#sometimes people feel the need to add incorrect information to these posts

[north-blue-hearts]

Heart of Gold

CisFem Reader x Trafalgar Law

CW: ptsd, trauma, depictions/implications of suicide and suicidal ideation, language, violence, blood, canonical character death, mature themes and events 18+

Chapter 14: Travels

You stayed at your current island for a couple of days. The crew needed some shore leave for starters, and as long as the marines didn’t make a nuisance of themselves there was no rush. Someone stayed on the Tang with you – which was pretty standard for the crew. There were always a couple people available to move the submarine out of harm’s way if trouble caught up to them.

Law left with Shachi and Penguin at one point to tear the town’s library apart. Figuratively, he assured you. Sometimes knowledge had a way of hiding in small out of the way places like the islands he meant to visit, and there was a possibility that they could find something useful.

Whether that information was about his devil fruit, your ability, the seer’s prophecy, your current predicament, or even the One Piece, it was impossible to say.

There could also be nothing.

They returned with something, however, but it wasn’t something they could verify themselves.

You had shown Law some of the language that you’d translated for him before. The King’s tongue. By rights you were probably the only person who knew how to read it.

At the very least you might be the only person who knew how to read it that wasn’t a Celestial Dragon.

You flipped through it when Law handed it to you, skimming over some of the pages.

“It looks like a journal.” You state, paying closer attention to the page you’d randomly turned to. “It’s… kind of crude, but not impossible to read.”

“Crude?”

You tilt your head. “It feels like someone writing in a second or third language, and not their native tongue. It’s stilted in places, some particles are incorrect, but the concepts are complex, not childish. It’s not a child’s journal, and it feels too… motherly to be a teenager.”

You close the journal and smile. “I can read it in my spare time and see if there’s anything useful. I can imagine an anthropologist or archeologist would be interested in the contents, even if they don’t turn out to be directly useful to us.”

“It was a bust then?” Shachi moans.

“Mm, no, we don’t know yet.” You correct.

“Ah, sorry, Bell, it’s just… we were so excited to find that language.” Penguin explains. “And it’s a journal. That’s kind of boring to a pirate.”

“Robin-ya would be excited.” Law says, looking between the two.

“She doesn’t count, she’s an archeologist.” Shachi grumbles.

“She’s… one of the Straw Hats, yes?” You question, running over the list of your supposed allies. Law nods.

“Careful when you meet her,” Penguin rubs his arms. “She has, uh, a unique sense of humor.”

You smile. “I’ll keep that in mind. Anything else happen?” You ask, looking between the three of them.

Law shakes his head. “Scanning didn’t find anything. Admittedly, I’ve never really used it to scan an island, so I’m still making a lot of assumptions. I’m hoping we can find a book or two on geology on the next island, but everything here was basic.”

“On to further adventure then?” You question, quirking an eyebrow at him.

“Tomorrow,” he admits. “There’s a small… er…” His sentence trails off and his frown deepens.

“Festival?” You prompt, letting a small sigh escape you. “Alas.”

“Once everything is sorted out, we’ll take you on a festival tour!” Penguin offers, Shachi joining in with him. They’re trying so hard to cheer you up, and it’s appreciated.

“We can start at the Grandline Metropolis,” Shachi adds. “There’s festivals in all the quads, and once we’ve seen more of them we can do an island tour.”

“That sounds very… post everything else.” You admit a little sheepishly, but manage to put on a truly bright smile. “But something to look forward too, certainly.”

A soft metallic bang is heard from below decks, a call to a meal, and you all head down to eat.

You give one last glance to the island, curiosity and frustration in equal measure, before descending to the mess hall with everyone else.

The meal went well, and a couple hours later you were in your room, beginning to read the journal while you enjoyed the setting sun, when there was a knock at your door. Setting the small tome aside you opened the door and weren’t entirely surprised to see Law standing there.

“Busy?” He questions, eyes flitting to the book by your bed.

You shake your head. “Barely started. What can I do for you?”

He’s silent for a beat before shaking his head a little. “The festival’s fireworks might be visible from the deck.” He looks away, the default frown on his face twitching a little. “I thought you might enjoy seeing them.”

You smile. “It’s worth a shot. Are fireworks… um… Well, actually, what are fireworks?”

Law offers his elbow, and you take it. There’s a devious grin on his face. “All those technological advancements of days gone by, and there weren’t any fireworks?”

You feel your face flush. “I, well, the word may be different, is all.” You stammer a little, suddenly far more aware of his warmth than usual.

“They’re effectively colorful bombs.” He says, describing them as you ascended from the lower decks. “Fired into the air and packed with flammable minerals and chemicals to produce colorful light shows in the night sky.”

“Huh.” You’re really beginning to hope there’s a clear view available from the ship. “I’ve… never heard of such a thing. Colorful, recreational, bombs.”

“Fireworks.” He offers.

“So you say.” You step out onto the deck as the last few rays of the day’s light disappear under the horizon. The moments after the sun set were always your favorite. The world slowed for a time – man and beast alike, and it was easier to breathe.

The moment just before dawn was often the same, but days were often more hectic for you than nights, and so there wasn’t the same sense of peace to be had.

Law goes to the far side of the deck, leaning against the railing, and so you do the same. The world is quiet, and comfortable. So are you, standing against the rail on the deck of the Polar Tang, watching the sky steadily darken with a man beside you who had no desire to unnecessarily fill the quiet with words.

“Captain.” You begin, and see the scowl deepen.

He scowls when you call him captain, and the realization of why hits you like a bolt. At first you thought it was because you were teasing him, or maybe the tone with which you said it rankled him. But then you called him Law, and he didn’t scowl.

(Y/N)-ya.

Bepo, Shachi, Penguin, Ikkaku, Jean Bart, Clione, Hakugan, Uni.

(Y/N).

Robin-ya.

You tilt your head, and Law looks over at you in mild confusion. You had started to say something to him before you’d gone quiet and now he was waiting for you to get on with it. But your initial question was gone from your mind and replaced by something new.

“Why do you call people that?” You question, and there’s complete confusion on his face. “The ending you put on names, but not all names. You don’t use it for your crew, so I can’t imagine it’s a term of endearment. You used to put it on the end of mine, but now you do not.

“But when you referenced Nico Robin, you called her Robin-ya.” You’re too lost in your own thoughts to notice the expression on Law’s face. “Is it a statement of distance then? Like the tonal difference between sir dependent upon -.” Your concentration is broken as you hear a whistling sound.

You instinctively turn to it, eyes wide, taking in everything you could, and are relieved by your observation haki to realize it must be the firework that Law had mentioned. The colors were beautiful, the first and second time that you saw them. The distant pop that followed was barely enough to make you flinch, but it was followed by another whistle.

The sound of the bombs being launched into the air.

“Oh.” You murmur quietly, eyes glued to the sky as more explosions of color filled the air. “It’s like… flowers of light.” You say softly.

You stay still and quiet for a long moment, watching the bursts of light in the sky, soft gasps and awe-filled laughter, barely breathing the sound out into the air. Law watched you quietly, a small smile on his face. A softness in his features that you didn’t see.

At least, not at first.

You turned toward him after a particularly colorful display, smile wide on your face, and caught the look on his face. Your delight shifts to surprise, and the fireworks are no longer important. His eyes go a little wide, and the color that darkens his face gives him away before he looks away.

There’s no way you slept for centuries to fall in love with a pirate.

You slept for centuries for some purpose decided by the seer. You slept for centuries because you hadn’t managed to die when you tried. You slept for centuries because fate deemed it thus.

You slept for centuries because you’d been caught.

Falling in love with a pirate, was simply something that had happened.

You move to him, standing in front of him, eyes on his hands for a brief moment. The colors of the fireworks tremble over him softly, the subtle different colors lost due to the distance, little more than a soft blur of pale light.

You reach out, running your index finger along his, twining your fingers into his as he reacts to your initial touch. You’ve never felt so warm in the cool night air like this before, and part of you wonders if the soft light against his shirt isn’t from your own face, and not the distant light display. He reaches out with his hand, mimicking your actions and you twine the fingers of your other hand with his.

Looking up you see the soft expression from earlier. A tender smile you mirror on your own face.

He puts your hands on his waist, putting one of his own arms around your waist. His other hand comes up along your neck, fingers brushing over your skin. The gentle hand cups your jaw and tilts your head up.

You could step back easily. There’s a soft rush of anticipation and embarrassment that almost moves your feet, but it would be against your will.

Your lips press together as your eyes meet his, head dizzy with hope. You’re trying not to look ahead with your haki, but your heart seems ready to burst out of your chest.

“Law.” You say his name softly. There’s no purpose for it, no question behind it. A correction, perhaps, for having called him captain earlier.

The soft smile is more defined, and the shape of your name dances along the lines of his lips as he closes the small distance between you both.

The sky was awash with colors, and you were partially aware of the volley of explosions behind you, but the fireworks were mostly forgotten. Another time, perhaps, and they would have more of your attention.

Right now, there was warmth against your lips, and hot hands against your skin. Relief in your heart, and a rush of pleasure through your chest. Later, there would be words, but for now there was nothing to be said.

For as busy as your lips were, there was little else for them to do.

[sprkle-boaat]

Finding your community // Self Diagnosis

Recently, while applying to join an Autistic Discord Community Server (which I'm not going to name) I was asked to state my opinions on Self Diagnosis.

I created this blog page to be an open and honest place were autistic teens can find advice and solace. I would like to remind everyone who reads my blog that I am not the be all and end all when it comes to autistic discussion. I also do not accept bullying, bad mouthing or being rude to people based on identity and disability. This blog is my opinion and advice as Sprkle. I am only human and I am likely to make mistakes and say the wrong thing. I am also allowed to change my opinions.

Following that disclosure...

I think that finding community is incredibly important. Whether that is, as Chloe Hayden says 'finding your tribe', or being part of any club, community, online forum, or fanbase. Quoting Hight School Musical 'we're all in this together'. It is important to have people with which you share common interests and can talk about what you like. This doesn't mean that everyone has to have the same personality entirely or that you all have to agree on absolutely everything. What a boring world it would be if that was the case.

Anyway, the other week I was attempting to join a discord server that prided itself on being an Autistic Community. Interestingly, along with providing a brief introduction about yourself you also were asked to share your views on Self Diagnosis*.

*Collins Dictionary defines Self Diagnosis as 'the diagnosis of one's own malady or illness'

I'd like to weigh in my own discussion and opinion on this.

Personally, I think that self diagnosis can be dangerous. It can affect not only the person self diagnosing but also the people in the community.

Self diagnosing can not only lead to people having an incorrect outlook on ones own mental health, it can also cause unneeded stress and anxiety (please read this article from the John Hopkins Hospital for more information). I will also add a link to a few more articles about the dangers of self-diagnosis at the bottom of this post that I would encourage you to read.

