#anyway now i get to do some research and find out what bits were real

[calandrinon]

hello everyone it is time for ottomans propagandas Rise of Empires

me: okay

me: say târgoviște

my long-suffering husband: Tărgoviște?

me: yeah pretty good although i am biased

me: better than mister narrator dancy pants

him: But I did have you to say it for me.

me: iT IS HIS JOB TO SAY TÂRGOVIȘTE HE HAS PEOPLE TO SAY IT FOR HIM

him: Good point.

me: *continues to die on this hill*

(later, no spoilers)

us: :(

me: it's all right i don't think she was historically accurate

me: so he'll get over it p quick

(more later)

Radu (paraphrased): How much longer will there be bloodshed over the rule of this country?

me: *a westerner succeeds in being normal about the romanian revolution! everyone take a shot*

(later still)

that one historian (paraphrased): If the attack succeeds, he becomes a hero. But it fails, and he is now remembered as a bloodthirsty vampire. Csf, n-ai csf. *shrugs*

me: is this the most romanian part of the whole doco

me: i have to make a meme but it may be culturally insensitive

(at the end)

me: well that last shot was a bit unnecessary

him: Poor Vlad. All he wanted was his kingdom.

him: And someone to impale every now and then.

me: look

me: sometimes you just gotta impale people

me: if we had a federal icac with impalement powers there would be a lot less corruption in this country

him: *is definitely about to agree with me*

the dog: HEY it is time to PAY ATTENTION to ME mum said I was cel mai frumos can I have that chocolate pleeeeeease

me:

me: târgoviște

[scar-lie]

Omega Pt. 15 {Natasha}

Summary : Just you and your Alpha being sweet

Pairing : Alpha ! Natasha Romanoff x Omega ! Fem ! Reader

Warning : None other than cuteness

Word count : 1,807

{OMEGA PT. 14} {OMEGA PT. 15} {OMEGA PT. 16}

NO one has permission to repost my work anywhere, if you see it please let me know.

“Nat? Can I borrow you for a few minutes? ”Tony asked when he came in to your room.

"Yeah,” Natasha kisses your forehead, then comes with Tony to one of the meeting rooms where Fury and Maria were, making Natasha frown.

“If you're giving me an emergency mission, I’m sorry, but I'm not going to take it,” Natasha quickly said when she saw them.

“No, we’re not going to give you an emergency mission; don’t worry,” Maria said, giving her a small smile, then extending the brown folder.

“Then what is this? ”Natasha then opened the folder, reading and analyzing every detail in the folder.

“All the information we needed was from the person in charge of the commotion this morning, and—” Maria stopped and looked in fury for him to continue the sentence.

“And we also suspect that this person is the one who’s responsible for attacking Y/N right before you found her.” Natasha quickly stopped reading and looked up at them with wide eyes, shocked until her eyes painted anger and hatred, wanting to kill this person on the file.

“All the information? ”Natasha then read again the file; she’s more invested than before, wanting to study every detail of this person so she could plan the very excruciating pain she’ll do to him.

“That’s all.” With the conformation by Fury, she quickly turned around, closing the file.

“Thank you.” With that, she’s off to your room again, sitting close to you while she reads the files and does research on him while she waits for you to wake up.

“Nat? Nat? "Natasha got woken up when she felt a cold hand on her cheek. She jolted, looking around.

“Y/N? ”Then she looked at you, sitting in your bed with a smile on your face.

"Hi,” you rasp, and Natasha notices how raspy and dry your voice is, so she quickly hands you a bottle of water with a straw.

“Hi, drink up; you needed it,” she smiles back. Sitting on your bed, she then puts her hand on your forehead while you're sipping your water, making you frown and look at her confused.

“What? ”Natasha asked with those cute wondering eyes, so you put your drink on your bedside table, then took her hand that’s going to check your temperature on your neck.

“I’m fine, don’t worry...anyways.” You look around the room, finding none of your pups.

“Where are the pups? ”She then pulled you a little bit to sit behind you, and she pulled your body against her front, making you sigh in relief and comfort.

“Wanda and Yelena wanted aunt time, so they are probably spoiling them with affection.” You nodded and got comfortable in her embrace. Then you saw a folder sitting on your bedside table, so you reached for it.

“What’s this? ”Before you could open the folder, Natasha carefully and delicately took it in your hand, putting it back.

“It’s nothing you have to worry about; it’s just some stupid report.” You sat up and twisted your body to look at her with a frown.

“Then why aren’t you taking care of it? You hate stupid reports. Let me see.” Before you could take the folder again, Natasha stopped you and pulled you back into her, resting her chin on your shoulder while hugging you from the back and sniffing your scent.

“I’ll take care of it later, but for now, I want to cuddle with you.” She then kissed your cheek and tightened her hug on you a little.

“But I want to see the pups,” you pouted, looking at her, and she chuckled when she looked up.

“Ok, stay here; you still need to rest a bit; I’ll get the pups." She kissed your forehead and headed out with the folder.

You smile and rest your back on the head board. You love this side of her that you're only seeing now, and there’s still part of you that doesn’t want to believe it’s real or that this is just temporary, that sooner or later she will run away again and leave you behind with the pups.

Did you expect it? Yes, cause you believe that this will end at some point. After all, she’s Natasha Romanoff. You don’t expect something else or more, but you do know that you’re loving these moments, and you want to cherish them before fate takes them away.

“And here we come! ”Natasha sweetly said while she carried her princess, waving her little hand gently with a smile, then Wanda next, and Yelena doing the same thing, making you chuckle.

“Awwee, how cute! Come to Mommy, cause Mommy missed my little bundle of joys.” You giggle, kissing their foreheads when they sit on your bed.

"Well, Mommy, we missed you too,” Natasha said with her little voice, mimicking a little girl’s voice, so you giggled and took her on Nat’s arm.

"Well, buddy, we will see you later; it’s family time,” Wanda said, putting the pup down beside you, but Yelena paid no attention, planning to stay. But with the stare Wanda gave her, she couldn’t help but look up at her with confusion.

“What? ”She asked, then Wanda pointed to the door, but she just scoffs.

“I’m a family too; you know, witchy, Natasha is my sister,” she said in her thick Russian accent, but Wanda rolled her eyes and took the baby off her and gave it to Natasha.

“Hey, we’re having a nephew and aunt moment,” Yelena whined, but Wanda just dragged her out with her ear, making the blonde whine and cry for the witch to stop.

“Thank you! ”You shouted, and Wanda shouted her welcome.

“Does your aunt’s harass you again, my little one’s, huh? ”Natasha asked, bopping their noses, and you frowned at her.

“What are you talking about, Nat? "She looks up at you with innocent eyes.

“You want me to complain about your aunt’s to Mommy for you, my little one’s?” You playfully roll your eyes when she whispers to them like you can’t hear her, but to be fair, the pups respond to her very well because they make cute little noises.

“Ok, well,” she said, scooping them in her arms and sitting beside me. 

“Well? ”You asked, turning to your right to look at them.

"Well, Aunt Wanda and Aunt Yelena have been harassing them with kisses and pinching their cheeks, but the true crime is that Aunt Yelena keeps biting their cute, chubby thighs and arms, right, my babies? ”You chuckled when they again made noises like they understood what their other mother just said. 

"Oh, didn’t they, huh? ”You act along, then again they make noises, making you cry of happiness internally, so Natasha put them down, even the pups in your hand, and took you in her arms.

“Yes, and aunties even dare to bite their precious cheeks.” You again act, so you gasp, bopping their noses and kissing them.

“How dare they do that to my babies? Don’t worry, Mommy and Momma will take revenge.” Natasha suddenly frozen in her stop and stop caressing the back of your hand that’s been wrapped around you because she’s holding you from behind, so you look back to see if she’s ok.

“Wh-what did you say? "She asked, looking at your eyes. You sigh, thinking this is the end of her act, so you sit up and have a little space between you two.

"Sorry, I didn’t mean to say it.” You give her a tight little smile, and you're growing anxious and uncomfortable, and you don’t want the feeling of it.

“What? No, no, no... I love it; I was just shocked that you wanted me to be their momma—I mean, after what happened, I thought it would take time like years before I earned that title.” She took your hand and kissed it, putting it on her cheek and looking at you.

“I am happy and honored.” You smile at her, and you press your forehead on hers, cherishing this innocent but intimate act.

“I might as well add that Tony keeps squishing their cheeks and kissing them.” You open your eyes, looking up at her and chuckling, but stop when you realize something, and Natasha picks up that you picked up what she said.

“Uhuh, in their faces, I may add.” You sat up and quickly inspected their faces, necks, arms, and just every inch of their little bodies.

