#anyway I'm doing this a. bc my life is a train wreck and I have 15 missing assignments and I've tried everything else

[moldyfloorboards]

I will be trying coffee (in the format of a caffeinated chocolate bar) for the first time tomorrow. I will update you on how it goes

[l1tw1ck]

got a reply on ao3 where someone was being ableist to me by using dyslexic is an insult, so I told them that was ableist and then they said "not liking your writing isn't ableist" (i never said it was) and then proceeded to use the r slur and then said "i could tell you're autistic."

so in order to fight the ableist allegation...you use more ableist rhetoric...i see 🤔

laughably ironic

rambling under the cut bc it's just ... hilarious

i wasn't gonna say anything about it on here bc it's not worth thinking about it any further than necessary but i just have to say something bc it's so funny to me.

i wish people knew how to insult me and talk about my work negatively without being ableist, racist, transphobic, etc. like, i'd rather not get any rude comments at all but if you're gonna be a dick at least be ethical about it 😭 how are you gonna READ a fic including things you DON'T like and then insult me over it?! why do people do this?!

i honestly can't be upset by this kind of thing because it's just so hard to take them seriously. people just sling slurs at me thinking it'll hurt me but it doesn't, because I know they're only doing it because they feel comfortable doing it online anonymously. if they were really about it they'd say it on their main account, but they don't.

it's hard to fully articulate my feelings and thoughts on this but man...reading their replies made me cringe

nobody has to like my writing or the type of content I create, i really don't care about that. especially because i don't even like my older work anyway (the fic in question is 2 yrs old). my writing style and skills are the way they are because I'm disabled and struggled throughout school because of it, not liking the way I write or thinking i'm not highly skilled isn't ableist. using ableist rhetoric and slurs is. i write purely for fun and i don't care if someone hates it because it's not like i'm trying to submit these to like...the new york times 😭

everyone has a right to feel disgusted or uncomfortable with my work, i'm not gonna cry about it or call them a "puriteen" (god i hate that term). but if you're gonna waste your time and energy reading my fics and then insult me about it, at least hold back on the slurs and bigoted language. insult me all you want but don't use my identity as a marginalized person to do it

oh my god i just remembered they also said i should give up on being an author bc my writing is terrible. Who the hell is reading smut fanfic and expecting shakespeare????? it's porn! porn is known for being shitty. it's the equivalent of opening up a video on pornhub and expecting an A24 level of production 😭 i'm an adult with a personal life, what do i look like emulating the skills and stylings of mark twain or jane austen for PORN? for free no less! 😭😭 ppl tend to forget that part

full respect to people who actually do write really fancy stuff for smut fics cause I don't have the energy for all that 😭 or even the skills honestly. i'm currently trying to make up for the train wreck that was high school (major depressive episode for FOUR years)

i'm ranting (i have a tendency to ramble...writer's curse) but man, i really hate how acceptable it is for people to say these kinds of things online. In the past, people would lose their jobs and scholarships for being bigoted but now you can just open up twitter on a new account/logged out and you'll see plenty of people saying horrible things (and getting PAID for it!) It's like a reverse of 2020, people were overly scared of being "canceled" and now everyone is comfortable using slurs against people. sigh.

like i said, insult me ethically!

anyways i'm gonna keep writing crappy fics ☺️ progress is slow but i'm still writing!

[yonemurishiroku]

Yay!

Okay, I'll start off by saying that Jason Grace is my absolute favourite character in the whole of the camp half-blood chronicles. When I was around 12 or so I genuinely had a crush on him and now that I'm 19 I just absolutely adore him and just want to protect him lol.

Anyways.

He's been done so dirty, okay? Killing a former protagonist after his series is over is so cheap idc, especially if you kill him out of the blue after revealing that a huge part of what he fought for during hoo (his relationship with Piper) was over.

I can understand Leo and Calypso breaking up, because they met for two weeks or something and then 'fell in love'. They have a lot to unpack and a lot to work through before they're able to form a relationship. But Piper and Jason? They were together for five books, there was a genuine connection between them, they worked well together, etc. Idk, whether you ship Jasper or not, them breaking up outside of their main story for factors that weren't even mentioned when they were protagonists is a huge wtf moment.

I don't want to think this, but it feels like Rick wanted Piper to be queer, which, you know, is great, the more representation the better, but there are other, more sensible ways he could've used to approach her queerness. He could've had Piper mention she'd realised she was queer after the war but she still loved Jason because, you know, four books of relationship development weren't for nothing. Or, if he wanted to break them up, he could've given Jason and Piper more protagonism and explain their reasoning for parting ways better.

But I digress.

Jason's death was so fucking gratuitous, it makes no sense. Why would you kill a protagonist after his series is over? Why? Just to be cruel? So that his death can be serve as some stupid character development for Apollo/yet another trauma for Nico?

Also, are we going to talk about how fucking stupid it is to kill Jason specifically? My man had a very important task to fulfil after hoo: he was going to create temples for the minor gods to stop them from rebelling. You know, he was doing virtually all of Olympus a huge service and I honestly don't know how the minor gods didn't all collectively murder Apollo for letting the one demigod that cared about them die. Idk, if I were a minor god I'll go steal his soul or something to resurrect him, because everyone else is too focused on themselves to care about the minor gods. This is so annoying wtf.

And don't even get me started on how sad it is that Jason's peace was robbed of him when he's been in a shitty place most of his life: his mother was an abusive alcoholic (because neglect is abuse), he was raised by a literal wolf and trained to be a warrior ever since, he was the Percy Jackson of Camp Jupiter during pjo, he had to fight in the war against Gaia, he had to see Leo die (and obviously Rick couldn't wait until they'd meet again to kill him), and the love of his life broke up with him when he did absolutely nothing (nothing!) wrong. People may not realise it, but he's one of the characters who's had the most fucked-up lives wtf.

In conclusion, Jason is now part of Hotel Valhalla because Hera did one (1) good thing and glitched his going to the Underworld so that he could live forever. That's what I'm telling myself from crying about him 24/7.

Ok I just want to say that in some time from now unto eternity I may steal borrow that 'if I were a minor god I'll go steal his (Jason's) soul or something to resurrect him' because that's an absolutely fantastic prompt for the next book.

(Or maybe idk the minor gods wrecking havoc bc their only representative was killed off for the sake of an Olympian sounds quite nice too).

For the rest yeah you have a (many) point(s).

[fitzs-trained-monkey]

Hello!! I was rereading Little Favors (for the hundredth time now probably, it's just so good and wonderful and always gives me butterflies when I read it) and getting to the part where Kol says that he's never been anyone's best friend before just hit me so hard. Like when was the last time he'd been able to just be around someone? To be able to nerd out about magic without it being a life or death situation? To just have fun with people he can trust won't stab him in the back? It all just made me want to wrap him up in a blanket and let him relax and have fun.

(On a slightly lighter note, I was listening to the song Seven by Sleeping at Last and the whole restless wanna see and know and experience everything really reminded me of Kol)

Sorry for the ramblings, it's just every time I read your fics I just get so many thoughts and I had to share. Thanks for being your awesome self! -🍪

Okay, first of all...

