#Sorry Global Connection Plan

[whumpinggrounds]

Writing Deaf Characters

I am making this a series now so pls drop requests if there is something you’re curious about!

Disclaimer: This is all based on personal experience and research, all of which relate to the American Deaf experience. It’s not perfect, nor is it representative of a global experience of d/Deafness. If you plan to write a d/Deaf or hard of hearing character, please do your own research! This is intended to give people a few ideas about where to start.

Vocab

Deaf = Refers to the cultural experience of being deaf and immersed in Deaf communities.

deaf = Inability to hear some or all sound.

Profoundly deaf = Inability to hear almost all or all sound.

d/Deafblind = Inability to hear some or all sound and as well as having some level (usually high) of visual impairment. 

Hard of hearing or HOH = A person whose inability to hear may not rise to the level of deafness or profound deafness, or simply may not identify with the term.

Deaf of deaf = A Deaf child born to Deaf parents.

CODA = Child Of Deaf Adults. This refers to hearing children, not d/Deaf children.

Manualism = Refers to the belief that d/Deaf children should be taught only sign language and should not be taught or expected to learn to speak.

Oralism = Refers to the belief that d/Deaf children should be taught only to speak and should be discouraged from learning or using sign language.

Bilingual-bicultural or bi-bi education = A school of thought that combines oral and manual education for d/Deaf children.

Mainstreaming = The belief that d/Deaf children should be educated in the same schools and classrooms as hearing students. (More widely refers to the belief that disabled students in general should be educated in the same schools and classrooms as nondisabled students.)

Deaf gain = The Deaf community’s answer to the term “hearing loss.” Rather than losing hearing, a person is said to be gaining Deafness.

Cochlear implant/CI = A medical device implanted into the inner ear which (debatably) produces sensation that is (somewhat) analogous to hearing.

American Sign Language or ASL = An American system of communication consisting of hand shapes, hand movements, body language, facial expressions, and occasionally, vocalizations.

Signed Exact English or SEE = A manner of communicating that directly translates English words into signed equivalents.

Home sign(s) = Signed communication that is specific to the signer’s home or community, which may not exist or be recognized in the wider world.

Identity First Language or IFL = A system in which someone is described first by an identifier that they choose and feel strongly connected to. Examples include describing someone as an Autistic woman, a disabled individual, or a Deaf man.

Key Elements of Deaf History

Can’t emphasize this enough - this is a VERY abbreviated list! It is also not in order. Sorry. That being said:

For a long time in America, Deaf children were not educated, nor was it considered possible to educate them. When this did change, American deaf children were educated in institutions, where they lived full-time. These children were often taken from their families young, and some never regained contact with their families. Some died and were buried at these institutions, all without their families’ knowledge.

In the early 20th century, oralism became popular among American deaf schools. This mode of teaching required lip reading and speech, no matter how difficult this was for students, and punished those who used or attempted to use sign language. Pure oralism is now widely considered inappropriate, outdated, and offensive.

Hopefully you’ve gleaned this from the above points, but d/Deaf schooling, education, and the hearing world’s involvement are a very sensitive subject. Proceed with caution. It’s unlikely your d/Deaf character would have a neutral relationship with schooling.

Helen Keller is probably the most famous deafblind person in America. In her time, she was also known for being a socio-political activist, a socialist, and a vaudeville actress. There are dozens of other famous d/Deaf people who are a quick Google search away. Give your Deaf character Deaf heroes, please.

The Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, was passed in 1991, and represented a landmark victory for disabled activists in America. Among its provisions were closed captioning for Deaf individuals, ASL interpreters for public services, and the right for d/Deaf children to attend accessible, accommodating public schools. The ADA is a HUGE deal. It’s also not perfect.

In 1961, cochlear implants were invented. I was going to write more about cochlear implants here, but it’s too long. New section.

Cochlear Implants

Massively massively massively controversial in the Deaf community. Always have been, potentially always will be. For people who strongly identify with Deafness and the Deaf community, CIs are an attack on their identity, their personhood, and their community’s right to exist. 

Do not allow people to “hear.” The input that a person receives from CI can, with physical therapy, training, and time, be understood and processed in a similar way to sound. This does not mean it would be recognizable to a hearing person as sound. It is often described by people who have them as being metallic, buzzy, or robotic. YouTube is a great resource for sound references.

In order for a cochlear implant to be effective, a personal will have to participate in years of training and therapy to correct process, understand, and interpret the feedback given by the CI. This is not negotiable. Even if your character just lost their hearing in an accident last week, a CI will not allow them to instantaneously regain that hearing. Nothing that currently exists in the real world will do that.

CIs, to be most effective, are almost always implanted when the recipient is very young. This decision is often made by hearing parents. This, again, is massively controversial, as Deaf activists argue that it violates the child’s bodily autonomy and is inherently anti-Deaf.

A cochlear implant, once placed, irreparably destroys any residual hearing that the recipient may have had. This is because it penetrates the inner ear in order to function. This residual hearing cannot be regained, even if the cochlear implant is not used.

Deaf people do choose to get cochlear implants of their own accord. Many d/Deaf people are very happy with their cochlear implants! It is still a highly charged choice in light of the political history surrounding d/Deafness and hearing.

Notes About American Sign Language

ASL is not a signed version of English. It is a distinct language, with its own vocabulary, slang, and grammar. Just a sentence would not be constructed the same way in Russian, Spanish, or Tagalog, a sentence in ASL would not be a direct translation of its English equivalent.

Deaf people have historically lower rates of literacy. This is not due to a lack of intelligence; it is because ASL and English are two different languages. ASL has no written equivalent. In order to be able to read or write, d/Deaf children must learn an entirely different language. This means that it is not realistic to always be able to communicate with d/Deaf people through writing.

As ASL is a visual language, many signs started out as very literal gestures. This means that many older signs are continuously being phased out as they or their roots are recognized as stereotypical or offensive. Please be careful in researching signs. I recommend Handspeak or Signing Savvy for accurate, relatively up-to-date information.

Many online “teachers” do not have credentials to teach ASL, and especially due to the prevalence of “baby sign,” home signs, invented signs, or false information spreads unchecked. If you see multiple different signs advertised for the same English word, please be diligent in checking your sources.

Not every English word has a distinct signed equivalent, and not every sign has an English equivalent.

SEE is almost never used by Deaf people. It’s rarely used and is generally thought of as a “lesser” version of both English and ASL.

ASL is a complete, complex, nuanced language. A character would not switch into SEE for a technical conversation or really any reason. Complex ideas, technical terms, and even poetry can all be expressed in American Sign Language.

Just like in English, there are some signs that are only considered appropriate for certain people to use. For example, the sign for “Black” when referring to a Black person has a modified version that is only used by Black signers. This does not mean it is a slur or the equivalent of a slur. It is a sign reserved for Black signers referring to other Black people.

Things to Consider/Avoid/Be Aware Of

I hesitate to tell anyone to avoid anything, because I don’t think I have that authority. That being said:

The Deaf community has a complicated history and relationship with cochlear implants and the concept of being “cured.” What message are you sending when you write a story in which a d/Deaf character is “cured” of their d/Deafness?

Generally speaking, d/Deaf people do not identify with the “disabled” label. Each person has their own preferences, and those preferences should always be respected. Your character(s) may choose differently than their real life community, but you should put thought into why that is.

Generally speaking, d/Deaf people use IFL. This means that a majority of d/Deaf people in America would describe themselves as d/Deaf people, rather than people with deafness, people with hearing loss, people that are hard of hearing, etc.

Okay I lied I’m going to tell you what to do here: Do not use words like mute, deaf-mute, or dumb when describing d/Deaf people. Hearing impaired is also not ideal but is considered outdated, rather than outright offensive.

The best lip readers are judged to be able to catch 30% of the words people say. How realistic is it to have a character that relies 100% on lipreading? What do you gain when you write a character that lipreads, and what do you lose?

Yes, Deaf people can drive. I don’t know why so many people wonder about this. It’s okay if you didn’t know, but please don’t come into my ask box about it.

Assistive Devices/Aids

Cochlear implants ^ see above

Interpreters. Will have gone to school for years, might have specific training for certain environments or technical terms, etc. For instance, an interpreter that works with Deaf people that have mental illnesses would be fully fluent in ASL as well as having requisite mental health training in order to interpret for them. Interpreters could be a whole other post actually, but I won’t tackle that now.

Closed captions. Self-explanatory.

Alarm clocks, fire alarms, and doorbells that use light instead of sound. This is sometimes a typical flashing light, but particularly fire alarms in predominantly d/Deaf spaces can be overwhelmingly bright. Bright like you’ve never seen before. Bright enough to wake someone from a dead sleep.

Some assistive devices also use sensation - alarms that actually shake bedframes exist and are the best choice for some people!

Service dogs - can alert people to sounds like the above - fire alarms, doorbells, knocking, etc.

Hearing aids. Generally not controversial in the way that CIs are. Only effective if people have residual hearing. Do not really expand the range of sounds people can hear, just amplify sounds in that range. Very, very expensive.

Microphones. If a d/Deaf or HOH person is in a crowd/lecture setting, the speaker will want to use a microphone. If this is a frequent occurrence, the microphone may be linked to a small personal speaker or earbud used by the d/Deaf or HOH person.

TTY: Much less frequent now that everyone can text and email, but stands for Text Telephone Device and was/is a way to send written communication over a telephone line. The message is sent, the phone rings, and a robot voice reads the message. Obviously, this is not effective for d/Deaf people communicating with other d/Deaf people, but it was often used to communicate with hearing people/hearing establishments, as when setting up appointments.

Media About/Including Deafness

No media is perfect and unproblematic, but here are somethings I have seen that I can verify do at least a pretty good job -

CODA is a movie that features Deaf actors, ASL, and a story about growing up, family, and independence vs. interdependence. 

The Sound of Metal is a movie that features ASL and a story about identity, recovery, and hearing loss/Deaf gain.

A Quiet Place is a movie features ASL and Deaf actors, although Deafness itself is not necessarily integral to the story.

BUG: Deaf Identity and Internal Revolution by Christopher Heuer is a collection of essays by a Deaf man that discuss a wide range of topics. This book is not always up to modern standards of political correctness.

Train Go Sorry by Leah Hager Cohen is a memoir by the granddaughter of a Deaf man, which discusses the intersections of the hearing and Deaf worlds.

Far From the Tree by Andrew Solomon is a research book about the effect of horizontal identity on parent/child relationships and features a chapter on d/Deafness. This is a good look at how d/Deafness can impact familial relationships. Some aspects of the book are outdated, and it was written by a hearing author, albeit one who extensively interviewed Deaf and hearing parents of Deaf children.