“But he has a beard and mustache; they could get rashes or something.” Natasha rubs your arms to calm you down and slowly slides her hand down to yours to stop your inspection.

"Yes, but we made sure they didn’t get anything, so we kept an eye on them; we even got Cho to confirm it.” You sigh in relief, thanking them that they didn’t get rashes from that billionaire; we didn’t even know where that hair went (if you know what I mean). 

“I’m going to kill him,” you mumble, still pissed at what he had done. He can even scratch them, and you have strictly no facial hairs near the baby's skin.

“We will later, but for now, our babies need us,” she said, pointing to them with tired eyes and yawning mouths.

“Ok, feeding time it is,” you mumbled, getting ready to breastfeed them, so Natasha quickly looked away.

“Ok, I’ll give you some privacy.” You frown and take her hand. 

“Stay, I’m just going to breastfeed them, not like I’m going to strip or something, plus you already see it.” She stopped looking at you while thinking and just shrugged.

“Well, whatever, you’re right... and they are beautiful, by the way.” She plopped down on the bed, eyeing your boobs, and you chuckled.

"Can I also get some? I'm hungry to, you know." She gives you puppy eyes, but you glare at her at how vulgar she is.

“Stop it; they can hear you," you said, shaking her head and scrunching her nose.

“Nah, they wouldn’t understand it anyway.” You slap her arm and glare at her.

“Even if you can’t be vulgar around them or any other kids, ok,” you strictly said, giving her the ‘end of discussion’ look and raising an eyebrow.

“Ok, I’m sorry,” she mumbled, afraid of you.

She watched you feed them until they fell asleep, so Natasha took them to their bassinets to let them sleep comfortably, as did you.

And about Tony, well, he learned his lesson after hearing yours and Pepper's lecture. Let’s just say that he spent a couple of thousand gifts to Pepper, you, and mostly to the babies, and he even slept on the couch for the night.

And as he promised, he did shave his facial hair in order to win his intrusive thoughts and satisfy his baby fever phase.

@ahintofchaos @rosea-reginae @marvelogic

[mentanol]

Hybrid reader! X Kyle 'Gaz' Garrick. You keep getting yourself beat up and he's worried. (WIP)

Another midnight you came back late, blood dripping on your body. A mix of both your own and others - you had been back at an illegal fighting ring. Came back fluffy ears drooped and tail tucked between your legs as the familiar maroon dripped from your nose.

You always would go to the ring for "practice" which is what you'd tell him, he didn't buy it for jackshit. After being found in an abandoned abomination of a house for hybrids run by a research group you just couldn't seem to grasp the cuts and scrapes of pain weren't necessary for a comfortable day. You missed the familiarity of a comforting sting.

Nonetheless, that is how you found yourself in the darkness, squinting your eyes to see the metal cabinets in the base to find the med kits, felt the coolness of them as your own calloused scarred hands reached for the handle -

"Mind sharing where you were?" The sergeant speaks slowly with his British accent tinging his tone

... " Training , an errand , a walk,, " he lets his words linger in the air, repeating your past excuses.

... "You were at the fighting ring. Tell me why," He demanded.

, when your tired gaze flows toward him his arms are crossed , and he's leaning against a wall. His gaze is cold and annoyed - he always gets like this when he catches you coming back bruised. Which is all the time, he seems to always notice. The real reason he's mad is because he worries, it makes him sick when he can't find you - It pisses him off how much you miss the hellhole you rose from. Nonetheless, every time his gaze spoke more than any of his words ever would.

"Is it any of your concern?" You responded bitterly, avoiding his gaze as you open the cabinet finding a small medical kit that should have the basic essentials to patch up the gentle bleeding.

You heard him scoff under his breathe, he was tired of you downplaying your problems. He wasn't taking bullshit this time as he strides towards you in the dark , snatching the kit from your own hands roughly - he went to shove you a bit but hesitated, stepping back as he took over.

"Hm, that's your answer right? After i've been bloody searching for you all afternoon? Tryna' find out which slum you've driven yourself too?" He barks, very unhappy with you in the moment.

He didn't get a response, you knew he was pissed. He was worrying his ass off all day , checking your usual spots , and trying to see if you turned up anywhere to no avail.

He sighed as he glanced at you seeing your state, nodding toward a chair silently telling you to sit the hell down.

You reluctantly obeyed - he had taken the medkit from you anyways, and you didn't want to feel the sting much longer.

He crouched down by you muttering something under his breathe before speaking in a more ginger tone than before

..." Do you even have any idea how you look right now , y/n ? " He probes, grabbing a cloth.

You nod yes, letting out a gruff hum not wanting to face him in the moment. You would have been petty - would have argued but you were too tired, Too beaten and honestly? You felt a bit too much like a kicked puppy to fight right now.

He ran the cloth under the tap as he continued, the trickling of water hitting your ears before his voice did.

.. " You look like you just got done makin' out with a blender, " He hisses with a scoff , walking towards you , cupping your face and starting to wipe of the blood despite your protests. He had done this many,, many times before.

since you were a hybrid he was somewhat assigned to be your handler , and right when they found you he saw potential. That's how you got on the team - Price saw it too. ( and with some heavy suggesting from Kyle, the man himself.) Nonetheless, he got stuck "babysitting" you when you pulled things like this.

"I look fine," you grumble, feeling the warmth of his hands as well as the contrast of the cool cloth wiping away the blood. You shiver at the feeling and your eyes flick to him for a second noticing him about to speak.

..." No, you smell like a piss stained alleyway and look look like shit, look at yourself. That pretty lil' head of yours is just as stupid as your ego." He grumbled, unamused.

He would never say it to your face, but seeing you like this - it wasn't like when you'd hurt yourself on a mission, you did this to yourself willingly. It made him sick. He was now probing at a nasty gash on your face, maybe a little harsher than necessary.

"You get what you wanted out of this mate?"

"..."

#Cod #Call of duty #Modernwarfare #KyleGaz #Gaz call of duty #ReaderxCallofduty #Hybrid #Hybirdreader #Cod fanfic #Cod mw2 #Cod mw3 #Cod modern warfare #Kyle Gaz garrick #hybrid reader #hybird #hybrid au #reader x character #reader x cod #current wip

[flyingfortress1]

Hello, so first time using tumblr- admittedly the hbo war fandom is the most engaged I've ever been in a fandom, so bear with me here- I'm a sucker for military history and more specifically, the people who fought in it.

Anyway- watched bob for the first time a few months, then pacific, and watched masters of the air as it came out earlier this year. Loved all three, but pretty new to everything- except for masters of the air because I certainly may or may not have hyper researched the crap out of b-17s in high school lol. Currently rewatching bob now, and reading Eugene Sledge's book which is super interesting.

Finished the first episode of band of brothers- this show is definently worth a rewatch because I get into it so much more because now I know who the fuck they all are haha. Also, thanks to the wonderful researching fans here, I know a lot more about the real life people- and boy, it does give some context to scenes in this first episode. So firstly, the Winters-Sobel feud- knowing that Winters was a bit petty, makes me really see the passive-aggressiveness in Damian Lewis's performance now- no, he really didn't have to take the court martial, I really don't think Sobel thought he was going to, but Dick really went, time to stick it to you mf. and the bit where he's riding in the jeep with Buck. Like Dick. Dickie- don't put yourself in a position where you can take from these men- I don't know if that's just a show line or what, but at least in the show, it comes off as a tad dramatic lol. Does he really think the enlisted dudes are going to jump Buck or something??? And Buck accusing Dick of being jealous is honestly pretty funny.

Also, I have learned that Johnny Martin and Bill Guarnere were good pals- which gives so much context now to the scene where Martin gets the letter about Bill's brother's death. And what's funny, if you pause when Bill's reading the letter, you can actually read it- and dunno if it's a replica of a real letter- but honestly, Martin's wife is kinda sweet in it, like getting letters from Martin is the highlight of her day. It really reminds you of how connected we are- can just text someone anytime. Also, this whole bit implies that Martin told her about Guarnere, his bud, and she actually watched the casuality lists for his brother's name, or at least knew to recognize it- and if you read the letter, communicated with Fran??? Kinda wild, but honestly poor Bill.. I heard his brothe'rs death was always hard, and I had a friend who lost her brother recently, so seen that pain a bit firsthand. What an awful time to find that out- and Hughes performance there while they're all watching the movie, is really good. Like, you can feel Bill almost having a panic attack almost, but he can't do anything cause he's in a public place. I found out a (admittedly not too close friend) died while I was in a public place, and while it's probably no where near close to what Bill experienced in that scene, it's interesting being able to relate to that. Like shock/denial at the reality, but having to maintain your emotions.

