#my opinions - which are correct beyond question

[fipindustries]

and while we are on the topic of dehumanizing, this reminds me of a shower thought i had the other day regarding harry potter.

yes, this is going to be yet another take about re-examining an element of that blasted series under a much more critical light now that i find the author to be a horrible person, but bear with me.

to my defense, i actually genuenly did thought this back when i was a kid reading these books, way before i knew anything about rowlings opinions on trans people, or indeed about trans people at all!

it always was a little weird to me those moments where dumbledore tries to stomp out of harry any inkling of empathy or mercy he might have towards voldemort.

i can think of three specific instances.

first instance is in book 6 when harry is feeling weary about the idea that he is predestined to kill voldemort because of a prophecy. dumbledore then exclaims something about how of course that harry has to kill voldemort, but not just because the prophecy says so, rather because of all the evil things he did that make him deserving of death. so harry thinks of all the crimes voldemort commited and he feels uplifted by what is descrived as "righteous anger"

the second instance is also in book 6, right after harry learns about the tragic story of voldemort's mom, where he actually feels kind of bad for her and asks why she had to die. to this dumbledore immediatly asks harry, almost incredulously "are you feeling pity for voldemort's mom?". to which harry instantly corrects himself and tries to spin it as somehow her fault for not using her magic to save herself and thus abandoning her baby.

then the third instance is near the end of the final book when they are at king's cross purgatory vision, where harry finds voldemort's mutilated soul, that looks like a wounded baby that was skinned alive and is desperatly crying. harry's first instinct is to want to help him but dumbledore steps in and is like "you should step away from that". when harry asks what is it dubledore is like "ignore the baby harry, he is beyond help". after a while, harry stops feeling sorry for the baby and he starts to find the baby's desperate cries of pain annoying.

so in here we see three instances where dumbledore's advice makes harry more callous towards voldemort.

and to be sure. voldemort is ontollogically evil. he is the devil. as evil as evil gets. kind of the whole point is that this is the uncomplicated fully evil villain against whom all scorn and harm and violence is morally justified.

not saying this is like the worst message ever. having absolute evil that has to be vanquished by any means and against whom is really not worth to waste time considering their humanity is like, normal everyday stuff. this is a children's story so is not aming for moral complexity here. but still, as a kid i was not used to seeing a child hero that was presented with a Hated Enemy that he was fully justified in killing no questions asked. even aang, who is told by every mentor he has to kill ozai, he at least struggles with the question. luke tries to redeem vader at every turn. frodo makes a genuine attempt at being nice to smeagol and lets saruman go after the take back the shire. superman never ever killed. and then comes harry, a child hero from a children's story and the message is "yeah some fuckers just need to fucking die, the end"

[maddiem4]

Trans women are touched by the divine and you can taste it on them. You should try. You should get yourself an entire goddamn mouthful.

[pangur-and-grim]

This is a genuine question! As a person who is into cat breeding and cares about animal wellness, I trust your nuanced opinion a little more than biased articles I keep seeing.

The short/blunt whiskers that Devon Rexes or other curly breeds are known to have: I've read some articles that say the cats don't notice/aren't bothered, while others talk about how a stunted sensory organ is detrimental to their health. I want to know what is more "correct" or true. I know the answer will be beyond a binary, so there's no real question other than; do you have more information about the general well being of cats with short/blunt whiskers.

I wanted to ask someone who is more attuned to the ethics of cat breeding! You were who I thought of first.

(If you don't want to answer this publicly, feel free to answer privately!)

it's not detrimental to their health for a cat to have blunted whiskers, but it's also not ideal.

you've actually asked a very interesting question! different people draw the line at how detrimental a trait can be before they consider it unethical, and I suppose blunted whiskers are within the hand-wiggling realm of 'not the best, but not the worst either' for me.

as another example, sphynx, peterbald and donskoy cats are in that hand-wiggling category, but they're a bit too close to the line for me. cats spend so much of their time grooming, and rely on fur for thermoregulation, so I wouldn't be comfortable purchasing a hairless breed. but other people view it differently, and still more people might have that same level of discomfort with breeds that have fragile whiskers like the Devon Rex!

for this reason, rather than splitting hairs (haha, get it?) on the hand-wiggly breeds, I'd rather keep my crusade targeted against breeds that are unquestionably unethical, like Scottish Folds (which have cartilage deformation that leads to painful arthritis) and Exotic Shorthairs (which have neurological problems due to their small brain cases, and also just.... can't breath).

I'm also being selfish here, as my allergies to animals have gotten worse over the years, and the rexed fur mutation that gives Devon Rexes their name reduces how much they shed into the atmosphere. that (plus their tendency to produce less of an allergy-inducing protein in their saliva) will help me live a lot more comfortably with my Boy!

[astraltrickster]

My biggest pet peeve with a lot of online writing advice is how much of it just straight up pretends personal taste doesn't exist and tries to pass itself off as Objective when it's...really not.

One advice article will insist it's super distracting if you get too deep into the worldbuilding. Another will insist that you need to be thinking about the geology, geography, and ecology of your world and how that affects human behavior at ALL times in order to make your fictional civilizations believable. One will insist that your fight scenes must be grounded, and realistic, and have a basis in real human limitations; no one will take you seriously if your main character can just push through an injury that should be fight-endingly debilitating. Another will say that realism doesn't matter nearly as much as drama, framing, and pacing; that having your character push beyond normal human limitations, rule of cool style, helps keep the tension tight and the stakes palpable; and in fact that trying to keep things too realistic feels less like experiencing a story and more like getting a medical lecture. One guide will say that unhealthy relationships and dark tropes in romance are grating, overdone, cheap edgelord garbage; another will say that happy, fluffy romance where the worst that goes wrong is miscommunication is preachy, childish, saccharine, and unengaging. Which one of any of these pairs of directly conflicting takes is correct?

Trick question! It's both, and neither! They're all for different audiences and different preferences!

As for my personal advice for dealing with this mess:

Step 1: Acknowledge that you are a human being with personal taste, not a mindless objective Content Processing Machine.

Step 2: Own it and put your whole pussy into making a story that you love and do everything in your power to not only stop caring if someone else hates it, but try to take the hate of a non-target audience as a compliment.

You can do this by finding the advice that resonates with you and your taste and listening exclusively to that, or you can do it by trial and error, using conflicting advice as exercises until you find what works for you, but however you do it, do it with everything you've got.

But hey! That's just my own opinion too!

[crazy-pages]

First step to being a rationalist.

Acknowledge it might not work.

Let me take a step back for a moment. The single most important principle of science, in my opinion, is acknowledging the possibility of failure, that something might be beyond you. People often think of science as how you discover the truth, but I think it is more accurately and importantly described by how it lets us determine what we do not know.

For most of human history, we not only did not know what the sun was made out of, the question was fundamentally beyond our grasp. There was nothing any amount of scientific principle could do that would let you know what the sun was for most of human history. To be a scientist about it, to apply the scientific method to understanding the sun, is not just being able to know nuclear physics. You have to teach yourself to know when to say 'I don't know'.

For most of human history the sun has been fundamentally beyond our capacity to understand. And yet it is one of the most enduring and common subjects of false explanations. To internalize the scientific method, truly in a way that changes your thinking relative to what it was before you learned it, you have to become someone who, if you were living in those times, would be able to say "I don't know" even when everyone around you has an answer.

So let's talk about rationalism.

Rationalism is not just the idea that we can understand human biases. It's not just the idea that we can be more thoughtful or knowledgeable people by understanding these biases. No, rationalism is specifically the idea that by learning enough about human biases and by leaning on hard enough on data, we can reliably make correct and optimal moral choices. It is the belief that by performing enough rationalist study and training, and applying enough information science to a problem, one can proceed on the assumption they have come to the correct conclusion.

And those are very different things. It is the difference between saying "by understanding wood better, we can construct better foot bridges" and "by understanding wood better, we can span the San Francisco Bay with it".

Because here's the thing, better is not the same thing as reliable. Even if we grant the assumption that learning about biases makes one less likely to fall prey to them, and that is an assumption, an 80% chance of making mistake is also less than a 90% chance of making a mistake. It's valuable, that's a good thing, but it is not sufficient to say "hey so I used this method to come to my conclusions, therefore I'm sure I didn't make a mistake".

If you want to be a rationalist, the first rational principle you need to apply is that of the scientific principle looking at the sun. You need to be able to say "There may be nothing I can do, with the resources I have access to, to be sure I am actually free of bias and mistakes in logic. This may be fully beyond me, for the entire span of my life." And not just in the sense that nobody is perfect, but in the very real sense that you cannot depend on the train of logic in your own head to lead you to a correct place.

And the reason this is important is for the same reason it's important in science. The moment that you presume something is in fact knowable in science, it just becomes a tool of accrediting whatever conclusion you come to. It stops being an actual tool of discovery and becomes a rubber stamp of validation. It becomes something which makes you feel better about the conclusion you came to, not something which actually helps you in any way.

The moment you say to yourself, "because I am a rationalist, I am confident enough in A, B, and C to take actions X, Y, and Z" you've failed to be a rationalist. (Unless you provide a double blind study of a large well-controlled population, one of which was given rationalist training and the other which wasn't, upon the end of which it was determined that the rationalist trained population did indeed perform to an improved standard meeting a high minimum on certain metrics (upon which you must limit your assumption of rationalist improvement to those specific metrics). And then this study has been in the corpus of literature long enough to be peer-reviewed and criticized and had duplicate research and further investigation and a good long while for the scientific community to dissect it. A thing which has definitely not happened yet.)

The most important thing you can learn from rationalism is not an understanding of a specific set of biases. It's not the particular ways human cognition is messed up and it's not any type of information science. It is the fact that humans are flawed.

The most important thing you can learn from rationalism is humility, not hubris.

To do otherwise is for rationalism to just become another tool of confirmation bias, something making you think you are more correct than you actually are.

The humility you have to learn from rationalism is that you must plan and behave on the assumption that no matter how rationalist you think you are, you might still be behaving in biased ways. That there might be no way to fix this. And so all you can do try to behave in ways where even if you're wrong, you're going to minimize the harm you do to others.

This is where futurist philosophies derived from rationalism, the idea that the unimaginable number of humans in the future are so much more than the ones now that it justifies worker exploitation and present harms to make the far future better, falls apart. This is where AI doomerism/utopianism, the idea that general AI is definitely the biggest threat and potential boon facing humanity so we have to put all of our resources into safe AI research at the expense of everything else, falls apart. This is where effective altruism, the idea that we can quantify the outcomes of charity thoroughly enough that it makes sense to hand over direction of all charity to a small group of experts, falls apart.

Because the answer to "what if you're wrong about these philosophies?" is that a lot of people get very hurt. We are flawed. Fundamentally so, and I don't know that anyone has ever proved a way we can get around this. The only thing I know that we can do about this, is to try to behave in ways that minimize harms while trying to make the world better, rather than trying to maximize a hail mary to find the holy grail.

To which I can already hear the rationalists saying that this might not be enough to save the world, that anything but convulsive directed effort focused on is already doomed, so we have to pick one of them.

To which I say. First off, how are you sure of that? How is this a thing that you know for certain?

But more importantly. Yeah. You're right. There's no way of knowing for sure what course of action will make the world a better place. There's no way of knowing that anything short of futurists sacrificing the workers of the present to build a brighter future will be enough.

But if you are actually a rationalist, well. That is what you have to live with. You've got to be the scientist looking up at the sun and saying, "I don't know."

And then you should go and do things to make the world better without being sure of your prognostication of the future.

