#everything about this needs an explanation for future historians

[ashbelero]

I want everyone to know I took a screenshot of this exact post including OP’s current username as it is on 6/10/2023 because I feel like this is valuable to future historians. If you, too, would like to preserve this moment, here it is.

What if we kissed in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents bathroom 😳

[phantomrose96]

If anyone wants to know why every tech company in the world right now is clamoring for AI like drowned rats scrabbling to board a ship, I decided to make a post to explain what's happening.

(Disclaimer to start: I'm a software engineer who's been employed full time since 2018. I am not a historian nor an overconfident Youtube essayist, so this post is my working knowledge of what I see around me and the logical bridges between pieces.)

Okay anyway. The explanation starts further back than what's going on now. I'm gonna start with the year 2000. The Dot Com Bubble just spectacularly burst. The model of "we get the users first, we learn how to profit off them later" went out in a no-money-having bang (remember this, it will be relevant later). A lot of money was lost. A lot of people ended up out of a job. A lot of startup companies went under. Investors left with a sour taste in their mouth and, in general, investment in the internet stayed pretty cooled for that decade. This was, in my opinion, very good for the internet as it was an era not suffocating under the grip of mega-corporation oligarchs and was, instead, filled with Club Penguin and I Can Haz Cheezburger websites.

Then around the 2010-2012 years, a few things happened. Interest rates got low, and then lower. Facebook got huge. The iPhone took off. And suddenly there was a huge new potential market of internet users and phone-havers, and the cheap money was available to start backing new tech startup companies trying to hop on this opportunity. Companies like Uber, Netflix, and Amazon either started in this time, or hit their ramp-up in these years by shifting focus to the internet and apps.

Now, every start-up tech company dreaming of being the next big thing has one thing in common: they need to start off by getting themselves massively in debt. Because before you can turn a profit you need to first spend money on employees and spend money on equipment and spend money on data centers and spend money on advertising and spend money on scale and and and

But also, everyone wants to be on the ship for The Next Big Thing that takes off to the moon.

So there is a mutual interest between new tech companies, and venture capitalists who are willing to invest $$$ into said new tech companies. Because if the venture capitalists can identify a prize pig and get in early, that money could come back to them 100-fold or 1,000-fold. In fact it hardly matters if they invest in 10 or 20 total bust projects along the way to find that unicorn.

But also, becoming profitable takes time. And that might mean being in debt for a long long time before that rocket ship takes off to make everyone onboard a gazzilionaire.

But luckily, for tech startup bros and venture capitalists, being in debt in the 2010's was cheap, and it only got cheaper between 2010 and 2020. If people could secure loans for ~3% or 4% annual interest, well then a $100,000 loan only really costs $3,000 of interest a year to keep afloat. And if inflation is higher than that or at least similar, you're still beating the system.

So from 2010 through early 2022, times were good for tech companies. Startups could take off with massive growth, showing massive potential for something, and venture capitalists would throw infinite money at them in the hopes of pegging just one winner who will take off. And supporting the struggling investments or the long-haulers remained pretty cheap to keep funding.

You hear constantly about "Such and such app has 10-bazillion users gained over the last 10 years and has never once been profitable", yet the thing keeps chugging along because the investors backing it aren't stressed about the immediate future, and are still banking on that "eventually" when it learns how to really monetize its users and turn that profit.

The pandemic in 2020 took a magnifying-glass-in-the-sun effect to this, as EVERYTHING was forcibly turned online which pumped a ton of money and workers into tech investment. Simultaneously, money got really REALLY cheap, bottoming out with historic lows for interest rates.

Then the tide changed with the massive inflation that struck late 2021. Because this all-gas no-brakes state of things was also contributing to off-the-rails inflation (along with your standard-fare greedflation and price gouging, given the extremely convenient excuses of pandemic hardships and supply chain issues). The federal reserve whipped out interest rate hikes to try to curb this huge inflation, which is like a fire extinguisher dousing and suffocating your really-cool, actively-on-fire party where everyone else is burning but you're in the pool. And then they did this more, and then more. And the financial climate followed suit. And suddenly money was not cheap anymore, and new loans became expensive, because loans that used to compound at 2% a year are now compounding at 7 or 8% which, in the language of compounding, is a HUGE difference. A $100,000 loan at a 2% interest rate, if not repaid a single cent in 10 years, accrues to $121,899. A $100,000 loan at an 8% interest rate, if not repaid a single cent in 10 years, more than doubles to $215,892.

Now it is scary and risky to throw money at "could eventually be profitable" tech companies. Now investors are watching companies burn through their current funding and, when the companies come back asking for more, investors are tightening their coin purses instead. The bill is coming due. The free money is drying up and companies are under compounding pressure to produce a profit for their waiting investors who are now done waiting.

You get enshittification. You get quality going down and price going up. You get "now that you're a captive audience here, we're forcing ads or we're forcing subscriptions on you." Don't get me wrong, the plan was ALWAYS to monetize the users. It's just that it's come earlier than expected, with way more feet-to-the-fire than these companies were expecting. ESPECIALLY with Wall Street as the other factor in funding (public) companies, where Wall Street exhibits roughly the same temperament as a baby screaming crying upset that it's soiled its own diaper (maybe that's too mean a comparison to babies), and now companies are being put through the wringer for anything LESS than infinite growth that Wall Street demands of them.

Internal to the tech industry, you get MASSIVE wide-spread layoffs. You get an industry that used to be easy to land multiple job offers shriveling up and leaving recent graduates in a desperately awful situation where no company is hiring and the market is flooded with laid-off workers trying to get back on their feet.

Because those coin-purse-clutching investors DO love virtue-signaling efforts from companies that say "See! We're not being frivolous with your money! We only spend on the essentials." And this is true even for MASSIVE, PROFITABLE companies, because those companies' value is based on the Rich Person Feeling Graph (their stock) rather than the literal profit money. A company making a genuine gazillion dollars a year still tears through layoffs and freezes hiring and removes the free batteries from the printer room (totally not speaking from experience, surely) because the investors LOVE when you cut costs and take away employee perks. The "beer on tap, ping pong table in the common area" era of tech is drying up. And we're still unionless.

Never mind that last part.

And then in early 2023, AI (more specifically, Chat-GPT which is OpenAI's Large Language Model creation) tears its way into the tech scene with a meteor's amount of momentum. Here's Microsoft's prize pig, which it invested heavily in and is galivanting around the pig-show with, to the desperate jealousy and rapture of every other tech company and investor wishing it had that pig. And for the first time since the interest rate hikes, investors have dollar signs in their eyes, both venture capital and Wall Street alike. They're willing to restart the hose of money (even with the new risk) because this feels big enough for them to take the risk.

Now all these companies, who were in varying stages of sweating as their bill came due, or wringing their hands as their stock prices tanked, see a single glorious gold-plated rocket up out of here, the likes of which haven't been seen since the free money days. It's their ticket to buy time, and buy investors, and say "see THIS is what will wring money forth, finally, we promise, just let us show you."

To be clear, AI is NOT profitable yet. It's a money-sink. Perhaps a money-black-hole. But everyone in the space is so wowed by it that there is a wide-spread and powerful conviction that it will become profitable and earn its keep. (Let's be real, half of that profit "potential" is the promise of automating away jobs of pesky employees who peskily cost money.) It's a tech-space industrial revolution that will automate away skilled jobs, and getting in on the ground floor is the absolute best thing you can do to get your pie slice's worth.

It's the thing that will win investors back. It's the thing that will get the investment money coming in again (or, get it second-hand if the company can be the PROVIDER of something needed for AI, which other companies with venture-back will pay handsomely for). It's the thing companies are terrified of missing out on, lest it leave them utterly irrelevant in a future where not having AI-integration is like not having a mobile phone app for your company or not having a website.

So I guess to reiterate on my earlier point:

Drowned rats. Swimming to the one ship in sight.

[poorrichardjr]

Conspiracies Abound

If you ever spend any time around MAGA individuals you will quickly run into at least three different conspiracy theories before the first twenty minutes of conversation, and even more if you start speaking about politics. The country is doing terribly because of a loss of God, satanic democrats drinking the blood of raped babies they murdered just after they were born, or because of the Illuminati, deep state, or UN. Pick your poison and a MAGA has a conspiracy theory that explains everything. Covid was a Chinese hoax designed to get Biden elected. There is no limit to their madness.

No offense to any of these people. I understand the need to explain things that seem "unusual." The thing is, almost none of these people understand Occam's Razor, which states that the simplest explanation for any situation is often correct. America sucks because we elect bad leaders and don't take the time or effort to do the work to determine who really would be a better politician for us. Instead we descend into tribalism that has determined our entire view of the world.

The thing is, conspiracy theories have a place. It just depends upon why you are using them. Believe it or not, but conspiracy theories can be used to make yourself more aware of things that you should be paying attention to. If a conspiracy theory makes you suspicious of the election process, you "could" spend more time learning about it and trying to understand it. We know that almost never happens, but it is always a way to combat the craziness of some more outlandish conspiracy theories.

Another plus of conspiratorial thinking, not necessarily the theory spinning so popular in America today, is to posit future possibilities. Depending upon how far you take it the "theories" become more and more conspiratorial. However, there is a good reason to sometimes spin these yarns, especially when it comes to dictatorially minded politicians. I am not saying you should take all of these theories so seriously that you see the possibilities of the thinking everywhere, but it can make you aware of situations that are definitely questionable at best.

For instance here is a conspiracy theory to be aware of, simply because it has happened in history and considering our current situation could be a factor in our future. Complain all you want about how many people are drawing parallels between Hitlerian Germany and modern America, but any historian worth their salt will tell you there are many similarities. Hitler complained about Jews and undesirables, Trump complains about immigrants and undesirables. Each divided the people of their nations. Each came to power through election where they did not receive the plurality of the vote.

Here are some similarities that haven't yet come to pass. Hitler placed people into positions of power who had no experience in those jobs but who had a lot of disdain for the functions of those departments. Trump is nominating people to lead departments who fit that mold, though the Senate "might" keep them from those positions (though I doubt it). Hitler deported people, made life so uncomfortable that many "undesirables" left, and eventually put people into camps. We know how that ended. Trump is promising mass deportations for legal and illegal immigrants, removal of citizenship, and massive camps. We can go on, but you get the picture.

So, here is where I will give you a conspiracy theory to ponder. Hitler had power when he got his Chancellorship, but that wasn't enough. Similar to how Trump being president isn't quite enough to turn him into a dictator. What really gave Hitler power was the moment he was able to remove his oppositions ability to interfere with his plans. Enter the Reichstag fire, the pretext the Nazi's used to seize total power and jail and make illegal opposition parties.

Yesterday all I heard from some people was that the people Trump was nominating for power were being targeted with bombings and swatting threats. I expect tons of protests when Trump takes office, especially if he gets his way and starts deploying the military and police to go through cities. Here is where the conspiracy comes into play. Some event is going to happen in the future that causes the right wing talking heads to demand Trump crack down on the opposition. Whether that is the death of a possible head (even if it isn't caused by liberals or immigrants) or a riot by the "liberals."

Where that goes is anybody's guess, but if history repeats itself it will be the fundamental issue that gives Trump the power he needs and craves to do everything he wants. As I said, it is a conspiracy theory, but one based in some semblance of reality. As reactionary as our republican "friends" are, I wouldn't put it too far past them to try something like this. Care to take bets now?

[acernusaurus]

Legends' Gifts For The Avalance Baby's First Birthday

I was thinking about this for fic reasons but it quickly evolved into its own thing. Let me know if you've got any other ideas.

Ray and Nora

They would give a useful invention and/or magical charm. I'm thinking something that would make parents' lives easier without being an untested, potentially dangerous device around an infant/toddler.

Kendra and/or Carter

Separate or together (I'm not really a fan of the comics direction) I think they would get the most normal gifts as the people who have been parents many times.

Mick

Crème brûlée torch. 'It's for food' is his only explanation when anyone questions it.

Jax

Custom made plastic throwing stars

(Curse AI for being evil and forcing me to Photoshop my own dang nonsense)

Nate and Zari

A set of funny/cute shirts. Stuff like: 'Future ninja', 'My favorite uncle is a Historian', gamer stuff, etc. And maybe something from the ancestors that they say every baby should have.

Behrad

I feel like he would write the baby a song as his gift. And when it ends up on his first album in his own time the kid can't tell anyone about it being hers.

Gary

I think he'd stick with simple: stuffed octopus. Or go way too wild and try to buy everything.

Wally

A trinket from his travels.

Zari

Mithra Merch. Zari doesn't even need to bring it from the future. She happens to know a certain influencer's passwords and promo codes and puts the baby on the list for a very large Dragon Girl fan package.

Charlie

Bass guitar. 100% stolen from someone famous.

Mona

A ton of kids books

Astra

Astra would waffle over what babies want for their birthday and then finally just settle on giving her money.

Spooner

Mushroom plush. It was supposed to be a joke but it becomes the kids main lovey because kids are delightfully unpredictable.

(I didn't expect to have a picture for this one but I stumbled across this while shopping and it was perfect)

Gwyn

Haunted doll (not intentionally). Zari lends Gwyn $50, which already freaks him out (inflation calculator says it's ~$900). And when he tries to go to the mall he walks into the Macy's (a name he recognizes) but enters through the underwear-section door and he instantly turns back around to walk out. Eventually he finds an antique store with this perfectly acceptable children's gift and she is 100% haunted but the ghost is chill.

(I cruised through the doll aisle at a thrift store to find one I liked for this)

Gideon

Gideon has only known one baby personally so I think she'd go with some hot 22nd century or historic toy that was Jonas' favorite as a baby. Or she'd pick the toy with the best reviews at the exact time of the birthday.

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

The Girl Who Accidentally Broke The Universe

Hi, so I've had a little bit of interest on here recently about the book I've written and am currently querying so thank you guys for that, I've honestly taken a little creative hit because publishing is a tough industry to break into and the rejection is quite draining but I'm really trying to fall back in love with my manuscript right now so I thought I'd tell you all a bit about it!

A lonely goddess. A girl who's the last of her kind. A lost boy. A garden child. A missing princess. A monster. And the end of the universe. What could go wrong?

Oh, that's right - everything.

Meet Kala Sparsdon: the girl who broke the entire universe

… Twice.