Last thought- Hoobler reaching for the luger just makes me want to tie this boy up, knowing what's going to happen, sweet jesus, no luger for you, Hoobler. Talk about foreshadowing btw.

Sorry about the long bit- its the combined history/english major in me lol. Also, would totally recommend the band of brother's podcast on spotify- interviews with writers, cast, and Tom Hanks- super interesting.

[urlocalnonbinarybastardwrites]

Can u do the Curtis gang +curly with a f!scene reader plz!!!! :3333

Ofc Darlin!!! I’d freakin loveeeeeeeee to!! We love our scene queen x gang requests!!

The Gang + Curly Shepard x F! Scene Reader

Ponyboy Curtis

-he thinks you’re soooo cool

-super intimidated though

-he’s memorized your entire schedule before he actually talks to you lmao

-he’s down sooo bad

-he started listening to scene music too just for you

-after doing hours of research to find out your style

-and one time you were in the library and he played the music just a little too loud in hopes of you noticing

-“Is that <insert band name>?! I LOVE them!! I didn’t think anyone else here listened to that stuff…”

-he acts chill about it like he didn’t just start a week ago when he saw you

-once he finally gets the guts to ask you out you say yes

-he goes on music + reading dates with you

-he’d try to match bracelets, bandanas, belts, rings, anything subtle

-probably the most expected couple

Johnny Cade

-LOVES your style

-he sees you one day walk by when he’s sitting in the lot and his eyes pop out of his skull

-he loves everything. He loves your hair, your skirt, your bright fishnets, all your jewelry, your makeup

-it’s so big… and obnoxious in the best possible way

-he loves too

-he doesn’t stop thinking about you after that

-it isn’t until dally and ponyboy get tired of him mentioning you that their like go talk to her man

-so he finally does, and he thinks you’re sooo cool

-scene doesn’t really work well on him, but he tries to match you in subtle ways like pony too

-matching bracelets fsfs

-Fr if you make him a few bracelets he will never stop wearing them

-when you finally start dating he really likes a lot of the music

-and if anyone has to say anything about you

-they can welcome Johnnys fist to their face

Sodapop Curtis

-he was shocked when he saw you walk in to say the least

-he’s never seen anyone like you before

-super intrigued

-he gets surprised when after a few days he realizes he has a huge crush on you

-he usually dates girls like cherry, but with you…. He’s definitely willing to make an exception

-you have the rare ability to make him nervous

-and falter in his usual effortlessly charming manner

-and one day he gets enough of a pep talk from Steve to ask you out

-and he does, giving the biggest, stupidest grin

-when you guys date it’s so cute

-he tried to let you do makeup on him one time

-it didn’t end well

-he can’t sit still 💀😭

Darry Curtis

-the least expected couple

-he’s a very traditional dude

-so seeing you is kinda like 🤯🤯🤯

-when he sees you walking down the street

-his jaw drops so low you have to dig a hole in the ground 💀💀

-he’s just stunned by you’re mere existence

-he asks Sodapop and Ponyboy about you at dinner

-and there both like OoOoOoOOoh someone has a crushhhhhh

-he’s in denial fr

-but he finally goes up to talk to you one day when you’re both shopping

-and asks a bit awkwardly “So… uhm… what’s with your outfit?”

-then realizes how rude he sounds “WAIT not like it’s not amazing- I mean you’re amazing- beautiful too- wait-“

-you giggle at him and smile “Oh, I just really like dressing in the same culture as my music taste”

-that gets the ball rolling and you two actually get along pretty nicely

-you both turn heads for real though

-and Sodapop and Ponyboy see you as a really cool aunt/older sister

-matches belts and jewelry with you

Dallas Winston

-now, he has never seen a broad like you before

-was secretly a bit intimidated

-but he’s not gonna show that………..

-he probably went up to you on a dare though

-made some rude jokes

-and you furrowed your brows

-“You know, it’s really not cool to make those jokes. You don’t like it when people assume things about you for being a grease hm?”

-he’s super surprised at your reaction

-and for once in this ever loving man’s life he reflects on his actions

-he sighs “You’re right, doll. What’s your name anyway, princess?” He says with a smirk

-matches belts and jewelry with you

Two Bit Mathews

-he saw you

-and instantly made jokes

-it’s two bit you guys what you expect

-“Do you come out of bed like that or…”

-“Damn, what unicorn threw up on your clothing?”

-“You’re gonna cut off your circulation with that much jewelry doll.”

-of course it’s all good fun, and you roast him back with equal wit

-which is kinda when he realizes he’s in love

-he asks you out

-you say yes

-he absolutely wear matching belts, jewelry and even shirts with you

-you made a Micky Mouse scene outfit and showed it to him

-and he LOVED IT

Steve Randle

-oh girl

-you rocked his whole world whenever you walked towards him

-he looks you up and down for a full minute

-like omfg she’s sick

-he tries to hold back his excitement when he talks to you

-he thinks you’re style is so cool

-asked multiple times to touch your wig

-he grins so hard when you let him

-he asks you out the soonest

-you guys are very cute together

-you give him something interesting to look at while he works on cars fs

-he loves your wigs so much

-kisses your hair all the time

Curly Shepard

-thinks you’re styles kickass, and you’re a total bad bitch

-I mean he’s a bit punk/grunge himself

-probably the most familiar with alt styles in general out of everyone

-he hits on you almost immediately

-checking you out with a smirk and a whistle

-loving the way your fishnets and skirt makes your legs and thighs look

-you guys are a scary ass couple to encounter

-the punk/grunge and the scene

-he matches belts with you and you both take a little bit from each other

-you mix a bit of his punk/grunge in your scene fits

-and he mixes some scene into his punk/grunge fits

-and he sometimes does matching eyeliner with you

-and it looks super kick ass on him

[justdarklr]

In Stars And Time: Providence

An In Stars And Time x Persona AU

Created and Written by JustDarklr, Co-Created by mizzle-moths

Card I – Providential

Spoilers for In Stars And Time below the cut! Go play the game before reading!

Table Of Contents —

Card I — Providential ( Reading Now )

Card II — Awake

You… have trouble believing this is the end of your journey. You should recap everything in your head real quick. Just to make sure you remember everything, mostly. Your memory’s never been that good, after all.

It was almost a year ago now that The King appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. Possessing immense Craft Power, he did something never heard of before— he spread his Curse across the country of Vaugarde, freezing in time everything in its path. With Dormont’s House of Change under his control, he patiently waits, for he knows his Curse can only be undone if he is defeated.

His victory would be all but determined, if not for The Housemaiden, Mirabelle. She is the only survivor of the House of Dormont, in which the King froze everyone inside in time and locked the gates. Everyone says she was blessed by the Change God themselves with the power to fight back the King’s Curse… which makes her the only one able to save Vaugarde, bound by her destiny.

When you met her, she had already been traveling with The Fighter, Isabeau, and The Researcher, Odile. They were trying to get the orbs necessary to open the House’s gates and defeat the King. You helped them defeat a rather strong Shadow, and, seeing your strength, they asked for your help. You… had nothing better to do, so you decided to accompany them!

Shadows are… a manifestation of grief, or something. You never researched them, but Odile seemed to know a bit about them, so you just took what she’s said at face value. They usually take the shape of figures from old Mythology or works of Fiction, though how they know of those forms is unknown. Some speculate that these Shadows had once been people, and they take the form of whatever they had the most attachment to in life upon their turning, but that theory has never been proven, supposedly. Either way, they’re a bit of a nuisance.

Anyways— a few weeks later, you met The Kid, Bonnie. Meeting them completed your little ragtag team of heroes. Though, Bonnie is mostly just your snack master. That doesn’t make them any less important, however!

You saw a lot of Vaugardian cities during your travels. Some frozen, some not, and you’ve done your best to sidestep the slowly encroaching Curse. Even still, though… you all kept going.

Mirabelle kept going to honor the Change God’s blessing, save her beloved house, and save Vaugarde. She didn’t have any other choice, after all— she is the only one who can.

Isabeau came with her after Vaugarde’s Defenders themselves refused to help. A bunch of cowards, probably.

Odile came to satisfy her curiosity about Vaugarde. She’s from another country, which makes sense, and she’s supposedly here to research… whatever she’s researching. … and because, in her words, “leaving the fate of a country to a bunch of young ones would give me an ulcer”.

Bonnie came to save their sister, frozen by the Curse. You worry about them, sometimes.

… you’re here because there’s nothing else for you to do. What else are you supposed to do except travel with them?