[captain-hen]

🔥+jealousy bc i need to fuel my anti-jealous eddie tag

godd, i hate fandom's obsession with jealous!eddie. mostly because it's not even true to his character, because 90% of the time, he actually doesn't give a fuck about buck's relationships (beyond being protective when he thinks buck is gonna get hurt). and i've seen people say that him being jealous of buck/tommy is the only narrative device that can be employed to get him to realize his feelings, but i just...don't agree? for one thing, i'm firmly of the opinion that eddie on some level recognizes what he feels for buck, he just genuinely does not believe that he has a chance, regardless of whether buck is straight or not. for another thing, even if eddie weren't aware, i don't think jealousy is the correct device to use here because then the question arises (for me, at least), why wasn't he this threatened by buck's other (more serious) relationships? because we're tipping dangerously close back into the rhetoric that buck's relationship with tommy is So Much More Special and Amazing because tommy is a man, which, i think i've made my feelings very clear on how biphobic and misogynistic i think that sentiment is. and i don't think eddie is gonna automatically start wondering why buck isn't considering him as an option just because he likes men. i think eddie's issues with self-worth run way too deep for him to reach that level of...conceited? i guess is the word. anyway, all this is to say i just don't think it's true to his character lmao.

send me a 🔥 + a topic for an unpopular opinion!

[syn4k]

hello!!! as you are the resident miante person in mcyt (there might be another one but in my opinion it's you) I have a question: if I wanted to watch mianite how would I go about that/where do I find it? I know it's a youtube thing but I don't know which channel it's actually on and I am. Extremely Curious about it & want to watch it but I have no idea where to do that /genuine question

(also, I know it's got multiple POVs, is there anyone you'd recommend I start with?)

hello! thanks for the ask!

mianite has four main POVs that remain in VOD and episode form on the creators' channels, they all have a playlist for it and you can find them pretty easily by looking up "[creator name] mianite s1" on youtube.

i recommend starting off with jordan captainsparklez' POV like we did, as he is involved in mostly everything in both s1 and s2 and his episodes are edited down to only really have the important bits. if you decide to watch back through the series later from another perspective, tom syndicate's POV is another good one to watch as he's kind of on the opposite side of everything happening in s1 and it puts a lot of his actions in context that jordan left out of his episodes.

if you don't want to watch through the series in its entirety (which is completely understandable), fern @voidandradiance has made a playlist of the important lore moments in both mianite s1 and s2 that she'd be happy to share :]

also it's really funny to me that we are the resident Mianite Guy to you when we've only been here for like, six months. this series turns ten years old today and there are people in this fandom who have been here since the beginning of it or at least who have been here for way, way longer than we have.

if you do end up sticking around here, i cannot recommend these people enough:

@kiwibirdlafayette - AMAZING artist who has been here in the trenches here since 2014. syndisparklez enthusiast. his art-only blog is @grailknightmonty and he also posts Hermitcraft stuff occasionally :3

@transandor chase my good friend chase!! resident Jordan Captainsparklez Guy. brilliant writer, also happens to be fistfighting The Horrors, you know how it his

@voidandradiance i already tagged him before and i'll fuckin do it again because this bitch's writing is stunning beyond words and xyr brain is HUGE. if you like the style of the stuff we write, you'll LOVE fern's work. its so beautiful that i physically cannot overhype it. its so good, y'all. its so fucking good.

@syndianites is, as far as we're concerned, the mouth of god himself when it comes to Tom Syndicate SynHD. there is nobody on this site who understands this character better than she does. they consistently leave the most galaxy brain objectively correct tags about him on our posts and she never fucking misses. this bitch Gets It and i am very lucky to be her friend

@coolcattime's blog is more of a general purpose one, like ours is, but she carries the f/f ships in the Mianite fandom and is also a great writer! she's written a lot of neat AU ideas and although we haven't talked with her much she definitely lives up to her url- she's one cool cat :]

@cactusprisms is also someone that we see around a lot in the notes of our mianite posts, although we unfortunately havent talked much. also more of a general purpose blog but worth following anyways. shes vibing.

hope this helps! <3

[two-white-butterflies]

of magic and men | daemon targaryen x targaryen!reader

Description: When a Targaryen is born, the gods flip a coin; madness and greatness. Who said that they couldn't be both?

Your uncle Daemon fights a war with the Crabfeeder and whispers tell you that your father favors his son, Aegon. Which leads you towards a dark path – one of the blackest magic. (requested by @izzybella016) (she/her pronouns used) (TW: creepy behavior, manipulation, blood magic)

Featuring an original character

Being a woman meant laughing at men's jokes, even when it came to your expense. Being her father's heir, meant being the joke. As a child Y/N Targaryen knew how weak her father way – how incapable he was of ruling, and despite all of those facts, she still chose to love him.

A child's love for their parent is insurmountable – but not infinite. It has an end – a breaking point, and Y/N was sure that her father had far exceeded his limits. He chases down the newest thing – his newest son, and tossing away little old Y/N.

"There's no one here for me," she chuckles while turning to look at her sworn shield, Ser Alvaro. He was her only friend in the entire kingdom – everyone either wanted something from her, or wanted to get rid of her. He was constant, he was her rock.

He stands behind her – the darkness only illuminating his features. He places a hand on her shoulder, "All of them are vultures, seeking to gnaw on your bones" he replies while she nods in agreement.

"I feel unsafe here – was it a mistake? Returning here?" she asks for his opinion as he settles his sword down on the table, sitting beside her and placing a hand on the small of her back. "Do you truly seek for my opinion?" he questions sarcastically as she rolls her eyes. "What do you mean?" she turns her head and he shrugs.

Ser Alvaro was wise as he was strong. His opinions were one of the most important things to Y/N. "Well you never truly listen to what I tell you – you'd always prefer listening to Princess Rhaenyra and your uncle" he states the obvious as she frowns.

"I'll listen to what you'll say now" she enunciates as a sigh escapes from his lips. "I'll say the truth – nothing but the truth," he promises as she agrees. "Of course" she replies as he leans a little forward, his lips barely touching her ears.

"His majesty, King Viserys and Lord Otto – they seek to replace you. They favor your brother, Prince Aegon. I – I tried to convince them, but they would not listen to me" he announces as her frown deepens. Her doubts were correct! Her father did not love her anymore, he favors his son with the broody queen.

She gasps as her eyes began to form beads of tears. "What do you mean?" she queried as he wipes a tear away. "It is not yet written in stone, my princess. There are other ways to make sure that your father doesn't remove you as heir" he confirms as she chuckles bitterly.

"It's not like we could kill my brother, Ser Alvaro." she rolls her eyes as she slumps against the wooden chair. He pauses and she raises an eyebrow. "That is exactly what we should do!"

---

Alvaro enjoyed tainting the princess – teaching her magic far beyond the comprehension of this world. She was a wonderful pupil, dedicated and obedient. He enjoyed teaching her.

Ser Alvaro lusted over her – imagining her porcelain skin and her ivy complexion writhing underneath his warm body. But she wasn't an easy catch, every step came with defiance – but now he knew that he could trust her – heck he could love her now.

He traces his hands on her naked skin, carefully counting the days until he could have what he wants. "Ser Alvaro" she breaks him free of his thoughts as he turns to look at her.

His eyes – entranced by her feverish purple eyes. "Yes, my princess" he whispers – the taste of her, yet to leave his mouth. She smiles, and traces circles on his unclothed chest. "My father tells me that you and my uncle will fight in the tourney. And I wonder who I shall give my favor to" she ponders as he chuckles loudly.

After all this time, the princess should know, who her favor belonged to. "My princess, you offend me greatly" he jokes as he closes his eyes in mock hurt. She presses a kiss on his cheeks, giggling at his childishness. "I was jesting, my knight" she retorts – closing her eyes in tiredness.

She yawns, "Do you really think that killing my brother is the right thing to do?" she asks him and he hums in return. Well – it wasn't the right thing to do, but it would benefit Ser Alvaro – which made it the best thing to do.

"Yes – it is the only way"

---

Daemon's eye searches the red keep for any signs of his beloved niece. Confusion befalling his face as he realizes who she was standing with. It was Ser Alvaro – previously of the gold cloaks until he was banished for dipping into dark magic – blood magic.

He grabs her arms, and her body turns sharply towards him. "Uncle" she mutters in confusion as Daemon glares at her knight. "Prince Daemon" Alvaro smirks as the prince glares at him further. "May I speak to the princess alone?" he requests as Y/N dismisses her knight.

"Is everything alright?" she asks as Daemon's frown deepens. A million thoughts ran through his head – how long has Ser Alvaro been in The Princess' service? What was the man plotting?

"Who was that?" he interrogates as she looks at the knight's direction. "He is my sworn sword" she explains as a chuckle escapes from his lips. He had just escape war, he didn't realize he'd be coming back home to it.

His eyes darkened as she frowns in return. "And I assume that your father appointed him! That idiot" he rambled off as she places a hand on both of his shoulders. She couldn't understand why he was acting so panicked, when Ser Alvaro was an ally.

"Yes? And what of it?" she questions as he groans, "What has he done to you? Does he hurt you?" he interrogates placing a hand on her chin and inspecting her face deeply.

She shoves his hands away. She felt offended by his notion – she loved Ser Alvaro and he would never do anything to hurt her. "Uncle – I apologize but I cannot understand what you're doing. And perhaps I should not be telling you this, but what me and Ser Alvaro have is different. He cares for me –" she remarks but was quickly shut down by Daemon.

"Cares for you?" he defenses as she nods. "Yes – and he's the only one whose been in a while" she adds while walking away. He pulls her back and corners her on the wall.

"He has preyed on your vulnerability – I warn you now, my princess. He has done the darkest of all magics and he will stop at nothing to have what he desires" he yells as a strange realization befalls upon her.

A few months ago, rumors were spread around court about Queen Alicent and Ser Alvaro. They said that they both had an affair and that the child The Queen was pregnant with was sired by him. That was around the time – Ser Alvaro placed a seed of doubt in Y/N's head.

If Prince Aegon died – and presume that Y/N would be caught red handed. The Queen's child – one that was allegedly sired by Ser Alvaro would become heir.

She gasps and places a hand on her mouth. "Oh no"

pt. 2

A/N: Was really playing around the idea of dark magic, Part 2??

[saintsenara]

1,8,18,21,22

thank you very much for the ask, @ashesandhackles. let's see how these go down...

[choose violence ask game here]

1. who is the character everyone gets wrong?

the last time i answered this question i said sirius - both fanon sirius and dark!sirius - and i stand by it, so this time, let's say... dumbledore.

and, actually, i think this for many of the same reasons which inspired my sirius answer. i really dislike dumbledore bashing, since it’s so frequently based in a complete misunderstanding of his character and the role he serves within the series’ narrative conventions - above all, the fact that the omniscient vibe he gives off in books 1-6 is not actually omniscience at all, as book 7 reveals; dumbledore doesn’t know that sirius is innocent, or that moody is barty crouch jr., or that kreacher is passing information to voldemort, because he’s just a human being. far too many criticisms of dumbledore don’t take this into account, ascribing to malice what is clearly just fallibility.

but, with this said, i dislike the anti-bashing turn in dumbledore-centric fics just as much, because many of these pair the idea that dumbledore is fallible (good and correct) with the idea that he is - for want of a better term - harry-ish. and this is just as bad a misreading of the character. dumbledore is not impulsive or reckless or radical - he holds radical views, but he does nothing to actually advance them in society (this is a man who is at the heart of the establishment for half a century, who does nothing with that power to dismantle the oppressive social structures which drive wizarding politics and prop up blood-supremacy). dumbledore is a hypocrite - he’s happy to be depended on by fudge, he is appalled that fudge might depend on lucius malfoy. dumbledore lives in an ivory tower. dumbledore projects his shame and self-loathing onto others in a way which is detrimental to their own happiness. and so on.

none of these things preclude dumbledore being courageous, but his ‘gryffindor courage’ is remarkably un-gryffindorish, and a lot of pro-dumbledore writing is surprisingly unwilling to confront this.

