#also yes I know some folks say start with World At War

[efingart]

Where do I start with Black Ops?

!!!!! (I'm being asked about Blops??? be cool be cool)

Black Ops is a series that has a lot of twists and turns. A big part of the experience is in actually playing the games, and if you only watch them on Youtube, you will miss a lot. Hell, I'm still finding stuff on subsequent playthroughs. So if you have the option, play them.

If you can, I'd say start with Black Ops 1. It is my favorite Black Ops game, so yes I am biased, but it is also the beginning. AND it is the intro to CoD's MOST ICONIC DUO of Alex Mason and Frank Woods. In my opinion? it's not to be missed. It's challenging for sure, but it's SO worth it. And the plot twists??? omg. You don't want those spoiled for you.

If you don't want to or can't play the older games, you COULD start with Cold War. While the stories are in the same timeline, you don't need to know anything about Black Ops 1 to play Cold War. There will be some spoilers for Black Ops 1, just FYI. But that's how I started, and then I turned right around and played 1&2 (because I loved Woods and Mason so much and I NEEDED more).

Also, the new game this year is rumored to be a sequel to Cold War, so it's good to get that one under your belt at least. I don't know if they will include some elements of 2 in it, but about half of 2 takes place almost immediately before the rumored events of Blops 2024 (if it is indeed set in the Gulf War period 1990-1991).

So I'd recommend playing 1 first, then CW, then 2. You don't have to play 3. And just ignore any of the events of 4; in fact, it's best to pretend 4 doesn't exist. Ugh.

TL;DR

Blops 1-> Cold War-> Black Ops 2

Avoid Black Ops 4

Anyway, thanks for sending me a Blops ask!! Let me know if you have any other questions.

[blueteller]

Hello, Blueteller-nim! I just want to ask what's happening rn in tcf part 2? Who are the new gods that have been introduced (and how many of those newly introduced gods became Cale's enemies)? How many hunters Cale already defeated (and how many more should he defeat)? Is there any news about the Fake Hilsman? Did Cale adopted a new kid? (Pls say yes I want him to adopt more lol)

Hi! I believe this exact question was sent to me before? Sorry it took me so long to reply! Every time I started writing, new lore got dropped and I ended up re-writing this reply from scratch. There's a lot to cover, so brace yourself for tons of SPOILERS

I made a post about TCF gods once already, but turns out, parts of it are outdated! Some new information got revealed that directly contradicts my old assumptions about several of them. But we'll get to it.

First of all, the Hunter families. The plot of Part 2 so far consists of Cale going to different dimensions to deal with them.

So there were originally seven, but by current time there were only five left to deal with. Let's quickly run by each of them one by one.

Black Bloods; residents of the planet Xiaolen – specifically Xiaolen 1 – named Huayans (Fayence in the first raw translations, just in case you've seen that version before), led by Redok. They were human Black Mages who specialized in "White Magic", meaning their variant of Black Magic was more powerful and it looked white. Pretty neat. They flooded Xiaolen with dead mana in order to sacrifice the world and gather its energy called "Karma". Still little detail on how Karma works exactly, but we know it can be gathered by either killing or saving tons of people – guess which method the Hunters use. Cale got a dramatic fire power boost because of some universal balance rules, and defeated them pretty easily. (Xiaolen citizens made Cale a statue in his honor, much to his despair lol)

Blue Bloods; residents of Central Plains, a pretty young world from what we know. They were known as the Blood Cult, lead by a female leader called Blood Demon. They created hundreds of thousands of zombies called Jiangshi and planned to cause a 3-way civil war in order to do the same thing Black Bloods were trying to do. Cale got a water power upgrade because of a dead Dragon and defeated a tsunami with a tsunami and got a splitting headache because of some third eye mumbo jumbo – long story. They were a little harder to defeat than Black Bloods, but they managed in the end. Choi Han got to personally slay the Blood Demon. (Central Plains citizens turned Cale into a folk story/legend and apparently there's already a cult for him hahaha)

Purple Bloods; resident of Aipotu – who consists entirely of Dragons and Dragon-bloods, led by Dragon Lord Neo (yes I'm pretty sure the name is a Matrix reference – love the irony of it so much). Purple Blood's specialty was getting to "inheriting" Dragon powers via some very questionable blood transfusions and heart transplants. Nasty stuff. Neo's Attribute was time, or something quite similar to it, and he used his time powers to mess up Aipotu and the World Tree, intending to transfer himself and all his followers/slaves into a Virtual Reality the Hunters planned to make their own new world. Cale had to use Instant to defeat Neo, turning his own broken plate into dust and eating it to survive (VERY questionable method, Cale!!). Dragon Half-Blood also had to sacrifice himself so Cale set him up as an NPC in the Virtual World and he gets to be reborn from an egg as a legit Half-Dragon named Eden Miru. These has been the most recent events in the story (also Aipotu residents built Cale a church under Clopeh and named it Five Colored Light religion HAHAHAHA). Speaking of Virtual Reality…

Transparent Bloods; residents of Earth 3 – the world where Anh Roh Man lives, the guy who made Alberu's Taerang; leader unknown so far. Apparently ARM's parents are the one who made the Virtual Reality, and the Hunters bought/stole it (and named it "Raising My Very Own Precious Omnipotent God!"??? Which is just hilarious…) So the game wasn't originally designed by them. That matters a lot, because it seems like not only VR is sentient like every other world so far, it has even created an AI specifically against the Hunters and their influence. It seems that VR is, in fact, a real world, capable of containing real people and their souls. So Cale will definitely be heading there next to save it from Transparent Bloods. But before we get to them…

Five-Colored Bloods; no apparent residence, but I have a suspicion… We found out very recently their leader is called the "Wanderer King". Which just screams to me of the whole "Mercenary King" invented by the White Star – the exact same brand of arrogance, really. Their specialty seems to be collecting and transferring power; that's how Dragon Lord Neo was able to get so much power to influence an entire world and the World Tree. They will be a pain to deal with, because they seem to be allied both with certain gods and demons. Which is why, btw, in the most recent chapters Cale went to the freaking Demon Realm. But more on that in a bit~!

White Bloods; all we know about them is from Choi Jung Gun in Sealed God's Temple Test of Sloth. To directly quote him, "The White Blood family betrayed the Hunters and escaped!" (chapter 730) – which I actually mixed up in the past, my bad; I thought it was the Red Blood family that betrayed them and escaped. Speaking of which:

Red Bloods; also known as Thames, last known member being Jour Thames (or is it Drew Thames in the EAP translation? Whatever, I prefer Jour…) and the "Fake Hilsman" who stole Cale's retirement fund. Judging from Jour mentioning her brother when Cale got the Annual Rings of Life Ancient Power, I think it's safe to assume it's that guy. CJG said to Cale that " The Red Blood family perished a long time ago", but he also said that "The Red Blood did not perish", so I think they also betrayed the Hunters and faked their death.

If you're still with me after ALL of that exposition, let me now actually address the actual question: the gods involved in the plot of in Part 2.

There are 5 gods we must talk about, and why I need the Hunter families context first will become clear in a moment.

God of Balance; apparently female, wears heels, and approaches people from behind for intimidation. I'd call her the "gentle in disposition yet extremely scary" grandma type. Basically forcefully summoned Cale to meet her after defeating the Blue Bloods on Central Plains (Cale did not see her face) and told/threatened Cale that he should become a god. One of the "Five Ancient Gods", which seem to be one of the if not THE oldest Gods around who did not retire yet for some reason. Seems like a real piece of work, though doesn't seem evil? More like a strict law enforced or corrupt politician. She did beat up the God of Death over giving Cale the dimension-transporting mirror Divine Item that one time. She also wrote a rulebook on universal balance, apparently. That's why most of Cales powers were sealed and weakened during the Central Plains arc.

God of Hope; I don't believe their gender was ever specified. I think some people assume she's female too, but I found no evidence for it so far? I might be wrong. Anyway – thanks to them visiting Cale to "scare away" the God of Balance, we got tons of info. The God of Hope said: "Including Balance, Chaos, and I, there are a total of five Ancient Gods. We have continued to protect these seats without ever handing it over to another existence. My my, we are all quite greedy. We all desire power as well." So the five Ancient Gods seem to be Balance, Chaos, Hope, and I think the last two are Fate and Blue Wolf? [EDIT: The last two were revealed to be Justice and Injustice in the most recent chapter. My mistake!] Anyway – the God of Hope is sometimes stronger than Balance and that pisses her off. They seem to be one of the most reasonable gods we've met so far, not only admitting that they did not wish to become a god at all but were forced to, but also sincerely cheering on Cale's dream, explaining that Balance wanted Cale to replace Hope and be her lackey. No thanks, Balance, that's never gonna happen. …I mean Cale might still end up a god, with how things are going, but. Definitely not working for Balance.

