#(just keeping it all on one post instead of sending a bunch of asks since you all get to choose how you characters did)

[gothamghostwhispers]

The results for the placement/GED tests are in!

Results are:

[ @bennytheredonethat @gothams-gothic-farmer @funnygirlclaire @cl0wn1ng---ar0und @duchess-of-dilemma @soursharkboi @the-children-of-gotham @pr0ject-conundrum1 @spidermaningotham @scarecrowspawn ]

[forwards-beckon-rebound]

dick grayson instagram hcs

basics

we are pretending dick is not a cop in this because i said so!

he's a professional model but also does perform at a local circus as a special guest

he's not actually going to the olympics (yet) but the american team has been trying to contact him for the better part of the decade so maybe you can convince him to go

he's kind of like one of your friends who you think is chill and normal but then you go to their ig and you find out they're something of a local celebrity?

everybody in gotham already knew him as bruce wayne's son but also he went semi viral on tiktok and got a bunch of new fans (and some edits) out of it

he used to have a less serious pfp but his management convinced him to use this one instead

followers + following

obviously you're there

as well as his friends and family

he manages to get away with following the superheroes since i mean, basically everybody else does as well

also a lot of industry people that he meets, both for modeling and gymnastics/trapeze

highlights

he is an abuser of the story function

will spend any opportunity to brag about his pretty girlfriend and all of the dates and trips you guys go on

he is weirdly good at taking photos, will give you tips on how to pose to get your best angles

also he has a lot of fans so he likes to post a photo of you every once in a while to remind everyone that he's happily taken

will also repost your work related stuff to be like hey look at how cool my gf is at her job!

dude has a million highlights that he updates for the fashion weeks each year

a lot of photos of his looks, him meeting with certain designers, it's mostly his team who posts this

same thing with his shows in the sense that it's usually other people (including you) taking photos of him while he's performing

but this is a more personal venture of his so he asks everyone to send him the pics and he decides which ones to post

will also repost stories from fans who came to the show!

oooh this man posts the most jaw dropping photos of himself

he will have just woken up and post a photo that makes you think it's so unfair how perfect somebody can be

he just likes to post when he feels good about himself and i support!

haley and (i did not come up with a name for your guys' cat so you guys can have fun with that!) also have their own dedicated highlight

it is exactly as cute and wholesome as you would think it is

there are even more highlights if you keep on scrolling. he has highlights for each year's fashion weeks, as mentioned, as well as trips you guys have been on (the most recent is a trip to greece and italy!)

posts

once again he's one of those infuriating sort of famous people who are like fine as hell but they post just enough cute and relatable content that he actually seems like a real and very nice guy (fun fact, he is!)

you can tell immediately when he's been on a trip because he'll have at least 3 posts up and they're all of the same place

you guys are like the photo taking couple

if you weren't good at taking pics before you started dating, his skills definitely rub off on you

he'll do the thing where he gets you to pose for him so he can take a photo of you and then you take the same style of photo for him

it's disgusting you guys have matching photos on your feeds of each other

if it wasn't already common knowledge that you guys are dating, i can imagine the conspiracy theory videos being like guys they were in the same place? at the same time? and they took the same type of pics? i think they're dating

he loves cooking with you (while i personally think it would be really funny if he can't cook, in some of the comics they do mention that he can cook, but either way he enjoys cooking with you)

you guys are like the parent friends who host dinner at their place and there's usually a theme surrounding seasonal ingredients and everything's plated really well

you probably watch cooking shows together and are now you can't serve a dish without some microgreens or sliced radish on top or something

also yes he did plan the picnic and he's quite proud of it

he watched all of those charcuterie board hacks to make the flowers and fancy cheese arrangements

and there were chocolate dipped strawberries, champagne with glasses, and freshly baked cookies (alfred might have helped with that one)

also yes he does wear glasses!!!! only at home when he's reading or staring at a screen too long. his prescription's not that bad

jason ver.

[alphajocklover]

Hey 😈 I wish someone would help me become a massive gay bodybuilding whore. I’m already on my way gaining weight, but I wanna be gigantic. Think you could help?

So you want to become, in your own words, a massive gay bodybuilding whore. That shouldn’t be too hard. As I’ve already shown you through my other post, there are numerous ways that people can get transformed into different types of jocks. The fact you want to specifically be a slutty gay jock does complicate things a little, since certain methods would turn you straight, but it’s still pretty simple. Instajock comes to mind as a good method for example, although I’ve talked about that app quite a bit recently and would rather discuss something new. There are many ways people can transform that I haven’t mentioned in the slightest, and your question actually brings up one I’ve been wanting to talk about for a long time. Mainly the emoji you used. Yep, for this transformation we’re going to get some help from someone very special: the Devil.

When I say the devil, I don’t really mean ‘The Devil’. Don’t get me wrong, he is a devil, but he’s not the devil from the bible. He just… works for him. I know that sounds bad, and honestly it definitely is. I don’t know much about the religious side of the magical world, but I do know that the Devil, with a capital D, does exist. He might be a fallen angel who wants to turn humanity to sin like from religious text, or he might just be a very powerful magical being using human religion to boost his own reputation, but either way he definitely exists. And just like in the old folk stories, he makes deals with people in exchange for their souls. Strangely, as the stories had spread and grown more prevalent, the demand for a deal with the Devil has actually skyrocketed. You’d think a bunch of stories about how making a deal for your soul is a bad idea would discourage people, but surprisingly it’s only increased business. Because of that the Devil’s operation has grown. The Devil is powerful, but he’s not god, he isn’t omniscient. So, to keep up with demand, he began to delegate. Instead of doing one deal at a time and seeing to every deal personally, he has a large team of demons that make deals for him. That's where my friend Nick comes in.

Nick isn’t his real name, but since humans can’t really pronounce his name he just lets me call him Nick. He is one of the more powerful demons working for the Devil, and specializes in making sexually explicit deals. As you can probably guess, he deals with a lot of people and has made a lot of deals. He’s not as outright evil as you might expect though, and he was actually a close friend of my Uncle. He had a sort of soft spot for my Uncle, and would often help him out with certain things. I don’t know how they met or why my Uncle seemed to be friends with a literal demon, but they got along really well. Now that my Uncle’s gone though, he helps me instead. I think he does it a bit out of guilt. He couldn’t protect my Uncle, his favorite mortal, from being turned into a jock, so now he protects me. Because of this I like to send him a willing victim now and then, as a thank you.

So, your first instinct is probably to say no. I mean, as much as you want to be a gay jock slut, you probably don’t want to sell your soul and be doomed to an eternity in hell. The thing is, these days they usually don’t ask for your soul. The Devil long figured out that there were more subtle ways to get what he wanted, so usually the contracts ask for something else. Sometimes it’s something significant, sometimes it’s almost nothing. Whatever it is usually works into his very complicated plans somehow in a way we almost can’t comprehend, but he never asks for your soul anymore. In exchange for becoming a massive gay bodybuilder jock, all Nick would require is… your car.

Yes, the devil wants your car. You’re probably wondering why, and honestly I don’t know. It’s not even a new car, and it’s kind of lame. But that's what he wants, and in exchange he’ll give you the body and mind of your dreams. I know you’re probably pretty skeptical, and If I’m being honest there probably is some sort of catch, but-

Oh! Ok, so, you’re doing it. I was expecting a bit more resistance but you seem pretty sure. Well, I do hope it works out for you. All you have to do is write your name on the contract and the deal will be sealed. Just write your name at the bottom there… and perfect! You’ve just made a deal with a devil!

I know you feel a little confused, but give it a second, it will pass. A sudden change in your body is always disorienting, but you’ll get used to the new you pretty quickly. I mean, look at you! You’re absolutely massive! Those arms, those pecs, those shoulders! God you really got a great deal. You get to live out your fantasy life, and all you had to do was get rid of a piece of shit car. I can’t be sure why he wanted it, but my best guess was that it’s going to cause a butterfly effect where, because your car didn’t cause a traffic jam when it broke down or something, something else will never happen. But there isn’t any use in dwelling on it anymore. You’ve made the deal, so fucking enjoy it! Go out there and have hot gay sex with as many guys as you can! You made a deal with the devil, you might as well get all you can out of it!

**hey everyone! Been a little bit! I’ve been kind of distracted and busy lately but I’m still alive and kicking! Hope you guys like this story and keep tuned for more! I also wanna make clear I am not trying to offend any religious group. I just love the deal with the devil idea.**

[scary-grace]

Opposites Attract - a Shigaraki x f!Reader fic

Your quirk lets you capture almost anyone with ease, and you can't believe you let Shigaraki Tomura escape. Shigaraki can't believe it, either, and according to the League, there's only one possible explanation -- you let him go because you've fallen in love with him. He decides to find out if it's true. You decide you won't fail to capture him again. You both get a lot more than you bargained for. (cross-posted to Ao3)

Chapters: 1 2 3

Chapter 1

This was supposed to be your day off. It’s all you can think about, which isn’t a good thing, because you’re in the middle of a villain attack and using your quirk at all requires a significant amount of your focus – but it was supposed to be your day off, dammit. You’re supposed to be doing something fun. Going shopping. Getting a haircut, or mani-pedis, and going out for drinks with your friends at a place crawling with photographers. All the stuff young, single, female pro heroes are supposed to do. So what if you hate that stuff, and you were probably going to sleep all day, wake up at 5pm, make dinner, and marathon the Alien franchise until you fell asleep again? You could have gone out.

But instead you’re here, because Eraserhead caught himself another spinal fracture, and when the doctors threatened to tie him to the bed if he tried to leave before they were done fusing it, he called in a favor you owe him and made you supervise his first-year-class from hell on a field trip to the brand-new Kamino Memorial Park. Go to Kamino Park, they said. It’ll be safe, they said. There’s no way in hell the League of Villains will hit the place a second time.

Well, they’re hitting it, and they’re hitting it hard – and it was supposed to be your goddamn day off. You throw out your arm to stop the trio of students you’re shepherding to safety as three knives thud into the grass in front of you, and make yourself a promise: The next time Eraserhead asks you to do anything, you’re telling him to go to hell.

“Hey, um –” One of the students taps your shoulder, and you know without even asking that they’ve forgotten your name again. “We got our provisional licenses. We can fight now.”

“You can, but you won’t. Create a perimeter and protect the civilians,” you order. You’re not sure why the League of Villains is here, but there’s no way you’re feeding a bunch of kids back into the same meat grinder they escaped from a month ago. “Other pros are on their way, and so are the police. In the mean time –”

You flick your fingers, calling up a magnetic field, and the knives lift out of the grass, hovering in midair. “I’ll keep them busy.”

You consider taking the knives and sending them back the way they came, but unless you want to fatally wound Toga, you’ll just be handing her weapons back to her. You curl your hand into a fist, compacting them into useless wads of metal. You’ve already used your quirk to tear up the park, creating uneven, unsteady terrain that’s dangerous for anybody who doesn’t have a way to take the fight airborne. Now it’s time for you to do what you do best. You narrow your focus, sensing out the concentrations of suspended iron that represent the League of Villains, and once you’ve got them, you lock them down.

Most of them, anyway. One proves a little more difficult to grasp than the others, and you get moving, using one hand to pull rebar and wiring out of the ground. You need it to ensnare the three you’ve already captured while you chase the villain who slipped away from you. You secure Toga and Twice, but Dabi burns his way free, and Twice sends a clone after you. Since it’s a clone, you don’t feel bad about yanking every molecule of trace metals out of its body and turning it to sludge.

Dabi’s on his feet, but you’re a bad matchup for Dabi for a lot of reasons. He’s got a ton of extra metal in his body. He throws his hands out towards you, blue flames already flickering. You fix your quirk on the staples holding him together and start pulling them out.

“What the fuck?” Dabi snarls, recoiling. Blood is already beginning to ooze from the holes on his wrists. “If you think you can just take me apart –”

You yank out another two – one from each wrist. “Stand down. You’ll run out of those before I run out of power.”

It’s true. Your quirk is Magnetism, and using it is easy for you. Using it safely is something else, but you can yank out every staple in Dabi’s body without breaking a sweat or destroying any property. Not that you want to do that. “I don’t want to hurt you, so just –”

There’s a shift in metallic concentration just behind you, and you dive to one side, just in time to avoid Shigaraki Tomura’s hand as it tries to close over your shoulder. A Twice clone is after you, too. You take the staples you pulled out of Dabi and fire them through its eye and throat as you roll out of Shigaraki’s reach. The leader of the League of Villains laughs, low and raspy. “Killing somebody? That’s not very heroic.”

