#it is time to let go the ww2 groupings

[dolceminerva97]

Había leído por ahí que según parece en una tira de hetalia Francia había llorado???¿¿ por la salida de Inglaterra de la UE. TBH prefiero mil veces tu hc donde es la burla de Europa. Cada día más alejada del canon de Hetalia GRACIAS a Dios 🙏

CÓMO QUE VA A LLORAR EL FRANCISCO POR ESO, habrá llorado pero de risa KJJJJJJJ 😭😭😭😭😭

[megantheestallion-ismypresident]

2AM

Duke dennis x black!reader

Summary: y/n being a streamer and being a part of a amp like her boyfriend duke, until in her stream she tries to do a cartwheel but her boyfriends pop up and starts laughing at her failed attempt, which became roasting to affectionate love.

You've been a part of amp for quite some time now. When you were younger, you always wanted to be a social media star, but people alas told you that your not gonna make it, but that didn't stop you from where you are today until you met kai, fanum, agent, Chris, duke, and Daviss and together you guys became one of the most popular YouTube group. And you love all of them like they were your own family.

Yeah, being the only girl in the group is kinda hard because there's niggas on the internet trolling, but you didn't give a fuck before they accepted you anyway, the more you got comfortable will all of them the more you loved all of them. You have a crush on Duke. You both were pretty close, and y'all both became best friends, and everyone in the group thought y'all was dating even if your fans thought y'all was dating, but it wasn't true.

You hide your feelings because you thought Duke would reject you or didn't like you until he made the first move and your relationship started from there. Y'all both were lucky to have each other, y'all would both come to each other streams, pranks, and all of that other stuff.

Your love language with him is roasting. People make it seem like y'all mean, but it ain't true both you just be joking with each other.

You were streaming playing a horror game, you was tired as fuck, but you wanted to finish playing the game.

"Bruh, chat, I'm not gonna lie. I'm tired as fuck I've been playing this game for and hour, I've been trying to stay awake for y'all." Y/n said tiredly as she picked up her water drinking it as she looked at the chat.

"Bro, somebody in the chat told me to do a cartwheel to stay awake." Y/n laughed as she pushed her chair back and stood up.

"Yo chat, I ain't gonna lowkey don't know how to do a cartwheel, like I'm being so deadass, I'm not an athletic person, hold imma try for you guys." Y/n stands up as she pushes her chair farther away so she can have some room.

"Bro, I'm scared. What if I bust my ass!!" Y/n yelled as she looked back at the chat. Y/n raised both her hands as she placed both of them on the ground, trying to kick her legs up, but ended up falling on the ground.

"Shit, hold on chat. Let me try again, damn this shit is harder than I thought." Y/n got herself up as she tried to do another cartwheel. Y/n puts both her hands on the ground. As she tried to kick her legs up, she heard her door open.

"Aye, bae do you got my charg-" Duke was about to finish his sentence as he saw you trying to cartwheel he started busting out laughing, making you laugh as you got up.

"It's not funny, nigga. I'm trying to do a cartwheel. " y/n laughed, feeling embarrassed as Duke started laughing.

"Nah, that gotta be one of the worst cartwheels I've seen bruh you don't know how to do a cartwheel?" Duke said, still laughing, making fun of you.

"Shut the fuck up, nigga can you do a cartwheel?" Y/n said asking him as she was huffing and puffing form those failed attempt cartwheel.

"Yes, way much better than that, bro. Imagine not lifting yourself up." Duke said, laughing at you.

"Nigga, I know you talking you pushing 40 and you was in the back of the bus with rosa parks, with yo old ass." Y/n commented as she started laughing as the people in the chat start making fun of Duke going crazy.

"Oh, so that's how you gonna do me, for real." Duke said, smiling in disbelief as you roasted him.

"Yes, imma do you like, ayo chat spam 1987 in the chat, that's the year you was born at with you old ass." Y/n started laughing as everyone in the chart started spamming 1987 in the chat.

"Yeah, I got you on mute. You were serving in ww2 with yo old ass. " You still kept roasting as you both were facing each other as Duke started smiling at the smile that you melt.

Duke wasn't listening to anything you were saying while you were still roasting him. He was looking at your lips as he grabbed your waist and started kissing you. You were caught off guard by this, but you kissed him back. You broke this kiss as he looked back at you. "You so gorgeous, bae." Duke smiled at you as was still holding you close, as he was still holding your waist. "Aww, thank you, bae. I would say something nice about you, but you were making fun of me." Y/n teased.

"Damn, that's fair, I love you y/n" Duke said, genuinely looking at you with so much love in his eyes.

"I love you too," y/n responded as she kissed him on the lips. As Duke lifted your legs up, carrying you as laughed, he was yours, and you were his.

[footprintsinthesxnd]

On A Wing and a Prayer

Summary: It's July 1943, and the Second World War is raging across Europe and the Pacific. Ruth Morgan and Hope Armstrong are flight nurses with the 806th MAETS, stationed at Berkshire in England. When an unexpected reunion introduces some new faces into their lives, things will never be the same for the "Skytrain Girls."

MOTA collab: This is a collab between the very wonderful, talented, amazing Mads @major-mads and myself. We would love to introduce you to Hope and Ruth and the adventures they will share together along with the men from the 100th Bomb Group. Read more of Ruth’s story in ‘A Pair of Solver Wings’.

Flight Nurse Facts

Playlist

Moodboards + Gale and Hope

I have always had a fascination with the nurses of ww2 and flight nurses have so few media’s about them. I’ve always wanted to write for an oc flight nurse so Hope has been in my head for a long time and MOTA gave me a chance to, along with Mads @major-mads. Here you can follow Hope and Ruth’s story, along with the men of the 100th Bomb Group. This story is based on the fictional portrayal of these men from the MOTA to series.

Part 1: Welcome to Thorpe Abbott

Part 2: The Dance

Part 3: Listen to your heart

Part 4: Picnics, Phartzac and Painful goodbyes

Part 5: The Dangerous Skies

Part 6: One Helluva Party

Part 7: Lucky 25

Part 8: Airman Down

Part 9: Anatomy of Courage

Part 10: The Soliloquy

Part 11: The Wire

Part 12: New Normal

Interlude: I Promise

Part 13: Forgive Me

Interlude Two: Memories

Part 14: Never Let Me Go

[luna-rainbow]

Ross’s quote about the Avengers ignoring sovereign borders comes up a lot and is often used to accuse Steve of American imperialism, so let’s have a look into it.

You've fought for us. Protected us. Risked your lives. While a great many people see you as heroes. There are some... who would prefer the word "vigilantes". What would you call a group of US-based, enhanced individuals, who routinely ignores sovereign borders and inflict their will wherever they choose and who, frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind them?

Sooo. Civil War was a terrible piece of world-building. The first problem is that it came way too early in the franchise, not just for the fracture between Tony and Steve to be anywhere near meaningful, but also the number of missions preceding this that would actually fit Ross’s accusations.

Let’s look at all the MCU movies so far leading up to Civil War:

Iron Man 1-3

Captain America 1-2

Thor 1-2

Ant-Man

Avengers 1-2

Hulk

(Guardians of the Galaxy)

Cap 1 took place in WW2, Cap 2 took place mostly on US soil, with the exception of the Lemurian Star which was a SHIELD mission. Thor wasn’t part of Civil War but he was dealing with extraterrestrial threats that came to Earth. Avengers 1 similarly - the only time the team was out of US was to confront Loki in Germany, and again that was under the supervision of SHIELD. Ant-Man also happened in US territory.

The only person on the team who “routinely ignores sovereign borders and inflict their will” without any oversight was Tony. He did it in IM1 against the Ten Rings. In IM2 he opens the movie with:

I'm not saying that the world is enjoying its longest period of uninterrupted peace in years because of me (...) I’m not saying that Uncle Sam can kick back on a lawn chair, sipping on an iced tea because I haven’t come across anyone who’s man enough to go toe-to-toe with me on my best day.

It is implied - the showing was done in the first movie - that Tony continued his "peace-keeping" activities which consisted of zipping into other countries and blasting everything with fire.

Never forget that even Rhodey assessed Tony as:

As he does not operate within any definable branch of government, Iron Man presents a potential threat to the security of both the nation and to her interests.

Operating outside the law was started by Tony, not by Steve or any of the other (original) Avengers, most of whom were working for SHIELD until they had to bring it down themselves to stop Hydra from killing millions of people.

The narrative problem lies in the vacuum between Captain America 2 and Captain America 3. Avengers 2 deftly avoided discussing who was overseeing their operations, and by the time Cap 3 rolls around they're suddenly a privately operated group of vigilantes?

Speaking of Avengers 2, that's the time someone decided to make a “global peacemaking initiative” without involving his team, much less the global community.

Bruce Banner: So you're going for artificial intelligence and you don't want to tell the team.

Tony Stark: Right. That's right, you know why, because we don't have time for a city hall debate. I don't want to hear the "man was not meant to meddle" medley. I see a suit of armor around the world.

Tony knew the ethical implications and the risks of this but forged ahead anyway. Said murder-bot went all over the world intent on human extinction while the Avengers tried to chase him down. We can argue over whether it was appropriate for Avengers to intervene with Ultron before waiting for the UN to have their emergency committee hearing in 3 days, but I think the key is the Avengers risked their lives to tidy up Tony's their own mess, which is what accountability and dealing with the consequence is all about.

And that's the crux of Steve's argument, which I think a lot of people gloss over.

We are (giving up) if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blames.

