#it sucks because most of the people who speak as ''authority'' on this are white people with no ancestral ties to haiti or academic experti

[the-girl-who-didnt-smile]

By the way, I did look into Maman Brigitte's origins. There is no doubt that she is connected to the Celtic Saint, but she took on a new form in Haiti. Although they have similar names, the Haitian Gran Brijit is traditionally portrayed as an older Black woman -- not a white woman as many believe.

I plan to write something longer about this at a later time.

In the meantime, here is an article that covers the origins of Maman Brigitte.

This video is also informative: https://www.tiktok.com/@ayitiorganic1804/video/7296438970303515947

[lakesbian]

ok Worm Bigotry Breakdown in more detail for @silverflyingpikachu

tl;dr: author is Cishet White Guy From Canada In 2011. he ostensibly thinks he is progressive. this does not change his proclivity for tossing his Cishet White Guy From Canada Biases into the books and then saying even more bigoted things in defense of those writing decisions on forums. wildbow is just some cunt on the forums with bad opinions on wildbow's writing. the book is 1.7 million words long but i believe in my ability 2 categorize this shit with decent accuracy. everyone who has ever said worm's CWs can't be categorized, including wildbow himself, is a lying ass bitch. this will include some vague spoilers, because i can't really go in-depth without a few examples, but i'll stay away from anything too plot-critical.

racism:

- worm is fundamentally a book abt systems of power and the ways in which they suck. some of the critiques worm issues--e.g, its depiction of how school systems enable bullying, inspired by wildbow's own experiences w/ the school systems as a deaf kid--are viscerally accurate and incredibly compelling. but wildbow fundamentally doesn't understand how certain systems of oppression work--e.g policing--and subsequently, his attempts at depicting them occasionally fall flat onto their face and land in racist territory. this gets particularly nasty when combined w/ the White Guy Author propensity for racist stereotypes--for example, his chosen face of police brutality is a black girl portrayed as predatory & animalistic.

- who is also one of the only black people in the book overall, alongside--for example--an addict portrayed as having less interiority & being less deserving of empathy than A Literal Fucking Nazi. also, the main characters have to team up with the nazis "for the greater good" (defeating the mean asian villains) at one point. it is a mercy to the readers when this part of the story ends. - there are two black characters in the main cast. for the first, wildbow just Straight Up Forgot to include the most compelling aspect of their background + characterization in the text (it was provided via WoG instead, which i provide to all wormreaders like a fuckin' DLC patch when they get to where it's relevant) & entirely forgets they exist towards where the end of their character arc should have been. the second is introduced w/ the most misogynoiristic description on the planet but blessedly has a largely compelling and well-written arc as the book goes on. - depiction of china is just like. fox news level sinophobic "it's all a brainwashed indistinguishable evil cult" shit. not relevant for very long relatively speaking but insufferable to read. asian characters are also like. we got Brutal Yet Honorable Asian Man. we got Fiery Asian Girl With Blue Eyes. it fucking blows it's not good

- oh yeah forgot this one someone mentioned in the tags. #it's an insignificant paragraph and nobody talks about it but the part where it goes #“yeah literally EVERY cape in South America is with a cartel and the heroes are barely distinguishable from the villains” #fuck you #not that the others aren't bad the fatphobia gets really gross but nobody mentions this and that one got me so yeah typical Insufferable Awful Imperial Core Author Understanding Of What Other Countries Are Like - i could make this section one million bulletpoints long but the gist is summarized i think--wildbow's varied racist biases leak fucking everywhere, into character design, into narrative assumptions about who's deserving of interiority/empathy or not, into attempts at Saying Anything About Society, into which characters he prioritizes, into who he offers validity via the narrative, etc etc etc.

homophobia: - theres a girl named amy dallon in it and she is the worst lesbophobic stereotype ever known to man. no other Problematic Lesbian™ you can think of has anything on this girl. the worst part is that she genuinely has a decently compelling character concept and arc, which her being awful is integral to, so you might accidentally find her interesting anyway and then she'll move into your brain - wildbow kept accidentally writing characters that scan as massive dykes and then got really mad about f/f ships for the book being popular in the fandom. he responded by making a deranged forum post involving the phrase "pandering is pandering" insisting everyone (but the bisexual "hedonist") is straight and writing a scene into the book where one of the characters literally turns to the camera and tells the readers "not to get the wrong idea" about her hugging her friend. - over the course of 1.7 million words he finds excuses to loudly inform you that all of the relevant female characters are straight and it's sooo shoehorned in you can always tell when he's doing it - basically worm is like if naruto was about homoerotic teenage girls who do violent terrible things, in terms of levels of unintentional homoeroticism, and the author responds to ppl going "lmao gay" about the unintentional homoeroticism with poorly restrained seething rage

fatphobia: - generic brand of fatphobia you'll see in p much all mainstream media where only side/bg characters are fat and it's obliquely used as a descriptor to indicate that someone has negative personality traits or should be viewed as sort of gross

anti-addict shit: - wildbow generally likes writing about how social circumstances--i.e neglect from society, oppression, failure on behalf of systems--causes crime. he generally likes demonstrating the ways in which the villainous main characters are traumatized teenagers failed by society fumbling to keep existing & holding each other up through The Horrors. unfortunately all of this intelligent writing flies out the nearest window when addicts are involved. there is a gang comprised entirely of addicts, all of whom are portrayed as disgusting, violent, dangerous, and of course often racially stereotyped. it is a mercy to the readers when they're no longer relevant to the story. - on a more subtle level, characters are every so often just like. a little more anti-drug than they would realistically be and you can tell it's wildbow's opinions leaking into their characterization. this is largely what the anti-addict writing is kept to after The Addict Villains leave the story iirc.

if youre wondering wellwhy does anyone read this book then. to that i would say that unfortunately despite it all it'sa fucking excellent book. so we all carry on reading the parts that suck and thinking about how they suck and then reading the parts that fuck and going "ouuugh my god" and rolling down 20 flights of stairs about how hard they fuck.

[yellowbluemoonshine]

Bnha 391 and General Small Comment;

Ok so i didnt like a lot of things with bnha lately for most of the things, especially how story deal with its villains. Yeah, it is not over but until now, i dont think its good. Story focus on power more than it focus on actually adressing the flaws of society author build up at first place.

- Deku hasnt speak to Shigaraki yet but until this point, the way he dealt with villains, his interaction with them isnt good enough. like, you cant change things by keep saying everthing black and white or saying there is hope. I think story didnt give enough  character development for Izuku to come that point so at least, i hope, Shiggy will do something about it.

- Todoroki family plot bad. It was always bad because of how much story focus on Endeavour’s bad written redemption arc, he literally choose everyone over Touya since beginning until the end, i hate how he casually hugs him and speak over him when Touya was talking. Guy kinda feels guilty, yeah, but he express that ‘guilt’ in a very selfish way that it drives me nuts. Literally your typical abuser. I cant believe of all people, Endeavour has to be the one who close to him, not Rei, not his siblings but him...And with other family members too. I think some people already talked about this, that main problem with Todoroki family is that they keep blaming him for speaking up and once again, if this is the final arc for Todo family, Fuyumi and Natsuo’s speech sucks.

With Shouto, i think the problem is that bnha is a story about saving people’s hearth, not psychically defeating them and as readers, we should witness that change between Shouto and Dabi, that beginning point (like ‘your power’ scene for Shouto) didnt happen yet. And i wonder, do anyone remember um fake heroes plot? Endeavour’s bad hero career with how violently he attacks towards criminal from Twice’s speech chapter or how he almost killed Koichi in vigilantes? Dabi’s speech? What is the point of all of these things, if its not gonna be adressed properly, especially between Dabi and Shouto since they are villain and hero. I know its not over but until now, it was bad. To be honest, only thing i am satisfied with Todo family plot is Rei and Touya interaction. It looks like the only one its completed for final arc. Because she literally choose Touya over millions to save him, no justification, no victim blaming, no anger, just a worried mother, calling her son’s name and tells that she is sorry, and thats it. She doesnt make whole speech and self pity, unlike Bakugou and Endeavour. See the difference. And if author wasnt so obsessed with Endeavour’s nonexistent redemption arc, i am sure that we would get more of Rei. She did what she could do best for Touya as civillian, ordinary person. This part of story is fine but others? Bad.

- Allmight and others too. I dont want to talk about every detail because you know the summary, flaws of society isnt adressed properly/at all and story focus on power dynamic and etc.

But for at least this chapter, i would like to say, i kinda like this one. Uraraka and Toga development, interaction. At first, Uraraka would brush off everything Toga said and does, which makes sense since she was from other side. And Toga would talk your typical villain but after that Toga crying scene, Uraraka seems to be able empathize with her than many other heroes ever could for villains. The way she just accepted that she was wrong about her, that she changed her mind, she also knows that she is in pain and she says sorry, she is not angry, she is not rejecting her, she tells her that she found her. I mean, look at her face when she speaks to her. Like, great start, Uraraka. I think there are still many issues with story and how fast everything happens but i really like this one. It feels like an actually hero speech who geniuely wants to empathize with villain, completely stranger, just a girl who is like her. Unlike before, she doesnt talk like a robot with ‘you did commit crime so everything happens to you, you deserve it’ type of attitude. No. This time Uraraka is different.

At least for this chapter, for now, Uraraka Ochaco is rising.

Edit; I made it Clear that i write this based on my personal opinion. Literally, every second of this post is "i think". Certain people use this to insult and harass me. It just shows what kind of people they are. If you disagree, make your own post without mentioning/making me involve in any way. Of course, if you want to debate about series with respect, i dont mind. I dont think being kind is too hard.

[buckybarnesfanfiction]

'Such Sweet Revenge' by ali_aliska

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15146219/chapters/35123417

This is one of the best fanfictions I've ever read. ali_aliska is one of the best WinterIron/Marvel fanfiction writers ever.

As always, all credit goes to ali_aliska. I OWN NOTHING. THIS IS NOT MY WORK!!!!

I am just premoting it because it is so, so good!

Author's Summary:

When the Rogues are back in the States after being pardoned, the New Avengers want nothing to do with them and as far as Tony is concerned, if he never speaks to them again, it'll be too soon. After all, he didn't spend the last year putting himself (and his family) back together only for his former co-workers to ruin all of his hard work.

But then he gets a hand-written letter from the Winter Soldier himself, apologizing for the events that transpired and an off-handed comment from Rhodey about Rogers failing to take care of an obviously miserable Bucky Barnes sets in motion Tony's new, oh-so-evil plan to get some payback.

After all, what better revenge than to steal the Winter Soldier away from his best friend?

The only problem: Tony sucks at being vengeful, but apparently he's an expert at inadvertently falling in love.

Excerpt from chapter 1:

Tony admired the bright doodles of Iron Man, Spider-Man, and a very Picasso-esque rendition of the Wasp one last time and placed the last letter on top of new pile next to him. With nothing else left to read, he studied the damn white envelope still sitting innocuously on the other end of the bed. 

He should burn it. He should take the damn thing down to the lab and burn it in the incinerator, scatter the ashes from the top of Stark Tower, and maybe invoke Loki’s name in an incantation or something. Tony was not ashamed to admit that he was petty enough to sic the Trickster god on Rogers.

He should do all those things, but already he resigned himself to the fact that curiosity would get the best of him. It was both one of his best and most reckless personality traits. 