Once… Mirabelle asked if you were okay, following them on a journey to save the country. She felt guilty, like she was forcing everyone to follow her on a hopeless quest.

You wanted to put her at ease, so you said easily and truthfully that traveling with everyone was the happiest you could remember being. She… looked upset.

You cringe just thinking about it, honestly. Probably not the most considerate thing you could’ve said to someone with her problems at that moment!

But… tomorrow, one way or another, your journey will come to an end.

You tell everyone as you arrive that you’re tired, and you’re going to go find someplace to nap. They nod, and you’re off.

But… before you do, you have a stop to make. Just for some peace of mind. So, you head towards the favor tree on the west side of town.

… this tree is said to grant wishes. You’re not too sure about that, but… you may as well, right? You heard everyone else was going to, anyways. And, who knows, maybe it’ll come true?

You try to rack your brain for something to wish for. After a moment, something pops into your head. You’ve heard Isabeau mention something in passing before, haven’t you? That he wants to be a clothing designer, you think. That seems like a good wish to make. And, who knows, maybe it’ll help his dream come true, too.

You take a leaf from the favor tree, and whisper your desire into it three times.

“… I wish to be able to wear clothes Isabeau has made.”

… you pause, for a moment. And then whisper something else into the leaf, in addition to your first wish.

“I want to stay with them.”

This journey has been the most fun you can ever remember having. You… you love them. Your party. You’ve made such good friends on this journey, and you want to stay with them. Who wouldn’t? They’re your friends, after all…

You then fold the leaf over, and let it drift back into the shadow of the tree. You have a good feeling about that!

Afterwards, you get a move on. You find a clearing near the south side of town, slowly crouching down and splaying yourself across the soft grass. Feels just like a soft bed, you think. You haven’t slept in one for who knows how long. It’s just been sleeping bags, mostly. As you close your eyes, you feel yourself drifting off to sleep nearly instantly. You didn’t realize how tired you were…

… you dream of a strange room, covered in strange shades, with a strange man sitting in the middle of it. What is this place? You feel yourself walking forward, standing in front of the strange man’s desk, as he opens his mouth to speak.

“Well, isn’t this surprising? A brand new guest, and one with quite an intriguing fate at that. I wasn’t expecting anyone for some time now.”

You open your mouth to respond, but he cuts you off.

“Ah-ah. I apologize, but I will have to make this quick. Your nap is going to be rather short, after all.”

The man clears his throat, then places his hands on his desk, interlocking his fingers. You want to ask what he means about attendants, but you can’t get any words in before he starts speaking once more.

“Welcome to the Velvet Room. My name is Igor… I am delighted to make your acquaintance. This is the space between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a space only those who are bound by a ‘contract’ may enter. And it seems that such a fate has already befallen you, even without your knowledge.”

What? But you don’t remember signing any contract. You… you could have, though. Maybe you’ve just forgotten. Maybe it was that insignificant in your mind.

“Now then… why don’t you introduce yourself?”

Finally, a chance to speak. You open your mouth once again, ready to belt out all the questions you have— but instead, all you’re able to say is your name. “Siffrin.”

“… Siffrin. No middle name, no last name. Is that correct?”

You nod. Stars, that’s annoying. Why can’t you talk? Dream logic, or something?? Ugh, this dream sucks.

“I see. An interesting name, but I suppose it is one befitting of one surrounded by as much mystery as you. Now then… why don’t we take a look into your future?”

A set of tarot cards appear on the man’s desk. He flips one over, and examines it closely.

“Ah… I see. The tower, in the reversed position. This card represents resistance to change, and the delaying of the inevitable…”

He flips another card over. You already don’t like this.

“The star, in the reversed position. A card representative of despair… I see.”

He flips one last card over. This has to be fake, right? It’s just a dream, without any meaning. You’re sure of it.

“… Judgement, in the upright position, representing reflection, and rebirth.”

The tarot cards disappear, and the man smiles at you. Like he has been, this entire time. Stars, you haven’t really gotten a good look at this guy— you’ve been kind of out of it, but something is off about him. His skin isn’t lightless or darkless, nor a shade inbetween, his smile never seems to falter, and his nose is far too long to be normal. Who is this man? … Well, you suppose you know the answer. ‘Igor’. A strange man, in a strange room, in a strange dream. That sums up this situation rather well, you suppose.

“It seems you will face a great trial in the near future. One in which you resist oncoming time, and face despair and hopelessness because of it.

But fear not. You will overcome this trial through reflection, and in the end, you will face rebirth. A new day to come. Yet, if you fail to overcome this trial, you may be forever lost. My duty is to provide assistance to our guests to ensure that does not happen.”

Your head hurts. This is a lot to take in at once.

“I would like to introduce my assistant to you, but it seems they’re not here as of yet. They’re late. But they will be here soon enough to accompany you throughout this perilous journey.

We shall attend to the finer details another time. Until then, farewell…”

Your vision faces to black, and…

You reawaken in the field to someone calling your name. Your head hurts from that dream. Too many weird shades to take in… but at least you’re back in your lightless and darkless world, now. Normalcy. That’s what you need right now.

… who’s calling your name?

CARD I — END

Next Card ~ Awake

[pyrpaw]

i have thinking for a while what the nrc students would think if mc were a ocultist? me as a 💯 nerd, love an rpg called paranormal order from a brazilian streamer and in this rpg there some ocultist and even if ritual are not magic since u need to make the symbol and some times even tattoo them u still can do crazy shit right? 😼

oooo-, I've never heard of that game, I'll try and base them off a classic occultist-so sorry I only did the first years because I wasn't super sure on what else to write 😭

now, people's definition of "real" magic varies greatly, so I won't go into huge detail about it but it'll just mention "rituals" in non specific ways

(contents: mentions of rituals, "satanic" rituals (in ace's part), harming oneself in for said ritual (briefly mentioned in Ortho's section)

NRC with an Occultist reader

Now, the first years I think would all be a bit... creeped out, because they have magic... but not... rituals to perform them. Ace is probably the most critical of it, calling it some satanic shit, but you can easily shut him up by shooting him a glare. I do think that he'd probably ease into it the more you talk about it and explain it, realizing that it's not as creepy as he thought. Deuce is also creeped out, but he's more accepting at first than Ace was, he won't really wanna watch you do any rituals because it'll just give him chills. I do think that after while he'll start to warm up, maybe helping you get any things needed for your rituals... but he's still leaving the room because he's terrified of how creepu you look when doing it.

I feel like Epel would be one of the least creep out, because something I've noticed about a good portion of grandparents is they'll warn you of any tales and superstitions they have, so Epel probably is at least a little cautious of rituals and such. Once he learns that you're not like.. killing children and just causing great pain upon anyone and everyone, he'll chill out about it, but he'll make a few friendly jabs about you being a "freak". Jack definitely doesn't like it, he thinks it's dangerous. Even once he learns that it's not terribly dangerous, he still disapproves and makes it obvious he does, but if his comments start to upset you he'll shut up and keep his criticisms to himself.

Sebek is a special case-because some occult traditions can also be similar to fae tales, so he's not terribly criticizing of it as it seems a whole lot more normal to him than some others. Honestly I think he'd be pretty accepting of it, maybe he'd join in on any rituals you needed another person for, letting you draw any symbols you might need on his hand, especially to protect you if something goes wrong... he'll deny that no matter what though. Ortho I also think wouldn't really care, he'd probably do some research with what he can find online and try to help you in anyway you might need, such as getting you any hard time find items that you need for the ritual, and if any ritual requires you having to harm yourself in anyway he'll probably find a alternative option.

[jeannereames]

More on Sources about Ancient Macedonia

The ask about recent books where I just "vomited" (visually) my library got me thinking.

So, for those of you interested in ancient Macedonia, Alexander, etc., one of the biggest hurdles is that the cutting-edge research often appears first in article/chapter form.

By the time things get to monographs (single-author books), they may be stale. This is true not just for ATG and Macedonia, but all of ancient history. It's a bit LESS true in the last 20 years, but it's a weird aspect of the culture of doing ancient history. Unlike other history fields where newly minted phuds are encouraged to get out that damn book yesterday, ancient history traditionally hasn't. We were encouraged to break down our dissertations into articles and refine things rather than "rushing" to a book. The atmosphere of hiring these days has overturned that a bit...not necessarily to the better (imo). Some books are getting out there--because the young scholars badly need them for tenure--that really aren't quite ready for prime time. I'm now quite glad I didn't try to publish my Hephaistion dissertation. I've changed my mind about some stuff, even significantly. What you'll get (eventually) will be oodles better than what I defended at just 33.

