#The war destroyed her and it's understable

[onepiece-polls]

One Piece Shipping War - Grand Finale!

Propaganda under the cut.

Propaganda for Franky x Robin:

Do I really need to explain?

The old married couple who's healthy, Enies Lobby (and all their appearances) are their propaganda really.

It’s all about the maturity!

Their dynamic is perfect and their pasts are so similar. I love the chemistry between them as well as their introduction that helped build the connection and shared history they already have.

they are THE t4t bi4bi ship | franky telling robin "existing is not a crime" immediately puts this at number one for me | they are opposites (bright and loud + quiet and goth) but also they're both so eccentric and silly <3 | THEY WEAR MATCHING OUTFITS

Mom and dad Straw Hat

They are STILL the Mom and the Dad of the Straw Hats, this is the one thing I don't care what Oda says <3 Also their interactions in Enies Lobby and Thriller Bark are amazing.

In my eyes, they are married. Some of my favorite character interactions in the manga/anime and in official art.

Oda had Franky call Robin his wife at least once

Your honor they’re married

I'M GOING TO PUT LINKS IN MY EXAMPLES (Mod note: I linked to the whole post, the propaganda was going to get too long otherwise. But I will copy this line:...) They immediatly clicked in Enies Lobby, Franky saved Robin with both words and actions ("Your existence is not a sin!"), and then she grabbed his balls.

The duality of two kids who were just trying to chase their dream and having circumstances outside their control (the government) take everything they love away from them, but one choosing solitude and the other adopting every other person in a bad circumstance??? I love them. Plus they literally had couple moments from the first interaction.

The ultimate t4t couple idk what else you need theyre iconic

A wholesome ship of a woman who feels the need to be constantly on edge trying to relax and a man who is a 110% himself from the moment we see him. the joy of frobin is the causal domesticity, in many color spreads and especially post timeskip we can see them casually enjoying the others company.

Remember when Franky was in Chopper's body in Punk Hazard and every time he spoke Robin was like "Franky. Stop talking. Do not talk while you're in Chopper's body."

idk like. he's obsessed with her. she's his weird Goth gf and he's her himbo. they have matching outfits. I love them.

Look. It's Franky and Robin. Literally the only two characters that make sense to ship on the Sunny. Their arcs are inextricably intertwined (water7/enies lobby). Also LOOK AT THEM interacting, both during their arcs, but also thriller bark, or post time skip. I love them. Also robin crushed frankys balls.

funny big robot man & analytical smart research lady power couple... silly x smart... himbo x researcher... augh... so good

They are the ship for taxpaying adults your honor I LOVE them they’re literally freak4freak and they share such a fucking powerful arc together (Water 7).

that moment she let him sleep on her lap in punk hazard was sooo cute <3 -- The matching thigh highs and bottoms in film z can NOT be understated. -- Strawhat mom and dad -- Let's not forget the way robin convinced franky to join ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) -- she also indirectly called his balls "treasure" so,,, -- the way their stories are so closely intertwined...they were both keys to destroy the world...the way they instantly connected over that...the soulmate-ism of it all...

they . them. girlboss and malewife. that's it.

She grabbed his balls. He totally liked it.

He's so silly and she loves it. She's so scary and he loves it. She grabbed his balls in public.

They will be endgame trust me. Franky doesn't treat any other girl like he treats Robin. There dynamic in Water 7 and Thriller Bark was and always will be one of the best in all of OP.

Propaganda for Nami x Vivi:

Yes, Nami has a new girlfriend on every island, but her heart belongs to Vivi. Vivi in turn refuses to marry, because her heart belongs with a pirate ❤

THEY’RE LESBIANS! IN LOVE! another point: my friends who are watching OP for the first time came to me and asked “so Nami and Vivi… they’re gay right?” So it’s pretty apparent to even newcomers

I just think they’re neat! And in love. Nami gave up money for Vivi that’s True Love

Anyone who saw them can just tell they’re gay. Like Nami gave up money for her

They're one of the rare lesbian ships in op, they care for each other so much !!

Lesbians

Lesbians

They were so gay that Luffy offered to share food to cheer Nami up when they were separated.

i dare you to read Baroque Works through Alabasta without shipping them. the way Vivi and Nami are so affectionate with each other, and Vivi putting saving her nation on hold to get Nami healthy again ???

Lesbians

Let’s go lesbians!!!!! Ok but actually, I think Nami saw a lot of herself in Vivi (ha) especially when Igaram “died” and then throughout their journey together Nami really encouraged her to open up to the crew. Nami showed Vivi it was ok to ask for help just like Luffy showed her.

Vivi was Nami's gay awakening and you cant change my mind. Nami was in love with Vivi and Vivi def had some kind of feeling for Nami. They were so close and they were more then just 'gal pals'

Lesbian Pirate Supremacy! they clearly care a lot about each other and considering when nami meets vivi she is probably one of the first close female friends she gets to have.

[dentalcaring]

that edward sallow was an anthropology & linguistics student is so important and cannot be understated. i can see how he'd easily (in the beginning) be of the salvage anthropology school of thought. we have to go to the grand canyon to record these peoples lives before they all disappear! (big indigenous eyeroll from me here)

its probably easy to see how that mutates into this horrific assimilation where he's "saving" people from "destroying themselves and each other" (without regard to the fact that the people he's coming into contact with have survived since the war and, assuming real indigenous roots, for hundreds of years before *that*). he sees these lifeways as lesser and the people who he's assimilating into the legion as salvage (and savage).

and then he gets a power trip. people are looking to him for guidance and support. maybe he's been overlooked for most of his life as a dumb, poor jock (he's just the cook/cleaning lady's son, easily written off)

(and maybe that being constantly written off because of his mother's status makes him start to hate her. his misogyny is allowed to run rampant as this beast he's created gets bigger and bigger, as the calf becomes the bull)

he turns to the roman empire. its always been his favorite. he emulates their assimilation, and continues "saving people from themselves", but really, in the end, its about him. and his ego. because it always is.

[lullydoesstuff]

- TOP DYSTOPIAN BOOKS -

Well, since I want to use this blog for personal stuff too and not just for requests or stuff concerning my MANY Demon Slayer AUs, here we are talking about some of my favourite books ever.

I love dystopian ones so these three will be very hard-core, I love the Hunger Games, I love Maze Runner, I love 1984 but these three just hit different.

Let's not lose time and let's begin!

3 - Tender is the Flesh (Augustina Bazterrica)

I decided to start with a book that has arrived in my country just this year, I didn't know about it before and I'm so glad I red it, even if it really disturbed me... do you know what the Promised Neverland is? Well, take it but make it Supersayan. And this is the less disturbing one here.

Plot: Marcos works in the meat industry, he always did but recently a virus started spreading, and animals couldn't be edible anymore so what does the government do? They start searching for vegan replacements? NO! They legalize cannibalism. Marcos has a troubled life, his father has gone mad since this "transition" from animal meat to human meat and his wife left him after they lost their son. He works in the meat industry but he swears to himself that he's not like the others, because he doesn't eat meat.

I know what you're thinking, "but this is a book to bring people close to veganism, it's the whole point"... no, congratulations, you didn't understand ANYTHING. This book is way more complex, this because it's about the line that divides humanization/objectification, and this will be a recurring theme in this post.

This book is full of gore (what did you expect?), graphic descriptions, violence, sexual violence so I don't know if I recommend this book to everyone, it's very short but be aware of this if you decide to read it. In any case, the plot is very interesting and it's very well written.

2 - The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwood)

I'm sure many of you have seen the TV series, I've seen it too and it's one of the few cases I say that the series is better than the book, maybe because the series has a more modern setting and so I can actually be terrified by it.

Plot: the world has been almost destroyed by wars and this caused the birth to decrease to 0, and what happens in America? After a coup a new government is instituted... a totalitarian theocracy where religious confessions that aren't Christianity are banned, let's fucking go, this new country's name is Gilead. In this new world women have an only job: being literal baby machines given to rich families to have children.

This is so damn disturbing because, the insemination thing is wild, the man reads a Bible verse from Genesis, and then he just... does it. It's gross, go check for yourselves, human butchering was nothing compared to this.

We follow June, an Handmaid and we just see how things work in this new... amazing... world... I guess.

1 - Unwind (Neal Shusterman)

This deserves the first place, I've never stopped reading a book I loved because it disturbed me too much. I wanted to support the author, he's very good, so I bought all the other books from the Unwind distology... but I finished the first one and never red the second one, please tell me in the comments if it isn't as disturbing as the first one so I can give it a chance or not.

Plot: in the USA a second civil war is fought, but that's not a war where you shoot people from aontoher country to conquer it, or to oppose the government (well... kinda), it's about reproductive rights, many discussions, many things but in the end people decree that you can't abort in any case (*Lully already screaming and tearing off her hair*) BUT you can... well... Unwind your child if you don't want them anymore. But just when he's from 13 to 18.

What does unwind mean? Basically you give your unwanted child to some clinics that literally vivisection them (yes, the person is awake during the process BY LAW) and give thier organs to people that need transplants.

Now you can easily understand why this is the number 1 in this list, it's the destructive combo between "Tender is The Flash" and "the Handmaid's Tale".