Kudos to Rogers for using snail mail (again) to get a direct line of communication to Tony.

Alright, let’s see what kind of half-assed apologies and passive aggressive nonsense he came up with this time. At least there’s no insulting, out-of-date tech to go along with this letter.

He reached for the envelope, tore it open, unfolded the paper, and promptly realized that this wasn’t Rogers’ tidy scrawl (he hated that he had the man’s handwriting memorized). A glance at signature towards the bottom of the letter confirmed his suspicions.

Huh.

With a raised eyebrow and renewed curiosity, Tony leaned back and began to read.

Mr. Stark,

I wasn’t sure this letter would get to you, but I had to try. I thought about meeting you in person (you’re too easy to track down for someone of your importance), but that would have been both imposing and selfish.

Even this is selfish. I know no apology will fix what I’ve done. It won’t bring your parents back, it won’t bring anyone I killed back to life. It won’t fix what happened between you, Steve and the others either. Might not help you at all, so this apology, it’s selfish then, isn’t it? Just to help me sleep better at night. If it makes a difference, I still won’t be able to sleep.

But for whatever it’s worth, I am sorry. I’m so sorry. For your parents, for fighting you in Germany without knowing anymore than what Steve had told me. I’m sorry for fighting you in Siberia, for leaving you behind when you were hurt.

I wish you would’ve taken more than just my arm back in that bunker. 

I’m not sure if there’s something I can do to make up for what happened. I don’t have money and most of my skillsets are frowned upon, but if there is any way I can help, or if you just want to shoot me between the eyes to even out the score, just say so.

Being back in the States, I’ve had a lot of time to think. Can’t sleep with that damn witch across the hall, so I got nothing but time. I made mistakes, hurt people who weren’t my enemies. First time I was free of Hydra’s control and all I did was do more damage. 

I’ve been reading up on your work. Green energy, technology, the new Accords. All of you are doing amazing work and I’m sorry Steve and the others are getting in the way of that. They shouldn’t have ambushed Rhodes and Danvers like that. A damn charity event for sick kids. I don’t know what they were thinking. Rhodes and Danvers held their own though. Soldiers through and through.

Steve is also thinking about coming to that green energy conference next month. Thinks he can get a moment with you because you’re one of the speakers and the security isn’t as strict. No idea if this letter gets to you in time, and knowing you, you probably already know, but thought I should warn you.

They used some of your tech to help with the triggers, by the way. Thank you for that too. T’Challa’s sister didn’t want to be involved though and I don’t blame her, but the other doctors did well enough with the tech. My brain feels like it’s been scrubbed raw, but at least some lunatic won’t be able to control me anymore. Thank you for giving me that freedom. Again, I have nothing to give back but empty words.

You seem like a good man. I wish I got the chance to know you under different circumstances, but I guess that’s selfish too.

Wherever life takes you, I wish you well.

Sincerely,

James Buchanan Barnes

“Huh…” Tony exhaled and kept staring at the letter in his hands. 

Not what I expected. At all.

[nekropsii]

I would like to take a moment to acknowledge how fucking hilarious it is that people will decide and then assert that I’m white whenever I point out that there is racism in Homestuck. Especially the Anti-Blackness.

I would also like to point out that it is kind of disgusting to assume that scrutinizing the writings of a white author who is known to have been racist both before and during the writing of a particular body of work is somehow indicative of whiteness on behalf of the analyst.

It is frankly horrendous, considering this fandoms long, sordid history of silencing critical Black voices within its community. A big reason a lot of Black creators + analysts aren’t saying anything about the racial aspects of anymore is because so many other Black people got brutally harassed off their platform if they dared to breathe even one criticism in the direction of Their Lord And Savior, Andrew Hussie. People still get sent torrents of hate and threats if they speak their mind, especially if they approach it with any level of emotion… Even though Anti-Blackness would be something that affects them directly.

Which is… Both tragic and unsurprising. Black people are hardly ever afforded the right to their emotions when speaking about the racism that affects them every day. They’re often not allowed to be passionate, not allowed to get heated. They have to be calm, professional, and, most of all, palatable. Non-threatening. Words can’t express how much this sucks.

Here’s the thing. I know if I was an openly Black creator, I’d be getting a lot more shit for saying the things I do. People will reject what I’m saying based on the false assumption that I’m white, sure… But I can’t help but think that there’s also a lot of people who are only accepting what I’m saying… based on that same false assumption that I’m white. When people see criticism of Anti-Blackness in media by someone who is openly Black, they take that as them painting a target on their back. Racist people take Black people speaking their mind as an opportunity to pull the trigger on a gun that they were already aiming.

There’s absolutely plenty of normal people in between, but I’ve been in this community long enough- hell, I’ve been on the internet in general long enough. People just fucking hate listening to Black people about their concerns.

So I can’t help but think there’s some kind of… Ulterior motive to dismissing my criticism with the assumption that I’m white. I don’t have my race in my bio, so I haven’t painted the appropriate target on my back. If I haven’t said I’m Black- someone easy to harass into silence- then I must be white- something easy to label as ignorant to the struggles of any and all People of Color. I am neither white nor Black. You guys need to realize that other races exist.

And you need to stop being so fucking protective of a racist white guy that you don’t even know.

Seriously, just how often do people have to point out the sheer volume of times this guy has said the whole ass N-word and utilized Black caricatures in his work for people to accept that maybe Hussie was just actually racist, and that this has a tangible impact on what he writes?

Fucking hell, this isn’t rocket science, people.

[goodbyeapathy8]

And one more thing...

I truly meant to let sleeping dogs lie after my post yesterday about leaving Kindergarten Mafia, the now infamous, racist Discord server because it had everything I wanted to say at the time.

BUT.

Here I am, sliding back in, with more things.

And I warn you ahead of time that this post will probably make you feel uncomfortable. That's fine.

Because I remembered the new thing I was going to do : if someone has made me feel uncomfortable, that takes away their right to comfort as well. Respect goes both ways and so does comfort.

I believe both posts are equally valuable. And I want you to sit with your discomfort if this anger seems "off" or you feel that it's petty. So I hope you stay until the end of this long rant because there's a greater point I want to make about POC anger and discomfort from witnessing that.

It's meant to be petty and I mean it with every fiber of my being.

Yesterday, I was made aware of the server owner, in their new server, specifically wrote that they're "trying to get the joy back from fandom".

And that singular phrase not only triggered disgust but various other thoughts I had held back, out of misplaced respect, in my last post. The gloves are coming off and the claws are coming out.

So this is for the people who were complicit in downplaying, gaslighting, and otherwise making it a miserable fandom experience for us (marginalized folks + POC) : go fuck yourselves. You do not deserve fandom joy when it has been sucked out, by people like you.

I'm calling out AO3 authors like Ahdriking. Ahdriking was a popular author I used to respect in the fandom. But after being inactive for most of my stay in the server, Ahdriking suddenly emerged from the shadows to take the side of the perpetrators. They came in at the 11th hour, not having interacted with or actually know any of us that were speaking out, just to defend the people who hurt us.

You do not get to quietly fade into the background of anonymity, enjoying accolades from unknowing readers, when behind closed doors, you've acted like this.

I do have to thank you, Ahdri, for making me finally understand how well-written authors can be terrible outside of their writing, like JK Rowling.

Another AO3 author like Frog_of_Fandom, who joined the new server and is gleefully poking fun at those of us who left.

To be clear, this is not for those who were nonconfrontational. This is specifically for those who were complicit - whether it was directly within server messages or staying silent and then moving to the new "safe" space. (Credit to Snake and Mouse for this distinction.)

The worst part of it is, I myself wasn't treated nearly as badly as some of my Black and indigenous counterparts.

There's a reason for that.

I frequently mentioned my identity as a Korean-American. Server members were very aware of that and my profile picture is a real life one, not a fandom reference.

I, as an Asian, got received with relative politeness while Black and brown members were booted out.

This is a familiar racist tactic.

You don't need to go any further than a TikTok comment section to see evidence of this. Black and brown creators have some of the worst comments I've seen on that app. (I posted a TikTok recently on the topic if you'd like to hear the specifics.) The SAME message can be said by a white creator vs Black, brown, indigenous etc with very different results.

Backlash against Black anger is well documented by various scholars.

As a rather pale faced Asian - the polite reception to my anger is part of my privilege. It struck me how different the server owner and problematic mods treated my messages and that of Black or brown server members.

And it makes me incredibly angry, not relieved.

Because on top of the sympathetic anger I felt for my POC counterparts, I wondered if they had fetishized me this whole time.

Note that the fandom for the server is KinnPorsche, a Thai BL, for those who don't know - a queer Thai drama.

That somehow, my anger was palatable because I, as a queer Asian, was adjacent to their beloved drama characters.

But before I write a novel-length fic again as a post, I'll stop here, despite having so much more to say.

This is truly the last I want to reference those energy vampires.

For me, I will try to leave behind the feelings of disgust I have with my first foray into a fandom and take with me the true friendships with folks that care about joy for everyone and not just a few.

Many many lessons have been learned and re-enforced from past experiences. I'm not happy that any of us had to experience this but sometimes, shit happens.

Wipe it up and flush it down the toilet, where it belongs.

[singledarkshade]

Miracle Baby

Summary - Loki had more than one plan to get Jack's Ancient Gene.

This plan is to create a child using Jack's DNA, Daniel's DNA and the DNA of a former Goa'uld host Daniel knows well.

Which means Daniel's life is about to change dramatically again as his past is no longer in the past and he will soon be a single father.

Author’s Note - I've had this half written for years, and finally picked it up to finish.

Anyway, hope you enjoy.

*********************************************** Jack sat at his big desk, in his big office, tossing paper into the trashcan. He knew it was the best thing for him to take this promotion, but it didn’t stop him missing the SGC or his team, and they would always be his team no matter what.

“Yello,” he answered the phone when it rang.

“O’Neill,” a familiar voice spoke, “Are you alone within the room.”

“Yeah…” Jack looked up and found he was on the Asgard ship, “Hey there, Thor.”

“Greetings, O’Neill,” the small grey alien said, “I apologise if you had something important to do, but this could not wait.”

“What’s up?” Jack asked intrigued.

Thor motioned Jack to follow him, “As you know Loki was trying to find a way to help our people reverse the effects that have disabled us from reproducing. We have discovered another of his experiments, which directly affects yourself as well as Dr Jackson.”

“And cloning me last time didn’t affect us?” Jack murmured, stopping dead as he saw the cryochamber Thor moved in front of, staring in amazement, “I want the full story then we go get Daniel.”

~

Daniel Jackson was officially bored.

He was sitting in the briefing room as the new General tried to reorganise his department, along with the rest of the SGC. This was something that seemed to happen every time there was a change in who was running the SGC, except Jack. He knew better than to try reorganising Daniel’s system, besides he couldn’t have cared less as long as the work was done.

So, ignoring most of what was going on, Daniel was writing out the lyrics to select Beatles’ songs in several languages. He’d no idea why he’d picked them but had found that trying to write ‘Octopuses Garden’ in Goa’uld quite challenging.

“Dr Jackson,” Landry invited him to speak.

Daniel sighed but before he could say a word his world dissolved in a bright white light, which faded to reveal someone he was very pleased to see.

“Hi, Jack,” Daniel grinned, “Your timing doesn’t suck.”