The Accords passes the buck upwards to the UN…this means both the decisions and the responsibility for the decisions go elsewhere. The situation that riled Tony up in the first place was a mother telling him “I blame you” for Sokovia. Assuming we ignore Tony’s role in creating Ultron, how would oversight have changed the situation? They wouldn’t have been able to create Vision off the cuff, nor would they have been allowed to recruit the twins. The people in Sokovia? Would still have died, and likely far more of them because of a slower response.

But what Tony is saying is if they had oversight, the mother wouldn’t have marched up to him and blamed him. Or as Steve points out, he could shift that blame onto the UN.

Steve’s version of accountability is about taking ownership of their mistakes and finding a solution. Tony’s version of accountability is having someone else make the call and take the blame. (* I feel like this is a thing a lot of people - often young - get confused about. Accountability isn’t just about having someone telling you what to do. Some people and some organisations find themselves in the rare position of having no direct oversight, but they still need to have accountability measures in place - look at the UN Charter for example)

Going back to my original point, the only one shown to routinely ignore sovereign borders and inflict his will wherever he pleases was Tony. The one operating outside government sanction for the majority of his appearances was Tony. The one actively seeking out “criminals” and trying to “win a war before it starts” has always been Tony. Tony might not be the one wearing the red white and blue but he’s the only one gloating about having done the job for “Uncle Sam”. The greatest advocate for American imperialism was Tony, not Steve.

[pettytiredandjewish]

Are you pro-Israel or pro-Palestine?

I honestly don’t think it’s any of your concern but if you really want to know my “stance”, I’ll tell you. You may or may not like my answer but I’m at the point where I really don’t give a flying F. So here we go-

A little background about me-I’m not Israeli, I’m from the states but my great-grandparents on my mom side left Germany sometime a little before WW1 due to antisemitism (they were Ashkenazi Jews.) Not everyone left and the ones who did stay ended up in the concentration camps/ghettos during WW2. Honestly if my great grandparents didn’t leave Germany- well there is a high chance that I wouldn’t be here and that this family tree branch would be non existent.

I’m gonna be honest I’m a “zionost”. There is no safe place for Jews. A lot of countries made it known for many years and they are still making it known to this day. Not only is the land of Israel is considered holy (I’m not super religious but I do recognize and respect that it’s a sacred and holy site) but it is also considered a safe place for many Jews who had to leave their own homes due to all the antisemitism/hate/etc. I’m not an “anti-Zionist”. Did you know that one of Russian’s leaders during- I believe the Soviet Union created that term as a way to help destroy Jewish culture during that era? That term just rubs me the wrong way.

I constantly worry about my friends and family. I worry about mine and their safety. I have to keep looking over my shoulder when I leave the house or when I go to the store, it to work… I know my parents worry too and I know my mom is secretly happy that I attended Shabbat services via online. I don’t want to think about what would happen if something happened to me or to my family/friends. But I don’t hide my “Jewishness”. I love being Jewish- I’m not ashamed of it. It’s a beautiful culture but it also is sad too. The history is not all butterfly’s and rainbows. We (Jews) have suffered for generations but we also overcome everything that people throws at us. Are we traumatized? Probably yes, but we don’t give up. We work hard to keep our culture alive so that we can keep passing it down.

The situation in Israel and Palestine is/has always been messy. It’s like a pressure pot- every little issue and conflict has been cooking up for some time. And every once in a while someone will let some steam out- to help let out some pressure but if you keep it covered and not let out the pressure, well it’s all going to build up and explode. And il that’s what’s happening here. That’s what we’re seeing now. This is the aftermath.

So to answer your question- I’m “pro Israel”: I think that Israelites have the right to live there. It’s their home. They did not colonize it. It is also not an apartheid state. Really people- please read a dictionary to understand these terms that you keep throwing out. Gaza’s government has been unstable for some time and it did eventually fell to hamas control sometime earlier 2000’s(?) for those who don’t know and or still in denial about what they really are- hamas is a terrorist organization. They’re not a resistance group of freedom fighters “fighting to save their people” cuz they don’t give a damn about their own people. They a literally using their own civilians as human shields. They’re stealing resources that’s mental for the civilians and using it themselves.

Also quick question(s) but why is Israel getting blasted for defending themselves after Oct 7? Is anyone gonna call out the other neighboring countries for how they are handling the situation- why aren’t they opening up their borders for refugees? Also why are most of y’all blaming Israel citizens and well- Jewish people in general- i mean I know the answer to this (*cough* most of y’all hate Jews and are using this as a reason to unmask yourselves).

I honestly could keep going- I’ve mostly kept this to myself, so it’s building up, but to be “nice” I’m gonna stop there for now. I don’t know what your “stance” is and I really don’t care per se- the whole situation has been stressing me out like crazy. If you don’t like my answer to bad so sad- I’m no one’s “good Jew”. If you or anyone have any questions you can ask but if you say some antisemitic crap I will block you and depending on my mood- call you out on it too. Have a happy holiday.

Am Yisrael Chai

[neverwritewhatyouknow]

I don’t often share hate I get because it’s not productive, but this is an anon I got a few hours ago.

I reported and blocked them, because people like this can’t be reasoned with. Luckily, I hope more people read and learn from the response.

Here it goes…

This anon claims all Jews are white mass murderers. Let’s break that down.

Besides being just antisemitic as a whole, it’s also factually untrue in all the ways.

All Jews aren’t white. Firstly, Jews of color exist so already it’s obvious that not all Jews are white. Boom, Anon is defeated. Secondly, when it comes to Jews and “whiteness” there is a long history especially in America with what that means for Jewish people. You’ve probably seen the “No Dogs; No Jews” allowed signs that were popular well into the 1950s. I wish I had recorded Ari Axelrod’s insta story from the other day where he broke down everything about this. Basically Jews are seen as white when people want us to be (usually to remove us from being a minority and a group that needs help and protection), and seen as “other” and “non-white” (in a negative way) when people want us to be (see; the Nazis). Jews exist in this weird in between where some have the privilege of lighter colored skin, but if someone hates Jews, they’ll hate you anyway. Jewish last names and prominent physical features are constantly changed to be more “white.” Also, not all Jews are from Eastern Europe. There was a bunch of assimilation to make Jews fit more into the “white American” society. There’s so much. But the moral of the story is that while Jews can identify as white, when looked at by society in history and now in the rising heat of antisemitism, white becomes a weapon used against Jews. You’re white, so you’re not a minority in need of help. You’re white, so you can’t be a victim of discrimination. You’re white so you don’t need representation on TV or in movies. Jews aren’t white, they’re full of dirty blood (literally Hitler’s main thing was that Jews were too subhuman to be white). Jews are whatever the person who hates us wants us to be. We’re either too white or not white enough. If you’re all gonna hate us, you should get your stories straight. Many Jews, in the face of hate, have started to reclaim being Jewish as an indigenous race as well as their ethnicity. Antisemitism is legitimately a form of racism, as seen in David Baddiel’s book and others, but because western culture has a certain view on what “race” means, Jews who claim they have experienced racism (as I have) have to explain what race means in the context and the whole history of everything. Jews being their own race said in a derogatory way is obviously bad (i.e. Hitler), but since Jews do experience racism through antisemitism and therefore do have factors of race it’s all a lot and a pile of ethnicity, religion, culture, genetics, community, belief, history, and more. Jews can identify however they want, as long as nobody is insultingly accusing us of something we aren’t…

Jews aren’t mass murderers. I feel like I don’t need to explain this one. What I’m confident the anon is getting at, is that all Jews are somehow murderers because there’s a conflict in the Middle East that’s been going on for forever and in modern times, longer than the majority of Jews today have been alive. Tell me how a random Jewish preschooler is a murderer, tell me how American Jews have any impact on something happening literally across the world. Bringing the I/P conflict into a conversation about Jewish people where it has no relevance will always be antisemitic. Claiming all Jews are murderers, a false statement, is antisemitic. It’s just wrong and it’s just hate.

1945 (September) was the official end of WW2 (though pogroms and attacks didn’t end when the war did). Funny that this anon specifically said to “stop living in 1945,” because that’s exactly what happened to 6 million of us. They were murdered. To put that into perspective, 6 million people is the size of:

All of these places. Imagine there not being a single living human being in Wisconsin. Or in Connecticut AND Nevada. 6 million is a lot of people.

And Jewish people are still dying. There was a mass murder at a temple only a few years ago. There are countless bomb threats and gun scares every week. We have police officers outside for our safety. Jews are stabbed on the street in broad day light.

No, it’s not 1945 anymore. But antisemitism never stopped, only the gas chambers did. And it hasn’t even been 100 years since the start of them.

Are Jews oppressed? No. We can own land, go to the doctor, work, have a family, study, etc.

But the real question is are Jews severely discriminated against? Yes. See above where I list how physical attacks never ended. I, born at the turn of the 21st century, personally have nearly been attacked or killed dozens (yes, plural) of times based solely on the fact that I “look Jewish” and my house had a mezuzah. I used to live in a town where I couldn’t walk safely down the street without fear that someone would attack me for being Jewish. I had an Uber drop me off a street away from my temple so they didn’t know where I was going. Jews aren’t safe.

The only difference between The Holocaust and now is that there were concentration/labor camps and baseless laws. The attitudes have never changed, the attacks have never changed, the way Jews are viewed has never changed.

This is why Jews need representation in media. Because we aren’t “white mass murderers.”

We’re people. People who, against literally all odds, are alive. We’re diverse. We’re more than what you see on TV. We’re an ethnicity. We’re a culture. We’re still trying to recover from being mass murdered. We’re worthy of life and appreciation.

