#...it has probably long since surpassed 18 pages...

[soul-eater-novel]

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For your reading pleasure and enjoyment, below the cut are the full rough English translations of chapter 18 of the official 1998 Suikoden I Soul Eater novel (volume 2 of 3). Individual page translations and original Japanese text can be found in the chapter 18 tag.

Chapter 18: Surpassing Sorrow 

How long has it been since Gremio stopped speaking? 

It was impossible to tell how much time passed while they sat in the dark, stagnant passage leading to the dungeons, intently waiting for help. 

Only once did one of the guards come to the first of the two doors. They heard him open it and his voice rose in a shriek that was abruptly cut off. The spores must have spread out into the passage and devoured him and all the other guards. 

Luckily, there was a storehouse one floor down that held a stock of emergency rations and candles. They could hold out for a little while. But, after a time, those too dwindled to almost nothing. 

Sigh...

Sitting in the silence and the dark, one of them sighed. 

How many times had Tir heard that sound? How many times had he sighed? 

Violent spasms of pain shot through the back of his right hand but he paid them no heed. His first priority was finding a way out. He couldn’t believe that Gremio was dead. He didn’t want to believe. So he desperately hunted for a way to escape.

But it didn’t matter how he racked his brains or how closely he searched every nook and cranny of the dungeon by the light of the candle—no escape route was forthcoming. He sighed deeply. 

“Just calm down, Tir.” Viktor said, in a voice meant to soothe. “If ya run around like that, you’ll just waste all yer energy. Looks like the guard got done in by those damn spores too, so nothin’ we can do now but just sit tight.”

“Yeah... guess you’re right...” 

“There’s no way anybody is gonna wander into this prison in the middle of nowhere...” Flik muttered dejectedly.  “Never mind come all the way down this dark passageway and just happen to pull that lever on the wall.” 

“I’m sure we’ll manage somehow, though...” Tir replied automatically, his voice somber. “Master Liukan, this prison doesn’t have air vents or anything like that, does it? Maybe we could get out that way...”

“I don’t know, lad, but I suppose it doesn’t,” croaked Liukan hoarsely. “Soniere was built expressly to prevent any kind of escape—to stop prisoners from having even a shred of hope.” 

“I see...” 

In the darkness, Tir sighed again.

Then Cleo whispered, “Is that...?”

Everyone listened closely. 

Tap... tap...

They could hear the faint sound of footsteps on the other side of the doors. 

Hope flared in their chests. 

Immediately after came the sound of someone in the room drawing in a deep gulp of breath to get ready to shout. 

“HEEEY—mgh?!” Viktor began to roar, but Flik clapped his hand over his mouth to cut him off. 

“What if it’s an imperial soldier, you dumbass?!”

Given that they were in an imperial prison, the probability did seem rather high. 

The flame of hope flickering in their breast began wavering just a little. 

“I’ll take what I can get! Or what, you wanna stay locked up in here forever?!” Viktor shot back, irritated. 

They all heard the sound of steel scraping against leather. Viktor had drawn his sword from its sheath on his back. 

“I agree,” Tir nodded, tightening his grip on his staff. “It’s better than running out of food and starving to death h—” Tir stopped mid-sentence, suddenly filled with dread. 

Once we open that door, we’ll know for sure whether Gremio is still alive or not.

“That’s true,” allowed Flik, drawing his sword as well. “Then I guess we’d better get ready for a fight.”

Tir walked halfway toward the door but faltered, indecisive. Three of them pressed their ears to the metal door, listening and waiting to see what the owner of those footsteps would do next. The first pair was then joined by several other sets of footsteps. 

“Sounds like there’s a whole team of them...” Flik murmured. 

Tir had Liukan and Cleo evacuate down the passageway in case the worst came to pass. He, Viktor, and Flik kept their ears pressed to the door, each one holding their weapon of choice tight. 

The footsteps slowly drew closer and then stopped in front of the door. A man’s voice rumbled on the other side of the door, bewildered. 

“These are Gremio’s things...”

It’s Mathiu!!

“Mathiu!!” Tir shouted in relief. 

Viktor and Flik pounded on the door with the hilts of their swords, yelling. 

“Hey, Mr. Tactician! Get us outta here!”

“We’re in here!”

“What in the world happened?” Mathiu asked, confusion plain in his voice.

“Forget about that, just pull the damn lever!” Viktor cried. “It’s right next to ya!”

“You mean this one?”

They heard the creak of the lever being pulled down. The door opened. Candlelight flooded the passageway, illuminating Mathiu, flanked by several soldiers. 

“Lord Tir, are you injured? You were late returning, so I gathered together these soldiers to come look for you... what the devil is going on? We didn’t see a single imperial soldier on our way in.”

But Tir wasn’t able to answer his questions. Like a stone sinking unwillingly to dark depths, his gaze fell to the floor. Strewn upon the cold flagstones were Gremio’s green cloak, his blue sweater, and his axe, the handle wrapped in a white cloth. 

Without any warning, he began to sob. It had finally hit him that Gremio had really and truly died. He had pushed his sorrow away by searching for a way to escape, the whole time believing deep in his heart... 

When we get this door open, Gremio will be waiting on the other side. He’ll smile and say, “Are you all right, young master?”

But Gremio was nowhere to be seen. The wavering light of the candle only illuminated his cape, with no one there to wear it, and his axe, with no one there to hold it. 

“Gremio...”

Tir dropped to his knees blindly. His tears fell on the green cloak like giant raindrops. 

Cleo hugged him. “Lord Tir...”

Finally, he managed to stand up again. 

“We gotta get outta here,” said Viktor. “Tir needs to rest.”

It seemed Mathiu had gathered Gremio had died from seeing his possessions on the ground. His gaze lingered on the floor for a moment, but then he raised his eyes and stared hard at Tir. 

“Lord Tir... I’ll keep this short. Remember that you are the leader of the Liberation Army.”

But so great was his grief that Tir couldn’t respond to Mathiu or even walk toward him. Tears rushed in as if they could fill the gaping and endless abyss that stretched between the mementos of the man spread across the flagstones, grown cold, and all the warm memories he had given Tir.

---

Tir and the others returned to the Garan checkpoint and began preparations to capture Scarleticia Castle. They sent for reinforcements; Lorelai and Ruby. 

In what seemed like no time at all, the Liberation Army’s ranks were bolstered by volunteers pouring in from what felt like every street corner.  

In the town of Teien a shipwright named Gen and an odd inventor by the name of Kamandol joined. So did the magician Hellion, who could use magic to send people back to headquarters instantly, and the martial artist-in-training, Eikei. 

Apparently a majority of the townspeople in Antei were not happy with Milich, for many more joined the army. The new members included Qlon, a young boy knowledgeable about local geography, Chapman, the proprietor of an armor shop, a dancer named Mina, the rune master Jeane, and the young woman Esmeralda who appeared to come from an aristocratic family.  

Tesla and Kimberly, the masterminds behind the forged decree from Milich, had already thrown in their hats with the liberation army. In Rikon they were joined by the young witch Lotte, an appraiser named Jabba, and the musketeer Clive, who used one of those fabled ‘guns’ as a weapon. Some also traveled all the way to the Garan checkpoint to join forces, such as the martial artist Kai, who had heard of Tir’s achievements, and a hunter by the name of Quincy. 

Tir and the others were weary from their long travels and heavy with sorrow after losing Gremio. The news that Liukan had finished creating an antidote was like a balm to their souls.  

“If you apply this potion to a bandana and tie it around your mouth, you should suffer no ill effects from the pollen.”

A barrel of the stuff and enough bandanas were delivered to each and every unit. 

Mathiu informed Tir that preparations were nearing completion. Tir gave orders with a heavy heart. As he watched Mathiu and the others prepare for the oncoming battle, he thought over Gremio’s final words. 

Gremio asked me to keep up the fight until the very end. It doesn't matter how sad I am or how hard I think, nothing is going to bring him back. 

But there is one way to make sure his sacrifice has not been in vain: win this battle.

“Okay!” He put on a brave face. “Let’s take down Scarletia Castle!”

They had managed to gather together many of the Liberation Army soldiers that had been hiding out in various towns, swelling their ranks to nearly ten thousand strong. Many of the troops and the units camped out in the fields voluntarily.

With astonishing swiftness, Cleo and Pahn somehow arranged for all the soldiers to wear mourning bands. Sometimes Mathiu had to get Viktor’s unit to slow down when their pace exceeded the others. Flik’s unit simply marched across the fields in silence. In those moments, seeing everyone honor Gremio in their own ways, Tir realized he was not alone in his sorrow.

For Gremio, for all those we’ve lost along the way and for everyone here now—we have to win this battle, Tir vowed silently to himself as he sat atop his steed, clutching his staff. 

Six days after they began their march, they arrived at a point where they could see Scarletia Castle. It was early morning and the world was still dark. 

Last time the troops had been exhausted after attacking the Garan checkpoint. This time, though, Mathiu had kept the march to a very strict schedule and had made sure everyone would be well rested for the big day. 

The giant rose ‘Antoinette’ still swayed on the balcony. However, the imperial army was nowhere to be seen—convinced, perhaps, that Tir remained trapped in Soniere prison. 

It was the ideal opportunity to launch a surprise attack. Gazing at the castle across the field, Mathiu spoke. 

“Are you ready, Lord Tir?”

“I am. Let’s topple that castle.” 

“Of course, sir.”

Mathiu ordered his subordinate to wave the flag and give the marching order. The first to move were Kirkis, Ruby, and Lorelai, leading the team of archers. 

Tir had been imagining they would all just charge right in, so he had to ask. 

“What’s our strategy this time, Mathiu?”

“There’s a one-in-a-million chance it will actually work, but I have come up with a plan to counter Milich’s pollen. With Master Liukan’s antidote in hand, we have no need to fear the pollen. Let us watch and see what happens, my lord.” 

Even while he answered Tir’s question, three more units galloped toward the castle. They stopped a short distance away from the imperial troops outside the castle. From far away, Tir saw tiny sparks flicker into being around each soldier. The sparks grew into flames, transferred to the tips of the soldier’s arrows. 

“I see...” murmured Tir. “Attacking with fire, huh?”

“Now, everyone—FIRE!”

On Kirkis’ command, the troops shot a volley of fire-arrows at the imperial army. 

Some of the arrows hit the enemy soldier’s tents, while others pierced the fence that stretched around their encampment. The early morning breeze fed the flames and within moments the entire camp was ablaze. The soldiers who had been sleeping in their tents ran about in panic. 

Mathiu called back Kirkis’ group and sent out Viktor, Flik, and Humphrey’s units. Viktor leapt into the fray—straight into the middle of the enemy camp. 

“Outta the way!”

The imperial soldiers scattered in every direction. Viktor slashed at them wildly, occasionally making contact and bringing one down. 

Flik brought down the soldiers who fled to the right and Humphrey took care of the ones who ran to the left. The camp was filled with the screams of the imperial soldiers. 

Milich appeared at the balcony, still dressed in his nightgown. 

“I wondered what was going on, but it’s just you all again... seems the last two beatings weren’t enough. You never learn from your mistakes, do you? You just keep coming back, like the roaches you are.”

“So ya show yer face at last, ya frilly bastard!” Viktor shook his sword at the general. “Call us whatever ya like now, ‘cuz yer not gonna be able to say much after we chop off yer head!”

Milich sneered. He turned and disappeared into his room, then reappeared on the balcony with his saber at his hip. “Try as many times as you like. The outcome will be the same.”

Milich walked up to Antoinette. 

Flik turned in his direction and shouted, “Talk about not learning from the past—you’re the one-trick pony here!”

Milich snorted and caressed the giant rose lovingly. “I’ll make you realize just how foolish you are. Now, Antoinette!”

The petals shook and pollen whirled into the sky. 

The liberation army soldiers all had bandanas tied around their mouths to protect against the pollen. And then... 

“Wh-what is going on?!” shrieked Milich, shocked. 

Tir’s eyes widened in astonishment. 

As the pollen began to float into the air, the rising heat from the burning camp pushed it further up into the dawn sky, where it dispersed. 

“So that’s it...” Tir breathed, as it finally dawned on him why Mathiu had chosen to use fire. 

“Now, Lord Tir.” The tactician cautioned. “It would be best if you put a bandana over your mouth and nose to protect yourself. While I can’t vouch for the safety of the enemy camp, it is possible that some of the pollen may drift in our direction.”

Tir nodded, doing as the older man said. 

Mathiu gave more orders to Kirkis’ unit, this time to attack Scarleticia Castle itself with the fire arrows. 

“Noo! Stop!” Milich wailed from the balcony, heartbroken. “My darling Antoinette!”

The inner courtyard, the balcony, the giant rose—all burst into flames. 

In that same instant, Viktor and his unit broke through the gate and poured into the inner courtyard. Imperial soldiers flew out of the castle, armed to the teeth. 

Just as Viktor’s unit crossed swords with the imperials, Flik and Humphrey’s groups rushed into the courtyard right on their heels. Pahn, Cleo, and Lepant’s units were all outside the castle. They attacked, over and over, until the imperial forces were nearly decimated. Victory was at hand. 

Unable to bear it any longer, Tir turned to Mathiu. 

“Mathiu...” 

Seeing the look in Tir’s eyes, Mathiu said only, “All right, m’lord. Just be careful.”

“Thank you, Mathiu!” 

Tir kicked his horse into a gallop. Gripping his staff tight, he charged toward the enemy camp. He tore the bandana off his face and slipped through the gate, joining Viktor and the others. Together they took down the ranks of enemy soldiers and pressed on toward the balcony where the Flower General Milich Oppenheimer awaited. 

ーーー

Anger coursing through his body, Tir leapt out onto the balcony.

“Prepare yourself, General Milich!”

But Milich was in no condition to reply with his usual snark, much less draw his weapon. His saber had been flung aside and the general lay collapsed, face down, on the floor of the balcony. 

“Was he hit by a stray arrow?” Cleo mused aloud as she joined Tir on the balcony.

But no arrows pockmarked the balcony, and there was no blood upon the floor.

“Naw, this is just like him. Classic Milich. He’s just playin’ dead like a damned possum so we’ll get close and he can jump up and shank us, ain’t he?”

Viktor strode up next to Tir and, staying a safe distance away from the man lying prone on the floor, prodded him with his sword. But the general did not stir. They stood and regarded him in silence as the smoke from the flames below wafted by. 

What in the world happened to Milich?

“No, it can’t be...” Tir muttered, an awful, sinking realization forming in the pit of his belly. 

His gaze was drawn to the general’s arm, splayed on the floor next to the saber he had dropped. The glove he wore over his right hand when wielding his saber was now a charred, smoking ruin. 

Turning his head to his comrades behind him, Tir asked quietly, “did anyone see a flash of light from the balcony?”

“I saw it,” confirmed Lepant, who had come running in behind them. “A bright light shot out from the balcony toward the northeast.”

“We were all in the castle, so we didn’t see it...”

Tir crouched next to Milich and removed the man’s glove. 

“Ya don’t mean...”

Viktor didn’t need to complete his sentence, as they all saw how the traces of a rune were hideously burnt into the back of the general’s hand. 

Milich stirred, groaning.

“Urgh...”

Tir gently set the general’s hand back on the floor and stood, clutching his staff in both hands. 

Milich rose to his elbows and looked around groggily. “Wh-what the devil is going on...? You’re Tir, Teo’s son... why are you here? And why is my castle burning?”

“Milich, you bastard!” Viktor roared, raising his sword over the general’s head. “It’s time to pay the piper!”

“We’ve gotta take revenge for Gremio!” Pahn cried, his claws gleaming. 

“I agree. Prepare yourself, Milich.” Cleo joined the two men. 

“Gremio? Revenge?” Milich gazed around in confusion at everyone brandishing their weapons at him. “What’s all this about?”

“General, do you remember the events of the past few days?” Tir asked. 

“Now that you mention it...” A bewildered look slowly crept into Milich’s eyes. “I can’t even recall... what I ate for breakfast today. Did I water the plants? My memories are all fuzzy and jumbled...”

“General Milich...” Tir’s voice shook. “Was that rune on your right hand a gift from Lady Windy, perhaps?”

“Ohh, what has become of my beautiful skin...?” Milich moaned softly, noticing the state of his hand for the first time. “Yes, that’s right... Windy gave me a “Green Rune” she said would help me grow plants for my garden.”

“Damn... Windy...!”

Tir looked to the heavens. 

So this is the work of the Black Rune yet again...

Viktor growled impatiently behind him. “Get outta the way, Tir!” 

Tir slowly turned to his friends behind him and saw Viktor, Cleo, and Pahn all glaring ferociously at Milich. Looking at them all ready to fight, Tir was hit by a wave of sorrow and loneliness. Gremio should have been there with them, smiling gently as he always did. 

He was overcome with memories of Gremio. Tears flowed from his eyes. His hands, gripping his staff, began to tremble in frustration. Thinking of Gremio, his anger toward Milich grew and grew until there was no escape from it. 

But, strangely, even as his resentment toward the general grew, so did his heart overflow with memories of Gremio’s gentle smile. The feelings of bitter resentment threatened to overwhelm him. 

“Gh...”

Not knowing what to do, he turned back to Milich. 

At that moment, Kirkis joined them on the balcony and called his name plaintively. 

“Lord Tir...” 

His voice jarred Tir’s memory back to that day atop the roof of Pannu Yakuta and the words Gremio had spoken then. 

Killing another out of hatred will only lead to more hate. Those of us fighting under the flag of the Liberation Army must not make the mistake of taking the path of hatred. 

Gremio’s words sunk in and made him realize what he had been about to do. 

I am the leader of the Liberation Army, and I was just about to kill a man out of pure hatred.

“Tir, MOVE!” bellowed Viktor again, and stepped forward to shoulder past him to Milich. But Tir raised his staff to block the bigger man’s way forward. Viktor’s scowl deepened.  

“What the hell are ya doin’, Tir?!”, he growled. “We gotta get our revenge on the bastard, don’t we? Even if it was the Black Rune and he don’t know he did it, that don’t change the fact it’s him what killed Gremio, does it?!

“I know that, but...”

Tir’s heart was filled with frustration, but he thought of Gremio’s words—how they couldn’t judge Milich based on something he had done under the Black Rune’s influence. 

Killing Milich here will not honor Gremio’s wishes. That is the one thing I do not want to do. I will stand by Gremio.

“Tir, I mean it! Get out of my way!” Viktor rumbled menacingly once more, but Tir did not lower his staff. 

“Viktor, Cleo, Pahn... we cannot blame General Milich for his actions. I can’t forgive him for what he’s done, either, but... we are not fighting in order to kill others, or to get revenge for ourselves.”

His head bowed, tears dripping down his cheeks. Tir didn’t wipe them away. He kept speaking. 

“We have won this battle. We have honored Gremio’s memory. Gremio, who died for the Liberation Army. If we go any further and take life needlessly, it would only sadden Gremio.” 

Cleo let out the breath she had been holding and lowered her daggers. “I understand, Lord Tir. You have suffered more deeply than any of us. If that is your wish, we can hardly go against it.” 

Listening to her, Pahn nodded, and lowered his weapon as well. But Viktor ground his teeth in frustration. “Tir, I understand what yer sayin’ but... I can’t go along with that!”

Viktor waved his sword angrily. The huge bear of a man seemed close to tears. Flik stepped forward to stand by his side. “That’s enough, Viktor. We follow our leader’s orders.”

“Leader, you say!”

Viktor locked eyes with Flik for a long moment that seemed to stretch on. Then he heaved a great sigh and lowered his sword.  

Tir wiped away his tears, looked around at everyone, then turned to Milich and declared with pride, “General Milich. The Liberation Army has won this battle. We do not want to take any more lives than we already have. Please surrender.”

“The Liberation Army? You’re...?”

Milich’s gaze dropped to the ground and he fell silent, thinking. After some time, he looked back up at Tir. 

“I have also seen the state of this country... The court magician, Windy—she looks just like the emperor’s late wife, doesn’t she? But Windy is nothing like Lady Claudia. She harbors evil in her heart. His Majesty must be stopped.” 

Milich kneeled in front of Tir. For such a proud general to bow his head to Tir indicated the sincerity of his surrender. 

“Lord Tir, please allow me, Milich Oppenheimer, to join the Liberation Army.”

“I accept your offer, General Milich. You must do all in your power to help achieve the Liberation Army’s goals.”

Milich raised his head respectfully. “Thank you, sir.”

Just then someone hailed him from the still-burning gardens. 

“Lord Tir!”

Mathiu galloped forward on his horse, beating back the flames. 

“What’s wrong?!” Tir yelled back, panicked. 

Stallion, who should have been at the castle headquarters, raced in behind Mathiu. 

Has something happened to our base?

Tir called to his tactician once again. 

“What’s going on?!”

Mathiu’s reply shocked everyone to their cores. 

“The Goran Checkpoint is under attack by the Imperial Army! We must march back with all haste!”

***

[lilacsoutofthedeadland]

TR+HP Massive Fic Rec List

EDIT: Looks like this will be constantly updated whenever I see fit. ;U;

Before going through this, I want to address that anyone looking through this list should expect some really dark ideas/imagery, etc. Considering the pairing(s) we are dealing with, this should come as really no surprise. Most of these works will already be appropriately tagged for readers (by the original authors) to avoid anything they’re uncomfortable with, so keep an eye out and read things carefully. I think I only needed to really give a warning about one fic rec, so generally things should be fine.

LAST UPDATED: 04/09/2017

Note: Mostly alphabetical by author…If you see the same author listed several times, that’s a sign you should definitely check them out. These are only some of my most favorite fics and/or really good fic concepts, meaning that if you check the author’s other works, you might find other amazing works that I have neglected to mention. Warning for possible spoilers…I get…‘passionate’ about really great scenes, though I don’t think I outright spoil in great detail, any of the actual endings of longer fics. Anyway, happy browsing!

Mostly Tomarry, but there may be a few stray HarryMorts or other Harry+Tom+Horcrux+Voldy varieties. Straight-up smut is rare here, but occasional. Smut may be included in the fics, but not as the focus.

Going through this WILL take a while, especially with the longer fics, so I recommend taking your time, maybe relaxing with some tea or something. Have fun.

My reviews range from somewhat intellectual to just plain memespeak/swearing, to a mix of both. I will apologize in advance.

*******

ao3 links

Completed:

In Somno Veritas by ansketil, ladyoflilacs (I bookmarked it, and remembered it being quite good? It’s Voldemort/Harry, rather than Tomarry.) 

I Have Seen Your Heart by Arliene (This is exceptional. Instead of Harry being the one to brave the past, it’s Tom arriving in the future, although Harry’s perspective is more of the focus. DAT ENDING. TOTAL MINDFUCK. Last three letters of this fic: “TBC.” I AM SHOOK. )

and all I could hear was your pulse by belatrix (Very haunting and gorgeous.)

The Coffee Shop AU by BigJellyMonster (Short, sweet, and really cute!! Barista!Harry and author!Tom. I love oblivious!Harry and Tom making Harry his muse.)

Love Potion Disaster by BigJellyMonster (Really cute!! Exactly what you expect after reading the title.)

Petrified by BigJellyMonster (OK. BUT WOW, that ending! I had to reread that last line because damn, did it take me off guard.)

The Soul of a Statue by BigJellyMonster (I am a sucker for Greek mythology, and Pygmalion and Galatea was one of my favorites from an early age. Still is a favorite, in fact.)

Icarus by budchick (I really loved this one. The summary is precious. Tom’s father actually has a big role in this one~ So good!)

All For Show by cannibalinc (Harrymort. Whoo boy, this was incredibly intriguing. Very political. Lmao at Dumbledore’s portrait in Chapter 4. Also, poor Draco.) 

Ozymandias by chocowilliams (Ah, I love the title. And this fic is beautiful, sad, and creepy. That ending, wow.)

