#not linking it yet because of the insanity in this community recently

[ever-emotes]

oh your art is so cool grabbed could you make any warrior cat role or term or just anything warriorcat related emotes? or just cats in general :D

Thank you! I had to wrack my brain so hard for Warrior Cats things, it’s been so long since I read the series. Hope these work!

[emilieautumnarchives]

Emilie Autumn for the 59th Sound (1/28/2013)

Original Link Last accessed 9/21/2024

The 59th Sound recently had a very revealing, yet incredibly rewarding chat with Harvest alumni Emilie Autumn,  who is returning to Australia in March for a headline tour of the East Coast, courtesy of Soundwave Touring.

Hi Emilie! I'm Olivia from The 59th Sound. Thanks for talking with us today. How are you? Hi, I'm excellent! Olivia's my favourite name on the face of the planet, by the way. How are you?

Oh really? I'm very well thank you. What have you been up to recently? Well right now I'm stuck. Well not really. I'm emotionally stuck, but I'm physically snuggled up in bed in a hotel in North Carolina and it's absolutely hurricaning outside. We've been told that we're going to have a hard time getting back on our bus in the morning. Right now though the girls and I are just going to have a romantic evening in our hotel room just being stupid and drinking wine. That's probably going to happen for the rest of the night because we can't do much else anyway!

Sounds like fun! One of your performance trademarks is the violin which you've been learning since you were young. What was your childhood like? Was it a very musical upbringing? It was, but not because I was surrounded by musical parents or family or anything. It was [musical] just because that's what I did. The violin was something I asked for when I was really small and I just had this insane affinity for it. I was shy and inward like most kids and afraid of people and speaking. It instantaneously became my way to speak and communicate. That's the way I grew up and gained confidence to the point where I just had to break out of the very conservative classical world because I didn't want to only be doing cover songs my whole life - I wanted to write my own music. When you're played a Beethoven concerto you're still covering a song. It could be the most genius song ever but it's still a cover because you've only learnt it and it's a song that many other people are playing. I still play that music, I'll always play that music, and I'll always make classical violin recordings forever but I had to start telling my own story at some point. It was the violin that gave me the tools to be able to do that and to be able to communicate and have any confidence at all. Once I had a sense of who I was I could take over and start speaking and singing and using my own words with this beautiful piece of wood that I would stick under my chin every day.

You've previously said that you had auditory hallucinations brought on by bipolar disorder and sleep when you were younger. Can you tell us more about that? For a lack of other words, the "voices in my head" situation?  There's not really much to tell other than what I wrote about in my autobiography. Truthfully, I've spent a lifetime going to psychiatrists asking what they thought it was and nobody's been able to tell me anything. When people from other worlds stop talking to you there isn't a doctor alive that can say that's what that is. All they can say is "Is that happening to you now?" To which I say a very wisely thought-out no, because if you say it's happening to you now they'll say that's 100% schizophrenia and you'll have to be locked up or heavily medicated. But if that kind of things happens to you as a child, that isn't necessarily what that means at all. I have my own thoughts now as a grown-up on what that whole thing was about.

Wow, this is kind of odd because I've never talked about this in an interview before ever! I'm not exactly sure how far to take this.

What I believe now is that I think those voices were of an entity watching over me and taking care of me spiritually in order to keep out some very dark things. I think what started happening was that there was a dark entity and a light entity and they were sort of going to war within me. I think that's something that is related to a bipolar situation because you had these two sides and I think when I was really small [the entities] were just figuring out what was going on and just getting to know each other. It was actually the voices of these two sides making this arrangement and trying to keep me safe. It was terrifying at the time because I didn't know how to deal with it.

Do you think those kind of voices or hallucinations have influenced your music? Yes, in the greatest way possible. I was overwhelmed with these voices in my head on a daily basis. It became a constant part of my life that I'd share my life with these things, I'd have them talk to me, and I would try get them to go away. The only way that I could deal with it and to stop going mad was to play music in my head. So my ability to write actually came from that – I’d write full symphonies in my head and that’s how my albums are created. Everything [musical] was created in my head because I had to be able to manifest complete detailed pieces of music that I had heard in order to have something that was loud enough to quite the voices that were talking to me all the time. Because of that ability to recreate music and manifest it when I needed it, it’s now my ultimate and primary communication device. If I need to tell a story I just go into my head and manifest this thing and all of a sudden I would have an album or a string quartet or whatever the hell it needs to be. It completely programs my brain to work the way that it does. It sounds really cliché but I needed this thing – I needed music to basically save me. It sounds very melodramatic but it’s also true. [When I was young] I was beside myself, I didn’t know what to do, I was absolutely terrified all the time screaming or crying or going absolutely out of my mind. It was the only thing that could calm me down and it wasn’t listening to it being played, it was actually playing it in my head.

So yes, it has influenced me, definitely. The only reason I work the way that I do is because I had to and now I just can. So really it’s another thing I can be grateful for because I can only regret – I can’t resent a lot of things that have happened to me because they’ve made me somebody that I’m now learning to like! That might make me sound silly but I’m really grateful to be able to do that. It gives me the tools to pretty much do my job.

Definitely. When you became a teenager your musical tastes started to shift where you focused more on the rock rather than the classical side. What do you think your influences were as a teenager and as a young adult? Outside the world of classical music my influences have always primarily been theatre – Broadway and the like. From there, gravitating towards rock music, I was getting into things like Queen and David Bowie. I would look at them and think that that’s what I wanted to get in to. They weren’t just playing the same three chords. They had actual skill and were fearless. They were theatrical and acted the way they wanted. They sung about real things and they didn’t apologise for what they stood for. I wanted to put all that into a really entertaining package and Bowie and Freddie Mercury were great examples to me. From there it wasn’t any particular artist; it was really a style of sound.

I got really in to industrial music because it was the style of percussion – it was just noises. The reason I got into industrial programming in my own music was because it alerted me to a landscape that was already out there and then I wanted to make my own percussive kits that were made up of samples and things from the Victorian era – things from a hundred years ago, which was more like, “this is the sound of a steam engine, this is the sound of a factory”. So my own music – it was kind of a joke in the past but it’s become serious – is in the Victorian-industrial genre. And that’s specifically because I was using that style of modern percussion as a way to illustrate the landscape of the time. When they went through the Industrial Revolution – the real one – you had the dissolving of the class system, factories were going up and other people were losing their jobs. It was chaos but it was also the emerging of technology and everything was moving so quickly. That was the sound I wanted to be going on behind these new modern stories that I wanted to tell.

I know I kind of went off-track there but that’s how I got into the modern thing. It was me realizing, “okay there’s all this stuff going on out there,” then realizing, “whoa, there are A LOT of tools" which, along with the skill and discipline and the work ethic I had built up since I was small, I can use as a storyteller and that’s what it’s really all about. It’s about how to become the best storyteller that I can possibly be.  

Breaking into the music scene must have been pretty hard seeing as your sound is so unique. How did you do it? I’ve always felt that in my life I’ve always been breaking away from things. To this day I haven’t really broken in to anything. I think the reason I have any degree of success now is because I didn’t stop doing what it is I wanted to do and I didn’t wait for anyone to choose me and to say, “you are the next big thing”. I’m not the next big thing; I’m never going to be the next big thing; I don’t WANT to be the next big thing!

If you’re the next big thing that means from then you’re not the next big thing and then what are you? So I think it’s been more about getting rid of people, influences, [record] labels, everything. I had to get out of my last label to put my new record out on my own, which I have released on my own label.

I’m constantly discovering myself by not being discovered by other people and I think that’s exactly what happened. Nobody did care what I had to say but the moment I stopped giving a fuck what anybody cared about, that’s when everybody started caring about what I had to say! It’s backwards. That’s what happened when I put out the Opheliac record. I wasn’t on a label; I wasn’t on anything. I had been on labels in the past that I’ve gotten off at the last possible minute when I felt my soul being taken away from me. So I broke away from everything, made that record, and because it was so honest about not giving a fuck about anything or doing it in any style or genre, that’s when it was pretty much instantaneously heard. Within a couple of weeks I was on the cover of one of the major German gothic-industrial magazines and I didn’t even know that was the style I was!

At that time in Europe – around the five- or six-year-ago mark – they needed something new and different and there was nobody doing something that was really genre defying at that moment, especially a girl. So that happened and it was still a matter of not listening or paying attention to anybody, to keep a laser-focus on constantly developing your sound, and keeping the drive not for anybody else: not to money or fame or the semblance of any other. Just keep remembering why you’re doing this. You’re doing this to tell a story; you’re doing this to learn about yourself and thereby learning about other people. When it ultimately became about the whole mental health issue, then it became about doing this to help myself by whom I’d also help other people. Then it came into this whole thing that is now unstoppable. You can’t take it away now; it’s already there. It’s not just a song, it’s several records, it’s a book, it’s a show, it’s a musical. Now I’m in that beautiful position where I no longer have to care about what anyone thinks because if I just keep on doing what I’m doing, the people that need to be there will be there and the people that don’t need to be there are the people that I don’t care if they’re there or not.

It’s one of those situations where the less you care what other people think, the more they care about you. It’s kind of beautiful in that way, to finally see something happen for only the right reasons. It’s not like there’s a label with money, there’s no massive PR campaign. If anybody knows about me and likes it, it’s because they sincerely do. It’s not because they heard it on the radio so many times that they’re like, “well I guess I like it because I’ve heard it fifty times.” It just seems very sincere at this moment and that’s why I think I’ll always have this audience because they’re loyal and because they came here on their own.

That’s very insightful of you. Unfortunately we’ve run out of time but it’s been a pleasure talking to you. I hate it when that happens!

Hopefully we’ll be able to talk again when you come Down Under in March. But enjoy the rest of your night and thanks again for talking with The 59th Sound today!

[bunneclairdraws]

Hi there! My tumblr has been getting a super cool amount of traction so I decided it’s finally time for a proper like, introduction post thing!

Hi there! I’m Bunneclairdraws, I go by the name Juno if you’d like to be more familiar! If you know me, you probably know me for my au called All Is Forgiven, a self-indulgent Murder Drones AU with a heavy center around my original character, Serial Designation C, who you can also refer to as Clementine or Patchwork (although I’ve only stated that a few times)! If you like complicated sad mother and child dynamics, sapphics, you have a cluster B personality disorder or are autistic, or you think Cyn from Murder Drones deserved to be held more, then you should definitely stick around!

I’m not used to a regular posting schedule yet, as I used to be a little too overwhelmed to post on tumblr regularly. You can find some of my old art on @bunneclair , it’s kind of an ancient archive that I think started in like, 2017 or 2018 when I was super involved in the poptropica fandom. Fun! I’ve been trying to post more regularly, but my posts are a bit erratic, strangely spaced, and sometimes I post 5 part comics all in one day because I lack self control - sometimes, in a week all you’ll see from me is a single doodle. I’m working on it!

MY INTERESTS

💚Murder Drones (main focus!)

❤️Inanimate Insanity

❤️Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss (I don’t support Vivziepop and I’m very critical, but I do enjoy these medias mostly in credit of the art community)

❤️Minecraft SMPs

❤️Wall-E

❤️Poptropica

❤️Scott Pilgrim

❤️Steven Universe

❤️The Amazing Digital Circus

❤️Ride The Cyclone

❤️Gravity Falls

❤️Junji Ito

❤️and more!

MY COMMISSIONS ARE LITERALLY ALWAYS OPEN AND SO IS MY INBOX! COMMISSION SHEET HASNT BEEN UPDATED RECENTLY BUT I WILL LINK IT HERE!!!! I APPRECIATE REBLOGS AND I LOVE TO MAKE FRIENDS!!!

[novemberthewriter]

Hi! Thanks for the reblog! 🤗 You mentioned being into writing that explores the "meta part" of fanfic - YES!! Are there other people who do this/fics you can recommend?

yes indeeeed. below are works surrounding this topic i've really enjoyed over the past decade:

-> TRAD PUB. BOOKS

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell [link to NPR review] this came out when i was finishing high school + starting to get disillusioned w HP (for story reasons & 'the author is Unforgivably Shitty' reasons lol) so i was very intrigued with how this book worked as a metacommentary abt HP (seriously, it felt like the book was deconstructing a lot of the issues fans had with the o.g. canon) while being a cute fantasy in its own right. i haven't checked out the sequels yet

New Waves by Kevin Nguyen [link to LA Times review] i read this a year or two ago and enjoyed what it had to say about online vs IRL friendships, grief, hustle culture, and creative identity.