[endless-ineffabilities]

tongue in cheek - three

Tom Bennett x f!reader

word count: 1.3k ▪︎ masterlist ▪︎ part one ▪︎ part two ▪︎ part four

The reader finds herself properly settling in the Bennett household, much to Tom's pleasure.

a/n: I've set the story post-WW2. So if in S1 of the show, Tom was around 23-24(?), here he is 26-28. The reader and Lois are just a bit younger than him. Also, I've only watched Tom's scenes so I'm probably not going to write 100% in line with the world of World on Fire! But the focus here is - Tom and the reader 🖤

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Time seems to pass quickly under the Bennett household.

With everyone keeping busy – you with your job at the local paper, Lois as a secretary for the newly-created NHS, Douglas getting his veteran support group up and running, and Tom… well, Tom just does what he does, let’s put it that way.

Just two weeks prior, a few days after the window incident, an issue arose with your former accommodation. More so with your former landlord, that is, and how he has all but kicked you out of the flat due to “safety concerns”.

It all boiled down one morning, with that telegram sent to you by your landlord, telling you to retrieve the remains of your possessions from the flat. Apparently, he was enraged about the damage done to the wall, even though you had already explained that it was your neighbour’s doing. Additionally, you had been asked to pay a hefty fine for “reparations”.

And it wasn’t that bad. “Clearly the ol’ bloke is just trying to rinse a bit more money out of ya,” Tom exclaimed, after he fished the telegram from your hand.

“Impossible,” you scoffed, “how is he coming up with this shit now? We agreed that he would have that damned wall repaired. We even spoke to the man living on the other side of that bloody wall and he explained everything - ”

Tom put a hand on your arm, making you cease your rant.

“Want me to beat him up for ya, doll?” His thumb gently caressed your upper arm. For a second, you forgot all about the problem at hand.

“I… well…”

Douglas intervened, “There will be no beatin’ up anybody, son. Surely this man can be reasoned with, and if not, then there’s going to be a solution, y/n. We’re here to help.”

You breathed out, already relieved. “Thank you, Douglas.”

“Right, maybe it’s all for the best, doll. After all, I’ve gotten way too used to having you sleep in the same room as me.” Tom said with his signature shit-eating smirk. You attempted to appear unaffected, and rolled your eyes in return.

“Sure.” You shrugged your shoulders, looking around the living room. What to do now? “I suppose I should head over there, find out if anything can be done, but if the flat is lost…” Your voice broke slightly at the end.

“Then you can stay with us. I’m sure Lois will be happier for it.” Douglas smiled comfortingly.

“And me.” Tom mumbled under his breath, but you heard it clearly.

“I’ll pay rent,” you said determinedly, “I’ll help out with everything around the house.”

“There’s no need for that, kid. We’re happy to have you.” Douglas patted you on the back.

You turned to face Tom, who had been lounging in a chair, cigarette carelessly dangling from his lips. He breathed out a puff of smoke, and the motion catches your eye. His lips began to curve in mischief when he caught you looking, “So, dollface? Shall we?” He stood up, and held a hand out for you to take.

“Pardon?” You asked, startled out of your haze.

“There's no way you’re going to go meet this arse all by yourself. I’m coming with ya, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

And that was that. You found yourself saddled with your new living arrangement. Weeks on, you can admit that you have gotten used to being the “honorary Bennett”, as Lois kindly puts it.

You can also admit, albeit reluctantly, that Tom Bennett is starting to get under your skin.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“It’s just a small shindig, a few blocks from here. Should be fun.” Tom says. The partition between his and yours and Lois’ beds is pushed aside, and you can see him completely. Clad in nothing but boxers and a tattered wife beater, Tom sure has gotten comfortable around you.

Not that he ever wasn’t.

The three of you remain awake late into the night, conversing. You sit by the foot of your bed, sipping from a cup of tea, while Lois leans against the headboard, newspaper in hand.

“A bit too soon for that, isn’t it?” Lois remarks, referring to the end of the war, which officially happened just one year prior. Everyone still feels the effects of the devastation suffered, but life goes on. Britain is currently in rehabilitation mode, tending to the infrastructure and the various industries. Majority of the soldiers and officers have since been repatriated, including Tom.

“Don’t think so,” Tom puffs his smoke, “if anythin’, we should bloody celebrate.”

“Could be a good idea.” You shrug. “We haven’t had a chance to just… be… you know? Not for a really long time.”

“That’s right, sweetheart.” Tom smiles at you, and you mirror the gesture.

Lois narrows her eyes at the exchange. She hasn’t been blind as to how Tom is around you. Not that Tom doesn’t have his way around dames – he normally draws them in like moth to a flame, with his charm and devil-may-care ways. But with you…

It’s like her brother is the moth and you’re the sacred ball of light.

Lois thinks it may be only a matter of time before things get going, as it tends to be in these situations. But she also thinks that you might be too guarded, and Tom too roguish.

With the two of you, it could possibly take a while.

“Alright,” Lois relents, “tomorrow night, was it?”

“Yeah,” Tom confirms, “you can take Harry if you want.”

“I’m sure he’d love that.” Lois thumbs through her paper, her attention caught on the page.

Standing, you place your teacup on the dresser against the wall opposite the two beds. You stand in front of the mirror, and roll out the tension in your shoulders. The ease it brings causes you to momentarily shut your eyes, but after some movement, one strap of your nightgown falls.

Before you can pull it up in a haste, Tom stands behind you, his fingers taking hold of the fallen strap. Slowly, he takes it back up your shoulders, grazing your skin along the way.

The entire time, his blue eyes are locked on yours in the mirror. Tom is arrested by the way your lips are slightly parted, by your startled expression. By the feel of your skin, the sight of your exposed décolletage.

The reflection betrays the fact – that of the moth and his flame.

Then the sound of shuffling newspaper crunches in the room, and you turn to see Lois getting up to leave. “I could use some tea,” she mutters quickly, and she flashes you a knowing smile before shutting the door behind her.

What on earth? The moment persists for a few more seconds, before you found the nerve to speak.

“Hmm,” you place your hand above his and pry it from your shoulder, “good job, Tom. I think we’ve made your sister uncomfortable.”

When you turn around, he stands close. Very close. He towers over you, making you lean back against the dresser, almost sitting atop it.

One think you notice is that Tom doesn’t have his usual smug smirk. Rather, his brows are slightly furrowed, as if he is pondering something.

His teeth clamp on his bottom lip, and he just… stares at you.

You look to the side, searching for something. Anything. A distraction. But that doesn’t last long, because Tom finally makes a move, cupping your face with one hand, and prying it towards him.

He leans in, eyes heavy-lidded.

“Tom?”

He pauses halfway, “I’d like to try something, doll.”

“Try someth - ”

You don’t get to finish the words.

end of part three.

- - - - -

series taglist: @greenowlfactif @schniiipsel @tssf-imagines @aemond-secondson @ahdushenka @bat-revival @mefools @mischiefmanaged71 @svtansdaddyx @chainsawangel

[beauty-and-passion]

Eurovision and the jury’s problem (but mostly the jury’s problem)

Ah, the Eurovision national juries. I love them so much. My love is so big that, since I started this tradition of writing a post about Eurovision, I’ve always included one paragraph to openly express my love for them and, not surprisingly, my love took the shape of FUCK YOU JURY.

So this year gave me the final push to do more research and finally give them the post they deserve, in which I will finally explain why they do more harm than good and are generally useless.

If that’s what you wanted to know, you can close the post now, thank you for your time. But if you want to know why I think the jury is useless, then allow me to expand more and properly explain myself.

_______________________

The jury has always been part of the show!

Yes, but now always with the same power.

Let’s do a bit of history: Eurovision started in the 50s, right after the end of WW2. TV was starting to grow stronger and with the birth of the EBU, they were searching for a TV program that could’ve involved and united all nations.

And so, an Italian journalist said: “Hey, here in Italy we have this sick song competition called Sanremo. We can make something similar, but every European country should send an artist.”. Marcel Bezençon, general manager of the EBU at the time, liked the idea and, after a few meetings, it was decided to make this music competition that will become Eurovision.

So yes, this is how Eurovision started. It’s because of Sanremo. It’s because of Italy. My country might do stupid shit, but we are still able to do something good once in a while.

The first edition counted 7 countries: Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands and Switzerland. Four of them will become the “Big Five”, because they are the ones that put more money into this competition. Other countries will slowly join in.

The jury was first introduced because, well, there was no possible way to call every single person who was watching the show. The TV was still in its infancy, let alone the global communications, so of course there was a jury. IT was the only way.

However, over time the televoting system was born and it started to improve. In 1997 five countries used it for the first time and from the year after all countries could use it. The jury was left in the back and used only under exceptional circumstances when televoting was not possible.

This lasted from 1997 to 2009. Then from 2010 it started the 50/50 system.

So yes, the jury has always been part of the show. But at first it was present because it was the only way to choose a winner, then it was pushed in the back, only to regain more power in the last 10 years.

But hey, you may ask: since Eurovision has been inspired by Sanremo, maybe this is how Sanremo voting system works too, right?

Nope. We are Italians, so we should make the most complicated voting system ever. Sanremo is currently articulated in five evenings and every evening has different juries and different ways to vote. I won’t go into too much detail because it’s bonkers, but I can tell you that:

1) There are multiple juries: the public, a jury made of 150 accredited representatives and the opinion poll jury. This one in particular is a group of people chosen by the national public broadcasting company RAI (which broadcasts Sanremo) out of a sample of habitual music users and selected according to criteria of age/geographical origin.

So no, the system is completely different and yes, this system is evolving too, because the opinion poll jury counted 1000 people last year, this year only 300 and who knows how many there will be in the future.

2) The final result is the sum of all three votes: 33% of the final voting is made of the representative’s jury, 33% of the opinion poll jury and 34% of the televoting. So even if by just one measly point, the televoting is the most important one out of the three.