In her defence, it was an accident. Sort of. Up until around eight months ago, Kala had about as normal a life as she thought she'd get - yes, it's a bit boring, and yes, she's haunted by her constant nightmares, and yes, she has no idea what she's supposed to do with her life, but she's happy and safe and all she needs in the world is the love and support of her best friend Olivia Greene. But when Olivia is killed before her eyes and Kala flees the crime scene in panic, everything she's ever known is thrown into question. As she runs from Olivia's attacker, she meets the mysterious Sienna Haden and Karter Kershaw - who claim not to be human. What started as night terrors becomes an all too real world of magic, mystery, politics, and danger as a bewildered Kala is named the saviour of this enticing new society on the verge of war with its own gods.

The Girl Who Accidentally Broke the Universe is a retrospective narrative recorded by a group of historians attempting to create an accurate and accessible account of the supposed end of the universe. Their first point of call for interview was Kala and she agreed to help create the account on the condition that it must be told almost entirely in her own voice. Upon agreement from the historians, Kala recorded herself explaining her story for it to be transcribed by an editor, who adds further details, any necessary explanations, and occasionally personal opinions to the story through footnotes over the course of the book.

As much as I have a never-ending love/hate relationship with my own writing, I know that I truly love this story and I had so much fun writing it (even if sometimes it made me want to bang my head against a table) and it would mean the absolute world to me to one day be able to share it as an actual book. If anyone wants to hear anything more about it in the future then please let me know, and thanks so much for reading this post because even just this little bit is (excluding the industry) the most I've shared about it anywhere except for in long rants to my friends (who I'm sure are fed up of hearing it by now, love you my darlings thanks for putting up with me)

[notasapleasure]

un-paywalled interview with David Olusoga, with some choice quotes:

“When I was a young historian, I imagined that history was, as I was told, a way of avoiding the mistakes of the past . . . what I think now is something much less grand. I think [the job of historians] is to try to stand there at this arsenal of dangerous ideas and to make it more difficult for people to raid that arsenal to use it for their political projects. It is to complicate the picture; it is to show that these simple assertions are much more nuanced; it is to muddy the waters and to try to de-weaponise the past.”

and

“I don’t need history to build my identity. I’m fascinated by history, I draw things from history, but I draw different things than I drew 10 years ago or 20 years ago. It’s only a problem if you believe in magical exceptions and that those complexities should be disguised.”

This idea of undisguising and de-weaponising history is so so important. Reminds me of part of this conversation (cw: i/p conflict) that's been rattling round and round my head since I read it: "[according to Hillel Cohen] historians really have no better justifications than anyone else; people have their beliefs, and then bring in whatever justifications their discipline offers. Hillel talked about how historical narratives are not objective truths but are used as ammunition. To have a future, we have to be able to let some things go." An awareness that historical narratives are used as ammunition is a start, but how do we diffuse them? How do we unpick history from the historical narrative? People want so badly for the sciences to do this for us - clean, unbiased science! give us the One True Explanation for this! - but that's not how history works.

Letting things go means letting go of the idea that there's a single, correct interpretation or answer. It's embracing the messiness and the gaps in what we can uncover and letting go of the need to have a definitive, palatable version. It's accepting that history exists in a messy state that can't be neatly packaged up to offer a fix to the way things are now.

...it's finally coming to terms with that exchange that made me stop wanting to be a historian.

Me: I've been studying this for ten years and I don't have an answer. I'm open to the possibility, but we don't have the evidence to say this for sure. Guy on the Internet: Well if you've been studying it for ten years why don't you get off the fence and pick a side!

What I did: deleted my account on that forum and vowed never to do public engagement again.

What I should have done: told him that yep, being a historian is being an inveterate fence-sitter. I'm not here to tell you how it happened, I'm here to make you doubt everything you thought was a certainty in the hope that maybe, just maybe, you'll stop and think twice before repeating the past or asking it to make things right for you now or hoping to exchange it for justice.

[thequeendomhq]

NAME. Kesor Argené Thalasir AGE & BIRTH DATE. 529 & March 19th, 2495 GENDER & PRONOUNS. Female & She/Her NATIONALITY. Avalonian SPECIES. High Elvhen FACTION. N/A OCCUPATION. Professional Babysitter FACE CLAIM. Elodie Yung

biography

( tw fire )

Rosalise Thalasir, was of the high evlhen nobility born to oversee Sylaise’s Shore. It was a serene, idyllic, and peaceful region, but boring from some peoples’ perspectives. Rosalise was one of these curious souls, driven to explore by the promise of adventure within the bustling mortal realm. She wanted to shirk her noble duties, if only briefly, to learn how mortals lived and functioned. Surely it would give her valuable insight into why Avalon was superior in many aspects and leave her appreciating her own society more. At least that’s what she told her parents before she disappeared once random morning.

Instead, she discovered something arguably much more valuable than perspective or knowledge. She found true love in a human man, or in man she presumed to be human. He was her perfect match, so much so that it seemed too good to be true for a time. He was a historian of the Tower, he was kind and generous, and he was more handsome than she thought mortals could be. She knew better than to fall for him, for she’d have to return to her family one day, and they likely would not allow him to stay. Was it worth it to stay together if it would only end in eventual heartbreak? She told him as such, and he proposed they at least spend the night together before going their separate ways. It was only a few months later that Rosalise realized she was with child. She had tried to track her lover down again, to tell him of the news, but he was nowhere to be found – not even in the Tower. It was as if he’d suddenly ceased to exist.

Rosalise returned home, dejected but also hopeful for the future to come with her baby on the way. Her parents were at first disappointed in her irresponsibility, but quickly their disapproval was replaced with excitement. Luckily for Rosalise, the people of the shore tended to go with the flow and didn’t hold grudges for very long. This new child would be a blessing, perhaps someone who could further foster positive relations with the mortals. Months later, a baby girl was born – half high Elvhen and half mortal. She was named Kesor, a rare but beautiful namesake meaning heavenly woman. Then, it was unknown just how ironic her namesake would come to be, for her mortal side was tainted by the Abyss.

There were no signs of her demon ancestry when Kesor was young. Looking back, her affinity for fire may have been one, but at the time, it was seen as a unique gift. A faiman who could control fire being born next to the waves? Perhaps she was a blessing. Perhaps she would be a beacon, a flame for her people to follow when they were lost at sea. At least, that was what her people whispered amongst themselves. The denizens of the shore believed everything happened for a reason and were more than happy to spend hours spinning whatever divine explanation they could come up with until something stuck. Even when loved ones passed, or accidents happened, they believed it was just meant to be, Kesor quickly came to realize this is one of the reasons people of the shore were so happy all the time. There was no need to question or worry when everything was taken care of by fate.

Kesor spent her first two centuries or so primarily studying and training – beginning her long journey that would end with her being the leader of the Thalasir house. She was the first born, and therefore, much was expected of her. She took it in stride, trying to emulate the calm and gentle nature of her birthplace. She had a feisty side, though, perhaps explained by the literal fire in her veins. She was simply a passionate person, which usually served her well and made her a devoted student, but sometimes got her into trouble. She would study for hours, learning as much as she could about the history of Avalon and the inner workings of its society. But she also wasn’t afraid to speak up and ask questions about ways of old that made little sense. She was never late to sword training and was quick to apologize if she hit someone a little too hard. But she also swung her weapon with a fervor rarely seen for a girl so young. Then there were times when anger overtook her, and she found her fists aflame before she could realize what was happening. Luckily, those moments were few and far between, and there was plenty of water nearby for extinguishing.

Such moments were usually instigated by her baby brother, Dior. He’d came along after her mother remarried a kind enough law maker of the shore. Between the two parents, one of them was usually nagging the children about the dangers of the mortal realm. Yet, Dior was the more impulsive and brash of the two siblings without the weight of responsibility tying him down. Luckily, she was already used to looking out for others as she‘d been preparing all her life to lead her people – Dior would be no exception, despite how much he whined and complained.

Perhaps curiosity was in their blood. When Dior decided he wanted to travel to the mortal realm, the Thalasir’s were hardly surprised. And when his big sister eventually vowed to go after him – to bring him home – they didn’t bat an eye, either. The people of the shore were skeptical as to why so many of the Thalasir’s were content on leaving Avalon behind. Kesor, ever the diplomat, was able to spin her departure as one of her noble duties – how could she prove to her people that she’d help protect them if she couldn’t even keep her own family safe? And thus, with centuries of studying and training behind her, she was off.

She was well-prepared to venture Lysara, but her weaknesses were exposed rather quickly. Upon reaching Eterna, she found Dior almost immediately, It was almost too easy, but perhaps they were fated to reunite sooner rather than later. She and her younger brother, who was both her strength and her weakness, spent the evening drinking and recounting tales of their time spent in their respective realms. The more they drank, the more they rambled. Unlike Dior, Kesor never knew much about her father. She found herself drunkenly mumbling one condemning phrase that would end up changing her life for the worse: “I wish I knew who my father was”.

Dior grinned, but it wasn’t his usual mischievous, smirk. It was something darker, something evil. He laughed manically, and Kesor realized too late that she had been deceived. Her “brother” snapped his fingers, and suddenly, Kesor found herself in a fiery hellscape, surrounded by demons, devils, and the like clashing amongst each other. Almost magically, they parted to reveal a human man, fighting in the swarm. Her father. Just as she gathered the courage to call out to him, he transformed into something more sinister. His skin peeled back to reveal red flesh beneath, with wings, horns, and a tail sprouting from his body to match the devilish features of those he fought beside. An ominous voice echoed from nowhere, yet it sounded to be everywhere.

“You wanted to know who your father was. Well, here he is.” She was then engulfed in flames as that same maniacal laughter pierced her ears, though she didn’t burn. She never burned. “We made a deal, little one. I’ve shown you your father, and now, your soul is mine, just like his.”

Kesor blinked as the fire obscured her vision to find herself back in the bar, alone and slumped over on the table. Suddenly the fire she conjured since a young age made more sense, but she almost wished it didn’t. Ignorance was bliss, wasn’t it? She’d rather continue living as she was then know she had the blood of a devil in her veins. And to make matters worse, her soul was no longer her own. How could she go back to her people now? How could she lead them when she was born with this evil inside her, and her soul was sworn to darkness? Would it cause her to lead them to ruin? She had to reclaim her soul somehow, vowing to never return home otherwise.

personality

+ Fierce, Wise, Virtuous – Temperamental, Paranoid, Desperate

played by day. est. she/her.

[boldlyvoid]

Amoreena | chapter four

Chapter Four

summary: Heaven is a real place and it's located exactly 14.6 miles away from the FBI, Quantico Headquarters. Off behind a small park, under a fantastical willow tree surrounded by wildflowers, in every colour young minds can imagine.

Don't forget, heaven also comes with angels.

Warnings: fluff, hurt/comfort, depressed spencer, reader has a daughter, falling in love, strangers to lovers, library smut, oral (female receiving) lots and lots of fluff

word count: 3.9k

from the beginning <3

Everyone at work was very understanding. Almost all of them saw it coming, he was taking more sick days than normal and he wasn’t putting up a fight anymore when the 30 days was required to take rolled around. They were profilers after all.

He arrives on Thursday morning to pack his desk. The team is finally home and all together to wish him well on his future journey, giving him hugs and kisses as they each visited his desk.

They had already replaced him, Will LaMontagne was giving the FBI a shot, finally. Spending more time with JJ, the kids were old enough now to accept both of them working. And Kate Callahan was back, now that her baby wasn’t a baby anymore either.

Even Penelope and Derek showed up, bringing a cake that said ‘happy retirement’ written across the frosting. They were happy for him, they shared the same excitement he had. There was a thrill in his eyes again as they asked him about his plans.

“Tell us about this Y/N you met,” Emily cut into the laughter to get to the serious topics.

“I’ve been going to the park a lot recently and I found this little reading nook by a pond. She was there with her daughter and they invited me over to their picnic,” he realized how fake it all sounded as he continued to speak. “Her daughter is wonderful and super smart, I took them to the Smithsonian on Sunday and I’m completely smitten.”

Everyone swooned, happy to see him finally finding someone that makes him gush like this. It had been a very, very long time since Spencer has told any of them about a person, let alone someone he was in love with.

“She is wonderful,” Penelope added, “she makes the best tea and she lives in a literal Disney movie.”

Spencer laughed, “yeah she does. They probably read more books than I have, they make so many references all the time and they even dress up for what they’re reading, it’s amazing.”

They were amazed by how giddy he was, unable to stop smiling at him, “here we dressed up for the museum, I was milo from Atlantis and she was the old man in Tarzan,” he pulled his phone from his pocket to show them the photo.

It was his background now, Y/N sent it to him when he finally went back to his place Monday night, knowing he’d miss them. Not wanting him to be alone.

He was beyond proud to show them the photo, beaming from ear to ear as they all complimented his attire.

“She looks like you,” Kate added, “must be the genius gene,” she added, making awkward eye contact with JJ as they both clocked it.

“She’s exactly like me, that’s why Y/N likes having me around, it’s good for Amoreena to feel normal with the way our brains work,” he spoke about her like she was his own. Forever grateful to have her in his life.

“So when are you proposing?” Matt teased him. Knowing the feeling of love like this all too well with his perfect wife and a handful of children.

“I’m not trying to jinx anything,” Spencer admitted. “I actually have a job interview at the Library she works at later, so I’ll be around here a lot more.”

“He’ll be moved in by the end of the month,” Tara smiled, proud of him and the courage it takes to follow your heart.

“I’m going to miss you guys,” he presses his lips together softly, nodding as he avoids eye contact with them. “But you can call me whenever you need my brain, I guess.”

Hugs were exchanged as Spencer had to leave, Derek even offered to drive him back to his apartment to help with 4 boxes of books from his desk, and to have a bit of a talk like they always do.

“It’s surprisingly easy to be a dad, all you have to do is be there and love them,” Derek shared a tidbit of advice

“She told me she doesn’t mind me being like Amoreena’s dad, but I don’t think I can yet. I want her to decide when she wants me in that role.”

Spencer explains his feelings the easiest to Derek. Like he was already in his mind and knew the thoughts before he said them, Derek was never mad or disappointed in him. He loved him fully, and Spencer loved him right back.

“Like when you chose Gideon?”

Spencer can only nod, it’s still too sad to think about him being gone. “You know what it’s like, you love your father but there are other people in your life who fit the role better.”

