#i need this baby publicly executed

[red0-3]

I don't know how to draw online anymore

Also the app I used got a downgrade so it's also frreaknnnnn it

Fucki دازاى n

[chemicallyyourss]

Levana: “I can’t let my planet have another horrible Queen like my sister, I need to get rid of Selene! She won’t be fit to rule and she’ll be just like my sister! This is what will be best for Luna!”

Also Levana: Indirectly attempts to kill her niece, orders her husband and step daughter to be killed, takes babies from their parents mere hours after birth because of something they can’t control and leads parents to think it’s an infanticide but really she’s enslaving the children to harvest their blood to make a lab made virus, takes kids at young ages from their homes to tamper with their genetic makeup and make them into human-wolf hybrids and strip them of their humanity and rights, lets the majority of her planet live in poverty and work in extremely unsafe conditions and only give them weekly rations that barely sustain them at all, executes people randomly and publicly for little to no reason at times, does corporal punishment and executions of ENTIRE FAMILIES and groups of people for the little actions of a single person that could range from saying the princess is pretty to trying to flee the country to escape infanticide and slavery and poverty

[southernsolarpunk]

Hey what the fuck is this news story?

“ But the world’s largest economies are already there: The total fertility rate among the OECD’s 38 member countries dropped to just 1.5 children per woman in 2022 from 3.3 children in 1960. That’s well below the “replacement level” of 2.1 children per woman needed to keep populations constant.

That means the supply of workers in many countries is quickly diminishing.

In the 1960s, there were six people of working age for every retired person, according to the World Economic Forum. Today, the ratio is closer to three-to-one. By 2035, it’s expected to be two-to-one.

Top executives at publicly traded US companies mentioned labor shortages nearly 7,000 times in earnings calls over the last decade, according to an analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis last week.

“A reduction in the share of workers can lead to labor shortages, which may raise the bargaining power of employees and lift wages — all of which is ultimately inflationary,” Simona Paravani-Mellinghoff, managing director at BlackRock, wrote in an analysis last year. “

Is this seriously how normal people think? Improving the bargaining power of workers and increased wages are bad?

“ And while net immigration has helped offset demographic problems facing rich countries in the past, the shrinking population is now a global phenomenon. “This is critical because it implies advanced economies may start to struggle to ‘import’ labour from such places either via migration or sourcing goods,” wrote Paravani-Mellinghoff.

By 2100, only six countries are expected to be having enough children to keep their populations stable: Africa’s Chad, Niger and Somalia, the Pacific islands of Samoa and Tonga, and Tajikistan, according to research published by the Lancet, a medical journal.

BlackRock’s expert advises her clients to invest in inflation-linked bonds, as well as inflation-hedging commodities like energy, industrial metals and agriculture and livestock.

Import labor via migration or sourcing goods? My brother in Christ they are modern day slaves!! I feel like I’m in backwards town reading this what the fuck?!

“ Elon Musk, father of 12 children, has remarked that falling birthrates will lead to “a civilization that ends not with a bang but a whimper, in adult diapers.”

While his words are incendiary, they’re not entirely wrong

P&G and Kimberly-Clark, which together make up more than half of the US diaper market, have seen baby diaper sales decline over the past few years. But adult diapers sales, they say, are a bright spot in their portfolios. “

Oh now the guy with a breeding kink is going to lecture us. Great. /s

“ The AI solution: Some business leaders and technologists see the boom in productivity through artificial intelligence as a potential solution.

“Here are the facts. We are not having enough children, and we have not been having enough children for long enough that there is a demographic crisis, former Google CEO and executive chairman Eric Schmidt said at the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit in London last year.

“In aggregate, all the demographics say there’s going to be shortage of humans for jobs. Literally too many jobs and not enough people for at least the next 30 years,” Schmidt said.

Oh god not the AI tech bros coming into this shit too. Wasn’t the purpose of improving tech to give people more free time? So they can relax and spend time with family more and actually enjoy life? Isn’t our economy already bloated with useless pencil-pushing number-crunching desk jobs that ultimately don’t serve a purpose?

I’m not going to post the entire article but give it a read. It’s… certainly something. Anyway degrowth is the way of the future.

[cozage]

The Daughter's Return Part 3

Chapter 12: The Call Home

Start From Beginning | Next Chapter | Table of Contents | Read on AO3

Characters: female reader x Portgas D. Ace Word Count: 1.7k

The amount of times you were dry heaving into the toilet made you think your body was trying to delay this conversation with your father. You had to admit, you were thanking this baby for prolonging the inevitable. The thought of hearing your father and Marco on the other side of the transponder snail made you start another round of gags into the toilet. 

A knock came at the door, Whitey’s friendly voice asking if you were okay. 

You almost laughed at her question. How could you answer that? You were pregnant. Thatch was dead. Teach was a traitor. Ace had abandoned you, and now he was set to be publicly executed. 

You were far from okay. 

And yet, when you answered, you simply let out a weak “I’m fine!” Even though your heart and soul had been collapsing in on itself for almost a month now. 

You and Ace were supposed to be going to doctor's visits. Your baby was the size of an avocado now, if you remembered correctly from that pamphlet the nurse had given you back in Alabasta. 

You should’ve defeated Teach easily. The two of you working together would’ve been no match for him. It didn’t matter what his devil fruit was. The two of you would’ve won. 

If Ace wouldn’t have acted irrationally, the two of you would still be together. The two of you would’ve been okay. Life would be a little less bleak. 

But Ace never thought about the consequences of things. He only ever just did them. 

God, you were so tired. 

You began crying again, hot and angry tears. You wanted to scream or punch something, anything to get rid of your frustration. You wanted to create a lava flow so extreme that you created a new island from your grief. 

But you couldn’t do any of that right now. You could only cry. 

“I’m coming in,” Whitey said, opening the door. 

“Hey babe,” she said softly. “I told you it’s going to be okay. Do you really think the Whitebeard is going to let his second commander die?”

“It’ll be a bloodbath,” you sobbed. “People are going to die regardless of what we choose to do.”

“Let’s not think like that,” she said, although she knew you were right. “Let’s go talk to Pops and see what ideas come up.”

You wiped your face free of tears and took a deep breath. You had to be composed for this meeting. You had an idea, and you knew your father would only let you do it if he thought you were in an adequate mental state. The plan was risky, but at least you were the only one being put at risk. 

The snail began to call, and the knot in your stomach tightened. 

“Yes?” Your father’s voice boomed from the snail. He sounded exhausted. You couldn’t blame him. 

“Hey Pops,” Whitey said. “It’s-“

“Whitey!” His voice became more enthusiastic, but you could still hear the exhaustion. “Tell me you have good news.”

“I do.” Whitey nudged you, motioning for you to speak. 

“Hey dad.” Your voice came out weaker than you wanted it to, but still confident, given the circumstances. 

“Y/N.” You could hear your father’s voice get watery, and you knew he was just as relieved to hear your voice as you were to hear his. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“Listen, dad.” You took a deep breath. “I have a plan.”

“A plan?”

“If Whitey can give me Ace’s vivre card, I can intercept them before he gets to Impel Down and-“

His voice cut you off, full of rage. “Absolutely not.”

“Dad!” You cried, trying to stay calm. “It’s the best way for us to-“

“No. Your ass is coming RIGHT back to this ship and you are staying here until I say otherwise.”

“I can do it!” you argued. “I need to-“

“You are not doing it. That’s an order.”

“You know I can do it!” You screamed. You knew you were losing your cool, but you didn’t care. Ace’s life was at risk. Everything was at risk. 

“I want you to report back to the ship.” You could hear he was struggling to keep his composure. 

“That’s not fair!”