Drowned piano by Clarisse (transnymphtaire) (This is really pretty and haunting. From Tom’s perspective. Master of Death!Harry is beautiful and creepy. Love the imagery and tone of this.)

Lies by Clarisse (transnymphtaire) (A Soulmate!AU, though instead of the usual fare, it is lies that appear on the skin. Pretty dark in a beautiful way. Tom isn’t the one doing the damage this time, luckily. Time and place for that in other fics, haha.)

A Lesson in Defense by thecrimsonmonarch (Time Travel. Professor!Harry Charmingly awkward, embarrassed Harry trying to flee the advances of a student. *Gasp* how scandalous! Tom is so thirsty in the end. Boy needs Jesus.)

You’re a Parasitic Psycho Filthy Creature Finger-Banging My Heart by Cryptkeeper (orphan_account) (Damn, that title tho. One of the rare smuts in this rec list. The separating?? images are really cute and I aspire to grow up and look half as cute as some ghosts with skulls, flowers, candles, and incense sticks.)

Try series by d_aia (This is just a really great series. I recommend this.)

Don’t Trust Me by DeeDee (I’m pretty sure I saw flayu’s fanart of this fic floating around somewhere. Both the art and this fic are great.)

A Visit to Wool’s by Durrant (Short and sweet. Time travel at a young age. Tom is still in character, and it’s a very cute fic.)

Dream Boy by Evandar (Sin. Well-written sin. Dark and seductive.)

Butterfly Heart by The_Fictionist (I’m sure everyone and their pet cat knows who this author is, btw. This is a beautiful Hannibal-inspired fic. If you enjoy Hannigram and Tomarry, you will be extremely satisfied. Haunting, gorgeous, and captivating.)

The Circus of Riddles by The_Fictionist (I’m going to say this phrase/variations of it a lot, but I have a weakness for ‘blank.’ In this case, stories of the fey. This fic is exactly what I want out of a story like this. Excellent.)

Impressing Professor Potter by The_Fictionist (Damn, Tom is thirsty as heck and is one smooth mofo in this fic. Poor Harry does not stand a chance. my boi tommy you need jesus.)

Kisses Cursed series by Lydia_Theda, The_Fictionist (Damn, some of you are making it hard for me to arrange this alphabetically, but whatever it’s all good. Beauty and the Beast, Tomarry style, with some other works~)

Love’s Loathing by The_Fictionist (Damn, The_Fictionist, back at it again with the great fics. I’m so sorry for this stupid meme, end me. The summary on ao3 will basically give you the clearest message of the plot than anything I could ever write about this amazing work.)

in death we seek devotion by flat_teeth (onetrickpony) (A very dark Soul Mate!AU. Beautiful.)

falling slowly series by Flufferdoodle (This was a very good series. The first part was really well-written, while the second really gave me feels.)

Broom Closet by IsysSkeeter (Short and sweet. The ending from Tom’s perspective is amazing, my god.)

The Closing Of The Year by kcstories (The summary alone is amazing. A very interesting read with a focus on Albus Severus Potter’s take on Tomarry, and getting used to living with Tom.)

The Locket by ladydea (Holy smokes this is fine smut.)

Lucifer by leontina (Leontina) (Short and sweet, at least in comparison to some of the monsters in this list. Interesting, and I love the beginning! You’ll see why when you read the summary…)

Target by LittleMissXanda (Hitmen!Tomarry. Harry is accidentally assigned to Tom-it’s not his policy to attack other hitmen-and sneaks away before Tom could notice him…or so he thinks…)

An I for an I by lordmarvoloriddle (WOW. This was amazing. Harry doesn’t actually go to the past, in this one. It’s really, really good. Gorgeous. I have no words.)

Father figure by lordmarvoloriddle (Whoa, man. Poor Ginny, but at the same time, get rekt. Very hot. Dat ending. Why are there so many excellent endings?)

Lest You Are My Enemy by Maeglin_Yedi (One of the first fics I’ve read. Just realllllly well-written and gorgeous. God, Tom is just really charming and deceptive and seductive. I feel like I should go to straight to hell after reading this. Welp. It was well worth it and I don’t regret a thing.)

The Soul Adores by Maeglin_Yedi (I remember this fic being really good. Some Snape/Harry and the three of them together, as well, in addition to the standard Tomarry we come to expect and love.)

Voice in the Walls by MalignSensualist (Harry starts to hear things. Mature Tomarry with praise kink and some Voldemort.)

Don’t Fuck With Florists (They’ll Fuck You Up) by MayMarlow (What do I love? Time travel. Master of Death!Harry. Flowers. That’s all in here. Harry tries to convince Tom that being Dark Lord isn’t the way to go, and that politics are where it’s at. I adore this fic. Not to mention that there is gorgeous art by talented artists.)

Thy Pyrrhic Victories by MayMarlow (I love Alice in Wonderland-inspired works. Victorian literature generally interests me. I happily downloaded it, seeing that unlike the other fics on this list, this one is not actually readable on the site. The way this fic is presented is just creative and wonderful. You’ll be pleasantly surprised with some of the roles the characters take…)

Everything’s Fine in the Beast Division by Merrinpippy (This is part of the Tomarry Valentine Exchange. This has great characterization, and has the cast of Fantastic Beasts. Also has Tom giving Harry the locket. I am a complete sucker for fics where Tom gives Harry the locket and/or ring. I cannot reiterate that enough.)

Thank you Shakespeare by Merrinpippy (First, I love the Shakespeare references. Second, I loved Harry and Tom’s interactions. Just wow.)

To Be Set Free by Merrinpippy (I remember reading this and always anticipating the next updates. This is a Cinderella AU. The HP universe really lends itself well to things like this, though it also really helps that this was written very well, haha. Just read it. I have no more I can say.)

Gilgamesh by Morgan Steelgrave (m_steelgrave) (This one is pretty different from most time travels. Heavily-focused on Tom…and you’ll find out why once you read it. Very hauntingly beautiful.)

All The World by Nillen (This is really, really good! Tom is a detective. There is a really crazy twist. I had this bookmarked, but apparently it did not show up when I was looking through them? I’m really glad I remembered it by myself!)

The Fragrance of a Moon Orchid by nuttyasafruitcake (Soulmate!AU with a twist. When you meet your soulmate, you gain the sense of smell. I adore the descriptions of the flowers in this fic.)

Haunted and Hunted series by ObsidianPen (This is extremely excellent. I’m sure many people have already read this by now. Some minor Drarry, moreso Draco crushing on Harry, which Voldy is incredibly quick to try to eradicate. This series pretty much made me fall in love with piano-playing!Harry. Locket was my bae…)

Simple Request by AnOrcaLullaby (Harry’s era!AU with no Voldemort. Tom wants Harry to pretend to be his fiancé…)

To Kill You With a Kiss by Paimpont (I think a lot of people rec this…? With good reason. I vaguely remember something like that…or I’ve finally gone insane. It’s really good. Nothing more needs to be said. Tom is a professor. Take that, Dumbles.)

The Dream Eater by partofforever (Art and horror. My fam. God, this was beautifully creepy. OH SHIT THAT END. Btw, this author has more fics in their native language, for you lucky people who can read them~)

Forget Me Not by partofforever (I remember reading this a while ago. I also remember it was incredibly beautiful.)

The Journal of a Young Clerk by partofforever (Sad, but it ends happily. Soulmate!AU where you stay eighteen years old until you find your other half.)

The Swan Prince by partofforever (Ballet!AU. Memory loss.)

The Three Roses by partofforever (This was beautiful but IT MADE ME REALLY SAD. I don’t regret it in the slightest, however.)

Winter, spring, summer, autumn… and winter again series by partofforever (I read this some time before, but I do remember it was pretty cute. Very pleasant and pretty imagery. Also, like many Tomarrys, time travel shenanigans, though less emphasis on the shenanigans part. Interesting and profound. A lovely read.)

Try by ponnu (Short, sweet, and not happy. This isn’t your standard Harry-goes-back-in-time-and-things-mostly-work-out type of fic. AT ALL. Very interesting.)

Pianissimo by Apuzzlingprince (Harry’s kindness and compassion usually serve him well in many Tomarry fics. WELP. NOT IN HERE. Very dark, but definitely lovely.)

We’re going to be beautiful, Harry by Apuzzlingprince (Ohohoho. A reeeally nice soul mate one. Tom is reaaaaally darkly possessive towards the end. Whew!)   

The Perfect Murder by QuillOfFortune (The title and summary alone are simply amazing. Just read it. Starts out as shenanigans, but then gets much, much darker.)

How’s the weather (am I better) by RenderedReversed (Not into a/b/o, but this is written extremely well and focuses more on Tom and Harry’s relationship than actual physicality, which is pretty rare in most a/b/os. Lots of feels. I love how Harry was so convinced Tom would abandon him, and that Tom proved him wrong. Also, I love how protective Absol was. And Harry’s Altaria made me think of my first shiny Pokémon-Swablu, who I evolved into an Altaria in my Pokémon Ruby game. Nostalgia.)

Thomas Riddle and the Lamb of Dreams by RenderedReversed (This was a very interesting AU! Harry is a god here, specifically the God of Dreams, and Tom is his “champion.”)

Underneath the Boughs of an Elder Tree by RenderedReversed (I’m a sucker for fairy tales, The Tale of the Three Brothers, and wandmaker!Harry. This fic just happens to have all of those elements. Love the ending and closing line.)

Vernal Equinox by RenderedReversed (…The simple reason I didn’t get into Miraculous Ladybug was because I personally didn’t like her costume sorry not sorry I am very particular about my superhero costumes but the OTP is cute so I’m the only one depriving myself, but damn. You read this fic, and just go from…intrigued…’wait, wat,’ to ‘!!!’ This is a Soulmate AU+ ‘Dark’ Superhero AU. You’ll be very surprised at finding out what side people are on. This is a oneshot, but you can’t help but wonder about everything. It really works well as a standalone work, but the potential for so much drama and blood and betrayal… Oh god, and the ending.)

Bad Reputation by rightonthelimit (Role Reversal~ Very nice. Based on fanart.)

Can’t Get Enough by rightonthelimit (Holymoly, this is some fine quality smut.)

Counting Bodies Like Sheep by rightonthelimit (oh snap. Zombies, man. ALSO WHY DO SOME OF THESE TOMARRYS HAVE SUCH MINDFUCKERY ENDINGS. BEAUTIFUL. WOULD READ AND/OR HAVE READ AGAIN.)

Little Lion Man by rightonthelimit (Also based on fanart. Detective!Tom and Psycho!Harry. Very good!)

Running Up That Hill by rightonthelimit (Deaf!Tom, and heroic Harry. Draco and Gang are bullies. OH SHIT DAT TWIST AT THE END. Probably one of my favorite modern!au’s.)

Say Something series by rightonthelimit (Basically sin. Features Tom as Harry’s stepdad. Infidelity and a whole lot of other things. Some Cedric/Harry, though Tom does not stand for it for too long.)

Secrets by rightonthelimit (A fic where Tom is working at Borgin and Burkes and it escalates into some explicitness against the counter and Tom smugly thinking Borgin would be appalled by the actions taking place on said counter. Very good and a realistic ending.)

Stripped by rightonthelimit (Very fine smut. Consensual somnophilia.)

of demons and mortals by seulo (This is beautiful crack. It’s straight up hilarious. Our usually terrifying Dark Lord is a harmless knitted doll. Nice ending and the mention of Draco’s role in this, at the end, made me laugh in the ugliest of ways.)

Kismet by SweetSorcery (Egyptologist!Tom and curse breaker!Harry. Noice.)

The Love of a Good Wizard by SweetSorcery (I think this is another one I’ve seen recced frequently?? Pansy is time traveling with Harry, this time.)

Set the Sails (and don’t look back) by Terrific_Lunacy (Pirate!Au with physician!Harry and pirate captain!Tom. HARRY IS A COMPLETE BADASS. THAT’S IT EVERYONE ELSE CAN GO HOME. WE DON’T NEED YOU. HE’S NOBLE AND CARING BUT SNARKY AND IRREVERENT TO TOM AT THE SAME TIME. THIS YOUNG MAN DOES NOT CARE ABOUT DEATH AND GIVES ABSOLUTELY NO FLYING FUCKS. I want to grow up to be just like him. Man, is he a hardass. Also there are hints of him being some kind of otherworldly/ethereal being, or at least half? Ooh.)

The Hekan ritual by Titels (Demon!Tom, Exorcist!Harry.)

love is touching souls (surely you touched mine) by ToAStranger (This fic has a special place in my heart. I. Just. Wow. When I finished reading it for the first time, I was really moved. It’s so beautiful. I can’t count the number of times I’ve come back to read this fic. The fingers on both of my hands are not enough…I am not exaggerating. I love how Tom is presented as excessively charming but still unrepentantly evil, yet salvageable…gah. If I wasn’t on the aromantic side of the ace spectrum, I’d have a crush on both how he and Harry are portrayed in this fic. Precious, kind, strong, righteous Harry. Probably my most favorite characterization of the two of them, ever?? Read it.)

For the Good of Us All by toomanysunkenships (A very great Time-Travel fic.)

Fowl Pals by Watermelonsmellinfellon (I really enjoyed this one. The title basically sums up the fic, so none of my blathering nonsense is necessary.)

Ice Cream Stalker by Watermelonsmellinfellon (This was incredibly adorable. Again, the author is good at titles so I have no need to explain.)

Moments in Time by Watermelonsmellinfellon (Read this a while ago. I remember it being very good. M-preg at the end, not usually my thing, but DAMN I WAS JUST HAPPY THINGS ENDED WELL. THEY DESERVE IT.)

Póthosca by Watermelonsmellinfellon (I AM WEAK TO THIS ONE. A creature similar to boggart shows up, showing one’s deepest desire. Imagine the SHENANIGANS. Or you know, just read the fic.)

Backslash by wynnebat (This was really good!! Tom and Harry at Borgin and Burkes.)

Through My Veins by xxTwasADreamxx (Look me straight in the eye without blinking and tell me that its summary doesn’t sound at least a bit intriguing to you.)

The Gardens of Riddle Manor by VanillaGhost (Rapunzel/Beauty and the Beast fairytale-inspired. This one was absolutely gorgeous. Read it.)

My Name is Tom by VanillaGhost (HelpthisissogoodI’mdying. Android!Tom. The Golden Trio’s act of kindness backfires like you cannot even believe. Disturbing and pushing the limits of the Uncanny Valley. It’s gorgeous and has lovely art.)

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In-Progress/Incomplete:

Hem of Your Garment by adVENTitiious (I really adore this one. One of the first time travels I’ve read. Really good!)

Macchiato by aquilagrey (This one is really adorable! Barista!Harry and CEO!Tom!!! Their interactions are very cute and in character! Luna is also here being cute! Why is this fic so cute?? )

Chasing The Careless Traveller by Arliene (THIS IS SO GOOD. Time travel, like one would expect. BUT. Wow. The inclusion of Blaise as a companion of Harry’s is something new and fresh. So good!)

Whirlpools series by asterismal (asterisms) (Very promising series, at currently one fic. Poor Tom, but damn, Harry’s thoughts in the closing lines are phenomenal.)

Moments by BigJellyMonster (So good so far. Lovely imagery within some dreams.)

Trapped Away From Sea by BigJellyMonster (Ohohohoho. Merman!Harry. This is based on the Little Mermaid AND Killing Stalking. …Judging by that, you know it’s gonna be good. DAT CLIFFHANGER. I also love the language barrier. And boy, do I love how unlike the readers, poor Harry has no idea that this particular human is more of a predator than any shark in the ocean.)

Consulting Dark Lord by Chess+Wraith (Tom the consulting detective. Partner Snape. And Harry…whoa. Very promising. Tom and Harry are so close to meeting, dammit.)

Times of Peace series by conquerorofheaven (This is some pretty good stuff. Time travel with Harry becoming the new DADA instructor or something of that nature. Very possessive Tom, which let’s face it, is probably a thing 99.8% of us like for this pairing.)

How to prevent a War by CrazyJanaCat (Read this some time ago. Actually my first bookmark for this pairing! I remember some really great scenes/ideas.)

The Root of All Evil Is Love by Crystia (This is so pure. I think I stumbled upon this fc because of a certain fanartist~ The summary is concise, but hilarious. Oh Harry, my sweet child you always have the worst luck, but that’s pretty much canon.)

The Portrait by DariaSilver (This is really, really beautiful. Tom and Voldy are portraits. Slight Drarry. Why is Tom so charming? I cry knowing this isn’t finished. The only thing giving me hope in humanity is that in some alternate universe, this fic is complete. Rest in fucking pieces.)

The Divine Right of Kings series by darklordtomarry (das_omen) (I’m surprised I haven’t found this series sooner! Grey!Harry that is incredibly interesting…and an information broker! The plot is concerned with slight au…focusing on royalty and politics. The plot, as well as character interactions and relationships are quite intriguing, particularly within Harry’s family. Also, the James and Sirius bromance is hilarious, especially regarding the scene in the very first chapter of the first fic that caused the nearby Draco to run away.)

Lord of Time by DebsTheSlytherinSnapeFan (I think I remember some really good ideas from this. It’s been a while since I first read through it, so I don’t think I can give it the summary it deserves. Luckily it’s very lengthy if you find yourself enjoying it. You probably will. A very interesting time travel fic with an epic length, drama, and a lot of consideration put into the time period it takes place in.)

Looking Ahead by dinopire (Art Student!Tom, Photography Student/Model!Harry. Jesus I really like this one. A whole a lot of potential!! What is here so far is reaaaallly wonderful!!)

The Wand Chooses by DreamerEye (Very interesting concept. Wandmaker!Harry.)

Dance with the Devil by Driverpicksthemooseic (Ratkinzluver33) (One of my slightly more recent loves. Harry with a Horcrux!Tom and Voldemort. Harry is amusing. Very promising potential.)

White Innocence series by emriel (This is one of the more recent fic series, and it has been very promising. It’s a Harry goes-back-in-time-but-as-a-kid fic. The way little!Tom is depicted is AMAZING. I really do love it. I especially adore fics that show a child!Tom with really accurate characterization.)

Dreams and Darkness Collide by Epic Solemnity by Dark_Cyan_Star (Holysmokes this was dark and violent and oh do I love it. Harry is so dark but it’s balanced with him being pretty relatively heroic about his killing intent, so it’s a bit closer to his character. I also love a good-by good I mean well-written, he is still beautifully pretty amoral and complex-Minister for Magic!Tom.)

Grimoire for the Devil series by fadingstarlight (Geneveon) (Slytherin!Harry aka Hadrian. Alternate Universe and very EXPLICIT, like wooooo, XXX-rated, man.)

Baby, You’re Mine series by Fairygirl34 (I love the idea behind this series. Tom just being an evil bastard and taking what he wants without remorse, which, in this case, is Harry, and to some lesser degree, little Albus. Harry already has Ginny, but apparently that doesn’t matter at all. Welp.)

Nursery Rhymes AU series by Fairygirl34 (I’m weak for this sort of fic idea. Many nursery rhymes have a creepy origin, and this series expresses a love for such a dark thing. Very promising.)

Phantom Love by Fairygirl34 (Another recent one I found. Tom obsessively watching and leaving gifts for the Phantom Harry. Harry not falling for his tricks and trying in vain to resist his advances. I love that while Harry is the Phantom of the Opera, Tom, in a twisted turn of events, is the Angel of ‘Darkness.’ That’s pretty great. And there’s only two more chapters left!)

Dancing With Deceit by The_Fictionist (Ahhhh, this one was very good. Just read it.)

Fine Green Eyes by grayclouds (Pride and Prejudice-inspired! I regret only subscribing to this and not bookmarking it because this took some time for me to rediscover. This is really amazingly written and I cannot wait for the next update.)

Lithium by grayclouds (One of my first Tomarrys. It’s really great! There is some Cedric/Harry, too. A very good read.)

Loveless by Hyoushin (Very good. The focus is more on Tom. I especially adored the Paradise Lost reference in Chapter 4. That was especially fitting for Tom.) 

The Fox and The Stag series by KaedeRavensdale (I really remember liking many elements of this one. There was a lot that made this pretty unique. Also, somewhere in the first story, Tom goes back to the future with Harry, which is relatively rare.)

Turn Back 53 by Kefalion (Sadly abandoned, but I’m honestly grateful for anything. Wow, this is so well-written. Lmao, at some point they kinda do a ‘meet-cute??’ with Harry and Tom meeting face-to-face while bumping into each other. They keep meeting this way, actually. Also why is Tom so hot in this fic like SIGN ME THE FUCK UP. Smoking those Muggle smokes, damn, man. Catching Harry like some fucking fairy tale prince. He needs to be arrested…and not even just for being a murderer.)

Would Be He: Lion or Lamb? by KillerInADress (Ahhhh, I really love the interaction between Tom and Harry in Chapter 2. Really hope this updates.) 

Field Theory by Machiavelli (Childhood friends!AU. Harry saves Tom…and the tags inform us that ‘this will probably get quite dark’…)

If Them’s the Rules by MayMarlow (Our glorious pairing, Tomarry, is essentially built on the time travel trope, so it should be no surprise that I’m reccing this particular fic. In this story Harry goes back in time to raise Tom. Usually when I read fics with similar plots, there’s always a little something I’m not really into. But not here. There’s also a very interesting plot with Grindelwald, outside of the Tomarry. The Grindelwald + Harry interactions were also pretty nice. Oh, silly Harry for forgetting about the other handsome genocidal dark wizard during this time period. To be fair, he does have his hands full with young Tom.)

The Train to Nowhere by MayMarlow (Who do I love? MayMarlow. One of the earliest Tomarry fics I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. Very intriguing premise. I love Harry’s visits to the ‘train station.’ I love the feelings that accompany this sense of otherworldliness whenever I read about Harry is in this other realm.)

+

The Other Chapter 36 by Mavrick (This fic is one of the works responsible for why I said my list was, “’Mostly’ alphabetical by author.” Also, just realized. This fic is also in the incomplete section, despite being completed...mainly because I wanted to keep it together with “The Train to Nowhere.” Welp. That’s entirely fine because I adored this. A tribute to the above fic. God, I loved how creepy it was with the paintings. I felt chills. Beautiful and scaaaary, if that’s what you’re into. I’m definitely into that.)

Labyrinth by Mer_des_Miroirs (A regency!au with other references. Excellent and interesting.)

Kings of Flowers and Skulls by Merrinpippy (So basically if a fic was destined to become a fast favorite of mine…this one definitely embodies a bunch of things I love. And I sincerely love flowers, skulls, and fairy tales…which are all in here. Tom and Harry as opposite, but complementary otherworldly deities…also a HUGE plus. Ahhh…so good~)

Words Fail by NeaMarika (One of my favorite time travel fics. Really good, it’s different from most because people are aware of Harry’s status as a time-traveler. Also, oblivious!Harry strikes again, to my COMPLETE AMUSEMENT. Oh boy, poor Tom. Lmao, boi can’t even comprehend the possibility of anyone possibly rejecting his handsome, fiiiiiiine, genius self. )

Scarred Match in Time by NicoDiAngeloLover7, vampireangel389 (Tom is actually pretty nice in this one, but what really sticks out to me here is how Harry’s memory loss is treated. I really like the startling but distressing images we get from Harry, who only has vague notions of his experiences.)

Divine by ObsidianPen (I am weak for mythology. This is no exception. This has endless promise. Oh lord, this is so good.)

Incendiary by ObsidianPen (The summary and the tags are definitely what caught my attention! A very interesting au idea! Also, Harry’s parents are alive and he has a sister and is generally much happier, yay! Young Grindeldore and the Triwizard tournament. Also, despite this being an AU, poor Harry somehow manages to also be involved in the tournament, though his rival, Tom, is also a champion…Can’t wait for this story to progress to that point!)

No Glory by ObsidianPen (Incredibly dark and haunting. Another great work from the author. Voldemort/Harry with an incredibly well-thought-out plot.)

