#➵ who we are now [ undecided verse ]

[dixoniisms]

continued from x

daryl had known it was only a matter of time before someone found him, a slight exhale escaping him -- blue gaze shifting over toward the hunter, meeting blue eyes lighter than his own. ❝ it ain't that bad, ❞ he argues instinctively, before chewing at his lower lip - a low sigh escaping him a moment later, moving his vest and shirt out of the way so chris can see the gash on his side.

@prxtectors

[dixoniisms]

❝ thanks , man . ❞ the lighter he has is fished from his pocket - the archer checking how much fluid he has left before lighting the cigarette . ❝ ya look like y'ain't really know how ya ended up here . ❞ he blows smoke into the air , leaning a hip against the wall a little .

Connor glanced up towards the voice, blinking a few times as he pushed back the fact that the other reminded him of his brother. He tipped his head as he pulled out his pack, letting one slip out a bit for him to take. "There ya go," he said, his accent much thicker the older he got.

[crimeronan]

I did the equivalent of mentally rising from my bed like a vampire rising from their coffin yesterday as I was trying to sleep as a thought struck me; There's a high chance there's a verse of the PrincessLuz AU where Belos *doesn't* kick the bucket early or pre-story start, and for Reasons Luz and Hunter has to make a run for it from the castle (Belos is about to kill Hunter and Luz gets a good hit in before they book it. Or Hunter walks in on the Nightmare Dinner Scene and they make a run for it. Many options.) and Belos proceeds to spin a heartwrenching, complete bullshit lie how the Golden Guard has lost it and abducted his beloved daughter and who knows what he will do to her. Not directly stated but highly implied that Hunter is now Kill On Sight.

Meanwhile Amity, at undecided rate of knowing Luz+Hunter well but knowing Hunter would rather break his own bones than purposefully make even a scratch on Luz, is watching this all unfold like "uuuuhhh, Doubt™". And if she has the luck of running into them, well she can't kill Hunter! For reasons. And Luz seems to really not want to go back. Maybe one of the scouts she's with is about to hit Hunter and she just- moves without thinking. Knocks the fucker out and oh that sure is a choice she can't take back. Fuck guess she's a deserter now.

At the castle we have the separate but synchronised freaking out of Darius, Raine, and Lilith, who are Losing Their Minds over them being out there and actively being hunted down to be brought back to the saw trap that is the Emperor's Castle. Possible team-up after Darius and Raine see how hard Lilith is spiralling and she lets something slip?? But also laughing over the possibility of Lilith swallowing her pride and going to Eda for help. Maybe with some pressure from Darius and Raine. Eda opening the door to three Coven Heads, one being her estranged sister and one her ex, and she wonders if the appleblood she had yesterday was spiked with something.

MMM YES YES YES EXCELLENT CONCEPTS. poor amity rapid-cycling between "luz is clearly fucking Terrified of belos and i'll be damned if i drag Anybody back to their abusive parent" and "oh titan. i just chose HUNTER over LILITH".... poor girl. im love her.

a while back there was a timeline where luz hunter and vee ran away several years pre-fic-canon... i could see events unfolding here similarly. "okay, we'll be found on the isles, we either have to sneak through the castle portal or eda clawthorne's portal so we can hide out in the human world" <-three people who don't realize Just How Out-Of-Place a group of scruffy obviously unhoused teens will be in suburban connecticut.

[xclowniex]

What are your thoughts on someone thinking neither Israel *or* Palestine should continue to exist as they are, but instead should form a *new* country founded on safety and equality for all the Jews, Arabs, and everyone else living there? Not one or the other, or even both, but just one big country encompassing everybody and everything? I'm sure that's pure fantasy and everyone I know is for two states right now, but wouldn't one big safe country for *everybody* be a good thing to strive for?

That's exactly what I want, ideally. It's called land for all solution. Because rarely is the ideal solution ever realistic, I usually opt for a two state solution, but if we're to go with ideally what we want, that is what I want.

The state of Israel is closet to that currently as all non Jewish citizens have the same rights as Jewish citizens, however racism still exists and interfaith marriages are still not performed in Israel though are recognized if it happens outside of Israel.

I have so many thoughts on how a land for all solution would work. My current idea is taking a similar thing we have here in NZ which is easy to implement as Israel and NZ both run off of the MMP system.

So you would have one country and it is split up into electorates. Electorates are regions where one member of parliament represents that area.

Then you would have jewish and arab wards, similar to Māori wards here. How it works here is that multiple electorates funnel into a Māori ward and if you're Māori, you have to chose between either voting for your electorate or your ward. The wards mean that there are mandatory seats for Māori in parliment.

So in this new one country, you would funnel electorates into jewish and arab wards to make sure that no matter who got into government, there is still jewish and arab representation. The jewish and arab wards would be the exact same area, eg arab ward 1 and jewish war 1 are the same area, you would just have jews only voting in the jewish ward and arabs only voting in the arab ward.

The one thing I would change is the having to chose between either voting ward or electorate. I think that in this new country, a person should be able to vote for both their electorate and ward if they so wish.

I don't think that non arab non Jewish folk really need a ward and can just vote electorate.

In cases where someone is of both arab and Jewish descent, I am undecided if they should vote in both wards or have to pick one (and can change it at any time but can only vote for one ward in each election), but both would work.

I also think that there should be either one or two tribunals set up. Either one for both jews and arabs or one for jews and one for arabs to settle any matters pertaining any violation of rights. This is again taking from the Waitangi tribunal we have for Māori. This means that if the government does anything to lessen jewish or arab rights, they can be prosecuted by the tribunal.