Blue Wolf; I'm also unsure if the gender ever got specified, though I got the impression that they're probably male so far? In any case, they showed up during the battle on Aipotu. One of the evil Hunter Dragons tried to summon them with a corrupt Divine Item and Lock ended up swallowing a blue flame (yes it was exactly as weird as it sounds). They seem to be the reason why Beast People are able to control their Berserk Transformations at all? Which is quite interesting. Little to no depth on this god's character so far, though, except for apparently liking Lock and making him a successor of some kind.

God of Chaos; we found out a couple of things about them so far in the Aipotu arc. One, their followers are complete freaks; like, Shou Tucker from Fullmetal Alchemist level of messed up.  Their followers experiment on people AND themselves, like re-sewing limbs and creating chimeras (which explains lots of Hunter experiments honestly). Two, their representatives are able to use some weird similar-to-Dominating-Aura power which involves creepy Eldritch Horror Eyes? And Cale's gonna try and replicate that with the Donating Aura himself?? Well okay then…? Three, that god's power seems to be characterized by grey color (Dragon Lord Neo intended to use grey stuff to kill Aipotu with. Also worth mentioning; Choi Jung Gun apparently got poisoned by it, so now he's unconscious, slowly turning gray and dying. We'll see if Cale finds a way to save him.) Which – plot twist!! Actually came up in Part 1!! Looks like Sky Eating Water herself was subdued by that very god's power?! Together with God of War, no less, which brings us to the final god on the list…

God of War; turns out they're a double agent, if not a triple agent!! It's quite difficult to figure out what their deal is. Before, I kinda assumed they had to have some good intentions, because they helped created shelters and Cotton was their Holy Maiden and stuff. But nope. God of War is either working FOR or WITH the Hunters, although I'm inclined to think the latter. There seems to be something going behind the scenes, some personal agenda we don't know of yet? We know from Part 1 that God of War gave the people of the north a river, which the Sekka family hoarded selfishly for themselves, turning it into a lake. The God of War emptied the lake in retribution and sent a Divine Item that was a watering can full of fury. However – despite apparently all that good stuff and "breaking the slave chains" from Sky Eater Water, they also forced her to work for them as a Judge, which she hated so much she ran off. We now found out in Part 2 that God of War must have wanted to control Sky Eating Water, because she was so powerful she probably could have defeated the Ancient White Star by herself!! So, God of War teamed up with God of Chaos and chained her down in the lake in the Eastern Continent where Cale eventually got the Ancient Power from. A tragic end for her, but shows how merciless God of War was for his very own chosen one, in the end. God of War was also involved in giving Neo the knowledge on how to control Aipotu's power and the World Tree. There seems to be a lot more going on with the God of War we EVER knew, and the fact that the grey color has been set up back when Cale got Sky Eating water is straight up thrilling for me. I can't wait to find out more!!

So we finally covered all the Hunters and all the gods so far – goodness I'm sorry there's so much, but in my defense, that's about 300 chapters of context for it.

I roughly covered what happened so far through the two lists, but I'll add a few more things:

Cale defeated 3 out of 5 Hunter families so far: Black, Blue and Purple (like beating someone up and leaving colored bruises lol), with Transparent and Five Colors left. Also the ever-mysterious Hunter Leader called "The King's Successor", no idea if that's the Wanderer King or not, but I kind of doubt it. We'll see… (I also totally hope Cale kicks the a** of the God of Chaos, because they're a creep and deserve to burn in hell)

There seems to be another faction aside from Hunters & their supporters, or anti-Hunter gods like God of Death and non-affiliated people – there's a group called "Arbitrators" (raw translation, EAP did not get so far yet), which include Demons?? We don't know what their exact deal is yet, they seem to be about specific Divine/Demonic politics maybe? And Cotton is one of them because she turned her back on God of War?? And now Cale is in the Demon Realm, meeting a middle-aged demon princess named Aurora (whose father got dethroned and another guy took his place so Cale's probably gonna dethrone yet another monarch soon), and it turns out that the Arbitrators are totally BROKE, which kinda explains why Fake Hilsman stole Cale's money if he's one of them… Now Cale is scared because they want him to sponsor them HAHAHA – Alberu is gonna love the irony

No Cale did not officially adopt more kids sadly, but there's been some adorable kid characters showing up, and there's DEFINITELY a ton of new loyal Caleism followers – much to Cale's despair, as they're starting to worship him across dimensions… And with the Virtual Reality apparently being able to connect worlds, it's only the matter of time before Cale's slacker life is utterly screwed by multi-dimensional religion starring him as their Lord and Savior LOL

…So anyway, I hope it's what you've been asking for? Thank for reading this freakishly long post about my rambling on Part 2!

[stationintern]

Hello all!

This month was, truly, a beautiful month for me reading-wise. The birds were chirping, I found smut that made me sweat, and I revisited some old favorites. Let's jump right in. I am so excited to share these with you. (Hence why I am posting this a day early.)

Strap in!

Dwelling On Dreams by @the-sinking-ship for H/D Big Bang 2021, 135k, E

I reread this fic this month, and it was just as delicious as I remembered. There are aspects of this fic that felt burned into my memory, so it came as a shock to me when I realized that the last time I'd read this fic was over a year ago. Everything about it feels so vivid. Harry's magic, his raw sexual energy. Draco's ability to make me scream at my phone and throw a mini temper-tantrum. I love flashbacks, and this fic has them in abundance. If you're looking for a thick read with complex characters and an interesting case to solve, look no further!

Hear Me Out by @rainstormradish for @dronarryfest 2024, 5.2k, E

I am pleased to announce that I have officially bought my ticket and jumped on the Dronarry train. You've all convinced me. This fic, in particular, is what really got the ball rolling. This was... immaculate. When I said I found smut that made me sweat, I MEANT IT. I had to, like, physically reconnect with my limbs after I read this. A bit of fake dating to start you off, and it only gets better from there.

The Way You Say My Name by InnerLilith 5.3k, E

Ya'll ever just bark at your phone? Sometimes, a girl just wants to read about Harry Potter going absolutely bonkers over Draco Malfoy calling him sweet little names. Very hot, very important to me.

Please hold. Your call is very important to us./Bloodlust and Bureaucracy by @goblinmatriarch 5k, T/8.5k E

DOUBLE FEATURE! I love the smell of wizarding bureaucracy in the morning. What a little world you have built! Authors who can create a new little piece of the wizarding world to explore mean the world to me. Very interesting in regards to how the medical system in the wizarding world relates to its real-world counterparts. Also, some biting action. Very smart, very hot.

Crossed Wires by @skeptiquewrites 11k, E

Critics are raving. "Literally ripping up the wallpaper in my home," says one reviewer. "Gnawing at the bars of my enclosure," says another. Bureaucracy lovers win forever and ever. Also, Draco gets to wear many suits. Harry Potter the reluctant politician. I couldn't have wished for more.

Our Objective Remains Unchanged by @citrusses 46k, E

BOATS, REPRESSION, MORE BOATS, EDGING (for sports purposes), EVEN MORE REPRESSION, AND WILL YOU BELIEVE ME IF I SAY THERE'S MORE BOATS. I don't know how you've done it, but you've managed to parallel the epic highs and lows of college rowing with the literal wizarding war. If that isn't talent, I don't know what is babe.

Truth or Dare? by @lettersbyelise 3.4k, E

There is truly nothing more intimate than jerking off your childhood rival while a party goes on around you. THAT, my friends, is the key to post-war, inter-house unity.

Borrowed Time by @the-starryknight for @dronarryfest 2024, 7.6k, E

Oh this was fire. What do you know about body swapping threesomes? Would you like to know more? Yes. Yes, you would.

Alrighty, I think that's all for now, folks. Very thankful to be in a fandom with so so so many talented people. You all blow my mind. Here's to another month of fantastic fiction!

See ya!