[also, there’s the other layer of pro-dumbledore writing i dislike - when authors make him hyper-whimsical. the man is stylish, rather than dressed like he ran into a charity shop and fell over. his sweet tooth is an incidental detail - and a trait which harry also shares - rather than his entire personality. he is not dithering and indecisive - he is a creature of inaction, but he tends to have settled on a single ‘right’ course very quickly in his mind. he is not silly. he is not a blushing fool in his relationships - all evidence is that he had just as much power over grindelwald as grindelwald had over him. he is not particularly emotionally demonstrative. he is physically strong. he is taller than voldemort. and, crucially, his mask of benign good humour is fake. all of his ‘whimsical’ traits are part of the act, the real dumbledore is ruthless and damaged and a nerd who loves reading and it’s iconic. let him be that way.]

8. what is the common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about?

there is no such thing as canon compliance.

by which i mean that ‘canon compliant’ is a useful tag to have on ao3 as an indicator of chronology - it’s a good shorthand for ‘the people who die in the series will die in this fic too’, ‘the main events which happen in the books will be mentioned here’, and so on. but i’m not sure that i think it goes beyond that.

and the reason for that, is that i have never seen anything which purports to be canon compliant beyond chronology - including my own work - which actually is.

there are several reasons for this:

the first is something which, if you’ve read other posts on this blog, you will know is a common refrain of mine - that the series is bound by specific genre conventions. if authors are transferring the action into a genre different from the ones the series makes use of, they are not writing something which is canon compliant, but canon coherent.

the second is that if authors are filling in gaps which are missing from the series - above all, the marauders-era or post-war-pre-epilogue timeline - they are doing something which is materially no different from writing a non-canon ship. i.e. writing exactly what they want. if your fic is crammed with original characters, or your marauders listen to cool muggle music, or you’ve spent more than twenty seconds thinking about the wizarding political or legal system then i love that for you - this is good and everyone should do it. but it’s not canon compliant. it’s canon coherent.

the third - and undoubtedly most controversial - is that you cannot write something canon compliant and hold the principle that the author is dead. because we know exactly how jkr thinks that canon should be interpreted, and this is often in ways which are - to borrow a phrase from ursula le guin - rather ethically mean-spirited. jkr’s views on fairness, violence, class, motherhood, love, and - of course - gender weave themselves into the narrative in ways which cannot simply be written off as ‘oh, it’s just harry’s perspective.’

i believe we have a moral imperative to know what she thinks and to interrogate the ways in which this appears in the canon text. i also think - obviously - that we don’t have to agree with what she thinks in order to write things which feel close to canon. and i don’t agree with her - not only when it comes to her views on trans people, which are actively harmful - but also when it comes to things like the fact that she’s clearly someone who’s rather vindictive, but who believes that this vindictiveness is really a strong sense of fairness (look, for example, at the dichotomy between how the text presents violence against people it thinks ‘deserve’ it - harry using the cruciatus curse on amycus carrow being a great example, neither harry, nor mcgonagall, nor the narrative give a fuck - and those it thinks don't). or the fact that her own experience of both motherhood and daughterhood - an experience which was clearly very traumatic for her (her mother died of multiple sclerosis, her first husband was violent towards her, she has an extremely difficult relationship with her father) - drives the series’ prioritisation of sacrificial motherhood, criticism towards mothers who don’t make their children the focus of their entire world, and certain coolness towards fathers (especially absentee ones - who will be blamed by the narrative for being murdered by their own sons). or the fact that she has extremely narrow views on cisgender women, even before her views on trans women are taken into account, which turn up again and again in how female characters we are not supposed to be sympathetic towards are written.

i am not, of course, suggesting that writing a fic which is heavily based in canon means that an author supports jkr’s views. what i am saying instead is that fics which engage with questions such as how harry understands violence against the bad guys in ways which go beyond ‘lol, lmao’ or which write lavender as a person whose fondness for stereotypical femininity doesn’t make her insubstantial or which point out that the narrative blaming merope gaunt for dying directly justifies everything voldemort believes are canon coherent.

and, actually, i think that this broader term - canon coherent - is a better one to talk about the non-chronological aspects of canon compliance. because the dividing line between canon compliant fics and canon divergent ones is incredibly arbitrary, and often doesn’t take into account how close to canon the writing in otherwise canon divergent stories often is. after all, if someone writes a story in which harry feels exactly like his canon self, except that the romantic partner he ends up with isn’t ginny, that is arguably more canon compliant than a piece of happy-ever-after hinny in which ginny is a doormat who gives up her career to be harry’s bang maid and harry speaks like he’s had twenty years of therapy. but only one of these pieces will be welcomed onto canon compliant rec-lists and into canon compliant discussion spaces.

[and it’s worth mentioning that plenty of canon compliant only spaces do allow flexibility - above all in being open to interpretations of characters such as james, harry, and hermione in which they are not white. this is good and they should continue to do this, but we can go further, especially in accepting queer interpretations of the main characters into canon compliant discussion.]

i also think - and i’m aware this may sound cruel - that thinking in terms of canon coherence, rather than compliance and divergence, would be good for everybody’s ego. i can acknowledge that plenty of people who diverge from canon can be dicks about it - and i think that the criticism people who prefer the canon endgame ships often get for being ‘boring’ (and, in the case of ships such as remadora, ‘homophobic’) is bullshit - but the canon compliant girlies (gender neutral) are, in many cases, no better. it is not harder to write something ‘canon compliant’ - not least because, as discussed, you’re not - and it is not evidence of an author engaging more seriously with the text and its themes. there is a tendency i have noticed in the fandom spaces i inhabit, many of which feature people whose preference is for the canon ships etc., for non canon pairings to be treated as - essentially - crack ships, especially in stories which are light or whimsical in tone. but when i say that writing on tomarry or snarry or snack or snapemort or drarry or riddledore or wolfstar or what have you can deliver characterisation and worldbuilding and narrative construction which feels infinitely more plausible than many ‘canon compliant’ pieces of writing, i mean this entirely seriously.

and i think it would be good if the dividing line which leads many people to say ‘i don’t read canon divergent fics’ or ‘i don’t read canon compliant fics’ was instead blended into a preference for fics which are canon coherent or otherwise. we would all learn something.

18. it’s absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on…

delphini.

another reason why canon coherence over canon compliance is valuable is it means that one can pretend the cursed child doesn’t exist.

but i would like to make a case for the fact that delphini as a concept (so, nothing like the way she’s written in that play…) makes sense and is a character i’d like to see added to more stuff. she works within both voldemort and bellatrix’s canonical arcs, she gives rodolphus something to do post-war after he spends canon being futile, imagine how funny it would be if teddy had a crush on her, george-michael and maeby style (truly les cousins dangereux), imagine how funny it would be if she is the spitting image of her muggle grandfather and her dad’s having a crisis every time he sees her, imagine her trying to parent trap voldemort and bellatrix into actually falling in love…

you can do serious things with her too - in fact, i have - but, as someone who thinks anything is improved by someone spindly and vaguely sinister, i think she’s a hoot and she deserves to turn up in more things.

21: what part of canon do you think is overhyped?

my eyes were bone dry when dobby-ex-machina died.

22: what is your favourite part of canon, which everyone else ignores?

that harry is a luxury boy. let my man buy his solid gold cauldron, hagrid, don’t be a narc.

[in general, i don't love versions of harry which show him as really abstemious or austere - he's pretty careless with his possessions and he doesn't regard the expensive things he owns as something to be unusually protective over. in his adulthood, he's 100% making sure his shed is stocked with the best brooms on the market and buying himself a little treat whenever he's feeling spenny.]

[gwenllian-in-the-abbey]

apologies for being callous in asking this, but seeing as so many aegon-centric (or those who had tagged him) blogs, no matter how good their dissertion and dissection of aegon is, gets called/is assumed to be a rapist defender/apologist, have you ever received an ask/comment calling you that? if so, i hope it never bothered you at all. apologies for bringing it up but i feel like getting called that would probably stopped those from actually enjoying/talking about him and his other qualities (such as his alcoholism, his bond with his dragon, his actions during the dance, his desperate survival.) because it actually stopped me from enjoying his character (because i initially felt so bad liking a character like that), going through his tag as well as looking for fics because of the vitriol. well that was until i stumbled upon your AKAB and OFCiR, which gave me so much perspective on aegon. and your opinion on the dyanna scene (which is oh boy, such a hot topic) was so beautiful.

No worries anon! So actually, I've never received an ask or comment with the rape defender/rape apologist accusations (and now that I've said this, I'm sure I'm sure someone will want to break that streak lol). I've participated in discussions in general in which those sorts of attacks were tossed around, but I've never had them aimed at me directly.

I'm honestly pretty surprised it hasn't happened, but I sort of chalk it up to two things. 1) I block prodigiously and pre-emptively and 2) I tag my discourse posts judiciously and try not to antagonize other fans by posting critical things in the main tags. And although I know opinions vary on this, using anti tags and team tags is also another way of making sure that people who have certain tags blocked will not see my posts, so I do use those when I feel it's appropriate. Beyond those two things, I think I also have a habit of writing pretty detailed responses and providing evidence to back up my assertions, which probably discourages people who are just looking to get a rise out of someone and don't want to read a five paragraph essay about why they're wrong.

I'm really sorry that those sorts of accusations have stopped you from enjoying Aegon's character in the past, and I'm glad my fics helped you to enjoy him again. Obviously I think he's an interesting guy with a compelling, tragic story! I will say this: I've been in the greater asoiaf fandom for well over a decade now, and characters who are far more morally dubious than Aegon have always had fans. Ramsay has fans. Euron Greyjoy has fans. I don't know if you were watching GoT when the show first aired, but so many show only people hated Jaime at first, not knowing his arc, and by the end he was one of the more beloved characters on the show. And by the end of the Dance, no one's hands are clean. Rhaenyra herself allows Dalton Greyjoy to reave along the coast of the Westerlands, which results in hundreds of women being taken as salt wives (and we know what that entails!). If we can only enjoy the most morally correct characters, our choices for the Dance era are pretty slim, and mostly limited to literal children.

I doubt most people throwing out those accusations could even spot actual rape apologia in a fandom context, considering all of the other types of apologia I see flying around unchecked. Rape apologia is not the existence of rapist characters, enjoying those characters, or even analyzing why those characters did what they did. Rape apologia is not questioning why the show decided to make Aegon a rapist, or hoping he might get more character development in the future. Rape apologia is making excuses for rape, or outright denying that it happened. So, saying "Dyana was probably lying" or "Dyana was probably into it" or "Dyana was scamming the royal family," or even what Aegon himself said in the scene, "it was just a bit of harmless fun," that's clear cut rape apologia. And here's the thing, when something is wrong, it's usually because it causes harm, and unlike simply enjoying a character, actual rape apologia does cause harm. Making excuses for or denying even fictional rapes perpetuates rape culture in ways that make it harder for women to speak up against assault, and harder for rapists to be prosecuted effectively. But again, I have never seen actual rape apologia among the team green fans I know.

Finally, I'll just say that while fandom in general can be a fun, positive thing that helps people connect with each other based on shared interests, that drives people to think and to create and to do, on the other hand, fandom can also feed some pretty shitty modern impulses. It creates cliques, empowers bullies, and worst of all, it encourages a kind of brand driven consumption that in turn perpetuates this idea of fandom as activism. Activism is getting involved in your community, volunteering, fundraising, protesting, labor organizing, boycotting, etc. Activism is not scolding people online for enjoying media the wrong way. People who think this way need to reconnect with the outside world, and anon, I hope you continue to enjoy whichever characters fascinate you, including Aegon.

[celestemagnoliathewriter]

Ok ok ok so this is something I have pondered for a bit now that I have re-entered the Remadora fandom again for the first time for probably almost 15 years. As you seem to be the de facto keeper of some of the deepest headcanons of this niche topic, I am curious what your take is.

Question: How many people do you think know, at least initially/when it happened, knew Remus left?

Hear me out here. Ok so the book isn’t remotely clear how long he was gone because we only get an update in like Feb/March when Ron returns but the Pottermore bio that he was actually gone for like 3 days, which is still absolutely a dick move, but significantly different than being gone for *months.*

Now, most fics I’ve read at any point have included him *saying* in some form that he’s leaving, either in the form of a letter of sorts, or I do really like TauraNorma’s whole scene in Flying Colours in which it’s an in-person conversation, but beyond dissociated from reality on his part.