We'll follow the story of Risa, Connor and Levi (and this last one oh my God, I wanted to punch his family so bad), escaping their fate of being unwind.

And yes, that scene comes, yes, you will see a vivisection, and yes... you will feel physically sick and need to throw up after, you'll probably have nightmares and life crisis. Also because... the unwind isn't exactly one of the "good guys".

Ah, dear pro-life people that care about a bunch of unborn cells and can't distinguish a human embryo from a dolphin embryo... Read this book, then change your mind about other people's body and take choices just for yours, because it seems we're going back and not aiming foward as we should.

[marvelstars]

George Lucas and the prequel trilogy

"I knew if I'd made Anakin 15 instead of nine, then it would have been more marketable. If I'd made the Queen 18 instead of 14, then it would have been more marketable. But that isn't the story. It is important that he be young, that he be at an age where leaving his mother is more of a drama than it would have been at 15. So you just have to do what's right for the movie, not what's right for the market."(George Lucas)

George Lucas may not be a perfect writer but I really liked to see how aware he is of his lack of skills writing dialogue and the fact he very purposely didn´t make a marketable movie with the usual action formula for blockbuster summer films, he´s trying to make an opera story with elements kids would like to see, I personally do think the prequels could have been done better and the passing and some creative decisions could have been changed to make the story more understable, especially the part where Anakin grows into his own as a adult and general in the clone wars and Jedi instead of telling this story in another format because he took more care in showing his fall. We can´t appreciate the fall if he didn´t see his rise properly.

Still I like the fact that he´s purposelly making unpopular decisions but that have a reason for his story instead of using the same old tired formula for action movies.

Everybody was expecting a teenager darth vader, dark but cool and Lucas goes completely left field and shows a kind and generous slave kid who had to leave his mother to get his freedom, who inmediately gets on the bad side of the Jedi Order Council not for a fault of his own but mostly that he´s inconvenient, his existence is inconvenient, the Jedi don´t need chosen ones because they already got rid of the sith, there´s nothing to change here, nothing at all and he suffers the same rejection Padmé suffered at the Senate when she pleaded for her people´s safety.

I think this is so interesting in how Padme(14) and Anakin(9) are kids given adult responsibilities who try to understand the brutal adult world they live in one as a slave another as the leader of an occupied planet and try to make a difference, not quite managing it but seeing things in a very idealist form, just like their children did in the OT, their tragedy is mainly the fact this adult world still has rules they have to follow and try to work within a system that has become stagnant and corrupt, while their children could burn it all down because everything outside of them and their side was evil, this is not the case with Anakin and Padme, they have to pick and choose a not so bad decision out of many bad choices, their world isn´t good vs evil as it was in the OT, it´s grey vs dark and in the end those choices destroy them both but also give the way for their children to fix what was broken in their world in the first place and honestly this is so much more interesting than the classic story of the hot couple who falls in love and saves the day at the end of the story.

[renaultmograine]

AU where Balnazzar isn't stupid and instead of killing and impersonating Dathrohan during the Third War, he impersonates Calia Menethil

Calia is missing, either dead or intent on never showing her face again, making a prime candidate for impersonation

Being the princess of Lordaeron and the heir to the throne, the remnants of the Silver Hand would fight to the death for her, and with way more conviction than just for one of the first paladins

The amount of damage that could be done wielding the face of a powerful woman cannot be understated. I wholeheartedly believe that Calia-Balnazzar could make them whipped up into the Scarlet Crusade frenzy like. four months tops.

She's the princess. What are you going to do, argue with her? Tell her no?

None of the paladins likely know her that well, so Calia-Balnazzar could bullshit damn near anything she wanted to, while Dathrohan-Balnazzar would be constrained incredibly.

POV you're ill from a ~mysterious illness~ and the big tiddy priestess princess herself tends to you and comforts you and agrees that your dad really is shitty :( you should do something about that :)c

Realistically speaking, they would have to arrange a marriage for Calia-Balnazzar for when they reclaimed Lordaeron, and there's so many good options to pick from (for Calia-Balnazzar to have an easily manipulated husband). (Also no one knows real Calia is married with a child).

Taelan: sad man but he's well respected and the Lord of Hearthglen, where all their operations have been based out of. Too depressed about his dad to be any real hindrance to any schemes but that also means he might lack that driving force of pure insane zealotry.

Renault: younger, more emotionally unstable, clearly wanting someone to validate him. He's going to destroy whatever you point to with some hyping up, but he's definitely going to destroy himself at some point if he doesn't calm the down, and you're not going to want to be standing next to him when that happens

Darion: fairly younger, but that makes him more manipulable, and this whole 'recovering Lordaeron' nonsense is taking a while anyway. Sad about his dad so don't mention you encouraged Renault to kill him, but like. This is Darion we're talking about. Mister "I will interpret whatever you say into 'kill yourself for me' and then do it." He's going to be ride AND die if you don't fuck it up. You will need another man after he dies though. Well maybe not he's rather committed.

Decent chance Sally smites her. This crusade is NOT big enough for two bad bitches--there's a reason why Brigette Abbendis fucked off to Northrend--and it defintely isn't when Calia-Balnazzar is cozying up to Renault.

I want to say Sally/Calia-Balnazzar for the fun of it but I legitimately cannot imagine Sally doing anything more than tolerating her, even with the mind control shit.

Real Calia currently larping her tradlife with her unnamed husband and child finding out that the Princess has been found and that she's to be wed once the kingdom is returned and deciding she's not going to touch that with a thirty foot pole >>>> the FUNNIEST Before The Storm scenes imaginable if the crusade does manage to reclaim Lordaeron

[paragonrobits]

so i was reading some complaints about how Marceline is only really present in Fionna And Cake in a brief snippet and then only in AUs, and then it occured to me: Marceline not being around in an active way is necessary for the plot to happen.

Essentially, the plot of Fionna And Cake might be summarized as 'longing the magical life, Fionna and Cake flee from a Lawful Neutral cosmic killjoy and enlist the help of Simon Petrikov who agrees to become Ice King again, but is explicitly not telling them about what this is going to do to him'. The story is essentially about Simon WANTING to become Ice King while at the same time really not wanting to do that at all, pressuring himself into losing himself once more because he thinks its the only way for him to be needed by anyone anymore.

If Marceline is around, this doesn't happen. She is Simon's biggest reason for staying; she's the happiest part of his life, the most fulfilling and rewarding part of his life. It comes up, time and time again, that in the end becoming Ice King was the best thing to happen to Simon despite all its misery, suffering and tragedy because he otherwise would never have met her; he wouldn't have survived the great mushroom war, or the horrors following it, and would have died long before ever meeting her.

And the show details how INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT Simon raising her really was. The Marceline we know was shaped, by a massive degree, by Simon; his example of self-sacrifice, him letting his mind disintegrate by inches, him going out of his way to help a complete stranger and a monstrous child horrifying by the standards of the setting, all implciitly RIGHT after Marceline's mother died and Marceline had resigned herself to being a scary monster that drives everyone away. And then here came a stranger out of the blue, and spent the next few years telling her that yes, she DID matter, she was a person, and that he cared about her so much he destroyed himself so she wouldn't get hurt... or perhaps because her only means of defending herself, ripping out the souls of others, hurts who she is.

It's not a nice kind of comfort. But it still shaped her into someone willing to be a hero in her own way.

And this goes both ways; we can see that the proverbial straw for Simon is him calling Marceline and concluding that she doesn't need him anymore. It's only after this he starts trying to contact Golbetty, with the potential doom that may befall him. If Marceline doesn't need him, he seems to think, he doesn't matter. The need to be needed runs deep in Simon's character; its what draws him to help Fionna and Cake, and the worlds they visit seem to impart a lesson to him on how he matters more than he thinks he does, both by the things he's done and what he means to others; that he's not as bad a person as he thinks he is, or that Marceline would be fine without him.

So. If Marceline talks more to Simon, ESPECIALLY after he resolves to throw his progress away and let his mind be lost all over again just so he doesn't have to hurt anymore... well, his character arc in this series is about accepting that he's actually ok, the way he is, and to gain perspective on his feelings that he doesn't belong anywhere (and the answer is that he DOES, more than he knows). Marceline doesn't inhibit that, but she WOULD make it harder for it to happen, arguably at the cost of sidelining Simon's character arc here. He would pretend that okay he doesnt want to be Ice King even if he DOES still intend to go through with it, and not in the same way as when he comes to the conclusion that he ultimately does.

If Marceline is there, he doesn't think those thoughts, and he won't come to the same conclusion.

And at the same time, despite not being there, Marceline's presence hangs over the entire show in Simon's character arc. She is the best thing in his life; his greatest success, the most purely positive and happy part of his life. It can't be understated how significant Marceline is; as miserable as Ice King was, she was someone he cared about even if he didn't understand why anymore. Ice King shows a remarkable amount of restraint in context, but it becomes a lot more obvious whenever she's involved, or in danger; a care so deep and ingrained that when Ice King was often pretty callous, whenever she was upset you could see flickers on his face, genuine distress rising up from some forgotten memory or part of who he is.