XX, Moon

[huggingtentacles]

Alright you just beat Elden Ring. Congratulations! You're now one of the cool folks who can actually beat the game, and you're not ready to put it down yet.

Maybe PvP intimidates you and you just wanna explore the world again. You may try a new build sure, but now that you know more about the game, you might wanna try something different, like a challenge run.

"huggingtentacles I am trash at the game there is no way I could do any of the cool runs, I died to Radagon a bazillion times"

Most people are good enough to beat a challange run. You can define what a challange is for yourself! There is no need to jump into something insane like a rune level 1 run or a torch only run. You can set any restriction you want, and completing the game with an additional challange is immensely more satisfying (and gives you bragging rights)

There are many different challange runs all varying in difficulty. Here are the runs that I've done personally.

Easy:

Region Lock Run — the premise is simple, you can't leave the region you are in unless you best the major boss(es) of that region. You can't go to Liurnia untill you beat Margit, you can't go to Altus untill you beat Rennala, etc. This run is fun because you can't skip over progression (like killing the Caelid dragon early with bleed to be overlevelled for Limgrave) which makes every fight feel appropriately difficult.

Starting Class Run — Only use the gear you start the game with. You can level up and upgrade your weapons and flask, but you can't use any other consumables and talismans you didn't start the game with. This run is quite flexible in difficulty because whether you choose to, say, use ashes of war or different spells or even golden seeds is ultimately up to you. All of them count.

No spirit summons — for some this is just the normal Elden Ring run, but for most it's a challange. While it can be somewhat difficult, not having spirit summons still leaves you with enough options to steamroll through the game if you need to. The challenge comes from actually learning the bosses and their patterns and engaging with combat more.

No status effects — As simple as it sounds. Perhaps you used to crutch on bleed, frost, rot or poison, now you can't. There are plenty of other very powerful damage options in the game, so the run is definitely not very hard, it only limits your arsenal somewhat.

Spells only/melee only — depending on what your previous run was. If you're used to standing behind and throwing pebbles, picking up a weapon might be a fun new challenge. And if you are used to your Big Sword, it's gonna be kinda hard to adjust to managing your FP and putting together a build.

Medium:

Spirit Summons Only — moderately difficult because it requires rather extensive knowledge of the game's mechanics. The basic premise is that you can only deal damage using spirit summons. You can restrict it to bosses only or to the whole run in general. It's an absolutely hilarious run. The AI built into the game can beat the entire game for you. Including the hardest endgame bosses like Malenia. Also playing as a support, healing and buffing your summons is really fun :)

No Crimson Flask — LISTEN. I swear it's not that hard. Yes it sucks a bit in the early game, but there are so many tools and options available to completely replace your flask with regen and heal spells. Just level up your vigor. This run is incredibly fun and it's good if you are aiming for harder runs in the future but aren't sure if you have it in you. I know you do ;)

Taunter's Tongue Run — Definitely my FAVOURITE of all of them. Its incredibly simple: you get Taunter's Tongue as soon as you get access to Roundtable Hold and you turn it on forever. Fight invaders alone or with a friend in 2v2s. If you don't have any PvP experience, this is one of the ways to learn. By the end of it, you won't be half bad at PvP, trust me (unless you just run away all the time which is also an option)

Hard:

Rune Level 1 is such a difficult run to do, but the cultural legacy of Fromsoft "no leveling up" runs makes the completion of it so desirable. Completing this run basically makes you part of the small section of people who actually know how to fight every single boss without relying on cheap tactics and cheese. You learn how to counter every move most enemies make because of how unforgiving it is.

But what's more fun is the sheer variety. Stat boosting gear is so common in this game you can literally use almost anything you want as a weapon.

Permadeath — If you die, you restart. Use any tools at your disposal to survive, play it safe, level up your vigor. But most importantly, brace for setbacks. Restarting because of a dumb mistake sucks, but that's why it's such an impressive run to complete. If you can take a loss on Elden Beast and make it to the inside of the Erdtree again, you will achieve one of the hardest challanges ER has to offer.

An easier variation of Permadeath would be "no rune loss" run. There are tools the game gives you to avoid losing runes, but it's still a very difficult run.

Torch Only Run — You pick up a standard torch from Church of Elleh and you use it to Kill God.

An easier variation would be Torches Only run which allows you to use the entire arsenal of torches. Still a very difficult run that requires a lot of skill to beat.

Impossible:

No Thinking About Kissing Malenia run — still working on this one. Can't figure it out. If you have advice please DM me

Feel free to add more challange run ideas!

[modkatisbacc]

Saw some folks point out that Lilly was most likely like the youngest in the Alliance, since her dad fought alongside Libby, Ray, and Maya in the War.

Consider, Even if this is more of me throwing a little bit of AU out there: Her father dies when she's twelve, and wanting to keep all the elemental masters together, Wu and Garmadon bring her into the Elemental Alliance, knowing that she already had the powers of Earth.

The other elemental masters freak out because,,, *points* that is a CHILD.

But they also understand that if she was left to her own devices (her mother passed when she was really little) then she could put herself or others in grave danger with her powers.

They absolutely deck little Lilly out in impressive weapons and battle armor.

Now here we go into heavy headcanons/au territory.

With Libby being the second youngest EM in the group, her and Lilly form a close bond.

Like her parents, Ed and Edna, Libby is great at creating things. She LOVES building- mechs, especially. With Libbys help, Lilly's first mech (the one donated to TOS I've decided) was created.

Yes they may have gone all out on safety features on the mech, but would you completely trust a twelve year old with a very large elemental mech?

One day she brings over a boy. Wu and Garmadon are WORRIED because the boy is NOT an elemental master, he doesn't even know anything about fighting. She is sixteen and could punch the head clean off someone's shoulders with her powers...

These two are worried the most because they personally made it their mission to make sure the EMs were ot being hunted or used for their powers. So, bringing in a non EM into the fold was deemed risky.

They of course warm up to Lou, who thinks Lilly is the coolest person in the world and he learns basic self defense from her.

The EM Alliance falls apart when she is only 20 . *I say that bc everyone looks like they may be in their 50's, mid-late 50's after the Merge With Lilly being a decade younger well .. she would've been a decade younger at least :/*

She gets sick after she defeats Grief-Bringer. It wasn't bad at first, she honestly just thought she may have caught a cold. Also yes, in my headcanons and AUs Cole has been born when she goes to Shintaro. I have another post going into an au-headcanon mashup (I say headcanons because it isn't necessarily disproved by canon) that I kinda want to write about some day.

Knowing she was going to get worse, she started working on making sure Cole was prepared to become the next Master of Earth. When she was feeling well enough she would leave the house (unfortunately she also didn't tell Lou where she was going most of the time fidjxjsjshd)

Refused to pass on afterwards and instead keeps an eye on her family. Is the reason SOMEONE survives stuff that he shouldn't have.

Fun Facts about Lilly!!! That are canon in my stories!!!

- She is a realm hopper. Yes this is based on the fact that she apparently spied on Garmadon while he was in the Underworld in that one comic. I haven't read it but you know. I want to do something with that knowledge.

- she isn't in the Departed Realm especially after the Merge. She's trying to keep an eye on Cole while trying to find her husband and her friends. She found Wu first, of course. And with Wu, she found Garmadon. Before the Merge she would switch between watching over Lou and Cole.

- She is the only Previous EM of Ninjago to participate in the TOS, which may or may not be canon. I say this bc of that outfit and you know... The mech....

-Cole is 9, she is 29 when she dies. Also it's freaking sad because ain't no way Ray and Maya knew this until almost a decade later. Wu keeps a close eye on him and Lou afterwards. You know since he was canonically there for his birth hello??? *According to the comic*

- fun fact about me it literally took me 6 hours to write all this in one setting bc I was at work. Lilly did this to me.

Also, if there are any timeline problems that aren't just me pushing it for the AU tell me about it so I can fix it please I don't want it to be too off the course!!!

I think that's it for now,,,

[loptrcoptr]

It’s come to my attention that a lot of people in the BES fandom are new to fandom-culture in general (or lack there of; we denizens of tumblr are residents of a cesspool) and don’t know a lot of general old school online manners, laid down in Days of Yore by earlier generations. So let me bring up a crucial one that is generally being ignored on tumblr in the BES-sphere: ship tagging!