But the flip side of that is the newest stuff ISN'T in a book, which makes it tough to find things if you don't know where to look. And sometimes even when you do. Journals used to be The Thing. Not as much these days. There are many fewer, due to costs, and it's harder to get IN them. Lots of folks wind up going in collections, but these are also hard to place with publishers, making them expensive, so some pretty important recent collections are just priced right out of most people's budgets--even academics'.

That said, if you can get a hold of some of these collections, the article bibliographies are your gateway drug to material you might not even know existed. Probably in article/chapter form.

But I say all this because there are some Big Names who don't have books. For instance, if you want to do Argead Macedonia before Alexander (and Philip), you MUST read the work of Bill (William) Greenwalt. Yet Bill's never put together a monograph, nor even an edited collection of his more important articles. Most aren't on academia.edu, either. You have to go hunting. Similarly, Ernst Badian (THE Ernst Badian) also never published a monograph. He didn't like writing them, and much preferred article format. Now, there is a gathered collection of his stuff, published posthumously, but still. The man had hundreds--and I mean hundreds (north of 300, I think I heard?)--of articles because he was a writing machine. No books.

Some prolific authors do both: Peter Green, Beth Carney, Sabine Mueller (although her books are in German), etc. But there are others out there who just don't do books. I don't have a book out yet. That's not fiction anyway. (Or something I edited.) But I write a fair bit these days, including on here.

But yeah, this is why JSTOR is your friend if you want to research Macedonia. But unis buy "packages" from JSTOR and they aren't always that complete, especially for fields like ancient history, if it's not a Research 1 institution. And if you're not a college student, you can spend some real cash ordering articles.

HINT: always check a journal's direct site. Copies of articles are often cheaper there. The Ancient History Bulletin, for instance, charges just a buck or three per article, but it's much more if you order via JSTOR. Academia.edu also will often have at least some articles, but it depends on the author having uploaded them, and we're typically forbidden to upload things for a certain number of years.

You can also just email the author/scholar directly if you can find their email. I've never turned down a private email request for an article if I had a PDF. Most people won't. More often, we're startled anybody (especially anybody not another academic) would want a copy. 😂 We're not forbidden from sharing PDFs privately. We just can't post them on a site like academia.edu.

[thelosers-club]

HELLO so I heard people talkimg about Stan having OCD and I just really really needed to clear up misconceptions about OCD and Stans character so if you like stan uris or mental health studies at all this might be fun to read for you

none of this is like drama relatef at all it was just a fun little thing i wanted to do so i could learn about mental health and my favorite characters at the same time

sorry if none of this makes sense i wrote it all in one go at 2am (feel free to add any info you want or clear up anything i might've explained poorly)

This started because I was sick anf tired of people saying stan has ocd because that just doesnt make sense towards any canon material (If you want to headcanon him as it, that’s fine, but please read through this so you can do it more accurately) and it seemed to be just a dramatic stereotyping of what OCD is.

After doing research, reading the literal DSM’s sections on OCD, I’ve come to the conclusion that: I was right, Stan very very much does NOT have OCD.

People said he has it because in IT 2017, he makes sure to clean the windows properly, and in the book he has germaphobia. That’s about it. I looked at other things I tried to find as evidence for him having OCD, but I couldn’t find anything else that fit. And this is not a case of opinion because I like to be as absolutely objective as possible in these types of things and see no point in anything otherwise

So anyway, I’ll try to put this all simply because if I get too complicated I’m gonna get lost and this will turn into a rant on literally anything because currently I’m unmedicated for my adhd

Why does Stan not have OCD? To put it simply, he does not fit any of the criteria. I do think he has germaphobia, but I believe that to be part of his autism (as it’s very, very common in autism) and/or anxiety.

To delve into that a liittle bit more, the OCD criteria is this:

A. obsessions or compulsions, such as recurrent and persistent thoughts, impulses, images, that are, at some point, intrusive and inappropriate and cause distress. the thoughts, impulses, or images are not simply excessive worries about real life problems. the person attempts to ignore/suppress such thoughts as to neutralize them with some other thought or action.

Thinking back on the book, which is what I like to adhere to as much as possible, Stan does not have these thoughts recurrently enough that it is affecting his life. I can see that he has a fear of dirt and ick which sometimes spikes when he’s stressed, but otherwise he is able to go through his day to day life easily enough with these thoughts.

Other diagnostic criteria to fill up the cracks in this is that the obsessions or compulsions must be time consuming (taking up more than 1 hour a day) or significantly interfere with the person’s normal routine and functioning, or social activities or relationships. Stan is not shown doing things like this repeatedly and, in my mind when I try to follow stephen king’s writing and ideas as much as I possibly can, I do not think he would if the book were longer either.

But, I very much think these traits are there; And they fit perfectly into autism traits. I think right now is a good time to note that autism gets mixed up as OCD quite a bit because they have overlapping traits.

Now to defend my case for why he might have Autism;

He acts to put it quite simply, insanely fucking autistic. Alllll the fucking time. That man is incredibly autistic there is no denying this

His whole character is set on the fact that he is a very black and white person, very very rigid, and you can’t deny it because he literally killed himself over finding out he was wrong about the guidelines and rules he made up for the world. he is so autistic

A common trait of autism is having an abnormal way of speaking, like a weird rhythm, and Stan’s tone WAS described as pleasant but it was also described as abnormal and such..

Look at how much he likes birds. it feels a little obvious to me here lol

the meltdowns he’s had because, again, his routine and rules were interrupted

He was insanely good at math/accounting which I think also has to do with the need for rules he has, math is ruled and never changes 4+4 will always be 8 yada yada

Also stan just in my headcanon world has very very limited romantic and platonic feelings and I think thats common in autistic folks because we’re so different from other people

anyways im tired and i think you all get it by now if youve watched any of the movies or read the book Stan acts quite autistic. i swear im not self projecting pleas

[layanomaly]

Okay- so I feel like im a bit calm (definitely real) after yesterdays finale to properly make a statement about it

And I really want to put a few of these points out there while the tags are still trending and while I still have time cuz now that AAA I finally over I really need to focus on my studies which is gonna be hard…..but yeah it is what it is

And honestly 

Look idc what anyone says anymore

Yes there were some loose ends and a whole lot of questions

And I get that a lot of people were upset…..believe me I was too and still am

But I wanna be a voice of positivity

cuz I feel like whatever plot wholes they left 

Like jac said were there for US to interpret

Or as my delusional ass is telling me maybe theyre setting up for another season???

And yes for those of you whore saying that we shouldn’t be the ones to figure theyre story out YOURE RIGHT, I AGREE WE SHOULDNT

But at the end of the day it still was a marvel show

And Whatever it was 

It was an amazing experience

Yes we had our highs and lows 

And Looking back on Agatha’s story, yes I do feel a mix of admiration and frustration. There was so much potential in exploring her relationship with Rio and the complex layers of her own journey, which felt overshadowed in the end. At times, the focus on Agatha's role as a mother felt like it could have been handled differently and Instead of fully delving into Agatha’s growth, her story was ultimately used to elevate Billy’s arc, leaving her character, her grief, and her love for Rio without the closure they deserved.

That being said 

Again while it's fair to wish for a bit more closure for characters like Agatha, Rio, Jen, and Alice,

I truly do think jac schaeffer is a genius

like for a really long time i used to think that we were reading too deep into scenes and that they arent actually that deep and we’re just being delusional

But watching, reading interviews of her 

Finding out that as a matter of fact it actually IS that deep

And that everything means something and nothing is unintensional

just hearing her talk about the characters she writes is such a fulfilling feeling you have no idea

its the way she understands those characters and portrays their trauma….She really cares for themm 

she does her research and makes sure she understand her characters and the lore

unlike *cough michael waldron cough* 

Who couldnt even be bothered enough to watch a show which was an indefinitely important arc for one of the characters he was assigned to write for a movie 

Its just-

Look all im tryna say is

Shes a master in her craft and no one does it like her 

despite everything she provided us with two of MARVELs best shows up to date and no one can tell me other wise

Cuz While the narrative pivot left parts of Agatha’s story untold, Schaeffer's dedication to character depth shows her commitment to storytelling which you can really see in the way she talks about those characters

again while I wasnt satisfied with the finale its her dedication to understanding these characters, down to the smallest detail means so much to me. 

Cuz it’s not just about the story—she collaborates with her actors to bring out the arcs they envision which makes it even more special

And It’s truly disappointing that Marvel didn’t fully capitalize on the opportunity to explore Agatha’s own arc in its entirety, especially with such a capable writer at the helm. 

