#but the fact that it was ever used at all was cray

[incorrectsibunaquotes]

We don’t talk enough about how love potions are canon in the Anubisverse

[tan1shere]

i have no idea if you do fics for eva from swarm but i’m begging you for another!! maybe like we join the group unknowingly but eva takes a particular liking to us? you can change stuff about that idek what i’m saying i just need more eva fics

(i know she’s a cult leader but she’s hot. arrest me 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️)

All Mine

Eva x female reader !

A/n: yesss we love Eva here, I hope you enjoy !

Summary: there were many girls in the cult. But she was drawn to you, obsessed with you.

Warnings: smut, eva is cray cray but in a hot way (we know 😋) eating out (r receiving) hickeys - I think that might be it, leme know if I missed anything !

Masterlist

It was 3 months in, and you loved it there your new friends, letting you stay with them after your car had broke down not far from them. You had no idea where you were heading if you were honest so when they offer you to stay you ofcourse say yes. Eva, the lead girl of the little group was the first one to find you on the side of the road.

"Fuck sake." You cursed under your breath. You then hear a voice behind you, startling you slightly. "Everything ok?" You turn to face her. "Yeah just a flat tire- probably a sign I shouldn't keep going." You awkwardly laugh a tiny bit, causing her to flash a beautiful smile, it made you go a little crazy. "Im Eva." She sticks her hand out. "Y/n."

And ever since then you've been happily living there, alongside all the others. You had your own room, just like Eva did. Which confused you to say the least. Because the others all slept in one room. Why didnt you? But those wandering questions soon enough unfolded.

There was no doubt Eva was hot, you deeply thought so. Whenever she'd speak so softly, with a hint of teasing, it was alluring. And to be honest you loved it. You didn't quite understand why, you were all just friends. Right?

"Good day?" You then hear her voice, causing you to look at her as she approaches your seat, sitting next to you. "Great thanks, Eva. It's so lovely here." Her eyes wander your face. "Good, angel. Im so glad." You look into her piercing blue eyes, feeling like you were in a trance. She was like nothing you've seen before.

You then think for a moment. "Can I ask you something?" She just nods, moving a loose strand behind your ear. "What's up?" You take a moment to process. "Why do I have a room to myself and the others don't?" She then thinks, needing to come up with a lie. "They've all had it at one point, each new girl gets to have it til they're settled in with one another." You believed anything she said, so you just smile and nod. "Makes sense!"

But suddenly it didn't make sense. You ofcourse talk to the others, but you mainly kept to yourself. "Hey Cricket!" You smile, she returns it. Patting the spot next to her. "Hey babe, everything good?" You nod with a hum. "I did have a question though." She swivels to face you. "What's on ya mind." - "How long did you have the room I'm in before you went into the main one?" Her brows furrow slightly. "I've never had that room, no body has in fact. Eva said it was just empty but nothing was going in it. Why's that?" Your mind thinks for a moment. Eva lied to you.. but for what reason.

"Oh- uh. Nothing important, I just assumed thats what had happened." You shake your head slightly, pulling yourself out of your thoughts. "Nope, you're the first actually, I didn't know that could be a bedroom to be honest." You nod, going to get up. "Yeah, well. Thanks Crick." She nods, giving you a last smile.

You march up to Eva's room and open the door, you'd usually knock but she was just sitting on her bed reading. "Everything alright love?" Her brows furrow, going to get up. She comes over to you, putting her hand delicately on your cheeks. "You lied to me, why?" Confusion strikes her. But your instant with your words. "You know exactly what I'm talking about." - "Baby, hey. I said that so you wouldn't rub it in the others faces. Did you?" You felt angry for some reason. "Ofcourse not! That's not who I am. You know that." She hums in reply. "Look, they aren't bothered that they don't have that room, they're pretty happy being in the main."

"So whyd you lie to me?" You fold your arms, but you just looked so cute in her eyes. "Because I didn't want you knowing the real reason, not them." You ponder for a moment, huh? Why though.. "i don't understand." You look into her eyes, but hers get closer by the second. Backing you up against the wall. "Let me show you." She says into your neck. Her breath causing you to shiver visibly. Your mouth opens slightly, going to put your hand in her soft hair. Her lips make contact with with your skin. Beginning to suck hard.

Noises come out of you. Liking this a bit too much. "Eva-" You gasp as she bites. She wasn't listening, continuing to suck as you let out a noise of approval. But she abruptly removes her mouth, clearly done with the task. You whimper, wanting more. And she smirks, exactly how she wanted you. "Go down for dinner hm?" She bites her lip but you freak out. "But my neck-" "good. Let them see." Your eyes widen in size, but you were so drawn to Eva. You just wanted to do exactly as she asked.

That was now a few weeks ago, nothing has actually happened and you were growing incredibly frustrated. Why hadn't she made another move like that night? It was bugging you. So you did what you thought would get her attention. You wore a short summer dress that was tight around your breasts making them sit incredibly nicely. You wanted to go for a small walk down to the gardens, but before you could leave the house a hand is gripping your wrist. "What're you wearing?" You turn to look at her. "Clothes? Can I not?" Her brow raises.

"Things are very.. tight." She says as she observes. "Don't look then." You say with a cheeky smile, about to leave again. She scoffs, pulling you back considering her grip was still tight around your wrist. "Uh uh, don't do that." - "Or what? Why do you care so much."

"When you come around looking like this, don't think I don't recognize that shit."

"Bothered?" She tilts her head, looking at your lips. She honestly had no idea why she was putting off going further with you. Maybe beyond all the sexualness she had grown to truly care for you. The fear of hurting you in any way was evident. "My room, now." Something in you changes and you do just that, loving the way her voice sounded.

You make your way up there, standing in the middle of the room. "Are you afraid of something Eva?" She sh's you, going straight to kissing your neck. She didn't want to talk right now. "But it seemed-" "Silence angel, just relax." You let out a breath you had been holding in, trying hard not to go too mental. But you ofcourse failed. Miserably. You were now laying on your back against her bed. Her ontop of you. Your brain fuzzed over when her hand slides up your thighs, inching closer and closer to you. "You're so warm." Her voice was like a whisper inside your brain. Like she wasn't real.

"Please Eva, need you so bad." You pleaded desperately. She smirks down at you, moving her hand inside to feel just how wet you had become. You gasp yet again, not as prepared for her next move. She plays with you, exactly how she's been playing with your mind. But you loved it, craved it. It never felt real. It certainly did now though. "So wet, wonder who got you like this." You try to form any kind of words. "You Eva.. you made me wet." The confession makes her go insane. Adoring how much power she has over you.

"Precious precious girl." She softly says, lifting your dress up and planting her face directly over your clothed pussy. But her hands yank them off within an instant, seeing for herself just how wound she had you. "Goodness me, angel. Get to see it all for myself." Another whimper escapes you. "All mine." She then breathes, diving in immediately after saying that. "Fuck!" You screech, but a soft hand flies to your mouth. "Quiet baby, unless you want them to hear how I'm having you right now." You shrink as she says that, feeling a lil embarrassed. "Didn't think so.." She trails off, licking your cunt real good.

Causing you to bite her hand, knowing how loud you can get. "I mean, I'd like them to hear, all those pretty noises. How much of a mess you'll be when I'm done. All, because of me" Her finger makes way into your mouth, getting you to suck. "You're so well behaved huh?" Your mind goes blank feeling like an empty piece of paper. "What a good girl, very good." Your eyes shut as her tongue enters you, her pace fast. Making your head spin. "Eva." You mumble against her finger, feeling it coming quick. "Go on baby, let me finally taste you." And with a few more fucks of her tongue. That's what you did.

Cumming all of it into her mouth. And she couldn't be more happy. "So easy to make cum. Good to know."

[the-meat-machine]

It only recently occurred to me that the two characters the Condesce forcibly turns to her side -- Jane and Jade -- are her daughters. The two alien girls she raised in two different timelines. Different versions of them, but still. She brings her heiresses over to her side.

And it's interesting -- I've always thought there were hints that the Condesce is sincere, albeit very twisted, in her desire to take on an heiress. I can't imagine that HIC would ever cede power completely, but making her heiress(es) her second-in-command? I can see that. And indeed, that's exactly what she does.

My biggest reason for thinking that this is something the Condesce cares about is this passage from Meenah:

MEENAH: just makes me think about my kid descendant MEENAH: an how instead of having this cool friendsy relation with her i just got this uncontrollable urge to stab her to death so she dont threaten my supremacy MEENAH: which is a shame cuz she so cute 38( MEENAH: cod damn my royal blood and the cray junk it makes me have to do MEENAH: aw well MEENAH: maybe some day ill find an heiress who my genes dont instinctively make me wanna murder on sight MEENAH: then i can teach her the badass ways of being a boss n shit!

There are two things I'm taking from these lines:

Meenah (and by extension, the Condesce) has a biological urge to kill any other fuchsia-blooded troll she meets

Meenah would sincerely like to take on a protege (and specifically a female one) and "teach her the badass ways of being a boss n shit"

So does this also apply to the Condesce? Would she, deep down, like to have an heiress who wouldn't be a rival or a threat, but someone she could mentor? Personally, I think the whole point of Meenah's little digression here is to imply that she would.

Now, in HIC's own universe, she's never able to realize this desire. Hell, she probably never even considered that it might be something she'd want at all. Any fuchsia-blooded contender for the throne would be eliminated at all costs, and anyone below fuchsia was unworthy of consideration.

But then she makes her way into the human universe, and as part of her new master's plans, she has to take in a pair of human children -- one boy (Jake) and one girl (Jane). Then, later, she progresses into a different version of that universe and takes on another pair (John and Jade). She doesn't seem to care much about the boys.* But the girls? Perhaps she sees a bit of herself in them. These alien girls present her with a possibility that she's never considered before in all her millennia of life: heiresses she can take under her wing instead of kill on sight.

And so, when she finally gets the opportunity to corrupt two of the kids to her side, the ones she chooses are the alternate universe versions of her daughters.**

Of course, the Condesce can't just let her heiresses run around making their own decisions. That would be ridiculous. But she can unleash them from their self-imposed limitations, rid them of all those pesky morals and qualms that are holding them back. She can show them how to be badass take-no-shit bitches like true heiresses should be. And she'll groom them to take on high-ranking positions in her future empire, to help her keep the populace in line.