Marceline pervades Simon's character and the impact he had on the world; the idea of him being able to pull through this and come back to Ooo for her feels very evident, and the impact Simon has in her in other worlds remains extremely important in all of them, sub-textually or otherwise. Sometimes, its a hint that the Winter King is far more morally ambiguous or even malicious than he lets on (the only Marceline present being an eternal child that, from context, is just a simulcrum for him to play pretend parent with) or evidence that without Simon, Marceline grows up into the monster she always feared she was (Vampire World).

She's a presence, hanging over Simon in a good way and reminding us that not only does he have somewhere to go back to, he must understand that he does belong there. And furthermore that the world of Ooo, whimsical and ultimately a better one than most of the places he visits in the miniseries, can only exist because of him.

In Winter King, we see what he could become, without his moral choices. In Vampire World, we see what happens without Simon Petrikov. And in Marceline herself, we see the surest evidence of how important he really is, even if he can't or won't acknowledge it. In his loved ones, in the family he made, even if its not the family he thought he was supposed to have.

[justforbooks]

The Proof of My Innocence by Jonathan Coe

This tricksy caper ranges from 1980s Cambridge to the rise and fall of Liz Truss with entertaining results

Well, it worked for Richard Osman. Twenty-three-year-old Phyl, stuck in her parents’ house with an English degree and a zero-hours job in a sushi chain, is wondering how hard it could be to write a cosy crime novel. “Death in a Thatched Cottage? The Beach Hut Murders? The Flapjack Poisonings?” As another character points out, it’s bizarre that violent homicide has been rebranded as “cosy”. “It’s very British, in some indefinable way.”

Jonathan Coe, the laureate of Britishness, sets his 15th novel against a particularly wobbly period of national history: the short-lived ascendancy of Liz Truss and the death of the Queen in autumn 2022. It is indeed a happily playful and nicely satisfying slice of cosy crime, scattered with clues and red herrings, locked‑room mysteries, teetering cliffhangers and stagily withheld information. Before she is shocked out of her apathy by a sudden death, Phyl also considers trying her hand at the genres of dark academia and auto­fiction, and accordingly one section of the book is a memoir of mysterious goings-on in a Cambridge college in the 1980s, and another a report in real time of a search for a rare book, with two narrators who can’t agree on whether to use the present or the past tense (“fake and embarrassing”).

There’s a lot going on, and Coe marshals it all with ingenious ease. As ever, the real target – the savagery behind the cosiness – is the amoral individualism and free-market greed of those with power and privilege, first excoriated in 1994’s What a Carve Up! Here, rightwingers gather at a country house hotel for the TrueCon conference, delighting in the elevation of Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng. Alongside the culture war comedy of speeches such as “Britain’s Real Pandemic: The Woke Mind-Virus” is the serious business: big money jostling to get in on the carving up of the NHS.

Blogger Christopher Swann, a friend of Phyl’s mother from their Cambridge days, has been investigating the incursion of the far right into the political centre for decades, only to be dismissed as a paranoid fantasist: officially, the plans are never to privatise the NHS, only to “streamline” it. As we see in the memoir of another Cambridge friend, describing his culture shock on arriving there as a northern state school kid, these covert networks of power have been spreading since the days of Thatcher and Reagan.

The political mystery – is there a smoking gun that will reveal a plot to destroy the NHS – plays second fiddle to a literary one: the fate of an obscure writer from the 1980s. Peter Cockerill was that extremely rare phenomenon, a rightwing novelist, furious to be punished for his politics with exclusion from the glamorous gang of Rushdie, Amis, McEwan et al. And the solution to the mystery, as the title suggests, rests on a proof (copy) of My Innocence, the book in which he renounced fiction for good.

Coe enjoys himself satirising literary fashions, creative jealousy and the inevitable passing of time, with a bittersweet nostalgia for his own youth, when society was seduced by money, and the books world by Martin Amis’s Money. He gives himself a walk-on part in the Cambridge section as Tommy Cope, an ineffectual English student mainly known for writing incredibly bad poetry who later surprises his peers by achieving “modest success” with the “mildly satirical” Quite the Mash-Up.

Modest, mild: Coe is only too aware of his own understated – even cosy – reputation. His fiction has always ranged gentle, decent souls against headbangers and maniacs, and Phyl is no exception. Amid the literary fun and games, there’s a deeply sad note as she muses on the dog-eat-dog Britain wrought by the events of the last 40 years: “How is someone like me supposed to survive in a world like this? Everything that defines me is unsuited for it. My passivity. My idealism. My innocence. I just don’t have what it takes.” Phyl’s parents, too, are passive and shoulder-shrugging in the face of the political insult of Liz Truss: “Prime ministers come and go,” sighs her dad. The old have run out of energy and indignation; the young feel stuck in hopelessness and inertia, retreating from the world, as Phyl does, under the comfort blanket of endless episodes of Friends: a safe, pre-smartphone universe feeding off “nostalgia for a time before we were born”.

This is the context in which Coe plumbs the disconnect between Truss’s appointment as PM and the general bafflement that greets it, threading her speeches through the narrative along with the infuriating transport announcement “See it. Say it. Sorted”, a grating real-world soundtrack to his metafictional hijinks. His previous novel Bournville caught the national mood during historical highlights from the 1953 coronation to the wedding of Charles and Diana; here there’s a great set piece focusing on mourners filing past the royal coffin: the nation brought together by two of its favourite things, queueing and the Queen.

Another Coe tic is the piece of art, whether film or music, often glimpsed or heard in childhood and ever after treasured, coming to represent something more than mere nostalgia: a secret world behind the world. In Middle England it was the song Adieu to Old England: “One of the most eerie and melancholy English folk tunes ever written,” thinks Benjamin Trotter. Here it’s the “haunting and wistful” ballad Lord Randall, borrowed by Bob Dylan for the structure of A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall, which raises goose bumps in all who hear it and is more deeply embedded in a central character than ever before.

Coe’s subject may be inertia and nostalgia, but The Proof of My Innocence is full of energy. It’s a madcap caper, a sideways memoir, a tricksy jeu d’esprit that is also a quiet defence of fiction in a post-truth age, and enormous fun to read.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[readwithnox]

10 Indie Fantasy Books with A-spec Main Characters

Enjoy some magical a-spec spec-fic.

From asexual to aromantic and every variation inbetween, these fantasy books have a wonderful selection of a-spec LGBTQIA+ main characters for your next read!

While some of these books don’t outright announce some of the characters’ identities in the story, there are cues that a-spec readers are likely to pick up on either in the first book or later in the series. For the ones that aren’t completely obvious, I’ve received confirmation from the authors.

Structural Integrity

by Tabitha O’Connell Fantasy Romance featuring an a-spec trans mc

Messenger boy Kel never expected to strike up a romance with a government official. But Yaan lacks the self-important snobbery of the others, seeing Kel as more than just a pretty face. Living with him in the city’s plush government complex is everything Kel could want: no more expenses, kitchen workers and resident animals to befriend, and of course seeing Yaan every day. Even if Yaan does spend most of his time working or worrying about work, and seems to have forgotten that they used to have actual conversations…

When the city decides to tear down the iconic theater building in Kel’s old neighborhood, Yaan’s indifference toward his pleas to help save it forces Kel to confront his growing unhappiness. In the aftermath, both will have to decide whether their relationship is salvageable.

Song of Phoenix and Ink

by Margherita Scialla New Adult Portal Fantasy featuring an a-spec mc and a-spec li

All Nadzia Kaminski wanted was to finish writing her novel.

When she finally finished the manuscript for Crimson Mayhem, she did what any writer would: gave it to her best friend to read. Her friend’s reaction, however, wasn’t what she had expected and, upset by her criticism, Nadzia left her at the café where they had met.

Waking up the next morning, Nadzia was no longer in her bedroom, finding herself in a world of her creation, surrounded by dangerous magic and vaguely familiar settings.

With a country at war and no clear way home, time is running out and Nadzia has to find a way to gain the trust of the very people she created and figure out her confusing feelings for two of her own characters.

She soon realizes stories aren’t perfect when there is no one left to write them.

Dirt-Stained Hands, Thorn-Pierced Skin

by Tabitha O’Connell Fantasy Romance featuring an a-spec nonbinary mc and a-spec li

A queer, Beauty-and-the-Beast-inspired novella

Heron thought ey wanted to be with handsome, charming Tiel — but the relationship hasn’t quite lived up to eir expectations. With Tiel’s confidence comes a tendency to be overbearing, and now he wants Heron to leave eir farm life behind and move to town with him. And Heron can’t figure out how to explain to him that ey doesn’t want that.

When an accident strands Heron’s mother at a castle rumored to belong to a family of mages, Heron rushes off to make sure she’s all right — only to find the castle occupied by a single man who isn’t a mage at all. Prone to hiding behind his long mess of hair, the mysterious Theomer possesses a long-neglected, semi-magical garden. A job tending it is Heron’s perfect opportunity for some time away from Tiel while ey decides what to tell him.