Jack looked at him worried, “Something wrong?”

“Just a meeting I was sure was going to force me into a coma,” Daniel rolled his eyes before looking around, “Why am I on an Asgard ship?”

Jack took a deep breath, “Something’s happened. How long do you have till you collapse?”

Daniel checked his watch, “I saw Vala just before I entered the meeting, since that seemed to last at least a year I should be dead. In reality I’ve got about two hours.”

“That should be enough time,” Jack mused; “Come with me.”

~

Daniel was a little confused as he followed his friend through the corridors of the ship, “Jack, what’s going on?”

Jack stopped and turned to him, “Thor contacted me because apparently before they caught him Loki was up to quite a few experiments.”

“Tell me he didn’t clone me too?” Daniel groaned, “Because that’s just a little too much.”

“No,” Jack sighed, “Daniel, before he cloned me, he was trying to get my gene another way.”

“What other way?” Daniel was getting confused and more worried.

“By creating a child,” Jack explained, “However, he also took DNA from you.”

“Which is why I’m here,” Daniel frowned before asking, “We have a kid?”

“Not yet,” Jack grimaced again, “There’s also the third donator of DNA, the child’s mother,”

Daniel felt shivers run down his spine at how serious Jack was being, “Who is that?”

“Come on,” Jack continued to walk to where Thor was waiting for them.

Daniel followed on stopping dead as he entered the lab; he stared at the cryo-tube that Thor was standing beside.

“Sha’re,” Daniel breathed, staring at her in shock, finding Jack holding his arm keeping him steady as anger took over, “What the hell is going on?”

“I can explain,” Thor spoke up.

~

“Loki believed that our salvation lay within the Ancient gene O’Neill possesses,” Thor explained, “One plan was to clone O’Neill, which you saw the result of.”

“And continue to every time he wants something,” Daniel muttered.

“This experiment to gain this was to mix the genetic material with that of someone who had been possessed by a Goa’uld,” Thor continued as horror filled Daniel’s eyes, “After implantation of the Goa’uld there is a change within the genetic make-up of the host.”

Daniel turned to Jack and then back to where Sha’re lay, noticing finally she was pregnant, “You…that…Jack?”

“Loki used a mixture of our DNA to get Sha’re pregnant,” Jack told his friend gently.

“You were an ascended being,” Thor reminded Daniel, “Your DNA was altered during this time, in a way your own medical science would not be able to recognise but our technology does.”

Daniel started to laugh a little hysterically, “So, he dug up my wife and brought her back to life then got her pregnant by me and Jack?”

“Daniel…”

“Why has this taken so long if this was done before Jack was cloned?” Daniel demanded.

“We only recently discovered this experiment,” Thor told him, “We believe he accelerated the embryo’s growth to its sixth month before placing her within the cryo-chamber, his notes indicate he believed that the final three months had to be natural. We captured him before he could allow that to happen.”

“Why haven’t you woken her?” Daniel whispered, moving to the chamber his fingers resting against the glass at his wife’s beautiful face.

Jack hesitated for a moment before gently telling his friend, “Because she can’t wake up, Daniel.”

“What?”

“Loki’s revival process only brought back her body and basic brain functions,” Thor explained, “She can breathe on her own while her body supports the child but her mind…”

“She isn’t really alive,” Daniel felt tears sting his eyes but blinked them away focussing on remaining angry because he couldn’t lose control until he was alone, “So, what now?”

“The council and I believe that it would be best for the remainder of the pregnancy continue under the supervision of your doctors,” Thor explained, “To ensure that she receives the proper treatment and so that you, as the child’s fathers, are there for the birth. We will provide upgrades for your hospital bed so that her body remains comfortable, and healthy.”

Daniel was shaking slightly as he tried to remain focussed, “We should speak to Landry about fixing this.”

Jack nodded before asking, “Do you want me to do it?”

“You’re going to have to,” Daniel breathed.

                             *********************************************

Landry jumped when a bright light filled his office before revealing Jack O’Neill.

“Hey,” Jack grinned, grabbing a seat.

“Jack,” Landry started, trying to work out what to ask before just deciding on, “What’s going on?”

“Thor came to see me and Daniel,” Jack explained, “Sorry about your meeting.”

“I have a feeling Dr Jackson wasn't paying attention to me anyway,” Landry grimaced.

Jack shrugged, “Don’t try and change how he does things in his departments. It won’t work, Weir tried and so did Bauer. But at the moment that’s not important. The reason Thor took us is.”

“And what is that?” Landry asked.

He listened as Jack explained, knowing his mouth was falling open at the story.

“I didn’t even know Dr Jackson had been married,” Landry murmured, “Shouldn’t that be in the reports.”

“Most of what you have is only from the past few years,” Jack explained, “When I originally told you about the SGC, I decided to leave it out. It wasn't something you needed to know considering how long ago she died.”

Landry nodded, “Alright, I’ll give you that. What about now?”

“Three months and she’ll have the baby,” Jack told him, “I’ll make sure Thor leaves everything the doctors will need.”

“Of course,” Landry nodded, “And Dr Jackson?”

“Daniel will not leave the planet, he probably won’t leave the base,” Jack replied, “Even like this, Sha’re means more to him than anything and this child…I’m telling you now, don’t try to push him into going off world because you’ll lose.”

~

Dr Lam stood at the door to the empty room she’d been ordered to prepare as her father and General O’Neill stood nearby waiting.

“Is everything ready?” Landry asked.

“Completely,” she replied, “Am I getting told what’s going on?”

“Nope but you’re about to be shown,” Jack told her, nodding to the room before holding up the communicator to his mouth, “Okay, Thor. We’re ready.”

Lam gasped as the light filled the room dissipating to leave Daniel Jackson standing beside the bed, an unconscious pregnant woman on it. Once he realised where he was, Daniel turned to the bed and gently fixed the covers around the dark-haired woman.

“What’s going on?” Lam demanded of the two Generals standing at her side.

Landry took her arm, “Come here.”

~

Jack watched Landry explain for a second before he entered the room, walking to where Daniel was staring at his wife.

“No offence to Dr Lam,” Daniel sighed, “But I wish it was Janet here. She knew, she understood.”

Jack placed his hand on his friend’s shoulder, “Yeah.”

“I can’t do this,” Daniel turned to him, “Jack, I can’t spend the next few months waiting for her to have a child before losing her again.”

“Danny, I know this is hard and I know Thor would have let me take her somewhere else,” Jack reminded him, “But I know you and I knew her. Even though Thor says her mind isn’t there anymore, I don’t believe that.”

“She knows I’m here,” Daniel whispered, turning back to her.

“I’m betting on it,” Jack nodded, “I’ll be back in a bit. I’ve got some calls to make.”

“Jack,” Daniel called, stopping his friend, “Thanks.”

Jack nodded at him before leaving the room, once he left Jack sighed. He couldn’t understand why the universe delighted in doing things like this to Daniel. The poor guy had been through so much and now he had to sit waiting for his long-dead wife to give birth, while she was in a coma of sorts, knowing that the moment the child was born Sha’re would die - again.

Jack headed to Daniel’s office to use the phone there rather than taking over Landry’s. His first call was to his own office, letting them know where he was before he called Hammond and Sam so that they knew what was going on. Daniel was going to need the whole family for this.

                             *********************************************

Jack stood waiting for the IDC to come through before he headed into the Gateroom to greet Teal’c.

“O’Neill?” Teal’c looked at him surprised as he walked down the ramp, “It is good to see you again.”

“Good to see you too, T,” Jack replied, “Come on, something’s happening and you need to know what’s going on.”

Teal’c followed his friend, listening in astonishment as Jack laid out the past few hours for him.

“How is Daniel Jackson?” Teal’c asked; his concern for his friend the first thing on his mind.

“Not doing too great,” Jack sighed, “He’s not left her side except when he has to see his friend who stuck the bracelet on him. I don’t know if he will leave the base until the birth.”

“I wish to see him,” Teal’c told him, “Have you called Samantha Carter?”

“She and Hammond are on their way,” Jack explained, “None of us can stay for the full three months, T but for the moment I think having us all here will be a good thing.”

Teal’c nodded stopping as they came to the doorway of the small room where Sha’re lay. Daniel was sitting by her side, his eyes fixed on her face, sadness radiating from him. He either heard or sensed them because he turned, smiling slightly to see Teal’c standing with Jack.

“Hi, Teal’c,” Daniel spoke softly, as though Sha’re was simply sleeping, and he didn’t want to wake her.

“Daniel Jackson,” Teal’c nodded, moving into the room resting his hand on his friend’s shoulder, “How are you?”

Daniel shrugged, “Ask me again in three months.”

Jack gave a slight smile as he moved over to look down on the young woman lying there. She did look as though she was simply sleeping, which made this all the harder. He glanced over at the machines at her side that were tracking both her and the baby’s vitals. It felt strange to think that yesterday, she was dead to them, to Daniel and that Daniel had managed to move on with his life but now…this baby would be more special than anyone realised.

Jack wanted to be involved in raising the child because part of the DNA had come from him, but he knew that baby belonged with Daniel more than anyone. As two thirds of the child’s DNA was from Daniel and his wife.

Jack shook himself from the thought; it was going to be a long three months.

~

Sam hurried through the corridors, Hammond at her side, heading to the infirmary. She wasn't surprised to find Jack standing waiting for them.

“Sir,” she nodded, “How is he?”

Jack shrugged, “Hard to say. Hey, George.”

“Jack,” Hammond greeted him.

“I know neither of you can be here for long,” Jack told them as they walked, “But I thought Daniel would need us all here for the first few days.”

Sam nodded, worried about her friend. They reached the room where Daniel was sitting talking to Sha’re as Teal’c stood guard in the corner of the room. He was holding her hand telling her about what he’d been doing since they’d last been together.

None of them wanted to interrupt but Daniel glanced over and saw them standing there.

“Hi,” he greeted them softly; his voice had not risen from that level since Sha’re had been moved into the room.

“Hey,” Sam walked over to him and hugged him tightly.

Daniel smiled softly, “Good to see you, Sam.”

He glanced over at his friends, who crowded around his wife’s bed.

“Sha’re,” he murmured, gently stroking her hand, “These are my friends.”

                             *********************************************

Jack sat trying to finish everything he needed to. He was heading back to the SGC in two hours. Sha're was due to give birth in less than two weeks and Jack wanted to be there for his friend during this time. The last few months had been hard on the archaeologist; he’d hardly left the SGC at all.

Once the effect of the bracelet Vala had put him on had disappeared completely, Daniel had barely left Sha’re’s room.

Jack had made it to the base as often as possible, keeping his friend’s spirits up and watching the unconscious woman bloom. He’d heard the baby’s heartbeat, felt it kick, watching Daniel withdraw more and more as he continued his vigil.

“Yello?” Jack answered his phone just as he was about to leave.

“Are you alone, O’Neill?” Thor asked.

Jack grabbed the bag in the corner of the room, “Yeah,” he answered, not surprised as the light surrounded him, “So,” he looked at the small grey alien in front of him, “What’s up?”

“O’Neill,” Thor nodded, “Several of our scientists have been intrigued by the situation concerning Dr Jackson’s wife and believe that the child may hold the key to saving the Asgard.”

“No offence,” Jack told him, “But right now, that’s not my concern.”