Hell, she'll even throw them a bone or two. Give them some gifts. Let 'em have some fun. Because I notice that despite HIC's utter revulsion for human reproductive practices -- a revulsion so strong it lead her to wipe out the entire human race -- she still allows Jane to hold Jake captive with the intention of using him to sire heirs. (Or should I say... heiresses.) The fact that HIC apparently not only doesn't object to this but seems to incorporate it into her plans is HUGE. She'll permit her heiress something she would never allow for any other human.

Anyway. The Condesce cares about her daughters. Heartwarming <3 Yet another fun example in Homestuck of patterns of abuse and oppression being perpetuated through family bonds.

------

Footnotes:

* Sorry for the June erasure, but in canon, HIC is unaware that this particular child may one day grow up to become a woman. If she did know, perhaps she would have taken on a third heiress. An interesting AU to contemplate, perhaps.

** It is interesting that the Condesce chooses Jade even though, in the post-scratch timeline, it was John Crocker who was "loyal" to her and Jade English who ran away. Does she just not consider boys to be valid heirs? Did she have some level of respect for Jade despite her betrayal? Or is she punishing Jade English's betrayal by stealing Jade Harley over to her own side?

[drunk-on-dk]

wow my first time here for hard hours…

headempty just brothersbff!dokyeom coming over to u (and ur brothers) house for da first time to tutor ur brother cuz he’s a lil braindrad,, still unknowning of the houses’ layout,, dokyeom walks into you fingering urself and observes how ur fingers r way too short to do anything rly pleasurable n helps u like the good friend he is :(( I WANNA WRITE AB THIS SO BAD BUT WRITERS BLOCK IS SO CRAY!!!

lee..... you're kidding me.... please come here for hard hours whenever because this made my brain turn in ways that I cannot explain..... ok so I thought this would be a drabble, but I spiraled below and I HOPE YOU ENJOY (also i've been struggling with writer's block so this totally helped get my creative thoughts running again thx u)

Prompt/Pairing: Brother's Best Friend!Seokmin x fem!reader

Genre: SMUT just pure filth (minors DNI)

w/c: ~2.5k (not a DRABBLE oops)

content warnings and prompt under the cut

c/w: no pronouns, but fem bodied reader; masturbation; use of a vibrator; walking in on reader, but consent is KEY when continuing; DK has long fingers AKA pro at fingering in this

Lee Seokmin, kindly referred to as DK, a nickname coined by your idiotic brother years ago when he had first met the overly kind boy back in grade school. DK was an all-rounder, which was known very well throughout your years trailing your brother and him in school. Of course, DK was popular for his looks, overall bright attitude, humorous side, and intelligence.

The boy was an enigma throughout his entire high school career, so you had no choice but to crush on your brother’s best friend. You couldn’t help it when he’d flash you his signature smile every time he’d pick you and your brother up for school, or when he'd gift you the occasional snack on exam mornings – which, of course, would go untouched in your backpack since you cherished the sacred gift so much.

However, you were able to see him at his worst over the years, especially the clumsier and louder sides of him when he’d spend the night over at your house almost every weekend. His boisterous voice would permeate through closed doors - even when he was a few rooms away - while your brother and he would play video games until the crack of dawn. Another oddity included that time he had mistaken your toothbrush as his own for weeks on end, only admitting his fault weeks later when he had run into you in the hallway late one night, almost as if he was fearful that you’d confront him even though you had no clue.

Eventually, you grew annoyed with the boy as you got older, your high school crush no longer blinding you to the fact that he was just another one of your brother’s loud, teasing friends, even if he was damn cute. Regardless, Dokyeom still took care of you like you were his own friend, as you were close in age to your brother, and he always considered you as part of the group. He was always sure to include you in plans even if your brother didn’t, making sure you had a comfortable high school experience, and continuing to gift you snacks on exam days – even if you didn’t blush profusely like you used to.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, you had followed in your brother’s footsteps and decided to attend the same college as him, which ironically enough, DK had chosen the same college as well. The duo was still thriving more than ever even when they had found other friends in their separate majors. DK was also still roped into tutoring your brother in his classes, even though he had passed them semesters ago himself.

You had just moved in with your brother after your first year, and you two had decided to save some money and just commit to sharing an apartment a mile off campus. It was easy living with him, especially because you two had similar friend groups and could comfortably coexist. You also enjoyed the privacy it gave you, as your brother spent most of his time at his frat house even though he had his own place, typically crashing on one of his brothers’ futons every weekend.

You took advantage of this, blasting music when you’d get ready for your own nights out, or spending nights like tonight shamelessly binging a show or whatever book you were reading, eventually getting bored and pleasuring yourself in the serenity of your quiet apartment.

It was still early in the night, but, good God, you had been strung out all week. Midterms were finally coming to an end, and all you could think about was a little R&R, possibly channeling that energy through a quick orgasm.

However, it was anything but quick tonight. You had been squirming around for maybe half an hour now, a slight sheen to your flushed skin, and a vibrator pressed firmly against your clit after you decided your fingers wouldn’t suffice.

Your sheets were surely a mess at this point from how tightly you were gripping them from desperately chasing the high that your body wouldn’t grant you. Just when you thought you were close, a pathetic half-moan would leave your lips every time the building pleasure would ebb away.

You were frustrated, but you were determined. Pulling out all the tricks now, your spare hand and fingers played with your perked nipples, unable to restrain your body from arching into the bed to further press your throbbing clit against the devilish, vibrating toy.

The only thing that broke you out of your wanton fervor was a single knock at your bedroom door – which the knock was appreciated, giving you just enough time to scramble to cover yourself with a throw blanket, but whoever the intruder was waited for just a pause before throwing your door open – coming eye to eye with none other than the boisterous DK.

“Ready to study and then whoop some ass on -" DK stopped mid-sentence, jaw slack as his backpack fell to his side upon realizing this was not your brother's room. To be fair, DK had only been here once or twice since you and your brother moved apartments recently; your previous one had a roof-leak, and this place was temporary until the latter would be renovated by the end of the semester.

Surely, you both looked like deer in headlights staring at each other. DK surveyed you for a second, saucer-like eyes tracing you from head to toe, drinking in the way your chest rose and fell underneath the tiny, fluffy throw blanket that gave you some sense of decency. You could almost see the lightbulb go off in DK’s head when he realized what he had walked into, the not-so-quiet whirring of the vibrator in the background only confirming his suspicions.

“Oh my god,” he starts, internally cursing himself when his jeans begin to tighten ever so slightly around his crotch. It’s almost as if he forgot how to walk or speak, but he can’t deny that this is a fantasy he’s had one too many times. “Were you-?”

“Don’t,” you cut him off, already immensely embarrassed that he walked in on you so hot-and-bothered. It was almost comical how the vibrating sound came to a halt, awkwardly searching for the button on the toy beneath the sheet and finally successfully turning the device off. “We can just act like this never happened, my brother isn’t here since I’m assuming that’s who you were looking for, and we can just go about our night without discussing further.”

Woefully, you could almost get off to the sight of just him, maybe you’d tuck the memory of him into your arsenal to finally finish yourself off later tonight. You weren’t sure if it was the arousal that was clouding your mind from touching yourself for so long, but you swore you’d never seen his kind eyes look so dark and carnal. And fuck, he looked good as per usual, boyishly handsome in denim jeans, and a white tee hugging his biceps perfectly.

You felt even more flustered when he just continued to stare at you, not making any effort to lift the backpack at his feet, nor to exit your room when you look at him expectantly. With a groan, you run a hand over your beet-red face, about to question if he is going to leave until he speaks before you do.

“Are you just going to return to what you were doing?” His voice is strained, deeper in tone than his typically chirpy sound.

You stare back at him dumbly, readjusting the blanket around your body so you can sit comfortably on the side of your bed. “M-Maybe, why does it matter to you? Like I said, we can just forget about this.”

He does the opposite of what you’d expect, rather than leaving your room he takes a step towards you. The heat burns in your belly even more, your body reacting and tingling each step he takes closer towards you.

“How long have you been alone in here?” It’s so out of character how hazy and stormy his eyes become, how husky his voice sounds, and how you feel your increasing heartbeat at your core when you realize just how big and tall he is.

“U-um,” you squeak out, shriveling in his presence, unsure of where all his confidence came from as he continues to eye you down. Maybe it’s the nerves, but you begin to spill out details of the frustrating night you’ve had thus far. “It’s been a long week DK - I just needed to unwind. My damn fingers won’t get the job done, so I’m using this stupid toy. This is pathetic and embarrassing, and why are you getting so close to me?”

“Can you show me?” He asks almost innocently, voice soft and tempting as he kneels in front of where you’re sitting on the bed. He repeats himself when you fail to stutter out a response. “Can you show me how you were using your fingers?”

You feel like you’re in a trance, heart, and body reacting before your sensible mind can stop you. This is a bad idea, you should just say no and kick him out, but the way his eyes remained locked on yours as you slowly nod is enough to encourage you to drop the blanket wrapped around you. Screw it, even as much as you'd like to say your crush on him faded, it never really did.

He lets out a strained sigh when you reveal your body to him, the only thing covering you is the flimsy tank top that’s bunched at your waist, only indicating further how desperate you had been.

“Are you OK with showing me?”

“Y-yes,” you gasp out, gradually opening your legs for him to see your most intimate self, evidence of an impending orgasm clear from the sight of your swollen clit and wet thighs from your dripping slit. The whimper that escapes his lips makes your eyes roll back, fingers absentmindedly tracing over your folds and making you whimper with him.

“You’re so wet, sweetheart,” he’s whispers as he intently watches the pad of your thumb rub at your clit, “Such small hands and little fingers, no wonder you’ve been touching yourself for so long.”

You buck your hips upwards when you finally let your pointer and middle fingers glide in between your folds, carefully pumping the two in and out of yourself and biting back a moan when DK leans even closer towards your core.

“It’s not enough,” your voice is breathy as you pout, grinding your hips into the palm of your hand as your fingers do a not-so-satisfactory job. You’re falling back now, wrapped up in your arousal once again as your head hits the pillowy mattress beneath you.

“Of course, it’s not,” DK coos, standing up to tower above where you now lay, one knee finding real estate between your legs as you so urgently keen into your hand. “You can fit another finger inside of you, maybe that will help.”

You listen to him, fitting a third finger inside of you, yet they don’t reach deep enough to provide you enough pleasure.

“Oh,” he almost sounds patronizing, “they’re too short, aren’t they?”

