Anyway. I'm going to get a little bit real here about recent events - protests in particular. If you just want to end the night on a comfy note, totally understandable. Feel free to not read this, there's a reason I saved it for the comment section.
So way back when I made the decision to have Claude be in an activist marching band - well, social justice, activism, all that stuff is obviously important to me. See: Dimitri being open about his schizophrenia, Team DAAM's polyamory, the GD's basically everything. But at the time, while everything was a shitshow here in the USA, it was in one of its... "calm" periods. So while I felt this kind of unique band activism was very Claude von Riegan, it also didn't feel like a bad choice in the context of the time, if that makes sense. A lot of this fic is very self indulgent, a sort of dreamier reality, if *that* makes sense too.
But then in the last month, everything kind of exploded in the USA. It was already kind of exploding, and has tbh been in a state of perpetual explosion for a while now, but it got worse. My last chapter, as it was, didn't feel in the best taste with the newly changed context, in some respects. So I felt the need to rewrite Ch 10 to a degree - mostly in the flashback for the march to the town hall meeting. (Although I did get to try out a new editing technique.)
I'm, honestly, *still* not sure if it's in the best taste, but I did what I felt I could, because ultimately? This is still my self indulgence. And for me - well, this is all stuff that's important to me. My younger sibling is getting involved as much they can, while I'm physically unable to. So I still ended up wanting to write something, a sort of fluff version of the vent. The march here in Ch 10 is my hopeful escapist fantasy of the current events: a safe march where everyone is looked out for, nothing disastrously horrifying happens, and what bad *does* happen is fought against successfully. It's what I hope for my younger sibling, even if only a *fraction* of it.
However, while my escapist fantasy is nice, and is helping me get through these tumultuous times - maybe even a few others are reading this for the same reason - it's not what ultimately helps people. So, while this fic is getting a lot of attention, I thought I could redirect at least a small portion of that attention to other places.
(yes, still using tumblr. listen, twitter is a trashfire that is impossible for me to find anything on.)
If you need exact names, here are a few: - The American Bar Assocation - Queer Detainee Empowerment Project - Freedom for Immigrants - White Earth Land Recovery - ILTF Land Recovery - National Lawyers Guild - Anarchist Black Cross - the CAHOOTS Program - The Birmingham Peacemakers
And there are many more in that tag I linked, along with various things to keep in mind like jury nullification, and what you can do instead of calling cops.
I know this seems... pretty political for a fluff piece! But what's "political" to some are the actual lives being lived by a lot of people, including myself and my younger sibling. I felt I couldn't in good faith write about Claude in general, let alone how he's depicted in this AU, without drawing attention to these causes.
I hope this has all made sense, and I hope that everyone stays safe during these tough and frightening times. I hope that my fic has offered even the slightest bit of comfort. Remember that we're all still fighting, and it's not bad to take breaks when you need them.
no subject
So way back when I made the decision to have Claude be in an activist marching band - well, social justice, activism, all that stuff is obviously important to me. See: Dimitri being open about his schizophrenia, Team DAAM's polyamory, the GD's basically everything. But at the time, while everything was a shitshow here in the USA, it was in one of its... "calm" periods. So while I felt this kind of unique band activism was very Claude von Riegan, it also didn't feel like a bad choice in the context of the time, if that makes sense. A lot of this fic is very self indulgent, a sort of dreamier reality, if *that* makes sense too.
But then in the last month, everything kind of exploded in the USA. It was already kind of exploding, and has tbh been in a state of perpetual explosion for a while now, but it got worse. My last chapter, as it was, didn't feel in the best taste with the newly changed context, in some respects. So I felt the need to rewrite Ch 10 to a degree - mostly in the flashback for the march to the town hall meeting. (Although I did get to try out a new editing technique.)
I'm, honestly, *still* not sure if it's in the best taste, but I did what I felt I could, because ultimately? This is still my self indulgence. And for me - well, this is all stuff that's important to me. My younger sibling is getting involved as much they can, while I'm physically unable to. So I still ended up wanting to write something, a sort of fluff version of the vent. The march here in Ch 10 is my hopeful escapist fantasy of the current events: a safe march where everyone is looked out for, nothing disastrously horrifying happens, and what bad *does* happen is fought against successfully. It's what I hope for my younger sibling, even if only a *fraction* of it.
However, while my escapist fantasy is nice, and is helping me get through these tumultuous times - maybe even a few others are reading this for the same reason - it's not what ultimately helps people. So, while this fic is getting a lot of attention, I thought I could redirect at least a small portion of that attention to other places.
If you want an idea of where to start, this might help direct your efforts or give you ideas on what you can do: https://trilies.tumblr.com/tagged/protests/
(yes, still using tumblr. listen, twitter is a trashfire that is impossible for me to find anything on.)
If you need exact names, here are a few:
- The American Bar Assocation
- Queer Detainee Empowerment Project
- Freedom for Immigrants
- White Earth Land Recovery
- ILTF Land Recovery
- National Lawyers Guild
- Anarchist Black Cross
- the CAHOOTS Program
- The Birmingham Peacemakers
And there are many more in that tag I linked, along with various things to keep in mind like jury nullification, and what you can do instead of calling cops.
I know this seems... pretty political for a fluff piece! But what's "political" to some are the actual lives being lived by a lot of people, including myself and my younger sibling. I felt I couldn't in good faith write about Claude in general, let alone how he's depicted in this AU, without drawing attention to these causes.
I hope this has all made sense, and I hope that everyone stays safe during these tough and frightening times. I hope that my fic has offered even the slightest bit of comfort. Remember that we're all still fighting, and it's not bad to take breaks when you need them.