If you made it this far, congratulations! Thank you so much for taking the time to read through my lil/not so lil primer :) If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or feedback, please feel free to hit me up! If you have any requests for a diagnosis or a disability you’d like me to write about next, I’d love to hear it. Happy writing!

[54625]

With the upcoming Fit lore later today, I figured it may be useful to transcribe his earlier lore drops for those of you who may not have been there, or want a refresher. These were attempts to contact the contractor to relay information, and happened before the dreams.

-First attempt-

(Text appears on screen.

CONNECTING...

BYPASSING FEDERATION FIREWALL

ATTEMPT FAILED

ERROR)

Fit- Hello, it's me.

Fit- Sorry I've been taking my sweet time.

Fit- I've been busy...

Fit- We need to pivot from our original plan.

Fit- I've adopted a son, and I've been caring for him.

Fit- I've grown attached to him, so he's been my priority.

Fit- Being a single dad is a challenge at times.

Fit- But it's much easier than the nomadic lifestyle.

Fit- Life here is very different from the wasteland.

Fit- But I haven't forgotten our agreement.

Fit- I will fullfil my contractual obligations.

Fit- They're still falling for the whole "vacation" thing.

Fit- I ask that you be patient though, as we have a problem.

Fit- Something called "The Federation" controls this entire island.

Fit- They've been keeping us here.

Fit- As long as they are in the way, I can't access what you are looking for.

Fit- And the anti-cheat on the island is strong.

Fit- I haven't been able to use my abilities.

Fit- The Federation must be eliminated for this to succeed.

Fit- I've gained everyone's trust and made friends...

Fit- I've been helping their fight against the Federation in order to advance our plan.

Fit- Still... It hurts me to see everyone suffering...

Fit- Some have lost things they cared about...

Fit- But this struggle is an unfortunate necessity...

Fit- The conflict is increasing the value of what you seek...

Fit- I know you're paying me...

Fit- But have you considered......

...the true cost?

Fit- regardless of my personal feelings, I'll slowly move the plan forward.

Fit- I hope you find what you're looking for.*

Fit- It's getting late...*

MESSAGE FAILED TO SEND

Disconnecting....

*(it is worth noting that these are messages Fit had previously sent in the Minecraft global chat in that odd font.)

-Second attempt-

(Text appears on screen.

CONNECTING...

BYPASSING FEDERATION FIREWALL)

Fit- Checking in.

Fit- I am messaging you again to keep you updated on my progress.

Fit- The Federation still has full control of the island.

Fit- They've been putting on some strange election....

Fit- I'm assuming to keep everyone occupied.

Fit- However, it seems they've let a vulnerability slip.

Fit- Player data and statistics are being tracked.

Fit- The Federation must have this data stored somewhere on the island.

Fit- If I had to guess, it's likely the computer system of the Federation offices.

Fit- If I tried to break in and access the data, they would likely capture me...

Fit- It would not end well.

Fit- However, whoever wins this election will likely have open access.

Fit- Perhaps they could be persuaded... Or tricked into giving us access.

Fit- I will fullfil the contract.

Fit- And yet... I'm starting to wonder....

Fit- What are you actually trying to achieve?

Fit- Even if I can access the data, what good would it do?

Fit- I'm skeptical, but I hope to hear from you soon........

(This island...... Is worse than I thought....)

(Text appears on screen.

Windows XP

Task failed successfully.

[OK] )

(A cinematic showing various scenes from QSMP and 2B2T play. All the images from the former are in full colour, while all the images from the latter are in black and white. A video of a capybara eating grass plays. It is in black and white.)

If I left anything particularly important out, let me know!

[malehypnofantasy]

Read Part 2 here

Ben Richards is the ultimate all-American douchebags. He's blonde, he's muscular, and he's rich, and he knows he's a hot shit so that laid out the foundation for his ego.

He's also well-connected, with his family embedded deep within the political and economic leadership of not only in the United States, but also globally. The sheer level of power the young brat holds compounded with his attractive looks made him feared, respected and the most important of all, adored.

People wanted to be on his good side and everyone tried to get close to him. But only the reserved few that can get close to him and enjoyed all the perks of being his good friends. The others won't be seen or noticed by Ben and he wouldn't even hesitate to set the record straight or put people back to their places id he wished to do so, and that involved regular people like Casey that he viewed just as insignificant miscreant. Yet, that didn't phase Casey anymore, not when he got his magical power by his side, as Ben would be nothing but his mere puppet to play with.

Casey's family member always preached the need for a sorcerer to have not only strong mentality, but also strong physique as magic tend to consume a lot of energy and can push a magician to its physical limit. Having stronger physique means higher tolerance of pain and limit to exert one's magic, and for Casey, Ben is the answer to it. Casey is just simply too lazy to work out to build his body and endurance, and with his family never worked with magic in related to physically transform oneself, he needed to resort something more involving mental. The plan that Casey have in mind is to basically hijack Ben's body and use that jock's body as a proxy. From the memory of his great grandfather, such feat is possible as certain magician pulled it off in the past to create this front for their business enterprise with mere mortal as their original form seemingly unable to wield charisma or charm that they are lacking while human have this tendency to fall and adore someone that exude such quality

Ben's latest update involved a shirtless selfie he took in the gym. That's almost an hour ago, and per latest intel, Ben supposedly went to Walmart after his gym session. When Casey and Ethan finally arrived in Walmart's parking lot, they spotted Ben's electric blue BMW still parked nicely with no one inside, so they know they just need to wait for the jock to walk out from the store.

After around 15 minutes of waiting, Ben finally walked out with several groceries bag in both hands. Watching from safe distance inside their own car, Casey eyed Ben like the prey he is while Ethan just stared at Ben with no regards to the safety of his supposed frat bros as he is already gripped tightly under Casey's control. Casey then started to make his move as Ben finished with putting down his groceries inside his car. He walked out from the car and then called the jock while running. As Ben turned around then made eye contact, Casey utilized the opportunity to froze the muscular jock under his control. His 20/20 vision proven to be his shortcomings as he clearly entranced with Casey's eyes he managed to see. With zero control over his body, he stripped himself off and then forced to turn around and faced the car by Casey.

Ethan eventually followed Casey to walk out from the car. From the distant, he witnessed Casey pressed his body close to Ben's body and a radiant glow emanated from the two. The glow turned blinding as Ethan got closer but after several seconds, the light vanished and while Ben's body flopped to the car seat, Casey's body dropped to the road. Ethan dashed his way to see what is happening and trying to find way to help Casey, but once he got closer to the car, Ben suddenly roared as he flexed his muscle

"Hey there Ethan, how do you like me now?" Ethan's eyes went wide, is that his Master's voice coming out of Ben Richard's mouth?? "--sorry, that doesn't sound right. How do you like me now?" Said Ben now with his usual tone and air of confidence that accompanied his sultry, deep voice

"Master, what happened?"

"Well, what about you put my body to the backseat and I'll explain to you what's up,"

So with ease, Ethan lifted Casey's original 130 lbs body and shoved it to the backseat and trampled Ben's gym bag as he then seated himself in the front passenger seat

"Okay, so let me explain---"

[im-totally-not-an-alien-2]

Halloween prompts no. 12

Danny kills Darkseid au but not only does he freak out, he is essentially kidnapped by Clockwork and dragged back into the DC universe for a "vacation". When Danny tried to argue the old stopwatch confessed that Dannys core was essentially eating the dark gods energy and he would need to stay in his Phantom form 24/7 to be able to "digest" him. Which gave him a few new things to freak out about. Yay.

Danny was given some new clothes-all glowing black and white of course- and money (where did clockwork get this much cash??) and told to find so.ewhere safe to live in.

Danny went ghost and got changed and started to fly off when clockwork stopped him and told him to behave like a normal human. There are a lot of people in this world with superpowers and while they might look at him strange they would likely ignore him for the most part. But if he started showing off all these cool powers its going to gain unwanted attention. Like another Vlad. Danny shuddered.

As a last parting of wisdom, he tells him not to give out his real name and if anyone asks questions just repeat, "I'm on vacation." then time unfreezed.

So Danny walks out of the alleyway he was in and into the city where he immediately looked for a place to make a underground ice cave to live in. Despite having a crapton of money now (wth clockwork???) He still couldn't get an official apartment due to being fifteen.

Within a few days of just casually going about in Central city he had been approached by "talent agencies" and headhunters offering him jobs as an actor or model and he flusteredly turned them down but was always somehow railroaded into taking a business card. (He wasn't that pretty, surely. All of his fame back home was due to him being a hero...right?)

One particularly insistent guy just wouldn't give up and cornered Danny. It was when he thought he was going to have to break this guys nose to get away that the local hero Flash stepped in and the guy finally backed off.

Danny thanked him and the Flash (who felt clockwork freeze time before and nearly had a panic attack along with Zatanna and Captain Marvel) asked about the weird quantum energy around him and in his panic Danny stupidly confessed to having a magical artifact that makes him immune to time freezes fused into his chest by one of his bad guys.

Which led to him stupidly telling him his name was Phantom, he was a superhero who was on (forced) vacation due to injury-kinda, he wasn't allowed to help out sorry, and he was from another dimension and oh crap he had been truth serum-ed!!! How dare?!

Flash apologized, but after the global time freeze (it was global??) The Justice League was on high alert and the Batman was super paranoid and liked having answers. Unfortunately for this bat guy he was miffed at being drugged and refused to answer anymore questions.

Still, with the disappearance of Darkseid and Apokolips, the global time freeze and now this glowing kid from another dimension? They had to be connected somehow. The league was sure of it. The new gods were freaking out and searching for answers themselves and the speedsters were trying thier best to get this kid to open up to them. After a while with little success they start sending in the Teen Titans and the Young Justice teams in hopes that he'd be more social with people around his own age.

It did not go as planned.

---

People: *telling Phantom that he's beautiful*

Phantom: Is this a trap?

[m4rried2the-moon]

( PICK A PIC ) ❤️‍🔥 — what about you can best aid the revolution?