I would also like to state, from a more personal anecdote, that self-diagnosis can sometimes (I emphasises that I am not saying all the time here-) lead to the mistreatment of others in the community who do have a diagnosis. Some (again not all) people who self-diagnose do so in order to gain attention. From what I have seen in my own life with someone doing this, they have played on harmful stereotypes and this has lead to myself- and other members of my school community- to not receive treatment or help as we should. However, I do understand that for many a diagnosis can be hard to come by, and in some circumstances dangerous to ask for/have. Thus, some people turn to self-diagnosis. In these circumstances I still do not think self-diagnosis is the best answer, however, there is no harm in researching, joining servers or asking for advice. I think that you do not need a diagnosis to know how you are feeling, while for many it validates, it is not required to validate how you are feeling or what you have experienced. Again, I urge you to look at the links to Kooth, Childline and the NHS in my blog if you need support and are in the UK. This has been a rather long and controversial post and I apologise to anyone who may no longer feel welcomed to my blog due to what I have said, and I do hope that you still stay. Please know that if you wish to ask questions you can do so on my blog page or if you would like to have a chat that option is still open to you.

-Sprkle Here are some more links about the dangers of Self-Diagnosis:

[royalberryriku]

Just a tiny PSA for young people/ teens on Tumblr who might be new to a few things if this is one of their first social medias or if you're just new to it in general:

• Boycotting is done to stop a certain company from earning money, not denying yourself the ability to talk about what is made by said companies; you can still enjoy these things by pirating them or getting them via a means that means the developer isn't receiving royalties or pay from it. And, of course, simply talking about what you like will not grant them money. If you need help pirating, it's okay to ask a friend you trust who knows more about tech and downloading things.

• Callouts aren't going to always be honest and out of concern for safety. Just like irl, people can be petty and may have made it to create rumours for personal reasons; such as trying to get back at their ex or a friend who did something small but meaningful to them and to get back at that. People are people, offline or online, please be safe and aware that people lie.

• If you're a minor, please be careful about sharing your age, any photos or information about yourself, including even basic things. Actually, just in general be careful please.

• Discourse isn't always going to be about what's right or just, sometimes it's about winning an argument to a person on the other side of the screen. The best thing to do is not to argue and just block. I know that's hard sometimes, but they want engagement and they want your anger. With that, it also isn't always obvious when it's someone looking for a response. Sometimes they act polite at first. Be careful out there and it's always okay to block if you feel uncomfortable. And yes, even if you're just a little uncomfortable or they just don't seem quite right. You can always opt out and you're not doing anything wrong by setting boundaries.

• Always do your own research as well, don't just take what someone says on here at face value. I know, not everyone has bad motives, but it's important to still do what you can to stay informed. Sometimes people are just incorrect or haven't done their research fully either. It's always good to fact check!

• Just because someone is similar to you and has the same background experiences and identities, just as being a fellow queer or a woman or any other marginalised group, that doesn't necessarily mean they're trustworthy. People are people, and individuals are always capable of both good and bad. Please don't trust people based on identity and similarities. They can be petty too and they can definitely lie and abuse your trust. And not even for obvious reasons like abuse, but sometimes to tell rumours to get back at people or to just use you for whatever petty reason.

• Online links and adverts for protests aren't always doing to be honest or genuine. Some of them are scams and others are just badly organised. Please do research first before thinking of going to a protest and always make sure you have a friend with you and someone to help you in case of trouble. Preferably, make sure you have a safe support network to return to and people who can back you up financially and legally.

• Check the privacy settings on your apps, including Tumblr and especially places like Instagram and Twitter to make sure data isn't being misused by said apps without your consent.

• Be aware of reposters and AI generated images from people when you post your art online. Always make sure you date your work and, in cases where you're extra worried, add a watermark over your art.

• Use the mute/ filter tags option in settings to avoid topics that make you uncomfortable. You can also filter out nsfw tags as well there.

• Vapes are not only unhealthy and worse than cigarettes, but they also find Israel's genocide. Use gum instead or look into nicotine patches to stave off the craving. There are also helplines out there that can help.

• (This also relates to the above). Certain things are sometimes needed, such as straws for some disabled people, or sunscreen to avoid skin cancer. You're not a bad person for having needs and while some things do impact the environment, it's important to realise that you're one person with a need, not the cooperations burning fossil fuels. Please don't let people pressure you into getting rid of your own needs or making you guilty for them. This also does apply to addiction and if it's hard to quit, not to guilt yourself into feeling worse over it.

• Always ask for help, even if you aren't sure if you'll receive it. If someone is making you uncomfortable, tell. Offline or online, always say when something is wrong and find an adult or close friend (irl) you trust and tell them what's going on. Yes venting to online friends can be helpful, but if you feel in danger, please tell someone in your life offline who can support you.

• If you ever feel like the events in the world are too much, you're not a bad person for switching off and taking time for yourself. I don't mean this in a condescending way but as someone who was a teen who did this exact thing; there are people out there doing the work, adults with support and years of experience for dealing with this sort of stress. As much as it may feel bearable now, it can become overwhelming over time and you can definitely end up in really bad places mentally without realising and thinking you're doing fine. Take time away and please don't doom scroll. Adults are out there and able to handle this, please give yourself time to grow before launching into the world of activism. Preserve your energy and your mental health.

And that's all I can think of right now! Please stay safe out there folks and remember to let yourself enjoy being a kid, a teen and being young. You have all the time in the world ahead of you.

[welcome-to-the-neotheater]

Genius.com: A full fledged angry rant

I made one of those iceberg memes for AJR – @welcome-to-the-neotheater on Tumblr

As I mentioned multiple times in my AJR iceberg post, I strongly dislike genius.com

How do I hate thee? Let me count the ways

ADS/Annoying pop-ups

I understand that companies have to make money in other ways when they are offering a free product. HOWEVER, this feels a little extreme.

I am going to open 1 genius.com lyric page, let's count the ads together.

These are all DIFFERENT ADS on the SAME PAGE

And I got this annoying pop-up

Don't believe me? Go to https://genius.com/Ajr-bang-lyrics right now (or the lyric page for any song) and turn your ad blocker off.

Its insane

There are more ADS than there are LYRICS

Wrong Lyrics

Genius.com lyrics are often incorrect

Take this lyric from Buy You A Rose AJR – Buy You a Rose Lyrics | Genius Lyrics

I'm pretty sure the correct lyric is "cities pass like candy stores"

I am POSITIVE that the correct lyric is NOT "cities pass like kidney stones"

A website that's supposed to be built around having accurate information that anyone can fix or update shouldn't have this as an issue when there were 16 GOD DAMN CONTRIBUTERS TO THIS PAGE

This isn't an isolated example either

Let's look at what Genius.com has for Living Room's Overture AJR – Overture (Living Room) Lyrics | Genius Lyrics

Okay, who the fuck typed these

There are so many typos on this page

This can't even be argued as a case of misheard lyrics when you CANT EVEN FIGURE OUT HOW TO SPELL THE WORD "PART"

Can we please all teach ourselves how to use spell check I promise it will not kill you.

Wrong/Unverifiable annotations

To Genius's credit, sometimes their annotations can be helpful

For example, this annotation for I'm Not Famous did actually provide me with helpful context for this lyric in the song.

However, this is one of the best examples of Genius.com annotations working properly

I'm not going to throw out disses at people's annotations with specific examples for obvious reasons but they tend to be extremely surface level and restate the lyric instead of providing any actual fucking insight into the meaning

They can also just be unverifiable at times

Wikipedia, similar to Genius.com works by allowing anyone to update available information. Since, technically, anything can be added to Wikipedia, this is why many look down upon Wikipedia as a source.

However, at least Wikipedia makes you cite shit.

Any Wikipedia article will have a list of sources at the end of it for people to use to verify what is written in the article.

Genius.com doesn't work like that

I want to make it extremely clear that I don't think that this person/annotation specifically is lying, especially because from what I can tell, all of this is true (except I'm Not Famous came out March 24th not 25th) I'm just using this as an example of an annotation made on Genius.com

AJR - What Everyone’s Thinking Lyrics and Tracklist | Genius

Notice how there is no actual source in this entire annotation, because Genius.com doesn't require sources to be added.

This is a problem, because while this specific annotation isn't spreading any misinformation, this shows that it's so easy for someone who wanted to, either maliciously or obliviously, lie about the songs because it doesn't require a source. Wikipedia requires sources, Genius does not. Wikipedia has (citation needed) next to sentences without sources to be like a "hey! take this with a grain of salt!" Thats why Wikipedia works and Genius doesn't.

Additionally, if someone went on there to say something that's actually a true fact about the music mentioned by the band in an interview, since Genius.com doesn't require you to add a source for your annotations, someone might see the true annotation, think it's interesting, but would be unable to actually cite it for anything because it doesn't link to a more trustworthy source and Genius.com annotations alone aren't trustworthy.

Kinda takes the fun out of music

This is a lot more based on my own opinion, but a lot of the fun in music is coming up with your own interpretations for the lyrics. For cases that aren't direct allusions, like the Harry Styles example earlier, where song lyrics are more open to interpretation, it kinda makes it less enjoyable for Genius.com to only show 1 interpretation of it when you click on lyrics. When you click on an annotated lyric in Genius.com it shows you an annotation for it, and while you can suggest an edit be made to that annotation, you can't actually add a second annotation or something showing an alternative interpretation of the lyric.

Lyrics that are intentionally vague and fun to wonder what they mean get kinda destroyed when you go to Genius and it just says "This is what this means, this is the only interpretation of this lyric"

All right I yapped for like an hour on this, so if anyone was wondering why I kept shitting on Genius.com in my iceberg post, that's why 👍

THAT IS NOT THE LYRIC, GENIUS

AJR – Buy You a Rose Lyrics | Genius Lyrics

One of the many things I dislike about Genius.com, I will probably post a full ass rant soon.

[liesoverthec]

hi do you have a post about the timeline in 911 like with the year and the seasons and so including season 5

Hi anon!

I don't *technically* have a post w/ the timeline, so I'm using your ask as an opportunity to make one!

I'm going to put this under a cut, bc currently I have actually no idea what's going on with the timeline for s5, and as things air, I'll update this continually, and it can be used as the most updated resource whenever you open it!

I could not resist adding commentary sometimes, sorry 😅

*disclaimer - I understand the crossover is supposed to line up w LS’s timeline or whatever but it absolutely does not work for our timeline. So this is purely OG’s timeline, bc I don’t watch LS, and also our timeline is a lot more logical.*

911 OG timeline under the cut!

Just a note - anything that’s currently speculation is gonna be in blue. As we get confirmation of things, I’ll add in confirmed info and put things in black, and anything that’s wrong will be removed/edited.

Also, episodes tend to happen over several days’ time, so if you’re looking for an EXACT date for a little scene in an ep, I mostly don’t have it for you, but you should put it within the week I’ve given, relative to where it went in the ep. (Eg a call later in the ep would be more likely to have happened on Thursday or Friday.)

Also re: s4. COVID does not work as a good timeline indicator for this show, AT ALL. Its sort of like the whole “do they have regular shifts” debate - the writers wrote the stories they wanted to tell, and then fit COVID in around that. Also it got really screwed by them being done filming before it hit, but not having aired any of s3B yet. And then both bc COVID can’t be used to figure out time, and also bc it wasn’t aired normally, it is a lot more nebulous timeline-wise, I did my best though 😂

-Pre Series-

1966-1967: Athena is born.

1967: Bobby is born.

Mid Mar 1977: Chim is born (this has the potential to change in the future, details on why found here)

Sometime July - Dec 1979: Hen is born.

1983: Maddie is born.

1985: Daniel is born.