But, if I were in her position, I don’t know how much I’d divulge to others? It would certainly be a difficult position. If she did stay with her parents for that period, or after, (I do love Remus saying she’d safe at her parents’ house as if they didn’t literally just get tortured. Bro. Really?) she *does* have some plausible deniability of “he had to go to some Order business” to them to have some shield for her own embarrassment.

Maybe to Molly and Arthur as a “hey if my husband lands at your house or something, wanna shoot me a message?” but past that I’m not 100% sure how I land with others knowing. It seems very possible to me that when Ron is with Billy and Fleur, Ron, while listening to Potterwatch or something, offhandedly asks them if he ever went back to Tonks and them being like sorry wat. And Ron having the unfortunate task of regaling what happened at Grimmauld Place in August. I could definitely see it spreading from there and more of their acquaintances finding out from that discussion but obviously Tonks is like 8 months pregnant and they’ve been living together seemingly the entire time.

Ok I’m sorry this ended up shockingly long. I may not have been entirely sober when furiously typing it out the first time.

Ahhhh what a compelling ask, @millennihilism!

I'm honored you consider me the de facto keeper of the HCs on this, but I'll also be the first to say that there are a LOT of differing opinions on this one because of the lack of canon data.

You're correct that Pottermore says that Remus was only gone about 3 days. We have no idea what circumstances he left Tonks in. Letter? In person? Dashing away in the night without a word? Who knows.

From a close reading of DH, there's no indication of how long Remus was gone. You could say 3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months, 8 months ... technically all canon compliant if you're not using Pottermore as a source.

That being said, my personal HC is no more than a week, and again, I know that many people would disagree with this assessment of Remus's absence, but I believe it's a shorter absence for many reasons, including an answer to your question of how many people knew that he left her.

Remus is a dick, but he's not *THAT* much of a dick. He's a coward, but he's not *THAT* much of a coward. Remus does have a good bit of kindness in him, and he's brave enough to do the right thing when push comes to shove. Harry literally shoved him. I think that put Remus squarely in his place and shamed him enough to return to Tonks.

Remus's support system is down to almost nothing. He presumably has the following people outside of Tonks: Molly and Arthur, Bill and Fleur. That's it. He thought he had the trio, but that wasn't true, given Harry rebuking him.

We know from Remus that he's been tailed by a Death Eater for three days before he came to Grimmauld Place. If he's been tailed by a Death Eater, where could he have been? Certainly not the Burrow, where they'd find him. Certainly not Shell Cottage, as it's under the Fidelius Charm, presumably. So that gives us an idea that if he was tailed by a Death Eater for three days (curiously, the amount of time Pottermore tells us he was gone for), and just now got to GP to talk to the trio, he's been on the go for three days by the time he gets to the trio.

Because there is nowhere to go for Remus, that puts him in an awkward position. I don't think that anyone outside the Tonkses knew he left her. I think that Remus left, and Tonks vacillated between being sure he was coming back and being really terrified and scared that something would happen to him. Oh, and anger. Lots of righteous anger. I can imagine she told her parents by way of explaining that she was living with them now. It's possible she told him he was on a mission, but they didn't believe her.

Because of the 3 day ordeal of being tailed by a Death Eater, this is why I do NOT think that Remus went to the Burrow or Shell Cottage before he came to GP, or after, for that matter. While we know that Remus knows about Shell Cottage - when he announces Teddy's birth in the spring - we don't know when that information was given to him. I don't think Lupin could've been gone for months and months because we do know that Ron was at Shell Cottage, and he didn't mention Lupin being there. It's possible Lupin went to Shell Cottage for a few weeks, but I'm also not buying that for other reasons.

Bill is the most lenient and understanding of the brothers, but there's a huge difference to me between Ron leaving his friends when times got tough and Lupin leaving his pregnant wife in the middle of a war. Plus, think of Fleur. Do you really think Fleur would be okay with Lupin crashing at her house to avoid his responsibilities? She gushes about how brave her husband is in the hospital wing scene. She'd look at Lupin like the tiniest and most miserable snail in the world if he dared use her home as a hiding place from his wife.

I also don't think that Bill and Fleur would be on Remus's side over Tonks. Bill was two years ahead of Tonks in school. Bill might have kinship with Remus after being attacked by Fenrir Greenback, but that kinship, IMO, is not going to be enough to defend Lupin's actions on leaving his wife. I also believe Lupin knew this, which is why I staunchly believe that Lupin NEVER went to Shell Cottage in his time away from Tonks.

So at the end of the day, who knew that Lupin left Tonks? Initially, likely only the trio and the Tonkses. Remus returns fairly quickly. I can imagine Ron sharing Lupin's arrival at GP to Bill and Fleur, who probably had shock and disappointment at Lupin's actions. But by then Lupin's back home so it's in the past. I assume Molly and Arthur would've been told through the grapevine, possibly Kingsley too, and everyone just keeps it under wraps because it's Remus having a moment of panic.

And for how long was Remus gone? I take the 3 day to a week position because Lupin had no viable places to stay without endangering other people, which seems to be his number one fear. I also take that timeline because he's being tailed and he knows it. He returns to the safest place, his home with Tonks and her parents, where they can be in hiding (forever furious Ted couldn't have stayed with them?? why did he die??? it makes no earthly sense except to give Teddy Lupin his name and have another orphan raised by his grandmother??)

At the end of the day, I will never ever ever ever buy the idea that Remus was gone for a long time. He does the right thing when push comes to shove, and he was shoved by Harry. He is a coward, but when the time is right, he does the brave thing. He also loves Tonks, and Tonks is forgiving and kind. That's why they work.

I hope this answers your questions!!

[srbachchan]

DAY 5584

Jalsa, Mumbai                June 1/2,  2023               Thu/Fri  1:05 AM

Birthday - EF - Barun ..  Manish Singh Rajpoot AB Ef .. June 1,  2023 ..  and all our wishes on this special day 

Thursday, 1 June🪔 .. once again we regret missing your birthday on May 31 , Ef Amit Agrawal from Seattle USA 😔 .. apologies .. and the wishes are ever sincere and filled with love ..

🪔 .. birthday joys to Ef Arko Majumdar from the city of joy - Kolkata .. remain in well being and prosperity ..

Penchant for greater detail .. penchant for the information and meanings of the many that we never dared to seek .. or we did the absence of the place to go or discover through such designs that knew .. and now with the benefits of availability the power of the knowing has become passé ..

That disturbed condition that prevailed us all in the lack of it and the innocence to ask for fear of being ridiculed .. is now over .. in conversation that element of informed knowledge and the inquisitive requisite has faded beyond all horizons .. 

Bring up any topic today and the rest of the personnel in discussion already know .. nothing is unknown .. where and what the conversation rests today is the private lives of the human .. what he wears , where he goes , and many other .. 

The medium of information now harbours reaction, your input on a controversy , and opinion that has become prevalent  ..

The Informative communicative machinery .. informs who sneezed when and where .. which destination the eating took place .. and the response to a query that has been put up by them .. they not definitive , in case it creates controversy and thereby loose their credibility and dignity .. but put it out with that mosts remarkable insignia the QUESTION MARK .. ???? 

Out with the communication in the form of information, but to justify legality,  put out the question mark on it .. a protection for them , and the believability of the head line for the subject ..

I am ok .. it does not matter or concern us if it is not ok with you .. and your correction or denial gives them further content to fill up the multitude of informative content that can be run for hours and days .. 

EG., 

so and so FINISHED .. ! screams head line .. point made to be read seen and believed .. but followed soon after with the question mark ? .. gives the institution its protection ..  

I am ok .. may not be ok for you .. because my accusation was a question not a statement of fact  .. 🤣

Provoke not the silence of the defeat .. for within that silence shall build the sound of victory  ..

Amitabh Bachchan

[giyrut-girlie]

(queer) jews in my phone i need help/love

this is a long ass post im so sorry lmfao, im putting it in under the cut to save you all but also if people have head space pls read <3

on friday night, i found myself the last of the shabbat guests (who weren't staying the night) at the Rabbi's house. i had asked my housemate to pick me up at 10:30, but everyone else left before 10.

the kids and rabbi's wife had gone to bed, so it was me, the Rabbi, and two older frum guys who stay over shabbat most weeks to be closer to shul.

for some context, earlier in the evening one of these guys had asked another dinner guest (a med student who I'm good friends with, she's a year or two younger than me) whether trans issues came up in her study. the two of us youngins made brief "help me" eye contact and she answered saying that yes, they did cover trans issues given that as a doctor she will, at some point or another, treat trans patients. the subject was changed, but the room was a bit tense.

so: 10pm, i'm sitting at the table, a little tipsy from all the wine, just hanging out until my ride comes.

the rabbi says "hey ella, i have a question for you now that everyone else (by which he means the not-so-frum people) is gone." and i Just Knew what he was about to ask.

i won't go into extreme detail about the actual conversation, but to sum it up: I was asked my opinion on trans folk, i said that i am supportive and do in fact believe trans people about their identities and was Shut All The Way Down. if i cited statistics i was told that actually they'd seen the opposite, if i tried to explain a study i was familiar with, i was told that they didn't think that was true. i actually don't know how i stayed calm, bc my mind and body were telling me that i was Unsafe basically the entire time (thanks anxiety disorder really did me a solid there /s).

eventually 10:30 rolled around and i had a get out of jail free to skip the rest of that fuck awful conversation, and my housemate was very nice to listen to my debriefing. while talking to her i came to the realisation that one of the main factors in the disagreement was that the rabbi didn't actually value the wisdom of any cultures/teachings/histories outside of judaism. if I talked about sistergirls of the torres strait, or māhū of hawai'i, that was dismissed essentially as goyische nonsense.

this whole conversation has been a Fucking Downer for my mental health. i actually broke shabbat (beyond my usual one melacha to be in the clear and sneaky housemate taxi service) that night bc my thoughts were racing too much to sleep without putting on some comfort media.

but beyond the mental health stuff (though probably actually very related) i've found myself really struggling with judaism since friday night. having my rabbi, who has been helping me through conversion, and who i have really valued as a teacher, and the only two other frum people in the community be so overtly transphobic all at once has really taken me for a spin. like, my rabbi is a lubavitcher, i knew that he was going to be fairly conservative about some stuff, but he literally told me that he only uses the correct pronouns for one of our community members as a "personal favour", and essentially told me that she was good evidence against trans acceptance bc nothing she could ever do would ever make her not a man (and you better believe this involved a lot of comments about her appearance)

to put the icing on the cake, when i dropped off his kids today (i nanny for them once a week), he handed me a book that upon research is basically the jk rowling talking point bible. he said to me that it was a really good book for me to read and that it might help fight some of the "mob mentality" (interesting term for scientific consensus but okay)

(also i had actually looked up my own citations from the discussion later and found myself to be very much correct in my recitation of statistics, but you better believe i wasn't petty enough to forward them on)

ANYWAY if anyone is still reading i'm fucking bummed and super anxious about interacting with my community, my conversion, finding the balance between really truly wanting to pursue an orthodox lifestyle and also being queer myself etc etc

i live in a really small jewish community and can't really leave until i finish my degree in 2026, so i can't exactly just find a more accepting rabbi or shul.

anyone have any advice, or just some solidarity for feeling shitty in this space? love u jews in my phone xx

[reverie-obsessingtime]

Ruan Mei: a character study and attempt at understanding her.

Who is Ruan Mei? Why is she the way she is? Why does she do everything she does?

Ruan Mei is a very interesting and complex character who often gets misinterpreted by the fandom and goes under the radar as a "sociopath evil scientist" or "that one that wants to become an Aeon" or who knows what ales. Despite her popularity when it comes to the meta, you don't see people talk about her as often as other characters. That is a shame in my opinion for I think exploring characters who go outside the conventional of a good person so much that people call them "sociopaths" and "crazy" because of the way they do and understand things can be interesting.