You’d almost think he was messing with you if it wasn’t for the way his breathing picked up when you let out a desperate cry, a rough groan bubbling from his chest when your thighs tightened around his own leg slotted between yours.

“Yeah, t-they are,” you cry out, trying your hardest to not shift down the bed and start grinding against his leg.

“Can I help?”

“God, I thought you’d never ask. P-Please.”

Just like that, DK’s deft fingers are at your core, long digits running between your folds to collect your slick before teasingly probing at your center.

“I said please,” you moan out, practically begging as your hips chase his hand when he continues to pump just the tips of his fingers tauntingly and shallowly inside of you.

He almost growls when his fingers fill you completely, the way your walls sucked him in was enough to have him wanting more. In order to get closer to you, DK collapses next to you, one thigh still slotted between your legs and his free arm propping him up above where your heated chest rises with each needy breath.

“You take my fingers so well, sweetheart,” he whines out, unable to stop himself from pressing his lips against your neck especially when your body is arching against his with each pump of his fingers inside you. “Can’t believe you're still this tight after playing with yourself for so long.”

Your own hands are desperately gripping his arms, nails digging into the firm muscles as he trails hot kisses across your neck and chest. Your body shakes in need when he hits a spot deep inside of you, pressing against that spongey spot that has your thighs tensing up with each expert curl of his long fingers.

You know you’re babbling at this point, something about how good he’s making you feel, something about how hot he is, something about how you’ll need his fingers all the time now.

This only eggs DK on, his supporting arm shaking as he sets a brutal pace, fingers pumping in and out and each ministration feeling delicious against your walls. You let out a scream when his thumb encounters your clit, making him press even closer against you to hold your needy hips down as he fingers you so perfectly.

You’ve been encapsulated by him at this point, everything about him is big and tall and long, and your mind goes a bit haywire wondering if that applied to really everything, the obvious bulge contained by his jeans only making your mind wander to dirtier places.

“Is this enough, sweetheart?” His lips are pressed into your neck, teeth nipping gently at the shell of your ear as he desires to hear some more praise and feedback from you.

“God,” you moan out, thighs shaking as his thumb rolls in circles over your clit, chest pressing against his as he smiles against your ear. This isn’t enough – actually – you want all of him. But yet it is, the world around you begins to spin as you feel your impending release finally bursting inside of you. “Fuck, this is more than enough. God, I’m g-gonna finish.”

“Finish, sweetheart, use my fingers.”

You’ve never come so hard from just fingers, not even with past lovers, but DK’s long fingers have your walls spasming and tightening around them, hips finally falling still as you gush around the digits. You feel euphoric, your release washing over your body as you come to.

You thought maybe your post-orgasm clarity would snap you back into reality, reminding you that you just had the best fingering of your life from your brother’s best friend, making the situation awkward and panicking upon realization, but you do exactly the opposite.

“Do you need help now, DK?”

[jpai0508]

Between the confirmation that Haymitch worked in the woods, and other references in the original trilogy, I’d say there’s very high chances that Haymitch not only knew Katniss’s parents but were also friends with them in some degree.

- First of Katniss’s mother. The People summary of (who I am assuming) is Maysilee Donner, implying her and Haymitchs already close friendship:

“There's a young friend who’s like a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker and the most uppity girl in town.”

- And we already know that Maysilee and Katniss’s mother were close friends (CF):

“Maysilee Donner.”

“Oh!” I say. “She was my mother’s friend.” The camera finds her in the crowd, clinging to two other girls. All blond. All definitely merchants’ kids.

“I think that’s your mother hugging her,” says Peeta quietly. And he’s right.

- there’s also evidence that Haymitch and Katniss’s mother knew each other at least casually from before (CF):

“Don’t worry,” says Haymitch. “Used to be a lot of whipping before Cray. She’s the one we took them to.”

I can’t remember a time before Cray, a time when a new Peacekeeper who used to whip freely. But my mother must have been around my age and still working at the apothecary shop with her parents. Even back then, she must have had healer hands.

- if Haymitch sees Maysilee as a sister, and Katniss’s mother and Maysilee are close friends, there’s surely some at least acquaintance there.

- Also, I wonder if Haymitch somehow knows Peeta’s father for the same reasons. Peeta mentions that his father told him Maysilee and Madge’s mother were twin sisters. And his father also had a crush on Katniss’s mother (maybe implied thing/ relationship with her). There could be a chance all of them knew each other in some degree, especially being the same age in school and how close Maysilee and Haymitch are implied to be (Seeing her as a “sister” is a strong connection)

- if Haymitch works in the woods and also the fact he’s from the Seam, there’s a good chance he could know Katniss’s father through his hunting

- I also have a strong feeling that we are going to see District 12 unfold in such a way as it does after Katniss and Peeta’s victory tour. Whippings, curfew, electric fence:

“So it’s starting again?” my mother says. “Like before?”

“By the looks of it,” Haymitch answers. “Who’d have thought we’d ever be sorry to see old Cray go?”

- just an interesting thought, knowing how rebellious Katniss’s father is, singing songs like the hanging tree and illegally hunting, I wonder if Katniss’s father is not one of the ones who end up getting whipped after Haymitch’s games, maybe for the reason Gale did, illegally hunting. And if that’s the case, I wonder if this could be how Katniss’s parents meet. Her mother fixing him up. Thus ending in Peeta’s father’s broken heart

[goodolddumbbanana]

Solar: Stop it Nexus! It is not you!! You just gone mad with power!!!

Nexus: Of course, I am gone mad with power. Ever try going mad without one? It's boring. No one listens to you.

Yeah... I think Nexus is getting too hyped up for being the villain when in fact he hasn't done anything so horrible yet.

The worst thing he has done now is treat Ruin badly and be emo. Surely He will do some horrible stuff later to make us hate him, but for now, he is just pathetic.

That boy after burned all his links, and doesn't even want to live. He just keeps getting himself in the holes, and so stubbornly doesn't want to get out. He loves the idea of being self destructive and everybody hates him so much, he convinced himself this is what he wants.

Just like Solar said, he is a sad loser who couldn't accept the fact he needs to move on from Solar's death.

He behaves just like a kid. He is just like Eclipse v2, I don't know if he has a chance to do anything before his Negative Star power kills him first.

I think he realises he will be dead after that. That's why he doesn't even pay attention to care, to be better. Because what is the point of better and loving when in the end, you will end up dying alone? He has the same screw up process thinking that every Moon and variant of Moon has. So self centered that he pushes everyone away.

And with Moon keeps screaming Nexus is cray-cray to everyone is not helping. I hate that he did the same thing Nexus did to Sun when they were still together. Trash talked about the others, making the other the villains of the story. (Although in fact Moon is the asshole)

It is really sad that right now only Sun who holds some idea about helping Nexus and wants to bring Nexus's senses back.

Because...

Earth and Lunar, they are still hurting. They want to do nothing with him and for them, there is no point in helping people who don't want their help. (Good for them though, tmit is the mindset of healthy people. Not let negative people around you if they don't change to be better because you don't owe them anything.)

Moon is so thrilled to get rid of people who are hurting his family and also because he hates himself. He knows what himself is capable of, so yep...

Solar is Nexus best friend and seeing Nexus like that really hurts him terribly. But also, Solar is Eclipse, (they always has realistic mindset) and he has killed both his Moon and Monty before. (He knows what it's like to keep trying the same things and hope for different results. Too traumatized by how His Moon treated him and seeing Nexus right now is not any better). Also, Solar will desperately keep people who he loves even if it leads to him having to kill the others one.

He would choose Sun, Earth, Lunar above Nexus anytime. Because Nexus he used to know will never hurt his family. And if Nexus is not Nexus anymore, it would be mercy to put this monster who wears his best friend's face out of mystery.

[taraljc]

I am vastly entertained by the technology/resources gap between the Department and SCORPIA. SCORPIA has money, influence, and gadget after gadget, but the Department has paper-pushing middle management, a minuscule budget, frequently condemned offices, and vastly superior HUMINT and SIGINT.

And this is one of the very few shows I can think of and I've mentioned this before where the things that both Kyra and Smithers can do on computers is actually within the realm of possibility. Instead of 'enlarge and enhance' we get 'blow up the saturation and see if we can get a hue and then stare at it until we recognise a billboard'! instead of I will use this laptop to decrypt this program we get I need to daisy-chain 40 machines working in parallel just to run pattern recognition on the code and then even when the encryption gets broken it turns out you have to be physically on site and connected to the server in order to read the nested code.

You have no idea how many times during Arrow or pretty much any MCU film that features a guy in a chair where I have beat my head against the wall, occasionally screaming about how 'hacking' is portrayed.

I particularly love that nobody at Point Blanc ever figured out that Kyra hacked the keypads and that the only visual cue you got that clone Kyra wasn't actual Kyra was the fact that she didn't put in the 0000 keypad code and by the time you register that, Alex has been conked in the head with a fire extinguisher. which granted should have crushed his skull and killed him but I am willing to cut them slack. Although at some point Alex is going to need some serious medical care for all of the traumatic brain injuries he has sustained.

also the timeline is a little wonky in Series 3 like I think it's supposed to be about 2 weeks in February 2023? because there is a time cut between two of the episodes where Alex's wounds from his beat down have had time to heal. but it couldn't have been longer than that because the delivery receipts on the pad thai that hid the plastic gun was dated 10 days after Pritchard transferred into the Department.

That said the data on screens and props is wildly wildly divergent and I have no idea how old Alex actually is supposed to be because if he was 6 months old when John was killed on 6 January 2006, then he is actually younger than he is supposed to be in the first series (although Alex Friend's passport has a completely different birth year then his Gemini file). But the date on the disc says it is from 21 May 2006 which means they may have meant that it was 1 June 2006 but that doesn't make any sense either because all of the dates across the entire series have been consistently written day-month-year.

(also I love the surveillance footage from the bridge where John Rider is supposedly killed that's conveniently goes from black and white to colour and swaps camera angles repeatedly.)

anyway I'm screen capping a metric fuck ton of on screen data to go through later. I've also noticed some small changes to the set apart from the brick patio that appears out of nowhere in series 3 which makes me think because it took 5 years to shoot 3 seasons during a global pandemic that they must have had to rebuild the 42 Collbridge Road kitchen set.

also I can't help but wonder if at one point they were going to try to mess with Mrs Jones backstory because all of her earrings are six-sided like the SCORPIA logo. and how much do I love that they actually have like a little animated logo with a musical sting and everything! I wonder if Damien Cray threw that in for free.