Funds for Palestinians 🇵🇸🍉

Relief / Other funds 🫶🏾💖

- what about you can help demonstrate your passion for humanity ? ❤️‍🔥🐦‍🔥

woke up angry opening my phone 🙃(understandably so) and figured that you might be too ! so, here is a reading to highlight qualities about you that could aid in the current revolution . it can be difficult to navigate the trauma of what's happening and shock you into stillness but this reading will hopefully give you a good idea of where to start if you've been in a cycle of guilt and deep empathy . that being said, please listen carefully to your intuition and only take what resonates <3

pile one 🍉

- qualities you have : the sun, strength/justice

- how to use it : the fool (seven of coins), the moon (the high priestess + the tower)

your radiance and brilliance overpowers false truths, injustice. pile one, you have a strength that comes from a forever knowledge of what is and isn't right. this is a deeply humanitarian energy, like a public defense attorney. very "for the rights of the people" and it's about controlling and directing that passion.

you can put this to use by continuing to hold out hope for a better future for this. i see that you have been wanting to start a project of some sorry to contribute to palestine and other causes---keep it up! don't let doubts of nothing coming out of your dedication and commitment stop you from figuring for what's close to your heart. if you know you must do something then do it! any effort is effort. use this drive for justice to inform and inspire others with your radiance.

pile two 🍉

- qualities you have : ace of cups, the magician

- how to use it : two of pentacles, two of wands

you possess a deep and unbridled sense of positive emotional well-being as a strong quality, pile two. your internal atmosphere being as sensitive as it is also marks for powerful manifesting energy. you are well aware of the gift you possess and not even need to be reading this (/j). you are in touch with your spirituality in a way that basically makes you an alchemist of desired outcomes. This also may happen naturally/with minimal intent.

you can put this spiritual sensitivity and connection to the divine to use by expanding your energy into different projects. this may sound overwhelming to some but i can also see this pile as people who are already planning their outreach and discussing with friends/family, boycotting and sharing new info. would say continue to stay encouraged! think about the progress that we've made so far for palestinians and how this will result in a nearly global release! we're so close, do not accept defeat as an option and keep your head up.

pile three 🍉

- qualities you have : three of wands, knight of wands

- how to use it : the empress, ace of wands

ready for action and a planner. your dominant qualities are that of a leader, and it's nothing for you to assess and judge a situation that calls for action. i'm sure you've already been putting your for down in the face of neutrality when it comes to palestine and other causes. you are not easily swayed by fears of the collective and hindering beliefs.

the best way you can use these leader qualities to aid those who can't and themselves is continuing to let your voice be heard and trusting that your effort is working in the best interest of those who need it most. It's clear in your pull that you are taking every chance you can already to stand up for what you believe in---yes! so happy and proud, keep it up! I would say you are already aware you're doing everything you can.

hey guys ! i hope this helped truly & just wanted to say that i know it's hard to see so much anguish and pain on such a global scale but the moment we give into ignoring it, we become a part of the problem. if you've been doing your best to share and inform at least, that's enough. do to the best of your abilities and don't beat yourself up if you're circumstances are limiting to your outreach ❤️🤓👍🏾 okay that's it. love u guys bye

[dreamcubed]

london boy | fred weasley x reader

song; london boy [taylor swift] pairing; fred weasley x fem!american!thunderbird!reader genre; s2l, fluff word count; 3,1k timeline; post-second wizarding war au (fred lives) warnings; swearing, alcohol consumption summary; after taking the plunge and moving across the world, you are unsure of how to form a new social circle and support system. it appears there was no need to worry, as you soon meet a charming man who runs a joke shop with his twin brother

a/n; this was actually suggested by an anon! sorry it took a couple months to write

masterlist

"babe, don't threaten me with a good time."

———————————————

The Second Wizarding War, while primarily occurring in battles throughout the United Kingdom, was something that had put the global wizarding world at stake. The United States were no exception, and as a recent graduate of Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, you decided to wander across the pond to the country where the liberty of witches and wizards was saved. That, and you had no other plans for the course of your life.

You worked for the first year after your graduation in order to save up money for the move, but you were pleased to say you had finally stepped foot in England: specifically, Diagon Alley.

It was where you had managed to rent a small flat from, as arranged thanks to your mother having connections in the area as a result of her travels back in the day. You were beyond excited to meet new people and settle into a new life.

But you did need a job.

Your savings would suffice for a few months, which would hopefully give you sufficient time to secure an income - key word, hopefully. First on the agenda, however, was exploring your new local area to see if you could make new friends early doors.

And so you found yourself stood outside a completely buzzing joke shop, after visiting the local bakery and book shop. The name of shop was written in gold: Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Chadwick, that was a tongue twister - fitting, you supposed.

You pushed open the door to be greeted by both the bell tinkling above you and the sound of laughing children (and even adults) in all corners of the establishment. A smile pulled its way on to your face as you began walking towards the nearest display table, covered in enchanted prank items. You picked up what appeared to be a normal whoopie cushion, and began examining it.

"Looks normal, but is in fact quite the opposite," a British voice in your left ear caught you off guard, making you quickly turn to be greeted by a tall ginger-haired man, "First of all, it camouflages once it's set down, so anyone who's smart enough to check their seats before sitting down can't catch you out."

You stared blankly at the man.

"Second, it doesn't just make a fart sound, it produces the whole package," he grinned, "A hyper realistic fart smell - and even a greenish smoke if the person sits down with a lot of force."

You came to your senses and smiled, putting the cushion delicately back down. "I'm guessing you're Weasley?"

"One of them," he nodded, "There's two others - one of them fresh out of Hogwarts."

You hummed.

"And I was gonna ask why I don't recognise you from school, but I think your accent gives me the answer."

"Yep, I'm an Ilvermorny grad."

"First time in Britain?"

You nodded, "So far, I love it."

He grimaced, "Depends where you go, Diagon Alley gives you an idealistic impression. How long you here for?"

"Indefinitely."

"Oh?" he quirked an eyebrow, "You're living here?"

"As of today," you smiled, "Y/N. Y/N L/N."

"Fred Weasley," he replied, "Allow me to be your first friend in this foreign country."

You giggled at his feigned poshness.

"What are your plans for work?" he asked, beginning to walk away. Instinctively, you began following him.

You shrugged, "I don't know. Haven't thought that far ahead."

"Oh?"

"I have some money saved while I settle in and find a job."

"That's good," he nodded.

"Have you always wanted to run a joke shop?" you asked.

"Oh, yeah. Always," he said with a smile, "Me and my twin brother, George, have loved pranks since we were kids."

You raised an eyebrow, "Twin?"

"Identical - well, used to be. He has a missing ear now so no one ever mixes us up anymore. Sad, really."

You didn't have to ask how he lost the ear.

"Our younger brother, Ron, decided to join us too. Although I don't think it's a childhood dream of his."

"How many siblings do you have?"

"Six."

Your eyes widened, "Six?"

"Five brothers, one sister."

"Your poor sister."

"Well, she's not doing too bad for herself. She's just starting her quidditch career and she's dating none other than Harry Potter so," he shrugged.

"You know Harry Potter?"

He laughed, "Well, I went to school with him, so yeah. Although I suppose I am a bit closer than normal as Ron's his best mate and my sister's dating him. He actually helped fund the start of this very establishment."

"That's cool."

Fred beamed at you, "Wanna grab a coffee after my shift?"

***

"So, yeah, that's how I ended up losing my virginity to a no-maj," you finished off, sipping on your piccolo, "Poor guy doesn't know he lost his to a witch."

"How do you know it was his first time?" Fred chuckled, sat opposite you, having been intently listening to the story.

"Because he started crying afterwards saying how God was never gonna forgive him for not saving himself for marriage," you said through stifled laughter.

By this point, Fred was practically cackling.

"Honestly, I took it as a compliment. I'm sexy enough to get a guy to suspend his beliefs for a couple hours."

"Not surprised about that," he gave the slightest of smirks to you.

You stopped laughing, suddenly feeling flushed and embarrassed.

"You told a guy you just met how you lost your virginity and only now you get shy?"

You scoffed, "I didn't realise there were rules around when I'm allowed to get shy."

Fred shrugged, "There should be- by that I mean, you should have to do it more. You're cute when you're shy."

You couldn't help your lips from stretching into a grin.

"Oh, shit, is that the time?"

"What?"

"I agreed to meet some of my brothers and friends for drinks at the Leaky Cauldron."

"Oh-"

"Wanna come?" he quickly asked.

You frowned, "I don't wanna intrude."

"Don't be silly, I grew up on a 'the more, the merrier' policy."

"Well, if you're sure- fuck it."

***

"Fred, there you are!" a voice rang out from the bar, where a group of guys were gathered.

"Where you been, mate?" a man identical to Fred (save for a missing ear) said.

"If you'd been at the shop today, you'd know."

George, the name you remembered from Fred's many stories, laughed, "I'm just teasing. Ron told me," he nodded his head towards one of the other ginger men in the group. That was when he turned to look at you. "So, you're the mysterious lady Freddie disappeared off with."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Y/N."

"Ooh, accent!" the man who had initially called out to you both said.

"Alright, alright. Y/N, that's Lee there, this is my twin, George- obviously. Over there is Ron, Wood, and one of my older brothers, Bill."

They all greeted you.

"So, where in America you from?" Bill asked.

***

Some way, some how, many firewhiskeys later you found yourself laughing your ass off with a bunch of guys you had only met a few hours ago. You were drunker than the rest of them, that was for sure, as despite US drinking laws not having stopped you from drinking to drunkenness before, they still meant you had had less opportunity to do so. Thus, your tolerance wasn't good.

At some point during the evening, your group had migrated from the bar to a larger table in the corner, where you sat with Fred's arm around you.

"Oh, come on, Ron, you have to admit it's a little ironic that your girlfriend is on her way to be the next Minister of Magic meanwhile you run a joke shop," George said through wheezes.

Ron's expression suddenly went solemn, "How could you say that to me?"

Everyone went silent for a few moments, until Ron erupted in laughter again with everyone else swiftly following. You found it even funnier that the jokes weren't actually funny anymore: you all were just plastered.

As the laughter died down again, you turned to Fred at your side, "I like your friends."

"Better not like 'em more than me," he said, "I know it's only been a day but I'd like to think I've already called dibs on you."

"Called dibs on me?"

"Yeah, well, dibs on being the first British guy you date."

You grinned, "That's up to you to make it happen, London boy."

"I'm not even from London," he retorted.

"Eh, tomato, tomato."

***

How things ended up well past midnight with you stumbling down Diagon Alley, a red headed man helping support your weight, and an unhealthy amount of alcohol in your system - you didn't know. All you knew is that you had learned so much about the man in the last several hours that you felt very comfortable with him.

"Okay, love, is this your flat?"

"Yeah, that's the one," you slurred, moving towards the stairs that led up the side.

"Woah, hold up there, pretty girl," he said, quickly aiding you so you didn't trip and break your face, "You shoulda told us you were a lightweight. We wouldn'ta ordered you so many."

You grumbled, but didn't say anything in response, instead fumbling around in your pockets for your keys.

"Fred, I can't find them," you whined.