In regards to striving for it, it is 100% something we should strive for. To get there, a peaceful two state solution is going to be required as how can you turn it into one country if they can't even exist next to each other peacefully. Which is why I'm a two state solution realist. How I think it would happen is that a permanent ceasefire will be brought into affect and honored as it doesn't mean much if it's not honored. Then a peace treaty will be signed, hamas removed from power and bibi arrested for war crimes. Then trade treaties should be signed to help get Palestine up to a better economical standard to improve living conditions. Years after that, there would likely end up being a, at minimum, 2 decade-long meetings and planning on how to merge the two countries. Considering a merger of all the polytechnics and trade schools here in NZ was estimated to take 14 years from start to finish, it is going to take time to plan and slowly implement.

Of course that is all what I think. I'm not super well versed on the implementation side so my idea could end up being not at all realistic of how to achieve it.

[lee-sanghyeok]

bonedo? lol

Thank you Allison!! something really bad will now occur!! (talking about bonedo at length)

fan or not:

Well, I stayed up last night to liveblog an event they barely attended and gave zero fucks about, so I'd say I'm a fan.

how long i’ve been a fan:

Since the first promos of debut started, so pre-debut, which is embarrassing

first song i heard by them:

"One & Only"

first mv i saw:

"Only & Only" MV

first bias:

For a good chunk of time I had no bias, but then Riwoo dyed his hair cherry red, he showed off more of his personality, and it was game over for me.

current bias and why:

Still Riwoo. He's not only a great dancer, but he has proven to be a great singer as well. He has such a distinct voice and tone. His cover of Taeyang's 'Darling' was also, like... a cultural shift. Something seriously went wrong in my brain when he performed that.

Beyond the performance, I've always appreciated how he makes the distinction between 'Sanghyeok' and 'Riwoo' and that he seems very aware of his role and function as an idol. And he also just seems like a really kind person. So yeah.

bias wrecker(s):

All of OT6. There are certain performances where one member shines more than the other, which obviously then grabs the eye. I think I'm most often taken aback by Woonhak, but that's because he seems like the coolest teenager to ever exist.

favourite song:

If we were to look at my Spotify stats, it would be "Fadeaway" (their OST for a basketball webtoon😩), but from their actual albums, I'd say it's currently "Amnesia"

favourite mv:

"But Sometimes", I really liked the combination of on-location filming and exaggerated sets, and how the MV broke reality in various ways. The kitschy grunge look was also spot on for what they were going for. Jaehyun's rap part felt the most inventive to me in terms of the videography complimenting the storytelling.

favourite era:

As of right now, "WHY", because we got some iconic stages at award shows with "But Sometimes" as the main feature. I think we all remember them going, "BOY to the NEXT to the DOOR! Remember!" and just. how iconic that was. Leehan b-boying. Dozens of dancers going crazy with them. Taesan sitting on a throne. Riwoo's hats getting crazier and crazier. So many cool moments during awards season.

favourite choreography:

"Serenade" for sure. K-pop underestimates the power of a good tableau and "Serenade" gives us plenty of those. The choreo just really works well with the story they're telling.

who i think is the best-looking:

Riwoo. I'd prefer not to go in depth.

who i think is the cutest:

Woonhak, of course. He's absolutely adorable.

best singer:

I'm undecided still. We haven't heard the full range and scope of their voices, so I really don't know yet. Right now, I think Sungho is pretty much the best singer, though I'm still waiting for a song using Leehan's lower register.

best dancer:

Riwoo, without a shadow of a doubt. He goes crazy.

best rapper:

In terms of tone and voice, I prefer Taesan, but Jaehyun has the better verses and flow in my opinion.

an unpopular opinion about the group/members (if i have any):

Their styling is always hit or miss, but I'm just a fashion snob. And I'm of the opinion that a slow, gradual growth will always be better than skyrocketing fame. I see a lot of people on Twitter begging for that shot of ultra fame for them, but I don't think that benefits any group in the long run. So, let bonedo grow slowly.

send me a kpop group and i'll answer 🗣️‼️

[dixoniisms]

➵ daryl understands more than most, the need to prove to oneself that they can make it on their own - to not relying on others. had the archer not met the group that he did in the survivors from atlanta, in rick, in the greene family... he'd probably still have that mindset himself. though, he considers for a second, if he was still like that, he likely wouldn't have offered to help her out of the good of his heart. a mental shake of his head, the archer is glad for the people in his life that helped him learn to open up - even if the constant risk of losing those he loves remains.

for a brief second, her question elicits a peek of that hard exterior, that more feral part of daryl that raises it's hackles at people questioning his choices - that bares fangs at being reminded that he's possibly lost his family. but he's good enough at reading people - he has to be, the way he grew up && the way the world is now - to know that she doesn't truly mean anything malicious by it. there's a... vibe to her words, that reminds him of how his own words can be rough && full of teeth more often than not. daryl is not soft-toned like carol, or truthfully caring like glenn - the way clare talks, is familiar - daryl can handle words veiled with a barbed tone.