[mistydeyes]

HI i had such a cute idea— what about gaz with a s/o who wants to see the night sky without light pollution so they could see all the stars/galaxy clearly, so he takes them out to a dark sky site or a rural area (surprise or otherwise) and they stargaze!!! i hope this is specific enough, thanks🫶🫶

a/n ANON u have my heart! this was such a cute idea <3 I love little fluffy Gaz moments :)

a blanket of stars

┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊

summary: Despite never being able to fully see the stars, you still romanticized the idea. In fact, it was something that endeared Kyle to you when you first met. You would always think your fascination was silly but Kyle makes a plan to let you see the beauty the universe has to offer.

pairing: Kyle "Gaz" Garrick x gn!Reader

warnings: none :)

┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊

Growing up in London didn’t offer you many opportunities to see the shining night's stars. The light pollution was to thank as you often struggled to even see the North Star. If there ever was a freak blackout, the clouded atmosphere was so thick that almost no stars could pierce through. Regardless, you loved the stars and even got a tattoo of Orion’s belt on your arm.

Gaz knew of this fact and loved your amateur interest in stargazing. Miraculously, you both had been able to take a vacation to Brecon Beacons National Park. It was almost as if the stars aligned for you both. The park offered a converted stable to stay in and you enjoyed the privacy and comfort of the home. You laid on Kyle’s chest in a hammock as you stared at the porch’s wooded ceiling. The warm summer air flowed gently around you as you swung slowly. Kyle stroked your hair softly and was humming an old song. You began to drift off into sleep when you felt him tap your shoulder. You perked up and looked at him questioningly. “Hey Love, let’s take a late night hike, yeah?” he said and you couldn’t help but be a little bewildered. “Kyle that’s how people get murdered!” you exclaimed and he laughed in response. “Babe you think anyone would want to murder us when I’m a STRONG BRITISH SERGEANT,” he stated and made sure to emphasize the last part to any would-be-murders. You rolled your eyes at his antics but decided he wasn't going to be satisfied. You slowly got off the hammock and went inside to grab your hiking gear as Kyle began to lace up his boots.

Kyle effortlessly navigated you through the tall grass and dense trees as you walked in the moonlight. He said his training was to thank for his superior navigation skills. You were glad that it had built him to be strong as he carried the backpack without any complaints. Eventually, you reached a large lake. "Crai Reservoir," he said breathlessly and took off the pack to pull out a blanket. You helped him find a suitable spot as you smoothed out the warm fabric. He sat on the blanket and allowed you to sit in between his legs. "Look up, Love," he whispered and your eyes rose to the night's sky. You gasped as you saw some of the most brilliant constellations twinkling against the blanket of night. You admired how the glittering dots perfectly contrasted with the violet, pink, and dark blue colors that slowly moved as the Earth rotated. You could feel Kyle's eyes on you as your gaze moved erratically, taking in everything you were seeing. "That's 'The Plough'" he said and your gaze followed where he was pointing. You noticed the seven stars that formed Ursa Major in the night's sky. You traced it with your finger as Kyle continued to name off various other constellations. "When did you have time to learn all of this, Love?" you asked as you stared up at him. You could see his dark eyes shimmer with the sparkle of the stars. "You'd be surprised how many books you can read while deployed," he said and placed a gentle kiss on your forehead. The rest of the night, you both named the various stars and planets that laid overhead. This was one of your favorite moments and Kyle would never forget how you were the brightest star that night.

[misfitwashere]

August 12, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

AUG 13

The 2024 election is shaping up to be bizarre on the Republican side. The party’s presidential nominee, former president Donald Trump, has largely stayed home and posted on social media while his vice presidential running mate J.D. Vance has been trying to cover the campaigning for the team. Indeed, Vance’s offer on Wednesday during a rally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, to debate Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris suggests that Vance is not unwilling to be seen as the face, if not the leader, of the Republican ticket.

The actual presidential nominee appears even more unstable than usual, and it certainly appears that his handlers are trying to keep him off stage. As Tom Nichols of The Atlantic noted yesterday, “When Trump is on TV a lot, his approval goes down. When he’s in hiding and his surrogates are rearranging his bonkers crazypants word salads into something like real thoughts, his approval goes up.” 

Observers, including Jackie Calmes of the Los Angeles Times, have been clear that “Donald Trump’s state of mind should be under debate.” “Trump’s fire hose of cray-cray has inured Americans to his outrages,” Calmes wrote today. “But now that President Biden, a normal and empathetic man, has been pushed out of the 2024 race over concerns about his age and mental acuity, Trump’s more manifest unfitness for office should be ignored no longer—by the media, former advisors and military leaders who remain silent and, yes, Republicans.”

Trump held a surprise “press conference” on Thursday, where, according to a team of reporters and editors at NPR, he misstated things, exaggerated, or lied outright at least 162 times in 64 minutes, a rate of more than two times a minute.

He said that the United States “is in the most dangerous position it’s ever been in from an economic standpoint,” and warned we could end up in another depression like the Great Depression of the 1930s. In fact, the economy is strong and growing at a faster rate than it did in three of the four years of Trump’s presidency. 

He warned of a national crime wave although crime has been plummeting after a surge in 2020, during Trump’s term, and said that we are “very close to a world war,” which illustrates that Trump’s main lever to turn out voters is fear. With the successes of the Biden-Harris administration having neutralized the economic fears that worked in the past, and with the goals of antiabortion activists achieved in 2022 with the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, Trump is apparently going for broke with the threat of World War III.

Altogether, the event did Trump no favors. 

Poll numbers for Harris and her running mate Minnesota governor Tim Walz have climbed since President Joe Biden announced on July 21 he would not accept the Democratic nomination, and observers have reported that Trump’s anger is leading him into unforced errors, picking fights with allies and seemingly unable to let go of his focus on the lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him, a focus that his advisors warn is turning off voters.

Trump has repeatedly seemed to fantasize that Biden will return to the head of the Democratic ticket, and on Sunday, seemingly frantic about Harris’s huge rallies while he can no longer attract big crowds, released a rant accusing Vice President Harris of using AI to create fake footage showing large groups of supporters greeting her airplane. Faking crowds with AI is a technique we know Trump uses, but there is no evidence Harris does. Immediately, people who attended her events released their own videos proving the size of the crowds, and political pundits openly questioned Trump’s mental health.

Then, this morning, Trump posted on his social media channel: “I’m doing really well in the Presidential Race, leading in almost all of the REAL Polls, and this despite the Democrats unprecedentedly changing their Primary Winning Candidate, Sleepy Joe Biden, midstream.” He went on until his closing: “We are going to WIN BIG and take our Country back from the Radical Left Losers, Fascists, and Communists. We will, very quickly, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” This afternoon, Five Thirty Eight showed Harris up 2.7 points in the national polling average.

Trump’s advisors are pleading with him to stop name-calling and to stay on message. His campaign began today to run ads on X that look like his tweets but are much more like standard political ads. 

Tonight, X owner Elon Musk planned to “interview” Trump, although it seemed pretty clear the event was intended simply to be a long advertisement for him. European Union commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton wrote an open letter to Musk warning about E.U. laws against amplifying harmful content “that promotes hatred, disorder, incitement to violence, or certain instances of disinformation.” Breton warned that his team “will be extremely vigilant” about protecting “E.U. citizens from serious harm.” Musk responded with a meme that said: “TAKE A BIG STEP BACK AND LITERALLY, F*CK YOUR OWN FACE!” 

Last month the European Union charged X with failing to respect its social media law by letting disinformation and illegal content run rampant. X faces fines of up to several million euros. 

In the end, technical difficulties delayed the start of the X Spaces event. Instead, wrote BBC journalist Shayan Sardarizadeh, who specializes in exposing disinformation, a “deepfake livestream of the Trump-Musk interview” was playing “on a fake Tesla channel on YouTube, with 200,000 people watching.” Sardarizadeh noted that the channel was running a crypto scam, and YouTube finally suspended it. When the real X channel finally began to function, it showed Musk and Trump heaping praise on each other. But Trump was slurring his words, and when HuffPost White House journalist S.V. Dáte asked the campaign about his inability to articulate, it answered: “Must be your sh*tty hearing. Get your ears checked out.” 

Trump went to Montana on Friday in support of Republican candidate Tim Sheehy, who is running to unseat popular Democrat Jon Tester, but otherwise has said he is not planning to hit the road until after the Democratic National Convention concludes next week, an odd lack of campaigning at this point in a presidential contest. He seems to be trying to regain control of the political narrative through tweets and social media. Today he said he is suing the government over the raid on Mar-a-Lago that recovered hundreds of classified national security documents, but this is almost certainly posturing to try to make him look strong: he would never be willing to undergo the discovery phase of such a lawsuit.

In the midst of Trump’s frenzy, J.D. Vance has been doing the usual appearances of a campaign, although, unable to generate rally crowds himself, he has been reduced to following Harris and Walz to theirs and trying to grab headlines there.

On Sunday he did the rounds of the morning talk shows, where on CNN he complained that Democrats are bullying him by calling the MAGA Republicans “weird.” Political journalist Brian Tyler Cohen promptly answered: “Crooked Hillary, Crazy Nancy Pelosi, Sleepy Joe, Coco Chow, Lyin Ted, Ron DeSanctimonious, Birdbrain Nikki Haley, Old Crow McConnell, Gavin Newscum, Pencil Neck Schiff, Pocahontas, Cryin Chuck, and Kamabla would all like a word.”

Republicans have made punching down a key part of their rhetoric since at least the 1980s, and Vance’s frustration that the tables have turned feels a bit as if someone is finally standing up to the schoolyard bully. 

Outside of the MAGA frenzy, Harris and Walz last week held big, joyous rallies in the swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Nevada, contrasting their happy campaign with the MAGA Republicans’ drumbeat of carnage and revenge. A cover article from Time magazine today by Charlotte Alter described the scene of one of her rallies as a mashup of a Beyoncé concert, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, and “the early days of Barack Obama”: “a kind of reception a Democratic presidential candidate hasn’t gotten in years. Fans packed into overflow spaces, waving homemade signs made of glitter and glue as drumlines roared. When Harris introduced her new running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, the cheering lasted more than a minute.”

