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bafflement · 11 months

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Deaged Oz AU - Meeting Atlas Council

"Well, General? You called this emergency meeting of the council, after all. What did you need to tell us? That magic is real? Again? We know. There are records we managed to access after the last time you informed us." The old woman's voice was soft, but vastly disapproving. Ironwood flinched slightly, while behind him Tip couldn't quite suppress an amused snort.

"... well, whoever you are? Step out and let us see you, don't be shy. After all, this meeting seems to be partially about you, after all..." The same woman kept talking, not letting James get a word in. Tip shrugged and stepped out, looking up at the large circular table. He didn't seem the slightest bit nervous or intimidated by any of them, not even the empty chair which Jaques Schnee might have occupied if he had lived. The woman nodded to him, seemingly approving. Nobody had noticed The Long Memory just yet.

"Bad form, that, child." Another member broke in. "Atlas colors are blue and silver, meeting with us should really have been done in our own colors." In fact, the entire council was in blue of one sort or another. As a color block it was impressive. As a statement, however, it bordered on the ridiculous. Vale had never done anything of the sort as long as Tip had known them. But then, ostentatiously overblown statements fitted Atlas rather well.

"I'm far more comfortable in green." He shrugged, looking a little fed up and not at all abashed by being called out. The man rolled his eyes slightly, muttering something derogatory to himself.

"Well, child? Introduce yourself." The old woman prodded, but her eyes had narrowed slightly, seemingly searching for something in Tip's face. From the way her lips whitened, he had a horrible feeling that she might have found what she was searching for. By her age, she could quite easily have known Winter Schnee, after all, and the gap between ten and almost twelve was far less than that between ten and thirty six.

"My name is Wintertip Pine and I'm the current incarnation of the wizard." His voice was calm and even, Vale accent obvious. There was a shocked silence broken only by James' aggrieved sigh.

"You couldn't have told them a bit more gently?"

"You're the one that wanted me here and it's my secret, not yours." Tip murmured, rebelliously. The other council members seemed to still be in shock though the old woman looked amused again.

"Oh good. The General has needed someone who can stand up to him for awhile now. I'm rather glad that's you, Winter... tip." Tip winced, she definitely knew, then.

"Prove it." A rather thickset man demanded, flatly. "Still not sure I believe in magic, but if you want me to believe that the current wizard is a child, I'll need proof. We all will."

Tip sighed and gestured. A glass on the table lifted as though cradled in a crackling green net. The man who'd tried to tell him off for wearing green instead of blue blinked at it and nodded a brief apology. After all, dressing to match your aura was also a long standing tradition by now.

"All that proves is that you have some form of a Telekinesis semblance." The heavyset man snorted. Tip let the glass rest back on the table, shrugged and called up his shield. That was rather harder to argue against. Either single example could easily have been his Semblance, but both of them?

There was a soft swearing coming from one of the council members now, though. Tip met their incredulous glare and almost flinched himself. He knew that face. Oh no... not now. He had been rather hoping to get through this as merely Wintertip Pine, not the rest of it. After all, the lady may have recognised Winter Schnee but she hadn't overtly pointed it out yet. Bruin would.

"Okay, explain. Why are you a child, and why call yourself Wintertip? Also, the Wizard? Really?" Bruin sounded rather more amused than Tip might have preferred, though the fact that they'd been friends for years didn't really help. He sent a dark look at James, annoyed than neither of them had seen fit to inform him that Bruin was on the Atlas Council. Right, then...

"There was an... incident. When the Fall Maiden attempted to kill me, things backfired rather. I woke up as a child and no, I'm still not entirely sure precisely why. However, I do appear to be growing up again, so it could always have been rather worse. Of course I'm the wizard, who else would have this bad a luck except Qrow?"

Most of the council was staring at the pair now. That Wintertip wasn't actually a child was, well, slightly less shocking than it probably should be. He hadn't acted the slightest bit like an eleven year old, after all. But Bruin was one of their newest members, drafted in when Lark Winchester had pled circumstances and stepped down for awhile. If they truly knew this boy that was seemingly the wizard, though, then maybe they would be too valuable to lose.

"Well, child? I assume there might be slightly more to your identity than you may have admitted to us. Care to share the rest of it?"

Tip sighed again. "Hello, I'm Wintertip Schnee Pine Ozpin. Better?" He sounded very, very fed up now, sending another rather poisonous look to Bruin who looked rather more shocked than amused now. So he hadn't known about the Schnee bit, then...

"What do you mean, Schnee? If you're Winter Schnee, what the hell were you doing in Vale?" This was demanded by an older man seated near the old woman who had first spoken, looking at him incredulously. "We can deal with the fact that you're Ozpin later, but if you're Winter Schnee and you're the wizard... that's an act of war!"

"Not really? They didn't actually kidnap me, apparently. They just snatched me from those that did. That was a good thing, too, since Jaques Schnee paid to have me murdered."

"That doesn't matter, they should have given you back." There were nods of agreement to this, but Tip just shook his head.

"If I had been given back, the likelihood is that he would have just tried again. The more attempts made, the more likely one could succeed. As it was, I at least lived to adulthood in Vale. It might not have been as comfortable as it might have been amongst my own family and those that loved me, but at least I was relatively safe. The only war that matters now is the one against Salem, please don't try to start one with Vale merely because I'm alive?"

The council glanced at each other, seemingly touched [and probably slightly worried] by Tip's gentle pleading.

"We'll see. We will need to let them know at some point that we know what they did, however... at least until the Salem debacle is over with, we won't press anything. But Winter? You're ours, our incarnation of the Wizard, not theirs. They have no claim on you."

Tip bowed his head, waiting to be dismissed. When they gave the nod, he eagerly escaped the stifling room, finding Qrow and Winter waiting for him outside. He nodded to them, looking weary, all the nerves he had not allowed himself to show suddenly evident.

"There won't be a war with Vale. I hope, so that's a good thing at least? Can we get out of here? I hate politics..." The other two shared a speaking glance over the top of Tip's tousled silver hair and followed him down the corridor. If it came to it, they could probably sabotage any interkingdom war effort well enough.