So I'm gonna try to challenge myself by trying to understand her.

Note that this dissection of her might not be perfect as I'm coming to and trying to understand her deeper as I write this and I'm always open to being corrected and to further discussions (I'm human and I can be wrong).

Getting all of that aside, let's start getting into her:

Who is Ruan Mei?

Ruan Mei is member #81 of the Genius Society, a genius who specializes in biology/life science and a member in Herta's Simulated Universe project. Her casual research shakes the schools of biology but why does she research? What does her research mean to her? What does she SEEK from it?

To answer such questions, we must go to her roots:

Lil A-Ruan

Despite her not understanding love, she actually grew up in a loving household! Her exposure to science was from her mother, who by the game calling her a scientist in quotes, it is to argue that she might have been more of a passionate person who seeked to acquire knowledge and test knowledge of her interest rather than an actual scientist who contributed to her field. But I digress.

Ruan Mei's mother would take her scientific expeditions and thus showing her daughter the wonders of life, biological life to be specific.

When she took lil Ruan Mei to No Man's Lend, the wonder that she experienced as she saw whatever was in that ice that came undone matched nothing ales. The emotional high and fascination was such a big and exciting emotion for Ruan Mei, that it cultivated her interest in biology science to this day. The discovery of something new that goes beyond her calculations, breaks away the ordinary and norm.

Since her early days of life, the feeling that came with the discovery of something new was presented to her and that's what she sought to chase to this day.

But it wasn't this moment alone that shaped Ruan Mei into being so obsessive to break and bend the rules of biology and create for her own fascination.

Ruan Mei's understanding of love

Since she was a child, her understanding of love was different from the ones in textbooks. Despite growing up in a loving household, where she would get forgiven all the time despite making mistakes, receiving snacks from her aunt and being brought with her mom on expeditions and let in her lab, she doesn't understand love.

But why? This is where I struggle to understand, but I think it just might be how Ruan Mei is.

She grew up with the influence of her mother, a research and thus, along with just who she is at her core, learned to be stubborn and to question. To draw her on conclusions and understanding of things and not take everything in the textbooks at face value and as absolute facts. And so, at a young age, her understanding of love broke away from the one in textbooks.

Specifically the "formulae" in textbooks. Formulae is an interesting word to use, not definition, formulae. Formulae and Formula mean the same thing: it can either be a mathematical relationship or rule expressed in symbols or a list of ingredients with which something is made.

The fact that little Ruan Mei thinks the definitions of love in textbooks are formulas says a lot. Ruan Mei in general sees the behavior of organisms in their logical ways and struggles to understand the more emotional and non-rigid explanations of them.

and her grief: the death of her parents and the broken promise

Because of her struggle to understand love and her exposure to the biology of life, the death of her parents took a huge toll on her.

She didn't cry, for she understood that life and death are inseparable but that doesn't mean it didn't hurt. After her funeral, as night fell, we are told she made clones of her parents. (which is insane to me, why are we not talking about this? Ruan Mei WTF!?)

If this happens after the funeral as the text suggests it means she has researched a way to clone her parents in advance for quite some time and years.

And her grandma made a deal with her parents, that this death failed to keep it. (her grandma is also hinted to be alive but absent for some time, maybe even before their deaths even?) A promise Ruan Mei was hoping for them to fulfill. But what was that promise?

We don't know.

But it might have to do something with their mortality. Ruan Mei comes from a planet blessed by the Abundance and that must have affected the way her grandma and mother saw biological life as well as her mothers interested in it that rubbed on Ruan Mei.

Maybe they wanted to find a way to be immortal? Who knows, I'm theories rn so don't take that as gospel please.

But whatever this promise was, her parents death and the inability to fulfill it upset and broke Ruan Mei deeply. That and her inability to protect them, whatever this protecting meant.

"Only science... never lets anyone down"

Her parents mortality and their death was a let-down to her, something like a betrayal. Their death HURT her so much emotionally that she shut down as a result.

Ruan Mei, as much as she seems cold and struggles to understand the department of emotions, feels VERY deeply.

She probably didn't grow up with many friends as it's not mentioned and her family boarded on a research aircraft and explored many worlds which probably didn't give her many chances to socialize with anyone her age. Her family and their love was the only one she had and understood (in her one way and definition) and the only people she had.

Her only having her family must have made her REALLY close and attached to them because without them, who does she have? No one. And they left her, they left her with this pain and loneliness and the realization that:

Life is fleeting, and getting attached to people will only bring the pain of having to face their mortality in the long run. Losing them and having to deal with the painful emotions that it brings. For such is the nature of life.

" "Attachment".... involves the insular cortex, which controls anxiety and pain"

She doesn't want to get attached again so she won't experience that same pain. That's the logical thing to do right? Because the definition of it says this so she must do opposite and logically she won't experience it and be fine...right?

Besides her family she probably never had anyone around, so she is fine with being alone as she doesn't know how it is to not be alone outside her family. Loneliness is the norm for her.

Ruan Mei's research: her addiction to wonder

Ruan Mei's reacher, her discoveries, bring her that excitement and wonder that she felt as A-Ruan for that first time. Besides her family, these discoveries are the only thing that make her happy. But she doesn't have much to discover at this point. She managed to do and find so much that she can only occupy her time with "ik what if" projects like recreating a Propagation Emanator clone.

But Aeons? Oh they are her biggest wonder of them all, the most interesting beings out there to her. So much that maybe by understanding them and what makes them what they are, she might even be able to become one.

And imagine how much she could discover with the power of an Aeon. All the answers hidden to her by the limitations of her mortal understanding of things. Things only Aeons could understand. Maybe she will finally find the answer to when "life" those truly end and maybe what "love" is.

Ruan Mei and her understanding of life

Remember her parents? Yeah she probably brought them back based on the start of her Myriad Celestial Trailer.

Which brings everything to a new perspective as:

1. how much are those clones actually her parents? for Ruan Mei and just speaking logically

2. does Ruan Mei REALLY see them as her parents? Maybe. From the way she wonders "when does "life" truly end?" she might see them as her parents. They got the form and probably(?) maybe(?) at least most important(?) memories so you could say they ARE her parents.

And if life can be recreated and brought back like that, when does it truly end?

Her parents being brought back but the wound of not fulfilling their promise to her grandma. Why do they exist at the same time? Was the promise for them to not d!e? Life is in quotes when she wonders "when does "life" end?" so she might not fully see them as her parents. But another form of life, "life".

"Life" is technically still life so when does it truly end?

---------------------------------------------

Now that we understand her alone, let's try to understand her interactions with others outside her family based on what we know

Her creations

Something that the fandom often criticizes her for is her relationship with her creations as she abandons them if they don't meet the results she wants or have any academic value.

Which is not something I'm gonna excuse because poor little catcakes :( but with what we know of her it makes sense.

She thinks their love is something inherently biological. She made them so they are gonna want to seek her comfort as she is their creator and mother but she doesn't see the more deepness of those emotions.

To understand Ruan Mei's way of seeing it:

Your mother for example. You love her right?(I'm sorry ppl with mommy issues) Because she is your creator so it's only logical to seek her love, attention and approvel right?

That's where Ruan Mei's understanding of love stops.

But no one loves their mother just because she created you and is natural as her child to seek her love. You love her much more deeply than that. And it's complicated to explain why and who right? But you do.

And that's what Ruan Mei can't understand from her creations, how deep their love goes, how it goes beyond its logical biological explanation.

Her creations should be fine. With time they are gonna grow and stop wanting love from her and be independent, as that is the nature of living things. Right?

Her relationship with other people

Another thing people are upset about in the MC's stead is her dr*gging them with the anti truth serum.

Which is bad and a very drastic measure instead of just telling us "can you not talk about me to others please?" but it also shows how much she distrust others

I'm not justifying, I'm explaining:

Based on all we discussed, the betrayal she experienced with others and her lack of relationships in life outside her family makes her handle human relationship in a uhm...very original way.

She made us forget about her because she thinks it would only bring more trouble than good if the MC remembers her and starting on a new slate and forgetting it again and again is the most efficient way and one that brings the least emotional turmoil when it comes to their relationship in the long run (attachment).

She only dr*geed us because she believed that's the best way for this relationship to be. (now the fact that she makes this decision for the both of us and doesn't tell or late us have a say in it is a whole other thing)

But she can also be kind and considerate.

Asta's voice line about her:

"I asked Miss Ruan Mei where I could buy a charm like the one on her sleeve — but I was surprised to learn she'd hand-embroidered it. I was equally surprised when she gave me my own hand-embroidered charm the next time she came to the space station. Her craftsmanship, like her research papers, is superb."

She took note of her wanting a charm like hers, and proceeded to bring one the next time she came to the space station even though she didn't promise Asta. She did it because she wanted to not out of a need to fulfill a promise made of courtesy at the moment, she didn't even promise. She remembered and did it and gave it to her.

As for her relationship with Herta is Screwllum? She doesn't want to be more than colleges. And she doesn't like having to socialize with them. Though she recognizes Herta for being similar to her on a deeper level, she doesn't want to connect with her.

Ruan Mei is too confused on her research and has too little trust and faith in others to want to form relationships of any kind.

--------------------------------------------------------------

To finally wrap this up:

Ruan Mei everyone ✨ *falls on the floor*

The silliest pookie ever who is definitely a green flag(trust) and will definitely come home (trust trust)

I hope this post can be of help in understanding her at least a little better and maybe even potentially sparking some discussion and theorizing about her (cause we can never have enough of that when it comes to fictional characters)

Again, this is my understanding of her and maybe I'm wrong on some stuff in here(...or maybe everything here is wrong 😭) so please correct me if so and don't please don't be mean (I genuinely tried, I'm only human)

[iamvegorott]

Jackie's Bachelor Party

Welcome to a spin-off of Meeting a Magical Man, which, as the name implies, is Jackie's bachelor party! Get ready for sass, chaos, go-karts, and a cowboy bar

Meeting A Magical Man; Ao3: Link Tumblr: Link

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Jackie's Bachelor Party

“Chase, Edward, Mare, and Dark are our DDs. Designated drivers. They’re not drinking so they can drive.” Marvin explained what it meant before Mad could even ask.  

“But we didn’t drive here,” Mad said. 

“They’re staying sober so we won’t die.” Marvin changed his explanation. 

“Oh.” 

“We won’t start drinking until we get to that cowboy bar because, like hell, I trust Anti behind the wheel of a go-kart with anything but water in him.”  

“I am a graceful drunk.” Anti protested.  

“You cried about a stuffed turtle the last time we drank together.” Marvin scoffed. 

“There was that one time you cried because Dark sent you a green heart emoji,” Chase added. 

“You kept going, ‘Guys! He loves me! Guys!’" Marvin exaggerated his tone and hugged Chase’s arm.  

“I’m a little emotional when drunk, alright?” Anti huffed, crossing his arms.  

“A little is beyond an understatement,” Dark stated as he sent a text.  

“Dark! You’re supposed to be on my side!”  

“Jackie’s still not here yet,” Mad commented with a hum.  

“He’s always late.” Marvin clicked his tongue and checked his phone before looking at Chase when his went off.  

“Hey Jackie, you on your way?” Chase asked when he answered the phone. “You can see us? Where are you?”  

“He is a fairly large man; how can we not see him?” Henrik asked with a light laugh as he and the others looked down the streets. Marvin paused and was the only one who looked up, sighing when his assumption was proven correct.  

“Darling, can I borrow your phone?” Marvin asked Chase. 

“No problem.” Chase handed Marvin the phone.  

“Thank you.” Marvin smiled at Chase before putting the phone to his ear and immediately used a much harsher tone. “Jackie Boimen, get your ass off the roof before I drag you down by your hair in a way you will not enjoy!”  

“Who enjoys getting their hair pulled?” Mad asked. 

There was a pause. 

