#malarkey speaks

[makealarkofthemisery]

Hi, hi!

To be organized and whatever, i’m opening this blog with an intro post like a normal human person (slay).

My name is Lark [redacted]. I’ve lurked in Marauders fandom for about a year now, but never interacted myself. But as I started writing more elaborate fics, I’ve realized I should probably participate rather than stalk feeds online (whoops).

My main blog is @ma-lark-ey , where I will post so much random bullshit it’s ungodly. My AO3 is @/ ma_lark_ey, and I will shamelessly plug it.

i’m a lupin stan first and foremost and will defend remus with my life. he’s closely followed by pandora & james.

now, top-five lightning round in lieu of a proper introduction;

albums: 1. Tantrums - Xana 2. Are You Alright? / Pebble Brain - Lovejoy 3. 1989 - Taylor Swift 4. Save Rock And Roll - Fall Out Boy 5. Liminal - Chase Petra

artists: Chase Petra, Sabrina Carpenter, Set It Off, Waterparks, Mel Bryant & The Mercy Makers

songs: Gennifer Flowers - The Fever Dolls, Wildflower - Mel Bryant & The Mercy Makers, Reliable Narrator - Chase Petra, Car Lights - James Marriott, Out of the Woods - Taylor Swift, 19 - Xana

books: i wish you all the best - mason deaver, the perks of being a wallflower - stephen chbosky, the ship of the dead - rick riordan, dracula - bram stoker, carry on, simon snow - rainbow rowell

movies: red, white, & royal blue (2023), heathers (1989), the adam project (2022), goblet of fire (2005), dead poet society (1989)

television: DRRR!!, grey’s anatomy, good omens, heartstopper, and preemptively adding pjo tv because i know its gonna slap

podcasts: the newest olympian/potterless - mike schurbert (anything mike schubert 💖), seaweed brain - erika & carter, unprepared casters - haley whipjack & gus rachels, dungeons & daddies: odyssey, the penumbra podcast - harley takagi-kaner & kevin vibert

currently reading: the shadowhunters series & twilight

currently watching: nothing, lol. do have young royals on my list, though!

In the words of Yacko Warner: that’s all, folks!

[earlgraytay]

I really wish that people had a better grasp on what The Average Person's Life was like pre-industrialization. If you're living in the global North the odds are good that your life is, in fact, better than a medieval king- yes, even with the political stuff- and would make your ancestors cry wild tears of envy.

The things that suck about your life are things that suck about the baseline human condition (at least since the invention of agriculture, but that's 10,000 years of humanity). Yes, including all the political stuff.

The baseline human condition is "being terrified of losing the harvest and starving", compared to that, losing a job is no big deal. (It's bad, it can be life-upendingly bad, but it's still not "you are guaranteed to die if you screw this up" bad for most people.)

The baseline human condition is "getting kicked around by a tin pot dictator", whether that be a king, a baron, a warlord, or a chief; it's taken centuries of social technology to get the world to a point where that's Not Normal.

The baseline human condition is "losing multiple siblings and/or children at a young age to diseases that are entirely preventable". That's a shocking tragedy now. The baseline human condition is "being in the pathway of said tinpot dictator's wars of conquest" and having to deal with soldiers' pillage, looting, and worse (even if they're nominally on your side). That is, again, a shocking tragedy-- it still happens, and happens in way too much of the world, but no one is going to tell you that it's normal.

I'm not saying that we can sit back and rest on our laurels. We can't. I've been calling the pre-industrial world the "baseline human condition" for a reason- unless you're very, very careful, that's what your society eventually reverts to. It takes a lot of people working very hard to make sure you don't have to live at the baseline human condition, and if you start slacking on that, you start backsliding into it.

How we treat each other- and how we use the technology, material and social, that we've developed to make things easier- matters. We can make the world even better than it is now. We can also make it significantly worse. The choice is ours.

...But if you know that you can reliably have food regardless of the season, you don't live in fear of a random attack killing you tomorrow, and you can listen to music on command whenever you want? You do actually live a better life than a medieval king. Because even kings and emperors were much closer to the baseline human condition than a random farm worker in Bumfuck, Iowa is today.

