#i'm aware

Word Count: 795 - @wolfstarmicrofic

I'm feeling all the cosy autumn vibes and I hope this has all the cosy autumn vibes too x

Remus shrugged his coat off, unwound the woollen scarf tied securely round his neck, and finally let his shoulders relax. He was glad to be home, enveloped in lingering warmth from the fireplace, his feet sinking into plush rugs. He smiled as he nudged his shoes into place, tucked between the wall and Sirius' boots.

What had that man been up to today?

Sirius was unbelievably obvious when he had a plan. There wasn't a subtle bone in his body and there never had been. How he had ever managed to evade detention back at school, Remus didn't know.

This morning had been no different. When Sirius shoved a tea in his hands, placed his morning medicine on the bedside table, and ran him a bath before he'd even rubbed the sleep from his eyes, Remus knew something was up. He just didn't know what.

All of their friends were in on it too.

Lily called first and, Remus will admit, he hadn't suspected her involvement. He'd hurried out the door right after breakfast, apologising to Sirius for what he'd thought was derailing his plans. His boyfriend hadn't cared, insisting that Harry needed his phenomenal babysitting. Yeah, right.

After that, James had stalled for a good hour, urging Remus to stay for lunch as a reward for the last-minute help. James was as good a liar as Sirius was subtle and Remus had no qualms with claiming sole responsibility for the Marauders' esteemed reputation.

He had finally weasled away from Prongs, stifling laughter at his desperate pleas to go broom shopping with him, and was determined to go home. The walk had been filled with a series of frantic owls. Remus pitied the poor creatures who had been roped into whatever this was.

Marlene's bike had broken down, leaving her horribly stranded. Remus helpfully reminded her that she was, in fact, a witch.

Peter had just gotten back from a work trip, eager to have him over to debrief. Remus told him to reschedule and come up with better excuses.

Mary nearly broke him, luring him in with the promise of her new kitten. It had taken a lot of Remus' willpower to turn that one down.

In the end, his return home was intercepted by Regulus Black, of all people. He hadn't come up with an excuse. He hadn't tried to be evasive. He'd only come up to Remus, asked him for a chat, and spent the whole time telling him stories about Sirius. About their childhood. About how strong his older brother had always been. About what he deserved.

Remus had walked away from it with the distinct impression that Regulus had just given him the "if you ever hurt him" talk and he really didn't know what to make of it.

With the day's events looping through his mind, Remus padded towards the faint crashing he could hear coming from the kitchen. He knocked on the wooden door, chuckling to himself at the muttered swearing coming from the other side. After a solid minute, a dishevelled Sirius opened up. "Hi."

Remus didn't know what to say. His boyfriend had his hair tied up, with several loose strands caked in flour. Bits of sauce had stained his t-shirt, he had a stray dollop of cream stuck to his cheek, and he looked so unbelievably nervous, biting his lip and staring up at Remus with wide eyes.

Behind him, the table was set with the fancy tablecloth, the one they saved for birthday parties or Remus' parents. Sirius had set up a centrepiece - a fresh, floral arrangement framed by charmed, floating candles. Their plates were already filled with bolognese, served exactly like his mum's, and sitting off to the side was, unmistakably, a pumpkin pie. One that, by the looks of it, had been lifted right from Hope Lupin's recipe book.

"Hi." Remus returned the awkward greeting, fighting back a wild, toothy grin in an effort to let Sirius surprise him. "What's going on?"

He waited patiently as Sirius struggled to find the words, fidgeting with his hands and, at one point, something in his back pocket.

Sirius smiled at him, a small, unsure thing. "Just thought I'd make you dinner?"

Remus beamed in response, already flushed with excitement and the effort Sirius had undeniably put in. He let the other man guide him to his seat and sat quietly as he started up the old, stone fireplace. But, in the end, he just couldn't hold it in.

"You thought you'd make pie for a proposal, Pads?"

Remus could see Sirius' brain short circuit. His jaw dropped, his panic spreading like wildfire, before he finally registered the entirely besotted look on Remus' face.

Does Janeway make some questionable decisions throughout VOY (Prodigy!Janeway is a different conversation for another time)? Yes, absolutely. But here’s the thing: every captain does. What I still love about her though and will champion until I'm blue in the face is that Janeway owns her decisions more than I think any other captain does.

Picard and Kirk hide behind the Prime Directive a lot. That's the reasoning Picard gives for not interfering in the drug running in “Symbiosis” and leaving the Ornarans trapped in dependence on the abusive Brekkans. His line, “Beverly, the Prime Directive is not just a set of rules. It is a philosophy, and a very correct one. History has proved again and again that whenever mankind interferes with a less developed civilization, no matter how well-intentioned that interference may be, the results are invariably disastrous." is a cop-out we hear from him time and time again, especially to Dr. Crusher, as she is the one who most often calls him on his bullshit.