he puffs out a breath at her insistence she can take care of herself, sharp hunter's gaze dropping to the blood dripping down to the ground from her fingers. he gives a grunt, that says he clearly knows better but he'll respect her need to be okay. he moves after her, easily catching up && keeping pace - crossbow held at the ready in rough hands, the archer keeping an ear trained from childhood to catch sounds on the forest - seeking out anything, a shuffle, a footstep, the crackle of a walkie talkie - but also taking in her words. blue eyes glance over to her, before he steps over a fallen log. "if y'got something we can cruise away in, all the better." he looks off for a moment before deigning the noise he'd heard nothing more than a spooked rabbit or squirrel. "heard the name tossed around a couple times among different groups. ain't someone y'wanna get tangled up with, what i can tell."

dixoniisms​:

➵ daryl isn’t at all thrown by her reaction to his words. he’s met plenty of people as fiery as she is, && as the world goes on - he’s meeting more && more who have a bite as deadly as their bark. it’s clear by his posture, by his expression that he doesn’t mean any insult by his words. being tough these days is a lifeline, at times - he’s simply a blunt, rough around the edges with an occasional lack of knowing how to word things.

he raises a brow, opening his mouth a little to reply when he sees it click - what he’s said. he lifts a shoulder at her questioning, adjusting his crossbow as he makes sure neither walker nor human is too close for comfort. the way she refuses to even consider for a moment that someone might be offering help just because there are still good people in this world - it reminds him of rick, after the jail had fallen - how he had been so ready to take out aaron because he didn’t trust anyone.

a brief scrunch of the nose, the archer looks back over to her - blues lifting under the fringe of messy brown hair to meet her gaze. “daryl,” he murmurs. “not particularly. been fine on m'own this long. i just ain’t a dick. ain’t someone who goes after someone hurt jus’ t'get supplies or last another day longer.” it’s not that he openly trusts others - he’s always aware of the risk of offering aid. it’s simply just not in his nature to be cruel like that - it’s become part of who he is, looking out for others. or perhaps he’s always been that way, && it’s taken the world ending for him to learn that.

There were times, grim and torturous, where she wished she could truly be what she presented herself as. To cut down anyone without debating about it, where greed, selfishness, numbness to suffering around her can’t get its sting through the hardened core. If nothing, it would be convenient for this time where dead roamed the earth and the worst threats came in a shape of ‘ friendly ‘ human being. With each kill, silent prayers to her own soul were recited, to become blind to the difference between right and wrong. It never happened.Giving, in any meaning, was served cold but with good intentions. No matter that it always ended in the same way – being left empty handed and on her own. 

Clare didn’t lie when she stated she is not looking for another warm body to follow her around, let along form a group. Help – was it in a form of providing medicine, supplies or assistance, never wanted nothing in return. Making deals, that was for her own sanity to be preserved. To know, to be prepared, it is always an exchange of some sort, that she didn’t belong no where and made no connections that would survive without the fuel of ‘ returning ‘ the favor. Answer Daryl gave, send a slight ‘ earthquake ‘ through that ice lands of her believes.

 Usually, she would form a simple answer ‘ Actions speak louder than words do. ‘ but what actions has she to judge? Joining her for the hunt, providing the gun so without which she would probably not be alive in this moment and now asking nothing in return, just silently following to makes sure danger does not follow not only him, but her as well. Confusion was not a cage the redhead felt comfortable in, even more so, it raised suspicion… or at least the ‘ sinister pet ‘ bared its fangs towards this unusual situation, reminding her the last time she lowered her guard, took a seemingly friendly hand that ended being the hand that broke the last bridges she had towards ever trusting a living soul. However, somehow. . . Clare swallowed the harsh refusal, contained the growing need to once again shove someone away. Even for a little while… 

“ Clare. “ silent answer left two cherry colored lips. “  Did these good intentions got you where you are now? Separated from your people, Daryl? “ Tongue sampled his name. The way she spoke always seemed temperamental, but it was a barb-wire that was there as a precaution. No ill-will, hard to believe, but true. Before she could continue, a feeling of weakness began to eat away at her legs. She wanted to break away from the shackles, but the warm blood under her thin fingers made it clear that with an empty stomach, dehydration and fatigue, she would not be able to run for long in parallel with her steel will. Weakness,she didn’t want to show it at all. “ I can take care of myself. “ it was necessary to get those words out. “  But if you are hell bent on following me, I’ll rather know about it. “ Carefully, the legs were set in motion again. “  Staying here is a no go. Walking..either. “  delicately were the next words formed. “  And we..don’t have to. I might just have something that will get us far enough from this mess. “ Recalling the name those guys with guns used, she thinks for a minute. “ Heard a name, Negan. Mean anything to you? It seemed that guys were not very happy but still following his will to be out here. “

[anxso]

@ygoc-week day 5 is swap, so let’s swap to talking about another OC for a bit!

YU-GI-OH! DM — ISABELLA “IZZ” ROOKE

Oh Izz. Izz baby. My girl :3c She's the main character of a DM alternate fic called Soul Release, named after a card that's very important to her. She survived a tragic pileup that killed her entire family. Unbeknownst to her, this event tied her to a freshly-born reincarnation of Anubis named Rin in this verse.

This version of DM also includes a faction of worshippers of Apophis because of the existence of The Prophet of Apophis, a strong leader and manipulator… as cult leaders tend to be.

Aigami/Diva also appears earlier in this story rather than being a post-canon aspect; we get a Kisara reincarnation named Sapha, a German TCG champion; and Battle City gets a top 16 on the blimp with these three OCs especially mixing things up via their being chosen by the Wickeds.