Second of all...

Thirdly, you are so right! I thought it was so, so sad that we never once saw Kol make an actual friend without any drama or ulterior motives to hide. I mean there's that undefined period of time during which Kol pretended to be friends with Jeremy Gilbert but, honestly, that's just more sad. It's why I headcanon that Kol has BPD or Borderline Personality Disorder. It's highly likely that he believes he has to create an entirely different personality in order to be liked or cared for or loved - that just Kol himself will never be enough for anyone, that no one will ever love him for who he is instead of what he can do for them. Of course, he had Davina, but that relationship was drowning in drama and hidden agendas from the very start. Though she forgave him for abiding by Esther's mandates seeing as he really didn't have much of a choice, Davina still only associated with him after that for his "witch encyclopedia brain". I think that's just incredibly sad.

Edit: This rant was originally much longer but this post got messed up by Tumblr. I'm not sure how, but it did. Anyway, Anon, if you're still willing to associate with me after this train wreck of a post, I just wanna say that I listened to Seven. I love Sleeping At Last, but I'd never heard that song before and I LOVED it! You're absolutely right, serious Kol vibes there. Somebody should make an edit to that song. Not me bc I'm not good at editing and I'd never be able to do it justice, but SOMEONE NEEDS TO!

Also, never apologize for rambling. I can't express how much I love your asks! I want to hear every single thought you've ever had about my fics, or about the fandom in general. Heck, I'd love to hear what you ate for lunch today and how your day is going! Thank you so much for being here and supporting me. You're amazing and I love you and I hope you find a random treasure trove of free change in your pockets next time you do laundry!

Until you ask again!

[coralsgrimes]

I will never understand what Ben sees in JH, but after a few years of silently watching the train wreck that is twin flames... I'm equally confused as to what JH sees in Ben. It's been years and he's still hiding and untagging any mention of the two of them together. A couple more posts popped up about him being at her Memorial Day pool party (one an obvious troll posts) and they all quickly disappeared from his tags.

For someone who loves to rinse and repeat terms like "authentic self" and "healing journey", she needs to add "self-respect" to her limited vocabulary because gurllllll...

They've known each other for years, they're apparently close enough that she leaned on him during her divorce, he wrote a whole EP for her, he seems to be integrating into her friend group and yet he still refuses to be publicly seen with her even though we all know they still hang out. Like girl that's gotta sting. Why keep someone around who is clearly embarrassed/scared to be seen with you? The dick can not be that good.

He doesn't even have a job. The highlights of his year have been one failed show for an album he hasn't mentioned in months, a convention for a canceled tv show and apparently going on a book tour for a book he didn't even write. JH is annoying and a shitty person, but at least she's trying to have a career.

At this point he can't even blame the hiding on the fan girlies bc what fans? He drove off the last of them after following and liking shit from that zionist account. Next to no one cared about the Memorial Day thing, the only person who talks about him on Twitter is that Ben Barnes Property account and there's only a handful of insta accounts that still regularly talk about him. Even the DL can't be bothered to discuss him anymore. You know your boring ass fucked up when even your haters have moved on. Pretty sure the only reason he still has that 2.1 million insta following is bc the majority of us are waiting to see what dumb shit he's going to do next.

I have no idea if they're just friends, dating, a situationship - at this point who cares? We're probably never going to know. But my god, these two are toxic and confusing.

(This got long and ranting fast, so sorry about that but this has been on my mind for awhile and I'd rather step on a rusty nail then admit to people in my life about how invested I am in the life of a D-list celebrity.)

All I can say here is AGREED

And just two follow ups;

1. He got a job now (sorry this an old ask) but like I wouldn't expect anything good from it, it's literally a cable TV one, and a limited series sooooo

2. His insta following is still dropping, he's losing about 10-15k per month now, probably bots not fans but ye can see how fucking desperate he got at one point to get a bigger following. Ma bet is that he's going to get down to 2M by the end of summer and if it keeps up (I don't think he's gonna gain any new followers organically anytime soon), he's gonna get below 2M mid autumn at the very best lol

There's a lesson here obviously - don't kill off your fan base and buy bot followers when instagram is clearing them up anyway...

[luffys]

hi moh! do you have any favourite anime movies (?) and disney movies?

oooh hello anon! i just love animation so much so yes of course i do!

Anime

Promare - i love vibrant colour schemes so much and i watched this like last year i think and OMG it's beautiful!! the colours caught my eye from the get go and then all the characters and music just added to it!

i'm not going to lie, i haven't actually seen all of the ghibli movies but the ones I have I love so much. My top 2 would be Howl's Moving Castle and Sprited Away (so far)

I still cry during Pokemon: The First Movie when pikachu cries over Ash

Pokemon: Spell of the Unknown (the one with Entei), and i love the one with Celebi so much too (pokemon: 4ever) bc celebi's the cutest. The jirachi one's pretty good for me too bc i thought jirachi was adorable.

listen i love sailor moon, it's a huge part of my childhood and i was oBSESSED with the movies. I used to pick those to rent back when movie rentals were a thing!! So i have to say Sailor Moon R: The movie (Promise of the Rose). It still gets me singing along during the end fight scene (i memorized the lyrics so fast when i was younger).

I also love sailor moon s: the movie so much too! not so much for villain/storyline but bc i loved seeing more of luna (especially as a human too!!)

one piece stampede - THEY HAD ACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! also 'everyone who's dead are losers' line

Kimetsu no Yaiba: The Mugen Train movie - the art of KNY is just stunning and the movie didn't disappoint either!!! loved it so much

Disney (I just listed animated disney ones bc I wasn't sure if that's all you were asking about)

Beauty and the Beast - I love Belle, she's one of my favourite Disney princesses since I was a kid

The little Mermaid - i loved mermaids when i was a kid and that hasn't changed to this day

Alice in Wonderland - i just love any version of alice in wonderland tbh bc it's one of my favourite stories

peter pan!!

the artistocats - i love this so much, it's so fun

aladdin - i love aladdin and jasmine so much

the lion king - EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS IS SO GOOD, even my grandmas love it so much even when they didn't understand the story since it was in english. we'd translate for them but they'd just love it for the visuals

toy story and toy story 2

101 dalmations - i loved the live actions they had too

herculues - inaccurate but god the songs, also it was one of my brother's favourites so i'll rewatch it any time just for him

MULAN - i've seen it sOOOOO many times, can't get sick of it

emperor's new groove - i can't get enough of it, it's so fun

monster's inc. - i used to have the VHS of it and it was blue and my siblings and i would watch it over and over again on repeat

LILO AND STITCH - it's just so iconic and so good

TREASURE PLANET - i just love this one so much

finding nemo, the incredibles, and cars

does enchanted count since some of it was animated?? i'll include it anyways

Up, Tangled, Wreck it Ralph, Zootopia, Moana

Coco - i watched it with my grandma and she loved it too

Encanto is just so good!!