You hate it when villains banter, but you’re not letting that one stand. “That’s not the real Twice.”

You’ve got the real one, and now you’ve got Dabi, too – at least for a few seconds. Maintaining a hold on Dabi, Twice, and Toga at once is within your abilities, but doing that and trying to capture Shigaraki at the same time – and maintain the barriers you’ve set up – and stay sharp enough to bounce Shigaraki into midair if he tries to touch the ground and vaporize Kamino Memorial Park out from under your feet – all of that is testing your concentration. When you lose concentration while using your quirk, bad things happen.

Shigaraki reaches for you again. A hero like Eraserhead would retaliate physically, kick or hit back, but you don’t want to be anywhere near Shigaraki’s quirk. You draw back out of reach, taking a step back every time Shigaraki steps forward. “You’re an underground hero,” he says. “Didn’t you learn what we do to underground heroes from what happened to Eraserhead?”

“Yeah. He shook that off, and sent me to take care of his light work.” The longer you can drag this out, the better – you can hear sirens approaching, and you know that Yokohama’s other pros are on their way. “Isn’t this a little high-risk for you? Returning to the scene of the crime so you can – what?”

Shigaraki sneers at you from behind the hand. “What do you think?”

You really couldn’t care less. Someone shouts for you, and your concentration slips for a second too long. You have to decide who to let go of, and between the three you’ve restrained, Toga’s the least dangerous. You let your control over the iron concentration in her blood relax and focus on trying to restrain Shigaraki instead. He’s hard to get ahold of. His body’s iron concentration is less than it should be. You lock him down for a second, but you can’t get a grip, and he slips free, smirking. “I know who you are,” he says. “The Capture Hero – Skynet. Not much of a capture hero, huh? You can’t even hang on to me. Are you sure the villains you’ve bagged didn’t let you get them?”

“No, they just didn’t have anemia,” you snap. Shigaraki blinks. “You don’t have enough iron in your blood for me to manipulate.”

Anemia’s not uncommon, but you’ve never come across a case this severe in someone you’re trying to capture. His iron concentration is so low that you can’t hold him for more than a split second. That level of anemia is crippling, and the words fly awkwardly out of your mouth before you can stop them. “Are you, like – okay?”

“What?”

He’s stopped trying to grab you. You should capitalize on it, pull up more rebar and wire to hold him down, but your mind’s off on its own track. “Do you get headaches?” you ask. “What about dizziness? Do you get tired a lot?”

Shigaraki looks disconcerted. He nods – then shakes his head, snarls, and sinks back into a fighting stance. “Why do you care?”

“What about a rapid heart rate even when you’re not doing anything?” When he’s doing something, like he is right now, it’s got to be even worse. You two have been trading barbs for thirty seconds at most and he’s out of breath. “You need to take care of yourself. This isn’t healthy.”

“Shut up!” Shigaraki lunges for you, and you twist aside. You get a good look at his fingernails as his hand goes by. They’re pale instead of pink. “Why do you care? So you can capture me and keep your precious reputation?”

You’re actually a little insulted. “So you don’t die!”

Shigaraki stares at you. The hand reaching out for you drops, and you close the distance between the two of you to shove him hard, knocking him backwards. Once he hits the concrete, you’ll figure something else out. You can hold him until someone else gets here.

But someone else is here, and they’re not here to help you. Shigaraki tumbles directly into a warp gate, staring at you like you’ve lost your mind the entire way.

Damn it. You can’t grasp the warp villain – wherever his real body is, it’s a long way from here, and you’re at risk of losing Dabi and Twice now, too. You tighten your grip on them, but even as you do, you see another portal opening out of the corner of your eye. This one is in midair, threatening to swallow a group of civilians who decided that hiding behind the All Might statue was a better choice than evacuating like the students ordered them to. “The civilians, or my associates,” the warp villain rumbles, from everywhere and nowhere. “Your choice.”

It's not a choice. You release your grip on Dabi and Twice, both the iron in their blood and the metal and wire holding them down, and warp gates devour them both. The warp gate above the civilians shuts, decapitating the All Might statue in the bargain, and as quickly as everything began, it grinds to a halt.

“Skynet!” someone snaps from behind you, and you freeze. “You let them go?”

Miruko is Number Six on the charts, and she outranks you by a lot, but you still bristle at her tone. “The civilians –”

“If you’re not stopping villains, you’re not doing your job.” She looks pissed. You have a feeling that she’s only holding off on kicking you because it’ll look bad in front of everybody. “If you’d held onto them a second longer, I’d have been here, and –”

“We could have helped!” That’s one of Eraserhead’s students – the one with the spiky red hair. “If you’d let us help –”

“You’re just kids. Do you have any idea what Eraser would do to me if I had –” You trail off when you realize that whatever it is, Eraser’s going to do it to you anyway for even letting the kids near the League of Villains. “I was the senior hero at the scene. It was my call. If you did what I told you – which you did – you did the right thing.”

“You did the right thing,” Miruko says to the student. The police are here. The cars skid to a stop, and you feel the iron concentration in what’s left of the park shift. There’s a helicopter in the air, too. More people, more cameras. Miruko is glaring at you. “You’re the one who screwed up.”

Yeah, you did. You stare dispiritedly at the headless statue of All Might as Eraser’s class regroups around you, as somebody starts questioning Miruko – the new senior hero at the scene – about what went wrong here. A few thoughts spin through your head, mainly of the hell you’re about to catch from the press, the heroic establishment, and the HPSC. Shigaraki Tomura’s case of life-endangering anemia makes it in there, and so does a hit of frustration at the fact that you’re in trouble for choosing to save a bunch of civilians from getting bisected by a warp gate. But the main thing that’s on your mind is the same thing that’s been there since the first spurt of blue flames erupted over the park: This was supposed to be your day off.

“Well, that blew,” Dabi says as he picks himself up off the floor of the League’s new hideout. “Whose idea was this, again?”

He’s glaring at Shigaraki. Shigaraki glares back. “I didn’t hear you say we shouldn’t do it.”

“I said we shouldn’t,” Twice pipes up. He’s still got a piece of rebar wrapped around his ankle. “No, it was a great idea!”

It seemed like a great idea when Shigaraki thought of it last night – go to Kamino Park, rattle the heroes’ cages, show everybody that the League of Villains isn’t scared of anything and isn’t even close to down for the count without Sensei to guide them. Then again, Shigaraki was three cans deep into a twelve-pack Compress had lifted last night, so his judgment might have been off. Twice is still talking. “I mean, we scared the piss out of those civilians. Those hero brats were running scared, too! And did you see what Kurogiri did to that All Might statue?”

“No,” Shigaraki says. He looks at Kurogiri. “What did you do?”

“Over there.” Kurogiri points, and Shigaraki looks. The head of the All Might statue is sitting on the warehouse floor. “It would have been a shame to leave without a trophy of some kind.”

“It’s on the news,” Magne sings out. She opted out of mission, and now she’s watching it on the League’s TV, lifted last week by Compress, which is hooked up to their generator, which was also lifted by Compress. “And it’s not looking too good for the heroes. That little one’s in big trouble.”

“Good. She’s a bitch,” Dabi mutters. His hands are bleeding. “What was that quirk, anyway?”

“Magnetism,” Shigaraki says. He feels weird. Maybe it’s the quirk. “She can manipulate magnetic fields. Any metal, on any of us –”

“I didn’t have any!” Twice protests.

“Then she used the iron content in your blood,” Shigaraki says. You told him how you were restraining the others. Amateur mistake. Or it would be, if there was any way to not have iron in his blood – but that’s a problem, too. “She couldn’t grab me. She said I didn’t have enough.”

“Is that so?” Kurogiri studies Shigaraki. “Did she say anything else?”

“Anemic.” It’s a weird word. Shigaraki scratches his neck. “She was weird about it. She wanted to know if I get headaches, or dizzy – or tired –”

The answer’s yes, which is why it was weird. It was weird that you knew. But the weirdest thing is what you said at the end. “She asked me if I was okay, and when I asked her why she gave a shit –”

“She answered you?” Magne mutes the TV, looking surprised. “What did she say?”

“What did I miss?” Toga skids into the warehouse before Shigaraki can answer. “I got away, but none of you came with me, so I went to the meeting spot alone. What happened?”

“The hero let us go,” Dabi grunts. “Shigaraki was just telling us about a little chat they had.”

“Ooh, you talked to her?” Toga sits down next to Twice on the ground, peering at Shigaraki. “What did she say?”

“She doesn’t want me to die.” Shigaraki feels his face contort behind Father’s hand as he says it. “Weird.”

“Weird,” Twice agrees. “Since when do heroes play mind games like that?”

It’s quiet for a second. “So she asked if you were okay and she doesn’t want you to die,” Dabi says slowly. “I don’t know, Shigaraki. It sounds kind of like she likes you.”

Shigaraki’s mind goes totally blank. “What?”

“You must have won her over,” Magne chimes in. “All that charisma you’ve got – how was a poor underground hero supposed to resist the leader of the League of Villains?”

You seemed like you were resisting just fine, until you couldn’t grab him. But it’s weird that you weren’t angry. You actually sounded like you were worried. Like you really cared whether Shigaraki has anemia, or whatever the fuck. Like you care if he’s okay. “Don’t be stupid. That’s not –”

“Come on, boss, don’t sell yourself short,” Twice says. “If you can seduce any hero you want, how come you didn’t seduce Miruko?”

“Ooh, Miruko’s so pretty!” Toga grins. “The other one’s okay, too. What was her name again?”

Shigaraki coughs, trying to make his throat feel less weird, but it’s not just his throat. It’s his face, too. “Skynet.”

“You said she was getting in trouble. I bet that’s why,” Dabi says to Magne. “They must have all figured out that she’s in love.”

“Shut up,” Shigaraki says. Nobody listens. He raises his voice. “Shut up! The mission was a success. Why aren’t we talking about that?”

“We are,” Toga says. Her grin’s devolved into a goofy, dazed smile. “You have to teach me how, Tomura-kun. If we make the heroes fall in love with us, it’ll be even easier to win! I want Ochako. No, Tsu. No, Izuku –”

Shigaraki stops listening. He picks himself up off the floor, hating the way his head spins, and makes his way over to Kurogiri. Kurogiri studies him. “Anemic,” he repeats. “The hero listed the symptoms of iron-deficiency anemia. Do you experience any of them?”

Shigaraki doesn’t answer. Kurogiri waits, just like he always waits, and Shigaraki figured out a while ago that the fastest way to make the itching stop is to answer the question. “Some of them,” he says. Kurogiri’s eyes tilt in the way that means he thinks Shigaraki’s full of shit. “Fine. All of them. So what?”

“Did she say anything else?”

Are you okay? “No,” Shigaraki says, pushing away the memory of how fast your expression shifted, how you went from focused on keeping Shigaraki’s comrades trapped and trapping him the exact same way to looking – worried. “That was it. Kurogiri, do you –”

“Yes, Shigaraki Tomura?”

“I mean, they’re just – they’re joking, right?” Shigaraki keeps his voice quiet. If any of the others hear this, he’s going to have to kill them. And maybe also himself, so he won’t have to remember that he thought about this at all. “There’s no way anybody – I mean, a hero – would like me. They’re kidding. Aren’t they?”

He wants Kurogiri to say yes. He wants him to say yes fast, and then to not pick on him for even considering it, and then to forget this ever happened. Instead Kurogiri thinks about it. “It is not impossible that they are correct,” he says. “Her behavior was unusual for a hero in her position. And it is likely that she knows more about you than you do about her. Perhaps she does have a certain – perception of you.”

“Great.”

“It could be,” Kurogiri muses. “She drew your attention to an issue that impacts your health, and therefore your effectiveness as All For One’s successor. And she chose to let you go. If the hero known as Skynet does have a soft spot for you, it has worked undeniably in your favor. It might behoove you to allow her to continue to nurse it.”

“Yeah, no.” Shigaraki shoots that idea down immediately. Any idea that makes him feel that weird is obviously a bad one. “I’m not going to track her down and say I’m not interested, but the next time I run into her, I’m saying it and you can’t stop me. None of you can stop me.”