“I understand,” Thor replied, he moved to Jack and offered him a vial, “This however may be.”

“What is it?” Jack asked, swirling the cloudy liquid around, “Asgard liquor?”

Thor tilted his head thoughtfully, “It is hopefully a way to bring Sha’re Jackson back.”

“Back?” Jack stared at him, “As in back? As in awake and alive and no longer...back?”

Thor did what Jack assumed was a nod, “Loki’s notes were very specific. It will be best to give her it once she is in childbirth. The serum should react with her body’s natural chemicals and hopefully…”

“It brings her back to us,” Jack smiled, “Great. Can you drop me in the base? I’ll give you a yell when it’s time.”

~

Daniel sat in his usual seat at his wife’s side; he had given up his pretence of working for the day and was simply sitting watching her. Occasionally he’d talk to the baby who he knew was listening because the child would kick at his voice.

“Hey,” Jack announced his presence, his voice soft as Daniel’s always was in the room.

“Hey,” Daniel replied, fixing Sha’re’s covers so that she was presentable, “You’re early.”

“I wanted to talk to you before everyone else got here,” Jack said, “About what happens after.”

“After?”

“Daniel,” Jack hated having to be the one to do it, but his friend needed to think about this, “You’re going to be a father soon. You have to have some sort of plan?”

“I don’t know how to see that far,” Daniel sighed, “I can’t see beyond losing her again.”

Jack gently rested his hand on Daniel’s shoulder, “I understand how you feel, Danny but you have to remember that soon there’s going to be a baby that relies on you. You’ve got to have some sort of plan how you’re going to take care of the kid.”

“How do I do that?” Daniel whispered, “I’ve never been good with kids. Sha’re wanted them and I knew she’d teach me.” He turned to look at his wife’s unconscious form on the bed, “She can’t now.”

Jack squeezed his friend’s shoulder, “First we sort a nursery, get a crib, diapers, formula, bottles,” he paused, “I’m sure one of the doctors or anyone who has kids here can tell us all we need.”

“Us?”

“Well, favourite uncle here,” Jack reminded Daniel, getting a small smile from his friend, “I’ve taken a few weeks off to help while you get sorted and settled with the baby.”

Daniel looked at him with gratitude in his eyes, he leaned over and kissed Sha’re’s forehead.

“I’ll be back soon,” he promised before he headed out of the room.

Jack looked at the woman on the bed for a moment then followed Daniel.

~

It took them a few days but Daniel, with Jack’s help, sorted a nursey in his house. Sitting at the side of the crib, which had taken them longer to assemble than they were ever going to admit to anyone, was Sha’re’s picture. So, her baby would always know her.

Daniel returned to the SGC and his vigil by his wife’s bed while Jack took over an office to work where he was close enough to check in on his friend.

Time passed bringing them closer to the day Sha’re would give birth and Daniel would lose her once more, unless the Asgard concoction worked.

Jack wasn’t sure it would, so didn’t want to give his friend false hope.

                             *********************************************

Daniel finished his meeting with SG6 and, after a quick detour to his office to pick up some books, returned to the room in the infirmary where his wife lay. From the timeline Thor had given them, it was less than two days before her due date. The doctor had told him that once her body went into labour, they would perform a caesarean.

Then Sha’re would be gone once more, and he would have a baby to raise.

He was having a hard time looking that far into the future but knew it was coming. Thankfully Jack would be here to him navigate what came after.

Taking his seat at her side once more, Daniel stroked her hair, “Sorry I was away so long, love. I had to make sure SG6 know what they’re doing when talking to the locals of the planet they’re heading to.”

As always, he received no answer, but it didn’t deter him. It meant that the baby knew his voice and it felt good to talk to her. Pressing a soft kiss to her forehead, Daniel sat and began to work.

~

It was about three hours later when the alarms in the room began to sound. Daniel spun as Doctor Evans came running into the room.

“What’s wrong?” worry filled Daniel’s voice.

He turned to Daniel, “She’s in labour.”

Daniel’s head spun as everything suddenly kicked into gear and the room was soon filled with people. He wanted to scream at them to leave, that it was too soon, that he couldn’t lose her today, but he knew nothing would stop this.

Jack appeared suddenly and began to talk to the doctor who looked confused before finally nodding. He spotted something being passed between them but didn’t get a chance to see any further as his attention was pulled to the nurse who was insisting that he put a gown on.

“Dr Jackson,” Doctor Evans turned to him, “I know you want to be here for the birth, so I need you to stay by your wife’s side and hold her hand. Let us do our job.”

He nodded, frowning as something was injected into the IV that Sha’re had connected to her other arm.

“What’s that?”

“Just…” the doctor hesitated and glanced at Jack making Daniel frown even more.

Daniel grimaced as he was ignored while the doctor did some checks and gave orders to the nurses.

Catching his friend’s eye finally, Daniel demanded, “Jack, what did the doctor give Sha’re?”

Before anyone else could speak the woman on the bed suddenly let out a scream.

~

The world was black, it was warm, she knew her love was safe that he would find her child and care for him so had given herself to her end. Suddenly noise invaded the darkness and consciousness began to return to her. As the noises separated into voices, she heard one she knew but then the pain struck her. Unable to do anything else, she screamed and felt someone take her hand.

“Sha’re?”

The voice was someone she knew, so familiar and she tried to focus.

“Sha’re,” the voice came again, “Can you hear me, love? Sha’re?” There was a pause before the voice demanded, “What’s going on, Jack?”

Her head swam as voices became muffled and she floated in the blackness again for what felt like forever but also no time at all, before the pain hit her again, and she let out another cry, this time light filled her vision.

“I’m here,” the comforting voice came again, “I’m right here.”

As the light faded, figures started to form in her vision and she saw her husband at her side.

“Dan’iel?” she cried.

A bright smile touched his face, and he kissed her hand, “I’m here.”

Relief filled her but as she turned to look around at where she was, Sha’re saw her large stomach and let out a cry of horror. Daniel caught her face, turning her to look at him and murmured soothingly to her, finally managing to calm her enough to focus on what he was saying.

“I know you’re confused,” Daniel told her, “But you’re safe, you’re safe here with me.”

“The baby?” she whispered.

Daniel nodded, “The baby is mine…ours and I know it’s terrifying that you’ve woken to this, but you need to breathe just like I taught you and do what the doctor says.”

“I don’t understand,” Sha’re shook her head, completely overwhelmed, scared, and confused.

Daniel rested his forehead against hers, “I will explain everything, I promise, but right now you need focus on having the baby. Our baby and I will be at your side for the whole thing.”

~

Jack was stunned, but relieved, that the serum had worked. Doc Evans had been a little unsure about giving Sha’re it, but he finally relented when Jack explained what Thor had told him.

He felt for Sha’re, waking up to find herself giving birth. Daniel had calmed her slightly, but he could see Evans watching the heart monitor worriedly. Jack shook himself and pulled the stone Thor had given him to call, sliding his thumb over it as he was instructed and feeling it warm slightly.

“General,” Dr Evans called to him suddenly, “Can you help Mrs Jackson to sit forward.”

Jack walked over confused but gave Sha’re a smile as he moved to her side opposite the doctor.

“Dr Jackson,” Evans said, “To help Mrs Jackson through the birth, I want you to sit behind her and support her that way.”

Sha’re looked confused, but Jack smiled at her as Daniel removed his boots.

“Hey,” he said softly, “I know this is weird but you’re safe and Daniel’s been at your side since we found you. He’s not going anywhere.”

Sha’re blinked at him, her eyes wet with tears but she nodded and gripped his hand during the contraction that hit her before letting him help her lean forward. Daniel climbed onto the bed and slid to sit behind her leaning against the pillows. Sha’re rested back against his chest and Jack saw her relax the moment she was in Daniel’s arms. He glanced at the heart monitor seeing it had levelled out.

Daniel enfolded her in his arms and pressed a soft kiss to her cheek.

Stepping back out of the room to give the couple a little time alone as the doctor confirmed that there was several hours left before the baby would make an appearance. With Sha’re awake it was better to let her have the baby naturally.

He wasn’t surprised when light filled his vision, and he was suddenly onboard Thor’s ship.

“Hey,” Jack grinned, “You’re early. Baby isn’t born yet.”

“I wished to check on the status of the mother,” Thor told him.

Jack grinned even broader, “Sha’re is awake, confused, and terrified that’s she’s about to have a baby but Daniel’s at her side keeping her calm.”

Thor nodded, “I am happy to hear that, O’Neill. I will remain in orbit until the birth then will check both mother and child to ensure their health.”

“Good,” Jack said before asking, “Can you send me back? I kinda want to be there for the birth.”

~

Daniel murmured how amazing Sha’re was, how much loved her, how wonderful she was doing as she gripped his hands tightly. Ten hours has passed since Sha’re had regained consciousness and finally the main event was about to happen.

“That’s good,” Evans said, “When I tell you to push, I need you to push.”

“Dan’iel!!!”

“I’m here,” he promised, “And you’ve done this before, but this time Dr Evans is actually trained.”

Sha’re let out a scream as she pushed, breathing hard when the contraction finished.

“The head is out,” Dr Evans told them, “Okay, Sha’re on the next contraction I need you to give one more big push.”

She nodded, unable to say anything else. The next contraction came far too soon, and she moaned as Daniel held her hands tighter.

“This is it,” Dr Evans said, “One more big push, Sha’re, and we’ll be done.”

With all the energy she had left, Sha’re pushed, screaming as Daniel murmured encouragement as she squeezed his hands.

Finally, it was over, and she collapsed against her husband, turning slightly as a plaintive cry filled the room. They waited in silence for several moments, Sha’re exhausted in Daniel’s arms.

“Congratulations,” Dr Evan said as he returned to the bed, carrying a bundle in a white blanket, “You have a beautiful baby girl.”

“A girl?” Daniel breathed reverently.

Evans smiled and gently rested the child into Sha’re’s arms. Emotion overwhelmed her, and she began to cry as she looked down at the baby in her arms.

Daniel placed a soft kiss on her cheek as he hugged her close, helping her hold their daughter.

                             *********************************************

Sha’re was fast asleep, exhausted after several hours of labour. Evans assured them that all tests showed she was fine, and that proper sleep would help her recovery.

Recovery from having been dead for years, Jack shook his head, still amazed that the serum had worked.

Daniel was sitting across from Jack feeding his daughter. Although Sha’re’s body was making milk for her child, they’d decided that letting her sleep was best for now, so the baby was drinking the formula that had been brought in for when she was born, since no one knew the mother would be there to feed her. His face was peaceful as he cradled the tiny bundle in his arm.

Light filled the room and Thor was suddenly in front of Jack as he was now onboard the Asgard ship once more.

“Greetings, O’Neill,” the small grey alien stated, “From my scans I believe the child has now been born.”

Jack grinned, “Sha’re had a baby girl less than an hour ago.”

“That is wonderful news,” Thor said, “Would I be permitted to scan the child and mother? There will be no danger to either.”

“Let me check with Daniel first,” Jack said, “I doubt it’ll be a problem, but I want him to confirm.”

~

Daniel was completely overwhelmed as he held his daughter in his arms. He was instantly in love with her, she had her mother’s tanned skin and thick black curls with a little bow mouth Jack insisted was Daniel’s. The fact Sha’re was fully alive was a miracle he couldn’t have dreamed of, and he could look forward to the future now. His daughter had drunk almost a full bottle of milk before settling back to sleep in Daniel’s arms.