Non-Disney animated movies (you didn't ask about these but i love these animated movies so i had to include them)

anastasia

iron giant

the land before time

the prince of egypt

the swan princess

barbie movies - i've watched so many and i love them so much

how to train your dragon - just did a rewatch back in december and they still hold up so well, everything about them is fantastic

rise of the guardians - i'm still so bitter it didn't get a sequel movie bc the first was OUTSTANDING

thumbelina - i was obsessed as a kid with this one

megamind

quest for camelot

the book of life

shrek

puss in boots: the last wish - OMG THIS WAS STUNNING FROM VISUALS TO STORY TO CHARACTERS

kung fu panda!!! - i love them all

hotel transylvania

[bubaluv]

Damn I sure am huh

[frances-baby-houseman]

A little race recap!

About 2 months ago, I decided to sign up for a half marathon in my town bc I have been running a lot and wanted a challenge! Also many years ago when I ran I struggled to get a 2hour half marathon and I wanted to see if I could do it this year.

So I did some training over the past couple of months and felt pretty good going into the race, if a little nervous bc my training involved a lot of long slow running and it really is hard mentally to translate long slow runs into long fast runs.

The race was on Sunday and the weather was just about as perfect as it gets. 60 degrees, overcast, with a few VERY light showers. I wore bike shorts with pockets, a light weight tank top, and a running hat. This was a good outfit but the bike shorts started to feel heavy by the end. I think next time I'll wear running shorts and either a sports bra with a pocket or a waist belt.

I was in a middle corral and decided to follow a pacing strategy for the first time in my life. A 1:59:59 half marathon is a 9:09 mile, so my goal was first four miles at 9:15-20, next four miles at 9:05, and last 5 miles at whatever I had left in the tank. I wanted to pace myself in particular bc this race has a section that's a .25 mi STEEP downhill on a ravine, immediately followed by running back up the hill, so I knew I'd lose some time there. I really got passed left and right as we took off, but I worked really hard to keep this pacing strategy. I ended up going a little faster, but my first 1/3 was above 9 min miles, so I knew I had some reserves.

The race had great water/electrolytes-- just about every 1.5 miles, so I was glad I didn't wear a hydration belt. I brought honey stinger gels and salt tablets. I picked up my pace a tiny bit around mile 5, which was when I took my first gel. My family was cheering for me at mile 6 AND I passed my coworker right at that same moment, so from then on it was go-time. I picked up my pace to 8:30-8:55-- I didn't want to be wrecked, but I wanted to be pushing the whole time.

TMI WARNING!!! This was a very hilly race, and my mom bladder COULD NOT handle it. It was... leaky. This is a non-issue for me most of the time, but certain times of the month (I think when I'm ovulating?) and I get bloated, I have issues running downhill. And this was very downhill. So that was gross and stressful and honestly I think I lost probably a minute on my time trying to just keep that together. Next time I'll wear period pants and hopefully that will solve the issue (to be clear, this is pee, not period, but the underpants work for anything down there.)

ANYWAY I picked up my pace and just chugged along. Between pacing strategy, nutrition strategy, water strategy, etc., time passed really fast. I kept thinking "I have the pace" like I'm some kind of F1 driver. I got a little cramp around mile 8 and took a salt tablet which cleared it right up! I love those things.

The last 4 miles of this race are brutal-- you go through a military base that's just so narrow and boring. Also, it's a road race and the road is slightly domed, so my right hip was screaming bc it was always on the downhill side of the road. I was trying to run in the middle of the road as much as I could to even things out, or even on the left side to balance my hips a little. That part was hard! I took one more gel at mile 11, since I knew the race was hilly at the end and I wanted to push. I knew that I was on track to run under 2, so I was feeling pretty good. Honestly the only bad part was the bladder stuff-- I was really worried about it!! I could have definitely gone faster if I wasn't worrying about peeing myself. SORRY THIS IS GROSS! HUMAN BODIES ARE WONDERFUL AND DISGUSTING!

Anyway I made it to the end and was very excited to see I finished at 1:56:46. By far my best half time and I wasn't gassed at all-- I could shave off a minute or so in hindsight.

So that was great! It was a great race and I had so much fun and was really in the zone the whole time. I realized that I wasn't even conscious of what music was playing in my headphones-- the time just passed!

And then my family was at the end and Joseph immediately needed my water bottle bc he was thirsty and that was that. Back to normal! It was great and I can't wait to run another one in the fall.

[fragileizywriting]

man the PROBLEM with my impulse to write the "fun" demon lovin fic first before all of the in-between fics (they're all fun, but, i mean. there is, like, no plot in color coordinatin. at all. which means i can just literally do whatever) is that if i wanna talk about one of the in-betweens, i gotta mention the ~~~semantics~~~ which is like ugh because no one lives in my head

like omg i have all of this thought out and planned, you know?

and instead of subjecting one or two friends with my absolute train wreck of a thought process, i decided to subject all of you instead :) you're welcome <3

anyway. bear with me! all of these fics will get written i promise, i don't like leaving things unfinished and we will not mention the three abandoned fics i have on AO3 right now and there's like, a handful more fics in this au in store for us. two handfuls. lots of thousands of words left. we might be, like, a third way through from how many more words i probably have to write. a fourth. i am terrible at managing my projects.

and this project literally came out of nowhere.

like, omg, this entire (ENTIRE) au literally sprouted because of a typo error in the first chapter, and we only got to me writing the first chapter because i listened to 'maneater' by nelly furtado and thought of marinette dancing to the song. canonically that is the song she was dancing to in the first scene of demon lovin'. no one knows that bc i never told anyone. i didn't even put that in the author's notes. i should. i'm gonna go do that. and omg the song is so good.

did you know demon lovin' was actually going to be an adrinette fic? except in the first scene i accidentally wrote “Why do we keep pretending we don’t like her?” for adrien's dialogue instead of “Why do i keep pretending i don’t like her?” and i just kind of ran with it. i never told anyone that, either, i'm pretty sure!! congrats!!! authors notes. doesn't it pay to follow me? :D

and now it's like, four months later, and you can pry lukadrinette out of my cold and dead hands. ride or die.

anyway. sorry. rambling (ramblin')

i have a new fic idea for the au that i'm going to take absolutely six years to get to but i wanna share it so y'all keep me in check!!! i'm putting it all under a cut because it's long and i just wanted to word dump / brainstorm a fic idea

i want to write a fic somewhere in the middle of all of this, or even it goes after coordinatin', doesn't matter, where marinette gets a fever. just full-out delusional. at first she plays off the headache because, well, she's marinette. marinette doesn't get sick. she's never gotten sick. i'm going to have to come up with a "succubus only get sick and feverish from a particular illness" thing for this story, and i'll think about it when i actually write this out

she got sick. somehow. i'll figure it out somehow idk.

she manages to convince adrien and luka that she has to call nathaniel, because nath knows a doctor. adrien is pouty. he doesn't like nath. luka is reluctant. he also doesn't like nath.

but marinette is sick, and they know nothing about succubi health, so they agree.

marinette's fever gets so much worse.

