud trial testimony is any indication, Trump is likely to end up yelling and screaming at the judge, etc. in the trial, which is going to look wildly unprofessional

The federal trial will be taking place in Washington DC, where it should be very doable to get a jury that isn't stuffed with Trump cronies (unlike, say, if the case was brought in Florida)

Trump has attempted witness tampering on a lot of occasions, and tried to poison the jury pool, and he got caught so now he's under a gag order that restricts what he can say re: both of those.

Important note: Jack Smith has brought the narrower of two possible cases against Trump. He's filed against Trump with several conspiracy charges, including "conspiracy against rights," which was historically created to prosecute the KKK for racial terrorism

However, Jack Smith did not actually charge Trump with inciting an insurrection. There are a lot of possible reasons for this, but it mostly boils down to the fact that "inciting an insurrection" is significantly less objectively provable, in this case, esp since "insurrection" isn't actually defined in the relevant law

So, Jack Smith has traded a broader case (the one including insurrection charges) for a case that is much simpler and quicker to argue, and that he's sure he can prove

Jack Smith absolutely knows that he has an effective deadline of November 2024 (aka the next election, because a Republican president would shut down the investigation immediately), and he's planning accordingly

Look. Federal prosecutors - and the prosecutors in Georgia and the other NY case, for bribery of porn star Stormy Daniels - would not be bringing these charges if they did not feel sure they would win. Democracy aside, if any of them lose their cases? That is almost guaranteed to end their careers. So they have a very vested self-interest in only taking on what they are absolutely sure they can prove

The judge in the federal Jan 6 trial is the judge who has given the harshest sentences against any of the Jan 6 rioters, and she is the only judge to have sentenced rioters to more time than the prosecutors asked for

Jan 6 charges against Trump, explainer Sources: x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x

A Very Hot Take: It might not be a bad thing that Trump is still allowed to run

So, this is my personal take on the situation - I acknowledge that it's a very hot take on the Left, and that I might well be wrong about this. I might be totally misreading the field here. But I genuinely do think that Trump being the Republican candidate for president could be a good thing, and in fact I'll genuinely worry significantly more if Trump isn't the Republican nominee for president.

The why all basically comes down to this: I think Trump will be easier to defeat in the 2024 general election.

Again, look, I may totally be misreading this, and that would be really bad, but here are my thoughts:

Trump is super popular with the far right base - but that same strength makes him a huge liability in the general election. You CAN'T WIN a presidential election without the support of independents and moderates (including "moderates"). This is a really common problem for Republican candidates, actually: the more they move to the right to win the core Republican base, the more they risk hurting their chances in the general election

Independents and moderate Republicans - again, who Trump needs to win with to get the presidency - are significantly more likely to care about, you know, all the stealing classified documents and committing treason things

I can't think of anything that will guarantee people on the left get their asses to the polls better than "Vote or Trump is president again." A lot of the time, with someone who hasn't been president before, voters can lie to themselves and go "Oh it won't be that bad once he's in office," esp among moderates. But now we have proof that isn't the case!

Look, I don't know if Trump is getting dementia or what, but his faculties really do appear to be declining. They'll likely be significantly worse in another year - his speeches are already way worse than there were in 2016. He just can't track what he's saying well enough anymore. This makes it harder for him to make his case to the electorate

He's also the only actual Repub candidate that's about the same age as Biden - which will do a lot to stop the Right from using Biden's age as an effective weapon to get a Repub in office

Honestly, my biggest worry is that DeSantis will be the Republican nominee. I am way more scared of Biden vs. DeSantis than Biden vs. Trump.

Reasons I would absolutely rather Biden face Trump than DeSantis include: DeSantis is way younger and he has way less baggage. Because he hasn't been president yet, voters can do that self-delusion thing that he won't be that bad - that he'll be better than Trump - and that unlike Trump's, his plans will work. People on the left and in the center often don't know who he is yet, and there's not such a huge current of electoral energy to get them to the polls. And most of all - unlike Trump, DeSantis is actually smart. And as part of that, he is capable of a deep and absolutely premeditated cruelty that Trump just doesn't have the attention span or the patience for. Biggest example: actually literally kidnapping undocumented immigrants and sending them to Martha's Vineyard, and all the awfulness that went along with that, including the part where he started a goddamned trend.

Nikki Haley I'm less worried about because her core support base - conservatives - is also the country's core support base for misogyny. I hate to be glad about misogyny, but it genuinely would make it harder for her to turn out ultraconservative votes, especially evangelicals.

Sources: x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x

So, yeah, all told I don't actually have "Trump still gets to run for president" super high on the list of things I'm worried/mad about.

Also worth saying that we don't want just being indicted (aka charged with a crime) to disqualify people from running for office, because then all Republicans (or anyone) would have to do to disqualify an opposing candidate is find literally any excuse to charge them with something

But back to your original question! I genuinely DO think he'll face legal consequences, and I genuinely DO think he'll probably face jail time. Which obviously I am rooting for very hard

[mmyashas]

COMUNICADO IMPORTANTE: quackitytoo

TRANSCRIPTION -> TRANSLATION BELOW THE READ MORE. i am not an experienced translator and some may be a bit off, but i've done my best to translate all of it!

hello, hello! hello everyone. good night– good night everyone, i hope you're all well. um, i did this stream since i'm making an announcement to talk to you all in relation to qsmp's structure. i know people have questions, about a lot of things. so, i hope this will help you understand a little bit more. i'll be saying all of this in spanish since i find it easier to find the words– in spanish, as it's my native language.

i want to give you and explain a bit of context about everything. these last three weeks have been incredibly turbulent in many, many aspects. the restructuring process that's in course for the project hasn't been very easy. before my involvement— and i've said it before— there were people that affected the project in damaging ways, financially and administratively. i had already commented about this.

and i haven't spoken about giving updates and nothing of that nature and i haven't spoken about it since all the updates i've had are internal and of the legal type. hence why, there's no visible changes but they're changes that have to happen. i reaffirm, malicious people have been removed from the server and i'm still in (legal) processes against people who've caused many of this damage since the start. and that has been one main focus of this restructuring that's been happening.