Is this system perfect? No, it doesn’t work either and it’s fucking complicated. But at least it acknowledges that the public deserves to have more power than the juries. And there is also more than one jury, which at least allows a wider vision of things.

_______________________

The jury is here because it brings more variety!

Aww, how adorable.

I specifically searched for every single winning song from 1997 to 2023, thus including both the years without jury (1997-2008) and the ones with jury (2009-2023). I checked which is the musical genre of every winning song.

Do you want to know which genre won the most? Pop.

Do you want to know how many times a pop song won in the years without jury (including europop and latin-pop)? 9 times.

Do you want to know how many times a pop song won in the years with jury (including folk-pop, dance-pop and electro-pop)? 10 times.

Please, tell me more about the variety the jury brings. Can’t wait to hear it.

_______________________

The jury is here because it brings variety 2: Englishvision

Europe: a country with a shit ton of languages and we use always the same one for singing.

Do you want to know how many times we had a winning song that wasn’t in English from 1997 to 2023? 7 times and in two of them there were English parts.

The first three winners come from the years without jury (Dana International - "Diva", Ruslana - "Wild Dances", Marija Šerifović - "Molitva"). The others come from the years with jury and my god we had to fight tooth and nail to have them:

Jamala - "1944"

Salvador Sobral - "Amar Pelos Dois"

Måneskin - "Zitti e buoni"

Kalush Orchestra - "Stefania"

Those are people’s winners. Well, except for Jamala who no one wanted as a winner, because the public wanted Russia and the jury Australia. However, let’s leave it in for now: it’s a particular case I want to talk about later.

What I want to let you know is that, in order to have these winners, the public had to do a massive collective effort to give them enough points to overcome the jury - especially the last two. And if you know them, it’s because they are in the top 10 list of the public’s favorites.

But what if I tell you we could’ve had two more songs in their native languages on this list?

In 2015 the public’s favourite was Italy with Il Volo. An Italian song, genre classical music. It lost against Sweden’s pop song.

In 2023 the public’s massive favourite was, as you know, Finland. A Finnish song, genre hyperpop/industrial metal. It lost against Sweden’s pop song.

What a strange coincidence, isn’t it? Both times a song in a native language lost against an English pop song. Both times, the public’s favourite lost because the jury’s favourite won. Both times it was against Sweden.

Please, tell me again about the fairness of this system and how much variety it brings.

________________________

The jury is here because the eastern countries all vote for their neighbors!

Just because the western countries all hate each other’s neighbours, it’s not a valid reason to blame the eastern ones for that.

Also, hey, wasn’t that a music competition? Why should we even care about which country the winning song comes from? Shouldn’t the jury think just about the music? Please tell me more about the impartiality of the jury.

Another thing: maybe it’s just me, but I supposed everyone studied math or had a basic knowledge of how many countries are in Europe. Well, I did both for you and if we divide Europe in half, we will have more o less 21 countries on the west and 26 countries on the east (I am including Australia in the west).

In my world, 26 is a bigger number than 21. So if the east slightly wins more times than the west is, well, understandable. The probability for them to win is higher, because there are more artists from those countries and so they have more chances to bring the winning song. I don’t think it’s so difficult to understand.

Maybe the reason why the western countries win less is not because “the easterns votes for their neighbours”, but because the westerns do not take the competition seriously and send shitty songs. Why Italy rarely gets a bad position? Because we care about music and we want to send something good. Why the UK fails a lot of times? Because they don’t care enough to send a good song. They are both Big Fives and they both put money on this show: the only difference is that one cares a bit more than the other. So instead of blaming the east, maybe it’s time to start bringing more decent songs.

And this “the east wins more” is even more stupider, if you look at the countries with the highest number of victories: Ireland, Sweden, the Netherlands, the UK, Luxembourg and France.

In my world, those countries are all in the west. I know we all hate each other, but knowing when our rivals are on a map would be a good start.

Do you want to know why this stupid theory exists? It’s all because of the years without jury. It’s because in the years 2001-2008 we had this series of winners:

Estonia

Latvia

Turkey

Ukraine

Greece

Finland

Serbia

Russia

Since they are all in the east, they thought these countries were all voting for each other’s. That’s it.

I don’t know how they justified Ireland winning 3 times in a row (1992-1994) in their minds but hey, maybe that’s why I’m not a member of the EBU.

_________________________

The jury doesn’t have a favourite!

Very cute.

Do you want to know which are the countries with the most victories in the years 1997-2023? Here is a very funny list:

Israel: 2 times

1998 (no jury year) with Dana International - "Diva" (public’s favourite)

2018 (jury year) with Netta - "Toy" (public’s favourite)

Denmark: 2 times

2000 (no jury year) with Olsen Brothers - "Fly On The Wings Of Love" (public’s favourite)

2013 (jury year) with Emmelie de Forest - "Only Teardrops" (public’s favourite)

Ukraine: 3 times

2004 (no jury year) with Ruslana - "Wild Dances" (public’s favourite)

2016 (jury year) with Jamala - "1944" (not public’s favourite, but highly appreciated by the public)

2022 (jury year) with Kalush Orchestra - "Stefania" (public’s favourite)

Sweden: 4 times

1999 (no jury year) with Charlotte Nilsson - "Take Me To Your Heaven" (public’s favourite)

2012 (jury year) with Loreen - "Euphoria" (public’s favourite)

2015 (jury year) with Måns Zelmerlöw - "Heroes" (jury’s favourite)

2023 (jury year) with Loreen - "Tattoo" (jury’s favourite)

I don’t know you, but I notice two victories that made the public unhappy because both times the jury’s power overcame the public’s power. How weird it happened for the same country that won three times since the 50/50 system has been introduced.

Sure, the first victory was wanted by the public, but the other two were against the public’s will. And please allow me to repeat it again because this is what upsets me the most: both times an English pop song won instead of a song in a native language with a different musical genre.

And what makes these two victories even more undeserved, is that in general the winner has always been the public’s favourite. In 27 years the public’s favourite won 23 times and two times it was a public’s appreciated artist (Jamala, Duncan Lawrence).

The only two times public’s favourite didn’t win, it was a Swedish artist with a massive push from the jury that made it impossible to defeat it.

But hey, maybe this point is a bit unfair. After all, it’s not Sweden’s fault if they learned what the jury likes and keep sending the same kind of song to get their votes. Maybe I am just jealous: I mean, my country basically invented Eurovision and yet we’re not able to exploit this show to win all the times? Gosh, we’re useless :P

The problem is not Sweden’s cleverness. The problem is that the jury always uses the same criteria, so one country has been able to recognize and exploit them. In a democratic world with a fair competition, the organizers of said competition would say: “okay, maybe we should change the criteria all the time, so no one would be able to use them and the jury will remain impartial”. But I suppose this was a too difficult choice for the EBU.

Or maybe they just own Sweden some money, who knows. I really have no idea.

_____________________

The jury is here because otherwise people’s votes would be political!

Oh, so hilarious.

This is the list of the winning entries by jury and by the public:

Until the recent years, public and jury agreeded on the winner and when the public chose a winner, it was jury’s second choice. So if the public’s votes were political back then, the jury’s votes were political as well.

Only in the last editions jury and public started to truly diverge and unless I missed something, Israel just had a catchy song, Italy’s victory had nothing political behind, Ukraine’s victory was a massive collective justifiable effort to say “fuck you” to Russia and people just like Finland’s song more. So, again, nothing political behind.

However, there are also two very interesting cases, the only ones in which the winner was a country no one chose as favorite:

2016: public’s favourite: Russia - jury’s favourite: Australia. Winner: Ukraine

2019: public’s favourite: Norway - jury’s favourite: North Macedonia. Winner: the Netherlands

Do you want to know why the jury’s favourite of 2016 is Australia? I don’t know. What I know is that Australia joined Eurovision in 2015 and it was supposed to be just a one time thing, so they were automatically qualified for the finals. But in 2016 they joined like everyone else and had to make through the semifinals and... well, it wouldn’t be nice to send back home a country that just joined. I am not saying these two things are related, but it’s a bit of a weird coincidence, isn’t it?

Do you want to know why the jury’s favourite of 2019 is North Macedonia? I don’t know. What I know is that on June 2018 the country changed its name to the Republic of North Macedonia. And, you know, it’s nice to hear it more times, just to leave an impression on people’s minds. Again: I am not saying these two things are related, but it’s a bit of a weird coincidence, isn’t it?

Okay, let’s leave the tinfoil hat theories on the side. Do you really want to know where the “the public’s vote is too political” thing comes from? It comes from Jamala winning in 2016. Because Russia has already started with their bullshit in Crimea and Jamala’s song (despite not specifically talking about that invasion) was a reminder of that situation. And so everyone blamed the public for this victory and said that “the public was influenced by the actual political situation”. All while Jamala was second favorite of both the public AND the jury. So, again, if the public was biased, the jury is biased as well.

Actually, in her case the jury is a lot more biased than the public, because the public’s favorite was Russia! So, well, who is the political one now?

The truth is that the public is made of people and of course people will be influenced by the situation in which they live. But same goes for the jury: the jury is also influenced by the current situations, both Eurovision-related and world-related. So it’s totally unfair to blame the public for having a heart and a mind and for their will to choose a song over the other - especially when they are not influenced by the world situation (like in 2016) or when they are as it happened in 2022.

And, honestly, I’d much rather prefer people choosing a winner because of a fucking war, than a bunch of people choosing their winner for reasons that will benefit them only.

______________________

The jury is made of experts and they give their expert opinion!

Awesome. Now explain to me how can you objectively choose the best song between a pop one, a folk one, a metal one and a rock one. Tell me which universal criteria will you apply.