“I don’t want to hear SHIT about fair. What’s not fair is you keeping secrets! I have tolerated your rebellions and let you get away with far too much these past few months. But this is crossing a line. You WILL remain with Whitey until you return and then we will have a private discussion on your involvement in this rescue mission going forward. Is that understood?”

He knew. Of course he knew. Marco would’ve told him as soon as he read the report. 

“Dad, ple-”

“Whitey,” your father said, ignoring you. “Do whatever you have to in order to keep her on that ship. Put sea prism cuffs on her. Throw her in the brig if you need to. But do not let her get off that ship until you are here. Is that clear?”

You looked at Whitey, your eyes full of silent begging. You needed her to fight for you. To vouch that you could succeed. 

“Of course, Pops,” she said, giving you a remorseful look. “We can do that.”

“Whitey-“ you pleaded. 

“Y/N.” He sounded so tired. “For once in your life, don’t cause more problems than there already are.”

His words made tears prick at the corner of your eyes. They were harsh, but they were true. All you had done was cause problems recently. For everyone around you. The least you could do was follow this one order to return home. 

“Yes sir,” you whispered, and the line disconnected without further conversation. 

“Im not going to lock you up,” Whitey said. “But you are going to have to stay in my view the whole time.”

You gave her a weak smile, thankful you wouldn’t have to spend your journey in the cells below deck. “Just like old times, huh? When the others couldn’t pay us to be apart.”

A wave of relief visibly washed over her face, thankful you weren’t going to resist. “Just like old times.”

You slept with Whitey in the captains quarters that night. 

Slept wasn’t the right word. You couldn’t sleep. You just kept thinking of Ace, chained to a wall and being beaten and ridiculed. Had he given up on life as much as you had? 

You knew you couldn’t go get him. The fleets that were escorting him were going to be full of high level marines. Even on a good day, you weren’t sure if you could do it. Trying to do it now would be suicide. 

But maybe there was something else you could do. Someone else who could help. You just had to get to them. 

You carefully climbed out of bed, trying your best not to wake Whitey. Every creak made you wince, but Whitey stayed asleep. 

The door was the hardest part. You knew it would groan as you opened it, and there was nothing you could do to prevent the sound. 

Slowly, painfully, you opened it, your eyes glued to Whitey. She stirred in her sleep a few times, but she never opened her eyes. You finally opened it enough to slip through, and you silently shut it back into place. 

You quickly moved to the kitchen, grabbing food rations and other supplies that you would need. You were going back to the New World. It would be a long journey, especially with your current state. But you would do it if it meant saving Ace. 

You would need a bottle of sake, and you found the perfect one. A large one from the East Blue. It wasn’t nearly enough for the favor you had to ask, but hopefully he would be gracious. 

“What are you doing?”

Fuck. You hadn’t been fast enough. 

“Whitey!” You turned around, her icy glare on you. “I was just-“

“Don’t lie,” she snapped. 

“Please Whitey I…I need to do something.”

“Do you even have a plan?” She demanded. “You can’t take on that kind of naval power even on your best day, and you know it.”

“I’m not going to rescue him!” As much as you wanted to, you knew Whitey was right. You couldn’t do it alone. 

She scoffed, clearly doubting your words. “You’re not? Really?”

“I swear Whitey. I’m going to ask for help. I know I can’t beat a naval fleet, but there is something I can do. Someone I can talk to.” You looked around desperately. “Please, just go back to bed.”

She shook her head. “You know I can’t do that.”

“Whitey please-“

“I can’t let you leave after explicit instructions,” she yelled, and you feared that other people would come to investigate the commotion soon. “I’d be disobeying my captain. And you might be able to do that, but I can’t.”

Your words wouldn’t convince her. You’d have to use strength. Against your best and oldest friend. 

Tears pooled in your eyes. “Please don’t make me do this.”

She closed her eyes. “You have to.”

You took your bracelet and held it across your knuckles. “I’m sorry, Whitey. I don’t want to-“

“Good luck,” she whispered, a smile on her lips. “You can do it. You can find a way to save him.”

You swung as hard as you could, aiming for the spot you knew would knock her out. Your fist and sea prism bracelet connected with her pressure point, and she slumped to the ground, unconscious. 

You grabbed your things and took off towards your sloop, which was still connected to the back of Whitey’s ship. 

“Okay baby,” you whispered to your stomach. “Just let me get to help, and then you can make me as sick as you want, okay? Just cooperate until then. We can do this.”

You really were a terrible person. Lying to everyone around you, knocking your best friend unconscious, forcing your unborn child to go through dangerous waters with little sleep and little nutrition. You had never been this careless or thoughtless in your life. 

If you kept acting like this, you were going to die. You knew that. But you didn’t care. Ace promised that you could die first. If he was moving up his timetable, so were you. 

You took off on your sloop, pulling out the vivre card to follow. Onto the New World. 

Onto find Shanks.

--

Tag list! @taeyoge @teiza @tojislawyer @trafalgardnami @bloopbopsblog @dancingnewcat @dxestyi @flooofity @nyxthedragon01 @deadsnothere @h-rhodes1598  @morgyyyyyyy @trafalgardvivi  @fiestynatureweeb @frogpogjoghurt @beepboopcowboy @ms-portgas @luvyallbabes @appalost @zuchkaa @saybeyonce @stray-npc @kitsunechan707 @theyluvmesblog @heartysworld @aira-needs-sleep  @mothmomjay @ophelias-flowerss @aqualein @sehyojae @fanficwriter5

[satancopilotsmytardis]

Welcome to the Drabble-A-Thon! We're back, baby!

What is it?

From December 1st to December 8th, I will be offering 1,000-word drabble commissions for $5 through Ko-Fi!

How does it work?

If you make a donation of $5 on Ko-Fi, and give a 1-2 sentence description of your drabble idea in the donation note, I will write a 1,000 word* story! The story will be posted publicly on Ko-Fi, and cross-posted to Tumblr as well**. These will be done on a first-come first-serve basis, and I will keep a post on Ko-Fi and Tumblr updated on what number submission I am on. Because I don't know how many prompts will be given, I can't give a firm estimate on when the pieces will be delivered, so the queue will be the best way to see when your request is being worked on! 

*The finished drabble will be a minimum of 1,000 words, if I go over by a bit, that is on me, and just a fun bonus for you! 

**Ko-fi has strict guidelines for NSFW material, and anything rated "Explicit" will only be able to be posted to Tumblr. If you would like a PDF copy as well, please provide an email address to send it to in your message!

Are there any rules I should know about?

First and foremost, please make sure that you read my general commission guide which can be found here. Keep in mind I do not write Sub!/Bottom!Tomura or Dom!/Top!Dabi. If you have a question about your concept that is not answered by the guidelines, please feel free to DM me on Tumblr before donating! 

In addition, please note that 1k isn't a lot of words, so try to keep concepts simple enough to be executed within that amount of story! 

These drabbles also cannot be add-ons to other existing stories. For example, no drabble prompt can be for a story set after the end of Changing Currents, or an exploration of Dabi's time on the streets before Tomura adopted him in A Cat by Any Other Name. These are for stand-alone pieces in order to keep things simple and not conflict with the canon of my existing works! 

Can I donate more than $5 to get a longer story?

No. This is a drabble-a-thon! While you are welcome to donate however much you would like, every $5 only gets one 1k word story. If you would like to donate $10, then you are welcome to put two drabble prompts in your donation note which will then both enter the queue and be posted! Every multiple of 5 is eligible for a new prompt! 

If you would still like a longer story from me, then you can always DM me about setting up a full commission! 

I want to participate, but I want to remain anonymous/I want to be tagged by a name other than the name used for the donation.

No problem! If you want to remain anonymous, simply put your name as "Anonymous" in for your name/nickname, and you can then type your prompt in the message box. You can send this message privately, and only I should be able to read your prompt! 