I am not doing this to condescend, I genuinely want to be helpful and to help us all enjoy our enclosure and our enrichment in said enclosure together. I think a lot of grief going around the blue eye samurai world on social media could be solved if everyone remembered one good old cardinal rule of fandom bullshit:

you do not put ship wank in a ship’s general tag.

let me say that one more time in different terms:

If you want to rant about how much you hate a ship, general practice has always been, on tumblr anyway, not to do so in the safe space created for said ship.

once again, lemme be very clear; I don’t give one rat’s ass or 800 collective asses of rats what you ship, why you ship it, whether you ship anything at all, why you hate x y z, etc. That’s great, that’s what fandom is for! Enjoy yourself! The issue is that there’s all this infighting fuckery going on that is exhausting to even watch from the sidelines, and I think there’s a lot of confusion as to why anyone is fighting over any of this shit at all as it is 2024 and ship wars are 2011 superwholock garbage that we all collectively agreed to jettison into space by 2015, ya feel me?

(and if you like to start shit and throw hands then obv this post isn’t for you as you know what you’re doing, this is for the folks who don’t know and are confused as to why they can’t rant without blowback)

So if you’ve gotten on tumblr recently and noticed your anti-ship post blowing up for some reason or other and asked yourself “Jesus why are these assholes from that ship always coming for me?? They’re such dicks!!” ask yourself:

did I tag them in my post?

Because when you tag a ship in a post about how much you hate it, it’s not a beacon that says “Hear Ye Hear Ye, Interacteth Not Ye Fuckos From Ship I Hate, This Is About How Much I Hate Your Ship”. For that to be the case, you would need old-school anti-ship tag nomenclature, like this: #anti-[shipname] or #[shipname] wank. Those tags would communicate your intent to rant, which is your sacred fandom right to enjoy doing! It is not, however, your sacred fandom right to enjoy doing it in the wrong space, that’s what’s happening here. A post that tags a ship with its normal tag, but whose content is anti/wank content about said ship, sends the signal: “ayyooo, who would like to debate this with me?”

So, does all that make sense? If you tag your post analyzing all the reasons why you think a ship sucks with #ship, you are encouraging everyone who ships that ship to interact with your post. It’s like rocking up to somebody’s house, ringing the doorbell, and saying “I hate your fugly ass piece of shit house, asshole” and then getting irritated when the homeowner responds with “who the fuck are you, get off my lawn?!”

#anti-[shipname], #[shipname] hate (forgot about that one, also useful), and #[shipname] wank do two very useful things:

1) They let other people who want to gleefully rant with you know that you’re on the level and they give like minded individuals a chance to follow those tags so you can have more rant sessions together, and

2) they minimize likelihood of involvement by the shippers you’re ranting about, who can block the tag, while keeping the ship’s normal tag open for the people who enjoy it

tldr; *swordfather voice* it would be bitchin if people could stop bitchin in the wrong places so that we can all coexist like adults here, touch some grass, and chill. Tag ship hate #anti-[shipname], #[shipname] wank, or #[shipname]-hate and keep it out of the general pro-ship tags :)

if your response to this is “don’t tell me what to do, cuntwaffle” or “I have an unhealthy relationship with the idea of shipping and think no one should have a safe environment to enjoy media except me and people I agree with so I will continue to poison the waters” then ok, cool beans, keep on chooglin’; but know that everytime you walk into a tea party you weren’t invited to and yell I HATE YOUR FUCKING TEA YOUR TEA SUCKS ASS blowback is a bit inevitable

[henrysglock]

Wonderful! A group of rich people died! Let’s dance on graves; I’ll get my good shoes.

But first, tell me:

Did the accident redistribute their wealth to the masses?

Did those deaths take out a harmful corporation in a way that makes life markedly better for those it was harming?

Did it enact any kind of helpful policy, regulatory, or socioeconomic change?

Or:

Are they just going to replace that CEO?

Is that wealth just going to get passed to their next of kin, remaining withheld from the masses who both need and deserve it?

Is this whole thing going to be forgotten by the next news cycle?

Is our collective glee just ‘bread and circuses’ type behavior that gloats over useless and frankly stupid deaths without any actual impact being made?

“People are justified in their lack of pro-social response to this event because of the socioeconomic state of the world.”

Okay, so show me where any of this changes the socioeconomic structure of the world. Show me where there’s anything worthy of “I hope they all die a slow, agonizing death for,” [checks notes], “hubris, a typical characteristic in most humans at some point in their lives.”

Was it all incredibly stupid? Absolutely. Did most of the dead have it coming? Absolutely. The tragedy in it is that there were no regulations in place to say “Uh…no?” when that voyage was in its planning stages.

And the worst part is? Nothing. Changes. So far, these are meaningless deaths.

Imagine we’re in ancient Rome. The CEO of Oceangate has convinced a group of his buddies (and the kid they dragged along) that “Hey, y’know what would be really fun? If we all dressed up as gladiators and paid to tussle with the lion. No, no, yeah there’s a chance you could die, but trust me, it’s gonna be so cool.” And then we all fucking ate it up, half of us cheering on the lion while the other half wept for those poor, poor rich people (yeah I know, I’m rolling my eyes too)…all under the watchful eye of our royal highnesses who put on the show: The Corporate System and The News Cycle, who both stood to profit whether the group of idiots lived or died.

Did the rich folks have it coming? Absolutely. Is it still horrific that it was allowed to happen at all? Yes.

This is why they don’t broadcast the other tragedies. It’s not good for them as a partnership. Those gut wrenching tragedies, the ones with true injustice? They don’t placate us, they upset us and turn us against those in power.

But dumb rich folks dying? On my TV? Oh goody, my fave show is on. Let’s see if it’s started another useless internet war, creating low-level enemies for us inside our screens so we forget about the real enemies for a while longer.

Not only that, but killing a CEO won’t change anything. That’s a replaceable employee, and the corporation as a unit cares about that person about as much as it cares about the rest of us (which is to say: not at all). That CEO’s wealth will just be given out to their relatives, and the money will stay contained within that family unit. The CEO will be forgotten in the next news cycle, when their death is no longer profitable for the news industry and the internet has moved onto its next useless spiral.

Guillotines in France worked because they dismantled the government, which also happened to consist of all the rich folks, to enact socioeconomic change. Thus: people celebrated the deaths of the rich, and rightfully so.

That’s not what this is. This isn’t “eating the rich”. This just the joy of entertainment, a good show.

Nothing ever changes. We stay entertained, temporarily placated by the deaths of a couple rich people.

Bread and fucking circuses.

[sitp-recs]

Hey liv! :) Do you know any Drarry fics with "i'm addicted to you" vibes?

Hi anon! Ahh yes, love myself some chaotic obsessive vibes for those two. It’s about the utter desperation 🤌🏼 I hope you enjoy these, I’ve also heard great things about Liar by jad, if you’re okay with Hinny and Drastoria infidelity I think it would be a good fit for your ask.

Phoenix in the Fire by @fw00shy (E, 1.4k)

Their first time was an accident. "Sex pollen," Draco claims, though everyone knows it was too much Ogden's after Puddlemere beat the Tornados 240-230. "He's like a vengeful sex demon after he's lost," Harry confesses in the privacy of Hermione's kitchen. "A lustful, bitter jackhammer."

Cigarettes Will Kill You by Femme (E, 4k)

He lights a cigarette across the pub, his hand cupped to his mouth as the tip sparks to life in a faint orange flare, and my breath catches.

When You and I Collide by @bixgirl1 (E, 6k)

If asked on his 18th birthday what he thought he’d be doing in three years, Harry never would have been able to predict that his answer would be “letting Draco Malfoy fuck me senseless over the sinks in the loo of a Muggle bar”. This is how the story begins. He never thinks to ask how it ends.

The Page Eleven Wars by fireflavored (E, 8.5k)

In a gossip-hungry post-war Wizarding World, Rita Skeeter has a wildly successful column in the Daily Prophet known as Page Eleven. Naturally, her favourite targets are the poster boys of the two sides of the war: Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter. Bored and annoyed, the two take up tabloid baiting for sport and pleasure.

The Things They Never Say by @bixgirl1 (E, 9k)

Harry and Draco don't know how to talk. So they do other things instead.

I'll never be your chosen one by @andithiel (E, 15k)

Draco doesn't know what exactly he’s doing with Potter, he doesn't know how their unspoken agreement even started, and doesn't know where it will end. The only thing he knows is: he's not in love.