Voice? But each genre requires a different kind of voice. An opera singer has a powerful voice, but growl music requires a powerful voice as well - heck, it’s even more complicated than opera, so it should be more praised than that! I mean, try growling without sounding like an idiot: it’s immensely hard. How can you decide which is better in an objective way? Do you just focus on which is more difficult to perform? But then it’s unfair to the pop singers, who also have good beautiful voices. How can you objectively choose the best?

Performance? But every genre requires a specific kind of performance. You can’t put an energetic performance on a ballad or slow dancers on a rock song. If two performance are equally beautifully ftting for their music genre, how can you decide which is objectively better?

Lyrics? But not everyone knows the lyrics of all songs and some lyrics might have multiple meanings or refer to particular aspects of the country’s culture, so you might not understand how beautiful they are. How can you choice which one is better, without knowing all these details?

Overall impression of the song? That’s not even an objective criteria, try harder.

The truth is that you CANNOT choose between different songs and different genres in a universally objective way. You will always be influenced by your own preferences and musical tastes.

Do you want to know how these criteria could’ve worked? If everyone brought the same song. Then okay, you can objectively make your choice: after all, we are talking about one genre and one song. In all other cases, this criteria makes zero sense.

And before you say “the jury needs to recognize the good singers”: people have ears. If a singer is bad, people can hear it by themselves. Polish people proved very well that they can recognize a very bad singer from an extremely good one and I doubt the entire country of Poland is made of musical experts or that everyone likes dance-pop/electro-industrial music.

Same goes for all the people around the world who praised Jann and said Blanka is terrible: I doubt they are all music experts or Polish. Maybe they just have ears.

Sure, some people have better taste than others, I don’t deny that. But considering that all humans have ears and a brain, I don’t think they need someone else to tell them that yes, this thing you like is good or no, that thing you don’t like is bad. Maybe they can understand it by themselves.

And if the problem is that the public doesn’t have a taste, then give them the means to acquire said taste. Let experts give more insights about an artist: they could explain why their voices are good or bad, why their performance works or not and why the lyrics are complex or simple. Let the public take a decision, instead of treating them like toddlers who should be spoon-fed.

______________________

The importance of the public

What makes this 2023 victory so empty, is that it has nothing Eurovision stands for. It’s not the victory of an unknown, talented artist. It’s not a victory the majority wanted. It’s not a victory that sends a good message.

It’s the victory of mainstream and safety. It’s a victory that doesn’t look forward and doesn’t try anything new, because it prefers to rely on the same old stuff. It’s a victory of nostalgia, industries and brands.

And if it hurts so much, it’s not just because the public’s will has never been so blatantly clear about who they wanted to win, but also because after two years in which we had native languages and new genres on the top, we were really, really hoping for a switch towards something different.

I don’t blame the past artists for not trying more, the years were different. But we are in the 20s of the year 2000 now. We are more open to different people, genders, sexual orientations. We don’t have to play safe anymore, not in a world that is moving forward. We can have different winners, we can have different cultures and we can have different genres.

I really hope that this year will teach something, not just to us, but to the EBU and to Europe. If things will change, good. And despite my harsh words, I am okay if the jury stays: it has always been present, after all, even when pushed in the back. So if we have to keep it, let’s keep it.

But it’s time to give them less power. It’s time for a 30/70 or a 20/80 system. 50/50 is just not acceptable anymore.

Or, as the 2023 public’s winner said:

Thank you for your time and please, keep support your winners.

(Clips from THIS video)

[somethingsbehindyou]

~~ looking for new roleplay partners ~~

Hi everyone! I'm not new to roleplaying at all, but am looking to get back into it after a little break and hoping for some new writing partners. I only write on discord!

Sorry in advance for the long post:

I'm 25f and have been roleplaying for a looong time. Please be 21+ before interacting (I will be checking and blocking if not). My availability fluctuates, but I’ll keep you in the loop and I won’t leave you in the dark for weeks.

I've been having so much inspiration recently and am dying for some new roleplays. I'm a real sucker for writing deep and complex characters, and very much enjoy writing for the plot and character development as opposed to poorly written smut just for the sake of it. NSFW / romance isn’t required if it’s not something you vibe with, or if it fits in with the rp I'm happy to write smut, or fade to black, whatever you're more comfortable with.

I like writing MxF, and MxM. I prefer writing complex male characters, but have a handful of female muses I adore writing.

I love playing multiple characters in a rp, but you're welcome to play as many or few as you like. The guys I play are pretty well thought out, with lots of depth, background, emotion, and usually a bunch of trauma (please tell me any limits in advance). All I ask is your character is not dry and impossible to work with. If you present me with an overly subby character who's lacking personality, I’ll probably drop the rp, sorry.

I prefer quality over quantity. I can get carried away and write pages upon pages, but if you can only manage a couple of good paragraphs, that's fine with me. I'll try and match your length in replies as long as they're not one liners, please.

I have a special soft spot for horror roleplays, and roleplays which have a lot of plot more than a dry romance between two characters. I don’t like playing the villain / victim trope constantly. I’m not going to write a kidnapper to a cutesy innocent character, sorry. But apart from that I’m open to pretty much anything, so if you’ve got any plots you’d like to try out please let me know and I’m sure we can work something out together.

Very few dark themes are off limits with me, which can all be discussed through DMs, but at the same time I love soft and fluffy plots just as much so please don’t be afraid to ask for anything!

Here’s some tropes which have been nagging at my brain recently:

Cannibal family x prying detective (or something equivalent)

Apocalypse (zombies, plague, etc — I’ve got so many characters to play for this)

Your characters car breaks down in the middle of nowhere and he stumbles across a shitty looking motel, my character is the receptionist but he’s a morally grey ghost who was murdered in the motel 20 years ago

Haunted house (I’m thinking we play a family, one parent and one teen / kid each kinda vibe - or a group of friends on vacation)

Pirates

1960s catholic orphanage with lots of religious trauma

1950s criminal x good girl

Victorian era - I have a thieving conman character who would love to scam your character out of everything they own

Supernatural creatures: vampires / werewolves / sirens (mixed with small town vibes?)

WW2 - I’ve got a couple of injured soldiers to pair with a sweet lil nurse

1930s outlaws

Stripper x gang member

Killer x cop

I’m rambling on now, but I’m open to a lot and would love to hear any thoughts or ideas you have. This is my new account so please message me if you’re interested because I don’t want to get shadow banned, but if not leave a like and I’ll reach out as soon as I can, I might just be a bit slower.

If you’ve read this far, thank you! Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or ideas or anything at all really. 🌸

[dr-donogood]

Hey! Idk if this still interests you or not but I saw your post saying Richtofen isn’t a n@zi

I also believe this and have done a lot of research but I think I have trouble with finding sources as I haven’t been able to find anything that shows that he is against fascism + hates it, which makes it difficult to argue that he isn’t one when talking to others about it.

Do you have proof or some sort of instance that either states or hints towards this that could help with the argument that he is against n@zis?

I’d appreciate any info you give!

Hello anon! Oh wow It has been a hot second since I've Codsed my Zombies. I'm not sure how much you know already. So I'll just go down the list of things I remeber! And i'll make this a bit beginner freindly, just in case anyone needs to show this to someone.

Also feel free to add to it!!! Or feel free to point out if I misspoke it HAS been a bit...

1) For starters, although the lore reason for Richtofen's outfit is unknown (most anything i could say here would be pure speculation and HC), we do know that he was originally just a re-used asset from the main game. He comes from the villian character Heinrich Amsel. When COD Zombies (previously Nazi Zombies) first started out, all the characters were blank slate re-used and slightly recolored assets. They ofc later gave them all names and stories (although testing the waters at first, a lot of early story got ret-conned. Such as Richtofen being a back ally surgeon.) But they unfortunately never re-designed him outside of removing the swastika :( but I also belive it's important beacuse I feel like it's one of the only things ppl bring up when the try and say Richtofen is a nazi, and I feel like it holds no weight beacuse of these things.

(Here is Heinrich Amsel. As u can see, clearly where Richtofen's original model comes from.)

2) lore stuff is dificult to pile evidance for due to how the lore in the game itself is presented. If you want the freshest and best sources (aside from meticulously beating every easter egg and finding all the secrets) YouTube videos with the quotes/Easter eggs/secrets are your best bet aside from going in game and grabbing them yourself. I can't particularly remeber what exsact maps may be able to help you. Aside from Classified!

It's just generally a real important part of the basic lore that Richtofen isn't a Nazi and hates them. It's kinda what kicks off....everything that happend. Im sure anyone could get this information from any reliable Cod Zombies lore video (i uhhh don't know which ones are reliable i haven't watched any! Probably check out Mr.RoflWaffles?). For starters, Richtofen was always a spy. He worked for the Illuminati before Maxis asked him to join Group 935, and Richtofen only joined so he could feed information back to the Illuminati. It's also important to note that Group 935 was not originally associated with Nazis. Maxis made a deal with the nazis without anyone's permission (funding and test subjects in exchange for weapons and super soldiers.) And that was one of many things that pissed Richtofen off so badly that he gathered everyone up to make a secret section of Group 935, that both worked with the allies, and planned on killing off Maxis. (Ofc his goal was later shifted and corupted by the Apothicons. But this is about how Richtofen isn't a Nazi, not questioning him as a dubious person. There was also all of the moon shit, Maxis not caring about Richtofen's experiments, a whole boat load of resons that Richtofen wanted that man dead.)

(Also. Richtofen never fought in ww2 and ww2 is already over by the time the zombie breakout happens.)

Here is a link to the Film Reels in Classified, many of which talk about how Richtofen was working against Maxis (and the nazis) and even has some verbal confirmation from Richtofen about his distaste for nazis.