[danopdf]

band of brothers behind the scenes, via warhistoryonline

[stealingyourbones]

How much do you think reading Flatland would annoy the shit out of Bill Cypher

[antonias-beloved]

I'm already so proud of this picture and I'm not even finished yet

Lover sky, folklore forest, evermore braid, red tv hat, speak now dress, reputation newspaper print!

Maybe I'll add some seagulls into the sky for 1989. Dunno what I'd do for debut, fearless, midnights or ttpd though ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[malarkgirlypop]

MEDIC Part 18 (Donald Malarkey x Fem!OC)

Ah yes my favourite gif of all time finally has come into play, how exciting! We're in France Baby! It's a change of pace and scenery how fun! I feel we are nearing the end and then remember how much I have actually written and then I'm like oh nope we still got a bit bahaha. I'm doing a short chapter cause I was writing it and it was like a good 4k words so I thought it best to just split it into two, I know some people prefer shorter chapters.

Based on the HBO show and the actors who portray the characters, no hate to anyone involved.

Tag list: @next-autopsy, @panzershrike-pretz, @xxluckystrike, @bucky32557038ww2 (if you want to be added let me know🥰)

The cold wind whipped at my face making me hunch further down into my jacket. We had finally arrived in Haguenau after the long journey, everyone seemed to be restless. Keen to be indoors and out of the biting elements. Don stood in the back of the truck, his mood appearing low. I wanted to ask him what seemed to be troubling him but there was no privacy on the back of the vehicle. His smiles weren’t as bright, not quite reaching his eyes. I chewed my lip nervously watching the man. They had made him Staff Sergeant, but he didn’t seem pleased. 

“Hey guys.” A cheery voice called from behind me. I turned to look at the man who spoke. I didn’t recognise him. But he surely hadn’t been with us before. He looked healthy, clean, and happy. Compared to the sorry sacks who rode on the back of the truck, myself included. Was he a replacement?

“Some Lieutenant told me to report to 2nd.” The man informed us. I glanced across the truck at Lieb who shrugged. I rolled my eyes, why I looked to him for information I have no idea, he’s no help. I leant back resting on the seat between Grant and Jackson.  

“Your name’s Jackson right?” The soldier asked the young man beside me. God he was so young, he assured me he was 19 but I don’t believe him, he looks like a kid.    

“That’s right.” Jackson replied. 

“Who’s leading the platoon?” He asked, Jackson’s eyes flicked to Don who was still standing. 

“Sergeant Malarkey is.” He tells the soldier. 

“What no officers?” I tilt my head while looking at the man while he talks, his face seems so familiar. 

“I guess you didn’t hear.” Lieb said. 

“No, what's that?” He turned his attention onto Joe. 

“They’re making Malarkey a Lieutenant. He’s on the fast track now.” He says while fiddling with his lighter. A tell that he was lying, the little shit. No one said anything about his blatant lie.  

“Really? That’s great.” It’s bugging me, I swear I know this dude. He probably thinks I’m a weirdo as he glances at me staring at him. 

“Jackson, help me up will you?” He swings his bag onto the back of the truck, pulling himself up to sit next to Jackson. I move from my spot, not having enough room on the bench anymore without me basically sitting in Grant’s lap. I sit in between Babe and Lieb. Continuing to stare at the private. This is going to drive me insane, who is this guy?

 The truck jolts forward, almost sending him flying out again. I hide my laughter behind my hand. 

“So, uh, you come from the hospital?” Jackson asks him.

“Must’ve liked that hospital, cause’ we left Holland four months ago.” I nudge Lieb, silently scolding him for being mean.  

“Who is this guy?” I whispered to Babe.

“Webster, I think.” My mouth flew open, that’s where I knew him from, I think I met him on my first night. Babe reaches out, shutting my mouth, “Close your mouth, you’ll catch flies.”

“Well I wasn’t there the whole time. There was rehabilitation, then the replacement depot.” Webster explained. 