“Yeah,” Derek agreed. “You’re going to be great, regardless of the name she uses when she thinks of you.”

“Thank you,” Spencer smiled as they pulled up to his apartment, “you should bring Hank to meet the animals this weekend sometime.”

“He’d love that,” Derek smiled back at him, patting his shoulder lightly. “I’m really proud of you.”

“I wouldn’t have been able to do it if you didn’t first,” he admits. “You’re a strong man who decided to put his happiness first, I can be too.”

“You sure as hell can,” Derek wrapped him up in one last hug before sending him off to live that best life he was talking about.

The only person who didn’t know yet was his mother. He wasn’t sure how to tell her, he knew she’d be proud of him regardless but that anxiety of disappointing her never went away even now that he was 40.

“Spencer!”

“Hey mom,” he smiled when she picked up. “How are you?”

“I’m fantastic, Marge and I are going on a walk later to see some ducks that were born, I really love it here Spencer,” he could hear it in her voice. She was much more joyful when she was surrounded by friends.

“I’m glad to hear it.”

“you sound happy, what’s going on?”

She was his mother, after all, she could know exactly how he’s feeling from just hearing him breathe or being in the same room as him. It was like a superpower, she always knew what was going on.

“I met someone,” he can’t help but smile. “And I quit the FBI to have a family.”

“You’re kidding?” He couldn’t read her tone, not sure if she was surprised or disappointed.

“Her name is Y/N, she has a 7-year-old daughter named Amoreena who is exactly like how I was as a child, you’d really like them,” he explains and he can hear his mother's smile from his end of the phone.

“I would love to meet them, you can bring them to visiting hours next Tuesday?” Diana offered, genuinely happy for him in a way that made his heart burst.

“I’ll see if they’re free and I’ll let you know.”

“I love you, Spencer,” she reminded him. “It’s nice to hear you’re happy, that’s all I’ve ever wanted for you.”

“I love you too, thank you, mom, for everything.”

She hangs up before they can get too emotional, leaving Spencer inside his sad little apartment all by himself. Taking the opportunity to pack his overnight bag for Y/N and pick out some books from his collection to show Amoreena.

There’s an envelope sticking out of one of his books that manages to catch his attention, taking it out to see his name written on it in Gideon’s handwriting. He almost forgot he had this, how important the words were.

Spencer,

I knew it would be you who came to the cabin to check on me. I’m sorry the explanation couldn’t be better, Spencer. I’m sorry it doesn’t make more sense, but I’ve already told you. I just don’t understand any of it anymore.

I guess I’m just looking for it again, for the belief I had in college, the belief I had when I first met Sara and it all seemed so right.

The belief in happy endings. When you find that, never let it go, Spencer.

Don’t let this job do to you what it did to me, get out and get a life when you can. I have faith in you, till I see you again, take care, son.

Gideon

He walked over to the window then, seeing a beautiful red and brown bird perched on his fire escape. He couldn’t help but smile, “I found my Sara, thank you,” he whispers to the bird who turns its head to the side before flying off.

Gideon always did have the best timing and the best advice.

—

“Y/N, your one o’clock is here to see you,” the receptionist at the Library said over the phone, hanging up and returning her attention to Spencer, “she’ll be with you in a moment.”

“Doctor Reid,” he hears her voice as she rounds the corner, appearing behind a stack of books in the most beautiful blue dress he’s ever seen. “Lovely to see you again.”

“You too,” he smiles.

“Right this way,” she can’t help but smile as she escorts him to her office.

“I don’t normally consider people who don’t send in a resume, but I have a feeling you’re going to be good at this,” she teased him as he sat at her desk.

“Allison is going on maternity leave in a few weeks, so you won’t start until she has the baby. If you’re serious about wanting this position, it’s only Monday through Thursday, 9 to 2:30.”

“You’re not going to ask me anything?”

“I don’t know if you know this, but the literary historian and I get to spend a lot of time together, I’d rather hire someone I know I already like,” she smiled again. “And it would be nice to see you every day without a 7-year-old taking all your attention away from me.”

“You just want to live out the fantasy of kissing someone in the encyclopedia section, don’t you?” He teased her right back, making her blush. “I knew it.”

“Sue me!” She laughed, and he finally understood what tinker bell meant when she said farries are born from the purest laughter.

He was in love with her right then and there, he was sure of it.

It had been under a week and yet as he stared at her, hearing her wonderful laughter and seeing her beautiful smile, knowing she wanted to spend time with him, that she genuinely liked him and none of this was one-sided, it made him fall harder than he thought he could.

“Come on then,” he stands abruptly, taking her hand and pulling her out the door.

She tries to giggle quietly as she follows him all the way back to the quietest section of the library. Most of the books on the shelves didn’t even have bar codes because they haven’t been checked out since the 60’s, no one needs them but they can’t seem to part with them.

She backs up against the shelf and pulls him into her space, he drops her hands and holds her face instead, looking at her beautiful eyes as they sparkled in the fluorescent lighting.

“I was expecting this to be hungrier than this when I imagined it all for all these years,” she whispers, biting her lip to force her smile back.

“You’re just so fucking beautiful,” is all he can say, brushing her cheeks with his thumbs lightly a few times before finally placing his lips against hers, ever so gently.

Her hands stretched around his back, pulling him in closer till their bodies are pressed together and then she’s kissing him deeper. Breathing in through her nose like she’s trying to keep him there forever, her fingernails dig into his shirt and he knows she wants more.

He slid his thigh between hers, opening his mouth to give her all the access she wanted and letting her take control of the speed. She wasn’t kidding when she said she expected it to be hungrier. She was kissing him like it was the first time she has had contact with another human being in years, and it just might have been. She said she was single for a while before Amoreena, probably the whole time since as well.

“Spencer,” she took a moment to gasp for air, breathing against his lips as he did the same. “Can we?”

He kisses along her jaw then, moving towards her ear to whisper, “do what? Use your words.”

“Anything, just touch me please, god it’s been 12 years,” she begged as quietly as possible, tugging at his hair as he nibbled on her earlobe.

He kissed down her neck making his way towards her chest. Holding her by the hips now, she arched her back into the shelf as he kissed all the way to where her dress started to cover her breasts but he didn’t stop. Kissing over her clothes as he dropped down to his knees in front of her.

He undid his tie, slipping it off his neck and handing it to her, “in case you need to scream into something.”

She held it in her hand for a second, registering what he just said and moaning softly in response as she held it closer to her lips, he took that as a yes and slipped under her dress.

She was wearing just a pair of regular cut pink underwear, not expecting this in the slightest when she got ready this morning. He kissed her over top of the fabric, spreading her legs so that he could kiss the insides of her thighs as she tried to desperately grind into his face. grazing his teeth against her skin as she shivers, thighs shaking in anticipation.

He kisses right where her clit should be under the fabric, knowing he’s correct when she whimpers around the tie he handed her. It's muffled and adorable as he kisses her again and again, knowing she wants more and teasing her gently.

He pulls her panties to the side, mesmerized by how perfect she is for only a second before returning to the task at hand. Being the first person to pleasure her in years, wanting her to have the best time possible.

With one hand he holds her panties back, using his other to slowly swipe a single finger through her folds to see just how wet she was. Smirking against her thigh as he’s able to slip right in.

“Please,” he hears her whisper, lifting the dress up so she could look at what he’s doing.

“Such a good girl for me,” he pressed the words against her skin.

He spreads her legs even further, resting one of them on his shoulder as he dives in, sucking her clit into his mouth abruptly as he pumps his single finger in and out. She jerks her hips at the sudden contact, stuffing the tie in her mouth and biting down as she whimpers.

He knows what he’s doing, where all the pleasure spots are and what feels the best on most women. Searching around and trying different tongue movements, memorizing the sounds she makes and attempting to hear them again and again, knowing it means she’s enjoying herself.

That’s all he wanted, to please her. Not even realizing how hard he was as he continues to eat her out furiously in the back corner of the DC Public Library. He forgets they’re even in public entirely as he moans against her clit, sending shockwaves through her body.

She’s quaking then, holding onto the top of his head with one hand as the other grips a shelf. She’s panting into the material of the tie, the hot breath making its way through the fabric and stopping the whorish moans he knew she’d make. It had been too long since someone treated her right.

He added a second finger then, wanting to push her over the edge as he curled them, finding her g spot and caressing it with every thrust of his fingers. She clenched around him then, a high-pitched noise left her mouth as she finished around him.

He couldn’t help but smirk, re-moving his fingers and cleaning them off in his mouth. Releasing them with a pop before dragging his tongue along her one last time. Gathering up everything she released and placing her panties back over her nicely.

He kissed over her underwear one last time before fixing her dress and standing up, “did I manage to fulfill the dream?”

She couldn’t help but laugh, looking like she was coming down from a real high, not just an orgasm. She pulled him in close and held onto him for dear life as she continued to catch her breath, and then her hand started to wander.

“Nope,” Spencer whispered, moving her hand away from his aching cock. “As much as I want to, I’d rather fuck you at home.”

“Home huh?” She teased him, kissing his cheek softly as she pulled back.

"I love you," he whispers against her ear, without a fear in the world that she didn't feel the same way.

"I love you too, Spencer."

They couldn’t stop smiling at each other, it felt surreal to be this happy. He kissed her a few more times, staying hidden in the back corner until the blood in his body let this dick and went back to where it was supposed to be.

She just held him in her arms, leaning back against the shelves as they kissed softly, running her hands through his hair gently, over and over. She whispered a few thank you’s to him, letting him know it was everything she waited for.

It was truly perfect.

—

Amoreena was so happy to see him back at the farm when she got off the bus, she missed him during the few days he wasn’t there.

She asked him to help with her homework, her teacher assigning them an “all about me” project to showcase their growth at the end of the year ceremony. It was almost June, she only had a few weeks left before she was off for the summer and free to show him around the whole kingdom.

Y/N brought out a box of craft supplies and a collection of photos. Showing Spencer every single moment of her and Amoreena’s life.

From her first sonogram to the first bump photo, she had and every maternity shot on the farm you could think of, to the day she was born, her first bath, first steps, chocolate cake shoved on her nose at her first birthday, everything. He felt like he watched her grow up in the blink of an eye, staring at all the photos while Y/N and Amoreena made a plan for her project.

She did look a lot like him, in some instances, she even looked like his mom. There was a look Diana would get when she was intrigued with something, or when she was trying to figure something out. She’d bite her tongue and tilt her head, and it was exactly what Amoreena did.

He never thought he’d see a child-like himself this early, he always expected someone to contact him at 18 and surprise him like Rossi. He really never, ever thought he'd have a child in his life who he was blessed with watching grow up. He never believed someone would have a kid so much like him and allow him to see the world through their eyes. He was amazed by how lucky he got, to be brought into an already happy family that wanted him, they didn’t just need him.

There was no need for a father in Amoreena’s life, she was happily living her life with her grandparents and her mother, explaining to him that she had a bunch of aunts and uncles, plus 15 cousins and they all lived close too. Her life was full of people to love her, and yet she wanted Spencer to love her too.

“Can I put the photo of us at the museum on here too?” She asked Y/N, looking at Spencer to see if he was okay with it too. “I already told my friends that you’re my dad.”

He felt like he couldn’t breathe, he didn’t want to cry in front of her so instead he just stopped all movement inside of his body and held it in. Looking at Y/N who was also a little emotional as Amoreena went back to looking through the photos.

Amoreena didn’t even notice how their expressions changed, she didn’t understand the weight of the words as she said them. She was oblivious to the hole in Spencer’s heart that she was filling with glitter glue, making him feel like he was whole again.

“Yeah,” he finally managed to speak. “I’d love to be on your project.”

“I know you said we don’t need dads but I kinda want one,” Amoreena’s soft expression made his heart melt even more. He was putty in her hands, willing to be whatever she wanted from him as long as he could.

“When did you say that?” Y/N asked softly, confused as to where she was when they had a conversation.

“The other morning at breakfast, um, my father left when I was little. It was just me and my wonderful mother until I was 21, then I found someone to call Dad. His name was Jason Gideon, he was my mentor and he made he feel like I was smart and loved,” he smiled, letting her know he genuinely meant it. “There’s a big difference between being a father and being someone's dad.”

“What’s that?” Amoreena’s innocent mind running wild as she tried to figure out his meaning.

“Anyone can be a father when two adults make a baby,” he said softly, making eye contact with Y/N as she blushed. Knowing where he was going with this. “But dads are special, they’re the people who are supposed to make you feel safe and loved. A person who you can turn to for advice and know he’ll love you no matter what you have to say. Dad’s are supposed to love you forever, regardless of what happens in life. Just like your mom does already.”

Amoreena leaned into his chest, pressing her head against him softly. He wrapped his arms around her gently, giving her the tiniest hug he’s ever given. “I pick you then, you’re the best guy I know and I think that means you’d be a good dad.”

Y/N silently cried, getting up from the table and walking into the kitchen so Amoreena wouldn’t see her sob. Spencer tried to widen his eyes so the tears he was generating would slip back into his tear ducts. Not wanting to cry as she held him.

“I’d love to be your dad,” he whispered, kissing her head softly as she held him tighter. “But first I’ve gotta check on your mom,” he whispered into her hair. Watching her pull away and look for where she was.

“Okay,” Amoreena shrugged, returning to her project as he wandered into the kitchen.

She was leaning against the counter when he walked in, her dress pulled up over her face as she cried into the material. Wiping her face as Spencer walked in and looking at him with the happiest smile.

She was laughing into her tears then, shaking her head as she sobbed, “why am I crying?”

He laughed then too, pulling her into a hug and spinning her around gently as she kept laughing. Her face buried into his neck as she smiled, he set her down gently so he could pull her into a kiss.

Her cheeks were all wet as he held her face, peppering kisses to her lips as they both tried to stop smiling.

“I’m going to miss hearing her call you Spencer,” Y/N whispered.

“Me too,” he giggled again. “But dad does have a good ring to it.”

tag list:

@shemarmooresfedora

@spencers-dria

@spookyspence

@reidsfish

@manuosorioh

[darkstarnight02]

Why the Akuma Class Doesn’t Trusts Lila Rossi

Nino

This dude is a loyal friend

Like, he’s also a loyal boyfriend, so it’s hard when his girlfriend is siding with Lila

But he’s the one who’s like

“Dudes, we’ve known Mari for years there’s no way she would do the stuff this new girl we’ve known for five minutes says she did.”

