#And over SIX YEARS!

[heritageposts]

I'm reading about how Israel, in the immediate aftermath of the 1948 Nakba, deliberately replaced olive trees and other indigenous flora with European plants. This ecological disaster, which is now proudly hailed under the banner of 'making the desert bloom,' was done to 'de-Arabize' the landscape, and to cover up - often with fast-growing European pine trees -the ruins of Palestinian villages that were destroyed by Zionists forces.

And I just need everyone to read this passage from Pappé, because the symbolism of what happened to those European pine trees in the desert speaks for itself:

The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, by Ilan Pappé (2006, p. 227-228.)

[alphawave-writes]

Ao3 Ask Game

Thanks @changethecircumstances It's been a while since I've done one of these ask games (BTW I am always down to do more if people send them my way)

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 80

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 1,073,622.

That's...that's 13k er story roughly.

That's a lot.

3. What fandoms do you write for? The fandoms I've written for are varied but are almost exclusively video game fandoms. Currently I write for Alan Wake/Control (despite only playing Control) and Overwatch, but before that I was writing for the Yakuza/Like a Dragon/Ryu ga Gotoku fandom, Detroit: Become Human, Apex Legends and Dynasty Warriors.

4. Top five fics by kudos Oh god, I'll go in order.

DPD (Detroit: Become Human: Reed900) — What started as my riff on Brooklyn99 romance comedy mixed with police procedural became this beast about trying to make a difference and belonging. My most popular by like DOUBLE second place.

Pain and Pleasure (Disco Elysium: Harry/Kim) — It's an NSFW fic about consensual choking. Fun fact, I had NOT played the game at this point nor do I even OWN it, I just saw bits of a walkthrough and no one had written about the obvious kink so I took it upon my mortal hands. You're welcome

Sparks fly (Disco Elysium: Harry/Kim) — Fun story: so remember last paragraph where I said I hadn't played the game? I won't reveal why but I got gifted a copy of Disco Elysium by a kind then-stranger and I had to pay back with 10K words worth of smut on a niche kink. It was fun though, I do still love this fic.

Drinking games (Detroit: Become Human: FOUND FAMILY PLATONIC HankCon) — My first DBH fic. I showed this one to my dad because I figured the story was cute and not romantic and comedic enough that he would enjoy it. Then he thought Connor was a literal child, and then a child robot, and that Hank was an abusive dad.

Safe to say after having that fic misinterpreted so badly motivated me to try and make my stories relatively standalone (and also never show even my SFW stuff, because it's one thing if family don't like or get what you write but it is ANOTHER thing when they completely misinterpret it LOL)

Experimental design (Sonic movie: Stobotnik) — Abandoned but not forgotten. I had big plans for it exploring Stone's origins,

5. Do you respond to comments? Usually. Sometimes I forget and sometimes I worry about spamming people with 'Thank yous' when I can't think of anything else to say, especially on repeat commentors, but in general yes

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Depends on your definition of angst. If you want a sad cry angst where literally everybody dies, that will have to be my Harry/Kim fic Despite everything. If you want angst in a more messed up horrible sense, that'll be my recent Zaneling fic CONFIDENTIAL: Burning and drowning. I don't typically write angst endings though.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Aside from the smut? I think that will have to be the everyone reunites and is a family together ending for my Sigrold fic, Evil actions and good intentions.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Never directly, and almost never directly. Apart from one instance where a very particular shipper made a vague post suggesting I was orientalist (despite BEING HALF-ASIAN MYSELF) everyone seems to like my works! Which is nice, I hope it means my stories are good.

9. Do you write smut? A fair bit, but it is admittedly not easy for me to write. When I do, it's never PWP. At the very least, I like to play on the buildup, the foreplay if you will. Set the scene. It's easier to say I write plot with porn LOL

10. Craziest crossover? I never actually write crossovers, but one unfinished WIP I had based on a tweet was going to be Austin Powers x Bayonetta, which basically had Austin Powers replace Luka. This was before Bayo 3, so I was gonna play it semi-serious and have Austin Powers be revealed to be a Lumen Sage himself. Play it like Austin Power 3 kinda.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I'm aware of. Hopefully never happened. Most likely never happened since I tend to write for either obscure ships or obscure fandoms.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? A few times, always with permission which is nice.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? The only time I think I co-wrote a fanfic specifically it wasn't quite a co-write since the other person did a normal fanfic and I did a TWINE TEXT ADVENTURE. I'm just crazy like that.