Heron did not plan to be drawn in by Theomer’s attentive gaze and understated sense of humor. But as an undeniable bond forms between them, ey’s soon going to have a much bigger choice to make…

A Searing Faith

by Audrey Martin Epic Dark Fantasy featuring an aroace fmc

When sixteen-year-old Rena finds herself the sole survivor of the fire that destroyed her home town, the only thing keeping her going is the suspicion that the tragedy wasn’t an accident. She is determined to find those responsible, no matter how far her quest might take her. But no one in charge of the kingdom of Kal-Hemma seems to care that this isn’t the first town destroyed by a mysterious fire. And according to Rena’s travelling companions, there’s a lot the members of the Royal Council aren’t telling their subjects.

If Rena is truly the only survivor of the tragedy, why did she find her sister’s ring outside of their destroyed home?

Who planted the strange bird figurines around the town’s church before the fire?

And what do the old, forgotten Gods have to do with any of this?

A Searing Faith is the first book in an epic fantasy series and based on the award-winning, interactive audio drama The Heart Pyre.

A Kind Voice in Hell

by Ames Mullery Urban Fantasy featuring an a-spec trans mc

What’s a few years of bloody gladiator matches and witchcraft-for-hire when your best friend’s life is on the line?

To cover the soaring costs of his best friend’s life-saving healthcare Lark signs away everything he’s got — his body, his freedom, even his witchcraft — to a billionaire who plays at philanthropy for entertainment. Although Lark may have the heart of a saint, he doesn’t have the patience of one. It isn’t long before he begins to rock the boat and ends up threatening the very people he wants to save in his reckless heroics.

A KIND VOICE IN HELL is a story about an occult-obsessed billionaire looking for away to bring gladiators into the twenty-first century, a trans man with a hero complex who has never known illness a day in his life, and the disabled people caught in the middle. It contains queer love, found family, and a hero who needs to sit down and shut up before he tries to help anyone.

Follow Lark as he forges an unlikely alliance on the inside and weaves masterful spellwork in hopes of changing the world for the better.

Havesskadi

by Ava Kelly Fantasy featuring an a-spec mc

The red dragon is hunting her own. Up in the icy peaks of the northern mountains, Orsie Havesskadi spends his days hiding from her, but eventually he is found and his dragon magic stolen. Cursed to wander the lands as a mortal unless he recovers his magic before twenty-four rising crescents have passed, Orsie embarks on an arduous journey. Spurred by the whispers in his mind, his quest takes him to a castle hidden deep in a forest.

Arkeva Flitz, a skilled garrison archer, discovers an abandoned castle in the woods. Trapped there, he spends his days with his two companions, one cruel, the other soothing. One day, a young man arrives at his gates, and soon they are confined by heavy snowfalls and in danger from what slumbers in the shadows of the castle.

The Thirteenth Key

by Cara Nox New Adult Science Fantasy featuring an ace mmc

The chaotic crew of heisting misfits in Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows meets the familiar yet fantastical, modern landscape found in Robert Jackson Bennett’s City of Stairs.

“The thirteen emblems given to the original rulers weren’t just symbols. They’re keys to the Vault — one that no one’s ever opened.”

Noa has lived her life as an unsuspecting, ID-burning, face in the crowd that disposes of “problems” for her miscellaneous, secretive employers. So, when Noa’s surrogate father — a Seer — hands her a long-lost emblem, telling her with his dying breath that it’s her responsibility to reignite magic, she laughs at the idea that the fate of their world rests on the shoulders of a killer. Instead, she uses his words and the key he gave her as an excuse to go on one final suicide mission to seek out the power supposedly waiting for her to annihilate his murderer.

Prince Glacier Caelius has lived his life trapped inside a gilded cage, pushed down by the ever-present threat of death as the bastard son of Amarais’s late king. But when the rebels attack during a nationalist party, Glacier’s rescued by none other than Noa and her merry band of thieves, who are scrambling to salvage a failed attempt at stealing his country’s emblem: the Soul of Amarais. When the dust settles, he’s the only person left alive to unlock the palace vault and give the Soul to Noa in exchange for saving his life.

Well, once they’re able to formulate a plan to take the palace back.

Struggling with their tentative, newfound freedom, Noa and Glacier must learn to work together to survive the urban landscape of Avaria’s greatest cities fortified by technology in the wake of dwindling magic. The goal: steal as many keys as they can before their pasts catch up. But the further they go, the more they realize that something worse may be lurking on the horizon, and they may very well be the only ones able to stop it.

Bloody Spade

by Brittany M. Willows Young Adult Urban Fantasy featuring an ace fmc, aro mmc, and demi fmc

Bloody Spade is the first installment in an upper YA urban fantasy duology that follows a cat-eared thief and a softhearted girl as they navigate his wild magic, her hotheaded brother, a sinister plot, and the feelings they’re developing for each other. Suitable for fans of A Darker Shade of Magic and This Savage Song, or anime/manga such as RWBY and D.Gray-Man.

A girl full of heart A thief touched by darkness A hot-tempered golden boy An unwitting servant of evil

The era of magic was once thought to be a myth, but after the Reemergence ushered forces both dark and light into the mundane world, it has since become a harsh reality. Now those affected by this strange power — a specialized group of Empowered called Jokers, known collectively as Cardplay — must protect their world from the darkness that threatens to consume it, all the while fighting for equality in a society clinging to normalcy.

But the Reemergence was only the beginning.

When another influx occurs on the seventh anniversary of that fateful event, an unfortunate encounter at ground zero lands Iori Ryone, a teenage boy in possession of a corrupt and legendary magic, in the care of recent Joker graduate Ellen Amelia Jane. From him, she learns the Reemergence may not have been the inevitable natural disaster it first seemed.

Someone is trying to tear down the barrier that separates the magical realms from the mundane. The question is why, and can Cardplay stop them before it’s too late?

Tell Me How It Ends

by Quinton Li Young Adult Fantasy featuring an aroace nonbinary mc

A coming-of-age cozy fantasy with a queer cast, witches, and tarot. Perfect for fans of Legends & Lattes and Our Flag Means Death.

Iris Galacia’s tarot cards do more than entertain gamblers.

With the flip of her fingers she can predict the future and uncover a person’s secrets. But under the watchful eye of her mother, she is on thin ice for pursuing a passion in the family business, and then cracks start to form until she eventually she falls through.

She is given an ultimatum — a test to prove her worth: earn a thousand coins or leave the business, and the family.

Enter Marin Boudreau, a charming young person who can scale buildings and break off door knobs, who comes for her help to rescue a witch who’s been falsely imprisoned in Excava Kingdom.

And Marin is willing to pay a high sum for her talents.

But saving a prisoner from royal hands isn’t easy, nor is leaving home for the first time in eighteen years.

Now Iris must learn to trust in herself, Marin, and this new magical world, while racing the clock before the royals decide the fate of the witch, and before any secrets catch up to her.

Trick

By Cara Nox New Adult Urban Fantasy featuring a demi fmc and aroace mmc

Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments series meets V.E. Schwab’s The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue with a dash of Disney+’s Loki in this new adult urban fantasy.

WELCOME TO NEW ATLAS: A CITY WITHIN A REALITY JUST BEYOND OUR OWN.

Evie is a nobody. Spending her days in college classes and her nights studying, having a social life has never really been a priority. With her sights firmly set on the future to keep away her thoughts of the past, she loses her grip on the present when her world is ripped out from under her. And it’s all thanks to two mysterious strangers showing up on her doorstep, claiming that she can turn back time.

Cade is a notorious troublemaker. He’s never been afraid to throw around his name to get what he wants as someone who’s clawed his way to the top. But power is quick to change hands in this city, and when he chooses to blatantly disregard an order from his leader, his older brother, he’s tossed back down to the bottom again. He’ll be more than lucky to regain any sort of trust when everyone knows he’s one of the best spies there is, sliding in and out of shadows in the blink of an eye.

Ren is a bored teenager. Always labeled as the “golden child” or “gifted student,” he finds himself writing down cryptic messages and following strange leads, rather than putting on the same old song and dance for his family. Especially once he discovers his little stolen fragments of the future are starting to take a darker turn. Perhaps chasing the life everyone wants him to have isn’t necessarily in the cards for him, but there’s only one way to find out.

So when someone within the secret society known as the Custodians targets Evie for her power, the clock starts in the final sprint to hunt down the culprit. In order to uncover whatever hidden clues are lurking in the past, the three of them have no choice but to peel back the layers of obscurity built up between their factions to figure out why she’s being hunted and how they might be able to fix their bleak futures before it’s too late.

Just remember: time is nothing but a trick.

Follow the divine archivists on twitter for more queer indie lists, reviews, and recommendations.

Where to find Cara Nox: instagram • twitter • writing tumblr • reading tumblr

Disclaimer: anything purchased through the links provided in this article helps me continue writing with compensation through Amazon’s affiliate program.

[darkmist111]

Percy Jackson, Reyna Ramirez-Arellano, Ethan Nakamura, and the Child Super Soldier

So something I wants to talk about is the parallel of Percy and Reyna, and their concept of loyalty.

I think we as a fandom have examined Percy and Jason’s swap, compared their characters, and talked about their influence.

I think we’ve also compared Jason and Annabeth, and how their parallels were understated.

However I do think Reyna’s part in this dynamic is understated and under examined, despite her being intrinsically tied to this dynamic.