He and Kim and Mari were besties since preschool, I think we all know that.  

Adrien

I hate it when people say he tries to defend her with the high road crap

When he sees her hurting people, especially Marinette

Because lets be honest, he cares about her alot

He’s less forgiven

Like do y’all remember the “BeCaUsE We’Re FrIeNdS, aReN’t We?”

So he’s not going to try and make her life miserable

But he is going to try to get her to stop

Chloé

Let’s be honest, she never liked Lila in the first place.  

So Imma give y’all bonus “how she figured out everyone’s identities”

So once she became friends with Marinette

Cause they formed a “we hate Lie-la” alliance

(tho since Mari’s still friends with the others its kinda awkward)

Chloe’s pretty smart.  

Like, she totally could have figured it out before they became friends

But she would never have believed back then that Mari-trash was Ladybug, her idol (and lesbian awakening, lesbihonest)

But now that she’s friends with her, it’s way too obvious

And she definitely already knew about Adrien because these guys are besties

And, dudes, she never had a crush on him, she was just an overprotective best friend

And a very touchy one

To her, it’s all pretty obvious.  

She thinks that its just whatever magic thats blinding everyone of the obvious, its immune to (like low-key Rachel Dare here)

But Sabine, Tom, and Jagged probably know to because they’re all Kings and Queens.  

So Chloe figures everyone out pretty quickly.  

Sabrina

She trust Chloe more than anyone.  

But I’m not just gonna use that because its kinda boring.  

Tho Chloe is her bi crush so that definitely helps secure loyalties

Its only when Marinette becomes MDC that she realizes

and yes, Sabrina probably knows because Chloe and she also recognizes the designs from some stuff she has in her own closet.  

So anyway, she realizes Mari is MDC and she’s some famous designer and Lila is not

And Mari also knows Jagged and Clara and a whole bunch of other famous people

And she never brags about it but there’s proof that she knows them

while Lila always brags about it but she’s never been mentioned and no one knows her.  

Alya

I hate it when people say she totally sides with Lila.  

This girl knows that her bestie never lies(or at least thinks)

and some things with Lila don’t add up.  

Like she doesn’t check directly if what Lila says is true

But she’ll be doing research for something else and see’s that it contradicts something that Lila said.  

So she’ll do more research and try to figure more stuff out

And she’s like holy f*ck nothing Lila says is true.

Or, alternatively, for those of you who have watched season 4

She immediately realizes Lila’s a liar right after Marinette tells her she’s Ladybug.  

Marinette

No explanation needed.  

Mylène

Mylene notices when Lila insults one of her classmates one day.  

Even if its subtle, or just piping on the edge of her blaming Marinette for something, she notices it.  

And a good person wouldn’t say something like that,  

Like Chloe, they all expect something like that from

No one every really liked Chloe in the first place

And Mari never says anything rude

Sure, she gets angry at Chloe and Lila sometimes, and she tries to prove what they say is wrong, but she never directly attacks someone.  

I don’t know who Lila was being a bitch to this time, but it cost her a follower.  

Alix

This girl is probably one of the most Gen Z kids in the Akuma Class, which is pretty sad because they’re all supposed to be Gen Z. 

She can smell bullcrap from a mile away

Not to mention the little hints older Bunnyx drops whenever she visits.  

With the mix of her being the future miraculous holder of time and being the daughter of a historian, she’s very aware of history and timelines and cause and effects and chain reactions

So when Marinette starts ‘acting up’ she tries to find when her personality switched over

And even if she seems more like a background character, this aro/ace queen always seems to know your secrets. 

So even before she knew Lila was a phony, she knew that Mari was MDC and that Jagged Stone was Juleka and Luka’s dad

So she definitely figured some stuff out that way

Honestly, next to Chloe, Alix was probably one of the first people to figgure out Mari’s identity.  

She’s a detective to rival batman

Ivan

I think Lila would make some sort of rift between him and Mylene.  

He loves her so much and it would be so hard

And mari and her friends would help him out

and he would see the truth

They wouldn’t like break up or anything

But he can just tell immediately when someone’s being a bad person.  

Kim

Probably something similar to Nino

But I think it’d be a bit more like he’s totally a die-hard fan of some of Marinette’s connections or some of Marinette’s work itself

And when he puts the pieces together its like everything makes sense in the world.  

He really feels super stupid afterwards.  

Ondine probably slaps him for not trusting his childhood best friend before some bitchy new girl.  

Max

This is the smartest dude in class

He made a f*cking robot with emotions you can’t tell me he doesn’t figure Lila out.  

A part of me believes that in the first episode with Lila when they were all waiting on her hand and foot they were probably aware that she was kind of delusional, but were giving into it the way you give into the tales of a six year old.  

Like ‘yeah, okay sweetie.  Sure’.  

I mean, at least that’s why Max went along with the napkin thing, because there’s no other excuse for that whole incident.  

Nathaniel

I don’t totally know how he figured her out, but I love the idea of her saying that she can introduce him to the creator of the Ladybug Comics.  

They actually sit next to each other in class, so he definitely is more aware of her weird behavior than others.

And since he’s an artist he’s very observant, always noticing things like her facial expressions and what seems more exaggerated than real.  

And we all know how kwami-damned done Nathaniel is with the class, so he probably knew all along.  

Not to mention that since the rest of the school is less submissive to Lila’s lies, Marc probably pointed it out to him at some point.  

There’s also the idea that since Nathaniel is pretty much never mentioned anymore, the class forgets about him and he ends up having to spend some time with Marinette and the other outcasts

In which he realizes that they are actually good people.  

Honestly, Nathaniel probably knew all along but he’s just not a drama queen about it so Lila never bothered him.  

Rose

Girls besties with Prince Ali, one of the key components of Lila’s lies

She definitely does not want to believe that someone is capable of so much evil, and she definitely gets Akumatized when she figures it out

She goes through a lot of denial but is eventually convinced.  

Juleka

Her dad is Jagged Stone, also another key component of Lila’s lies.  

After becoming Tigris Pourpre, the holder of the tiger miraculous (that’s canon in the future), she gets a little bit more invested in cat culture

And omfg I just realized that both of our models are kittens and I just wanna DIE because that’s so cute.  

And honestly now that I’m thinking about it if she was a celebrity she would totally take after Jagged and have an emotional support tiger like Princess Jasmine. 

ANYWAY, I’m kinda getting off topic here.  

So she asks Jagged about his cat, and he’s like 

“wtf I’ve never had a cat why would I have a cat I have FANG my CROCODILE”

And she’s like but your cat...

And he’s like “Jules, darling, I wrote a song about how I replaced my family with a guitar and I have three instagrams for Fang, why would I have a feline animal?”

And she’s just like

....

And honestly she probably already knew some sh*t was up before that

Because Luka obviously, despite only having met Lila, like, once, probably, dislikes Lila severely

And also Juleka is more of an observer than a do-er so she probably saw that some stuff was up.  

[dangermousie]

2019 END OF YEAR KDrama Post

Wow, I haven’t made one in years. This is going to involve only dramas that came out in 2019 because I watched a hell of a lot dramas made prior to that and trying to figure out which ones will give me a headache.

DRAMAS WATCHED (In order of liking from most to least as opposed to pure quality; I am including if I’ve seen at least two eps AND feel it was enough to make up my mind; yes I realize that’s inaccurate, but that’s my list)

Extraordinary You -  A philosophy and religion course AND a love story, and perfect at both.

My Country - a brutal, passionate, intense masterpiece of a sageuk. This is how they should be.

Crash Landing On You - the two eps that have aired brought my joy in watching kdramas back to me so vividly. This is everything. 

Encounter - the perfect noona romance of the year for me. It seems to have little plot (powerful older woman, idealistic younger man) but the characters made me love them with an unhealthy amount of attachment and the mood is just perfect. 

Haechi - smart traditional sageuk with a heart. This one will make you love it but also respect it in the morning :)

Queen: Love and War - Period, romance, mystery, helpless king and feisty heroine. It’s everything I love in one package. 

Chocolate - if, like me, you like slow old-school melo with genuine grown-ups, this one is for you. Ha Ji Won and Yoon Kye Sang are both incandescent in this. 

One Spring Night - a rare slice of life that worked for me so so much. I rooted for the main OTP like crazy (I did skip all the sister stuff though because boring to me.) It’s just a breath of fresh air.

The Tale of Nokdu - a rare funny youth sageuk that worked for me (except, ironically, for when they tried to be politics-heavy and serious about it.) Wonderful OTP, funny situations and just generally a delight. 

Memories of the Alhambra - I can hear people screaming that I put this so high, but this is a faves ranking, not objective one, and I loved the unusual premise (it ultimately fell apart but it tried), and Hyun Bin’s performance was out of this world and the aaaaagnst and I enjoyed waiting for it each week until almost the end. That ending though!!!!!

Psychopath Diary - this is black comedy at its best and hysterical and smart and somehow got me invested in the hapless protagonist. 

Hotel del Luna - clever and funny and smart. Hong Sisters largely back to form. I found the sageuk parts more engaging than modern ones, but what else is new.

Search WWW - some parts of it worked for me more than others, but it had solid writing and cool characters and some interesting OTP(s). 

Love is Beautiful Life is Wonderful - has the weekend drama slowness but it lovely and fun. 

When the Camellia Blooms - it was well made and the OTP was great and the acting top notch, I just don’t tend to go gaga for slice of life dramas, especially ones involving market ladies, much. 

Flower Crew Joseon Marriage Agency - competently done, pretty period piece about nothing. It was enjoyable and forgettable at once.

Catch the Ghost - I put it as high as I did because the OTP really did have lovely chemistry but the story was a complete mess, the police work made no sense and the heroine’s character was like nails on a chalkboard for me.

Joseon Survival - I got about four episodes in and liked it a lot but then Kang Ji Hwan turned out to be a convicted rapist, they replaced the lead and I didn’t go back. I kind of want to because I liked what I saw and I am madly curious as to whether they changed the main character or just said he had a different face now, no explanation. 

The Last Empress - pure inconsistent trash but so entertaining!

Vagabond - I made it eight episodes in before I realized that I would have as much fun staring at traffic. It’s a competently done actioner but without more, actioners never work for me, so this was a viewer/drama mismatch.

Arthdal  Chronicles - incoherent, visually odd and boring, this is arguably the worst drama this year but I am giving it higher place because the cast really tries (even if it tends to fail because it has nothing to work with) and because it attempted something different even if it failed spectacularly. SO BAD.

Melting Me Softly - yes, my brain was fully melted by this soulless, charmless waste of Ji Chang Wook and my limited free time.

VIP - Any drama that makes the main mystery and thrust of the story who the husband cheated on his wife with is BORING. Seriously, this is not exactly Hercule Poirot. They wasted their cast - I have NO idea why Lee Sang Yoon agreed to be in this as a one note character and Jang Nara is playing a second scorned wife in a row but without even the entertainment value of her previous outing.

Abyss - aptly named. The best thing I can say about it is it didn’t offend me but oh boy was it dull.

Absolute Boyfriend - I loved the manga but it’s time to accept this can never be adapted well. They wasted the cast and that ending was just an insult on top of a trash heap.

The Lies Within - you cast that cast and deliberately have no romance. You are dead to me. 

Woman of 9.9 Billion - competently made, but it’s everything I dislike - dour unpleasant bored people behaving as if they are in a particularly dreary art-house French movie but without any nuance or interest the latter came provide. 

Love with Flaws - shrill, dumb, neither acted nor written by anyone trying at all. 

Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung - objectively, it’s not the worst drama on the list, but it’s everything I hate in one package - willfully ahistorical but not cleverly so, male lead incapable of acting, the characters so one-dimensional they disappear, this purports to be a period drama but about as period as a space ship. God, I loathed this. 

FAVORITE DRAMA

Extraordinary You - smart (so mind-bendingly smart) and moving and totally unpredictable and with so many things to say about free will and religion and self and nature of memory and narrative, this had an insane impossible premise and yet somehow managed to do it full justice and stick the landing. 

WORST DRAMA

People with Flaws - this is different from least favorite because even if I loathed e.g., Rookie Historian or Woman of 9.9 Billion, I recognized some positive features; it’s just certain things really rubbed me the wrong way due to personal preferences. But this shrill hot mess of a drama is really everything that’s wrong with dramaworld.

FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER

Prince Yeoning, Haechi - fiercely smart, strong, tormented by the duality of his birth (royal father, servant mother) but not letting this distract him from his purpose, loyal to the bone, and with integrity nothing can shake but where you can feel that it’s not easy and that it costs him.

FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER

Eun Dan Oh, Extraordinary You - a go-getter who remakes the world (literally); smart, cheerful, strong, beautifully human. She feels so real and yet is larger than anything around her. 

NEEDS TO BE MURDERED

Yi Seung Gye, My Country - a sociopath destroying lives in his quest for power and control, even the destruction of his own family barely gives him anything but momentary pause. He is the reason for the tragedy of MC. 

FAVORITE SHIP

Eun Dan Oh x Haru, Extraordinary You - their love is literally universe and god-defying. They have loved each other as different people in three separate worlds (and counting), and have defied loss of memory and even loss of self as well as death, the end of worlds, and their god and the narrative and literally anything and everything, to be together.

Runner Up: Soo Hyun x Jin Hyuk, Encounter: tender and decent and his bringing her back to vivid life and the way they love and support and compliment each other.  

Probably gonna be on list if doesn’t go haywire: Crash Landing on You: she is a SK heiress, he’s a NK officer, they have mad chemistry and so much potential.

NOTP:

Tae Mi x Morgan, Search WWW - love the actors, love the chemistry, love the characters in terms of the way they are written, but they are absolutely wrong for each other and there is no future of any sort but misery ahead. None of their issues are resolved but are swept under the rug. It’s a cautionary tale, not a romance. I did a long rant before so not repeating. 

BEST SECONDARY OTP

Scarlett x Ji Hwan, Search WWW - they stole the shippiness in the drama for me. Cooky and adorable and noona romance done right.

FAVORITE SCENE

Haru’s final disappearance, Extraordinary You - the lights start to go out, the world literally dissolving, Eun Oh and Haru clinging to each other, with his telling her she was his beginning and the end. His name, the one she gave him, is the last thing he hears. In a drama full of amazing scenes the very gist of which was defying the very creator and universe and meaning of existence, this was the one that stayed with me the most.