Watch The Castles Burn by @moonflower-rose (E, 21k)

Draco Malfoy knows better than to get involved with Harry Potter. If only someone would have reminded him of that six months sooner, then maybe he wouldn't be in quite such a large mess.

Touch Me Fall by @lqtraintracks (E, 23k)

Malfoy was such a ponce. And he was a complete snob. And he was so fucking fit Harry wanted to jump him where he sat. It would be too easy to forget his objective tonight: to really, really, really get Malfoy out of his system.

Welcome to the Broom Closet by incapricious (E, 23k)

Harry thinks he knows how his life will go: Become an Auror. Marry Ginny. Have a family. But then he sees an advertisement in the paper that no one else can see, and his life is turned upside-down. The Broom Closet: you can be anyone you want while you're there, but you won't remember it in the morning.

Your Place or Mine? By @l0vegl0wsinthedark (E, 27k)

"This person is so much harder to hate. And I’m supposed to hate Malfoy. How the fuck else am I supposed to limit this to just sex?"

In The Red by @bixgirl1 (E, 45k)

When Harry goes looking for a vampire at a Creature club, the second-to-last thing Harry expects is to find Malfoy working there. The last thing he expects is to fall in love with him.

The Boy Who Only Lived Twice by lettered (E, 54k)

Harry Potter is an Unspeakable. Draco Malfoy is the wizard who shagged him. Adventure! Intrigue! Secret identities, celebrities, spies! It's all right here, folks.

Finely Drawn Lines by @the-sinking-ship (E, 61k)

Draco doesn’t consider himself an artist (though the dozens of sketchbooks lining his shelves might suggest differently). Yet ever since Potter returned to Hogwarts, accepting a teaching position alongside Draco, his drawings have taken on a rather singular focus. From the curl of his lips to the exact number of lines that form at the corners of his eyes when he laughs, Draco has catalogued every shade of one Harry James Potter between the pages of his sketchbook. So long as Potter remains none the wiser, Draco will have no trouble controlling his crush.

We Are Young (I'll Carry You Home Tonight) by Femme (E, 68k)

Harry and Draco have been falling into bed on and off again since the last election five years ago, much to the amusement--and financial gain--of their circle of friends. But when Harry agrees to work with Draco to put Kingsley Shacklebolt into the Minister's office, they can't work side-by-side again every day and sleep together; that would be courting disaster. Wouldn't it?

Tales From the Special Branch by Femme (E, WIP)

This is a five-story arc about an Auror Special Branch unit whose core members are Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, and Blaise Zabini. I can promise endgame Drarry, but, let's face it, there are going to be a lot of up and downs on the way

[blazehedgehog]

a negative question (those aren't fun i know) but what would you think of as some awful moments in gaming or gaming history?

I mean top of the list is Gamer Gate. Gamer Gate was, by the admission of the person who started it, his way of getting back at his ex-girlfriend. That's all it was. And it spiraled out of control into an entire hate movement that's still leaving ripples to this very day.

I am also of the opinion that most people who believed Gamer Gate was about game journalists were mislead and ultimately don't understand a lot about what they were campaigning against. The whole "ethics and lying in game journalism" largely stems from a growing series of misunderstandings and ignorance, which was largely exploited by bad actors to target women and minorities.

You cannot and will not convince me otherwise. Never ever.

That's because, in my 12 year stint writing for TSSZ, I took the job very seriously. It may not have paid much, but it did pay, and I did get a lot of valuable experience. And I watched friends in similar boats actually elevate their careers and become big, well-respected names in the games media/journalism space. Which gives me a better perspective than some folks have on what really goes on in that space.

I've talked about this at length many times over the years. About the weird adversarial relationship the press has with their fandom. And it's too big of a topic to contain in one single tumblr post, because it's many subjects, spanning decades. I cannot sum up why journalists used to (and still do) dunk on their fanbases, and why readers continue to value their opinions even in spite of that.

But I will say this: real, genuine corruption is a lot less common than you think. A lot of people get very twisted up in imaginary scenarios that simply do not exist. Most people in the press are simply trying to survive by whatever means the system allows them to. And I'd argue a lot of them are spiteful of their readers because some of you are genuinely insane and jump to these outrageous conclusions over literally nothing. Some folks don't know what an opinion means, or understand subjectivity, and treat it as a declaration of war.

Do conflicts of interest happen? Yes, absolutely. But with the way the market currently is, a lot of those things are necessary to keep media companies afloat. That's unfortunate, but it's not corruption. Not at the level you think it is.

When you see a website covered in ads for WAR OF DUTY 8: REDACTED OPS 4 and there's a prominent review for that same game, I can guarantee the person writing that review does not benefit from those ads and did not choose to put them there. All that money and all that blame goes to the corporation that owns the site. To the marketing managers and the CEO sitting at the end of the board room. That corporation may even go as far as to suggest edits to what probably starts out as a very honest review. But it is not the writer's fault. The writer has bills to pay. The writer needs to buy groceries. The writer needs to keep this job. The writer had real feelings and it was the corporation that changed the text.

And even then? The scenario I just described is rare.

You want to know what's even more rare? An indie developer sleeping with a writer for coverage of their game. A game, that, might I add, didn't even cost money. What was to gain there? Clout? You're out of your mind if you think that actually mattered.

Also? It's entertainment criticism. It is literally "Does this person like this piece of media yes or no?" This is not Watergate. It is not 9/11. Does honesty matter? Sure. But if you don't like a writer, go find a different one. There's a lot of us! But don't circle the wagons and prepare for battle, because that makes you a psychopath.

(Better yet: if you don't like a writer, start writing your own stuff! Be the change you want to see in the world and then understand how you're treated for that)

Which again just feeds into the idea that people who still believe that gamer gate was legitimate were tricked. It was a smoke screen. You were part of a hate movement. And how you react to that says a lot about you as a person and your values in this world.

[beardedmrbean]

Quote: "We must teach Israel a lesson, and we will do it again and again. The Al-Aqsa Deluge [the name Hamas gave its 7 October onslaught - ed.] is just the first time, and there will be a second, a third, a fourth. Will we have to pay a price? Yes, and we are ready to pay it. We are called a nation of martyrs, and we are proud to sacrifice martyrs."

Point 1. incorrect not like they supply much of either anyhow

They do about half the electricity, which the other half should be fine for what is actually needed, not like there's any reason to keep on sending it there for the people that are trying to kill them or anything.

Maybe they should send some ammo too.

Point 2. bullshit, the IDF is a multicultural military with people of all stripes in it from Israeli Jews to Israeli Arabic Muslims, which will probably come in handy with the apartheid lie I assume will show up soon too. Jewish folks are the only group in Israel with male and female compulsory service, Arabs have no compulsory service they sign up all of their own accord.

Gonna be racists in any military, but filled is just going to be a really bad way to put it.

3. this covers churches and schools any civilian structure really

4 white phosphorous isn't illegal, also those images were from Syria when assad was using the stuff if they're the ones I'm thinking of.

5. bullshit, but if you have the stomach you could go ahead and see what hamass did on october 7 by clicking on this link, I strongly advise against it, it will likely make you sick to your stomach and haunt your dreams.

6. now you're just making things up

7. Every thing hamass has done starting with the attack on 10/7 has been a war crime, and before as well considering all the unguided rockets they send in without any concern where they land and if things are military targets or not.

Their idea is to sow terror and fear, thus that would be why the world considers them a terrorist organization.

As for the other list,

1.Bullshit, see point one about continuing and then maybe look up what they actually wanted in exchange

2. from 2014 even, just like the vox headline up there, so it's not like anyone can claim this is new information

Now then later on they'll remove the uniforms and put on civilian clothing, makes it easier for them to stand in the middle of a crowd of people and start shooting because some guy in fatigues is a dad giveaway that someone is gonna start shooting.

(that's another war crime btw) (So is taking civilian hostages, which has been established that they did)

3. They're trying to murder every single person in Israel, and then if they can manage that they'll expand and start hunting down every Jewish person across the globe, hamass has been quite clear about this and for some reason nobody wants to believe them.

If they just wanted to survive they'd stop trying to kill Israeli's at every opportunity.

You know like the ceasefire everyone was clamoring for that happened in November.

They have a incredibly terrible way of showing they just want to survive, if that were the case they wouldn't do this every fucking time they get a ceasefire.