At the same time, the grave issues that are propelling the Democrats continue to gain traction. The Associated Press today reported that in the wake of the 2022 Dobbs decision, more than 100 pregnant women have been treated negligently or turned away from emergency rooms despite federal law. Two women, each of whom lost a fallopian tube to an undertreated ectopic pregnancy—one also lost 75% of one of her ovaries, and the other nearly bled to death—have asked the federal government to investigate whether the hospitals that sent them home to miscarry without medical assistance violated federal law.   

On Saturday, Trump’s campaign said it had been hacked, after Politicoreported that it had received communication from an account called “Robert” about internal Trump campaign documents. David Kurtz of Talking Points Memo put together a helpful timeline of the story today, explaining that on Sunday the Washington Post said it had also received some of that information and said it believed the information to be that referred to in an August 9 warning from Microsoft that Iran was engaged in an influence campaign. Today the New York Times also said it had received the information, and this afternoon the FBI said it is investigating attempted hacking against both the Trump-Vance and Harris-Walz campaigns. 

CNN national security and justice reporter Zachary Cohen reported tonight that the hackers apparently were able to access the campaign by compromising the personal email account of Trump operative Roger Stone. 

“Buckle up,” Chris Krebs, the former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, wrote on X. “Someone is running the 2016 playbook, expect continued efforts to stoke fires in society and go after election systems—95% votes on paper ballots is a strong resilience measure, combined with audits. But the chaos is the point….”

—

Chaos is the point.

[everythingwasnormalhere]

🧸🏳️‍🌈♿📈 and uhh "how do their family/friends react to it" once I forgot the emoji for- for kenny and uhh maybe Craig and also maybe twerk? (That is if u hc either of them as disabled In any way)

I hc literally everyone as disabled, so you're getting answers for all 3 >:3

Kenny:

♿️ - What is their disability/disabilities? What are the symptoms that they show?

Besides his chronic pain i wont stop talking about, he has AuDHD, depression, MaDD and C-PTSD ✨

His C-PTSD symtoms didn't show much until adulthood (late 20s-early 30s), because that was when his brain processed the environment as safe and stopped being in permanent survival mode. However, the symptoms of everything else have showed since he was Really young, his MaDD was at its worst when he was around 12 (iykyk) and got better since he left south park, mainly after he started therapy (took him long enough smh)

📈 - What age was their disability formed, or became apparent, at?

The first time one of his deaths still hurt after the fact was on s3 e1, after Kelly revived him. However, he didn't give it much thought, thinking it was just what getting killed by lightning was like. Then it was kind of like a roulette whether it'd hurt or not, but even when it did it was incredibly easy to ignore - until his teens, when he died so often (more on purpose than not) it quickened the effects a lot

🦮 - Do they have supportive friends and/or family? How do they help on bad days? (i think you meant this one)

Yeah, he does! His friends are generally supportive, even cartman after he gets over his assholery. His siblings too :) stuart however is an asshole, and even though kenny went NC with carol i feel like she'd be quite supportive idk. And about how they help on bad days, cuddles from butters mostly do the trick XD if butters isn't there though, more often than not will someone at the very least pay attention to him, either helping out by getting him stuff (food etc) or doing something to keep him entertained (talking, board games, depends on how hes feeling tbh)

🧸- Do they have a comfort item?

He used to have his orange parka, but since karen inherited he doesn't have it anymore, so i would say he doesn't really have any comfort items? Unless we count the mimikyu plush, but idk if that would really qualify as a comfort item much, other than making him think of butters whenever he sees it :)

🏳️‍🌈 - A random headcanon about them and their disability

-He diagnosed craig's autism way before any professional did, but he thought craig was aware of it so he didn't say anything 💀 (he has the strongest autismdar ever) -Most of his daydreams are similar to the stuff he thought in the cheesing episode in some way or another -He used to deal with flashbacks by going on normally with his life, to the point nobody but his friends could ever tell he was going through The Horrors - however as his PTSD worsened he couldn't do that anymore

Craig:

♿️ - What is their disability/disabilities? What are the symptoms that they show?

Autism, it's painfully obvious yet he wasn't diagnosed till he was 15 😭

📈 - What age was their disability formed, or became apparent, at?

From kenny's pov, ever since craig was born 💀 but most people in his life didn't see it as disabling until it began messing with his studies in his teens

🦮 - Do they have supportive friends and/or family? How do they help on bad days?

YUP!!! His parents didn't think it was autism at first, "no everyone does that", surprise all the Tucker's are autistic XD They were a bit confused at first, not knowing what to do, but they were still super supportive about it :) Tricia was as much of a dick to him as usual so nothing new on her side lmao, and his friends were cool about it as soon as they learnt about his diagnosis (cue teasing from kenny and jimmy for thinking he was neurotipical smh, nah craig sry but you stuck with the nds 💀). Also, TWEEK, boy is so loud and that makes him feel so guilty because of how it overwhelms craig ;w; he was the first person who knew craig got diagnosed besides his family, and he did his best to accomodate him as much as he needed :3

🧸- Do they have a comfort item?

Not comforting autism-wise but comforting regardless, the shit ton of (accurate to constellations) glow in the dark stars in his bedroom, he cannot sleep without them. He also has a tiny alien plush keychain he found at Tweek's house and Tweek insisted he should keep it (neither of them know where it came from 💀), so that's another thing :)

🏳️‍🌈 - A random headcanon about them and their disability

-After the diagnosis he refused to leave his room for weeks because he didn't know how to cope with it, and nobody besides his family and tweek were allowed to come in during that period - in the end though, with their help he accepted it -Something I've mentioned a couple times already but is hilarious to me: he didn't talk until he was four (how did it take him so long to get diagnosed), and his first words were a "cállate hijoputa" directed at cartman 😭

Tweek:

♿️ - What is their disability/disabilities? What are the symptoms that they show?

Tourettes, anxiety, schizophrenia and PPD - most of these were at the very least influenced by the whole meth in coffee thing

📈 - What age was their disability formed, or became apparent, at?

He gave symptoms of all these since he was really young, besides PPD, which only became obvious almost as soon as he left his house

🦮 - Do they have supportive friends and/or family? How do they help on bad days?

Family? Haha ok next question--- About his friends though, they do their best to help him with it. Most times during the worst days he can only stand Craig's company, who will listen to him and try to help him feel safe, however normally he's ok enough to be with others just fine. He gets accomodations at college and later at work too, like being allowed to stay home some days or to leave early

🧸- Do they have a comfort item?

YES YES YES !!! Storytime, after craig and tweek dated for three years, craig's anniversary gift was a green stuffed stegosaurus (since tweek was fixated on dinosaurs back then), which tweek named peanuts :) Peanuts became the way tweek would deal with any anxiety attacks, but he tugged at him so hard he broke - however, laura patched peanuts up for tweek (after craig quite literally begged her to, she would've done it anyway but he did anyway) Then, when they moved out, peanuts disappeared :( until the tuckers found him under craig's bed, who knows how he ended up there XD SO tweek's comfort item is the oldest most used up cutest little stego ever :3 (also does having a room full of spiders count as a comfort item? idk but he does cuz he loves spiders, craig despises that room with his whole soul poor boy hates spiders so much 😭)

🏳️‍🌈 - A random headcanon about them and their disability

Went NC with his parents as soon as he could!!! He also stopped drinking their coffee in his early teens, but because he (and everyone tbh) thought what messed up his health was the caffeine not the meth - he didn't find out about the fact he was being drugged until he was told the "secret family recipe" when he turned 18 (and, understandably, he was PISSED)

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Mike Luckovich

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

August 12, 2024

Heather Cox Richardson

Aug 13, 2024

The 2024 election is shaping up to be bizarre on the Republican side. The party’s presidential nominee, former president Donald Trump, has largely stayed home and posted on social media while his vice presidential running mate J.D. Vance has been trying to cover the campaigning for the team. Indeed, Vance’s offer on Wednesday during a rally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, to debate Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris suggests that Vance is not unwilling to be seen as the face, if not the leader, of the Republican ticket.

The actual presidential nominee appears even more unstable than usual, and it certainly appears that his handlers are trying to keep him off stage. As Tom Nichols of The Atlantic noted yesterday, “When Trump is on TV a lot, his approval goes down. When he’s in hiding and his surrogates are rearranging his bonkers crazypants word salads into something like real thoughts, his approval goes up.” 

Observers, including Jackie Calmes of the Los Angeles Times, have been clear that “Donald Trump’s state of mind should be under debate.” “Trump’s fire hose of cray-cray has inured Americans to his outrages,” Calmes wrote today. “But now that President Biden, a normal and empathetic man, has been pushed out of the 2024 race over concerns about his age and mental acuity, Trump’s more manifest unfitness for office should be ignored no longer—by the media, former advisors and military leaders who remain silent and, yes, Republicans.”

Trump held a surprise “press conference” on Thursday, where, according to a team of reporters and editors at NPR, he misstated things, exaggerated, or lied outright at least 162 times in 64 minutes, a rate of more than two times a minute.

He said that the United States “is in the most dangerous position it’s ever been in from an economic standpoint,” and warned we could end up in another depression like the Great Depression of the 1930s. In fact, the economy is strong and growing at a faster rate than it did in three of the four years of Trump’s presidency. 

He warned of a national crime wave although crime has been plummeting after a surge in 2020, during Trump’s term, and said that we are “very close to a world war,” which illustrates that Trump’s main lever to turn out voters is fear. With the successes of the Biden-Harris administration having neutralized the economic fears that worked in the past, and with the goals of antiabortion activists achieved in 2022 with the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, Trump is apparently going for broke with the threat of World War III.

Altogether, the event did Trump no favors. 

Poll numbers for Harris and her running mate Minnesota governor Tim Walz have climbed since President Joe Biden announced on July 21 he would not accept the Democratic nomination, and observers have reported that Trump’s anger is leading him into unforced errors, picking fights with allies and seemingly unable to let go of his focus on the lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him, a focus that his advisors warn is turning off voters.

Trump has repeatedly seemed to fantasize that Biden will return to the head of the Democratic ticket, and on Sunday, seemingly frantic about Harris’s huge rallies while he can no longer attract big crowds, released a rant accusing Vice President Harris of using AI to create fake footage showing large groups of supporters greeting her airplane. Faking crowds with AI is a technique we know Trump uses, but there is no evidence Harris does. Immediately, people who attended her events released their own videos proving the size of the crowds, and political pundits openly questioned Trump’s mental health.