If you want to be tagged by your Tumblr username, then you can also add that in your message and I will tag you appropriately when your prompt is posted! 

I want to participate but I don't have any idea what to ask for!

Coming up with story prompts can be hard! You can send in 1-2 sentences of your idea, or you can simply send in a kind of AU, a rating, or a kink (or a few of them 👀), and let me take it from there! If you really, really can't think of anything at all, then just send in "Free Style", and I'll come up with something to fill the drabble! This is meant to be fun, please don't feel any pressure!

I want to participate, but I don't have any money!

That's absolutely okay! Please do not feel any pressure to participate! Money is tight for a lot of people right now and your needs, safety, and comfort come first! 

My question wasn't answered here! 

Please feel free to DM me or send an ask on Tumblr! I'll do my best to answer! 

Thank you so much to anyone who chooses to participate! I can't wait to see what stories we're able to bring to life! 

[yeehawthethird]

Ok so I got my friend to watch an episode of lab rats (avalanche) + some out of context clips, and gathered all their thoughts. We shall unpack them.

Adam: deserves to be publicly executed, needs a low taper fade “imagine if ch-Adam got a low taper fade” *would start a fight with him (and win????), get him a barber

Bree: made them want to be a pilgrim and yell “witch”, not French,need to cut her split ends, like the cheese? *middle aged women?, did the stress get to her?, does she have curtain bangs?

Chase: chase after who?, deserves a villain arc, horrendous taste in fashion, “I knew he was a boy liker”, ringing their gaydar * Atlantic???, he makes them tired, even his hairline can’t be straight

Leo: his name reminds them of lemon cheese?????, good character, yeahhhhh, nice t-shirt, he gets it funky, * kinda looks shellshocked, “me like”, kinda reminds them of Mario

Donald: Elon Musk????, TRUMP???, duck????, Jeffery Epstein???? (Elon Epstein), minors in the offshore facilities????, not winning any elections

Douglas: likes his deviled eggs, giving them horrendous cramps????, ice, ice ice baby, * he’s burning his tits, needs more Doug, can sense that he is gay considering his bald sugar daddy

Tasha: hot, milf, smash, basically a single mom who works two jobs, kinda looks like Michelle Obama, * in Tasha we stand

Janelle: looks like a substitute teacher, “the class doesn’t dismiss you I do”, if she hits the gritty she’d be cooler, wait no don’t put that in

*Marcus: “Is that the homosexual?”, hairline kinda wonky, thought he was Sebastian for some reason-, probably gonna start standing on a table and start reciting hamlet, a cashiers worst nightmare

*perry: seems like would walk into a Wendy’s in full Wendy’s gear and claims she owns the place, “FRANK YOUR dreamS BECAME A NIGHTMARE”

*Sebastian: reminds them of Johnny bravo on steroids, the leather jacket ain’t doing much, hiding all of his insecurities, gives closeted bisexual vibes, also popeye vibes, looks like he can unhinge his jaw like a snake 😭💀

There is SO MUCH to unpack here.

[rainbowdaisy13]

Karlie at Eras confuses me as well. Of course I don't believe she went there to harass Taylor like her cult does. And then nothing happened?? If the point was to make the cult think they're good now, it was terribly executed. There were various, very easy ways to do that: be in the tent even for a little bit, sit somewhere next to Cara or Taylor's other PR friends, or take a picture. Otherwise it seems pointless to put a post partum woman through so much hate again. If she wanted her there for 1989, she could've been in a suite or backstage. This nothingness that followed was strange, and yes it does make me think something was supposed to follow it but it got booted.

That tik toker saying he saw them talk cordially and taking some photos seemed odd, but also I don't think someone told him to say that. Why would you involve this random stranger into such a big secret? It's weird overall if even at Cara's private party they can't act like a couple. Then Taylor played PR at that small wedding too. So they're only a couple when it's just the two of them in a house? And if that's the case, Taylor cut that time considerably short, dedicating 90% of her life in the last couple of years to the tour and bearding. And she's supposed to have a new born too during that? When was she bonding with him? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for moms working and being independent, Karlie is too, but the time Taylor dedicated to the tour and the beards make it hard for me to believe she has any type of real partner, let alone she's too involved in a toddler and new born's life. Maybe like a distant aunt or something. It's strange to say the least that Taylor wanted to spend very little time with a pregnant Karlie and then go in full bearding mode with a new born, especially when she knew Karlie had PPD after the first baby. Unless Taylor's useless and the type of partner that bothers more than helps, you'd think Karlie would want her more present. There's also the tiredness. In the limited time she wasn't in the spotlight, she needed time to rest and she didn't because she recorded a whole ass album too. Toddlers and new borns are tiring and take up your time. And if she's taking substances to keep up like some speculate, that's a different type of monster to tackle and kids shouldn't even be allowed around that.

All signs *IMO* point to her not being involved with Karlie or the kids the second half of 2024/some kind of falling out or ending

TTPD was released April 19th 2024, an album where she chose to have the song Robin on as a main track not even a vault one later on, so we know that beginning of 2024 she still wanted to publicly lay claim to some mystery child—to the point of revealing

“Buried down deep and out of your reach, the secret we all vowed to keep it, from you, In sweetness”

Like the fuck ?! Excuse me what? Whose child do you know so well that you know their fave spot on the swingset and that you vowed with other people to keep some giant secret from???

HOW IS THIS JUST A GLOSSED OVER LYRIC I will never understand

[xoxochb]

<3 could we pls get a “love story” themed nico x Eros son (the one from the othe req you published which btw was awesome)? (Like Eros son asking out Nico for the first time or idk whatever you feel like. I love that song though I get it’s kind of a basic fav) thanks so much and happy pride! 🏳️‍🌈

⋆·˚ ༘ * it’s a love story baby just say yes

warnings: reader stays in hermes cabin, silena’s alive because therapy isn’t free

pairing: nico di angelo x son of eros

summary: basically a fic version of these headcannons

A/N: I love love story, grew up loving it, and will forever and always love it 💛💛

you paced the floors of hermes cabin

you’ve been trying to figure out a way to tell the son of hades you wanted to go on a date with him

but it was kind of hard when your father hated him, and nico felt the same way about him

maybe eros doesn’t have to know…

no- that won’t work, he’ll find out, you know he will

you don’t like your father anyways, who cares what he thinks?

“you only live once” that’s what they say isn’t it?

you could always ask the aphrodite cabin…

that’s the best idea yet!

you rush to cabin ten, running through the doors, you realize how insane you look when all of aphrodite’s offsprings are looking at you like you have five heads

“sorry” you mutter, walking over to your best friends bed, taking a seat there, “silena, I need your help”

“yeah? with what?” she fixes her seating position, implying she’s eager to help

“well,” you sigh “I want to ask nico on a date but my dad hates him and he hates my dad, and I’m afraid of what my dad will do if he knows that I’m on a date with him”

“you’ve surely got a dilemma” she blows a raspberry

“can you help me? do you have any advice?” you ask

“your dad doesn’t control you, he’s not even present in your life, so I say that if you love nico, then you deserve to be with him” she gives you a reassuring smile

you blush, “how should I do it?”

“do what? ask him out?” she inquires

“yeah, I’m not good with this stuff”

she thinks for a moment, “have you ever thought about just asking him?”

“well it crossed my mind, but I want to do something thoughtful, I really like him” oh gods, why won’t this blush leave your face?