Wanderingly by ObsidianPen (Labyrinth!AU. This is incredibly promising. I’m honestly very excited to see how things are going to progress.)

Memory of Stars by Ownlildreamworld (morg) (Very intriguing plot, thus far. Kinda political, with Harry trying to come to some sort of compromise with Tom/Voldemort.)

Nature versus Nurture series by RenderedReversed, Zenithyl (I love the concept of the Seven Deadly Sins and Horcruxes being fused together. So. Yeah. Rereading this to refresh my memory while I’m compiling this list would be counterproductive, but from what I remember I spent some solid hours reading this with a lot of appreciation. The chapter amount might look incredibly daunting, but each chapter is only at least 100 words. So. Not so scary.)

this ain’t no fairytale series by RenderedReversed (One day, this series decided to slap me in the face-in the greatest of ways-and I soon became hooked after the first fic. Characterization is spot-on, and I love the world building. Their relationship is lovely and profound, and I love that both Tom and Harry are keeping secrets from each other about their pasts, though are slowly opening up to each other. My fantasy gaming experience is mostly in the Fire Emblem series, but this fic is encouraging me to look into the highly-rated Recettear, on Steam, which this au is based on.)

Until Death Do Us Part by Rendered Reversed (I really love fics where there is powerful imagery and otherworldliness. Tom and Harry and Gods, here, so yay. Also Yandere!Harry. BIG YAY.)

Zubats, Zubats Everywhere by RenderedReversed (Bruh, it’s a Pokémon AU. That’s honestly the only excuse I need. I love their roles in this. It’s a nice, playful breath of air.)

Not Strong Enough by Sayon_170 (Help me, child!Tom is the sweetest most and possessive little thing. Harry goes back in time to raise Tom. There’s an OC, but it’s actually very interesting to see the budding Tomarry dynamic from that character’s perspective. Tom has not yet matured enough to cultivate his cultured, charming mask to present to the rest of the world, and it’s pretty alarming and fascinating to think what will happen to Tom and Harry’s relationship in the future. Harry, good luck.)

that one mutant romance series by seulo (…Have I mentioned I’m also into comics? I AM. Hello, X-Men. This is Tomarry with mutants. Amazing concept, strong characterization, and beautiful, haunting imagery. My favorite scene is when Harry turns into his dead mother. Also, I’m sobbing over the author calling Tom ‘T-Ridds,’ in the notes somewhere. God, that’s funny.)

in blood our eulogies shall be drawn by shilu_ette (Time travel. Master of Death!Harry. Tomarry and Drarry.)

Lanificus Orsa series by Sineluce_Velius_Tristitia (Time travel. Master of Death!Harry. Very intriguing. I especially loved the second fic, and its later parts, like the ending.)

47 Days to Change (a translation) by snow_owl01 (This is a translation of a Chinese fic that someone was kind enough to translate! I remember really liking this. Basically, time travel where Harry goes back to raise Tom.)

The Spellmaker by SonnyGietzel (Very interesting ideas in this one. Very bookish!Harry. I cry because the only Tom Harry ever gets to talk to is the barkeep. And then you look at the last date updated…IT HAD SO MUCH POTENTIAL.)

Good Intentions by Strange_Soulmates (I HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS ABOUT THIS FIC. PROBABLY ONE OF MY FAVORITES. Child!Harry is such a pure and precious cinnamon roll. Tom, on the other hand, is a sinnamon roll. There’s something both poetic and beautifully fucked up when you read about little Harry unknowingly helping his new BFF Handsome Prince Tom design the motherfricken’ Dark Mark. In which vandalism will probably be the least of Tom’s crimes. I also love how tiny Harry is so wise and kind, but is still unable to recognize the extent of Tom’s evil. He thinks Tom is being cool, I can’t even- Tom is so in love with Harry that you’ll feel like Lily and James in the beginning of the unlikely duo’s relationship, all warm and approving. It’s really so sweet. Also, the end of chapter 4 is glorious, pls read it. To quote chapter 3 and James’ decision of bringing Harry and Tom closer together: “It was the worst mistake he ever made in his life.” If that doesn’t make you want to keep reading, I don’t know what else will.)

Matelotage by Strange_Soulmates (A pirate!au for Tomarrytines. WOW, ANOTHER AMAZING PIRATE!AU. AND THIS ONE HAS JUST STARTED. The characterization in this is simply superb, and Harry is strong, but still retains his morals and selflessness. He cleverly bargains with Tom, and is just all-around awesome??? Tom is also described quite well with his propensity for cunning and violence, and Barty is winning a special place in my heart.)

More Precious than Rubies by Strange_Soulmates (I am waiting with bated breath for this to be finished. It’s beautiful. I’m not sure how else to describe this. A fairy tale turned on its head, where the princess, sorry Harry, wizard stuck in a tower falls in love with the dragon guarding him. Possessive Tom is already a thing I’m into. Possessive Dragon Tom? Hell yes.)

Light House by teecup_angel (…This is super great. Very nice concept. Check out the summary. I have no more words.)

Blurring Reality by Terrific_Lunacy (The first fic I found by this author. Oh no, it’s too good please save me. IT’S REALLY GOOD. Dancing!AU. The characterization and story are really great. I love this so much. Please read it.)

Let’s start the show by Terrific_Lunacy (…It’s probably a good thing if I rec most/all of the fics of a particular author. This fic has class issues, the circus, and political intrigue. It’s pretty fucking interesting, in layman’s terms. Harry is bae, but I pretty much love him in all of this author’s fics. So.) 

Rebuilt by Terrific_Lunacy (Really dramatic, magnificent Steampunk!AU. Lots of world building and characterization. Really, really good with a very intricate and impressive plot. I feel smarter after reading it, haha.)

An echo of the past by TosMichiyo (I reaaaallly liked this one. One of those rare Tom-comes-to-the-future fics.)

Twin Skeletons series by transpreussen (Time travel. What is different about this one is that poor Harry isn’t alone like he normally is. He has friends with him in the past, yay.)

Push and Pull by Vespairty (Time travel with Master of Death!Harry aka Hadrian. WWII, also focusing on Grindelwald and Dumbledore. Harry writes letters to Tom, and vice-versa. Can’t wait for them to finally meet up!)

Wear Me Like A Locket Around Your Throat by VivyPotter (I remember being really intrigued by this one. What caught my attention the most was the summary. It’s our old friend time travel, but the unique description of a time turner explosion leaving golden scars on Harry is really pretty imagery.)

I Waited For You, In The Shadows Of Time by watchingvfall_n_drown (This one is pretty special to me and close to my heart. I stumbled upon it one day, and was hooked ever since. It’s a bit different from some of the other fics I rec. Lots of purple prose and beautifully flowery language, if you’re into that. I just really love the general air of ethereal otherworldliness about it. Most of that vibe is from Harry, or at least how Tom/Voldy/Marvolo/whatshisname sees him as. Jesus son, are you moonlighting as a poet when you aren’t murdering people.)

Your Name on My Heart by whitedandelions (I remember liking this. A SoulMate!AU that’s a bit different than what we’ve come to expect.)

In Noctem by windwrites (Dark!Harry. Remember it being interesting. Politics. Doesn’t look like it’s going to update soon, sadly.)

Memento Mori, Memento Amor by You_Light_The_Sky (This is actually going to be rewritten, and I am incredibly excited for that day to come. I remember really loving this idea. Harry putting the pieces of Tom’s soul back together.)

Teaching History (is Old News) by You_Light_The_Sky (I love this one. It’s hilarious and crack-filled. If you read this one after a depressing Tomarry, you’ll feel much better. Read it, fam.)

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fanfiction.net/other links

Also known as I burned by brain going through my ao3 links.

*If you only post fics on tumblr, sorry for me being a pleb and not looking there.*

complete & in-progress:

Their Verdict of Vagaries by: Angstier (81 chapters. I remember it being pretty good. And it’s very LONG. So. Read. It.)

Framed & Fractured by: Antediluvian Poet (I am weak for fics about magical paintings..i.e. see earlier examples of this phenomena in the recs. This is time travel, though ‘unconventional,’ as the author puts it. It’s written with a very creepy and haunting mood. Ah, and Tom is so great. Very in character and I just love the way he’s trying to figure out Harry’s secrets. I’m really curious and excited, imaging how things are gonna turn out!)

Iridescent by: BloodyWar2411 (The plot is similar to this manhwa called Totally Captivated, but the author addresses this later. I have also read both works, and I think the similarities are coincidence. It really is not very hard to imagine Tom as a mob boss, after all.)

October by: The Carnivorous Muffin (It’s full of purple prose and incredibly verbose and full of interesting diction. Some may feel that these qualities are a turn-off, but as you can tell by my own ao3 username, I really appreciate the T.S. Eliot quotes in Chapters 9 and 10. The later plot might range from confusing to bizarre, but god do I love how otherworldly and inhuman Harry/Azrael is depicted.)

Fate’s Favorite

Destiny’s Darling

Past’s Player

(The Fictionist’s old stuff. One of my first Tomarrys. Bless.)

Secret Keepers by Hijja (Really good. Nice interactions, meaning written well…they are not especially happy together in this, haha.)

The Anti-Midas by Libertine (Really really good. Dat ending. Mindfuck-ish?)

Wand Cores by Lydia-kitten (Grindeldore side pairing. It’s been a while, but I remember this being good. Sadly doesn’t look like it’s updating any time soon…)

Rain and Regret by TheMuser (This is Harrymort. Beautiful and sad.)

The Diary of a Mad Wizard by Passo (Damn, that ending is priceless.)

love in lower case by Passo (It’s a very lovely and pleasant fic. The fourth wall is pretty much broken in a very fascinating manner. Harry basically escapes from the world of fanfiction, but still ends up with Tom, fortunately. Very poetic and pretty.)

Devil’s Advocate by Rose Ferguson (Incredibly good with nice art. The link to the sequel is on the bottom of the page, if you scroll down.)

Desirable Undesirable by SpiteSpawnsLies (Oh….oh my.)

*******

The dear god please help me section:

http://archiveofourown.org/works/451383/chapters/1905781

Right, so this is a link to a fic that, last I checked, was not dead??? Did I get the URL wrong?? Anyone have a pdf of whatever this may be?? I WAS ALREADY SHOOK BECAUSE OF THE MINDFUCK OF AN ENDING but I’m pretty much deceased because I cannot even read it anymore. To jog memories, Harry was a single parent and Tom was Albus’ teacher…and Voldemort was still a thing, but Tom’s well, MORE evil twin or something. It was really well-written. I think Cedric was in there, and his role was a twist. THE ENDING IS SOMETHING I’LL NEVER FORGET THOUGH. IF YOU READ IT YOU’D KNOW.

To a lesser degree:

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11992546/1/Bombastic

I honestly cannot remember what this one was about, but I trust in my past self’s judgment. Anyone know what this one was?

No links, but summaries (most likely ao3 links):

One where Harry appears back in time and catches Tom’s attention. Not a lot of dialogue. There is a New Year’s party and Tom trying to make advances…only for Harry to flee.  Harry is angsting but Tom shows up later, telling Harry that he’s already guessed that he’s a time traveler. Tom also says something about hoping that his kiss wasn’t so offensive that Harry ran away like a damsel in distress or something.

I think there also was another one where Tom is working at Borgin and Burkes, but meets Harry, who time traveled??? Harry cannot stop Tom from killing and generally being amoral, and there is a really bittersweet scene of them banging after angst, with Tom covered in the blood of his unfortunate victim, and Harry just resignedly on the rocks. Literally.

Hmm…I think something might be wrong with my bookmarks. I keep remembering plots for fics I want to add here, go to the fic and see that I bookmarked it, but did not see it the 3-5 times I have been double-checking my bookmarks. Ugh.

*******

This list basically covers what I personally love about most Tomarry fics I like to read. I had to stop myself from adding any more before things became too crazy, haha. Generally, I love most time travel fics. I definitely have more fics bookmarked that I have not included on this list, and probably only subscribed to some so I don't have their links now. I’ve also probably missed a few I would have really liked to add to this list. Some fics have probably been deleted without me knowing, as well, though I thought ao3 informed you of deleted works you’ve bookmarked???

…Now that I’ve finally finished this list, I guess I should start going back and leaving some VERY BELATED kudos and comments, haha. The whole reason I haven’t already done so was because I didn’t like my username, and only found out how to change it, like a few days ago. Welp. I think the last time I tried, probs years ago, you could only make pseuds?? That or I’m dumb. I’ll be better from now on, though. I hope people find some new fics to read, or perhaps revisit some old favorites.

Please tell me if any links are incorrect/dead. If you want your work taken off this list, PM me immediately and I will remove it as fast as I can.

I’m also always up to chat about Tomarry, so feel free to stop by my askbox~

[salmonthestoryteller]

20 questions, writer's edition

I was tagged by @lambourngb - This was harder to fill out then it first appeared, btw.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

118

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

516,223.  I never looked that much at my statistics page before so that’s exciting to look at.

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Oh my gosh, so many.  25 different ones on ao3, 9 more that were never cross posted from the pit of voles, and at least 5-10 fandoms from prior to either of those sites.  LJ, Yahoo Groups, BBS boards, etc.    A partial list includes: Roswell New Mexico (2019) (My most prolific with 40 fics on ao3 and more here on tumblr I never cross posted there.), Hetalia, Yuri on Ice, Supernatural, Samurai Warriors, Uta no Prince-sama, Voltron, Shadowhunters, My Hero Academia, Pirates of the Caribbean, Animal Kingdom, The Old Guard, The Walking Dead, Dynasty Warriors, The Witcher, Xyber 9, Shadow Raiders, Mummies Alive, Babylon 5, and Star Trek.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes (The Old Guard) (Yeah, I had this one on anonymous for awhile.) 

Until the TIme is Through (Roswell New Mexico) (Part of my Canon Divergent To the Moon and Back Series) 

I Want You (Roswell New Mexico) (NSFW Malex) 

Crash and Burn (Roswell New Mexico) (Part of my Canon Divergent To the Moon and Back Series) 

Snow (Hetalia) (NSWF IvanxAlfred) 

5. What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

I’m torn between three actually:

Dormant (Hetalia)  I always say I love two endings, happy endings and greek tragedies, but I rarely write the greek tragedies.  Dormant is one of my exceptions.  Hetalia has one character who is hinted at being immortal, and I took that and wrote a fic about an Extinction Level Event and him watching the other characters die around him while he can’t.  I’ve always been really proud of this fic, despite it being one of the saddest things I’ve ever written.

Unclean (Roswell New Mexico)  Which is almost the darkest fic I’ve ever written.  It’s about Michael’s time in the home of the “Fundamentalist Religious Freaks” and the exorcism he mentioned.  It ends after the drifter and is very much hurt, no comfort.

Hell is… (Roswell New Mexico)  This is a ficlet I wrote for a prompt.  And it’s a dark take about what could have happened to the pod squad if they’d been caught after the murders.

6. What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

Almost all my fics have happy endings.  So, what is the happiest?  Probably either:

Deck the Halls (Roswell New Mexico)  An Echo & Malex Christmas fic that is as fluffy as a fic that involves the Pod Squad, Christmas, and being attacked by anti-alien paramilitary groups can be.  (Also, Echo has a cat called Grisabella the Glamour Cat because Max should not be allowed to name anything and nobody can convince me that wouldn’t be absolute canon in a committed Echo relationship.)

Or

In Over Their Heads (Yuri on Ice)  A Seungchuchu with a fake engagement and unrequited feelings that aren’t actually unrequited. (And where Sara is Seung’s best friend because apparently I always write them that way and have no regrets.)

7. Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you've written?

I don’t write crossovers.  Because I rarely find myself sold on the idea that the two stories exist in the same verse or can think of a way the characters would interact that would inspire me to write a fic.

8. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes, and pretty much anything.  M/M, F/F, M/F, and Poly.  Plus a large variety of kinks.  (Yes, I was often on kink memes back in my LJ days.)

9. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I try to?  I used to never respond because I didn’t know what to say, and then I tried to respond to every one, but there would be long gaps between when I checked and then I felt bad for responding so late, and sometimes I still don’t know what to say so I just end up not replying.  XD

10. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Surprisingly very little.  Some harsh criticism - one in particular actually hit young me hard enough to stop writing for a while back in the day.  But I tend to get more hate for my meta than my fics.  Which is odd since my fics are usually very much representative of my meta.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I’m aware of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Only one - a Dynasty Warrior fic of mine about the bond between CaoCao and Xiahou Dun was translated into Chinese.  I mean, Dynasty Warriors is a video game literally based on The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which is based on chinese history, so for someone to want to translate one of my fics about it was incredible to me. Links below.

Honor 

Translation: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4589910

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No.  I would probably drive a co-author nuts, tbh.  I’m so inconsistent.  And at the same time, I have a thousand thoughts.

14. What's your all time favourite ship? to write for?

I don’t actually have one?  RNM has become my top fandom to write for, there’s no doubt.  And while I think Malex is in the most fics among them, I’m not sure if that number surpasses other ships in other fandoms I’ve written for altogether.  In fact, according to ao3, only 15 fics of my 40 RNM even have Malex in them at all, and not all of those are Malex-centric.  In fact in at least 3, they’re a side ship.

I’d say that I probably write almost as many fics that are gen, friendship, family/found family feels, and character introspection as I do shipping fics.  Which doesn’t really leave room for any one ship to be at the forefront.

15. What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

None, I hope.  LOL.  There’s definitely a few that I have left uncompleted for a long time and feel guilty about but I’m not ready to say I’ve abandoned them yet.  There’s a ton of ideas I have written down that I may never actually write.  But none I have started that I don’t want to finish.

16. What are your writing strengths?

The three consistent compliments I’ve gotten are:  I capture the characters’ voices in my dialogue.  My writing tone is unique.  My smut is super hot.  XD  (I have no explanation for the last one, because to be honest ¾ of my smut is always foreplay.)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Action scenes.  I have been told before that my action scenes are very confusing.  Also, I rarely give physical descriptions of people’s appearances because I honestly rarely stop to consider what they’re wearing or how their hair is done.

18. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

It’s common in a couple of fandoms of mine, and I actually don’t mind it. Depending on the fic, it can be more realistic to me than otherwise.  (I just appreciate it when the translation is also provided.)

19. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  But I never posted that one.  Um… I think Ranma ½ was the first one I ever posted for others to read?

20. What's your favourite fic you've written?

Oh, gosh. Um… I know at one point I listed Dormant.  But I think right now if I had to choose I’d say either

School of Hard Knocks (Roswell New Mexico)  Which is my Michael-centric fic set in the lost decade.

Or

Duty First (Shadowhunters)  My Magnus and Raphael “missing scene�� from 02x20.

Tagging @manesalex @lovecolibri @islndgurl777 @ninswhimsy 

[reallifesultanas]

Portrait of (Ayşe) Hafsa Valide Sultan / (Ayşe) Hafsa Valide Szultána portréja

I think most of you know what is happening with my youtube channel… So anyway I created a facebook page (Reallifesultanas) where I will post also. Since my videos are not available now (but I’m still working on a solution), I will write posts about the life of these amazing people. I will write down what was in my videos. I know it’s absolutely not the same, but maybe it would be nice to see in one place these informations.

I would like to start with (Ayşe) Hafsa, who represents the transition between the old world and the new world. After all, as the first Valide Sultan ever, she stands out from her predecessors, but her influence cannot be compared to that of her successors. However, it is likely that she played a very large role in the formation o the Sultanate of Women. In the case of Hafsa, there are plenty of legends and misunderstandings that I would like to clarify in my writing. I tried to use as many resources as possible, of course Leslie Peirce was my biggest help again!

Origin

Her exact date of birth is not known, but based on the presumed years of birth of her children, a date between roughly 1470-1475 can be assumed. Legend has it that she was a Crimean princess who was married to the later Selim I (r. 1512-1520) by the Crimean khan himself - her father, Meñli Giray (r. 1467, 1469-1475, 1478-1515). 

However, this is not accepted by recent researches and most reliable historians. There are several counter-arguments, some of which I would like to describe. During Mehmed II's reign (r. 1444-1446 és 1451-1481), in addition to the sultans, the marriages of the princes also changed from their previous characteristics (about it in more detail in my previous post). This practically means that although it was not forbidden by a specific law, the princes could not marry either a noble woman or a simple concubine. Selim was only a prince when he took Hafsa his consort and their children were born. 

This also highlights that Hafsa could not have been a Crimean princess, as the princes could not marry, especially not with the women of other dynasties. This is further strengthened by the fact that Bayezid II (reign 1481-1512), (Selim's father) did not want to see Selim on the throne, so he would never have allowed him to marry a Crimean princess and thus have a very strong alliance with the Crimean khan himself. 

The origin of the legend may have been that Hafsa may have come to Selim as a gift from the Crimean dynasty, or perhaps that she was of Crimean descent, perhaps she may have been very distantly relative of the khan. It is very plausible that she was the gift of the khan (despite her origin). Selim was a governor in Trabzon from 1489 until he ascended the throne, so he was close to the Crimean Khanate, and there was certainly a connection between them.

Her life with Selim

Although she did not became Selim's legal wife, we can assume that she may have been his favorite concubine. This is indicated by the fact that she had given birth to several children for her master - following the one-concubine-one son custom - which suggests that Selim liked her. Hafsa gave birth to at least three daughters before her only son was born. 

Her eldest daughter was probably Hatice, since she was first who was married off, in 1509, on the basis of which she may have been born around 1490-91. She could be followed by Fatma, who was already married during his father's reign, perhaps born between 1491-92. And Hafsa's youngest daughter may have been Beyhan, whom was married off by Süleyman during his early reign. It is precisely because of her late marriage that it is questionable whether Hafsa was her mother at all. If Hafsa was her mother,  then Beyhan was born between 1492-94, but definitely before Süleyman.

Nevertheless, although it is not clear whether Selim's sons from other concubines died naturally or by Selim's hand, it is clear that Selim saw his heir in Süleyman, the son of Hafsa.

Her life during Süleyman's princelyhood

As soon as her son was appointed governor of Caffa in 1509, by Sultan Bayezid II, she accomponied him, leaving Selim and Trabzon forever. Her daughters, who were not yet married, went also with them. Hatice presumably didn’t move with them anymore, but married to his father's supporter. This alliance became a life-saving one for her father later.

A few years later, they were struck in Caffa by the news that Sultan Bayezid II (r. 1481-1512) named his son, Ahmed (1466-1513) as his heir. This meant, that in the case of Bayezid's death, both Selim and Süleyman would be executed by Ahmed. Selim rebelled against his father and eventually triumphed with the help of the Janissaries. Hatice’s husband also played a key role in preventing Selim’s claimant brother from getting to Istanbul before Selim; but Süleyman himself also took his part when he helped his father while he was hiding in Caffa for a time.

Süleyman spent his father's reign in Manisa. During this time he sould have felt somewhat calm as the single heir, but he lived in fear because of his father’s violent nature and paranoia. It was Hafsa who presumably — knowing Selim's nature well — advised his son on how to behave so as not to attract his father's attention and anger. In Manisa, Hafsa’s salary was well above that of Süleyman, receiving 6,000 silver aspers per month.

Süleyman's father sent him twice (1514-15 and 1516-18) to Edirne to guard the western border of the empire, while he fought at the eastern border. At that time, his mother presumably accompanied him as well, but if she didn't than she helped him with letters. The former occasion (1514-15) drew a very serious gap between father and son. The campaign went much worse than Selim had expected, and the Janissaries who otherwise supported him, turned against him and rumores started to spread about that they wanted to place Süleyman on the throne instead of Selim. According to Venetian sources, Selim then sent a poisoned kaftan to Süleyman to get rid of him. We all know the story itself well, Hafsa - knowing Selim and hearing the rumors - was very careful about her son and warned him to be careful. However, other sources do not mention this event. What is certain, however, is that Selim was then particularly careful of his son. And Hafsa, feeling this, paid special attention and regularly warned her son how to behave. It was for this reason that Süleyman did not show any interest in the throne and politics. However, Selim cannot be fully condemned for this, as it must be acknowledged, he nurtured and prepared Süleyman with great care for reigning and created an empire on solid feet on which Süleyman could later build. What Süleyman did not receive from his father, like love, support, safety, his mother, Hafsa gave him that.