BIGGEST CRUSH

Seo Hwi, My Country - I have a thing for deeply honorable, deeply tortured period badasses with long hair and a death wish (see Choi Young in Faith etc.)

BEST SCENE STEALER CHARACTER

Yi Bang Won, My Country - he started out as an antihero and ended up as arguably a tragic villain (or maybe still an anti-hero) but oh boy, was he magnetic and fascinating and sucking out all the oxygen whenever he was in the scene.

NEEDS A SEQUEL

Memories of the Alhambra - WTF ending was that?! All that misery and no real resolution?! Dammit!

TROPE THAT NEEDS TO DIE

Youth Sageuk - I hate most of them! They are anachronistic and dumb and honestly, what is the point of having fully modern people in period clothes? Just make a modern show and call it a day.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Melting Me Softly - Ji Chang Wook’s first project back from the military was an unfunny, unmoving, pointless mess with not an ounce of genuine enjoyment despite the excellent pedigree of everyone involved in front and behind the camera.

Arthdal Chronicles - the makers made excellent Queen Seon Duk, Tree with Deep Roots and Six Flying Dragons. The cast was uniformly A grade. The result was an open-ended, boring, incoherent mess that looks like a bad sort of a drug trip and made about as much sense. 

BIGGEST GOOD SURPRISE

Extraordinary You - I had zero interest in yet another high school drama with no actors I recognized. By the end, EY was an emotional brainy twister of a marvel that became my favorite drama of all time. I’ve been watching dramas for over 13 years so that’s saying something.

2019 DRAMAS I HAVEN’T SEEN THAT I MOST WANT TO WATCH

The Crowned Clown - I love sageuks and cast and it looks so smart and emotional

Angel’s Last Mission: Love - my next contemporary - I watched a little and loved what I saw

Fates and Furies - I saw a few eps and classic melo is so up my alley.

Clean with a Passion for Now - I like the cast and it’s a year of falling for hot weird bosses apparently.

Graceful Family - I love makjang and Im Soo Jung.

The Secret Life of My Secretary - downmarket Beauty Inside and I loved BI.

Love Affairs in the Afternoon - artsy adultery FTW

Item - I don’t like crime stuff but I am here for Joo Ji Hoon.

My Strange Hero - seems a little cooky but I am fond of Yoo Seung Ho.

MOST ANTICIPATED IN 2020

King: the Eternal Monarch - Lee Min Ho and Woo Do Hwan and parallel worlds and written by Kim Eun Suk. Yes Please.

I should probably make one for cdramas too though that one would be rather shorter.

[karballa]

The Sermon of Imam Sajjad in Kufa

The fourth Imam addressed the people of Kufa and delivered a sermon before them. After making a sign to them to keep silent, he said: "O people! Whoever knows me knows me, and he, who does not know me, should know that I am the son of that person, who was dishonored and whose entire belongings were looted and plundered, and whose women and children were made prisoners......... "

Of course, if the fourth Imam had not mentioned the plundering and maltreatment by the enemy, and had not revealed openly the details of the event one or two days after it had taken place, when the agents of the regime were still jubilant on account of their apparent success, and did not know that they had dug their grave with their own hands, it was not unlikely that the matter might have been given a different color in the history of Islam, and it might have been said that the Ahlul Bayt were taken to Kufa and Syria with a view to showing them honor and consoling them, and no constraint or force was involved.

However, the fourth Imam depicted the true scene of the tragedy of Karbala in the very first sentence of his sermon and imprinted it on the hearts of the people. Eventually these very speeches and writings were recorded in the third century in reliable Islamic history books and it became impossible even for the succeeding Ummayyad dynasty to change even one line of it, in spite of all their power, or at least to delete from the pages of history the incident of the plundering of the tents and stripping the body of the Imam. They could not make the Muslims forget these shameful deeds.

The Ahlul Bayt (family) of the Imam, who had been made prisoners, deprived Bani Umayya of even this power, and performed such a glorious deed that it not only became impossible for the enemy to tamper with the facts, but minute details of the hideous acts of the murderers of the Imam were also recorded in history.

Have not Shaykh Mufid and Tabari written that whatever dress was there on the body of the Imam was plundered after his martyrdom? The Imam's shirt was removed from his body by Ishaq bin Haiwa. His vest was taken away by Bahr bin Kab Tamimi. His turban was taken by Akhnas bin Marthad. His sword was taken by a man belonging to the tribe of Bani Darm. Qays bin Ashath bin Qays took possession of his Qatifa (mantle). Qays was later known in Kufa as Qays of Qatifa.

The Imam's shoes were removed from his feet by a man named Aswad, who belonged to the tribe of Awd. Then they made a rush on the tents and plundered everything including clothes and camels. They displayed their utmost meanness by removing even the head-dresses of women. Who wrote and recorded these detailed historical facts? It was these very speeches and addresses of Ahlul Bayt which transferred the true facts of Ashura clearly and explicitly to the pages of history. History has not only recorded that Ibn Ziyad gave orders to Ibn Sad to let the body of the .Imam be trampled upon by the horses, but has also given full details of this proceeding.

Shaykh Mufid, Tabari and other historians have written that Ibn Sad reached the tents, when some persons wanted to kill the fourth Imam. He, however, ordered that none should molest the ailing person or inconvenience the bereaved women in the tents. And when it was brought to his notice that the tents had been plundered he ordered those who had taken away something from them to return it. However, not a single person returned anything. Then to comply with Ibn Ziyad's orders, Ibn Sad called the volunteers to trample upon the sacred body of the Imam. He was perhaps also cautious in the matter and he did not himself nominate some persons to carry out the orders lest they should decline to undertake such a shameful act. However, this precaution was unnecessary and the possibility was quite remote.

As said by great historians ten persons volunteered themselves for the purpose. They mounted their horses with great enthusiasm and performed the job according to his wishes. What is surprising is that the names of these heartless bastards have also been recorded in history and the Islamic historians have mentioned the names and particulars of all of them. Tabari and Mufid have mentioned their names only and recorded that one of the aforesaid ten persons was Ishaq bin Haiwa Hazrami who looted the shirt of the Imam and the other was Akhnas bin Murthad, who took away his turban from his head.

If Imam Sajjad had kept quiet on account of his illness, fatigue caused by the journey, captivity and dejection, and had not proclaimed in the bazaar of Kufa what he had seen on the day of Ashura, and if Umme Kulsum and Zaynab, daughters of Imam Ali and Fatima and daughter of Imam Husayn had also not spoken in the bazaar of Kufa, and had not checked the enemy of an opportunity to tamper with history, how could Bani Umayya permit that the story of their indelible shame and disgrace should form a part of the history of Islam and Bani Hashim should expel their rival forever from the field of humanity, virtue and piety.

When these speeches were being delivered and these addresses were reaching the ears of the people it was the speakers themselves who knew very well what they were saying and doing, and they made no mistake in assessing the value of their words. Other people could not, however, realize as to what power the speeches of Ahlul Bayt, which were being delivered at times in the bazaars, at the doors and in general gatherings and at times in the masjids, would give to the tragedy of Karbala and to what extent they would change the thinking of the people in the course of time.

Most of the people did not understand more than that the persons, whose father had been killed, and who were bereaved, were telling the tale of their woe, crying and shedding tears owing to the calamity which had befallen them. They had no idea that the Ahlul Bayt were in fact performing their part in the Divine mission of this rising.

The task undertaken by the Imam could not be completed without the explanation and interpretation which was being given by them. There was a real danger that this Divine campaign which had been led by the most sacred personalities of Islam might, at a later stage, be made to appear a material movement prompted by worldly motives and the factual position might be concealed from the Muslims and their future generations forever, leaving them with a few pages of history containing fabricated tales.

It was for this reason that Ali bin Husayn ignored his illness and mourning, and lady Zaynab, her sister, and nephew also forgot their captivity and bereavement. Instead of assuming the posture of helpless and bereaved persons or flattering the enemy, they commenced their mission of informing the people of the true facts with perfect determination, and I availed of even the smallest opportunity to achieve their end. So much so that even if anyone abused them on account of ignorance or perversion, they considered it to be a valuable opportunity I and made it an excuse to talk with him. By this means they changed the heart of the reviler in such a way that he repented immediately, became a supporter of Ahlul Bayt and expressed regret for what he had said.

The Ahlul Bayt acted so intelligently that they benefited even from the abuses hurled upon them. Even if someone addressed them slanderously or tauntingly they considered it an opportunity to talk to him and to remove misunderstandings from the minds of the people.

After mentioning the misconduct of the enemy in a few words which were recorded in history , Imam Sajjad said thus while addressing the people of Kufa: "I am the son of the man who was beheaded on the bank of the Euphrates although he had not shed the blood or usurped the right of anyone. (i.e. he was killed without any offence committed by him). I am the son of the man who was attacked by a huge number of people and martyred when he was no longer capable of fighting and had fallen on the ground owing to weakness. This is sufficient honor for us".

By uttering these words the fourth Imam obliged the people to make more investigations about the heart-rending martyrdom of Imam Husayn, because merely being killed cannot be reckoned to be an honor, particularly an honor in the presence of which no other honor should be needed. Imam Zaynul 'Abidin said: "It is a sufficient honor for us that our blood was shed, our property was looted, we were insulted and our women and children were made prisoners".

The Imam wanted the people to ponder as to what the object of this rising was, what its leader desired, and what he did. If he wanted to become the ruler, and as another person had attained to this office he was unhappy, and sacrificed his life and property in an effort to achieve his object, being killed in this way can never be a source of pride, rather it would be a matter of shame. Then how could the fourth Imam feel proud of it and say: "This honor is sufficient for us?"

On hearing these words the people must have wondered as to how this event could be a source of pride. They might have thought: ' Are people not killed? Are there no casualties in political wars? Is there little loss of property and life in social disturbances? What sort of honor is it that one's property is looted, his tents are set on fire and his near ones are killed. These are afflictions but not a source of pride'. But the words of Imam Sajjad obliged the people to make a deeper study and investigation to assess the importance and value of this rising in the history of Islam and to find out what these persons were saying and what weight their words carried and why they were not calm and quiet like other people and why they were not willing to accept any offer made by the ruler in power.

What was the harm if Imam Husayn had taken the oath of allegiance to Yazid and lived honorably among the Muslims with- out losing his friends and his own life? These very expressions of the fourth Imam prepared the people to hear, stimulated their thoughts and roused them from slumber. Possibly many persons might have been saying: "It is good that these people have been killed, life has returned to normal, the roads to Iraq which were blocked for some days have been re-opened and the traffic and transportation which had become difficult has returned to its usual course'.

While the people were thinking on these lines the fourth Imam cried suddenly: "They killed us and plundered whatever we had and this is a sufficient honor for us". This interpretation gave a jerk to the people and created in them a desire to make further investigations.

Then Imam Sajjad said: "O people! I put you on your oath to tell me in the name of Allah, whether you know that at one time you wrote letters to my father and then deceived him. You made firm promises with him and then rose to fight against him. May Allah destroy you, may you reap the harvest of your misdeeds in both the worlds, and may you be disgraced for the indecent policy which you have adopted. How will you face the Prophet of Allah when you are brought before him on the Day of Judgment and with which eyes will you look at him? At that time the Holy Prophet will tell you: "You have killed my children and behaved towards me dishonorably. You are not my followers".

These few sentences of the Imam changed the thinking of Ii the people of Kufa and the smiling faces of those persons who had mostly come to see the prisoners blushed with shame. They tried to control themselves but could not do so. At last the groanings and lamentations of the people could be heard from different sides. They began reproaching one another. One of them said: "What an evil thing you have done! You annihilated yourselves". Another replied: "But what can we do now?"

While the people were weeping and sighing the Imam addressed them once again in these words: "May Allah bless those, who accept my advice and put into practice my recommendations about their duty to Allah, the Prophet of Allah and the Progeny of the Prophet, for it is incumbent upon us to follow the Prophet of Allah".

This brief address brought about such a turn in the minds of the people that they cried: "O son of the Prophet of Allah! All of us will hear what you say and obey your orders. We will honor the promises made with you. We will not forsake you and will not side with anyone else. We are ready to act upon whatever you say. We will fight with him, against whom you fight, and will make peace with him, with whom you make peace. We are prepared even to take steps to arrest Yazid. We hate those who oppress you".

It would appear from these statements of the people as quoted by Ibn Tawus that they had not yet understood the object of the Imam. They perhaps thought that he intended to fight and wished to mobilize an army for the purpose. They did not know that part of the movement which involved armed rising and martyrdom had already been completed, and there was no need any longer of warfare and bloodshed. What remained to be accomplished were these very speeches, sermons and addresses which were the only means of reflecting the events of Ashura in the history of Islam and in the minds of the Muslims.

Moreover, the promises, which they were making with the fourth Imam, and the assurances, which they were giving him, were not dissimilar to the assurances and promises, which they had held out to Imam Husayn. As such the assurances given by them had no value and could not be relied upon. They fell in the category of the oath of allegiance taken by them to Muslim bin Aqil and the letters written by them to Imam Husayn.

Hence, Imam Sajjad said: "O unfaithful and inconstant people! You will never succeed. Do you want to have towards me in the same manner in which you behaved towards my forefathers? N O, it cannot be so. I swear by Allah that the wounds of my heart have not yet healed up. Yesterday my father and his companions met martyrdom. I have not yet forgotten my being bereaved of the Holy Prophet, my father and my brothers have not overcome this grief. What I want you to do is that you should neither support us nor oppose us. Husayn bin Ali's being martyred is also not surprising. Was not his father Ali better than him and was he not assassinated? O Kufians! It was you, who killed Ali. May I be sacrificed for my father who was martyred on the bank of the Euphrates. The punishment for his killers is Hell".

Then he added: "We shall be perfectly satisfied with you if you give up the practice of siding with us on one day and opposing us on another day".

The fourth Imam did not speak more and could not get an opportunity to speak till the Ahlul Bayt were brought one day before Ibn Ziyad in a public assembly. There also he availed of the opportunity to speak. By uttering a few sentences though they were brief, he impressed the gathering.

[highladyluck]

Random meta/worldbuilding thoughts on the theme of eschatological time

Went down a Wikipedia hole today on the Millerites, a religious movement based around a specific prediction about the timing of Jesus’s second coming, and now I have three more Wheel of Time worldbuilding things to gleefully complain about and/or theorize on, as is my custom. (As usual, ‘ware whole-series spoilers.)