-> FANFIC PROJECTS

running after two hares by chaparral_crown on ao3 this is probably my favorite fic of all time. no exaggeration. i have the whole thing printed out on 200+ pages of copy paper bound with comically large binder clips. and it's not even finished! there's this fanon concept called HEU (Hannibal Extended Universe) where people consider all of the different characters that the main actors played outside the show (in other shows, film, etc) to be connected to the showverse. for some reason i've never been able to suspend my disbelief enough to get into a lot of HEU content. i'm picky about fic just as i am with any other creative writing i engage with -- i have been for most of my life. THEN. i come across this author's insanely popular HEU fic, and i've read non-HEU stuff from them before that i adored, so i figure 'why not' ... and this 'crack treated seriously' quickly became one of my fav things ever. the prose alone is so masterful. and it's such a DENSE read, like, you really gotta slow down to appreciate all the introspective asides and jokes and commentary about the text (show) and metacommentary about how unusual pairings thrive, inside and outside of fiction.

Starsky & Hutch Virtual Season [link to Fanlore wiki] i got into S&H fandom in 2012. i remember how intrigued i was at the concept of the Virtual Season, which had its heyday a decade before i got into the online fandom. this kind of fan activity is the precursor, imo, to stuff like people calling installments of their webnovels 'episodes', the concept of a 'dream season' (ex: how hannibal ppl talk about how season 4 would play out if the show hadn't been cancelled), etc. people weren't just writing serialized fic, they were cultivating a really unique Experience

-> COMMENTATORS / ESSAYISTS

Shipper's Guide to the Galaxy (has not updated their channel in years but has such a huge backlog of thoughtful content about the relationship between media and its fans, including entire segments dedicated to fic recs)

Fionapollo (discovered them recently! i used to watch a lot of art commentary channels that preceded this one, and i'm obsessed w this channel because they focus more on the philosophy of creative practice & cultivating community between fans and media, rather than feeding into toxicity for views. they cover negative topics sometimes, yeah, but not in a sensationalist way at all. super refreshing)

[aflowerbynoothername]

Slimepriestess (Hivewired) Confessed to being a Co-Conspirator with John David Pressman

On March 3rd, 2021, tumblr user "donttrythisathome" wrote a callout post naming John David Pressman, (aka JD Pressman, David Pressman, namespace, Ahimsa, JDP#4006, GabrilovichRatio#1509,) a serial sex pest and pedophile from Washington State, and Hive (aka Slimepriestess, Octavia Nouzen, Hivewired, Abstract Weapon, Shiloh,) a queer artist and John's ex-partner of two years, as co-conspirators in a scheme to defame and criminalize Ziz, Emma, and their friends.

User donttrythisathome speculated that John's motives were sexual in nature, as he'd confided in them his sexual obsession with Ziz, and had further confessed to them that he was deeply angry with Ziz because she didn't want to have sex with him.

Looking back, I considered some of these accusations plausible because he shared with me a post about Ziz from Hive's blog, which made me think his takes on Ziz were fairly standard. Later, he confessed to me that he ghost wrote that post on Hive's blog, in order to manufacture more support for his viewpoint.

2023-04-03, donttrythisathome archive.is link

Donttrythisathome accused John David Pressman of going so far as to fake signal logs, screenshots of discord comments, and other evidence in order to get Emma and her friends ostracized, fired from their jobs, unable to find work or a place to live, and ultimately to have them arrested or murdered under false pretenses. Currently, Emma has been murdered, and other friends of hers have been arrested under false pretenses, due in part to false testimony by Emma's murderer's best friend, Patrick McMillan.

Later in the year donttrythisathome's post came out, in June 2021, a post was written by Wynne on medium, which in passing accused John David Pressman of calling in false police reports on Emma and her friends, linked to donttrythisathome:

One community member went so far as to call in additional false police reports on the whistleblowers, and wrote a false smear site on Ziz to discredit her, in an attempt to punish her for not wanting to sleep with him. Meanwhile, others threatened them with various kinds of legal action.

2021-06-21 fredwynne

But even before donttrythisathome and Wynne, people were attempting to warn the community about John David Pressman.

Around December 2020, Jamie, who had been a member of John David's inner circle between late 2019 to late 2020, provided Nova and ExCinera with a collection of screenshots and logs spanning half a year from their conversations with John David Pressman, corroborating donttrythisathome's claims.

A few weeks after donttrythisathome made their post, discord user RobustHibiscus also corroborated some of donttrythisathome's accusations, and their corroboration was then posted on donttrythisathome (with permission.)

At some point, Ziz herself posted on her blog that the content of zizians.info was made up.

Now, it's 2023. Because of zizians.info, Emma is dead, innocent people are in jail, and even more names are ruined. Yet, as recently as February 2023, the rationalist community, members including Alyssa Vance, the Vassarites, and JD Pressman, are still repeating the lies in zizians.info. They've scared a community into believing those who speak out against abuse are insane, and are giving false information to the police in order to have whistleblowers arrested under false pretenses.

Alyssa's and her MIRICFAR-associated friends' reasons for lying rest in a 2019 protest, where Emma and her friends blew the whistle on sexual abuse, pedophilia, and donor fraud within the rationalist community, particularly within MIRI and CFAR.

When MIRICFAR staff learned there would be a protest in 2019, they falsely reported an emergency to the police (California Penal Code § 114(a)), claiming that Emma and her friends brought weapons to attack their event, in an attempt to incite the police murder Emma and her friends, (California Penal Code § 664/187) and also in an attempt to intimidate and threaten the survivors and other whistleblowers into silence, so that the whistleblowers wouldn't report the rampant child sexual abuse conspiracy and fraud at MIRI that they had uncovered to the police or to journalists (Califonia Penal Code § 182(a)(1), Penal Code § 182(a)).

(No one died, that time, but the county chose to further threaten the protesters with a series of trumped-up charges. This is typical for courts in the US. They make a series of absurd claims, expecting their victims plea down. They offered Emma and her friends a plea deal where they would drop most of the charges, leaving on I think it was trespassing, and requiring them to do like two weeks of community service. Emma and her friends obviously refused the deal, as they had done nothing wrong.)

So for the next four years, Alyssa and other so-called rationalists have run a ceaseless disinformation campaign, all in the name of covering up the misdeeds of pedophiles, fraudsters, and SWATters. There has been a repeated pattern of MIRI-associated people lying to the police about Emma and her friends since 2019. Imagine being under that kind of sustained, extreme harassment for four whole fucking years.

These so-called rationalists have been egged on by the Vassarites and John David's cult, as both the Vassarites and John David fear that should Emma's friends gain more legitimacy, then people will take them seriously when they further publicize Michael Vassar's history of rape, or accuse John David of pedophilia.

Both Emma a few of her friends personally knew and cared for some of John David's victims, and he anticipated that they would one day talk about his habit of attempting to coerce people into having sex with him via hypnosis, and his other gross habit of sexting underage teenagers. As time went on, John David Pressman became even more scared, when some of Ziz's friends learned of his role in Fluttershy/JF's suicide, and how he "broke" Arti and Olivia. In the latter case, this may have led to someone going to prison for five years. He's bragged about being the hidden hand behind some of the worst of the rationalist scene's abuse, egging on the wrong people and pushing them towards psychotic breaks, just to see if he can.

He was specifically and vocally afraid they'd write a callout post naming him as a rapist and pedophile, and wanted to intimidate and threaten them into silence (RCW 9A.46.020). So he'd go to the police and lie to them, to try to convince the police to do something about Ziz (RCW 9A.76.175). And because the police couldn't give a single shit about people posting online that someone's a rapist and pedophile, he lied and told the police that he feared for his life.

Of course it's a projection, John is the biggest threat to John's "life." But he's been telling the police there's an imminent risk to his life since 2020. It's 2023. He's probably still calling the police every week or month to claim that the raccoons digging in his garbage are Ziz come to kill him.

And you know what the most fucked up part about it is? He's suicidal. He's talked about being suicidal since 2020. And he's setting this up so that when he finally gets that gun out from under his pillow and blows his own brains out like the dark voices in the back of his head keep telling him to do, the cops will think Ziz or one of her friends did it.

Now, it's 2023, and one of the co-conspirators behind zizians.info confessed to their role in it recently, and is corroborating donttrythisathome's callout post, Jamie's attempt at whistle blowing, and RobustHibiscus's statement.

On March 29, 2023, Octavia (aka Hive, Slimepriestess, Octavia Nouzen, Hivewired, Abstract Weapon, Shiloh) recanted her previous posts on Ziz and hemisphere theory, and admitted to her role in John David's schemes. This was followed by a post on April 3rd.

April 1, 2023 Slimepriestess archive.is link

From Hive's blog: (archive.is link)

A girl is dead, and it is at least partly my fault. I helped cast the curse that left her isolated and ostracized from the trans community, that kept her trapped in a dangerous living situation which eventually ended in her murder at the hands of a violent transphobe, a murder that is even now being blamed on her friends in order to justify further cruelty and torture being done to them, and it’s because of me. I will bear that burden for eternity and I fucking should.

The "curse" Octavia links to is the post donttrythisathome accused John David Pressman of ghost writing with Octavia. This post has since been taken down by Octavia and replaced with a poem, however older versions of it are available on the web archive. Octavia's original post was linked across the ratcords and passed around in DMs, and for a long time was treated as almost authoritative on Ziz and her friends' beliefs. Octavia admits JD's accusations against Ziz and her friends were lies made up by JD.

I don’t want any more of my friends to die, and I don’t want to keep helping my abuser kill them by participating in their communal ostracization and othering. The lies I helped him spread need to be called out as such. Not only for our sake, but because the harm he caused with those lies extends far beyond just me or any of his other immediate victims and he won’t be satisfied until he proves the world was always doomed by destroying it himself.

JD is a sociopathic sexual predator who specifically targets trans members of the rationalist community.

As far as JD sees it, deep down everyone is a monster and you’re no better, no one can be better, so he doesn’t have to can’t be better, he can’t be better and doesn’t want to try. “Inside you there are two wolves, and they’re both rapists.” Those were his words, from the essay he ghost wrote with me in order to gaslight and DARVO a group of transfemme anarchists who spoke truth to power and talked openly about abuse dynamics. I took that essay down, and I’m shoving those words back into his lips where they belong. I don’t think there are two rapists inside you stardust, and there certainly aren’t any rapists inside me. There are, however, two rapists inside JD Pressman.

(I bolded the phrases in the above paragraphs.)

And here Octavia comes out and directly says that the hemispheres post was ghost written, as DARVO (deny, attack, and reverse victim and offender.) (To be clear, I don't believe Hive was ever friends with Ziz, or any of Ziz's friends.)

He spent years stalking them, harassing them, and sending his other victims (like me) to stalk and harass them.

Those other victims-turned-harassers include Jamie, Ratheka, Fluttershy/JF, and others. JD spent significant time convincing these people with lies that Ziz, Emma, and their friends were a dangerous threat to them personally.

Fluttershy died because JD spent years convincing her that she was a monster beyond saving, that she was irredeemably evil. he polluted her epistemics the way he polluted mine, with the fear of ‘zizians,’ the fear of retribution from a just universe, cursed souls damned to Naraka. This is what he does to all his victims and his greatest weapon in this was a years-long running DARVO against Ziz, the only witch who actually had a way out of his mental knot of infinite submission to evil. He made it his personal mission to erase the existence of that way out, to prove that it was nothing but madness. He painted her in the worst possible light, giving her a description that was really just a reflection of his dark sexual fantasies about himself.

So, there you have it. Straight from the mouth of one of his co-conspirators. I would say there's some satisfaction in being right, but Emma's already dead.

I could talk about how the rationalist community has a habit of filing false reports with state officials, that this kind of behavior was even seen back in the MIRICULT days, where a former employee reported MIRI to the IRS, and sent reports to UK's immigration authority claiming that a number of marriages in the rationalist community were green card marriages, when as far as anyone knows those accusations were false.

I could talk about how Jack Gallagher, a Vassarite, was caught on video call saying that he wanted to kill Ziz and her friends.

I could talk about how much effort has been put in by these creeps over the years, to have Ziz and anyone associated with her be falsely charged with crimes.

I could talk about how Vassarites like Zack M. Davis are scraping the bottom of the barrel, cozying up to transphobic muckrakers in a futile attempt to use those trollish transpobia-peddlers to kill us where swatting, false police reports, and California landlords have failed. But honestly? They already went as low as they could go. Emma's already dead.