1987 - 1992: Eddie is born SOMETIME in this time window. Personally I like him in 1989/90, bc it makes him 21 when Christopher is born, but I think 1987 is also very plausible since that’s when RG is born.

Fall 1989: “Athena Begins” starts, continues through 1991 (Emmett dies on Feb 17th, 1991).

Somewhere between Feb 15 and mid September 1991: Buck is born.

Sometime Aug - Dec 1992: Daniel dies.

2000: Albert is born.

Aug 2000 - Feb 2001: Michael and Athena get married.

2002: May is born. (Discussion on May’s birth year here)

2005: Chim joins the firehouse, events of Chimney Begins stretch out over ~2007?? Unclear exact time frame but before Hen joins and over at least a year, if not more.

2006: Josh joins dispatch.

Sometime?? In 2008: Hen joins LAFD to be a paramedic. I really don’t have a good measure for this one bc it apparently takes years to become a paramedic but this is one area where the writers don’t give a SHIT about reality bc she has to join in 2008 for a comment in Future Tense to make sense. So just - early 2008 probably for this one.

Jan 2009: Hen joins the 118.

2009: Harry is born.

2010 or early 2011: Eddie enlists in the army for the first time - coincides with Shannon getting pregnant. (As of now, no idea if they were married before or after she got pregnant. Timeline of him enlisting in response to the pregnancy though indicates to me maybe they were already married.)

2011: Denny is born.

2011: Christopher is born. (Anyone curious, personally, I’d put his birthday somewhere in Jan-early March, late May-early Sept, purely bc I refuse to think at this point that Christopher’s birthday has happened while the show has been airing and Eddie hasn’t mentioned it. So it must be during usual hiatus times 😂)

Dec of 2014: “Bobby Begins Again” starts.

2015: Eddie is deployed a second time, his helicopter crashes/he’s discharged from Army/Shannon leaves him and Christopher

Sometime Aug-Dec 2016: Bobby becomes captain of the 118.

Aug 2017: Buck joins the 118.

-S1-

Jan 3 - Jan 9th, 2018: “Pilot”

Jan 10 - Jan 16, 2018: “Let Go”

Jan 17 - Jan 23, 2018: “Next of Kin”

Jan 24 - Jan 30, 2018 - “Worst Day Ever”

Jan 31 - Feb 6, 2018 - “Point of Origin”

Feb 7 - Feb 27, 2018 - “Heartbreaker”

Feb 28 - Mar 6, 2018 - “Full Moon (Creepy AF)”

Mar 7 - Mar 13, 2018 - “Karma’s A Bitch”

Mar 14 - Mar 20, 2018: “Trapped”

Mar 21 - Mar 27, 2018: “A Whole New You”

-S2-

Sept 1 - Sept 23, 2018: “Under Pressure”

Sept 24, 2018: the earthquake

Oct 8 - Oct 14, 2018: “Stuck”

Oct 15 - Oct 21, 2018: “Awful People”

Oct 22 - Oct 28, 2018: “Dosed”

Oct 29 - Nov 4, 2018: “Haunted”

Nov 5 - Nov 12, 2018: “Buck, Actually”

December 2018: “Merry Ex-Mas”

Mar 11 - Mar 15, 2019: “New Beginnings”

Mar 15 - 16, 2019: “Fight or Flight”

Apr 15 - Apr 21, 2019: “Broken”

Apr 22 - Apr 28, 2019: “Ocean’s 9-1-1″

May 6 - May 12, 2019: “Careful What You Wish For”

May 13 - May 19, 2019: “This Life We Choose” (in case you’re curious, cuz I was, average probationary period for a firefighter is 6-18 months, Eddie’s is 9mo w the 118 (plus 3mo at the academy = Bobby’s “year of hard work” in his speech) so he more or less has an average probationary period length! The timeline just doesn’t fit otherwise w Buck’s leg.)

-S3-

Sept 1 - Sept 22, 2019: “Kids Today”

Sept 22, 2019: the tsunami (ending scene events of “The Searchers” carry over into Sept 23, 2019)

Oct 14 - Oct 20, 2019: “Triggers”

Oct 21 - Oct 27, 2019: “Rage”

Oct 28 - Nov 1, 2019: “Monsters”

Nov 4 - Nov 10, 2019: present day “Athena Begins” events

Nov 11 - Nov 17, 2019: “Malfunction”

Nov 25 - Nov 30, 2019: “Fallout”

Dec 1 - Dec 25, 2019: “Christmas Spirit”

Mar 16 - Mar 22, 2020: “Seize the Day”

Mar 23 - Mar 30, 2020: “Fools”

Mar 30 - Apr 12, 2020: “Pinned” (end scene is Apr 13, 2019)

Apr 13, 2020: “The Taking of Dispatch 9-1-1” (end scene events take place sometime Apr 13 - Apr 19, 2020)

Apr 20, 2020: Events of present day “Eddie Begins” (Christopher’s show-and-tell is Apr 24, 2020)

Apr 27 - May 3, 2020: “The One That Got Away”

May 4 - May 10, 2020: “Powerless”

May 11 - May 17, 2020: “What’s Next?”

-S4-

Mid Sept 2020 (pretty damn sure actually it’s Sept 21, 2020, but since it wasn’t aired on a regular schedule I can’t be completely, 100% sure): The mudslide

End of Sept 2020: “Future Tense”

Oct 2020: “9-1-1, What’s Your Grievance?”

Oct 2020: Present day events of “Buck Begins”

End of Oct - beginning of Nov, 2020: “Jinx” (Jinx happens in ~25hrs, start to finish, I just can’t tell you exactly what day)

Mid Nov 2020: “There Goes The Neighborhood”

End of Nov 2020: “Breaking Point”

Somewhere around the last two weeks of Jan 2021 - first two weeks of Feb 2021: “Blindsided”

Somewhere around the last two weeks of March 2021 - first two weeks of April 2021: “Parenthood”

May 3 - May 9, 2021: “First Responders” (I *think* this is where the show catches up where the regular airing schedule matches up w the show’s timeline. I have no reason to think otherwise)

May 10 - May 16, 2021: “Treasure Hunt”

May 17 - May 24, 2021: “Suspicion”

May 24 - May 30, 2021: “Survivors”

-S5-

Sept 2021: Albert joins the LAFD in the montage at the end of Survivors

Sept 14, 2021 - initial spyware attack

Sept 20 - Sept 27, 2021 - actual blackout

Oct 11 - Oct 17, 2021: ‘Home and Away’

Oct 18 - Oct 24, 2021: ‘Peer Pressure’

Nov 1 - Nov 7, 2021: 'Brawl in Cell Block 9-1-1′

Nov 8 - Nov 14, 2021: ‘Ghost Stories’

Nov 15 - Nov 21, 2021: 'Defend in Place’

Nov 22 - Nov 30, 2021: 'Past is Prologue’

Dec 1 - Dec 25, 2021: ‘Wrapped in Red’

Mar 21 - Mar 27, 2022: ‘Outside Looking In’

Mar 15 - Mar 28, 2022: ‘Boston’ (flashbacks date back to Sept 27 and occur through the fall of 2021)

Apr 11 - Apr 17, 2022: ‘Fear-o-Phobia’

Apr 18 - Apr 24, 2022: ‘Dumb Luck’

Apr 25 - May 1, 2022: ‘FOMO’

[guardianofrivendell]

Back by popular demand (lol two people but let me have my moment): the Guardianofrivendell Birthday Writing Challenge!  

A writing challenge?

Yes! To celebrate Tullaina's and my own upcoming birthday on June 11th, I challenge YOU, my dear mutuals, friends and followers, to write! Because what better way to celebrate my birthday than by being creative?

You can write anything from a little drabble to a full-blown 5k+ words fic story, whatever you feel like. But about what?

Well... If you remember last year, the writing challenge was all about the Incorrect Tullaina Quotes. I’m bringing them back because it was a lot of fun, but I’m adding two more options for those who want to try something else this year or simply don’t want to write about my OC (which I totally understand!!)

You can write fluff, angst, even smut, use every cliche trope in the book if you want, but make sure to tag your work accordingly so no one gets surprised!

You can find the three options further down this post. 

How do I participate?

If you decide to join this little writing challenge, I'll be forever in your debt and super super grateful that you helped by not letting this flop!

Send me an ask or dm if you want to join this challenge with the option of your choice. I'll list the participants in this post and depending of if they want to, I’ll add what option they chose so you’ll have a basic idea of what everyone else is doing (because we like that, we’re human after all)

Deadline is Saturday June 11th 2022, this means you’ll have about 6 weeks time to write your work. On June 11th, everyone can post their work on Tumblr using the tag #Guardianofrivendell Birthday Writing Challenge 2022 so we can find the fic and don't forget to tag me in it!

The day after I’ll link all the works in one big GBWC 2022 Masterlist. 

Can I post the fic on other platforms too?

Sure! Go ahead and post it on AO3, Wattpad or whatever platform you use outside of Tumblr.

What if I can't write, but I want to draw something or make a moodboard?

Uh... Yes please! You don't even have to ask! Same thing, send me an ask or dm that you’ll join the challenge and I’ll add your name to the list. You can still choose between the three options!

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to send me an ask or message! I’ll probably reblog this post a lot of times the next 6 weeks, so sorry in advance for that :)

I read this post but I still don’t understand what this challenge is or what I have to do?

Don’t worry, we all get that sometimes! Luckily for you (and me!) I did this challenge last year as well. You can read all the works and watch the beautiful art pieces here so you can see how my wonderful mutuals and friends took on this challenge like a boss! Aren’t I the luckiest one?

Alright, alright, we get it! Now get to the options already!

You can choose out of three options, or combine them if you want, go crazy:

Pick a quote (or quotes if you’re feeling ambitious) from the tag “Incorrect Tullaina Quotes”. Use it as inspiration, build your story around it or use it as part of a dialogue in the fic. Your choice!

Search the tag “Incorrect Tullaina Quotes” in the Tumblr search bar or on my blog and you’re supposed to get most of them that way. There are over 100 incorrect quotes, so I can’t link them all in this post. It would simply be too much. However, if there are enough people who do want a list with all the quotes lined up, let me know and I’ll see if I can collect them in a doc and link that doc here. It’s a lot of work, so it can take a while before I’m able to do that.

If you need more information about my OC Tullaina, you can find fics, arts and her character sheet in my masterlist. 

As you all know I’m a pretty slow writer and cursed to be visited by plot bunnies all the time. This can be quite frustrating because I know I won’t be able to write them all, even if I really, really want to.

So why not challenge you to write them for me? 

Under the “read more” cut you can find a selection of Tullaina Plot Bunnies, little moments out of Tullaina’s life that I was planning to write someday. Some are almost summaries of the (non-existing) fic, while others are just “what about so and so”. 

Don’t be afraid to write Tullaina OOC because you can’t! If I learned anything about last year’s challenge it’s that I love every version of Tullaina that was created, not once did I think “She wouldn’t say or do that!” because I was so in the moment!

Isn’t that a question we all ask ourselves sometimes? What if?

Well, now is the moment you can find out! Under the cut are 10 “What if” questions. Pick one and rewrite a scene from The Hobbit or Lord of The Rings, or write a new one!