He pulled out his wand, "Alohamora." The door clicked open. "I see you haven't put an anti-unlocking charm on your flat yet."

"I literally just moved in."

"I feel like it's a first priority."

You didn't reply, instead tumbling forward into your new small home. Again, Fred steadied your weight, chuckling to himself in the process.

"You need to get to bed."

After helping you get your shoes off, Fred walked you to your bedroom and watched in amusement as you collapsed on to the mattress.

"You all good from here, sweetheart?"

You hummed softly, "Thank you, Freddie."

"Yeah, yeah," he said, "If you're not too hungover, stop by the shop tomorrow. I can set you up with a job."

"Really?"

"Of course. I have a sneaky feeling you're gonna be in my life for a while."

You giggled, "Me too."

"Alright, I'll see you. Take care."

"You too-" you yawned, "-Freddie."

***

It was mid-afternoon by the time you made it to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, still nursing a hangover but feeling better after a long shower, a painkilling potion and a big glass of a fizzy non-alcoholic drink.

"Oh, good, you're here," Fred opened the door, seeing as the shop was in fact shut. They functioned on weekend days of Monday and Tuesday since Saturday and Sunday were prime business days. (Apart from in the lead up to school starting again, as George explained in detail to you the night prior how they couldn't miss out on any day of the week when Diagon Alley was swarmed with kids.)

"You seem perkier than me," you grumbled, entering the unusually quiet store.

"I didn't get nearly as drunk as you," he reminded, walking towards the back room, "Anyway, I assume you're here for the job?"

You nodded, "That... and to see you."

He gave you a soft smile at that, "You're always welcome."

"You literally met me yesterday."

"What? Were you too drunk to remember what I said last night?"

You suppressed a smile, "No."

"Then you know. Call it divine intuition if you will but you're gonna be around for a while."

"I certainly don't plan on leaving," you replied, following him into the office area.

"Well, let's set you up for a job here then."

"It's really nice of you to do this."

He winked at you, "I don't do favours for free."

"What do you want in return?" you narrowed your eyes at him.

"Another date."

You grinned, "I think I could agree to those terms."

***

Not even a week later, you and Fred were walking down Diagon Alley, ready to go out for lunch for your second date. An hour ago, the sun had been shining brightly in the sky, warming your exposed skin. Now, the shimmery blues had been veiled by a thick layer of dark grey clouds, casting a shadow over the bustling street. You heard Fred, a normally cheerfully optimistic man (as you had quickly learned), let out a sigh.

"Looks like the forecast has taken a turn," just as he finished his sentence, droplets began cascading down from above, growing in intensity by the second.

You couldn't help but giggle slightly.

"Doesn't this bother you?"

You laughed harder, "No. I like it."

Fred smiled at you, "Really? A rainy date?"

You shrugged, "Don't threaten me with a good time."

"Well, okay, then."

He held out his hand to you, and you took it, letting him twirl you around before you both continued walking in the direction of the café he had in mind.

"Your smile is so pretty," he commented after some moments of delicate silence.

You couldn't help but beam at his words, "Really?"

He hummed, "I could look at it for the rest of my life."

In your chest, your heart was performing somersaults like a circus acrobat, and it was making you feel giddy. This was the most alive you had ever felt and you never wanted to let it go.

"Do it then," you replied, "Nothing's stopping you."

He stopped in his tracks, forcing you to halt as well since your hand remained interlocked with his.

"What?" you asked, looking back at him from your position one step forward.

"Can I?" he spoke with a soft gaze, the usual mischievous glint absent.

"Can you what?"

"Look at your smile forever?"

You shrugged limply, "If you can make me smile forever, sure."

"Can I say something crazy?"

"I would expect nothing less from you."

"I kinda want to marry you."

"Kinda?" you raised an eyebrow, feeling the swarm of butterflies spinning in your stomach but remaining calm and collected on the outside.

"I know we only met a week ago, but what would you say if I asked?"

"Guess you'll have to learn the hard way," you gave him a cheeky grin.

"Okay," he said, and it was only then you realised that the rain had caused the street to clear out of most people. Your eyes widened as he got down on one knee, still holding your hand. Suddenly, you could no longer feel your wet hair clinging to your face, nor your damp clothes sticking to your skin. Not because they had dried, but because all your focus was elsewhere.

You were pretty sure you had forgotten how to breathe.

"Y/N, in the short time I've known you, which is admittedly very short, I have had so much fun," he began, "And as I said right at the beginning, I have a feeling that you're gonna be around a while, it's why I even came over to talk to you the first time you entered my shop- I felt drawn to you. And, well, I'm known for my impulsive decisions, but they've all worked out so far, so, I have no reason not to act on this one too," he took a deep breath, "I don't have a ring right now, but will you marry me?"

You stood, stunned. You hadn't thought he would actually propose to you.

"Don't feel pressured to say yes," he quickly added, making you snap out of your daze.

You shook your head, "Yes- I'll marry you, Freddie."

The man's face lit up as he zoomed to his feet and picked you up, spinning you around as your lips touched each other's for the first time. You couldn't believe it: Fred Weasley was now your fiancé, when he was never even your boyfriend.

"Now, what say we go get some food to celebrate?" he asked.

"Sounds good to me."

***

THREE YEARS LATER.

***

"I now pronounce you husband and wife," the officiator called out, "You may kiss the bride."

You watched from the crowd as Ron pressed his lips to Hermione's, joining the rest of the audience with the applauding.

"This is a lot grander than our wedding," Fred leaned down to whisper in your ear.

You laughed gently, "Ours was a much more last minute affair, Freddie."

"Mm, how long was our engagement again?"

"Three weeks," you reminded, "The courting only lasted a week too."

"What can I say? I'm a man who knows what I want."

You shook your head with a smile, picking up the applause again as Hermione and Ron began posing for photos from the photographer.

"Oh, they're calling us up now," Fred said, grabbing your hand and pulling you up to the altar with him. All of the Weasley siblings and their partners were also en route to where the newly weds were.

As you took your position in the photograph with Fred's arm wrapped around you, he leaned down to whisper in your ear yet again.

"Can I just say, my love, you look absolutely gorgeous- as always."

Your bright smile was one of the most genuine in the photograph, as Hermione later commented, and in response to that Fred had immediately taken a copy for your own house.

"What?" he had said when you raised an eyebrow at him, "I told you, I want to stare at your smile forever."

You chuckled.

"And you said I can, provided I make you smile."

You hummed, recalling the conversation that led up to his impromptu proposal fondly.

"And correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm the one that made you smile in this photo."

Unable to argue with him, you gazed at the moving photograph of Fred turning his head away from your ear to smile at the camera. It hadn't quite captured the moment in which he complimented your looks, but it didn't need to, as you knew that you would never forget the context for the image.

Not when your smile really did shine so brightly in it.

—————————————————

masterlist

written; 19/04/2023 —> 31/05/2023 published; 31/05/2023 edited; —/—/——

taglist ; @workinatdapyramid @iluvweasleys​

[archaeren]

how did you get into game writing and VNs and such?? i did one freelance job a while back and loved it but since then its been so hard to get into the industry…. i keep getting rejected despite having writing experience/publication in other areas 😭

(omg I didn't realize I have a bunch of messages in my inbox oops) Unfortunately, my game industry work that pays the bills is mostly as QA director, for which we are contracted by other studios. I do writing for our own studio, but I tend to not pursue contract work for writing because I don't want the creative pressure. (Though I was spontaneously offered work on that by another studio recently, so who knows, maybe I'll cave XD) But I will tell you what I tell people who ask me how to get into the games industry. Sorry if you already know some of this, I can't tell from your profile how much experience you already have in the industry! >.< 1. Build a portfolio of game work. You can do this by participating in game jams, itch.io has tons of them running all the time. If you can find in-person game jams (such as the Global Game Jam), even better! They'll help you build connections. If you can show you have strong skills in branching narrative, that's a massive plus. (yeeeeah, this involves basically doing a lot of unpaid work in your free time. but hey, nobody else is getting paid for it either! game dev notoriously pays like shit anyway. XDDD as the joke goes, if we wanted to make money, we'd work in software dev.) 2. Go to where the game developers are. In person. I can't stress this enough. If you want work in the games industry, the best/easiest/quickest way to do it is to meet devs in person. Some people may argue this is not necessary and that you can find work online--in my opinion, those people are either very lucky or very hopeful. You can maybe find some work by hanging out in game dev spaces online, but from personal experience, every client our studio has EVER HAD was either someone we met in person or someone we were introduced to through someone we met in person. Every single one. Here's a list of ideas of places to meet developers: - IGDA meetups, see if there's a chapter in your area. (Or if there isn't and you have the time and ambition, maybe you could start one!) - Local non-IGDA dev groups, you can sometimes find these through Meetup or Facebook - If there are colleges in your area that offer game dev degrees, you could try asking their professors if they know of any local events - See if there are any local game studios in your area that would be able to point you toward the community. Game dev studios aren't just in big cities!! It's not necessarily comprehensive, but you can check out https://gamecompanies.com/map - Game conventions/expos such as PAX - Game developer conferences/events, such as GDC or language/engine-specific conferences such as PyCon (GDC is WAY more worth it than PAX, but extremely expensive. I don't advise going to either until you have a solid game plan of what you're looking for there. There are also organizations that are willing to sponsor people with less means and underrepresented perspectives to attend GDC, so make sure to investigate that!) (And if you do go to a major event like PAX or GDC, make sure to google the afterparties list) And final protip for attending any sort of in-person event: We don't use the word 'networking'. It is a cursed word. We are not networking. We're meeting new friends and like-minded creators. <3

[somedayonbroadway]

Hi! I've been watching WandaVision, and the next episode will be the last I think, so I was wondering if you could do a WandaVision AU?

Yeeeee this is such an old ask but I am rewatching the show because I love it so much.

Sorry for such a late reply, anon.

WandaVision AU

Jack Kelly as Wanda

David Jacobs as Vision

Racetrack Higgins as Ralph/Pietro

Crutchie Morris as Monica

Albert DaSilva as Jimmy Woo

JoJo as Darcy Lewis

Mike and Ike as Billy and Tommy

Joseph Pulitzer as Agatha

I absolutely love the idea of this AU. I debated for a very long time about who I wanted to make Wanda. It was between Jack and Race, as it often is, and I was leaning towards Race for a long time but I think Jack makes more sense in the part.

Jack would’ve grown up with his baby brother, Racer. The two of them lived in Sokovia when they were young, with their parents who were later killed by a missile while the kids were trapped in the debris for over two days, able to see what remained of their parents bodies. Unknown to them at the time, Jack was born with miraculous powers of a witch and is immensely powerful. When they were kids, Jack loved watching sitcoms to escape from the horrors of the world.