It was Hafsa who kept order in Süleyman's harem during his time in Caffa and Manisa. Hafsa may could also be helped by one of her daughters who lived with them. This girl could most likely be Beyhan or Fatma. Hafsa either became a grandmother for the first time in Caffa or in Manisa, in any case, the birth of her first grandson Mahmud gave new hope to the post-Civil War conditions.

The first Valide Sultan

The rank of sultana though was introduced by Bayezid II (r. 1481-1512), so his daughters were already sultanas, Bayezid's mother could not live long enough for that. Because of this, the first Valide Sultan ever was Hafsa.

In September 1520, when Selim died on a campaign, Süleyman immediately rode to Istanbul and began his reign of more than 40 years (r. 1520-1566). Süleyman arrived to Istanbul on September 30, two weeks after his father’s death. On December 18, the Venetian ambassador reported that Hafsa had also arrived to Istanbul, now as a completely free woman. With a delay of more than two months, she even surpassed the other members of Suleiman’s harem. Her first task after her arrival was to take control of the Old Palace and prepare everything to receive Süleyman’s harem.

Certainly his mother greatly contributed to Süleyman's early actions, to building his image. Soon after Süleyman's accession to the throne, he tried to show that he was not like his father, he is not cruel. To prove this, for example, he released 600 Egyptian slaves captured by his father.

Hafsa was a very good-natured, kind-hearted woman, which the people liked very much. She showed her concern not only to her family, but in many cases even in to her subjects. There is a known case where one of the late Selim I’s faithful pashas, ​​the governor of Egypt, passed away - during Süleyman’s reign - and his widow wrote a letter to Hafsa about how alone she felt in Egypt. Hafsa brought the woman to Istanbul at her own expense and took care of her.

Her calm nature is indicated by his ability to keep order in his son’s harem and prevent the growing tension between Hürrem and Mahidevran from erupting. According to the descriptions, she was devoted to her son and always kept Süleyman's interests in mind, so in reality she was never against the love of her son's life, Hürrem. Moreover, according to sources, the two women liked each other as well. In connection with Hürrem, it is worth mentioning that when Hürrem's first child was born, Süleyman was not in the capital, so it is possible that Hafsa named him, as the head of the family.

During her tenure, especially in the absence of her son, she had to perform very serious duties. She tried to support and advise her son even when he was on campaigns, sending him plenty of letters. She never wanted to influence her child, but rather tried to support, listen, and show him the way. There was only exception when she tried to influence Süleyman in the interests of her family instead of the interests of the empire. One of Süleyman's leader statemen, Ferhad Pasha, made a series of mistakes for which Süleyman wanted to punish him. However, Hafsa confronted her son and persuaded him to give Ferhad another chance, as the pasha was the husband of Beyhan and the father of her children. Süleyman was reluctant, but gave in to his mother's will in the end. However, Ferhad still did not change, so in 1524 Hafsa could no longer save him from execution. From the reportes about the execution, a picture of a caring mother emerges in front of us about Hafsa. During the events, she struggled with herself: there was the mother, who would comfort and support her daughter, and there was the Valide Sultan, who knew that her son had done the right thing. Hafsa repeatedly shared her concerns about Beyhan and her children. No doubt she wanted to take Beyhan and her grandchildren with her, as is customary, but Beyhan went into voluntary exile with her children instead of moving to the Old Palace. If Hafsa was actually Beyhan’s mother, it surely have hurt her mother-heart for the rest of her life.

In 1526, the Venetian ambassador wrote about her, presumably based on the words of a paid harem servant, that “a very beautiful woman of 48, for whom [the sultan] bears great reverence and love.”

Süleyman also tried to express his love by starting to renovate the Topkapi Palace's harem almost immediately after ascended the throne so that his mother would have a residence there. Probably Süleyman wanted to relocate the main part of the harem to Topkapi because he was a very family-centric man and wanted to keep his mother, his love and his children in his immediate vicinity.

Her death and legacy

The harem of Topkapi Palace was completed by 1534, but Hafsa could no longer move in. It is not known whether she could have seen the new harem at all, or whether she was already in such a bad condition that she could not leave the Old Palace at all. In any case, on March 19, 1534, Hafsa passed away. Her age at that time of her death may have been slightly more than the age suggested by the Venetian ambassador (56) and she may have rather been in her early sixties. The cause of her death is unknown, presumably not caused by an epidemic but by an age-related illness.

After her death, the whole empire fell into mourning, as everyone loved her very much. And Süleyman lost his greatest and most loyal supporter. To express his respect for his mother, contrary to tradition, he placed her in his father’s complex for final rest in a separate tomb after an imperial funeral. Celalzade Mustafa, who described her funeral, said goodbye with very long prayers in which Hafsa was likened to the most revered Muslim women, such as Hatice, the first wife of the Prophet Muhammad, his daughter Fatma and his third and favorite wife, Ayşe: “[S]he was a woman of great ascetism and a lady of righteous thought, queen of the realm of chastity and the Khadija of the capital of purity, builder of charitable foundations and doer of pious deeds, the Fatima of the era and the ‘A’isha of the age.”

Hafsa was the first consort to be able to built an imperial mosque. Her complex is located in Manisa, it was built by 1522 and in addition to its mosque it includes, among other things, a school, a hospital and a bath.

*    *     *

Úgy gondolom sokan tudjátok mi történt a youtube csatornámmal. Mindenesetre emiatt mostantól jelen vagyok a facebookon Reallifesultanas névvel.Mivel videóim jelenleg nem elérhetőek (igaz a megoldáson továbbra is dolgozom), szeretném most posztokban, portrékban összefoglalni ezeknek a nagyszerű embereknek az életét. Természetesen tudom, nem ugyanolyan így mint a videókkal, de úgy gondoltam jó lenne így egyben látni az információkat.

Stílusosan (Ayşe) Hafsával szeretném kezdeni, aki az átmenetet jelenti a régi világ és az új világ között. Hiszen a valaha volt első valide szultánaként kiemelkedik elődei közül, ám befolyása nem fogható utódaiéhoz. Azonban valószínű, hogy nagyon nagy szerepe volt a Nők szultánátusának, mint olyan létrejöttében. (Ayşe) Hafsa esetében rengeteg a legenda és félreértés, melyeket írásomban szeretnék tisztázni. Igyekeztem minél több forrást felhasználni, legnagyobb segítségemre természetesen megint Leslie Peirce volt!

Származása

Pontos születési dátuma nem ismert, gyermekeinek feltételezett születési évei alapján azonban nagyjából 1470-1475 közötti dátumot lehet feltételezni. A legendák szerint Krími hercegnő volt, akit maga a Krími kán – tehát az apja, Meñli I Giray (uralkodás: 1467, 1469-1475, 1478-1515) – adott nőül a későbbi I. Szelimhez (uralkodás 1512-1520). 

Ezt azonban az újabb kutatások és a legtöbb történész nem fogadja el. Több ellenérv is létezik, melyek közül néhányat szeretnék ismertetni. II. Mehmed (uralkodás: 1444-1446 és 1451-1481) uralkodása alatt a szultánok mellett a hercegek házasodási szokásai is megváltoztak a korábban jellemzőekhez képest (részletesebben korábbi posztomban). Ez gyakorlatilag azt jelenti, hogy bár nem konkrét törvény tiltotta, de a hercegek nem házasodhattak sem nemes asszonnyal, sem egyszerű ágyassal. Szelim még csak herceg volt, mikor Hafsát maga mellé vette és gyermekeik születtek. 

Ez pedig rávilágít arra is, hogy Hafsa nem lehetett Krími hercegnő, hiszen a hercegek nem nősülhettek, különösen nem más dinasztiák asszonyaival. Ezt tovább erősíti, hogy II. Bayezid (uralkodás 1481-1512) (Szelim apja) a legkevésbé sem akarta Szelimet látni a trónon, tehát sohasem engedte volna neki, hogy egy Krími hercegnőt vegyen nőül és ezzel igen erős szövetségest kapjon maga mellé a Krími kán személyében. 

A legenda eredete talán az lehet, hogy Hafsa a Krími dinasztia ajándékaként kerülhetett Szelimhez, esetleg krími származású volt, talán nagyon távoli rokonságban lehetett a kánnal és annak ajándéka volt Szelim herceg számára. Szelim ugyanis 1489-től kezdve Trabzonban székelt egészen trónra jutásáig, tehát közel volt a Krími Kánsághoz, emiatt bizonyosan volt közöttük kapcsolat.

Élete Szelim mellett

Bár nem volt Szelim felesége, feltételezhetjük, hogy ő lehetett a kedvenc ágyasa. Erre utal, hogy több gyermeket is szült urának – betartva az egy ágyas egy fiú szokást –, ami arra utal, hogy Szelim kedvelte őt. Ugyanis Hafsa legalább három leánynak adott életet mielőtt egyetlen fia megszületett volna. 

Legidősebb leánya valószínűleg Hatice volt, mivel ő ment férjhez először 1509-ben, ez alapján 1490-91 körül születhetett. Őt követhette Fatma, aki már apja uralkodása alatt lett kiházasítva, talán 1491-92 között születhetett. Legfiatalabb leánya pedig Beyhan lehetett, akit már Szulejmán adott férjhez, meglehetősen későn. Éppen kései házassága miatt kérdéses, hogy egyáltalán Hafsa volt e az édesanyja. Ha Hafsa leánya volt, akkor Beyhan 1492-94 között született, mindenképpen Szulejmán előtt.

Mindemellett, bár az nem tiszta, hogy Szelim más ágyasoktól származó fiai természetes módon haltak e meg, vagy Szelim keze által, az tiszta, hogy Szelim Szulejmánban – Hafsa fiában – látta örökösét.

Élete Szulejmán hercegsége alatt

Amint fiát 1509-ben kinevezte a szultán Caffa kormányzójává, vele tartott ezzel elhagyva Szelimet és Trabzont. Azok a leányai is vele tartottak, akik még nem voltak házasok. Hatice már feltehetőleg nem költözött velük, hanem férjhez ment ezzel életmentő támogatót szerezve apjának. 

Néhány évvel később itt érte őket a hír, hogy a szultán II. Bayezid (uralkodás: 1481-1512) Ahmed (1466-1513) nevű fiát nevezte ki örököséül. Ez Bayezid halála esetében egyet jelentett Szelim és Szulejmán halálával. Szelim fellázadt apja ellen és végül a janicsárok segítségével győzedelmeskedett. Hatice férjének is kulcsszerepe volt abban, hogy Szelim trónkövetelő testvére ne juthasson Szelim előtt Isztambulba; ám maga Szulejmán is segítette apját, mikor az egy ideig Caffában bújkált. 

Szulejmán apja uralkodását Manisában töltötte. Ez alatt valamelyest nyugodtabbnak ��rezhette volna magát, mint egyetlen örökös, azonban apja erőszakos természete és paranoiája miatt félelemben élt. Hafsa volt az, aki feltehetőleg – Szelimet jól ismerve – tanácsokkal látta el fiát, hogyan viselkedjen, nehogy magára vonja apja figyelmét és haragját. Manisában Hafsa izetése bőven meghaladta Szulejmánét, 6000 ezüst aspert kapott havonta.

Szulejmánt apja kétszer (1514-15 és 1516-18) is Edirnébe küldte, hogy őrizze a birdalom nyugati határát, amíg ő a keleti határnál harcolt. Ilyenkor feltehetőleg anyja is elkísérte őt. Előbbi alkalom nagyon komoly szakadékot húzott apa és fia közé. A hadjárat ugyanis sokkal rosszabbul ment, mint Szelim várta és az egyébként őt támogató janicsárok ellene fordultak és olyan pletyka ütötte fel a fejét, miszerint Szelim helyett fiát, Szulejmánt akarják trónra ültetni. Velencei források szerint ekkor küldött Szelim egy mérgezett kaftánt Szulejmán számára, hogy megszabaduljon tőle. A történetet magát mind jól ismerjük, Hafsa – ismerve Szelimet és hallva a pletykákat – nagyon óvta fiát és figyelmeztette, hogy legyen óvatos. Más források azonban ezt az eseményt nem említik. Az azonban bizonyos, hogy Szelim ezekután különösen óvatos volt fiával szembe. Hafsa pedig érezve ezt, különösen odafigyelt, és rendszeresen figyelmeztette fiát, hogy hogyan viselkedjen. Szulejmán pont emiatt nem mutatott semmiféle érdeklődést a trónra és a politikára. Nem lehet azonban elítélni teljességgel ezért Szelimet, hiszen el kell ismerni, nagy odafigyeléssel nevelte és készítette fel Szulejmánt az uralkodásra és egy olyan biztos lábakon álló birodalmat hozott létre, amire Szulejmán később építhetett. Amit nem kapott meg az apjától, a szeretetet, támogatást, biztonságot, azt édesanyja kamatostul megadta neki.

Hafsa volt az, aki rendet tartott Szulejmán háremében annak Manisai tartózkodása alatt. Segítségére lehetett egyik leánya is, aki velük élt. Ez a lány Beyhan lehetett legnagyobb valószínűséggel, esetleg Fatma. Hafsa vagy már Caffában vált először nagymamává vagy Manisában, mindenesetre unokája Mahmud születése új reményt adott a polgárháború utáni állapotokra.

Az első valide szultána

A szultána rangot bár II. Bayezid (uralkodás 1481-1512) vezette be, így lányai már szultánák voltak, édesanyja ezt nem érhette meg. Emiatt a valaha volt első valide szultána Hafsa volt. 

1520 szeptemberében Szelim a fronton meghalt betegségben, Szulejmán azonnal Isztambulba vágtázott és megkezdte több mint 40 éves uralkodását (u. 1520-1566). Szulejmán két héttel apja halála után szeptember 30-án érkezett meg Isztambulba. December 18-án jelentette azt a Velencei követ, hogy Hafsa szultána is megérkezett Isztambulba, immáron teljesen szabad asszonyként. A több mint két hónapos késéssel is még megelőzte Szulejmán háremének többi tagját, ugyanis Isztambulba érkezve az volt az első feladata, hogy átvegye a Régi Palota irányítását és mindent előkészítsen Szulejmán háremének fogadására. 

Minden bizonnyal anyja nagyban hozzájárult Szulejmán korai cselekedeteihez, imázs építéséhez. Szulejmán trónralépése után hamarosan igyekezett megmutatni, hogy nem olyan, mint az apja, nem kegyetlen. Ennek bizonyítására például szabadonbocsátott 600 egyiptomi rabszolgát, akiket apja ejtett fogságba. 

Hafsa igen jó lelkű asszony volt, amiért a nép nagyon kedvelte. Nem csak családja irányába mutatta ki törődését, de sok esetben még a alattvalók irányába is. Ismert egy eset, amikor a néha Szelim egyik hű pasája, Egyiptom kormányzója elhunyt – már Szulejmán uralkodása alatt –, özvegye levelet írt Hafsának, hogy mennyire egyedül érzi magát Egyiptomban, akkor Hafsa a nőt Isztambulba hozatta saját költségén és gondoskodott róla a továbbiakban. Nyugodt természetét jelzi, hogy képes volt rendet tartani a fia háremében és megakadályozni, hogy a Hürrem és Mahidevran között egyre növekvő feszültség kipattanjon. A leírások szerint elkötelezett volt fia iránt, és mindig annak érdekeit tartotta szem előtt, így a valóságban egyáltalán nem volt fia szerelme, Hürrem ellen. Sőt, források szerint a két nő kedvelte is egymást. Hürrem kapcsán érdemes megemlíteni, hogy első gyermeke születésekor Szulejmán nem tartózkodott a fővárosban, így meglehet, hogy Hafsa nevezte el őt a család fejeként. 

Validesége alatt – különösen fia távollétében – nagyon komoly feladatokat kellett ellátnia. Igyekezett fiát a fronton is támogatni és tanácsokkal ellátni, rengeteg levelet küldött neki. Sosem akarta befolyásolni gyermekét inkább igyekezett támogatni, meghallgatni és utat mutatni neki. Egyetlen kivétel volt, amikor megpróbálta a birodalom érdekei helyett a családja érdekeiben befolyásolni Szulejmánt. Szulejmán egyik vezíre, Ferhad pasa sorra követett el hibákat, amelyekért Szulejmán meg akarta őt büntetni. Hafsa azonban szembe szállt fiával és meggyőzte, hogy adjon újabb esélyt Ferhadnak, hiszen a pasa Beyhan szultána férje és gyermekeinek apja volt. Szulejmán végül nem szívesen, de engedett anyja akaratának. Ferhad azonban továbbra sem változtatott, így 1524-ben már Hafsa sem tudta őt megmenteni a kivégzéstől. A kivégzés körülményeit taglaló írásokból egy törődő anya képe rajzolódik ki előttünk Hafsáról. Az események során küzdött benne az édesanya, aki lányát vigasztalná és támogatná és a valide szultána, aki tudta, hogy fia helyesen járt el. Hafsa többször megosztotta aggodalmát Beyhanról és annak gyermekeiről. Kétségkívül szerette volna – a szokásokhoz híven – maga mellé venni Behyant és unokáit, azonban Beyhan önkéntes száműzetésbe vonult gyermekeivel együtt. Amennyiben Hafsa volt ténylegesen Beyhan édesanyja, ez biztosan élete végéig nagyon fájt anya szívének. 

1526-ban írta róla a Velencei követ – feltehetőleg egy lefizetett hárem szolga szavaira alapozva –, hogy „gyönyörű asszony 48 éves korában is, aki iránt a szultán végtelen szeretettel és tisztelettel viseltetik”. Szeretetét Szulejmán igyekezett azzal is kifejezni, hogy a Topkapi Palota háremét szinte trónra lépésre után azonnal elkezdte felújítani, hogy édesanyjának legyen ott lakrésze. Valószínűleg Szulejmán azért szerette volna áthelyeztetni a hárem fő részét a Topkapiba, mert igen családcentrikus ember volt és szerette volna anyját, szerelmét és gyermekeit a közvetlen közelében tudni.

Halála és hagyatéka

A Topkapi Palota háreme 1534-re készült el, azonban Hafsa már nem költözhetett be. Nem tudni, hogy láthatta e egyáltalán az új háremet, vagy már olyan állapotban volt, hogy nem hagyhatta el egyáltalán a Régi Palotát. Mindenesetre 1534. március 19-én Hafsa szultána elhunyt. Kora ekkor feltehetőleg valamivel több lehetett, mint a Velencei követ által sugallt kor (56) és inkább hatvanas évei elején járhatott. Halálának oka ismeretlen, feltehetőleg nem járvány okozta, hanem időskorhoz kapcsolódó betegség. 

Halála után az egész birodalom gyászba borult, hiszen mindenki nagyon szerette őt. Szulejmán pedig elvesztette legnagyobb és legőszintébb támogatóját. Hogy kifejezze anyja iránti tiszteletét, a hagyományoktól eltérően apja komplexumában helyezte végső nyugalomra, egy különálló türbébe, birodalmi temetés után. A temetését leíró Celalzade Mustafa serint nagyon hosszú imákkal búcsúztatták, amelyben a legtiszteltebb muszlim asszonyokhoz tették őt hasonlatossá, mint például Mohamed próféta első felesége Hatice, leánya Fatma és harmadik, egyben kedvenc felesége Ayşe: „Nagyon vallásos asszony volt, az igazlelkű cselekedetek asszonya, a tisztaság királynője, korának Haticéje; jótékony intézetek alapítója, korának Fatmája és Ayşéje.”

Hafsa volt az első ágyas, aki birodalmi mecsetet építtethetett. Komplexuma Manisában található, 1522-ben készült el és mecsetje melett tartalmaz többek között iskolát, kórházat, fürdőt is.

[marvelficrec]

Tony Stark secret identity?

It’s a long list so it’s under the cut! 

I Said “I Love You,” What Does it Matter if I Lie to You? + 95k

18 year old Tony Stark is your typical teenager. Well, except for how he’s the playboy billionaire heir to Stark Industries and working on two PhDs. Oh, and 6 months ago he was kidnapped by - well, no one really knows who. Since his rescue (excuse you, Tony liberated himself), he’s also been keeping a pretty big secret. Here’s a hint: it’s shiny, red and gold, and flies. Tony’s had a productive couple of months, but the fact that his grandfather keeps trying to hire bodyguards for his “safety” is really putting a cramp in his ability to keep his secret superhero identity, well, a secret.

Steve Rogers wakes up in 2015 and finds out that he’s missed 70 years (Oh god, does this mean he’s 94?), a revelation that he handles with much less grace than usual. Mostly, Steve just wants to be Captain America again, but on his own terms and without a lot of fanfare. To fill the time while Steve tries to figure out the best way to resurrect a dead superhero, his good friend Isaac Stark offers him a job: bodyguard to Isaac’s grandson, Tony Stark - who seems to get into a surprising amount of trouble for a teenager. “There’s no better introduction to the 21st century than through Tony,” says Isaac. Somehow, Steve is not reassured.

don’t know why it took me so long to see + 11k

“Oh, watch this,” Natasha says, propping her chin against her knuckles and turning a sweet gaze on him. “Tony, what’s it like dating a superhero?”

Tony bristles in irritation. “We’re not dating,” he snaps. “Captain America probably thinks he can get into anyone’s pants just ‘cause he’s got a mask, costume, and reputation, but not me, buddy. That shield? Gotta be overcompensating for something.” He adds, a bit petulantly, “Oh, and all that blue? Definitely more Steve’s color than his.”

Saving the World (Is Totally a Date) + 64k + personal favorite

Tony discovers Stane’s betrayal while he’s still being held captive. When he escapes, he sets out to ruin Stane as completely and ruthlessly as he can, playing up his PTSD and quitting his job to destroy Stane quietly from the outside. He also picks up a teaching job-all Pepper’s fault-and oh, right, becomes a supervillain. Okay, that one was Tony’s fault, but it was totally an accident.

In the meantime, a certain Capsicle is defrosted a year early, and is assigned the task of capturing the notorious Iron Man. It’s not going particularly well, if the embarrassingly high number of times he’s been kidnapped in the past six months is any indication. When SHIELD decides to help him “adjust” by getting him a teaching job, Steve is skeptical; but then there’s Tony, and Steve finds he doesn’t mind the 21st century so much after all.

The Most Amazing Things (Some Terrible Lie) + 26k

Tony’s decision not to reveal his identity as Iron Man to the world was shrewd and calculated. Too bad it’s about to backfire on him like a Jericho missile.

Slipping off the Page into Your Hands + 68k + personal favorite

Soulmates have their first words to each other written on their wrists. This should make it easy. For Steve and Tony, it is anything but. Steve’s problem is that the future he has awoken into is nothing he was ever expecting: he has a soulmate now. Who might be a robot. And if his soulmate is Iron Man, how can he be so attracted to Tony Stark? It should be impossible. Tony’s problem is that he is Iron Man, his soulmate is a man whom he in no way deserves, and he is going to fight everything in his heart and do his best to make sure Steve never, ever finds out the whole truth.

Cherry Ride + 12k

A SHIELD agent named Roger Stevens told Tony that his nickname was “Cap”. Tony didn’t connect the dots until it was much, much too late.

Steve Rogers: Undercover Robosexual - 11k 

Tony Stark is a selfish, narcissistic asshole with a God complex, which makes his invention of the superhero Iron Man, an impressive android with an AI that surpasses even J.A.R.V.I.S. in complexity, all the more puzzling. Stuck in a future he struggles to understand, Steve surprisingly gets along with the bag of bolts more than any flesh-and-blood being. He often has to stop himself from taking chances with real human life (including his own) when Iron Man is in danger. After all, Stark likely has several back-up copies of Iron Man’s code, so he can always make another one, right? That’s what Steve tells himself anyway when he sees Iron Man flying a missile destined for New York City through a wormhole to destroy the Chitauri warship.