Also see point one about doing 10/7 repeats for as long as they can.

[torreshalstead]

On a crowded street in 1944

Summary - The four walls of Upton’s General Store were all Hailey knew although she longed to see what else life had to offer. When a handsome soldier walks through the door, she thinks he might just be the answer to the life she wants to have. But it was 1944 and the country was at war. Would fate smile on her or would her heart be another casualty of the war?

Chapters - 4/15

Notes - Happy Saturday folks! Hope you enjoy this chapter ❤️ AO3 Link

‘Hailey!’ Her father’s voice bounced loudly up the stairs, ricocheting off the walls and into Hailey’s room. She groaned audibly and buried her head further under the blankets. She’d been in the middle of a dream, a perfect dream filled with soft lips and emerald green eyes. ‘Hailey!’ His voice was louder now, his displeasure obvious, so she decided it wasn’t worth the effort of trying to get back to her dream world and potentially suffer her fathers bad mood.

He hadn’t been home when she had snuck back in last night, his business meeting clearly running long. That was usually a good thing but his tone right now didn’t indicate that the meeting had necessarily reached a positive conclusion. She was thankful she had been able to slip back into their apartment unnoticed, her mother had fallen asleep on the couch, the pants she had been darning draped over her lap, the sewing box open on the floor. Hailey’s cheeks were still warm when she tucked herself into bed, her fingers still tracing her lips remembering the feeling of Jay’s pressed softly against them.

She flung the blanket off herself and called back down to him that she would just be a moment, tugging on a pair of slippers and her dressing gown - the sun had barely risen so the store wasn’t due to be open for another hour or so, so she had plenty of time to get dressed before her shift started.

‘Spending your money on books again,’ her father said with a scoff, gesturing at a newspaper wrapped package that was sitting on the counter. Her father was the sort of man who didn’t understand reading for pleasure, though he didn’t seem to understand reading for the pursuit of knowledge either. She didn’t know when she had last seen him open a book for either purpose. But Hailey adored both. She loved getting lost in a fictional world created by somebody’s mind, but she also loved learning all about things that non-fiction books contained. The world was so much larger than just this store and the people on this street and Hailey wanted to find out everything she could. Knowledge was power, she’d read that somewhere when she was younger and had taken it to heart as she devoured whatever books she could get her hands on.

‘Pardon?’ She said, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes in confusion. She hadn’t asked Mrs Smith to put anything aside recently, nor had she been contacted to say there was anything the store owner couldn’t sell. But despite that, her father seemed to be correct, the package sitting on the side looked mighty like a book. It was the correct size and shape, even with the newspaper wrapping covering its contents.

‘It’s got your name on it,’ her father said, his tone suddenly turning accusatory at Hailey’s apparent lack of knowledge of the package’s contents.

‘Oh,’ Hailey said, shaking her head slightly to wake herself up. ‘Yes,’ she said thinking quickly. ‘Mrs Smith had another delivery that she couldn’t sell some of the books so she said she’d put one side for me, this must be it.’ Hailey smiled and picked up the package. It wasn’t Mrs Smith’s handwriting that had scrawled Hailey on the top right hand corner between the printed text, her father didn’t pay much attention to things like that though. They didn’t affect his bottom line so he didn’t care.

‘That woman must think we are a charity case,’ he grunted. The last thing her father wanted to be seen as was unsuccessful in this town, his pride was too important to him for that.

‘She just knows I like books,’ Hailey said with a small smile, clutching the book tightly against her chest. She didn’t know for certain whose writing it was but something made her want to hold on just a little tighter as if at any moment her father might reach out and snatch it away.

‘Well just make sure you pick them up from her in the future, don’t be making her bring them down here and leave them on the doorstep,’ he huffed, turning back to the ledger he had been studying intently when she had walked in, his brow furrowed deeply.

‘Of course father, I’ll just go put it upstairs and get ready then I’ll be back down to open up,’ she smiled again, this time a little forced but she turned on her heel when he grunted in response.

The package had been left on the doorstep? Then it definitely wasn’t from Mrs Smith. She had a bad knee and always told Hailey she could never walk anywhere before midday as it took so long to warm up. Hailey didn’t know how much truth there was to that but still, you never saw Mrs Smith outside of her shop until after the church bell had chimed for 12 o’clock.

Tucking the package under her arm Hailey took the stairs two at a time, desperate to get to the relative privacy of her bedroom. Closing the door quickly behind her, kicking off her slippers and tucking her legs up under her as she took a seat on the bed, she looked again at the package in her hand.

The Hailey was written neatly at the top. If she had to guess, she would say it was a man’s writing - it was missing a certain curled aspect that a woman’s penmanship tended to have. Her heart quickened, there was only one member of the opposite sex who might give her a book and even the possibility of that set her alight.

Undoing the wrapping, which was the newspaper from yesterday, she recognised the headline, making sure not to rip through her own name, a book fell onto her lap along with an envelope.

The book was not one Hailey had read but one she had seen at the bookstore for years and had wanted to get her hands on; it was one of Agatha Christie’s novels, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. The copy was worn, the edges starting to fray and the pages discoloured from being thumbed through many times. She opened the cover and her heart jumped into her mouth.

Dearest Hailey,

It’s not a new book, and I’ll buy you one one day, but it’s the only book I own.

And now it is yours,

Forever,

Jay

Her eyes stung with tears as she clutched the book to her chest.

She hadn’t been dreaming about what she had felt yesterday, and he felt the same.

He had given her the only book he owned, a book he clearly loved judging from the state of it. In the final few hours he had before he left for war, left to fight for their country, heading into unknown danger, he spent it delivering a book to her.

Part of her wondered if he gave it to her so she wouldn’t forget him, but how could she ever forget him. You could never forget someone who made you feel like that, who kissed you like that, who filled your dreams the way he had last night.

Wiping away an escaped tear with her finger tip, she gently closed the book, brushing her fingers across the front, she left it on her lap as she picked up the envelope.

She let out a wet chuckle, it was one of the envelopes she had sold him the day before. She opened it and pulled out a single sheet of note paper.

Dearest Hailey,

I hope this isn’t overstepping, you said I could write to you after all and I couldn’t wait.

I wanted to give you something to remember our evening together, it’s my favourite book. My only book. I don’t know if you’ve read it and it’s not the romantic novel you want to give to the girl who stole your heart in a single evening, but it’s all I have. I’ll buy you the romantic novel when I return, it will be brand new and you will be the one to break the spine.

I just told you you stole my heart. It is true. It is yours and I hope when I come back, it will still be yours. I know I shouldn’t have asked to kiss you last night. A girl like you deserves more than a kiss under a street light but I couldn’t help myself. The feeling of your lips on mine will keep me safe over there.

I am running out of time and running short of paper so I will say farewell for now. I look forward to your reply and will treasure the words you write.

Forever Yours,

Jay

Hailey was frozen, her eyes still fixed on the page. It was only when a tear splashed onto the paper that she realised she was crying. Sniffing and wiping her eyes, not wanting to stain the letter with anymore tears and smudge the ink, she folded up the letter and tucked it safely into the book.

Getting off the bed, she tucked it under the mattress. She kept all of her important possessions under the mattress away from prying eyes and that book and its letter had just become her most prized belongings.

Never in her wildest dreams did she ever think someone would feel that way about her and want to write such tender and heartfelt things. She wanted to write back to him immediately but her heart skipped a beat when she realised she would need to wait for another letter to know where she should be sending it to. He hadn’t included his troop and obviously he didn’t know his destination yet either.

Still, she would write something and as soon as she knew where to send it she would run to the post office and get it mailed off.

The urge to get the letter back out and reread the words he had written, run her fingers across the ink and imagine him writing it that morning, was so strong. However her mother could walk in at any second and she was needed down at the store. She would have to wait until the evening to spend some more time with his letter, with him.

She tried to focus during the day, to be the useful sales assistant she usually was but her mind was still upstairs replaying the words that he had written to her. She wanted to hold the letter against her chest, close to her heart and never let it go. She wanted to read the book and imagine him holding the same book he had held, the fingers that had touched those pages had touched her too.

When the store quietened down in the early afternoon she let herself continue the day dream, praying she wouldn’t have to wait long for the next letter. She needed to hear from him again more than she had needed anything else before in her short life.