He smiled as Jack reappeared after having been transported up to the Asgard ship.

“Hey,” he greeted his friend, “Everything okay?”

“Thor wants to scan both Sha’re and the little one to check they’re okay,” Jack told him, “Are you happy to let him?”

Daniel knew he didn’t need to give permission, but Jack was giving him agency in the decision.

“Yes,” Daniel said, “If it wasn’t for him, Sha’re wouldn’t be…she would…” he paused and looked down at his daughter, “I want him to confirm they’re both fine.”

Jack pulled out the communication stone and rubbed his thumb across it letting Thor know he could come down.

Light filled the room and when it faded, Thor stood there.

“May I see your daughter, Dr Jackson?” Thor asked.

Kneeling down Daniel pulled the blanket back, so the baby’s sweet face was clear for Thor to see.

“She is a beautiful child,” Thor told Daniel, “I see a great deal of her mother in her.”

Daniel grinned, “I know.”

“May I scan her?” Thor asked, “I promise it shall not harm your daughter, but will give me the information I require concerning her special DNA.”

Daniel nodded.

The baby shifted slightly as the beam covered her but settled quickly as Daniel hushed her gently. Jack smiled to see how quickly Daniel had taken to fatherhood especially knowing how Daniel believed he wouldn’t be a good parent.

“Thank you,” Thor said, “Where is her mother?”

Daniel led Thor into the other room where Sha’re was still sleeping peacefully, the monitors surrounding her showing her vital signs.

“Thor,” Daniel whispered as the small grey alien moved closer to the bed, “Is this for good? She won’t fade away or something like that now the baby is here?”

Thor scanned the sleeping woman before turning to Daniel, “The serum that was created allowed the neural links within her brain to reintegrate and return to a viable state. As theorised, doing this during childbirth allowed the process to happen properly.”

“Meaning?” Jack asked.

Thor glanced at him before turning back to Daniel, “Meaning your wife will be able to live her life and raise the child, as well as any future children, as a normal human.”

“Thank you,” Daniel breathed.

“I will return to my people now,” Thor told them, “I hope you do not mind if I return every so often to check on your daughter’s progress.”

“For scientific purposes?” Daniel asked, “Or as Uncle Thor?”

The grey alien tilted his head, “I like the sound of Uncle Thor.”

With that he disappeared into a bright light.

~

“Jack.”

Thrown out his thoughts, Jack looked over at his friend, “Yeah?”

“Did you call Sam, Teal’c and General Hammond?” Daniel asked.

“I got Landry on that,” Jack told him, “They should be here in a few hours.”

Daniel nodded, “Before they get here, can you go to my house and pick up some things for the baby, and maybe get some things for Sha’re too? The infirmary has only the basics as I didn’t expect to not get home before she was born.”

“On one condition,” Jack stated.

Confused Daniel waited.

“Give me a cuddle of my new niece,” Jack demanded, taking the baby from her father’s arms, “Uncle Jack wants to say hello.”

Daniel watched as Jack cooed to the little girl, he heard Sha’re murmur in her sleep and after checking she was alright, fixed the blanket around her, kissing her forehead.

Turning back to his friend, Daniel accepted his daughter back into his arms as Jack left them alone once more.

                             *********************************************

Sha’re woke slowly, aware of a strange tapping sound she blinked, and she saw the grey walls surrounding her. Turning to one side, she smiled as she saw Daniel sitting beside her. He was at a table, reading something at his side and then pressing buttons on the device in front of him.

“Dan’iel,” she said softly.

He looked round at her, and a bright smile touched his lips, “Hey,” he moved to her side, “You’re awake again.”

“How long have I slept?” she asked.

Daniel’s fingers gently stroked through her hair, “Almost a full day.”

She stared at him as her memory filtered through the fog of sleep, “The baby? Was that real?”

Daniel smiled and nodded, “She’s in a crib on your other side, fast asleep.”

Sha’re turned and looked at the baby girl, under a white blanket sleeping peacefully, her small bow mouth moving as though she was eating.

“If I have been asleep,” Sha’re gasped in worry, “How was she fed?”

Daniel squeezed her hand, “We used milk that is made for babies whose mothers cannot feed them from their breast, I thought it was better for you to rest.”

“How am I here?” Sha’re breathed, “I remember Ammonet hurting you, I told you about the boy and then…” she closed her eyes, “I was dead.”

“You were,” Daniel said softly, “And it’s been,” he licked his lips, “Over five years since you died. A lot has happened to me, and I will tell you but not just now. Once you’re up to it.”

Sha’re stared at him as he processed his words, “Five years? You…you…” she took a breath, “You have someone?”

He shook his head, “It’s only ever been you.”

“How did the baby come to be?”

Daniel quickly told her the story, holding her hand as she digested the information.

Finally, she turned to him, “What did you name her?”

“I haven’t,” Daniel told her, “Because we’re naming her together. I know this is strange and not what either of us expected, but I love you the same as I always have, and I hope that you still love me.”

Sha’re rested her hand on his cheek, “I have never loved anyone else.”

Smiling Daniel brushed his lips to hers in a soft kiss, Sha’re’s arms wrapped around him and kissed him passionately. When they parted, Daniel slid onto the bed to sit at her side and wrapped his arms around her.

“We still need a name for our little girl,” Daniel murmured softly.

Sha’re cuddled close to her husband happily, she’d thought she’d never get this feeling ever again.

“What about Claire, after your mother?” she suggested.

Daniel smiled, “I love that. Claire Jackson.”

“Since Jack has a part in her creation, perhaps we should add a name in honour of him?” Sha’re noted, before asking, “Would he be happy for us to use his son’s name?”

“That would be nice if we give her the middle name Charlie,” Daniel said,

Sha’re nodded, “I like that name, Claire Charlie Jackson.”

She let out a sigh, the warmth of her husband’s body against hers meant her eyes began to close again. Daniel’s lips brushed her forehead, and she slipped asleep once more.

~

Daniel had decided not to move in case he woke Sha’re and instead just enjoyed having his wife in his arms once more. It had been so many years since they’d been together, so much pain and grief which somehow all disappeared as his wife snuggled close to him while their daughter slept in the crib on the other side of the bed.

After about an hour, Daniel heard a soft mewling coming from Claire’s crib and a few seconds later she began to cry in earnest. Sliding out from beneath Sha’re, he gently lifted his daughter into his arms.

“It’s okay,” he soothed, “Daddy’s here.”

“She is hungry,” Sha’re’s voice made him turn to see her pushing herself to sit up, “Give her to me and I shall feed her.”

Daniel nodded and rested Claire in her mother’s arms, he watched as Sha’re guided Claire’s mouth to her nipple. She frowned as the little girl didn’t do anything before relief covered her face when Claire latched on.

While Sha’re fed Claire, Daniel slipped out to talk to the doctor to find out when he was going to get to take his girls home, and to get Sha’re some dinner herself.

~

Jack watched his friend change his daughter’s diaper before sliding on a pancake yellow Babygro, wrapping her in a blanket and resting her once more in his wife’s arms.

Sha’re, now that she was rested, looked radiant as she cuddled her little girl who was sleeping happily in her mother’s arms.

“Before the others get here,” Daniel said, taking a seat by Sha’re’s side, “We wanted to ask you something.”

Jack looked at them surprised, “You know if this is about babysitting already…”

Daniel chuckled, “It’s not.” He glanced at Sha’re who nodded at him to continue, “We’ve decided to call the baby Claire, after my mom but we wanted to give her a middle name too, connected to you.”

“Really?” delight filled Jack’s voice.

Daniel licked his lips nervously, “We thought Claire Charlie Jackson was appropriate. If you agree?”

Jack stared at his friend, frozen for a minute as Daniel’s question sank in slowly.

“Are you happy with her name, O’Neill?” Sha’re asked softly, “We wanted to acknowledge that she is only here because of you.”

Moving to her side, Jack looked down at Claire and rested his hand on the baby’s head.

“It’s the perfect name for my niece,” Jack told them, impulsively leaning over to press a kiss on Sha’re’s hair, “I am so honoured that you chose it.”

Daniel smiled, accepting the hug his friend gave him, as Jack squeezed him tightly unable to say exactly what he was feeling but knowing Daniel would understand.

As he released his friend, the room was suddenly full as Sam, Teal’c and General Hammond walked in. All had been warned about Sha’re so there were no gasps of surprise at her being awake, instead they all moved to greet the new members of their family.

                             *********************************************

Daniel drew up to the house he’d bought a few months after his return from ascension. Sha’re sat at his side, she’d been quiet most of the journey as she took in the new world she was going to be living in, while Claire was fast asleep in her car seat in the back.

Claire was now a week old, and the doctors had finally agreed to release both her and Sha’re from the infirmary, after a barrage of tests to confirm what Thor had told them. Getting out the car, Daniel helped Sha’re release the seatbelt before helping her out the car. He released Claire from her car seat, passing their daughter to Sha’re who gently hushed Claire as she fussed at being moved. Daniel opened the front door allowing Sha’re into their new home before he returned to the car to collect the bags and the presents that they’d received from the SGC personnel.

Dropping the bags in the living room, Daniel drew Sha’re into the nursery where she rested Claire in her crib.

Wrapping his arm around his wife, Daniel smiled to finally be home with his family. Sha’re leaned against him with a contented sigh.

“Welcome home,” Daniel murmured to her.

Turning Sha’re wrapped her arms around his neck as Daniel slid his arms around her waist pulling her close.

Resting his forehead against Sha’re’s, Daniel sighed, “You have no idea how much I have missed you and I am so happy to have you home with me.”

“And I am so happy to be here, my Dan’iel,” Sha’re smiled, accepting his soft kiss before they both frowned as Claire began to cry.

“I will feed her while you put away everything we brought home,” Sha’re kissed her husband quickly before turning her attention to their daughter demanding her lunch.

Daniel headed out the room, pausing to see Sha’re unbutton herself to feed Claire and sit in the rocking chair Jack insisted that he get for the nursery. It was surreal to have them here, but Daniel would never take for granted the amazing miracle he had been given.

[queenimmadolla]

to be fair, I don’t think anyone said writing about cops in itself is wrong, HOW a character is portrayed in the source material(or written about in fics) matters, Jim Hopper is a good example - he’s the least cop cop out there. He also breaks the law all the damn time. But it’s the sexualization of police and what they do is. Modern day police has its origins in slave patrol, there’s nothing “not deep” about that. As a black person who grew up in a black neighborhood in Brooklyn and have had less than pleasant interactions with police for doing something as simple as standing around, and have family members unfairly in the system, I take issue with this.

Idk about AUs but the topic I’ve seen come up is around Joe Kerry’s upcoming character who I believe is a cop in the south, who’s religous(father is a priest), and comes from a conservative background. We don’t know anything about what he’s like and some black people/poc are rightfully voicing their hesitance around white people being extremely exciting to write about him and sexualize what he does, with a lot of backlash from white writers. I personally don’t feel safe as a black stranger things/Joe Keery fandom member to voice my view on this not on anon bc I see how the white writers have reacted. But It’s completely fair for poc, esp black fandom members, to feel a certain way or hesitation around it and for white people to consider the implications.

