#and i'm still late posting this

[natsubeatsrock]

I'm Still Thinking About Ships and Zervis After All These Years

[tfw you miss the anniversary of the post... by several months]

HAH! You thought I was just hating on Juvia for no reason with my last one. (It wasn’t even that bad.)

Nope!

This is a series of things I want to do. I hope you don't mind that this is the second time to date I've reused this intro. Honestly, this might be one of my favorite intros to any post. The only one that tops it is starting with the conclusion in another post. (You know the one.)

Even then, this post has a special place in my heart. Over the past [EIGHT] years I've been on this blog, I've had to talk a lot about the ships. Part of it is willingly entering certain discussions. Part of it was ending up in the middle of certain fights. (I've learned not to pick fights with people.) This was my first real foray into talking about the ships to a meaningful length.

Overall, I've come to realize that Tumblr is a very ship-heavy site. Much of the discussions involving any series or topic involve ships. I used to think this was only Fairy Tail fans, but a lot of people have these issues. Almost every moderately active fandom on Tumblr has a vibrant (note: not necessarily healthy) emphasis on shipping. For what it's worth, Fairy Tail has also had its fair share of shipping wars.

So I've heard.

I don't have the same horror stories that so many other people have. I started this blog near the time that the series was ended. A lot of the shipping drama was long settled. A few months into starting this blog, there was some drama caused by some Graylu shipper who was causing beef with the Gruvia fandom. But a lot of the back-and-forth with shipping didn't affect me when I made the original post.

And then, there was the University of Gruvia.

I have to be careful when describing this, especially considering the number of people I know involved with this on both sides. I want to provide a fair assessment of this. Especially being on my side of the Gruvia debate. Luckily, I've done this several times for Gruvia already.

There was a desire among Gruvia fans to share love and information involving the ship with others. This was to manifest itself in a fan university of sorts with fan experts and actual teachers working to educate fans. Concerns came from two different places. Some fans were worried that this would cause more fights with people who didn't agree with them. I was part of the fans who thought that other shipping fandoms should get some shine and recognition first.

If you haven't heard about the University of Gruvia, that's because it didn't get off the ground. Part of it was because another group of fans set up a parody University of Graylu. There were some disputes over fans signing up for one to set the other up. The details were handled outside of my sphere.

Two big things came from it, as far as I'm concerned. I did get called out as a salty Graytear fan by some Gruvia shippers. Even though I didn't particularly hate the idea at the time. I just wanted a week for Albis. (Another rant for another day) My rationale was that whatever arguments Gruvia fans would come up with would become so mainstream it would be easy to deal with the fandom, by knocking out the ideas all at once. I still stand by that, though I get the concern others had about empowering toxic fans.

That leads to the second. I've become averse to talking about the ship. I'll talk about Nalu for any reason I feel like it. I don't handle Gruvia the same way. I am more careful not to do a lot to piss Gruvia fans off. I've noticed that the Gruvia fandom is very protective of the ship from people who disagree. (Occasionally to ironic results.) Fairy Tail is the only series in which I have a relationship with the ships I do. You all know me for not loving the big ships and being involved in smaller ships for characters. I still get kudos and comments on a story involving Laxus and Juvia, of all pairings. A lot of the appeal of the ships I don't like is lost on me. I can make arguments for them, but I don't buy any of it.

However, Fairy Tail is the only series where this is the case. I've mentioned liking Naruhina and Ichihime. But those are fairly popular among fans of their respective series. At the very least, the majority of the fandom knows why people like them. Every once in a while, a series will come where I don't love the main ships. Like, I don't love most of the big ships in RWBY, but I get why people like them. Fairy Tail is the only series where I'm actively going against the grain, in regards to shipping.

Unlike that other post about Juvia, I don't have much to say about my opinions changing. Most of what I said in that post is what I feel about the ships in general now. Like whatever you want and don't be shocked if some crazy stuff ends up becoming canon.

Though, I do need to talk about the other focus of this post. When the original post came out, it wasn't too long after chapter 450. If you don't remember, that was the chapter that confirmed a previous relationship between Zervis. While I already intended to talk about the ships as my next topic, it felt perfect to use Zervis as the lens to talk about ships.

It's not an understatement to say that fandom was going ballistic at the time. A lot of people following me probably weren't fans of the series when these chapters came out. You need to understand that, before the Alvarez Empire arc, Zervis was mere speculation. It was an idea based on one chapter of the main series and a few interactions during ZERO. Like much of Mashima's work, it makes sense in hindsight. However, this wasn't a ship taken seriously by fans until it became canon.

Honestly, I'd argue that fans made it a bigger deal than it probably needed to be because of their history. This isn't on Mashima for revealing it as late as he did. It made sense to reveal what happened between them when he did.