He raises his voice, making sure everyone hears, and everyone looks up from whatever they’re doing. “Of course we can’t,” Magne says. “But you’re naïve if you think you can stop her. Nothing can stop a hero on a mission.”

“And nothing can stop true love!” Toga smiles at Shigaraki. “I believe in us, Tomura-kun! We can win their hearts together!”

The weird feeling multiplies. Shigaraki scratches hopelessly at the side of his neck and thinks about the remains of last night’s twelve-pack. Getting drunk again isn’t going to help, but it’s hard to imagine it making things worse.

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Reading your blog makes me so nostalgic. I've tried to read fanfiction once again but harry is so mischaracterized and that puts me off. Ironically canon harry is for some reason underrated in his own story. I'm really glad I found your blog!

I do wonder, what harry would've been like if the whole war didn't take place. Raised by his parents, how do you think harry would've turned out?

Anonymous asked:

Hi there! Your meta and analysis posts have single-handedly reignited my Harry Potter hyperfixation and your interpretation on Harry himself is my absolute favorite. What are your thoughts on a scenario where Lily and James survived or there was no Voldemort at all and Harry got to have the happy childhood he always wanted - how would his personality change? What would stay the same? What kind of dynamic would he have with his parents?

Anonymous asked:

How do you think Harry would grow up under James and Lily instead? No war no Voldemort.

Thank you! I talked about Harry's mischaracterization a bunch on here, I'm very passionate about my boy. He may be underrated in a few sections of the fandom, but not by me.

I think I talked a little bit about Harry if he was raised by his parents somewhere in the past but I can't seem to find the post so I guess I'll write it again.

Now, I believe that if James and Lily had lived they would've had more children after Harry. So a Harry raised by James and Lily still has his godfather, Sirius, basically constantly around, and also has younger siblings (I like to say a sister and a brother), so it's not just James and Lily that have an effect on his childhood. Also, I assume Remus would be pressured into being more involved than he is in canon, and if the war never happened, then Peter Pettigrew is still part of the Mauraders and Harry will know him well growing up. Contrary to canon, he probably only met the Dursleys once in some family gathering they were all in for some reason, but I don't think Petunia and Lily are too close. They maybe send a postcard every year, or so. I assume Lily tries more to keep that relationship going, but I can see Petunia making some very minimal begrudging attempt to know in general what her sister is up to (as in, how many kids she has and that she has a job, god knows she doesn't care for anything magical).

Also, if the war never happened and there was no Voldemort it's possible Snape & Lily are still friends or reconciled at some point after school — which can also be fun to play around with since I do like their friendship. Though I don't think he'd want to sit with the Mauraders at the same table, I can see Lily and Snape keeping in touch. Maybe Harry knows him too then. But not as a teacher. In this scenario, Severus won't be a professor because without his promise to Dumbledore, there is no way he is choosing to work with children. Not happening.

You know, maybe Lily could be the Potions teacher instead. I think she is more likely to want to be a teacher than Severus and we know from Slughorn she was great in Potions in her own right and one of his favorite students. Not that James and Lily really need the money, but I like this concept.

Now, this Harry Potter, who is raised by brilliant and talented Professor Lily Potter and Head Auror James Potter (or whatever other job you want for him) and has all these successful, caring adults around him that everyone likes, is going to have more things to prove. I think this Harry would be more ambitious than the canon one with about the same amount of cunning — basically, I think a Harry raised by James and Lily is going to Slytherin. It just feels right. He's on the crusp of being in Slytherin away, add some ambition and thirst to leave his parents' larger-than-life shadow — and bam! you got an even more Slytherin Harry.

Like, his core traits (resilience, courage, determination, protective tendency, tenacity, distaste for authority, etc.) I think will remain intact. I mentioned I think he'd have younger siblings and he's going to be the most protective older brother out there. But I think he'd be slightly less self-sacrificing because he's going to be more confident and have more self-worth, and perhaps be a little arrogant if he was raised by James and Lily. You know, James, Lily, Sirius Remus, and Peter are all going to spoil the shit out of him.

It's very possible this Harry would also have more of a taste for mischief (he already has some in canon, but he's also very polite) due to his parents' influence, so this Harry would probably like Fred & George even more.

I can still see him befriending Ron and Hermione, even with the slight changes in his personality. I think they would still get along well and a Harry that grows with James and Lily and the Order (or just its members because the war didn't happen) will know the Weasleys before Hogwarts. So, I can see Harry and Ron as childhood besties in this situation.

(I think Ron could've done well in Slytherin, he has that thirst for glory and to prove himself that a Harry raised by his parents likely would have, so maybe the two end up as snakes. I think Hermione would still be in Gryffindor and that they might still befriend her, so it creates a slightly different dynamic. Though without the first war as a backdrop, I think the muggleborn situation would be less tense. And also, I'm not sure how they'd befriend Hermione without the troll...)

I think James and Lily will be protective, but also really encouraging of Harry to try new things and will completely spoil him and his younger siblings. The only reason Harry would have some Independence is his own nature which I don't think would change much. Some kids are more independent and responsible, and if he has younger siblings it will push him to become someone more similar to the Harry we see in canon. However, he would be less awkward around other people and in social situations in general. I think this Harry, while not being an extrovert, is likely to be louder and more talkative. Also, Lily and the Mauraders would be so proud when Harry becomes Seeker in his first year. James would nearly cry with joy.

That being said, you can play around with it and what you're changing quite a bit, depending on how you envision James and Lily as parents.

[rinkkuma]

୨୧ BLUE LOCK BOYS AS BFS

ft. isagi yoichi, rin itoshi, & nagi seishiro

tags. a bit of cussing, gn!reader, all fluff ! / author's note. hihihiihihii this is my first time ever writing so yeah :3 hope you enjoy ! <3 somewhat proofread? i will also probably be doing a part 2, so look out for that soon !

ISAGI YOICHI

an absolute gentleman!! to opening doors for you, (even if it means sprinting to the door) pulling out chairs for you, making sure you're on the inside of the sidewalk, he will do anything. will treat you like royalty!!

insists you make a playlist for him to listen to and deadass listens to it while literally doing anything. while he trains, studies, or even just taking a walk, he just loves having small things that remind him of you to keep him sane throughout the day.

better yet, recommend a song to him and he'll be listening to it on repeat for the rest of the week.

takes polaroids of you and him on every one of your dates and puts them in his phone case and changes them after every date.

buys you two matching outfits, jewelry, etc. takes a million pictures when do you do, and posts them on all of his socials!! changes his phone wallpaper every day because of how many photos he has of you two matching (and because he's indecisive)

lets you gossip to him about drama at school, and lowkey gets invested and asks you to update him every week. (you can't just leaving him hanging after you just told him the juiciest drama ever!!)

ITOSHI RIN

100% takes you on boba/cafe dates, a weekly thing honestly! nothing sounds better to rin than spending the afternoon chatting with you while eating some delicious food.

while he's out shopping and sees something he thinks you'll like, in the cart immediately. most of the time he's just making a quick stop at the store to buy stuff for himself, but always ends up with him buying a bunch of things for you instead. (which he does not regret)

secretly an artist. sketches you when he misses you or when he's bored. (all of these sketches are strategically drawn in a notebook that he claims to be for school so that you would never look at it) you do end up accidentally seeing the drawings one day and loved them but he was absolutely flustered and hid them so fast.

sends ‘good morning’ and ‘goodnight’ texts to you, and starts small conversation after to check up on you especially if he's busy for the day.

since he is an avid horror movie and game enjoyer, late nights are spent watching and/or playing various horror games with rin. he likes seeing your scared/surprised face because of how cute you look, and probably dies in the game because he started staring at you.

notices small, not noticeable habits that you have and thinks they're pretty cute!

NAGI SEISHIRO

randomly calls you in the middle of the night to beg you to play video games with him. (he actually just wants to hear your voice, but he'll never admit it) if you're ever playing a 1v1 game, he always takes it easy on you so you can win.

if you have plushies on your bed, he will absolutely beat the shit out of them when you're not looking. like what do you mean they get to cuddle with you every night instead of him! purposely accidentally kicks all of them off your bed at night.

you woke up one night just to see his 6'3 ass standing over you (he just went to the bathroom and was just about to get back into bed) and you absolutely shit yourself thinking it was a random scary ass shadow figure.

gets you a matching cactus! (for context: nagi has a pet cactus named choki, shown in his spin off manga) if you forget to water it and whatnot, doesn't mind using some extra energy to take care of it for you!

you guys argue with random kids on roblox, sometimes even catching nagi doing it for fun in his free time. (it's a hobby for him atp)

begs you to pull all-nighters with him since he wasn't able to spend a lot of time with you during the day. (mostly because he accidentally fell asleep, but that's beside the point!) you end up giving in, and you guys spend the night talking about random things that come to your minds, playing video games, and watching the most random youtube videos that come up on his recommendations. (one night you guys binge watched mr. beast for a good 4 hours)

[panlight]

hi!! i’m so sorry to keep sending you asks (if you get sick of it please just let me know and i’ll shut up i promise!! 💕💕)

so this is re: the cullens being in high school, as per the ask you answered a couple days ago! i also always thought it was super weird, and i’ve been thinking for a while now that a MUCH better cover story would for them all (even carlisle and esme) to be grad school housemates (i say this as someone who has now spent two years in grad school and is about to be there for another five at least lmaoooo)

here’s why i think it would work:

1. the age weirdness wouldn’t be as obvious bc people of all ages go to grad school (i started when i was 22 and had classmates in their 40s)

2. related to age, the visible/physical age also wouldn’t matter as much since some of my classmates (me included 😭😭) looked like we could still pass as high schoolers while others gave off huge “kids and a mortgage vibes” even if they were just like a year older

3. the whole looking “off” and tired thing is just like. the grad school Look™️. the shadows under the eyes and general gaunt-ish appearance honestly wouldn’t stand out that much and if somebody said something about them looking “off” or whatever, they could just be like “late night studying” and the other person would be like “lmao so true bestie”

4. if they pretended they were all renting space in the same big house (and carlisle and esme just acted a little less parental), the whole “dating each other” thing wouldn’t be that weird at all. i feel like it’s not that uncommon for couples who get along to rent different floors or sections of a house, and if they didn’t pretend to be one big weird family situation and instead just acted like they all met each other at school, i don’t think people would even bat an eye

5. people go to grad school forever. like. for so long (i vaguely knew of someone who was in the eighth or ninth year of her phd). esp if they picked something like a big state school where the “kids” could go to undergrad first, they could realistically do four years of undergrad, maybe a two or three year masters, and then a phd of indeterminate length (usually at least five). that would allow them to stay in the same place for at least 11 years

and this is not an official point, but i will note that for carlisle to still do his whole doctor thing, i think it would be perfectly reasonable for him to have already “graduated” or whatever, but continue to stay with his “friends” for financial reasons, or just bc the living situation worked for everyone

anyway, i’m so sorry this was so long, and honestly i bet someone has already said this somewhere before, but it just struck me when reading the “why tf are the cullens in high school” post that grad school would be such a great cover story for them

haha anyway thanks for putting up with my ramblings and thank you for all the lovely work you do on the blog!! 🥰🥰

I've definitely seen "just put them in college!" before (and I have made that argument myself) but I don't know if I've seen the grad school cover story specifically before!

It would allow Esme and/or Carlisle to be the 'peers' of their children rather than some sort of guardian or parental figures. They could, as you said, all be renting a house together and Esme could be studying architecture or getting a PhD in art history or whatever while the kids study who knows what. Maybe there's a medical school as well and Carlisle can go back (it still makes zero sense that Edward and Rosalie go "to keep him current' like how is that supposed to work? They come home and just recite from perfect vampire memory everything that happened in calls? Wouldn't Carlisle be keeping current by like, idk, actually being a doctor, reading journals, going to conferences, and continuing education?).

A group of friends renting a house together as a bunch of couples makes way more sense than two parents barely visibly older than their foster/adopted kids who all date each other.

And, honestly, it's probably a better use of their time to get actual advanced degrees rather than stopping at undergrad? I know because of secrecy how they use their knowledge and skills is somewhat fraught but like, publish papers under a false name or let someone else take the credit or something and you can still contribute to the world of academia.