1) The Millerites apparently believed that Jesus would return "literally, visually, in the clouds of heaven" and I can't help but wonder if that's what RJ was borrowing for his 'Rand and Ba'alzamon fight in the clouds above Falme' aesthetic? The whole thing always struck me as super super weird since there's no in-world explanation for it except 'it's in the Prophecies', which doesn't tell you how it's done. Like we know the One Power can do projections/illusions, but there's no note anywhere that Moiraine or whoever was doing One Power cinematography at that moment. (However, I will consider headcanons that Verin was doing it for mysterious Verin reasons, just because that seems fun. Verin is extremely fun and mysterious, especially in book 2.)

I thought maybe it's the same kind of thing as the ta'veren television effect that the boys all start getting in later books- the swirl of colors in their heads that resolves into images of the other ta'veren, triggered by thought? But I think the color swirls are more related to 'reading the Pattern' and are similar to Egwene's Dreaming/the scenes Perrin sees in the sky in Tel'aran'rhiod/Min's visions. But 'floating images'/'images in the sky' does seem to be like... a way the Pattern appears to people, so maybe it is connected? And it's been a while since I read book 2; it's possible that Rand and Ba'alzamon are fighting at least partially in Tel'aran'rhiod, maybe due to the appearance of the Heroes of the Horn, who live there? In which case, sure, giant sky projections, sounds plausible, Tel'aran'rhiod is batshit like that.

2) I'm unreasonably annoyed that the calendar extant in the Westlands at the time of the books is set at 998 NE and the events of the books take 2 years, so that the apocalypse is RIGHT ON SCHEDULE at the end of the millennium. I CALL BULLSHIT. NOBODY'S APOCALYPSE ARRIVES ON TIME. That cute little note about the calendar at the end of every Wheel of Time book? Where they're like 'oh yeah we lost a ton of records at various points in the Third Age, there were a bunch of different calendar systems before this, and the Farede calendar dating from the arbitrarily decided end of the War of the Hundred Years is now in use'? 'ARBITRARILY DECIDED', MY ASS.

Honestly the only way this makes sense is if the books were written in the 'far future' and either the author or (from an in-universe angle) their civilization fudged the dates of events so that the end of the War of the Hundred Years was exactly the time needed to have the Last Battle end right at the millennium. Actually, this also explains why the timeline is so extraordinarily compressed and everything supposedly happened in just two years. It absolutely didn't, they just fudged the timeline from the distant vantage point of the future. XD

In RJ's defense, that does appear to be part of the conceit. I think the implication is supposed to be either that Loial wrote the books, presumably 100s of years later knowing Ogier lifespans/project timelines, or someone else is writing this based on Loial's notes/book. This is supported by that FASCINATING opening verse in Lord of Chaos, with the skipping rhyme from 'Great Arvalon, the Fourth Age' which is clearly future Tar Valon. (I've always been obsessed with that verse, and I think the only other Fourth Age quote we get opening the books is at the end of AMoL, and that's about the Breaking and doesn't tell us anything about the future except that there is one.)

3) What are the odds that the Seanchan still use FF (From the Founding, the calendar Artur Hawkwing tried to establish that now 'only historians refer to') for their calendars? Pretty good, right? I wonder what wacky stuff they were expecting around whenever their millennial date was. Everybody would have an extra-keen eye out for omens once the date drew near.

Actually, it would kind of make sense if they had a false dragon around then. Didn’t one of the Westlands false dragons pop up around the turn of one of the earlier millenniums? Also, because the only thing more fun than one weird headcanon is another even weirder headcanon... what if there were Seanchan false dragons who were female? I don’t think male channelers with the spark in Seanchan live long enough to get much in the way of delusions of grandeur, plus the prophecies got corrupted so maybe people weren’t necessarily expecting a male Dragon (granted, this is a stretch). Mostly I’m thinking that a female false dragon in Seanchan would have similar motivations to Logain and Taim, like ‘eh, who’s to say I’m not the Dragon Reborn, also this might allow me to get more power/escape my otherwise inevitable fate.’ I know people have run with the Female Dragon idea, but I haven’t seen anyone write a female false dragon or a false dragon in Seanchan. (If you have, point me to those fics, I’m curious!) In the 1000+ year history of Artur Hawkwing’s Seanchan there would absolutely have been at least some channelers who were like ‘yeah no thanks I don’t want to be damane, what are my other options?’ I’m not saying any of them succeeded in exploring other options in the long run, but somebody must have asked the question. I’m just constantly chewing over the idea that Seanchan is really, really not as culturally homogeneous as Tuon believes it to be and Imperial propaganda says it is; the last rebellion was put down 200 years ago, but there’s absolutely damane who were alive then and even people with ordinary lifetimes can still hang on to bits of their culture (and/or anger/fear about how their ancestors were treated) for that long. My best example of this is Ajimbura, who is manifestly not fully assimilated; he’s a permanent exile from his culture, perhaps, but you definitely get the sense that he’s following Karede out of some sort of personal honor code that comes out of his cultural background even if it doesn’t match up to it completely, rather than because Karede successfully absorbed him into imperial Seanchan culture. You can take a man out of the Kaensada Hills but you can’t take the Kaensada Hills out of the man. (Also now I’m thinking about how Ajimbura is to Karede as Mat is to Tuon, in terms of loyalty/house-train-ability and it’s blowing my mind...)

[seddm]

Star Vs The Forces of Evil AMA

A list of the most important or interesting things from the AMA on Reddit from yesterday. The questions were answered by Daron Nefcy (show’s creator), Dominic Bisignano and Aaron Hammersley (writers, supervising producers), and Adam McArthur (Marco’s voice actor).

“I'm not sure what Star and Marco's future looks like but I know they are very much in love now.” the most important of quotes. 

When asked if Starco was planned from the beginning Daron simply said “It was planned. We never did anything just because we got pressure from fans” in one answer, and “I did have it planned for some time“ in another one.

Daron wanted for Star and Marco to make mistake and date other people before finally finding each other to grow from those experiences, the “messy” nature of relationships in the show having been on purpose to treat them as real teenagers.

The Severing Stone did break a curse, but the curse was never the reason behind Star and Marco’s feelings. Breaking it simply allowed them to start realizing that their feelings had nothing to do with it (which implies placebo effect as the only actual impact of it in that regard).

Aaron Hammersley thinks that Star liked Marco since the beginning, but feelings started growing after the Blood Moon ball.

Right now there are no plans for more books, comics, or DVD sets, but Daron would like to work again with Star if Disney ever wanted more.

Ever since they got renewed for a 4th season they knew it would have been the last one, and set out to write an ending for it. Daron is very satisfied by the ending they wrote and said this about its open nature:  My goal was to create a satisfying ending that still left room for more. I feel like it’s in the DNA of the universe to solve one problem but create another. That’s Star Butterfly! I know it may not have been satisfying for everyone, but I hope it inspires a lot of fan fiction and drawings. I didn’t want to solve everything and leave the fans nothing to play with! Plus, if I ever got to do more with Star I want something to play with.

Toffee was a historian and researched the Butterfly family and their magic like no one before. The skull pauldrons in Moon the Undaunted were from family members of the royal court he killed (so the cheekmarks were just intimidation / “rule of cool”).  

Meteora’s rebirth was all Eclipsa’s doing, but she didn’t know if the spell would have worked or not, that’s why she was initially in tears.

Seth has been dead for a long time, and he was put in the book just to have some supplemental elements for the show’s world, without ever having intentions to use him in the series.

Tom still has his fire-travelling powers, since they’re inherent to being a demon.

Ponyheads evolved out of their bodies thousands of years ago. Princess Pony Head’s mother is dead (not as a result of magic being gone, she was already dead).

Ludo stole the tadpoles from an orphanage.

Omnitraxius was just a “middleman to accessing the Multiverse”, so his death doesn’t affect the structure of alternate realities.

According to Daron Starfan13′s real name is Amanda Jacobs, according to Adam it’s Deborah Perla.

The hardest episodes to write are those where they need to get to a specific plot point, and they need a story to introduce it in a natural feeling way.

Earth and Mewni are the only dimensions that got cleaved together. 

Doop-Doop is gone, but the laser puppies are regular puppies now.

Daron sees the Blood Moon magic as both a curse and a blessing, but didn’t provide any further explanation for Eclipsa’s father’s portrait talking to Marco beyond “magic”.

Warnicorns are unicorns who feed on the blood of their enemies.

Among the episodes that didn’t end up becoming a thing Daron mentioned one about Skullnick dating a monster, and one about Rafael’s job (he’s an artist).

Daron confirmed that the first Mewman settlers were indeed humans who fell through the Magic Well in Echo Creek.

They tried writing an episode about Monster Arm’s return several times, but they could never make it work. Daron believes that it might still be inside Marco, and might come back one day (doesn’t really make any sense given magic’s destruction but hey who am I to question The Daron). According to Adam it makes his immune system stronger.

Daron wouldn’t want to do a crossover episode.

Toffee genuinely believed he had won until, and I quote, “he got his face blasted”. So he didn’t really know how all turns out. But they still wanted to end the show with magic’s destruction as a way to pay him homage. So he wasn’t right all along, but he also was.

Star and Ludo are totally going to play basketball together, eventually.

Between The Cure and The Smiths Marco would absolutely like the latter more, according to Daron; according to Bisignano he’d like the Bauhaus.

Dominic Bisignano (writer, supervising producer, storyboarder, director) would have liked for the show to have more slow paced episodes, with less jokes and less self contained story lines, to better explore the characters. 

Erik did turn back to normal with magic’s destruction, but he has “the painful memory of having been a squirreltoad”.

The Realm of Magic is very sensitive and people aren’t supposed to be there, that’s why Moon washing her “wounds” in it was enough to throw everything off balance.

Star on Wheels was inspired by Daron falling in a lake as a kid as a result of not being able to brake on her bike; Lake House Fever by Hammersley’s experience of being snowed in a cabin with his wife (then girlfriend) and her parents.

Marco’s cheekmarks were just due to his exposure to magic, and weren’t connected to the Blood Moon.

Star would love Pringles, but they do upset her stomach.

Easter egg in Cheer Up Star: in Rafael’s shack a painting by Van Gogh that has been stolen and never found again can be seen on a shelf. So he either drew a replica, or he’s the one who stole it.

ANSWERS BY ADAM

(I’m making a separate section for these because it’s harder to tell whether what he says is canon or not, since Adam wasn’t involved with the show’s writing)

Nachos is still with Marco.

Marco still has his Princess Turdina outfit.

Father Time is still fine, since he wasn’t a magical creature (obviously, or the Universe would be kinda done...).

When asked about what he imagines Marco doing after the finale, he answered “hopefully supporting Star in whatever she's doing, as well as still using those butt-kicking skills he developed in the Neverzone!”.

Ludo got his goons by bullying them into submission.

Just gonna post a screen for this answer about Brunzetta because it seems a bit “wishy washy” and phrasing is important to convey that.

Adam thinks that Marco might have worked with Janna, if he hadn’t gotten together with Star.

Gustav was measuring the Diazes in their sleep (in The Other Exchange Student) to make them custom alpaca wool sweaters.

According to Adam Dave (Tom’s father) was just a regular Mewman who worked as a barista at the coffee shop Lady Lucitor frequented. She tipped well and he fell in love.

Toffee called Marco a disappointment in Storm the Castle because he thought he’d have been more of an adversary.

[danceworshipper]

Kestra Fernera - HPMA Profile

(same universe as Lori)

Identity

Name: Kestra Alessa Fernera

Gender: Female (cis)

Age: Roughly 2000 years in total

Birthday (originally): August 23rd (leo)

Last Regeneration Date: June 18th

Species: Human, Phoenix Blood

Blood Status: Halfblood (originally)

Sexuality: Panromantic Demisexual

Alignment: Neutral Good

Ethnicity: Roman

Nationality: British

Residence: A modest townhome in a busy city

Personality Type: ENFJ - T (the protagonist)

Phoenix Blood Explanation

In her very first life, Kes was a ten year old girl walking the streets of Ancient Rome. She came across a strange, brightly colored bird that appeared to be made from fire itself. The bird had a deep gash in its stomach, and was dying (it was actually dying, not going to regenerate, as it has been stabbed). Kes thought this bird was some sort of godly creature, and tried everything she could to save it. On a last attempt, Kes forced all the magic she could muster into this bird's wound, nearly killing herself in the process. The bird was healed, and in turn, healed her. Kes was suddenly filled with the knowledge that the bird was a phoenix. It flew away for a short while and returned with a small, beautiful dagger that looked as though it was still molten. The knowledge of her immortality entered Kes' mind, as well as her immunity to fire. The dagger was the one thing that could kill her for real. As she took it, she burst up into flames, and when they died away, the phoenix was gone, leaving only a single feather behind. From that point on she had the mark of the phoenix on her chest, and could control fire as though it was part of her. This event occurred on her birthday, which just so happened to be the Vuncanalia. Many people took notice of this and declared her blessed by Vulcan himself, and brought her to live in his temple. She was protected and praised as the chosen one, and each regeneration after was treated similarly until Rome fell. The only two items she was able to save when her city fell were the dagger and the feather.

When Kes regenerates, her memories are lost and the mark disappears. On August 23rd of the year she is/will be ten years old for that regeneration, she enters a "memory fever" where her hands light up with fire, her eyes turned molten, and she goes back for a moment to her first life when she saved that phoenix as the marks burns back into her skin. She remembers key elements from some of her previous regenerations, but the only clear memory is the day she was blessed. The power that runs through her knocks her out for days, and in that time, the fire powers given to her redevelop. Her chosen goal is to learn the one answer that seems impossible: what truly is the purpose of life? Besides for this, she just wants to remember everything. The loss of her memory is the one thing that consistently haunts her through regenerations.