“so cute!” she squeals “speak from the heart, thats the most thoughtful thing you could do”

“very wise” you laugh

“my specialty” she hits your shoulder “now go get your boyfriend”

“he’s not my boyfriend” you stand up

“yet”

- 📜 -

this is fine right? all you have to do is ask him on a date, the worst he can do is say no and never talk to you again

that’s not helping

think positive!

shouldn’t you be god at this? your dad is literally cupid

unfortunately for you, you were not blessed with his romantic abilities

“y/n? are you alright?”

you swear your soul left your body for a quick second upon hearing that voice

you know that voice

it’s your one and only crush

“yes! of course I am” you reassure.

he takes a seat next to you, and you think for a second

should you ask him now?

no- he just sat down, you want him in your presence for a little while longer incase he says no and thing get awkward

but if he says yes then he won’t leave

too many decisions!

you let mouth make this one for you

“how would you like to go on a date sometime?”

oh my gods! did you really just say that?

you thank your dad for your natural flirty and extroverted personality or you would have been toast

“a date?” nico looks like you just told him he was about to be publicly executed

“yes! a date!” you’re internally screaming over your word choice

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea” he says

“why not?” you ask

“because I know that you don’t actually want to. you flirt with everyone and you’re just doing the same with me”

you take back your earlier statement

you hate your dad for your flirty personality

“but this is different, I don’t like those other guys I flirt with” you pray that this will change his mind

“so why do you flirt with other people if you only like me?”

oh no

It shouldn’t be that hard to think of a response!

but why do you flirt with other people?

you’ve only been in love with nico since you got to camp…

“it’s just in my nature I guess” you shrug “but I promise I don’t like anyone else, I only like you, those other guys don’t mean anything to me”

he sighs “your dad isn’t exactly by best friend either”

“who cares what my dad thinks?”

you curse yourself for saying such a thing

you hope your dad never finds out you said that

“I do” he points to himself

“well I don’t, I’ve never even met him before, so why should he care who I’m dating?” you give him a begging look “just one date, and if you don’t feel comfortable then we won’t go on another and you never have to see me again”

he thinks for a second, “I’ll go on a date with you” he holds up his pointer finger “under one condition”

“anything”

oh gods you sound like a helpless, lovestruck idiot

“we can go on more after”

you smile so widely your cheeks start to hurt

if you knew it would’ve been this easy you would’ve asked sooner!

but you could care about anything right now because your long-time crush just said he wants to go on not one- but multiple dates with you!!

[one-in-a-million-fishsticks]

Banished Fireheart AU

I am being perfectly normal about the fictional cat series right now and need to get this off of my chest.

What if when Bluestar banished Tigerclaw, she banished Fireheart too?

This AU would rely entirely on Bluestar losing her mind completely during her mental breakdown, but imagine that instead of trusting Fireheart more because he saved her from Tigerclaw and previously tried to warn her about the tabby tom, she takes the entire incident as proof that Fireheart's loyalty should also be doubted and decides to kill two birds with one stone?

This obviously makes zero sense, but Bluestar is beyond logic when she makes the decision, so to her Fireheart has already proved his own disloyalty by sneaking around and looking for answers behind her back.

AU timeline:

Blue banishes Tiger AND Fire

Fireheart is forced to become a rogue, obviously he can never live with being a kittypet again, so rogue life is his only option

Fire tries to contact other cats in Thunderclan, but he either can't reach them or they chase him away on Bluestar's orders, so he can't help them like he wants to

Tigerclaw becomes Tigerstar the 1st and the Riverclan/Shadowclan alliance happens

Fireheart decides to try his luck with Windclan, and Tallstar actually hears him out, but doesn't want to risk any potential alliances with Thunderclan by offering Fireheart shelter

Fireheart leaves Windclan feeling utterly defeated

Windclan refuses to align themselves with the River/Shadow alliance and Tigerclaw retaliates by executing several Windclan cats, including Gorsepaw

Onewhisker says "to hell with this!" and goes to find Fireheart, because at this point Bluestar has made her disinterest in alliances clear and Windclan needs more warriors to defend it, so why NOT take Fireheart in?

Fireheart is destroyed by the loss of Gorsepaw and his spirit very nearly breaks, but a heart-to-heart with Onewhisker motivates him to keep it together and he decides to return to Windclan with his friend

Tallstar officially names Fireheart as an ally and guest of Windclan

Graystripe comes looking for Fireheart because he needs help to rescue his kits and Sandstorm is the only other volunteer so far

Ravenpaw finds out what is going on through the gossip mill because it's Windclan territory and he is right there, how could he not overhear something?

Ravenpaw joins the raiding party against River/Shadow and reveals his identity to Windclan, who take the knowledge that he is a former Thunderclan cat pretty well

Onewhisker and Morningflower also join the rescue patrol

Tigerstar, who has been looking everywhere for Fireheart except in Windclan territory, expects sneaky and low-key resistance to come from Fireheart at some point: what he does not expect is for Fireheart to launch a full-scale raid on Shadow/River camp while he, Leopardstar, and a shitton of their cats are at the gathering

Fireheart is fucking feral at this point and decides that the warrior code doesn't apply to people that shove little baby apprentices in prison, he injures Blackfoot so badly that the wounds are almost fatal and outright kills two other cats himself. Morningflower also gets a kill in, Sandstorm blinds a Riverclan cat, and Onewhisker rips somebody's ear off in the ensuing fight while Graystripe and Ravenpaw help Stonefur and Mistyfoot evacuate Featherpaw and Stormpaw (this all happens before Tigerstar has the chance to publicly execute Stonefur)

Fireheart books it back to Windclan with his raiding party and their rescued kin

Tigerclaw realizes exactly what happened way too late and is furious, but he doesn't immediately march on Windclan because he has bigger fish to fry and still wants Thunderclan dead

The newly named Tigerclan moves to attack Thunderclan, but Windclan comes to their defense and the two sets of allied clans are temporarily forced into a stalemate

Tigerstar disappears to work on his strategy, this is when he makes the decision to try recruiting Bloodclan

Thunderclan is very confused but not ungrateful to Windclan for their help, and Bluestar rescends her previous decision to alienate Tallstar in a brief moment of clarity (Whitestorm is her deputy and has become her caretaker, doing his best to keep her comforted and alive)

Fireheart leaves immediately after the battle, not wanting his former mentor to see him there and snap again because he firmly believes that this alliance is more important than anything else right now. It kills him to leave without even seeing Cinderpelt, but he doesn't believe that it is possible for him to stay

Sandstorm tries following him at first but Morningflower stops her and goes instead while Graystripe explains the raiding party to Bluestar, who is almost too preoccupied by the presence of her kits to register the fact one of her warriors just admitted to Fireheart being involved in some capacity

Morningflower catches up to Fireheart and we get another emotional conversation, Fireheart let's her see just how much this entire experience has affected him and tries to apologize for not being there to protect Gorsepaw. Morningflower shuts his apologies down, firmly explaining in excruciating detail why he is the last cat that should be blamed for Gorsepaw's death. This is where a friendship really starts to form between the two, and Fireheart gets a much needed hug.

Bluestar reluctantly requests that Fireheart be brought to her after learning that he helped to rescue her kits, and Whitestorm comes to retrieve him, interrupting his talk with Morningflower

Bluestar grants Fireheart refuge and Thunderclan forms a joint camp with Windclan for safety reasons.

Bluestar and Tallstar decide to call their temporary alliance Lionclan

Lionclan makes plans to continue defending themselves

END OF PART 1

I really like this AU because I am a big fluff/angst person and the idea is ripe with those elements, I also really wanted a reason to retcon a lot of the Fireheart related decisions that the Erins made in later books, so this AU is now that reason. I haven't planned out how the rest of the first ARC will go down in this AU, but I do have some ideas for how this AU would carry into the Firestar's Quest timeline.