Then, this morning, Trump posted on his social media channel: “I’m doing really well in the Presidential Race, leading in almost all of the REAL Polls, and this despite the Democrats unprecedentedly changing their Primary Winning Candidate, Sleepy Joe Biden, midstream.” He went on until his closing: “We are going to WIN BIG and take our Country back from the Radical Left Losers, Fascists, and Communists. We will, very quickly, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” This afternoon, Five Thirty Eight showed Harris up 2.7 points in the national polling average.

Trump’s advisors are pleading with him to stop name-calling and to stay on message. His campaign began today to run ads on X that look like his tweets but are much more like standard political ads. 

Tonight, X owner Elon Musk planned to “interview” Trump, although it seemed pretty clear the event was intended simply to be a long advertisement for him. European Union commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton wrote an open letter to Musk warning about E.U. laws against amplifying harmful content “that promotes hatred, disorder, incitement to violence, or certain instances of disinformation.” Breton warned that his team “will be extremely vigilant” about protecting “E.U. citizens from serious harm.” Musk responded with a meme that said: “TAKE A BIG STEP BACK AND LITERALLY, F*CK YOUR OWN FACE!” 

Last month the European Union charged X with failing to respect its social media law by letting disinformation and illegal content run rampant. X faces fines of up to several million euros. 

In the end, technical difficulties delayed the start of the X Spaces event. Instead, wrote BBC journalist Shayan Sardarizadeh, who specializes in exposing disinformation, a “deepfake livestream of the Trump-Musk interview” was playing “on a fake Tesla channel on YouTube, with 200,000 people watching.” Sardarizadeh noted that the channel was running a crypto scam, and YouTube finally suspended it. When the real X channel finally began to function, it showed Musk and Trump heaping praise on each other. But Trump was slurring his words, and when HuffPost White House journalist S.V. Dáte asked the campaign about his inability to articulate, it answered: “Must be your sh*tty hearing. Get your ears checked out.” 

Trump went to Montana on Friday in support of Republican candidate Tim Sheehy, who is running to unseat popular Democrat Jon Tester, but otherwise has said he is not planning to hit the road until after the Democratic National Convention concludes next week, an odd lack of campaigning at this point in a presidential contest. He seems to be trying to regain control of the political narrative through tweets and social media. Today he said he is suing the government over the raid on Mar-a-Lago that recovered hundreds of classified national security documents, but this is almost certainly posturing to try to make him look strong: he would never be willing to undergo the discovery phase of such a lawsuit.

In the midst of Trump’s frenzy, J.D. Vance has been doing the usual appearances of a campaign, although, unable to generate rally crowds himself, he has been reduced to following Harris and Walz to theirs and trying to grab headlines there.

On Sunday he did the rounds of the morning talk shows, where on CNN he complained that Democrats are bullying him by calling the MAGA Republicans “weird.” Political journalist Brian Tyler Cohen promptly answered: “Crooked Hillary, Crazy Nancy Pelosi, Sleepy Joe, Coco Chow, Lyin Ted, Ron DeSanctimonious, Birdbrain Nikki Haley, Old Crow McConnell, Gavin Newscum, Pencil Neck Schiff, Pocahontas, Cryin Chuck, and Kamabla would all like a word.”

Republicans have made punching down a key part of their rhetoric since at least the 1980s, and Vance’s frustration that the tables have turned feels a bit as if someone is finally standing up to the schoolyard bully. 

Outside of the MAGA frenzy, Harris and Walz last week held big, joyous rallies in the swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Nevada, contrasting their happy campaign with the MAGA Republicans’ drumbeat of carnage and revenge. A cover article from Time magazine today by Charlotte Alter described the scene of one of her rallies as a mashup of a Beyoncé concert, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, and “the early days of Barack Obama”: “a kind of reception a Democratic presidential candidate hasn’t gotten in years. Fans packed into overflow spaces, waving homemade signs made of glitter and glue as drumlines roared. When Harris introduced her new running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, the cheering lasted more than a minute.”

At the same time, the grave issues that are propelling the Democrats continue to gain traction. The Associated Press today reported that in the wake of the 2022 Dobbs decision, more than 100 pregnant women have been treated negligently or turned away from emergency rooms despite federal law. Two women, each of whom lost a fallopian tube to an undertreated ectopic pregnancy—one also lost 75% of one of her ovaries, and the other nearly bled to death—have asked the federal government to investigate whether the hospitals that sent them home to miscarry without medical assistance violated federal law.   

On Saturday, Trump’s campaign said it had been hacked, after Politico reported that it had received communication from an account called “Robert” about internal Trump campaign documents. David Kurtz of Talking Points Memo put together a helpful timeline of the story today, explaining that on Sunday the Washington Post said it had also received some of that information and said it believed the information to be that referred to in an August 9 warning from Microsoft that Iran was engaged in an influence campaign. Today the New York Times also said it had received the information, and this afternoon the FBI said it is investigating attempted hacking against both the Trump-Vance and Harris-Walz campaigns. 

CNN national security and justice reporter Zachary Cohen reported tonight that the hackers apparently were able to access the campaign by compromising the personal email account of Trump operative Roger Stone. 

“Buckle up,” Chris Krebs, the former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, wrote on X. “Someone is running the 2016 playbook, expect continued efforts to stoke fires in society and go after election systems—95% votes on paper ballots is a strong resilience measure, combined with audits. But the chaos is the point….”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[rafent]

TOA Anniversary Monday

Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is. Repost, don't reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing! Happy anniversary, TOA! Here's to many more years spent together.

Name: Soji

Pronouns: She/her

Birthday (no year): October 14th

Where are you from? What is your time zone? United States and EST timezone. I was born in California, I lived in Pennsylvania for 15 years, and now I'm living in—(it's a secret)

How long is your roleplay experience? 14 years, phew

How were you introduced to roleplaying as a whole? Wolfquest Online

How were you introduced to TOA? The TOA blog spamming the Fire Emblem RP tags which I can't even blame because it works

Do you have any pets? Soji Man my lovely chinchilla. There's a Bichon Frise puppy in my household right now but I consider him more my mom's dog

What is your favorite time of year and why? Maybe Thanksgiving for the food. Autumn is the best

What is your IRL occupation? I'm a medical scribe in the meanwhile but I'll be going back to school. Occupation...soon to be student :littleantbitch:

Some interests and things you like/enjoy? Sleeping and also curating my pride and joy Fire Emblem shrine

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? FFXIV, Lethal Company, and Stardew Valley with friends when the mood strikes

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: My favorite Pokemon is Scizor and I like bug type Pokemon

Tell us some fun facts and trivia about yourself! 1) My favorite food is shaved ice with condensed milk. When I last went to Korea that's what I ate every day so I understand Rafal's sweet tooth 2) I have very strong, dexterous toes from years of picking up laundry and throwing it in the bin with my feet

How did you get into Fire Emblem? SSB Brawl and Marth (soft smile)

What Fire Emblem games have you played? FE1, FE3, FE7, FE9, FE11, FE12, Awakening, SOV, 3H, Engage

First & Favorite Fire Emblem games: Awakening was my first game. My favorite games are Shadow Dragon, FE3, and Engage

List your 5 favorite Fire Emblem characters across the series! Marth, Rafal, Rath, Xane, Alear

Who was the first character ever to make you go “ooh I like this one in particular” and why? Can be any context and reason! Marf

Any Fire Emblem crushes? None

If you’ve played (or are familiar with) the following games, who was your first S support? Who would you S support nowadays?

- Awakening: First was Stahl, then Chrom. I'd still S support Stahl now - Fates: Have not played, but Leo or Takumi - Three Houses: Dimitri was my first S support. I'd support Yuri now - Engage: Alfred at first. I would S support Rafal or Gregory now

Favorite Fire Emblem class? Manakete

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class and stats? Would you be playable? Archer or mage I feel it in my gut. Good skill, okay speed, and okay attack. Shitty defenses. I would be playable

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? Blue lions

If you were an Officers Academy student, what would be your boons, banes and potential budding talent? Boons in archery and faith. Bane in axe. Potential budding talent in sword

If you were an Engage character, which nation would you originate from? Solm, my original bias nation in Engage

How do you pronounce TOA? Toe-uh

Current TOA muses: Rafal

Past TOA muses? Marth and Xane * blows them a kiss *

Who was your first TOA muse? If you no longer have them, can you see yourself picking them up again? Marth! I could see myself writing him again but not for a long, long time. He and I need a break

Do you believe you have a type of character you gravitate towards writing? I joke about it all the time in DMs, but yeah...sighs..."The Little Brother"

Do you have characters or types of characters you don’t think you can handle writing, but wish you could? Soft, girly girl type characters. I've written female muses before but I'm usually very picky. I like my women chaotic and cray cray

What kind of scenes, situations etc do you believe you enjoy writing the most? I like writing scenes with complicated emotions. Feelings are funky, this is true for reality, but I like putting that to words in roleplay as well. I think characters most come to life through these moments and it gives them a 'human' edge so to speak

Do you have any scenario in mind for your muse(s) that gets you thinking “man I hope I get to write this one day”? I don't really have a wish list. I find value in every interaction that Rafal has because he's a bit of a blank slate. The perks of starting over as a new person and turning over a new leaf

Favorite TOA-related memories? The first month of joining when everything was fresh and new

Present or past tense? I can do either, it just depends on the muse for me, but I've definitely written in present tense more

Normal size text, small text, no preference? Small text! I think it looks nicer for myself. No preference for partners though

Got any potential muse delusions to share? Not right now. When I consider possible muses, I am very focused on their potential for longevity because I tend to be extremely loyal to what muses I DO have. Call me an oshi with how I give them 100%

[absolutebl]

Hi ABL!

I was wondering if you had any posts about the use of sound effects in BL - the slide whistle for checking people out/boners simply gets me every time.

Perhaps it’s because I’ve watched so much American produced media and tuning out the same concept / soundscape since I’m so used to it.

I’m also always surprised that with this love of sound effects, there hasn’t been the classic echoing noise that’s heard across oceans when they open lube!

Anyway I love your blog! It’s been an incredible resource in appreciating BL in all its glory :)

Hi!

Why All those Sound Effects in BL RomComs?

I don't have a specific post. I mention it in some of my guidance and warning posts about Thai and Taiwanese stuff in particular, in general I am not wild about it... but I have grown accustomed to it. It can certainly be off putting to new watchers.

One of the worst offenders was Lovely Writer. I think I docked a whole point off that show because the sound was SO intrusive and jarring within the context of the drama.