Jack grows fiercely protective of his brother after their parents are taken from them. The two of them grow up protesting against the industry that killed their parents until they are basically tricked into Hydra’s experiments of the Mind Stone. These experiments are painful to Jack, amplifying his magic that he was only acutely aware of. This mind stone also gives Race the power of speed and opens a psychic connection between Jack and Race so they can communicate without speaking, making them all that much closer and more dependent on each other. Of the hundreds of people taken into this experiment, Jack and Race are the only survivors.

When the head of that experiment asks the brothers to help fight against the avengers, Jack goes immediately to get revenge on who he deems responsible for his parents’ death. His role is planting nightmarish visions into the heads of his victims to lead to their downfall, whether that means weakening them and scaring them enough to attack or forcing them to kill themselves to end the nightmare. He then helps with the creation of Ultron, who he is lead to believe will bring lasting peace, however, among looking into the machine’s mind, Jack finds that Ultron is planning the extinction of humanity and convinces Race that they need to turn against him.

After seeking help from the avengers, specifically a very skilled archer by the name of Bryan Denton, a very scared and traumatized Jack fights back against Snyder, the man who forced experimental practices on him and his brother, and Ultron.

However, as Ultron is attacking Sokovia, and Jack is guarding what could be a machine of global destruction, Race, who is also taken under Denton’s wing, shields him from being shot while the man is trying to get a young child back to his mother. Race is shot six times and saves Denton’s life by sacrificing his own.

A physical pain takes over Jack when he senses the loss of his brother, who is really the only person he’s ever had. He is unable to breathe for a full minute before he goes after Ultron personally and manages to destroy him.

David, a version of technology that had been destroyed by Ultron and recovered, saves Jack’s life despite Jack walking back into the collapsing city to sit by his brother’s body.

Jack is invited to train with the avengers after this, despite the overwhelming grief and Davey grows closer and closer to him as he is learning how to be human and Jack is relearning how to live without a psychic connection with his brother.

Before long, Jack and David fall for each other and begin to live a life together, desperate to be a happy, normal couple, but as the fate of the world is threatened, are forced to come back and fight with the avengers.

However, Jack discovers that David’s soul is made of the very same stone that created Race’s powers and their psychic link and it is a stone that the world’s attacker is after.

Jack tries to remove us peacefully without hurting David, but as they run out of time, David assures him that he must take it and destroy it, which would surely kill him. After delaying as much as he could, Jack is forced to take the stone and crush it before the alien creature can get ahold of it. However, the time stone allows the alien to rewind time, kill David in front of Jack again, forcing Jack to watch his pain as he takes the stone and wins anyway.

Jack can only scream and hold the body of his love before he falls victim to The Blip and fades away to dust.

When Jack is brought back, Denton takes him in, knowing the kid had lost everything he’d ever had and known.

Then, one day, Jack wakes up in a life he’d always dreamed of, and can’t remember anything before. He is happily married with his husband, Davey and as far as he knows, that’s how it’s always been.

Jack had unknowingly released chaos magic and has painfully forced an entire society into playing roles in a real life sitcom. He tries to allow himself to be happy despite knowing that something is wrong. However, he is aware of his and his husband’s power.

After simply talking about having kids, Jack ends up pregnant, which is a complete shock to him, but doesn’t seem to surprise anyone else, other than David, as Jack shouldn’t be able to get pregnant. Yet after only a few days, he becomes fully pregnant, he gives birth to two identical twins, Michael and Isaac with the help of a neighbor named Charlie who walks with a limp and a cane. After delivering the babies, Charlie seems dazed and confused and asks Jack about Race dying at Ultron’s hand and David being killed in front of him twice, but to protect his new life, Jack telekinetically casts Charlie out of his carefully created world which Jack can recall only for a moment is the result of his own magical enslavement of the town.

After repairing his perfect home, Jack holds his sons and waits for David to come home. They only get to revel in the sight of their children for a short while before the children begin to rapidly age themselves up. Jack is amazed by this as Mike is revealed to have magic very similar to his own and Ike is a speedster just like Race. But as time continues and SWORD continues to try and disrupt Jack’s crafted reality, Jack exits his world to confront them, telling them that if they threaten his perfect world again, they will be sorry. Though Jack still isn’t aware of exactly how he created this world, he knows that everyone he needs is there and he won’t let anyone get in the way of that again.

He goes back home only to find David distraught as his husband has accidentally freed someone from Jack’s control and found that Jac is causing them immense pain. Jack starts explaining that he feels that same pain everyday and this is the only cure for that. Still David insists he stop, though he does tell Jack he loves him and he knows it will be hard.

Almost considering letting go, Jack is interrupted by a knock at the door, opening it to find none other than his baby brother waiting for him outside the door, looking happy and healthy and safe and Jack knows he can’t let that go.

Jack confides in Race, telling him he has no idea what he’s done. He can’t remember anything other than being alone, hurting and angry and all of the sudden, he was here where everyone he ever loved was.

Race comforts him, telling him that maybe it was a second chance.

But Jack can feel that something is wrong as David escapes the town to try and get help for the people, only resulting in starting to die. So Jack, feeling this, expands the boundaries of the town, retrapping Charlie and also getting Albert and JoJo.

Jack starts to lose control of the reality he created and Charlie tries to talk him down but Pulitzer, Jack’s next door neighbor who’d been his friend since beginning, takes him to his house where he reveals that he’s taken Mike and Ike and forces Jack to relive the moment where he took control of the town. The pain of reliving coming back and having no one brings Jack to his knees and he’s unable to lash out as Pulitzer reveals that Jack is the legendary Scarlet Witch, a reincarnation of a Witch that has been around since the beginning of time.

But as Pulitzer tells Jack he’s going to get rid of the kids because they’re not real, Jack fights back, feeling deep down that in some universe, those were his children.

While fighting, Pulitzer frees the town from Jack's hold, revealing to him that he’d accidentally trapped them inside their own grief and nightmares that they relived over and over again while playing their parts in his perfect world. Jack is horrified by this and loses control of his power again, nearly choking all the residents to death. He manages to stop himself and restore the town, letting the people go, but Davey and Race and Mike and Ike begin to disappear before his eyes. So he puts his hex back up in a desperate attempt to save his family.

As SWORD is able to rush into the town, Jack is able to take down Pulitzer by trapping him in his persona that he took in Jack’s dream. Charlie is able to talk Jack down and Jack is forced to say goodbye to his husband, brother and sons and promises Charlie to understand his powers.

Jack is distraught and seeks out the Darkhold that he begins to study.

However he begins to hear the screams of his two boys, Race and David and knows he can’t live without them…

Please please let me know if you wanna see anything written out from this AU!

For more mood boards and AUs, click here!

[theyungihven]

Truth Or Dare ⁉️

day 3 of the @underworldnet writing event

writing prompt : haunted

pairing : hongjoong as Dracula; Human? Reader

genre : mystery, fantasy, horror

word count : 2.1k+

warnings : mentions of blood, vampires and ghosts

synopsis : You and your friends dare to spend a night at the infamous Dracula's Castle but things go astray as one by one everyone goes missing and you come across the man rumoured to be Dracula.

"You gotta do this!" You hear your friends discuss in the secret hideout, which is the abandoned laboratory where you sometimes work on illegal stuff.

This scene takes place everyday with your friends going on about the news and rumours they heard and you getting busy with the prototype.

"Bro, I don't wanna die too early. First, fucking global warming, now this shit? Nah I'm out!" shouts Claire, your friend, as she bangs the old lunch table discarded in the room. You smile at her humour which strangely manages to entertain you.

"But they offered a reward of 250 grand, if we spend a night there and return alive." You listen keenly to Kevin who explains the plan before deciding to jump into their conversation. He's obviously got a strategy if he's pitching the idea, doesn't he? He has to!

"Alive? The fuck is going on there?" yells Claire in terror which laces her body as it shows itself in her tone; shivering and shrieking.

"Rumour says, it's Dracula, who was sleeping till last month." whispers Kevin loudly as if he intended you to hear on their spill the tea session, which featured news from all over the town. 

"Which shithead woke him up, for fuckssake?" huffs Claire, and pushes her chair back. You hear the screeching of the rusty metal and make a note to check their safety because you don't want anyone to break their bones falling off that thing.

"Someone from med school. They're on the missing list apparently." Kevin slurs his sentence as if he's making things up or masking up the important details. Cheeky little Bastard who's always up to something.

"And now, we're going there to feed him?" shrieks Claire, whose voice sounds like a scared five year old upon seeing a clown.

"No, obviously! To show whoever is hiding in there, that they cannot hide for long." Kevin's sentence catches your attention and you think whether to join them or wait and hear more. Of course, you choose the latter.

"So... we're going to expose them?" asks Claire excitedly as if in hopes of going on a ghost hunting mission. They are her time passing activities and the ghost files is her favourite show. "What if it's a cannibal or serial killer?"

"Can you speak positively for once, Claire?" 

"Sorry."

The conversation stills and you finally decide to interrupt as you pull your chair to their table. "So, what's the plan?"  You say, chewing the strawberry flavoured gum and reading the expressions on their faces.

"See who's finally decided to listen?" Kevin mocks you and you roll your eyes at his statement. 

"Does the area have connectivity? Comms? Anything?" You ask him, because he certainly has some information on this if he's even mentioning the topic. 

"Nope everything's dead. There's a strong magnetic field apparently..." He trails on his words, again and clicks his tongue.

"What in the stranger's things?" wonders Claire, with her mouth hanging open. 

"Shut up Claire!" exclaims or shouts Kevin, sending her a stern glare and she turns her head down with a frown on her lips.

"We gotta do it the pirate way." you say, leaning back on the chair and folding your arms.

"Pirates?" asks Claire, raising her eyebrow and leaning forward with enthusiasm.

"I forgot you had pirate blood for a minute." adds Kevin and Claire acknowledges the fact with ahh. 

"So, if we don't have comms, drones and walkies aren't gonna work. We gotta get flares and some type of marker to make a path for entry and exits." You say looking at the table and your friends exchange looks.

"A blueprint of the place!" exclaims Claire as if she figured out the answers to one of the world's unsolvable riddles.

"It's not your fucking aunts house!" says Kevin loudly, giving Claire the 'I'll murder you' eyes.

"Yeah he's right. But the villa is not that big to get lost." You mumble, moving forward and setting your arms on the table.

"How do you know that?" Kevin gives you the skeptic look as if you're a notorious criminal with disgusting crimes.