[morgana-larkin]

Me again lol I was wondering if u could do Melissa x reader where reader is autistic and has an autistic meltdown or struggles with change in routine and Melissa helps her (lol sorry I keep requesting fics but your writing is sooooo good I can’t get enough and as always no pressure and look after yourself 🫶)

Hey, thank you for the prompt! I literally just moved 2 weeks ago from one end of the city I live in to the other so I wrote that reader moves since its really relatable to me right now. And feel free to send as many prompts as you want, it’s not a problem😉. Hope you like it!

On another note, I was going to post this tomorrow but kept seeing people like my other fics so I figured I could just post it now lol. Also I can’t believe how many people are liking my fics! Especially ‘her poco sole’ , that was the one I really didn’t know if people were gonna like and it’s the most liked one which surprised me. I’m gonna try to get another one shot to a prompt I got a few hours ago and the next chapter of Worth It. I do have my acting workshop tomorrow and a role on Sunday but I’m gonna try!

Overwhelmed

Warnings: reader has a meltdown

Words: 3.1k

You’ve always done things a certain way, you planned your day ahead of time and you don’t like changes.

You got diagnosed with Autism when you were 13. Your parents knew nothing about it but were super supportive and researched it to better help you. They also liked to ask you questions about what you prefer to help you even further.

You all realised that routine is very important for you, and if something changed then you would need a bit of time to calm down from your mini freak out. If it was small changes like having to wear a different shirt or a friend wants to meet up at a different store, those you can deal with. But big ones like if a friend you were going to hang out with cancelled last minute or a family member dropped by unexpectedly or you moved.

That last one you didn’t experience a lot thankfully. You only remember moving once, and it was moving out of your parents place and in with a friend you’ve known since first grade. The next time would be when you moved in with Melissa.

You got accepted for a job to be a teacher's aide at Abbott Elementary. You walked in at 7:30 and went to the principal's office to get your badge and to know who the teacher you’ll be helping is. You liked being a teacher's aide instead of the teacher. If there was any big changes to the day then the teacher mostly has to deal with it and you just do what you’re told.

You got introduced to the principal, you didn’t understand how she got the job with how she acts but you don’t ask, it’s your first day after all.

« so the teacher that you’ll be an aide for, her name is Melissa Schemmenti. I’ll bring you to meet her now, she’s in the break room. » Ava said and you nodded your head. You followed her there and walked in the room and all the teachers there looked up and looked at you and you blushed a bit. You got nervous when you felt put in the spotlight with a bunch of people you don’t know. « Hey Melissa, your new aide is here. ». She told someone and when Ava moved out of the way your breath caught in your throat. A pair or beautiful green eyes were on you and they belonged to the most beautiful woman you’ve ever met. And then it hit you, she’s the teacher you’ll be helping. You’re either really lucky or really fucked. You then remember that you should introduce yourself.

« Hi, my name is y/n y/l/n. You must be Melissa Schemmenti. » you tell her and she nods then looks at Ava.

« She better be better than the last one Coleman. » she says and you look confused. She already had an aide that she didn’t like?

« I don’t know, I didn’t pick her, the school board did. » Ava says then leaves. And you just stand there not knowing what to do until one of the teachers stands up to greet you.

« Hi y/n it’s nice to meet you, my name is Janine Teagues. I’m a second grade teacher. » she says and is practically bouncing in your face and you lean back a bit, a bit surprised by her energy and enthusiasm.

« Hi. » is all you say, you never really know what to say to someone new.

« Alright kid, follow me, I’ll bring you to the classroom. » Melissa says as she gets up and you nod as you follow her out of the break room.

You stare at her little bit, you don’t know what to think of her yet other than she’s stunning and you oddly feel safe around her. Which is different, it takes you a few times of getting to know someone before you even feel comfortable. But it seems this woman has the power to make herself go from being a complete stranger to all the way to feeling safe around her.

« You’re really quiet. » she says to you as she bends down a bit to unlock her door with her key around her neck.

« Sorry, just nervous. » You tell her and she motions for you to go into the room.

« I didn’t say it was a bad thing, definitely a nice change from the last one. » she says and you want to be better than the last one so you can’t help but ask her.

« What did the last one do that you didn’t like? Just so I don’t repeat it. » You tell her and she looks at you curiously.

« She disrupted the class more that the students did. She made it worse more than she helped. » she simply said and leaned against her desk and folded her arms. And that’s when you get a look at what she’s wearing. Black leggings with a pink top and black leather jacket. Oh. You always found a girl who wears a leather jacket hot. « Do I scare you? » she says as you haven’t said anything.

« I don’t know you yet. I’m just nervous meeting new people and never know what to say. I’m autistic so I’m not as good with social interactions as other people. » You tell her and she nods.

« Well this is the classroom. I have a split class. » she says as she takes a seat on her desk and puts her hands together on her lap. « I have 20 second graders and 10 third graders. »

« Oh fuck. » you say and she laughs.

« That was my reaction too. Do you have any questions? »

« Um » you say and think about it. « What will you be needing me to do? »

« Just stuff to help really. Like photocopy papers, hand out tests, help them with some class work. Might need you to sometimes teach the third graders a quick lesson in the back of the classroom. » she says and you nod. This sounds like it’ll be good, you think. « any other questions? » she asks.

« Just mostly wondering how you’ve been doing this mostly by yourself. You must be a hell of a teacher to have 30 students in your class. » You tell her and she smiles.

« It was hard at first I’ll admit. I even punched the head of a cardboard samurai right off before I asked for an aide. » she says and you laugh.

The two of you talk for a bit before students start arriving. Melissa has you helping the third graders with some work while she teaches currency to the second graders. She gets you to grade some tests for most of the morning then has you help bring them to the cafeteria at lunch.

« You were a great help today so far, keep up the great work. » she says with a smile and you beam.

A month goes by with you helping Melissa and she’s less stressed now that she has an aide that’s helpful and you’ve settled in nicely with the class and some of the teachers. Until you get home from work one day and your friend tells you that her work transferred her to another city and she’s moving in a month and your smile falls. You can’t afford the rent by yourself, that means moving.

The next day at school, Melissa can tell something is bothering you since you seem distracted and in your head a lot. During her prep period, she asks you about it.

« Hey, what’s going on with you? You seem distracted this morning. » she asks you and you look up at her.

« I’m sorry, just a lot on my mind. » you tell her.

« You wanna talk about it? » she asks and you shake your head, you don’t really want to put it on her.

« You sure? »

You sigh and put your chin on your hands. « Just found out last night that I have a month to find a new place and move. And I looked a bit last night and there’s nothing I can afford by myself and very few people are looking for roommates. » you tell her and she doesn’t say anything. « Sorry, I didn’t want to bother you with my problems. » you tell her and she shakes her head.

« I offered remember. And plus I was actually going to start looking for a roommate. » she says and you look at her. « I have a spare room I’m not using and wouldn’t mind some extra cash. » you look at her confused, wondering if she’s saying what you think she is. « I guess what I’m saying is , if you need a place, you can move in with me. »

And that’s how you got here. The day you’re moving in with Melissa. And you’ve been freaking out about it for a week, your friend has been trying to help you pack and comfort you the best she can. You move your things into her place all day, you don’t have a lot of time to think about it until you’re standing in your new room, and it hits you all at once. Everything changed, different room, different house, different roommate, different end of the city. It all changed and you crumble to the ground and bring your legs to your chest and hug your legs and start rocking to comfort yourself.

« Hey y/n I made dinner and was wondering if… » Melissa comes by your room and sees you. « Y/n? You ok? »

You don’t say anything, you feel like you can’t talk right now, it’s all too much. You end up shaking your head and she comes over and sits on the ground next to you. She doesn’t say anything, she just wraps her arms around you and brings you in for a hug. And that’s when you break and start crying and Melissa rubs your back in a circular motion. The repetitive movement and the physical contact of someone you know soothes you. After a minute you pull back and wipe your tears off. And she just sits next to you for a few minutes, letting you calm down « Thank you. » you tell her when you feel like you can talk again.

« Not a problem. I know it can get overwhelming. But I can help you settle in so it’s not so scary. You like knowing about things right? » she asks and you nod. « Ok, well today I can show you around the house so you know where things are. And then tomorrow I can show you where I shop and you can decide if you like it or not. Then I can show you all the best places to get a bite to eat around here and anything else you want to know. » she offers.

« You’d do that for me? » you ask and she nods. « Why? »

She shrugs. « Because you’re a good person who just needs a bit of help. » she says and you smile at her.

« You know at first, I was a bit scared of you. » You tell her and she laughs.

« I knew it! » she says with a smile.

« But after getting to know you, and seeing how you are with the students, I realised how much of a softie you are. » You tell her and she glares at you.

« Don’t go telling anyone that! » she tells you sternly. And you put your hands up in surrender.

« Don’t worry I won’t, I know you got a reputation to keep. » You joke with her. « was there something you needed btw? » You ask her, remembering she was asking you something before she saw you on the floor.

« Just that I made dinner and wanted to know if you wanted something. I always make a lot. » she says and you beam. You’ve heard great things about her cooking but haven’t had any yet.

Turns out what they say about her cooking didn’t live up to how great she actually was. It was better than you thought. She did give you a tour of the house after supper and you felt a little better. You ended up watching tv with her and she stayed right beside you so that your arms are touching. She knows that close proximity with someone you know helps you calm down and process things.

For the next week you barely say anything. You’re more quiet than normal and you hide in your own head, in your own little fantasy world that you have complete control of.

Melissa has no idea what’s going on with you, and that’s when she starts actually looking up autism and how it affects the person and how they act and how to help them. She sees that if they’re dealing with a lot of big changes, they get overwhelmed and they either repress it and pull away from people or have a meltdown, it also says that they can repress it then have a meltdown. And that’s exactly what happens with you. Melissa was prepared in case it happened, it’s just how it happened and what you end up doing after, that shocked her.

You came home after going grocery shopping and slammed the front door. Melissa was dusting her table with all her pictures when you came in.

« You alright there sunshine? » Melissa joked and you glared at her. Melissa came from an Italian family, so glares didn’t even faze her. She went and leaned on the side of the couch and crossed her arms.

« I’m fine, just they didn’t have some things I wanted so I just walked out. » You said, trying to take your jacket off but it got stuck when trying to take your arms out and you let out a huff.

« Need help? » she asks with a raised eyebrow.

« No. » you snap and continue to struggle. « Ugh why is nothing going right! » Melissa walks over to you and pulls at the arm of the jacket and you’re able to take it off. You slam your jacket on the ground « stupid jacket! Stupid grocery store! » You half scream out.

« Hey it’s alright » she tells you and puts a hand on your shoulder trying to comfort you.

You gasp and turn to her with a glare before shrugging her hand off. « Don’t touch me. » you snap at her then try to calm yourself down. Melissa tries again, knowing that physical contact helps you and read that doing things that helps that autistic person calm down helps during a meltdown. « I said don’t touch me! » you tell her and back up to get away. You end up backing into a wall and you feel like everything is too much and you grab your hair and start freaking out.

« Y/n it’s alright » she says and you barely hear her. She wraps her arms around you from behind you and you scream at her to let you go and try to push her off but she hangs on. And then you start crying and fall to the ground and she follows you, still hugging you. You put one of your hands on her hand and lean into her. « it’s ok y/n, you’re ok. » she says, still hugging you from behind. She rests her chin on your shoulder and you relax more into her. After about a minute you sit up a bit and she removes her head from you. You turn around and in a wave of confidence, you lean in and kiss her.

She kisses you back and she feels you smile. You pull back and look into her eyes. « R u ok y/n? » she asks you after it seems you’ve calmed down.

« I think mostly, it’s still a bit hard for me, I’m still processing everything. » You tell her and she gets an idea. She helps you back and tells you to stay there for a second. She goes over and turns on her Bluetooth speaker and it connects to her phone. She opens her Spotify and clicks on a song. The song starts playing through the speaker and you instantly recognize the song, it’s the Macarena.

« Come on I’m sure you know the moves. » she tells you when you raise your eyebrows at her. She pulls you away from the wall and goes behind you and moves your arms to the music with the moves. You start laughing at her goofiness but eventually you start getting into it and she lets your arms go and does the moves with you. At the end of the song, your both laughing and having a great time, then the next starts playing and it’s ‘can you feel the love tonight’ from the lion king. Melissa just goes with it and holds out a hand for you to take. « May I have this dance? » she asks you and you giggle and you take her hand.