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wis-art · 1 month

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this piece is about being transgender

my ko-fi

#caris #my art #art #transgender #trans #it's about how often we are stripped off anything else than sexuality #and how we are often a subject of the political show that doesnt really listen to anything we say #playing our part in it wether we like it or not #it's a vent piece #at least i get to reclaim being hot #lol #nobody can take that away from me

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vordemtodgefeit · 7 months

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‘nobody wants a general election, obviously’, says second PM in a row that wasn’t voted in by the general public, wasn’t even voted in by members of the party let alone the people he claims to represent, and whose party is predicted to lose said general election

#piss right the fuck off #we should’ve had a general election after johnson got pushed out #we are MASSIVELY overdue #this makes him look (a) like even more of an anti-democratic pm clinging to power without a vote #and (b) too scared to go to the polls because he knows the tories are predicted to lose their westminster streak #the only people i know that aren’t keen on a general election are - to precisely nobody’s surprise - tory voters #uk politics #ukpol #british politics

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idolomantises · 2 months

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i really want to draw sera and lili going to church together. however, churches are a pain to draw. i'm tempted to use 3d assets if the task feels too overwhelming.

#txt #i actually used a 3d asset in one of my earlier comics and i think nobody noticed #or maybe they were too polite to say anything which i hope is the latter bc there's a lot of stigma towards using 3d assets #but if you can blend them in decently i feel like it shouldnt matter too much #there's a character at the church i really want to introduce as well

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gay-jesus-probably · 4 months

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I like the general fandom trend to just take the plot of Hyrule Warriors as a loose guideline at best and just use the whole concept as a good excuse to get blorbos to interact across timelines, BUT I'm very disappointed that everyone is missing the comedic potential of a very specific squad of characters:

Young Link (aka Mask), who walks out of the nightmare of Majora's Mask and immediately gets portal kidnapped into a temporal war, takes one look at the whole mess and decides that you could not fucking pay him to admit to being the resident expert on Time Shenanigans. He introduces himself with the title of Hero of Termina, and definitely doesn't have any other ones, that would be crazy. Hero of Time? Never heard of him.

Tetra, who is a kickass pirate captain with zero patience for people trying to shove her into the Designated Princess role, and realizes immediately that Oh Fuck, this Hyrule has a lot of Ideas about how the Hero and the Princess are supposed to properly play their parts, the second they realize she's technically a Zelda they're gonna shove her in a goddamn dress and damsel her again, that's not happening. So she's definitely just a really cool pirate captain, nothing else going on here at all, definitely not the heir of the Hylian royal family in her time, that'd be crazy.

Ravio, who is literally just a palette swapped Link, meaning that the second his hood comes off, things are gonna get Awkward. There's no way in hell he's dealing with all that Hero baggage, that's Link work, so that giant bunny hood/mask is practically superglued to his head, and he's not taking it off for love or money.

Spirit Tracks Zelda, who is just in the Phantom Armour the whole time, and passing herself off as just a friendly ghost posessing a suit of armour to help the Hero of Spirits. Of course she isn't Princess Zelda, that's ridiculous, if she were a Zelda then people would start getting really weird about her technically being dead, and boy does that ever sound like a whole Thing she doesn't want to deal with, so she can't possibly be Zelda, she's just a nice ghost knight. Also, her teenage grandma is here, and that's kinda weird, so it's easier to just not admit to being royalty and avoid that awkward conversation.

Finally there's Sheik, who is not the Princess Zelda of the era straight up abandoning her war torn country for months at a time so she can risk her life in extreme cosplay for no clear reason, but is instead the actual Sheik from Ocarina of Time, who just beat Ganondorf like a month ago and is still trying to process what the fuck to do now. Also, he's been pretending to be a boy since he was ten, and is realizing there's a pretty good chance that he isn't pretending anymore, so that's a whole other can of worms. But for the last seven years of his life, being Princess Zelda meant certain death, so he's not really inclined to introduce himself like when in a new and stressful situation (not to mention he might actually just not be a girl named Zelda anymore), so he automatically introduces himself as just Sheik the spooky ninja man, and fuck he's in too deep to back out now, looks like he's committing to the bit. If you think you sense the Triforce of Wisdom on him, no you don't.

Cue shenanigans as the five of them attempt to hide that they're all actually kind of A Big Deal. The group motto is "Nobody says shit", which is usually delivered as a frantic hiss whenever someone slips up. Just the reunion between Sheik and Mask alone would be absolutely buckwild given how they parted, and how they're both frantically pretending to Not be involved with each other. For added hilarity and/or drama, Sheik gives his semi-bullshit cover story of having just been a friend of the Hero of Time, then runs into said Hero of Time and they both have to desperately pretend not to know each other, because if anyone picks up on the mountain of baggage between them then Mask is busted, and he won't hesitate to drag Sheik down with him out of sheer spite. Not to mention the weird balance of Sheik being used to this Link being a teenager that's actually a small child, and now has to adjust to Link who is a small child that's actually a teenager.

Also, i really feel like we're all missing out on the comedy potential of Ganondorf recognizing Young Link on sight and the two of them immediately launching into a grudge match with some extremely personal and specific insults on both sides. Meanwhile literally everybody else is just standing there watching, trying to process the fact that out of every single person that's been pulled out of time, Ganondorf only has personal beef with a literal nine year old.

I just feel like we're all really sleeping on the potential for Shenanigans here. The whole thing is an absurd mess, why not have some fun with it?

#legend of zelda #hyrule warriors #for the record im picturing the sheik-mask reunion as being the spiderman pointing meme for like five minutes #also my mental image of sheik is extremely Bad haircut (he does it himself with a knife and doesnt care about making it even)#and a ridiculous tanline across his face from wearing a mask all day #OOT magiaclly growing out zelda's hair and manifesting a Royal Gown was some top tier bullshit and i'm always angry about it #like dude. literally all of princess zelda's finery was made for a ten year old #she's like eighteen now. nobody's making royal finery for teenage zelda. where was she supposed to get that dress.#i am eternally on my agenda to let zelda wear some goddamn pants without an immediate magic makeover to *fix* it #anyways nintendo's sexism aside i like sheik being trans its very fun and sexy of him #tfw you go into hiding to escape political assassination and accidentally trans your gender in the process

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gottalottarocks · 1 month

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Are you an American? Frustrated by the political process? Do you feel like you have no voice in our government? Let me introduce you to the wonderful world of public comments.

This is where federal agencies propose new regulations asking for public feedback:

Regulations.gov

Here's a step by step on how to navigate this:

Look through the proposals on the explore tab and filter by "Proposed Rule". These are the regulations that have been proposed, but not finalized.

If you click on these, they are pretty dense, text heavy explanations of the proposed rule changes. I definitely do a lot of googling when trying to understand what I'm reading. Also there are a lot of different topics here and I definitely don't comment on everything.

This is how you make a public comment. For example, for this proposed rule:

Start a new document and write the subject and docket number. Your comment NEEDS to have the docket number for them to count it most of the time, and the correct subject some of the time.

