#learning to trust again

[violetthistle1]

Remus sighed. “I was up late the other night and went to make some tea and discovered Harry awake reading.”

“The rebel.” Sirius said sarcastically.

“Indeed, just like his father.” Remus chuckled. “No, that's not what I'm worried about. When he saw me in the doorway, he was frightened. He didn’t know what my reaction was going to be so he frantically apologized. I quickly quelled his fears and we had tea and we talked about other things, but I didn’t like to see him so scared. Then at breakfast the other day, before I entered the room, I heard you two interacting, and he did the same thing. He burned the flapjack and panicked.”

“Yeah, I remember.” Sirius had concern in his voice as he spoke. “This is all so new to him. We don’t know the full extent of how the Dursleys treated him, but from these reactions, the way he always picks up the dirty dishes and washes them without complaint, the way he’s so quiet around the house. He’s walking on eggshells. I just wish there was something we could do to show him we aren’t going to hurt him.” 

“I think part of it is just time. He'll eventually see that there’s nothing he can do that will cause us to lift a finger against him.” Remus replied. “The other part of it might be setting some proper boundaries and rules.”

“Ugh, yuck.” Sirius made a disgusted sound.

Remus chuckled. “I know! It’s terrible, but I think it’s the best way. If he knows what we expect from him, and knows that all that will happen if he ‘breaks a rule’ is he can’t fly on his broomstick the next day, he might not be so afraid to breathe.”

“I think you might be underestimating how attached he is to his broomstick.” Sirius replied.

****

Dignity be Damned, chapter 35: September First, excerpt (4)

Chapters 1-35 are available on Ao3 now!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/50555698/chapters/133299727

[storm-in-a-shotglass]

i keep telling myself to stay grounded.

don’t float. don’t dream. don’t start building castles in the clouds with someone who might not be planning to stay. because i’ve done that before—handed over my heart just to watch someone drop it like it wasn’t something i spent years carefully holding together.

And yet… here they are.

with soft words and steady hands.

with patience where others had pressure.

with this quiet, gentle energy that makes me feel like maybe, just maybe, i’m not too much to carry.

i don’t trust easily anymore. love feels like a burned-down house i still smell smoke from. but they… they feel like rain after the fire. they make me want to peek out from behind the walls i’ve built. they make me want to believe in good mornings, in late night talks, in not being left.

i’m scared. but i’m also curious.

what if this time, it’s different?

what if this time, i get to keep the soft?

[lotus-pear]

11/20

[pikbin]

you can't keep them all caged, they will fight and run away

[cheaploafs]

First kisses can be complicated

[katsdynam1ght]

pov you just pissed off the most dangerous husbands in japan

[caramellody]

Yall i dont think im gonna be able to stop thinking about usha and g13, actually.

Ushas an old old woman, clueless with tech. Lived long enough to develop various bonds with a LOT of people and relies on them a lot for help. In turn, shes VERY loyal to her close conpanions (a great example would be how she tends to back paula up a LOT, the way she sets up russel and paula to 'fake date' wink and all). She's very warm and very emotionally intelligent even if she's a bit clueless sometimes. Her logic is borderline incomprehensible, but it has heart.

G13 on the other hand, is a hacking prodigy. Hes young, hes sought after for his skills for better and for worse. But in turn, he's essentially lost himself in the process. He may be able to scrape nuke codes, but he'll never make a friend. He lacks any loyalty for anyone and anything except for himself and his interests, and if they dont satisfy those two points, then its worth nothing to him. His logic may be sound, but its cold.

[arolegos]

trying to doodle but i have a cold right now and iwnt to rip my nose off my face

[violetthistle1]

“Did my parents know?” Harry asked. 

Remus struggled to find context to the abrupt question. “Know what?” 

“That you and Sirius were together?” Harry asked sheepishly. 

“Yes, they did.” Remus smiled. “James was completely oblivious to the whole thing for the longest time. We finally told him in the seventh year. Once he finally knew, he was a consummate ally. I think he did a lot behind our backs to make sure our other classmates were supportive. Lily, on the other hand, figured it out herself. And by ‘figured it out’ I mean walked in on us—" Remus cut off as he realized what he was saying and who he was saying it to. He coughed before continuing. “—on a chaste walk holding hands.” 

Harry laughed. 

****

Dignity be Damned, chapter 34: Rest, More or Less, excerpt (4)

Completed fic is available on Ao3 now!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/50555698/chapters/133261858

[izloveshorses]

some people may see this cassian/bix content as an obstacle for rebelcaptain... but as a rebelcaptain truther i only see more jyncass material to work with 😌

[epicfirestormer]

Will never get over how Starscream and Skyfire's relationship is always doomed. There's never an iteration of them where they both stay on the same side at the end. They always end up being against each other, tearing each other apart (whether intentionally or not). They always end up losing each other, be it by a snowstorm, by the war, or by death itself. They never receive a happy ending together, one if not both of them is doomed to suffer.