These days the more comedy and the more pulp, the more likely and frequent the sound effects. Also Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Japan are the biggest offenders.

It's simply a comedic tradition. I think of it as similar to panto or commedia dell'arte. It's certainly true that a lot of ancient Greek and Roman plays likely had sound effects, as indeed would have Shakespeare. No to mention Kabuki theater. In fact, it's like throughout the history of stagecraft, sound effects were more common than not.

However, it's not particularly common or popular in American modern cinema out of Hollywood because it's associated with children's performances and clownishness. Like the voice overs, cartoon sound effects now are seen as somewhat clumsy and childish, not to say old fashioned.

There is an element of mistrusting the actors not to convey the correct emotion. Like the actors need audio help to do their jobs properly. But also like the audience can't be trusted to understand and so we feel "talked down to" by the sound effect. At least I do.

Yes I am aware this is a personal hang up.

Instead I think it's meant more as a communal nudge, like "we all together are responding in a certain way to this." Isn't it funny?

I also wonder if it's the influence of anime et al. (I'm really not an anime person partly because of the soundscapes. But then I don't like cartoons. Or Disney. Just not into kid's stuff. Never have been. Even when I was a kid.)

Here's someone else's perspective on Thailand's use of sound effects.

And Japan's.

I would say I'm accustomed to it now, but I still don't ever enjoy it. In fact, I often appreciate the "gritty" drama BLs like The Eighth Sense or I Told Sunset About You or Eternal Yesterday BECAUSE at least high angst means no sound effects.

Also less likely to sing.

All hail dark BL's good side? The silver lining.

For the record and to show my "history of BL creds" I'm gonna give a shout out to the SINGLE best use of a sound effect in a BL-adjacent piece of media....

THE BEST BL SOUND EFFECT EVER AWARD!

drum roll please

THE POP SOUND

Made by Pree pulling out of Ram's ykw just just after railing him.

Series: What The Duck

(can't remember if it's season 1 or 2, and I will never rewatch that cray cray)

Country: Thailand

I am aware I am being crass but this moment was honestly, truly, hilarious. It's a very sexy scene and then that sound. So funny.

I expect a comment from those few of you who remember this moment.

(source)

[director-yomi-hellsmile]

Hello I took a uquiz to see what warrior cat clan I would be in because I thought it would be fun I got Riverclan what do u think about this

Hmmmm I fail to assess it...... However I can provide adequate warrior cat clan info so you can find out which christofascist cult would be right for u !!!

Choose a way to born:

RIVERCLAN:

Fan favourite because it's the water Clan. The only Clan that swims and eats fish which is huge because readers also love swimming and eating fish

Like pretty things and frequently decorate their nests with nice pebbles, shells and other trinkets they find. Whereas the other Clans have a singular den for all warriors where they all slept together, RiverClan used to make individual dens for 2-3 cats which also fucking floated apparently

Are described as being fat and beautiful by the other Clans (which are also used as insults because they're Jealous), they generally starve the least during winter which doesn't quite make as much sense as the books say but whatever good for them. Other Clans also call them stubborn and lazy a lot.

Their first major infamous oopsie moment was when they allied with Tigerstar's ShadowClan to form TigerClan and attempt to take over every other Clan too and also kill half-clan cats because of their icky impure blood, also included children. Their own Clan deputy (who was exposed as being half-clan, and being starved and kept prisoner since) was publically executed in camp for refusing to kill two half-clan teenagers in order to make up for his heritage. Tigerstar and his goons also built a throne of bones to sit on ominously there so you know they're extra evil. Then he died and TigerClan was disbanded. After the whole ordeal Leopardstar (RiverClan leader) and most of RiverClan were quite embarrassed about it for a while but didn't really change that much or appear to regret The Atrocities as much as they should, and afterwards it's been literally said by one of their cats that "Tigerstar was never such an enemy to RiverClan"

Their second major infamous oopsie moment was when they let Splashtail assign himself as leader (after faking a sign from StarClan) and become the most cartoonishly evil dictator I ever read about. He openly murdered people and made evil monologues, and when Frostpaw (teenager) tried to speak up that he (adult man) lied to her when she was younger into believing he has romantic feelings for her (ew) so she would be more susceptible to getting manipulated for his own gain, and that he killed the former deputy along with Curlfeather and then indirectly also killed her too, his defense was "uhhhh nuh uh actually Frostpaw is crazy because yes I did lead her on when she was a child but it's not my fault she kept following me around, and she's lying about my murder plots because she is so cray cray so maybe we should excommunicate this harlot" and they literally bought it and threw her under the bus. How do you even take the side of a guy who just admitted he. Nevermind. Anyway Splashtail keeps training his cats to bully and beat the shit out of each other and everybody else they see for his amusement and none of them ever objected they just happily did whatever he said. He killed some dude in front of everybody and nobody did anything either. He held babies hostage and no one did anything either. Their defense for whatever the hell happened back then was because "They were just so so scared of him🥺🥺🥺" despite the fact that he's Literally Just One Guy

Unintentionally consistently written to never take accountability for their actions and slip all of their former war crimes under the rug. Always insist that they are the victims no matter what and were just following orders from the big bads that have harrassed and bullied them to be evil against their will you see. No they don't feel bad and will never apologize nor do they regret it and actually meant everything they said and will pursue this agenda anyway. Whenever they are confronted about this they use the same excuse of "but we were just Afraid🥺". My favourite part in ASC RiverClan was when they straight up rewrote history to make themselves look less bad lmao. I just think that's Interesting however the writers Don't Even Know

SHADOWCLAN:

Terrible reputation as the Evil Clan. There used to be nursery tales in ThunderClan about how the cold north wind that went through ShadowClan territory turned their hearts all dark and fucked up and shit. Also considered secretive and sneaky and arrogant. Also known to be pretty skilled at battle (moreso than the other Clans) though they also use a lot of ambush and underhanded tactics from what I remember

First territory was a very wet swamp, second was a coniferous forest. In contrast to RiverClan they starve the most during winter which is why they fight and steal so much. They love to eat frogs and lizards also it's their favourite silly thing. They will eat anything actually including roadkill and carrion (which got them sick once and a bunch of people died) they hate wasting stuff

Main reason for their shit reputation: they had an UNREASONABLE amount of violent dictators in quick succession to another. Cedarstar tried to drive out WindClan once but failed miserably then got replaced by Raggedstar who didn't do anything bad actually aside from abusing his girlfriend and killing his dad (it's fine cause he was an outsider) but then got killed by his son Brokentail/star like some kind of fucked up patricide cycle. Brokenstar killed babies and used child soldiers (all Clans have child soldiers but Brokenstar had like, child child soldiers) and successfully drove out WindClan once and stole their turf. Dethroned and briefly replaced by Nightstar who never received his blessings from cat god because Brokenstar was still alive then he disintegrated into dust a few weeks later but not before he tried to drive out WindClan again. Got replaced by Tigerstar who well. Well uhhh. You know. Then Tigerstar got unzipped by Scourge and so he got replaced by Blackstar, who was a former war criminal slash murdered slash Brokenstar's and Tigerstar's favourite henchman times double. Then Blackstar got distracted by a very sexy random dude that manipulated him into giving up power and then briefly turned his Clan into godless heathens until Blackstar decided that he will never trust a twink again and chased him off. Then he got replaced by Rowanstar who constantly got his authority undermined by teenagers and let a cult take over the entire ShadowClan and murder a bunch of people and they almost stopped existing until Tigerstar The Second (yes there are two Tigerstars. That's his awesome wife-loving grandson) rebuilt it and they've been normal and actually pretty chill ever since.....

....... If we disregard Tigerstar The Second's brief takeover of RiverClan that everyone hated him for however. However. However hear me out I am on his side. RiverClan didn't have a leader which made them ridiculously and dangerously incompetent, not just to themselves, but also to other Clans around them; this all resulted from Tigerstar The Second's infant dying from an easily treatable disease, that RiverClan hoarded the medicine for despite having enough. Like sucks to suck but like. Slay king. Also we was literally nice to them the whole time .

Actually my favourite and where I would probably insert myself. Silly silly goobers

One of the former authors Vicky Holmes said that she imagines many ShadowClan cats sounding like british actor Alan Rickman. I don't fucking knwo

THUNDERCLAN:

The protagonist Clan. The main boys. The Clan where the plot happens. I could list like, six cats that were born in ThunderClan and had motherfucking superpowers

Live in the woods they love the woods. Good at hunting and stalking shit, also described as like Really Really Strong.

Have a reputation for being extra loud and righteous and constantly getting involved in other Clan's business. Because of Morals.

Many of their recent leaders after Pinestar (who was the most based warrior cats leader next to Tigerstar The Second in that he recognized the Clans were just doing war 24/7 went "what the fuck" and gave up his position then just left and lived the rest of his life as a house cat getting pets every day) were actually very peaceful and liked to help people: Sunstar I don't think did anything bad, Bluestar was very altruistic by the beginning and middle of her reign but then her mental health and paranoia got terrible after Tigerclaw/star tried to kill her and so she became a bit of a tyrant but everyone forgave her, Firestar took after Bluestar in being a generally nice dude that preferred to help others including outsiders, Bramblestar was a bit of an asshole but also avoided war (we do not speak about when he got possessed by a rogue StarClan cat that puppeted his body into committing atrocities), Squirrelstar is also very nice but also helps people slightly less than Firestar because she avoids conflict that much which is inaccurate to her former personality but whatever.

BEFORE Pinestar however was Oakstar, known really mean guy who exiled a mother and her three toddlers for being half-clan in the middle of a storm (all the kids drowned and the mom went on a killing spree), then he started what some of the fandom considers the "cat crusades" in which he and his warriors raided a bunch of defenseless house cats' homes and attacked them there to scare them into submission. That sure happened once

Currently incredibly overpopulated and everyone is marrying their cousins

WINDCLAN:

The Fast Clan. Like really really fast. They can run so well. They're fucking leggy. The whole fandom just agreed to draw all of them as leggy and oriental-looking build wise as possible

Live on the moors and love open spaces. They eat rabbits 24/7. They eat so many rabbits.

There was a bit of lore about how they believe they are the closest to StarClan because they sleep under the open skies. And also because in the old territories they were the closest to the Clan's holy place.