I also think this matches another unexplored parallel. While Reyna is often sidelined for Jason, Ethan Nakamura is sidelined for Luke Castellan.

And all compare to Percy Jackson to various degrees, and share a interesting concept of loyalty with him.

To preface this I believe their lives follow a similar line, with the key difference being that Percy had support from his Family and Community, Reyna only had support from her Community, and Ethan received only superficial transactional support from family and community.

But I think the dynamic between the three becomes more interesting when you view it from the lens of them as child soldiers and leaders.

But first let’s talk about Percy journey as a hero through the perspective of a soldier.

Camp half-blood isn’t a army, it trains Heroes not Soldiers, but the crossover between the two isn’t minimal. Percy is drafted into the life of a half-blood, but very often baring maybe the first book Percy voluntarily enters his missions. And while some people say this is a type of control issue, in both cases where he goes out on his own circumstances give him reason to do so. In sea of monsters Hermes outright tells him he is necessary for this mission, and we later find out Clarrise is down 2 required questmates. In the second quest, the hunters are down one questmate that was poisoned and Percy only joins after learning this.

While Percy often goes against authority, he also shows deep respect to those who earned his loyalty.

He also fights for his family and home a trait commonly associated with soldiers.

Narratively his arc is one of the reluctant soldier forced into combat because of circumstances that rises in rank due his actions rather than a desire for glory or belief in the cause.

This culminates in him taking the mantle of leadership in battle, resembling a mythic figure of the hero general or king. The type that lead their armies on the battle field from the front, whose singular presence could turn the tide of battle.

And once victorious he changes things for the better, though not a permanent leader, one that leaves a lasting legacy.

At the end though Percy is a mostly reactionary hero though dynamic in his responses.

His dreams are not of creating or conquering, but of family and homestead, and his victory at the end of the series is him using his glory for his allies.

Percy achieves victory by balancing personal family duty with greater duty to his people, gaining loyalty to and from both.

And he’s able to do this because of the support of his family, and his fellows in arms.

Reyna has only one of these.

It’s telling that Reyna is one of the only Demigods whose godly parent we never meet.

Reyna and Hylla are daughters of the Roman War Goddess Bellona, and the girls have collectively spent their lives bouncing between armies and cults.

Reyna was said to have it easy earlier from their father, but due to PTSD he ended up turning their home into a army, preparing for a battle that would never come.

After leaving the sisters ended up as part of Circe cult, that transformed and killed men to varying degrees of justified. After Percy and Annabeth set pirates free, causing their new home to be destroyed, the sisters separated. Both once again joining organizations of War. New Rome’s Legion, and the Amazons.

When she realizes she need to defy her community to save them. Similar to Percy defying her order to follow a higher duty.

After the War Reyna joins the hunters, and we see a pattern don’t we.

She continually giver her loyalty to groups and communities, but rarely receives it on a personal level. Ultimately she cannot separate her family from war or society.

And that ultimately results in her leadership being prone to be undermined, and unable to leave lasting change upon her community other than handing the reins over to new leadership.

She’s a soldier with no home to return to, and thus she cannot put down her weapon.

She’s similar to Percy if he had only systems to be loyal to. She’s constantly seeking a place that will value her.

Ethan Nakamura had it even worse, we don’t get a lot of him and often people view him as a traitor, but was it right of others to expect loyalty of him, even though he gives to see freely even when not earned? Or are we seeing someone seeking something worth being loyal too.

A child of Nemesis, he was always gonna have a uphill battle of being respected by his community.

We see him search for validation for his family but even in Kronos’s army it’s unfound. Nemesis isn’t a particularly power goddess at first glance.

When Percy spares him he resigns himself to death, making one think of the times Percy fell into despair.

In the end he too defies his orders, though unlike Percy and Reyna, Ethan’s defiance costs him his life.

He never rises to a position of leadership, and the only person he seems truly loyal to is his mother who uses him as a cosmic chess piece.

A soldier with no real choice expected to pick a side when neither truly value him. Searching for something to be loyal to in a world that sees no value in loyalty without usefulness.

I feel like Percy being able to see his loyalty in others and how it can harm them is a very interesting concept.

[rachelbethhines]

Speed-running Doctor Who - 13th Doctor and the Fugitive Doctor

A quick and dirty guide for those who want to get into the show, but don't want to watch everything from the beginning.

For Those Who Just Wanna Get An Idea of the Era

Kerblam! - S37E7

A good outing for the 'Fam', everyone has something to do and the plot is typical of the era. Politically aware, but perhaps not as left leaning as people would like. Features striking but understated design and has call backs to past stories with out being too continuity heavy

Plot Important Episodes

Entrances, Exits, Enemies, Lore Drops, and Character Development

The Woman Who Fell to Earth - S37E1 (first story to feature the 13th Doctor. Introduces Gram, his grandson Ryan, and Yaz. Also features the recurring villain Tzim-Sha, who becomes Gram's nemesis after he murders his wife Grace)

The Ghost Monument - S37E2 (the Doctor goes on a quest to get her Tardis back and the Fam have their first off-Earth adventure)

Arachnids in the UK - S37E4 ( we meet Yaz's family and are introduced to Robertson, a minor reoccurring antagonist)

Demons of the Punjab - S37E6 (character development for Yaz)

It Takes You Away - S37E9 (character development for Gram and Ryan)

The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos - S37E10 (Gram plans to kill his wife's murder, Tzim-Sha)

Resolution - 2019 New Years Special (Ryan dead beat dad turns up after years of being gone, oh and the Daleks are back)

Spyfall - S38E1&E2 (meet the Dhawan Master, oh and Gallifrey is destroyed again after just getting it back 🙄)

Fugitive of the Judoon - S38E5 (The start of the Fugitive Doctor arc, the return of Captain Jack, and foreshadowing for the season finale)

Can You Hear Me? - S38E7 (character development for everyone and the return of the Eternals)

The Haunting of Villa Diodati - S38E8 (introduces the Lone Cyberman and leads directly into the season finale)

Ascension of the Cybermen/The Timeless Children - S38E9&E10 (ending of the Lone Cyberman arc and introduces the controversial Timeless Child theory into the lore)

Revolution of the Daleks - 2021 New Years Special (Jack break the Doctor out of prison, Robertson joins forces with the Daleks, and it's Ryan's last episode)

The Halloween Apocalypse - S39E1 (start of the Flux arc and we're introduced to Dan, Karvanista, Vinder, Claire, Dan's girlfriend Diane, and the show's newest villains Swarm and Azure, who want to destroy the universe)

War of the Sontarans - S39E2 (The Sontarans have used the Flux disaster to alter time and conquer Earth, we also meet Vinder's wife Bel)

Once, Upon Time - S39E3 (The 13th Doctor regains some of her missing memories and we see how the Fugitive Doctor first defeated Swarm and Azure while working for the Division)

Village of the Angels - S39E4 (we find out what happened to Claire and meet Professor Jericho, the Doctor is captured by the Division)

Survivors of the Flux - S39E5 (the Doctor finally meets the leader of the Division, Tecteun; one of the founders of Time Lord society along side Rassilon and Omega. Tecteun claims to be the Doctor's adopted parent and the inventor of reintegration but the Doctor doesn't remember them. Tecteun is then killed off before the Doctor can discover the truth, meanwhile the Sontarans are still messing with time and working to undermine UNIT in the future)

The Vanquishers - S39E6 (The end of the Flux arc, Swarm and Azure are defeated, the Sontarans are overthrown with the help of UNIT, Karvanista is the sole survivor of his people and leaves the Doctor, blaming her for his misfortune, Vinder and Bel are reunited, Jericho dies, and Claire is returned to her proper place in time, and the Doctor decides that she doesn't want to know about her past anymore)

Eve of the Daleks - 2022 New Years Special (we get are first overt confirmation that Yaz is in love with the Doctor)

Legend of the Sea Devils - 2022 Easter Special (Yaz finally confesses her feelings for the Doctor, who returns them but says she's not interested in starting another romantic relationship and they agree to remain friends)

The Power of the Doctor - The BBC's Centenary Special (sixth multidoctor story, the return of Gram, Ace, Tegan, Kate/UNIT, and Vinder, Dan and Yaz both leave the Tardis, last episode thus far for both the Dhawan Master and Fugitive Doctor, and the 13th Doctor regenerates)

Personal Favorite and Least Favorite Stories

Because one man's trash is another man's treasure and vice versa

Favorite for 13: Rosa - S37E3

Favorite for Fugitive: Power of the Doctor - The BBC's Centenary Special

Least Favorite for 13th: Orphan 55 - S38E3

Least Favorite for Fugitive: Ascension of the Cybermen/The Timeless Children - S38E9&E10

(disclaimer: no spin-offs or extended universe stuff was considered when making this list)

[onepiece-polls]

One Piece Shipping War - Round 2 Side A

Propaganda under the cut.

Propaganda for Franky x Robin:

Do I really need to explain?

The old married couple who's healthy, Enies Lobby (and all their appearances) are their propaganda really.

It’s all about the maturity!