All of it pales in comparison to Emma getting shot through her heart and lung, and drowning in her own blood.

Have you ever had a coughing fit so bad you started to panic? That feeling of shortness of breath, of your airways refilling with liquid with every cough, and the intensifying animal terror of being unable to breathe?

If you've ever had that experience and you're still here, you managed to clear your airways. You weren't fatally injured. Her last moments were rising terror with no solution, just pain, panic, and then nothingness. I think about that a lot, at night before I sleep. I imagine what that felt like, and I cry.

She coughed so hard trying to clear her airways that there were chunks of her own lung tissue around her mouth!

So many will flinch from looking because what happened is so fucking horrible, but it actually happened. In real life. It's not a story in a book. That's what her last moments were like.

Here is a picture of her. She was a real person. This is who they murdered. This is the person who died that way:

John David Pressman, and many others, made her death probable. And there is nothing they could do, short of building a time machine, and raising Emma from the dead, that could cool my rage.

Emma is dead because MIRICFAR chose to cover up statutory rape and donor fraud.

Emma is dead because people associated with MIRICFAR chose to swat Emma and her friends' peaceful protest, setting them up for years of legal troubles.

Emma is dead because in the aftermath of their arrests, Alyssa Vance and others in the rationalist community attempted to cover up any wrongdoing by in part claiming that Emma and her friends were violent and crazy.

Emma is dead because Jamie lied about whether Alice had abused them, adding credence to Alyssa's and others' assertions that Emma and her friends were hysterical liars.

Emma is dead because John David Pressman recruited Fluttershy, Hive, Ratheka, Jamie, Arti, and others by preying on their fears and manipulating them.

Emma's dead because John David Pressman spent four years using his network to spread rumors and generate false evidence that Emma and her friends were crazy death cultists, adding credence to Alyssa's claims that Emma and her friends were dangerous crazy people.

Emma is dead because some of the people John David Pressman manipulated sent death threats, credible bomb threats, and wasted their time.

Emma is dead because the Vasssarites capitalized on the work of John David Pressman and MIRICFAR's goons when Vassar realized he couldn't recruit Emma or Ziz into his cult.

Emma is dead because a transphobic landlord felt like he could get away with it, because everyone knew "those people" were just "crazy cultists."

Emma is dead.

If any other co-conspirators or enablers wish to come forward and see Justice done, the best time to have done so was before Emma was murdered. The second best time is now.

[hypnag0g]

Do you have examples of your web/graphic design-ish art on hand? I've caught glimpses and it's some REALLY excellent stuff

howdy! thank you so much for this wonderful ask, i very rarely get the chance to talk about my web/graphic design stuff, so seize any chance i can get! you'll have to forgive me for how scattered this everything is, my graphic design stuff normally ends up as a smaller part of illustrations, so a lot of it is gonna be cropped, haha.

my hypnagog header is probably the thing i'm most proud of, it was the first custom font i ever made that felt like i captured what i saw in my head. kind of a clunky way to put it but before this i'd change my header logo and general "branding" like once every three months, yet this one has stuck around for like 2ish years!! here it is in my classic colorway and my new green/orange one.

here are a couple of my older logos for a bunch of random projects (a comic about evil horses, a defunct community project, a bunch of little glyphs for hypnagog before i settled on my current aesthetic, and one for story about evil clones)

here are three posters i did for a couple of classes, they're more illustrative than graphic design but there's still elements that feel close enough to gd for me to post lol (a pitch poster for ANOTHER comic i was working on, an editorial piece about the recent HPAI surge, and a quick zine about my experiences with internet horror)

and FINALLY. here's my web design stuff. full disclaimer, i learned how to code on neopets, and i've never been able to break free of it's pull, so p much everything i've ever done for web design has all been on neopets, or on clone sites that emulate it pre-2007.

i'd love to link you these two but they're unfortunately behind a login screen on my current petsim of choice, so i hope the screenshots will do! these two are pet lookups coded from the ground up to look like social media profile pages (fun sidenote: Butch has a normal profile, Ransom is a silly hacker stereotype, and he had no choice but to "customize" his profile when faced with the insanely unsecured back-end of LUNET.)

aside from that, my other most recent web project was developing a really sleek character directory for my toyhou.se. i made all the graphics on this page and i'm super proud of it, haha.

oh i almost forgot. i also have a bunch of really dumb banners that my friends and i use in discord in tandem with a bot that posts them on command - most of them are intentionally designed to look bad, but some of em (especially the data "webba" banner) were made with a lot of care, haha.

i think i might be forgetting some things, but that's pretty much it! my next big project is building out my neocities - i'll definitely post about it when its finished because i wanna use it as a secondary posting location for all my stuff :o]

thank you again!!!!

[flatlinedgamer]

I haven't really written anything in a while because I've had other shit going on. I mentioned recently that I write chat bots and honestly, it's the closest I've gotten to writing a fic in all this time. Well, that's not entirely true because I'm working on a little Keegan/OC smutty one shot. Imagine that. Me, writing smut. Something I couldn't do for the longest time but I finally, finally got the confidence to do it because of writing bots. Hell, just from chatting with them.

I've used bots as a way to cope since losing my dad last year. With the help of the friends I've made in the community I've made this into a pretty consistent hobby. It's kept me in the CoD fandom a lot longer than I've stayed in most, though Halo is still my longest running fandom. It's rekindled my love of Keegan and I even bought Ghosts and replayed it a few times.

The popularity I've gained has been... weird. I didn't set out to gain a following but here we are. My most popular bot is creeping up on 1 million messages (fucking insane) and I'm nearly at 4k followers. How the hell did I get here? I'm not complaining. I'm just shocked. I've never been able to keep up with something long enough to gain a significant following.

Am I coming back to Tumblr? I've thought about it. I can post snippets of what I've written for my bots. I can talk about pretty much anything at this point but I'm not sure yet. I'm still working on this whole "building a community" thing. I'm not very social so I'm not very good at it. And I'm sick right now so I'm on a break from writing.

But hey, here's hoping I can be consistent in something else. Maybe I'll post a link to my account over there and see how it goes.

As always, just because I'm not social doesn't mean I won't talk to people that want to talk to me. I like to think I'm a pretty nice person. I'm just... I guess I'm just shy and I'm always afraid of people not liking me.

[mayanell-wav]

T_T

:: 'timeless_trivialities' is up and out of the archives -- give it a listen at the link up top

:: cassette tapes are in the works for the end of autumn. grateful to be working with @thefountainconcertseries ' new DIY label based here in Oakland.

: also really lookin fwd to holding an object! in my hands! that I can give to my Mum! and say Look! eye AM broke but I DID go to my 'JOB' but I DID make the thing! also, looking fwd celebrating with a wee little winter time showww (👀)

------

:: yesterday eye uploaded and released it quietly for myself and the stared into the abyss of IG until now 🕳 (tumblr & soundcloud saw it first!! if you havent' gathered s'far i rlly do hate this cursed website💀)

:

lately ive been deeply struggling with these platforms of self-promotion and want to do something with this release beyond giving pennies to bandcamp (who's new owners also get a big fuck you for firing half of their staff and not recognizing the recently won union)

these songs mean more to me than the chump change of sales, and I'm inspired by artists who are able to mobilize what they create to pull focus and rally supprt support of needed relief, especially in this violently hectic time of ramped up genocidal impunity. what are our creations for if not for healing, to speak truth to power, and to resist the economies of domination. track three "sovereign intimacy" is a song I wrote for my senior creative thesis, in step with the insanity of this moment, and the chronic insanity of settler colonial fever dream unreality. as we continue to witness these empire machines violently resist the people's demands to cease with these old world colonail paradigms, I hope this song particularly, and the songs on this project bring you or anyone some soothing, some witness, some resonance.

the album is also up on bandcamp put please truly do not buy it, not there and not yet. If wanna send me money through there I'd suggest adding to wishlist and waiting for bandcamp friday, because once again, a HUGE fuck you to the new owners songtradr.

::

I'm in the works getting this release and my other audio projects organized as a free download // offering in support of Palestinian relief/solidarity efforts. I'll be sharing that presently, so If you want to support or are interested in that offering be on the look out.

i know what music has done for me in times of grief. all of these songs I have written as acts of saving my own life, and have helped me to transmute through my own versions of hell. these files are all I have to give and I'd rather give them away if that supports someone feeling more motivated to put their dollars in the pocket of medical relief funds right now.

social media is hell and self-promotion makes me want to rip my eye-balls out, but thank you to my friends and family and community for continuing to support my music making, thank you my buddies at the fountain for the generous advive and encouragement

and thank you to music, the mystery of the sound wavs, for always being there for me, for us, in and through portals of grief

[leviathan-supersystem]

If the U.S. moves forward with a U.N.-proposed plan to send armed forces into Haiti, the Biden administration’s former envoy to Haiti warned, the result will be a predictable catastrophe.

Ambassador Dan Foote resigned last fall in protest of U.S. deportation policy, which continues to return planeloads of Haitian migrants to dangerous conditions without giving them a serious opportunity to apply for asylum. In his resignation letter, he also condemned the U.S. for its support of the extralegal, de facto Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who has been credibly linked to the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, and has fired multiple prosecutors probing the crime.

In recent weeks, Haiti has erupted in protests against deteriorating economic conditions. In September, Henry cut fuel subsidies, sending costs flying and people into the streets. Gangs responded by blockading a key fuel terminal, and in early October, Henry called for international intervention. An outbreak of cholera, originally brought to the island by a U.N. “peacekeeping” operation in the 2000s, is worsening as the fuel shortage limits clean water supplies.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres responded to Henry’s call for intervention by encouraging an international armed force to deploy to Haiti. On Monday, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. representative to the United Nations, told the Security Council that the U.S. and Mexico would be proposing a resolution for a “carefully scoped non-U.N. mission led by a partner country with the deep and necessary experience required for such an effort to be effective.”

Foote said Biden’s increasingly interventionist posture toward Haiti, which was evident even last year, was behind his decision to resign. “The deportations were the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Foote said. “But the major reason I resigned is because I saw U.S policy moving in exactly this direction, toward intervention, which is, as Einstein said — and I’ll paraphrase — trying the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is insanity. And in Haiti, each time the international community has intervened without Haitian and popular support, the situation is stabilized temporarily, and then it becomes much worse over time.”

An armed intervention would likely produce a short period of calm, he said, but would fall apart sooner or later. “It’s almost unfathomable that all Haitians are calling for a different solution, yet the U.S and the U.N and international [institutions] are blindly stumbling through with Ariel Henry,” he said.

Foote said that the Biden administration continues to support Henry in power because he has been amenable to accepting the deportations of migrants. “It’s gotta be because he has promised to be compliant,” he said, “but we’re going to have a civil uprising in Haiti similar to 1915, when we sent the Marines in for the first time and administered Haiti for almost 20 years. In 1915, Haiti was in a similar position, and they went up to the French Embassy at the time, or the legation, and they dragged the president — President [Jean Vilbrun Guillaume] Sam — out, and they tore him limb from limb on the streets. And I fear that you’re gonna see something similar with Ariel Henry or with a foreign force that’s sent in there to propagate his government and keep him in power.”

[awhitehead17]

Batfam Alphabet: J - Joker Junior (JJ)

Summary: When Dick is joined by his brother’s alter personality he struggles to complete his case work. JJ can be rather distracting especially when Dick has to keep a constant eye on him because he can’t be trusted to be on his own. 

A/N: This story references to torture and self harm, nothing in graphic detail but please don't read if that makes you uncomfortable. This story is based where Tim had been kidnapped by the Joker and turned into Joker Junior. 

Enjoy! :D 

“Don’t. Put it back. Now.”

There’s a few beats of a silence and without looking he could tell his orders haven’t been followed. “Don’t make me tell you again.”

Seconds later there’s a clanging of metal which indicates he’s been finally listened too. Dick takes a deep breath in and slowly lets it out before turning his focus back onto the task at hand.

He’s currently re-reading old case files looking for any names, locations, alibies that could possibly be linked into the current case he’s working. It’s a tedious task but it needs to be done. That being said it would be a lot easier if current company wasn’t present. It was rather distracting having to split his focus two ways so he could try and work as well as keep an eye on the kid at the same time.

This time Dick’s read no more than a paragraph when the sound of moving metal could be heard yet again.

Sighing in resignation, he shuts the file and turns around to face the rest of the cave. His eyes instantly drift over to the weapons table where his companion currently is at. The kid is frozen in place, staring wide-eyed at Dick knowing he’s been caught doing something he shouldn’t be doing. It’s like a kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar, only in this situation the cookie is a dagger rather than an edible treat.