Also described as: quick-witted, easily offended but also the least likely to start battles over it, have the deepest knowledge of humans out of all the Clans because of seeing them very often in the farms next to their old territory

Actually a long time ago they used to split their warriors into moor-runners (run really fast and hunt on the surface) and tunnelers (dig really good and make tunnels underground to get everywhere). The tunnelers were then abolished by Heatherstar because a bunch of people died in cave-ins and also they were kinda useless but that's my hot take. And also because their existence made the Clan very divided and turned them into haters .

Used to be considered pretty peaceful when Tallstar was in charge if not a bit of pushovers because they got driven out by Brokenstar that one time and almost driven out by Nightstar that second time. Tallstar's deputy Mudclaw however on the contrary really liked war, and so Tallstar on his deathbed demoted him and said that Onewhisker will be leader again. Onewhisker did not want to be leader but he went "oh ok" and also Firestar wanted Onewhisker to be leader so he vouched for him. This made Mudclaw and his supporters really mad so they started a civil war and tried to kill Onewhisker because they believed he was conspiring with ThunderClan, so Mudclaw decided to conspire with RiverClan and ShadowClan to counter this, the WindClan civil war ended when StarClan smited Mudclaw via striking a tree with lightning so it fell and crushed him and they also used that same fallen tree as a bridge to get to the gathering island from that point on. Onewhisker then Onestar came out pretty traumatized and pissed off from almost being murdered by his clanmates for not even doing anything and also almost being used by his best friend Firestar as a political chess piece, which resulted in a catastrophic lebel divorce between him and Firestar and Onestar decided he will never be nice anymore and instead do everything that Mudclaw would do in order to appease his clanmates (they disliked him anyway) and also take every chance he got in order to beat the shit out of Firestar and ThunderClan like there were WindClan-ThunderClan fights every three seconds. Then Onestar was drowned by his wedlock disowned cult leader son (long story) and got replaced Harestar who is still trying to undo the cat decades' worth of unimaginable malice that Onestar radiated. Sorry I love Onestar I think he was kinda correct like 50% of the time like I'd also have a villain arc after that shit

SKYCLAN: (last "official" Clan, BloodClan is also somewhat of a Clan but barely anyone counts them with the Big Five)

There's two versions of SkyClan: the original, pre-exile version, and the new, rebuilt version.

OG SkyClan lived in the woods and could climb and jump real good. Their founder was literally satan and committed every single crime that ever existed, he hated women the most and every single one of his overly brutal murder or maiming victims was female. I will NOT get into his 764775748548549 paragraph list of war crimes but it was BAD

One day humans started destroying their part of the woods and so they begged the other Clans to give them some of their land so they have a place to live and all the other four unanimously went "haha no. kys" and so they were forced out of the territories, abandoned god in rage, and just kinda slowly died out then disbanded

Many years later. They get rebuilt by Firestar and his wife on a mission, from the descendants of the former SkyClan and various strays and house cats. They were taught how a Clan kinda works but they are generally isolated from any other Clan and so war is minimal, they were also all living as clanless beforehand so they're pretty different from the main four.

They don't hate outsiders and allowed visitors and have a special rank called "daylight warriors" which are just house cats that live in the Clan one day then go back to their owners at night and they get silly names like Billystorm and Snookthorn and Harveymoon. This made some non-dw cats angry because they thought they weren't dedicated to the Clan enough

(though sometimes they're written to hate house cats too apparently which is. Tiring. please let them be different than the main four for the love of god I am grasping at anything that could separate SkyClan from the main four)

They got beaten the shit out of once and left their newer territory (again) and now live along with the other four Clans and daylight warriors are over and they lost 90% of their entire culture and Leafstar pisses me off so much why are you like this I hope everyone in SkyClan dies. Also they made up a new rank just for Tree (who I hate) called mediator but he doesn't even fucking do anything it's completely useless HATE. LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I

Pick ur poison . Damn that was a lot of yapping

[caliburn-the-sword]

finished reading scarlet; last thoughts and reactions and ponderings

was about to be like "ew wtf did not want r*pe in MY y/a book" AND THEN HE SLIPPED HER AN I.D. TO ESCAPE

thorne is SO real for only being concerned about his jacket despite human bites being very dangerous lol

why are these werewolves acting like vamps

it's kind of nice how cool thorne is with lunars with all the lunar hate there is - i remember when reading cinder being apalled about how she generalised them all as corrupt

YES SCARLET KNOWS SHE KNOWS NOW

NO NOT GRANNY I'M LITERALLY IN STUDY PERIOD RN I CAN'T CRY (note: i managed not to cry in study period but god my eyes burned for a while lmao)

tf i thought wolf was just being possessive in like a protective way against ran and not just a plain old possessive way. he's honestly making me nervous rn like goodness i can literally feel scarlet's fear rn. STOP WITH YOUR I CAN FIX HIM DISEASE AND RUN (note: okay he got brain fucky wucky by mind control so this isn't him)

HOLY SHIT THEY'RE ALL FINALLY MEETING I'M FROTHING AT THE MOUTH

i think kai is going delulu. i bet his office isn't bugged and he's got a spy. literally since cinder my money has been on torin. but maybe huy

omg kai's recognition of cinder's sacrifice by going to the ball <3

gotta agree with everything cinder's saying about kai's marriage because it's everything i've been thinking since kai decided to marry levana. i wish he would see how it's a bandaid for a stab wound. he's barely fixing a short term problem, which is gonna have the same long term problem regardless

the girls (all current pov characters) ARE FIGHTING. not mad tho because i'm a messy bitch who lives for drama <3

"She'd had the bridge built for herself out of very special glass, so that she could watch (...) all without being observed herself" levana YOU MEAN A TWO WAY MIRROR??? don't go acting all superior you're not special

from what wolf has described of his Tragic Backstory there is NO way he ISN'T a virgin. i'm so sorry that was my only takeaway but i'm trying to distract myself

"We met less than a week ago and in that time I've done nothing but lie and cheat and betray you" FKSDHFSDK sounds JUST like ouat rumpelstiltskin and yet he's STILL healthier than him and not toxic LMAO

wait did wolf need to pretend betray scarlet without her knowing instead of just making THAT the plan because those supersoldiers can smell hormones?? i bet they can. i reckon he needed her to feel REAL fear (note: now that i think about it it's probably just the bioelectricity crap but also ONLY the thaumaturge would be able to detect that???)

if i keep having to read "alpha female" with my own two eyes, i'm going to need bleach. marissa meyer you owe me financial compensation for the psychological distress i've been caused. 3 is in fact 4 times too many. it is a crime that it was ever thought into existence

predictions for cress

didn't do this last time between cinder and scarlet but figured it would be fun!! you guys get to silently laugh about how wrong i am, no spoilers

first off, doc erland's place in africa becomes the home base and cinder starts her training

someone tries to recreate garan's device since it will be useful for the rebellion - could be a joint effort between cinder and cress since they have the hardware and software down respectively. idk who's gonna fill the last role of like. bio stuff and the surgeries tho but we'll see

MORE THORNE BACKSTORY

definitely more wolf pov chapters now that marissa no longer needs to make him dodgy

cress is at least a LITTLE bit delulu wackers bonkers cray z lost her marbles etc etc from being so isolated for so long. i would LOVE to get into that mindset and character voice. would make for a very interesting pov

on reading the blurb:

i'm REALLY fucking dumb it finally occurred to me that in rapunzel the hero falls from the tower and gets blinded by thorns. so that tells me exactly who carswell thorne is (rip to when i thought he was the prince from sleeping beauty cause that's embarrassing). i wonder if he gets ejected into space from the satellite and his eyeballs freeze out of his sockets or something

i wonder WHY cress would be locked up by the queen BEFORE she was even able to hack since she wouldn't have been useful then. my first thought was that glamour doesn't work on her like with shells but she's not a shell herself but that wouldn't make sense because the thaumaturges seemed surprised by cinder and michelle benoit so it can't be that. for the sake of my running joke of every fairy tale character either being related or knowing each other, i'm just gonna pin it down to her being somewhere in the family tree and leave it at that

can these people STOP getting separated from each other?? i can't handle it. from the blurb it seems like the boys got cut off from the girls??? and then kai is also separated from all of them lol. this is a prediction only in the sense that i'm trying to guess who's getting separated from who. i think it would tie well into separating everyone from their love interest like poor cinder

i wonder if this will be the book that we meet princess winter since with royal etiquette and all that her presence will p r o b a b l y be required during all them wedding preparations and what not

@eddisfargo @francforever @winterrhayle @winterpinetrees

[mwolf0epsilon]

Sponge, looking towards the sunset with a pensive look: Before everything went to hell, I had forgiven them. My batchmates.

Dogma, quietly watching the sunset as he sips his tea: ...

Sponge: It wasn't easy... They'd hurt me terribly after Jelly died. But Geoduck and Crayfish were willing to meet me halfway and assess if it was worth a shot or not.

Dogma: ...

Sponge: They didn't have all the facts, it turns out. They didn't know about my "condition" and were struggling with their own decomm worthy-issues. Their ignorance hurt, of course, but it meant they didn't know what they were doing was worse because they were keeping their heads down and trying to survive.

Dogma, slowly glancing towards Sponge: ...

Sponge: After Gooey and Cray found out, they wanted to fix it. For all that keeping away was convenient at the time, they soon realized it didn't help anyone. And I came to realize the same thing. And we made it work... Geoduck, Crayfish and I.

Dogma: ...But?

Sponge, frowning: But Conch wasn't willing. Conch didn't care. Conch hated me. And somehow, that mattered more to me than the fact I had gotten two out of four ori'vode back...

Dogma, humming in acknowledgement: ...

Sponge, chuckling bitterly: It ate away at me. I got incredibly angry at him. I either fought with him constantly whenever we were in the same room, or I'd lower my head and take all the abuse he threw my way. I did everything he'd ever asked of me, even when it hurt to do so. But no matter how much I screamed, cried and tried to push him away just as much as he did to me... I still wanted him to love me...

Dogma: You wanted someone who was just as close to Jelly as you were, to love you. Because you didn't have much of Jelly left, but you did have a brother who knew just how bad you were hurting... Someone who would have known what to say.

Sponge, unable to meet Dogma's eye: ... Yes...

Dogma, sighing and gently squeezing their shoulder: ... I'm sorry you had to go through that...

Sponge, leaning into their little brother's touch a little: I'm sorry you did as well. I wish things had been different for us. For all of us...

Dogma: Hm... I guess it just wasn't meant to be.