“Well, I’m sure you tried to bust out and help us in Bastogne, Web.” Lieb was pissed off. Lieb would’ve come back and helped, like a lot of the other men did. But they can’t all be like them. Webster got off the line and had a holiday, can’t blame the man for not wanting to come back in a hurry. This was war for god sake, no one wishes to be here. Well I hope not. I mean I do but I have my reasons ok!

“I don’t know how I would’ve done that.” Webster defended himself. I looked at Babe, he seemed to notice the tension, I made a face showing my discomfort. Hiding my look behind my hand. He gave me the same look back. I chuckled and bumped him with my shoulder trying to ease the cringe we both felt in our chests. Like going over to a friends house and having to sit there and watch them be told off. So awkward. 

“That’s funny cause Popeye found a way. So did Alley, right, back in Holland? And Guarnere and –” Lieb turned to Babe and I, we both nodded silently, not wanting to be dragged into the passive aggressive conversation. Lieb was the king of passive aggressiveness, let me tell you. Don’t piss off that guy. He will subtly degrade you and wear you down.   

“Yeah, where is Guarnere? He still your platoon Sergeant?“ Webster asked. I could feel both Lieb and Babe stiffen next to me. I stilled too. It was hard being dragged back to that place of memories. So we didn’t mention it, and kept moving forward. So for Web to come in asking where people were, hit a nerve. It was an unspoken rule not to really speak of those who we had lost. It just made it so much harder, we didn’t have time to process or grieve really. It was for later, after this was all done and we were safe then we could process everything that had happened. 

“No. He got hit.” Jackson said with a huff. Webster was not picking up on the social cues being hurled at him. How did he not see or feel the tension as soon as he mentioned Bill’s name, it was so thick you could cut it with a knife. 

The truck stopped moving as we stood. Lieb held out his hand for me to grab to help me jump down. I took his hand, hopping down and landing beside him, “Thank you.” I said giving him a smile, but I could tell Webster had put him in a sour mood. I waited for Babe to hop down as well. He stood up in the truck, “Yeah, Bill got hit. Blew his whole leg off.” Babe said to Webster. Great now he’s made both of them mad. Babe jumped down, walking in stride with me. We walked alongside the trucks that had parked.

“Spread out. Hold along this line till I figure out where we’re going.” Don said, striding forward from behind us. Making his way over to where Captain Speirs was talking to another officer. I hung back as the men kept walking. Waiting by the trucks for instructions, no good me holding the line with no weapon. 

“Sarge.” Web called from behind me, I turned to look at the man as he walked. He brushed past me, his rifle still in its bag clocking me right in the head. I stumbled backwards, tripping over rubble on the floor. I landed on the ground with a hard thud. Ow! Fucking dick! I rubbed my head, grimacing in pain. He didn’t even realise he had done it, continuing to walk towards Malarkey. I got to my feet, brushing the dirt from my hands. I glared at the man, great now he’s pissed me off too. The sounds of shells being fired whistled through the air. I ducked my head down barely trying to cover myself. I watched with pure shock as Webster dove onto the ground face planting into the snow. I covered my mouth trying to muffle the laughter escaping my lips. Malarkey turned around to see his soldier lying in the snow. I giggled furiously behind the men. 

“What’s the matter there, Webster? Nervous in the service?” Don asked the man. I almost fell to the floor again in a fit of hysterics, wiping the tears from my eyes. The scene of Webster flying through the air replaying in my head. Well I’m not mad at him anymore. 

Don finished talking to Webster, sending him off to speak with Captain Speirs. “Em, you’re with me, let’s go.” Don called to me as he passed. I hurried after him, trailing behind a little so that he could speak to others if he needed. 

I split from the group needing to find Lip, I saw him slink away into one of the houses they were setting up CP in. I hurried in watching Lip take a seat on one of the couches. 

“Lip, how are you feeling?” I asked the man coming to kneel beside the couch he rested on. 