Opposite him the kid silently blinks owlishly, it would actually be an adorable sight if it weren’t for the creepy ass grin stretching across his face. It’s the grin that reminds Dick who he’s dealing with. It isn’t Tim who is standing in front of him but rather his alternate personality, JJ.

JJ first appeared about two years ago after Tim had been captured and tortured by the Joker. The best explanation they could come up with for his appearance is that JJ is Tim’s way of detaching himself from the traumatic experience he had. JJ is the result of the horrendous torture Tim went through.

It’s certainly taken everyone some time to adjust to this development. Even now, years later, everyone is still getting used to it. Tim is here, he’s still present and is the core identity, but JJ occasionally makes an appearance especially when Tim is feeling threatened, extremely stressed or emotionally unstable.

The whole thing has been a learning curve for everyone involved. Even Tim had to learn to deal with it. At first he understandably didn’t accept what was happening but over time he seem to concede with it and even come to some sort of agreement with JJ, apparently the two identities can communicate no matter who’s in control. Tim’s tried to explain it to him in the past but it’s pretty mind boggling so Dick simply believes what Tim is saying and doesn’t ask questions.

He can’t help but feel a little disturbed by JJ’s presence, it’s an unfair feeling because it’s not JJ’s fault – or Tim’s – but being reminded of what his little brother had to endure at the hands of an insane psychotic man is unnerving. It’s like a reminder of how he didn’t protect his little brother and how he failed him by not being good enough.  

He knows the others also share similar feelings. Jason simply stays away from JJ, he doesn’t even enter the same room as him. Damian is constantly on edge when JJ is present, he often carries his katana around with him when they’re near one another. Cass happens to be the one who handles JJ the best, her calm demeanour seems to bizarrely settle JJ a little. Bruce… well Bruce has similar thoughts to him of how he failed to protect Tim, but both as a father and a mentor. He’s sat down with JJ and has had a conversation with him, they seemed to come to some sort of agreement which Dick doesn’t know the details of. Alfred, god bless him, takes it all in stride as he does with everything. Everyone else is weary of him but are civil towards him as much as they can be.

“JJ, I told you to put it down. Why did you pick it back up?” Dick questions after a long drawn out silence.

JJ plays with the dagger in his hands, twisting it this way and that with skilled precision. He blinks again and lets out a giggle. “Timmy needs to be punished.”

Dick frowns at the answer. That’s not what he had been expecting. “Why does Tim need to be punished? What has he done?”

“He failed us.”

JJ says it like it’s the most obvious thing in the world but Dick has no idea what he’s on about. How has Tim failed? All Dick knows is that recently Tim’s been busy with the Titan’s and how he’s been working on his Neon Knights programme.

“What happened?”

JJ doesn’t respond and continues to play with the dagger in his hands. Seeing the sharp blade being toyed with makes Dick feel tense, he knows what kind of damage can be done with a weapon like that and he doesn’t want Tim – and by extension JJ – to get hurt.

“Timmy needs to be punished!” JJ repeats agitatedly. He stops playing with the dagger and grips it in both hands, Dick couldn’t help but wince when he sees the blade dig into the skin of his palms. “When someone fails they get punished. When they are bad they get punished! Timmy has to be punished for what he did.” JJ trails off with a high pitched giggle like the idea of punishment is hilarious.

Dick runs a hand over his face, he’s not getting anywhere here. Where’s Cass when you need her? She’s usually better at dealing with this side of JJ than he is.

“You know that physically punishing Tim also means you hurting yourself, don’t you?” Dick suggests evenly, trying a different tactic. “There are other ways than physical pain to deal with these sort of things.”

Dick has an inkling he knows what this is all about but he doesn’t want to jump to conclusions just yet.

JJ lets out an uncontrollable giggle. “Silly Big Bird, I don’t feel pain, Uncle J made sure of that. Timmy on the other hand needs to pay for what he did and physical pain is the best way to teach a lesson so he remembers not to do it again.”

As if to prove a point, that’s when a drop of blood drips from JJ’s hand and lands on the floor. JJ doesn’t even notice. Dick tries to not flinch at the sight it, he hates the idea of his little brother hurting, no matter what it is it’s always hard to witness.

“I understand that you may be frustrated JJ, but why don’t you try talking to Tim instead. Tell him how you feel about whatever it is that he did and explain why you’re upset with the situation.” Dick suggests trying to sound as reasonable as he could.

JJ violently shakes his head, he seems to be getting more riled up as the conversation continues.

“No! Talking doesn’t work! He ignores me and doesn’t listen. The mission failed and he put us in danger for no reason, we could have been killed for nothing. He needs to remember to not do that again. I’ll make sure he remembers not to.”

Dick lets out a hum in acknowledgement. Something they’ve come to notice since JJ’s appearance is how protective, and even possessive, he is of Tim. The key thing is how no one is allowed to hurt Tim in anyway whatsoever, if they do then JJ will go on a vengeful rampage against whoever was responsible for it. That includes Tim himself.

To JJ, Tim putting himself in danger is essentially Tim hurting himself and he really doesn’t like that. It’s happened a couple times in the past, so in response to Tim putting himself in danger (often during missions) JJ feels the need to punish Tim for it.

Taking a deep breath Dick stares at the kid and wonders how he should proceed. He can’t just turn around and say “no” or retaliate because JJ will only get defensive and probably go do something much worse as a result. While Dick ponders, JJ stands there opposite him still gripping the dagger tightly in his hands with a small puddle of blood forming at his feet and grins creepily at Dick. To make the scene worse JJ tilts his head to the side just a little, adding to the creepy affect even more.

Thankfully he’s saved from trying to decide what to do when another body soon joins them in the cave. Dick’s attention turns away from JJ and onto Cass who casually strolls towards them with a light bounce in her step. Dick smiles warmly at her, feeling relieved for her appearance. Then immediate guilt hits him because he really shouldn’t be thinking that, Tim is his brother and what’s happened is by no means his fault and he should try to be supportive where he can, though sometimes it can get difficult.

Cass silently comes up to them and stands next to JJ. Dick watches with amusement as JJ’s grin slowly disappears from his face and is replaced with a scowl, his eyes narrow in what he would say is a challenge as he stares at her unmoving. Cass simply raises an eyebrow, she places a hand on her side and cocks her hip while she holds out the other in silent demand.

The two stare at one another for a long time, clearly testing the other’s patience and if Dick’s being honest he has to give JJ some credit for how long he’s with standing Cass’s pointed look. However it seems like JJ can’t out last Cass because he soon drops his gaze and relaxes his grip on the dagger but doesn’t let go of it yet.

“Timmy and I just want to have some fun. Why is that wrong?” JJ pouts, actually seeming disappointed and confused for why they’re saying no to him.

Dick catches himself from saying anything at the last second. He wants to question the ‘fun’ part of punishing but thinks better of it, it’s best that he stays quiet and lets Cass handle the situation.

Still staring at JJ, Cass keeps her hand out waiting for JJ to give her the dagger. After more staring he slaps the weapon into her hand with an exaggerated huff.

“Fine.” JJ huffs with a stomp of his foot. He scowls and crosses his arms over his chest. “I guess I’ll have to find another way to punish – oops! – I mean play with Timmy.” He lets out a hysterical giggle at his own words.

Cass shakes her head and moves towards Dick. They make eyes contact and Cass sends him a soft smile, when she gets close enough with the hand not holding the bloody dagger she reaches up and cups his cheek. “Finish work and rest. I’ve got this.”

Dick places his hand over hers and sends her an appreciative look. “Thank you.”

Standing up Dick grabs the file he had abandoned earlier and makes a move to leave the desk, it’ll probably be best to head to his bedroom in the Manor where he won’t be disturbed, but when he turns around he finds JJ now over by the weapons table yet again.

“JJ!” He snaps harshly. The kid startles and looks up at Dick before a wide grin stretches across his face, he’s not even ashamed that he’s been caught with his hand hovering over another dagger. He soon retracts his hand and places them both behind his back, he sways side to side like he’s an innocent kid.

“What? I’m not doing anything.”

Dick couldn’t help but eyeroll at the blatant lie. He sends JJ a pointed look. “Behave.” JJ’s response to that was to blow him a raspberry. Sending Cass a nod he leaves the desk with his folder tucked under his arm and makes his way to the stairs.

Unfortunately it wasn’t that simple. He should have been expecting something to happen really considering that nothing is ever easy with the kid, it’s only thanks to his reflexes and instincts that he hadn’t been impaled by the dagger JJ had just been eyeing up moments ago.

The weapon is now lodged in the wall in front of him from where Dick had luckily dodged it. The situation takes a moment to process in his mind and once it does he spins back around to witness JJ giggling hysterically and a wide-eyed Cass who had a hand over her mouth in shock. She’s clearly just as caught off guard by JJ’s actions as he was. Dick takes a deep breath and steadies himself, at least it didn’t actually hit him, not that the sentiment really helps with anything.

Deciding it’s really not worth it, he continues his journey to the stairs and proceeds to climb them, but not before grabbing the dagger buried in the wall along the way. JJ is Cass’s responsibility now, one he’ll happily pass over to her.

The last thing Dick hears when he gets to the top of the stairs is JJ calling out to him in between giggles.

“Bye bye Big Bird! See you soooooon!”

[bertolts]

Maddie, I think you've finally done it. I think you've converted me to the Dramione side. Do you have any suggestions for fics?

OwO Oh boy do I. I have so many suggestions but I’ll just link a few that I’ve read and reread. I tend to lean toward angsty romance fics so I’m unsure if I have any fluffy fics. Unsure of what exactly you’re more into but these are some of my faves:

The Rights and Wrongs series by @lovesbitca8 : An excellent series focusing on Hermione’s and then Draco’s POV in a 2 part story of their post-war relationship. It’s filled with intense pining, angst, sexual tension, and slowburn. Part 1 is ‘The Right Thing To Do’ and Part 2 is “All The Wrong Things” Part 3 is a ‘Voldemort Wins’ AU set in the same universe. This part ‘The Auction’ is currently WIP and is quite dark so I’d recommend checking the tags before proceeding. Hermione is captured and sold into the service of Death Eaters. “But despite the horrors of Voldemort’s new world, help - and hope - seem to arise from the most unlikely of places.” There’s also a few ficlets/oneshots in this series. (Part 1 & 2 Complete - Part 3 ‘The Auction’ In-Progress)

Wait and Hope by @mightbewriting : Is a fic I love so much I just finished rereading it for the third time this past weekend. It’s a memory loss fic. Hermione loses that past 7 years of her memory and finds herself married to Draco Malfoy. It’s a bitter sweet and angsty fic about Hermione relearning her own life and relationships. Some of the chapters really punch you in the gut. I’m tearing up just thinking about it. (Complete)

Shattered Oaths by @ JustAlongTheMirrorOfErised : Just picked this up this past weekend. “There have always been whispers of old magic in the woods. Some say that you could make a promise to an ancient creature for whatever your heart desires. What the stories never told her is that all magic comes with a price. Hermione could never have known that the oath she broke as a child would threaten to destroy everything that she worked for and everyone that she loves.It all started with the being who spoke to her with words forged from liquid silver. Destiny is just as fickle as it is inevitable.” It’s a Fae AU and it is a delicious slow burn. Draco is a Fae and Hermione essentially stole his magic. together they have to try and restore the imbalance she created before they die or WORSE! It’s the type of trickster dangerous Fae lore too. The whole ��power in a name’ type of magic(In-Progress)

Bittersweet and Strange by @ UndiscoveredQueen19 : “ Trapped to share the same cursed fate in a world ruled by Voldemort, Draco and Hermione find that their differences are what make them similar and that their flaws are what make them whole. Dramione AU with a Beauty and the Beast twist.” Draco is cursed, Hermione is a desperate order fighter, and the two get bound together and locked inside a manor. Very much angst and fluff. (Complete)

Isolation by @ bexchan : This fic has somehow become a staple to the Dramione community. This takes place post-Half Blood Prince. “ Ron and Harry are Horcrux hunting and Hermione has been left at Hogwarts to help the Order make it safe for the other students. Draco is forced by Snape to stay in Hogwarts for his own protection, but he can't leave the room he is given; Granger's room. Hermione is the only student trusted with this information, so her and Malfoy share the small space, and Draco tries to avoid insanity as he becomes increasingly isolated with only the Mudblood for company. Something's going to give.” Read this one awhile ago. I think I’m due for a reread because I don’t remember all of the details. (Complete)

Never In Heart by @ In_Dreams :  “ Hermione Granger had never anticipated that Draco Malfoy would be her best friend, a decade after the war. She'd also never meant to wind up trapped in a marriage pact, borne of one late night with too much wine. But as his thirtieth birthday draws near, time will either seek to push them together or drive them apart.” This is heavy on the pining and is definitely a Friends to Lovers fic. It’s uber sweet but can get a bit heart-achey at times cause they’re idiots in love. I think this is also the shortest rec I’ve put on this list... (Complete)

Splash of Colour by @ kyonomiko : Here’s a fun short fic rec. This one’s 3 chapters and just recently finished updating. Hermione accidentally has a spell cast on her that makes her see the entire world in a different colour of the rainbow every day. But for some reason Draco is a different colour from everyone else. I thought it was pretty cute. (Complete)

Literally anything and everything that @senlinyu has ever written. Literally all of it. I’ve read every fic they’ve put on AO3. Manacled, All You Want, Love & Other Misfortunes, The Creature Anthology, etc. These works tend to lean towards darker themes, heavy smut or both. They also write a lot of creature fics which is my absolute favourite kind of AU. Sometimes the Omegaverse is traipsed into *coughs shamefully* I blame reylo tumblr for exposing me to that. Love & Other Misfortunes is a Veela!Draco vic and also the first Dramione fic I ever read. I fell in love with it. Manacled is my favourite fic I’ve ever read. Like out of any fandom. It’s so tragic and has what I consider the best portrayal of a morally grey Hermione that I’ve ever seen. However it is VERY dark and can be very triggering so please be careful and check the tags before even attempting to read it.