^^ this is ambiguous, but add the docket ID and subject just to be safe, it should look like this:

Ref: Docket ID No. NSD 104

Provisions Pertaining to Preventing Access to Americans' Bulk Sensitive Personal Data and U.S. Government-Related Data by Countries of Concern

Then address to the person at the very very end of the page.

Scroll all the way to the end:

^^this is the person you address to.

Then introduce yourself. If you have experience related to the proposed rule, talk about that. For rules related to the environment and public health I say that I'm a geologist with a master's degree and I work in environmental remediation. Otherwise, I just say I'm a concerned citizen.

Then I say hey I agree/ disagree with this proposed rule and here's why. Oftentimes there will be lists that the federal agency is asking for specific feedback on.

Commenting on these will have a lot of impact.

Here's an example comment I forgot to post for a rule regarding methane emissions in the oil and gas industry:

Administrator Michael Regan The United States Environmental Protection Agency 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20460

Ref: Docket ID No. __ Waste Emissions Charge for Petroleum and Natural Gas Systems Dear Administrator Regan, My name is __ and I am writing to you as a geologist and graduate of ___. I currently work in ____. Thank you for your interest in reducing methane pollution, which I believe to be one of the most important aspects in reducing the harm caused by the climate crisis. Within the short term, methane is a much more powerful force of global warming than carbon dioxide. It breaks down faster than carbon dioxide— but it traps significantly more heat that should be bouncing back into space. When scientists talk about taking our foot off the gas pedal in regards to the climate crisis, methane is at the forefront of our minds. Natural gas is often proposed as a solution to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions (since it produces less carbon dioxide than coal plants), but these methane leaks are a serious threat to public health. Not only is methane hazardous, it’s ability to cause short-term superheating is contributing to the rapid increase in wildfires within the U.S. and globally, further degrading air quality. Last summer in NYC skies were orange, caused by ash from Canadian wildfires. As someone who sets up air monitoring equipment every day to ensure the surrounding community is not impacted from the disposal of hazardous waste, I have a unique opportunity to see on a day-to-day basis how air quality is degrading. I strongly support the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed waste emissions charge. For EPA’s implementation of the fee to fulfill Congress’s goals, the final regulation must continue to include key requirements including: · Regulatory compliance exemptions must only become available after final standards and plans are in effect in all states and that these plans are at least as strong as the EPA's 202 methane emissions proposal. Operators filing for exemption must also demonstrate full compliance across their facilities; · Strong and clear criteria must remain in place for operators seeking an exemption based on unreasonable permitting delays; · When operators seek an exemption for plugged wells, they must clearly demonstrate that their wells have been properly plugged and are no longer polluting; · Transparent calculations and methodologies to accurately determine an owner or operator’s net emissions; and · Strong verification protocols so that fee obligations accurately reflect reported emissions and that exemptions are only available once the conditions Congress set forth are met. I urge the EPA to quickly finalize this proposal with limited flaring, strengthened emissions standards for storage tanks, and a pathway for enhanced community monitoring. Thank you, ___________

And then paste your comment in or upload a document and submit! You will be asked to provide your name and address. Also the FCC will only take comments on their website, but the proposed rule will be posted on the federal regulations website I put above and they should have a link to the FCC website within that post.

#this is one of those things like jury nullification that nobody knows about but should #i like this because it's a written format that actually gets taken into account #I feel like emailing representatives gets lost in the sauce #resource #us politics #american politics #geolife

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biggest-gaudiest-patronuses · 1 year

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so I watched the most recent episode of succession (oops) and the thought vaguely occured to me "oh dear how are they going to recover from this one?"

and the answer is, of course, that they won't. this is the beginning of the end. this is how they destroy each other.

anyways that's my prediction for the fandom ciao kisses hope u all have a very chill season 4 💋

#succession #succession spoilers #succession 4x03 #there's not going to be another season is there?#i feel like succession fans very quite literally could not survive another season #they are being torn about like tissue paper in the wind #...like used tissues in Gerri's pocket i was gonna say but letsbehonest that woman's never publicly used a tissue in her life #anyways what is this. what is this i am experiencing?#is this ENJOYMENT? am i experiencing ENJOYMENT from this highly popular television show?#i did not consent to this!!!!!!#oops accidentally joined a fandom by watching a show and reading the social media reactions and looking up all the inside jokes and #ew i hate it take it back #(but first let me enjoy ASMR Deceased Billionaire Being Crunched On By The Worms)#my favorite thing about this fandom is nobody seems to actually ENJOY being in this fandom #it's just a continuous river of 'this fucking destroyed me' followed by polite thanks to the showrunners #which is impeccable. impeccable energy.

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houseswife · 4 months

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House MD makes for a way more interesting Sherlock adaptation than any other because it truly explores the depths of the character’s potential as a rude, selfish sociopath by making him American

#bbc britlock is cool and all but he’s way too polite and considerate for a so-called maniac #nobody encapsulates a true disregard for human well-being like a US healthcare professional ❤️#if you’re a non-american house viewer I want you to know that I’d rather be at princeton-plainsboro’s nightmare clinic #where the doctor will prescribe you cigarettes and call you slurs #and is only there as a punishment that he’s receiving for violating the geneva convention #than ever be treated by some of the real-life physicians I’ve encountered irl #house md #greg house #gregory house #hatecrimes md

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pinkrose05 · 23 days

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Sungenti & Robinhill would go on the most terse double dates in history. That's it that's the post.

#no but hear me out: these pairs have a sitcom-worthy dynamic it's such a funny mental image actually #boothill is like the perfect candidate for sunday's disapproval in every single way #he's crass he's crude and he's getting on his nerves on purpose which is Not helping his fresh brother-in-law status #and sunday is just the sort of silently bitchy control freak that grinds boots' gears too #they keep exchanging seemingly polite banter but it's really just a combo of forced formality and a curse censor #while argenti (who's Bros For Life with boothill) sees this and cheers for a new friendship #“what beautiful rapport you two are building so fast!!”#bless his soul #nobody tell him what's going on #(robin is tempted to do it just so she can commiserate about the suffering she goes through whenever they meet up. press f for her patience #(at least argenti himself isn't bad company though!)#honkai star rail #hsr #hsr sunday #hsr robin #hsr argenti #hsr boothill #sungenti #sunti #(<- i think that's the established ship name? cmiiw tho)#robinhill #pink's musings

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khattikeri · 9 days

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maybe a controversial opinion but while i really love jiang cheng as a character he is deeply self-centered as a person. and seeing people fight tooth and nail claiming he isn't, or is just misunderstood, or that he has genuine valid reasons to be selfish when plenty of other characters make the difficult choice to forego status and opportunities for what they believe is genuinely right to do (read: wei wuxian, wen ning, wen qing, lan wangji, jiang yanli, mianmian, etc.)