guys, i want to leave this very clear. during all this process, all the words and actions that have been taken have to be done very, very carefully. recently, i've wanted to give many updates, such as internal and external, but we're against a really critical problem– that being leaked information.

i don't know if the people that leaked announcements or information from the inside knew that this was happening, but when i gave out private information and this info got leaked to places it shouldn't have gone– that affected the required process to solve a lot of stuff. and the people that harmed me both administratively and financially, that i've talked about in a past stream, were finding out about things and situations they shouldn't have and used this information to misrepresent and affect the process. so that complicated things– it's why i haven't given any announcements or talked freely as much as i wanted to. it's not to ignore or evade but there's a really, really delicate process going on.

and from the start, i knew in my involvement, to achieve a total change– we had to start with the people that affected me and the project. and caused a lot of the mistakes that have been occuring this whole year.

and when this could be defined, what was done was starting to find a financial strategy for the project since the project's costs are very high– and the project was going to close. i've also mentioned this before. and when i could define with strategies and events in the qsmp if there was a way to support the project, the next step was to restore different elements of the qsmp that no longer existed. and i want to make something clear, given the circumstances of the server i didn't want to make any promises to anyone i didn't know i could keep.

this is the reason i was figuring out this part and the financial part, and i couldn't give any more internal updates because i was working in an important part of the server, the financing. so, i understand and comprehend the lack of communication has been notorious. and i reaffirm, i tell you, it's not on purpose. there's a lot of situations i've tried to solve behind the scenes but i've had to be very careful. i understand if there's people that don't agree with the methods or the process. and if you dont trust in the project or the process– don't worry. there's no problem if you stop consuming the project. i totally understand. i've said i have a personal conviction with the project and it'll stay like that.

i've been working very hard and i'll do everything that's possible so the project keeps running but with the best conditions possible. and something i have to make clear is that this process takes time. i have to leave it clear– this process takes time. guys, there's people that have left the project and will keep leaving the project on their own will and i understand it fully. and i have no problem with someone that takes or will take that decision, and i wish them the best. in fact, i gave an internal announcement where i said that a restructure would take time to finish. and there's people that for reasons don't want to be part of that process. and i understand completely! because it's not easy to be in transitional phases.

something i said at the start was that my main objective was that this project came back to normal but with the best conditions. this is able to happen following the dynamics and examining the exact scenario for each person contributing to the project— and this isn't achieveable in three weeks. and all of this process continues.

so, giving you all a bit of context, behind a lot of things about the project. i ask you all, that keep wanting to do it, ask you your full patience. i don't want to promise or talk pretty. i want to make concrete decisions, and that's what i've been doing. if it's seen or not, it's what i've been doing. it's what i've been doing step by step.

friends, the changes i've been doing is for the best of the project and i'll say it transparently, the changes are for the good of the project and the people that love it. to the people who the project's impacted and the ones who keep up and love everything that this project's for. those people are the motivation and inspiration who the project was created for and is created for and the reason i'll keep doing the qsmp.

i'm not doing this, and i want to leave it very clear, i'm not doing this for the people that for a long while have wanted to see the project destroyed by actions that have demonstrated the- total opposite of love for the server. like not constructive comments, bad actions, bad wishes for me, the team, and any community that consumes the qsmp and the project in general. to me, all those people with damaging intentions don't matter to me that they stop consuming the project. leave that very clear!

and let's not forget something important guys, it's very difficult to build and way easier to destroy. to all the people that wants to join this building process is welcome, and those that want to maliciously destroy, this project from the start wasn't and isn't for you.

and lastly, i want to say these days i've received a lot of calls, emails and messages from people from a lot of parts of the world expressing what qsmp means to them. it's why i tell you punctually, that this project isn't over and i'll do what's necessary so each day it gets better. it's a process, step by step, that takes a while but i'm doing it. so, beforehand, i want to thank you for your trust and reaffirm my personal compromise to strengthen this project.

i hope this cleared up some doubts and given the necessary context to some people. and i reaffirm, i have a personal conviction with this project and i'll keep working to better it. just wanted to say that. thank you all and goodnight! bye!

[sunflowerdigs]

Unpopular opinion: while obviously in a strictly legal sense, Gerri was in the right last week, from a larger storytelling perspective, neither Gerri nor Roman was completely in the right or completely in the wrong. Their situation is incredibly complicated and deeply poisoned on both sides by the abuse that Logan institutionalized during his tenure.

Because, here's the thing - Gerri has shown that when she wants to, she can overlook rule violations from her boss. She did it for 30 years with cruises. In fact, she was the one who instituted the policy that said that all of the cruises stuff was to be cleaned up quietly behind the scenes and the family wasn't to know about it. When Kendall expected Tom to eat the shit for him? That came from years of best practices created by Gerri. That is why, in episode 2x07, she is able to reassure Logan that there won't be paper tying the family to the crimes. She never yelled at Logan or told him that he needed to go through the proper channels to pay off Mo's victims. Oh, right, and when Logan got caught, she cleaned that up for him, too, so that he wasn't held accountable.

Like, honestly, it's a bit of a joke that, after all of that, she's pulling Roman in by the ear for not firing an employee correctly. How does that compare to Logan allowing hundreds of sex workers to get used, abused, and violated so that, presumably, Lester wouldn't blackmail him?

And it's because of Gerri's history at WR that Roman knows that when Gerri comes at him in 4x06, she isn't doing it because he violated a rule and it's policy that she needs to scold him. Because she hasn't done that to a CEO in 30 years. No, she's coming at him because she is pissed about what happened between them and this is her way of taking back some control. He can see that, from that point forward, every time he forgets to dot an "i" or cross a "t", she is going to be there treating him like a teenager. So, if he is going to keep power and maintain the office hierarchy, he has no choice but to fire her. Now, she can go to HR about him, that is totally fair. But when HR asks for the company precedent on employee sexual harassment and wrongful termination, guess whose 30 years of precedent they're going to find? I hope Gerri is happy with a payoff and an NDA.