“Great.” He smiled. I placed my hand on his forehead, he was running a fever. His skin was clammy and hot. His complexion was pallor in colour, and even from here I could hear the evident wheeze in his chest. He coughed into a handkerchief, producing a greenish yellow phlegm. George laid a blanket over the man as I assessed him. I pulled the stethoscope from my bag, Lip leaned forward knowing the drill. I untucked his top from the back, sliding my hand under his shirt to press the diaphragm of the stethoscope to his back. 

He winced, “Sorry cold hands.” I apologised from my freezing fingers that touched his warm skin. 

“Deep breath in.” He inhaled for me as I listened in one spot. “And out.” He exhaled. I could hear the rattle in his chest clearly, as he exhaled. I moved the diaphragm around listening to different parts of the lungs, from the top of the lung field to the bottom. I removed my hand from under his shirt, tucking it back in. 

“How does it sound?” He asked, reading over a paper George had handed him. 

“Well Lip it sounds better than last time I checked, but there is still fluid present in the lungs. So you need to rest. If you keep going you’re going to crash. They have this handled, you need to go lie down. There are beds in the back, go sleep. And remember at least three pillows, you need your head elevated.” I tried to explain to him, but even when he first got sick he refused to rest, saying there was too much work to do. I could only drag a horse to water.  

“George, have you had any word about if they will send us some antibiotics?” I asked Luz as he moved around the room organising things. 

“No, sorry Em.” I sighed, frustrated, he needed that medication. 

“Hey, look who it is. Nice digs, huh, Lip?” I tucked the blanket into Lip’s side knowing he would refuse to move and go to bed. I looked over to Webster who stood in the passageway. 

“Sergeant Lipton? Feeling alright?” Webster asked the man.

“He’s got pneumonia.” George informed the curious soldier. I still knelt beside him, concern apparent on my features. He gave me his sorry-I-will-go-rest-soon-face. 

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Webster shared his apologies. 

“What are you sorry about? He’s alive. Got a couch, a goddamn blanket, snug as a bug.” George said cigarette hanging from his mouth. I stood from my position, placing my stethoscope back into my bag. 

“Sergeant Malarkey said to check with the CO if I should be in 2nd platoon.” Webster said. 

“Have a seat, Webster. We’ll get you situated.” Lipton ushered the man to sit. He took a place at the old piano. 

“How long have you been sick?” Webster inquired. 

“Long enough.” I patted the man on his shoulder. Poor guy had been ill for a while. He had a cold at first, which I said in the first place for him to rest and let it pass. But being the caring man that he is couldn’t leave his soldiers. So he worked still, causing the cold to become worse and then it deteriorated into pneumonia. Still even with that he refused to lie still and do nothing. Which I encouraged him to do so many times, I had given up. 

“And when did nurses start helping on the frontlines?” He turned and asked me. 

“Ah, I’m a medic.” I answered. 

“Oh, that’s right! I recognise you now.” He smiled, “Yeah, wow, I’m surprised you’re still alive.” We all stilled. I sent him a disbelieving look, surely he didn’t just say that to me.

“Um… thanks?” I wasn’t sure what to say. 

“Of course Em is still alive, she’s tough as nails. Huh Em?” George came and stood beside me wrapping an arm around me as he gave me a squeeze. I smiled at Luz, nodding my head. 

“Sure am.” I turned to look at Webster, who assessed the interaction. He seemed to be puzzled at the closeness we shared. Too bad for him, it was a common sentiment I shared with all the Easy men. 

Footsteps sounded from the doorway. A young man appeared in the room. “Is this the CP for Easy company?” He asked, looking lost. 

“Yes, sir.” Lip said, moving to sit up on the couch. Everyone else in the room stood as well. I inspected the man closer, recognising the dash on his helmet showing he was a ranking officer. 

“As you were.” He told the men who stood at his arrival. “Lieutenant Jones looking for Captain Speirs.” 

“He’s on his way, sir. Why don’t you sit down.” Lip told the Lieutenant. I moved from my position standing next to Lip’s couch. I gave Luz a small wave heading for the door. Captain Speirs strolled in right as I was about to leave. He gave me a warm smile as we passed. 