it's just odd to me. especially if they're talking about the novels.

mxtx didn't give jiang cheng the name "sandu shengshou" as a quirky coincidence. there's a REASON she named him & his sword after the 3 poisons of Buddhism (specifically ignorance, greed, and hatred). it's crucial to the story that jiang cheng is NOT selfless and that wei wuxian IS.

it's important to accept that wei wuxian is, by their society's standards, not morally gray; he represents several Buddhist ideals in direct contrast of jiang cheng and multiple people attest to wei wuxian's strong moral character, which is a lot of why jiang cheng even feels bitter about him to begin with.

it's crucial, because by the end of the novel jiang cheng realizes the extent of this and begins to let go!

the twin prides thing wasn't jiang cheng wanting them to 100% mirror the twin jades. he does care about wei wuxian, but he wanted wei wuxian to stay his right hand man, in part the way wei changze was for jiang fengmian.

and if there's one thing you can notice about wei changze in the novels, it's that literally nobody talks about him. he is only ever mentioned when his cool mysterious mountain sect wife cangse-sanren is mentioned, or (even more rarely) when they discuss him as a servant to jiang fengmian. regardless of jiang fengmian's own feelings, wei changze was considered lesser to him and didn't seem to outdo him, since nobody's out there years later still waxing poetry about wei changze's skills.

it may not be the only thing jiang cheng wants out of a twin pride dynamic, but it is a big part of it. regardless of his parents' intentions in taking wei wuxian in and treating him certain ways, this twin pride right-hand man thing is what jiang cheng has felt owed since childhood. he gave up his dogs for wei wuxian, people gossip about his sect heir position with wei wuxian there... jiang cheng wants the reciprocation of what he views as personal sacrifices.

he is ignorant to the depth of what wei wuxian must've suffered for over 6 years as a malnourished orphan child on the streets. he hates how wei wuxian's intelligence, witty charm, and cultivation abilities are naturally stronger than his own. he does care about wei wuxian a lot and want them to be together as sort of-brothers, sort of-friends, sort of-young master and sect servant...

...but if it's between that unclear (yet still caring) relationship and being able to save himself just a little bit more, jiang cheng nearly always manages to clam up in the face of danger and choose the latter, which ultimately benefits himself most. maybe it's a stretch to call that sort of thing greed, but it certainly isn't selfless.

there are of course plenty of justifications for this. it's his duty as sect heir. his home and sect was severely damaged by the wen attack and subsequent war; he had to protect himself, etc.

but doesn't that prove the point?

wei wuxian may be charming, but in terms of pure social standing, he is lower and far more susceptible to being punished or placed in harm's way by people who have more power and money. to protect wei wuxian, yunmeng jiang's long-term head disciple and semi-family member, even in the face of backlash and public scrutiny would've been the selfless thing to do. this is what wei wuxian does for the wen remnants in the burial mounds.

jiang cheng does not choose this. it's not even an unreasonable choice for him to make! nobody else in the great clans is doing such a thing, stepping out of line to take on a burden that could weaken them in the long-run. wei wuxian himself doesn't hate jiang cheng for it; he lets go of these things and focuses on what good he can do in the present.

jiang cheng thinks further into the future - what would happen to him if he continued vouching for wei wuxian and taking his side? what about jiang cheng's face, his sect's face? would wei wuxian even care to reciprocate somehow? everyone expects him to cut off wei wuxian for being dangerous, for threatening his position, for...

do you see what i mean? to call jiang cheng selfless for falling in line with exactly what people expected him to do after the war is not only wrong, it's foolish.

"but they faked their falling-out!" okay. why fake it to begin with, except to protect jiang cheng and the jiang sect's own face? is that selfless? who does it ultimately serve to protect? wei wuxian canonically internalizes the idea that he stains all that he touches, including lan wangji, and agrees to the fake fight because he doesn't want to cause the jiang sect harm. regardless, it eventually slides into a true falling-out, and in the end jiang cheng is more or less unscathed reputation-wise while wei wuxian falls.

that isn't selfless. it's many things! it's respecting his clan and his ancestors, it's making a good plan for the future of his sect and cultivation... but it isn't a truly selfless in the interest of what's right rather than in the interest of duty and what's good for him and his family lineage.

that brings me to my next point: even though wei wuxian hid the truth of the golden core transfer, jiang cheng spent nearly 20 years believing that the golden core "renewal" he was given was a birthright gift of wei wuxian's from baoshan-sanren, an immortal sect teacher of wei wuxian's mother's and a martial elder to wei wuxian.

of course we all know that's a big fat lie, but jiang cheng believed that wei wuxian gave up a critical emergency use gift to him for decades! he was lied to, yes, but jiang cheng immediately agreed without even needing to be convinced. the light in his dead eyes came back with hope the moment wei wuxian even said baoshan-sanren's name. he accepted wei wuxian's offer to give that up to him and take it via identity theft without missing a beat.

with how mysterious and revered baoshan-sanren is, that's obviously not a light sacrifice to just give up to anyone, no matter how close they might be to you. pretending to be wei wuxian to take the gift could even be considered dangerous. what if she found out and got offended? could wei wuxian be hurt by that?

jiang cheng doesn't even hesitate. wei wuxian is the one who mentions that if jiang cheng doesn't pretend to be him, the immortal master could get angry and they'd both be goners. and funnily enough, the day they do go to "the mountain", jiang cheng is the one worried and suspiciously wondering if wei wuxian was lying to him or had misremembered.

of course they've both been traumatized like hell prior to this point. but still: it speaks to how broken he was at the moment as well as to his character overall.

i digress: jiang cheng "gets his golden core back" via what he believed was a gift that should've been wei wuxian's to use in serious emergencies. rather than use it for himself, wei wuxian risked his own safety and gave it to jiang cheng... and jiang cheng still ends up embittered and angry, believing that wei wuxian is arrogant and selfish.

if he truly views them as 100% brothers and equals with no caveats, why would he think that way? it's not like he needs to grovel before wei wuxian for doing that, or to reciprocate... but this is what i mean when i say jiang cheng feels he is owed things by wei wuxian. wei wuxian's actions hold a very different weight in jiang cheng's mind, and jiang cheng himself doesn't ever act the same way, except once.

is it wrong for him to feel like he is owed something? it depends. many asian cultures, including my own, feel that a person owes their family in ways that may not make sense to westerners. for example, it's considered normal for a child to owe their parents for giving birth to them, or to other caretakers for feeding, clothing, sheltering, educating them, etc.