Their dynamic is perfect and their pasts are so similar. I love the chemistry between them as well as their introduction that helped build the connection and shared history they already have.

they are THE t4t bi4bi ship | franky telling robin "existing is not a crime" immediately puts this at number one for me | they are opposites (bright and loud + quiet and goth) but also they're both so eccentric and silly <3 | THEY WEAR MATCHING OUTFITS

Mom and dad Straw Hat

They are STILL the Mom and the Dad of the Straw Hats, this is the one thing I don't care what Oda says <3 Also their interactions in Enies Lobby and Thriller Bark are amazing.

In my eyes, they are married. Some of my favorite character interactions in the manga/anime and in official art.

Oda had Franky call Robin his wife at least once

Your honor they’re married

I'M GOING TO PUT LINKS IN MY EXAMPLES (Mod note: I linked to the whole post, the propaganda was going to get too long otherwise. But I will copy this line:...) They immediatly clicked in Enies Lobby, Franky saved Robin with both words and actions ("Your existence is not a sin!"), and then she grabbed his balls.

The duality of two kids who were just trying to chase their dream and having circumstances outside their control (the government) take everything they love away from them, but one choosing solitude and the other adopting every other person in a bad circumstance??? I love them. Plus they literally had couple moments from the first interaction.

The ultimate t4t couple idk what else you need theyre iconic

A wholesome ship of a woman who feels the need to be constantly on edge trying to relax and a man who is a 110% himself from the moment we see him. the joy of frobin is the causal domesticity, in many color spreads and especially post timeskip we can see them casually enjoying the others company.

Remember when Franky was in Chopper's body in Punk Hazard and every time he spoke Robin was like "Franky. Stop talking. Do not talk while you're in Chopper's body."

idk like. he's obsessed with her. she's his weird Goth gf and he's her himbo. they have matching outfits. I love them.

Look. It's Franky and Robin. Literally the only two characters that make sense to ship on the Sunny. Their arcs are inextricably intertwined (water7/enies lobby). Also LOOK AT THEM interacting, both during their arcs, but also thriller bark, or post time skip. I love them. Also robin crushed frankys balls.

funny big robot man & analytical smart research lady power couple... silly x smart... himbo x researcher... augh... so good

They are the ship for taxpaying adults your honor I LOVE them they’re literally freak4freak and they share such a fucking powerful arc together (Water 7).

that moment she let him sleep on her lap in punk hazard was sooo cute <3 -- The matching thigh highs and bottoms in film z can NOT be understated. -- Strawhat mom and dad -- Let's not forget the way robin convinced franky to join ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) -- she also indirectly called his balls "treasure" so,,, -- the way their stories are so closely intertwined...they were both keys to destroy the world...the way they instantly connected over that...the soulmate-ism of it all...

they . them. girlboss and malewife. that's it.

She grabbed his balls. He totally liked it.

He's so silly and she loves it. She's so scary and he loves it. She grabbed his balls in public.

They will be endgame trust me. Franky doesn't treat any other girl like he treats Robin. There dynamic in Water 7 and Thriller Bark was and always will be one of the best in all of OP.

Propaganda for Rayleigh x Shakky:

They’re canon and very hot. These are facts.

[irithnova]

Looking at her(?) post, myrddin is the incarnation of the stereotype of the american who thinks their country only do good vs the evils other dicatorships. I saw that post not long ago where she was talking about rusame fans and basically she saids it brushed her the wrong way that people where making content about this meanwhile russia is a pariah/mafia state waging a genocidal war since 2014 (or before if you go back to chechnya and georgia). Considering she lost a friend in ukraine it's understable that she has these feelings. The problem is that it became very hypocrite when someone pointed out that she don't gave a fuck about the countries her nation had destroyed and the thousands of civilians merely considered as collateral damage, (so it was kind of weird to ask people to cancel a country because they do horrible things but it surprisingly doesn't apply to your). And she answered by posting an article about a russian nationalist killed and called the poster a vatnik. adding the facts that often she post about nato that she considere a 100% peaceful organisation (hi libya and afhganistan who were NOT asked by UN),Usa (hi MeNa/LatAm), that people who posted about iraq war where russians trolls (no way it's people who gets hurt by us intervention, huh ?) everyone who disagree with her is paid by the kremlin and because usa are the 1st global power they should be kind of the world police. It looks like she just is an american nationalist who doesn't aknowledge that her country is as much of a terrorist state as russia, and the millions lives who gets destroyed are barely collateral damages(or they deserved it, these damn 7 yo jihadist).

Sorry for the long post and for the possible non-comprehension, english is not my first language and i wanted to talk about it without being treated as a russian agent.^^'

Disclaimer: Do not send threats to myrddin ffs

The myth of American benevolence and American exceptionalism is a plague lmao. Yeah as someone who's country (Philippines) was directly affected by American imperialism and who's suffering under American imperialism is constantly downplayed because of the myth of American exceptionalism I really don't appreciate any mention of America's imperialist reality being met with "YOU'RE A VATNIK! YOU'RE A RUSSIAN SPY!"

Yeah it's incredibly hypocritical to get mad at people for drawing hetalia Russia art because of the invasion of Ukraine but be completely fine with hetalia America art despite... Everything about America's imperialist legacy which persists to this day. The U.S helped implement a racial hierarchy system in the Philippines and the affects are still felt to this day. American imperialism/interventionism is still tearing people lives apart.

I do sympathise with the fact that they've lost a friend in Ukraine - that's terrible. However that doesn't mean that in some sort of logical sequence it then justifies running around with a blindfold on trying to ignore America's faults.

I admit that I get annoyed myself when people woobify Russia too much because surprise - I'm not a fan of the Russian state either (I despise it) despite the vatnik accusations, and I've been quite vocal about my distaste for their actions myself, but unless the content is crossing the line into Russian (or American) imperialist apologia, it's just content that annoys me/is annoying at the end of the day and that's that. By their logic they should not be America posting then? They hate rusame art/content because of Russian imperialism but... Nothing about American imperialism?

But wait - the U.S and NATO have done nothing wrong, right? And anyone and everyone who levels well founded criticisms at them MUST be being paid off by the Kremlin, right? Including people whose families' lives, countrymen's lives, and even own lives who were ripped apart due to their actions? Right?

Their lived experiences = Russian agent now I guess.

The fact that it got to the point where myrddin defended what they thought was a Ukrainian using "Mongol" as an insult towards Russians because I said it was racist/had it's basis in Nazi eugenicist science and that it should not be tolerated, and accused me of spreading Russian propaganda of "Ukrainians being Nazis"... Yeah myrddin, you're just racist lol. The fact that they had the gall to make (really bad) posts about hetalia Mongolia beforehand too. The gall of it all.

Considering English isn't your first language - if you sent an ask into Myrddin anyways they'd probably point that out and laugh at you. Because they're like that (saying this because they've explicity made fun of a LatAms grammar before when they sent in criticism) I guess.

If you're so American imperialist brainrotted that it comes to that, please get the fuck off my blog.

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 109: Welcome to REDACTED

Revelation Chapter 19: Hidden Strings

Azura talks about how great Valla was and how Hoshidan and Nohrian royals used to visit. It's unclear when the above world forgot about Valla, but from how Azura talks about it, it seems they knew about Valla until Anankos took over and killed everyone. Which means that all of the army older than Corrin should already know about Valla. The other implication is that Valla cut off contact centuries ago for unrelated reasons, but even then the curse wouldn’t have existed yet and people would have talked about it. Corrin and Azura being from the ancient destroyed kingdom of legend really fucks with this game’s world-building.

Azura brings the gang to a statue of Anankos, identical to the one on the ceiling in Garon’s castle, and explains that Anankos is the Vallan equivalent of the Dusk and Dawn Dragons, who I guess don’t give a shit about Anankos destroying their kingdoms. Azura explains that Garon worships Anankos instead of Dusky because he’s actually a zombie controlled by Anankos, used to create wars so Anankos can conquer the world. Question: how and when did Garon die? I don’t recall the game ever explaining.

Side note, the track for exploring Valla at one point plays the Nintendo WiFi connecting sound. For some reason. It confuses me.

Azura reveals some more shit we already knew and then a kid named Anthony shows up, chased by Vallite soldiers. This map is a recycled version of Conquest Chapter 15, that cool map where our party is replicated on a different island, with one half fighting the boss and the other half trying to escape. The enemies on the bottom island are tough, but our king Kenshi is stronk. After the battle, Anthony reveals that the remaining Vallites are enslaved by Anankos and that he escaped. Team Corrin asks this escaped child slave to lead them back to the place he escaped from, which is filled with people who want to murder him. Bit of a dick request.

Back at his fortress, Anankos, who is wearing a black hood because he’s evil, talks to Strategist Lady and Mikoto. Er, I mean, ???, the purple smoke-covered Anankos minion who definitely is not Mikoto.

Support: Nyx/Orochi

C: People like Nyx more than Orochi because Nyx is more mature. Orochi dislikes this.

B: Orochi challenged Nyx to a duel. Nyx doesn't care enough to fight. Nyx explains her backstory. The two of them become friends.

A: Orochi refuses to judge Nyx for her past. Nyx says she wishes Orochi had been around when she was younger.

Review: Decent, although they become friends very quickly.