But here's the truly tragic thing, I think. Roman was one of Logan victims. Roman was NRPI. And everyone knew it. When Logan hit Roman in front of everyone in 2x06, instead of even just hauling Logan in for workplace harassment (Roman was an employee at the time), Gerri just said "it played well" and, like everyone else, pretended the hit hadn't happened. In the scene in 4x06, Gerri is trying to hold Roman accountable for a workplace violation against a woman, likely in part because she knows that he will never get held accountable for his violation of her trust with the dick pics. And Roman is throwing it back in her face and saying that Gerri should just clean it up like she did for Logan because Roman was one of Logan's messes that consistently got swept under the rug, both by Gerri and by others. And the fact of the matter is, they're both victims and both perpetrators of this system and instead of holding the root cause of their suffering accountable, they're shouting at each other. And it sucks.

[chickenstrangers]

thinking more about alan and wen and jim and beam in parallel because while alan and wen's story is heartbreaking by itself it's really when the two are contrasted that it truly devastates me and I don't think that I can really just consider either in isolation.

moonlight chicken is a story of juxtapositions. specific shots are returned to repeatedly with different meanings. the theme of community cannot be separated from the pain of loneliness. the betrayal jim experienced with beam, he superimposes onto wen and alan even though the situation is different. wen's desperate loneliness that leads him to seek jim out so determinedly, versus jim's loneliness that he has built up like walls to protect himself.

the guilt wen feels, I'm sorry for being the one who fell out of love with you, versus the guilt jim feels for not being able to stop beam from dying. both things they can't control, both things that scar them. jim's grief wrapped up in the pain of the betrayal, the loss of everything they built together.

alan and wen's engagement rings juxtaposed with the documents and accounts all in beam's name. both reminders of the lack of legal protections they have.

alan and wen both hurt each other. wen's fault was in staying, alan's fault was in asking him to stay. it's so incredibly mundane, so incredibly sad. it's more complicated with jim and beam, beam betrayed him, but that doesn't mean he never loved him. we never get to hear his story, really, not that it would absolve him. but the show is incredibly sparse with a lot of its storytelling. we don't get the opportunity to see his backstory, just like jim doesn't get the opportunity to really understand beam's choices.

alan and wen get their closure together. they talk about their breakup at the restaurant, they choose not to rekindle the fire. they're able to move on, exist around each other, start to be friends. wen moves out, finds a place of his own, and a home with jim, but alan is still a part of their community.

jim never gets that closure with beam. the closest he gets is the conversation with beam's partner on the beach. and he never moves out. he's surrounded by reminders of beam, the house they lived in together, the diner they built, the diner he both hates and loves. but he makes a home in that memory.

jim and beam never break up, beam dies in the middle of a fight. and it's a different type of pain than what alan and wen go through, but it's so painful that jim never gets to fully hate beam because it's wrapped up in this incredibly complex grief.

but sometimes you don't get that closure you don't get answers you're just left with love and pain and grief and nowhere to put it.

[panikkar]

thinking about how the three of the biggest relationships in bucks life are pretty significantly tied to helicopters/helicopter crashes,,, (partially inspired by this post by @maygrcnt)

taylor kelly: met her when her news helicopter crash. not the first person he seriously dated but definitely is the most serious romantic relationship he had yknow. can’t forget the whole couch metaphor arc.

eddie: i mean it’s pretty self explanatory but eddie’s helicopter crash when he was in the army caused him to be discharged and forced to be reliant on his family again, which is what made him move to la, where, of course, he met buck. they’re literally thee most important person in each others lives. they’re besties. coparents (when the only help eddie’s had as a coparent is shannon, who left (no hate to her it’s complicated shit and she did die but still she did), and his parents, who were controlling and not what either of them needed and also just generally really shitty to eddie at the time (ESPECIALLY re his parenting). and then buck comes along and like within a year he’s like i trust you with my life and my son and my sons life! after everything!! and puts buck as chris’ legal guardian in his will—) n e ways yeah that but also eddie’s ptsd related to the whole helicopter crash incident was super significant later in their relationship too bc eddie was at his lowest point (a place he’d been before but back then, his wife left him and his parents actively made everything worse instead of helping) and buck just like. steps in WITH eddie and gives him what he needs and like takes care of eddie and chris in they way they both need instead of forcing them into what he thinks they need like eddie’s parents did. yeah. and eddie actually did some healing then unlike the last time. so eddie is easily the most important and serious and intimate (like platonically but also Not) relationship buck has ever had, more so than any of bucks gfs.

and then tommy comes around!!! a fuckin helicopter pilot. he and buck first meet not necessarily in a helicopter crash but in a helicopter. in an emergency situation. and they draw SO MANY parallels between tommy and eddie and taylor (he and eddie have a lot in common like with the whole army and martial arts stuff and they get really close really fast and then BUCK HIMSELF drawing the taylor parallels. literally biting at my enclosure.) and wow! look at that! they kiss (and soon start a relationship) and tommy is literally not only the first man buck has ever kissed, but also the catalyst for buck realizing he’s bi. (or, at least, that those feelings bucks had for men in the past (cough cough eddie) are like mushy romantic/sexual/Very Not Platonic things.) literally even if they just kissed that once and had no relationship past that it’s still a massively impactful (non)relationship for buck!!!

and somehow. somehow the most important relationships in bucks life are all connected to helicopter crashes/emergencies. and they’re only characters who have such big connections to said helicopter crashes/emergencies. and they all have relationships that are incredibly important and impactful to buck. this is literally canon.

[thedemigodsguide]

Quick, I need advice of my fellow demigods!

I (14, daughter of Apollo) live together with my two half-brothers, my Mom and my Step-dad. Since my claiming, two years ago, I didn't know that he isn't my biological father and neither did he, but we're adjusting.

Now, I recently met this unclaimed demigod (14) and I KNOW that's against what you're supposed to do but I fell in love with her, even though she showed since of being a fellow Apollo kid.

TURNS OUT, she is a daughter of Lyssa and of my STEP-DAD (he didn't knew about her).

At this moment, I'm at a quest with her and I'm kinda conflicted on what to do. Should I tell her that I love her? Is that some kind of paradox incest? WHAT SHOULD I DO???

Claire

Hi, Claire.

Wow! That really is a mess!