Take a step back and think about how much Zervis matters. No doubt, it's an important connection between two of the most influential characters in the series. It also serves as a driving force for the last arc of the series. Its resolution (somewhat?) redeems one of the main villains of the series. I will not deny any of those things.

But let's compare this to Jerza. Jellal and Erza are more influential characters. The connection between them is shown for longer in the series, both before and after the Alvarez Empire arc. This isn't even noting the ways that their relationship, directly and indirectly, affects the main events of numerous arcs. The romance between the two has been far better built up to what we see now in the sequel.

And this isn't even to mention the most important relationship in the series: Nalu. I'm not going to call it a romantic masterpiece. However, this isn't the first time I've noted that their relationship makes Fairy Tail what it is as a series. Nearly everything that happens in the series happens because these two work together. That's before we go into how either of them is either directly or indirectly involved in and/or responsible for major events in every arc.

One unfortunate thing that has become a point of discussion has been the potential claims of pedophilia on the ship. I dealt with this idea in rewriting Fairy Tail, but I want to repeat myself quickly. As I interpret the ship, Mashima's done too much to make the ship feel skeevy. Still, I don't think the ship is pedophilic.

In Conclusion:

Shipping is fun, but their fandoms can be crazy. Please enjoy both responsibly.

Also, don't ask me about the Zervis age gap.

[deep-dark-fears]

Out out, Mister Goofums. A fear submitted by Lauren to Deep Dark Fears - thanks!

You can find original artwork or commission portraits in my shop!

[no-passaran]

Spain lied about not selling weapons to Israel.

Even after October 7th, Spain has sold more than 1 million € of weapons to Israel. Norway and Finland make it possible.

In January, Spain made headlines word-wide when the government's Minister of Exteriors, José Manuel Albares (PSOE), claimed in Congress and later again in a radio interview that Spain had stopped selling weapons to Israel ever since October 7th. Israel's intensification of violence in Gaza following October 7th meant that, on top of decades of apartheid and ethnic cleansing, between October 7th and January 23rd Israel had already killed 28,000 people and forced 2 million out of their home. In this context, many people were demanding their governments stop arming and funding the genocide of the Palestinian people, and here on Tumblr and other social media sites like Twitter I think we all saw the many posts praising the Spanish government for this.

Well, it turns out it was a lie.

According to Albares, "Since October 7th there are no more weapons exportations [from Spain] to Israel". But in November alone, Spain exported weapons to Israel for 987,000€, as was published on the Spanish Government's official website dedicated to exterior commerce (Comex). A researcher from Centre Delàs (an independent centre for peace studies) found it and published it, and it has also been verified by newspapers such as elDiario.es.

This 987,000€ worth of weapons in November was not the only ammunition that Spain has sent to Israel in 2023. In 2023, Spain exported a total of 1.48 million € in war material to Israel.

All of the weapons sent in November come from the factory of Nammo Palencia (Castilla y León), a corporation that is 50% property of the Government of Norway and 50% owned by a public Finnish business. However, even if the owners are foreigners, the ammunition was sent from Spain and thus it had to be authorized by the an organism of the Spanish Government named Junta Interministerial de Defensa y Doble Uso, whose deliberations on whether a weapons exportation is accepted or denied are kept secret. The only cases where they have denied exporting weapons to Israel have been when they thought that Israel would re-sell these weapons to the Philippines.

Spain has had a close relation with Israel for years. As published by the Spanish Government, Spain has sold 20 million € of weapons to Israel between 2012 and 2022. Spain also buys weapons and military software from Israel (for example, the Spanish Intelligence Service has been using the Israeli software Pegasus to illegally spy on Catalan activists, journalists, politicians and civil society members and their relatives to attack the Catalan independence movement), and Spain has continued buying from Israel and allocating defense contracts to Israel even after the October 7th attacks. It is very difficult to track the concessions of public contracts such as buying weapons, but some contracts have been known. For example, on November 24th 2023, Spain bought 287.5 million € of missiles from Israel. This is not unusual: between 2011 and 2021, it is publicly known that Spain bought war material from Israel for at least 268 million €, but experts say that the real number could be two or three times as much.

Spain has also continued allocating concessions to Israel. For example, on December 15th 2023 Spain allocated a contract worth over 576 million € to Israel for a rocket launcher programme. On November 22nd, Spain allocated another another Israeli company to provide missiles for 237 million € at the same time as the Spanish army bought Israeli inhibitors for 1.4 million €. The very next day, November 23rd, Spain signed another military allocation to Israel for 82,600€. The following week, Spain signed yet another allocation with a different Israeli military corporation for 3.7 million €.

Spain also allows Israeli weapon manufacturing companies to produce weapons through their branches located in Spain. This way, Israeli weapons make their way to markets with which Israel doesn't have diplomatic ties but Spain does, like Saudi Arabia. And since Spain is a member of NATO, Israeli weapons produced in Spain are approved according to NATO standards and access it easily. In the same way, these Israeli weapons manufacturers also access European Union defense funds through their branches in Spain. (source).