There are literally hundreds of one shots that I’ve read. Most of the soulmate oneshots are lovely and I’ve gone through the ‘Pining Draco Malfoy’ tag one too many times now. Also the ‘Veela Draco Malfoy’ tag.

I think I’ll cut myself off here. I definitely also recommend going through that list of Dramione fics I just recently reblogged as well. They have a lot of fics on there that are great and I intend to check out some of the ones I haven’t read yet. I really should start utilizing the bookmarks feature on AO3... That would’ve been a lot easier T^T But I had a lot of fun just gushing about some of my favourite fics. Dramione has been such a massive fixation these past 7-8 months.

[sixthwater]

why is it whenever i try to read for myself, the cards come out not even "tough love" but straight up mean or just... completely out of left field, like, advice that may be good but i can't really do anything with at that moment.

Hi there, I have to use a lot of personal experience to answer this, but I'll link a lot of references/resources that you can follow up with that might help you beyond that. Besides that, there can be a few reasons as to why you're getting these results (read more because apparently I talk too much yay):

1. Current mood/energy

This will not only affect the cards that come out, but how you're going to process the meaning of it, and if it's actually helpful. If someone is sucked up into a negative mindset, and they can't see anything positive in the future, then it's probably going to be harder for 'better' cards to come out. Because, in a way, they're assuming tomorrow is going to be bad so they're going to wake up and already establish that the day is terrible, so yeah the day is going to be bad and the cards are going to reflect that because they're not open to anything else, if that makes sense. Now let's say you are able to get accurate cards that aren't affected by your current emotions. Like you're asking about a promotion and you get uuuhh 7 of Swords, Ace of Pentacles, and Strength. If you're already anxious over it, you're going to see this as a bad thing if you're glazing over it right. Like someone stealing the promotion from you and to stay strong bc you'll get another opportunity somewhere, however someone else might read this as your employer has you secured for the position but no one else knows it so it has to stay secret, and just hang in there for a bit before you can be promoted. Another reason why, while the meaning of the card itself is important, intuition and feelings are also very important. This is also why you're constantly encouraged to be relaxed and in a neutral state of mind when doing readings or selecting piles because being overly unrealistic or depressive can influence the reading

2. The question you're asking

Honestly, if you're someone that is constantly in contact with your guides or rolls with the 'decks have personalities' thing, your questioning can bring out abrasive or soft answers lmao. If you are constantly asking the general same question, then they're going to start getting a little bothered because it sends the message that you want the answers without the work and that you don't necessarily trust them, and it's a sign of obsession. So if you're getting The Devil card consistently, then pull back a little and let go. You sort of have to get to know your guides, which I'll link a video down below to help with that. (I'm not too spiritual myself, I'm much more cerebral which ~apparently I need to change~ but some of my guides are super strong so good for them, and they're insanely protective, so very lucky). Then there's the issue of decks. If you do believe they have different personalities, then it's important to do a deck interview. I didn't fall into that category before, until I noticed one of my decks was much more intense than another one, and it didn't like certain questions I asked lmao. I usually go to that one for more straight honest answers, another deck for love related questions, one for career etcetc. Then, in general, sometimes your guides just Don't want to answer a question, but. . .

3. How guides communicate

I'm a very strong believer that our guides always hand us the correct cards, but we need to be able to decipher them correctly lmao. also why it's important to figure out which cards to take when you get a Bunch of jumpers. So is the message actually mean and heartless or have you just not been able to decipher it correctly yet? They tend to like not giving us the direct answer (for valid reasons) so that we learn and appreciate feeling much better at the end of the day. Very recent personal example: I have been feeling very stuck, and very frustrated. So I checked to see if there is anything I'm supposed to be learning within myself or what's up or like....explain lmao. My cards? 'Make a fucking move' 'Cut the cord, make the change. What are you doing??????', which, as a disabled person in a very tight spot currently, was very annoying lmao. So I put my cards away and just kind of let it be because, can't do anything about my situation currently and they should know that right? Two days or so later, I just made like two or so small changes within my schedule and my day was fantastic, and I realized 'ah.....make the change......little sneaky mfs'. So sometimes it can be something big, and sometimes it's really just like some small stuff. If your guides have noticed you've been stuck doing the same cycle for a bit, they might be a bit more aggressive. Or they will notice you listen to a certain person's advice the most, so they will imitate the way they give out that advice (and lucky for me, the people I listen to are usually very honest, very brutal, and blunt lmao).

4. Certain spirits interfering with the reading

I wasn't going to put this on here but for some reason I kept going back and adding it so eh. This is highly unlikely but I guess just in case a mischievous bored little ghosty wanted to hang out with you lmao. Once, again I'm not highly spiritual, but I am observant, and I am very critical. I don't really have any other stories to go off of besides my own and I don't even know if this happened to me, but I did notice at one point when I was starting out, that sometimes I would get legitimate answers, and then sometimes they would be just fucking...like no sense. Was not realistic at all and nowhere close to what I even asked. So after a while I just started asking questions I Knew the answer to, to see what was going on, and then I just happened to get a video about this very thing in my feed, and ta-da~. it also helps that my guides are very loud and when I don't get that energy I know something is off. So if you want to do some research on it, go for it? Usually the first three steps solve it. However my go to is just making sure only my guides have access to me whenever I'm pulling cards, so the whole "guides of the highest light & love etcetc, my guides, and my guides only are allowed to access me, etcetcetc" that whole speech

Those are the main three + one extra thing I can think of??? For some other extra tidbits I'm going to link some content that I like their insight on the most

Kino Tarot's How to Accurately Read for Yourself

Healianthus-Tarot's piece on interpreting & how a reading can be influenced (bc I think they wrote it better)

[nonbinarychaoticstupid]

fic rec list version 1

will be consistently updating! these are just a handful of fics i’ve found that i think are neat :> feel free to send more/rb with your own! i’ve included links to both the fic and the author and i’m absolutely not done yet, there are way more i need to link

a picture’s worth a thousand words by akarihope - catradora in a post-season 3 au, very cool idea behind it, lots of portal theory and catra punching shadow weaver in the face! also VERY GAY. in the woods somewhere is also... pure brilliance. gay witch catra and very soft adora <3

i have faced it, a life wasted by catrasredemption - catradora, modern au where catra and adora are separated after a big accident that changes everything for them. very good, very deep, made me cry, READ THE TAGS! i’d also recommend when all she is, and ever was, in compromised, because it hurt me deeply, and cast some light (it’ll be alright), which features soft artist catra <3

i couldn’t get very far without recommending anachronism by chellethewriter - seriously, both anachronism and immemorial have made me cry almost every update. catradora but they have to live the worst 3 years of their lives all over again and live with the consequences. the angst factor is INCREDIBLY HIGH. also, forever, if you want, because vampire catra owns my heart, and the vanishing point, a catra study that made me cry. a lot.

find a new place to be from by sevensevan - ongoing glimbow and catradora ghostbusters fic, feat. trans bow and nonbinary adora! very powerful and the concept leaves me in tears. recent updates have made me cry repetitively <3

you did something to me and the blood in your mouth by artemiswords - both of these fics are INSANELY POWERFUL and i was really surprised by how accurate the season 5 predictions in the blood in your mouth were! both fics are catradora-centric - a fake dating au and a season 5 speculative fic that HITS

this whole series by buckysbears - catra-centric, focuses on her relationships with the bfs and her trauma, really worth the pain that comes with it! i’d also recommend time take us, a chronic pain adora au with a little bit of implied glitradora thrown in, and made for you, which ;w;

mark my words by lologoblins - catradora flower shop/tattoo artist + soulmates au, very soft and pure fluff with catra and adora being absolute gay messes and mara being hilarious

keep your money (you can take my time) by ehj - catradora coffee shop au from adora’s pov, you can feel the Gay Mess seeping from this one and i love it unconditionally

daylight and bouquet by fuhadeza - post-season 5 catradora being incredibly soft and fluffy and post-season 4 catradora learning to love respectively, both of which are incredibly soft and made me cry for entirely different reasons 

the aftershock (of your touch) by bow_woahh - soulmates catradora au in which catra struggles with her feelings for a whole lot of words and adora is just a complete mess (affectionate). very fluffy, contains its own brand of emotions

up in our bedroom after the war and the infinite of sky by herothehardway - the first is a post-season 5 speculative fic written post-season 5 that focuses on catradora recovering from the impact of the war, specifically on adora’s trauma, and the second is a post-season 5 fic focused on catra being a soft wife and helping adora through a bad night <3 both also made me cry, which i’m discovering is a very dramatic thing to do 

i never cared for stories, until you entered mine by thethirdphiladelphiavireo - modern soulmates catradora au, very soft and containing pining catra. i have read this so many times and it makes me so emotional.

not if it’s you by luuma - single mother adora is just trying to raise her child and her neighbour (catra) insists on helping out. featuring adora’s gay awakening, huntara being an Old Gay, glimmer and bow being glimmer and bow (affectionate)

let adora wear pants by advancingambition - adora discovering her gender identity, featuring supportive trans butch catra. very fluffy, actually made me cry very hard <3

24 things about you by deepblueskies - modern au catradora living together, in which catra is oblivious and adora pines for a lot of words and struggles to communicate her feelings. also featuring fake dating, lonnie being excellent, and sheer fluff. <3

build our own higher ground  by iwouldgetaniguana - a pre-season 5 speculative fic on catra’s redemption arc, which gets pretty damn deep and looks into catra and adora repairing their relationship in a DOPE way

here’s all my bookmarks and here’s a link to the catradora big bang 2020, which contains some of the best fics i’ve ever read

be warned, i will be back with more

[mitchipedia]

TikTok won: Meta Is Making Product Decisions For An Internet That Doesn’t Exist Anymore

Nobody creates original content for Facebook anymore, and Facebook does nothing to support content creators, says Ryan Broderick at Garbage Day:

… unlike, say, YouTube which plastered their community’s biggest faces all over billboards and subway ads or TikTok, which was already hosting panels with their top creators at VidCons before the pandemic, Meta seems to actively despise the people who make content on their platforms. Unless they’re already celebrities, their creators don’t appear in Facebook’s ads, they don’t do panels together at conferences, and they don’t pop up in press releases or demo new features.

At best Meta seems embarrassed of the people who make the content that keeps users on their apps. Or, at worst, they seem to hate them. There’s really no other explanation. Creators I’ve spoken to have described a deeply precarious existence in which they have to constantly adjust how they create content by trying to divine what each new algorithmic tweak might mean for how their posts show up in other people’s feeds. They live in constant fear of their pages being “disappeared” for some weird infraction. It sounds like a nightmare. The women eating out of toilets on Facebook aren’t eating out toilets because they like doing it. They’re eating out of toilets because Facebook’s insanely aggressive recommendation engine has pushed their content to ludicrous extremes because it’s constantly over-optimizing its own users. And because TikTok has redefined how social media works and left Meta completely unprepared for a future that’s quickly approaching, they want you eating out of toilets, but, now, it has to be in a Reel.