She brings you close to her and puts one hand on your shoulder and moves her hand in yours to the proper position and you put your hand on her waist. She starts doing the waltz with you and you’re surprised. She ends up being a really good dancer.

« You seem surprised. » she tells you.

« I am, I’m wondering if there’s something you can’t do. » you tell her and she laughs. « I’m being serious, you’re an amazing teacher, your meals taste like heaven, you can waltz really well. I wouldn’t be surprised if you knew a second language. » you tell her as a joke but looks at you with a smile.

« Conosco Italian. » she says and you look at her. « That means I know Italian. »

« I was actually joking but at this point I’m not surprised. » You tell her and she giggles. The song ends but both of you don’t pull away. « thank you btw. You’ve helped me so much. » You tell her with a smile and she smiles back at you.

« of course mia carina. » she tells you.

« Ok now you’re just showing off. » You joke and she laughs. Then she puts a hand around your neck and kisses you and you kiss her back. It’ll take time but Melissa is willing to help you with all the changes and to make her house feel like home to you.

Taglist: @esposadejoyhuerta

@imaginesmultifandoms

@idonothingalldays-blog

If you want to be added then let me know!

[gorogues]

I’m getting bored of saying hi and hello so salutations my fellow Tumblr user!

Now you know how I keep writing ‘The Rogues’ with a capital ‘T’ right? I’ve since then been getting more and more confused about if the title should have it or not, since I’ve seen a bunch of people, including you, not include the capital at all. But like, to me it would make more sense for the ‘t’ to be a capital, because when you talk or think about the group as a whole, it’s THE Rogues and not just ‘Rogues’ like how you would probably refer to one individual from the group. (Would calling any of the guys a ‘Rogue’ makes sense? Like for example: “Hey, there’s a Rogue over there!” Have any characters actually referred to any of them like that? Because I haven’t read any comics that include a sentence like that. Unless I’m remembering wrong that is, or it feels weird to me because I know of a Marvel character that’s costume name is Rogue)

Maybe I’m just thinking too hard about this, but to me, it really does feel like when someone is referring to one member it’s ‘a Rogue’, but when someone is referring to few of the members or the whole group it should be ‘The Rogues’.

And there’s also this whole thing I’ve seen where people tag the guys with or without the word ‘the’ at the beginning. Like I’ve seen people tag James and Axel with either ‘Trickster’ or ‘The Trickster’ (and in my opinion, I’m more inclined to agree to tag both of them as the latter instead of the former). I’ve seen once or a few times where Hartley was tagged as ‘The Pied Piper’, and I’ve even seen Mark and Sam (or it could be Evan, I’m not entirely sure) tagged with a ‘the’ in the front as well. Of course Roscoe is tagged like that, but with nearly everyone else it’s either with or without the extra word.

I’m sorry for sending you paragraphs nearly every time I ask you something, and I can’t promise at all that I’ll stop 😅

Hello!

I think it's a judgment call to capitalize or use lower case for 'the Rogues', though I'm no English major and don't know how grammatically sound one option is over another. Comics often aren't much help, because the lettering is often in all caps..!

I've just now looked at my collection of Flash volume 2 solicits, and they're erratic about when 'the' is capitalized; sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn't. But more often than not, it isn't capitalized.

There are indeed multiple instances in which 'Rogue' is used in a singular form, and I've included a few below, all from different writers. The story which introduced Replicant is even titled "Twenty-First Century Rogue", so there's a lot of precedent to use it in the singular.

I tag James and Axel with 'the Trickster' (there's that lower case 'the' again :> ), and I don't for Mirror Master, Weather Wizard, etc, even though you'll sometimes see them referred to as "the Mirror Master", "the Weather Wizard", "the Golden Glider", and "the Pied Piper" as you mentioned. It was a judgment call, mostly because "the Trickster" and "the Top" are used a lot more frequently than "the Rainbow Raider" et al. Occasionally Tumblr changes my tags and capitalizes 'the' when I know I left it in lower case, so maybe the site agrees with you :> (and sometimes it changes all capitals to lower case, especially in older posts)

(Another factor is that I created these tags nearly 15 years ago 😩 when I was pretty much just shitposting on this site, so I probably would have done things differently had I planned to keep a semi-serious long-term blog)

I write somewhat more formally when creating posts for Speed Force, and there I'm in the habit of writing "the Flash" when I'm talking about Wally or Barry and "The Flash" when talking about the title of the book. I don't know if that's grammatically correct, but it's what feels right to me to distinguish between the character(s) and the book itself.

[kantocamping]

Where do farfetch’d get their leek stalk? Is it a special leek that never wilts, or do they have to find a new one every few days? And why a leek?

@ladyzee-oddityhunter

I'm glad you asked! Farfetch'd are actually one of the pokemon I specialize in. I'll try to simplify this all down into just a single relatively short post, but I'll link my papers and studies at the end if anyone's interested in those.

Farfetch'd are extremely adept foragers, and have been known to use a variety of both wild and cultivated leeks. These can either be found in the wild or taken from a store, but chances are they'll spend hours picking out the 'right' one either way. This used to actually be a bit of an issue for farmers who grew leeks, since farfetch'd would dig up their fields trying to find what they consider to be the best of the bunch. This heavily contributed to the near extinction of farfetch'd in Japan, since they could easily be branded a pest, and were so plentiful that no hunting regulations prevented people from shooting them. However, farfetch'd have also been known to display agricultural knowledge themselves, and have been documented as caring for wild leeks. They're hard pokemon to monitor in the wild, so not a lot of research has been done into this.

Farfetch'd use root vegetables instead of a regular wooden stick or more traditional club because the leek serves several functions aside from just being a weapon; it's also used as nesting material, emergency food, and a way to impress mates, both for males and females.

The leek a farfetch'd claims will not rot unless it's abandoned, lost, etc. It's also much tougher than it would be otherwise, allowing for farfetch'd to use its signature attack style. While we don't have solid proof as to why this happens, the current leading theory is that, in layman's terms, the same energy you'll see a pokemon expelling during battle is constantly being siphoned into farfetch'd's tool of choice, which essentially keeps it alive as if it were still in the ground. The leek, for that moment, becomes an extension of the farfetch'd, not just a tool. This is best exemplified with Galarian farfetch'd; they can't evolve without a leek in their possession, and when they do evolve, the leek changes alongside them.

This is one of the many reasons why I think Kantonian farfetch'd should be reclassified as a grass/flying type, and part of why I believe they have a secondary evolution that we just aren't aware of.

That said, a farfetch'd's leek can still break or be separated from them, and they will have to replace it in that case. This is natural, and will likely happen 2-3 times a year, more if a farfetch'd battles extremely frequently. If you have one, remember that being without a leek does make them feel vulnerable, and will cause massive stress; get them a replacement asap, and let them pick it out if possible. Do not send an unarmed farfetch'd into battle if you can help it; they'll perform poorly and mostly be focused on trying to get away.

Here's a list of my papers on farfetch'd, if anyone would like to read through them. They're all written originally in Japanese, but the first 3 have English translations. I'm still working on translating the others. You can try auto translate on those ones if you'd like. I'm sort of doxxing my last name by putting these out there, but whatever.

Comprehensive analysis of Kantonian farfetch'd's current type/classification: Why a grass/flying classification will further scientific understanding (2019)

The role leeks/spring onions play in the life of farfetch'd: Why these root vegetables stay alive (2021)

A complete documentation on Kantonian farfetch'd's population boom and decline in Japan through the late 1800s until today (2017)

The unique biology of sirfetch'd: What the discovery of this evolution means for its Kantonian relatives (2020)

Current population structure and stability of Kantonian Farfetch'd in Southern Japan (2022)

No, we aren't ready for farfetch'd to be delisted as endangered: A response to Professor Nanakamado (2023)

[jandjsalmon]

FRC 2025 - January ❄️

Hello friends! I hope you've all been doing okay - given the state of the world and all. I am sending kind and loving thoughts to all of you who are worried, who are unsafe, and who are struggling. I see you, and I love you, and this is a safe place for you. 🖤

It's been a crazy month here - but I did take time to do some fun things... like going to rock concerts (see below - this is the fam at one of the last Sum41 concerts 😢).

So while year-end at the office and the Music Festival that I volunteer with have been keeping me SUPER busy - fandom life has also been intense. I may have accidentally made a viral post - which just cracked 50k notes this morning (and has completely murdered my Activity page) - and it even hit reddit - so now Bethy thinks she's famous. Ha ha. (for those of you new here - Bethy is the blonde one 4th from the front in the picture above)

Anyway, since I seem to have acquired a bunch of new followers, I apologize in advance for my blog not being what you probably expected it to be. But you're still welcome here. 👋🏻

Another year, another new task sheet for the @fanfic-reading-challenge - and boy is it hard! Super challenging - but it's definitely going to be fun. Remember, it's never too late to join up, and there is a Discord to ask for help and recs.

As I do every month, my progress and fic recs are below:

I was busy for the first half of the month creating a new spreadsheet to gather all my info - so that's why I haven't read as much I did last January. Still - I feel like this was a pretty great beginning.

One favourite fic I read this month was, Elf Lover by mildthemes. It's a Galadrial/Sauron fic from Rings of Power. Canon divergence pretty early on in Season 1. The inner workings of Sauron's head are fascinating and very funny. Instead of being unrepentantly obsessed with power, he's obsessed with equally obsessed "horse-girl" Galadriel instead. Some enemies to lovers for sure. There's some angst along the way (like when Sauron creates a single ring and gives it to Galadriel instead) and at one point Elrond essentially works as a couple's councillor but has to drink like 2 bottles of elf wine to do it, but their devotion is wonderful and their ending is domestic and happy. I made it a challenge to comment on every chapter and I got really emotional with the way they ended it. I highly recommend. 💯

I also read a few old favourites this month - one of which was I Will Follow You Into the Dark by my girl @feelavalanche. Violet/Tate (at the very highest level) from American Horror Story (which was my first tumblr fandom btw). This fic is a pretty big emotional rollercoaster. Pretend everything happened in Murder House like it did - except Violet lived. She got away and lived her life - but now she's going back for 'reasons'. There's a character death (but that's not news if you know the fandom). And CANCER is a big trigger warning for some folks. There are some GORGEOUS lines. Beautiful writing. Moments I've cried. It's from 2012 and I've read it more times than I can count. It just sticks with you. Sad. But with a happy ending (sorta?). I hope someone here will give it a try and enjoy!

[taxkha]

would LOVE to hear your klapollo fic recs!! Personally I love anything by cosmicpoet on A03

Oh I have a bunch of cosmicpoets fics in my bookmarks! but okay okay, here we go! And if my wishes could all come true by SeaMint

“‘Our son’ my ass. You’re getting way too into this,” Apollo grumbles, rolling his eyes. “Is this your dream? Do you dream of being divorced and paying alimony, Gavin?”  Klavier doesn’t tell him that as far as dreams go, his is to live in a world where a relationship with Apollo, past tense or otherwise, is at all possible. Apollo doesn’t need specifics, or terrible confessions in vet clinics that show how badly Klavier wants to play pretend with him.

Or, Klavier, Apollo, and how cats bring people together in the most convoluted ways possible. Okay so. This one is my favourite Klapollo fanfiction, I literally left a big ass love confession in the comment section because I enjoyed it so much.

Lookin' for a boyfriend (I see that) by SeaMint Five times Apollo tells Klavier about his dates, and the one time Klavier finally gets him to stop. Love this one as well ahh ;_; if it's really me you seek by SeaMint

“Anyway,” Ema keeps going, fully ignoring his sarcasm in favor of staring at a neat corner where the walls meet the ceiling. “I asked if he wanted to go to your party together, but he said he wasn’t going.” “What?” Apollo suddenly finds it very hard to breathe. “Why?” “Hell if I know,” Ema says nonchalantly, but then she turns to him with a smirk. “See if you can figure it out: I believe he told me, and I quote—ahem—'Ach, I would, Fräulein, but I believe Herr Justice would be more comfortable without me there.’”