For example, what if you pick the question “What if Thranduil was the smallest Elf in history?”, you could imagine how the scene in the throne room between Thranduil and Thorin would go a little differently... Let your imagination run free!

Thought of a What If-question that you would love to write but can’t find in the list? No problem, then you’re choosing number 11! 

Participants

@midearthwritings​ 

@grunid - art

@beenovel

@medusas-hairband - art plot bunny

@sunnyrosewritesstuff​ - what if 

@sketch-and-write-lover

Tullaina Plot Bunnies

Here you can find little snippets out of Tullaina’s life that I wrote down in a doc (literally, it’s a copy paste out of that doc minus two that I really want to write myself) because I wanted to write a fic about it at some point. But you know me, I can’t write fast so who knows when it’ll get done, if ever. Feel free to give it your own twist! 

Tullaina has a nickname ‘Tulls’, but only Fili and Kili use it. They get very protective if anyone else picks up on the nickname and uses it to address Tullaina. What would happen if at some point (say at a feast or gathering), another Dwarf uses the nickname when he talks/flirts to her? Could be any period of time: Ered Luin, during the quest, in Erebor, ...

There’s a ball in Ered Luin, the first one since forever (mostly to boost morale a bit) and the first one Fíli, Kíli and Tulls are allowed to go to. It’s the first time Fíli sees Tullaina all dressed up (hair done nicely, a proper dress). His mouth runs dry and he knows it will be a long night this way. How does the evening go? 

Tullaina is trained by Thorin and Dwalin, and sometimes even Fíli and Kíli. She has the normal amount of training every Dwarrow gets, but once she decides to join the Quest, her training sessions pick up. What would a training session look like? How is she doing? And why doesn’t she wield an axe? Ered Luin era 

When Kili meets Tauriel (? or another OC?) and falls in love during the quest, he tells Tulls he wants to ask her to marry him. And then Tullaina wonders ‘but who am I supposed to marry now?’ because they promised each other when they were teens that if they didn’t find their One they would stick together, maybe even marry each other. And she jokingly says (but secretly also kind of means it) that she’ll forever be alone now. Fili is standing there, he wants to swoop in and say something smooth like ‘you will always have me’ but can’t seem to find his voice. The moment is broken when Bofur says just that, and it becomes one of their ‘almost’ moments.

“Uncle Thorin” moments with Fíli, Kíli and Tullaina

There was really only one other Dwarf who genuinely wanted to court Tullaina, when they're in Erebor. You can imagine how that affected Fili... How is he dealing with this? And Kíli (aka their biggest shipper?)

Fíli runs into Kíli late at night, he’s looking for Tullaina. “Have you seen her? She’s not in her room and I can’t find her anywhere.” They’ve been working all day for the past few weeks. “Do you think she could have left?” “Maybe she finally got enough of being alone, we’ve neglected her” etc etc They look for her in the library, great hall, the stables but can’t find her anywhere. Slight panic, Fíli freaking out, Kíli trying to reassure him. When they’re on their way to alert Thorin and Dís of her disappearance, they find her sleeping with a book in her lap in a nook in one of her secret reading spots.

Once they’re settled in Erebor, married and all, Fíli surprises Tullaina with a grey puppy called Mouse (kind of like a Great Dane but the ME version of it, so... BIG, Fíli hates the name she gave him), as a guard dog for her when he’s out (worried husband y’all). Turns out it’s one big softie and instead of being weary of new people he’s welcoming to everyone. Until one time he doesn’t and everyone is suspicous. Rightfully so. 

What If?

Pick a number and (re)write a TH/LOTR scene of your choice with this question in mind, or create a new one (a deleted scene if you want)

1. What if Dís went on the Quest, along with her brother and two sons?

2. What if Ori was the one to fall in love with Tauriel (movie verse)? 

3. What if Boromir survived the arrows? 

4. What if Hobbits could talk to animals? Like tiny dr Doolittles?

5. What if Gandalf couldn’t keep a secret/can’t lie?

6. What if Smaug was a different kind of animal?

7. What if Víli, father of Kíli and Fíli, was still alive when they leave for the quest?

8. What if Middle Earth was more modern than Tolkien let on?

9. What if Elves can’t tolerate water (maybe it burns them or harms them in some way) ?

10. What if one of the Hobbits is cursed with saying everything the opposite of what they mean? (fe yes means no, I’m sleepy means I don’t want to go to sleep)

11. (your own What If question)

Tagging a few people who were interested: @midearthwritings​ @beenovel​ @grunid​ 

[gendercensus]

Supplementary survey: they/them reflexives, The Sir/Ma’am Issue, and Spivak vs. Elverson

This short, clarifying survey ran from 4th until 24th April 2021. There were 2,998 usable responses. Unlike the annual Gender Census survey, this one was open to anyone of any gender, provided they lived in an English-speaking country.

It asked about two things:

They/them verbs and reflexives - basically whether people who prefer they/them pronouns prefer the reflexive to be themself or themselves, and which people feel is more “correct”.

Sir/ma’am/? - investigating why people use sir/ma’am in areas where it’s polite and common to do so, and whether there are any viable nonbinary or gender-neutral alternatives.

This blog post will also investigate the Spivak vs. Elverson issue, which was actually a separate poll that took place on two social networks.

~

THEY/THEM VERBS AND REFLEXIVES

Someone asked about themself vs. themselves, and it reminded me of some of the they/them issues that people ask about in feedback boxes and various confusions surrounding them.

Singular they - what is it, and when and how do people use it?

Plural they - what is it, and when and how do people use it?

What is the “correct” reflexive for each of these?

You can see the statistics in more detail here, but here’s the graph as an overview:

Participants were asked a series of questions about singular they pronouns. Everyone was asked a “which is correct” question, and participants who sometimes or always like to be called ”they” were also asked about their personal preferences.

The graph is a view of only participants who sometimes or always like to be called “they”.

Verbs. As you can see, participants overwhelmingly (94.3%) wanted people to use plural verbs (”they are reading a book”) when talking about them in the third person - even though the percentage of people who thought that was the most “correct” form was a little lower (81.8%). This was lower because 11.4% of participants who preferred “they” answered “both are correct”.

Reflexives. People were much more likely to say that both themself and themselves were correct (28.3%), and more likely to have no preference between the two (17.4%). However, themself was still more popular overall at 59.3%, and 47.3% thought themself was grammatically correct.

You as a control. I also asked all participants whether yourself or yourselves was more correct when addressing one person as a kind of control question, because they is almost grammatically identical to you - it can refer to one person or multiple people, it takes plural verbs even when referring to/addressing one person, and in that situation only the reflexive changes. Many people who say that singular they is grammatically incorrect have no issues with singular you, so it seemed like something that might be interesting to compare. In the graph above you can see that 93.6% of people thought yourself was more correct; only 4.2% of they-accepting participants felt that both yourself and yourselves were equally correct when addressing one person.

There were a couple of things that came up several times in the comments:

“They is” is common in African-American Vernacular English (AAVE), and probably in other dialects too. As I don’t live in the US I’m pretty unfamiliar with this dialect, but either way that seems fine to me. It’s part of why I also asked for participants’ locations, because I wanted others to be able to download the results and see if some regions were more likely to use some words/constructions than others.

There were some alternatives to themself and themselves presented, such as theirself and theirsen. Both of these points lead nicely to the third...

The idea that any language choice is more “correct” than another is quite prescriptive. What feels correct or natural varies depending on a lot of factors, such as where in the world you learned English, and there is no such thing as objective correctness when it comes to such a broad and variable language as English.

I am aware of and agree with that third bullet point, so my asking which phrases were more “correct” was a bit of a trick question. It was a good way to get a feel for people’s linguistic instincts.

I also thought it was interesting that participants who never wanted to be called they were slightly more likely to side with the most popular view on what is “correct” across the board, and less likely to say “both are correct”.

~

PLURAL VS. SINGULAR THEY

I actually ran another version of this survey first and then scrapped the responses, because it was clear that my survey design was leading to some pretty confused and unhelpful data! Among other things, it asked participants whether they preferred singular or plural they for themselves and then directed them to particular questions based on their answer, and the comments suggested that people either didn’t really understand the distinction or meant different things by those terms, even though I had added help text.

This is my understanding:

Singular they is they/them pronouns when used to refer to one person. Verbs are usually plural (i.e. “they are” rather than “they is”), and themself and themselves are both common. Example usage: They are getting themself a cup of coffee. They bought themselves a nice new hat.

Plural they is they/them pronouns when used to refer to two or more people. Verbs are usually plural (i.e. “they are” rather than “they is”), and themselves is almost universal (with the exception of regional variations such as theirselves). Example usage: They are getting themselves some coffee together. They all bought hats for themselves.

Some plural/multiple people refer to themselves as “we” and prefer to be addressed as “they/themselves” (which they call plural they) because they are a group of individuals sharing one body.

The reason I initially asked directly about singular vs. plural they is because I was concerned that plural/multiple systems would cause some statistical confusion. Many plural people have asked me to add plural they to the checkbox list of pronouns in the annual survey, but since it has never been entered by over 1% of participants I have never had reason to do so. As far as I knew, the only difference between singular and plural they is the reflexive (themself for singular and themselves for plural), so I wanted to be able to investigate non-plural people in isolation, and I was curious to know about any trends or differences. I wanted to find out if I should be doing anything differently to ensure that Gender Census statistics are helpful.

So, I swapped out the badly-designed question for a straight-up checkbox, a “check this box if you’re plural/multiple” type of thing, with a note that participants should fill in the survey once per body wherever possible, and then I made some graphs.

Here you can see that plural systems were still more likely to prefer people to use themself to refer to them rather than themselves, though the margin is narrower:

Plural participants were also more likely to say that they sometimes or never want people to refer to them as they, whereas non-plural people were more likely to want people to always refer to them as they (or they just feel fine about it):

There’s not a lot in it, though. It’s all relatively evenly distributed, with no strong leader in either category there.

For the curious: 8.2% of participants checked the plural/multiple box.

In conclusion: plural and non-plural people alike all prefer people to use themself when referring to them in the third person using they/them pronouns, and I feel that there is probably no need to ask about plurality or separate out data from plural people in future. (Asking about this and seeing the responses did in part prompt me to start an anonymous feedback form for plural participants of the Gender Census, though.)

~

THE SIR/MA’AM ISSUE

For several years participants have been asking me in the feedback box of the annual Gender Census survey to also ask about gender-inclusive or nonbinary-specific alternatives to sir and ma’am. I’ve largely not done anything about it, because when informally asking around I’ve generally had the response “just don’t say sir or ma’am, just leave it out altogether.” I live in the UK, where if someone calls you sir/ma’am you’re either looking at home in a fancy restaurant for billionnaires or you’re being made fun of - or sometimes both.

However, during this year’s annual survey while talking about it in a little more depth I learned that there are places in the world where sir/ma’am is very common, required for politeness, and basically inescapable. Nonbinary people in those areas are really struggling, because they do actually need a nonbinary-friendly stand-in for those terms - omitting the sir/ma’am isn’t an option.

Again, the location question was asked so that anyone else downloading the spreadsheet of responses can analyse by region to find out whether sir/ma’am is ubiquitous in particular regions and in which contexts it is used, and can even check whether there is a region-specific alternative to sir/ma’am emerging. I asked several questions about sir/ma’am, including about reasons/contexts and personal preferences, and some superficial analysis is included on the spreadsheet of responses.