14. All time favourite ship? I think by just sheer amount of time and energy put in, at this stage it's Sigrold (Sigma x Dr Harold Winston for the uninitiated). Maybe it's because Dr Harold Winston has changed so much he's basically my glorified OC, maybe I like old men yaoi where at least one of them is a scientist, maybe it's the fact I'm currently writing an original novel that features two characters that are essentially OC-fied versions of Sigma and Harold. Whatever the reason, they just have a grip on me that I'll never let go of.

15. What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will? The aforementioned Experimental design. I had quite a few plans for it, but I think Disco Elysium kinda took over the brain and I could only focus on one fandom at a time. While I still love the Stobotnik ship, I don't think I'll have the motivation to finish this fic.

16. What are your writing strengths? I think personality and tone are my strengths. I like to inject a bit of humour into conversations and add some of my own original flair into all my works, but I also try to put the character's personality into the internal narration even when it's 3rd person. Last thing I want is for my work to be mistaken for the writing style of another.

I also try and play with the tone where I can, have it be fun and then tense. I hope I'm funny in some of my writings.

I've also been told by some people from non-English speaking backgrounds that my writing style is easy to read? That one, I cannot claim to be the authority on, but I hope people like it.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Spellchecks and grammar checks, for one. If I had beta readers I might be able to catch it but alas I don't, so any errors I make often goes unnoticed. I also have a bad habit of repeating words within paragraphs. It annoys me when I see them and it annoys me when I read it.

As for my stylistic stuff, I like my run-on sentences. I can't help it, it has to go on and on and on.

18. Thoughts on dialogue in another language? Coming from a multicultural background, I don't mind dialogue in another language. I usually try and keep the raw original sentence or phrase, and either use context narration or worst case leave a footnote as to what it translates to.

19. First fandom you wrote in? Dynasty Warriors of all things. My longest fic by far is in that fandom. I liked Liu Shan, nobody else did, so I had to take matters into my own hands. Is it any good? Probably not, but you have to look at your old stuff and be amazed at how far one has come since then. Also I might wanna revisit that fanfic for an original piece, who knows?

20. Favorite fic you've written? God where do I begin? For my recent works, I have to say my Zaneling masterpiece Kill your Darlings since it's got a little bit of everything and it sets up a nice little AU I've been currently chipping away at. I was in a frenzy, I planned everything out and aside from minor changes I got almost everything written as I planned. A first for me!

On the more somber side, in Disco Elysium I'd say Ghost within nightmares as a character exploration of Kim Kitsuragi and Harrier du Bois (and in the game's style too).

NSFW-wise, it's a toss up between the Disco Elysium Sparks fly and the Overwatch Not my fault for different reasons. Mostly because I feel like I played with some unconventional kinks in a fun way.

And I can't forget the fic that started it all, the Liu Shan/Xingcai Dynasty Warriors fanfic A marriage written in the stars. Definitely have to revisit it one day in the future.

I tag anyone who sees this to do it if you haven't already

[teaboot]

I feel like if you're using a lot of disposable plastic bags in your day to day life, you've gotta do something sustainable to make up for it. Like using bamboo toilet paper or eco friendly cat litter or something, yknow

Honestly I exaggerate for comedic effect, while I DO routinely use ziplock bags to hold spaghetti I cook maybe once a month and the bag itself is usually for freezer storage. I actually throw out maybe one bag a week? I DO hate washing plates and tupperware and junk but that usually just means I eat sandwiches without a plate.

I agree though that needless waste should be avoided, and I do avoid it- biodegradable bags and recyclables, empty butter tubs used to store leftovers, etc.

This said, though, not applicable necessarily for myself but for a lot of others- I feel that it's importat to remember that there are many people who legitimately NEED things like plastic straws, or catheters, or pre-packaged foods

And the idea that that's a moral failing that individuals need to personally make up for when a single billionaire blows out more CO2 in a long weekend than I will in my whole life on a superjet meet-cute in the Bolivian rainforest between humvee drag races funded by the river-polluting textiles plants they planted in a third world country to avoid EPA laws and give an entire village stillbirths and stomach cancer is an idea that those very same bigwigs have spent a LOT of time and money investing in planting in the public psyche.

Like- Glass bottles are infinitely recyclable, so why are so many drinks in plastic now? Loads of drinks manufacturers used to buy them back and clean them for re-use, so why did they stop? If they chose to make something out of a limited and environmentally irresponsible material, why is it my failing to track down a correct process of disposal for them? What if there are none in my area? Do I lobby for more recycling plants in my area? Do I set aside some of my limited time outside the pain factory of my job- which I have more than one of, thanks to rising costs of things just like that drink I just emptied- to properly dispose of this company's waste FOR them?