Or, when Apollo comes home from Khura'in only to learn that Prosecutor Gavin is avoiding him, the last thing he expected was for Gavin to offer to let Apollo stay at his house while he looks for a new apartment. Can you tell that I really like this author shjhsamd Hot for Justice by indirectkissesiniceland

After the events of State v. Misham, Klavier finds himself in a slump, stressed at the prosecutor's office and unable to pen new songs. To his surprise, he finds creative inspiration—and unexpected feelings—spending time with Apollo. Now if only he could release the new tracks without raising any suspicion as to whom his love songs are for. Do...I even need to say anything I think this one is one of the most well known fics, ive seen it in pretty much every fic rec post so far.

just finally say you love me by ahmackalak

“Backpacking through Europe?”

“Ja! I’ve wanted to go for ages – it’s been so long since I’ve been back home, I figure I might as well make it a whole journey.” Klavier’s smile is as easy and agreeable as always, but Apollo isn’t buying it.

Barcelona, Paris, Geneva, Rome, Vienna, Prague, Berlin, Copenhagen.

A trip to Europe with Klavier Gavin...this’ll be fine, right? I like this one a lot too, its very sweet and ahh. Pining. PINING. Stupid Cupid by KrisseyCrystal (IceCreAMS) In which Klavier botches his attempt to confess his feelings to Apollo, and somehow instead sends the entirely wrong message that he's already involved with someone else--a certain brooding and hawkish prosecutor, of all people. Cue the clown music. This is probably one of the funniest fics Ive ever read, I lost it at several instances. Monster Movie Monday by contritecactite

Klavier attends a bad movie marathon at the WAA, gets a boyfriend, and makes peace with Phoenix Wright. Somehow, the last part is the least awkward.

Set sometime post-DD but pre-SOJ. This one is very cute and wholesome, I love the idea of the wright agency kiddos hanging out with Klavier :") Need more of that. love at first sight (and other common misconceptions)  by experimentaldragonfire

Klavier's always been certain that when he runs into the person he's going to fall in love with, he'll just know. Apollo believes the exact opposite--that you can't fall in love with someone without getting to know them first.

After a bit of convincing, Klavier's starting to see Apollo's point.

Just read everything by this author, one of my fave authors. 10/10 humor and writing :3c in effigy by experimentaldragonfire

Apollo discovers some scandalous Gavinners merchandise in Klavier's closet. Klavier, having no shame, decides that this is an excellent opportunity to have some fun with it.

or, The One With The Official Gavinners Dildos This ones nsfw which I don't have to mention considering the...summary 8"D morning revelations (to sleep beside you from now on) by experimentaldragonfire

It’s not until he sees Klavier beside him, golden hair strewn over the pillow like some sort of Renaissance heroine, that Apollo Justice realizes he’s in love.

Apollo wakes up next to Klavier and has to come to terms with his feelings for the prosecutor. It's very cute!! This Is What You Do At Sleepovers, Right? by grimsparkblue

“Let me guess,” Phoenix said, one of those lazy, evil smiles he had back when he wore the same hoodie for weeks on end making an appearance, “You two were in the court library and the power went off. The front and back doors were locked because this place is ancient, so you two decided to tough it out until the cavalry arrived. Then the Brokeback Mountain itch hit you.”

Apollo and Klavier get stuck in the courthouse during a blackout. Enjoyed this one a lot, it's funny and sweet, as the summary suggests.

Just a Curiosity by GigglingGrave  Klavier is curious about how Apollo can see through lies. So, of course, he tries to figure it out. What he learns, however, is really much better than what he set out for. Apollo is really cool in this one and I love it when my boy gets to be cool. Baggage by u_andcloud

“Herr Forehead!” Klavier is calling out the nickname before he even realizes what he’s doing. Never mind that this is a German airport and people are giving him strange looks.

Apollo reacts immediately, and the instinctive response is gratifying on its own. His brow creases, he turns, and when he catches sight of Klavier, a disbelieving smile spreads across his lips, and Klavier realizes quite suddenly that, even after two years, he has not gotten over Apollo Justice, not even a little. This one is also really sweet. Jamais Vu by spaceburgers Apollo Justice, at 27 years old, is many things: a defense attorney, Khura’in’s Acting Minister of Justice, a mentor, a brother, a friend. And also, apparently, about to enact one of the biggest clichés of all time by sleeping with his ex at his former boss’s wedding. I LOVE THIS ONE, I already loved spaceburgers fics when I was still super into Sylvix, was very excited to see that they also wrote for Klapollo!! This one has nsfw in it! scoop of the century (read all about it!) by experimentaldragonfire

Working at a gossip magazine aimed at teenage girls is just a way for Apollo Justice to pay his law school tuition--until his article rating Klavier Gavin's outfits goes viral.

After that, he's got half the Internet reading his articles, and it's inevitable that Klavier finds out. This one is so funny!!! Also, read the second part of it which I'm not gonna link here now because its linked in the fic anyway, as its a collection. pen to paper, heart to heart by shepherd Written for the tumblr prompt, ‘instead of drawing the model in our art class ive been drawing you instead because i think youre really cute and oh my god all my papers just fell out of my folder and you saw them and oh my god theres hearts on some of them please kill me now’. Listen, I'm a simple gal. And a simple artist. Artist AUs really speak to me and this one spoke to me loudly. Its super sweet!! Loose Lips by judojudo "Please disregard all prior questions and instead just tell me one thing, Apollo," Miles Edgeworth's tone was half-smug and completely mocking and all Apollo wanted to do was melt into a puddle on the floor, never to be seen or heard from again. "Why are you on Klavier Gavin's wikipedia page?" I like fics that make me laugh and this one did, haha. we caught fire like california in july by lady_mab

n his head, Apollo mentally scolds himself for asking such a dumb question. Because of course Klavier likes him, right?

(Right? Being treated differently from a swarm of adoring fans isn’t necessarily a precursor for LIKE liking someone and what the fuck he’s twenty-four why does he sound like a high school girl from a manga trying to figure out if her crush likes her back?)

(Oh, that suddenly puts a lot of things into perspective, actually.)

(in which apollo contemplates the line between boyfriends and boys that are friends that sometimes kiss, and also contemplates turning into a crab)

This one is one of my faves! home is wherever i'm with you by bevioletskies At Athena’s request - or more accurately, her demand - the members of the Wright Anything Agency are spending their week-long winter holiday at a cozy lakeside cabin together for some quality team bonding. Much to Apollo’s dismay, she also invited their closest companions from the prosecutor’s office to tag along. With everything he thought he knew about Klavier and everything he has yet to learn, Apollo finds himself thinking he might have someone to ring in the new year with, after all. It's a bunch of AA characters having holidays together. What more do you want. Bricks, Lockets, and Other Christmas Presents by apolloyoostice Present shopping is always easier with someone you love, even if they do have a terrible sense of humor. This one is super sweet!! fame vs infamy (the price of writing fanfic out of spite) by experimentaldragonfire

In which Apollo Justice becomes the most popular fic-writer in the Gavinners fandom.

(and, along the way, realizes his Big Gay Crush on Klavier Gavin might not be as hopeless as he thought)

Honestly, when I read the summary I wasnt expecting to like it at all because this is usually not the kinda premise I'm into buuut I read it anyway because I liked the authors other works and man I had such a good time and many good laughs. The Main Event by ItsyRoyal Apollo had no idea that the flirty busker outside of his favorite cafe was his boss's brother. To be fair, Apollo also had no idea his boss had a brother. Theres a specific line around the end of the fic that had me wheezing. The rest of the fic is of course really good too!! The Definition Of Home by Hikari_Kaitou All Apollo wanted was to go right home after the legal conference in Seattle, instead of spending the night like his colleagues. He's never been able to sleep well in unfamiliar places. Unfortunately, circumstances beyond his control prevent him from returning to LA as planned, and in desperation he turns to Klavier for help. Klavier generously opens up his hotel room to him, which in turn leads Apollo to opening up his heart. Agh just. read it. Loved it. 13 Hours by Powerpossessor Apollo and Klavier are stuck together in a 13 hour layover. Stupid and hilarious antics ensue. Also, is it normal to slow dance with your friend in a dimly lit airport at 3am? THIS ONE IS SO SWEET AND FUN!!! can i go where you go by parchmints

Apollo Justice has rotten luck: he actually wins the grand prize for a mail-in contest, but It's a couple's getaway to a fancy ski lodge in the mountains and Apollo is aggressively single. With no one to go with, Apollo offers them to Klavier since surely, a rockstar would be able to find a date before then, but Klavier has a better idea—they go together and pretend they're a couple. That way, they both get a vacation, plus free food and wine.

And well, Apollo's never been one to pass up free food. VERY CUTE AND SWEET AND AHH. PINING. I love pining!! sweeping you off your feet by shepherd A short piece for a prompt on tumblr, for the quote "Please put me down, it's just a sprained ankle," featuring clumsy Apollo and his marriage to Klavier. A very sweet short piece!! Things Are As They Are by hechima

Klapollo cabin fic. That's really all this is.

Based on the events of "You Ever Been In Love?", in which Edgeworth gets drunk and rents a romantic cabin for Klavier and Apollo in Joshua Tree. Things go about as well as one could expect.

This is the most recent one in my bookmarks so the list ends here. I have a lot more bookmarked but these are the ones that made the biggest impression on me! Hope you or anyone else on here can find something they havent read yet! x)

[kesbeacon]

Reading your sock post, I realized you might just be the person to ask a question that a friend posted on FB: a knitting worldbuilding question!

In A Tale of Two Cities, Madame DeFarge knits the names of targets for the guillotine into her work. What was her coding scheme? The friend speculated that Dickens had met Charles Babbage at some point and was doing something with binary. After poking around a bit on the internet, I decided Dickens made it up, not knowing anything about knitting.

I did find schemes for encoding messages in two dimensions, possibly using colors. But such a scheme seems unlikely to encompass 26 letters and 5 accents in a way that can quickly encode a name (since there was a fair bit of volume to keep up with at the time).

What do you think? Is there a plausible scheme today? And would such a scheme have a chance of being available at the close of the 18th century?

So, I'm not an expert on this either! But I'll give it a go.

The first thing I remembered was that this has been done, albeit long after Dickens' day. I have seen videos and posts in which people talk about knitting as spycraft during the world wars. The challenge I then had was 'is this all just a giant game of internet telephone?'

And, my friend, this led me down a rabbit hole. I’ll get to your question in a bit, I just need to go on a detour about checking your sources. Because most of what I could find online was from sites with names like ilikeknitting500 dot com or girlbosshistory dot net (not real examples), all with the same vague story – in Belgium, the resistance would have people sitting by trainyards knitting, and they would drop a stitch for one kind of train, and purl for another, and so on and so forth. As a result, the government banned exporting knitting patterns! But they can’t even agree on what world war it was or which government banned it.

So where does this claim come from?

It took me a little while to find real articles with sources. What I eventually came away with was an Atlas Obscura article that has citations. One citation was a book I can't access by someone who, while I can't find any evidence she's a historian herself, has been endorsed by at least a couple. The link did give me an excerpt about a woman who would use her knitting to cover for tapping information about troop movements in code to her children below, who would write it instead of doing their schoolwork. In a similar vein, I could find information on people who used knitting to hide their spy work, as in the case of Phyllis Latour.

The other relevant citation was to a journal article in a (student-run, admittedly, but in some fields this isn't abnormal) peer-reviewed Open Access journal by an Jacqueline Witkowski, who is now an Associate Professor of Art, even if she wasn't then. This was the best of the bunch, because this cited a BBC Radio 4 program on the history of MI6. I thought this was going to be the end of the road for me, but then I realised you don’t need a TV licence to listen to the radio and that I do have a BBC account, so I logged in and listened to it and – bingo.

Alan Judd, a writer and ‘former soldier and diplomat’ according to Wikipedia, is the biographer of Mansfield Cumming, the original head of MI6, and he tells us about Belgian professionals recruiting little old ladies to go sit by train stations and knit, with the dropped and purled stitches. (He mentions nothing about banning sending knitting patterns.) Crucially, this is definitely during the First World War. I can’t access the book (and certainly can’t be bothered), but I would call this reasonably credible – it’s not as good as something from an actual archive, and I don’t automatically trust the BBC, but this radio series seems serious and also has the involvement of Actual MI6. So I think this is about as good as I’m going to get in a single evening.