But the juicy bit is the nonbinary-specific and gender-inclusive alternative words, right?

[The counting formula is case-sensitive so I made everything lowercase to make the count a little more accurate.]

Suggested gender-inclusive alternatives to sir/ma’am

mx - 4.1% (151)

friend - 2.2%

comrade - 1.2%

captain - 0.7%

ser - 0.5%

mate - 0.4%

m - 0.3%

per - 0.3%

boss - 0.3%

folks - 0.3% (9)

Suggested nonbinary-specific alternatives to sir/ma’am

mx - 8.3% (250)

mix - 0.7%

tiz - 0.5%

friend - 0.4%

ser - 0.4%

comrade - 0.3%

mixter - 0.3%

captain - 0.2%

ind - 0.2%

mir - 0.2% (6)

So it looks like Mx (pronounced “mix” or with a toneless vowel that sounds a bit like “mux”) is the clear winner in both categories. If you want to try to introduce a gender-neutral version of sir/ma’am in your area this one is probably your best bet.

~

SPIVAK VS. ELVERSON

This wasn’t part of the same survey! It was a Twitter poll and a Mastodon poll that ran for one week and ended today, and I’m putting it here because it has to go somewhere.

Sometimes people refer to the ey/em and e/em “versions” of the Spivak pronoun set, which makes my eyebrows do things, because they’re not both Spivak. They are distinct established pronoun sets with their own names.

Spivak - e/em/eir/eirs/emself - written about by Michael Spivak in the 1990s. [source: Nonbinary Wiki]

Elverson - ey/em/eir/eirs/emself - created by Christine M Elverson in the 1970s. [source: Nonbinary Wiki]

The Elverson set is older, but it’s less well-known for some reason, so they’re assumed to be variants of Spivak due to the similarity in spelling.

I was recently asked how we can know which is more popular, given the “oh this checkbox option is close enough, I’ll just choose that instead of typing in my very slightly different set” effect and the “hmm this checkbox option is very close to my set, I’m probably meant to choose this one” effect, plus the boost that checkbox options get with the “oh I hadn’t thought of that one but yeah, why not” effect. Spivak (e/em) is on the checkbox list of pronouns in the annual survey, so it appears to be much more popular than Elverson (ey/em)... but is it really?

I ran a poll on both Twitter and Mastodon, and then used a spreadsheet to extract the useful numbers. There were 141 relevant votes after one week. I wouldn’t usually make annual-survey-altering decisions based on a sample that small, but in this case the results are extremely decisive:

It seems that the highest proportion of people who like at least one of the sets are happy for both to be used, at 48%. 45% prefer ey/em (Elverson) and 7% prefer e/em (Spivak). This is pretty stunning! I’ve been presenting e/em (Spivak) as a checkbox option on the Gender Census annual survey for years, possibly since the first survey in 2013, and because it’s a checkbox option it seems to be consistently a lot more popular than ey/em (Elverson). That’s 4.3% and 0.6% respectively in the 2021 survey. But this poll suggests that actually ey/em (Elverson) is much more popular when the two pronoun sets are viewed on a level playing field.

When you remove all “I don’t mind” votes, you get this:

Over 6 times as many people prefered Elverson!

I will definitely be adding Elverson to the Gender Census next year, just so that we can split the e/em and ey/em votes and really get to the bottom of this.

Anyway, while we’re on the topic, ey/em takes singular verbs most of the time.

[the-fakes]

Timeline of the current Danny 'Drama'

User u/pandaboy78 made a timeline of the current drama going around about Danny claiming he is a groomer. I will put it in text below and add a link for the page.

Hey everyone! A LOT of information has been coming out from others, mutuals of dan, etc. So I want to summarize all of the important information you need to know. I will address the victim in question: The "Fan" AKA ( u/IsThisYourBird ).

I will also provide a TL;DR timeline at the very bottom. Please read that if you just want a short 30-second summary.

Note 1: This will NOT be covering prior accusations. This is focusing solely on the current accusation.

Note 2: If any of this gets disconfirmed, incorrect, or if I'm missing info, I WILL edit this post immediately to represent accurate information. The last thing we need in this situation is misinformation.

Note 3: A lot of this is information that The Fan u/IsThisYourBird (Age 24) DM'd another user after today's incident... Meaning this is coming from the source herself. HOWEVER, it is very possible that these conversations could be faked by anyone... So please take this timeline with a grain of salt. Nothing has been confirmed yet.

Note 4: And this should be obvious... DO NOT DM INSULTS, FALSELY REPORTING, OR DEATH THREATS TO THE PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS POST. THIS IS NOT AN EXPOSE TIMELINE, THIS IS TO HELP SUMMARIZE EVERYTHING!! HARASSMENT AND FALSE REPORTING WILL GET US NOWHERE!!

Before the Storm

SUMMER 2009 - Nikki - a mutual of Dan hangs out with him every day during the summer while Nikki was in college. This is NOT the Fan in question. At this time, Nikki is 22, and Dan is 34 years old. Dan encourages Nikki that Nikki should bring along a friend every time they hung out for safety reasons due to the age gap. She explains this situation more in tweets later mentioned. (Source [8])

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**NOTE**: PLEASE NOTE THAT THE TIMELINE FROM SEPTEMBER 2013 TO DECEMBER 2017 IS FROM THE POST FROM 'RantGrumps'!! THERE HAVE BEEN STRANGE INCONSITENSIES - NONE OF WHICH HAVE BEEN PROVEN RIGHT OR WRONG. TAKE IN INFORMATION WITH A GRAIN OF SALT!

SEPT. 2013 - The Fan contacts Dan Avidan. The fan mentions how Dan should visit, and Dan replies that he will be there to do some tours in 2014. The conversation ends with the Fan stating "Love ya man!" [1]

=SOURCE= Parent Reddit Post - Image Source =SOURCE=

It's unclear how these two met. However, it's confirmed that the Fan met Dan at the age of 17.[2]

=SOURCE= [2] Parent Tweet - Specific Photo =SOURCE=

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~OCT. 2013 - The Fan turns 18 years old. [3]

=SOURCE= [3] Parent Reddit Post - Image Source =SOURCE=

This post indicates that that Dan was texting platonic texts with the Fan before the age of 18.

After more information has come out, u/NotBlarg has stated that the specific was faked, but only this image. It was meant to serve as a visual guide to show a birthday. The actual birthday is unknown, but all we know is that she did turn 18 in 2013. Other rumors show that it may have been even earlier in 2018. [EDIT1] The main point still stands true: Dan did not sext until sometime after she turned 18.

=SOURCE= [EDIT1] Parent Reddit Post =SOURCE=

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DEC. 2017 - Dan sends the infamous "Tub" video to the Fan via WhatsApp.The Fan replies: "My god, I've never seen something so beautiful and fancy, I really wish I was there too!! Shit"Dan replies: "If you feel comfortable with the idea, you should send me a little video saying that you'd like to fuck my in that tub. That would do things for me haha" [4]

=SOURCE= [4] Parent Reddit Post - Video Source - Image Source =SOURCE=

This sexting occurred when the fan was already 22/23.

However, there is conflicting evidence from a mutual friend of Dan - Nikki LeComte ("Nikki Homicide") - who claims that she has seen this specific video before. The video was sent directly from Dan to Nikki, but not personally. She says it was likely sent in a Snapchat story or a Facebook group chat. She believes that the video was taken out of context. [5] (More context in source [7]).

=SOURCE= [5] Parent Tweet - Specific Tweet =SOURCE=

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Controversy Begins

MAR. 21ST, 2021 08:15 GMT - Reddit user u/NotBlarg states that the Fan has come out to NotBlarg privately to present the story in r/rantgrumps. He states at the end " their conversations turned into sexts, and eventually led to her meeting him backstage at a Game Grumps Live show where sexual activity occurred. A couple of weeks after, all contact from Dan ceased." [6]

=SOURCE= [6] Parent Reddit Post =SOURCE=

It is VERY important to note that in the Reddit post, NotBlarg incorrectly words the order of the story, presenting the latest sext FIRST, but this may have been used as a general writing hook. Simple as that. They first present the infamous "Tub" video & text first [4]. Then the states that Dan was normally texting her when she was underage (technically true, but she was around 17Y,11M old). And follows up stating "As the years went by, and she became of legal age, their conversations turned into sexts". Partially true. Yes, it did take 4 years for the conversation to turn into sexts. However, she only became of age a month after the original text.

It is also important to note that NotBlarg may be very biased, as he is a very active user in the subreddit r/rantgrumps. NotBlarg has only ever posted in rantgrumps since 2018 and has not posted in any other subreddit. RantGrumps is a subreddit known for criticizing Game Grumps about how they've changed over the years and other topics, but their top two posts usually deals in exposing & documenting Game Grumps' flaws over the years. The bias likely effected how they worded their accusation post.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MAR. 21ST, 2021 2:23 GMT - A mutual of Dan Avidan (she supposedly helped work on Ninja Sex Party lyrics) came out due to the controversy. - Nikki LeComte ("Nikki Homicide"). There is a lot to unpack from this thread.

=SOURCE= [7] Tweet Thread =SOURCE=

She refers to the topic of ghosting, - which is something briefly mentioned in the NotBlargh's accusation post. Nikki states: "I know from experience that Dan 110% will respond to texts or pick up calls from people he hasn't spoken to in years." This may mean that Dan and the Fan have not been in contact at all for 3-4 years.

Nikki also says that the "Tub" video was clearly a joke that Dan would make and that she's seen it before. [7] In fact, she states in another tweet that the video was sent directly from Dan to Nikki, but not personally. She says it was likely sent in a Snapchat story or a Facebook group chat. She believes that the video was taken out of context.[8]

=SOURCE= [8] "I KNOW I've seen that video before" Tweet =SOURCE=

Nikki states that Dan knew that the age gap was weird (she was 22, and Dan was 34), so Dan himself encouraged Nikki to always bring along a friend whenever they hung out so that Nikki would feel safe. While Nikki did not feel anything romantic, she does state that they felt like they were more than friends and felt safe around Dan during the summer that they hung out. Nikki also states that Dan would constantly say "bring a friend, you two can take my room if you need to crash I'll sleep on the couch." From these dates, it's safe to assume that Dan hung out with Nikki in the Summer of 2009. This would be several years before the Fan originally texts Dan in September of 2013.

She states that she has not spoken with Dan for several years and doesn't throw out the idea that it's possible that fame could have possibly changed him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MAR. 22ND, ~AROUND 12:00 GMT - Most of these Reddit posts are deleted, and the specific time is unclear. However, from reading the context, the Fan ( u/IsThisYourBird ) supposedly jump onto Reddit to talk about the situation. The Fan and u/GreatThisAgain2019 got into an argument on the original accusation post by u/NotBlarg. This conversation was deleted, but then GreatThisAgain2019 DM'd the Fan about more information. Again, there is a lot here to unpack. [9]

The Fan was chuffed as Dan complimented The Fan for being beautiful and wanted to hug her.

Dan does tell the Fan that it would be weird for him (age 34) to be talking with the Fan (age 17). Take notice that this is the second time Dan has taken precautions with hanging out with a person much younger. The first time was with Nikki a few years prior, and the second time is now.