Say coca-cola just rolled up to your town and started dumping millions of empty plastic bottles in the street, going, "wow, you should really think about building and staffing a recycling depot, it would be really shameful of you to just put these in the trash." When companies purposefully use materials with limited lifespans- because yes, even plastic can only be reused so many times- and tell you it's your own fault if it harms the environment- that's essentially what they're doing, just with more steps.

Yes, its important to be as environmentally concious as we can in our day to day life, but responsible sustainability is not catholicism. We don't get good boy points from our lord and savior Captain Planet every time the average low-income household gathers together to hold hands and repent for a single-use plastic that allows them to access something they need.

Entire families could eat trees and shit dead lithium batteries for years and still not do as much damage to the planet as an average dye plant or braindead celebrity does in a week just for fun, and I'm mad about it

...this went on longer than intended.

TL/DR: DO recycle and minimize waste, but don't beat yourself up over the little waste you can't avoid, and follow the money.

EDIT: Part 2

[hopeinthebox]

bts + reductress headlines pt.14

[deadpoets]

DEAD POETS SOCIETY (1989) dir. Peter Weir

[reonnex]

And he does🥰

[egophiliac]

heeey guess what, I'm obsessed with this idiot flamingo now

[27-umbrellas]

the umbrella academy obsession from when i was like fifteen reawakening inside me for the final season

[trashthemorgue]

best friends, ex friends til the end 🪦

[unexpectedbrickattack]

"A Dad helping his kids beat a hard level in super mario land; 1990s"

Ref under the cut!

[98chao]

anyway

[fivelila]

Five protecting Lila is something that made my heart flutter.

[spilledkaleidoscope]

SPITEFUL PLASTIC EARRINGS +1 Pain Threshold: Already in Agony -1 Inland Empire: A Bad Omen

[bluerosefox]

Same As The Day I Lost You

I...

This came to me as I'm making dinner so I'll be quick.

What if we mix deaged Danny and twin/older sibling (either one works) Damian, AND he gets tossed to his sibling in a last minute escape.

Like what if he was fighting Vlad who was doing his whole "denounce your father and join me as my son Daniel!" Thing while in the Zone and knocks Danny into something that's floating in the Zone with the ability to deage or was hit by a new Fenton or Plasmius invention while fighting in town that accidentally deages him.

Danny, who in this was adopted, gets put back to the age of six. The same age he had been found by Jazz in a 'haunted' forest Jack and Maddie were visiting/investigating while also using that time as a family vacation. (They were shocked to see a little boy with a stab wound bleeding out and rushed him to the nearby town, almost completely forgetting about the glowing green tiny puddle they found nearby and bagged most of it as evidence when they heard Jazz's scream of terror over finding the hurt little boy)

The sudden revert into that traumatized age, along with the child response to a fight or flight scenario, and add Danny's deepest need/wish to be protected his child fogged mind wishes to go to the one person who always made him feel safe.

His twin/older brother.

Just as quick as it was with Danny being turned into a child, his ghost powers ripped open a portal and sent Danny to the person he wants to be with...

Only he didn't know that right at that moment his seventeen year old twin/older brother is currently fighting the League with his family's help (his mother was trying to convince him to return to the League and be it's heir) in Nanda Parbat (the very place Damian lost the last/only person he knew loved him without any strings attached.)

So imagine everyone's face when a portal opened up, some muttering its a new pit being formed before them or something, and crawling out of it is a very scared and confused six year old Danny.

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 71

Klarion is delighted, excited, impatient, and so very happy. He’s found a friend, not the justice league baby-crew who don’t know how to make friends properly or the order-magician who doesn’t play right, but another realm-being his age! They’re even around the same death-date, his is just a couple years earlier! But to beings who aren’t adults until they’re well into the hundreds that’s practically nothing!

His new friend even has a familiar too- even if he has to explain what a familiar is- and, and even shares his two other friends with him! 

He’s been in this world for what feels like so long trying to make friends and he’s made three in just a month! And they even know how to properly play and wrestle without targeting Teekl like a certain order lord who he doesn’t like. 

Oh! Hey it’s the justice league kiddy-crew! Were they feeling neglected or something?

[spearxwind]

Happy 10th birthday to Cercerion!

OUGHHH UR RIGHT CERCIE IS 10 YEARS OLD NOW !!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY BOY BELOVEDEST DID NOTHING WRONG EVER IN HIS WHOLE LIFE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!