And then Steve gets a call from the man himself on his private comm channel.

“Hey Cap.”

“Stark, this isn’t a good time. I’m kind of in the middle of something. Can I call you back later?” Steve says, head tipped up to watch Iron Man’s ascension.

Bizarre Love Triangle + 1k

Once the idea was in his head, he’d started picking up on all kinds of things, like the way Stark talked about Iron Man with such affection, and seemed to share so many of his mannerisms, and was constantly working on ways of improving the suit. It was obvious.

Think of This as Solving Problems (That Should Never Have Occurred) + 35k

No one knows Tony is Iron Man. Then Tony gets amnesia, and literally no one knows Tony is Iron Man.

Wait & Sea + 50k

In which Tony and Steve get sent on an undercover mission aboard a cruise ship to make contact with Hydra. In this AU the military has kept the discovery and defrosting of Captain America a secret, so Steve and Tony have never met before. Yet they are to pose as newlyweds….

The Long Road Home + 47k

Maria Stark told her son that the Mark on his wrist meant there was a special someone out there just for him. Sarah Rogers told her son that his soulmate was waiting for him, and he needed to be strong for them.

Neither of them ever mentioned what to do if that soulmate just doesn’t want them.

I’ll Give You Gifts Until You Know My Name + 10k

Mr. Stark is an extravagant gift-giver: he has the money for it, after all. As Iron Man, Tony has the opportunity to gift Steve even more presents that, while less expensive, are more heartfelt. Having a secret identity means Tony gets to have his cake and eat it too when it comes to showering Steve with presents.

Until Steve starts developing feelings for his armored companion, and all the benefits of living a double life are turned on their head for Tony Stark.

Eavesdroppers Never + 7k

When Tony made the decision to have a secret identity, he had several well-considered and carefully thought-out reasons. But there were a few scenarios he never took into account. He never imagined that he, Iron Man, would be cuddling naked with Captain America in a Canadian shack in the middle of a snowstorm. He also never imagined that Captain America would pick that moment to tell him, Iron Man, about his feelings for Tony Stark. Uh-oh.

The Greatest Secret of All + 1k

Captain America and Iron Man are hit by a truth spell. So why is Tony Stark acting weird?

What Lies Behind  + 63k + im actually currently reading this

Four months after the Battle of New York, Steve Rogers still hasn’t managed to find his footing. The new century is strange and upsetting, and he appears to have no purpose in it. But when SHIELD sends him to liaise with the director of Stark Industries, his life starts to change in ways he could never imagine.

Or, the MCU-rooted AU, in which Steve and Tony both still maintain their secret identities.

Thank You Fics Round 3 - chapter three

How to Date a Superhero Without Even Trying (MIT!Tony Drunk Dials his Ex and gets Captain America)

[tomurakii]

My iteration of the Todoroki family timeline, since it’s very difficult for me to keep track of how old they’re all supposed to be while I’m writing.

This was made assuming that Dabi is Touya, therefore putting Touya’s birthday on January 18th (thanks to the new character page) and clearing up enough of the hazy gaps to make creating this timeline possible. There are a few other things in here that aren’t portrayed directly in canon, but I’ll include my reasoning for those after the timeline itself.

I’ll be using negative years since we don’t know what year this is all actually set in. Year 0 is the year that Shouto is born because eh I had to pick one of them lol.

—

YEAR -11

Enji Todoroki turns 20 on August 8th, hits the number 2 spot in the end of year JP hero billboard chart, and, realising he’ll never surpass All Might, looks for a spouse to create an heir that will.

YEAR -10

Enji meets Rei, buys her, and gets her pregnant by March/April of that year. He turns 21 on the 8th of August. Rei’s age and birthday are unknown, but she’s most likely between 18-21 at this time as well.

YEAR -9

On January 18th, Touya Todoroki is born. (Enji turned 22 on August 8th.)

YEAR -8

Around February/March of this year, Touya’s quirk manifests at 1 year old. Enji discovers that he has weak constitution, and Rei becomes pregnant with Fuyumi. On December 6th of the same year, Fuyumi Todoroki is born. (Touya turned 1 on January 18th, Enji turned 23 on August 8th.)

Year -5

Fuyumi manifests her quirk around September/October of this year at 2 years old, and Rei becomes pregnant with Natsuo. (Touya turned 4, Enji turned 26, Fuyumi turned 3.)

YEAR -4

Natsuo Todoroki is born on July 1st. (Touya turned 5, Enji turned 27, Fuyumi turned 4.)

YEAR -1

Natsuo manifests his quirk at around March/April of this year, at 2 years old. Rei becomes pregnant with Shouto. (Touya turned 8, Natsuo turned 3, Enji turned 30, Fuyumi turned 7.)

YEAR 0

On January 11th, Shouto Todoroki is born. (Touya turned 9, Natsuo turned 4, Enji turned 31, Fuyumi turned 8.)

YEAR +5

Shouto turns 5, and Enji begins training him. Some time after the school year ends in March, Rei snaps and burns Shouto with boiling water, then gets sent away. Some time the same year, most likely after Rei’s incident but before the end of May, Touya “dies” from an accident that is Enji’s fault. (Touya turned 14, Natsuo turned 9, Enji turned 36, Fuyumi turned 13.)

CURRENT YEAR (Just started in the manga.)

Shouto just turned 16, Touya (now Dabi) just turned 25. Natsuo is turning 20 in july, Enji is turning 47 in August, and Fuyumi is turning 24 in December.

—

Now to the fun part, the explanation!

First point is the year that Touya was born. This is based off of 2 facts,

A) that Hawks was the first and only person to reach the top 10 in his teens, and

B) that Enji sought out Rei after he hit the number two spot, not before.

Based on those facts we know that Enji didn’t hit the number two spot until the end of year JP billboard chart, because if he’d done it in the mid year one then he would’ve still been 19, and we know he wasn’t 19 because Hawks is the only person who was a top 10 hero in his teens. This way, we know that Touya couldn’t have been born in year -10 because that would only be a month or two after Enji decides he wants a kid in the first place, meaning that he was born when Enji was turning 22 at the earliest, making him a maximum of 14 years old at his time of death.

I’m assuming that this is correct since although it’s possible that he was born the same year as Fuyumi, it’s highly unlikely that he’d be born and his quirk would manifest in time for Fuyumi’s birthday just under 11 months later. That would mean his quirk would have to manifest at 2 months old, and since the leeway goes up to four years, that’s probably extremely unlikely. So we’re assuming that Touya was born the year before Fuyumi, giving them an age gap of a little less than 23 months.

Everything about the mid years is just based off of the canon age gaps between characters, and the assumption that Enji would try for a new kid the second he discovered that the previous one’s quirk wasn’t what he was looking for.

Then there’s the part about the date of Rei’s incident. During Shouto’s flashback we see that his older siblings are all together, playing outside, in the middle of the day. That way we can conclude that it’s during the holidays, likely the month-long ones between the end of one year and the start of another in Japan. Because Shouto is still unscarred at this point, we can conclude that Rei’s incident happens post March at least. It’s also easy to guess that Rei’s incident happens very close to the same day as the scene of the other three kids outside, simply because there would be no point in them being very far apart and Shouto is still 5 when Rei gets sent away.

In recent manga chapters it was revealed that Touya died “right around the time Rei was admitted to hospital” which indicates a maximum of a couple of months in between, though a smaller gap seems more accurate. If we guess that Rei’s incident happened during the holidays, it’s unfortunately likely that Touya never started his third year of middle school.

—

And there we have it folks! My complete analysis of the Todoroki family timeline. I really believe we have all the pieces already, it’s just a matter of finding them and sticking them together. I do hope we get specific dates for Rei’s incident and Touya’s death, although this vague couple of months will probably be the closest we can get honestly. Hopefully those of you who write and/or theorise like me will find this helpful!

[olko71]

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New Post has been published on http://yaroreviews.info/2021/02/jeff-bezos-exits-as-ceo-but-his-role-at-amazon-will-likely-be-little-changed

Jeff Bezos Exits as CEO, but His Role at Amazon Will Likely Be Little Changed

Behind the scenes, the founder had been laying the groundwork for such a move for years, according to people who work closely with him. So much so, that when Mr. Bezos signaled to the board around six months ago that he was ready to move to a new role, the directors weren’t surprised. He had already been involving himself less and less in day-to-day management, said one of the people.

Among the most successful entrepreneurs in history, the famously driven Mr. Bezos developed a hard-charging work culture in Amazon. AMZN -2.00% Over the past several years, the 57-year-old has focused much more on high-level strategic decisions, and has made clear he would like to build a legacy for himself that goes well beyond Amazon.

Tech founders are often succeeded by their opposites, typically older executives with greater managerial experience. Mr. Bezos wanted someone more like him.

Andy Jassy, whom Mr. Bezos promoted five years ago to CEO of Amazon’s cloud business and who will take over as CEO of the company later this year, fit the bill. He started his career at Amazon in 1997, acted as Mr. Bezos’s technical assistant early on, and drove the creation of Amazon Web Services, which dominates cloud computing and accounts for the bulk of Amazon’s operating income.

“Jeff always made clear that his greatest fear is that ‘if I got hit by a bus, you would pick somebody to succeed me who was unwilling to take risks and launch new efforts,’ ” said Tom Alberg, a longtime director who retired from the board in 2019. Amazon’s board has a succession planning meeting every year to discuss major moves at the company.

Andy Jassy, pictured in 2018, will become Amazon’s CEO later this year.

Photo: KAMIL BIALOUS for The Wall Street Journal

Mr. Bezos was front and center in the CEO role last year in ways he hadn’t been for a while, as he publicly guided the company’s response to Covid-19 and was drawn into intensifying U.S. government scrutiny of Amazon’s competitive practices.

The pandemic initially disrupted Amazon, putting new demands and risks on its huge workforce of warehouse and delivery workers. It has since proven to be a boon to the company, propelling revenue for 2020 up 38% to $386.1 billion.

Mr. Bezos accelerated hiring, and Amazon increased its employee count by 63% last year to 1.3 million. People close to Mr. Bezos said he was involved every day in guiding Amazon’s pandemic response during the crisis.

Strategic guide

Mr. Bezos likely reversion to his role as Amazon’s strategic guide has left many Amazon shareholders sanguine that the company’s trajectory won’t change much. Amazon’s stock, which rose 76% last year was up nearly 4% so far in 2021 before sliding 2% in Wednesday trading.

“I don’t worry about this as a major change in the direction of Amazon, or that it will lose its way,” said Trip Miller, managing partner of Gullane Capital LLC, which he said owns roughly $25 million in Amazon stock. “This has been in the works for a while obviously. [The pandemic] was one more challenge Amazon faced in the last year, and it performed quite well in a struggling economy.”

In Amazon’s first decade or two, Mr. Bezos was involved in the minutiae of its operations. “There is no rest for the weary,” he wrote in a shareholder letter reviewing 1998. “I constantly remind our employees to be afraid, to wake up every morning terrified.”

As the company grew, Mr. Bezos was drawn to specific projects that fascinated him, including the 2014 Fire Phone, which flopped, and the Echo smart speaker, powered by a virtual assistant called Alexa, which was a success. The idea came from Mr. Bezos’s vision of a home equipped with a device like the spaceship computer on “Star Trek.”

In April 2016, Mr. Bezos gave bigger titles to his two top lieutenants. Mr. Jassy, who had been senior vice president, was named CEO of Amazon Web Services, and Jeff Wilke, who ran the better-known retail operation, became CEO of Consumer Worldwide.

The move was widely seen as an indication of succession plans, something the board had become especially attentive to the previous decade, after Mr. Bezos survived a helicopter crash in Texas in 2003.

The appointments also underlined that Messrs. Jassy and Wilke had more authority over day-to-day decision making, enabling Mr. Bezos to spend more of his time on nascent Amazon businesses, including its Hollywood arm, Amazon Studios. He was less visible in the company’s routine operations.

Jeff Wilke, CEO of Amazon’s Consumer Worldwide division, in 2019.

Photo: Joe Buglewicz/Bloomberg News

Mr. Bezos would quip that the only time he really knew all that was going on at Amazon was in its annual budget meetings.

“He’s not super involved in the day-to-day operations,” Matt Garman, a veteran of Amazon’s cloud-computing division and top lieutenant to Mr. Jassy, said of Mr. Bezos in a 2019 interview. “I met with him more in the first 18 months than I probably have since.”

In an interview on stage at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., in 2018, Mr. Bezos emphasized his hands-off approach, saying he rarely took meetings before 10 a.m. or after 5 p.m., and focused on strategy over detail. “If I make, like, three good decisions a day, that’s enough,” he said.

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

How do you think Jeff Bezos’s new role will affect Amazon? Join the conversation below.

He had long championed innovation and reinvention, exhorting his employees to treat Amazon as a startup long after it had become a colossus.

In that spirit of reinvention, he increasingly became fixated on projects and goals beyond Amazon. He purchased the Washington Post in 2013, and had started rocket company Blue Origin in 2000.

Founders of the tech giants have shown a penchant for taking on ambitious new projects. Bill Gates stepped aside as Microsoft CEO after 25 years and devoted himself to reinventing philanthropy. Google co-founder Larry Page, even before stepping back from his management role in 2019, had devoted his time and wealth to side projects developing flying cars.

Mr. Bezos has taken particular interest in Blue Origin, which competes with Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, run by Elon Musk —Mr. Bezos’s rival for the title of world’s wealthiest person.

Mr. Bezos celebrated the successful launch and landing of a Blue Origin rocket in 2015.

Photo: Blue Origin/Planet Pix/ZUMA PRESS

Mr. Bezos for years has funded Blue Origin, whose annual budget tops $1 billion, by selling some of his shares in Amazon. He devotes every Wednesday to Blue Origin, using a conference room to take meetings and get updates.

In a public appearance in 2018, Mr. Bezos described Blue Origin as perhaps more important to him in the long run than Amazon because it would help keep human civilization dynamic and avoid stasis.

Other changes were happening in Mr. Bezos’s personal life. In 2018 he surpassed Mr. Gates to be declared the world’s richest man. The father of four, who had long depicted himself as low-key despite his wealth, started spending more time at Hollywood parties and events, as Amazon’s entertainment business grew.

In January 2019, Mr. Bezos announced he and MacKenzie Scott, his wife of 25 years, would divorce. Mr. Bezos, often with his girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez, appeared at concerts and flashy beach clubs like Club 55 in St. Tropez, hanging out with celebrities and yachting around with other billionaires.

In April, members of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee’s Antitrust Subcommittee demanded he testify after a Wall Street Journal article showed that Amazon employees had used proprietary data on outside vendors that use its platform to create rival products—something the company had publicly denied doing.

Mr. Bezos spoke via videoconference during a House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on July 29.

Photo: Mandel Ngan/Agence France-Presse/Bloomberg News

At a subcommittee hearing in July where Mr. Bezos testified with three other Big Tech CEOs—his first such appearance before Congress—Mr. Bezos often appeared uncertain about how Amazon and its products worked, and pledged to find answers later.

In August, Amazon announced that Mr. Wilke would retire. He told the board months earlier, one of the people familiar with the matter said. The move left Mr. Jassy as the heir apparent.

About six months ago, Mr. Bezos told the board he was ready to make the move to executive chairman. The news was a closely guarded secret within Amazon, with some senior executives not knowing until they saw the press release Tuesday, according to other people familiar with the situation.

Several of Mr. Bezos’s latest Instagram posts have been related to Blue Origin. On Jan. 14, he posted a picture of himself stepping into a space capsule.

About a week ago, he shared a picture of a “hotfire test” of a Blue Origin engine. “Perfect night!” he wrote in the caption.

Write to Dana Mattioli at dana.mattioli@wsj.com and Sebastian Herrera at Sebastian.Herrera@wsj.com

Copyright ©2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

[nanigma]

Leon Fanbook Translation: Questionnaire Results

Link to the Takumi Fanbook

Introduction

Profile

Famous Lines

Relationships

Leon&Kamui + Words of Love

Daily Routine + Cooking Showdown

Fashion Check

Dream Change

Interview

Sorry for the wait, but there was just so MUCH text involved in this update. I think I spent about 10 hours total translating this over the past weeks. It had even more text than the Takumi version, since they added some additional comments and reader answers. Just one more update to go after this one and I’ll have finished it. Gonna take a break from translating for a while after I get back to the promised translations I couldn’t do in the meantime.

Part time job is still going and paying decently well. Still, more always helps, so if you’d like to support my work, consider buying me ko-fi or two.  

- All the photos on this post were taken by the lovely @zaziki7

My comments in italics

Questionaire Results

Pages 40-41

Page 40

The part were you and me talk about Prince Leon!

When we commemorated the release of our Prince Leon magazine, we also send out a questionare through the official Nintendo Dream twitter account. For 10 days, from July 13th 2018 to the 23rd, we accepted 560* filled out questionnaires and will now publish the results. We will convey the intense and simply overwhelming love that Leon's fans have for him, their explanations for it, and the heartfelt well-wishes towards him.

*Interesting to note that Takumi had 627 questionnaries filled out.

Questionary Demographic

Gender = Backed overwhelmingly by women!

Graph

Women: 89,5%

Men: 7.3%

Unspecified: 3.2%

Age = Over 80% in their teens and twenties!

Graph:

Twenties: 50.4%

Teens: 28%

Thirties: 16.5%

Unspecified: 2.8

Fourties and older: 2.1%

These are the results. The percentage of Leon's female fans almost reaching 90% is a deviation that surpasses all imagination. Surely the percentage of women is as high as it is, because we were asking for a magazine. Conversely, isn't it sort of unfair that male fans of „Fire Emblem“ do not have a character fanbook appealing to them? At least that's what we think... Gentlemen among fans, raise your voice!

They already get 90% of the figurines. I think they are more than compensated.

Q1. (Of course Leon's most attractive feature is that pretty face of his!)

“What about Leon do you like? Please choose three options.“  

Graph (no actual numbers given, so I'll just approximate)

His face: ~325

His voice: ~200

His heart: ~225

His outfit: ~75

His behaviour: >75

His strength: ~125

His retainers: ~25

Everything: ~250

Q1. Picking out the other answers:

“The way he uses magic!!“

Zola: “I-is this my cue?“

Odin: “Not you. Sit down.“

Other answers: How he feels inferior to his older brothers. It's quite human./ His slight clumsiness/ When he acts like an older brother/ How he is sweet to his brother or sister, even when facing them as enemies/ How he is kind to both his family and subordinates/ His lower eyelashes/ (English comment passing through) Smart, condescending, well written character, and a great unit to boot. His design with the black and purple designs reflect light beautifully/ How he always does his best to use his wits to approach others with nonchalant friendliness and to dodge the scrutiny of his opponents./How he is the kind of man, who, while not always used to flirting and occasionally showing surprise, will take the lead when it comes down to it and spoil his partner./ First answer repeats here for some reason/ How his character, face, magic and entire existence make him the very image of a stud. But I also like his less icy character traits a lot.

Q1. Picking out the other answers:

“His lower eyelashes!!”

Aqua: “Yes... Leon's eyes are quite sharp.”

Zero: ”That’s not what you should be paying attention to...”

Page 41

Q2. (Cute? Cool? In either case, he makes you want to protect him!)

“How would you describe your feelings for Leon? Please choose 3 options.“

Graph

Cool: <400

Cute: <450

Strong: >150

Healing: ~250

Want to snuggle up to him: <150

Hope to interact with him: >50

Beautiful (and other answers): <5

Other answers: Even though he is an excellent take on the old-school, collected hot guy, I always love it when his collar is inside out./ I want to spoil him/ I want to worship him/ I want to pat his head/ I want to support his feelings for Camilla/ I want to see his sleeping face/ I want to watch him from afar/ I think it's very human how he appears to be able to do anything, yet there are many things he cannot do/ etc.

Leon ol’ pal, there is actual support for your darkest secret out there...

Q2. Picking out the other answers:

“I envy your popularity!!“

Marx: “Who? Who could have left this answer....”

Macbeth: “W-Why are you looking at me?”

Q2. Picking out the other answers:

“I want to marry him!“

Elise: “Eh, then I want to marry him too!”

Camilla: “My... stealing isn't nice, alright?”

Am I really supposed to believe Elise is in her teens? Also, what is this family?

Pages 42-43

Page 42

Q3 (Those fleeting moments, where he breaks from his cold-hearted and unfeeling persona show Leon's true self!)

“Tell us which one of Leon's scenes and lines is the best of them all.“

1st Place (at 34.8%): Birthright Chapter 18 – Prince Leon of Nohr: His scene with Kamui after the map is cleared.

“... I lied, sister. I lied about hating you.“

2nd Place (at 20.5%): When doing a critical attack.

“Turn to dust already!“

3rd Place (at 18.2%): Prologue Chapter 1 – Nohrian Brethren: Scene with Kamui

“Eh!? My collar is inside out!? T- Then say so already...“

Other answers: Birthright Chapter 18: “The true blackness will paint over everything... your life, your future, it will all come to nothing...“/ Birthright Chapter 18: “That's quite the thing to say. If you keep looking, it should become obvious soon enough. Come on, I am already... this close after all.“/ A-Support with Odin: “It doesn't matter which world you go to, you'll always continue to be my retainer.“/ A-Support with Elise: “Yeah. Even if we only share half of our blood, even if all we are doing comes to naught.... so long as we accept each other, our bond will not be torn.“

Q4. (With the way it makes his pale skin shine, the Dark Knight outfit is far and away the most popular!)

“Tell us which one of Leon's possible classes (outfits) is your favourite!“

Graph:

Dark Knight: 79.7%

Sorceror: 0.6%

Butler: 0.4%

No percentages from here

Strategist

Dark Flier

Grandmaster

Others

Below graph box

Overwhelming approval for the Dark Knight! Straddling his horse adorned with golden ornaments, the armour carrying the elegance of the night sky, and the garments lightly dancing around his figure proudly represent the official outfit of Prince Leon! It's befitting of a king!

Translating this made me come close to crying from frustration.

Page 43

Q5 (The bond between master and servants are strong! Zero and Odin come at number one and two!)

“Tell us which character is your favourite besides Leon.“

1st Place: Zero (at 111 votes)

2nd Place: Odin (at 61 votes)

3rd Place: Elise (at 57 votes)

4th Place: Marx (at 45 votes)

5th Place: Camilla (at 38 votes)

6th Place: Takumi (at 36 votes)

7th Place: F!Kamui (at 32 votes)

8th Place: M!Kamui (at 30 votes)

9th Place: Foleo (at 21 votes)

While within the story, the bonds between the Nohrian siblings run deep, the popularity of Leon's group in general is superior even to that. But Zero has the most overwhelming support of them all. When adding in his personal history, one can't help but grin at seeing the viscously distant Zero having close banter with Leon. Surprisingly (?) big brother Marx beats out Kamui and gets into 4th place.

Pages 44-45

Page 44

Q6. (Most think he seems the type to join a social sciences type of activity like the student council! On the other hand, many also believe he wouldn't join any club at all.)