Some other random things about this AU:

Stonefur lives to become Stonestar, he is the leader of Riverclan during the great journey

Leopardstar is not allowed to remain leader after Tigerstar dies in this AU, and Blackfoot is removed from the deputy position permanently

Russetfur becomes Russetstar by popular clan vote, she is the new leader of Shadowclan

Bluestar still dies

Whitestorm becomes Thunderclan's new leader, I thought that Whitestar would make a good parallel to Blackstar

Mistyfoot is named as Stonestar's deputy

Fireheart comes very close to rejoining Thunderclan after Bluestar's death, but in the end it feels wrong to him that his banishment be broken over Bluestar's still cooling body, so he continues living as a guest of Windclan until the final battle is won and peace has returned to the forest

This is where we hit post first ARC/super addition territory:

After the first great battle, Fireheart feels as though he has finally fulfilled the prophecy by aiding Windclan and sees no reason to return to Thunderclan despite the way that his heart aches with the absence of Graystripe, Sandstorm, and Cinderheart.

Fireheart is selected by Tallstar to attend the first gathering after everything has settled down in the forest, and is happy to learn that while Stormpaw has rejoined Riverclan with Mistyfoot and Stonestar, Featherpaw has decided to remain in Thunderclan with Graystripe

Mistyfoot's three remaining kits have also all survived, and are doing well as apprentices in Riverclan

Tallstar announces to everyone that Fireheart has officially pledged himself to the black and white leader as a warrior of Windclan, this makes those of his Thunderclan friends who are present horribly sad, but there is also an undercurrent of melancholy understanding between them that prevents any ill feelings from taking root

Later that night in the warriors's burrow, Fireheart is restless as he dreams of Bluestar, tossing and turning in his nest beside Morningflower and Onewhisker as Bluestar tells the still-young warrior that Starclan isn't done with him yet and that he still has a destiny to fullfil

Ultimately Fireheart winds up receiving several more dreams and a few signs from Starclan IRL before finally taking the hint and seeking out the descendants of Skyclan. In this AU, he leaves Windclan solo but Sandstorm decides to sneak away from Thunderclan and follow him, she has been receiving some signs of her own and is frankly sick of her idiot friend trying to recover from all of his trauma with only his Windclan friends for support. The two bond after she saves his ass, and begin to develop a crush on each other (this is Fireheart's first real adult crush, his crush on Spottedleaf was a puppy crush and was never that serious).

Skyclan is eventually reformed, and Fireheart is chosen by Starclan to be it's new leader so that he can bring everyone back to the forest and train Leafdapple to one day succeed him.

They make it home and Fireheart visits the moonstone to become Firestar and receive his nine lives.

Fireheart and Sandstorm eventually become mates and Sandstorm officially joins Skyclan, they have three kits together, two she-kits and a tom.

The kits are named Leafkit, Squirrelkit, and Gorsekit.

The End (or is it?.....)

Author's Note: OC alert, he is a very minor character and barely shows up, but I thought that Fireheart and Sandstorm having an extra kit and naming it after Gorsepaw was the cutest thing in the world.

Ladies and gentlemen, Gorsetail has entered the chat (he looks like Sandstorm, but a bit darker and fluffier).

His main roll in the second ARC is to be the sibling that stayed home, because in this AU Leafpaw pulls a Stormfur and goes on the Journey with Squirrelpaw.

Gorsepaw the 2nd exists to be obsessively mother-henned by Firestar and Sandstorm, who refuse to let him starve and are constantly giving their own food to him as prey becomes scarcer and scarcer in the old forest.

[jazzy-flowerr]

Wrole Headcanons [the novel /j]

Yap time baby woo! 👏 🗣

[TW: cult activity, religious abuse and kidnapping]

-

-

The story begins with a wolf by the name of Woshe Petrov

Back when Woshe was in his late teens - early 20s, he was involved with a cult. The cult in question was known for its drastic punishments. If any member were to disobey their leader, if anyone outside the cult did something that the cult took as a threat, the person who had "misbehaved" - or that person's family and/or friends - would be cursed by the leader and transformed into a bloodthirsty, horrifying beast.

After a few years of being involved in this cult, Woshe eventually realized how dangerous the group was and left. It was a difficult process, coming extremely close to getting caught by the leader at points, but he had successfully gotten out.

Though he never fully recovered from what he had seen in that cult, Woshe was still somewhat able to move on from his past and start a family.

He married a woman by the name of Wilma, and soon the two had a child who they named Wrole.

For a while, it seemed as if Woshe had successfully been able to escape the cult without ever being caught.

But what he didn't know was that the cult was fully aware of what Woshe did, and that the group had been spending years planning how they would punish him.

Cursing Woshe himself wasn't enough for them, he needed to have a loved one taken from him, he needed to feel the weight of his "crimes", and he needed to feel it hard.

So one day, when Wrole was only 6 years old, a small group of the cult members kidnapped the little wolf cub in the dead of night and brought him to their leader.

Woshe and Wilma ran into their child's room as soon as they heard the commotion, but by the time they went in, it was already too late. Their child was gone, and all that remained was a letter telling Woshe that this was his punishment.

Woshe realized almost immediately that this was the cult's doing, and so he and his wife rushed to save their child. Woshe knew the way the cult punished people all too well, and therefore knew exactly where they would be.

Sadly for Woshe and Wilma, though, by the time they made it to the location, the curse had already been placed onto their child. And what was once an innocent little kid was now a lanky, rabid monster on the prowl.

The two had to resort to containing Wrole in a nearby abandoned warehouse for a days until Woshe had figured out a solution.

The cult's leader always wore a golden pendulum necklace to protect himself from any potential spell mistakes, so Woshe figured that if the necklace was worn by Wrole, his curse would be repelled.

After some careful strategizing [I think that's a word-], Woshe and Wilma were able to break into the cult's base and steal the necklace from the leader.

They then went into the abandoned warehouse and forced the necklace onto their child.

Their plan had been a success! Well - moreso a half success...

The necklace did repel Wrole's curse, but it only works during the day. So, when it's day time, Wrole is their normal self. But once the moon rises, he reverts back to their monstrous form.

Due to this, Wrole's parents refused to ever let him out of the house. Up until when Wrole was 19 and ran away from home. Wrole, not even fully aware of the curse inflicted upon them at such a young age, never understood why they were never allowed to leave the house, and therefore didn't understand what trouble he was getting themself into by running off.

That night, once the moon rose, Wrole wandered into an abandoned train station after their transformation, where he would unfortunately meet their demise at the hands of this

BITCHASS ROBOT

[I have no reason to hate this robot as much as I do but idc it's ugly and stupid and it fills me with rage and I want it publicly executed]

-

Except that only happened in the APRP universe. In an alternative universe, Wrole never got murdered and instead met a man by the name of Wayne.

They're happily married now and no ugly robots got in the way of their relationship so yayyyyy

[whichever one of these universes is the quote, unquote, "canon" one is up to you]

Anyways this ended up being a lot shorter than I was expecting. You're all free from my ramblings now. Bye bye :3 👋

[suspiciouslackofclowns]

The nicknames used to mean something. Baby, love, sweetheart, and the like. Billy always felt a little awkward when pet names were used on him.

Until he got with Steve, of course.

But the little names have gotten out of hand, in that they don’t make sense anymore — that’s how much love Steve has for him. So much that sometimes he just lets the words fly out of his mouth without thinking clearly.

It’s cute, in Billy’s opinion. There’s the occasional honeybun and sweetness.

Then sometimes he says shit like penguin.

The love in his voice is always unmatched, so while Billy is often confused, he can’t help but just smile and accept it. If Steve wants to affectionately refer to him as a flightless bird, then so be it. He isn’t picky.

Beggars can’t be choosers, or whatever.

Billy still purses his lips for a moment when Steve calls him sweet bear, if only because they aren’t alone for once — and, man, does he send Max a death glare the minute that Steve leaves the room.