Kirk does the same thing. We still this when he leaves Shanna and the other thralls behind in "The Gamesters of Triskelion" and when he forces Elaan of Troyius into a marriage she clearly doesn't want because it's "for a greater good." And all the while, he's got Spock at his side giving him confirmation bias that he's following regulations.

And Sisko, Sisko makes some of the most horrific and destructive decisions of any captain and uses not only the Prime Directive to fall back on, but he's got the Dominion War to blame. He poisons an entire planet to get back at one man he feels betrayed him in "For the Uniform" and don't even get me started on his actions in "In the Pale Moonlight".

Enterprise is so unjustly shat on by the fandom that I almost hate to bring some of Archer's questionable choices into this conversation but I'm going to do it anyway. Similar to Sisko and the Dominion War, Archer has the threat of the Xindi in his back pocket to excuse some of his worst behavior. If Tuvix is the worst thing people can point to for Janeway, then we have to talk about Archer and Sim, the simbiont created solely to be a living tissue donor for an injured Trip, a procedure that will kill the living, breathing, sentient Sim. Archer orders Sim created against the arguments made by Dr. Phlox. He rationalizes his decision with the same argument for the greater good that we see from all the others. He says to T'Pol before Sim is created "…we've got to complete this mission. Earth needs Enterprise. Enterprise needs Trip. It's as simple as that." And it doesn't end there. When Sim is grown enough for the procedure and has figured out what's going to happen to him, he challenges Archer himself, arguing for his own right to live, and Archer sticks to his guns. This exchange directly between Archer and Sim is haunting.

Archer: I must complete this mission; and to do that, I need Trip. Trip! I'll take whatever steps necessary to save him. Sim: Even if it means killing me? Archer: Even if it means killing you. Sim: You're not a murderer. Archer: Don't make me one.

Not only do all of these captains (except Archer, who arguably writes the damn thing himself at the end of the series) have the Prime Directive to fall back on, they also have Starfleet/the Federation/Vulcan High Council right there on speed dial to validate their choices and hear their excuses and give them another commendation. They all know that ultimately, they can turn to someone higher in command to turn to for help.

Janeway is alone. She is alone with her crew 70,000 lightyears from home with only her training and her own moral compass to guide her. Yes, she claims the Prime Directive a lot but she also goes with what she feels is right and she is clear about that with her crew. When she makes the decision to split Tuvix, despite what everyone else says, she sticks to it and more importantly, does the procedure herself. Picard would have forced Beverly to do it, saying Doctor I gave you an order, your conscience be damned, and Archer does the same to Phlox with Sim, but Janeway takes the tool out of the Doctor's hand and says it's my call, I'll do it. When everyone is angry and mad about her destroying the Caretaker's array, she stands up for her decision and says yes, I did it, because it's what my Starfleet training said to do AND because I think it was the right thing and it's on me to make the hard choices.

She also can admit when she made the wrong decision, which isn't something we see from the other captains. In the season 5 opener, "Night", we see her in a depressive state because she's questioning her decision to effectively strand her crew in the Delta quadrant but she comes out of it when she's reminded by her senior staff that the crew believes in her and trusts her, she should do the same for herself. When the Doctor has a mental crisis in "Latent Image" after questioning his own choice to save the life of Harry Kim over that of another crew member, Janeway admits she did the wrong thing by first deleting his memories of it so he could get back to work and then sits with him for days while he works through it because that's what captains do.

And she does all of this without the backup and support of Starfleet. She doesn't have anyone higher on the chain of command. She's 70,000 miles away from the admiralty and her support system. There's no one higher than her to give her a break from making every decision.

I don't have enough fingers to count the amount of times someone's come to me to make fun of his death, either on posts or on my strawpage or whatever, and I don't have enough to count the amount of times my friends have had to deal with similar stuff either. Some people really need to sit back and ask themselves if it's really appropriate to bring up certain things at certain times I'm so serious

BUT NO NO NOOOOOO

it’s not even just Naruto being powerful. It’s him being horrifyingly competent and able to pick up skills quickly once he’s shown and adapt to anything without missing a beat because he’s just always fucking watching and has gotten so used to it he doesn’t even realize what he’s doing. It’s just what he does and always has (like bro was always throwing kunai in the anime and while it was a joke about him trying to look cool EVERY TIME there was something weird happening around the area he threw it at!!!)

Just him having sharp eyes people don’t notice under the brightness in them. Or the squint of his smile making him impossible to read. Except for Kakashi who is the king of looking underneath the underneath and clocked him as soon as he could bear to get close to him

Idk I just love skilled and competent Naruto instead of for just powerful and strong Naruto. Ya know?

YOU GET MEEEE!!! Naruto may be a moron but that boy is NOT an idiot. He may not be smart in the same ways most people would notice, but there's a reason he was able to become Hokage and win nearly every fight he was ever in. He literally learned the Rasengan in record time, and he figured out ON HIS OWN how to make it work with his own insane chakra. He's incredibly adaptable, and I really wish more fics would explore it!!!