The Fan is glad that she hasn't done anything to hurt Ashley - Dan's current girlfriend.

A friend of the Fan suggested that she needs to check out the current controversy with Dan. She also states that she isn't too familiar with Reddit.

It's clarified that the Fan is now 25 years old. She then gives her opinion on the situation: "It's not illegal, it's just a bit of an abuse of power I'd say, especially leading some of us (if not all of us) on" Essentially from the Fan's perspective, Dan was NOT grooming her, but she DOES BELIEVE that Dan was abusing his power.

The Fan NEVER stated that Dan groomed her. The grooming part is an opinion that Twitter, several minor News YouTubers and some members of r/RantGrumps made that became the main headline on Twitter's Trending page.

She thinks back and says that back then, she thought that being with Dan was her being happy and lucky. Now she thinks that she should have played video games (specifically Wind Waker) instead.

After this part of the conversation, GreatThisAgain2019 deletes his previous Reddit Comments when he was in an argument with the Fan before they DM'd each other.. [10]

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

GreatThisAgain2019 proceeds to clarify in certain posts that the Fan was not groomed on the original accusation post by u/NotBlarg. HOWEVER, the moderator of the subreddit - u/TheValkuma removed the post by GreatThisAgain likely as an accident. At the time, the r/RantGrumps subreddit was being bombarded with spam and hate comments, so it likely was deleted on accident. Note: This is personal, so if any news people are reading this, ignore this. Apologies to TheValkuma. I originally inserted some personal shade in this bullet point, and that was very immature of me to do in a very serious post focusing on facts about a serious allegation. I apologize for that. I BEG that nobody harasses NotBlarg & TheValkuma. Harassment, insults, or death threats will not help them mentally organize the important information to sort out this controversy.

=SOURCE= [9] Text Conversation || [10] Deleted Reddit Comment =SOURCE=

TL;DR TIMELINE

The "Fan" is the victim surrounding the whole drama.

SUMMER, 2013 - Nikki (A long-time mutual of Dan) hangs out with Dan almost every day during the summer. Nikki is 22, and Dan is 34 years old. Dan encourages Nikki that Nikki should bring along a friend every time they hung out for safety reasons due to the age gap.

SEPT. 2013 - The Fan & Dan meet and text each other normally. The Fan turns 18 a month after the initial text. Dan at this age is 34 years old.

2017 - Dan sends the Fan the infamous "Tub" video, comedically saying how they should "fuck" in the tub.

MARCH, 2021 - Dan is accused on the r/RantGrumps subreddit, and the information several hours later spreads like wildfire on Twitter. Nikki comes out on Twitter and mentions the information I provided above. The Fan herself mentions in a conversation with another Reddit user that she DOES NOT BELIEVE DAN GROOMED HER... However, she does think that DAN IS ABUSING HIS FAME. The person who spoke with the Fan then clarified on the original r/RantGrumps post that started it all and stated mentioned how the Fan does not believe she was groomed.

EDIT 1: u/GreatThisAgain2019 has provided me with a twitter video to show that the texts with the Fan was not fabricated. I should note that he provided these quite quickly after I messaged him about it, proving that this video isn't fabricated. While this doesn't prove that the Fan is 100% the victim, this does prove GreatThisAgain2019's conversation is completely valid: https://twitter.com/gracd81439127/status/1374005639735869441

EDIT 2: After speaking with u/TheValkuma, I realized I was very much in the wrong for throwing shade, even if it was minor and small. DO NOT THROW HARASSMENT, INSULT, SHADE, OR THREATS against them. And most of all, do NOT report them. They have a lot more going on right now as well. Negativity will not give us more needed factual information.

On top of this second big edit, I'm making several corrections that others have pointed out to me. For example, I incorrectly stated that Nikki hung out with Dan in Summer of 2013, but it was actually the Summer of 2009.

What Should We Be Discussing??

As of right now, there is NO OFFICIAL STATEMENT from any members of the Game Grumps.

On top of this, assuming that the information stated by the Fan is correct, there are several discussions that should still be discussed, and some that can be crossed out:

Dan is a Pedophile: Dan's interactions began before the Fan turned 18, but sexting didn't occur until after she turned 18. This is not an valid conversation.

Dan is a Groomer: This is a bit more up there, but I personally believe that this was not an issue of grooming. The Fan herself clarified this herself.

Power Dynamic: This is definitely a conversation that does need to be taking place, whether its true or not. If these events did play out, is there a power dynamic taking place, or is there not? Is there much less of a power dynamic with Dan since his fame was less back in 2013?

?Age Gap?: This one is more up in the air. Yes, the age gap is creepy, but they were both legal. However, does legal ≠ moral, or legal = moral??? They're both adults who should be responsible for themselves, but it still feels creepy to some. Again, this one is more up in the air, but it may need to be discussed about too.

END POST

Link to post--->https://www.reddit.com/r/gamegrumps/comments/manlwj/a_general_timeline_with_the_drama_that_ensued/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

[poplinn]

@divine-buni​ ha risposto al tuo post: “ hello! I myself am not Jewish, and I was wondering why Jewish Medic is anti-Semitic? I'm genuinely asking, if it's possible that you could elaborate a bit more, please?” 

Yes, I’d love to elaborate for you [and other people who’ve seen the post and aren’t quite sure what I meant]. Considering this post is going to be quite a long one I’ve put everything under a read more, but here’s a quick TL;DR

TL;DR:

Medic’s actions in Comic 6 contradict Jewish beliefs, therefore I find it disrespectful to our religion to HC him as Jewish.

Most people who HC Medic as Jewish are goyim, and portray him/Jewish beliefs/Judaism very incorrectly but don’t seem to listen to Jewish people who try to correct them.

All art i’ve seen of Jewish Medic so far feed into Antisemetic Stereotypes which is disgusting. 

Jewish Medic only came into existence to counter the Nazi HC

People just don’t their research even though it’s not that hard. 

Full explanation under the read more:

So before i start explaining why I think the Jewish Medic and its portrayals are anti-semetic I want to give a little background information. I myself am Jewish, I have been my entire life, and I’m a practicing conservative Jew. I go to the Synagogue and I have read the Tanakh [The Hebrew Bible]. Now I understand that the text may differ in some translations/interpretations of the original text. I also understand that some things are left a bit ambigious at times, meaning different people can have different interpretations of the same text. What I’m about to write after this is all part of my personal interpretations/findings of the Tanakh and what I’ve been taught. I, obviously, don’t speak for all jewish people out there, this is strictly personal. 

Now, what I’ve always learned from reading the Tanakh is that the belief in demons and Satan [sometimes even angels] is often, if not all the time, rejected. There are no mentions of demons in the Tanakh, and Satan is not a demon. Think of it that Satan is more of a metaphor, and doesn’t exist in physical form. He’s more of an advocate or metaphor for having different opinions. 

In Kabbalah Satan represents a sinful impulse a person might have[we’ve all been there], or a “force” that prevents us humans from submitting to divine will. The Devil doesn’t exists, he’s merely a metaphor for the bad stuff we have inside us, our sins/sinful thoughts. But physically? He’s not there.

It is also generally believed that Hell is...not a thing. It’s really more of a Christian thing to make people fear G-d. But what happens if we commit sins? Well, what I’ve been taught in my 20+ years of living is that when we die, we either go to heaven or go to purgatory. In purgatory you work off your sins for a set amount of time. This time differs per person depending on what sins you’ve committed and if you show remorse. But Hell itself does not exist at all. 

Why does this all matter? When Medic dies he goes to Hell and meets the Devil. 

The fact that this happens contradicts Jewish beliefs. I think that if you headcanon Medic as Jewish without taking this huge contradiction into consideration is very disrespectful of out belief. And mind you, all people I’ve seen HC Medic as Jewish are goyim.  Medic meeting the Devil himself isn’t inherently antisemitic or disrespectful, considering Medic is not canonically Jewish, but headcanoning as Jewish is.

Then there are the portrayals of Jewish Medic in art. Now we all know what Medic looks like: 

He’s a white man, with short black hair and a little flock of hair that rests on his forehead. All the art I’ve seen of Jewish Medic so far, and I mean ALL, feed into Jewish stereotypes. Curly black hair, really dark skin and a huge nose. I’m sorry but, since when is this okay?? [ I shouldn’t be one to speak on this considering I have black curly hair, tanned skin and bigger nose /joke ]. Not every Jewish person looks like this. If Medic were indeed canonically Jewish the way he looks is just...fine. A character doesn’t need to have black curly hair, darker skin and a huge hooked nose in order to be Jewish. It just baffles me that in the year of 2021 people still think doing this is okay. 

And to add to it, like every other religion, in Judaism we also wear specific kind of clothing. The cloth and colour of our Yarmulkes all mean something, and to see this being portrayed incorrectly, by goy people nonetheless, it just bothers me a lot. It gets even worse that, when me and other Jewish people try to reach out to these artists and try to tell them nicely that they’re portraying our religion incorrectly that we 1. dont get listened to, 2. get blocked, 3. get dismissed.

To directly quote a message from a certain person I messaged about their Jewish Medic portrayal being incorrect: “I don't know how much I can say of Jewish issues considering I've never been connected to that part of my ancestry religiously or culturally.” Right after I explained everything to them, it’s incredibly dismissive in my eyes. You don’t need to be Jewish in order to understand Judaism or Jewish beliefs. 

I feel like I’m kind of starting to ramble, so apologies if it’s a little less coherent, but....I also think the origins of the Jewish Medic are a bit...icky/weird/uncomfortable. I’m not sure what the right word is [apologies, English isn’t my first language]. 

Back in the day the Nazi Medic Headcanon was a thing, which is obviously problematic on its own. Some people, in response to that, wanted to counter this Nazi HC by making Medic Jewish. Because it was “fun and quirky.” Which is ridiculous. Our religion is not just something “fun and quirky” for gentiles to randomly use as a headcanon. I personally feel like gentiles take our religion serious because of that. Jewish people are not the direct opposites of Nazis. The world really isn’t that black and white / Bad vs Good. You don’t need to be Jewish in order to counter Nazis or be anti-fascism. If someone isn’t Jewish, it doesn’t make them a Nazi. 

I don’t mind if a person wants to HC a character as something they aren’t, but please please please do some proper reasearc or reach out to people before you do, so you can also do it correctly. For example: I have an OC who is intersex. I myself am not intersex. I did research, I went to forums and I asked around to make sure what I was doing was right. It’s not that hard. 

I may have missed a few things here and there but I hope it answers your question and happy Passover

[hanadolphieron]

different sexualities/genders and usage of pronouns~

author’s note- if any of this information is incorrect or offends anyone, please feel free to pop into my inbox or dm me to let me know and i will fix it asap! also, if you have any identities to add, dm/send an ask about their description and i will do some research and then add it to this post!

_________

there are so many different sexualities, genders, pronouns, and identities in this world, and i know that sometimes it can be confusing. this is meant to help explain a few of them!