however, something like verbally saying "thank you" or "i'm sorry" to family is considered crazy- why would you owe that? you're supposed to inconvenience your family; saying thank you or sorry is the sort of thing you say to a stranger or acquaintance. i get half-seriously lectured by my elders on this a lot even now, even though they know such phrases are just considered good manners in the US.

this muddies up the idea of wei wuxian being jiang cheng's family vs his family's charge or servant even more. jiang cheng wants wei wuxian to be close... but ultimately doesn't really choose to use what power he DOES have to protect wei wuxian. he considers himself still owed something that in his mind wei wuxian flagrantly never repays.

this isn't even getting into how despite spending a majority of his time with the yiling patriarch he never once noticed that wei wuxian stopped using any spiritual power-based cultivation. even lan wangji, who met them far more rarely, realized that something was wrong and that wei wuxian had taken some sort of spiritual damage, hence the "come with me to gusu".

of course manpain is fun and i'm not immune to the juicy idea of them reconciling and talking things out... but jiang cheng is deeply mired in his own desire to be "above" wei wuxian in multiple ways, and doesn't realize the extent of wei wuxian's actions, the intentions behind them, and the consequences wei wuxian knowingly faced for them.

to not recognize this about jiang cheng, especially in the novels, is really revisionist if you ask me. i reiterate that i really do like him a lot. he's flawed, angry, traumatized and has poor coping mechanisms, an overall fascinating character... but he is not selfless nor ideal, and i seriously draw the line at people saying he is.

wen ning shoves this all into his face at lotus pier to disastrous results. it is the reason why jiang cheng's a total mess at guanyin temple, and the reason jiang cheng ultimately doesn't tell wei wuxian about the fact that he ran towards the wens on purpose.

for that one last act of his to have really been selfless, he needs to not seek anything in return. he did it purely because it was right to do to protect someone else. if that means wei wuxian never finds out about it, so be it.

that moment that ended up causing jiang cheng irreversible harm is not a debt that wei wuxian owes him. it hurts, but no matter how bitter it is, that realization is so important to him changing in the future.

#keri chats #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #jiang cheng #long post #this is NOT anti/crit for him btw i like him a lot i just feel like nobody interprets him the way i perceive him #which even then my interpretation is p nebulous... worth saying i also heavily disagree w ppl who think of him as an evil shithead #he's upper class & steeped in jianghu politics/self preservation. flawed as hell human being but they're all war criminals lbr it's #Magical Genocide and War Crimes: The Novel #anyway this post is messy as fuck but if u read all of it: thank u. if u agree with me: ilu. i wish more ppl understood revenge ethics #as they stand in asian cultures and history vs in western (almost always culturally christian) cultures #it's unclear how far in the future the extras are but at one pt he's ''the same as ever'' which at best indicates slow emotional growth #and like. ykw? i don't think he'll be repressed bitter angry thinking abt his losses n pain forever. i think he can grow i believe in him #i have so many thoughts on this i could've made this post go on forever augh

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captaintrio · 5 months

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hey so I'm literally starting to hate the word "radical" in its political usage.

it is not radical to think that people deserve food and clean water.

it is not radical to think that people deserve safe housing, full stop.

it is not radical to think that bodily autonomy is a human right.

it is not radical to think that queer and trans folks should be allowed to exist comfortably and happily, be allowed to marry each other, and have access to medical care, gender-affirming or otherwise.

it is not radical to think that children shouldn't be going into debt over school lunches.

it is not radical to think that education should be free.

it is not radical to think that nobody should have to die of preventable/treatable illnesses.

it is not radical to think that poverty shouldn't fucking exist.

belief in basic human rights and dignities for everyone that exists is not a radical stance, we're a cooperative species, we are LITERALLY built to care for and help each other.

attaching the term "radical" to any stance that approaches compassionate and decent is a tool of the oppressor class, and we are literally 200 years behind the curve. we HAVE to re-frame the way we talk about these things and throw the fucking shackles off.

#av speaks #don't come after me about radical vs reactionary #I know what the words mean i've written so many gd papers you would not believe #I'm saying that irrespective of the current political usage #that word is wrong and is a mechanism that is in use to like #purposefully keep everyone desperate and scattered #nobody wants to be part of a radical group because we've been socialized to conform #so labeling anything good for us as radical taps into a lizard brain fear response #of being part of the out-group #gotta stop looking at people as out- vs in-groups #its a rabbit hole of suck and it's killing us

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freemonker · 10 months

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My current emotional support characters, maybe it says something about where I am in life currently, dunno

#nimona #hobie brown #technoblade #emotional support characters #emotional support character #spiderverse #maybe its saying something about my anarchist tendencies that nobody i know really likes that i have #maybe its saying something about my current distaste for organized power structures *cough cough* organized religion-politics *cough cough*#who knows #not me #lol

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zvaigzdelasas · 6 months

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Thoughts on if the USA will pass Israel 'aid' separate from Ukraine 'aid'?

Think the Dems would much rather give concessions on the border wall or abortion rights than allow anything to impede either war, think GOP would rather force concessions on the border wall or abortion rights than to do anything more than huff and puff about Ukraine

#like threatening something youre not entirely honest about doing in order to gain something you care more about is politics 101 #gop insurgents are just actually doing politics while basically nobody else is #they wanna prioritize war w china and iran but once they recognize the west has already lost russia as a potential ally #then its at most a pause for rearmament #& to give us industry a chance to ramp up production

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cometrose · 7 days

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Op I read your old post about "the blind dragon who wants to see the sun" and I realized wait Zhongli is most symbolized by the sun

zhongli has soooo much sun symbolism here is a list

gold everywhere, lots of yellow and light in his color pallet, his eyes are described as golden or amber, the golden glow of his hands, the yellow in his suits or archon outfits, it is his signature color.

in his splash art his meteorite looks distinctly like the sun (and his character demo is full of sun symbolism)

In depictions of Rex Lapis he is always symbolizes the sun

Zhongli's namecard description: stars fall, light fades

His burst/ultimate is translated to "Planet Befall" in english but in chinese it is "Heavenly Star"

During one of the melusine quests in fontaine one them says "gold are the tears of the sun" if you gift them cor lapis. She also says cor lapis is warm to the touch "truly as gentle as the sun itself"

Deus Auri which translates to “god of gold” is one of rex lapis' titles

Mora (which is often referred synonymously with gold) is minted from zhongli’s own flesh and blood

As you mentioned Azhdaha was a blind dragon who yearned to see the sun. As Morax was the one who granted him eyes -meaning he was the first person Azhdaha saw- Morax is in part the "sun" he yearned to see

In Zhongli's TCG card the story says "a hidden gemstone can illuminate the whole earth, bright and unrivaled as a star"

One of the distinct features of the adepti is the "illumination" that Rex Lapis granted them that gave them the ability to create subspaces and other abilities (what does the sun do? illuminate)

In Azhdaha's story he recites a poem to Jiu (his eroded self) "A star appears within the wild a sun ascends as bright as jade" Other than gold Zhongli's signature item is jade! Fun fact the weapons of the Primordial Jade series were created by him.