“Listen, for Christ’s sake, will you go back in the back and sack out? There’s some beds back there with fresh sheets.” I heard Ron tell Lip. 

“I told him that sir, he wouldn’t listen.” I called over my shoulder. 

“Listen to Emily, she's the medic.” I laughed as Ron scolded him. I left the CP heading to where 2nd platoon had been placed. I passed Winters and Nix on my way out as well. 

“Emily! You’re looking well.” Nixon called to me, I smiled brightly at the man as I hadn’t seen him in a while. He moved forward arms wide, I stepped into his tight hug. I pulled away from Nix. Winters smiled at me, giving me a loving squeeze on the arm, as I grinned at him.  

“It’s good to see you both.” I told them happily. The exchange was brief before they set off again in the direction I had just come from. 

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

Chapter 19

[hickeygender]

man. i looked up a tarot deck i remember being interested in a while back and clicked on the creator's site. i got distracted from her shop link by her "health tips" link and suddenly remembered why i did not buy anything from this lady years ago. she deserves a world record for the number of bat shit new age health conspiracy theories she crusades for. there's some harmless medical habits and dietary beliefs, the typical antivax bullshit, the ol' pineal gland calcification spiel, but then i saw mention of ingesting both Miracle Mineral Supplement (bleach) AND colloidal silver (heavy metal suspension) and it just went downhill from there

and my personal favorite:

[ravipanikking]

Ryan and Oliver doing an interview together

[weirdmixofweirdness]

What if there was a universe where Yancy was Celine and William’s kid and she got pregnant not long before running off? It would explain his love of violence!

As for Murdock, she had him with Actor. Both were put into adoption.

@ghiertor-the-gigapeen

[batemanofficial]

cackling at the fbi's new "anarchist violent extremism" doc. i guarantee you that transmascs in suburban ohio who posts untitled goose game gifs captioned with "become ungovernable" are not a threat to national security but go off i guess

[earlgraytay]

Gods almighty I hate AI bros.

I just had some fucker on Reddit attempt to splain to me, with a straight face, that AI is going to replace all therapists in a few years, because people don't need human connection as long as they feel like the computer is empathetic.

???? ????? ?????????

Setting aside that that's bullshit, fucking AI cannot do fucking culturally competent therapy, at all, on any fucking level, because it's fucking fancy autocorrect and is going to spit out what the mainstream culture tells it.

Fucking AI could not help my friend who fucking cannot with CBT at all because it triggers them, because it's going to spit out the most common answers to therpy question and that means fucking CBT.

Fucking AI cannot fucking handle things like DID headmate switching, or someone getting triggered and needing de-escalating mid session, or ANYTHING that's outside a very narrow window of "help, I need someone to make vaguely soothing noises at me".

If I wanted an AI therapist, I'd get out a Windows 98 emulator and vent to fucking Clippy. It'd be cheaper and better for the environment.

[danopdf]

BAND OF BROTHERS EPISODE POSTERS

============

currahee : day of days : carentan : replacements : crossroads : bastogne : the breaking point : why we fight

[earlgraytay]

THIS IS WHAT I'VE BEEN TRYING TO SAY FOR THE PAST [STATIC NOISES] TIME AMOUNT. And I have replacement suggestions!

Instead of Thanksgiving, I recommend celebrating Vasili Arkhipov Day- commemorating various people who averted nuclear war by keeping a cool head and telling their superiors "no". We exist in the world we know today because a handful of people were brave enough to go against orders, say "there must be a mistake, let's not nuke everything", and wait for more evidence-- even under crushing pressure. That is something worth commemorating, and something that's real hard to twist into supporting genocide.

You can keep the turkey and the Harvest Foods and the parade and the football game- but instead of making up some bullshit Nation Building story, the holiday is about being thankful that you're alive and that parades and turkeys and football and things still exist.