I say “chosen,” but both Yami Bakura/Zorc and Rin/Anubis work together to create them to oppose the Egyptian gods. Yami B and Rin have a… working relationship, very much rooted in “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” They both strive for the pharaoh’s downfall. Rin chooses Avatar for herself while Yami B takes Wicked Dreadroot. Then Prophet blows up the museum, catching Yami B in the blast, and steals it for himself. Rin gives Eraser to Izz because she sees Izz as a puppet Rin can coerce to do her bidding anytime, including opposing the pharaoh.

Izz moves to Yugi and co’s school. She’s fairly distant from everyone in her life because of the tragedy, but they are kind to her and she is kind in turn. She wins local tournaments and tops regionals because, in order to hide from grief, she fixates on Duel Monsters deckbuilding and ratios and meta etc. This is enough to earn her a Duelist Kingdom invite. Overall, she’s an anxious mess who needs a hug and isn’t sure how to properly interact with other people anymore. She feels like a cataclysm waiting to happen again and again.

Now the elephant in the room! You see her with the Pyramid of Light. Rin approaches Izz after her first regional win. Izz is weak at the knees for beautiful women (and men—everyone is a bi disaster, remember?). Rin explains she hosted the tournament and forgot about a particular prize. She compliments Izz’s dueling and gifts her the Pyramid of Light, saying she’d like to get to know her better. Izz is flabbergasted and accepts the Pyramid, asking only what it is. Rin only describes it as valuable jewelry and recommends Izz keep it on her person.

The iridescent swirls in the pyramid’s sky blue are mesmerizing to Izz, and staring at it provides an indescribable comfort… and focal point to keep her grounded/stop her out of body experiences such that she does indeed wear it constantly

This has an unintended side effect

See, Izz wears a necklace (in the artwork, matches Dark Magician Girl’s pendant) that just so happens to contain the ancient and slumbering spirit of Mana. Being so close to the dark energy of the Pyramid of Light stirs her, and she becomes Izz’s ghost like companion similar to the pharaoh and Yugi. Mana is always trying to be a positive influence on Izz where Rin is like the devil on her shoulder. Izz often makes mistakes and trusts the wrong people, hurting her friendships with the gang and repairing them again.

Her using Wicked Dreadroot however… that one will certainly be difficult to come back from.

And as for pairings, I’m undecided and going so many directions! I would probably have to write it all out.

(but my heart says fellow orphan Seto Kaiba if Izz can ever look away from all the other gorgeous gorgeous guys and gals) (Rin can’t stop rizzing her up) (y’all just WAIT until she meets Ishizu)

I’m just a writer! Artist credit in first image and rest are picrew

[nyxocity]

So, the button says to ask you anything. I'm going to take that to heart and shoot my shot. My absolute favorite fic of all time is hands down, But Then, My Homework Was Never Quite Like This. In fact, the entire ten fic Homework Verse is something that I have read in its entirety many times over. And as I was late to the fandom, this was the very first J2 fic I ever read. They captured my imagination as they were not perfect people, living perfect lives. They were flawed, and Jensen was broken, and they were willing to make the hard choices, even if it hurt them, and to then do the work to make their relationship last. The way you wove through ten years of their lives, the ups, the downs, and all the incredible everything in-between. Plus, how can you go wrong with George Michael providing the soundtrack to your life? That being said, the actual question. At Jib14, I was absolutely blown away by the below picture.

My first thought was that this is what that Jensen would look like now. As he was giving a lecture to the assembled masses on some new theory he had developed with Jared's assistance. Now, I know that your Jensen did not have a beard, even a neatly trimmed one, but then again, times can change (maybe he lost a bet with the love of his life - who knows). As the 20th anniversary is fast approaching, have you ever considered dropping in on the boys once more? Just a quick peek to see what they've gotten up to since the last time we were able to see them. If you were generous enough to gift us with a long glance, I think that legions of devoted fans would drop to their knees and devote an entire religion to you. I know that sometimes it's best to leave well enough alone. But sometimes, an object in motion tends to stay in motion, and this amazing story has been burning up the fandom for a very long time. Even if it's just an extensive list of all of the amazing sights that they encountered as they traveled around the world, going to one conference after another. Please, take the time to consider, and then do what makes you happy. Thanks!

Hello love! I, too, thought of an older Homework Jensen when I saw that photo! It means so much to me that you love them, and the story, so much. I love those boys. They're very dear and special to me. I get nostalgic and emotional just thinking about them.

I have, in fact, thought about revisiting them. At one point I had a whole story planned, where Chris is throwing them a ten year anniversary party at his club, and Jensen... well, has a public, non-sexual surprise for Jared. Plus bathroom sex, Chad and Misha shenanigans, glimpses at their family members and more.

Sadly, I lost all my notes and the outline for that story when my computer died many years ago. I still remember most of it, though, and have thought, on occasion, about trying to write it. I also had a Christmas story in mind for all four of them sharing a Christmas together.

Honestly I would love to write in that verse again, but sometimes I just feel the story is told. Anything else I write at this point would be purely JUST to revisit them. I also wonder if I could get back to that head space I was in 15+ years ago. Isn't it funny to wonder if you could still write your own characters?

So I'm undecided. I would love to, but it would be purely self-indulgent. I'm kind of worried I couldn't find the right voices again, but also curious to see if they're still living in my head.

I will think about, for sure. Maybe I WILL write something for them next year. I'm going to seriously consider it.

Thank you for the ask! And for caring so much about my boys and their story. <333

[dixoniisms]

“No. No. Absolutely not. No. Take that back outside.”