Still, I’m hopeful that future stories will revisit and give the characters like Agatha and Rio the focus they deserve

And i reallyyy hope they sign jac up as a writer for future projects

Cuz ultimately, I think her approach to these characters makes her one of the standout storytellers in Marvel right now, and I’m excited to see what she does next with all the new responses from the fandom 

I hope you guys get what im trying to say

Anyways to conclude my thoughts

Whatever it was

I truly did love this show

And ill really miss coming back home on Thursdays to watch the new episodes drop

[atwoodsfemalefantasy]

i want to thank you, radfems + terfs. thank you for opening my eyes, and also for being some of the only people talking about certain issues.

i have been very ignorant in the past. if you look through my account, you'll find some posts advocating pretty hard for trans rights. i have chosen to leave these posts up because the replies are all very important, and terfs changed my mind on the issue and i think the replies could change others' minds too. when i made these posts, which was not very long ago, i truly wasn't aware of the harm trans women cause women. i am very political, very feminist, and have been calling myself radfem leaning for years. i wasn't ignorant to TiM's violence on purpose, i read the news, i listened to women, i even did my own researching to try to find the TiM rape statistics, but i never found anything to suggest the true level of violence the trans community and ideology inflicts. i don't know if i was looking in the wrong places, or if just no news outlet wants to cover that topic. what i do know is that i genuinely thought TiMs/trans women were just as nonviolent as women, and stood up for them. that is until i got a wake up call from terfs.

before joining radfemblr, i hadn't seen the TiM rape statistics. i hadn't heard any woman's story about TiMs raping or being violent. i definitely hadn't seen any of the TiM rape threats or rape fantasies so prevalent on this website. if i had seen those things, i never would have vouched for TiMs the way i did. thanks to radfems and terfs, hell even tirfs, i did see these things, and my views changed.

before joining radblr all i heard about terfs were that they were transphobic and violent and mean. i never heard their reasoning, people only ever said they were transphobic. they were painted out to be nonsensical, not logical, and cruel. i never truly believed that, but still, when i actually started reading terfs posts there was a bit of shock to realize that terfs are just women protecting their rights and safety. terfs have been so distorted. it's insane.

obviously it isn't any woman's responsibility to teach people about TiM violence, but i'm so grateful the women and girls of radfemblr were and are so vocal about it. because i'm not sure i ever would have come across any proof of TiM violence without radfemblr. my views about trans people are still a bit messy, and it's a lot harder to figure out now, but im very glad i now know the real and full truth, and that im no longer advocating for trans "rights" at the sake of womens'.

terfs are the only people talking about this. and when terfs are so misogynisticly demonized, outside actual terf spaces, terf criticism gets distorted and also demonized. thank you all for talking about this shit. thank you all for being loud about it. a lot of cis TRAs truly are sucked into the facade of TiMs and just think trans women are harmless, and a lot of those people could benefit from actually listening to radfems for once.

anyway. thank you ����

[tryan-a-bex]

just wondering why are you so obsessed with fuckboi dream? i remember you handing me a long list of triggers when you'd offered to beta for me way back (completely valid) and fuckboi dream is like a minefield of untagged triggers like gang rape etc so the extreme switch seems a little worrying. hope youre doing well either way

Hi! This is actually an excellent question! Thank you for asking! (For anyone who is curious, we are talking about Fuckboi Dream Was Forced To Experience The Mortifying Ordeal Of Being Alive And All He Got Was This Stupid Husband (by Fall Out Boy) by @dancinbutterfly .)

When I started reading fanfic I had a bunch of unaddressed stuff and I wasn’t sure how it was going to affect me. In most stories I could just read on and deal with it, but for beta reading I have to concentrate on it so I’m still more careful when beta reading.

So as things went on, what happened was that I was not affected by some of the things I thought would be triggering, and I was bothered by the seemingly harmless domestic scenes. The only scene in FBD that has caught me off guard was one where Hob buys jewelry for Murphy. Dishwashing was an issue in a fic. People don’t tag for these things. I avoided pregnancy fics for a while. (See, also, if something bugs me a bit, I can read it anyway and get used to it, and then it bothers me less in real life too. It’s great for exposure therapy, but the warning helps. This is why I can read Corinthian fics now—practice.)

And what I realized was that the issue for me is not what is going on, but whether there is clear consent (or at least a clear recognition that it’s not consensual, as in some of @mallory-x’s excellent bdsm fics). Fuckboi Dream is one of the best fics I’ve read for bdsm protocol—it’s showing that past issues like gang rape can be healed through very consensual relationship but it doesn’t have to be vanilla.

See, even my vanilla relationships had lots of non-consensual stuff. Assumptions, expectations, and just plain differences of opinion that ended up harming me. Generally not violent, just every day stuff. Through FBD and Dancing with the Brutes by @lostelfwriting I learned that I can have what I want in a relationship and it can be consensual and it can be rough and that’s okay.

So I struggled with the questions that raised for months. Then I started researching. Then I joined the local bdsm community. After being too scared to date for a dozen years, now I’m coming up on my one year anniversary with my new partner who understands consent and gives me what I want. I can say yes to flogging and no to dishwashing, if I want (and I do). I have a lot of new kinky friends. I don’t have to worry about them being creepy because they understand consent. The community understands consent, so as long as I can say no (that’s my job) or safeword, people will jump in to help me if I need it (and I’ve done it for others). (You have to be able to say no. My belief is that you are not ready for any relationship if you can’t give and take a clear no. But especially a bdsm relationship.)

Knock on effects continue. Once I had a partner, I was able to find a therapist too. After getting my autistic knuckles rapped one time too many in another server, I found a home with the lovely people in the FBD server, where the rules are transparent and not difficult to follow and the conversation doesn’t run too fast for me to follow, and many of us have disabilities and histories so our stories don’t shock each other.

So, yeah. Absolutely, don’t go blind into FBD. The gang rape was probably initially tagged but there’s a tag limit so the list has been edited. (And in that situation, it didn’t bother me because Murphy considered it kinda consensual—he got into it on purpose— it was his friends who were horrified because he struggled to get out of it—the whole point of the story is that he deserves better and he can have rough without losing consent.) Beyond all the bad stuff which happened to Murphy and Desire, it’s a story about getting hurt searching for love, and then healing with the help of friends (at least the first 22 chapters). I needed that, and it changed my life.

[lazywitchling]

Alright, here we go. My review for The Dabbler's Guide to Witchcraft by Fire Lyte

Final rating: ??/10 - it broke my numbers system.

TL;DR - I like the book. I'm angry at the author. It's great for new practitioners. If you're going to get it, please get it from the Spiral House Shop, get Alex Wrekk's two witchcraft zines to go with it, and go look at/reblog/contribute to the original Dabbler's Week project.

(Also I think this is the longest review I've written yet. I'm sorry.)

This book is very good. I'm mad about that. The author is an excellent writer. I'm mad about that. I want to dislike this book but I can't, and I'm mad about that.

So let's get into the breakdown of why.

First up, a housekeeping thing: "Fire Lyte" is a pen name that I don't believe the author uses anymore, so I will be referring to him as Don Martin, the name he is using on his current projects. I know he's on TikTok, formerly of Inciting a Riot podcast, now of Head on Fire podcast.

Second, some links relevant to the review-which-is-actually-just-a-rant:

The breakdown of things I found that were taken uncredited from Tumblr

I COULD be making this up and reading it in bad faith, but this bit about 'heteronormative marriage' has my alarm bells ringing

Why I hate the title of this book

The original Dabbler's Week project links

Anyway.

I picked this book up specifically because of the title. It's been 3 years since it was published, so it took me a while, but I remember looking at that title when it was first out and thinking "Hey... the timing of this... did this person just wholesale lift the 'Dabbler' idea from Tumblr?"

The answer is: Yes, probably!

(He also summarized the Malachite Dick post from February 2020, but he actually credited Tumblr along with relevant usernames, so that's good and also made me laugh.)

But... yeah. The fact that he's crediting Tumblr from something that specifically happened in February 2020, when the original Dabbler's Week was from late January 2020 and seems to have inspired his whole book? Don, would it have killed you to mention ANYTHING about that project and the people involved?

He's very big on talking about following trails of information, listening to podcasts, listening to the podcasts of people talked about on those podcasts, reading books talked about on those podcast, and so on. But if he doesn't start off by saying "Dabbler's Week was a project issued by asksecularwitch on Tumblr", then how is anyone supposed to follow THAT chain of information, hmm? If his whole advice on finding good witchcraft resources is to follow the chain of people who are sharing information from each other, but he makes no mention of where he got the whole idea for his book, then what?