[jamesunderwater]

CHARLES

james potter for the character list thingy 🫶🏼 love you

@deermessrs CELIA, you sent me this ask SIX MONTHS AGO, but I never forgot it and wanted to go back and finish the answer I'd half-written back then... if you still care to read it, here it is!! 😅

Favorite Thing About Them: I just love this boy who (albeit imperfectly) used his privilege for good - to give to others the love he was so freely given, to defend those more vulnerable than him, to actually risk his life to fight for the people he loved. And yes he saw the world in black and white, yes he had a savior complex, yes he was full of himself. But he's just. He's the kid in elementary school who makes handmade valentine's for the whole class, who is SO friendly to and defensive of the nerdy kid that he doesn’t realize he's actually embarrassing them. He is literally reckless with his own heart. And I just wanna hug him about it.

Least Favorite Thing About Them: Not to be a total simp, but I don't know that there's anything I don't like about him...

Favorite Line: In DH, when Harry asks, "will you stay with me?" And he says, "Until the very end." (I may or may not have the words tattooed on my body.)

BROTP: Sirius Black, his canonical soulmate, imo. The two of them are the definition of "you complete me" and "I found my other half." They love each other so much I think that even when it isn't romantic it is still bigger than any romantic love either of them have. It's obviously close to how deeply James loves Lily, but I think there is a tether between James and Sirius that neither of them have with anyone else.

OTP: Lily Evans, if that wasn't obvious xD They're just…I've shipped them since I was 12, before I knew what shipping was, yknow? They created my bby boy. Even though I ship both of them with other people in different contexts, I never see them ending up with anyone but each other.

NOTP: Snape. Who I only ship with a lifetime of cleaning out toilets.

Random Headcanon: He grew up with Marlene McKinnon. It was her brothers who taught him how to fly. They were each other's first kiss when they were like, 6, even though they never really liked each other that way. It was one of those things where you know each other as children but somehow it doesn't translate when you get older and find other friends - until they were in like 6th year and the war started feeling really real and it brought everyone closer. When he found out she and her whole family were killed, he went to a very dark place.

Unpopular Opinion: Er… I don't know if I have an unpopular opinion on him? It also depends on the part of fandom I'm talking to, lmao. The one thing I can think of is one I know some people share: that James wasn't that bent about The Prank. I think he was frustrated, but I don't think it put a rift between him and Sirius in any way.

Song I Associate With Them: Oh, 100% forever and always A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me by Fall Out Boy!!! "Cause you're just the girl all the boys wanna dance with, and I'm just the boy whose had too many chances… I'm sleeping on your folks' porch again dreaming, "she said, she said, she said, why don't you just drop dead?" // I don't blame you for being you, but you can't blame me for hating it. So say, "what are you waiting for? kiss her, kiss her." I set my clocks early 'cause I know I'm always late." LIKE, PLS.

favorite picture of them: I went through all the fanart I've reblogged and I think I'd have to say this one by @daiziesssart:

[musewrangler]

20 Questions for Writers

Thank you so much for the tag @wendingways I'm FINALLY getting around to it. :D

How many works do you have on AO3?

132

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

2, 962, 169

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Star Wars, Hornblower, Narnia [just one]

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Mirjahaal

Bajur

He Who Sheds His Blood With Me

Forging Ahead

I Felt You In My Bones

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do as much as possible. I appreciate my readers making time to say something. It takes effort on their part and I want them to know I am grateful. Equally, I get lots of fun thoughts from my readers and it's delightful to interact with people. :D

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Oh definitely the fic I could never write. ;D By which I mean---there was a prompt somewhere that said 'the aftermath of a scene you'll never write'. So I knew immediately what that was and ripped my own heart out to write "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night". Literally, I was ugly crying the whole time. And it convinced me that nope, I can never do this in my 'real' fics if you will. xD

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Hmmm. I am a girl who likes a happy ending. Granted, it's after kark tons of pain and suffering usually xD, but...

I think I'll land on the Dragon Speaker. I could name quite a few others, but I spent more time developing the happy aftermath so that's why I choose it.

8. Do you get hate on your fic?

I've said it before---I have some of the BEST readers. And I've had folks who've disagreed with some of my takes on character or plot, but they are welcome to do so if they are respectful and they are. It produces good conversation and perspective. I can think of one time I had someone actively unpleasant, but let's hear it for delete and block! :D

9. Do you write smut?

Nope.

10. Do you write crossovers?

No. It's just not my cup of tea.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of and I hope not. Obviously, a lot of us have similar ideas----writing is just like that. But I don't think anyone has taken my work directly. That kind of thing does get me riled up because I know the work all of us creators have done to make these stories. Don't do it, kids.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes I have and it's very fun! I have a very industrious and delightful reader who has translated a lot of my work into Russian. :D

13. Have you ever co-written a fic?

I have a few times. :D

14. What‘s your all-time favourite ship?

Depends on context here. I don't read or write fics for just romance. I need purpose beyond the couple if you will. If we're talking within Star Wars then canonically it's Han and Leia. If we're going with my own fanfics it's a toss up between Mara and Max Veers and Firmus Piett and Sola Naberrie. ;D If we're talking broad literary ship Benedick and Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing.

15. What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

WIP I will never finish? What are you talking about?

Genuinely, I hate the idea of abandoning my fics. Just can't. Some of them are taking longer than I had thought, but that's ok. Life happens. I will finish. ;D

16. What’s your writing strengths?

I think I develop character fairly well. I like to have a plot mapped out before I start writing, so I think I do all right with story cohesion and flow. I am a firm believe that you need to care about the characters more than anything else. World building and correct editing are good things, but if no one cares about your characters, it can get boring and readers lose interest.

17. What’s your writing weaknesses?

A good balance of action, description, and dialogue. Dialogue is easy for me and I like the characters interacting. But action and description are very important as well to SEE the scene and I need to work on my descriptive choices. I'm also ridiculously impatient. I want to publish NOW. And this means that perhaps some needed editing or more polish/depth is overlooked. I'm working on that.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Absolutely. I've used mando'a a lot now in Star Wars. In history AUs I've dabbled a smidge in French and Latin to set the tone a bit. Definitely do your homework whether using a real or fictional language. People notice!! :D

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Haha. So in terms of more serious writing like I'm doing now, it's Star Wars.

But.

I wrote by hand in notebooks during high school for the original Star Trek. Had all kinds of crush on Pavel Chekov. xD We watched the re runs of it and I liked the movies as a kid so....

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

Oh goodness. Can that really be answered? I like them all for vastly different reasons. If we're going for world building then likely Dragon Speaker. If we're going for in depth history fun, then The War in the Shadows. If we're going for fic I saw most clearly in my brain as I wrote and LIVED it, then Showdown at Alliance Ranch. Within the ER verse, quite possibly Fidelity because writing all that courtroom drama and the intense brotherhood of Firmus and Max going through that was just so satisfying.

But over all story? Honestly can't pick just one. Sorry!

Gently tagging @hollers-and-holmes @winterinhimring @kraytwriter @kanerallels

[lewis-winters]

Going insane over your director’s commentary and the artworks listed (Ivan and his son is one of my favorite paintings ever) and also: Roe is catholic but he’s Cajun, which has its own brand of folk catholic, with many practices outside of the Roman Catholic tradition. He in canon mentioned his grandmother was a traiteur, which. Woof when you think about that in connection with a more Jesuit perspective on catholicism (which you said would be finding God in all things)…. That would track on well to Roe’s beliefs, who said that his grandmother has a more profound connection with God, made physical through her traiteur work. Also traiteur believe that their abilities are a direct gift from God, echoing Roe’s lines. Just. Ough. Also Cajuns (both traditionally and probably still do!) had a weekly boucherie, a communal slaughtering of an animal to share between everyone…. You can understand the symbolism. (A more lighthearted aside, now I’m thinking of Roe riding capitaine or co-capitaine in a Courir de Mardi Gras, and how happy he would have been to restart the tradition after it being on pause during the war… and how sad it would be to know so many of the young men he chased chickens with in his teen years would never be there again) Also this importance of Roe being Cajun Catholic really rears up in my mind when he wraps a tourniquet string around his finger and utters his prayer, repeating lines he finds important (‘With all my heart’) which is a deeply Cajun way of prayer (also, rosaries we’re often placed around the neck of sick children to heal/protect them, something Roe would no doubt be familiar with, what with his family history). ANYWAYSSSSSS Sorry, special interest in Cajun culture rose up and I had to infodump

NO BUT SEE EXACTLY. EXACTLY WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT LIKE!!!! YES!!!!!!!