From clicker-bait

➵ "y'mean dinner?"

for @clicker-bait

[dixoniisms]

➵ daryl worries teeth over the inside of his lower lip, a habit he had when he was thinking something over - blue gaze shifting out the window for a moment. "y'know i'll help however i can," he murmurs, before looking back over. "just say the word."

"This is why I didn't want to be put in charge. I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't no matter what decision I make. I don't like being put into this position at all. It's frustrating and I just don't wanna deal with it. I've got enough shit on my plate already dealing with my own goddamn family. Now I am suddenly responsible for everyone. It just ain't right. I did NOT ask for this." Rick paces and furiously tugs at his hair, trying to calm himself down.

[songliili]

2023 writing roundup

i was tagged by @hgejfmw-hgejhsf and @rockyroadkylers!

i feel like i've spent my whole year writing, but i also know that i've spent months without doing it so i can't say how much it was month by month. but i posted three fics this year so like. that's an achievement!

let's see what we got.

January:

the great dean court off - Supernatural, 21.8k, M (chapter update) [someday i will finish it, i promise]

Of all the things Dean expected to find when he came back from the bathroom break, a folded piece of paper with "hey, if you’re not gay, my friend thinks you’re cute. here’s her number 316-557-9608 (and if you’re gay, here’s mine 316-997-2018)" written on, was not it. - Or the one where Dean organises a dating contest because he's bi and can't decide between two options.

September:

I Had Some Time (With You) - Supernatural, 23.9k, E

It's 2005 when things go to hell. Well. They go to hell for everyone except Dean, ‘cause he was ready for it. Well. He was ready for the apocalypse, not for the gorgeous man who fell into his life, quite literally. OR A Destiel rewrite of Bill and Frank's love story as shown on HBO's The Last of Us episode 3: Long Long Time that uses elements of both universes.

November:

we all have a hunger - RWRB, 22.9k, E

Alex’s journey of self discovery started one random night five years ago, when he was scrolling his favorite porn website to relax after midterms. He chose a video with the preview of two guys in the threesome category, thinking nothing of it, and came so hard he thought he was going to pass out. The threesome didn’t happen, the girl just sat there looking at the two guys going at it, just like Alex did. After that night, saying that the tall, blond and gorgeous actor with a fucking sinful shoulder to waist ratio didn’t do it for him was a complete lie, so maybe, maybe, Alex could be excused when he freezes up when said man - even more tall, blond and gorgeous in real life - stretches a hand toward him and says “I’m Henry, Pez’s ‘best mate of honor’, as he says.” with his perfectly infuriating British accent. — OR: Henry is a porn star, Alex is a fan.

December:

Fill My Stocking - RWRB, 6k, E

Alex has spent the past fifteen minutes talking with David about his favourite treats. Not that the dog answered, but Alex was undeterred and kept going, uncaring that Henry had asked him to give him an hour and then he’d join him in hanging up fairy lights and mistletoe everywhere. Very well. If Alex wants Henry’s attention, he'll have it. It's probably not what Alex thought he’d accomplish with his little scheme, but it's a compromise between Henry's needs and Alex's wants, and that's all that can be done. OR: Alex wants some attention and Henry has to get creative.

Upcoming in 2024:

part 2 of the pornstar verse (title undecided):

picks up the day after the ending of part one, it's alex's first christmas in london

Like Father, Like Son:

alex is a horse trainer and has a crush on arthur fox. he's the trainer on set for arthur fox's new movie (a queer western). his son, henry fox, visits the set and well. alex is fucked.

I hope you don't mind. (part 3 of the pornstar verse):

henry's bad days and how alex helps him go through them

Other things I hope I manage to put out next year (or at least start writing):

Your body is the Sistine Chapel:

what if dean was as tattooed as he was supposed to be? which tattoos would he get? for whom would he get them?

untitled airbnb fic:

alex travels to london as a reward for finishing college, and henry is his airbnb host whose dog likes alex a little too much.

untitled mandalorian!alex fic:

alex is the mandalorian, david is grogu. that's all i have for now.

untitled scarlet witch!henry/sword agent!alex fic:

inspired by this tweet. i have nothing more than this to give you atm.

i posted 62.406 words this year, and written many more. i'm fairly new to writing, so this is a real accomplishment for me. my biggest goal was to post a fully finished chaptered fic, and i did! then i started a series, and wrote something shorter than 7k, and i have so many ideas for future fics that i genuinely don't know where to start. i hope i manage to post at least a couple next year!

tagging: @affectionatelyrs @firenati0n @absoluteaudacitywrites @gayrootvegetable @leojfitz @anincompletelist @ssmtskw @littlemisskittentoes @cactusdragon517 @read-and-write- and everyone else that wants to join!