Side rant: I'm real tired of how Tumblr information is simultaneously treated as too shitty to ever bother reading or mentioning, but good enough to screenshot, repost on other sites, recite word-for-word on tiktok, and apparently write a book about.

ANYWAY. I'm angry about it. I'm gonna be angry about it. Here, please look at these links to the shenanigans that began the original Dabbler's Week, because Don certainly won't tell you about this part.

Anyway.

Some bad things:

I mean, the plagiarism. I keep hesitating to use the word 'plagiarism', because to me that seems like wholesale lifting entire works and slapping your name on them, when all Don did was fail to credit a few Tumblr users he quoted. But then again, if I did that on a research paper in college, it would be called plagiarism, so.

This book is in fact not a great guide for 'dabblers'. The point of Dabbler's Week was that if someone didn't know if they wanted to commit to witchcraft but wanted to fuck around with casting some spells for a week to try it out, there were week-long guides on things someone could do to try that. This book is not for fucking around with magic, it's for people who are already sure that they want to make this a thing in their lives. It handles some heavier topics (e.g. vetting mentors and not getting sucked into a cult) that are very very important for someone who is BEGINNING, but may be too much for someone who just says one day "lol I think I'll cast a spell for fun". A far more accurate title would have been "The Beginner's Guide to Witchcraft", but then he'd lose that punchy and marketable and googleable term 'dabbler'. (Yes, I'm going to be petty about this.)

"Wow Jes, it sounds like you really hated this book."

NO I DIDN'T, AND I'M SO MAD ABOUT THAT!

Some good things:

The author has a writing style that I enjoyed very much. This is a personal preference, but I like when books are either written so that the author is fully invisible (Bree Landwalker's books do this wonderfully), or the author is fully visible, like they're sitting at the table having a conversation with you (Kelly-Ann Maddox's 'Rebel Witch' comes to mind, as does Alex Wrekk's 'Brainscan 33: DIY Witchery'). Don Martin is the table conversation kind. That makes this book very easy to read, while also getting information across in an easily-understood sort of way.

This book fills a very necessary gap in modern witching books. It talks about the online community of witches, and a lot of the pitfalls that have come along with the bonuses of having so much witchcraft available at our social-media connected fingertips.

He gets very in depth with things like cultural appropriation. That's something that you can find in a lot of modern witch books, but Don actually spends the time breaking the concept down and explaining WHY it's harmful, HOW it affects people, and quotes people from the affected minority groups. I have seen the appropriation topic come up in a lot of the witch books I've read, but Don is the one who has covered the topic the best, imo.

He spends time on topics that I myself would have been dismissive of. The example that comes to mind is the chapter 'Can I Make Sh*t Up?' My knee jerk reaction was "Yes, you can make your own spells, you don't need to get someone else's permission. Next question." But Don goes through the full breakdown of yes you can make up your own spells, yes you can make your own correspondences, but no that doesn't mean you can just throw a water soluble crystal in your water bottle because you think it's good for cleansing.

Actually on that topic, he covers a lot of the why not just the what. It's not just 'appropriation is bad', it's 'and here's why'. It's not just 'research your herbs', it's 'here's some examples of things that can and have gone wrong.'

SPELL CANVASES! There are 11 'spell canvases' in this book, and they're pretty much all just kids/teens science experiments (e.g. dissolving an egg shell in vinegar, lighting a tea bag on fire so it flies, and using food dye to color a white flower). He does not give intentions for these spells, but gives a spell technique and then some examples of how you could apply your own purpose/intention to it as needed. It's actually pretty smart, and now I wish there was more stuff like this.

He actually explains what UPG means. Man, 'UPG' is one of those things that I keep seeing as a 'I don't know what that means and I'm to afraid to ask' blog post. When someone pops into the witchy social media circles, we can throw the term 'UPG' around as if everyone knows what it means, and forget to actually explain that it's Unverified Personal Gnosis and what that means. Don's got us covered. Good on you, Don.

The one throwaway line about why you don't have to buy fancy witch things. Tucked away in chapter 12 is this almost nothing-sentence mentioning why you shouldn't be "going broke hoping to buy your way into 'effective' magic" (pg. 161). I have seen, reblogged, probably written posts about 'No you don't need the fancy tools! You can just use whatever! But you CAN buy them if you want, you just don't NEED them.' And we've all seen those around, right? But damn, if Don didn't just get to the heart of it. You can't buy your way into skill. YES, Don, THAT!! THANK YOU.

Alright. I'm running out of words. This isn't a review, it's a rant. Holy shit. Let me shut up with a TL;DR

Almost without doubt, Don liked Tumblr's idea enough to write a book about it, but failed to give credit. But he's an excellent writer and covers a lot of topics that are not often written about in printed books, and to get those blogosphere-ideas onto bookshelves is invaluable. This is a good book for beginners starting out in witchcraft, but not for dabblers who just want to screw around with some spells. Do the pros outweigh the cons? Is it ethical to buy a book when the author gets royalties but the bloggers he got the idea from do not? I don't know. I can't tell you that. You'll have to weigh all this against your own moral compass and decide for yourself. My recommendation is that if you're going to buy it, please buy it from the Spiral House Shop, because if Don Martin's going to get paid for this book, Alex Wrekk should too. Buy Alex's zines. Reblog Sec's posts. Links are up at the top.

[rist-ix]

I have a question for you what do you think of the quote unquote age gap between Bloom and Valtor?

I had to do alot of research to understand Bloom age when I started to like this ship better than Mr cheater. So here's a brief information dump:

Bloom is 16 in the first episode and its confirm her bday is December 10 (we don't know the the exact year when each girl was born only the fact Stella is the oldest by that logic Bloom is the second youngest out of the group) when we get to season 3 it is confirmed that the girls is in their 3rd semester so that makes Bloom 19 at point. Valtor's age we do not know however I'm going to say at most early 20s from what we know Valtor working with a younger Griffin before he got Popsicled.

Here comes the tricky part. In s4 the girls just finished their semester and graduated making them 20-21. Up until s5 where Nicklodeon had to reboot their age making them 16 again. Flashforward to s8 and that makes Bloom age 19 if you are following the reboot or 23 if you do not follow the reboot. Since we don't know how long Valtor been frozen his mental age is up for debate.

For me personally I don't see Sparxshipping as an Edward and Bella situation as Edward was aging naturally during his years while Valtor was frozen and couldn't age naturally but only mentally.

Okay okay first of all! Your Bloom math checks out and I just realized that I for some reason always thought Bloom is 18 in s3. Which is still possible, I think, I just dont know why I assumed that. Actually no, it works, if she is 16 in s1 she is 17 in s2 and 18 in s3, but we dont know a lot about how the school years work in Magix so I'm gonna jot her down as 18-19 for the remainder of this post.

Still dont know how I passed math btw.

Anyway. Valtor's age is where the real mystery is at. We've got two possibilities in my opinion.

1. He's pulling the ageless immortal card.

My personal go-to for fics and discussions. Love me some 300 year old mommy issues. He has too much practice being a messy bitch, there's no fixing this man folks.

Evidence: There's a flashback showing him with Griffin as a tween: she looks MUCH younger, he looks exactly the same. Unless he also stole the secret magic of the world's most potent anti aging cream, or Griffin's proximity to Faragonda just aged her by three more decades, he does not age.

2. He is the age he looks.

Which, in my humble opinion, would not put him anywhere near twenty. That is a grown man. He's not college age, unless you count college professors under that word. Even if I were good at guessing ages the very stylized art style would throw me for a loop, but im gonna say 40s, give or take. Look at Avalon, look at Codatorta, look at King Radius if u must. That is the age range we're looking at.

Evidence: I dont have any. We're ballin'. I guess it's never explicitly stated he's immortal, which you'd think would be big enough of a deal to mention. If u got something feel free to let me know.

That being said, the Winx Club Wiki page for the canon timeline (ha, good one) puts the time of Valtor's creation in a rough time frame from "Over 17 years before season 1" to "Under 100 years before season 6". So he could technically be anywhere from 17-97, though I'm not sure the upper limit is as reliable as the lower one, given the check-list format of the website. So make of that what you will.

Now that we've got the question of age out of the way, lets get to the age gap. I have no idea what the situation in twilight was to be honest, so I cant compare that.

Realistically, there's at least a decade between Bloom and Valtor. Possibly two decades and change. And that is just from visible age, we can add a few centuries on top of that if we're sticking with the immortal bit. I'm gonna be gonest, I dont think being frozen for 17 years will make a whole lot of difference here.