by the time nathaniel shows up with marc (a character i haven't mentioned once in the fics yet so now i gotta fill you in about their role in the au, so give me a second) marinette's close to bursting to tears because she's in the middle of the next wave of fever, starting to slip into another round of gibberish and unrecognizable speech, and she goes on for twenty to thirty minutes to marc about how nathaniel is her prized possession and the jewel of her life and she's so upset that nathaniel had to move out of her cradle and into their's because she's not healthy enough to even be a cradler anymore, and she doesn't even have a cradle and she's unfit and terrible and no wonder nath moved out, because a cradler without a cradle is like a leg with no body

nathaniel is sweating. adrien has always looked at him with that blank, flat-out annoyed expression whenever he's near, but somehow luka looks no better.

everytime nathaniel tries to slip his hand out of marinette's grip, she grabs him tighter. nathaniel is sweating bullets. the two of them look like they're counting the minutes in order to kick nathaniel out of the house, which would be the easiest and least painful thing possible, because they look murderous. at some point he just acquiesces, knowing that if he's going to die, he might as well make marinette comfortable. he still really loves marinette, after all, and he doesn't like seeing her uncomfortable.

even as her two husbands(??? sure) look like they're gonna kill him. it's fine. it's fine. everything's fine.

marinette is so full of glee and happiness when she gets to lay her head down on his lap. nathaniel makes an effort to ignore the way that adrien is looking like a whole storm.

anyway, between all of this, nath's new cradler marc (they/them), is the doctor!!! of course. they immediately recognize her fever, already start prescribing her what to do. she doesn't listen to them, claiming that she knows how to take care of succubi when they're sick with a fever, but nath just rolls his eyes.

"she's trying to get out of taking medicine." because nath knows everything about marinette. they were cradle mates for almost their entire life. "she hates honey."

"what." says adrien. "what." says luka.

nathaniel looks at the two of them as if they're dumb. "she hates honey. she has never liked honey."

"do not make me eat honey," marinette says, somehow completely lucid, still petting nath's thighs. it is a good cushion. she's always felt better when nath's hands are in her hair. "do not. i will kick and scream. nasty nasty nasty. i know there's medicine in it."

luka and adrien are completely befuddled. marinette tastes like honey. she's always tasted like honey. how does she hate honey?

"honey will make the medicine go down easier," marc argues.

"i know there's medicine in it. there's no need for the honey."

i don't know where else to take this. i just want to write marinette struggling to get nathaniel to comfort her like he used to, luka and adrien not trusting him one bit, and nathaniel trying his hardest not to die.

oh, and a sick marinette that refuses to go on bed-rest. luka and adrien both find out that it is the equivalent of trying to herd sheep.

anyway hi good job making it to the end i love you

[maysbanks]

she moves in her own way. (jj maybank)

due to the ASTOUNDING response to my first jj fic which i have to say a huuuge thank you to everyone that liked, commented & reblogged, it honestly means the absolute world !! i couldn't wait much longer to start writing for my boy again, i have so many fic ideas and cannot wait to get them out to y'all. this one is shorter than the last, & the title is inspired from the song 'she moves in her own way' by the kooks (lol) but isn't necessarily based off of it, it's just something that i wrote up quickly bc i was in my feels™️ . also i feel very unoriginal with the whole plot and aspect of this but im gonna post it anyway bc i love jj lmao. anyway hope u enjoy !

warnings: swearing, underage drinking, drug use, violence, jj with a gun™️

summary: reader walks the fine line between either pogue or kook, though technically a kook, she ignores all social standings of the obx and jj maybank cannot stop himself from getting caught up in her whirlwind.

( gif isn’t mine! please let me know if it’s yours so i can credit you. )

Everyone seemed to have a different perspective of you, unsurprisingly. You weren't really much of a social butterfly, you kept yourself to yourself, really. Nobody in the Outer Banks knew much about you at all, other than what they had come up with in their heads. And while you tried your best to stay in the shadows, that only seemed to make you stand out more.

You were known for being the best of both worlds - not really a Pogue, but not really a Kook either. While your social status and family wealth suggested you to be a Kook, your free spirit and reckless behaviour fitted you better towards the Pogue style. If anyone were to ask you, you told them you were neither.

Why should a name define you anyway? You thought it was all bullshit, the stupid territorial arguments and the snide comments from both sides. You thought it was ridiculous, you weren't living in The Outsiders, for fuck sake.

You moved in your own way, simple as that. You wouldn't let anyone tell you what to do, where you can't or shouldn't be, it was a free country you'd say, middle finger salute ready to aim towards anyone who dared cross you. You were an enigma, wild and careless, unforgiving and unforgettable. You didn't necessarily like the attention, but you got it. And you knew it, and you played on it, too.

You had used your irresistible charm more than enough times to bail JJ Maybank out of trouble, despite your parents' protest. They didn't have a problem with the Pogues, persay, how could they when your dad been one half of his life before meeting your mom and marrying into the rich lifestyle; they just had a problem with JJ, as many of the parents on the island did. He was an unstoppable force to be reckoned with, weed smoking, knuckles constantly torn, skin bruised, quick wit, sarcastic humour, daddy issues, you know the type. Kids loved him, parents hated him.

You were friends with JJ, you supposed. You spent your time with him talking about your days and smoking a joint, meaningful conversations turning into joking and general tomfoolery within seconds. With JJ, you were simply unapologetically you, and JJ never judged you. He never made you choose a side, seemingly content with the fact that you were a little bit of everything, though there was times when he teased you relentlessly about the Kook life, but that was just JJ.

And despite the social differences, him being a Pogue through and through, you technically a Kook, you were drawn to each other pretty easily. Not that you hung out all the time, but you loved every second when you did, usually joined by his group of best friends - John B, Pope, and Kiara. With Kiara a Kook herself but drawn more to the lifestyle of the Pogue's, she understood you more than anyone. You'd bonded a lot, and with each of them too.

JJ loved that you fitted in with them, like a missing puzzle piece. So perfectly, it shook him to its core. The pair of you were close, but he had no idea where he stood with you, like most people never when it came to you. You were like a rollercoaster, taking people for the most exciting ride of their lives that lasted a full three or so minutes before they returned back to solid ground. You'd given JJ a ride a number of times on your non-existent metaphorical rollercoaster, and he'd returned for another ride time and time again. You couldn't say no to that damned boy.

It was a blessing and a curse, the unspoken relationship you shared. A blessing because JJ was the best thing that happened to you, and a curse because that was your downfall. You never got attached to people, never given yourself the chance. But then JJ Maybank had come along, blonde hair and blue eyes, split lip and sharpened teeth, words cunning. You saw him as a challenge at first, the name Kook Princess haunting you as he spoke them, stood in front of you at the keg upon your first real meeting. He'd held a drink out towards you, smirk perfect on his pink lips.

You'd attended over a hundred kegger's in your lifetime, the Pogue parties more inviting than those of the Kook's. You danced and talked to anyone that came across your path, whether it be unknowing Tourons, unjudging Pogues, or unforgiving Kooks, you drew them all in. You didn't fit in with any of them, JJ had realised. You really did move in your own way, he thought. He liked that, he'd decided. And hey, you were pretty cute too.

On that particular night, he'd spoken to you directly for the first time in a long time. "Would the Kook Princess like a drink?" He'd asked, holding the red cup out towards you. You'd eyed the offended object, and subsequently him, too. He smirked at the attention. You had rolled your eyes.

