#where is the state?

[saintsenara]

Just for argument's sake, what's a sibling incest ship in hp that you think /could/ be compelling?

thank you very much for the ask, anon!

it's certainly an interesting question - which i've popped the answer to below the cut, not only because it's about sibling incest, a trigger warning in and of itself, but because it also discusses physical and sexual abuse.

in the response which inspired this ask, i said that it seems to me that the reason why people ship sibling pairings is primarily because they find the taboo engaging - and "engaging" here can refer to anything on a spectrum from "mildly interesting" to "hot".

and i have no moral objection to this in a fictional context. many of the best books i've ever read - the secret history and ada or ardor chief among them - have sibling incest, and sibling incest which is presented specifically as romantic, as a prominent theme. i've also [like any other millennial with too much time on their hands] seen game of thrones...

but in fanfiction, while i understand the fun of a taboo fantasy in which siblings hook up in an imaginary setting where nobody is getting hurt, i find this quite uninteresting. by which i mean, i don't vibe with the fact that the standard presentation of sibling incest is as something that everyone involved is broadly fine with.

and i think the reason for this is that it ends up being woven - a lot of the time - into the fanon which has sprung up around "pureblood culture", which presents aristocracy as something dark and sexy, the class system as something it's legitimately important to maintain, and notions that pureblood families are genuinely special [i.e. that they have certain "family magics"].

a lot of the time, sibling incest pairings - and parent/child ones - are situated within this context: that it is natural for someone who is special by virtue of their birth to think that the only person worthy of their attention is their own blood relative.

i'm on the record as finding this aristocracy wank uninteresting in general - and so i find it uninteresting in this specific form as well. and it's why i don't vibe with pairings like sirius/regulus or bellatrix/narcissa - they are typically written as making perfect sense.

what I think would be compelling, however, is an approach to such pairings which takes a view of sibling incest closer to our real-world understanding of the phenomenon. not as something which is taboo in a naughty, forbidden way - but as something which is corrosive, almost certainly abusive, and highly like to be accompanied by other forms of violence.

which is to say... there is a sibling incest pairing actually implied in the canon text who i think are fascinating to explore: morfin and merope gaunt.

the gaunts’ extreme incestuousness is played for laughs in half-blood prince:

“Marvolo, his son, Morfin, and his daughter, Merope, were the last of the Gaunts, a very ancient Wizarding family noted for a vein of instability and violence that flourished through the generations due to their habit of marrying their own cousins. Lack of sense coupled with a great liking for grandeur meant that the family gold was squandered several generations before Marvolo was born. He, as you saw, was left in squalor and poverty, with a very nasty temper, a fantastic amount of arrogance and pride, and a couple of family heirlooms that he treasured just as much as his son, and rather more than his daughter.”

this alludes to common jokes in britain about how inbred the aristocracy are. it also winks conspiratorially at the reader about the irony of a family which considers itself to be of such “pure” blood living in filth and fucking their own blood relations - and morfin and merope both have a birth defect associated with inbreeding [exotropia, eyes which stare in different directions] which serves as a visual metaphor for the gaunts' hubristic decline, in that it is written as making them look ugly, simple-minded, and poor.

but there is also a subtext here - in the way that dumbledore talks about the family's increasing isolation from the rest of the world -that the gaunts' incestuousness is narrowing from first cousins to siblings.

[indeed, i always wonder if we're supposed to imagine that morfin and merope's - presumably - dead mother was marvolo's sister, and that's why the siblings have this birth defect while marvolo does not...]

the three gaunts do not appear to go anywhere or know anyone, and morfin and merope evidently did not attend hogwarts. this isolation - especially when coupled with their appearances, since many of the pureblood families we meet in canon are described as being good-looking, and their finances - means that neither child has any hope on the upper-class marriage-market.

but the way that both morfin and marvolo talk to and about merope - especially the way morfin taunts his sister about tom riddle sr. - suggests that this doesn't matter, since morfin and merope will be keeping it in the family...