"It was once our family property, that was a long time tho. Some feud happened and we lost it." You confess and their faces have the funniest expression you've ever seen. Confused, surprised and wtf?

"You have a map?" yells Kevin, in your ear and you retort a meters away, squeezing your eyes close  due to the pain.

"Kinda, it's a tracing, rather than a map." you say, rubbing your ear and a flicker of hope lights up on Kevin's face. 

"Atleast, we have something." mumbles Claire as she shares a smile.

"At my house, at 7, we'll discuss stuff there. That's it for now." 

"Listen, the Manor has two exits." You explain, spreading out the old 1d tracing of the Manor and its illustrations.

"Didn't you say it was a villa?" says Claire, setting her hands on her waist as she stares at the floor plan.

"Can we kick her out?" suggests Kevin and the idea doesn't sound bad considering her level headed ass. 

"It's dangerously close to Yes, but what if I get bored? We'll need her." You trail, spreading out the second floor plan of the Manor.

"Fair. Just shut your mouth and listen. No speaking over someone." says Kevin and shushes Claire who pouts, giving him the puppy eyes.

"Okay so the first exit is at the front, obviously for the people and the second is at the back for the goods." You say with your finger tracing the main gate of the Manor and then the back gate. 

"Ohhhhhh!" coos Claire, and Kevin giggles at her reaction.

"Yeah. Shut your mouth before a fly lands in there. Anyways, moving on!" You say, thinking about your next sentence and Claire slaps her hand to her mouth. 

"Are we dividing up and going from two exits?" asks Kevin, and you look up at him, eyes diverting themselves from the map and landing on his face.

"Yes, you read my mind. You two will go from the front door to distract whatever is in there and I'll go with someone else from the back." 

"Is this someone else, late to the meeting?" 

"Hey there!" A voice says and it is followed by the garage door smashing open with a thud, "Sorry I had soccer practice." Yunho, your arch nemesis on friendly terms, says and shares an awkward smile.

"This is my enfj cousin, yunho." You introduce him and drag him by his arm to make his tall ass body stand next to yours.

"Hello, very nice to meet you." He waves at your friends with a bright smile and Claire gives him heart eyes at which you cringe. 

"You both are polar opposites!" Kevin comments and you feel heating rising on your cheeks.

"We get that a lot!" You and Yunho say at the same time only to meet each other's eyes the next second and shy away. 

"What did I miss?" says Yunho after clearing his throat as he glances in your direction. His golden blond hair falls over eyes and you observe the way his gaze flickers from your face and back to map.

"Whatever I said to you, last night." You say, finding something to stare at besides his brooding figure.

"Okay then, I'm saved I guess!" says Yunho as he nervously chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck.

"The next phase of the plan is when I signal you, we move to the first floor. The highest is the second floor which has a library in the attic." You say and it excites something in Yunho judging by the creepy smirk on his lips.

"Attics scare me!" whispers Claire, her voice shrieking with fear of the darkness.

"What doesn't scare you Claire?" says Kevin in a monotone as he turns his head in her direction.

"Him!" says Claire and points in Yunho direction at which you can't help but sigh.

"Flirt somewhere else, lovebirds. We got shit to do." You say, rolling your eyes then go back to thinking about what to say next.

"How are you going to communicate?" asks Yunho, giving you his starry puppy eyes and you can't help but gulp nervously. What are you even trying to do?

"Well, I have a perfect device for that." You say, distracting yourself from the tall and beautiful distraction beside you with a bright ass smile.

"Where?" says Claire as if she's looking for something and fails to find it.

"Our friendship bracelets. They work with a higher bandwidth of 7GHz." You say, pointing at the bracelet on Claire's wrist.

"7g WiFi?" exclaims Claire and you hear an audible sigh from Kevin, at which Yunho giggles and earns a glare.

"Yeah kinda like that.....i guess."

"Yunho doesn't have one, though?" Someone asks while your mind pulls you in a trance and you start to zone out.

"He does." You say, almost mumbles as you start to slip into the fever dream.

"He DOES?" and, They yell. 

AT THE MANOR

"You know what to do. On the signal, disperse. It's two taps, distinct and repeating 3 times. If anything goes down, the distress signal is continuous tapping. Light the flare ONLY if its a fucking emergency, and if we need to abort the mission." You yell as low as possible while they listen to you attentively. 

"Yes sir!" Everyone shouts, tightening the strap of their backpack of supplies.

"Remember to mark your way up to the second floor. People get lost there." You say and everyone exchanges confused looks. "It's a spell." You remind them and they nod their heads. "Now, go. Meet you at the library!" 

According to the plan, you and Yunho go through the back gate while Claire and Kevin from the front gate. The sound of the rusted iron screeching when Kevin apparently pushes the gate echoes around the Manor and you curse under your breath. 

The way up to the first floor had been easy, then after the signal from the other team gave clearance, you decided to head to the second floor alone bidding Yunho a goodbye. It had been strange for a while, walking down the eerie, empty hallway with the feeling of something watching you the whole time. 

You stand in the middle of the never ending hallway, a ghostly whisper greets your ear and sends shivers down your spine. What in the fucking hell?? There's a ghostly touch on your arm, ice cold as it traces its finger down your warm skin. When you turn to face the monster, there's no one behind you. Then you feel it, a looming shadow over your shoulder but when you turn again, it's gone. 

So, you walk on because standing still is more dangerous. You choose to run when you sight an pale face in the middle of the corridor grinning wildly at you which sends terror down your body and you feel your whole being shake. Your heart beats at an amazing speed as your breath shortens, adrenaline running through your body which initiates the flight mechanism because there is no way you're dealing with that demonic thing in this haunted mansion. 

"I've been searching for you for so long." A voice echoes in the hallway or is it your brain playing tricks on you. Luckily you find the stairway leading to the second floor and run towards it but things take a turn when you realise, it is a trap. "I thought you were a smart girl." The sinister voice echoes in your mind again as you walk away from the door that shut itself only to bump into something hard. Turning around you come to see the very pale face you had seen in the hallway but very clearly now. 

The man stands in front of you in his full glory, the navy uniform and wounds from the battle still decorating his lifeless body. "You traitor!" You feel a sharp pain in your chest and you look down to see a dagger pressed to your heart. "You'll repay for what we've shed that night, you demonic blood drinking creature."

[bizarrequazar]

03-31 (CST) ZSJ Songs, Golden Shield, and Hewitt Space Notes

This was a space held to go over recent events, ie. the song releases, the incident with Golden Shield, Hewitt, and some recent minor attacks on Gong Jun. [Recording]

Quick Plug: Harry is organizing a video of well wishes for Zhang Zhehan for his birthday, please consider joining in! [info]

Song Releases

Three of the songs that have been released were known about by October 2021 and were likely written for the concert Zhang Zhehan was planning before 813. The other three are believed to be from the Zhang Sanjian period, in which case they are likely made using deepfake tech. 

This month the YoYoRock YouTube channel was made to take down Zhang Zhehan’s old songs that had been released from Xinxi.

Radio stations that played the ZSJ songs introduced Zhang Zhehan generally as someone who had been blacklisted in China and is trying to make a comeback. Some of the stations have also been posting about the songs on their websites.

No interview has been played by any of the radio stations, anything you see of people referring to one is only short old soundbites.

Since the point where iTunes shut them down for artificially manipulating engagement, the ZSJ team seems to have given up on that aim and are now focusing on YouTube and KK Box (Taiwanese streaming service). 

For one week on KK Box they put the distributer as someone else, which was tracked to a friend of Xie Yihua’s who has ties to CAPA. The address of this distributor was found and is actually the friend’s residential address on the outskirts of Taipei.

Videos of Surround on YouTube were attributed to a UK company named Kitahara for a long time. In February this was removed. QuelleVous looked into it and found that the song had been relinquished by Kitahara after YouTube(? sorry I think I missed something here) discovered that they were not the rights holders.

Whalers have been saying the new songs are released by Shanghai Ranyi music, supposedly associated with Zhang Mama. One of the social media accounts for this used to belong to Xie Yihua, and YoYoRock is the distributor still getting claims for the songs on YouTube.

Fan uploads of Zhang Zhehan’s old songs are still up on YouTube, YoYoRock specifically has been barred from posting them. Whoever is the owner of the songs claimed them back and removed YoYoRock’s rights; it’s likely this was Zhang Zhehan or someone closely related to him, since there is no logical monetary incentive for Xinxi to request their removal.

One of the radio stations was Fairchild, located in Canada. A voice clip passed around social media had the Fairchild logo. A fan later clairifed was an edit she had made with voice clips from 2020. [thread about this]

Blue contacted Fairchild’s promotions director about the voice clip. They said there had been a misunderstanding, they never included the clip in their promotions; their own promotions were a news article and a spoken blurb by a radio host, not Zhang Zhehan. 

Blue was also told that this blurb was provided by Global Hits, an associate of Chinese radio stations that heads Hits FM, which has also been promoting the songs, as well as other stations that have been promoting them.

The promotions director had no knowledge about the Zhang Zhehan voice clip, was very shocked, and said she was going to pass it on to Global Hits and another station that had played the songs. 

Fairchild said that they never spoke with Zhang Zhehan or his team, only the radio association.

It’s been found that at least some of the overseas billboards have not been up for as long as was claimed.

Golden Shield and Li Xuezheng

A reminder that all Golden Shield social media accounts were for Qingdao Golden Shield. Many Golden Shields exist that have no connections to each other. Peng Lihu is a shareholder in Qingdao Golden Shield. (Previous info about this: [1] [2])

Qingdao Golden Shield was contracted for the marketing for Roving Inspection Team; Li Xuezheng used to work for Golden Shield Television.

The Cloud Institute account appeared last year after Li Xuezheng was muted, registered to Peng Lihu’s company and definitely run by Peng Lihu.

Cloud Institute posted a spiel claiming to be exposing an official in the government’s propaganda department, supposedly from Li Xuezheng.

The Golden Shield Television website posted the same notice shortly after. It was previously believed this website was legitimately related to Li Xuezheng and it possibly used to belong to Golden Shield Publishing. 

The IP address for the site at the point when this notice was posted was located in Hong Kong and owned by a Tencent subsidiary in Singapore, it makes no sense for that to be the case for a site still being run by Golden Shield Publishing since they are domestically oriented.

Hong Kong IP addresses target foreign audiences more than mainland Chinese, as being hosted outside of mainland China makes it take longer to load. Chinese fans who tried to load the website had to wait a really long time due to this. 

The website was also unsecured.

When Li Xuezheng was muted in January 2021, this website posted a notice from him. At that time, no one reported the site as being unusually slow (as far as anyone in the space could remember, at least).