The Mage

Wand: Pine, phoenix, 13 3/4 inches, pliant. The feather is the one from the phoenix she saved in her first life, formed into a wand after the use of them became more wide spread. The wand itself is very light colored, smooth and strangely sharp at the end. It's the only wand she has ever owned, though she's not always sure how it gets back to her. After she wakes up from her memory fever this time around, she is able to unlock the chest her past self locked both it and the dagger in

Animagus: none yet, will eventually be a (you guessed it) phoenix

Misc. Magical Abilities: Strong fire magic. She does not need spells when dealing with flames, and fire will not hurt her

Boggart Form: A pile of ashes. Her worst fear is dying before she's ready

Riddikulus Form: Confetti

Amortentia (what they smell like): a campfire, herbs, and cinnamon

Amortentia (what they smell): currently parchment, old books, and metal. This will change as she gets older, as these are simply nostalgic smells

Patronus: Phoenix (duh)

Patronus Memory: One of the only memories from her first life she clearly remembers every regeneration: the day the phoenix blessed her. She could feel her own soul separate from her body, which felt absolutely euphoric - the most intense sort of pleasure she had ever felt

Mirror of Erised: Herself, looking tired and happy, holding the dagger in her hand. She's remembered everything, learned everything, and she's finally ready to pass on

Specialized/Favorite Spells:

- Aguamenti: not a favorite, but she had to perfect it because she's a hazard

- Expecto Patronum: she knows her patronus is that specific phoenix, long moved on from the earth. She misses her sometimes, and casts the spell just to see her and feel reassured

- Fiendfyre: it can't hurt her, so once she finds the Room of Requirement that's the first spell she's going to practice. Eventually, it will be as easy as snapping her fingers

- Reparo: for accidents

Appearance

(art by @kathrynalicemc , who originally created Kestra and then gave her to me)

Height: When done growing, 5'11"

Weight: When done growing, 146 lbs

Physique: Thin with visible muscles, long legs

Eye Color: After her memory fever, bright golden/orange like fire. Kinda scary to look at for most people. Originally hazel, and when she goes out she sometimes glamors them back so as not to draw attention

Hair Color: Black, thick and wavy

Skin Tone: Tan and absolutely covered in freckles

Body Modifications: the mark from the phoenix just below her left collarbone, multiple ear piercings

Scarring: Faded slashes across her back from her first life. They were given to her by her muggle father, who raged and whipped her when he discovered her mother's lies. After Kes became "chosen" he was burned to death as a sacrifice to Vulcan, and her mother was protected for the rest of her life at Kes' request. These scars will never go away, but they're only barely noticeable. They remind her who she was, and the magic seems to know how important they are to her

Inventory:

- her dagger, in its sheath and wrapped in silk

- her wand

- pomegranate lip balm

- loose change

- raw crystals to fidget with

- a snack of some sort

Fashion: When not in uniform, Kes likes to look good. She wears mostly autumnal colors and prefers fitted clothes to loose ones. As she gets older she starts to toe the line between school appropriate and not school appropriate as much as possible. She much prefers pants to skirts, and she loves high heels. She likes to have a subtle elegant tone to her makeup, in contrast to whatever the hell is going on with her hair, which is usually kept in either a low ponytail or a messy bun. Kes also wears flashy jewelry constantly, and likes to have her nails short, neat, and painted

Allegiances

Hogwarts House: Hufflepuff

Allegiances/Organizations:

- Fernera Family

- High Priestesses of Vulcan (the group is all gone now, of course, but Kes keeps up a few traditions as a tribute to her past self)

Professions:

- Student (currently)

- Rescuer (future)

- Musician (future)

Hogwarts Information

Class Proficiencies:

- Astronomy: O

- Charms: E

- Defense Against the Dark Arts: E

- Herbology: A

- History of Magic: O

- Potions: E

- Transfiguration: E

Electives: none yet

Quidditch: she plays in her free time, but never joins a team

Extra Curricular:

- Music Club

- Yoga Club

Favorite Professor: TBD because idk who's in the game yet

Least Favorite Professor: TBD

Relationships

"Mother": Sarina Penelope Fernera

- is actually the youngest of Kestra's great grandchildren. When Kes regenerates it's the duty of the youngest (adult) living member of her family to raise her again

- Sarina was only just an adult when Kes regenerated, but family tradition demanded she take over

- She's one of the few people to have watched Kes die and come back, as Kes normally likes to be alone

- It scared the crap out of her

- She got help from her older brothers raising Kes so that she could pursue a career in Healing

- A year before Kes would remember who she was, Sarina fell in love with a muggle named Derrick Credian

- She had some explaining to do when her "daughter's" hands caught on fire and she started screeching about a dying phoenix in the middle of breakfast

- He's a nice guy though, and he's open to learning more about the wizarding world

"Uncle": Harold Atticus Fernera

- Five years older than Sarina

- Historian

- Has been researching to see if there are any other known Phoenix Bloods, but there seem to be no record of them

- Took on most of the extra babysitting for Sarina

- Married with a young son

"Uncle": Sebastian Noah Fernera

- Eight years older than Sarina

- Cursebreaker

- A bit less of a decent dude, jealous of Kes' power, you know how it is

- Even if he did find a dying phoenix to bless him it probably wouldn't. He's not pure of heart enough

- Divorced, no kids

Love Interest: possibly Lori, but subject to change

Best Friend: TBD

Rival: TBD

Enemy: TBD

Dormmates: TBD

Pets: a fire salamander named Spark. He's not technically allowed but who's going to stop her? She's the most qualified person to handle a creature like that

Closest Canon Friends: TBD

Closest Noncanon Friend: Oleander Loris

- They really don't get along at first

- Lori is TERRIFIED of fire, so that's inconvenient

- Kes actually wants to be friend with this girl, but Lori isn't having it

- Lori attacks Kes outside once and gets three months detention

- She's just afraid

- They don't become friends until the summer after third year, when Lori gets trapped in a burning building that Kes just so happens to be passing by

- Kes hears screaming and runs directly into the building past the muggle firefighters (she's glamored, so they all try to stop her)

- She finds Lori, and she uses her fire powers to keep the flames away while they get out

- The glamor fades away, the muggles freak out and need to be Obliviated

- Now, instead of someone to be scared of, Lori sees Kestra as a safe place, the one person that instead of Lori protecting them, it's Kes protecting Lori

- The professors are very confused by this development

- It's this incident that makes Kes want to be a rescuer

Closest MC Friends: None yet, but they're welcome!

Storyline

Pre Hogwarts:

- Kes can't remember how many lives she's had, but she knows it's been a lot

- Her childhood this time around was fairly quiet. Her and her mother were very close (it almost felt as if she'd already known her)

- She would have strange dreams at night, and she knew things she shouldn't be able to know

- Her mother would sometimes stare at her chest, and Kes didn't understand why

- Then on August 23rd when she was ten years old, she saw her mother fully panic

- Kes looked down at her chest, saw the phoenix mark, and it triggered her memory fever

- After she collapsed, she didn't wake up for a week

- Now that she knew, Sarina gave Kes the previous regeneration's old diary, thinking that Kes would be the best person to explain to Kes what was happening fully

- Even with her new memories, it took Kes a while to wrap her head around the concept

- Now she's ready to figure out as much as she can in order to use this life to the fullest

1st Year: TBD

2nd Year: TBD

3rd Year: TBD

4th Year: TBD

5th Year: TBD

6th Year: TBD

7th Year: TBD

Post Hogwarts:

- Directly out of Hogwarts Kes offers her services to the Ministry as a Rescuer. She's sent in whenever there's an issue related to fire, including important muggle rescues

- In her spare time she plays piano for random groups and performances. She never sticks to one place because of her Rescuer job, but she loves to perform whenever she can

- She gets married and adopts some kids. She's birthed many kids in previous regenerations, but this time around she doesn't want to be unavailable for a rescue while pregnant

Old Age and Death: Unfortunately, Kes hasn't done all that she's strived for, so her 'death' is only a regeneration. Once she considers this regeneration over, she locks her important things in her chest, makes arrangements for her new self to be raised, and slits her own throat to burn away. Someday she'll be able to use her dagger, but not this time. She doesn't have to kill herself to regenerate, but she's been feeling sick this time around and would rather choose when to burn instead of having it happen at a bad time

Personality

- extroverted

- optimistic

- confident

- compassionate

- can also kick ass

- goal oriented

- trusting

- it seems as though she daydreams a lot, but she's actually trying to remember as much as she can from her past lives in order to make this one the best it can be

- has a hard time apologizing

- surprisingly she has a bad temper, but she controls it well

Misc Information

- Kes discovered her attraction to girls way before her attraction to boys

- Like, regenerations earlier

- As one of the high priestesses, no man was allowed to touch her, so she spent most of her time surrounded by other women that were kept away from men... you can see where this is going

- It wasn't until Rome fell and they all had to scatter that she first fell in love with a man

- There wasn't really a good word for it back then, but she knew she loved men, women, and everyone in between

- Her favorite color is a dark red - in fact, she wears so much red that people often mistake her for a Gryffindor

- She's been in each of the Hogwarts Houses many times

- She can't remember it, but she was sorted into Hufflepuff her first time around

- Kes found her salamander, Spark, when she got lost in Knockturn Alley

- She stumbled upon a poacher selling rare and dangerous creatures

- She did not buy Spark. She melted the bars of his cage and stole him, and then reported the poacher to the authorities, selfishly keeping Spark to herself

- He loves her so much, and she loves him

- Sometimes she conjures fire without even realizing it, which is part of why she keeps crystals in her bag to fidget with

- Fire is kind of a hazard in a library after all, and she can't risk being seen playing with fire by a muggle when she's out in their world

- She still sometimes has nightmares of when her first father whipped her and her mother

[nickysurfer28]

Summary: the Halloween masquerade ball is turning into something interesting...

Word count: over 1k

Characters: Dr.Nicky Ransom x Chris Evans ,Judith,Denise Ames (cousin), Tim (hot high school teacher/neighbor)

Warning ⚠️: 18+ adults only.

Chapter 7:

Between your patient load and spending every free moment monitoring Denise’s recovery, the next two weeks pass in a blur. In no time at all, Halloween is upon you. You look at your masquerade invitation again, nervous excitement bubbling up inside you.

I never expected to set foot in a place as fancy as the venue they booked, much less attend a ball there! I hope everyone there is.. super creative. Which mean I can’t show up in something uninspired. I need to look absolute best for this masquerade!

Though admittedly, the swanky venue isn’t your only motivation.

I haven’t seen Chris since we almost kissed the other week. The way he looked at me.. just thinking about it makes my skin tingle.

And you have been thinking about it. A lot.

I want Chris to see me in a costume that makes me look...like modern princess.

You slip into the gown and smile at yourself in the mirror. You turn this way and that, admiring the way you sparkle with each movement.

Perfect.

You grab your purse and head outside to meet your date.

“Happy Halloween,Nicky!” Tim answered.

“Happy Halloween,Tim!” Nicky answered.

Tim is your neighbor, and he’s had a crush on Denise for years.

What can I say? Judith inspired me to do some well- intentioned meddling of my own now that Denise is better. Time couldn’t buy his ticket fast enough once I told him Denise would be there!

“Let me guess. You’re ...The Dread Pirate Roberts?” Nicky answered.

“Aw, man he does have a similar costume, doesn’t he? No, I’m Zorro. “ Tim answers.

“Oh! I totally see it now.” Nicky answered.

You laugh, linking arms with Tim.

Soon, you’re at the Barbary Towers Hotel just as the bulk of the guest are arriving.

“This place is wild! I feel like I’m walking into “The Great Gatsby.” Tim answered with shock.

“Do I need to give you and the Gilded Age Hotel a moment alone? Nicky answered.

“No, I’ll be okay.” Tim answered laughing.

You and Tim enter the hotel and ascend a vast marble staircase. Your jaw goes slack as you step into the room.

I’ve never seen anything so glamorous in my life!

Then, you see him across the room.

Chris’s bright blue eyes pierce you even for a distance. It’s hard to even notice the crowd around you with him right there.

You expertly navigate the shallow stairs leading into the ballroom and step gracefully onto the brightly polished floor. Chris smirks at you in approval, and you feel yourself flush.

“I feel like I’ve stepped into a fairytale.” Nicky answered blushing.

A guest nearby hears you.

“It’s magnificent, isn’t it? Did you know these are all the original fixtures from 1901?” Party guest answers.

“Oh man really?” Tim answers in amazement.

You survey the gleaming ballroom with newfound wonder.

“So in a way, we really are stepping into the past.” Nicky answers.

“Exactly!” Party guest answered. “Pardon my enthusiasm. I’m a historian.”

“No explanation necessary. This place is amazing.” Nicky answered.

They grin at you before then making a beeline for a cluster of other guests nearby. You overhear him speak.

“I was just speaking to the most beautiful and elegant young woman. She’s quite extraordinary.” Party guest answered.

Is he talking about me?

Your eyes find Chris again. His eyes are still on you.

“Nicky!” Judith squeals.

Judith intercepts you, her voluminous gown, rustling across the floor.

“Judith... you look amazing!, Queen Elizabeth I, right?” Nicky answered.

“I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to be a queen for an evening!” Judith answers. “And you, Nicky! You look absolutely divine! I love this modern look on you. I dare say a certain someone won’t be able to keep his eyes off you.”

“Thank you.” Nicky answered.

Judith’s eyes land on Tim.

“And who is this handsome young man?” Judith answered.

“Judith, this is my neighbor Tim Reynolds. Tim, this is Judith Fortier. She’s Denise’s landlord.” Nicky answered. “Judith, Tim is...an English teacher. He works at the high school by my house.”

“Oh, isn’t that lovely . Good teachers really are worth their weight in gold.” Judith answers smiling.

“I believe the children are our future.” Tim answers.

“If you break into song right now, I’m pretending not to know you.” Nicky answers.

“Yeah, nothing to worry about there!” Tim answered smiling.

Denise bounds you to the three of you, smiling brightly.

“Nicky! Judith!” Denise squeals.

With keen eyes, flushed cheeks, and glossy hair,Denise is once again the picture of youthful good health.

I can’t believe how quickly she bounced back. It’s almost as though the last few weeks never happened.

“And Tim! I didn’t know you’d be here! Are you Zorro? Denise answered.

“Good eye! And you’re female Robin Hood?” Tim answered smiling.

“You’re the only person who’s guessed right!” Denise answered smiling.

“Well, Ms. Hood , shall we rob from the rich and give to the poor?” Tim answered with a grin.

“Or we could just dance.” Denise answered with a smile.

They walk off arm in arm, leaving you gaping in disbelief.

Wow. That was a a lot easier than I thought.

“You knew exactly what you were doing, didn’t you, you sly little fox?” Judith answered with a smirk.

“I....learned from the best. You’re inspiration to would-be matchmakers everywhere.” Nicky answered.