“‘Darling,’” whispered Morfin in Parseltongue, looking at his sister. “‘Darling,’ he called her. So he wouldn’t have you anyway.” Merope was so white Harry felt sure she was going to faint. “What’s that?” said Gaunt sharply, also in Parseltongue, looking from his son to his daughter. “She likes looking at that Muggle,” said Morfin, a vicious expression on his face as he stared at his sister, who now looked terrified. “Always in the garden when he passes, peering through the hedge at him, isn’t she? And last night - ”  Merope shook her head jerkily, imploringly, but Morfin went on ruthlessly, “Hanging out of the window waiting for him to ride home, wasn’t she?”  “Hanging out of the window to look at a Muggle?” said Gaunt quietly. All three of the Gaunts seemed to have forgotten Ogden, who was looking both bewildered and irritated at this renewed outbreak of incomprehensible hissing and rasping. “Is it true?” said Gaunt in a deadly voice, advancing a step or two toward the terrified girl. “My daughter - pure-blooded descendant of Salazar Slytherin - hankering after a filthy, dirt-veined Muggle?”  Merope shook her head frantically, pressing herself into the wall, apparently unable to speak.  “But I got him, Father” cackled Morfin. “I got him as he went by and he didn’t look so pretty with hives all over him, did he, Merope?”

morfin's hatred of tom riddle sr. is obviously driven by his blood-supremacist beliefs. but it is also transparently sexual - he loathes the idea that riddle might "have" merope, he attacks riddle in response to his sister's unrestrained display of romantic/sexual interest in a man who is not him, and he delights in the knowledge that hurting riddle [and telling his father why he did so] will only secure his power over merope.

indeed, merope is "defeated" by marvolo - dejected and broken in his presence and by his violence - but the only person of whom she is "terrified" is morfin.

merope is also treated - as dumbledore says - as little more than an heirloom. she is the conduit for slytherin's blood - and she is, therefore, the person who is the primary victim of her father's desire to keep this bloodline pure. with no other candidate on the horizon, if this pure bloodline is to continue... then it is because she will be forced to bear children for morfin, extending the cycle of abject poverty and pain which defines the decaying last generations of slytherin's line.

and this raises questions which i think are genuinely compelling, both within the canon timeline and outside of it. what understanding of consent and bodily autonomy can merope have, and how does this play into her rape of tom riddle sr.? what happens if merope doesn't escape - if morfin gets away without prison time and returns to the shack? what happens to her and her baby if - when riddle sr. flees her - she is forced to come home? what would her life have been like as a mother to her brother's children - especially if she had daughters she knew would be similarly abused? how might she have resisted - since, if she can brew a love potion, she can brew an abortifacient - if she had been trapped with morfin? what would morfin have done to tom riddle jr. if his nephew hadn't been holding a wand?

and what does the teenage voldemort make of it all? after all, he attacks his uncle, knocks him out and frames him for murder... immediately after morfin has called his mother a "slut".

[canisalbus]

✦ Freshly ordained ✦

[metamatar]

the biggest barrier to democratising medical access is the patent regime. intellectual property kills.

[scarz-xo]

Yesterday Israel bombed Lebanon for reasons like "Hezb Allah are trying to get into this war and help Hamas".

Hours ago Egypt got bombed again but it wasn't by the borders this time no, they hit Taba, a city in Sinai Egypt, 5 were injured and damage was done to a residential building because of the "rocket".

This is where the American taxes go.

[1982brucespringsteen]

some good news!! the spanish state's ministry of equality has finally passed one of the most progressive trans laws on the planet, shielded free and universal access to abortion and banned conversion therapy and genital surgery for intersex babies, among a lot of other feminist policies. the minister of equality irene montero gave a speech thanking spain's lgtb and trans associations for helping her draft these legislations. couldn't be more proud!!

[bunabi]

'asking for the severance they’re owed by law could potentially become a financial burden to the studio and further jeopardize the development of Dreadwolf' ?? girl

[i-am-aprl]

Heartbreaking news coming out of Gaza just moments ago. Press coverage: "The body of the child martyr, Hind Rajab, was found with five members of her family who were killed by Al-Hilal tanks in Gaza, inside their vehicle, 12 days after losing contact with her.”

[solardrake]

Delivering mail to the furthest corners of the server ✉✈

[samipekoe]

I'm crazy

[hellenhighwater]

Genuinely being a single woman in my thirties, living alone, is such a mixed blessing sometimes. I do love my house and when I'm here I literally never want to leave. But on the other hand, I do get tired of leaving to go hang out with people, even though I love seeing them. Especially because I have such a great group of friends but they live all over the place, geographically, and therefore most of them don't know each other. And I actually really love hosting? But I never have people in my house because logistically it's always more practical for me to go to them than vice versa.