“I’m sorry, what did he just call you?” she muses lowly.

Billy shushes her, which only makes her urge to laugh more intense if the way that she claps her hand over mouth is anything to go by.

“Leave it.”

“He called you a—“

“I said leave it,” Billy hisses. He crosses his arms over his chest and peers over his shoulder to make sure they’re still alone before he sighs. “I need to train that boy to be more subtle. Feels like I just got publicly executed.”

Max snickers, and Billy cracks a half smile.

“You like it.”

“Pfft, I tolerate it.”

“Only a guy that’s in love would let someone call him something so stupid,” Max teases. “You love him.”

Her expression is nothing short of smug. Billy kind of wants to shove a throw pillow into her face, kinda of wants to argue that no, he doesn’t love Steve. No way, not in a million years.

But he hears the soft sing-song of a hum from the next room, and he suddenly doesn’t have the heart to lie.

“Yeah,” he huffs. Max pauses for a moment, her eyes blowing a little wide. “I have a lot of love to give, ‘cause I’m the sweetest of the fuckin’ bears.”

Max snorts before she’s overcome with hysterical laughter. Billy shakes his head, but he’s smiling. Out of all of the stupid nicknames, this one is probably his new favorite.

That is, until Steve decides to call him a platypus or something.

He honestly can’t wait.

[hcfiles]

I have been saying for a long time (since my taken-down IG page) that this shenanigan was a very passionate move and gives the impression someone (an ex-girlfriend or boyfriend) got pissed to be dumped and decided for a vendetta. The insistence in bringing the "Henry Cavill's girlfriend" title as narrative in cheap tabloids seemed to be a desperate attempt to counter attack, a violent response to react against something going on, as if they wanted to strike someone down.

I also have said Natalie could be Henry's new PA, who decided to take advantage of the place she was put in. If the Corey story that was sent to me is true and if Natalie is his replacement as a PA (maybe she has been a PA for a long time and that's why she's been seen around studios), hum... Food for thought. But, let's not forget she made many posts on her IG giving the idea she was a Legendary employee, despite not having the posture nor behavior of a VP nor an executive producer. She passes the vibe of a cheap PA, not to say worse.

But,... And if this immoral PR was a result of an attempt to deal with a stalker (a dumped ex-girlfriend or boyfriend) who wanted to discredit his image as a man, taking his mask off, while Henry avoided exposing this person? Maybe that was what Corey meant in one of his stories about not helping anyone when keeping a secret (not exactly those words). All I see is a guy who made, and makes, a lot of effort to keep an image he no longer can maintain, in part because of Natalie Viscuso and this PR management (what they want us to believe), but mainly, because of his own vanity and stubbornness.

This didn't happen because he was deceived nor blackmailed. This happened, because of greed, vanity, pride and stubbornness. He's not a poor bird with a broken wing. He's a wolf eager for fame and money, who got greedy and messed with the wrong animals in the forest. He wouldn't have been in this Industry for so long if he were that naive. This was his plot to promote his manhood (vanity), his decision to take it further (stubbornness) and his choice to appeal to a fake baby belly and further fake paternity (stupidity).

Natalie could have had a baby, but if so, she got pregnant after this baby shenanigan came out publicly. When she first showed with a five to six-month belly she wasn't pregnant. At least, not that pregnant. The timeline of this pregnancy doesn't match its narrative. This pregnancy was HIS idea and Natalie was, initially, upset to show with that belly. That was clear on her face as soon as she came out that door. She was later, convinced, after being patronized by paps and other people outside that hotel.

She is actually being an idiot for accepting to be used that way. And they end up forming a pathetic couple. Henry is a pathological pretender. He created a character to sell his image with fake plots and narratives to hide his real life from the public (for shame, insecurities and self preservation, probably to avoid judgements). Instead, he presents an AVATAR in a fake plot, as in a videogame, in the place of reality. He's addicted to fantasy and lives in virtual worlds where he doesn't need to deal with the frustration of real life.

He is an AVATAR of a game called Hollyweird, where the goal is to become the most famous, liked, rich and popular celeb in the entire Hollyweird. When he achieves a level (a new movie or a new PR stunt) he goes to another level arranging a new movie and/or a new PR with more difficulties to overcome. After a game, all he has to do is leave the computer, for the game has no real consequences. It turns out he forgot, this time, he is playing this game in the real world, where characters are real people, the actions have consequences he will have to answer to, and its results bring frustrations he will have to deal with.

It seems he never had to deal with real frustrations since he started as an actor. He never had troubles, never got desperate worrying with bills, never had to care for a sick loving one with a terminal disease. He has no idea what the real world is. Well, now he's having a taste of it.

[frevandrest]

Now I'm curious: what happened to Tallien to consider him a worse loser than Barras? I only know his involvement in Thermidor and the fact that Theresia left him after all the mess he did to go with a richer banker... Did he embarrass himself in other ways?

How much time do we have? Look, I don't know a lot about Barras, but nothing - nothing - can be as embarrassing as Jean-Lambert Tallien. He is the biggest loser both in terms of "a flop" and "who lost during the revolution" (and he lost more than many people who ended up guillotined, imo).

And I don't even know how/why it happened! He started out okay - he had modest skills but seemed honest about the revolution. Then Bordeaux happened. Thermidor and months after were Jean-Lambert's five minutes of fame, but then it dissolved quickly, both in his professional and in private life.

The Quiberon Invasion mess in 1795 is one of the first examples, when he and Hoche (well, Tallien mostly because it was his orders) executed 750 royalists even after promising they'd be treated like prisoners of war. Yes, those were royalists who made an invasion on France so it's not surprising that they died, but 1) Hoche I think promised they'd be spared but Tallien ordered the execution, 2) Tallien was the one who ran his mouth so much after Thermidor about sparing people and now he executed in one day half of the number of people that were executed in the entire Great Terror, and 3) Seems like Tallien had some pro-royalist dealings/conversations with foreign powers (Spain mostly) and wanted to do a cover-up (? - will need to look into this further).

In his private life, Theresia wanted to leave him as early as 1796 and was reportedly banging Barras, but Tallien begged her to give him another chance. She said yes, and 9 months later she gave birth to a stillborn boy. We are not sure if the baby was Barras' or Tallien's. Life in the Directoire was not great for Jean-Lambert and he was struggling with money, so he joined Napoleon's expedition to Egypt. It was horrible; he was miserable and suffered health problems. He wrote clingy letters to Theresia ("Care for our daughter and be faithful to me, my love!") (Spoiler: She was already on kid number two by the banker). The letters were intercepted by the enemy and read publicly. On his way from Egypt, Tallien was arrested and spent some time with the enemy but was released. Coming back from France must have been horrible, though, because Theresia asked for a divorce (and by the time it was done, she was already pregnant with banker's baby number 3). Because the kids were technically conceived while she was married to Tallien, they later successfully asked to have Tallien as their last name and were known as "Tallien bastards" in the family. After, it was just a series of bad circumstances and decisions. Theresia remarried, to a Belgian prince, and we have a letter where Tallien begged her not to do that. Fouché tried to help him and found him a job in Alicante. But it was horrible because the whole town was infected by the Yellow Fever. Tallien contracted it and lost one eye. It is also possible that this is where he got leprosy (?)

When he got back to France, he was a ruin. He supported Napoleon in 1815, hoping to get some influence (I assume), but then Waterloo happened so another bad call for Jean-Lambert. He lived in poverty and only escaped banishment during the Bourbon restoration because of his poor health. He died at 53 of leprosy (at least wiki claims so - I could never verify it but we know he suffered poor health for years).