Anti suddenly broke into a loud laugh, leaning against Dark as he laughed while Dark pinched the bridge of his nose. Edward opened his mouth to say something, but Henrik elbowed his side, shook his head, and had a warning glare. Chase held up his hands in surrender and Marvin was too busy watching Jackie climb down a fire escape to notice the question. Mare sighed as he accepted his fate and whispered something into Mad’s ear. 

“Oh.” Mad held out the word. “Oh!” He repeated himself as his face went red. 

Anti started laughing even harder and Dark had to hold his arm to keep him on his feet. 

“What are you doing jumping from roofs a week before your wedding!?” Marvin scolded when Jackie reached them.  

“It was faster.” Jackie rubbed the back of his neck. 

“Faster? Faster to your death, maybe. Honey, you are so accident-prone. We’re testing luck as it is with the go-karts.” Marvin poked at Jackie’s chest. “I have half a mind to take you back home and tell Phantom that you’re doing parkour and risking limping down the aisle.” 

“I think he’s got the point.” Chase chuckled, wrapping an arm around Marvin’s waist, and walking away with him. He looked over his shoulder and gave Jackie a thumbs-up while Jackie mouthed a thank you.  

“And this is why we have several DDs to make sure you all don’t do something too stupid.” Edward joked as he started herding everyone together and walking them toward the building they had been standing in front of.  

“He won’t die because if he does and breaks my brother’s heart, I’ll bring him back and then kill him myself,” Mare said as he held open the door for Marvin and Chase to go through first.  

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” Dark said as he and Anti walked into the building. 

“He says that like I care about his opinion.” Mare popped his lips and smiled when that got Mad to chuckle.  

“Oh, snap!” Jackie snapped his fingers with his comment, smiling with pride after. “Phan taught me that.”  

“I’m so shocked.” Mare rolled his eyes while Edward ushered Jackie and Henrik through the door. “Is it too late to go home?” He asked Mad.  

“I don’t know a lot about weddings and bachelor parties, but I’m pretty sure the brother to one of the grooms can’t run off.” Mad chuckled as he pulled Mare into the building with him.  

“Y’all must be the bachelor party.” A young man greeted everyone with a big smile, face round and making him look like he had just turned eighteen. His name tag read Keith. “We got a lil’ tournament for ya. Since we got an uneven number, we got a bye set up that our groom can either use or we can pick someone by random.”  

“Let someone else have the bye.” Jackie chuckled.  

“Okie dokie, give us just a second to finish up our bracket here and then we’ll get our first round going with our groom here.” Keith shot a quick finger gun at Jackie before walking off to a young woman who appeared to be his age. Her name tag read Annalise.  

Everyone waited as the two set up the large whiteboard with black lines, writing names on the lines to create the beginning of the bracket. 

“Me and you Hen!” Jackie commented after seeing himself and Henrik in the first two spaces.  

“At least I’ll get one round in.” Henrik chuckled as Keith led away him and Jackie to the karts while everyone else was shown to the bleachers by Annalise.  

“Keith’s filling those two in but I'll let you guys know the idea, too.” Annalise played with one of the many piercings in her ears as she spoke. “Three laps, try to stay inside the padded walls, helmets and seatbelts are required, new helmets can be given upon request and most of all, have fun!” She let her ear go and perked up with the last part, which seemed to be her favorite section of the script she presented.  

By the time she had finished, Jackie and Henrik were inside their karts, helmets on, and seatbelts buckled. Jackie had his hands on the wheel and practically bouncing in his seat while Henrik had one of his hands resting on the wheel and he waved at Edward with the other.  

“When the light goes green, y’all can hit it,” Keith said to the two as he went over to stand with Annalise, pointing to the light that hung in the air in front of where the karts waited. Annalise pulled out a little remote from her pocket. “It will change in three...two...one-” He snapped his fingers while Annalise pressed a button, changing the light to green.  

Jackie and Henrik took off with squealing tires. Jackie got an early lead and maintained it throughout most of the race. 

“Go, Jackie!” Chase cheered. 

“You got this, Hen!” Marvin counter-cheered and laughed when Chase playfully bumped him with his hip. 

The race was far from close, Jackie finishing his final lap a good five seconds before Henrik. Jackie waited until Henrik finished and gave him a big hug, shouting in support and excitement. He seemed happier about him and Henrik having fun than the fact that he won.  

“Here go, Mr. Groom.” Annalise handed Jackie a golden star sticker.  

“Awesome!” Jackie perked up and immediately slapped the sticker on his chest. “Who’s next?”  

“Mare and Dark.” Keith read from the board as he added Jackie’s name to the line beside where his and Henrik’s names were.  

“Let's get this over with.” Dark sighed as he went over to the karts.   

“Good luck,” Mad said to Mare. 

“Well, now I’m definitely going to win.” Mare winked and went to the karts as well. 

“Aren’t you two so cute?” Anti teased when he saw Mad watching Mare walking away with a soft smile.   

“It’ll be even cuter when Mare kicks Dark’s ass,” Mad said without missing a beat or looking away from Mare.  

“Marvin! Your apprentice is sassing me!” Anti called out with a laugh in his voice.  

“Did the sass make sense?” Marvin called back. 

“Yes.” 

“Good job, Mad!” Marvin’s praise had Anti acting offended with a hand on his chest while Mad’s smile grew into a proud one.   

“Three...two...one-” This time Annalise did the verbal countdown while Keith pressed the button.  

Mare and Dark took off, staying evenly paced for most of the race. Sometimes one got ahead of the other, but it didn’t last long. 

“Faster, Mare, faster!” Mad cheered. 

“Go, Mare!" Edward added to the cheer. 

“Am I the only one rooting for Dark?” Anti asked. The immediate and unified yes had Anti laughing hard enough that he nearly fell off the bleachers.  

“Mare!" Mad practically screamed with excitement when Mare passed Dark and won.  

“You do know this means you’ll have to race against Mare, right?” Anti asked and his laughing returned at Mad’s face dropping in realization, but that moment passed when Mare went up to him. 

“You won!” Mad said with the brightest smile.  

“How could I not with my good luck charm?” Mare chuckled.  

“Gag me.” Anti stuck his tongue out with his joke as he and Marvin walked by, the two already seeing their turn was next. He paused when they got to where Dark was talking with Annalise, looking at his watch and likely checking what time they’d be finished. Dark politely nodded to the young woman and turned, stopping short of running into Anti. “We should have you race more often, Darky~” Anti giggled. 

“Gag me,” Marvin said and waved with his fingers when Anti glared at him. 

“I’m going to lap your ass,” Anti stated as he moved away from his flirting and went to the karts with Marvin. 

“Good luck with that, honey.” Marvin brushed his hair back with his hand before putting his helmet on.  

“You look hot, Marv!” Chase called out from the bleachers. He let out another cheer when Marvin blew him a kiss as he got into his kart.  

“So, should we expect the next wedding to be for you two?” Jackie teased, lightly nudging Chase with his elbow. Chase choked on his breath and started coughing, face red from both the coughs and a bit of a blush.  

“My money is on it being Edward and Henrik.” Mare said.  

“How did we get involved in this?” Henrik asked.  

“Just a feeling.” Mare sang. 

“My feeling is that one twin is getting married and the other will follow suit soon.” Edward grinned when Mare stiffened and then glared at him. Mad was too busy watching the race to pay attention to the conversation.  

“Go, Marvin!” Mad clapped his hands. 

“Get him, Anti!” Dark shouted his support, making Mad flinch since he wasn’t prepared for Dark to suddenly be so loud.  

“Damn Dark, blow out a man’s eardrum.” Chase laughed, rubbing his ear to add to his joke.   

“Are you blushing?” Jackie joined in on the joke and he quickly slipped away to sit on the other side of the bleachers when Dark looked like he was going to stab him. Thankfully, Dark didn’t have time to follow through on that silent threat as the race finished and most of them were cheering Marvin’s name since he won.  

“What was that about lapping my ass?” Marvin taunted Anti with almost a purr in his voice.  

“Oh, shut up.” Anti scoffed with a hint of a smile. Turning to Chase and Edward as they went to the karts. “You better win Chase so then you can beat Marvin.”  

“We’ll have to wait and see.” Chase chuckled. 

“Have some faith in me,” Edward said as Anti handed him his helmet. Anti just stuck his tongue out and went away to sit next to Dark. 

“Good luck~” Marvin kissed Chase’s cheek, put the helmet on him, and went to the bleachers as well. Chase couldn’t stop his giggle as he watched Marvin leave, he still got a flutter in his heart with those kisses, and he knew that warmth in his chest would never stop when it came to Marvin.  

“Have you ever driven one of these things?” Edward asked as he got into the kart.  

“A few times.” Chase shrugged and got into his kart.  

“You got this Edward!” Henrik followed his cheer with a shout.  

“Think I’ll still get a kiss even after I lose?” Edward laughed.  

“It’s Hen, he’ll kiss you no matter what.” Chase reached over and playfully punched his arm.  

“Y’all ready?” Keith asked.  

“All set.” Chase perked up, hands on the steering wheel and Edward followed suit.  

“Three...two...one-” Keith did the countdown and Annalise pressed the button.  

The race went fairly smoothly aside from Chase beating Edward by almost a full lap. Most of the others weren’t too shocked by this but everyone was shocked when the next race between Mad and Mare had the same outcome and Mad won.  

“I studied the layout of the track while everyone else was racing.” Mad explained to Anti from the kart he still sat in after he had rushed down and asked, ‘How the fuck did you do that’. “Calculating the angles of the turns and getting a loose estimation on how fast the karts can go and-” 

“Okay, we get it, you’re smart, damn.” Anti clicked his tongue. “We need to get you drunk the moment we’re at the bar to make me feel better about myself.”  

“I'm sorry?” Mad wasn’t sure if he had done something wrong but it was better to be safe. He hummed and tilted his head up when he felt something on his helmet, smiling when he saw Mare.  

“You did really good.” Mare said.  

“Nope. Not watching you two get all kissy-kissy. Bleh.” Anti exaggerated his tone as he walked away.  

“Coming from the man that made out with his boyfriend in Marvin’s living room,” Mare called after him. 

“Like you haven’t!” Anti called back. 

“I did when I lived there.” Mare countered.  

“Raise your hand if you haven’t made out in my living room.” Marvin joked, looking at Henrik and his eyebrows going up when Henrik’s hand didn’t. “Hen!”  

“It was one time!” Henrik protested. 

“Twice.” Edward corrected.  

“Okay, now I need all the details~” Marvin teased Henrik.  

“We’re ready for the next round,” Annalise announced and Henrik let out a sigh of relief when the attention went back to the races. 

“They changed the track,” Mad said.  

“Their site said they switch it up between rounds so it doesn’t get boring,” Jackie explained as he checked his seatbelt. 

“Shit.”  

And shit it was. Jackie ended up lapping Mad since he kept driving into the padded walls and by the time Mad was finally finished, he felt dizzy. Mad fumbled out of his kart and wasn’t shocked at Marvin and Mare being right in front of him.  

“Are you okay?” Marvin asked as he took off Mad’s helmet.  

“Did you hurt anything?” Mare asked, checking over Mad’s body.  

“I’m fine. I just wasn’t ready for the sudden change.” Mad laughed. “It was like bumper cars but more intense.”  

“Is he okay?” Jackie asked as he jogged over.  

“Would you all stop acting like I’m made of glass?” Mad rolled his eyes. 

“Oh, we just care about you, Maddy.” Jackie laughed, wrapping an arm around Mad’s neck and rubbing his knuckles against the top of his head.  

“Go back to the glass treatment.” Mad protested as he tried to squirm away from Jackie.  

“You’re lucky he has control over his fire,” Marvin said as Chase joined them for the next race. “Well, for the most part.” He added the last part as a joke and he knew that would get Jackie to let Mad go. And Jackie did, even bouncing back a little as an extra precaution.

“I swear Marvin acts more like your mom than your mentor.” Anti teased as Mad, Mare, and Jackie joined him and the others on the bleachers.  