_________

SEXUALITIES

homosexual- a person sexually and/or romantically attracted to people of the same gender as them.

lesbian- a woman (whether intersex, cisgender or transgender) who is sexually and/or romantically attracted to women. lesbian is can be an umbrella term for all gender identities who are attracted to women.

he/him lesbian- a person who uses he/him pronouns but is still a homosexual woman.

they/them lesbian- a woman or nonbinary person who uses they/them pronouns and is sexually and/or romantically attracted to women.

gay- a man (whether intersex, cisgender or transgender) who is sexually and/or romantically attracted to men. this term is also used at times by people of other sexualities within the LGBTQ+ community who are attracted to the same sex as a slang. for example, many bisexual women use the phrase “i’m so gay” whenever they see a woman they’re attracted to, even if they’re technically a bisexual, and not a gay. this term includes people who use different pronouns but still identify as men, or do not identify with a specific gender but are attracted to men.

bisexual- a person who is sexually and/or romantically to multiple gender identities, but not all genders. for example, a women being attracted to women, men, and nonbinary folks. a common misconception is that bisexuals are only attracted to men and women, not any other identities. this is not true for all people, just some. another misconception is that bisexuals are transphobic, which is the untruest of all untruths, because not only is that implying that transgender peeps are not the gender that they identify with. it also implies that attraction is the only form of respect, along with being incorrect, as many bisexuals are attracted to transgender peeps. sometimes bisexual is an umbrella term which people use even if they are attracted to more than one gender, whether that be some or all. bisexuality can be divided into two categories- attraction to same and unsame genders.

pansexual- a person who is sexually and/or romantically to all gender identities. sometimes people prefer to describe themselves as pansexual if they base attraction off something different than gender entirely. some people who are attracted to all genders still use the term bisexual- this is just a preference.

asexual- a person who does not feel attracted to the idea of sex and/or are repulsed by it. asexuals can still experience romantic attractions, they just don’t desire people sexually. asexuals can still have sex, watch porn, or engage in sexual activities, it just doesn’t give them the same thrill as it does for non-asexuals. some asexuals may not feel no sexual attraction at all for some gender identities, but be sexually attracted to others. 

demisexual- a person who does not feel sexual attraction to a person unless they have formed a strong emotional bond with them first. demisexuals may not feel sexual attraction to all genders, and may only need an emotional bond with some gender identities to experience sexual attraction.

queer- a term that refers to people who do not identify with any particular sexuality label and/or reject cultural norms surrounding sexuality. this term can be used if you are unsure of your sexuality, but know that they are not heterosexual. it is also an umbrella term that spans all sexual identities within the LGBTQ+ community. people with complicated sexual identities often use this term because explaining themselves becomes exhausting after a while. nonbinary peeps use this term because some terms, like lesbian and gay, would be inaccurate if they used them. however, they can still use those terms. they’re cool like that :)

panromantic- someone who experiences romantic attraction to all genders. someone could be panromantic but also a lesbian if they are able to experience romantic attraction to all gender identities but only sexual attraction to women.

aromantic- someone who does not experience romantic attraction

omniromantic- someone who experiences romantic attraction to all genders, but has a distinction or preference between them. for example, feeling attracted to nonbinary peeps but also women, however preferring nonbinary peeps and feeling a different sense of attraction between those two identities.

biromantic- someone who experiences romantic attraction to two or more genders, but not all genders.

pluralian- a term that refers to anyone who experiences romantic and/or sexual attraction to more than one gender.

viramoric- a nonbinary peep who is attracted exclusively to men. 

enbian- a nonbinary peep who is exclusively attracted to fellow non-binary peeps.

feminamoric- a nonbinary peep who is exclusively attracted to women.

polyamorous- a person who has the capability or desire to be in relationships with more than one person. polyamorous people can have any sexuality.

_________

GENDER IDENTITIES

transgender- a term that describes people who do not identify with the gender assigned to them with at birth. this might be confusing for some, but basically, your genitalia do not determine what gender you feel on the “inside” or identify with. for example, a woman who has a penis is still a woman, and you can not say they are not.

cisgender- a term that describes people who identify with the gender assigned to them at birth.

nonbinary- someone who does not identify with being a man or a woman. some nonbinary people can identify with being one of those two genders in part, just not completely. nonbinary humans can also be transgender.

stellarian nonbinary- someone who is nonbinary and neutrally aligned, and does not lean towards being a man or a woman, however they still identify with having a gender

solarian nonbinary- someone who is nonbinary and male-aligned, and partly identifies with being a man

lunarian nonbinary- someone who is nonbinary and female-aligned, meaning they partly identify with being a woman

nebularian nonbinary- a mix of lunarian and stellarian nonbinary

novarian nonbinary- a mix of solarian and stellarian nonbinary

*the above genders in bullet points are according to the galactian alignment system

agender- someone who does not identify with a gender, or is genderless.

gender queer- a term for people who do not have a normative gender or prefer not to have a certain gender identity.

genderfluid- someone whose gender changes over time. this could be day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month, on an inconsistent schedule, etc.

intersex- a term for someone who is born with physical characteristics that can not be classified as male or female.

_________

PRONOUNS

they/them- someone who prefers to be referred to as they/them 

she/her- someone who prefers to be referred to as she/her

he/him- someone who prefers to be referred to as he/him

*any combination of they/them, she/her, and he/him is possible and can be interchangeable. for example, genderfluid people may use he/him one day and then prefer she/her the next. some people may prefer more than one set of pronouns. some examples of this- he/they and she/they

_________

i know, this can be a lot to take in and it can be worry to use the correct pronouns, but most people won’t be mad unless you purposefully mean to offend them. 

asking considerate questions is appreciated if you don’t understand someone’s identity :)

if someone says they’re pansexual while also being lesbian and gay at the same time, just go with it, it’s none of your business and who cares?

have a nice day everyone! love you all!!! <3

[girlmagnetic-xx]

INARIZAKI’S DIALECT ~EXPLAINED~ *

*as the way it's been translated into english by viz lol

I’ve seen a lot of people struggle with understanding/writing the inarizaki boys’ accents, especially for people who’s first language isn’t english, so I tried my best to explain, as someone who talks close to this irl, some of the more difficult nuances of it!

(this was originally posted to my twt, but figured that tumblr might be easier for people to bookmark it/read it. i also added a few more examples and things i missed the first time around!)

so lets goooo 

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ‘YER’ AND ‘YA’ 

 Generally speaking, ‘yer’ and ‘ya’ aren’t interchangeable, but they both are used when the speaker is referring to the person their actively talking to

‘you’re / your’ is what becomes ‘yer’ 

you’re a dumbass = yer a dumbass

your toss was perfect = yer toss was perfect

‘you’ is what becomes ‘ya’

you really like that = ya really like that

can you hand me that = can ya hand me that

there's sometimes exceptions where you can use 'ya' instead of 'yer' 

 yer crazy / ya crazy 

 they both mean the same thing, but i might personally argue that they're not in the same dialect.

DOUBLE NEGATIVES 

these are a bit hard to nail down sometimes because it’s grammatically incorrect. two negatives cancel each other out. when someone’s using a double negative in a sentence, it’s not about what the sentence technically means, but  what’s being emphasized.

“I didn’t eat none of yours” TECHNICALLY means “I did eat yours” since ‘didn’t’ and ‘none’ would cancel each other out, but that isn’t what atsumu WANTS to say (tho we all know he’s lying of course in this instance.)

the grammatically sentence would be “I didn’t eat yours” or “I didn’t eat any of yours” Atsumu adding ‘none’ here is him emphasizing that he ate NONE of Osamu’s ice cream.

“I don’t need no in-between participation prize” would technically mean “I need an in-between participation prize” but again, that isn’t what Atsumu WANTS to say.

The grammatically correct sentence would be “I don’t need an in-between participation prize” but the ‘no’ in the original is emphasizing the fact that he doesn’t want a participation prize.

and again in this panel, “That ain’t no faith” would also technically mean “that’s faith” but the ‘no’ is emphasizing that it isn’t faith at all. 

USING DON’T IN PLACE OF DOESNT

This one is also a bit weird since it’s also technically considered grammatically incorrect, but it’s basically replacing ‘doesn’t’ with ‘don’t’ 

i personally tend to lean more towards this when i’m really heated about something and speaking faster than normal

this doesn’t add up = this don’t add up

do you guys think this doesn’t matter = do y’all think that this don’t matter

THIS HERE / THAT THERE 

 Usually you wouldn’t need ‘here / there’ after ‘this / that’ since ‘this / that’ already implies the subject’s location relative to the speaker and using ‘here / there’ would be redundant.

there's only these instances of older folk using it, but i still think it's relevant enough to mention. also there's probably a historical reason for this structure to exist in country-like dialects, but /shrug

REAL (ADJECTIVE)

because this dialect is relatively “simple” people tend to go for simpler adjectives with an adverb attached to it, but instead of using ‘really’ it gets shortened to ‘real’

INFORMAL CONTRACTIONS 

 so when people are speaking, there's sometimes the tendency to drop whole words or letters, and combining them. 

here's a bunch of different examples i yoinked from here, not ALL of these will work for everything, but i say just play around and see what you think works best for your writing or whatever

DROPPED LETTERS 

 there's some words where the syllables get somewhat mushed together/not fully enunciated on/dropped 

 'probably' becomes 'prolly' 

‘because’ becomes ‘ ‘cause’ or ‘ ‘cuz’ (entirely your preference on spelling imo)

‘little’ becomes ‘l’il’

 there's also words like 'suppose' where if someone were to say it out loud, it would become 's’pose' 

it’s also super common to drop the ‘g’ off of -ing verbs (feelin’, thinkin’), as well as dropping the ‘h’ off the beginning of words (here becomes ‘ere, them become ‘em)

something that i frequently do when i talk is slur together the word ‘its’ with the next word

it’s okay = s’okay

its not that bad = s’not that bad

you’re supposed to eat it = yer s'posed to eat it

it’s because it’s a little weird = s’cause issa l’il weird

it’s not supposed to be that cold out here yet = s’not s’posed to be that cold out ‘ere yet

DROPPED WORDS 

 in addition to dropped letters, they also tend to drop words where it might be obvious on what the subject is in the conversation. 

 "(what) the heck..."

 "(do you) think we oughta..."