And on top of that - on top of that! - his magnum opus, his legacy, the thing that lives on for 200+ years, is not associated with him. Nobody knows of Jean-Lambert Tallien and his most crowning achievement: the invention of the Terror and evil mastermind Robespierre. Sure, he wasn't the only one involved in that, but he did play a crucial role and, arguably, it is the most historically important thing that he did. And nobody knows it was him! So many people hate Robespierre for 200+ years, but nobody knows who is responsible for forging that smear campaign. (Yes, I am aware that it's the point: if people knew it was constructed, and by specific people, they wouldn't view it in the same way, because the main thing about the Terror how it's seen is that it's an objective thing that happened just as described. But allow me this Tallien rant). So.. yeah.

[hareofhrair]

https://www.tumblr.com/hareofhrair/749247301532499968/gonna-need-yall-to-stop-putting-biden-is-just-as

People who keep on screeching about the revolution that will occur if Biden loses and things get worse and how punishing America for "Genocide Joe" need to learn about Ernst Thalmann.

He was a communist leader who believed that the liberals of his time were an obstacle to a Communist society in Germany, and worked to allow Hitler enough votes to gain power, in the belief that Hitler would make things so bad that the people would turn to communism.

It backfired HARD, and Germany became a fascistic dictatorship, Thalmann himself was imprisoned and eventually executed, and communism DIDN'T come to Germany.

Because frankly that's exactly what these numbskulls are braying for; to commit the exact same mistake Thalmann made nearly a century ago, because they care more about punishing a society that they believe is an obstacle to their moral superiority than actually stopping a monster who will actively bring about the end of Democracy as we know it.

Yeah, accelerationism is an idiot child’s idea of politics.

But most of the nasty messages I’ve received about this post so far don’t seem to think Trump winning is a good thing— They seem to be under the bewilderingly incorrect impression that there’s some kind of third option.

That if enough people don’t vote for trump *or* biden neither will become president and the government will be forced to present better candidates? Or something?

Genuinely I can’t decide if the lack of coherent thought is evidence of the nightmarish state of education in this country, or evidence that these people are or are uncritically repeating the propaganda of actual literal Russian agents. We know, like for an actual fact with solid evidence, that they have done this before, on tumblr specifically! Have yall forgotten about the actual russian psyop in 2016 trying to convince everyone it was pointless to vote?

Either Biden or Trump *will* become president. You have exactly ONE action which can influence this decision. Neither of them are going to immediately turn around and denounce Israel. Biden will continue loudly supporting them publicly while taking only the most non confrontational action behind the scenes to try and stop the genocide, because Israel is vital to US imperialism in that part of the world and literally no action he attempted to take against them would ever amount to anything but his immediate impeachment. And Trump will not just loudly support Israel, but has already repeatedly encouraged them to “get it over with,” urging more aggressive measures to end the genocide as quickly as possible because he thinks it’s “a bad look.”

He’s also made public his plans to eliminate the entire Department of Education, erase not just protections for transgender people but federal acknowledgement of trans people at all, codifying binary gender into federal law, and his environmental and energy policies amount to, and I quote, “DRILL BABY, DRILL.” Among a host of other heinous fucking crimes against humanity. This is not conspiracy! These are his publicly stated positions!

Meanwhile, Biden has reinstated environmental policies Trump stripped and pushed for aggressive climate action, signed legislation to protect lgbt and interracial marriage, reversed the trans military ban and ensured trans people would have access to government services, passed the first meaningful gun control legislation in 30 years, signed executive orders to protect reproductive rights, pardoned all prior offenses for marijuana possession, signed an executive order to curb police violence by banning chokeholds, increasing accountability, and restricting the transfer of military gear to police.

Is it enough? Does that make him a good person? Fuck no! I’d still spit in his face if I ever met him. But to pretend there is no difference between him and Trump is blisteringly ignorant.

People in the my messages and the notes of that post have repeatedly declared I just don’t care about anyone outside my privileged class, and I gotta say evidence suggests they’re projecting hard. I’m a deeply impoverished queer disabled person living in the deep south. I know EXACTLY how much worse a Trump presidency would be. The only way someone could pretend it makes no difference is if they believe they’re secure enough that none of it would affect them, and they’re too self centered to realize not everyone is lucky enough to be in that situation.

My heart breaks for the Palestinian people every day. That sounds trite but I don’t know how else to say it. I read their posts, I share their calls for donations, a day doesn’t pass where I’m not reminded of their suffering and how utterly helpless I am to do anything about it. I wish to god there was something I could personally do that would make any kind of difference for them, but I can’t.

I am in an airplane that is falling out of the sky. I can’t stop it. I can’t save the people around me. I’m trying to put on my oxygen mask and my seatbelt, and someone is trying to slap them out of my hands and telling me I’m a selfish monster for wanting to live when other people are going to die.

I’m just tired of people telling me I should give up and die. I want to live.

[green-aeggs-and-spam]

I've seen a number of posts both on this website and others saying something to the degree of "Rhaenyra could have just asked Viserys to legitimize the Strong boys!" And while I'm all for being critical of Rhaenyra's decisions, this is not the cure-all that it's made out to be. So what am I gonna do? Write a wall of text about it!

Here in the HotD fandom, people are much more inclined to defend Jace, Luke, and Joffrey Velaryon than they would Joffrey Baratheon or Ramsay Snow. But because prejudice towards illegitimate children is so foreign to most Western viewers, I've noticed that the default seems to be parroting the talking points of their preferred side: either their Targaryen blood is all that matters because Laenor is fine with them, or they're proof that Rhaenyra is unfit to rule because she's trying to pass off Harwin's sons as legitimate.

The "just legitimize them" folks seem to come from both groups, painting it as an easy solution for her problems or calling her stupid for not doing so. They recognize that illegitimacy is a much bigger problem in Westeros than it is for us, but this argument pretty significantly underestimates the scope of that problem.

In the books, Rhaenyra had an extra measure of plausible deniability. Rhaenys was dark-haired, and her sons could theoretically have inherited it from their grandmother. In the show, their race makes it very obvious that they are not Laenor's. Instead of arguing something that is clearly a lie, why not go to Viserys and ask him to legitimize her sons? If Rhaenyra and Laenor presented a unified front on the matter, what's the issue?

Well, asking Viserys to legitimize Jace, Luke, and Joffrey would mean admitting that they're bastards in the first place.

Just as it is treason to question the legitimacy of trueborn heirs, it is similarly treason to pass off bastards as legitimate heirs to the Iron Throne (see: Cersei and her children). Viserys has his head pretty firmly buried in the sand on this issue - his horse anecdote to Alicent is pretty good evidence that he's convinced himself it's a quirk of genetics, not that Rhaenyra is lying, though one could argue that he does know and is just choosing not to say anything (see: how he publicly accepted Rhaenyra's story regarding Daemon and the brothel, but sent her moon tea afterwards). If she went to Viserys and said she's been lying for years and would like her sons to be legitimized please, he would probably pardon her for treason and do it without question, but this is the kind of crime that people get executed for. Massive risk if she's wrong.

If the matter could remain between Rhaenyra, Laenor, and Viserys, then the risk is much lower, but for legitimizing her sons to mean anything, it needs to be public. That means admitting publicly to the lords of the Seven Kingdoms that she has spent years knowingly committing treason, cuckolding her husband, and planning to install illegitimate children as heirs to the Iron Throne and to Driftmark. This is an extremely bad look for the heir to the Seven Kingdoms.

The safest moment to ask, with the least social backlash, would have been when Jace was a baby or small child, when she could call it one horrible mistake and play the penitent who went to her father as soon as she realized he wasn't Laenor's. This wouldn't work more than once, so she would have to take precautions to ensure she has no more children by Harwin. By the time Joffrey is born, that ship has long since sailed.