Also here is also the Kronorium! As far as I know, it should still be a reliable sorce! (Like i said, it's been a while). And I think it's a bit better than the wiki (which still says his nationality is nazi german...instead of just saying he's german....) there is plenty of stuff in the interactive book that explains

https://kronorium.com/

2) here are some instances of his voice actor, Nolan North, confirming that he isn't a Nazi! (Thank you @jamieaiken919 for digging these up for me!!!)

And did that's kinda all I have for now! Like I said anyone is free to add!

[monarch-afterdark]

After Dark Special Report: The Skull Island Survival Guide

Welcome once again to Monarch: After Dark, the digital gateway between you and the organisation dedicated to understanding and navigating this troubled new world we live in.

We find ourselves once again putting a pause on our coverage of Titans and other superspecies and talking about something a little different. Given our recent streak of covering the unique fauna of Skull Island, we felt it appropriate to make this special report about the island as well.

Speaking with those still around who have had firsthand experiences on Skull Island, as well as reviewing various notes and Monarch files, After Dark is proud to present the definitive Monarch survival guide for Skull Island.

(Pictured above: Global view of Skull Island, taken by Landsat in 1973)

The Skull Island Survival Guide

Of course, it should be stated before we begin that Skull Island is now considered generally uninhabitable. A combination of a storm generated by Monster Zero in 2019 and the perpetual storm system surrounding the island ravaged the ecosystems and left the island desolate. While some species managed to persist, and others were rescued and relocated to Outpost 236 (formerly the Kong Containment Dome), the island itself has become an environment that has yet to be explored due to the hostility of the elements.

Now, to save a little bit of time, we won't spend too long on the process of getting to Skull Island. While a perilous task in 1973 that could well have spelled doom before making landfall, Monarch technologies have advanced so much that the perpetual storm system concealing the island from the outside world isn't as drastic a threat to expeditions as it could have been. So long as Ospreys or other aircraft deployed are well-maintained, you've nothing to worry about.

Travelling by sea to the island is a great deal more dangerous, even for our advanced oceanic crafts. Rough tides and large waves can wash away deck crews with great force, and fauna lurking in the surrounding waters can cause further menace. Prior to 1993, oceanic travellers would have had to contend with the mysterious Titan Kraken, who'd viciously destroy anything it came across. In the following years, particularly large Sirenjaws can be a problem if not properly avoided. Shocker Squids are another threat with the potential to disrupt electrical systems. Again, so long as you go in sufficiently prepared, nothing to fear.

(Pictured above: Artistic depiction of a Monarch team jumping out of an Osprey)

Step One: Don't Trust Your Surroundings

As we've been exploring in our Superspecies History series, Skull Island is home to a diverse range of florafauna that have near-perfect camouflage capabilities, owing to their partial plant-based biology and physical characteristics. Skull Island is a place where even the ground beneath your feet may want to kill you, and as such extreme caution must be taken when navigating any of the island's environments.

Hank Marlow, a WW2 pilot who had been stranded on the island for nearly 30 years prior to his rescue in 1973, had seen much of Skull Island's horrors in his time there, some of which he and rival-turned-friend Gunpei Ikari had to fend against without protection from the native Iwi. When interviewed by Monarch regarding Skull Island's ecosystems, he had this to say:

"You know, it's all just...everything's nasty. Everywhere you walk that's not the village, some bastard's waiting to sink its teeth into you. Big spiders in the forests, massive fucking ants that sound like birds, mini islands with teeth...whoo, let me tell ya, you start to appreciate a good wall when you take a look outside on that island."

When navigating Skull Island, a constant watch must be kept on your group's surroundings. Front, back, sides, above and below, all possible angles must be taken into account. Technologies such as motion or thermal trackers, flares and other tools designed to help spot visually obscured creatures are part of the standard Skull Island toolkit.

Training protocols for Skull Island missions involve placing personnel through simulation experiences replicating the environments of Skull Island to test reaction times and reflexes.

(Pictured above: Sketch by Stephanie Levallois, depicting a bird with fern-like wings and tail feathers encountered by Monarch soldiers)

Step Two: Stay Together

Safety in numbers is a general piece of advice that has existed for just about as long as humanity has. It's well known that your chances of survival shoot up dramatically so long as you are around others who are able to protect you. Someone in a group with their friends is less likely to be assaulted than someone alone, and similarly, someone is less likely to be singled out as a prey item if they are surrounded, instead of alone.

On Skull Island, this advice should be heeded more than ever. Breaking away from your party is an almost surefire way to land yourself in trouble and potentially be killed. Leading off from Step 1, staying close to your group can aid greatly in navigating your surroundings, and more pairs of eyes can make the job of watching out for creatures lying in wait far easier.

Plenty of Monarch expeditions to Skull Island have their own stories of those who broke away from the group or got separated at some point along the expedition, and how they met an untimely and often gruesome end. Even the 1973 expedition has such stories; while William Randa got lucky and was able to escape a battle between a Mother Longlegs and Mantleclaw, Jack Chapman met his end at the jaws of a Skullcrawler despite remaining put near his Sea Stallion.

A Monarch interview with James Conrad, former SAS tracker, yielded a piece of his insight when it comes to travelling through Skull Island:

"Even in groups, you can never be truly safe navigating terrain you are unfamiliar with. We got lucky, with the Iwi taking us in and providing shelter, but not everyone can say that. From my experience, there is absolutely no way anyone going to that island should be doing so alone, even for a second. My best advice, keep plenty of arms on your party. You're still food, but, with luck...you won't be the food that they want to go to the effort of eating."

(Pictured above: Artist rendition of the Valley of the Fallen Gods, created by Zachary Berger)

Step Three: Beware the Boneyard

Out of all the different areas on Skull Island, none hold as much risk as the Boneyard. Also known to the Iwi as the "Valley of the Fallen Gods", the Boneyard was the original territory of Kong's ancestors, before it was overtaken and turned into the killing ground for the Skull Devils. With Kong the last of his family left, the Skullcrawlers formed a territory within the boneyard that nobody dares cross.

Both the 1973 and 1995 expeditions made their way through the boneyard, with the former facing disastrous loss of life when a Skullcrawler shredded through their ranks. The latter were more fortunate, though still had to take care to avoid a pair of Skullcrawlers patrolling the area.

The first piece of advice an expedition team would be told when exploring Skull Island is that the boneyard must not be approached. Even with our modern advances in weaponry, the Skullcrawlers remain a significant threat to human life. Nothing short of Kong himself can take down a Skullcrawler without expending a significant deal of effort.

Speaking with Houston Brooks, a survivor of the 1973 expedition who went on to become a significant figure within Monarch until his retirement in 2021, he had this to say when asked about the dangers of the boneyard:

"It's been so many years since that mission, and I still see it in my dreams. One second Randa was there, the next he was already halfway down a Skullcrawler's gullet...I still miss him. Even after we got Outpost 33 set up, we only ever went near the boneyard if we really had to. All I can say, is make sure you're armed to the teeth if you plan on going in. You'll need all you can bring, and then some."

(Pictured above: Uncovered cave painting of Godzilla locked in combat with a Kong-like creature, with human spectators watching below, circa. 2019)

Step Four: Respect the King

Out of the advice given out in this guide, this step might be the only one that would no longer apply with the way Skull Island is now. While Kong has now relocated permanently to the Hollow Earth, he was the undisputed ruler of Skull Island for centuries. Nobody stepped foot on the island, his territory, without him knowing about it.

The 1973 expedition incurred Kong's wrath rather quickly by dropping seismic charges to map out the island's surface, disturbing the Skullcrawlers that lurked in the thermal vents below. He entered further conflict with the survivors of his initial attack, due to Colonel Preston Packard's crazed desire for vengeance. Luckily, he came to their aid when battling the Skull Devil and allowed the remaining survivors to be safely extracted from the island.

The 1995 expedition saw Kong come to their aid more than once. First, warding off a pack of Death Jackals that had attacked them upon making landfall. Second, killing a Sirenjaw that had been chasing them. Third, he came to the rescue of the Iwi village when a member of the expedition team used seismic charges to destroy the wall blocking the village from the rest of the island.

It's the one thing everyone coming to Skull Island would have had drilled into their heads by higher-ups; Kong must be respected. No action taken by Monarch on the island can be done that would cause Kong to become hostile toward them, for fear that it would lead to Kong not tolerating Monarch's presence on the island any longer.

(Pictured above: Artistic rendition of helicopters approaching Skull Island, by Zachary Berger)

Concluding Remarks

Of course, this is just the speedrun of what Monarch have on file for exploring Skull Island. We could write a novel of all the advice, dos-and-don'ts, general tips and words of warning that are on the Monarch database regarding Skull Island, but we've just compiled the most essential tips that would have to be adhered to on expeditions.

Sadly, with how much Skull Island changed following the incident with Camazotz and the storm, there have yet to be further expeditions exploring the island. As of right now, there are talks within Monarch to commence a new expedition, but they are early stages. We will update with any progress updates as they come.

Until next time,

Monarch: After Dark

[wifeguyrambles]

Bram Stoker Doesn't Understand Maps

Good Morning degenerates, My girlfriend has finally got me to use tumblr because I need an avenue to vent my rage and frustration. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dracula Daily was off to a great start. I was sending wholesome messages to my lovely partner until all of a sudden. I was filled with rage. Despite being set in the 1890s. As a contemporary text set when it was written, and being in the wake of the great Hungarian Revolution of 1849. There are too many geographical issues and I can only come to a single conclusion.

Bram Stoker doesn't understand maps.