Excellent points, but not quite what I was referring to. My statements are directed towards those speaking on behalf of the POC and black people when they are not involved in those communities to frown upon Cop!AUs when the most they know and have been involved with about police brutalization is what they might see on tiktok and hear from individuals not adversely affected by it. Yes, it is correctly a negative connotation to them but to equate fucking some character in a cop car or being seduced by a character turned cop─who has not been written to have brutalized or done anything fucking wrong btw─for an AU to black people being brutalized by cops and POC facing harassment and discrimination by cops in REAL LIFE is not the hill white people want to die on. If this should be the case every single character with a position of authority that they admire should not be so. This is not only ignorant and offensive, it is very damaging white savior behavior. They wreck an area they're not staying in and we'll have to clean up their mess.

As for Gator, I have already said my piece on him. I'm not writing for him (probably won't actually just because I probably won't have motivation) until I watch the show to confirm he's not racist. Once we get confirmation, I'm fine with it. it's the same thing as any other character, until we see them on screen─they all can potentially be racist. It sucks, that's the struggle we face (because I actually was starting to like Billy and felt like i understood him until they revealed that he was racist last minute, that's the shit we're put through) and I think it's stupid because we don't need to be traumatized in fictional shit since it's so often displayed on our tv screens in the form of news reporting on what we face in REAL LIFE, if we're not already going through it ourselves─which, unlucky me, I have and am.

[majorbaby]

i wanna be objective about this because i do think hp fanon is a wonderful case study considering how old it is and how rich it is and how many people who grew up there are still actively participating in fandom... but i’m caught between that and feeling pretty sore about the whole thing. 

i am on the side of us collectively speaking out against her transphobia but it’s important to note that it was heralded by her other unsavoury behaviour and similarly, i’m amongst the ranks of fans who tried to bring that stuff into the conversation many, many years before we got to this point. 

asian fans spoke out against the tokenism of cho chang and the patil sisters. gay people questioned the convenience of her announcement re: dumbledore’s sexuality. when jewish people said plainly that having the bankers of the hp world be actual goblins was a disturbing parallel to how jews are portrayed in antisemitic propaganda, they were told that actually jkr had based the persecution of ‘muggle borns’ by the ‘pureblood’ authority on nazi germany so shouldn’t they be grateful for that and furthermore wasn’t that reading a bit too much into the whole thing? 

there’s always been that fan who loves the thing just as much as everyone else, enough to point out the people that the thing and the fandom around the thing is attacking or leaving behind and that fan is almost always shouted down or here on tumblr or vagued about disparagingly etc. now, i’ve chosen to curate my internet feed/s enough so that i never have to see a potterhead publicly potterheading in my space, but what i do still encounter a lot from allies is “man i can’t believe the woman who wrote the progressive and beloved harry potter series turned out to be a TERF :(” 

i could go on about how TERF-ism and white supremacy are linked but this post isn’t about that. this post is about how the signs were definitely there. i don’t think i could’ve predicted what a massive fucking transphobe JKR turned out to be but in retrospect, considering her borderline-to-outright racism and antisemitism (and likely other -isms) and her reactions to even general criticisms of her work like... i definitely think the fandom being similarly unwilling to hear such criticisms has resulted in a lot of the incredulousness around her recent coming-out as being a powerful member of the far right celebrity elite. it’s a coming-out because she’s likely held these positions for a long time, she’s just comfortable stating them out in the open now because the far-right has identified and is marketing trans people, specifically transwomen, as a scapegoat for all of society’s current problems, same as it ever was. 

people and fans of hp were pointing out those early signs as they occurred but here we are anyway. it still happens. you’re entitled to have your gut-feeling about someone who is being critical about a thing you love (which is usually a thing that they also love) but later when you’ve calmed down think about where that gut feeling actually comes from. 

i don’t want to point out this ongoing problem without providing any solutions to it but this is partially just me venting about what it is like being a racialized fan. it still fucking sucks. even when the tide finally starts to turn it’s like, k, but i left and/or was pushed out of this fandom 10 years ago because even when i’m not being vagued about or treated like a thorn in someone’s side, whenever we are moralizing content and fandom, it’s done in the most shallow of ways, still. 

[taylortruther]

I was going to write about why I think Foolish One and Haunted are about the same situation as Forever & Always and Last Kiss, so I looked through some old interviews about Taylor and Joe Jonas and Taylor and John Mayer and got sidetracked and horrified.

First, I knew they worked together on Half of My Heart but I found out he reached out to her through twitter, saying he wants to collaborate with her (and she said in an Elle interview that she was so excited because she had always been a big fan).

It made me think about Billie Eilish and that old weirdo she dated this year (I can't bother to look up his name, he's in a band). Most people weren't too happy about this age-gap (thank god), and Billie tried to defend her relationship by saying that she was the one to make the first move. But the thing is that in these kind of relationships the victim's gonna say they were the one in control, but it's never actually true. The other person is always the one with the power.

Now I don't know if JM had any other intentions when he tweeted it. I do know they performed together in May on Fearless Tour and, I've seen this performance, she had intentions. I keep thinking about that and I Can See You and "if you never touched me, I would've gone along with the righteous" and it's horrifying because even if he didn't have any bad intentiond at first (I don't think so. Why didn't he reach out privately? Why did he have to make it a public event?), he knew exactly what he was doing not breaking things off the moment he realized she has a crush on him.

They were rumoured be dating from January - February. They performed together in December and I think by that time they were "offical" or very very close to that. I've tried to look up some articles about their split and I found two things

1. From February 6th, from a website called Stylecaster: John Mayer & Taylor Swift dating? Just watch what you say John, you don't want to turn into Joe Jonas.

The difference between this and the reaction to Billie and Old Weirdo is giving me so much faith in humanity because we're definitely progressing. How the hell do you look at a relationship between a 32 years old and a 19 years old and tell the adult man to watch out??

2. I did find a single blog? website? That posted something in February 5th, 2010. The author of the article talked about how JM boasted about hooking up with Taylor (which he actually did, by the way. Disgusting creep): "I totally believe this happened. I think Swifty is a sweet girl with a horrible taste in men...perhaps that's why she thinks John Mayer is "cool" or "hot" and "not King of the Douches"...my opinion: Mayer is a manipulative psychopath.

So many people responded at that time that Taylor is an adult who can make her own choices and as someone who's around the same age as her, she definitely wasn't.

Andrea never approved of the relationship, we all know that. She actually pulled him aside and told him to back off her daughter. I'm glad Taylor's parents were defensive and supportive of her.

In some Playboy interview in February 2010 he talked about his sex life with Jessica Simpson. Her dad was rightlfully upset with him and in 2021 Simpson said she was embrassed by his interview (who wouldn't be?). He's made a lot of weird comments in January-February (like his dick being a white supremacist. What the fuck?) I can't imagine being the person dating a creep like him. How lonely and confusing it must have been.

I read somewhwre he and Simpson (who were on and off for years) offically ended things in 2010. He Taylor broke up sometimes in 2010, probably before June when she wrote The Story of Us. In 2011 he was seen with Miley Cyrus who was then 18.

Everything I've read about him this last hour makes me loathe him and wish him the absolute worse.

yeah, he sucks for many reasons... his actions speak for themselves tbh, i have nothing to add lmao

[galateaencore]

I love book asks 📚❤️

1. book you’ve reread the most times?

8. what is the first book you remember reading yourself?

14 do you ever mark/dog ear books you own?

19. most disliked popular books?

i love book asks too <3 thank you!

1. book you’ve reread the most times?

oof, that's a hard one. I'm not much of a rereader. The Erast Fandorin series, the Judge Dee mysteries, and some Agatha Christie novels, esp Poirot, are comfort reads that I've reread a few times but I couldn't say how many or which were more frequent.

8. what is the first book you remember reading yourself?

When I was 6 or so I had a book of fairytales of different cultures that was way too hard to read for me at that age but which had captivating illustrations, so I powered through the illustrated fairytales.

14 do you ever mark/dog ear books you own?

obligatorily.

19. most disliked popular books?

😱 not the spicy ask! i have far too many grievances to list efficiently, so i will speak in generalities (which will probably hint at the authors i dislike anyway).

a lot of contemporary science fiction/fantasy fails to leave me with that sense of wonder i get from LOTR or witcher or, like, master and margarita, blood meridian, murakami, and a lot of straight up non-fantasy works. it's most acute in that thin but overwhelmingly inane slice of the market that likes DnD-lite "hard magic" bs - it's giving excel sheet - which i think is characteristic of the overall malaise in contemporary SFF, where most of the genre engages with the possibilities offered by SFF worldbuilding only in a very superficial sense, and so the feel of these books is very mundane. a lot of stuff, esp debuts, also feels rushed and underbaked, and that plus all of the above has more to do with publishing economics than people's intelligence, effort, talent, etc, but still - it sucks enough that i'm very hesitant to pick up a new SFF author these days because i usually end up DNFing or wishing I'd DNFed.

a lot of litfic is milquetoast and at the same time so alien in its dilemmas and concerns to any person who has remotely real problems that, uh, it feels more fantastical than fantasy. and that again has to do with book economics and the customer for litfic, who are nice upper middle class women who unironically identify with the protagonist of beautiful world, where are you. but like, one day i found myself nodding along to alex perez's hobart interview, and that's when i knew something was wrong (possibly with me).

finally, i don't hate the Usual Suspects, your pynchons, dostoyevskys, camuses and the rest of them beloved by the 18-25 american white male crowd, but the discourse around them is 50% trad propaganda and 50% tankie propaganda. reading all the people on the times best novels list doesn't make you smart, or even educated.

thanks for coming to my tedtalk!

[countessravengrey]

ALLLL of this... especially that last paragraph. Younger generations need to stop looking at older generations like they're the only ones making mistakes. When it comes to this shit (bigotry, etc), we ALL suck. We all have egregious levels of ignorance we're not even aware of yet.

That's what "ignorance" means.

Also, I want to add that there's nothing wrong with enjoying the consumption of these older pieces of media.

It doesn't always have to be a slog through a lesson in the history of good intentions gone wrong. Not all of these properties are just scene after scene of execrable douchery (with the exception of Birth of a Nation; that shit is just pure evil).

A lot of them are funny, poignant, tragic, suspenseful, enlightening.... There is prose so poetically written that it could be compared to the most sacred of texts. There are performances so beautiful that you remember them decades after having seen them only once. There are moments of comedy that transcend any time period, moments that speak so deeply to the human soul as to be enlightening... these things are enjoyable, should be enjoyed, were made to be enjoyed.

AND they weren't just living in the bliss of their ignorance. Many of them were full of scathing commentary, asking hard questions that aren't even being asked today. They pulled their weight in the name of progressiveness.

Were many of these portrayals still upsetting? Most assuredly. And they also had their own ways of undermining such derogatory and prejudiced social customs.

I've watched romantic comedies from the 30s and 40s where misogyny was front and center do a better job of calling out that misogyny than rom coms do when facing the same misogyny today. I've read Jane Austen, which is full of withering rebukes of the upper classes (let alone what her work said about sexism). I've watched caricaturized depictions of BIPOC who delivered hilarious one-liners and asides as commentary on white people and the racist ideals of society, saying things that were taboo in any other setting, much like the jesters did to kings of old.

These characters and the authors behind them spoke truth to power. And they did it while making you laugh, cry, and cheer for the heroes of the story.