In the description of the Geo Hypostasis it states maybe the reason it creates pillar is not to combat enemies but to get closer to the sky

In one of albedo's voicelines he says "without human manipulation you would need to harness the power of a sun eight times the size of our own in order to naturally create gold”

Interestingly the Solar Chariot crashed into Liyue forming The Chasm about 6000 years ago, coincidentally Rex Lapis descended upon the region at the same time.

Lastly, while Zhongli symbolizes the sun a lot of the people around him symbolize the moon. Guizhong has a dark blue and white color palette and the stars in her sleeves. Azhdaha often depicted with the moon and night, Ganyu and Xiao both have moon symbolism, the 'yue' in Liyue means moon, all the other archons -Venti, Nahida, and Ei especially- have a lot of moon symbolism. So not only is he very "sun-like" but the people around him are very "moon-like"

#zhongli #genshin impact #all i have for you is zhongli sun symbolism and nothing else #hes a warm person very polite and gentle but he’s very distant he doesn’t talk much about himself #you rarely hear stories of rex lapis from his own mouth #warm but very far away #you can be more in depth and say he even casts a shadow on everyone else because he is so bright #all of old companions are either dead betrayed him or sealed away #nobody can stand in the sun too long #think icarus ya know?#also like zhongli represents like a chinese emperor or even the jade emperor which is like god of gods in heaven ya know holy divine heaven #very star very sun behavior

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odinsblog · 1 year

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FYI: The Wagner Group is the Russian government’s fully sanctioned army of Neo Nazi mercenaries.

Republican politicians across America have been trying to install the members of the Proud Boys as poll watchers in the next U.S. presidential election, and they are most definitely white supremacists—I need for Putin apologists to please explain to me, a Black U.S. citizen—how tf they would similarly justify a foreign government indiscriminately bombing Black neighborhoods in Alabama and Tennessee to “protect” Black people from white supremacy (much the same way that Putin is shelling the absolute fuck outta the predominantly Jewish populations in Odesa and Dnipro, to “protect” them from Nazism).

If you truly still believe that Vladimir Putin is an altruistic good guy™ who only wants to “denazify” Ukraine, and not an abject racist + homophobe, then congratulations: you are a sucker helping yet another white supremacist with his racist grift.

#politics #wagner group #putin apologists #russia #ukraine #vladimir putin #tankies #i *literally* had an argument with a tankie #who called me a sellout for supporting white ukrainians over putin and russia #and i was like - what? did putin stop being caucasian and nobody told me??#is russia black now??#istg - ppl wanna support ‘communism’ sooo bad that they become fanatics who dont live in reality anymore #anyway - imperialism is wrong when america does it and when russia does it

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thelordofgifs · 11 months

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the fairest stars: post iv

Beren and Lúthien steal two Silmarils, more sons of Fëanor than anyone ever needed or wanted get involved, things go extremely sideways: you know the drill. You can find the first 18 parts of this bullet point fic on AO3 here, and parts 16-20 on tumblr here.

We're starting out part 21 with a timeskip!

One year after the fall of Himring, north Beleriand remains bitterly contested.

The East is overrun. In Barad Eithel's great war-room the map of Estolad is covered in black arrows stretching from Lothlann down to the Andram Wall.

Caranthir and Amras maintain a last stronghold on Amon Ereb, with the people of Himring who fled there after its fall; but Ossiriand, they fear, will only remain undefiled so long as Morgoth's attention does not turn towards it.

Their Eastern allies, too, are unimpressed. Bór and his young sons were all slain not long after Himring burned; the few of their people who escaped the orc-raids have joined themselves to Ulfang in Thargelion, but they are none too friendly to the Fëanorians these days.

"And Nelyo says I'm bad at making allies," Caranthir remarks.

[yeah he's in this now. damn it why will they not stay in their place.]

"I wouldn't say this is Nelyo's fault," Amras says quietly.

It is a debate held, in one form or the other, in every free kingdom in Beleriand.

But anyway, the East does not seem to be Morgoth's main concern for now.

It is Hithlum, Fingon is sure, where the next assault will come.

Hithlum, the realm of the High King of the Noldor; Hithlum, where he reigns who once humilated Morgoth so thoroughly; Hithlum, where Maedhros holds a Silmaril yet.

If the last true stronghold of the Noldor falls—

And he is facing plenty of internal pressure, too.

His lords – many of them survivors of the Grinding Ice, and arch-loyal followers of the House of Fingolfin – are less than impressed by the rumours that have reached them of the fall of Himring, and Maedhros' actions there.

Fingon has tried to quell the whispers as best as he can. But it is impossible to deny the fact that the attack took Himring by surprise because its patrols were cancelled on Maedhros' orders, or that Maedhros left the field as their position worsened.

The healers who treated Maglor's stab wound have not been quiet, either, about the fact that it was an elvish blade that caused the injury.

And some of those who were at Himring have heard that Maglor was found in a pool of his own blood with Maedhros, subdued too late, unconscious beside him—

If only they knew, Fingon thinks furiously, they would not cast sly aspersions on his judgement and his taste in friends. They would not stop talking of anything consequential when Maedhros drew near, as if he is not to be trusted with the secrets of the war.

Of course when he dares to suggest to Maedhros that this might bother him, Maedhros laughs and says, "Finno, do you think this the worst humiliation I have ever endured?"

So. There's not much Fingon can say to that.

His father was a diplomat, a politician, a builder of alliances. Fingon is not doing a very good job of living up to that legacy.

Thingol returned no response to the letter Fingon sent him, informing him of Curufin's disappearance.

In fact, Thingol is kind of just Done.

So the Noldor turned out to be faithless. What else is new?

Also he didn't really want Curufin's head anyway. Where would he even put it?

Fingon cannot give him what he truly wishes for: his daughter.

In Lúthien's absence old age has fallen upon him, who has lived unwithered for long Ages of the Stars since his birth at distant Cuiviénen.

Melian sings no longer. The people of Doriath, who have known little but peace and splendour since the Girdle was first raised, begin to wonder if their blessings have been withdrawn.

So it is a Menegroth much changed into which Beren and Lúthien walk, hand in hand, one afternoon.

Their return is met with both joy and some consternation. Youth comes back to Thingol at the touch of his daughter's hand; but Melian knows that she will never smile again.