I want to say, everyone, please do not blow up on me or cancel me or something. Nor say anything negative to Claire. This is a very delicate and complicated topic. I'm trying to answer this with as much tact and consideration for all sides as I can, but people will often have very differing opinions on such matters.

So, yes, you're lucky that on your godly side, the two of you are not related. The nice thing about relationships in the demigod world is that the gods don't have DNA, and therefore, as long as you don't share a godly parent, then you're considered unrelated. Because of the incredibly complicated train wreck that is the gods' family tree, it's better to just not think about it.

However, it's on your mortal family's side that the issues really come in. I've heard of situations where a family had a long lost kid and adopted another, who then met and fell in love. Sometimes, they decided to break up, and others, they decided to stay together. Because this girl is the child of your step-father, you're technically not related through your DNA. However, you would be legally related as step-sisters which would be tricky to deal with. I honestly don't know much about law and how relationships with that kind of stuff work.

I think you should tell her, not necessarily because I think you should still be fine, but because this is a situation that requires a lot very clear communication. That kind of communication cannot happen without all sides knowing the situation. Ask her what she thinks is right, share what you think is right. Make sure you consider all opinions with equal weight.

Ultimately, it's up to the two of you to decide what you want to do.

I hope this was helpful and gave you an idea of how you want to handle this situation.

–Kally

[lordfreg]

yo

i dont really know you, but people like ityagurlchip and dollyrin are my good friends and ive heard about the situation from their blogs

and holy shit am i sorry for what youre being accused of. those people are spewing actual garbage.

literally in the franchise before the turtles have been adults, as seen in the 2007 movie.

its fully 100% possible for the turtles to be adults, it's happened before, so that argument is out the window. the au not being canon means jack shit.

that and the other absolutely deplorable claim is also just flat out wrong. with human dna in them, evidence of close to human brains, being bipedal and having human cognitive abilities, there is NOTHING wrong with having an attraction to them.

if people say thats z00ph1l1a, then theyd have to include beauty and the beast because of the beast, or the little mermaid. is belle a z00 for falling in love with the beast before his curse is lifted? No. Is the prince a z00 for falling in love with ariel because shes a mermaid and therefore not human? absolutely not.

just. use your brain.

and my many condolences to you, freg. from what art of yours ive seen and of your au, youre an incredibly talented artist and storyteller, and i hope this whole situation turns out well for you :)

THANK YOU aggressiveanon ily (/p) for this aggjdjdjdhdjdjjdjdjdj🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹🖤❤️‍🩹🖤❤️‍🩹🖤❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹🖤❤️‍🩹🖤❤️‍🩹🖤

AND EXACTLY; the RISE turtles HAVE BEEN/ARE adults, because of the new 2024 comic (that also reveals the new sister)

Look, the creator of the comic confirmed that THESE ARE ADULTS. they don't look as old as MY turtles (the way I like to draw them), and it's STILL labeled TEENAGE mutant ninja turtles because... why? OH? WHAT? THAT'S THE FUCKING COPYRIGHT???? correct! 😁 good job using your brain tiktok brainrot child! 👏👏👏

And, about the nonhuman issue; these characters are NOT animals. Technically, it's "monsterfucking", or "teratophilia".

And, about beauty and the beast, I think it is okay because we KNOW that he's a human. However, with Ariel, this is 100% teratophilia because she's a mermaid BEFORE becoming a human. Yet, it's completely acceptable because... ????

Anyway, in RISE OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, the boys are CANONNICALLY and DIRECTLY related to Lou Jitsu, through BLOOD AND DNA; they are LITERALLY made of human.

To say they are turtles is just factually incorrect. Because they ARENT ANIMALS; they are MUTANTS is the point I'm making

that and the other absolutely deplorable claim is also just flat out wrong. with human dna in them, evidence of close to human brains, being bipedal and having human cognitive abilities, there is NOTHING wrong with having an attraction to them.

This. This ⬆️

Im pretty sure if they can lie, make complicated morel decisions and so much more human characteristics is enough to make them, legally, and categorically human

and my many condolences to you, freg. from what art of yours ive seen and of your au, youre an incredibly talented artist and storyteller, and i hope this whole situation turns out well for you :)

SOBS AAAUAGHJJFJDJJDJF THANK YOU GAHHHJJJDJDNDNNDNDNDBD AGAHJSJSJSAAAHHJRJDJDHDBE HDJDJDJDJDN HEJDKDKFKIFJFJDJFJRJDJRJ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹🖤🖤❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹🖤❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹🖤❤️‍🩹🖤❤️‍🩹🖤🖤 THANK YOU sobs ily/p

the only issue I'm facing now is that I have to see this person at SCHOOL, and I just KNOW rumors are being made as we speak cause honestly? Everyone is right about you, you ARE a backstabbing, manipulative bitch. Jesus, I trusted you and shi. Sigh.

Whatever, small town bullshit. At least I'm not going to die here 😐🙏

[furious-blueberry0]

For some time the only thing I knew about Ki-Adi Mundi's situation with the four wifes was that he had to do it because his specie was in danger and risked extiction.

So my brain had constructed this complicated fantasy of Mundi's father managing to guilt trip him into marrying and having children, and if he did not he would basically accuse him of not being a true Jedi, because as a Jedi he HAD to help his planet and make this sacrifice, and so Mundi accepted.

But then the more time passed the worse he started to feel towards his wifes and children. He never wanted to do all this, he felt incredibly and utterly alone, his father and his wifes wouldn't let him contact any of his friends at the Jedi Temple, so that he could concentrate only on them and his "mission".

And for as much as he tried to bond with his daughters, he only kept seeing the result of the legal and continuous r*pes his father had managed to trap him into.

So one day, tired of the isolation and him being treated as nothing more than something used to create children, he managed to get off planet and contact the Jedi who then helped him return home to the Temple.

For like weeks this was my version of events, then I reread the wiki and discovered that, well, he actually had a good time with his family soooooo.... guess I got everything wrong, again, lol.