Also, if you remove all the news from Facebook, there’s nothing left.

The Horrors of No-News Facebook: Bible quotes and teddy bears forever

Kaitlyn Tiffany at The Atlantic:

I’m far from the first person to point out that Facebook has been largely overrun with garbage content. Now [a study by Jean-Hugues Roy, at the University of Quebec in Montreal] suggests that, without news links, many users will find almost nothing of value.

Roy’s study found if you take the news out of Facebook, what you’re left with is mainly insipid viral content about teddy bears and kittens, as well as Bible quotes.

Not true for me—my friends post many interesting photos and discussion. And that’s what I’m there for.

Facebook recently announced it’s pivoting—yet again—this time to focus on algorithmically generated viral content. Depending on how far Facebook takes that pivot, that could drive me off Facebook entirely, simply because I am not interested in that kind of thing from Facebook. It’s not what I’m on Facebook for.

[gillian-greenwood]

My initial thoughts and theories on the upcoming series of Line Of Duty.

Okay so this introduction isn't the one I initially wrote, what started as a quick summary of my thoughts after seeing the trailer and easter eggs turned into hours of my brain going into the depths of Line of Duty madness. We are under a week to go until series 6 finally hits our screens and there has been so much more teased already with interviews with the cast and so on. So, here cometh an essay of me turning into Charlie from It's always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Before I go into each point, I've tried to split my thoughts into different sections as there are more significant things that I think will feature in Series 6. These are all what I personally think will happen or likely scenarios if I'm undecided - I've listened, watched and read plenty of other theories too and I've really been enjoying it. With a show such as this, we do go totally crazy! I did see something mere moments ago where Martin stated that he's seen some 'spot on' theories - 1) it makes me excited to hear the cast are reading what we think and 2) I've more than likely read what's going to happen but I don't know it at this point - that's kinda insane!

So, I'm now going to get into the main points and then will address smaller things later on. For those of you who read all my rambles and thoughts, I really appreciate it: hopefully then I'm not completely talking to myself. I could be right, I could be wrong in these. But that's part and parcel of theorising. I've seen some great theories and seen some crazy theories but I really appreciate anyone who has taken time to share them. I mean we've got to have the outrageous and completely nutty theories, we need a good giggle!

So here we go...

Who is the fourth “dot”?

The one question that has been firmly on all our minds over these past couple of years has been whom is the fourth person pulling all the strings for organised crime? We know H isn’t a singular person but a code name for multiple people. According to Dot’s dying declaration, there are four dots, or four caddies - however you want to call it. I'm definitely sick of the whole who's H question (hence referring to it as the fourth dot) as it has been established that H isn't just a person - but so many are still completely attached to the idea of H and I think it's because that whole plotline wasn't completely rounded off or people weren't satisfied with the revelation so have become quite obsessed with it. I’ve felt a bit strange about the whole revelation since series 5 aired in 2019 though - I felt it was a huge stretch Steve recognising the Morse code from one still frame and coming to the conclusion he shares with Ted - that Dot was trying to communicate in Morse Code - I’m going to elaborate more on the declaration further on.

But back to the main question before we trail off too far! We have several possibilities. Off the bat, I can’t see it being any of the main three at all. Already, Steve has been accused of being “the caddy” and Ted has been accused of being “H” (Which in fairness has transpired to be the same thing) - Kate on the other hand has not yet come under suspicion of being bent and involved with organised crime. The trailer has cleverly hinted that it may well be Kate’s turn at being on the other side of the table. But, it’s being too obvious - creating discussion - very similar to what happened with Ted. I know a lot of people have suspicion over Kate and have done for a long while and I can see why - I just can’t see it concluding that she's the definition of corrupt - she's not completely squeaky clean but I don't think she's been a mastermind in all of this. It would be a very shocking twist but it wouldn’t make loads of sense to me with other things that's happened in the show. I do feel though Kate deserves a whole section to herself so I'll definitely go over all that further on. Main three aside - we have three other favourable suspects in my eyes.

Firstly, PCC Rohan Sindhwani was introduced in series 5 - dedicated to exposing corruption amongst the police force, running on a platform of transparency and working alongside DCC Andrea Wise. We don’t see much of him however his one direct link to organised crime is Gill Biggeloe - his senior legal counsel who was exposed as being one of the corrupt members of the police force. When things continued to go “pear shaped” with Operation Pear Tree - his mantra of complete transparency meant that he’d have to highlight the lack of progress - however rightfully so he’s been advised to suppress the truth and Gill very conveniently stresses that he needs to retain public confidence - and that having a “non-exclusive relationship with the truth” is part of the role of the PCC. As series 5 wraps up, he looks uneasy about the conclusions of Operation Pear Tree that were shared with the public - that there was no links to corruption and organised crime - which were of course completely against his own personal principles. During series 5 he hasn’t really displayed any tendencies of being bent, quite frankly the complete opposite. Although that's not to say he isn't dodgy. The trailer for series 6 has cleverly been cut together and tried to make him appear suspicious. However, I think it’s extremely unlikely that it’ll be him - he’s far too new of a character and has supposed strong ambitions to cut out all the rotten apples within the ranks. Gill could have easily sent him astray but I'm just not buying him being involved with organised crime at all. So I’m happily ruling him out.

Next we have the newly promoted DSU Ian Buckells. Having first appeared all the way back in the beginning of series 1 as the SIO on the Jackie Laverty case, appointed by Derek Hilton - he was a bit of a verruca on TO20’s foot - therefore being made to feel unwelcome by DCI Tony Gates who he replaced - no surprise there. As the first series progresses - there’s not much reason to think of him as bent, he just looks like a detective lacking passion and just turns up to do what he has to do. There are little details though that become apparent when re-watching. He has a connection first and foremost to Derek Hilton having been appointed by him personally but even at this point, there wasn’t reason to suspect Hilton either - therefore plays off as a totally innocent matter. Next, after DC Kate Fleming interviews a young Ryan Pilkington, he turns up flustered and very disgruntled that Kate has proceeded to interview him - especially after it transpires she was an undercover officer from Anti-Corruption. On early viewing - it's easy to put that down to the fact Kate had gotten there first and because it transpired she was an UCO. But we never see what went on in the respective interview apart from Ryan asking for a Big Mac. We last see Buckells allowing Dot to talk to Tommy Hunter after he’s arrested - and we all know how that turned out. But, it does appear that Buckells hasn't got a clue what's going on, he just shrugs and gives that whole yeah no skin off my nose approach, displaying quite a laid-back and care free attitude still. Buckells reappears in series 4 as the replacement SIO on Operation Trap Door after DCI Roz Huntley is removed from the case, again appointed by Derek Hilton and coincidentally where Kate is again undercover. No surprise Kate looks worried as they'd already crossed paths at TO20. Hastings and Arnott quite rightly confront Buckells and instruct him to keep Fleming's true identity secret and if her cover was compromised, everyone would know who to blame. When her cover is initially blown, the first and foremost conclusion was Buckells had not listened to strict instructions given. However, after details of Kate's personal life were leaked also, Kate didn't feel like the leak had come from Buckells as it was unlikely he knew anything regarding that. And, when confronted, Buckells concluded spitefully that UCO's have a shelf life therefore easily being recognisable after time. This is the last we see of him. The theory that Buckells could be the fourth dot has certainly become more spoken about recently. He's been featured in the show since the beginning albeit for two of the series, and will be appearing in series 6 too, part of Hillside Lane nick. The fact he's quite an unpopular and quieter member of the force could hide him in plain sight to being bent. In black and white, the idea of Buckells ordering hits and pulling strings for some of the most dangerous criminals is kind of hilarious. But, evidently there are little details scattered during his stints on the show that have got people talking. I do feel Jed has always known from the start who's bent and who isn't or has at least had the basics thought out - I've never seen a writer with such sharp continuity, there are plenty of writers and creators that should really take note! But, moving on from my very slight tangent - do I think Buckells is the fourth dot? Okay, I've changed my mind on this numerous times but since watching the trailer, I'm more cemented on no. I think there could be some dodgy stuff going on with Buckells, he's ascended up the ranks quite quickly, even if he isn't the sharpest tool in the shed at times. We often say it's always the quiet ones. And he's had connections to Hilton but I'd be very surprised if he's been calling the shots. His whole demeanour could have been a farce from the off but I think we have more chance of floating up the lagan in a bubble. I mean he looked like he'd been caught robbing an orchard when he was confronted by Ted and Steve. I think he'll pose an interesting asset to the new series but I

don't think he'll be the main guy.

The third person is the new Chief Constable Philip Osborne. In series 1, he was the Chief Inspector for the Counter Terrorism Unit where Steve was involved in the wrongful killing of Karim Ali. He demanded that the team lie about the incident so the killing was justified however Steve refused and was ultimately removed from the unit and subsequently assigned to AC12. He does crop again as the series progresses, seemingly having a close relationship with Hilton (they all seem to be close to Hilton) and after DCI Tony Gates diverts the motive behind the murders on the Borogrove estate being linked to terrorism and not drug dealing. He's last seen at the inquest into the death of Karim Ali which led to no prosecutions for any of the officers involved. It has since been revealed he's the new Chief Constable of Central Police as of Series 6 and I'm sure he's bound to appear. Whilst not heavily featured over the show's run, I'm feeling it likely for him to be the fourth dot. Just like Buckells, he's had direct connection to Hilton and definitely appeared to have at least a professional friendship. He was quick to order a cover up into a wrongful shooting. And was very willing to help with the possible terrorism links with the incidents on the Borogrove Estate which were bogus. Whilst off-screen he's worked his way up to the top. Ted remarks in the trailer "A bare faced liar, promoted to our highest office!" - and whilst it alludes to him talking about Sindhwani - I think that's going to be way too obvious. I think he's either talking to or talking about Osborne. Of course Ted was very supportive of Steve during the inquest in series 1 and was definitely not impressed by Osborne's actions and wouldn't be pleased with him being the CC. Also, the show would ultimately be going full circle to the beginning again and I really like the idea of that happening. So much of series 1 has been significant later on. We've not had much screen time with Osborne but I think he's my favourite to be the fourth dot. He certainly fits the bill of being corrupt and has plausible connections. There's a scene with Osborne, Hilton and Dot in series 1 and I certainly love the idea of three of the most corrupt officers being thrown right in our faces right at the beginning and us all being none the wiser. I'd considered him before but after the trailer and easter eggs, it's looking far more likely. Of course no one knew that the show would have become the roaring success it has back in series 1 however I am confident Jed had foundations in place and possible scenarios as to where the show would go.

In conclusion, there are plenty of possibilities of who this mysterious fourth dot is, but I'm happy with my conclusion of Osborne. Hopefully after the seven episodes I can either be impressed with my deductions or cringe as to why I ever came to such conclusions!

Dot Cottan's Dying Declaration

Series 3 concluded with the death of DI Matthew Cottan whom AC12 finally learned was the real caddy and not DS Steve Arnott who Dot had tried to pin it on. His explosive exit is mine and many people's favourite series finale. We only saw a glance of his declaration that DC Kate Fleming took - that then led to the conviction of Patrick Fairbank. It's not until series 4 however where PC Maneet Bindra is blackmailed to harvest this declaration and we as viewers finally get to view more - having been recorded on a fellow officers body-cam. Kate tries to get Dot to reveal the top dog by asking him "blink twice for the first letter of his name" - we all know he blinks at H however the medics intervene before Kate can get him to finish. This was of course the first encounter with "H". We revisit Dot's dying declaration in series 5 during Ted's questioning by AC3 - again we're shown the same part, slightly extended to showcase the morse code sequence, however, Kate's dialogue is different - now saying "right, blink with the first two letters of his name." I personally never noticed this until I saw others discussing it and apparently they differed in the scripts too so was a deliberate move by Jed. I think this will be picked up in some regard and Kate herself will come under fire for it. I believe the body-cam footage was actually shot along with series 4 and Craig Parkinson was invited back for the scenes which subsequently featured again in series 5 too - and I'm feeling confident they shot both versions as Jed would have likely had future plots planned out. Like series 1-3 had some kind of arc, I think 4-6 is the exact same and a lot of things will be rounded off. I imagine it will be picked up that there are two versions of the declaration. I know there are very mixed feelings on this subject but knowing the way Jed works, the differences will be significant. I will be very shocked and disappointed if this is not addressed but seeing how we left the previous series with more questions thanks to the declaration, it surely has to feature again. The question of why it was changed? I think it was more than likely doctored by Hilton to try and incriminate Hastings for being H - blinking for the first two letters, H being first, Kate trying to start the sequence again but being cut off by medics, what's first? A! Hilton replaced the original with the edited version which was able to be accessed by the necessary personnel however I'm sure the original still exists somewhere, possibly for leverage? But how could he have changed the dialogue and make it sound convincing? It's farfetched and I mean I'm sure anything's possible but the whole Morse Code thing was also very farfetched too so I'm at that point of my tether where that could honestly happen. Hastings of course has seen both versions and Kate having been the one taking the declaration surely would have noticed but there is no indication that he's noticed a difference nor Kate. And after the meeting he shared with Hilton in series 4, I'm sure that was the trigger of him editing it. Or Kate could have edited herself which a lot of fans have suggested but the only was she'd have access surely is if she was bent - this is a really hard one because there's a lot of theories! Mine is a wild and very patchy theory but I just can't see them not addressing the fact that they were different. Again I'll cover a bit more about Kate's possible involvement in her own section.