“If Leon went to a modern day school, what kind of club do you think he'd join?“

Graph

Student Council: ~70

None: >50

Literature/Literary Club: <45

Chess Club: ~35

Equestrian/Horse-Riding Club: >25

Science Club: >25

Gardening Club: <25

Wind Instrument Club: >20

Book/Reading Club: <20

Astronomy Club: >15

Tennis Club: ~15

Shogi Club: ~15

Chemistry Club: >10

Supernatural/Occult Club: ~10

Fencing Club: ~10

Art Club: 10

Other: History Club/ Basketball Club/ Board Game Club/ Mathematical Research Club/ Soccer Club/ Light Music Club/ Magic Club/ Theater Club/ Debate Club/ Broadcasting Club/ Science&Engineering Club/ Newspaper Club/ System Appliances Club/ Go Club/ Conversational English Club/ Table Tennis Club/ Tomato Appreciation Club/ Handicrafts Club/ Swimming Club/ Biology Club

Most answers we received weren't about any club activities, but the school council!! No matter the circumstances, he still gives off a regal image. On the opposite extreme, many were opting for him to not join a club at all, probably reflecting his attitude of wanting to make his own path without being tied down by other people. The other answers referred to his demonstrated rationality and reasoning with clubs such as the literature and literary clubs, or his desire to raise tomatoes with the gardening club. Within the 'Other' answers, there was certainly a theme centering around the „Debate Club“ (likely because Leon is skilled at fighting with words alone).  

Q7. (So Leon really is the the indoor type? Books were his key item* all along.)

“You are going on a date with Leon! Where do you think you'll go?“

*dating sim reference

Graph

The library: ~70

An art gallery/museum: <50

Some kind of tomato plantation: ~45

A spot from which to gaze at the night sky: ~35

A high-class restaurant: >30

The cinema: ~30

A stylish café: ~25

An aquarium: <25

A planetarium: >20

A theme park: <20

Some Nohrian place: >15

His place: ~15

Others: ~140

Other answers: Watching a play at the theater/ The park/ The cinema (this was already in the graph?)/ A forest/ His home/ My Room (as in the Fates one)/ A flower field/ An antique shop/ Exploring the castle/ A place from which to watch the night sky filled with stars/ We'd have walks from the Sakurahommachi station in Nagoya, where I would drag Leon, who hates getting his feet wet, to the beach. We'd visit the Landmarktower in Yokohama and see the whole city sprawled out below from the viewing platform. Then finally, while riding a ferry's wheel, I'd want to watch as Leon would blush and become embarassed at failing to work up the courage to congratulate me on my birthday by the time we reached the top./ To an orchestra performance/ A botanical garden/ A horse ride/ A curiosity shop for tomes/ A haunted house

Some have clearly put more thought into this than others...

Leon love for tomatoes is carried by a deep knowledge of them! Speaking of, the library, art galleries and museums, are places that do the most to challenge his intellectual mind. Next is something normal people would never have thought of: A tomato plantation. Probably to go gather tomatoes. Enjoying your favourite person's favourite together must be a very fun activity. It makes us imagine Leon with a carefree smile on his face.

Page 45

Q8. (While his image is all over the place, the common feature happens to be the intellectual elite!?)

“If Leon were to enter the modern workforce, what kind of job do you think he would have?“

Graph

Something IT-related (including management): ~60

Scholar/Researcher: ~30

Lawyer: ~25

Company President/ Member of a Company President's family: <25

Company Employee: >20

On a Tomato Plantation: <20

Secretary: ~15

Teacher: <15

Company Manager: ~10

Marx's Confidant: <10

Government Employee: <10

Company director: <10

Librarian: <10

Doctor: <10

Bureaucrat: >5

Others: ~190

Other answers: Accountant/Whatever it is, he'd be wearing a suit/ Strategist/ Flower Shop Owner/ Human Resources/ System Engineer/ Diplomat/ Public Prosecutor/ Model/ Greengrocer/ Actor/ Employee at a pharmaceutical company/ Policeman/ Administrative Scrivener*/ Day Trader/ Playing in an Orchestra/ Bank Employee/ Designer/ Investor/ Translator/ Real Estate Agent/ Publisher/ Bartender/ He'd come from a good family, graduate from a famous university, find employment at a leading company and be a very promising newcomer there./ Idol/ Astronaut/ Free-lance Designer

*From Wikipedia: Administrative Scrivener(行政書士 Gyōsei shoshi)is a legal profession in Japan which files government licenses and permits, drafts documents, and provides legal advice around such interactions.

What overshadows the minority opinions are results strongly influenced by Leon's reputation as a schemer. He, who even during the plot stuck to his own methods and views, would surely acquire expertize the business world of our time and establish himself with his own abilities in the blink of an eye. Futhermore, most people see Leon at the top of some kind of organization, rather than below someone like Marx, when our previous impressions of him saw him as someone's number 2.

Q9. (The impression of him having a preferance for scientific subjects is strong! It's surprising to see English were it is... we assumed it would be German.)  

So it's semi-officially confirmed that Nohrians are meant to speak German?

“If Leon was a teacher at a school, what kind of subject do you think he'd teach?“

Graph

Math: >100

Natural Sciences: >75

Chemistry: ~55

English: >45

Physics: ~45

Science: >25

Japanese ('Native Language'): ~25

History: <25

Biology: ~20

Social Studies: <20

History/World History: >15

Others: <30

Other answers: Economics/ Ethics/ Philosophy/ Civics/ Music/ Art/ Geography/ Magic

The impression that Leon is the science type was certainly shared by many, so as a result Math and the Sciences all stand at the top. His Strategist class (That is a tactician. Many have pointed out that in our age it would propably translate to being an expert speculator) also left quite the impact on these results. Although it's possible to say his love for books within the story has certainly been noticed, even when considering at answers for subjects like socials sciences, Japanese and English, the overwhelming majority still leans towards scientific subjects. While strict his methods would also be precise, so there can be no doubt he'd make an excellent teacher.

Pages 46-47

Page 46

Q10. (This is a bit biased, but it's the cool Leon we are talking about, so we want to hear his whispers full of sarcasm.)

“Tell us the one line you would want to hear from Leon.“

1st Place: “You really have the worst luck.“

2nd Place: “Turn to dust already!“

3rd Place: “I love you“*

*It shows both „Aishiteru“ and „Daisuki“ here, both of which are commonly translated as „I love you“. However, Aishiteru is a lot stronger in meaning than Daisuki. You wouldn't say that in everyday life even to your spouse of 10 years. It's inappropriate for all but the most dramatic situations. Like 'someone is dying' dramatic. This has been a language PSA.

Other answers: “How foolish“/ “My collar isn't inside out, right?“/ “My collar is inside out“/ “... Good grief, you really can't be trusted without me around.“/ “Jeez... looks like I have no choice. I'll protect you.“/ !You are pretty lucky.“/ “Eh... Sister you are sca-... Too close! You are too close!“/ “Do you want to eat tomatoes with me? Sister?“/ “I love you“/ “Are you stupid“/ “Despicable fool.“/ “Death shall be your redemption.“/“Look only at me, think only about me.“/ “I love you.“/ “Can I hug you?“/ Upon telling him his collar is inside out: “Ugh, say so earlier!“/ “I'll destroy you with black arts.“/ “Jeez, I'm no match for big brother.“/ “Pull yourself together, sister.“/ “Feel free to become Foleo's wife“/ “It's a lie that I hate you.“/ “That was well done.“/ “Welcome home.“/ “I want to eat your miso soup.“ *chokes*/ “Thank you for cleaning everyday“ (Maid setting)/ “How clumsy.“/ “You are always hard at work. I expect much from your services.“/ “Aren't these clothes inside out? Eh? That's how they are designed? Uhh...“/ “My collar is inside out!? … Tell me that sooner!“/ “Huh...?“/ “Traitors are a disgrace to the Kingdom of Nohr. Death shall be your redemption.“/ (In English) “I love you so much, please love yourself.“/ “You really can't do anything without me.“/ “Do you also want a tomato?“ (as in eating one)/ “Let's eat tomatoes together.“/ “I love it when you turn redder than a tomato.“/ “Don't say I have a woman's face.... I'd rather have you say that I'm cool instead of cute.“/ “Isn't your coat inside out as well? … Hehe, I'm kidding.“

Everyone's love is bursting from these answers. We can fully understand both the group that wants to be disparaged and the group that wants to be treated gently. Seeing just how many fans aren't satisfied with just a tsundere, but desire a cheeky little brother who verbally abuses them, we get the feeling we have found Leon's true appeal.

Kinkshame 100% appropriate.

Page 47

Takumi VS. Leon!!

Just like in this book, we also made a questionary to celebrate the release of the „Prince Takumi of Hoshido“ fanbook. Both of the questionaries included 5 questions pitting Leon and Takumi against each other. Although it appeared mostly like a popularity contest, we also gathered many responses and explanations that were overflowing with love. Although we have obviously published these answers in the Takumi fanbook as well, we will be publishing the comments that came with choosing Leon only in this magazine.

Q11. (Their popularity is almost exactly the same! Those who answered with something else mostly commented about how they „wanted to watch team X from afar.“)

“If you had to choose a side between them, which one would you pick?“

Graph

Leon: 45.1%

Takumi: 43.9%

Others: 11.0%

Q12. (Although they share many of the same habits and outlooks, it seems Takumi came out on top on this one.)

“Who do you think makes for the better father?“

Leon: 48.8%

Takumi: 51.2%

Reasons for choosing Leon: He praises Foleo from the dephts of his heart. He is able to truly accept him./ He hasn't known love from either of his parents, so he seems to put great effort into raising his child/ He seems very good at giving out praise!/ As a strategist he seems like he's be great at planning out child-rearing and lifeplans./ Because he seems to have an understanding of his child as a human being/ After apologizing to his son for rejecting him without even listening to his side, he is able to come to a mutual understanding with him/ Because he seems great at applying the carrot-and-stick method/ Because he is someone who holds his family dear. Together with his child he is able to learn from both success and failure and grow as a person./ Since he knows what he wanted for his own childhood/ He seems great at calming people down/ He seems the type to help his kids with their studies

Q13. (Just like with Question 12, Leon comes up short in the results. Could it be that he is a bit of a complex father figure?)

Could it??

“Whose son/daughter would you want to be?“

*I orginally translated this question wrong in the Takumi fanbook. The additional ansers here gave it context. I’ll correct it there as soon as I get around to it.

Leon: 43.6%

Takumi: 56.4%

Reasons for choosing Leon: While he is strict, he seems like he'd take care when teaching magic arts./ Although I also want to be Foleo's sibling, mostly I just want to be praised by Leon./ If I conveyed my love for him all sweet, I am sure he'd be grateful./ I'd have a beautiful daddy/ Because I could support Foleo no matter what his dreams were/ He seems very cold, but I think his love runs deep/ Because he seems the type to passionately devote himself to helping me study/ Human nature/ I want him to praise me by saying „That's my child!“/ He seems like he'd be a good hugger when he is in the mood to spoil/ He'd probably be a doting father/ Although he seems like he'd be a very careful father, I want to be there to see him be careless at times/ I want to see how his usually calm presentation as a father gets disrupted by his subordinates/ Because Team Leon has Zero in it/ Although he'd deny it at first, someday he'd become a father who understands his love for his child./ Because I want to have a knowledgable father/ Although cruel, he is nice to his friends and family/ It'd be fun being around Zero and Odin from a young age.

Q.14 (Their popularity is the same here, leading them to share perfectly identical results! There were several heated comments explaning the decision!

“If you could have one of them as your own child, which one would you choose?”

Graph:

Leon: 50%

Takumi: 50%

Reasons for choosing Leon: Although he'd be a bit careless, I can see him becoming a son worth boasting about./ I want to coddle him/ He'd be an obedient child growing up. Also, since he's grow up to be very beautiful I would want to dress him up a lot./ He would probably need to be helped out a lot, which is just too cute!/ Because I want to spoil Leon!!/ Because I want a well-mannered child/ I want to watch over him with a smile whenever he is clumsily rushing through life/ Because being both smart and friendly is very cute!/ Because I want to defeat Leon's unbelievable loneliness with praise!/ I want Leon to have more confidence in himself/ Until I die, I want to continue seeing Leon as an irreplacable presence in my life, more valuable than anyone else./ I hope to decrease Leon's inferiority-complex even a little/ Since he is starved for motherly-love, I want to be the one to show it to him/ Because I want to feed him lots of delicious tomato dishes/ So we can read lots of books together/ He seems to be the obedient, quiet type/ Since Leon's relationship with his mother can't be called good, I want to raise him lovingly this time around./ He|d be a smart, hard-working son to boast about/ Because I want to have him enter a boy's choir group/ He is just so cute!

Anyone else get the feeling some of these people would be better served with a doll than a child?

Q.15 (An indoor type like Leon can't hope to compete in this with an outdoor type like Takumi...)

“If you were stranded together on a deserted island, who do you think you could rely on most?“

Graph

Leon: 39.1%

Takumi: 60.9%

Reasons for choosing Leon: I bet he could do something with Brunhilde (such as harvesting fruit)/ I think Leon would be better at staying calm and make the right decisions during such circumstances.  Then he'd use magic to light a fire, dig a waterway, cut down trees and gather materials to then use them to build a house/ I think he'd be able to stay calm about it/ Utilizing his vast knowledge, he'd likely be able to provide safe water and food./ Because he can grow apples/ Either of his retainers would give it their all/ Unlikely to panic, he'd be a calm guide/ He can make fire with magic/ As he is called 'Gravitymaster', he can manipulate the earth as much as he likes and provide a lifestyle that way./ Having magic that can manipulate gravity seems useful/ No matter what happens, I am sure he'd be able to use his knowledge to get by somehow. Plus, I am sure big siblings Camilla and Marx would rush in to the rescue.

So what do you think of the results of these 15 questions? We truly thank everyone who gave their answers within such a limited time. Although we think that there were a lot of unexpected questions relating to our modern way of life, but do you not agree that in this way we were able to more clearly solidify our image of Leon? If all of you continue supporting and showing your love for Leon... we can only call that the correct result.

-------------

Next update will finally be the last. It may take a bit to get out, but it should happens faster than this. I just realized I’ve spent over half a year on this project...I want to sleep 100 years..  

[moistwithgender]

(Overdue) Media round-up (January 2019)

Feb’s almost over and I was gonna write about what I’ve processed when I realized I only posted about the anime I watched, I think? So this is a catch-up post for manga and games, before the end of this month in a few days. If you want to read the January anime round-up, it’s in my “curry watches anime” tag.

Games:

Puresabe’s 2019 New Year Rockman Hack (NES): Puresabe does one of these every year and they are always pretty hard! But I think the last few years have been much more balanced than their older projects. They are always just boss fights, but with complex patterns and sometimes multiple phases. Being just a boss fight (or two) means they are super short, but you will spend most of your time learning them. Also there are no checkpoints, so every death means you’re back to phase one. It’s very fun when it’s a good hack, and this was a good hack. I had a very rough start to the year and considered giving up, but went back and beat it, for good fortune in the new year. (Beaten 1/2/19)

The 2nd Super Robot Wars (NES): I decided 2019 would be the year I got into SRW, and so I started here, because the first game actually has no hard plot. I enjoyed it to a point, but the difficulty climbs to an absurd degree, and I wish I’d cut my losses and just youtubed it. The game allows you to save at any time during a turn, and resetting the console means it recycles the RNG and you can get different luck. This is...required. Most of the way into the game, I was having to reset twenty times in a row per unit action, just to make sure I could survive an enemy attack, or successfully hit an enemy. The funniest thing is that when I finally beat this, I almost immediately started up one of the later games, so clearly the kernel of value was visible to me through all that bullshit. (Beaten 1/13/19)

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: World of Light (Switch): I had been chomping at the bit for what felt like forever just to play this mode of this game, and not only was it good, it surpassed my expectations multiple times. This mode has a lot of twists for something that mostly implies narrative, or otherwise ignores it. I’m the rare person who mostly plays Smash Bros solo because I have NO FRIENDS, and this was worth the price of admission for me. I don’t consider Smash Ultimate itself beaten yet because I haven’t beaten Classic Mode on 9.9 difficulty yet. I have finished with 9.8, like, four times. Please kill me. (Beaten 1/18/19)

PaRappa the Rapper (PSP): While taking care of my cat, I found an opportunity to actually use my PSP for the first time since...2008 or 09? When I bought it secondhand? Jesus. Anyway, it turns out that PaRappa actually has absurd input detection and an equally hard to parse system for what counts as “freestyling”, which ultimately results in a final stage where you’re...required to play notes that are completely unrelated to what it says to do on-screen? I still beat the game (in a single sitting, too. it’s short), but I was pretty frustrated. Greenblat’s aesthetic is iconic, and the songs are very fun to listen to (this game has maybe the only potty humor I actually enjoyed), but the game part is actually the problem. (Beaten 1/25/19)

Patapon (PSP): I played PaRappa spontaneously, but I’ve actually meant to play the Patapon series for quite a while. This is less a song-performing rhythm game and more of an action/strategy type of rhythm game where you consistently keep a beat to keep morale up. It’s pretty good, but missions can be 3-6 minutes of consecutively hitting four notes and then waiting four notes, and while that itself sounds doable, I am just terrible at rhythm and messed up a lot of good opportunities. The difficulty curve in this is high in the beginning, lowers over time, before hitting a huge spike and then being a cakewalk for the last four or so missions. There’s also a lot of grinding, which means this rhythm game came out to almost a 16 hour run. A bit tiring. Not sure when I’ll jump on Patapon 2, but I hope it’s easier to play, since my impetus for picking up the series was the intro FMV for the third game. (Beaten 1/30/19)

Games beaten in January: 5 Games beaten in 2019 thus far: 5

Manga:

Getter Robo Vol 2 (Finished): I didn’t feel like plowing through 51 episodes of the old 70s anime, so I decided to just read the much shorter, and somewhat unrelated manga. In the show, the heroes are what they are, heroes. Likable mains for kids to watch on Saturday mornings. In the manga, as per Go Nagai’s influence (and the main author, Ken Ishikawa, who I LOVE and who was Nagai’s assistant), the heroes are violent asshole moron sociopath terrorists who gradually become more unhinged as they are exposed to the very radiation that powers the machine they use to fight dinosaurs (though said gradual descent is more of a thing in the later manga/OVAs). Also, the villains are dinosaurs. Turns out they had the original ancient civilization and Getter Rays chased them into the Earth’s core and they want to planet back. That’s Getter Robo! It’s very good.

Getter Robo G Vol 1-3 (Finished): This is kind of more of the same as the first, and again, I didn’t want to watch the 39 episodes, I wanted the primer so I could play SRW. As I’ve approached the later games, it turns out they prefer to take influence from the shows, not the manga. Oops! Whatever. In this sequel, it turns out the Dinosaur Empire was a pawn or something to It Was Aliens, the Hyakki Empire, and it’s...more of the same. In both the GR and GR G mangas, I found the occasional chapter with wildly different art, and I figured that those were Ishikawa’s gorgeous art, and the majority was Nagai’s. But, I’m not sure, and I wonder if those were revised or extra chapters done years later. Idk. Anyway, they are both very fun reads, even if they serve more as primers of the lore.

Shin Getter Robo Vol 1-2 (Finished): HERE’s where things start to get really good, and surreal, and bleak. This manga is not adapting a tv series (though later OVAs would reference it. This manga is actually I think where a lot of the inspiration for Gurren Lagann came from, and if you like that series, you should read this to see the connection. I can’t really explain without spoiling either (though if in 2019 you don’t know what happens in Gurren, you are super lucky and need to go watch it all asap). NOTE, this takes place after the 7 volume Getter Robo Go manga, which has a show but I think is unrelated, but more importantly is probably the BEST Getter Robo series. I read that before knowing a thing about Getter and still loved it (though I think having context will really benefit it). GR Go is the biggest justification for getting into the series. If any friends of mine want to look into this series, I’ll actually help give them a guide. Interestingly, the most modern Getter series (of which the most recent was in 2004 (please come back)) all take reference from the darker mangas, not the old 70s show.

Mazinger Z Vol 1-5 (Finished): I think Go Nagai’s works are weird, melodramatic, gross, and just kinda badly drawn. They are great experiences, if you go in with a grain of salt and also avoid the *most* transgressive ones. Don’t google Iron Virgin Jun. Just. Don’t do it. Devilman is probably his best work, but Mazinger Z is another series with a much more famous long-running 70s cartoon (92 episodes!!!) and burned itself into the nostalgia of Japan. Whereas Devilman eventually becomes traumatizing, Mazinger Z is pretty laid back and goofy, while also being Nagai’s brand of The Most Dramatic Thing Ever. If you follow me, you might’ve seen me post pages in my manga tag. It’s a LOT. Though, actually, I don’t think this manga is all that great. It can be *really* funny, but I don’t even remember if the series actually ends. If you read one or two volumes and want to put it down, I think you’re safe to. You got most of the lore. The biggest events seem to take place in later series that I haven’t delved into yet.

UFO Robo Grendizer Vol 1 (Finished): I actually haven’t been able to find anywhere to read Great Mazinger, the sequel series, so I skipped to Grendizer, which is the second sequel. It’s pretty unrelated continuity-wise, so it’s easy to pick up. This is only one volume and yeah they really just want you to watch the 74 episode show, but I’m good. Still, this is a fun book, and Nagai throws in his batshit ideas. The main character is an alien prince whose tragic backstory is literally that the villain kidnapped his younger siblings and all the country’s children and just! Dropped them all from the sky to their death in the middle of the city! And they don’t censor it! GO NAGAI! I really need to read the autobio manga Gekiman because of what snippets I’ve seen, Nagai is actually a super mild-mannered dude who doesn’t really get where his ideas cross lines. If you want to say “oh that’s just wacky Japan”, it’s really not, he was public enemy #1 with parents all over the country for a long time.

Super Robot Retsuden Vol 1 (Finished): This is a single volume crossover of Nagai super robot IPs including Mazinger Z, Getter Robo, Great Mazinger, Grendizer, and Steel Jeeg (a guy who’s more Ultraman-adjacent than super robot), and there’s no real plot beyond “oh no new bad guy! buy the toys, kids!” It’s throwaway, and I mostly read it to see who Jeeg is without getting into his own series. Also, it was drawn by Ishikawa, so I felt a bit obligated. His art is just so pretty.

Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer Vol 1 (and maybe 2?): Satoshi Mizukami is a godly storyteller who uses the language of shonen to tell deeply mature and introspective stories for adults and if you follow my posts you might remember me gushing about Spirit Circle and Planet With. I actually haven’t touched this series since February started but I need to get back in because the first two volumes out of ten are amazing (warning, though: there’s a pet death and it’s real sudden and was hard for me to handle). Please read Mizukami’s works.

Manga volumes read in January: 14-15 Manga volumes read in 2019 thus far: 14-15

---

Okay that’s everything. I wrote a lot more than I expected to. If you read all that, thanks. If you are interested in any of the things I wrote about, great! If you decide to play through SRW2, don’t, stop, don’t do that. In a few days I’ll be writing about a much better SRW game.

[featherquillpen]

AO3 Meme

Picking up this meme from @convenientalias. Pick it up from me if you like, it’s fun!

Rules: Go to your works page, expand all the filters, and answer the following questions! (Note that sometimes AO3 filters lie.)

1. What are your first and second most common work ratings?

General Audiences: 90

Teen and Up Audiences: 46

I have spent a lot of my fandom energy writing worldbuilding- and plot-driven gen stories – not that I don’t write more explicit sex and violence sometimes.

2. What’s your most common archive warning? Least common? Do you consider yourself an adventurous writer?

Most common: Graphic Depictions of Violence: 17

Least Common: Rape/Non-Con: 0

I’m an adventurous writer for sure, though I don’t think that has anything to do with the archive warnings I use. Almost the violence-tagged works are for Animorphs fics, and Animorphs is canonically very gory and violent, so I’m mostly just matching the source material.

3. How many fics have you written in each relationship category? Is this more accidental, or do you have preferences?

Gen: 92

Multi: 37

M/M: 25

F/M: 14

F/F: 10

I’m definitely largely a gen writer because I love to write about familial love and about big thinky thoughts and worldbuilding. But when it comes to shipping, I go wild for polyships. I imprinted on triad relationships with Doctor/Jack/Rose in Doctor Who fandom and haven’t stopped since. Looking at this I really need to write more femslash though.