If you find that icky, which is fair, you can always change that for fics tho! Either turn him into a twenty year old or put Bloom in her milf-era, the options are endless. Personally, I think the age difference is half the fun though, and also the least of their issues. When you're off making out with the objectively worst person in history, wether he's too old for her isnt gonna rank very high on people's list of concerns.

[pianocat939]

Random idea, but imagine the yandere turtle ai’s, but m/c straight up has no clue who they are even talking to.

Like, Donnie finds out about the multiverse and tries to connect with other dimensions. Our dimension has a show version of them, so he easily connects with it. Imagine poor m/c, who really likes the show, just randomly coming into contact with some strangers one day. The turtles don’t mean to connect to poor m/c at first, but they get attached really quickly.

It is pretty much the self aware au, but the turtles speak to m/c through a chat system and m/c has no fricking clue it is the turtles talking to them.

M/c, texting: wow! Your user is of that character I like in ROTTMNT! Do you like that show too???

Random turtle, texting: uhhhhh, yes…?

Or, we have a scenario like this:

Donnie, texting: salutations, random individual. I have breached the multiverse and appear to have found myself in this chat with you. My name is Donatello, what is yours?

M/c, texting: wow, that is some good role play! How did you get so into character like that?

Donnie, texting: wha-

Also, m/c is royally screwed. The moment the turtles get attached, m/c can pack their bags and say goodbye. Because as soon as Donnie gets a portal going to breach into their dimension, the turtles will kidnap m/c on sight and drag them to their dimension. Poor m/c finally learned who those strangers online were.

Besides, m/c really likes them! They will live a perfectly happy life in their world with them. Except m/c isn’t ever allowed to leave.

Leo, texting: what would you do if you were to enter an alternate universe with your favorite characters?

M/c, texting: I honestly don’t know. Maybe try to talk and interact?

*portal opens, and Donnie steps out*

Donnie, with a big grin on his face: hey

M/c: holy-

Ooh! I must say I really do love the Sentient Bot Alt/AU ngl- I wouldn’t mind adding a bit more on that.

Anyway, I’ll just add a few scenarios and bits.

Tw: kidnapping(?)

Donnie was just trying to discover what talking through the multiverse was, as a scientific curiosity and nothing else.

But the first person he managed to stumble upon was- interesting to say the least. Within the first message he sent, they would reply that he talks an awful a lot like their favourite TV show- something about being ninja turtle, which isn’t entirely wrong.

He continues to talk to them, and they’re quite funny but also nice at times. Donnie would soon find himself tending to talk to them more rather than focusing on his inventions and research.

The way they talked to him with so much love and appreciation! Ugh, he couldn’t help it, it just felt so refreshing talk to someone so kind rather than his brothers’ habitual bullying-

So in secret- he changed their username to 🤍Dearest_Darling🤍. They were HIS darling, the one who loved him and comforted them! And he was going to indulge himself on their love.

Then as if he’ll broke over- his brothers found out about his messages with them. And they are not pleased to say the least.

What became his indulgence became a communist type sacrifice of sharing the love of this person from the multiverse. Instead of just Donnie, all 4 would now converse with them- and Donnie hated it.

Until one day, a message was sent to him from them.

🤍Dearest_Darling🤍: I wish I was talking to the real thing instead of an AI chatbot- it would be so much fun!

And at that moment Donnie realized that he did not seem to be a living entity to them- which saddened him. But no matter, he is willing to change it! So instead, he took the chance to bring them to his universe by constructing a portal that interrupting the usual flow of energy of the universe.

His brothers were excited too, but HE’S going to be the first one to get to interact with them.

…

Princess_Diana_3000: How would you feel if one of your favourite characters suddenly showed up right before you?

🤍Dearest_Darling🤍: That would be so cool! I would definitely talk to them for sure!

Donnie smiles, and then activates the portal- as soon as steps through he sees them, and he can’t help but stand there in shock for a second. Wow, they are real- they’re just as real as he is…

He usually isn’t one for touch, but in that moment he couldn’t help but hug them. His dearest darling was finally within his grasp! No more lonely days where he wishes he could do stuff with them, just a world of happiness.

Donnie: “Oh my! My darling, we are finally able to live a life of peace and love!”

MC: “Wha- huh? Tf?”

And then he drags you to his portal, and you find yourself at his lab, surrounded by his brothers.

Leo: “Oh my god, they’re so adorable, look at their little face~”

Mikey: “Hey do you wanna try the apple crumble I made? I told you I would let you try my cooking my divinity!”

Raph: “You NEED to see my plushie collection. Then we can snuggle!”

And then consider yourself never able to leave their dimension ever again as you are constantly cuddled with love.

[sweaterkittensahoy]

What 2025 looks like vaguely

I gotta get this hip shit figured out. My bad hip is still aching daily, and I am definitely spending more time doing the PT exercises that move the joint back into place than I used to. Had to do it first thing this morning, in fact, because I woke up and a spot in my foot ached that only aches when there's referred pain from my hip. The good news, the exercises did the job. The bad news, that's the third or fourth time this week I've needed to do those exercises. So, I have to get that shit unfucked.

I also have to call the radiology clinic to schedule for the follow-up to the special mammogram/ultrasound because my boob meat shifted after surgery, and now there's a spot that looks iffy via the regular mammogram. I did the first round of the special testing and basically disassociated the whole time (I have PTSD around any sort of cancer shit), and this is just the follow-up. But I just got the final part of the billing from last time figured out right before the holidays, and then the holidays, so now I have to call them to set the appointment. Then I have to call my GP to schedule the annual that got cancelled on me several weeks ago that they were supposed to call to reschedule but haven't, and I also need them to reset my portal password so I can actually get the referral information for the ADHD testing that I tried to set up last year, but then forgot about for months at a time because to get the info, I'd have to call the clinic for the password reset, and I had the boob scare and now the hip pain increasing so it's been hard to focus on the whole 'need to set up testing for a whole new fucking thing'.

No joking about how ADHD vibing that story is. Sean has it covered (he has ADHD, so he fucking knows).

Anyway, that's the health shit that isn't 'need to find a therapist again' because look, I can only do this shit one or two bits at a time, and I'll knock out three things at once (boob check, hip referral, testing) by making the first phone call, then making the second phone call, so let's just put a pin in a therapist until I've had my delayed annual.

House-wise, we have decided to stay where we are. We did like the townhouse we saw a whole lot and we could absolutely swing the rent increase no problem. But if we stay where we are, we get to stay in the neighborhood we like very much and the rent increase even going to a month-to-month lease is still noticeably less than what the new place would be. Sean's going to dedicate some time to researching how the fuck one buys a house or condo or just a dwelling, let's say. And we're going to focus on decluttering and also upgrading some of our furniture. We don't have an issue with keeping things we don't want, but we do have an issue with keeping things neat and like, dusted. So, that's the focus. Cleaning and dusting and being realistic about what stays in the house. I've actually gotten pretty good at going through my stuff every few months and removing things I realize I really don't want anymore, but with our limited storage options in the apartment, it's kind of an ongoing battle. Getting rid of all my heels last year helped a lot. The shoe storage hanger in the office is no longer needed, so that space feels slightly larger, which is nice. But there's yarn and books and jewelry that all need sorting, and we want to replace the coffee table and my side table with options made of real wood.

There's a vintage furniture place we love that also does custom builds with a mid-century vibe. We replaced my previous desk with a custom-sized desk from them, and they also do coffee tables that you can just grab up off their show floor if they're the right size. The side table will have to be a custom order because I want basically what I have but longer, so I need it to be a very particular height. Honestly, I may just deal with a pile of notebooks and crochet hooks for a few weeks and just take them the current side table to build against. It's not as cheap as hitting Ikea (and we love Ikea), but it's also built of solid wood and metal legs, so it'll last forever, and the designs are clean, which I love.

We also have con in March, as always. Very much excited for that. Currently no other travel plans, and after the intentional trip down south for a visit last year, then us traveling together in July and then Sean having to go alone at the top of December for the grandparent funerals, I'm happy to stay close to home as long as possible.

Bean's got to get a teeth cleaning, which we're planning for in April, most likely. Our wedding anniversary is in May, and I think I wanna either plan a proper Staycation or maybe spend a weekend up the mountain or out at the Gorge. That's all still loose and does not require effort at the moment. Honestly, until after con, I don't need to put any hard thought into any plans. Con is fucking awesome and also a LOT. I can't wait but also it's about a two-week recovery time after just from the casual social aspect of being surrounded by people the whole time.

Anyway, that's 2025 to start. There's crochet plans, but let's be real: that's a whole different post.