We still don’t have the other half of the claim, the censorship. Witkowski says, “This [...] led to the Office of Censorship’s ban on posted knitting patterns in the Second World War, in case they contained coded messages.” There is a citation. But the citation is a Telegraph column by people involved in QI. QI, or Quite Interesting, is a British comedy panel show that I would place in the ‘edutainment’ category – it is an endless source of weird little facts, some of which are even true. Wikipedia has a section on mistakes and fact correction, and I can tell you from having watched the programme that it is usually correct on a surface level, but if you know anything about the relevant topic you’ll immediately start going ‘well, it’s actually more complicated than that…’

The QI column says, “During the Second World War the Office of Censorship banned people from posting knitting patterns abroad in case they contained coded messages,” and gives no sources. On historyhub.history.gov, someone has asked if there are any primary sources for this claim. Textual Reference Archives II Branch (RR2RA) replies that ‘some articles specify that this was a practice by the British government, whereas others attribute it to the United States,’ and gives the asker links to the records of the American Office of Censorship, and where they can learn more about British censorship. There are no more replies. I would hazard a guess that QI meant the Americans; UK censorship was handled by the Ministry of Information, which is common knowledge here and not something they would fuck up.

I originally was going to wash my hands of it, but then I thought… just one primary source? Just try? So I looked at a US government printout of their censorship regulations from 1943. No mention of knitting patterns, but all printed matter is banned for export to Europe, which would presumably encompass commercial knitting patterns by default.

So that’s that tangent, I wrote, thinking this was over. Because Charles Dickens died in 1870 and published ToTC in 1859, long before ANY of this happened! Also, Madame DeFarge’s code is far more sophisticated than any of this stuff. So let’s get back on track.

Your friend is not the only person to have speculated on the Babbage connection – Paul Curzon of Queen Mary University London also raises the possibility that Dickens was thinking of Babbage and Lovelace’s work –

Wait. Is that… I thought I’d escaped my tangent! But Curzon has dragged me back in! He adds an interesting note at the end of the article, though he doesn’t cite it - “In the Second World War, the United States censors held on to a letter that contained a knitting pattern so they could knit the jumper in case it did contain a message. Ultimately they banned people from posting knitting patterns overseas at all (along with playing chess by post) in case people were hiding messages in them.” I wish he’d cited it, but this is at least a real academic – a little more credible than QI! I hoped that this would be the source of the QI claim, but unfortunately I think it post-dates the QI article – it’s hard to tell. But QI could easily have got hold of that censorship decision.

YANKS SELF BACK WITH THE BIG HOOK.

Dickens was, in short, probably making an almost science-fictional prediction. He moved in the Babbage/Lovelace circle and would have known about their work. What Curzon does not say is that this is also the age of Morse code, which came into use in the 1840s, and the beginning of Boolean algebra! It’s easy to imagine him taking these ideas, along with any knitting knowledge he may have had, and coming up with the concept. Madame DeFarge is ahead of her time, but not too far ahead of Dickens's.

Now, I’m not a Dickens scholar, but I happen to be friends with someone who is and is also a knitter. So I’ve asked her if he might’ve known diddly squat about knitting, and we’ll see what she says.

…

How might it have worked? Well, knitting is versatile. You can, for instance, knit Doom. But Doom is already binary, because we have established systems of binary coding. DeFarge does not, and it wouldn’t be intuitive to convert these into names, especially before Boolean algebra. She might’ve had a Morse code-like framework. Morse code isn’t actually binary – it’s sort of trinary, because you need to space the letters. This isn’t necessarily a problem; you can use a yarnover (followed by knitting/purling two together, obv) to separate the letters, with, say, knit being dot and purl being dash. If you’re experienced, you might be able to read it as fabric, but it would be easiest to read it back in reverse as you unravel it.

Knitting this would likely be pretty quick. She can’t be using actual Morse code for the very simple reason that she pre-dates Mr Morse, and I also don’t know how actual Morse code handles French diacritics, but it took me, a person who has never done this before and doesn't understand Morse and had to make some modifications on the fly, about quarter of an hour to knit the Morse code alphabet (minus Z bc I reached the end of a row and got bored). It would be easier if you were using colours; you could have one colour for dot, one for dash, and use purl stitches to mark the ends of words. I cba to do that right now though.

In summary, clearly Madame DeFarge is an extremely adept code-maker of a kind that is… easier to have in fiction than in real life. She's ahead of her time and in some ways ahead of twentieth-century spycraft, but not implausibly ahead of Dickens's. And I’m a fucking nerd.

And @ the internet at large, generalised-you should check your fucking sources.

[ryuichirou]

Replies

Some asks I wanted to answer as soon as possible + some short ones about recent posts.

Starting with a non-twst one because..!!

Anonymous asked:

Hi! Ik this is gonna sound suuuper late since you’re not in the fandom anymore but I just wanted to say your scolopendra Eren was the main inspiration for my centipede arm tattoo. I promise it wasn’t as an impulsive decision as it sounds (and no there’s not Eren’s face plastered on my arm lol) 😅 I’ve been sitting on the idea for years and have admired your art since around the time you first started posting on Tumblr. So I just wanted to send my thanks in general for being a really cool artist as well as inspiring me ✌️

Anon! This is so sudden and so amazing to hear?? First of all, having a centipede arm tattoo is pretty sweet in general; even without knowing how it actually looks on you I can say with 100% certainty that it looks dope as fuck. Second of all, the fact that our stuff inspired you to get it is honestly such an honour. I am so pleased and happy to hear that that I don’t even know what to say lol You’re welcome sounds douchy. So I’ll thank you instead.

Thank you for your wonderful message, and I hope you are having a good day.

Ah, scolopendra Eren…. It’s been a while.

Anonymous asked:

Hi! I really admire your work, it's beautiful. This is a bit of serious question, so if you don't want to answer it, you don't have to. (Btw, sorry for my English) I wanted to ask, do you ever receive hate comments for your ship art, and if so, how do you keep posting without being discouraged? I also posted many "problematic" ship works once, but I closed my account because I received many hate comments. I would very much appreciate hearing your thoughts on this. Thank you ^^

Hi Anon! Thank you for your kind words, it means a lot.

We do get hate; and there are some people who really don’t like us in a very annoying and obsessive way, which leads to them still looking at our stuff even after getting blocked. Over the years we received death wishes, heard slurs, got all kinds of nasty comments. It’s not the absolute worst thing that could’ve happened, but still, I won’t pretend that it’s super chill. Posting problematic stuff does get scary, and sometimes even if you have thick skin you end up getting upset.

We actually talked about this whole thing a bunch of times (in this post for example, last replies there), but I’ll try to give you some advice now.

If you feel more safe being locked, stay locked! But make sure that you still have supportive people who are into your art and your friends around so it doesn’t get lonely. If you don’t care much about your acc growth and just want to hang out with people who agree with you, make your accounts invite-only and try to surround yourself with people who you are 100% sure about. It sounds like an obvious thing, but I still thought I’d mention it.

Block and report (the latter is when they get offensive and break site rules). Of course, blocking feature isn’t as helpful as it used to be on twitter, but it is pretty useful on bsky, so please block as many aggressive people and antis as you can! The less they see your content or remember about your existence, the better. And even if twitter doesn’t hide posts from blocked accounts anymore, they still can’t really comment you if they’re blocked, so there is still a point in doing it. In fact, blocking hundreds of people made our experience everywhere much better!

Take breaks when it gets overwhelming. It’s very important to remember why you draw what you draw, and that you do it for yourself and those who appreciate it. So if people don’t want to play nice, they just don’t get to see your art. Your love towards your art and ideas is the main thing, don’t let anyone take it away.

First hate waves were the biggest ones until we finally became infamous enough for people to get used to us. It’s happened every single time we switched fandoms (by coincidence, we always ship something problematic lol it’s even better this way, to be honest), and it will happen again each time when we move on. There’s nothing to be done about it, unfortunately, the fandom culture’s been in the sewers for many years now. So the only real thing to do is just survive it all until it passes and you become that gross artist everyone gossips around from time to time but not as much anymore because this topic isn’t as hot and spicy and criminal and shocking as it used to be.

Those are my main thoughts that we mention in every post like that, but if you have any more questions, don’t hesitate to ask.

Anonymous asked:

Favorite thing to draw?

Difficult to say! A lot of stuff. Spooky and funny and horny comics I guess lol And also faces and soft skin and eyes…

Also, I kind of talked about it here and there during this ask game.

Anonymous asked:

Hi! Despite not really liking your ships I do think your art is really pretty and I was wondering if you had any advice on learning anatomy? It's ok if you don't, I'm just curious （╹◡╹) -🐇

Hi! I’m glad you find my art pretty :)

I do have a couple of posts when I talk about it, including this one with a video tutorial (kind of).

But if you’re wondering about anything specific, let me know!

More posts.

Anonymous asked:

How many fandom that you parcitipate in?

Currently we’re mostly into Twst, with some sprinkles of Kuroshitsuji here and there, but also here is a full list of all of our fandoms throughout the years.

It’s not like we actively participate in a fandom life though… just post a bunch of stuff sometimes lol

Anonymous asked:

Those thoughts, they come because of you. I can't go back anymore

That’s…very ominous, Anon.

Anonymous asked:

Amazed at how fast you manage to create great quality art in such a short time. But Riddle deserves it... I haven't read through his part yet, but when I saw him I thought "Since when does Heartslabyul have such a cool housewarden?!" with a voice that sounded suspiciously like Cater. He would do numbers on magicam!

Thank you so much, Anon! <3 We dedicate a lot of time to me drawing, so I end up doing it a lot and thankfully I am quite fast with my sketching now hehe.

Oh god, Cater really commented on it inside your head lol I get it, I absolutely do! And he really would do numbers on magicam…

Anonymous asked:

Did Yana screen the new Riddle directly to you or something????? How did you get that out so fast????????!

Dear Anon… you wouldn’t believe me but it’s kind of a prettied-up sketch with a bunch of colourful gradients and strategically partially covered sketchy background 🫡 He’s also very underrendered...

If I was to draw it as I draw our usual artworks (i.e. ch7 Cater), it would’ve taken me two or even three days (up to 6 hours each). But since we wanted to get this one done asap, we simplified a lot of stages of drawing! It still took all day of course, and we kind of were planning to draw some other thing that day, but it’s worth it lol We really forgot about everything else when we saw this Riddle… he punched me in the gut even more than Ridpunzel did.

I am happy it still looks good though, I am kind of shocked. Thank you for your kind words…!!

Anonymous asked:

(*The most guttural screech you've ever heard*)

AAARARRRRRRRRGHHHHHHH RIDDLE

Holy shit, they went so hard with the Heartslabyul designs

I thought after Cater they would be done and his design already went hard and then came Trey and his design went hard and then caME RIDDLE

And WOW, Heartslabyul went off

The black and red, the AESTHETIC

GOD, Riddle needs to start dressing like that awake stat, I want that for him, he should get to do that

blackbutlerfandomnerddomain asked:

REBEL RIDDLE IS SUCH A VIBE I LOVE THIS LOOK, PLEASE I WILL DIE IF WE DON'T SEE HIM CHANGE HIS WARDROBE A BIT IN CANON-

ALL OF THEIR DESIGNS ARE SO FUCKING GOOD IT’S UNFAIR, IT’S SO UNFAAAAIR, black and red really is such a gorgeous combo…!

Honestly it would be cute to see more of punk!Riddle…  but maybe the fact that he is extra rare special Riddle adds to his charm!

Still, someone needs to buy him a Vivienne Westwood ring or something.

Anonymous asked:

Look at those … man riddle

The boy loves to be tall okay…

Anonymous asked:

YES! CATS! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Anonymous asked:

LUCIUS AND GRIM ARE SO ADORABLE 😭😭 love themmm 🥹

Anonymous asked:

Oh my word. Those catboys are going to end me. They're so cute!

Also, Looking like a cute bratty catboy is not gonna make me buy you extra tuna cans Grim!! (He is gonna use this against me)

Oh they're both so perfect. 🥺💚

Thank you so much Anons!!

Oh the moment Grim finds out he could get tuna if he looks like a cute bratty catboy, it’s over for everyone lol

Anonymous asked:

I love grim so much and i want to give him all the kisses to his adorable naughty face. And as for Lucis I sort of want to bully him

Awww, but what about giving Lucius a kiss too?? He deserved one!