I have yet to encounter a piece of media that is perfectly inclusive, diverse, politically progressive, and philosophically forward thinking. Such media does. not. exist. And it never will, because we are constantly evolving as a species.

Yeah, some of it doesn't age well. But you can find enjoyment in imperfection, even as you criticize it.

That's what art gives us. That's what it's for.

You gotta read and watch some old books and films that aren’t 100% modern politically correct. I’m not saying you should agree with everything in them but you need to learn where genres came from to understand what those genres are doing today and where media deconstructing old tropes is coming from.

Also, more often than you might think, they’re not actually promoting bigotry so much as “didn’t consider all the implications of something” or just used words that were polite then but considered offensive now.

Kill the censor in your head.

[olive-branch-witch-library]

Lightbringer Book 2: The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks

Series Warnings: SA, non-explicit smut, violence, slavery, sex slavery, classism (the main villain wants to put magic-users above non magic users), assassination attempts, body mutilation (someone loses fingers, the antagonists modify their bodies with magic), drug abuse, large age gaps (19 year old with ~60 ish year old, used as a political scheme), PTSD, identity theft, fratricide, ceremonial killings to prevent insanity, Politics, lots of creepy men, betrayal, cheating, torture, insanity

Book Warnings: SA, non-explicit smut, violence, slavery, sex slavery, classism (the main villain wants to put magic-users above non magic users), assassination attempts, body mutilation (the antagonists modify their bodies with magic), drug abuse, PTSD, identity theft, fratricide, Politics, lots of creepy men, betrayal, cheating, insanity

Notable POV Characters: Kip Guile, Gavin Guile, Dazen Guile, Aliviana 'Liv' Danavis, Adrasteia, Karris White Oak

Ahhh I'm so excited! The plot twists and cliffhangers keep getting better! And there's more characters that I hate with my whole being!

First of all, Andross Guile? Can suck my dick. I hate him and everything he stands for. He made his grandchild play him in a card game to keep his friend from becoming his slave. Same with Teia's old mistress. The bitch gave her olive oil as a reminder she could become a sex slave in a brothel?? They both need to die and they need to do it now.

Speaking of Teia though, there's a new color on the spectrum! Paryl is completely invisible to everyone except paryl drafters and maybe superchromats (people who have perfect color vision), idk I don't think it was ever really explained who can see it. It's below sub-red on the color spectrum, meaning in our normal world it would have really long wavelengths.

Most of this book surrounds Kip's Blackguard training, and oh my god I adore these kids so much. I just want them all to be happy forever but I know that's not possible.

While Kip does that, Young Gavin takes a bunch of refugees and places them on an island that already has people living there. I'm sure that won't cause any problems. Anyway, after he does that he kills Old Gavin! And gets raped because he thought it was his room slave 'attending' to him after being around Karris constantly for 4 months. And then he thought it was Karris. He like immediately feels disgusted when he learns not only was it neither of them, but it was one of his students and I'm pretty sure a minor (by our standards). He did kill her almost the moment he got back to his room after trying to explain what happened (and failing), but then it's like... never talked about again? And I really feel like it should have been. Male characters are almost never assaulted like this in fiction, much less one who has as much power as Young Gavin does. Maybe it gets talked about in a later book, since there is currently a war going on and he's desperately trying to get the Spectrum (government) to help. He could just be pushing it down at the moment to focus on stopping the thing that will literally destroy the world because there's also giant monsters and the villains are trying to resurrect old pagan gods to tear down the Chromeria.

But then he marries Karris (he does explain what happened there and that he's really Dazen)!! I'm gonna be horny on.. not main really but you get it and say that I really want to be in a sandwich between them. Like both of them are my ideal concept of a partner. Young Gavin is smart, incredibly charming, and doesn't shy away from pleasure, and Karris is such a fucking badass and I know she could 100% kill me in like 10 different ways just with her legs.

I know how I said in my last post the author does the male fantasy author thing where he sexualizes women a lot, and it genuinely didn't bother me. But in this book a lot of the women being targeted are either underage or just barely legal. And that makes me really uncomfortable. For the most part Kip is the one doing the sexualizing, which is again acceptable because he's 15. But in the case of other characters doing it it feels gross. And I know this is a fantasy world, and their definition of an adult isn't necessarily someone who's over the age of 18 especially because it's wartime, but I still don't like it.

But back to the positives, the cliffhanger!! Kip and Young Gavin are both kidnapped on ships by separate people! Young Gavin is now completely colorblind! Kip killed a god! Liv is still a bitch and I hate her!

[eldweena]

The best book you've read so far in 2024:

I actually read quite a few 5-star books this year that loved and added to my "favorites" shelf, but I'm gonna have to say "The Talented Mr. Ripley" by Patricia Highsmith. Why? This book just influenced me a lot. I joined a new book club to read and discuss it; I rewatched the film and then the entire new Netflix series; I bought every other book in the series; and last but not least, I'm learning to speak Italian because of this book!

Best sequel you've read so far in 2024:

"Iron Flame" (Part 1 of 2 of the Dramatized Adaptation from Graphic Audio) by Rebecca Yarros. I'm still waiting for part 2 to drop to finish Iron Flame, but people had me scared this was going to suck, and they were lying, the same as they lied about The Fourth Wing being nothing but dragon porn. LIES! These books are not the erotica people claim them to be. And there's nothing wrong with erotica, but they are actually great political fantasies! I was in the military and I usually avoid anything military-related because it's very triggering for me, especially when those books or shows depict inaccurate portrayals. But as I understand this author is a military spouse, and she gets it. She gets this shit RIGHT and I'm loving this series.

New release you haven't read yet, but want to:

"Ghost Station" by S.A. Barnes. Even though reviewers say it's not up to snuff when compared to Dead Silence. I'm so bummed I didn't get an arc. I'm waiting for paperback so my books will match. Even better if the library gets a copy in, so I don't spend my money in case I hate it?

Most anticipated release for the second half of the year:

"Skyshade" by Alex Aster??? I mean, I am excited, but I don't think this will conclude the series! I think there are going to be 4 books, not 3, so if it's not wrapping it up and telling me whether Oro or Grim will be the one to keep Isla's heart, maybe that will put a damper on my excitement... I am also super excited for a new Erin A. Craig book this year with the release of "The Thirteenth Child." But here's the thing... I loved House of Salt and Sorrows, but I did not like "Small Favors" (too many religious trauma triggers). Then I DID really love House of "Roots and Ruin." I have gotten arcs of all her books up to now, but not "The Thirteenth Child." I kept checking NetGalley and it was never around, but I see it now. Now that my % is shit because I kept grabbing "read now" freebies. XD I may have destroyed my chance this time! But at least an arc saved me from buying "Small Favors."

Biggest disappointment:

This may be unfair, because I haven't finished, but Heather Walter's Snow White retelling, "The Crimson Crown." I loved "Malice." LOVED. "Misrule" pissed off everybody who read it. I gave it 5 stars and I was still pissed off. But this author is wearing thin with me. I have had an arc of "The Crimson Crown" for months and I don't think I'm even 20% through it yet. It's so TEDIOUS. Nothing is happening. Everything interesting happened off-page, between the prologue and the first chapter. I feel like I had the same complaint about "Misrule." I'm struggling and debating canceling my preorder of the B&N exclusive at this point in time. Maybe Heather Walter was just a one-hit-wonder for me?

Biggest surprise:

How much I fucking hated the entire "World of the Narrows" series by Adrienne Young. I sold off the four-book hardcover set with a special limited edition dust jacket on Mercari after plodding my tortured way through "Fable" and "Namesake" and DNFing "Saint." I didn't even try "The Last Legacy." I still have a signed copy of the paperback I can't unload for even $8. I might just take it to Half Price Books this weekend to purge it. I loved "Sky in the Deep" so much I made a "favorites" shelf on Goodreads just for it. "The Unmaking of June Farrow" was okay. I do like the author. But I cannot abide by a seafaring adventure, I've come to realize. There's literally nothing I hate more...apparently! lol

Favorite new author (debut or new-to-you):

Micaiah Johnson, who wrote "The Space Between Worlds." I'm obsessed. That book was a masterpiece. I'm buying anything this author publishes from here on out. It's already been decided.

Newest fictional crush:

The character Brendan Fraser narrates from "The Downloaded" by Robert J. Sawyer. I mean, REALLY my crush is on Brendan Fraser. His voice, first of all, but then his character falls in love with the trans character in that book, and....ahhhhhhh!!! That one melted my heart. Then broke it, but yeah. I bought everything else he narrates on Audible after that because withdrawal.

Newest favorite character:

Tom Ripley. For now. I need to read his other shenanigans before I decide whether he's the psychopath for me. (Come on, Joe Goldberg! It's been a year? two? since your last escapade. I'm dying here!)

Book that made you cry:

"Iron Flame." I'm only halfway through but when Xaden appears...yeah, that did it.

Book that made you happy:

This manga I got as a "read now" freebie from NetGalley: "Turns Out My Online Friend is My Real-Life Boss!" by Nmura. Gay otaku? GIMME!

Most beautiful book you've bought so far this year:

Possibly the Fortuna quartet from Fairyloot? I haven't read the series but I couldn't resist the books. I also think "The Scarlet Alchemist" is gorgeous, and I mean the regular off-the-shelf one cause that FL one is gross. I mean, it is a horror.

What books do you need to read by the end of the year?

I may not, but I WANT to finish "The Witcher" series. I love everything I've read so far but I am a mood reader and other things frequently strike my fancy. I can't help it.

Favorite book community member:

I LOVE Rodger's Reads from YouTube. He's my fave but there are so many others I love! Chris from Fictional Escapist, Tori Morrow, Books with Emily Fox...to name a few!

[emonaculate]

Streamer!Eren headcanons

❥ AU: Modern!AU

❥ Genre: Fluff

❥ Rating: Anyone can read

❥ Pairings: Streamer!Eren x Black!Reader

❥ Author Note: Ive been having the biggest brain rot about streamer!eren cause i just feel in my bones, it would be perfect for him so here are some head canons.

inspired by @sleepysnk

Eren would play any game that peaks his interest, but gets the most views when he plays any horror game, minecraft, or among us.

Its mainly due to how serious he gets when he rages over losing/dying or getting a jump scare.

"SON OF A BITCH! WHERE THE FUCK DID THAT ZOMBIE EVEN COME FROM?"

"Eren babe, not so loud."

"Sorry beautiful."

There are tons of video compilations dedicated to you walking in to shush him

His fans ADORE you

Most of them are baffled that Eren is in an interracial relationship but quickly grow used it after seeing your interactions

He often answers questions surrounding your relationship without invading what you want to keep private.

He would 100% let you sit in his lap whilst streaming

His views always rise when you are there, people just like seeing the adorable banter and romance

Everyone can tell how much he loves you

Literally he will visibly soften whenever you enter his line of view

Demands kisses whenever you enter or leave his "office"

If you ever miss a kiss, he will take a break from his stream and track you down

Plays with Jean, Connie, and Armin often

Plays with you too and gets super overprotective if anyone kills you in a game.

Once the entire gang played Among Us together and Eren went completely batshit after finding out Reiner and Bertholdt were the imposters that killed you.

The next round he is the imposter.

"And I took that personally."

He's oddly the scariest imposter.

For some reason, he becomes rational but manages to hide it well behind his usual hotheadness.