"Don't call me that," you'd said simply, but taking the cup from his hands regardless. You took a sip, relieved to discover that he hadn't tampered with it in any way. You were still considered a Kook to most people, after all. You could never be too careful. "Thanks, Maybank."

And he'd blinked at you, lips suddenly raising to a sly smile as he shrugged, dimples winking at you as they appeared in his cheeks. "Anytime," and he'd spoken your name back to you and you couldn't get enough of the way it sounded coming from his mouth, and you realised hey, this guy is pretty cute, and the rest, as they, is history.

You were in the midst of another infamous Pogue kegger at the current, months after your first introduction to JJ Maybank and his friends, and you stood off to the side, listening to JJ intently as he ranted about the events of the day he'd endured. Starting from finding a Grady White sunken in the marsh, "A fucking Grady Marsh, they're like 500 G's man!", to discovering that the boat belonged to Scooter Grubbs, who had coincidentally been found dead that same day, to getting chased by two guys with a gun, to the finding of the motel key from the wreck and breaking in that same motel room, finding a safe full of money and a gun of all things, to their best attempt at laying low which, unsurprisingly, resulted in the kegger in the first place.

JJ was wild in his recite of the events, hands gesturing every which way as you watched him with your lips curled into your mouth, resisting a smile at his antics. When he finished he retelling, you raised an eyebrow and chuckled dryly. "So, complete and utter boring day for you, huh?"

JJ chuckled along with you, shaking his head as if he was still in disbelief from everything that had happened in the past twenty four hours. "Man, it was crazy," he muttered. He looked at you then, eyes sincere. "I wish you were there with us. It was like something straight from a movie, I'm telling you. I feel like such a badass with that gun."

Your secret joy at his confession of that he wished you were was short lived, as the last of his words sunk in and you felt dread build in the pit of your stomach. You stared at him, him so excited that he hadn't even realised your face had dropped, before you reached out and grabbed his arm, effectively halting his movements and stopping the hurried flow of words that were leaving his mouth.

"JJ," you said carefully, eyes trained on his as he stared, clueless. "Please tell me you did not take that gun from the safe."

Your heart dropped as you saw him falter, his lips helplessly moving but no words coming out. He held a hand up, as if to hush you, though you hadn't started to speak again, and then his hand had dropped just as quick as it was raised, his teeth biting down on his chapped lip as the realisation dawned on you.

"JJ Fucking Maybank," you spat, hands slapping gently at his arms, because you could never really hurt him, you just wanted him to know you were pissed. "Do you realise how fucking careless that is? How much trouble you could get into, if anyone knew you had a gun-" your voice trailed off, your eyes closing as you exhaled. "JJ, please tell me you don't have it on you right now."

His lack of reply was the only answer you needed, and your stomach churned as you stepped back from his figure, suddenly feeling sick. He followed you, though, not letting you get too far as he took your arms in his hands and tried to drag you closer to him once more. You shook your head, arms slipping from his hold as you glared at him fiercely.

"That's so fucking stupid, JJ. You could get into serious trouble with this, trouble I won't be able to get you out of." You warned, because you knew it was true. Your charm and looks could get him out of some trouble to its extent, but it was more so your parents wealth and status that got the both of you out of shit when you managed to get into it, and you also knew your parents would literally throw a fit if you got involved in something like this - carrying a gun was no joking matter. You stepped back once more, hand finding its way to your forehead. "And from a crime scene, no less. Fucking hell."

JJ licked his lips, standing back roughly as you watched, his jaw clenching. "Well I'm not asking for your help here, Princess," he taunted, the nickname sending a wave of annoyance through you. JJ knew it would. "It's not like I ask you to help me, you're just there. Thinking I need help, like I'm some fucking charity case, a fucking doll you picked up from the thrift store that was gonna be thrown out the next day."

You tried to protest, but JJ didn't give you the chance. "I don't need your help all the fucking time. I don't need your pity. I get that you won't understand because why would you? You're a Kook, you get everything you want handed to you on a silver platter. And you can argue and fight me about it all you want, but I know you know it's true."

He sighed heavily, hands running down his face in a sign of defeat. You watched him all the while, thankful that you had ventured off the outskirts of the party so that hopefully nobody had heard JJ shouting at you, your heart wrenching as his blue eyes settled on you. "I'm sorry, JJ," you said finally. You refused to cry, though the desire to at the sight of him being so mad at you tore you apart. "I'm just trying to look out for you. With the gun thing, with everything that I help you with. And I know I'm a Kook, and I know that my parents could afford to buy half of this fucking island if they pleased, but that doesn't define me. I care, okay? And I know I care a lot more than a lot of people in your life."

It was probably a low blow, and you knew it. But JJ took it in, let the words sink into his brain where they stayed there, his fists clenching at his sides. You crossed your arms over your chest, defeated.

"I'm gonna go back to the party," you whispered. "I'll see you around, I guess." You eyed his pockets, unsure of where exactly he held the gun. "Be careful, okay."

And even when you were angry with him, you still tried to make sure he was okay, that he stayed safe. There was multiple occasions you'd showed up unannounced, simply asking how his day was, if he okay, if he had eaten that day, stayed hydrated. At first the attention startled him, he'd never really had anyone look out for him in that aspect, and yet there you were, like an angel sent from the gods themselves, smiling down at him.

You cared, he realised. You cared so much that sometimes he couldn't take it, because he didn't know how. The most family he'd ever gotten close to having in his life was the Pogues, after losing his mother and subsequently losing his father too as he turned into the monster that he was, cold and distant, fists always poised ready for an imaginary fight, and he knew that someday the Pogues would even slip through his fingers. He couldn't let that happen with you. He wouldn't.

He'd started off in your direction, truly, he had. But then John B was grabbing him and averting his attention to him, and he focused on his friend, promising only a minute of his time. You were in his sights, stood a bit away, and he recognised the couple you were talking to as Sarah Cameron and Topper Thorton, Kooks through and through. He held his distaste back, and even held a drink out to offer to Sarah as she and Topper made their way past where he and John B were standing. Big fucking mistake, he realised quickly.

It had all happened in a blur of events, each little bit leading to big finale - as he watched his best friend being held down in the water, powerless to Topper who kneeled over him, hands forcing John B to stay put in the sea. Sarah was screaming at Topper, Pope was holding JJ back with all his might, Kie beside them as she screamed along with Sarah to let John B go. And there you were, suddenly beside JJ, gripping his arm tightly as you took in the sight with a horrified glare. JJ didn't even hesitate; the gun had been pulled from his shorts and was directed at Topper's head in the blink of an eye.

The fury in his veins was red hot and ugly, tearing through every part of him like a vice. This was the Pogues land, their side of the island, and yet the Kooks still thought they could get away with anything and everything - including, apparently, attempting to drown his best friend.

"Your move, broski," JJ uttered through clenched teeth. He could hear the screams of the crowd behind him, and he pulled the gun away from Topper's head and into the direction of the sky, firing two shots towards it as the crowd of people quickly dispersed, screeches sounding from all over. "Now everybody needs to get the fuck off our side of the island!"