Lúthien bears it all, the feasts of celebration at which none can look her in the eye, her father's overwhelming gladness and her mother's sorrow, the halls that ring yet with the memory of her grief, for exactly two weeks; then she announces that she and Beren are leaving.

"Daughter," Thingol protests, "you have only just returned to us – and soon—"

(Thingol does not know how he will ever handle the parting that is to come.)

"Will you not stay?" he asks. "This is your home."

Lúthien is not sure she knows what home means any more.

"I am sorry," she says, regretful but firm.

The next day finds her and Beren walking through Brethil, debating their next course of action – just as they did not so very long ago, when Celegorm and Curufin attacked them in the woods.

It is of that little skirmish that Beren is thinking now.

"They say Curufin is still out there somewhere," he argues. "It mightn't be safe—"

"I sang Morgoth himself to sleep," Lúthien cries, "and you think I can't take Curufin Fëanorion?"

"Tinúviel," Beren says, with a laugh, "I do not think there is anyone you can't take."

Lúthien allows herself to be placated.

"I am not suggesting we dwell alone in the wilderness," she says; "you made your earlier thoughts on that very clear. But I – I cannot go back to being Doriath's Princess, Beren, as if every part of me is not changed irretrievably since first you called my name, as if – as if you didn't die there, and—"

"Sweetheart," says Beren, kissing her forehead. "It wasn't permanent." And when she chokes out a little laugh through her tears, he goes on, "I know you do not wish to stay in Doriath. But we must choose somewhere – and somewhere safe. It seems as though the Enemy's reach has lengthened in the time we were, um, gone."

"I thought to go to Ossiriand," Lúthien says. "My kin the Green-elves still guard those lands."

"But only those lands," says Beren. "Estolad and Thargelion are overrun. The sons of Fëanor keep no watch upon the Eastmarch. If Morgoth were to learn that you dwelled there—"

"I'm not afraid," Lúthien says. "And even if I were – am I never to venture beyond the Girdle again, for fear of him? Is all my father's kingdom to be naught to me but a prison, as Hírilorn was? I cannot stand it – I will not."

Beren takes both her hands in his one and looks at her. "Tinúviel," he says, very seriously, "I will never cage you."

Oh, he knows her. What a wondrous, terrifying thing, to be understood so completely.

Perhaps Lúthien is still a little delirious with the rush of living once more, for she dips her head to capture Beren's mouth in a delighted kiss, and for a time they both forget all other matters.

Plucking strands of grass from her hair some time later, Beren says, "I have another idea."

"What! I thought I argued my case quite passionately," Lúthien teases.

"You said you thought of dwelling among your kin," says Beren. "What of going to mine, instead?" And, when Lúthien shoots him a puzzled look, "The House of Bëor is mostly ruined, but there are still remnants of my people who escaped Dorthonion ere its fall. Some of them dwell nearby, with the Haladin. And others went north to Dor-lómin – my little cousin Morwen is the lady of that land now."

"I do not wish to stay in Brethil," says Lúthien; "it is rather too close to Menegroth for my tastes. But the Land of Echoes, on the other hand..."

Her eyes are alight with that same fanciful gleam they used to get when Beren told her stories of the world outside the Girdle, of holy Tarn Aeluin and the dread Ered Gorgoroth alike.

You would think, Beren muses, that she would have had enough of adventure by now.

"I have," says Lúthien, catching his thought. "We are to live a very peaceful and retiring life. I insist on it! That is what I told Mandos we deserved. None shall dare assail us, in Dor-lómin." She rolls the name on her tongue as if trying to taste it.

"They call it so because of the terrible cry of Morgoth when Ungoliant assailed him," Beren tells her, "not for any sweeter music."

Lúthien laughs and flings her arms around him. Oh, his living body warm and solid against hers! It is a gift she does not intend to waste.

"Luckily," she says, "I am good at changing the melody."

Another conversation between lovers:

"Do you think it could be done?"

“I have already told you what I think.”

"But you haven't explained," Fingon persists, "you have only looked at me dolefully and proclaimed that it is not possible."

"Well, it is not," says Maedhros. He is lying curled in Fingon's arms, their ankles hooked together, and he is loath to disturb their contentment with arguing. Keeping his voice measured, he says, "If our strength were doubled I do not think it would be enough, Finno."

"The attack will come either way," Fingon says, also without much vigour. They have had this debate so many times now that it is become well-worn. "Why not meet it head on?"

"Because you have a defensible position here," Maedhros says patiently, "and a greater chance of holding than you do of storming the gates of Angband."

"My father did it," Fingon mutters.

"Your father died," Maedhros says, voice suddenly sharp.

Fingon looks at him. "Don't look so worried, beloved! I am quite turned off the idea of wasteful heroics these days."

"Then look to strengthening your defences," Maedhros says, "and drop this fool notion."

"But if we did try," says Fingon, "if we united all the Free Peoples under one banner, and marched on Angband together – think what we could achieve!"

His eyes are bright with hope. Maedhros hates to crush it, but crush it he must.

"Finno," he says, "the East is lost. My brothers do not have so strong a position in Amon Ereb that they can afford to march north to join in a war that could prove ruinous. Bór and his people are dead almost to a man. Belegost will no doubt have heard the rumours—"

Fingon glances at him sharply, but he speaks without bitterness. Which is concerning in itself, but Fingon decides to let it slide for now.

"—and there is little help to be expected from other corners," Maedhros continues. "Doriath has strength to spare, but Thingol hates you."

Fingon shifts uncomfortably. He never actually told Maedhros why Thingol hates him now.

"Nargothrond," he says, to change the subject. "Orodreth will answer to his High King."

"Orodreth!" says Maedhros, dismissively. “A king too ruled by the whims of his people. If he had any spine he would have turned my brothers out of Nargothrond immediately, and Finrod might have lived.”

If Fingon were crueller he might say, You didn't manage to control your brothers that well yourself. Instead he says, "But the people of Nargothrond are many and valiant. We should not discount them."

"If Nargothrond wishes to stay out of the wars of the north," says Maedhros, "I think it would be prudent to allow them to do so." There is a thoughtful, uneasy look in his grey eyes.

Fingon gauges it correctly and says, "Are you worried for your nephew?"

Maedhros looks at him unhappily. "Everyone in Beleriand knows what a mess – Curvo – made of – everything," he says.

(A year might have passed, but Maedhros still does not much like to speak of Curufin.)

"Tyelpë is safe in Nargothrond, where his father's deeds cannot taint him," Maedhros says. "I would keep him so." Then he shrugs. "But my opinion carries no weight now, beloved. Do as you will, and I will support you, for all that is worth."