[preservationofnormalcy]

Hey there. Saw a response you gave to a fae who was exiled from Hy Brasil. You recommended they ask to speak to someone from a "higher court" because it's important to get Paradise involved as a higher party. So, I'm kind of curious about the implications of fae-angelic relations. Not only that, does everyone have a right to invoke speaking to a "higher court" in this fashion? is the Choir the *only* higher court? Are demons considered part of a "lower court"? Just curious, thank you. :-)

What a great (and quite complicated) question! The whole situation is very complex, a lot of moving parts, but it boils down to a few things.

The first thing is the relationship between Paradise and the Court.

The first angel-fae contact was several hundred years ago, near as we can tell, since before Paradise and Pandemonium's ceasefire. Over time, many of the old Court structures had varying stances on the war, with some siding with Heaven and some with Hell - but one of the peculiar features of the Old Court is their respect for Paradise's (arguably similar) hierarchy, along with an appreciation for their likelihood to side with the fae in matters of contract disputes.

See, even while the War was ongoing, demonic contract law was respected by Paradise's courts, even if they didn't like it. Demonic contractual magic is considered nigh unbreakable to Angelic structures, which is why Paradise has courts in the first place. Earth isn't the first world they've battled over, and humans aren't the first mortals both Paradise and Pandemonium have exploited - along with the conventional arms race, they've engaged in a legal magic arms race for millennia. Upon meeting the Fae and establishing diplomatic relationships, both parties (but particularly angels) developed a begrudging respect for the literal-agreement magic the Fae employ as well as their complex system of bindings and geas. Some demonic attorneys are actually trained in lower, mortal, higher, and fae Court law. It's a fascinating topic, if you like contract disputes. I...guess that's why I don't get invited to parties much.

Anyway, this resulted in an ancient agreement called the Empyrean Accords. By an incredibly complex system of syncretistic legal agreements, most living Fae and all Angels still in favor with Paradise are bound by a non-intervention pact coupled with a promise to advise each other in legal matters. Angels are simply not allowed to interfere in fae business, and vice versa, and must take any issues to the aforementioned Higher Court, which can take decades.

If you're ever in hot water with fae you suspect to be of the Old Court, you can ask for your case to be heard by a Higher Court - in most cases they will oblige, and even though Paradise archlegals will often side with the Court, you can buy time that way.

Demons are colloquially called the "lower court," but for a mortal to invoke that right, they'd have to be very, very careful about their next steps.

I stayed late to answer this question because it's a topic I'm interested in! Hope you found it as interesting as I did!

[velvetvexations]

I also should have looked up the statistics to double check before sending my original ask, but I was referring to a specific news story I followed about a black men attempting to gain custody of his child, only for the mother to get it despite her history not severe neglect, and the child ended up dying in her care. I didn't want to spell that all out bcs it's an incredibly painful thing to think about, but I should have specified what I was referring to. That is also def not just a result of misogyny, but of racism, since black men are often seen to be absent or even dangerous parents. I am sure there are cases where men have an easier time getting custody, especially rich white men, but as will all situations the story is more complicated when you bring in intersectionality and especially race. I just think it's important to remember that a black man wasn't just being denied his child because he was black, the specific way society views black *men* was part of the problem.

As for the working in more dangerous jobs point, I brought that up because yes, men do tend to work those jobs more than women do, but where MRAs get it twisted is that that's only true *because* of misogyny. Women WANT to be firefighters and loggers and soilders and do hard labor, it's just that the fields are male dominated and riddled with misogyny so women often can't get an in or leave after being treated like shit. Additionally, it is also an issue with workplace regulation and capitalism devaluing ALL life in favor of profits. MRAs are right that more men work these jobs and thus die more and I can see how they would feel that their lives are devalued, the issue is that they blame that on women when the real culprit is misogyny and capitalist deregulation of workplace safety. They also bring up the draft, which again I can get how some men feel that their lives are only of value if they are willing to die, but that isn't bcs women are valued above them, it's because the draft is inhumane and NO ONE should be forced to go to war at all, and certainly not against their will. Like genuinely the fact that men have to sign up for the draft just to vote is insane to me and I can't blame any man for being upset about that, it's just a lot of them have a deep seated hatred of women and thus blame them for it rather than seeing that the real issue is forcing *anyone* to go to war.

(I also recall them using the Titanic disaster to show that society doesn't value men's lives but uh...yeah no the Titanic is one of the only instances where women and children were prioritized. Historically in shipwrecks women and children were left to die while the men escaped, but I can kinda get the irritation a little given Titanic was such a big deal it's overshadowed the true history of protocall in maritime disasters.)

I also meant to add in that in the RBG case the man wasn't being denied the tax credit just for being a man, it was because he was unwed and that tax credit was intended for families where the wife was absent, dead, or for whatever reason was incapable of providing care for an ill family member. I suppose you could even argue that it was less a case of him being punished for being a man and more him being punished for being unwed, thus a manifestation of amatanormativity and heteronormativity, but it is true from what I read they fought the ruling on the grounds that he was facing sex based discrimination, and the case went on to provide legal president to fight types of sex based discrimination that primarily harmed women.

I just also think it's important to fully understand what hate movements believe and how they can make their ideas seem rational and appealing, because it's the only way to counter them effectively. Hell the modern queer movement deciding that TERFs *only* hate trans women and have no other targets is why radical feminism is so prevalent in queer spaces. They can't recognize TERFs if they aren't screaming about trans women, and the TERFs know that. If you don't understand what your enemy believes and who they are against and how they doctor their arguments for recruitment you stand no chance of eradicating them. MRAs did successfully recruit women, very feminist women in fact, with some of these very talking points, because they held off on the blatant misogyny until they knew they had you on their side, just like TERFs will pretend to not hate trans people until they've already got you. It's important imo to not boil their entire belief system down to "incels who want sex" even if that is a major part of it because then we can't teach people to watch out for the less obvious dogwhistles and understand what the actual issue behind these points are and thus how to fight them and not get drawn in with seemingly reasonable arguments AND how to recognize the difference between someone drawing attention to real issues men face and someone who just wants to spew hatred.

I honestly kinda wonder if the current pushback against transandrophobia is born of the backlash to the MRA movement, but from people who didn't pay attention and learn the rhetoric and how to counter it and now think anyone who talks about any men suffering for being men in any context is a closet MRA who must be shown the door immediately, but idk that's just speculation on my part.