He was shoved to the side as Sarah rushed to her boyfriend, telling him he was fucking crazy or something like that, he wasn't really listening. The shots rang in his ears, and the adrenaline of the moment soured through him. Kie and Pope were screaming at him, he could hear their voices distantly. His blue eyes were unfocused for a second, before they looked up, and there you were.

Sent from the gods themselves, once again. You looked vibrant, so insanely alive, lips red and cheeks flushed, eyes bright. You let out a shaky breath as you watched him. JJ clenched his jaw.

"He was going to drown John B," he thought he'd said, but he wasn't sure. He didn't really know what to keep track of at that moment, Kie and Pope's obvious disapproval at him literally doing the one thing they swore not to do, Sarah and Topper stumbling away from the scene in the distance, John B getting up and muttering something along the lines of he wasn't going to drown me, or you, simply staring at him.

Before he knew what he was doing, JJ had made his way towards you. The gun was still held in his hands, and you swallowed thickly as you eyed it. "You should put that away," you muttered. JJ seemed confused, before he caught on to what you meant and he shoved the gun back to the spot of in between his shorts and his hip. "You literally did the one thing I said not to, you tool."

JJ cracked a smile, small and uncertain as he gazed at you. You stepped closer to him, eyes glancing over his shoulder. "You really pissed them off," you said, meaning his friends.

JJ shrugged, because he didn't care about their opinion, he cared about yours. And if you hated him now, hated the fact that he was just some dirty Pogue who held guns against people's heads now, apparently. "I don't care about what they think," he spoke softly. You looked at him confused. "I care about what you think."

You smiled softly, shrugging one shoulder. "Topper was going to drown John B," you replied, matter of fact. "If you hadn't stepped in when you did, who knew what could have happened. Nothing could have stopped him." You bit your lip, hand reaching out and touching his face gently, thumb soothing over the worried line between his brows. "You did the right thing, J. A fucking crazy and stupid thing, potientally dangerous, but the right thing nonetheless."

"Yeah, that's kind of my go-to, if you haven't already noticed," JJ smiled, tongue running over his bottom lip. You rolled your eyes, though playful. "Look, I'm sorry about before, okay. I was a dick. I know you care, but sometimes that's what scares me."

Your eyebrows furrowed, a confused expression on your face as your hand dropped from his face to intertwine with his own hand, his gaze suddenly becoming fixed on your linked hands, his other absentmindedly playing with your fingers that held his hand.

"It's like, you're this untouchable thing. I mean, you don't belong to anyone, you refuse to go by anything other than your name, and you're like this perfect mix between Pogue and Kook even if you do hate it and everyone knows who are you and they make these stories up about you, like that's how popular you are," JJ chuckled. "And then you hang out with me, you look past all the dirty Pogue shit, see me for who I am, and you care. And you care so god dammed much that it fucking terrifies me because nobody's ever cared that much before about me, so why should you?"

His hand left yours to remove the hat from sitting atop his hair and then run his hand through the blonde locks. You could see his tongue running along the outsides of his bottom teeth, the action causing a bump beneath his skin. He looked nervous than you had ever seen him before, and you'd both gotten into enough nerve-wracking situations together to compare. You sighed as your hands reached for his face, gripping his cheeks and forcing his eyes to gaze down at yours.

"JJ Maybank," you started, grinning softly. "You listen to me while I tell you that you deserve the fucking world and more. All this shit that you're going through, all the crap you deal with on a daily basis, you carry it so well that nobody would even know. You fight through each day and I don't even know how you manage it half the time. I admire you so much, J. And I can't help but care about you, even if you don't want me to. I care about you so much, that you wanna know a secret? It scares me too."

JJ gazed down at you lovingly, his forehead moving to rest against yours. You welcomed the embrace, his arms wrapping around your waist and squeezing you gently, as if reassuring himself that you were actually there.

"JJ," you whispered as you were stood in silence for a precise minute, neither of you daring to break the silence until you had. His blue eyes stared into yours, awaiting the next part of your speech. You swallowed your nerves down, figuring fuck it. "I'm so in love with you."

He grinned, his head swooping down before you knew it and his lips pressing against yours in a heated embrace that sent a sensation of butterflies to fly wildly in your stomach, bashing against your ribcage and taking your breath away. Shivers flew up your spine, and every hair on your body stood on edge as the kiss grew heavier, tongues brushing and teeth clattering, bodies pressed against each other as much as they could manage.

When JJ's lips left yours, you almost whined. JJ grinned cheekily, hands digging into your hips. "I love you," he breathed against the skin of your neck as he buried his head there, lips tickling the flesh. "I can't believe you just macked on me while I have a gun in my pocket."

You rolled your eyes and tugged gently on his hair, spurring a laugh from him as you shoved him away and grinned despite yourself. "Do not remind me, please," you warned him, allowing him to pull you into his side as you made your way down the beach. "I still can't believe you took that thing."

"I knew it'd come in handy though," he grinned, pulling you closer with the arm thrown over your shoulder. You wrapped yours around his waist, face squished in his chest as you shook your head.

"You're an idiot, Maybank."

[gyokuto]

Omg like when yashahime was first announced i couldn't even get excited about it because it explicitly said it would be about sesshomaru's hanyo daughters (which is extremely ooc by the way, he wasn't even enoughly developed in the og) and i instantly knew they would make rin the mother bc it's a popular ship (which is absolutely disgusting) and Sess is my favorite character in the manga. I also did not have any positive expectations for it bc it was also not written by Rumiko and it's anime only.

When it aired back in october, I tried giving it a chance - i did read some kagura theories and thought they were plausible but the girls being hanyo always threw me off. After ep 8, everything did not make any sense to me - badly written, full of holes, inconsistent, bad characterization, boring villains, so I dropped. I kept up with it online, but the environment started giving me anxiety bc I did not wish to see Sess with Rin ever bc I'm a csa survivor and i was scared it would trigger bad memories. Then ep 15 aired and I felt like vomiting esp sunrise deliberately made Rin have kids at 14 and she still acts like she is 8. So i decided to watch the ep to at least see how it got done and it was so weird bc everything felt very off ? Like sesshomaru and everyone else did not feel like themselves if that makes sense - it was so odd. And everyone is off model with this new artstyle too . When i finished the ep, I couldn't associate og with yashahime bc everything felt different. Like if u watch the first 6 episodes of inuyasha and then go to yashahime it's like two completely different series, it's as if yashahime is simply borrowing the og's appearances but not their cores. So after thinking hard about it, about Sesshomaru specifically as a character, after analysing him all over again, I realized that he wouldn't ever do any of these things and i finally got over it. I dont think it's fair to judge these characters so harshly bc this was made by real people... I understand and respect if ppl hate him after ep 15 and can't see his relationship with Rin the same as before, but to me personally, their dynamic is intact. I love him as a character deeply. I also found comfort in knowing that Rumiko's been apathetic towards inuyasha for so long, she does not care about it anymore and that's why she's unbothered by what's going on. I no longer have any respect for her though and i will not support her anymore bc she's ruined inuyasha for a lot of people with her irresponsible act of approving this.