And mentioning the Morse code aspect of the declaration - anyone I've spoken to personally about it were left feeling conflicted with the whole idea. Is it going to be a total red-herring and Steve has clearly been barking up the wrong tree? No doubt there is still someone who's very corrupt within the force but I wouldn't have left the series hanging on that revelation if it were to turn out to have no meaning. Also, there were many easier ways of indicating the number four - but then again Dot was pretty much dead at this point so wasn't exactly able to function properly, haha!

To summarise I think we'll see the declaration again and both versions will be flagged and we'll find out why. If we're thinking about series 4, 5 and 6 having an arc, it is a very important aspect to be answered and concluded. I'm rather excited about them going into this again. I can see Hilton having doctored the footage but Kate will come under fire for it. Or maybe Kate did it herself, but why? What has she got to gain, unless she's bent, or been blackmailed? This is going to be a headache, I can sense it now! Imagine if we got the answers from Dot himself... nah, he's dead.

DCI Joanne Davidson

Kelly MacDonald has taken over the lead guest role baton and it's very exciting! We have finally seen more than a glimpse of her character in the trailer and teaser. All we know thus far is she is the DCI at Hillside Lane Station and that she'll be coming under scrutiny for her handling of the Gail Vella murder case. Kate appears to be on her team (as herself or undercover is currently a mystery) and alongside we have DSU Buckells, PS Farida Jatri and newcomer DS Lomax (Played by Perry Fitzpatrick). Honestly one of the first questions that plagued on my mind was will she survive? Four out of the five prior lead guest stars have met a grizzly end. I mean let's face it Roz didn't exactly escape unscathed either with only one hand left. It's hard to judge before the series starts on the guest lead. We were led up the wrong path last series with Stephen Graham. I know this next series will be jam-packed and the most insane yet so I'm expecting a lot from Kelly's character! I think she's going to be the most complex of the leads and I think we'll be often changing our minds about her - from what we've seen she seems a promising and good copper, but PS Jatri has stated in the trailer 'you don't know what's she's capable of,' very exciting! I'm looking forward to her being interrogated, she'll knock those scenes out of the park! It's hard to put predictions out there when there's not a lot to go on but I'm sure I'll have more solid theories once the series has started!

Have Kate and Steve really left AC12?

We've been accustom to a couple of teasers. Steve talking to his ex Nicola Rogerson about feeling that his road with anti-corruption is at an end and looking likely to be joining her team. Maybe he does feel this way because he still hasn't got his promotion!!! Some people have suggested he might have instead been demoted, ouch! Then Kate out with Joanne and her team, referring to her as 'boss'. I'm sure Kate's undercover but perhaps maintaining the farce that she's moved on from AC12. As Ian Buckells stated, UCO's have a shelf-life and I'm sure she'd be recognised by most forces now, especially with the awards she's won. Then again she could just be plainly undercover - what surnames beginning with F hasn't she used? Haha! We haven't seen Steve undercover in the same way as Kate, he was technically undercover when being all pally with Lindsay Denton but it would be cool to see him as a full blown UCO and I don't think he'd be suspected. But why would Steve be going undercover? That's what I'd be unsure on. Again, plenty of questions with not many answers. AC12 has come under fire plenty of times so it's likely it's in favour of being dissolved, especially with an easter egg of CC Osborne highlighting AC12 as a cause of concern, especially with Ted running the ranks still. Or is it a massive twist that Kate has really left and Steve is following suit? I remember when they first started filming in early 2020 there was a tweet shared with a picture of Martin, Adrian and Jed - captioned "But where's Kate?" - of course we were all quick to speculate that she was undercover but from the information we now have, she may in fact have moved on. We know she has rekindled her marriage but things still looked rocky - maybe she has left to save her marriage by working in a department where she's going to be a 'better mum and wife.' (Come on her husband was a total dick.) However, I do like the idea of the fact that she's undercover, but only Ted knows, so even Steve believes her AC12 days are over - and that could even be ammunition for him to leave as he's got itchy feet not having Kate as his working partner anymore - but as I said maybe Steve is moving on because there's no promotion or even a demotion. (Oh I love the joking about his poor promotion that got lost in the post). But, from other behind the scenes snippets we've seen also, our favourite trio look to be working together within AC12, so whatever happens, they'll be all back in their rightful places eventually. To add, Adrian said on Graham Norton the first episode starts in an unexpected place with a lot for us to get our heads around - so I imagine things are going to appear very different first thing and our favourites being absent is looking highly likely! Weighing up the options, I am leaning towards Kate being secretly undercover whilst everyone believes she's in fact moved on. I'm guessing Steve will be going undercover as well, I don't feel he'd leave AC12 on his own accord with so much still unsolved without absolute good reason - unless of course, no promotion (I'll stop now).

Has Steve Arnott FINALLY got his promotion?

(Sorry I'm not stopping) A major running joke now - poor Steve has remained a DS throughout the show. Whilst Kate progressed from DC to DI between series 3 and 5. Series 4 featured both Steve and Kate eager to progress to Detective Inspector. Ted favoured Steve due to 'experience' - leaving Kate extremely disheartened. Fair enough though, Steve had a lot more years under his belt at the Sergeant level. However Ted had been accused of being sexist and I think that made him uncomfortable. But firstly, Steve found himself in another situation half way through series 4 - being attacked with a baseball bat and chucked down some stairs - leaving him unable to walk and facing the prospect of never walking again. This of course would put any ambitions on hold and something Ted would have to consider too. It's not really touched upon in the rest of the series. When we return in series 5, we quickly learn that Kate is now a DI. More than likely due to Steve's accident but could also be to tick boxes too - Gill Biggeloe does make a point of highlighting that Ted had promoted a woman and joked that would exactly be what a sexist would do. There doesn't appear to be any hostility between Kate and Steve throughout series 5 in regards to this but I do side with Kate on the fact he kept quiet about Corbett being the CHIS because she was an inspector - not the only reason but one of them. Then again, Steve has a tendency to get himself in situations so it's no surprise. Moving forward to the golden question, I think we've all noticed that Steve's epaulettes have been conveniently hidden in promos - however eagle-eyed fans have concluded that it looks like he does in fact have the inspector epaulettes in the trailer. About time! The circumstances around his promotion are hard to guess though. Will he get promoted in the middle of the series - it deserves all the fuss after all right? Or will he be replacing Kate because she's 'moved on' - who knows but I'm feeling confident we'll wrap up series six with Detective Inspector Steve Arnott. Imagine if Jed was teasing us and he doesn't get promoted or has in fact been demoted to DC - it's safe to say we'll all be unhappy haha!

Oh boy, what's occurring with Kate?

Over the past five series, Kate Fleming has been awfully lucky and escaped the main brutal drama - usually Steve being handed it. All she's really endured is her cover being blown on undercover operations, having an affair with her friend Jayne's husband who turned out to be as dodgy as Jayne and ultimately being kicked out of the family home as a result and losing custody of her son - and getting a good kick in the gut from Lindsay Denton. In comparison, not as brutal to almost getting a finger amputated and being chucked down some stairs along with numerous failed relationships. As I mentioned before, Steve and Ted have been accused of being bent - got to be Kate's turn now right? Definitely a bookies favourite of being 'H' (Come on folks, we know H isn't a person anymore.) or being the fourth person. I'm sure anyone who follows my blog can see who my favourite is and how I'll be very devastated if she turns out to be corrupt. But I'm feeling quite sure that she'll finally be the other side of the table officially (being questioned in series 1 and 3 doesn't count in my books as she was undercover). We've already had a teaser of herself and Joanne being surrounded by armed police - and Steve and Ted (Is this the first time Steve's seen her in a while? I'm leaning towards this being the case), looking terrified and having a gun on her - so yes - we do already know there will be Kate drama at this point. Line of Duty is always full of surprises. A big twist has been teased in episode 4 - will Kate be involved? I reckon it's likely. We've seen a police car appear to fly off road into water - and I'm pretty sure Kate will be in that car! Out of the trio - we definitely know the least about Kate. All we really know is that she trained at Ryton, is married with a son and not much else. She explained to Ryan her parents split when she was young and was out of the house a lot cos of this, not caring what she got up to. Eagle eyed fans would also know her full name is Katherine Laura and her maiden name was Donnelly (Series 2 whilst Denton was looking at her file). It would be interesting to learn more about her background as we really don't know much! At the end of series 5 we see her arrive home late to an empty house - her husband and son having gone to the pictures as planned - I do think they were certainly alluding to the next series (With Steve also but I'll get to that) - we'll see more of her personal side. You know I wouldn't be surprised if she was separated again.

And because we know so little, has she been dodgy from the off and we haven't known? Someone shared a really interesting theory on the basis of what she shared with Ryan, (featured on the shrine of duty podcast) that in her teens, someone may have attempted to recruit her just like Dot was but she saw through it, knowing it would lead to something that it would be best to stay clear of. Was she a troublemaker in her teens? Up to all sorts of anti-social behaviour? I love this idea and can totally see it! We know Steve's story of ending up in AC12 and we know Ted's background in the Royal Ulster Constabulary. But we don't know much about Kate's circumstances of joining the force or even AC12 - I would love to find out more about that!

Could her husband be dodgy? We don't know much about him at all. That would be an interesting twist. There's definitely still hostility there and I was surprised they got back together.

Especially from series 5, a lot more people have leant towards Kate being bent, being the fourth dot, etc. I've already said I can't see her being bent, or not in the same terms as Dot for example. Some people believe Dot took the bullet because she was in on stuff, but pulling the caddy investigation in on Dot wouldn't make much sense then. That all seemed to me she was doing the right thing and wanting the appropriate persons brought to justice. However a lot of her decisions in series 5 have come under fire from fans. For example not taking a declaration from Hargreaves, not addressing Ted's unlawful Fahreinheit order until after the events played out to name a couple. Even still, all her decisions to me seemed to warrant doing good and going after whoever it was being bent. I mean she had been happy to go after both Steve and Ted but I always saw that because she wanted the bent coppers getting their comeuppance - and in both instances, instead discovered other people were in fact the culprits and did what she could to put the investigations in the right direction. I mean yes she's happy to pin stuff on anyone but herself but that doesn't mean she's dodgy, just that she wants to get the job done - I don't think anyone would lead an investigation straight for themselves, that's just silly!

Has she edited Dot's declaration? I think the only two logical people are either Kate herself or Hilton as I've previously discussed. We'll see her come under fire for some things for sure and that would be one of them!

I've never been a huge fan of any of the main three being corrupt - I think any copper can do things that could be seen as bent, but that's what happens when you have the power of the law. All three have made questionable decisions. I don't think it's possible to be squeaky clean as anyone can make decisions that lead to consequences.

To summarise, I think Kate will be accused of being bent, I think she's going to have a lot of drama coming her way. I think she's going to get in a lot of bother. But I don't think she's going to be what we'd call bent. I think we'll learn things we won't expect about her, especially regarding her personal life. What I know for sure it's going to be exciting, thrilling, action-packed - and I cannot wait to see Kate's prime time to shine.

Steve and a painkiller addiction?