But anyway, I should have been more clear and checked my sources better, but tbh I just felt like the ask was getting too long and it was late and I had a headache so I just ranted about what I remembered of the movement. I'll be sure to be more clear next time I send something in, I don't want to spread misinformation or get any ire drawn your way.

However I do want to say comparing trans men and trans masculine people in general to MRAs is ridiculous because even when you break down the few few slightly valid points MRAs bring up before laying on the Horrifically Agrressive Misogyny that's clearly NOT what trans men and mascs are taking about, the two movements imo have so little in common it's legit ridiculous to compare them, and it's also ridiculous to act like some jackasses using the concept of misandry as a way to shut down women means the entire concept of the patriarchy harming men at all is so throughly tainted we can't even let trans men talk about it or coin language to describe anti-masc bias especially in queer spaces. Imo anyone comparing discussions of transandrophobia with MRAs is missing the point and has no idea what they're talking about re: trans mascs *and* MRAs.

Thank you for the clarification anon, though I'm still not totally sure about the custody thing because I've heard different things since your first ask. It's good to have a dialogue.

[hlficlibrary]

Hi darling!

I have a little question. The first two abo fic I ever read had heat houses and after those I've never read about heat houses again. Did I read the two most wired fics? Or is this a common topic? Well anyway do you know any heat house fics?

Okay bye!!

Xx.

Hi, anon! So I do know some fics like that, but I think it was just a coincidence you happened to read fics like that first! There really aren't tons of them out there that I can think of.

a body wishes to be held & held by @turnyourankle

Harry wants to return the favour after Louis helps him out with his heat.

Consequences of Public Breeding by @jaerie

Public breeding is not only legal, but accepted in many regions of the world. Harry did everything he was supposed to do until his heat hotel had to be evacuated and left him vulnerable in a parking lot. Now helpless in his situation as he waits the pregnancy out with the help of social media. He just wanted to raise awareness about public breeding. He never thought it would lead him to an alpha who cared.

Don't Play With Matches by neptune rising / @thelesserneptune

Niall is tired. Mainly, he is tired because of three facts: 1. his best friend and his boss reject the reality of their incredible compatibility and mutual attraction 2. none of his friends believe him when he states he is the best matchmaker around and a love connoisseur 3. God herself gave him two strangers to make a glorious relationship, yet hinders every attempt of his to make them meet. There's only so much headache a single man can endure, but when his pride and his friend's future babies are on the line, Niall will go over and beyond to make love happen.

Or: Niall sees love everywhere - much to the despair of his friends, old and new (who he tends to treat as his own life-sized game of sims). It leads to complications.

[the-final-sif]

Idk if you were here for all this but before, when bad accusations happened with other mcyters (cmc, skydoesminecraft, etc), they were like, shunned completely it seems like, cut off from the community. Do you think this thing with Dream different because of the ambiguity of the situation?

I mean, let's be clear, the allegations against Callmecarson and Skydoesminecraft were completely different from the allegations against Dream on basically every level. I mean, I would put the three of them each in completely separate categories. Skydoesminecraft did genuinely horrific shit, Callmecarson fucked up pretty badly and needs some major self improvement, and Dream may or may not have even done something wrong. Content warning for discussion of abuse and rape, because I think it's worth understanding what both other people did in order to have this sort of talk.

Skydoesminecraft did some truly horrific shit. The primary victim of that situation was their partner Elizabeth, including violently abusing her, forcing her into a pregnancy, driving her into debt, threatened to murder her and their friends, and so much other shit. This abuse was witnessed and attested to by their friends/roommates, and very clearly documented. Elizabeth was known as their partner, and incredibly detailed documentation of what went on, as well as lots of witnesses to what happened, and actual police reports among other things.

That's why her allegations carried so much weight. She had a mountain of evidence, and the accusations were incredibly serious. That was what caused the clear and quick reaction where cc condemned and cut off Sky. Hell, a number of the ccs closer to Sky had been abused by them as well. This was the expected outcome there.

Callmecarson is a more complicated case. Admittedly, I never watched him and I'm not entirely up to speed on the full details of what went on. However, from the research I've been able to do, it sounds like he had a difficult history with making poor choices regarding relationships. As best I can tell, the words "pedophilia" and "grooming" got thrown around, when in reality it the girl involved was 17 when Carson was 19/20 and neither of the words apply to this situation. He requested and was sent nudes by the girl involved, which is illegal and incredibly stupid even if both parties are consenting. The girl involved felt pressured and like their relationship was inappropriate after things between them ended. The major issue was Carson not having a sense of restraint or boundaries and not taking responsibility for his actions or behaving appropriately. Something that was a reoccurring issue in a number of cases involved Carson. It was fucking stupid shit for him to be doing, but it does look like he actually stepped back and went and got therapy and improved himself. We'll see how it bares out, but from what I've read, that feels like an appropriate response.

The (main) allegation against Callmecarson was also very different, because the girl involved wasn't the one to originally come forward. The actual people who came out to talk about it were two other CC that were a part of the group, explaining that Carson's behavior was why their group broke up. The content creators involved were keeping quiet mostly because of concerns about legal issues. The girl involved only spoke up after the cc broke the story, to explain her side of things.

Those allegations were taken a lot more seriously because they were made by people who knew Carson and who had significantly platforms and no reason to lie about him. The allegations were backed up very substantially by a lot of people, and Carson himself admitted to them quite quickly. Lots of evidence was presented by credible people. That's why a lot of creators cut ties with him, and why he ended up leaving the platform.

Now, compare both of those to the accusations against Dream.

The first set of allegations (Oxe) were pretty obvious fakes and frankly just stupid to begin with. Like, that person wasn't even alleging anything actually happening. It was dumb from start to finish.

The second set of allegations (Amanda) are a set of allegations from a random person on twitter, with two screen recordings for evidence. Neither screen recording shows proof of the behavior she was alleging (ie, sexting, nude photos being sent, etc). Nothing was/has been proven, and so far the only third parties who claim to have seen anything are Amanda's boyfriend (unclear on his timeline or specifics, but supporting her) and an apparent former classmate (Bee, claims that Amanda lied about this in the past, cannot provide proof of this). So it's very up in the air.