As I said, I saw a lot of positive posts around when Albares said Spain was going to embargo, but I haven't seen any post about how they didn't do it. I also (personally) haven't seen anything on international media, and barely anything on Spanish media, which is already busy with the PSOE covid material corruption scandal. So I share this in the hope of helping put pressure on Spain to cut all ties with Israel immediately.

SHAME ON EVERYONE WHO GIVES ISRAEL THE MATERIAL AND MONEY THAT WILL BE USED TO MASSACRE THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE. SHAME ON SPAIN, NORWAY, AND FINLAND.

[14dayswithyou]

💖 DAY 4 SNEAK PEEKS! 💖

Hiya Angels!! ^^ Here are some of the Out Of Context™ screenshots I recently shared with the 14DWY Discord boosters... Who also have early access to Day 4 as of right now!

So if you'd like to skip the wait and go on that aquarium outing with [01010111 01101000 01101111 00111111] right now, feel free to join the Discord community and boost the server! Otherwise, keep checking Tumblr and Twitter for more updates and screenshots ^^

[sergle]

I've been using markers to sketch sometimes, instead of pencils, and I really like the way it looks

[gotchibam]

Ogerpon & Darkrai ko-fi doodle for CyclopeanSpook!

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Lan Wangji Goes To Lotus Pier AU: Part 3: Enveloping Feelings.

(Part 1, Part 2, Part 4)

[opanchu]

and when the mc rhyme and the dj spin I want y'all to just get downnnn

[its-mayo0]

Im bbbaaackk

[lulu-draws-stuff]

How does that sound?

[knifearo]

ultimately when it comes to shipping and fandom space treatment of aspec characters i just don't accept "aro/ace people can still date/have sex" as an answer from nonaspecs. like yeah. mhm. okay. now i think we both know that you're not saying that out of real interest in the diversity of aspec experiences. so you can turn in your seventeen-page essay on why and how you plan to examine this character's aspec identity within the context of a romantic or sexual relationship complete with evidence from canon and peer reviews from multiple aspec people within the next week or i'm putting you in the pit from the edgar allen poe story

[codacheetah]

The Loop Dialogue Spreadsheet

RELEASE 1.0 BABY!!!!!!!

SHEETS LINK

WEB LINK (I don't recommend this one, but it's also here)

✦ WHAT IS THE LOOP DIALOGUE SPREADSHEET? ✦

As I'm sure you could guess by the name, this sheet is a compilation of (to my knowledge) all of Loop's dialogue in the game, sorted into tabs for easy access.

✦ WHAT DIALOGUE IS ON THIS SHEET? ✦

Currently, the sheet is divided into:

Generic dialogue - Dialogue for starting and ending a conversation with Loop, calling them, basic dialogue options

"What should I do next?" - Loop's advice regarding story progression.

"Let's talk about something..." - Optional conversations with Loop, relating to the "Behind the Scenes" achievement, also known simply as "loop chats"

"I had a question about..." - Loop's advice regarding sidequests

Predialogue - Automatic conversations with Loop preceding the regular dialogue options

Tutorials - Occasions in which Loop gives information to Siffrin in brackets.

Item interactions - Loop's reactions to using Souvenirs near them, as well as to using Your Dagger near them

Story events - Loop's introduction, Beginning of ACT 3, Loop hangout, Forgetting Mirabelle's name random event, ACT 5 Loop confrontation, and the Epilogue

(...plus the intro, where the key comes from)

✦ WHY USE YOUR SHEET? ✦

So you can be obsessive over Loop the same way I am (◕‿◕)

Also so you can take screenshots and see stuff you missed! Yippee!

Anyways, with that out of the way, thank you to anyone who has helped with this project along the way, ESPECIALLY @felikatze and his script project. 💖 You're free to copy anything out of this sheet without credit because, well, I didn't write any of this dialogue.

Fair warning ahead of time that this sheet contains unmarked spoilers for the entire game, including several optional achievements.

[taxinealkaloids]

behold hitherto unposted htn doodles! harrow+her terrible mentor, harrow+her terrible roommate

[auriidae]

couple a shinyduo doodles from The Great Terra Art Style Crisis of 2024. designs from my au :)

[seventh-district]

Making Incorrect H:SR Quotes Until I Run Out of (hopefully) Original Ideas - Pt. 4 - Nuthin' but Boothill Edition

[Pt. 1] [Pt. 2] [Pt. 3] [Pt. 5] [Pt. 6]

[deadclockghost]

I Can't Decide - MASM Animatic

Have a dumb little thing that took waaaay to long to make for how short and how little drawing effort I put into it lmao

In my defence, I 'animated' in Openshot, which you should never do <3 but we do what we can with what we have in this household. Also I've never made an animatic in my LIFE. So this was a fun exercise!