4. What are your top 4 fandoms by numbers? Are you still active in any of them, and do you tend to migrate a lot?

Doctor Who: 61

Animorphs: 60

Leverage: 18

Torchwood: 15

Doctor Who and Torchwood were my first fandoms, and I wrote prolifically in them, but I haven’t been active in them for years, and I don’t think anyone here on Tumblr follows me for that content – Doctor Who and Torchwood were from back in my Livejournal days. I’ve been active in Animorphs fandom for a long time now and don’t really see myself stopping, as it’s a lifelong passion of mine. Any day now my Animorphs fic total will surpass my Doctor Who total. I was more active in Leverage fandom when I was watching the show a couple years ago, but I’d still consider myself an active fan of the show today.

5. What are your top 4 character tags? Does this match how you feel about the characters, or are you puzzled?

Jack Harkness: 42

Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill: 37

Tobias (Animorphs): 29

Rachel (Animorphs): 25

Captain Jack Harkness was the biggest reason I loved Doctor Who and Torchwood, really. He was the first canonical LGBT character I ever saw on television, and he was so, so important to me. All I wanted to do was write endless fic about him. My feelings about Doctor Who have never really been the same since he was permanently written out of the Whoniverse.

I’m honestly not sure why I’ve written so much more fic about Ax than the other Animorphs? I love Ax with all my heart, but I love all the Animorphs with all my heart, so.... *shrug*

Bonus, the top 4 relationships tagged:

Alec Hardison/Parker/Eliot Spencer: 17

The Doctor/Jack Harkness/Rose Tyler: 17

Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill & Tobias: 9

Rachel/Tobias: 8

Yes, hello there, my two favorite triad relationships that own my soul. And then hello there, my favorite platonic soulmate/found family relationship that owns my soul. And then Rachel/Tobias, which... I don’t even ship all that much? How did that happen?

What are your top 2 most used additional tags, and your bottom 2? What would happen if you combined all 4 of these into a fic?

Top Two:

Angst

Canon-Compliant

Bottom Two

There’s a lot of tags I’ve used only once, so I’m going to pick two at random.

Awkward Flirting

Teenage Drama

If I combined all four of these into a fic I’d just get.... an angsty Jake/Cassie fic in Animorphs, probably?

How many WIPs do you have currently running on AO3? Any you don’t plan on finishing?

My only current WIP is Destroyer of Worlds, which I will post a new chapter of every Wednesday until it is complete, rest assured.

[96thdayofrage]

In the wake of the dramatic storming of the Capitol last week, a host of big media companies, including Facebook, Reddit, Pinterest, Twitch, YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok, have all taken measures against Donald Trump. Making the most headlines, however, was the decision of the president’s favorite medium, Twitter (1/8/21), to permanently suspend him “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.”

It’s difficult to argue that Trump did not repeatedly violate Twitter‘s rules against “threaten[ing] violence” and “glorification of violence,” justifying his ban. But we urgently need to rethink the power of these social media behemoths, because there are plenty of other examples where their enforcement of their rules has been arbitrary and non-transparent.

Whether one saw the assault on the halls of Congress as a coup attempt (e.g., Atlantic, 1/6/21; Buzzfeed News, 1/6/21; Guardian, 1/6/21), a “riot” (MSNBC, 1/10/21; Wall Street Journal, 1/12/21) or “protests” (Fox News, 1/7/21, 1/8/21), there is no doubt that Trump did incite the crowd to invade the seat of government. Instructing his followers to “fight like hell” to stop a “stolen election,” he insisted: “You’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.”

The media reaction to the social media ban was varied. Writing in tech publication ZDNet (1/7/21), Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols supported the decision. “The right to free speech doesn’t give you the right to right to shout fraud in a fractured country,” he said. “Twitter should have suspended Trump’s account years ago,” wrote Sarah Manavis in the New Statesman (1/7/21):

For years the president has been allowed to tweet anything he wants, with deadly consequences…. The case for kicking one of its highest-profile users off the platform is self-evident.

Meanwhile, Chris Stevenson in the London Independent (1/11/21) argued that privately owned websites have every right to remove their services from users.

Jessica J. González, co-CEO of the media advocacy group Free Press (1/9/21) and co-founder of the anti-hate speech Change the Terms coalition, hailed the ban as a victory for media activism:

Twitter’s decision to permanently suspend Donald Trump is a victory for racial-justice advocates who have long condemned his continued abuse of the platform.

From the launch of his presidential campaign when he defamed Mexicans as rapists, criminals and drug dealers, to the desperate last gasps of his presidency as he has egged on white supremacists to commit violence and insurrection, Trump had used his Twitter account to incite violence, lie about the election outcome, encourage racists and spread conspiracy theories. He did not deserve a platform on Twitter, or on any other social or traditional media.

Others were not so heartened by the news. Writing in Politico (1/10/21), European Union official Thierry Breton worried:

The fact that a CEO can pull the plug on POTUS’s loudspeaker without any checks and balances is perplexing. It is not only confirmation of the power of these platforms, but it also displays deep weaknesses in the way our society is organized in the digital space.

National leaders like German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador also characterized the move as a blow against free speech. New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg (1/11/21) was in the middle, stating that tech giants were right to ban Trump, but worried about the “scary power” they were amassing.

Perhaps the most histrionic reaction came from Donald Trump Jr., who tweeted (1/9/21):

The world is laughing at America & Mao, Lenin, & Stalin are smiling. Big tech is able to censor the President? Free speech is dead & controlled by leftist overlords.

In reality, of course, actual, self-described leftist and Communist figures are routinely purged from the site. Twitter shut down virtually the entire Cuban state media apparatus in 2019, removed tens of thousands of accounts it claims were linked to the Chinese Communist Party, and has suspended Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s account multiple times without explanation. These moves failed to elicit handwringing condemnations and essays on the nature of free speech, however.

With the power that he wields as president, Trump is undoubtedly the most belligerent user in Twitter history, using the platform to threaten genocide against Iran and threaten North Korea with “total destruction” (presumably nuclear in nature). So blatant were his violations of the site’s anti-violence rules that it had to craft new “public-interest exemptions” to justify not kicking him off. Although they couched their decisions in the language of free speech, the president’s wild proclamations were always a huge money spinner; Twitter lost $3.4 billion in market value overnight after announcing the ban last week.

While Trump’s actions clearly breached the company’s terms of service by not only calling for but producing violence, the affair brings up bigger questions about private ownership of public forums and the massive power social media giants like Facebook and Twitter hold over the public sphere. Sixty-eight percent of American adults use Facebook and 25% use Twitter. Both platforms are huge gateways and distributors of news around the world. Facebook is by a long way the most widely used news source in the United States, and both platforms have user bases far larger than the collective circulation of all daily US newspapers. They also give ordinary people the opportunity to share information and build communities, making them immensely important parts of the modern public square.

A free press is the cornerstone of any open, democratic society. But like it or not, in just a few short years, massive online companies have far surpassed the reach of legacy media outlets, with news generally being broken on Twitter before anywhere else. Companies like Google and Facebook have become monopolies by design, squeezing out or buying up the competition. There are no practical alternatives of any size to these behemoths, raising questions of whether they should be in private ownership at all, given their importance to the public discourse.

Western governments already exercise considerable control over the content of social media, but for their own interests, not ours. In 2018, Facebook announced it would be working closely with the Atlantic Council to help it curate its news feeds and stamp out false information (FAIR.org, 5/21/18). The Atlantic Council is a NATO cutout organization funded by the State Department and allied foreign governments. Its board of directors includes high-ranking Bush-era officials like Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell, US military generals and no fewer than eight former CIA chiefs. When organizations such as these influence the most influential means of global communication, that is coming close to state censorship on a worldwide scale.

Meanwhile, in 2019, a senior Twitter executive was unmasked as an officer in the British Army’s psychological operations and online warfare division. Corporate media reacted with a collective yawn, the news covered by only one US outlet of any note (Newsweek, 10/1/19; see FAIR.org, 10/24/19)—a response that raises many troubling questions about the relationship between deep state and fourth estate. The journalist who covered the story resigned a few weeks later, citing stifling top-down censorship.

Perhaps this helps explain why the online media giants’ primary targets of censorship have always been the domestic left and foreign enemies of Washington. Facebook has shut down pages belonging to a myriad of anti-establishment groups, such as Occupy London and the anti-fascist No Unite the Right, while suspending those of alternative media like TeleSUR English and Venezuelanalysis.

Last year it also announced that, since President Trump had designated the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a terrorist organization, all posts presenting recently slain General Qassem Soleimani in a positive light would be immediately deleted across its platforms (Instagram, WhatsApp, etc.). “We operate under US sanctions laws, including those related to the US government’s designation of the IRGC and its leadership,” a company spokesperson said. Taking into account that Soleimani had a more than 80% domestic approval rating, this meant that one pronouncement from Trump effectively barred Iranians from sharing their overwhelmingly popular opinion online with each other.

Facebook has also deliberately changed its algorithm in an attempt to throttle traffic to left-wing news sites. Last year, the Wall Street Journal (10/16/20) reported that Mark Zuckerberg personally approved changes that would hit “left-leaning” political news sites harder than previously planned. Meanwhile, conservative and far-right commentators dominate the site, despite their constant and well-documented violations of the terms of service.

Twitter has also purged hundreds of thousands of Russian, Chinese, Turkish and Venezuelan accounts, while constantly suspending antiwar voices and publications. Like with Facebook, left-wing independent news site Venezuelanalysis is a favorite target.

Private companies probably should not be hosting the largest online forums. However, if they do, there need to be transparent and enforced rules in place to deal with grave breaches of conduct. In this sense, it was a prudent decision from social media companies to suspend or ban the president, who has flagrantly disregarded those rules for years.

However, Silicon Valley corporations are far from neutral moral arbiters, and have a history of abusing their power. In 2018, it took barely 24 hours for big tech companies to shift their ire from conservative conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to the left (FAIR.org, 8/22/18), deleting and suspending accounts with little rhyme or reason. Don’t expect this to be the last highly controversial censorship decision they make.

[amorningshadeofyellow-blog]

And He Tells Me I’m Grotesquely Obsessive

It had been some time since I had seen my shrink. I call him that because psychologist feels so sterile, and shrink makes me seem passive about my issues. Up until this month, I’d forgotten how relieving it is to hear someone tell me, “differences are not deficits.” So, today, I went in knowing we were to be reading the results of the test I had taken back in December. As for why we were just now reviewing the answers, I may never know. I sat in his room, talking about how my weeks had been. He had asked me about my mom, school, my jobs, how I felt overall. I told him, “I don’t know why I want to cry so badly when we’re just discussing my college English class,” and he told me that he’d cry too if he felt it was as pointless as I did. About 30 minutes into the session, things quieted down between us, and I mentioned the test. “Ah, yes, of course,” he said grabbing the giant yellow folder on the table next to him. 

He explained it to me- the test, how the results were read, what it all meant. Off the bat, he told me he very rarely saw tests that looked like mine, but that that wasn’t meant to alarm me. It was just to let me know that I was definitely as different as I thought I was. There were a few parts I recall specifically because I was taken aback, and one I recall for how relieving it felt. “These two, they represent depression and anxiety, so being above this line definitely shows me that you are most certainly in both of those categories. They usually go hand in hand. This,” he says as he points to a very noticeable “V” shape in my graph, “is what we called the ‘castrating V’ before we had to be politically correct. It basically means that you don’t trust men and that your relationships with men are often hard for you to remain confident in.” So, I thought to myself about how that probably stems from my dad and how I lost him. I never saw myself as somebody that had issues with trusting men. I’d never been cheated on. I’d only been in one relationship, but I still would like to think that I trusted him a majority of the time. It did sort of make me ponder for a moment about where the test could have possibly come up with this subconscious unease I had for men. 

“You’re also beyond extremely hard on yourself. Your ego is what my mother would call ‘as low as a snake’s hips’. You, as the test would put it, basically hate yourself and the way you are. Not so much physically as mentally. Would you consider yourself introverted or extroverted?” he asked as I without a doubt said so confidently- extrovert. All I do is talk. I love speaking to strangers; I love being the life of the party and the center of attention. He shook his head and said, “Far from.” He then proceeded to explain to me how I strayed away from this persistent party culture, this persistent going out. He told me that loving to talk means nothing in the sense that these are classified. “You’d be nowhere near the writer that you are if you were so extroverted. There is an air of keeping to yourself about you and you are obviously self aware. I believe you undermine just how much you like being alone and at your own pace because you want to think you’re more confident and sociable than you are.”

So, I learned that- halfway through my test results- I’m not necessarily exactly what I think I am. He continues with more results. “You’re a very angry person,” he states. I think suddenly that I am very far from violent. I’ve punched a wall once in my life and cried because of how badly it hurt. “Now, that doesn’t mean you’re violent or that you’re a hot head, just that your internal expressions tend to be a bit more pissed off and generally disdained by your surroundings,” he reassures me. “And you don’t like that about yourself,” he says- not asks. I begin to see that my road rage, my annoyance with people who walk slowly or talk too loudly, my irritability that comes from having to explain things that I find so easily comprehensible- I guess that that does make me a bit angry. “You’re also very cynical. Your view of the world is very cynical, and you don’t like that about yourself either.” And I think, why, of course, why would anyone boast about their test approved cynicism when positivity is far healthier and more attractive? Not that I consider it all to be cynicism; I would call some of it realism, but that my be a cynics point of view. 

Lastly, flipping over the page and lifting his eyebrows to widen his eyes as if he hadn’t looked over my test results already, he tells me, “You’re,” he pauses to tilt his head and find the adjective to place in front to make sure i grasp the sheer large-ness of the ordeal, “You’re... grotesquely obsessive.” I fold my hands together as tears that I never felt coming stream down and I nod my head smiling at something I’d known since I could give the definition of obsessed. It’s far more than anxiety, and it is far more than worry. It is complex fixation, and I cannot go back and unthink or unsee the things that have rotted in the corner of my mind because of how long they may sit there. He explains it to me like this- “Instead of all of my diplomas and degrees on this wall, I have an original Picasso painting. You’re in awe, staring and gawking because you’ve never been in the presence of an actual Picasso. While I’m talking, you realize that, somehow, some way, I have managed to scrape the painting and a piece of the dried paint has flecked off. For the rest of the session, you will not hear the things I say, and you will no longer feel so grand in the presence of Picasso- you may not even tell me who Picasso is if I asked while you were staring. You have become engulfed in the chip of missing paint. You will not stop thinking about it until you have worn yourself so thin with concern, worry, and wonder, that you just go blank.”

I’ve known for so long that how I think far surpasses how others think. I’ve never not been bothered by how I fixate on things, and I’ve never not felt contempt towards myself for it. You never want to be the crazy ex-girlfriend who asks 18 times in a day if they’re mad at you, but you can’t sleep thinking maybe something is wrong. You never want to be the person that lets the uncertainty of the future get in the way of actually pursuing one, but you can’t sit through a class feeling this way. Walking through the grocery store and forgetting half of the things you need because you’re worried about the way you walk and you’re thinking about it too much and over thinking something so minuscule and normal- it is hard. Having something such as bulimia that could only ever be intensified by these obsessive compulsions is so nightmarish. Learning that my route is one likely to struggle with substance abuse is never nice to hear. Remembering every detail of every important conversation- even unimportant- and having people roll their eyes at how overanalytical you are- it is simply horrifying. I cannot shut off how the wheel turns and turns and speeds up as things are processed in my head, and I cannot truly differentiate between anxiety and obsession in a handful of comprehensive ways, I just know that the fear of looking weird, the fear of forever turning people away because of how I act, the fear of never really being likable because of the way things are processed within me- it all is far surpassed by the insatiable obsession that follows thoughts around ever so often. 

Though it is one of- if not the- shittiest things I’ve had to come to an actualization about, it is nice to sort of set it in its own compartment and treat it accordingly. It’s a relief because my shrink told me that there are antidepressants that do work hand in hand with this sort of thing. He told me that, once I’m medicated and on something that isn’t Wellbutrin, I’ll be able to control the obsessions more and once I learn how to and feel the relief of letting things go, I’ll be more likely to stay on top of it and progress more than what I feel I am now. He told me to keep writing, to make sure that this is the only fixation I really keep to and with for some time. So, it is a relief. It is nice to think that this makes sense, and it’s real. However, now, I’m going to lie in bed and think about how this is cause for 90% of the situations I’ve ever come out losing in. The relief is quite temporary. 

[blade-revolutions]

Kai x Lyla AU Excerpt

//The ages vary between 18-19//

After 2 years of war against Voltaire and his dark spell over the sacred beasts, the creatures finally returned to the G Revolutions and humanity can wake up without fear lurking in their hearts. Every day of their lives, most people spent them with eyes wide awake and full of awareness, careful not to let themselves slip, and as much as prepared and trained they were for the final showdown, all of them knew that fear resided within them, covered by the most complex camouflage as an armour.

But now, brighter days are about to light their ways. All of those who had been sleep deprived in order to bring success in its best form are going to be rewarded with all the relief and peace this world has in store for them, including the team who gave it all and surpassed their human nature by pushing themselves beyond limits.

Expressing how refreshing this feeling of relief is seems an impossible task to achieve with words, but for Lyla Hart, the exuberant smile across her lips is a dead giveaway. It is as if all the pain has vanished in her soul, allowing happiness to consume her. Her brows are no longer furrowed, her eyes are not narrowed with suspicion, and her fingers aren’t curled into fists, accompanied by the fierce stance of expecting the worst any moment as every second ticks by. Her nails aren’t close to digging into her flesh from the sheer agony and her heart can rest without having to remind her she should continue training in the woods or the gym.

For once, life feels like a true gift. Although her intentions aren’t reaching ingratitude with these thoughts, someone who hasn’t crossed paths with her character would definitely interpret it otherwise. Yet it feels so good to see genuine happiness flowing around her, flooding everything with life and she can’t help but be fascinated by the way everyone has understood the fact that appreciating the small things in life can give you all the happiness you need. Surviving the cruel reality is a real challenge, almost a deathly one if it’s under the circumstances of a war, but if you believe then the dreams aren’t just dreams anymore.

If Lyla has to be honest with herself, then you don’t really need drugs or alcohol or a cigarette to survive in general. All you need is a healthy dose of daydreaming, and hope, as she prefers to add.

She remembers reading that quote a while ago and it got carved in her memory, like the song lyrics she gets addicted to. Daydreaming is probably the most ideal method to boost yourself enough, especially when you’re close to breaking down and tearing everything apart, along with yourself.

Lyla would continue the chain of thoughts which often lead to deeper questions if it wasn’t for the fact she has reached the music shop. A smile slips unconsciously on her lips, illuminating her face, and a soft rush of wind cools the heat on her rosy cheeks. Her enthusiasm of working again with Tyson, Rei, Mariah and Julia is the motivation she seeks since she doesn’t want to complain in any case about having to carry the heavy boxes filled to the brim with new music discs to the back of the shop. It’s gonna be worth it and spending time with her friends without fearing a suprise attack is all she could ask for. She has missed more than anything trying to wake up Tyson with new methods during their lunch break when he falls asleep on the sofa. She has missed conversing airily with Rei as they place the discs on their right spots on the shelves, laughing at their boss’ crazy and most of the time random ideas of making alterations to the shop such as adding neon lights without turning them off during daylight. And he would cast them a dark look, shaking his head as he defended himself that they are innovative, insisting someone has to be the source of creativity since his employees -according to him- have a serious lack of it. She’s looking forward to teasing Mariah about her crush on Rei and how he steals glances at her when he thinks she’s not staring. And Lyla can’t wait to see Julia taking over the DJ spot in one of the corners, blasting her music taste to vanish any traces of dull atmosphere.

Lyla’s fingers wrap around the warm knob of the door, a result of the amount of sun on it, but the movements of a familiar face across the street catch her attention through her peripheral vision. Her hand is frozen on the spot briefly and she turns her head to have a full picture of him, her lips parted. She may be acting like an old school girl with a crush -which is the truth in its most naked form- however, she has come to terms with the fact she has no control of her feelings towards him anymore.

Lyla lived has around him 2 years, and they had been more than enough to make her fall in love with him and everything he does. Apart from his ridiculously handsome features, his pride and confidence, his will and persistence to see brighter days had dragged her in like a magnet, rendering her unable to do anything. Lyla figured he has the traits every man should have, but she was mature enough to distinguish the drawbacks, the flaws that made him imperfect -which were the reasons she loved him even more, because of how real he is with everyone, but most importantly with himself.

If only she could collect her courage to tell him everything bottled up inside her…

A sigh escapes Lyla’s lungs before she decides to clear her mind. Nevertheless, as she does that she notices that Kai’s motorcycle is almost fixed, which means one thing.

With her heart in her throat, Lyla walks to the end of the pavement, waiting patiently for the road to be empty enough so she can cross it without any danger. Her heartbeat accelerates with each stride and her palms begin to sweat, an unusal effect as she notes.

It’s amusing though how her veins can be ignited with nervousness when there’s no need for that. Kai isn’t an unknown person. He was the leader of their team throughout the war and she has spent a lot of time of her life around him, growing accustomed to his imposing presence. It isn’t like they’re meeting for the first time. And she knows it all too well that following these thoughts isn’t going to ameliorate her composure, but nothing can stop her from hoping.

Lyla notices how determined Kai is on his task, putting as much as effort as he can like in anything he does and after a sharp inhale of breath, she finally breaks the silence.

“Hi,” she breathes softly whilst pushing a strand of hair behind her ear, thanking herself inwardly for becoming less anxious when it comes to talking to him.

Kai looks up, a genuine smile which kicks the strength out of her knees curving his lips -a rare sight concludes. Yes, she’s seen him plenty of times smirking or sneering, but none of the smiles were coming from the heart. So seeing him truly happy has the butterflies in her stomach dancing wildy with excitement. Because after all, Kai is the one amongst the group who deserves being alright for once the most.

“Hey,” he pushes himself to his feet, glad Lyla is within sight. He wanted to see her face and feel her comforting presence around him more than anything else.

A thought flashes his mind and leaves in the speed of lightning. During the war, he promised himself he would try to lock his developing feelings for the sweetest yet fiercest female of the team and even though he tried his best, they refused to stay buried.

But now, the final page of the war has been written, meaning the beginning of a new book, a new story, without fear and pain.

“Need help over there?” She tilts her head towards the motorcycle. Even though her knowledge on fixing them is limited, she still wants to be useful where she can.

“Thanks, though it’s actually finished. I just have to test to see if it works.” Kai shoots her a charming smile. “I hope my efforts won’t go to waste like last time.” He adds, wanting to believe his motorcycle won’t cause any further problems.

Noticing how lively his mood is, she attempts to ask the question that couldn’t let her fall asleep last night. The desire to know the answer was burning her insides, to the point she had become restless. “So…you’re leaving?” Lyla trails off, swaying her hands slightly back and forth, a habit impossible to break.

Kai catches the glimpse of disappointment in her chocolate eyes, and he would have surely missed it if he dared to blink.

As much as excited he was feeling of the prospect of spending time with his real family, his real parents, the crestfallen look in Lyla’s eyes have his heart falling along with hers. And suddenly, the idea of leaving doesn’t seem appealing anymore.

“Yeah. I’m going to see my family, spend some time to get to really know them.”

“Are you nervous?” She smiles briefly, shoving her hands in her jeans.

“A little yesterday, but absolutely not today. I woke up feeling like another person.” Kai leans against the tree, folding his arms across his black leather jacket.

“Quite understandable. Finding your biological parents after so long isn’t the easiest thing to accept to be honest. Many people are wary in of them in the beginning, testing their parents with questions such as where had they been all along and why weren’t they with them. That of course, isn’t truly necessary in your case though.“

"I know,” Kai pauses momentarily. “It’s just, kind of…” He frowns at the fact of beibg unable to find the proper word.

“Surreal,” Lyla chips in.

“Yeah.” he nods, confirming her words. He’s about to move away from the tree he’s leaning on when Lyla’s words still him in place.