Given all that, and given the number of similar allegations in the past that ended up being false, I think it's rather reasonable the difference in responses. Content creators that know Dream are unlikely to believe the word of a stranger over him. Particularly if he's getting lawyers involved. Personally, if a friend of mine got accused of something by a stranger on twitter without proof, I would be more likely to believe my friend. I think that's how most people would react.

[ittybittybeastiebuddy]

whats a story trope you really like

Everyone and their mother knows I'm always down horrendously for the found family trope, so I'm gonna go for one of my less common trope favorites and say that thing in fantasy/scifi/etc. Stories where it cuts from characters doing typical genre fitting activities to more mundane shit, like having a wizard go to the fantasy dmv to get their license so they can legally cast spells in the city. I eat that shit up, anytime I can get slice of life moments that shift the tone of a story and reveal that the world is in fact more than just a setpiece for high fantasy shenanigans I'm fuckin ecstatic akfhskfj. You can tell I love this trope because it makes constant appearances in a lot of my personal stories, like my character who opens a food truck during the zombie apocalypse, or my other guy whose in a Danny phantom esque situation between the world's of the living and dead who uses his ability to phase through walls to grab his incredibly complicated coffee order from the only 24 hour Cafe in town.

[hoedamn-eron]

confrontation

Steven confronts Marc and Jake after you leave.

Warnings: Age gap, but it is appropriate/legal. Steven may be a little OOC, and incredibly judgemental of Jake. Some swearing. Inaccurate depictions of DID (only knowledge from the show and some light research). Angsty. I did not proofread this at all. Word count: 1,502 GN!Reader, no use of Y/N.

Set in my Doctor Steven Grant universe, after part 6.

Series Masterlist

Steven flinched as you slammed the door closed behind you. He stared in confusion long after your departure, before he took a glance at the small mirror where it hung on the wall next to his front door, where Jake was looking back at him with an unreadable look on his face.

He had the entire evening planned out. He was going to wine and dine you, with your favourite meal, the one that you mentioned your mum used to make you all the time. He was going to give you your favourite dessert, and the bouquet of peonies that he had stashed in his bathroom and ask you if you wanted to be official. Now…this has happened.

Steven didn’t know how to feel. No, that was a lie, he did. He was pissed; pissed at Jake for saying those things to you, pissed at Marc for not stopping him. Steven knew that meeting you had rubbed Marc and Jake the wrong way, that it would be too complicated for just one of them to be in a relationship, but he didn’t think that they would have gone out of their way to destroy what felt like the only good thing to happen to him for a while.

“What did you say to them?” Steven asked, looking hard at the reflection in the mirror. “What did you say, Jake?”

“Nothing, hermano, you don’t need to worry about it,” came Jake’s gruff reply.

Even after all this time, Jake’s rough voice still took Steven by surprise sometimes.

“Yes, actually, I do need to worry about it,” Steven snapped, still glaring at Jake’s reflection, irritated that his head mate didn’t seem all that concerned about the situation Steven was put in. Steven grit his teeth as he ran his hands through his hair, starting to pace around his kitchen, barely hearing Jake trying to justify his actions, Marc annoyingly silent. “Just shut up for a minute!”

“Easy, Steven,” Marc muttered, finally deciding that he needed to say something before Steven had a heart attack.

“Don’t tell me to be ‘easy’, Marc, when you and Jake have pushed away the only person that matters to me.”

“Whoa,” said Marc, and Steven could see him at the corner of his eye, holding his hands up in defence in the mirror. “I haven’t done anything!”

“Exactly, that’s the problem,” groaned Steven, throwing his head back as he collapsed onto his couch, a huge sigh leaving him. His body ached. His head ached, his heart ached. Everything ached. He raked his hands through his hair as he leaned forward, trying to calm his racing thoughts.

He wasn’t getting any younger. He was pushing forty and only had a goldfish as a companion, until he met Marc, then Layla and Jake. Although happy to finally feel like he had a group of friends that weren’t strangers painted as gold statues, at the end of the day, Steven was jealous, of course, that Marc got to live a life he’d always wanted for himself; to have a wife, and the start of a family. Then Jake came along and told his two head mates of the life he led, where he’d had countless flings and got to live dangerously (although Steven admitted that he’d prefer Marc’s way of living). They gave up Khonshu (after a stern talking to with Jake how he hid away that they were still connected) and Steven finally thought that he could live a regular life, maybe meet someone, make a proper career for himself. But Steven came to accept that he just wasn’t going to have the same experiences as Marc and Jake, and he was okay with that.

Until he met you. And you had lit up his entire world from the darkness that he had hidden himself away in. He thought that Marc and Jake would have been happy for him, that he was putting himself out there, something Marc had always told him to do, but evidently that was a problem now. He didn’t understand. You were amazing, caring, and so lovely, and now his future with you was fading away before his very eyes, all because his head mates, his supposed brothers, had driven you away.

“Why can’t I just have something for myself?” Steven asked, and Marc and Jake weren’t sure if the question was aimed at them. “Why can’t I have someone and be happy?”

“It doesn’t work like that, not with us.”

“You managed to have Layla!” Steven cried, looking up angrily at Marc’s reflection, where he was still stood in the mirror. “And Jake…Jake seems to have had everyone!”

“Hey!” Jake snapped, but he went ignored.

“I just wanted…I wanted to be loved. I wanted someone to come home to, someone who was pleased to see me, that wasn’t stuck in my head 24/7,” groaned Steven, burying his head in his hands. “And you took that from me. Why would you do that? Do you want me to be miserable?”

He was met with silence again. Steven sighed in frustration and threw his hands up, slumping back against the couch.

“You know it’s complicated,” Jake finally replied.

“I know it is,” replied Steven. “But you just couldn’t let things…happen, could you? You didn’t have to get involved! You didn’t even need to meet them! We could have just lived happily. I would have fronted and had a real, loving relationship where you didn’t have to be included.”