"It carries weight with me," Fingon says fiercely. "And I am not ashamed to say so. But you have not yet heard the key element in my plan."

Maedhros smiles despite himself, propping himself up on his elbows so that he can keep his eyes focused on Fingon's face. The mass of his silken hair is pooled on Fingon's bare chest. "Go on, then," he says, indulgent.

"Gondolin," Fingon says triumphantly. "My brother took a third of our host with him when he disappeared, and yet more of the Sindar went with him. They have lived in peace for more than three hundred years; their numbers must be great."

Maedhros does not seem as delighted with this idea as Fingon is. "Finno, you don't know where Gondolin is."

"The Eagles bring them tidings, clearly," Fingon points out; "else they would have opened the leaguer and come to our aid when they saw the fires of the Dagor Bragollach on the horizon."

Maedhros frowns, attempting to parse this extremely backwards logic. Eventually, he says, "If Hithlum falls, Gondolin will be the last stronghold of the Noldor in the north. I do not know if its position should be risked."

"All war is risk, beloved," says Fingon, "and if I were to call upon my brother, Hithlum will not fall."

Maedhros says, as if he has been saving this blow for last, "Finno, if you call upon Turgon, will he even answer?"

It has been more than three hundred years, since Fingon last saw his brother.

“Do you think he won’t?” he asks, more sharply than he means to.

(Turgon didn’t tell him he was going. He didn’t tell anyone. He just – vanished.)

Sometimes Maedhros thinks things were easier during Maglor’s long convalescence, when his only concern was his brother, when every sleepless night was because Maglor needed someone to sit up with him and every meal was whatever invalid's food Maglor could be persuaded to choke down – when Fingon was his strength and steadiness, and Maedhros could yet wrap his blue cloak around him like armour.

Selfish – selfish. Maglor is better now, and Maedhros is so, so glad; and Fingon cannot always be his strength. Sometimes Maedhros must be his.

"I am sure he will," he says, contrite. He presses a kiss to Fingon's tense jawline. "I just don't think it wise to ask him."

Fingon sighs and puts his arms around Maedhros. "Fine," he concedes. "Perhaps you are right."

But later, when they have extricated themselves from their warm tangle of limbs and risen for the day, he sits down to write a letter.

A few days later the High King's messenger, having ridden swiftly along the Ered Wethrin and into Dor-lómin, nearly collides with a small child playing near the road.

"Be careful!" cries Lúthien, dropping Beren's hand and rushing forward to snatch the child up.

The messenger gapes at her, for it seems to him as though she has materialised out of the shadows themselves. Then, when he gets better look at her beauty, he gapes even more.

Lúthien is not paying attention. All her focus is on the little golden-haired creature in her arms. "That was nearly very dangerous for you, wasn't it, sweetheart?" she coos. "But you don't seem frightened at all. What's your name, dear one?"

The little girl giggles and hides her face in Lúthien's sleeve without answering.

Beren feels a little dizzy, looking at the picture that they make, and at the bright tender look on his wife's face. Someday, he tells himself, someday.

He looks around. The messenger has dismounted; it seems the great house up ahead is his destination. A house of lords, clearly, surrounded by gardens as lovely as any in the chilly northlands, and with a bubbling stream running just past its walls.

Well, here they are.

He is pondering what the etiquette is here – should they knock? wait here until someone spots them? – when he catches sight of a second child, a little older, dark-haired, watching them intently from around a tree-trunk.

"Good day, lad," Beren says gravely. "Might I ask your name, and those of your parents?"

The boy regards him with suspicion for a while, before he finally says, "I am Túrin son of Húrin, and that is my sister Lalaith."

(One little-appreciated consequence of the fall of Himring: for the last year, Morgoth's attention has been on the final desecration of the March of Maedhros. He did not have time to send the Evil Breath to Dor-lómin.)

"Lalaith!" Lúthien says, delighted. "What a fitting name."

"Then, son of Húrin," says Beren, "we have reached our destination indeed. Might you do me the honour of introducing us to your parents?"

Túrin looks unimpressed. "Who are you?" he asks.

"My name is Beren son of Barahir," says Beren, "and we are kinsmen, son of Morwen."

Túrin frowns even more. "How do you know my mother's name?" he demands. "And Beren is dead."

Kind of hard to argue with that.

Before Beren can come up with a suitable response there is a small noise from the direction of the house: the children's mother has come out to call them in for the evening meal. She stands so still she might be made of stone, were it not for the wind whipping up her dark hair behind her.

Beren finds his own mouth is very dry.

He buried Baragund his cousin, and avenged him; and he has not thought of his slaughtered companions for a long time.

(There's only so much survivor's guilt one person can have, and it is usually the screams of Finrod and his Ten that haunt Beren's nightmares.)

Morwen is not now the thirteen-year-old he remembers, her face sterner and more sorrowful, but somehow she is the image of her dead father.

"Hello, little cousin," he croaks out.

Morwen stares at him.

Lúthien comes to the rescue. "You must be the lady Morwen," she says warmly, setting Lalaith down so that she can drop into a graceful curtsey. Her Taliska is hesitant, but beautiful. (Everything about Lúthien is beautiful.) "Beren has told me so much of you. And your children are charming."

"Beren's dead," Morwen says at last, shakily. "And – you—"

"I was dead," says Beren, "but now I'm not. I don't know how to explain it, cousin, but—" He holds his hand out to her, letting the Ring of Barahir gleam green upon his finger in the setting sun. "It really is me."

Morwen makes another small sound, swaying where she stands. Her hand rests on her son's dark head as though he is the only thing keeping her upright.

"Mother?" Túrin says nervously.

Before things can get any more awkward the lord of the house comes out to seek his family, perhaps wondering what is taking them so long. "Morwen," he says quietly, seeing her stiff posture.

But Morwen takes a breath. "We have guests, Húrin," she says, composed again. "This is my kinsman Beren Erchamion, and his – and his wife, the Princess of Doriath."

Lúthien turns her dazzling smile on Húrin. "A pleasure to meet you," she says gaily. "But call me rather the Lady of Dorthonion."

(to be continued)

#silmarillion #my fic #bullet point fic #the fairest stars #beren #luthien #fingon #maedhros #russingon #here we gooo!!#very excited for where we're going with this arc #this thing definitely needs more editing but I lost patience so have it now #say hi to a bunch of new characters (more are coming later too)#and a new set of political problems #also guess who DOESN'T appear here for the first time in 21 parts I'm as shocked as you are #(he'll be back next time dw)#also nobody died or got stabbed or had a breakdown or got nearly executed or like. even stubbed their toe here so BE GRATEFUL

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