Vasili Arkhipov was chosen because Stanislav Petrov day is in mid-September and that's too early for a harvest festival. The date's at the end of October, but I don't think anyone would mind commemorating it on the first weekend of November so it doesn't bump into Halloween too much.

As for the Fourth of July... achhhhh. The trouble is that any holiday about How Much Your Nation Is Great is gonna get co-opted into militarist bullshit, and most of the other holidays around that time are For Someone. I'm happy to see straight people celebrating Pride, but Pride isn't For straight people in the same way that Independence Day is For Americans. And Juneteenth.... I don't even want to touch that can of worms. Honestly, I think we just need more freedom (HAH) for people to do small weird local events in their community- arts festivals, County Fairs, things like that.

And church... I think we need different organizations and systems fulfilling different parts of What Church Is Supposed To Be. Mostly because if your weekly social meetup, your weekly affirmation of your faith, your short-term crisis aid, your long-term crisis aid, and your moral values are all coming from the same place, that's... that's a lot of eggs in one basket! That's a lot of things that can go bad very very quickly if your new pastor decides "we're a cult now" or if your moral values don't line up with the group anymore. I have a lot of thoughts about this but IDK if anyone wants me to ramble about it.

BUT YEAH! HOLIDAYS! THEY'RE REALLY COOL! I'M REALLY SLEEP-DEPRIVED!

You gotta create replacement activities man. We can't just phase out all the church attendance and all the usamerican social holidays cold turkey in the middle of a loneliness epidemic bro like yeah fuck church fuck thanksgiving and FUCK the 4th of July but like what's the long-term plan. People need holidays and repetitive social rituals or they go crazy. Like are we inventing new ones or ....?

[antonias-beloved]

Is this too much? Is too much going on?

Happy birthday Taylor...

Debut logo at the top, fearless sparkles, speak now dress, red hat, 1989 seagulls, reputation newspaper print, lover sky, folklore forest, evermore braid, midnights discography text, ttpd border

I have every era here :3

@taylorswift @taylornation

[wanderingrustus]

I don't post much about my life all that often, but I feel the need to talk about personal life things for a moment. Don't worry too much, not trying to be doomy gloomy. Just gotta get things off my chest for a moment.

I was recently given instructions to participate in One Night Ultimate Mulbruk Simulator (which is my joke term for a sleep study) and got full confirmation that I have one of the most clear-cut cases of sleep apnea the tech had ever seen.

And now I have to do it again, this time with a CPAP machine.

Look, if it means an actual restful sleep I'll take it. I can't remember the last time I actually slept a full night's worth. It's drastically taken its toll on my mental well being and my energy.

I miss live streaming, even if I don't know what to stream anymore. I know I never had a big crowd or following but I was having fun. Even if it could also be anxiety inducing sometimes, I realize now that if I'm having fun, that's all that really matters. Technical issues be damned lol.

My only current event relevant remark: Palworld is Survival/Crafting with Creature Capturing, not Creature collection with survival aspects. Though you can focus on either one really. It's still fun no matter how you look at it. If anything, I hope it shakes Gamefreak AND Wild Card awake to be better devs. Is that not the goal of competing in the same space? Won't hold my breath about it though. Either way, thanks, Game Pass for letting me try it.

On the note of games, I can finally add Final Fantasy 2 to the list of Completed Games. Time has been overly harsh on this game, and most injustly so. It dared to be different, kinda like me. While that difference is not for everyone, I found it interesting. And considering thanks to the Dissidia games I was picturing Johnny Yong Bosch every time Firion speaks, it was glorious. There were some story hangups, but otherwise had fun with it. Now to save up for some art of Leila, Ricard, and Gordon...

Other than this, I am just floating on, enduring winter and the drop in mood it brings, and contuing to game, in hopes to find something to fully rekindle that flame within.

If you made it this far, you're a real one, and thank you.

May fortune smile upon the road ahead of you.

[earlgraytay]

It always makes me giggle (and sigh) when street preachers protesting Pride events decide to do so by describing, in loving detail, how you should submit to Jesus.

Like, dude, read the room; statistically at least one person here is submitting to Jesús already