“And what if they wanted to get married?” Marc asked, a sharpness to his tone. “What if they wanted to move in? What then? How would you explain where you would need to go every night when Jake’s driving?”

Steven didn’t reply because he’d already had those questions himself. And honestly, he didn’t have any answers. He agreed that he had a naïve way of thinking that it would have worked out, but he had just wanted to give it a go. He’d found you breath-taking, and he just couldn’t let you disappear from his life without him getting to know you, even just a little bit. His heart made that little jump is always did when he thought of you, remembering how you just suddenly appeared that one day when he was sat with your friend in the coffee shop. And he just loved you, so much, and he never even got to tell you before Jake had stuck his nose in -

“Buddy,” Marc said, sensing Steven’s anxiety start to skyrocket. “It’ll get easier, yeah?”

Steven didn’t acknowledge Marc before he went about cleaning up the kitchen, now not even remotely hungry. Marc and Jake continued to talk among themselves, talking as if Steven wasn’t there (and he truly wished he wasn’t). Steven ignored them as he put the untouched meals in his fridge then walking towards the bedroom. Might as well put his pyjamas on, he wasn’t doing anything anymore.

He tried to watch his usual TV but it just wasn’t sinking in. It was nearly midnight when he decided to end the day, hoping tomorrow, after a night’s sleep, would give him a different perspective, that he’ll have an idea on how to make this mess up to you. He still ignored Marc and Jake’s quips as he turned the lights off and climbed into his still messy bed from that morning, double checking his phone alarm as he plugged it in to charge.

And just for a moment, he stared at his phone, the urge to text you overtaking him.

Was that even a good idea? Probably not. Did he give you space? Well, obviously, you had told him so when you stormed out. He couldn’t blame you, his situation wasn’t ideal and he wasn’t quite ready to tell you about Marc and Jake (and they weren’t exactly jumping at the chance to get to know you). You’re probably talking to your friends about his weird brother, and how Steven had no backbone when it came to being honest with you.

He probably deserved it.

Steven sighed as he picked up his phone, opening his texts to your thread before hesitating. What would he say? Nothing would make this situation any better. You had said you wanted your space and here he was, about to contact you. His chest hurt at the thought that you might actually want to end things with him after all this, and he’d go back to just being a professor at the university, second fiddle to Marc and Jake. Just another thing that he would have to come to terms with; that Steven Grant would never get to really be fully happy.

Steven bit his lip as he sent out an apology text you, sending it before he could do anymore stupid things. He threw his phone down on his bedside table, suddenly unable to look at it.

“You did the right thing,” Marc said quietly.

Steven rolled his eyes before turning to switch his bedside lamp off. “Shut up.”

Tagged - @kingtwhiddleston, @ahookedheroespureheart, @harrys-tittie, @avasif, @romanarose, @othersideoftheparadise, @mt2sssss, @milkymoon2483, @n0ripeaches, @theconsultingdoctor10, @brandyscorner, @moonliqhtszn, @classypeachlightsalad, @toracainz, @preciousbabypeter, @teacupcollector, @hot-mess-express1, @starkdanverss, @mintgreen24, @eonnyx

[atopvisenyashill]

that post about how cregan/jace shippers are sexist and that “they think two men together isn’t cheating on baela….which is something alright” is just unfiltered homophobic reasoning for disliking a ship being reblogged thru this fandom uncritically lmao.

“two men together isn’t cheating on baela” as in, there is no possible way for cregan and jace to get married or for jace to properly end his engagement to baela to marry a man, because men cannot marry men and a crown prince certainly cannot publically take up with another man in lieu of having heirs. cregan/jace takes a situation that is straight up “jace cheats on baela” to “jace finds out he likes men and it complicates his whole life” and people specifically define it as “not cheating” because it’s this feeling of “if they make you cheat, it’s not cheating.”

gay couples have been forced to “cheat” for literally thousands of years, and have been labeled as untrustworthy, incapable of love and only lust specifically because every queer relationship until recent history was often “cheating” and ignoring that just so you can dunk on a ship you dislike is homophobic. like, you simply cannot conflate jace having an affair with a woman to jace falling in love with a man, those are different situations socially, culturally, and legally, that is the baseline of how homophobia works. the fact that jace/cregan is fundamentally a different dynamic bc it’s two men cannot be denied just bc you dislike the ship. obviously having an affair is cheating no matter what the context, but the same way that like, naerys having emotional affairs bc she’s being abused isn’t the same “cheating” bc she has no social power, jace falling in love with a man is treated as “not cheating” bc jace and cregan do not have the social, cultural, or legal ability to be together the way a man and a woman can. it’s also wildly homophobic to get mad about an incredibly obscure ship online that a bunch of gays glomped onto in a series that is wildly heterosexual. like,,,, what does my preferring the idea that jace is bisexual and falls in love with a man have on you, sara snow, the show, or the books? honestly???

YOU HAVE CANON. that is the thing, no matter how i feel about it as a queer person, heterosexuals always get canon, they always get the win in the end, they always get the pretty romantic shots and the aesthetics and the power and the storylines and they get to be the heroes and the hidden princes and what do i get?? i get loras tyrell, who in the books may or may not be dead after watching his lover get kinslayed by a shadow, and who gets religiously tortured for his sexuality until he blows up in the show. i get oberyn and ellaria, one of whom gets their head smashed in and the other of whom gets to retire to be a widow for the rest of her life. in fire & blood i get rhaena, who spends her life miserable and then dies alone. you get sara and baela and jaehaerys and alysanne and every aegon and rhaenyra and alicent and sansa and arya and jon and dany - except when she’s using her handmaiden as a living vibrator and dreaming about men of course - and tyrion and cersei and jaime and brienne and and and and

IF I WANT JACE IF I WANT ONE CHARACTER WHO DOES IT HURT? seriously, but fuck you if you think that little “it’s still cheating if it’s jace-cregan ya know, you misogynists” is some sort of progressive, non homophobic stance. it is legal to discriminate against me in the united states and my very existence is considered a threat to children, i will take jace, a character i relate to, and i will rub my gay little hands all over him in fandom because THAT IS ALL I WILL EVER HAVE and you can fucking sit there and drink your juice box about it.