The person who signed up for the website’s hosting site is not part of Golden Shield Publishing, but another Golden Shield.

On the same day of the notice, shortly after, Li Xuezheng’s Baidu page was removed. It’s believed Li Xuezheng removed it himself to avoid malicious edits being made to it. The Roving Inspection Team Baidu was edited to remove Li Xuezheng’s name, with this being done by the same editor who had edited Xie Yihua’s page during 813.

Li Xuezheng and the official’s Chinese Wikipedia pages were edited to include the incident. An editor from Hong Kong who was not registered as a Wikipedia editor initially added very basic facts, then very shortly after a high level editor came in to edit it properly and included Epoch Times as a source (along with several other uncredible “sources”.)

These tactics are aimed at overseas audiences, and are seemingly trying to turn it into an international anti-China incident.

Keep in mind that CAPA hires journalists and have shown that they are very good at manufacturing narratives using news media.

Since the day after the incident, Golden Shield Publishing has released legal notices. The first was that Golden Shield Television had been dissolved and they would sue anyone attempting to speak as them. Peng Lihu quickly changed the Weibo accounts to include Qingdao, removed the Golden Shield trademark from their pfps, and the website was taken down.

Peng Lihu was muted by the CAC for six months across platforms.

Peng Lihu’s boss recently bought a mansion despite the fact that she was in a financial dispute until early this year.

Most if not all of the social media claiming to be Golden Shield are not and have not been legitimately associated with them.

Fake screenshots of Li Xuezheng’s WeChat friend circle posts have been passed around by whalers. The person who initially posted these participated in the slander during 813 on the same account and has still not taken those posts down.

There was recently a notice put up by an industry association saying they were kicking Li Xuezheng out. This is on the same authority level as CAPA (aka none.) Articles about Li Xuezheng on government websites have not been affected in any way.

It seems like this was possibly an attempt at something like 813, indicating that something is likely happening in the background. The “Righteous Passerby” accounts are also trying to encourage some of the fan behaviours associated with 813 and 1123. Tags have been made and quickly nuked, and it’s likely they attempted to buy hotsearches but were thankfully stopped by someone.

Hewitt

QuelleVous found an account through other people in the scam gang full of foot pics trying to claim to be Zhang Zhehan.

Another account, Hewitt, was also posting many of the same photos at the same time.

The account claiming to be Zhang Zhehan was using a pfp photo of the fake dad from the fake girlfriend slander—Hewitt and fake dad are not the same person.

The feet pics match up with the feet photo posted by the Instagram from the driving range (aka Hewitt is the Zhang Sanjian body double Sophie banged in the changeroom.)

A number of his photos were taken in the same pre-furnished apartment complex Zhang Zhehan used to rent from, with this room used for some of the fake Lufei photos. Items on the coffee table were the same in photos between accounts.

Hewitt was very quick to deregister his accounts after QuelleVous revealed him.

He travels between Shanghai and Shenzhen fairly often.

His surname is Chen, it’s not known if he’s related to the other Chens.

He has other social media accounts that have not been revealed yet, if he behaves himself they will not be.

Gong Jun and the Elie Saab suit

The Vogue vlog not only happening but also being edited and posted within the same day shows that they really like him.

After Gong Jun attended Weibo Night, there were anti attacks on brand posts of his Elie Saab suit.

Elie Saab recently started making men’s haute couture and Gong Jun possibly the first man to wear a custom piece by them. Some people have been trying to question whether it’s actually haute couture (fashion expert QuelleVous assures that it is.)

Some people were trying to claim it was not fully custom made but was remade from a women’s outfit, which doesn’t really make sense given he’s definitely bigger than most women.

The suit was the highest designation of Elie Saab’s custom clothing, which would have taken three fittings and was made by people from their Parisian atelier.

QuelleVous suspects the fighting is possibly orchestrated by Weibo to increase engagement. She advises not to engage with it, brands don’t like it.

You have to be invited to wear haute couture, you can’t just go and request it.

[chim-chim1310]

Have you seen the new jk ck ad and to which jkkrs are using the rhetoric that he is gay and doing this as a rebellion to scooter braun's made up persona of het global star in seven and I'm here be seeing these same ppl say that tae wearing these type of queer in his first solo release is not a big deal bc he's proven straight and dates jn ( I don't doubt but he's not even given the benefit of bi/pan ) but just bc jk acts like this in a contractual ad that has no personal thoughts or ideas (and as a queer person, I see what they're trying to do bc they've done this type of thing for other make stars like HS) and for his first release he still went with the het agenda just for his global superstar male and deleted his thirst trap for his boyfriend just last week for this same agenda (again the theory of these jkkrs) but this week his back to his rebellion era which make me think if he has some type personality splits but whatever..

What really makes me angry is jm is seen as some panicked/ashamed gay by these shippers just bc he stopped giving moments to their ship and this guy as some rebel just because of his pandering to these shippers but when you see that jm released art work that can be seen by many with many sexual and gender queer references without involving other ppl is what a rebellion queer is but I have yet to see other members especially jk in this case to do something mild to even allude that they're in the queer side like all these ppl have are magazine/ads and jm with them to mostly make them gay but jm is seen queer even without mentioning these ppl, which makes me think of why I never see jkkrs discuss jm's solo queer moments to argue he's queer but always insisting jk's gay (& don't get me wrong bc he can be gay/bi/pan or even get but these ppl's dumb reasons are just really stupid) once every two weeks that it now seems like they're just manifesting it to happen but yeah and I'm sorry this ask is all over the place like I just don't understand this panicked gay jm when that barked for usher in a live for millions of fans..

Jungkook is literally doing his job. Like what's so hard to understand for these people. The ad requires a certain kind of look and he's going for it. He's not the one who plans it. And he had the chance to express his sexuality in his art and he portrayed himself as straight. So there's no point in arguing.

Even if anyone else was gay in the group they wouldn't have enough guts to do what jimin did.

What jimin has been doing in his art need some solid guts. People don't talk enough about how brave jimin is to express himself in a homophobic country especially when his career is on line.

I don't know about jk. But I'm sure other members are straight. And i believe yoongi is queer. But still he didn't have enough guts to express himself. I'm not saying they have to. They don't have to because it's a homophobic country and it can jeopardize their career. But we should acknowledge and praise how brave jimin is for doing something like this.

Jikookers love to make jimin some damsel in distress who needs jungkook to help him(I swear it makes me so mad) and they think jungkook is some rebel. But what's exactly his rebellion? Coming live at ass o clock at night. You call this rebellion? Oh he came live without company's permission. How brave. He's rebelling against the company to protect jimin when there's literally zero connection to jimin.

And for clothes. It always makes me laugh. How can wearing a certain type of clothes make you gay? That's just stereotypical. Men can't always wear boring suits. What's the point of fashion if it's not changing?

They were even calling taehyung gay because of his clothes in the mv. Dumb people.

But what can we do? They're always gonna think what they wanna think. No matter how dumb and stereotypical they sound. They don't care.

[ask-fivepebbles]

[PRIVATE BROADCAST] - Five Pebbles, Seven Red Suns

SRS: Hah, listen to yourself. I never could've imagined the Five Pebbles I knew looking up to a supposed "lesser being." It was always obvious that our creators hurt you. I, like the rest, assumed you simply took their betrayal the hardest. It's frankly terrifying to think that they'd do so much to their "prized saviors."

SRS: And yes, I would love nothing more than to get off this damn chord, travel alongside my little Spearmaster, and see your city.

SRS: It's a relief, no longer being bound to that problem. I truly cannot see a way past ascension that lacks the preliminary requirements of bypassing the self destruction taboo. And I believe the global iterator populace is high past ready to relieved of such a duty. I've been discussing things with some of our old Sliverist colleagues, and I think we've all reached similar conclusions.

SRS: And it's not just the sudden return of Sliver of Straws or the truth of your existence that lead to my conclusion. Seeing my messenger hurt, not knowing if they'd make it home. It gave me a new appreciation for life. Due to the nature of the cycle, it was inevitable that they would find their way to me, should they put their mind to it. But, with the temporary lockdown and the inability to monitor the situation, I was so terrified that they might take the Old Path. And, I suppose with that train of thought, I began to realize that it wasn't truly ascension that I was after. I simply wanted an escape from the slowly decaying purgatory that our parents shunted us to.

SRS: Which relates to a request I'd like to make. As you recall, every iterator structure contains passages leading directly to the Void Sea. Though it is rare, creatures do stumble down there, and some will even commit successful ascensions. And I perhaps feel some guilt towards directing more than a few down that path myself. Thus, when the time comes, I would like to seal the Old Paths, and it would bring me no greater joy than to do so alongside you.

FP: I lost my status as any sort of savior as soon as I agreed to be a test subject, or perhaps it was when they learned just how much I hated the Void Sea

FP: I'm hoping Sliver's message is actually seen by others, if anything we could probably share them to the Sliverist chats so they can know and perhaps share to others.

FP: I'd be honored to do that with you Suns, truly there is no need for all the passages, especially with them being unguarded. In my city, there was a large Void pool that connected to the Void Sea, but it always had at least someone watching over it and guarding it so no one did anything drastic. It mostly existed for me, especially before I became an iterator as I wasn't used to being out side of the sea all the time. Also, please let Spearmaster know I'm very sorry for injuring them, I know it isn't a proper apology but I plan on giving them a proper one when I see you two if they'll allow me

[kalisama]

I’m Back

 Hey all, 

Sorry I completely ghosted tumblr. I’m not dead, it’s just been a rough couple of years. Feel free to read on if you’re curious.