So let's say that at some undetermined point after Joffrey is born, she goes to Viserys and gets her kids legitimized in a big public ceremony, maybe including a vow to uphold Jace's claim like the one the lords once swore to her. They're legitimate now, and there's a pardon for the associated treason. Why wouldn't this solve her problems?

Many of Rhaenyra's allies are those who see her as the lawful heir, and see supporting her as the right, honorable thing to do. If she admits to years of infidelity and treason, she's going to alienate large portions of that group for moral reasons, pardon or no pardon. It's a serious propaganda loss that gives the Greens plenty of ammunition to accuse her of being a promiscuous lawbreaker. "If she's admitting to treason, what else is she doing that she won't admit to?"

Then there's the fact that conveying legitimacy onto Rhaenyra's sons is not necessarily enough to clear the stigma attached to their birth. A Wiki of Ice and Fire does an excellent job of summarizing it:

There is a certain stigma that comes from being born as a bastard. They are said to be born from lust, lies, and weakness, and as such, they are said to be wanton and treacherous by nature.

They're treacherous "by nature." Is that a ridiculous belief? Yes, absolutely. That doesn't mean it's not a belief that holds sway in Westeros, that will continue to affect her sons. Even legitimized bastards are not fully accepted (see: the assassination attempt on Alyn Velaryon, the bad reputations for all of Aegon IV's Great Bastards, and the admittedly deserved hatred for Ramsay Snow even after he became Ramsay Bolton.) Daemon Blackfyre is the sort of exception that proves the rule - he gathered support through immense personal charisma, but his supporters also weaponized accusations of illegitimacy against his rival Daeron II. While Rhaenyra's sons already face plenty of prejudice as suspected bastards, she's not making their lives any easier by confirming it. Your average Lord Joe in (for example) the Westerlands, who's never met a Velaryon or a Strong, could have shrugged and dismissed the accusations; that possibility is now destroyed. A woman on the Iron Throne is already a hard sell, and a legitimized bastard on the Iron Throne is an even harder sell.

Finally, it would cost her the support of House Velaryon, one of her greatest allies, and remove the Velaryon name from her sons. The Strong boys would be legitimized as Jace, Luke, and Joffrey Targaryen, because of their mother, but once you acknowledge that they have no blood relation to Laenor, they don't get to be Velaryons anymore (no, their great-great-great grandmother Alyssa Velaryon is not enough). That's the way legitimizing bastards works in Westeros, they are treated as though they're trueborn children of their parents (in this case, Rhaenyra and Harwin). There's no real precedent for adoption the way Rhaenyra and Laenor would want to do it.

Corlys was willing to let Luke inherit based on the principle that "history remembers names, not blood," but once you establish for the history books that they're very much not Laenor's and Rhaenyra was cuckolding him (the fact that it's consensual would make it even more embarrassing for House Velaryon, because they live in a culture of toxic masculinity and homophobia), then Corlys is going to drop his support.

Rhaenyra could try to force the Driftmark issue, but she would be playing an extremely dangerous game. In Westeros, you can't just inherit things willy-nilly, there needs to be a connection to the seat in question to begin with (see: Ramsay Bolton needed to marry "Arya Stark" in order to get Winterfell, Robert Baratheon's ascension justified through his Targaryen grandmother). Naming heirs works for when claims start getting messy (see: Daemon vs Rhaenyra, Baela vs Luke-as-Laenor's-son, Robb Stark's heir) but there needs to be a reasonable relation to begin with, and "Because Laenor Said So" is unlikely to pass muster among House Velaryon or most lords of Westeros. If Viserys orders that Luke shall inherit Driftmark without any blood relation, he's setting a dangerous precedent that's going to make just about every lord nervous about losing their own holdings. When you're relying on the lords to support your claim, it's not a great idea to alienate them by reducing their power.

So there you have it. Rhaenyra could theoretically have Viserys legitimize her sons, but it would come at the cost of support for herself and her sons' claim to the Iron Throne. Insisting that her sons are trueborn Velaryons doesn't look like a great strategy, but I think that for Rhaenyra personally it's the best of two bad options.

[cloudyswritings]

The Dreamers: Headcanons

Herrah:

The youngest of the dreamers by a significant amount.

She consumed her last mate, the old king of deepnest, after age started to weaken him. This was widely regarded by deepnest populous as a good move.

In the early days of her reign she had to deal with many spiders who chaffed under her rule. This is because she initially came from the lower castes of deepnest. Her title as the beast was one originally given as an insult in hopes calling attention to her caste would undermine her rule. Suffice to say Herrah made the title her own, and executed her political enemies publicly.

She struggled a lot with dealing with young hornet, mostly because Hornet is far more Wyrm than spider. As a grub Hornet was only vocalizing like a young Wyrm would-on frequencies Herrah couldn’t hear- which caused Herrah to worry about her a lot. Eventually she went to the king and(begrudgingly) asked him to teach her about Hornets biology. After that things got much better.

She keeps a small bowl of metal splinters on the counter for Hornet—who needs metal to develop her shell properly— to eat. Getting Hornet to eat her metals was a constant struggle.

Herrah was a fantastic mother and tried to do her best by Hornet in the time she had.

She made a small quilt for baby hornet. Hornet has kept this quilt for the entirety of her life and it’s one of her most prized possessions.

Herrah definitely has some skeletons in her closet, she started out as a mercenary before catching the eye of the old king of deepnest and marrying up. She killed quite a few bugs and spiders on her way up to queendom.

favorite color is purple

She won’t tell anyone but she has a massive sweet tooth, especially for hive honey.

she’s a bi queen for sure, and almost certainly had a crush on Vespa.

She and the white lady ended up being fairly good friends, though it was hard for Herrah to get used to the slow pace the white lady thinks at. She let the white lady grubsit Hornet even outside of the time Hornet spent living at the palace.

Lurien:

I’m on the Lurien is a butterfly train, I think it even makes a lot of sense for him to be one. Specially a a blue morpho(some of my favorite butterflies)

Because he’s a butterfly he really likes salty or otherwise mineral rich foods, he often drinks a sort of saltwater tea, with a ton of nectar in it.

His wings are deformed, they never fully expanded when he emerged from his chrysalis. It’s part of why he doesn’t interact with the people of the city so often, he was excluded from a lot of traditional activities by other butterflies before leading the city.

He’s got a limited sense of foresight—this foresight is something that rarely appears in beings touched by the kings light— it’s generally not that helpful though, often all he sees is ravenous darkness…

Takes long naps, but he’s a light sleeper

He's quite the painter and prefers realism to other forms of art, if he hadn’t gone to dream he’d probably have branched out in 50 years or so.

Monomon:

She has a very fine sense of temperature and pressure fluctuations in the air, this is basically her way of finding thermals to float on.

Has actually talked to Unn before she left to dream, mostly just about the history of the lands around Hallownest

Before she came to Hallownest she was a highly renowned poet, she eventually got bored with poetry and moved on to learning the sciences.

First and foremost she’s a biochemist, she used her knowledge to aide with the initial phases of the vessel project.

She brought all sorts of samples from her homeland when she arrived in Hallownest, fog canyon is a result of her artificially recreating her home.

She did something to the air in the canyon to make if behave more like water, it has something to do with chemical additives. As a result normal bugs are advised to spend minimal time in fog canyon because the air is mildly acidic and the humidity is higher than most bugs are comfortable with.

Quirrel is fine there though, because he’s a pill bug and needs the humidity

I know a lot of people like to portray Monomon as Quirrels mom, but I really see them more as peers. They’re both independently acclaimed scientists who have a mutual respect for eachother— and a small whisper of what could have been by the time she goes to dream.

Likes meaty foods, her mouth is on the underside of her body.

Shes the oldest of the dreamers, having been a higher being before coming to Hallownest. She doesn’t really behave like it though.