Judith throws her head back and laughs.

“Just doing my part,honey!” Judith answered smiling.

Seeing Denise so healthy and carefree makes you feel lighter than you have in weeks.

“This is shaping up to be a good night, Judith.” Nicky answered smiling.

“Come on! Let’s work the room a little.” Judith answers.

Judith takes your hand and leads you around the ballroom. Within 20 minutes, she’s introduced you to a wide array of donors,artists, and other members of the Dreamseekers Foundation.

Gorgeous ballroom,great catering, and Denise totally hitting if off with a good guy? Can a night get any better?

It can, you realize with a jolt.

But where did Chris go?

You crane your neck, trying to catch a glimpse of his tall, lean figure amid the sea of bright costumes.

“Looking for someone?” Judith answers.

“Yeah, where’s...Chris? I was expecting to see him.” Nicky answered.

“I got here fashionably late, I’m afraid.” Chris answers.

“Chris!” Nicky answered in shock.

“Oh, and would you listen to that! I swear I hear someone calling my name.” Judith answers pretending to be surprised.

She winks at you before melting into the crowd.

Subtle.

You turn back to Chris and you feel yourself flush.

No one man should be allowed to be that handsome.

“I didn’t know you’d be here tonight.” Chris answered.

“Judith invited me. I don’t usually attend things like this.” Nicky answered.

“Did she mention I’d be here?” Chris answered with a raise brow.

“She did.” Nicky answered blushing.

“Hm.” Chris answered.

Chris steps closer to you, a charming smirk on his face.

“And why did you decide to attend this particular event, Nicky?” Chris answered.

You shallow as he draws nearer. Something about him is so intoxicating tonight.

“Chris, I came tonight....to see you.” Nicky answered blushing. I know it’s silly, since we barely know each other. But I’ve missed you.”

He gives you a smile that makes your heart race.

“I’ve missed you, too.” Chris answered. “And thank you for all the updates on Denise’s recovery. I’m touched that you thought of me.”

“Well, I figured she wasn’t going to do it.” Nicky answered.

“You figured correctly! After the third “I’m fine,” I learned to stop asking.” Chris answered.

“She likes her independence that one.” Nicky answered “ thank you again for...everything.”

“The feeling is mutual.” Chris answered.

He gives your hand a squeeze.

“You look .... absolutely stunning.” Chris answered.

“Thank you.” Nicky answered.

You blush, almost giddy with happiness as the band strikes up a waltz.

“And you look...handsome.” Nicky answered.

“Thank you.” Chris answered with a smile.

Chris smiles, holding out his hand to you.

“May I have this dance, Nicky?” Chris answered.

“Chris... I’d be delighted.” Nicky answered.

You take his hand and he leads you onto the dance floor. Your heart flutters as he positions himself with one arm around your waist and the opposite hand in yours.

“Full disclosure: I have no idea how to waltz.” Nicky answers blushing.

“Just follow my lead.” Chris answered.

He guides you into a surprisingly simple step pattern, quietly counting out the steps for you as he leads.

“One...two..three. One...two...three...” Chris answered.

I still feel so stiff and awkward, but Chris? He’s so light on his feet, like he’s been dancing forever.

“You know how to waltz? When did you learn?” Nicky answers.

“As a boy. My mother insisted.” Chris answers.

“Not the extracurricular most parents stress nowadays.” Nicky answered.

“Ah, well. She was a little old- fashioned.” Chris answered.

You laugh as he twirls you.

“You seem to take after her in that way.” Nicky answered with smile.

“Yes. I guess I do. She always...”Chris answered.

Something odd flickers in his blue eyes. He trails off and shakes his head.

“She was always what?” Nicky answered.

“Never mind. I don’t want to waste your time with my reminiscing.” Chris answers sadly.

You look into his bright blue eyes, noticing a hint of openness and vulnerability that isn’t usually there.

“Chris...you could never bore me. I want to know more about you.” Nicky answers.

“You do.” Chris answered.

“I do.” Nicky answered.

You feel his grip on your waist tighten a fraction as you glide around the dance floor.

“You’re far too generous,Nicky.” Chris answered warmly.

“I’m not. If anything, I’m selfish.” Nicky answered smiling. You’re an amazing man, Chris. I want to get to know you better. So, why don’t you tell me about your mother, if you want. You said, “she always...”?

He shakes his head in disbelief, but the smile on his face is genuine.

“You continue to amaze me, Nicky. “ Chris answered. “I meant to say that she always has us practice dancing, even though we hated it. We much preferred playing outside or even reading to dancing.”

“We?” Nicky answered.

For a fraction of a moment, Chris freezes, his steps faltering for a breath before he continues to lead you.

“Ah. My brother and I.” Chris answered.

“You have a brother?” Nicky answered with shock.

Grief flashes across Chris’s eyes.

“As I said when we first met, Nicky. Amy family I have is dead.” Chris answered sadly.

“Oh. Chris .... I’m sorry.” Nicky answered sadly. “I didn’t mean to overstep.”

“You didn’t. Don’t worry.” Chris answered. “Still want to know about me?”

“More than ever, honestly.” Nicky answered.

He smile softens. Then, his eyes glint mischievously.

“You know, at the time our costumes were in fashion, the waltz was considered a scandalous dance.” Chris answered with a smile.

“Chris...are you coming on to me?” Nicky answered. “Because that sounded like coming on to me.”

Chris laughs. Then, the music stops, and he gives you a deep bow. Then, another song comes on, darker and more mysterious.

“Care for another dance, Nicky?” Chris answered. “I can teach you more about the more...salacious points of the waltz.” Chris answered with a smirk. “What do you say?”

“Teach me everything you know.” Nicky answered.

Chris smirks wide and pulls you flush against him as he begins to lead you in the dance once more.

“You see, at the time, couple’s dances were still very new thing. A gentlemen had to take a great care to keep his partner at a respectable distance.”

You flush, acutely aware of the warm press of his body against yours.

“I notice you don’t seem to be trying very hard on that front.” Nicky answered.

“Nor are you resisting me as a lady should.” Chris answered.

“I... can’t help it.” Nicky answered blushing. “You’re too irresistible, I guess.”

His grip tightens around you, strong and almost possessive.

“Shall we be daring, Nicky , and fly in the face of convention?” Chris answered with a smile.

“Who needs propriety?” Nicky answers.

“My thoughts exactly.” Chris answered.

He holds you closer, his body flush against you.

Best. Halloween. Ever.

A big, goofy grin creeps onto your face, and you lay your head against his chest to hide it. The shift in position seems no deterrent to Chris, who continues to lead you gracefully across the floor.

I could stay like this all night.

But all too soon the song ends, and with it your dance. You mourn Chris’s warmth as he steps away.

“Thank you, Nicky.” Chris answered.

He presses a soft kiss on your cheek. Just as he looks about to say something else, you feel a tap on your shoulder. You turn around to see...

“Mind if I cut in?” Mystery guest answered.

Tags: @denisemarieangelina @joannaliceevans-fanficblog @pine-fresh-kirk @jtargaryen18 @patzammit @daliaevans @waywardodysseys @what-is-your-plan-today @thatgirly81 @katiew1973 @kellyn1604 @kailyndavillier @mizcaptainphoenix @deidrashouseofpain @denissjmaddox @wintrcaptn @captain-rogers-beard @captainevans @captainsamerica @brilliantkey @branflakes82 @bellaireland1981 @nomadevans82 @artisticrogers1972 @captainchrisstan @captainchrisfics @captaincrazyexlover @nbarnes @trishevans @shotsbyshae @worksby-d @kirstie-evans-writes @shreyaaaaaaaaaaaa @chris-butt @shortacouplebuckys @littlefiercequeen @southerngracela @kelbabyblue @sweater-daddiesdumbdork @star-spangled-beard-burn @princess-evans-addict @shadowcatsworld @twittytelly @comebackandhauntme21 @jms358 @artemisrogersbarnes @mery-be @americasass91 @amazonx @thatsxamericasxass

[mytargaryenchildren]

How a historical analysis might help reconsider the need to accept Game of Thrones’ TV ending

I’m dedicating this post to @bendthekneejon ❤️

I wrote this weeks ago but real life got in the way of finalizing it, but here you go. Almost 2 months later and I’m still angry about the Game of Thrones ending. And here’s how I am getting over it.

Most people I see online have been upset about the way the Game of Thrones TV show ended, including me. I have been a mega fan since 2013, read the books, spent a lot of money traveling to filming locations and on cosplay, went out of my way to meet Kit Harington, but most importantly I have used the story of ASOIAF as escapism for these past 6 years. It’s so ingrained in my daily imagination, so it’s been really difficult to come to terms with the butchering of characters and their arcs, sexist/racist writing, and an overall unsatisfying ending that we got just for the sake of ‘subverting expectations’.

To come to terms with my disregard for Season 8, I was thinking about a lecture I attended back in 2018 at my undergraduate university by Ayelet Haimson Lushkov. She wrote You Win or You Die: The Ancient World of Game of Thrones as a comparison of the events and tropes within ASOIAF with ancient Roman and Greek history. Usually, the comparison is made with medieval Britain or European history, but I found many of the parallels, especially from Essos, to be more interesting than the typical feudalist reading of ASOIAF that we get by historians. That’s not my main point here, though I would definitely check her book out if you’re a fan of history and ASOIAF like me. My main point is how to reconcile David and Dan’s ending or George R. R. Martin’s future ending with an actual satisfying end, and how modern fandom culture is actually the perfect way to bridge this gap.

Lushkov spoke about the formation of ‘canon’ in this lecture.  She explained how interesting it is how exactly ASOIAF canon has come to be: one author began it, which would usually be considered the one and only ‘true’ canon of a certain media. However, when it went to D&D and HBO, especially once they surpassed George’s books, that canon splintered into two. There’s book and show canon. Up until season 8 I was a fan of both; I liked each one for different reasons. I saw it as getting two separate stories told by two different entities, just using the same characters. In my heart I never preferred one over the other, I saw them as two different canons, two stories. I’m arguing that this is how we must think of the world of ASOIAF now. The book and show are completely different stories, and should remain that way. HOWEVER I’m taking it a step further.

Fandoms are just an authoritative source of canon as the ‘original’ creators. There, I said it. Now, let me explain this view by using Lushkov’s explanation. Because she looked into classical history, she naturally used Homer’s epic poems as a source to compare the content of ASOIAF with. Then she made the parallel, or reverse parallel, with the formation of these stories. First, it is important to understand the theories around Homer. “There are scholars who see (most of) the Iliad and sometimes the Odyssey as the work of a single inspired poet, a genius whom they call Homer.” In my parallel, this theory reflects GRRM and most singular content creators. However, the other argument helps my view, that “the Homeric poems are the product of a long series of compositions and re-compositions,” where “Homer is seen as a ‘movement’ rather than as an individual”. This theory states that the Greek Epics were compiled over time, by many people, until eventually it became one single canon. This isn’t only applicable to Greek poetry. Let’s look at where the word ‘canon’ comes from: religion. The Bible for example was written over time by different contributors into one eventual canon that’s followed by millions today. Each of the four gospels has its own version of the story of Christ, and even they differ from one another within canon!

So, why is this important? What does it have to do with the ending of Game of Thrones? Well, what I’m saying is that if we all agree that Game of Thrones season 8 was the worst thing to happen to the world of ASOIAF, we can throw it out the window of canon if we want. By reversing the formation of canon, us fans have just as much authority over it as David and Dan. Of course I’m not saying that every headcanon is 100% legitimate, no, but what I’m saying is that due to the widespread disdain and hatred for the ending, and overall agreement that it wasn’t up to the standards of the rest of canon, it’s acceptable for us to disregard it completely and feel no guilt in that. I don’t want anyone to say “no, I’m ignoring the final 3 episodes” and then to feel that underlying guilt or belief that you’re turning your back on a story you’ve loved for years. I know how much effort has been put into metas, theories, and fanfics. Some of you have spent way more time on this canon than D&D combined. It’s such a personal thing too, loving these characters, reflecting on our lives through them, and wanting to see them thrive. This analysis should help you disregard season 8 and feel justified about it under the definitions of canon.

Lushkov mentioned that modern fandom culture is so important in the acceptance of canon, and she was the one who suggested this reversal of roles. The definition of “Canon” is where my argument is strengthened: “Canon is a source, or sources, considered authoritative by the fannish community. In other words, canon is what fans agree "actually" happened in a film, television show, novel, comic book, or concert tour. Specific sources considered canon may vary even within a specific fandom.” Note the importance of fan’s acceptance in this definition. In Lushkov’s analysis, the fans play the same role as the original orators of the Greek epics before the Homer canon was solidified. Modern fandom is defined by many people sharing a story, and especially sharing extra content like metas and fanfics.

There’s a precedent for disregarding canon set already, though, and hopefully this can convince you more that you’re justified in throwing season 8 in the trash. When Disney bought Star Wars, they threw out everything that had been done in the Extended Universe and made up their own new canon. The Extended Universe was an example of one canon being created by one person, and then authors taking that and making their own additional stories in universe, that counted as canon. So, are all of their stories, their hard work, is it all invalid now? I wouldn’t say so. There’s just two separate canons now. Also, how many times have comic books been retconned? Just think about how many different superheros have 5 different film versions!  Creators ignore the past, or change it, and then new canon is accepted or not accepted by fans. I mentioned the Bible earlier; even THAT split into multiple Canons due to disdain for creators misusing canon! My years of studying Martin Luther have finally come in handy! Am I really comparing 1.5 million Game of Thrones fans signing a petition to remake season 8 to Martin Luther’s 95 Theses against the Catholic Church? You know what, yeah, yeah I am. 

If 1.5+ million people have signed the petition to remake Game of Thrones season 8, if 90% of the articles I see online hate the ending, if almost all of tumblr discourse says that the ending was gross and sexist and racist, well let’s throw it out the window. Clearly almost every character was acting out of character. The people we saw in the last 3 episodes of Game of Thrones were not the characters we grew to love in the previous 7.5 seasons.

I hope by pointing out real historical canons, as well as modern fandom interactions and media consumption, I’ve shown that the idea of one unifying ‘canon’ has never been as clear cut as one might hope. In this, I hope that everyone who is considering ignoring season 8 and turning to fanfiction to correct the mistakes made by David and Dan feels no remorse in doing so. GO FOR IT!! If Martin Luther could, you can too.