 I disappeared around the time our dog got cancer. He needed around the clock care for what we thought was going to be a period of recovery, but he continued to decline mentally until he just wasn’t with it anymore. My pets were my babies so that hit me pretty hard. Also found out I was pregnant a month before. There were some early complactions and I ended up on bed rest for a bit. Got carpel tunnel, ended up not being able to do much in the way of art for most of my pregnancy. And then we had a baby girl. And 2 months later the military moved us halfway across the country to a place with no housing available. 😅So we bought a house sight unseen. The day we moved in my dad called to tell me something was wrong with my mom. My mom was in and out of the emergency room multiple times in the following week before ending up in emergency surgery because she almost died, and my very beloved cat suddenly passed away that same week.  All of these things completely overshadowed the fact that I was struggling with PPD. I kept saying I’d be better when there wasn’t so much stress. But I wasn’t. My anxiety was out of control and I wasn’t getting any sleep. And let me tell you, severe anxiety and sleep deprivation is not how you want to enter a global pandemic...My husband got deployed somewhere in there, and things were crap for a long while. Then, when I finally started to feel better my dad unexpectedly passed away…

It’s been a year and a half now since he’s been gone. Most of that time feels like a void. A year and a half of trying to hold my family together while being the solo care giver for my toddler. My mom was not functional for months. I took my daughter and went to live with her in Wisconsin until we could get her back up on her feet. It wasn’t a planned trip. We literally left home the morning after my dad passed, and didn’t return until 5 months later. My family will never be the same, I think everyone of us has had some mental health struggles this past year, but things are slowly getting better. I can see them adapting, evolving around the black hole of grief. Moving forward. In February I decided it was time to start making space for myself again. I’m working my way back to finding those things that I loved before my life became a blur of depression and child raising. My dad loved to see me creating art, and in his last couple of months he would often mention that he was concerned that I had given up on the things that brought me joy. I’ve come to the realization that honoring him doesn’t just mean trying to take care of everyone else’s needs and leaving no time for my own. It’s been a slow process. I’m taking some online art courses and doing art in my free time. Last month my husband gifted me an iPad which has been a total game changer as far as being able to get some creative time in while taking care of our 3 year old.

I sincerely hope to have more art to share with you all in the coming months. I’ll try to remember to update here. I had completely forgotten tumblr existed. I’m generally more active on FB because that’s how I stay connected to family members.  My DA account is still open but not active. I don’t know if I want to return to posting there, but it will certainly remain the home for all my older work. 

[trainsinanime]

This is a nice video that may or may not tell you anything new, but I definitely recommend it if you’re into that sort of thing. However, there’s one problem, and that’s the comment section. That is always a problem on Youtube, of course, but in this case it’s very particular: It’s full of people “well actually”-ing the part about the Liège-Aachen-Cologne rail link, and they’re all wrong. Some very wrong, some are a little wrong, at least one person has invented a new rail line out of thin air.

So as a rail nerd who lives on this line, let me set the record straight. I’m going to do it once here instead of as a reply to every comment. Yes, that means the people who are wrong won’t see it, but this is really more therapy for me anyway.

Belgium has excellent rail connections to both France and the Netherlands: A direct high speed rail link each, where you can cross the border in trains going 300 km/h (240 mph). It’s not entirely flawless, ticket prices and service levels could be even better, and there’s the issue of AnsaldoBreda that still lingers on, but in a global context, still excellent and world-leading.

When it comes to Germany, Belgium has a high speed rail line from Liège, the HSL 3, that heads east and… stops right at the German border (to be precise: two kilometres from the border line).

Because that’s how Germany does things; that’s just the country we are. The biggest most important European rail link country in both north-south and east-west direction, and a major source and sink of international traffic in its own right, and the government just doesn’t care. For every single German border, I can name you at least one rail project where our neighbours are building better infrastructure or want to run better services, or are planning that or have done that recently, and the German side just drags its feet and doesn't care. Every single border. Yes, including Luxembourg. But that’s a whole other post, so, eh…

From the end of the HSL 3, trains to Cologne follow the old Aachen-Liège line, which is according to some sources the oldest international rail line in the world (definitely the oldest in Germany). There are some odd fun facts due to that, for example that trains from Belgium to Germany run through the oldest still existing German rail tunnel (there were earlier ones but they got replaced by new tunnels or cuttings), or that part of the line used to be cable hauled initially, so it’s still incredibly straight.

The important part is that this is just a conventional rail line. The line has been upgraded recently, but not to high speed standards, just to normal standards after it was in a very sorry state for decades. It now has 160 km/h top speed and is electrified at Belgian 3 kV DC (the tracks in Aachen central station can be switched). There are plans to rearrange what voltage gets used and switched to where in the future, which has implications for regional trains that nobody is dealing with yet, but it’s unclear when this will actually happen.

The line east from Aachen is very heavily used, by high speed, regional and local trains and by freight trains, mostly international ones to Belgium. Freight trains use a different line into Belgium, which starts at a different station in Aachen and is strictly freight-only, but if they’re coming from Cologne, which is frequent, then they’re also going to run through Aachen central station. 

(Fun fact: There are two active rail border crossings between Germany and Belgium, and one that is technically open but only used sometimes by a museum railroad at the moment. All of these border crossings are in Aachen.)

This line section has been officially declared as overloaded, which should in theory release some funds to start some plans to maybe increase capacity. There are a number of useful proposals at various stages, but the only thing currently under construction are some new passing tracks.

The line is fully grade separated (since very recently, 2020, when they replaced the last level crossing with a bridge! Woohoo!), but the first part is still a conventional line with conventional 160 km/h speed limits and some relatively tight turns with even lower limits, in particular one outside of Eschweiler. That is until we come to Düren, roughly halfway between Aachen and Cologne. If you’ve seen my Bördebahn post, you may remember Düren from that.

Between Düren and Cologne, the line has been upgraded. High-speed trains can run at 250 km/h (though I’ve heard some sources say that only ICEs reach that, and Thalys trains only reach 200 km/h). In addition, there are separate S-Bahn tracks for local services from there to Cologne. I’d advise against using them unless you have to because the seats are terrible. Regional and freight trains still share the same tracks as the high speed lines.

(For bonus points, there is actually a mining railway that runs parallel for a short section after Düren. It’s exclusively used to bring lignite from massive open-pit mines to power plants in the region. If you heard about "Ende Gelände”, protests against open-pit mining and lignite burning in Germany, e.g. from the Philosophy Tube video on violence, this is actually the area where this is all going down. I think this line may be what someone in those Youtube comments meant when they talked about “an extra bulk freight line that gets freight trains out of the way”. But that would be wrong; the line is not a public railway and is not compatible with normal electric freight trains. It’s functionally just a lignite conveyor belt that looks funny.)

So that’s the situation: Half of the line from the Belgian border to Cologne has been upgraded to high speed standards; specifically the half that is closer to Cologne. There are no dedicated high speed tracks anywhere on the German side; while parts have dedicated local tracks, the regional and freight trains are all still there, competing for very limited line capacity. Compared to the completely new lines on the Belgian sides, it’s really not much.

Service levels are also not great. Between the German ICEs (which run from Frankfurt via Cologne to Brussels) and the French-belgian-dutch Thalys (which run from Paris via Brussels to Cologne and these days further to Düsseldorf), there is just one high speed train per hour per direction. All of them are only 200 meter long units as well. This isn’t because of lack of demand; these trains are full and the Thalys, which requires advance booking, is frequently booked out days and even weeks in advance. And by the way, ticketing between ICE and Thalys is not integrated at all, for extra confusion and annoyance.

What does this tell us? Well… don’t be Germany, I guess, at least in the specific case of cross-border travel. The 160 km/h from the Belgian border to Aachen central is not great, but probably fine, since it’s only a small section. Beyond that, I would argue that the biggest problem of that section isn’t even the top speed, but the line capacity. Upgrading the line between Aachen and Düren to 250 km/h would sound great on paper and could probably cut travel times by 10 minutes on the entire line, down from 36 minutes in an ICE at the moment (regional trains take roughly an hour). But there isn’t really any room to run more high speed trains here, even though they are sorely needed, and plans to add another regional train line on the same tracks aren’t helping any.

I’ve read idea collections that propose building an entirely new line from Düren to the Belgian high speed line, bypassing Aachen central station entirely (Aachen would get a new stop somewhere to the south of the city). This would probably help a lot with travel times, and the capacity constraints between Düren and Cologne aren’t quite as severe as the ones around Aachen yet. But it would also be really expensive. It’s not an official plan, it’s just what someone wrote in a rail magazine as “this would be a good idea”, and I think it is going to remain that for several decades at least, but most likely forever.

So that’s the situation: The German extension of the eastern branch of the Belgian high speed rail network is a partially upgraded conventional line that is actually a bit quicker than people give it credit for, but manages to be both underserved and over capacity at the same time.

[novumtimes]

Victoria Bridge opens after two long years of construction London

Londoners frustrated with north-south travel in the city can rejoice, as the new Victoria Bridge has finally opened. The bridge, which runs over the south branch of the Thames River on Ridout Street, officially opened Thursday. Hundreds of Londoners attended the opening ceremony, which featured free snacks, music, and family activities. Gary Brown, who lives near the bridge, says he’ll miss the peace and quiet on Ridout Street, but recognized the bridge needed to be opened as soon as possible. “You have a small, quieter road like Wortley for people to spend time on and be out on, then you have a more car-orientated road like Ridout,” Brown said. “Driving through Wortley Village is not what we really want in this city. This is meant to be the thoroughfare for cars to this part of the community, and that’s fine, that’s the way it should be.” Story continues below advertisement The original bridge was built in 1926, connecting Old South to Downtown London. It’s estimated 12,000 vehicles a day use the bridge, along with countless pedestrians and cyclists. The email you need for the day’s top news stories from Canada and around the world. Work to replace the previous 96-year-old bridge began in the summer of 2022, and cost $22.8 million to build. The new design includes measures to make it more resistant to climate change, such as an elevated deck design and the removal of a centre pier. The new design includes measures to make it more resistant to climate change, such as an elevated deck design and the removal of a centre pier. Ben Harrietha/980 CFPL London Mayor Josh Morgan says the bridge is a critical connection between downtown and old south, and it’s a “monumental step forward in paving the way for a healthier, more connected community for all.” Trending Now A ‘living hell’: More disturbing allegations made as QMJHL hazing lawsuit filed Hurricane Beryl forces Canadian airlines to cancel flights. What to know “The ability to walk in and out of the downtown, to cycle, to use these active transportation options to come into the downtown, especially at this time of year,” Morgan said at the opening ceremony. Story continues below advertisement “Coming in and out of the downtown without having to take that long, convoluted way around, and I’m sorry for everybody who lives on the (south) side and has had to endure that.” The new bridge has a bike path on the east side of the bridge and a multi-use pathway on the west side. The multi-use path connects directly to the Thames Valley Parkway (TVP). Ward 11 Councillor Skylar Franke, who’s ward the bridge’s south end falls in, says residents are excited to start using the passage again. “(Residents) have found that people were using their sidestreets as cut-throughs, because Wellington street was under construction and Wharncliffe Road is always busy,” Franke said. “People are hoping that it alleviates some of the neighbourhood traffic. Plus, it’s a beautiful bridge.” As part of the project, the TVP north of the Thames River was widened, and tennis courts in Thames Park were reconstructed and will be open in the coming weeks. The city also plans to extend bike lanes from Horton Street to King Street to improve active transportation in and out of the core. &copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc. Source link via The Novum Times

[needlesthcd]

The Healing Center

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Dispensary

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