Not necessarily about the weekly boucherie + the rosary around the neck thing (in the Philippines, we have something similar except in the form of a talisman called the anting-anting. I talked about it a little bit in my answer to you about the Black Nazarene on my main blog some time ago!! but yeah, same same principle, different execution!), but about how different Eugene would see these events and how he'd then react to/accept it. Folk Catholicism is always more open to mysticism than Regular Catholicism is, and the best part is you don't need the Canonization from the Vatican to just say. Hey! This is a sign from God! This comes from God! because Folk Catholicism allows a closer proximity to God than usual. Almost like it eliminates the middle man. So when Eugene experiences these things (again, phantasmagorical: did he actually experience the world pausing for one damn second for them to actually find Julian's body, or was this a case of shared delusion?) that would take several Vatican Councils to canonize as a Honest to God Miracle, he doesn't think: oh, this is wrong. He thinks. No. This is exactly how It Is Supposed To Be.

But he NEEDS to convince Babe of that. Babe, who does not see his Faith the way Eugene does, but who (Eugene thinks) desperately needs to, otherwise his guilt and self-disgust will swallow him whole. So he thinks; who else will convince him? Oh. Father Maloney.

Tangent but: another thing I forgot to put in but... in episode 6, after the Homily Eugene rolls up to and just before the start of the Patrol that kills Julian... watch Babe closely. He hugs Father Maloney before he leaves. Eugene sees it. Which is also... what made me think. Hmm. There's a relationship there that Eugene could have...... thought to capitalize on.......

[getblackout503]

Before we begin, Mimosa is the eldest of the three Silva sisters. Being 25 in this story as she plays angelica, Noelle is 22 and plays Eliza, while Nero is 20 and plays Peggy. Thought I would say so yall know who plays who.

——————-

In this world there’s nothing rich folk love more than going downtown and slummin’ it with the poor. They typically go in their carriages and gawk at the students in the common just to watch them talk. Take Arthur Silva, the man is loaded. But little does he know that his daughters. Nero, Mimosa, and Noelle like to sneak into the city to watch all the guys at work.

“Mimosa!” A girl, with black hair and brilliant red eyes called out to her sister. Who had long brown hair and beautiful yellow. “Noelle!” The black haired girl called out to her other sister, who had Silver hair and stunning purple eyes.

“Yes Nero?” Both girls turn their attention to their red eyed sister.

“Daddy said to be home before sundown.” Nero told her sisters as they walked further into town.

“Daddy doesn’t need to know.” Mimosa told Nero, it was no big deal. They knew how to take care of themselves, so Nero’s concerns weren’t necessary.

“But daddy said not to go downtown.” Nero said.

“Like I said Nero,” Noelle turned to her sister. “You’re free to go.”

Nero was going to retort if it weren’t for their eldest sister calling their attention.

“Look around you too, the revolution is happening in Clover.” Mimosa said stick. enthusiastically at the prospect of change happening.

“In clover?” Both girls asked, with Noelle being intrigued while Nero seemed worried.

“Yes, right here in our town.”

“It’s bad enough that daddy wants to go to war.” Nero said in frustration, both girls understood her frustration. They all cared for their father, and the thought of losing him hurt them. But they also knew he was strong, and had faith in him.

“Look, there’s people shouting in the square.” Noelle pointed to the town square where patriots were protesting against the king.

“It’s bad enough that there will be violence on our shores.” Nero added.

“But there will be new ideas in the air.” Mimosa looks forward to what this intellectual revolution could bring, especially for the women in the colonies. It could spell the start to a better era, and she was sure to help make sure women had a bigger say in the new era.

“Mimosa, remind me what we’re looking for?”

“She’s looking for me.” A couple of guys say to them, bit Mimosa brushes past them ignoring them completely.

“Noelle, I’m looking for a mind at work.” She tells her sister, just as another man approaches.

“Well, there’s nothing like summer in the city, wouldn’t you agree. Someone in a rush meeting someone looking pretty.” Gauche said, trying to impress Mimosa. “Excuse Miss Silva, I know this isn’t funny but your perfume smells like your daddy’s got money.”

Mimosa scoffed, she’s heard of Gauche Adlai before. A prodigy of Golden Dawn college, a smart man yes, but intelligent absolutely not. He’s too cautious, not willing to take necessary risks. Safe to say Gauche was not what she was looking for.

“Adlai, you disgust me.” Mimosa told him as she turned away.

“Ah, so you’ve discussed me? I’m a trust fund, baby. You can trust me.” He said in a smug tone, and Mimosa wouldn’t take it lying down.

“You know Adlai, I’ve been reading Common sense by Thomas Paine. Some men say I’m intense or even that I’m insane. You want a revolution? Well I want a revaluation. So listen to my declarations.” Mimosa told Adlai, as her sisters joined her.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.” The Silvas said, with Mimosa adding.

“And when I meet Rhya, I’m going to compel him to include women in the sequel.” Mimosa smiled, Gauche was left with nothing to say as he agreed with her sentiment. With a simple nod Gauche backed off and walked away.

“Look around you two,” Noelle told the two. “Look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now.”

Mimosa smiled at her sister's happiness.

“History is happening here in Clover, and we just happen in the greatest city in the world!” Noelle almost yelled in excitement at what’s to come.

As the three Silva sisters walked around downtown, folks nearby gathered around a man who supported the British. And four men stood there watching, the four of them being Asta and the rest of the gang, with Gauche coming soon.

And whatever the supporter had to say, Asta was ready to refute the farmer.

[shadowmaat]

not immune to propaganda

It's always fascinating when someone says, for example, "I don't hate the Jedi because of Sith propaganda, I hate them because-" and then everything they say is basically Sith propaganda with maybe some Anakinstanism thrown in.

Look, no one is trying to say the Jedi were perfect, but while they had some flaws, they were still the good guys and accomplished a lot of good things.

I think one of the bigger issues people complain about (the Jedi being insular/disconnected from the larger universe) is less to do with hubris and more to do with political hamstringing in the wake of the Ruusan Reformation.

My admittedly imperfect understanding is that there are a lot of times when the Jedi want to help, but they have to go to the Senate first to get permission to do so. If they don't get permission they can't help (or at least not openly). The Senate has, primarily, always looked out for their own best interests. If helping a planet in distress doesn't have a political or monetary advantage, they aren't going to agree to the "expense" of sending Jedi out to help.

It isn't that the Jedi don't care or that they prefer the "safety" of the Temple, it's that they are legally forbidden from interfering. You want someone to blame for Jedi "indifference" to suffering, look to the Senate. Even before Palps was in charge it was a bad situation.

Could the Jedi have tried to fight it and get the laws changed? Probably. Would it have worked? Impossible to know, but I lean towards it not only not working, but making things worse. You just KNOW the more corrupt Senators would be grandstanding to the public about how "dangerous" the Jedi are and that their efforts to gain more autonomy would be a "threat" to the Republican way of life, etc.

"Why don't they just leave if they don't like it?" Well, why don't Americans who live in red states just leave? Why don't people in war-torn countries just leave? Maybe because it's a little more complicated than just packing a bag and walking away. Especially since in the Jedi's case the Republic would probably consider it an act of war.

I'm also tired of folks trotting out how Jedi "indoctrinate" children into their way of life. Like, yes, they do teach kids about the Jedi path and how to control their powers and to use them for good. Is that a bad thing? Would you claim that medical schools "indoctrinate" students into saving others and not causing them harm? C'mon.

It would probably help if we had stories about kids who grew up in the Temple and then headed off into the world without becoming Jedi. There's the various service corps, but those could still be considered under the Jedi umbrella. Anyway, just because we haven't heard stories about them doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Why does everything need to be filtered through a lens of negativity? Why do some folks always need to assume the worst about everything and everyone? That's hypothetical, BTW; I don't need to read a bunch of salty replies about how terrible the world is and all the bad things that have happened and are continuing to happen. That isn't the point.

Maybe the Jedi were getting fucked over long before the war ever started. Maybe they were doing the best they could with what they had. Maybe that wasn't enough to save themselves or the rest of the galaxy.

Stop believing the worst out of everyone when there is no evidence to support it.