[immobiliter]

okay so now josie is rolling around in my head again, there are a few verses/AUs i am considering for her~

bg3 verse - so the best equivalent to antiva i can find through scouring the wiki is amn, and that nation has historically had a challenging relationship with baldur's gate ( but the two are still close ish ) so i feel like that gives me some interesting stuff to play around with through making josie an ex-bard turned amn ambassador to baldur's gate. i'm undecided yet on whether i would want a tadpole/companion verse for her because a huge part of her character is that she is non-violent so i'm not sure how she'd fit into a party dynamic, but her being an ambassador likely concerned about baldur's gate politics under gortash opens up some possibilities. plus i might tie her to jaheira again like i have varric just because i can

post trespasser / pre veilguard - so a lot of this is speculative because i personally don't think josie is high up on the list of likely cameos for the new game, but we do know from trespasser that if her personal quest is completed josie begins rebuilding her family's trading fleet and starts pissing off rivaini pirates ( so get ready for me to be 👀 at the lords of fortune faction ). i also imagine she continues to be involved with antivan politics even if the inquisition is disbanded post-exalted council or by the time veilguard rolls around, and ofc she still has her friends within the inquisition who she would help out with her extensive contacts across thedas high society

[lifefcrged]

Additional side blogs here atm are; @ambitionfcrged @nomadfcrged @balladfcrged @faithfcrged their blurbs can be found under the cut so you can see if you want to follow / write with them! They are all open to plotting and scheming if anyone would like to interact w/ them lmk !! additional info for melody & dante can now be found on their blogs as well under BIO. tag!

also, now, we have amos burton, from the expanse, @factiousfcrged - no blurb atm, he's open for any crossover or au or other verses.

WILLIAM; fc adam dr*ver. mutant / superhuman.

Mutant / super human OC w/ electrokinesis; the ability to control & manipulate electricity from the minute amounts in organic cells to lightning strikes. He also has an abnormally long lifespan and decreased aging. He is a willing recruit to HYDRA or whatever compatible evil power hungry group exists in any particular fandom; Vought, Brotherhood of Mutants, the Sith, the Empire, whatever organization he feels will gain him the most power, protection and prestige. He is a sadomasochist, he craves power above anything else and will do whatever he wants, whatever he thinks he has to, to get it. He is not a nice guy. He is not redeemable. Any emotions he has that might be construed as love or affection by outside parties are only mimicries of those - he may even think that he loves someone (he's pansexual) but it's only in a way that serves him, only if they please him, only if whatever they're doing and how they live in some way contributes to helping him. He is controlling and obsessive. He is calculating and vindictive. He is not going to change his ways for anyone other than maybe on some surface level because he thinks it'll help him get further with them / their cause if that will help him in some way.

MELODY; fc elizabeth ols*n. tog immortal.

The Old Guard oc. Teaches music at elementary, high school and secondary education levels as well as private lessons. Plays piano and violin. Brand new baby immortal. Makes a minor splash in news for being the sole survivor of a subway derailment; found in the rubble not only alive, but unscathed. More to come.

ARMAN; fc rahul k*hli. mortal.

DOMINION original character. Saved from the pack of eight balls that killed his parents, as a child, a few short months after the end of the world, by the Archangel Gabriel. Given into the care of a higher Angel who was loyal to Gabriel inside the sanctuary city of Vega to be kept safe. After the massacre of High Angels and Michael’s attack on the guards & senator of Vega, he evacuated from the city to travel to find Gabriel to pledge his service and to try and find a way to bring hope back to the Angel who was once the most staunch defender of humanity.

DANTE; fc oscar is*ac. mortal. (maybe? undecided)

Ex US Army member. Discharged after he confronted his CO about an order he considered unlawful bc it would endanger civilians; not willing to risk the heat of bad PR fallout, military simply discharged him. Parents died when he was in his early twenties. His younger sister lives with their aunt in a yet tbd foreign country. He spent some time in a private mercenary unit; did not work out and he has since being primarily nomadic, hopping from city to city doing odd jobs like security, bodyguard, bouncer, bartender, etc for whether he can get decent pay under the table. Has a habit of landing in trouble bc he doesn’t like seeing people pushed around.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Ryan Burge

Published: Feb 23, 2024

There's been no bigger term in religion and politics over the last five years than "Christian Nationalism." I went to graduate school between 2005 and 2011, and I can say with a great deal of certainty that I never read that term in any research I combed through for my coursework or dissertation. My, how things have changed.

I just did a quick search for the term on Google Scholar, and across the first thirty articles and books that appear, 21 of them have been published in 2020 or later. That's not typically the case with other queries of the literature; it's usually heavily tilted towards older works that tend to have a lot of citations. All that to say - academic work on Christian Nationalism is very much in its embryonic stage.

I can easily list seven books specifically dedicated to Christian Nationalism that have been released in the last few years:

Taking Back America for God by Perry and Whitehead (2020)

The Flag and the Cross by Gorski and Perry (2022)

American Idolatry by Whitehead (2023)

Preparing for War by Onishi (2023)

Red State Christians by Denker  (2022)

The Everyday Crusade by McDaniel, Nooruddin, and Shortle (2022)

The Full Armor of God by Djupe, Lewis, and Sokhey (2023)

It's all happened so fast that it's hard to get our arms around a pretty basic question in the discussion about Christian Nationalism - are those sentiments increasing or decreasing in the general public? Well, now I can answer that with a great deal of specificity.

If one is looking for the empirical foundations of the Christian Nationalism debate, it’s in a series of statements that were posed to respondents in the Baylor Religion Survey back in 2007 - Wave II. They are as follows: 

The federal government should advocate Christian values

The federal government should allow prayer in public schools

The federal government should allow the display of religious symbols in public spaces

The federal government should declare the United States a Christian nation

The federal government should enforce strict separation of church and state

The success of the United States is part of God’s plan. 

Response options ranged from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The middle option is undecided. I know that there's a lively debate about defining Christian Nationalism and whether these questions are tapping that concept accurately. I am going to sidestep that discussion entirely here. The authors I mentioned above are much more well-versed in those debates than I am. My focus here is narrow - I just want to see how responses to those questions have changed over time.