So i hope u can forget about this one day <3 it's sumisawa's fanfic with a budget and nothing more

thanks so much for taking the time to send me this message <3

i’m sorry that as a csa survivor you’ve had to witness all this shit going down. the ways in which some people downplay or invalidate the genuine sadness and discomfort that this sequel sparks among fans who are csa surviors in particular is absolutely disgusting.

when it was announced, i was super excited because anything inuyasha related gets me excited, and i was stupid and naive in thinking they would never do something like this

i always knew there were people that the pairing was popular amongst, but from my understanding, the most popular characters have always been kagome, inuyasha, kikyo, and sesshoumaru. i usually had to go out of my way to find fanart of anyone else since the series has been over for so long, so i was like...why would they even focus on some ooc romance between a demon who despised humans for 99% of this life (including his own half-human brother) and the pre-pubescent child he adopted...i was like no way...?

it’s literally so ooc for sesshoumaru to fall in love that the only valid candidate in sunrise’s eyes was the only character who was important to him, had a uterus, and was still alive which is so disgusting

i was honestly expecting some kind of fun plot twist, and i was interpreting the rin scenes as red herrings which could be explained by the fact that, as his first daughter, of course she would have high importance in his life

which is another thing that rubs me the wrong way about the whole ship (y’know, besides the child abuse); it’s like they’re saying if the child isn’t biologically his it’s not *actually* his daughter...which is such a GROSS mentality

but yeah, you’re absolutely right that the “sequel” is an ooc train wreck. you can even tell that the first ep. of yashahime was better than the rest because it came from something RT wrote. i’m sad over the wasted potential of these characters because moroha deserved better and towa, whether intentional or not, felt very queer coded, and that meant a lot to me

i also like your point about the characters not being judged too harshly because they have no real agency. it was real people that created them and decided these things for them. for this reason, i think it’s 100% valid to ignore yashahime and continue to find comfort in the original versions of the characters. sesshoumaru wasn’t the only one that was ruined; everyone who didn’t go against the relationship is ooc too

anyway, i understand that some people may not be able to separate the two, and if they’re triggered or uncomfortable, i also 100% understand having to let them go.

i hope i can go back to inuyasha and feel fondness and nostalgia one day too :)

it’s difficult for me to enjoy things once i lose respect for the creator in some way, but i’m trying to rationalize her involvement in my head

[msmkcreates]

I did not realize how much I needed BFF HoneyMustard until you said that. I'm very excited now.

Yeah these boys are my BBs! I can’t wait until I get to show you guys all my fluffy platonic Spicyhoney moments. But that’s pretty far off.

BFF Honeymustard headcanons for you:

They play all co-op games together, and if they play with anyone else then it has to be 3+ players bc they won’t play without each other

They settle arguments with battles on fighting games. The most recent favorite is Guilty Gear, but the only reason they switched to that is because Stretch had gotten practically God-Tier with Poison Ivy on Injustice 2 so Red refused to settle with that one anymore

Stretch always plays the clown on Dead by Daylight because he knows Red has Coulrophobia. Red spends most of these sessions crying like a little girl and leaving Edge and Blue in the dust on a generator while he books it away from Stretch’s terrifying clown giggle. It’s okay though, because he’s practically unbeatable as the Trapper, and even Stretch’s Level 8 Feng Min with all her best powerups can’t escape his expert bear trap swagger.

If it isn’t 2-player but has an interesting story, they still try to play together, like one of them plays while the other watches. They actually have a pretty successful Twitch Stream account called 2BrosChillinOnATwitchStream

Their favorite game to play together is Fortnite, they wreck everytime on doubles. They tried 4-person team once but Edge kept getting sniped because he didn’t know how to build and Blue didn’t want to hurt anyone and somehow ended up lasting longer than the rest of them because they both kept trying to protect him. They never tried again.

They talk about chicks, or in this case, one chick. Recently they haven’t talked much about her because of what’s going on, but the moment she came to live with them they were already texting shit to each other

“dude i s2g i almost clutched this morning but blue walked in and now i’m mad” “bruh didn’t she just wake up from a coma...also it’s christmas morning” “yea ur point?” “....u right, bro, u right.”

Red remembers anything ever said to him, because he had to train his memory so Edge wouldn’t flay him alive. As such he remembers everything Stretch says in passing and ends up knowing an awful lot about his delicate state of mind--it’s one of the reasons he was so nice about everything that went down and was able to talk to him so calmly on their birthday.

Stretch doesn’t remember specifics very well but he always remembers favorites, even if it was only said once. He’s given Red the most poignant gifts for every gift-giving holiday, whether it’s a little-known candy or a specific book he’d mentioned he wanted.

Stretch was never mad at Red, only Nova, as misdirected and unjust as it was. Honestly he’s always thought Red deserved her more anyway, and part of his anger came from his guilt for still wanting to win.

Midnight Margaritas!!!

Stretch hates tequila but loves Red’s Margaritas. Something about the way he makes them...nobody else can match it.

They do this approx. once a month, quietly as they can, and just get smashed and talk about the meaning of life.

Stretch has a hard time keeping his clothes on when he drinks tequila, so often it looks like a very strange walk of shame in the morning when he leaves Red’s room. For a while there was a lot of speculation amongst the others about what they actually do together, until Edge spied on them and reported they just talk about dumb stuff and play video games

Stretch is the undisputed champion of Cards Against Humanity, but Red has his humor pinned perfectly and almost always wins when Stretch is the Card Czar, even when Stretch pointedly doesn’t pick the funniest one because he thinks it’s Red’s.

They’d kill for each other. They’d die for each other.

Red is growing, and Stretch is somewhat stagnant. Red sees this and tries to help, but the most help comes from when he gets the others to back up off Stretch’s case and let him make mistakes.

[elstine-harboson]

How about some more history on cavalry. Pros/cons, costs to maintain, uses and formations, the whole nine yards. I'm a tad disappointed I don't see more people play them.

Man, I can’t tell if it’s the coffee or the question that has me so jittery.

So what I want to start out with is how absurd Calvary initially was. What a lot of people do not understand is that evolution is a thing - we have selectively bred horses much like we have with dogs; initially horses were tiny - though I don’t know the details of their size I’d estimate like, pony size basically. It was not fathomable for people to think “I should ride this thing into battle!”

That’s why you see chariots being such a big thing in ancient times and not simply calvary which would be cheaper and easier to maintain. Horses were strong and large enough to pull chariots using the power of the wheel, but not strong enough to carry a human directly on its back at full speed for long periods of time - and especially not with the orchestra composed by a battlefield.

There is several ideas of where the generally modern horse originated from; some say Mongolian Region, but I believe it most likely came from the Middle East - either from Egyptian Region to the Fertile Crescent, or Persian Region or Anatolia. It is my belief with my current understanding and knowledge of history that essentially Horses were used much like mules, as pack animals. As such Horses grew more domesticated with time, and got larger and stronger to increase weight.

“But Elstine why didn’t they just use camels.”

Camels are infamous ass holes, they’re like the sand version of a llama. If a camel doesn’t want to go anywhere, it won’t go, and if you take your eyes off it, it’ll likely run away. Horses were easier to domesticate in comparison.