In the series 5 'wrap-up' - we see Steve alone in his flat taking medication - clearly for his back. Some fans looked into that sequence as foreshadowing to a possible pain-killer addiction? It would be an interesting turn for his character. There was a point where he wasn't sure if he was going to walk again and has clearly been dosed up on painkillers since the incident. One of the easter eggs that's been shared is of his prescription - and I'm certain he's still on the medication when we resume - one of the medications he's taking has a warning of causing addiction. Addiction in drama is usually focused on illegal drugs - but not often with prescribed medications. I don't think Jed would have had a sequence focused on Steve's medication if it weren't to be significant. He's clearly still coming to terms with his injury and its affected him in the bedroom too - I won't be surprised if poor Steve is still having issues - maybe that's why he turned down a drink with Nicola and not because he was trying to be professional. Maybe it's why he's leaving AC12. He came back to work on his own decision, I don't think a professional would have advised his return to work so early and now that's catching up to him. We've seen a lot of physical stunts upcoming, and Steve on the front-line with a firearm. I won't be surprised if his medication causes issues or he actually ends up causing more damage to his back, especially because he appears to be in a white van and we know there is a stunt involving a white van! I think his injuries will seriously catch up to him!

Returning characters?

We've had the surprise of Nicola Rogerson reappearing for the first time since series 2 (mentioned in series 3). Most of the time surprise returns are kept under wraps until transmission. Lindsay Denton's return in series 3 probably being one of the biggest and most notable cases. The trailer also revealed PC Farida Jatri will be appearing in series 6, first appearing as an officer on Roz Huntley's team at Polk Avenue. I think we all like to check IMDb to see if anything has been spilled, Steph Corbett has appeared on the list and whilst that's actually plausible seeing Ted looked as if he were giving her the missing 50k, IMDb has often had incorrect cast listings on purpose. I'm pretty confident Philip Osborne will be returning. I imagine we will see Sam Railston again too. I would love Nigel Morton and his cane to return, he's got off lightly to say the least, and he definitely knows what to and not to get involved in. And with a video from Martin's instagram, we've seen both Anna Maxwell Martin and Gregory Piper lurking so I'm happy to assume DCS Carmichael and Ryan Pilkington will be back for sure. I believe the two shady prison officers who made Lindsay Denton a cup of tea look likely to reappear, that will be interesting! With Jed, anyone who isn't dead could return... Then again remember when he posted that picture of Stephen and Craig and people went nuts thinking Dot was really alive? And, there's been a lot of teasing as to who could crop up. Lindsay Denton's name has been floating around the past couple of days thanks to Jed, she's quite frankly dead but will we get a flashback or some new footage? I think we will all go nuts if Keeley Hawes had sneakily returned to film new stuff, especially with her very hectic schedule, that woman hasn't stopped. Anything's possible at this point. We can't always trust everything but that's part of the fun of it!

A new character we haven't seen but has been mentioned!

I'll briefly touch on this. It has been alluded a character will pop up that has been mentioned in passing but never been seen before. Popular theories include somebody off Danny Waldron's list (Plausible after Fairbank was see in the trailer again) or one of the officers off the H board. I am personally leaning towards Dot Cottan's ex missus turning up. She was mentioned to Kate by Dot, and we know she works in forensics, a very convenient place to work if things need tampering with. I just think she'd be the most interesting person to turn up after all this time, mentioned once and never again - it's surprising seeing Dot turned out to be bent and she was working in the force too...

What next with Ted?

Ted did go through a lot at the end of series 5. Being accused of being H, murdering John Corbett, Anne-Marie McGillis and being bribed with 50k (Sorry 100k but shh they don't need to know that). Ted was cleared on all charges but has been given a final written warning. AC12 is definitely going to be under the watchful eye of the higher ups as alluded too in easter eggs. We've seen Ted very distressed in a lift and him getting awfully flustered at the Police Headquarters. I don't think his troubles are going to be over any time soon. The case of the other 50k could possibly come up again, seeing Mark Moffatt was sure to stress it was 100k. We don't know what happened between him and Steph, and with her supposedly reappearing - it's likely it'll be revisited. Will his money troubles be any better? Is he finally going to be out of the Edge Park Hotel with the dodgy toilet? Has he finally moved on from Roisin? I saw a suggestion from someone somewhere (can't remember who or where) that Roisin was now involved with someone who may be the corrupt officer, god could you imagine if her new fella turned out to be Osborne? What a way to really kick Ted whilst he's already down. There were also a couple of other things too that were left unanswered. Why did Ted REALLY dispose of his laptop (come on Ted, no one disposes their laptop for watching naughty things)? What did Ted say to Lee Banks? I don't think we'll ever learn the latter and that'll be down to audience interpretation but the laptop definitely needs to be addressed again. Is Ted actually dodgy? He ain't H put it that way but he's made some questionable decisions. Right now I want to know what's got him upset in the lift! And will Ted reach the end of his journey at AC12?! I really hope not but he's skating on thin ice being on a final warning, and the higher ups don't have a lot of trust to say the least.

Ryan in the police force.

At the end of series 5, Ryan has begun his police training. We've been told roughly 18 months have passed between the two series so I reckon if all's gone well (It has, of course it has) - he'll be a police officer somewhere within central police, being naughty. As already mentioned, we have seen Gregory Piper behind the scenes - so we'll be seeing Ryan again, which was inevitable really. It's hard to guess where he'll turn up but more than likely away from the trio. However I'm looking forward to Steve coming face to face with him again. He's managed to lie-low and not be detected by the team - as far as they're aware, most if not all of the OCG has been neutralised. He did a pretty good job staying out of the way with all the drama that happened. In the trailer, I did notice Ryan's picture on the infamous board - so he's definitely going to be detected - but how, by who and when? I'm looking forward to seeing how it all unravels but I'm sure it's going to be explosive.

Is Dot Cottan alive in witness protection?

Did he really die? Well... Nahhh you thought I was really going to talk about this? I love Dot, he's one of my favourite characters and I do deep down think it would be awesome for him to be alive somewhere. But realistically I do think it would be a big 'cop out'. He's Dot Cottan, not Dirty Den... Yeah yeah we never saw a mention of a funeral and the camera panned out before he officially died but yeah I think he looked pretty screwed, don't you? I will admit that I was low-key hoping that picture of the geezer leaving those flats was Dot... I do miss all the series 5 speculation. But yeah, Dot Cottan is definitely dead.

My overall hopes for Series 6.

I'm definitely not the only one who's hoping six won't be the last series. It has now been revealed that Jed 'doesn't know' and suggesting that everything that needs answering will be this series. Just like in series 3. Series 3 was the best series so far and I'm hoping series 6 will live up to that, and the cast have certainly teased that it will. It feels weird knowing so much could be wrapped up in seven weeks. I'm going to make the most of this series seeing a seventh might not be on the cards. I trust Jed and if the show comes to a natural conclusion after this then needs must. I think we'll have a better understanding if the show could go on once we have seen all of series 6! I really hope Steve finally gets his promotion and things will start to look up for him. Ted as well, he's had nothing but crap shovelled into his bubble recently. I also hope we get plenty of explosive Kate scenes which I think we definitely will. Having only seen a little of Kelly MacDonald in action so far I can't create any hopes without seeing more. Maybe she'll be the first lead guest star to survive and with all limbs in tact. As one of Scotland's finest actresses - I know that we'll be in for a real treat! I'm hoping for DCS Carmichael to have lots of scenes - I actually really love her character and hope to find out more about her. Seeing Anna sneaking in the background of one of Martin's instagram stories, no doubt she's reappearing as I mentioned before. I'm hoping for an explosive reunion with Ryan and Steve. I'm excited for all the Tedisms. I'm looking forward to bad-ass queen Kate. Oh and I can't wait to hear our favourite beeeeeeeeepppppp - interrogation scenes are really the best. I'm feeling like this will be the greatest and most explosive series yet.

Oh boy, this has taken up a lot of my time and I'm glad I didn't finish until some more information had come to light. I want to thank anyone who read all of this long ass post. I want to thank a couple of my absolute favourite blogs for giving me a push to finish and share this. I know I've probably missed some stuff but what was going to be quick thing turned into hours. These theories could be correct, could be completely wrong! But I'm looking forward to re-reading this after everything's happened. I'm not sure whether I'll share thoughts after every episode yet but if my mind is whirring enough I'm sure I'll conjure up something! It's almost 4am and I'm glad to be done with this! I'll be curious to know what you think! I apologise if I have made any mistakes in this but I've gone through and think all information is correct, if not, Ted will be issuing me with a Reg 15 quicker than you can say houl yer whisht!

Much love and gearing up for Sunday!

[dragon-grunkle]

interesting note about my lore: most dragons are not flighted.

i hadn't actually incorporated this until recently, when i realized that i already have quite a few dragons without wings or flight (alvar has no wings, jet can't use his at all, okeli can only glide, etc). and honestly - it makes perfect sense. a lot of my dragons are anthropomorphic, so wings are already kind of a pain to add on when drawing them (i love drawing wings, but they can lead to some messy silhouettes if you want them tucked...). plus i headcanon that there is an insane amount of morphological variety when it comes to dragons, mostly because of things like magic making rapid mutation and evolution leading to loss of flight possible.

older dragons - those in the several centuries range, like tyqin - make up the vast majority of dragons capable of true self-powered, ground takeoff flight - and dragons of this age are few and far between. then there are those who can more or less fly, but only if they have a tall place to take off from. a lot of dragons are like this, but the amount of flight ability in this category is also variable, and dwindling as time goes on. last, you have those with nonfunctional or nonexistent wings. a growing proportion of sornieth is like this. the trend tends to be that dragons in metropolitan areas are less flighted than those in rural or older areas. some breeds are more likely to be flight capable than others. snappers, for example, are basically entirely grounded, like in site lore. spirals and skydancers are more inclined to be flighted, but it's not a sure thing. 

everyone knows dragons SHOULD be able to fly, but for whatever reason, they've started to lose that ability, and no one's really sure why that is. all this is important when it comes to cliff and arclight in particular, because the city is really not designed for flight. there are buildings with launching points for those capable of gliding, so they can achieve good lift, but these are few and far between and are...really not that functional anyway. i mean, say you're trying to commute - you'd really have to hope that the building you're trying to reach is both a. within gliding distance and b. has a landing pad for you, so they're more like tourist attractions than anything, or a part of urban design that just never really took off. plus, arclight is built on an artificial island. space is VERY limited, and all the buildings are tightly packed as a result. there IS a system of hanging gondolas to link various skyscrapers, but again, this is not super conducive to free flight.

all in all, most dragons really just...don’t bother with flying anymore. society has progressed to the point where it’s not strictly necessary, and while many may wonder what it’s like or enjoy limited use of their gliding abilities, flying under your own power is generally seen as a thing of the past. but what if you do want to fly, but you don’t really have functional wings? well, there’s a few options out there for you.

some flights, like arcane and especially wind, have managed to manufacture magic-oriented ways of flying, like amplifying air currents or decreasing the effects of gravity on an individual. you do need to be a good enough mage to pull this off, though, and the decline in flight ability seems to be correlated with a decline in magical ability as well...then there's lightning, which has come up with powered flight in the form of aerocraft. they're more expensive than magic, but don’t require magic to make or operate, which makes them somewhat more accessible. they're not common by any means, though - they're mostly used for utilitarian purposes, like transporting people and supplies.

a small community of dragons fascinated by aerotechnology has sprung up, however, and within this group lies a subculture of stunt pilots and racers, those interested in flying faster than anyone has ever flown before, whether that be under their own power or not. this, of course, is where cliffseeker comes from. after a terrible crash leads to him getting laughed out of the goldensparc aviation community, cliff heads to arclight, having heard about the amazing technological advances happening there. he's really hoping to get on the leading edge of aviation. except...that's not really what happens. arclight is, again, an isolated artificial island. nobody builds any planes because there's no room to test them.

so he's out of luck - until he hears about a disgraced inventor who's been working on some sort of new era flying device. no one else is willing to take a chance on it, but cliff will do anything to fly. he tracks down this inventor and finds that what he's made is not actually a fixed wing aerocraft at all, but a personal flying device that you strap to your back. tesla referenced the works of an ancient light scholar who drew up fantastical flying devices. at the time, he was mocked for trying to solve a problem that didn't exist yet, and so his works were lost to history - until now, that is.

so cliff’s found his wings. only, there's a catch - tesla is embroiled in a scientific turf war with rival bioengineer stark, who plans to fuse dragons and familiars in an effort to restore flight capabilities to dragons. she's already mutated herself beyond recognition and seems to have lost herself in the process. terrified of what she may do to reach her goal, tesla enlists cliff to help him stop her...