I can do that because the fine team at Baylor did another survey in 2021 that asked the exact same questions. That’s fantastic because we can compare apples to apples in terms of longitudinal changes. So, enough with the preamble. Let’s get right to it. 

I think it's fair to say that the results point to the fact that Christian Nationalism is fading in the general population. That's evident in a number of these statements. For instance, in 2007, 55% of folks said that the government should advocate Christian values. In 2021, that share had dropped to just 38%. That's substantial.

Additionally, 69% thought that the government should allow prayer in public school in 2007 - that declined to 55% in 2021. There was a nineteen-point drop in the share of respondents who say that the government should allow the display of religious symbols in public spaces. In 2007, a bare majority (51%) agreed that the government should enforce a strict separation of church and state. That increased to 62% in the most recent data.

The only real oddity to me is the last statement: the success of the United States is part of God’s plan. In 2007, just 32% of people agreed with that one. In 2021, that actually rose to 37%. I don’t have a good explanation for that one.

Taken together, I think it's empirically defensible to say that Christian Nationalism has declined significantly since 2007. But, there's a caveat here. The share of Americans who were nones in 2007 was about 16%. It was nearly 30% in 2021. So, a lot more nones in the sample would drive down Christian Nationalism. In the Baylor sample, 11% were nones in 2007. That increased to 19% in 2021. So, let's just exclude them and do the same analysis.

That's reassuring because our results really don't change that much. Agreement with the Christian values statement has dropped by 17 points. It's down 14 points for the statement about prayer in public school, and it's declined a whopping 18 points on allowing the display of religious symbols in schools. The percentage who want a strict separation of church and state has jumped 12 points as well. The results in the first graph are not just an artifact of the declining number of religious folks in the sample - even the religious folks are less willing to embrace Christian Nationalism based on these six statements.

But, let's not stop there. I created a scale of Christian Nationalism. When someone strongly agreed with a CN statement, that was scored a 5; if they strongly disagreed, that was a 1. If someone was unsure, that was a 3. I added the scores from all six statements, then I subtracted six. So, the scale runs from 0 to 24.

I calculated the mean for six different religious groups in both 2007 and 2021. It's pretty apparent that Christian Nationalism has retreated among most of them. For evangelicals - their mean score was 15.9 in 2007. That dropped to 13.8 in 2021.

But the drop for mainline Protestants was huge, from 16.3 in 2007 to just 10.4 in 2021. That's six points on a 24-point scale. Maybe the discourse about CN has permeated more into the mainline, and it's pushed some members away from embracing statements that could be indicative of Christian Nationalism. I don't have a great answer for that big shift. For Catholics, the shift was a bit smaller (from 12.4 to 9.7), but still a noteworthy decline.

Black Protestants are a real puzzle that needs additional exploration. In 2007 their mean score was 12.3, and that didn't change at all in 2021. One thing worth pointing out is that the sample of Black Protestants was 351 in 2007 and only 96 in 2021. That may play a role, but I'm not entirely certain.

So, that's the change at the top level. How about looking at each of the six statements individually to get a better sense of where the movement has occurred?

To me, this is where those shifts in the mainline really become clear. In 2007, 79% of mainline Protestants said that the government should advocate Christian values. That dropped to just 40% in 2021. That's huge. And the mainline numbers are also way down on other questions too. It's a drop of 29 points on the question of allowing prayer in public schools and a 23-point decline on allowing religious symbols in government spaces. There's no doubt in my mind that Christian Nationalism is much less pervasive in the mainline today than in the late 2000s. The only problem is the share of Americans who are mainline is dropping rapidly, so this is having less of an impact on the aggregate numbers.

There are drops for evangelicals here, but they are more modest. Thirteen points on the Christian values question, six points on allowing prayer in schools, and eleven points on allowing religious symbols in public spaces. But the share of evangelicals who want the government to declare the United States a Christian nation is unchanged - 43% in both surveys.

Let's take a step back from religious tradition and move to political partisanship to finish this post. Again, the same six statements but this time the sample is broken down into Democrats, Independents, and Republicans.

A Democrat in 2021 was half as likely to say that the federal government should advocate Christian values as they were in 2007 (42% down to 20%). They were 21 points less likely to say that the federal government should allow prayer in public schools and 23 points less likely to support the display of religious symbols in public spaces. It's pretty clear to me that Democrats have become much less supportive of many of these statements compared to 2007. That's probably due in no small part to the increasing God Gap.

For Republicans, the shifts are less dramatic. There's been a ten-point decline in support for the first three statements (Christian values, prayer in schools, and religious symbols). And there's been a 21-point increase in the share of Republicans who say that the government should enforce a strict separation of church and state.

But, that's not the whole story. The share of Republicans who say that the government should declare the U.S. a Christian nation has risen by 5 points since 2007 (from 40% to 45%). And the share who say that the success of the United States is part of God’s plan has jumped 13 points during this same time period (from 46% to 59%). So, it's fair to say that it's a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to Republicans and Christian Nationalism.

When this data is looked at broadly, it's generally true (but not universally the case) that Christian Nationalism has retreated over the last several years. That's especially true for mainline Protestants, Catholics, and Democrats. But there is evidence here that evangelicals are also less likely to embrace some sentiments related to Christian Nationalism as well.

Why these declines have happened is not an easy question to answer. Whitehead and Scheitle found that the average Americans link to religious symbols is highly contingent upon current events. Thus, the aftermath of January 6th and the subsequent discussion of Christian Nationalism pushed some away from many of these sentiments.