Anyway,

Generally speaking by the 4th Century BC, people were beginning to use light calvary, likely for raiding and scouting; reports suggest that ideally if combat became a thing calvary would dismount to fight or ride away rather than actively engaging on horseback, but that is also regional and of course not always the case. By this time Horses had been used as early as 5000BC in chariots, so Horses had a long time to grow domesticated, and get larger and stronger - in addition around the 4th century is when big innovations like stirrups and reins became relatively wide spread.

So, now there is this concept growing on tacticians, strategists, generals, kings… Horses are fast, fast is important. And bangboom, here come the calvary - literally. Horse-bound warriors became wide spread at this point, from Greece to Asia and beyond.

Now, this is more speculation, theory, etc more than anything but from my understanding and research, while calvary became a big thing the east and west developed two different methods of using the calvary. In the west is was more common to use a Hammer and Anvil tactic; which involves a strong defensive front line used to hold the enemy in place while a calvary unit pulls around to the back of the enemy, acting as a hammer as they ride into the rear - devastating moral and opening gaps in the line.

In the east things seemed to be more different, while hammer and anvil were likely used it seems calvary were generally kept to raiding, poking, and proding, or preventing flanking by engaging the enemy calvary, or attacking archers. There’s many cases I have read where the infantry engage the enemy, essentially distracting them while the calvary charge past and go raid the enemy camp or fort, or cut off supply lines. Whether this is a primary strategy of the east or not, I cannot say for certain but the majority of my reading involved these strategies more often than the Hammer and Anvil strategy.

Now that we’re in the 4th and 5th century lets zoom over to the infant Roma just getting her flag planted in the fertile lands of Italia. A lot of people are quick to point out that Rome had Calvary, which in that general area was fairly rare. There were only a handful of germanic and celtic clans that had horse riders and those were typically exclusive to raiding as horses were largerly ineffective in the large forest of Gaul and Germania.

Now the Romans had the Equites; which essentially were Nobles and these were largerly infamous for being borderline useless most of the time until further in roman history. Equites being Nobles and Wealthy, they were typically just there to serve their military duty before beginning their Political Career, in Rome a Politician was required to be a Soldier for a period during the republic. So Equites did as little as possible and generally did not risk much, and generals did not use them to avoid risking angering the Nobility and Politicians back home who likely had sons in the Equites. So, these units did scouting missions and such, and occassionally did low risk flanking or chasing down routed enemies.

This remained the case for quite some time and calvary for several hundreds of years generally stayed the same with a few exceptions throughout the world. Generally it was light calvary, for a long time. With advances in armor however we began to see heavy calvary beginning to form, most calvary were made of Nobility if Wealthy individuals no matter what part of the world - and thus as Nobility grew wealthier and armor advances went forward you began to see heavier armored soldiers and even armored horses and camels, with specialized weaponry for calvary such as lances and smaller bows (I believe composite bows or recurve bows? I can’t recall.) to make calvary more devastating while risking less due to armor.

So now you begin to really see wrecking ball calvary with more formations designed for charging and breaking lines, rather than relying on infantry people were beginning to rely on calvary.

Lets skip ahead a bit to the now crumbling Roman Empire, you have the Huns who are infamous for their calvary, specifically their horse archers - and these lighter calvary are able to generally outrun the heavier calvary, and also flank around infantry that kinda forgot about light calvary since it was not nearly as big as it used to be. So like the Greeks before them, you have these stiff roman formations that find it hard to adapt to these quick, long range calvary that typically soften up the infantry, lowering their moral and exhausting them, and then you’d have a hunnic calvary charge to route them, following up with chasing down the survivors.

So Rome is over expanded, it can’t seem to train the Legions to fight between the infantry focused Germans to the Light Calvary focused Huns, to the Eastern Heavy Calvary, and it’s losing a lot of manpower. But a biiiig thing is that Rome is taking in Germanic and Celtic Mercenaries, teaching them warfare - including calvary. Now that Rome is falling apart, these German and Celtic Generals return home with new strategies and tactics, with knowledge of Rome’s forts, military strategies, their weak spots, and a general idea where the Legions are stationed and who are leading them.

We all know what happens next; Western Rome rips open and is swallowed up by hundreds of years of Germanic and Celtic suppression.

The Franks are a big name, primarly because they have a lasting country named after them - you might know it, France. But the Frankish King during Rome’s fall was actually allied to Rome, so the King had an idea about Roman Calvary and such. Which is important for the future.

So, West Rome is gone, Frankia is soldified and expanded. I could talk all day about Frankia and the other formes German and Celtic Kingdoms, but not today.

The idea of calvary sticks around and involves, armor gets better, weapons get better and the world enters into an arms race of weapons vs armor. Making weapons that can break armor and making armor that can resist weapons and still be able to move. Calvary is now such a big necessity in Europe and other parts of the world that large portions of infantry are now Pikemen, who have specialised weapons designed to destroy any charge calvary. Some Pikes even had hooks designed to snag calvary and pull them off their horses.

Now, I bet you can see the ages moving along. You got pikes, and you got calvary with most battles being about who’s calvary can outflanks who’s pikeman; but ideally armies would just avoid each other and siege down keeps and forts instead because combat was largerly a matter of luck, where the battle was, and who was leading - much less risk in starving our castles.

Now you get the great equaliser; gunpowder weapons.

Rifles, mortars, grenades, pistols, cannons, even primitive missiles.

Now a new arm race comes about because now you have a weapon that requires next to no training, so a peasant can shoot and killed a heavily armored Knight who has trained half his life to be a Knight and has spent a small fortune for his gear and horse.

(Note, rifles started off slow due to terrible accuracy, misfires, and malfunctions. By the time Europeans really began the era of pike and shot, rifles could pierce through plate armor, or at least kill/hurt a horse depending on the range, angle, and quality of armor.)

So now armor is forced to change and adapt, Knights began to use only helmets and thick chestplates where it was common to be shot. Maximizing their defences over their vitals rather than their limbs as death via rifle became more common than death via sword. It becomes a new game of min/maxing. Being as fast as possible with the most defense to get around the Pikes and get to the Rifleman. Very devastating warfare.

Now it was either Sweden or Prussia, I can’t recall which exaclty but one of the two actually introduced rifleman incorporated into the Pike Squares; making it nearly impossible to take out the rifleman unless with your own rifleman or cannons; but this meant you’d have to get in range of the enemy rifles to be able to shoot them - and you couldnt have infantryman of Pikes in front unless their was a hill, and you wanted to risk you infantrymen getting ripped to shreds from ideal rifle ranges…. But if you don’t put any infantry up there to guard your rifleman, they are exposed to calvary.

So calvary went from Heavy Chariots to Light Calvary, to Heavy Calvary, to Light Calvary, to Heavy Calvary again, and finally light calvary. By the 1800s and early 1900s, calvary rarely had armor, and were typically only ever used as they were originally intended; raiding, scouting, low risk flanking.

Fun fact, Poland actually used Calvary against Nazi Germany in World War 2; the last mass Calvary Charge.