Still would never kill you tho <3

He would completely obliterate you in minecraft however

"eren stop I only have one heart left. you play too much."

"you didnt seem to mind playing when you hit me into lava... I lost all my fucking diamonds so you know what they say... hasta la vista baby"

Sucks at building but sucks at mining as well

usually fights mobs all night to stack up xp

says he's training to fight the dragon

swears he'll slay all creepers

deathly afraid of endermans

when they pop up, his screams are girly and loud

"HOLY SHIT. NO NO NO RUN YOU DAMN MIDGET! FUCKING MOVE!"

when he isn't fighting, he'll gather flowers for you and constantly leave them in places for you to find around your house

"Thanks for the flowers baby, yellow is still my favorite."

"I know princess."

he also puts gifts in your chests even though he sucks at mining, because you deserve the best.

Eren is pretty perverted and though he doesnt look at his stream chat often, whenever he sees any comments about your body or how lucky he is, all he does is grin knowingly and mumble "all mine."

HATES whenever people make it a big deal that you're black

addresses it once and swears if shit starts up again, he'll leave forever and never come back despite streaming being something he loves

will never tolerate racism or hearing stereotypes toward you EVER, even if its unintentional, pops off ever mfing time.

"Whether or not that's her real hair, it doesn't fucking concern you. Stop asking when you clearly look like you have uneven extensions, Brittany. Mind your fucking business."

"Baby chill, maybe she was just asking a honest questions."

"Nah fuck that. I don't give a damn, don't worry about whats in my baby's head."

You know those social media stars, who turn the cheek and allow people to say rude and hateful shit?

Yeah thats not Eren, he will always clap back harder and its beyond disrespectful.

"How are you gonna tell me to kill myself, when your bio literally says fly high mom? You must want me to pay her a visit or something."

"I'm too short? Well I think my height is just fine compared to your brother who seems to be just below six feet."

He has been cancelled TOO many times

its always for stupid shit

for being able to speak Japanese despite being a white man

for thinking pineapple on pizza is good

for liking Pepsi over coke

for pouring his milk in before his cereal

His COD lobby trash talk; while he doesn't say slurs or racist remarks, its too damn vulgar. He was built for that lobby 😭😭

His trash talking is elite and most times you can hear the person he is shit talking on the verge of crying. Its so fucking brutal.

In the same breath, he turn around and ask for kisses from you, as if he didn't make someone rethink being born.

That side only pops out when he is extremely pissed and he tries to avoid ever getting that mad because he knows words can hurt.

AN ADVOCATE FOR THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY

Gets super confused whenever someone asks what his thoughts on the community are.

"Love who you want, why the fuck should I worry about what some else gets off to?"

"If dicks makes you hard, cool. If pussy get you off, me too, lets be friends. Sexuality shouldn't matter people, grow tf up."

Donates a huge sum of the money he earns to different causes such as: cleaning up the polluted ocean charities, Black lives matter, protect Asian lives, and feed the hungry.

Basically he's caring and just wants to help despite his impulsive personality.

Once a month, he visits orphanages to talk to the kids, no camera no video nothing just to hang with the kids.

The only way his followers find out is because others posting about it.

Overall, Eren is in love with what he does and you, but if he had to pick, he'd choose you every single day over and over again <3

[revenge-of-the-shit]

Writing Chinese characters set within Western worlds

If you don’t want to read it on tumblr, go check this out on medium or go follow me on instagram at @annessarose_writes!

Alright. You know what. I’ve seen plenty of stereotypes in fiction (and in social media) that are so incredibly pervasive I’ve seen many Chinese people within the western world internalize it themselves. So here’s a rough guide on writing Chinese characters in an English-speaking Western setting, written by me, a Chinese Canadian woman.

If you’re here to say something racist fuck off. Otherwise, welcome! This is not a comprehensive guide by any means. This is merely a brief overview based on my own experiences. My experience (as someone in North America) will differ from someone living in, say, Europe or South America. I’m not representative of every Chinese person because everyone’s experience is unique. So here were are.

1. Our names

Chinese names are usually written as follows: [family name] [name]. Let’s take a Canadian historical figure as an example: 黃寬先. In Chinese, it’s pronounced “Wong Foon Sien.” On Canadian documents — which are written [First name] [Last name], he’d be called “Foon Sien Wong.” He went by “Foon Sien” for most of his life. That’s his full “first name.” Nobody would call him Foon because that’s just half of his name (unless given permission). It’d be like meeting a stranger called Alex and calling them “Al” right off the bat. Sure, they could go by Al, but you don’t know that.

For those of us living in the Western world, some of us have both a Chinese name and an English name. In these cases, our Chinese name becomes our middle name in English (e.g. a character could be called John Heen-Gwong Lee).

For some people who immigrated to the Western world but were born in China, their legal name would be their Chinese name. Some choose to keep that name. Some choose an English name as their “preferred” name but keep their Chinese name on legal documents. It varies.

2. Parents & Stereotypes

There’s two stereotypes which are so pervasive I see it being used over and over in jokes even within Chinese (and, to a larger extent, asian) communities:

The [abusive] tiger mom and the meek/absent dad

Both parents are unreasonably strict/abusive and they suck

I have yet to see any fiction stories with Chinese parents where they’re depicted as kind/loving/supportive/understanding (if you have recommendations — please do send them my way). Not all Chinese parents are tiger parents. Chinese parents — like all parents — are human. Good god. YES, they’re human! YES, they have flaws! YES, they are influenced by the culture they grew up in!

That isn’t to say there aren’t parents like those tropes. There are. I know this because I grew up in a predominantly Chinese community where I had many a friend’s parent who was like this. Parents who compare their kids to the best kid in class. Parents who force kids into private lessons and competitions that the kid despises because the parents think it’s for the best. Parents who have literally called their kid a disappointment because they didn’t get 100%.

But please, also consider: there’s parents who support their child’s goals and who listen. Not all parents force their kid into the stereotypical trifecta of lawyer/doctor/engineer — I know of a good number who support their child in choosing the path they want. There’s parents who make mistakes and learn and try their best to support their child. So please, for the love of god, if you write a Chinese character, don’t reduce their parents to stereotypes.

3. Language & Learning

When I first read The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan, I was so excited to see a Chinese Canadian character in Frank Zhang. Finally, there was someone like me. Finally, there was representation in well-known western media.

While I do appreciate that RR added in Frank Zhang, it’s pretty obvious that he didn’t really know how to write a Chinese Canadian character. One of the most glaring examples: in The Son of Neptune, Frank reveals he can’t really read Chinese. In like, the next book (I think — it’s been a while since I read it), Frank is suddenly able to read Chinese because he “learned” it in two week’s time.

Nope. Nuh-uh. Learning Chinese is a pain, let me tell you. There’s thousands of different characters and it is something you need to devote a lot of time to learning (especially if you’re progressed past the best childhood years for learning a language). So if you’re writing about a Chinese character living in the western world, here’s what you need to know:

A character who was born and raised in the western world does not necessarily know how to read/write in Chinese.

If they were raised by their own family, the character would very likely know how to speak their own dialect. They’d be able to understand the language used in movies/TV and they sound like a native speaker, but they may not know how to use language outside of certain contexts (the term for this is heritage speaker).

They probably went to Chinese school. They probably hated it. Chinese school is usually universally hated and does not teach you jack shit other than a hatred for the place and a vague memory of learning how to read the language without actually retaining knowledge of what you learned.

Most of my friends who know how to read/write in Chinese learned from tutors, parents, or were born in China.

There’s two main types of written Chinese: Traditional (used by Cantonese speakers) and Simplified (used by Mandarin speakers).

There are MANY other dialects (which I don’t know much about). The most common ones are Mandarin (usually spoken by people from the mainland), then Cantonese (usually spoken by people from Hong Kong).

4. Fitting into the community

Usually, the story is one of two things: they’re the only Asian kid in the entire school, or they grew up in a predominantly East Asian community. Things to consider for both of these when you’re writing:

Growing up the only Asian kid

They’re “that Asian kid.” They’re different. They walk into a class and feel weird and out of place.

They bring food from home (usually ethnic cuisine) to school. Other classmates stare at it, make fun of it, demand what that strange food is.

“Where are you from?” “Here.” “No, like, where are you really from?”

“Your name is funny.”

People literally never getting the character’s name right.

And that horrible, horrible feeling: wishing that they were white so they could avoid all of this.

Growing up in a predominantly East Asian community

It’s not uncommon for Chinese cuisine to mix with other east Asian cuisines. For special occasions (or just for a casual night out), your character could very well go out to get some sushi, or go for some KBBQ, or get some Vietnamese noodles.

Screaming “AIYAA” at/with their friends unironically if they’re annoyed (I’ve done this a lot with Cantonese friends. Less so with Mandarin friends).

Slipping into Chinese for like, two words, during a mostly-English conversation to talk about food or some other topic that can’t be adequately conveyed in English.

Reading books by white authors and learning about white history and growing up thinking white names, white books, and white history is the norm and standard even though the community is surrounded by East Asian people.

When the character leaves this community, there’s a brief culture shock when they realize how sheltered they’ve been.

Things in common for both of these:

The character has grown up on ethnic cuisine. Yes, Chinese people do eat rice with many of our meals. Yes, boba (bubble) tea is extremely popular. No, rice isn’t the only thing we eat. No, not all Chinese people love boba (though as a Chinese person I admit this sounds sacrilegious to say…)

The character likely grew up watching film/TVthat originates from East Asia. It’s not uncommon to watch Studio Ghibli films. It’s not uncommon to watch Japanese or Korean shows with canto/mando dub (examples: Ultraman, Kamen Rider). If you want to see a classic Chinese film from Hong Kong that’s fucking hilarious, watch Kung Fu Hustle.

The character has felt or been told that they’re “too westernized to be Chinese, but too Chinese to fit into the western world.” They’re torn between the two.

5. General portrayal

It’s quite simple, really. We’re human. We’re regular people. We have regular hobbies like all people do. We’re good at some subjects and bad at others. We have likes and dislikes like all people do. So here’s a list of stereotypes you can avoid.

STEREOTYPES TO AVOID BECAUSE WE’RE REGULAR HUMANS AND WE DON’T FIT INTO A SINGLE COOKIE CUTTER SHAPE, DAMMIT.

The character is a maths whiz and perfect at all things STEM.

The character is a straight-A+ gifted/IB/AP student.

The character is the next coming of Mozart and is amazing at piano/violin.

The character’s free time is spent only studying.

The character is insanely good at martial arts.

The character is either meek and submissive or an explosive, dangerous force.

I’m not going to mention the other stereotypes. You know, those ones. The really obvious ones that make fun of and demonize (sometimes through multiple untruths) how we look and how we live our lives. You should know.

Of course, there are people who fit into one or more of these. That’s not the point. The point is: molding all Chinese characters to these stereotypes (which white media tends to do) is harmful and reductionist. We’re more than stereotypes.

—

6. Conclusion

We need more diversity in portrayal of Chinese characters. Reducing us into one-dimensional caricatures has done nothing but harm us — look at what’s happening now. This guide is by no means comprehensive, but I hope it has helped you by providing a quick overview.

If you want to accurately portray Chinese characters, do your research. Read Chinese fiction. Watch Chinese films/TV. Initiate a conversation with the community. Portray us accurately. Quit turning us into caricatures.