“I’d be okay if Marvin was my parent,” Mad said.  

“At least he doesn’t have to worry about the ‘birds and the bees’ talk.” Anti nudged Mad’s arm with his hand. 

“He did. My parents didn’t want me to know what sex was, they didn’t even want me to know about kissing.” Mad stated. Anti started laughing like Mad made a joke and it slowly died off when he noticed Mad just blinked at him. 

“You’re kidding, right?” Anti asked. Mad only shook his head and looked out to the karts. “He’s-He’s kidding, he’s just pulling my leg, right?” Anti asked Mare, getting another head shake. “The fuck?”  

“Different day,” Dark whispered to Anti, that being his polite way of saying drop it. 

“If I win, you’re doing dishes for a week,” Marvin said as he got himself ready in the cart.  

“And if I win, you’re doing them without magic.” Chase winked.  

“I see how it is.” Marvin giggled. “We’re ready~” He sang to Annalise and Keith.  

“Three, two, one.” Annalise did the countdown a little faster this time and Keith pressed the button.  

“I don’t know who to cheer for,” Mad said.  

“Me neither.” Henrik agreed. 

“Fuck him up, Marvin!” Anti shouted.  

The race between Marvin and Chase went fast and smooth until the very end when Chase’s back wheel bumped into Marvin’s kart and got him to spin. Chase didn’t realize what had happened, thinking he had scraped a wall, until after he passed the finish line and looked over his shoulder to see Marvin correcting his kart.  

“Sorry!” Chase called as Marvin crossed the finish line a few moments later.  

“I can’t believe you hit me.” Marvin played up his fake pout as he took his helmet off.  

“I didn’t mean to,” Chase said.  

“You owe me now.” Marvin got out of the kart and went over to Chase.  

“I’ll make it up to you tomorrow,” Chase promised, smiling when Marvin gave him a quick kiss.  

“I’ll hold you to it.”  

“Should we go ahead and book a party for your guys’ bachelor party?” Annalise asked with a teasing grin.  

“Anna,” Keith spoke through his teeth in a warning.  

“Time for the finale!” Jackie’s cheer saved Marvin and Chase from having to react to Annalise’s comment. “The groom versus the best man!”  

“Good luck.” Marvin winked and slipped away to the bleachers.  

“Here comes the bride~” Anti sang as Marvin sat down next to him.  

“I will throw you out of the building.” Marvin threatened.  

“And ruin Jackie’s party?” Anti puffed his lower lip out.  

“He won’t notice.”  

“Rude.” 

“Three! Two! One! Go!” Annalise and Keith’s shouts echoed and the higher-pitched revving of the karts followed as Jackie and Chase took off.  

Their race was a much more exciting one than the others. The two were laughing while bumping into each other, letting one get the lead, but it wasn’t long before the other was on their tail, hitting them and taking over.  

“Woo!” Jackie shouted, throwing his arms in the air as he barely beat Chase.  

“We’ll have to do a rematch at some point.” Chase laughed.  

“You're so on!" Jackie said as he held up the trophy Keith handed him. 

“Thank God, we’re finally done.” Anti groaned. “I need a drink.”   

“Don’t forget we’re going to a cowboy bar.” Marvin reminded. 

“Damn it.” 

x~x~x 

“That's the good shit,” Anti said after putting down the empty shot glass. He had no idea how many of those he had drank but it was enough that he didn’t care anymore about anything, and he wasn’t the only one in that state of mind. 

“Ta-da~!” Mad sang, holding his arms out to show the little crowd around him the coin floating in the glass of water. 

“Dude!” Jackie said in awe while the group of equally intoxicated men shouted their approval of the trick as well.  

“That’s magic!” One of the men said. 

“Not magic, science. Now pay up.” Mad held his hands out with a giggle, swaying a bit as he was handed some cash from a handful of the bargoers who had participated in the bet.  

“A drunk Mad hustling cowboys with science was not on my bingo card.” Chase chuckled.  

“It was on mine,” Edward said.  

“I think that’s enough science bets for the night,” Mare said as Mad joined them back at the bar counter.  

“Okay.” Mad sat down on a bar stool. “Jackie went to get his free hat.” He added as he started counting his ‘earnings’. “Can I have another shot?” Mad handed one of the bills to the bartender.  

“Water.” Mare corrected. “Keep the cash, added tip for them.” He gestured to the ones in the group that were drinking.  

“Let him have a shot!” Anti called out. “I want one too!”  

“You can have a shot of water.” Dark agreed with Mare to cut them off.  

“Boo!” Anti pouted.  

“Me and Hen can get-” 

“Some water as well.” Chase finished Marvin’s sentence and chuckled when Marvin whined at him. Henrik's protest came out in German and Edward pushed away the last few sips of Henrik’s drink.  

“When you forget English, it’s time to call it a night," Edward said when Henrik protested at him more in German.  

“I think Jackie is lost.” Chase laughed at seeing Jackie going in a bit of a circle at the other end of the bar. “I got him.” He added and walked off.   

“Oh, my God,” Anti said as he and Marvin watched Chase go.  

“What?” Marvin asked. 

“Chase has a slutty waist.” Anti pointed and Marvin tilted his head.  

“Yeah, he does~” Marvin giggled. “It’s a nice slutty waist.” 

“Mine’s better.” Anti giggled with him.  

“Do I even want to know?” Dark sighed, wishing that he had something stronger to drink than his Dr. Pepper.  

“Probably not,” Mare said with a shrug as he started handing out the water bottles they were given.  

“A slutty waist?” Mad asked. “Do I have one of those?” Marvin and Anti looked at Mad, looked at each other, nodded, and then went back to looking at Mad. 

“Yes.” They answered together. Mad, still not fully sure what the two were talking about, had a sudden panic in his face and shouted. 

“Mare! I’m a slut!” Mad was still confused as Marvin and Anti laughed, Dark nearly choked on his drink, Henrik tried to comfort Mad, but was still stuck on German, Edward covered his mouth with his hand and Mare looked like he was ready to smack the ones laughing.  

“Let’s not yell that in the middle of public.” Mare went to Mad and opened the bottle of water for him. “And you’re not a slut.”  

“But they said-” Mad was cut off by the water bottle getting put into his mouth.  

“I’ll explain what it means when you’re sober. But you two.” Mare turned to Anti and Marvin, who were still laughing. “I know that you’re drunk, but could you refrain from-” 

“Maddy!” Jackie yelled as he hugged Mad, his newly gained cowboy hat sitting cooked on his head. “Maddy, we’re going to be brothers!”  

“They gave him some birthday shots with his hat,” Chase explained. “He’s gone from drunk to trashed.” 

“Sounds like we should head home soon. Phantom can handle-” 

“Mare!” Jackie continued the trend of preventing people from finishing their sentences as he practically threw himself on Mare, giving him a bear hug. “Mare! We’re going to be brothers! I went from no siblings to two! That’s so awesome!” 

“Brother-in-laws.” Mare corrected, rolling his eyes but still having a hint of a smile.  

“My family is growing!” Jackie sounded like he was on the verge of happy tears.  

“Jackie, honey, you’re going to snap him like a twig.” Marvin giggled.  

“I am not that frail.” Mare said. Although, he had to admit to himself that Jackie’s grip was strong. “You can get off me now.” 

“We have to do brotherly things! Like, wrestle and, like, gossip, and argue about silly things and-and-” Jackie turned to get more ideas from Mad but saw an empty chair. “And Mad’s missing.”  

“What are you-shit.” Mare turned as well and managed to finally get free from Jackie’s hold.  “Did anyone see where Mad went?”  

“You need to get a bell for that nerd,” Anti commented. 

“He probably went to the bathroom,” Chase suggested. “Knowing how we are, he told us and wasn’t heard 'cause we’re all loud.”  

“I still vote on getting him a bell,” Anti repeated himself as Mare left to look for Mad.  

“I think I see Mad.” Marvin slid out of his seat  

“Marv, wait.” Chase caught Marvin’s hand and walked with him.  

“Stay here, I’ll go tell Mare where Mad is,” Dark said to Anti, having seen what Marvin had. “Drink more of this.” He moved the water closer to him before walking off.  

“We gotta go help Mad!” Jackie gasped and then ran to where Marvin and Chase went.  

“Jackie!” Edward was going to fight the others for leaving him alone with three drunk men. “Anti!” He missed trying to catch Anti as he went after Jackie. “Damn it.”  

“We can help.” Henrik took Edward’s hand and tugged. 

“At least you’re sobering up enough to be speaking English again.” Edward sighed as he let himself be guided away. He really did need to work on his German lessons. 

“I’m guessing Mad’s where our group is headed?” Mare pointed as he walked with Dark.  

“They need to work on listening.” Dark groaned. 

“Where’s the fun in that?” Mare chuckled, squeezing his way through the crowd and perking up when he saw Mad. He saw that one of the patrons was trying to get Mad’s attention and grabbed his arm. 

“Don’t touch me!” Mad snapped and, doing something no one would expect, punched the man square in the jaw.  

“Mad!” Mare had a lot of conflicting thoughts but the ones that took over were ‘run’ and ‘protect’ as he booked it to where Mad was and pulled him away from the beyond pissed man.  

“The fuck was that!?” The man held his face as he yelled.  

“He weighs ten pounds soaking wet, like it hurt that much, ya fuck!” Anti said in a slurred, yet mocking voice.  

“You little-” 

“Don’t mess with my brothers!” Jackie let out a heroic cry before tackling the man, sending both of them flying to the ground.  

“Get his ass, Jackie!” Marvin’s cheer was drowned out by the ensuing chaos, the other patrons getting bumped into and causing an all-out brawl.  

“This is like one of those movies Chase showed me!” Mad said, being way too excited about it. “Wait! We're supposed to fight!” He protested at Mare throwing him over his shoulder.  

“We are not fighting,” Mare said as he kicked away someone who got too close for comfort. 

“Don’t.” Dark, following Mare’s actions, caught Anti and put him up on a shoulder as well.  

“Let me kick some ass!” Anti squirmed, giving up after a few moments. All the alcohol in his system made him tire himself out quickly. He now just hung limply and muttered in disapproval.  

“Nope, nope, nope.” Henrik grabbed the back of Marvin’s shirt and pulled him away as Edward pushed through the crowd, still holding Henrik’s hand. Mare and Dark made their way through with them 

That meant Chase was left to deal with Jackie.  

“Jackie, yo, Jackie!” Chase shouted over the chaos. Jackie was shoving people away and laughing as no one was able to hit him as he spun about. “Alright, time for the secret move.” Chase rolled his sleeves before running and jumping up on Jackie’s back. “It’s time to leave, dude!” He raised his voice to be heard.  

“Oh! Okay! Hold on!” Jackie warned and then started running, barging through the crowd like a snowplow until he was outside where the others were waiting.  

“Holy shit!” Chase cursed and clung to Jackie for dear life.

“I’m ready to go home,” Mad said from where he sat in the grass.  

“Starting a bar fight is one hell of a way to end a bachelor party.” Anti laughed, leaning heavily against Dark.  

“Thankfully, Henrik is too drunk to scold,” Chase said as he got off Jackie. “You okay, Marv?” He asked when he noticed Marvin suddenly going quiet.  

“Darling, hold my hair,” Marvin said.  

“Hold your-oh, fuck.” Chase scrambled and pulled Marvin’s hair back when he started getting sick.  

“Party foul!” Anti cackled and then his face went green before turning away and throwing up as well.  

“Now, I’m really ready to go home.” Mad covered his ears with the palms of his hands.     

“I told you not to eat those onion rings,” Dark said, rubbing Anti’s back as he stayed hunched over.  

“They tasted good.” Anti groaned. “I regret nothing.”  

“I know you don’t." Dark chuckled.  

“I think Henrik and Jackie fell asleep.” Mad’s voice was louder than usual as he tried to hear himself through his hands, gesturing with his head to the two men on the grass. Henrik was resting on his stomach, glasses askew. Jackie was sprawled out and softly snoring.  