Support: Leo/Sakura

C: Leo asks if Sakura will attend the war council meeting. Sakura says no because she hates talking about hurting people. Leo says she isn't cut out for the life of a soldier.

B: Sakura asks to attend the war council, because it will help her treat the wounds of the soldiers.

A: Sakura heals a bunch of soldiers. Leo apologizes for saying she wasn't suited for war. Sakura says she still doesn't like battle and wishes the war would end.

S: Leo says he loves Sakura for her sweet heart and understated strength.

Review: Really good! Sakura's kindness and empathy shine through, while also treating her as a mature, capable healer.

Support: Camilla/Ryoma

C: Ryoma and Camilla try to become friends for Corrin's sake. They have nothing to talk about and bicker over who loves Corrin more.

B: Camilla says she wants to keep an eye on Corrin at all times. Ryoma says Corrin needs independence to reach their full potential.

A: Corrin gets mad about the two of them fighting. They decide to be nice to each other because that's what Corrin wants.

S: Ryoma says he wants to protect Corrin and asks her to unite the two great kingdoms of the world. Review: Boring.

Support: Beruka/Oboro

C: Oboro growls at Beruka, because she's a Nohrian assassin. Oboro explains her parents were tailors murdered by bandits. Beruka implies she knows something, before going silent.

B: Oboro demands Beruka says something. Eventually, Beruka says that she was raised by Oboro's parents' killer.

A: Beruk explains her adoptive father, a cruel assassin, murdered Oboro's parents because they were close to the nobility, and that this left him disgusted with himself. Oboro demands Beruka tell her where he is, and Beruka explains she was paid to kill him. Beruka offers herself to Oboro as a target of revenge, but Oboro chooses to spare her and break the chain of hatred.

Review: Pretty good. Gives good backstory on both characters, plus Beruka offering her life and Oboro abandoning her revenge are great character moments.

[the-firebird69]

Thanos The Last Titan Full Trailer

There are some things in this that are not right but they say a new movie is coming out and it's not true but it might the battle goes on and shortly after Georgia it does end in Massachusetts again but this is an important milestone it says the last Titan and the Titans are leaving and other monsters are taking over and the xenomorph were not made on Titan they are vicious and they will review the pieces that serious is coming up very soon and they are coming to Earth there's more to this there are a lot of people who are in disbelief of almost everything in their huge assholes and they go pretty quick because you're not ready for anything at all and they are destroyed but this is a particular film that shows the Titans leaving and really that's a bad thing for them and it's a sad thing for them and they're free demons and their name and it is somewhat in honor of them their behavior is seen and they are not as horrific as Trump but he's leaving too. The significance of this movie cannot be understated why but there's a glaring reason and it is because Thanos decided to fight all of the morlock more so over a car ultimately leads to the destruction of his entire kind more or less a type of race they are completely wiped out and it's because of what he goes around saying and doing and he is telling people so I'll be obliterated and they're hearing it from Trump too and they're seeing what he's doing and they're pursuing him and even the max are a little bit shocked but our son is telling us these people are massive terrorists and Duke nukem Blockbuster has been absorbing the work and it was sent to us it says it's kind of illegal he's so good at it it's not right and it covers it so I released it today in a different format and people can see it better and Duke nukem Blockbuster is on our side no matter what but that's how our father and mother talk and He got interviewed a little no we talked we talked to him about it because you said what is he saying and he knows that one and a cadre and their egotarians and you guys are outmatched by them all the time and they need the support of the armies and us and we're like them we don't put up with their s*** so Timmy Doyle is responsible for more or less the final blow against your entire race Trump carried a lot of it and Tommy F kicked it off but the max planned it all and this points it out and you go to Virginia and you face the max afterwards it is because of the Firebird and it's because of Tony Stark and he doesn't do the wrong thing but then again it's not doing it on purpose well he might be what he says is we're fighting each other so much we need a common enemy and this one is too great but the other one doesn't do it the start going nuts on them and they're riding the bikes the Harley-Davidsons and they're making the new ones it starts a new type of bike and it is a short range cruiser for going 30 to 60 miles and a ton of people start getting them because they're light and they use them to go very long distances the heavy ones are terrible and they find out that it's true it's about the Terminator let me see the movie and then they see it all over this is a war and it starts to heat up big time because of our son and daughter's cars and she has a Firebird and hers is red he says and it's true and she's laughing and smiling and says he's seen it before and seeing her and wonder who it was and he giggles in a funny way but she's been watched by him. So he's always helping her and always there and usually on time these things are tough and things are changing and he says she's going to be a normal gravity we have quite a bit of work to do and gain power to make sure she's safe and she's starting to get that we are moving out and we're getting to it there's a few more things but this is important to note and also..

"""during this movie The empire is trying to grab everything from the pseudo empire and the morlock and others Trump's main stashes are gone and there's a few left the ones in the tunnels are gone and they're going after the cities and they're using these people and they're fine and you can see it in New York and Blockbuster is caught annihilated the warlock to take stuff and using gas and all sorts of things and they go after him and they catch a bunch of his people and they find out everything is true but that doesn't matter what matters is that they're using this and they're getting rid of the idiots while they're fighting each other

Thor Freya

Olympus

Zues Hera

[alightinthelantern]

film reviews: Days of Heaven (1978, Terrence Malick)

A simple, understated period drama with the complexity of human nature at its heart, the film has gained widespread fame for the beauty of its cinematography, and is now considered one of the finest movies of the 1970s.

Synopsis: In 1916, Chicago mill worker Bill strikes and kills his boss, then flees to the Texas Panhandle with his girlfriend Abby and young sister Linda, where they get work as seasonal harvesters bringing in the wheat on a gigantic farm. Bill and Abby pretend to be siblings to prevent gossip amongst the other laborers. Bill overhears a doctor telling the wealthy young farmer he has only a year to live. When the farmer falls in love with Abby, Bill encourages her to marry him so they can inherit his money. The two marry and Bill and Linda live with the couple as her siblings.  Abby keeps up a clandestine relationship with Bill, but begins to fall for her husband as well. The seasons pass and the farmer's health unexpectedly remains stable, and Bill leaves after he finds out about Abby’s shifting feelings. The next year Bill returns with the other harvesters, accepting that Abby’s heart no longer belongs to him, but the farmer sees the two kiss each other goodbye and realizes their true relationship. When a locust swarm and fires destroy his wheat fields, the incensed farmer confronts Bill with a gun, but Bill kills him with a screwdriver, then flees with Abby and Linda in a motorboat upriver. Police pursue and eventually find them; Bill is shot and killed while running. Abby inherits the farmer's estate and leaves Linda at a boarding school, then leaves town on a train with soldiers departing for World War I. Linda runs away from school shortly afterward with one of the harvesters she had befriended the first season.

Review: This is a very understated film, and the action unfolds simply and methodically without clamor or commotion, except for the film’s climactic scenes, wringing exquisite beauty out of its scenery and its acting. Not quite a character study, the film nonetheless makes use of fantastically talented, understated acting to sell the characters as real people with complex motivations. The film was mostly shot at golden hour and the cinematography is stunning, with silhouetted figures populating the endless wheat fields stretching for miles and miles, wheat undulating in the breeze. This is a truly great film, and I recommend it heartily for art film lovers. You can watch it here.

[fuckzachariah]

aleburton​:

Her mission to throw Zach off balance had been successful. His eyes rolled, a despicable grin looming upon his lips as their audience applauded. She could not be sure, but it appeared as if she had also won Aubrey’s favor. At least for the evening. She inched off of the couch, situating herself on the pins of her Christian Louboutin’s and drawing down the hem of her dress. Alex counted on some sort of backbiting response. Typical of their interactions with one and other, but Aubrey surprised her with an indirect compliment instead. She would take it, especially if it meant one less nuisance. She lifted her hand to wipe the corners of her lips. The taste of Aubrey’s strawberry gloss remained, however. She would take that too — a firm reminder of an incontestable victory. How strange it must have been for Zach to take in. Whether he could admit it or not, Aubrey meant something to him once even if it was only for her friendship.

Her resentment toward Alex tainted her meaning and crumpled it into something else. Something unfortunate. His relationship with Alex had only just been removed from the fire, the embers still alight and waiting for an opportunity to burst back into a flame. To see them together and so intimately? It was a mind fuck. Zach attempted to soothe their onlookers, but it seemed to be ineffective. The aura to the room had changed. It was a searing red, playful but impassioned. The kind to urge you to loosen several buttons on your shirt. Isn’t that how most Hollywood parties go? The most memorable ones did. Tasha approached him, her arms lengthened to offer him the bowl. She watched as he unfurled the paper, reading aloud what appeared to be the most loaded dare received. He looked to her straightaway, his features writhing into a haughty smirk. How perfect. Another excuse for them to flirt and tease. Tasha had attempted to disappear into the throng of nameless faces, possibly circumvent being chosen to participate. There was no such luck.