Let's start with what killed me first. His claim that by claiming that crossing the Danube into Budapest "Took us among the traditions of Turkish rule"

But my friends. HUNGARY WAS (almost) NEVER RULED BY THE TURKS. The Ottomans got close, they owned most of the Balkans until big daddy Russia beat their asses in the Crimean and Russo-Turkish war. But even at their territorial peak they hadn't crossed the Carpathian Mountains into Hungary since 1699.

And even then, they'd only controlled Hungary since 1541. Nowhere near enough time to describe Hungarian architecture as "among the traditions of Turkish rule", it's fucking blasphemous.

It's like saying the Welsh bear "the traditions of Viking rule" just because they controlled parts of England.

And don't even get me started on this nonsense Transylvanian nationalism. The Hapsburgs had annexed that territory since 1683 and Transylvanian princes were quickly replaced with Habsburg imperial governors as the Roman Catholic Church was weaponized against the traditionally Protestant lands.

Now don't get me wrong. Austria Hungary was notoriously decentralized, and despite this what I've said above. Transylvania had some level of freedom, I could almost understand Bram if his writings were set 50 years earlier, or perhaps partway through the Hungarian revolution. But unfortunately for history, it was completely and unequivocally crushed by the Russian and Austrian forces. And following the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 any special status Transylvania once had, had ended. It became a province under the Hungarian diet and referring to it as though it was an independent nation is laughable.

Or is it? You see, just like sex and gender. A nation and a state are two different things. You see, a state is defined by its ability to have sovereignty, (control) over the going on within its defined borders. Whereas a nation is basically a group of people with a common language, history, and culture. And just like sex and gender, despite the fact that most countries (after ww2 at least but that's a different tangent) are nation-states, there are many nations without states (like the Kurds or the Palestinians). We're not lucky enough to have states without nations just yet but I'm holding out hope.

Perhaps Signor Stoker was simply referring to this concept of nationality instead. IS WHAT I WOULD SAY IF I WAS AN IDIOT. YOU SEE "In the population of Transylvania there are four distinct nationalities: Saxons in the South, and mixed with them the Wallachs, who are the descendants of the Dacians; Magyars in the West, and Szekelys in the East and North"

This quote proves that this foppish fool of a man is clearly not viewing Transylvania as a nation in the sociological sense either.

BUT IT GETS WORSE. FOR BRAMOTHY STOKERSON SAYS TRANSYLVANIA BORDERS "Moldavia and Bukovina". BUT MOLDAVIA HASN'T EXISTED SINCE 1877, WHEN IT AND WALLACHIA UNIFIED INTO ROMANIA. AND BUKOVINA (as part of the Austro-Hungarian empire) HAD ITS SOVEREIGNTY DESTROYED AT THE SAME TIME THE TRANSYLVANIANS DID.

In conclusion. Big Boss Bram has never read a map in his life.

[miutonium]

Boogie Man, Utionium and Bubbles!! ~@soft-spooks (good luck in class btw u got this!)

Thank you! I did okay for class when you send this Ask but I am now back in class and Im hoping it go well today ;w; thank u for the well wishes 💕💕💕

The Boogie Man 🎵 — Quick! Put your favorite playlist on shuffle and list the first five songs that come up!

My playlist basically went Mr.Worldwide 🧍‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️

Professor Utonium 🥼 — Are there any scientific inventions or discoveries that fascinate you?

You heard of girlies telling true crime like tea so let me talk about antibiotics like them too 💅

Radioactive is cool but the history of Penicillin (the first pure Antibiotic) is one of my fav. Im just gonna write a very simplified version of it after rereading it just now lol

There's reports of usage of mold to treat infection way way back before the 20th century especially in ancient greek and egypt but the creation of the first fully synthetic and commercialise antibiotic only started during the early 40s so like if you get any bacterial infection from uhhh lets say a cut on your pinky, you rubbed your eyes with a dirty hand, you look as someone at the wrong time, you had a hanky panky with Patty at the back alley or maybe you just exist, you can die. Existing antimicrobial meds like sulfanilamide even the strongest one sometimes doesnt work with diseases that in modern days we can simply heal with just 1 course of antibiotics.

Anyway how we discovered Penicillin was purely by accident when back in 1929, Alexander Fleming discovered one of the strep strain he was cultivating in his petri dish that he left for a few days for a holiday seemed off. Upon closer inspection he realized there's a strain of mold that grew on the dish and noticed that the bacteria didnt grow around the mold ring so he conducted a few experiments to comfirm his discovery and ended up publishing a paper about his findings. Despite this though no one wanted to do anything about it. They read the paper and just left him on seen and Fleming wasnt a chemist, he's a biologist, the lowest of the low for the nerds back in the 19th century because all the cool kids major in physics and studying radioactive and actively promoting radioactive quackery while their jaw is rotting off from the radium exposure so he couldn't do anything about it and he just let his research in the back burner until like 10 years later a group of nerds at Oxford found his paper and like "wait this man was actually cooking" and decided to take the challenge to purify this mold juice and see if they can turn it into an antibiotic.

In early stages of their research, there didnt use like a big steep container to 'procure' the mold but instead uses a narrow container with large surface area, think of casserole dish to get the juice because the mold only grows on the surface of the liquid instead of inside the liquid. Purifying isn't easy, at least 2000 litres of purified Penicillin juice were needed just to make antibiotics enough to treat 1 person so 2 of the big nerds, Howard Florey and Norman Heatley flew to the US and asked if anyone could mass produce it and then like jump to idk pages of wikipedia page later it was being mass produced in the early 40s during the peak of WW2 (there's too many conflict happens during this and the girls are fighting over who should be credited for it and I am not into some nerd drama rn)

Here's some interesting facts that I found out while reading:

- During the early stages of mass production, they still haven't produce enough Penicillin for the people they're treating and running clinical trials and they discovered that patients who received Penicillin shot also excreted those antibiotics back into their urine. At least 70% of the Penicillin they got is stored in the balls floating in the urine so they took the pee, crystallised them and extracted the Penicillin from the pee crystals so at least half of the people who gets the antibiotics shot got them from some guy's pee.

- When Florey and Heatley planned to fly to the US, they feared they couldn't bring the mold in a small glass tube without it being missing so they laced the pocket of their coat with the mold.

- Winston Churchill almost died from Pneumonia back in 1943 but fully cured by Sulfanilamide but the tabloid at time said Penicillin cured him simoly because they wanted to instill confidence to the public about antibiotic

- During Clinal Trials, they tested on animals for toxicity but they didn't tested it on guinea pigs. If they tested it on guinea pigs there's a possibility that antibiotics is not what we have now or didn't exist at all since Penicillin is toxic to guinea pigs

Anyway cut to decades later we abused the fuck out of antibiotics and there's rising cases of antibiotics resistant bacteria. It is estimated that we are 5 years away from creating antibiotics that works on the bacteria that resist antibiotics in the present. So the next time if you are prescribed with antibiotics, FINISH THEM ACCORDING TO DR'S ORDERS!!!

Bubbles 🫧 — List three things that bring you joy!

Answered here!

[neverwritewhatyouknow]

Fuck it, here’s a post about Ted Malawer.

Playwrite, trained opera singer, literary agent, and co-writer for RWRB.

I knew nothing about him prior to about fifteen minutes ago.

He wrote one play called Daddy Issues: a gay romp through history starring Adolf Hitler!

The synopsis: Von Blergh is an aspiring Jewish artist in New Rochelle. Adolf Hitler is an aspiring artist in Germany. As they mature, their lives intertwine in ways neither of them thought possible, leading to the discovery of love, the pursuit of passion, and their own coming-of-age and ultimate destruction. A fast-paced, dark comedy set against a historical re-imagining of the early-to-mid twentieth century.

The reviews say it’s a lot of fun.

Now, when I think Hitler, I don’t think “lots of fun.” Call my opinion unpopular, I guess. And I’m not immune to comedy, The Producers had an entire thing about a Hitler musical (Springtime for Hitler, anyone?), but that was the joke. The Producers made fun of people making Hitler shows because it’s weird, it’ll make money, but it’s weird and harmful. Ted’s play is tagged as being a satire… but that doesn’t matter, it’s still a play about Hitler finding love and then starting the Holocaust over a breakup. Ted said, let’s downplay the entirety of a genocide that killed 6million people, because I can make it gay and funny.

Anyway so Ted made gay Hitler fanfiction. It starred Robin De Jesús, who I personally really love and have seen basically every film he’s in, but uh, were there no gay Jewish actors in New York who wanted to play Hitler’s love interest? Hmm… wonder why.

Next!

Ted wrote a little thing and described the Jewish character as the following: “He is neurotic and hungry — in other words, Jewish.”

Ah, yes, the classic “Jews are neurotic” thing haha. While you’re at it, why don’t you make a joke about women staying in the kitchen and someone taking your wife. Calling Jews neurotic is dead. It’s a dead joke. It’s dumb, it’s untrue, and it’s old. It’s a stupid, stupid stereotype joke that has become literally the biggest way Jews can be presented in media.

He then uses the whole “First they came” poem(?) as the basis of the opening, but changes all the words. First They Came is a WW2 writing about how they come for the groups you’re not and if you don’t speak out, by the time they get to you, there’s no one there to help you. It’s powerful. Anyway, he says “they came for the Jews but I didn’t speak out because I had a nose job, a good one, so I could pass.”

Ah, yes, Jews have big noses, but once you get yours ripped off you can hide your Jewishness and no one ever has to know you were a Jew. Isn’t it so great to pass? What the fuck, Ted. Come on, man.

More, the character refers to himself as Anne Frank on PrEp.