“Phantom’s ready for his drunk fiancé,” Mare said as he shook his phone to show that he had texted his brother.  

“I’m done.” Marvin turned and flopped himself toward Chase. “Ready to go home.” His voice was muffled by Chase’s chest.  

“I think we all are.” Edward chuckled, rubbing Henrik’s back. 

“Phan said he’s got everything set in the living room for you to show up,” Mare said to Dark. “You guys still good with the rest of us crashing at your place.” He added to Chase.  

“Still good.” Chase held up a thumb.  

“Good night, everyone. Here’s hoping the next party doesn’t end as violently.” Dark said. 

“No promises.” Mare laughed, seeing Dark sigh before himself, Anti, and Jackie were gone with the snap of his fingers. In the next moment, Mare snapped his fingers as well and sent the others to the living room of Marvin and Chase’s home.  

“Up we go,” Edward grunted as he scooped Henrik up in his arms. Henrik was back to German as he mumbled something in that language while Edward carried him away. Finally, it was something Edward understood completely. “I love you, too.”  

“The bed will be a lot more comfortable than the floor,” Mare said as he hoisted Mad to his feet.  

“Yeah.” Mad agreed, hugging Mare’s arm and resting his head against it as they started walking. “Night.” He half-waved toward Chase and Marvin. 

“Night.” Chase waved back before turning all his attention to Marvin. “Want me to carry you?”  

“Can you carry me like royalty?” Marvin asked, giving Chase a soft smile as he was leaning over a bit, butt sticking out, and keeping his chin on Chase’s chest.  

“Yes, I can.” Chase chuckled and moved to lift Marvin into his arms bridal style.  

“I’m the fanciest prince.” Marvin giggled, wrapping his arms around Chase’s neck.  

“And the handsomest.” Chase used his hip to open the bedroom door. 

“Nah, that title belongs to you.” Marvin hummed as he was laid out on the bed. “I’m the fancy prince and you’re the handsome prince.”  

“I can work with that.” Chase closed the door, kicked off his shoes and jeans, and hung his hat up.  

“And Mad’s the smart prince and Mare’s the musical prince and Henrik’s the doctor prince and-” 

“Is everyone princes now?” Chase asked while he got Marvin out of his shoes and pants. 

“Yeah!” Marvin said like it was obvious.  

“We must live in one massive kingdom.” Chase tossed the clothing and shoes into piles for morning him to deal with before turning off the lights.  

“We do. The biggest one.” Marvin said, watching in the very dim lighting of the moon Chase crawling across the bed and lying down beside him. He rolled over and flopped himself on top of Chase, hair covering most of his face. “Love you.”  

“I love you, too.” Chase fixed Marvin’s hair so he could see him. “You look like you really need some sleep.” 

“Not tired.” Marvin weakly protested, eyes already closing. 

“Sure, you’re not.” Chase chuckled, lifting his head to kiss Marvin’s forehead. “Goodnight.” 

“Night.” Marvin’s word barely came out, showing he had fallen asleep in mere seconds.  

“Night,” Chase repeated and kissed Marvin’s forehead again with a smile, closing his eyes and relaxing. He’d need to wiggle free later to get his sleeping potion, but for right now he was more than happy to enjoy holding Marvin as he rested.  

Chase had a good feeling that Phantom’s bachelor party would be just as chaotic.  

[blusical]

Problematic Players and You

(PT: Problematic Players and You)

Trigger Warning: This post discusses several triggering or otherwise sensitive topics, including, but not limited to, abuse sexual assault, bigotry, and violence. Reader discretion is advised. Additional Disclaimer: This is not a post defending the actions of athletes mentioned *nor* is it an attack on said athletes (or their fans!). This is about dealing with serious events involving players as a whole.

Have you ever woke up one day and found out that your favorite race car driver said some not-so savory things? Have you ever checked the news one day and found out a hockey player you love was accused of rape? Are you a new sports fan who did research on an athlete you like only to find out they're a straight up creep? And have you ever asked yourself: “Where the hell do I go from here?” when it comes to merch you’ve already bought or the amount of gifsets you’ve made for them? Well, you’ve come to the right post! Because let’s face it, we’ve (probably) all been there, done that and got the t-shirt (Err, jersey). 

First off, what defines a problematic player?

Well... there's not really a set definition. Everyone has a different idea of what's 'problematic' and what isn't. However, there are some deeds that athletes do that are... kind of ick, so any of the following could make them be considered very problematic:

-Bigotry (ex. Racism, homophobia). -Cheating (as in cheating on your spouses. Not cheating as in using PEDs even though that too is also kinda trashy). -Abuse, sexual assault, etc. -Questionable/not so great political opinions.

And then there’s athletes who’ve been involved in so many off-ice controversies and allegations that it’s reached a point where regardless of how many are true or not, and no matter how much new information is revealed, they won’t be well liked by fans (Patrick Kane, anyone?). Okay, but why do athletes do this crap in the first place?

Well... there's a couple theories on why some do these things.

Sometimes mental and environmental factors can influence an athlete’s decision making. Say, if an athlete was abused by a coach when they were young, that might factor into any actions, good or bad, a player makes in the future. In cases of bigoted opinions, athletes are raised to have such opinions.

Age can also play a factor into a player’s actions. The younger they are, the more likely they’re going to do stupid shit (Or so I've noticed, please correct me if I'm wrong lmfao). Again. The theories are limitless. However most of the time athletes do these things because... they chose to do that. And a part of that is being because sports culture. Yeah. Sports culture sucks. Who would've known?

So do problematic athletes... stay problematic forever?

Well, yes and no.

As much as our first instinct is to “cancel” said athletes and pressure them to take accountability, we should also give them a chance to grow when they do take accountability instead of pushing the issue further.

However, that also depends on if they chose to grow. Hell, it depends if they even admit to making a mistake or admitting to guilt at all (which is, unfortunately, very impressive in a society like this). If they don’t.. Well, that’s their choice. Best we can do as fans beyond that point is just spread awareness. Remember: 99% of the time celebs won't listen to their fans. Some will. But do not expect your favorite to do the right thing. You will be disappointed. Another thing to keep in mind is that even if changes to character are made, people (us included) will still probably continue to view them differently for a while. As much as we’d like to put the past behind us, that just isn’t easy. (And besides, in the long term this is probably a good thing, since as fans it’s not our place to forgive; that’s up to the people affected). Actually while we’re at it..

Help! What should I do when an athlete (including my favorite) gets into controversy?

It’s always stressful (and sad) when an athlete you’ve admired and looked up to is eventually outed as a terrible person. It’s even more stressful when you’re a newer fan to sports and you just find out about said problematic deeds.

Well, first thing's first: process your emotions, and feelings. And once you're done crying, screaming, whatever action you're doing to process your feelings, spread awareness if you feel comfortable enough doing so. When spreading awareness though: DO RESEARCH AND ONLY SHARE RELIABLE SOURCES. Unfortunately serious allegations almost always have misinformation popping out. Hell, sometimes "allegations" may just be someone causing trouble on the internet (Corey Perry situation, anyone?). If the source is from a random Twitter user (that doesn't work in journalism), or the source is from a site like Deadspin and/or TMZ or any other site that has a history of clickbait, odds are, it's best to take it with a grain of salt. Team fansites (like RMNB, a Caps site) are also not always reliable, so take caution when reading through them as well.

It's better to stick with actually known sources like ESPN, Bleacher Report or a journalist like Elliotte Friedman. Rick Westhead and Katie Strang are really good journalists when it comes to issues relating to hockey. Additionally, do not expect to know *all* the information. Do not demand all information to come out. Sometimes not everything can be shared for legal reasons. Be patient and wait for everything to come out. And even then, don't expect it to be everything that happened (because again, legal reasons). Also, don't expect other people to talk about the incident in question! Do not guilt others into discussing it, do not force others to post about it. Focus on what you can do before focusing on what others can do! After most information (if not all of it), it's up to you to come to your own conclusions. Lastly, regardless of what your decision is, whether you decide to stop supporting them or you choose to believe they did nothing wrong (for any reason), but you're stuck on what to do anyway... Well... and this is probably anticlimactic I know, what to do is... up to you!

Internet wise, your internet space is your space! Your Tumblr blog is your blog! If you wanna stop posting about that player and also delete every single mention of said player outside of spreading awareness? Great! That’s your choice! Wanna keep said posts up but tag them and/or add a disclaimer! Also great! Wanna keep posting them or writing fics about them? Completely fine! Just tag it accordingly and keep in mind why these folks may not like said players. And *please* continue to be critical of said players when they do something wrong. Your favorite is not immune to criticism.

(In other words, yes Hawks fans, you’re allowed to post your Kane gifs and 1988 fics. Just tag it accordingly. And just know that people *will* probably judge you for it).

One thing you should not do however: DO NOT CENSOR NAMES. This fucks with filters and screenreaders (More in-depth post on this here!).

And because apparently this still needs to be said, don’t wish injury or death on the players and for the love of Wayne Gretzky don��t fucking send harassment to their families (seriously why do people do this fucking garbage holy fuck).

Secondly, don’t buy their jerseys or other merchandise from official sites! They will profit off that. If you've already brought it, don't just throw it out. Instead, leave it in storage, sell it or, if you're good at tailoring, try making something new out of it! Additionally (especially in cases of rape, violence, etc), SUPPORT THE VICTIMS INVOLVED. They need it the most.

What about the folks that continue to support said athletes?

If someone continues to post an athlete that’s done not great things, it’s tempting to educate them and tell them (which, if you’re going to do so, please tell them gently and not yell at them, especially if they’re a newer or younger fan who has zero clue what’s going on) But if they already know (which odds are they probably do unless they’re a newer fan), and/or they refuse to stop posting about them after being told, the best plan of action is to just… leave them alone. Just leave them be. Do not bother them further. Do not harass them. Do not send them threats. And for goodness gracious don’t make a callout post or blocklist of every single supporter of said athlete.

(Seriously attempting to make a long blocklist never ends well, especially since half the time the users on said blocklist turn out to be literal children).

That said though, if your friends/mutuals are actively defending bigoted comments and/or making statements that borderline towards abuse apologism, it’s not a bad idea to hold them accountable in a private setting. Yes I said private setting because most drama can be avoided with a private DM. But other than that... someone still writes 1988 fic? Leave them be! Someone still makes gifsets of Alex Ovechkin? Leave them be! Hell, someone still talks about the Staals? Just leave them be! The best course of action is to… just use the block button and/or filter posts accordingly. That’s literally it lmfao.

But why do people continue to support these athletes anyway?

Well it all comes down to the following: A. They have trouble grappling with the fact that they are, in fact, problematic. B. They’re Neurodivergent (especially autistic or individuals with ADHD), or struggling IRL, and kinda rely on those people to function or get through the day. 

C. Detaching yourself from a problematic figure is… really easier said than done. It is not easy at all lmfao. D. They're refuse to listen to info. E. They genuinely have no clue what's going on. Either way. Don't judge too harshly. Not everyone can just stop supporting a person/media and guess what? It's not as easy as 99% of Tumblr dot com thinks. Not everyone can just stop enjoying/liking something. And guess what? That's actually O-KAY. Last thing to know.

Lastly, you, yourself, *could* probably be supporting a problematic player right now! And you would never know until much later! At the end of the day, 99% of athletes have done problematic things one way or another. And honestly, if we tried to get rid of every problematic person... there probably wouldn't be any people left on Earth at all. Yeah, some actions are more shittier than ever, but trying to make everything "unproblematic"... is never going to work no matter how you look at it, and that is OKAY.

Remember the most important rule (stolen from someone on discord with the second edited by me!):

Now get out there and cheer for whatever player you'd like.

(Special thanks to @hard4softthings @saucerfulofsins @tapejob @youneedtolookatthis @restingbuchface @bedardconnor and a bunch of other folks for providing most of the advice/info/tips for this post!)