But sometimes I buy new old dishes and wanna just have a little fancy wizard party, but all my guests are far away. Please may I have the teleport spell. Or a high-speed commuter rail system.

[tinartss]

this guy…

[charlietheepicwriter7]

"Grandfather."

Ra's knew who the boy was the moment he'd snuck into the room. He'd allowed the child--more man than child now, but everyone was a child compared to him--moments to steel himself while Ra's refrained from acknowledging his presence. The boy's breath was barely audible but unsteady, and a drop of something fell to the floor.

His grandson was injured. "Danyal," he greeted and finally gazed upon him for the first time in seven years.

Danyal had grown into his father's height, yet stayed lean in regards to his musculature. His black hair had grown out of the League-regulation haircut, held back in a messy braid. He held himself as strong as he could, but kept an arm wrapped around his stomach. His shirt--standard American teenage garb, he dismissed--was spotted with blood and he could see bandages poking out from under the cloth.

With great care, Danyal knelt before the Demon Head and recited the Oath of Loyalty.

Ra's watched.

The boy's tongue, fat with English, spoke the League's variant of Arabic with the grace of a mace to the head, yet his words were clear. He took his time speaking the oath, carefully sounding out words, working hard to avoid mispronunciation. The Oath in question was the older version, from before Deathstroke's insurrection, but Danyal spoke it with a calm certainty that it would be accepted.

And without a doubt, it would be accepted.

Talia's eldest son had been born from her body instead of through science, a mistake that nearly cost her the child and damaged him upon birth. While the best doctors in the world saved his life, Danyal Al Ghul would always be weak in a fight, always prone to illness, always struggling to excel. When it became clear that the boy couldn't become the next Demon Head, Ra's sent Talia to create a replacement while arrangements were made for her first child to be taught business and science, for the betterment of the League. Danyal, very much his father's child, thrived in his intellectual pursuits while Damian grew and developed into a budding assassin.

But Danyal was more like his father than he'd ever knew. Ra's couldn't miss the signs of one of his family turning away from the League. Not the mission--Danyal had written several university level papers defending the environment by the time the boy was 10--but Ra's methods...

Ra's had a conundrum. Danyal was a dedicated conservationist; once the boy was an adult, Ra's was certain he'd take the world by storm and bring the League to new heights. But if he forced his methods onto Danyal, he could create an enemy of him, just as his father was.

Ra's gave Danyal an offer; Danyal would be allowed to leave the League and live a normal life if and only if he faked his own death in such a way that reinforced Damian's loyalty to the League of Assassins.

Danyal had been hesitant at first, but past his test with flying colors. Instigating one of the more unstable assassins into organizing a coup, cutting the insurgents off near immediately, but "dying" protecting both his younger brother and mother. It was a masterful performance. Even Talia hadn't known about the deceit.

And yet, here he was, on his knees, pledging loyalty. Danyal knew what that meant, knew what he was returning to, which morals he would be allowed to keep.

"And what do you bring with you, child of no one?" Why should the League accept the return of this child, who left once before?

Danyal met his eyes. "I bring with me, my team, who are loyal to me and me alone. I bring with me, research surrounding the Lazarus Pits, in origins and further uses for the waters." Ra's raised an eyebrow, and Danyal smirked. "I bring with me, my knowledge, nurtured within this very home and sharpened in the world outside. I bring with me, my weapons, built with my own hands. I bring with me... my body, finally healthy and whole." He brought his head down to the floor, trembling with pain. "I bring my whole self to the Demon's Head, for Him to accept or reject."

Ra's smiled. "By the shadows that guard our order and the blood that binds us, I accept this oath. From this day forward, you are an instrument of the League, a harbinger of justice, and a weapon in the hand of Ra's Al Ghul."

Danyal returned to his feet, swaying percariously. He needed immediate medical attention. Despite this, he continued, "Long live the League of Assassins. Long live Ra's Al Ghul."

And he collapsed onto the floor.

[blueskiesandstarrynights]

Leverage 4.11 | The Experimental Job ↳ bonus:

[himbo-in-limbo]

Sad sad bunny….

[bookalicent]

yeah so this was insane

[bunnieswithknives]

RAHHHh ok comics done I can post this now!!! He is having the worst possible time