Thank you <3

Anonymous asked:

Lucius looks like the snobby rich kid Grim would con out of a bunch of money lol.

Yeah, and the funny part is that Grim would also think that, but then somehow get outconned by Lucius lol He is more cunning than he looks!

sirdurbe asked:

human lucius looks like SUCH a playground snitch, i know his ass just told the teacher i wore shoes on the circle time rug. perfect design, thank you

Thank you so much!!! Lol This is also such a funny comparison, I agree though.

He would suggest you bribe him though, you can give him a can of tuna and he won’t snitch. Grim isn’t the only one out there who wants tuna…

Anonymous asked:

now tell us which one tops and which one bottoms- (lucius x grim???????????? potentially?????????????)

I think………..both are bottoms…………………….

Anonymous asked:

Azul is a highly intelligent meowllusk.

Yes. Meow.

Anonymous asked:

Art about Jace/Deuck ship: 8 in total

And there should be more! MORE!!!!!!

Anonymous asked:

Jack and Deuce just being soft boys together is just healing my soul! I love those two so much!

So how long did they last before they started aggressively making out (and more lol)?

Thank you for loving them, Anon!! I am happy to hear that!

I think they lasted for about 4.5 seconds after that… the tension is too strong lol

Anonymous asked:

Aw, price Jack and princess Deuce! …what are they looking at?

They’re trying to focus not to start making out immediately…

Anonymous asked:

Duece and jack look so lovely almost like their from a bl manwana

I know right! It’s this BL air they have…

Anonymous asked:

Long haired Deuce???? You know Ace is taking advantage of that immediately

Oh god he would. I kind of feel bad that I didn’t draw them together with this version of Deuce yet lol but one day..

Anonymous asked:

hair fr fr

that's bloody gorgeous

Hair is very gorgeous indeed…

Anonymous asked:

my dyslexia read the "d gray man" tag on that fanart of that wisely character as "a gay man"

which i guess could be a true i don’t him but i also don’t know any straight man that looks like that or any straight men you draw!.

Your brain tried to warn you, Anon. It tried to warn you about how fucking gay the D.Gray-man’s d.gay-men are. It’s all in the name…

I wish it was more gay though :”( Everything needs to be gayer…

[bethel-rath]

Kriese - Master Post

For legal purposes, all testimonies and commentary on this page or any of the documents linked from it are allegations. The screenshots, however, are evidence. Any edits will be very obvious and for the purpose of respecting confidentiality.

Hey yall. I'm Kriese (aka Keira, aka 4 Pings: explanation of that one here). I am a former friend of Poppy and Zena's going back to Spring 2021, and I was an Archon (Moderator) of The Foundation starting around Fall 2021. I would not say I was their closest friend; but we shared secrets and they trusted me. I trusted them, too.

A lot happened in between then and now, and I have shared some of that publicly since coming out against them. I have decided to update my previous master post in order to change it from just listing the published documents to instead be a cataloging of what I feel are important or relevant statements, either here on Tumblr or on Twitter. A lot has happened very quickly in the past several months, and it is not all organized.

I do however recommend yall go check out Milena's Poppy and Zena: Abusive Hypocrites Hub Doc. In it are links to all of the already published docs, including Abusive Hypocrites 2.

Below here will be links to and descriptions of what I consider to be semi-important to important statements I've personally made publicly. They're not in any specific order (at the moment; I may go back later and reconsider).

When GayFesh Said People Privately Reached Out to Him, One of Those was Me. I discreetly talked to Fesh once while still in The Foundation. It occurred the night after he made his original public callout post on Twitter. We asked each other to keep our conversation a secret. I wanted his perspective on a few things. We didn't speak again until after I left The Foundation.

I Will Never Again Publicly Talk About RGR. Here's Why.

My First Signed Anonymous Ask to Heloise. This was done in response to Poppy posting my private DMs between myself and her after she dropped into my DMs while I was working.

Followup to That First anonymous Ask Much Later as Myself. In this I better explain what was going on around that time, why I believe Poppy reached out to me, and why I reacted the way I did.

A Signed Anonymous Ask to Heloise Calling Out Poppy Continually Using Spawn's Preferred Name. I was frustrated with Poppy not protecting peoples' identities when she herself should understand what it meant to be doxxed. This was an expression of that feeling.

I Discuss Not Wanting to Take Away What The Foundation has Meant to Others. As it became clear I would be speaking out in the future, I wanted it to be clear that just because I had issues with Zena and Poppy that should not take away from what support and community others had found there. Consider it a time capsule of my feelings and beliefs at that time.

My Offer to Talk to Anyone on Discord. Poppy initially vaguetweeted about me reaching out to Chem and Naomi, which prompted me to send Heloise this signed anonymous ask. Poppy decided to just called me out directly on Twitter afterwards. For what it's worth, I never spoke to Chem, and my interaction with Naomi was just sharing the Spawn 1 doc.

Discussion of What Lead to Me Leaving The Foundation. I sent this as a signed anonymous ask to Heloise in preparation of Luxander's stream and the publication of Abusive Hypocrites 2.

I Reiterate I Never Wanted Poppy to Lose Her Job. This is why I had my final fight in Archon.

About How I Connected With Milena After Leaving The Foundation. This signed anonymous ask was sent after Luxander's stream and Abusive Hypocrites 2 was published. I wanted to provide context for my contribution to the doc and me going public.

My Explanation of the 4 Pings Meme Poppy Made About Me. On March 22nd, Poppy created a bunch of memes about a statement I made during my final argument in Archon chat before leaving The Foundation. This is my explanation of it.

About Patchwork Heart and His Response on Stream. I had watched the VoD of the Cope and Seethe stream he went on, and I wanted to be charitable in how Patchwork Heart reacted to reading the docs (especially the stuff about Spawn).

Further Request to Give Patchwork Heart Space He Needs. I made this as a pseudo follow-up statement to the post above.

Saige Accuses Me of "Turning" Patchwork Heart with a $25 Ki-Fi Donation. This one bothered me a lot, and I responded on both Twitter and Tumblr. The Twitter posts are included within the Tumblr blog.

My Identity. This is where I revealed that I was the one running this Tumblr blog. I have not revealed the reason before, but it was due to Annie discovering my blog and thinking I was a Milena sock-puppet account. I decided that it was better to come clean about who I was rather than let that be assumed to be the truth.

I Disavow and Don't Support KF.

My Commentary on The Alt-Right Playbook. And how it pertains to this situation.

Poppy Heaps Praise on a Twitter Follower for Harassing Noehflake. So much for just wanting people to block her. I believe that is still the party line.

Discussion of Poppy's Behavior Pertaining to Control / Sex From My Perspective and Where Something Changed. This was due to an anonymous ask I received at the time.

When Did Poppy Start Getting Obsessed with Porn/NSFW Art? I provide my perspective of when I noticed the shift.

Succubi Want Consent. Why? In retrospect, it appears I might have been just mixing up the tweet thread I had caught with a previous discussion on stream as I never could find a stream segment. Well, the referenced tweet is included.

I Did Believe Poppy for Weeks About Her SA Allegations. I only changed my mind when evidence was presented about both the timeline of events and what had happened in private.

The Line Between Friend and Moderator is Fine on The Foundation. I chime in to discuss how moderators are selected by Poppy and Zena, and who was being shared the timeline of events of the Courtney Orchard / KP situation back in September 2023.

Is It a Conflict of Interest to Be a Friend and a Moderator at the Same Time? I do my best to answer the question here. It's complicated.

Timeline of Poppy and Zena Instituting a "Conflict of Interest" Moderator Rule and Sharing CO/KP Timeline of Events; Poppy and Zena Safety Report Published by KP Moderation Team. Both of these are relevant topics to stuff that happened in Fall 2023 with Poppy and Zena, Courtney Orchard, and ILoveKimPossibleALot. I was not kept particularly informed of the day-to-day details myself at the time.

I Discuss The System Reorganization of The Gentry to L'Enfants Diabolique and How Penny Changed. No, I'm not talking about Penny the OC. I'm talking about Penny the headmate.

I Give a Good-Faith Response to AnnieGal. It was clear she was not engaging in good faith with me (she later admits as much), but I did my best to engage in good faith with what she gave me. I wanted to show I am who I always was.

A Response to Night Wyld. I waited over a month to make any public statement outside of some comments on Malcolm's Poppyverse discord, and I only did so because Night Wyld publicly attacked me again on their Tumblr. The contents within finally forced me to decide to make a public statement. As their Tumblr has been suspended and Annie has taken down her reblog of the post, the evidence is currently not on this site. I still have it (as do other places).

Cross-Post From Twitter About Wiping Messages on The Foundation Before I Left and Why. I did not wipe everything, but I wiped a lot. I felt it was important people know I chose to do so.

My Recommendations for How to Behave When it Comes to Rhetoric. It's clear not everyone agrees with what I said, but I stand by it.

An Apology to Saige for Never Reaching Out. I should have done so much, much sooner.

What's The Play Here? This isn't particularly important, but I'm putting it here for two reasons. One: I did send a private message to Poppy wishing her a Happy Birthday; Two: Poppy revealed that I had sent her a Cease and Desist, and that is true.

Night Wyld Has Left The Foundation. I will let his words and apology speak for themselves. From what I can tell, Night put a lot of effort into the video, and I recommend everyone watch it. For my part, I forgive him.

If something is not here, it's still in the archives. Nothing is deleted.

Take care all,

Kriese

[spnfanficpond]

Weekly Pond Newsletter

FYI - There won't be a newsletter next weekend because Admin Michelle will be attending the Creation convention in DC! That's right, she's gonna be right up close with all of this, trying desperately not to say something stupid. Pray for her. 🤣

Old Business:

NaNoWriMo - Last week we asked for feedback about doing something for NaNoWriMo, and what we got was a bunch of links to sites that already have tools you can use! Since no one seemed interested in us recreating the wheel, we're dropping the idea. Instead, here are the links we got so you can look them over:

Writing Month Of (WRIMOO), an alternative to NaNoWriMo

And here is a link to a tool that Admin Michelle used when she did NaNoWriMo. Feel free to copy and use it on your own if you like it! (Add your own daily word counts to the column in yellow, and conditional formatting will help you easily see if you are ahead or behind on your goals.)

Last week's #TweetFicTues prompts -

New Business:

Writer Hangout in the Discord server - TODAY at noon EDT!!! For the first time ever, we're hosting a chat in the general voice channel in the Discord server! (There is also a corresponding text chat in that channel so you don't have to turn on your microphone and talk if you really don't want to.) Manta Ray Laili will be hanging out, talking about story ideas and all things writing. She's done this in other servers and says it's a lot of fun and very encouraging. Since it's the first time we're doing this, anything could happen! Be there to experience it live!!

Manta Ray chats in the Discord server - We've got TWO of our usual chats lined up this week for you! Manta Ray Arthur will be there on Monday at 1:30pm EDT, and Manta Ray Laili will be there on Saturday at 2pm EDT. These chats are your chance to talk to our Manta Rays and get advice, toss around ideas, or just chat about anything!

Fishing for Treasures - Next weekend is FFT weekend here at the Pond, and this month we're celebrating fics from all the other fandoms that are NOT SPN! So many of us love to read fics from other fandoms, but don't get to share them with the Pond because we're SPN-specific. Here's your chance! Drop a link to your favorite non-SPN fics in the FFT channel in the Discord server, or send it to Admin Marie! (Tumblr links preferred.) Click here for all the details!

SPN Rewatch: FanFic Edition - In two weeks, we will be having another chat in our rewatch series, about episodes 3.03 Bad Day At Black Rock and 3.04 Sin City. For all the details, and to see notes from our discussions about previous episodes, check out The Archive!

(Divider by @glygriffe!)

That’s all for this week! To see all Pond events, and also other SPN-related things like conventions and online concerts, check out our Google calendar! Click here for a static view in Eastern US/Canada time (desktop only, no mobile app access, sadly), and click here to add our calendar to your own Google calendar! We try to keep it as up-to-date as possible. If there’s something you want to see on the calendar that’s not there (maybe a convention we missed, cast birthdays, or something similar), send us an ASK and let us know!

Hope you have a great week! - From your Admins and Manta Rays, @manawhaat, @mrswhozeewhatsis, @mariekoukie6661, @thoughtslikeaminefield, @heavenssexiestangel, and @spn-fanfic-reblog-writes!