Says that he would rather be buried in a Jewish cemetery than get a tattoo. In some places you can’t be buried if you have a tattoo since it’s technically against religion rules, but that’s pretty relaxed nowadays from what I’ve seen. Like, pretty sure only the really religiously places might reject someone on tattoo basis. It was in the context of saying that the main character made a group of friends, but they dropped him when he wouldn’t get a tattoo, because he’d rather be buried in his family plot. So basically saying that by picking his religion, he loses all his friends. Basically Ted is saying that if you pick being overtly Jewish over fitting in, you lose out.

But then it talks about, of course, the overbearing mom wanting her son to be a doctor and never leave home. Because of course all Jewish moms are overbearing and want a doctor in the family. I’m literally so over these stereotypes.

Mention about temple membership being expensive. That made me laugh, because it is kinda expensive. Butttttt also, you don’t have to pay for weekly services. Those are free. You can join a temple and pay, you get better high holy day tickets that way, your kids can go to Hebrew school, etc, but the majority of temples just let you walk in. Because we’re not, like, a money making organization. But obviously Ted had to make sure the audience knew that Jews have a whole money thing going, so he made sure to talk about how expensive going to temple is. Tell us more how you feel there, Teddy!

Talk about low self-esteem and a bad stomach.

I think Ted has low self-esteem and takes it out on himself by writing some…interesting…stuff.

Ha ha ha another classic Jew™️ moment. A bad tummy. 1. There are genetic things (I’m not a doctor don’t ask me) that make Ashkenazic Jews more prone to gastrointestinal problems, but NOT everyone!!! 2. I repeat not. Every. Jew. Has. Stomach. Trouble!!!!!!!!! Every race/ethnicity/group of people has shared genetic markers, that’s how DNA works, and different races have different issues. But, god, it’s so damn annoying for this to be what Jews are known for. I swear to god I’ve had people ask me if I should be eating something because I’m Jewish, like, what the fuck? Anyway, Ted thinks Jews are only a collection of stereotypes.

Hasidic drag queen named Torah Portion murdered someone. First off, lazy name. You can do better than that. There’s like a bunch online. Regardless. Torah Portion is a terrible drag queen name. And is more telling that Ted is saying that the Torah killed someone. We’re seeing his inner thoughts here for sure. This is a man who does not like his Jewish religion or being seen as visibly Jewish. Plus, Hasidic being specified really shows what he thinks of the other branches of Judaism.

Lastly, the Jewish character says he’s done a lot of mitzvahs, like selling a blind girl to the zoo.

Because Jews love money and are awful people haha, right Ted?

So what’s the point of this post, I’m sure you’re asking. It’s to show that self-hatred is big in the Jewish community. It’s the whole “I’ll punch myself so you don’t have to” thing. It’s why there’s so many Jewish comedians. We can make fun of ourselves so you don’t. It’s a survival thing. But, there becomes a time when it stops being for survival or for comedy, and it becomes believed by society and by that Jew themself. Ted wrote these things because it’s what’s expected of a Jewish character. To be full of stereotypes. He wrote a gay Hitler play, I don’t even have any idea where to go with that. So, it’s easy to see that Ted is someone who is embarrassed by who he is, and hides that in self-deprecation on stage. It’s literally the self-hating Jew trope that some Jews use to pretend that they’re not different, they’re not like those other Jews, they’re cool Jews. Well, Ted, imho you just seem kinda like you hate that you were born Jewish and, like, kinda gross with your Hitler fanfic

When RWRB erased their only Jewish character for the screen, was it Ted saying to do so? Because I don’t want a man who thinks exploring a Hitler romance is funny or saying that a nose job means a Jew isn’t really a Jew anymore because they can pass, making the calls for which Jews get to exist and which don’t. Like, Jews are so little good representation, and based on Ted’s past stuff and the fact that RWRB literally erased their Jewish character, it really looks like the brain trust there (Matthew, Casey, Ted) don’t think Jews are worthy of anything better. That Nora couldn’t possibly be Jewish onscreen, because she’s not riddled with stereotypes (I mean… not any more than usual and easily changed), instead she was a strong character first and Jewish second. Which, to Matt, CMQ, and Ted, I guess they don’t think a Jew can be that

So, Ted, what the actual fuck?

[half-man-half-lime]

Hey, just to put the ask out- does anyone want to join the TTRPG campaign I'm running? We've been in some mini-arcs while I try to put the next big arc together (very, veeeerrry slowly), and the second of those mini-arcs is about to end, and then we'll likely take a few weeks off due to scheduling issues and resume when the arc is done.

I wish I could say it was almost done, I just took a week of half-days with my PTO to try and chip away at it, and I did make progress, but it's not there yet. At the very least, that should give anyone who's interested time to get caught up with the campaign and come up with a character?

This arc is meant to be a big turning point in the campaign as things get closer to the climax, at which point it'll be up to the players as to what to do next.

EDIT:

Anyway HMU if you're interested! Info on what's happened and what the next arc is about below the cut:

The current story- based on a comic I wanted to make for a while, the setting is based on WW1-WW2 America, featuring a team of pilots (at first , before player turnover and replacement PCs) whose society was isolated in an ancient, cracked dome, and set out looking for ways to bring their struggling population out into the wider world- all the while, a war overseas with a secretive, strange army is getting more tense.

Throughout the campaign, the players have:

Saved a literal flying circus from arson

Gotten caught up in conflict between the mob and a corrupt power company, inadvertently leading to two horrific creatures from either side being mashed together into a spiraling deer-tree abomination they had to stop

Played heel-villains in staged superhero fights in exchange for money and strange artifacts

Been morphed into story-book pirates in a patch of warped reality, fighting the ghost of the pirate who kept them trapped there

Gone undercover in a Lovecraftian town where gathered businesspeople and international diplomats planned to awaken the ancient gods, only to get caught, panick, and blow up those diplomats, pissing off multiple governments and a clairvoyant lobster-worshipping cult

Partied and fought racist square-dancing vampires in a New Orleans-inspired town's werewolf jazz festival

Handled one crisis after another at an international war summit in a Wild West theme park, from anarchist moth-worshipping cults to a disgraced Thomas Edison expy burning himself and his workers out with psychic weather machines, to stopping the kidnapping of world leaders by a teleporting sniper who was trying to stop some pretty horrible colonialist violence; and narrowly negotiated their way out of being taken in by the secret agents who came to arrest them

Linking their brains and going on a mind journey in search of one-another's forms of happiness to help one of the PCs with her lifelong anhedonia

And now concluding soon, done a stint as radio interns in a Night Vale knockoff town, working to stop a StrexCorp expy from taking over.

This next arc will have the players exploring one of many ancient, destroyed domes like the one the original party came from, sitting on a native reservation in the desert.

(I confess I've had a hard time doing the research on the real life cultures and history this place is inspired by, I'll do my best about the representation but let's just say I'm glad this one will only be experienced by a small group, I may have taken some shortcuts for inspiration.)

[queer-whatchamacallit]

This could 100% be similar to other peoples’ ideas, but I propose a ghosts high school au in which the inhabitants of button house are part of a history club

They’re all really passionate about learning about their specific time period, and considering me, who’d have guessed that I’m saying it’s a special interest for some of them

Robin, Mary, Humphrey, Kitty, Thomas, and Fanny are all seniors, Captain, Pat, and Julian are juniors, and Allison is a freshman

Aside from Julian, Fanny, and Pat, people think the group is kind of weird, so they don’t really interact with them a lot

Allison and Mike have been dating since like 7th grade and they both just moved to this school from the smaller of the two middle schools on the other side of town

Mike isn’t in the club, but loves hearing about their shenanigans

Their full names are Robin Stone, Mary Vernon, Humphrey Bone, Kitty Bellamy, Thomas Thorne, Steph Button, Laurie or Captain Gunn (everyone is missing out on the comedic genius of giving Cap the surname Gunn), Pat Butcher, and Jules Fawcett (I stole a couple of these from here: https://images.app.goo.gl/52CwxSMMdEnXi2mMA )

Some headcanons about the crew:

Robin started the club

He originally called it the paleontology club and started it with his brother who graduated

After this, he and Mary who were already friends made it into a history club where she added her knowledge of Middle Ages and the witch trials

Mary is pyrophobic and Robin can be something of a pyromaniac

People should really know not to date Thomas by now

He will write you poems, but he will also be the most overbearing guy you have ever seen

Captain’s pretty much grown up around army people, so his interest in history probably started the earliest of everyone

From kindergarten to now, he could often be seen reading something about ww2 or the army

Mary, Humphrey, Pat, and Captain are autistic (I go back and forth on everyone else lmao)

Only Humphrey is diagnosed

Mary wears eye makeup, but she always forgets and rubs her eyes, smudging it all over her face

Humphrey has severe dyspraxia

For several years now, Captain has not been seen without a fidget toy in hand for longer than 10 minutes

Thomas keeps a note book in the breast pocket of his button up

Mary’s other special interest is Mori kei, cooking, and various crafty stuff

Julian is infamous for the time him and several other students were caught having sex together on school grounds and got suspended

Fanny’s on the speech and debate team and she’s in triple advanced math

Robin’s actually really good with people and strategy type stuff, but he’s never been good at school

Robin’s favorite class is astronomy

Allison is Fanny’s 2nd cousin in law

Cap and Fanny grew up in really stifling, high-pressure environments, and can sometimes have trouble understanding the perspectives of those who didn’t

They sort of bonded over this shared experience

Even if Kitty’s older than him, Captain sometimes takes a sort of mentor role with her because her parents never really let her learn how to do things and he’s very street smart

They don’t really have a club leader, but Pat tends to run activities and Cap coordinates keeping the club alive and raising funds for their yearly after school field trip to the local museum

Thomas and Humphrey are on the soccer team