It could be the rise of the nones, but that doesn't appear to be the whole story. It could be more people have become aware of this debate in 2021 when there was little discussion of Christian Nationalism in 2007. Or it could be simple generational replacement - younger birth cohorts are just less strident in their beliefs and the most fervent supporters of CN have largely died off in the last 14 years.

Either way - this longitudinal data should help situate the large discussion about Christian Nationalism in 2024.

[flownintothesun]

𝐎𝐍 𝐖𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐋𝐄𝐘 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐇𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒 :

  “With all boldness, brace the eternity of your existence.”

  ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ───  In Westley's human verses, most commonly he was taken away from his biological (Scottish) mam at birth (happy birthday, Westley?) and raised until he was six years old by his biological (Dutch) father and that father's (American) boyfriend. His father gave him up to the foster care system after his partner died, rather than seeking out his mam (who thought he'd died at birth). It was all downhill from there. The lad was utterly failed by those meant to protect him. The tragedy is that he has a good and loving mam that he's never met.

⋆ ✰ ⋆ ───  In verses where Westley is a Tulpa, he was found by Captain Angus McCarthy on the North Sea on June 26, which is coincidentally the day he first came into existence. Captain McCarthy pulled what he thought was a dying lad out of the sea, and when he realized that Westley was immortal, gave him his surname to make life easier for him. Upon waking up, the only thing Westley could recall was his first name. A memo: only tow people get away with shortening it to 'Wes': Captain McCarthy and Muriel.

⋆ ✰ ⋆ ───  Also in his Tulpa verses, Westley stopped celebrating his birthdays when he realized that he wasn't human. His last 'celebration' was throwing sheets over the mirrors. However, prior to that, the crew made a big affair of it, singing songs all into the night. He simply didn't tell the crew about his birthday once he'd left the old crew behind.

⋆ ✰ ⋆ ───  In his standard human verse, Westley tends to vary in age from about 24 to 27 as of June 26, 2022. Everyone knows, of course, that characters do not age according to the same standards as their muns, so I'm currently undecided if Westley will age up with the years.

  𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐒, 𝐎𝐃𝐘𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐘 :

⋆ ✰ ⋆ ───  The first of Westley's birthdays that he and Muriel spent together, Westley was turning 19, and they stole a super fancy ™ cake from a French Pâtisserie and ate it with plastic forks under the awning of a flower shoppe called April Showers. They ate THE ENTIRE CAKE. (Muriel may have also stolen them alcohol. Mr. Morris may also remember them all those years later when they buy that same flower shoppe for their husband. ( © )

⋆ ✰ ⋆ ───  The tradition of stealing a cake stuck, and they’ve been doing it ever since. They’ve stolen five cakes up to this point. Westley says that they were very good cakes. This said, they now have the means to BUY a cake, but the tradition is in the stealing so *shrug emoji*.

⋆ ✰ ⋆ ───  For his 24th birthday, Westley and Muriel took James along for the cake thieving tradition. Westley still thinks that James later returned to the Pâtisserie and paid for the cake.

⋆ ✰ ⋆ ───  It’s become a game to Westley and Muriel that each year the cake has to be more expensive and elaborate than the last — and thus the ante gets upped and the ruse gets more intricate. ( © )

⋆ ✰ ⋆ ───  James is a terrible sneak, but insists on going birthday after birthday until he eventually gets better with it. They definitely almost get caught a couple times and they laugh about it. James is horrified. Muriel and Westley have to explain why they can’t simply buy a cake. ( © )

⋆ ✰ ⋆ ───  He spent his 25th birthday in the hospital with his husbands, one of whom was ready to go home from sustained injury, and the other who hadn’t woken up yet from nearly dying. His biggest wish was simply for Muriel to wake up, cake be damned.

⋆ ✰ ⋆ ───  Prior to Muriel, there’d never been much of a fuss about his birthdays since he was very young. However, he remembers having pie instead of cake on his fifth birthday, and losing a bright green balloon when he fell asleep on one of his dads’ shoulders.

⋆ ✰ ⋆ ─── 2022 was the first birthday that he’s had his mother. He didn’t expect her to remember. in fact, he never expects anyone to, due to the circumstance. And he isn’t upset about it at all, to be honest.

  𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐒, 𝐓𝐔𝐋𝐏𝐀 𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐖/ 𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐘:

⋆ ✰ ⋆ ─── The year that Westley met James in ‘Dancing and the Dreaming’, he sailed The Arcady into port for his birthday, so that he could be with his lad, but he didn’t say anything about it. James almost definitely made cookies anyway, and they were only the second sweetest thing he had that day. 😌 He has an ongoing habit of doing things like this for his birthday — I’m pretty sure The Arcady herself was a birthday gift to himself. y’know, in case he needed an excuse to buy a whole entire wooden ship.

⋆ ✰ ⋆ ─── The year that Westley met Muriel, the ship had a huge, huge celebration. there was dancing and lights all through the night, and music. Westley thinks he might’ve admitted to himself that he loves Muriel on that night. He also might’ve teased him about dancing in mushroom circles. Either which way…there was something magical there. (Fun fact: ‘Wellerman’ just came on my Spotify for this one. Muriel, is this your version of a rick roll?)

                                                                          . . . (more to follow on the actual date!)

[dixoniisms]

"You're bleeding."

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➵ "ain't the first time," daryl murmurs, looking down at himself as his nose scrunches a little - adjusting his grip on his crossbow.

for @clicker-bait