Luke took hold of her, guiding her to her fate. To Zach. Interestingly, that coquette smile she slipped into earlier had been discarded. Was this not the same girl who had been desperate for his attention only moments ago? Their interaction left her feeling baffled. Her brows creased together, looking between them. He hadn’t earned her? She must have assumed he viewed her as something worth working for. Why would he when Alex was around? It couldn’t have been more clear where his attention was centered. It always came back to her. She rose from the couch, tucking her fingers into her top to situate her breasts following her tryst with Aubrey. Leave it to Zach to insert another arrow into already raw tissue. He brushed against her and she laughed, spilling chocolate brown curls down the curve of her back. “I can’t remember. Sorry.” Eden outstretched her fingers toward her best friend, allowing her to occupy the empty space beside her.

Ryan had taken to the floor, excitedly drumming against the coffee table and the rug beneath him. Tasha filled the subtle indention in the couch left by Alex, clearly ruffled by the predicament. Was this not what she craved all along as she pried into Zach’s sexual exploits, wondering why he’d chosen Blondie but not her? He sunk to his knees and Alexandra recoiled. She harked back to their last night together. He continued to toy with her, ignoring the guidelines she had set forth. She spread her legs wide, still donning four-inch heels, and rolled her fingers round the pink bud between them. He begged, pleaded to let him do it. The rest was history. Someone in the crowd whistled and she glimpsed briefly over her shoulder. She thought about ripping their tongue from their mouth, just for a moment. When she looked back, Zach’s lips had found their way to the firm round of Tasha’s breast. The room responded with ardent encouragement. They wanted more.

He parted her thighs, fingers ebbing beneath the material of her dress. Zach lowered his head, but his eyes found hers. Sick. Absolutely fucking sick. Tasha’s bronzed stem draped loosely over the back of his hand, her inner thigh exposed. His tongue whirled against her supple skin, letter by letter. Alex hadn’t realized she was crushing Eden’s hand until she shuddered. She broke her eye contact with Zach to quietly apologize before returning to look at him rather vacantly. She began to wonder what the prize would be for pushing the other into a pit of envy. There could be no release of the swelling sexual tension that built between them. They had decided on friends. To her knowledge, friends did not fuck. It was never that simple, especially with feeling as intricate as theirs. So, what? They retire to bed, seething and dissatisfied? But the champagne had her considering they might overlook their agreement — just this once.

It seemed as if the dare dragged on forever, each character on her thigh taking longer than the last. He likely intended it to be that way. Torture her for as long as he pleased. Zach had gotten off easy. Watching her with Aubrey may have been uncomfortable, but was not and would never be a reality. With the way Tasha pursued him, single and clearly open to entanglements, whose to say she wouldn’t be? It was not the same and her desire for balance started to antagonize her. Rather than let it show, allow him to know he had successfully embedded himself beneath her skin, she smiled and clapped. Impressed and proud as ever. When it came time to decipher the message he had left upon her skin, Tasha opted to answer incorrectly. Again, she threw Alex for another loop. She must have been self-sabotaging. Zach swapped places with Tasha, parting his thighs to make way for her to perch upon his lap. She supposed embarrassing him was still a reasonable payback.

Alex ambled toward him; feline eyes narrowing softly as she approached, bending at the waist to level with him. “You can keep your tongue and your hands to yourself.” With that, she turned and positioned herself purposefully upon him, seeking that familiar print beneath his jeans. She arched her back, sending the curve of her bottom deeper into his lap. She flicked her hair over her shoulder, sending a whisper of her favorite perfume with it. “This feels familiar. Though I could be thinking of someone else,” she teased, catching a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye. Within the herd of attendants, Ryan and Eden uncomfortably passed the bowl back and forth. Neither seemed to keen to draw until a voice called out, “It’s Ryan’s turn. Ryan, Ryan, Ryan.” The chant was continued by the others, clapping their hands louder and louder until he bellowed, “Alright!” Alexandra laughed faintly, her back brushing against Zach’s chest and shifting her weight. She could still feel him.

Ryan inserted his hand into the bowl, winding his wrist round and round as if mixing it further improved his chances of selecting a more tame dare. He plucked the slip of paper from the bowl and began to read it out loud, “Sext a member of the group’s mother the dirtiest thing you can think of. What the fuck!” He threw his hands up. It was as if the universe played a cruel trick on the most deserving, naughty boy. Alex gently cupped her hand over her mouth, resisting the urge to split at the seams as she recalled a certain secret shared during their night of fun.

He knew her well enough to know what could and could not get under her skin, and even if her expression was still as lake water in the summer, there was a war waging behind her eyes. Their gazes remained locked as she slinked toward him, her eyes slitting with some complicated concoction of disdain and something else he couldn’t decipher. He lifted his chin, an understated cocky smile simmering upon his features as she schooled him, snapping at the waist to meet his level. Adrenaline rippled through his stomach, seeping into the rest of him. “Not a problem, miss,” he played up to her. She promptly turned her back on him, lowering into his lap with purpose. A throne handmade for her. One unfit for anyone else. He knew he had encouraged this punishment, but she wasted no time at all finding the stirred length of him and shifting the curve of her rear to press firmly against it. He grunted quietly, neck twitching as he stifled the urge to let his head roll back. Maybe this seemed like more of a reward than a punishment to most, but they’d be wrong - the sensation was torture. He could almost count the threads separating them.

Alex teased him lightly, flicking a curtain of auburn waves to send a cruel waft of perfume his way. He needed to adjust and calm down before he could play back - right now, he needed to focus all his attention on not getting hard. He shook his head, keeping his promise to keep his hands to himself. If he touched her now it was game over. “Shut u-” he began to threaten, but bit his tongue. All he could feel was her on him. He breathed out through gritted teeth. “Stay still.” It was a warning, all sense of teasing dropped from his tone as he fought to channel his attention elsewhere. Ryan was being called upon, his name chanted into the ether. His previously loud and engaged stupor shied away and was instead replaced with disgruntled reluctance. As Zach turned to watch, Alex brushed her back against his chest, and he instinctively pulled away from her. He’d wanted nothing more than this moments ago, had rallied her until she had something to prove and a man to destroy, but now he was starting to regret his own hedonism. He knew she was the one thing he couldn’t control himself around - why tempt fate? The less contact, the better. For now.

Ryan’s dare distracted him for a moment as he fended off a knowing laugh. Alex, too, fractured into giggles, but Eden entirely split open. She burst into laughter at the expense of her love, backing away from him as he looked to her for aid. “Don’t look at me. My mom is too pure for you, nasty.” Others fell away, too, unbeknownst to Sarah who had been innocently left as the last woman on the front lines. “Alright, hand it over,” Ryan grasped the air before her. He shook out his shoulders and jogged in place as though preparing for a marathon. “Let’s fuckin’ do this, Mrs Lee.” Sarah yelped and stepped back. “No! No, she’s innocent.” But Ryan was playing up to it now, running at her, arms everywhere, all at once. She was helpless to it as he fished her phone from her back pocket and hoisted it far too high in the air for her to reach. “Not tonight she’s not. Tonight she’s all mine.” He recited loudly as he marched around the room, just quick enough to dodge Sarah’s darting hands, typing out as he went. “Mrs Lee, it’s Ryan. I’m sorry it took me this long, but I know you feel it t… Get off me, dwarf!” he slapped Sarah down playfully, climbing onto the couch to lift the phone higher. He smirked to himself as he continued typing, a judgemental, “Jesus, Ry,” from Aubrey as she spied a snippet of the screen.

Eventually, he sent the text, locked the phone and hopped down off the couch, flipping the device over in his hands to return to its owner. Sarah quickly scanned the text, face falling apart and eyes bulging. She slapped his arm, hard. “Ry-an!” she complained as he stood rather smugly with his hands on his hips. “What? Older women get me going. Right, cougar?” he wiggled his eyebrows at Eden as he sloped back to her side and Sarah ran out of the room with her phone to her ear, presumably doing damage control. “Fuck you, Chávez, it’s only ten months.” He tugged her in by the waist, hand dropping to her ass as he grinned into her neck. “My geriatric queen, I believe it’s your turn.” She shoved him off and stalked toward the bowl, bolstered by his teasing, and shoved her hand inside. Zach had been distracted for all of a couple minutes. The moment the energy died down even marginally, he squirmed beneath Alex. His mind moved rapidly, picturing sweeping her up and throwing her onto his mattress, taking her whatever way he wanted.

He leaned away from her again, seeking relief or a breath to take, having gravitated closer unconsciously. Eden read her dare aloud. “Give the tallest person in the room a hickey,” she spoke slowly, the moment the first words left her mouth knowing exactly who her dare would involve. Luke grinned up at her from his seat, plucking what’s-her-name from his lap and patting his thighs invitingly. “Shame it’s not the other way around, E. Coulda proved to you I’m worth ten of your little boytoy.” Ryan’s middle finger flew into the air as he scoffed. “Swallow my whole dick, gigantor,” he spewed. “Gladly!” Luke jeered back. As Eden rolled her eyes and reluctantly approached him, Zach couldn’t help but lean in to Alex’s ear and whisper suggestively to her. He knew he was acting erratically. Hot, cold, hotter, freezing. At least on the drugs he knew what he wanted and ran that path with unwavering loyalty. Now, he was a flickering strobe light. All or nothing. “In comparison, don’t your predicaments seem a lot more… palatable?” he muttered, bold enough now to snake his fingers into the delicate crease where her thighs met her hips, guiding her closer.