Skyfire is doomed to be an Autobot, by forces out of his control. Starscream is doomed to be an Decepticon, by his own self destructive tendencies. They are both doomed, because of who they are. They always try to save the other, in their own way. But it never works. They are doomed to fail, whether they stay together or not.

[lotus-pear]

smoke break

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

The musical episode.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[daemon-in-my-head]

One thing about Gortash that keeps bugging me is his desire to share power.

Because obviously, that's a great deal right? That's something special right? A tyrannical fascist geniunely wanting to share power with an old companion? Of all people? An old companion who fell from grace, yet Gort's still devoted to them? Isn't this, moral depravity aside, a great testament to their kinship and all that?

I mean that's certainly one way to read it right? But there's something else about that proposition, somethings leaving a bit of a sour aftertaste here, namely the near impossible level of power imbalance going on.

Gortash knows Durge intimately well. He flaunts that fact immediately and does not care about the repercussions his old companion may face due to the dirty laundry being aired publicly (if he's not looking forward to them outright, that may be their own version of flirting though tbf). Anyway, he knows their name, skills, past, and presumed motivations; they were incredibly close before the incident, and yet he hardly talks about that, brushes it off by saying "I missed you—anyway heres the issues I'm facing rn". He teases that he knows them enough to draw intrigue, but he never follows up, holding that knowledge and the answers Durge wants above their head. He uses their oath as an excuse, that they promised each other not to get involved into each other's messes, that he couldn't do shit, and then immediately asks them to get involved in his mess and sort it out for him cuz all of a sudden the oath not to get involved apparently doesn't apply anymore.

Like, yes, it seems like a "good deal" and something positive at first glance, and yes, he's not lying through his teeth but he's still withholding a shit ton of information on purpose and twisting the narrative to suit him more than anyone else. Instead of truly welcoming back someone who's been missing for months and helping them out a bit, that mf dispatches them to do his dirty work for him and promises shared reign alongside something as mundane as the chance to gain knowledge about themselves as a reward, yk the thing Durge really would like rn. AND considering Durge's notes and depending on what choices you make, sharing power would be more so Durge being merciful than smth Gortash can actually decide or propose (the balls he has for still trying though—sees a murderous demigod that can't remember they liked him once and decides to be a cocky bitch anyway).

Eitherway, he wants to share power. He might even mean it, but he's not willing to actually divulge information concerning anything 'Durge' and instead dangles the fact that he knows them above their head. He wants to share power, but only if Durge is blindly loyal to him and does not question his approach. After all sending the amnesiac gore baby to find their sister in a city and temple they can't remember whatsoever all by themselves isn't particularly efficient or smart but a damn suicide mission. And then he doesn't even provide any aid. He's willing to share power only if he gets to keep his control over the situation and Durge, and one way to confirm that is by sending the Bhaalspawn after their own family with no help nor information (either they come back and he'll be sure they still do as demanded or they'll die down there and thats that, Gortash probably). And only then is he actually willing to share power. Handily also without revealing any further information whatsoever, he's just using platitudes and buttering up to the bloody Bhaalspawn, never actually sharing any information regarding their shared past or what Durge was up to.

In conclusion, Gortash wants to share power the same way a king let's a dagger dangle from his belt while he sits on his throne. He doesn't actually want an equal right now. If he did he would not be doing everything to tip the scales in his favour and blatantly change the topic and refuse to disclose more information than necessary, information regarding the person he "missed so dearly". What he says sounds nice but what he's actually doing is trying to control Durge. This ain't rly about a shared reign or the likes, this is more so getting Durge to blindly tag along while concealing their past for reasons one can only speculate (did they fight, did someone betray the other, why is Gortash so unwilling to share any solid information?).

This escalated but you get my gist.

[tessasilverswan]

I have a tsc3 theory I can't get off my mind, and I'm a bit scared.

I absolutely loved the scene of Jean kissing Cat's temple before the game. But I think the media could spin it against Jean if he slips and gets a bit violent on court.

Headlines about how a Raven in gold is still a Raven, how he's "back to his old ways" and then someone finds a picture of the kiss (it happened on the team benches, and I'm pretty sure that's in view of the whole court) and, with his address having been leaked, dots are connected to reveal he's living with Cat and Laila and suddenly he's sleeping his way through the team again.

[askgardenerwoods]

hi Emma! Who do you consider your friends do you have a crush on anybody?

" For crushes... "