“I hope you have a good time,” she wishes sincerely and takes a deep breath before continuing.

“You know, there are a lot of people who want you to stay. Like Tyson, Rei, Max. Hilary, Mariah. Tala and Spencer, and…” Lyla leaves the sentence to hang in the air. She doesn’t feel ready to speak again since this is harder than she expected, but she knows this is her last chance to convince him to change his mind.

Lyla shallows thickly, staring down at her feet before lifting her face to meet his piercing gaze.“And…me.” She confesses.

“I want you to come back for me.”

For some beats Lyla can’t bring herself to face him. Her words have already affected the situation, even if someone couldn’t detect it yet.

Lyla rises her eyes from the pavement and she has finally worked up the courage to look him in the eye. Kai is leaning on the trunk, his motorcycle the only object that separates them. He’s regarding her with an unfathomable expression and she’s beginning to feel self-conscious. Maybe she really screwed up the things between, maybe she-

Lyla’s train of thoughts is paused the moment Kai pushes his back to stand on his feet again, fishing an item from the pocket of his jeans, a Clef diamond necklane coming in view .

“Mind holding onto this?” Kai questions, a soft smile spreading on his lips. He’s staring at her intently and tenderly, and without even thinking, Lyla’s mind travels to those few nights where they used to play piano together to alleviate the mental pain at the moments where the war felt the need to rest too.

“Sure,” Lyla presses her lips in a thin line as he places the necklace in her palm.

She really doesn’t want him to leave and for a moment she senses he’s feeling the same.

However, Kai smiles at her one last time while he climbs on to wear his helmet. Lyla reciprocates it and watches him departing, hoping that this isn’t their ending whoheartedly. Instead, it’s a brand-new beginning.

[topiom]

Woman Dumped Boyfriend And Quit Job To Travel Across US In Van With Her Dog

Divine On The Road/Instagram

A 24-year-old woman decided to live her best life after breaking up with her boyfriend, so she ditched the 9-5, bought a van and now travels the US with her beloved dog. 

Sydney Ferbrache, from Indianapolis, Indiana, was inspired to start her new life after seeing a picture of another girl travelling in a van.

Rather than living with envy, the young woman decided to do something about it, and asked her boyfriend at the time to join her on an adventure.

View this post on Instagram

It was honestly one of those places that no matter how many photos you take, it just doesn’t look the same. If you ever have the chance to see the Grand Canyon, I really recommend going and hanging out for a couple days. Free campsites only a few minutes from the park too.

We’ve seen so much on this adventure but 200 miles of this view? Nothing has compared to it. Hiked for hours and my legs will never feel the same

Every day so thankful for this journey. PS: Edgar and I are finally both back in San Diego after weeks of being on opposite sides of the country!

A post shared by Sydney Ferbrache (@divineontheroad) on Apr 10, 2018 at 9:40am PDT

The couple were working ’70 to 80 hours a week’, with Sydney telling INSIDER they were both ‘totally miserable’, so they purchased an $18,000 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and spent thousands of dollars to make it fit for travelling.

She explained:

I saw this picture and it took me down this black tunnel hole of van life. I was scrolling for hours a day on my laptop and in between homework and everything else, just looking at vans.

We bought one, had it shipped to Indianapolis, and that was the start of how I discovered van life.

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If life has taught me anything over the years, it’s that rarely does anything go as you plan or how you hope.. And sometimes it will go completely off course. Living in this beautiful home with the person I shared it with was one of the greatest adventures I could have ever asked for. That said.. This summer I’ll be building out another van alone and learning a completely different kind of adventure. Excited for the process and super nervous for what’s to come. But ready to take on whatever that’s going to look like. PS. The biggest thank you ever to everyone who has reached out. This community always blows me away.

A post shared by Sydney Ferbrache (@divineontheroad) on Jun 16, 2018 at 6:59am PDT

Sydney and her boyfriend hit the road in September 2017, but the 24-year-old soon realised her partner wasn’t ‘the one’. The keen traveller wanted to ‘reach for the stars’, so she decided to go it alone.

The Indiana native decided to start afresh, and let her ex keep the van. Sydney then worked three jobs, as well as a ‘ton of side gigs,’ for two months in order to save up for transport of her very own.

By May 2018, Sydney had saved enough to purchase a $24,000 Ford Transit van. She renovated it, adding a full kitchen, a king-size bed and a toilet, and got ready to hit the road.

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It’s been awhile since I shared an update! Honestly I’m just never sure what to show you because this is what the van looks like 99% of the time during a build… Hectic and kind of a mess. Stuff everywhere and small details taking up so much time that you can’t really tell all the work going into it. But we’re getting there. Things are being done and hitting the road can’t come soon enough. But in the meantime, did you see the best part of it all?!

My little van babe will be joining me next week!

A post shared by Sydney Ferbrache (@divineontheroad) on Aug 30, 2018 at 7:39am PDT

Just before she set off, however, she decided she needed one more thing to make her setup complete – a golden retriever puppy, named Ella.

The 24-year-old began her adventure earlier this year and has since travelled to 20 different states, including Montana, Utah, Arizona, California and Oregon, as well as Quebec in Canada.

She funds her travels through advertising and affiliate marketing on her website, and by helping people design their own blogs. Sydney shares her adventures through a podcast and on her Instagram page, Divine On The Road.

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Spent the last few days with basically no service hanging out at Yellowstone and then Grand Teton. It totally surpassed my expectations and the drive down to Salt Lake City was probably my favorite drive of all time. We only left because I needed to catch up on laundry, showers, and work but I’m already thinking of going back before it gets too cold! I think Grand Teton has got to be my new favorite park. I could’ve stayed there for weeks. I’ve also been amazed at how well this girl does with traveling. She LOVES everyone and is almost always the start to every conversation I’ve had. Anyways, what’s your favorite national park?! I’m curious if I should go to any more before heading west to San Diego.

Oh! Also I’ve been getting some questions about the free campsites I stay at and I always put every single campsite on my website! So you can find any of them there whenever you need em.

A post shared by Sydney Ferbrache (@divineontheroad) on Oct 2, 2018 at 7:44am PDT

Recalling her first few days on the road, Sydney said:

It was the most freeing. I truly felt like such a bad*ss. I made this happen, I cannot believe I actually made this happen.

It was such a cool feeling of ‘I’m driving my home around the country.’

The traveller returns home to in Indiana every few months to see her family and spend some time with her two-year-old nephew, but she has no plans to quit her new-found way of life any time soon.

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This morning we went for a long walk through the neighborhood I grew up in. We walked down the court where I played kick ball with all the other kids, showed Ella the trailhead that leads to my secret hideout, and passed the park where I kissed my first love. My whole life I was so desperate to leave this place. I wanted to escape so badly and would dream of all the places I’d get to explore some day. But it’s funny now that I get to do exactly what I always dreamed of, I drive thousands of miles across the country to get back here. To see the place I deemed mundane and boring. To type this from the kitchen table where I ate breakfast every day before school and had to endure way too many “family talks”. Traveling for me is exciting, intoxicating, and constantly teaches me new things that I would probably never learn otherwise. But being home is familiar, comforting, and re-teaches me all the things I’ve already known but forgot somewhere along the way. – So many of us are desperate to escape. To get out there and leave it all behind. But I wish I would’ve seen this place for what it was all along. Don’t be like me and wait until you return to find the magic where you are now. There’s a kind of beauty in the boring that you won’t find in the excitement.

A post shared by Sydney Ferbrache (@divineontheroad) on Jun 5, 2019 at 7:56am PDT

Sydney hopes to make it to Alaska by spring 2020, and plans to visit Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia along the way.

She expressed her love of being on the road, saying:

I’ve never woken up once in the last year and not felt like this isn’t exactly what I should be doing. I don’t foresee anywhere in the near future where I want to stop, but I also don’t want to hold myself to this idea that I have to be on the road.

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Someone recently messaged me, “less dog, more van” and I’ve actually thought a lot about that lately. Not the comment but the concept. I’m supposed to be all van and van life and van builds. But the truth is that this van is merely my home and transportation. If it went away tomorrow, I’d be devastated but I would be okay. Sometimes I like thinking about if the van and this lifestyle wasn’t here, what would I be doing? But if Ella went away tomorrow… now that’s something I don’t even let cross my mind. My van is my home but my dog is my life. One gets me from point A to point B, but the other quite literally is my other half. I don’t mind sharing more van, but never ever expect less dog. In this photo, I hardly see past her. I watch Ella watching everything else. She’s my favorite view and the vans got nothing on her. _ In other news, the podcast is still in the works and I’m so sorry for the delay! It’s been submitted and I’m simply waiting on approval now from the various platforms. Still so excited to share all things van AND dog in this really fun, new way.

A post shared by Sydney Ferbrache (@divineontheroad) on Jul 18, 2019 at 8:04am PDT

Sydney went on to encourage other women to follow in her footsteps, adding:

I really believe society has instilled in us that we should be fearful of the world and that we should have a man by our side to see things. We are taught to be scared, we don’t feel that way innately.

I like to prove in the way I do things that that’s not how we have to live our lives.

With Ella for company and the whole world ahead of her, Sydney has certainly chosen an amazing path.

If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via story@unilad.com

This content was originally published here.

[ayameyumesaki]

Shoukoku no Altair - Chapter 105 Translation

[Please take the whole translation with a grain of salt because I’m just a beginner in Japanese----just begin study it seriously this year. There are a lot of confusing lines as well, as my English isn’t that good ;;v;; Hope you can understand! Reply/DM me if you find a better sentence or if there’s a mistake in my translation! Also, I changed several lines to fit English better, so forgive me if it’s not 100% accurate.

This contains spoilers from the recent chapter!]

You can read the raw version in LHScans.

105 fasil - Cheshime Dere

Page 1

[Four Stratocracies’s Campground]

Page 2

Ismail: This is so nostalgic, huh? Even coming here together.

Beyazid: Is it look like that?

Beyazid: This Al-Sakar is looking out me.

Page 3

Ismail: Ha? Isn’t your persecution complex too much?

Beyazid: Well, the proof of that is...

Page 4

Beyazid: Since 2 years ago, since Brother’s death, he won’t let me touch him even just one finger.

Page 5

Beyazid: How about that?

Beyazid: Can we win Empire’s Army?

Ismail: Our surrounding is hidden-inside-the-forest narrow path(?).

Ismail: We have been provided the best stage.

Page 6

Ismail: If we don’t win this, then that red tiger will be killed.

Page 7

Lelederik: It’s changed into the west wind.

Lelederik: Then, let’s begin.

Page 10

Orhan: Wha----------Eh---------Forest fire?

Ismail: What!?

Ismail: Even if we want to say it’s to compensate their topography disadvantages, isn’t this situation is a bit too much?

Page 11

Orhan: Raku’s west wind!

Ayse: Retreat the ambush troop right now!

Ismail: Down the headquarters too! The fire’s getting wider!

Gralat: Don’t worry about the ambush troop, the whole forest will be burned down.

Lelederik: Ah, Gralat.

Page 12

Lelederik: This is Turkiye’s funeral fire.

[Turkiye Stratocracy - Capital City Altin]

Page 13

Soldier A: Keneviru’s 300 cavalries have arrived!

Soldier B: Shimeto’s 500 cavalries have arrived!

Receiver(*) A: Kumashu’s troops haven’t arrived yet!?

[TL Note: I don’t know what they are actually but I think they’re the ones who received the information from other cities--I forgot what they’re called.]

Receiver B: What’s Ayu’s troops doing!?

Receiver C: WHAT DO YOU SAY!?

Page 14

Receiver C: Hisar’s 6000-man troops should be here already!! Why only 2000 man comes!?

Messenger: Tha--That’s because...

Ibrahim: Hisar is Zaganos’ Army’s secured supply troops and line. If we were restrained to choose one first between the two roles---Until Uyandirma’s three bells can be heard--

Ibrahim: No more than 2000 man will move!

Messenger: This demand is accepted by Buyuk Pasha...

Page 15

Receiver C: We can’t contacted the cities troops Lelederik’s army have advanced through....

Receiver B: This... Even 10.000 man can’t be gathered?

Receiver: Who’s coming here is the citizen from the advanced cities only...

Receiver C: This situation...

Receiver B: Is this mean defending the capital isn’t possible?

Page 16

Receiver: Our enemy is the standing army and the Phoenicia’s fall, Duchess Lelederik’s...

Page 17

[And, 5 days passed.

Empire Year 453, 3rd Month, Day 19. Turkiye Year 77, Month of Raku, Day 19.

Lelederik’s 44000-man Empire Army passed Auzu River

And move forward to Cheshime Dere.]

Page 18

Orhan: Wa! They arrived!

Page 19

Orhan: They’re as much as the valley gap?

Ayse: Large square formation’s weakness is their narrow side. Could be seen, the cavalry protecting their side.

Beyazid: 40.000 foot soldiers and 4000 cavalry have gathered in this field.

Beyazid: The best form.

Page 20

Ismail: And the confidence one is the one standing behind the shield.

Ismail: Isn’t it perfect, Queen?

Ismail: “But, isn’t that battle formation is the spoken one? After all, Empire’s Army is Reserved Army Corps - Hermann mixed one—————–”

Page 21

Ismail: “If the head dies, the rest will stumble apart.“

Page 22

[Left: Hermann’s 2000 cavalry, Middle: Empire’s foot soldiers 40000 man (Lelederik in the back), Right: Hermann’s 2000 cavalry]

Page 23

[Right: Muzrak’s 1000 cavalry, Close to the right: Bicak’s foot soldiers 7000 man (Ismail in the back), Close to the left: Muzrak’s foot soldiers 4000 man (Jenicheri general in the back), Kilic’s foot soldiers 4000 man (Orhan in the back), Balta’s foot soldiers 4000 man (Ayse in the back), Left: Balta, Kilic and Bicak’s 3000 cavalry]

Page 25

Ismail: Balta, Kurchu and Muzrak’s all troops, advance!

Orhan, Ayse & Jenicheri general: Advance!

Page 26

Gralat: They moved!

Lelederik: Don’t mind them, move on!

Page 27

Empire Soldier A: Is it really okay?

Empire Soldier B: The forest which shielded us was told to be burned... Turkiye is the one who choose this place, it can be said that this is their advantage battlefield...

Dirk: Isn’t it like we jump into their trap?

Page 31

Ismail: From start, we didn’t even think our foot soldiers’ skill could rivaled their standing army.

Ismail: ...But!

Page 32

Ismail: In this extreme uneven field, our small fence sword have more advantages than their long spear!

Ismail: This should be enough to buy time!

Page 33

Ismail: Whole troops, charge!

Page 34 & 35

Ismail: Take the interior ranked, Duchess Lelederik’s head!

Page 36

Hermann A: Like we let you do!

Hermann B: We will kick Turkiye’s small horses!

Page 38

Bicak’s Soldier A: To be on par with twice more enemies...!

Bicak’s Soldier B: Choosing Cheshime Dere as the battlefield proved to be a success!

Ismail: Yes, our chance of winning is only here.

Page 39

Ismail: Altin-modeled Turkiye’s cities are different from strong-defensed Mur. There’s no city who could defend themselves from the enemy.

Ismail: Mur and Altin. Which one will fall into the hand of their attacker army’s first... If we let them go to Altin---

Page 40

Ismail: Then Turkiye will be over!

[Preview: Like a raging fire, will they be able to surpass Lelederik’s fierce attack?]

Review Time!

To be honest I can’t not foresee their deathflags---seriously, this is too much. But I do wonder where Beyazid goes to, and why both him and Ismail kept mentioning about times. If one read this chapter, they probably mean about Mur’s attack. But then, I translated chapter 102 first, and Ismail asking Beyazid whether he chose him as the commander is because of the time or not, which Beyazid replied not. So I don’t know what they actually mean. Hopefully it’s truly about them stalling time for Mur’s troops and Mahmut’s return to Altin ;; v ;;

Going back to deathflag matter, I think as we all thinking about, the one who most likely death is Ismail WHICH I CAN’T ACCEPT WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS :(, considering him being given sudden lot screentimes-----he did but didn’t as much as Beyazid, Orhan and Ayse especially in Civil War Arc (like his only appearance in the arc is just to take his father’s position, so unimportant) and even giving him the commander role... Just when I taking a like to his character ;; ^ ;; But it doesn’t mean the others aren’t as high as him.

Oh, why almost every my favorite characters given so much deathflags by their authors---------------------------------------------

Remember Carvajal’s death is so sudden and no one can foresee it

I wonder what chapter 106 will give us ;;^;; I want to know already---26th please come faster!!!

AND MAHMUT PLEASE COME FASTER TO ALTIN :’(

[duaneodavila]

The Future Of Legal Recruiting Takes Less Than A Half-Hour?

As I have both written and podcasted about before, Vanderbilt has an extensive professional development series designed to help all of our students — with a particular emphasis on 1Ls — build their non-academic legal skills while also learning more about the profession as a whole.  While the programming is extremely valuable for students, for me, the fifth iteration of how to excel as a summer associate is not something I feel compelled to attend, having both heard all of the advice before and having previously lived that glorious summer associate life with subsequent post-graduation employment offers — though it is always great to see wonderful Vanderbilt alumni who come back to campus for these presentations.  Instead, that lunch hour can be spent catching up on the important issues of the day, such as #GetReeseToVanderbilt.

But while certain important topics are covered each and every year, sometimes a new presentation will crop up and catch my attention.  This happened last month with a professional development event entitled “A Brand New Way of Interviewing: What You Need to Know.”  Sponsored by O’Melveny, the presentation featured John-Paul Motley, Managing Partner of the firm’s Los Angeles office (Vanderbilt Law Class of 1999), and Darin Snyder, Regional Head of Litigation for Northern California, and perhaps more importantly for the day, the firm’s Diversity and Inclusion Partner.  While Motley served as the Vanderbilt hook, Snyder was the star of the show, walking the students through OMM’s new method of finding law school talent.

Snyder began by discussing the two biggest flaws in the current system of legal recruiting — there are far more than two, but this was a good place to start.  First, despite the massive financial resources of O’Melveny (gross revenue in 2018 surpassed $800 million), due to the finite nature of the recruiting calendar and the metaphysical fact that their attorneys cannot be on multiple campuses at once, the firm is only able to meet with a tiny percentage of the 111,000+ law students enrolled on campuses across the country.  Given these constraints, like most elite firms, OMM tends to only recruit (at least on campus) at the elite law schools.  Setting aside the issue of how this limited OCI reach can perpetuate and entrench privilege, even at the schools O’Melveny visits, they are only afforded an opportunity to meet with a limited number of students.  For example, Vanderbilt’s Class of 2021 is around 180 students.  A full OCI interview schedule consists of 18 interview slots.  That means, at best, OMM is getting a chance to meet with 10 percent of the class.  And Vanderbilt is a small school.  When looking at the size of the classes at law schools such as Harvard, NYU, or Georgetown, unless a firm is bringing a group of associates that would rival a World War II landing party in size, said firm is probably only reaching a minute portion of the class.  So how can employers fix this issue?  Snyder told the assembled Vanderbilt students that he thinks he has a way for the firm to thoroughly evaluate any law student, at any law school, who might be interested in working for O’Melveny.

Snyder introduced us to Pymetrics.  Designed by neuroscientists, Pymetrics bills itself as a bias-free way for employers to evaluate candidates through a series of short computer games.  As applicants play these games, a profile of key employment traits is generated.  An algorithm then compares the candidate’s profile to a model for that particular employer and determines whether that individual could excel at the firm.  It sounded simultaneously simple and revolutionary.  Pymetrics is currently being used in Corporate America by entities such as Unilever, LinkedIn, and Mercer, but Snyder believes O’Melveny is the first law firm to employ this recruiting approach.

Not surprisingly, the biggest question on attendees’ minds was also the one that Snyder could not/would not answer, what traits are OMM looking for, i.e., what’s the firm’s model.  However, he was happy to describe how the model came about.  Since initially the Pymetrics approach is only being used for entry-level hiring initially — if successful, Snyder has grand plans of employing it for hiring decisions across the spectrum, including lateral associates and partners — the firm identified a number of junior associates who are currently excelling at the firm and had them play the games.  The traits identified in those associates formed the foundation of the model.

While one plays Pymetrics games on a computer, these are not standard video games wherein the object is to “win.”  There are no victories in these games, but rather they serve to capture personality traits.  Thus, the results generated by the games should be the same after one play as it would be after 50.  This eliminates any disadvantage for those students who attend law schools which operate on delayed schedule from the rest of their peer institutions.  It also makes it highly unlikely that a Pymetrics coaching/tutoring industry will develop and introduce socioeconomic bias that this process is designed to eliminate.

As I was curious to see what students, including those at Vanderbilt, would have to go through if they wanted a summer associate position with O’Melveny, Snyder was kind enough to provide me access to play the games.  When I first logged on, I was expecting to meet Joshua from Wargames.

Instead, a friendly video popped up and I was told there would be 15 games that could take upwards of 20 minutes to complete.  The most important factor is that I was to make sure I would not be distracted while playing the games.  As a father of two kids under the age of four and three pets, including a mewling cat who is mystified as to why 2:45 a.m. is not the ideal time to play, even if I am able to carve out 20 minutes without actual distractions, there is still the seemingly constant distraction of abject exhaustion.  Plus, living in a country run by Donald Trump is its own unceasing distraction.  But putting those concerns aside, I dove into games with such innocuous titles as “Balloon” and “Easy or Hard.”  Alas, there was no Global Thermonuclear War.

While the whole point of these games is that takers cannot “learn” how to play them, I will skip too much detail on the actual gameplay involved, except to say that it turns out I am very good at hitting the spacebar on my computer in rapid succession.  Once I finished, Pymetrics generated a long “trait report” containing my “unique cognitive and emotional profile.”  Turns out I am trusting, fair-minded, and great at screening out distractions, though not as altruistic as I thought.  As a high school policy debater, I was subjected to far more Ayn Rand than is probably healthy at that, or really any, age, so I will place the blame there.  If I were applying to O’Melveny, the Pymetrics algorithm would inform the firm if I was a good match with their model.

I can imagine that the natural instinct of anyone in the legal employment realm might well be skepticism to a 20-minute computer test determining Biglaw employment.  But the standard OCI screener interview is the exact same length and it is there that the applicant pool is most whittled down.  An employer is probably going to get more valuable information from the Pymetrics trait report than what tree a student said they would be if they had to be a tree, or what their favorite 1L class had been.  Some logistics questions abound.  While the value of Pymetrics is clearly obvious for those schools/students OMM would not otherwise get to interview, it is still not perfectly clear how these tests will integrate with the existing interviewing structure.  Are students who are interviewing with the firm at OCI take these tests before their screener interview?  After?  Before a potential callback?

Snyder told the Vanderbilt assemblage that if Pymetrics proves successful — an evaluation that will take years, if not decades — he can see it surpassing academic performance in the firm’s evaluative process.  Though in subsequent conversation, he made it clear that Pymetrics will be part of the OMM evaluative process and will not represent the entirety of how candidates are evaluated.  If the utilization of Pymetrics results in strong first-year associate classes, the importance of Pymetrics in the evaluative process could well continue to grow, but they do not anticipate going to the extent of some corporations which exclusively use Pymetrics to find new talent.  That makes sense as I am a bit dubious that an Am Law 50 firm would pass on a Sears Prize winner from Harvard merely because a computerized test revealed some personality traits that were not shared by standout attorneys at the firm.  But I applaud the effort to break out of the old interview modes and embrace a technological approach that is ideally free of bias.  Not to mention, it is kind of fun to play.

(Flip to the next page to see Nicholas Alexiou’s Pymetrics trait profile.)

Nicholas Alexiou is the Director of LL.M. and Alumni Advising as well as the Associate Director of Career Services at Vanderbilt University Law School. He will, hopefully, respond to your emails at abovethelawcso@gmail.com.

The Future Of Legal Recruiting Takes Less Than A Half-Hour? republished via Above the Law