GENERAL VOCABULARY

i think this part of writing dialects is a bit more trial and error than anything since it's not so much grammar structures as it's just. using different words in place of more common ones (think of soda vs pop, they’re the same thing just used in different regions)

everyone's called hinata shorty but aran uses squirt instead

 "socked in the gut" instead of "punched in the stomach" 

 "buttered up" instead of "flattered" 

‘everyone/people’ become ‘folks’

there’s not really a ~masterlist~ i can give y’all to use for comparisons, it’s kinda just. trial n error i think.

alright!! i think that covers most of a general southern/country accent as it’s spoken in english. 

i think the only other thing to keep in mind if you’re trying to write is stuff like accents becoming heavier when talking to someone who speaks with the same accent vs someone who doesn’t, or accents getting heavier the more excited/angry someone it. also going really heavy on writing like this might be a bit hard to read/understand so you dont have to do ALL of these things to make it realistic.

if there’s anything i missed, or if y’all need me to explain anything further in depth, please feel free to drop an ask or somethin!! i’ll try my best to help :)

[lavenderek]

I love when you fix twilight. It's obviously not fix-able completely, but you make it way better. What do you think about how she calls her parents by their first names?.

i think bella’s relationships with her parents are super weird and sometimes even unhealthy. 

some of the things i’m gonna say, i’ve already said before, and they are VERY VERY LONG, but i’m gonna say them again anyway and i’ve watched jenny nicholson videos for like three days straight, so i’m gonna do it in.... a numbered list!!!! 

seriously it’s super long don’t open the readmore unless you want to look at a super long post

1. bella calls them by their first names, but only in internal narration. 

most teenagers don’t call their parents by their first names, so this is odd and distances the reader from her. i’m not sure if it’s supposed to humanize her parents?

her parents would be humanized if they were acknowledged by the role they’re supposed to be playing in bella’s life; most of her readers would be seeing her as The Typical Teenage Girl, so having her parents be seen as entities separate from her who operate as peers instead of parents is bizarre. 

furthermore, she never does this in dialogue. she only does it in internal narration. 

so is this supposed to make her seem more mature and independent? bella isn’t independent; she’s provided with all her needs by her father, including emotional needs. when edward leaves her in the second book, her father takes care of her and ultimately considers having her go back to live with her mother again, because clearly bella is in need of some parental support. put a pin in maturity, i’ll get back to that in a second. 

if it’s not to make her seem more mature, then it’s just a weird stylistic choice so that the reader knows her parents’ names, which - why? i’m sure when chief swan is talking to his friend and his friend calls him charlie, we will understand through context clues that his name is charlie. also, us knowing her parents’ names doesn’t add anything to the story. bella treats every side character as an obstacle in her life, so we gain nothing from knowing her dad’s name. 

it makes sense for her to call her stepfather phil, but she should call her parents mom and dad. 

2. bella is “super mature” 

ouch! i pricked my finger on the pin i put in maturity. yowie!

we hear a lot about how mature bella is. she condescendingly tells us that her mother is stupid and describes her father’s inability to feed himself. is this true? 

her mother got married and has begun a life with her new husband. her father is a grown-ass man who has kept himself alive for what, forty years? they never do anything particularly immature except one time stephenie meyer has her dad accidentally microwave a can of soup at some point (has he never had soup? in the whole decade since he and renee got divorced, has he been soupless the entire time?). i don’t know that fucking up a can of soup is immature so much as a mistake, but go off i guess. 

so maybe she’s not more mature than her parents, but surely she is just mature in her own right. let’s see all the mature decisions bella makes just in the two years we are present for. 

bella gets a head injury in a car accident. she resists the advice she receives from a medical professional to rest, and plans on not telling her mother about it. she’s even pissed at her dad when he tells her mom. 

bella meets edward and senses from the jump that he’s lying to her. he gives her mixed signals that make her uncomfortable. he and many people in his life talk often about how he could kill her, how much he wants to kill her, but that he is holding back. she decides that she is safe based on her own feelings (she is objectively incorrect about this, by the way, regardless of how her story ends) and chooses to date him anyway.

bella catches the attention of a man who wants to kill her specifically. she does not tell her father. instead, she insults him and runs away from home. she then runs away from the people who are assigned to protect her, because she believes she knows better than they do. 

edward breaks up with bella. i think most people after the ending of a relationship would go to their room and cry and process those feelings of sadness and abandonment. but bella’s not like other girls. she’s mature and has deep emotions. she refuses to accept the breakup and spends hours wandering around in the woods, forcing everyone in her town to go around in the night looking for her. okay. 

she gets a part-time job at some point. but so does her classmate mike, and also 55% of teenagers in her age range (when the book is set, which is in the mid-to-late 90′s). 

oh, but wait, then she withdraws all her savings and uses them to purchase and fix up a motorcycle - a thing she is specifically not allowed to do - in order to spite her ex boyfriend. at this point she has abandoned her plans to become a vampire, so there’s no reason to assume she won’t be going to college in a couple years. with what savings will she be paying the tuition? i’m sure her school counselor will understand when she explains that she spent it all on a motorcycle. 

we are told bella is very mature and stephenie meyer clearly expects us to draw this conclusion based on how bella does her chores without being asked; but when it comes to major decisions about her safety, her future, and the effect she has on others, she repeatedly makes selfish and childish decisions. she hurts her parents, her friends, and herself, a lot. she does all of this based on her own intuition.

and actually, a lot of it tracks with her being a teenager. teenagers are not adults. they biologically do not yet have the full capacity for decision-making. that’s why they’re not adults. bella is not more mature than her parents and her belief that she is is demonstrably dangerous. she really needs more discipline in her life. 

3. bella and her mom

bella is very sad in the beginning of the book. she loves her mom and sees her mom as her best friend. 

she demonstrates her closeness by: 

lying to her mom that she wants to live with her dad, because she believes renee will be happier without bella, her supposed best friend. renee does not notice that bella has lied or question this decision. 

putting off emailing or calling her mom for several days, which makes renee angry. when she finally does, she basically just lists the things she’s done and logs off. 

refusing to share information with her, including that she was injured in a car accident, because she believes renee will be upset. her dad calls renee anyway, and bella is angry and is incredibly reluctant to call her back and talk to her. 

ignoring her emails for months when she’s sad over her breakup. 

visiting her exactly one time in the whole two years spanned in the books. her mom is also never invited to come visit bella in forks. 

renee’s absence from bella’s life actually works for the plot, as she can’t interfere with bella’s duplicity, while leaving the option to add an element of guilt from afar. but it doesn’t make sense as a character decision. 

i think it would make way more sense if bella and her mother aren’t close. bella wants her mom to show interest in her life. she suggested moving in with her dad in the hopes that her mom would be like, “no, honey, stay, i’ll miss you if you go,” but renee doesn’t even question it, she just books her a ticket. 

bella checks her email immediately when she arrives, and hasn’t heard from her mom, so she sends her an email herself, to which she gets a response like, two days later. 

bella calls her mom and gets her answering machine. renee is on her honeymoon and she and her new husband are in the process of moving to another state, so bella reasons that her mom is just busy; but she is also dealing with the knowledge that she’s just not a priority for her mom. 

yeah, this is very sad and makes renee seem like an asshole, but maybe she is an asshole in this version. it would neatly remove renee from the plot, it would explain why bella is so bummed about living with her dad, and it would lay the groundwork for why bella is so gutted when she perceives edward breaking up with her as being abandoned. bella believes she is not worth staying for. 

4. bella and her dad

i don’t even know where to start with bella and her dad. he seems great to me. 

he is the chief of police.

he knows and is respected by everyone in town.

he has friends and hobbies. 

as i said before, he has fed and clothed himself his whole life - at the very least in the decade since his divorce.

...so he seems like a reasonable person and member of the community. 

he treats bella with respect and offers her privacy, but he is always available when she needs help.

he notices and tries to intervene when she’s struggling. 

he has an amicable relationship with his ex-wife and they communicate about their daughter regularly. 

he bought bella a truck and put chains on the tires so that it would be safe for her even when it’s cold and wet out. 

...so he’s clearly an involved and caring father. 

bella goes through a serious depressive episode in new moon after her breakup with edward, and her dad responds to every bit of it. 

he wants to find out why she is upset. 

he is aware of how she’s doing in school and whether or not she’s seeing her friends. 

when bella has night terrors, he jumps out of bed to comfort her. 

when jacob deliberately lashes out at her and triggers another depressive episode, he immediately steps in and calls jake’s dad. 

he is told bella is at fault, but he takes bella’s side and chooses to believe her side of the story. 

throughout her depression, he never once judges her for it. 

after what he perceives to be edward hurting bella and being a bad boyfriend (which - he is observably not wrong about that), bella’s dad is openly against bella dating him again. 

...so he cares for and advocates for bella’s emotional state. 

if bella expresses gratitude or appreciation for any of these things, it’s sort of bitter and backhanded, like “at least charlie leaves me alone.” he fucked up trying to make dinner one time, to which she responds by refusing to let him cook ever again. bella dates edward twice before eclipse, and both times she went missing and then came back injured; so chief swan tells her he doesn’t think she should be dating edward again, at which point she puts down ultimatums and threatens to leave. bella ignores his rules and requests, keeps secrets from him, and runs away from home a few times because she believes she knows better than he does. 

no matter how many times charlie proves himself, it never changes bella’s opinion of him. there’s no arc there. bella arrives thinking her father is incompetent, and she leaves thinking her father is incompetent. 

making bella disrespect her father does benefit the narrative by enabling her to be secretive and makes her feel even more isolated in her experiences. it also makes stephanie have to write about less characters. but bella being secretive and isolated just results in her being stuck in the same situation for like 75% of each book. i think it would make sense for her to want to fix things, even just a little bit. 

there’s no reason for her to disrespect charlie, so her unfounded feelings of disdain toward him are confusing and just make her look like a dick; and furthermore, not giving him a character arc just makes him a boring obstacle. he might as well just be a door that gets stuck shut whenever it rains. 

i think it would be a better idea, for character development, for bella to grow closer to her father over the course of her stay with him. i would like, at least two of the times bella disobeys him, for her to ultimately conclude that he was right and she shouldn’t have done the thing. i would like her to eventually open up to him about some things. 

she doesn’t have to share that the cullens are vampires, but of all the people in her life, who has experience with having a romantic partner with whom he envisioned a future break up with and leave them? it would make sense for her to confide in him - or at the very least, seek comfort from him. 

bella trusting her father’s judgment and showing caution dating edward again after the events of new moon would also be better for the story, and i have more thoughts about that but that’s for another post. 

and probably biggest of all, your only tenuous link to emotional acceptance and fulfillment should not be your romantic partner. that’s so weird and unhealthy. bella is a teenager who, in general throughout the books, feels unmoored and stressed out. she needs someone sturdy and reliable who she can trust to protect her, even if it’s only emotionally. this would also give bella someone to bounce her thoughts and feelings off of and reduce the monotony of the narration a little bit. 

her father is an excellent choice for that. he repeatedly demonstrates that he is in her corner, and her corner alone. (i also think vampires should be just a little bit easier to kill, so that chief swan can protect her just a tiny bit.) 

5. why

stephenie meyer has children herself and it’s so weird to me that she would write a teenager deliberately disobeying and lying to her parents and consequently placing herself and many other people in grave danger, and framing it as a good thing. she makes it clear that bella was correct in doing this. 

bella’s not the only one, either. edward allegedly sees carlisle as his father figure, but A. this was not consensual, and he is frequently unhappy that carlisle bit him and made him a vampire; and B. he often disregards or gets angry about carlisle’s advice. 

wouldn’t stephenie meyer want to know if her son was hurting, or in danger? wouldn’t she want her son to respect her? wouldn’t she want to be able to share her wisdom and help her son make safe choices?

she does make it clear in interviews that this is pretend and she doesn’t believe readers should be seeing her characters as role models; but she made her characters teenagers on purpose, and it strikes me as kind of irresponsible to act as if she assumes her young readers won’t try to identify with them. 

bella’s relationships with her parents are boring and unusual, and the older i get the more frustrating they are. they stifle the characters and make the plot repetitive and tiresome. these are relatively small changes that i think would benefit the story overall. and that’s my opinion, thanks guys

[ofcacthuxandkylosaur]

FAQ

1. Where do you find those AU’s?

Well, mostly those are the AUs that cross my dash - when I happen to be active on tumblr. So you see, it is a bit restrictive and means there are probably lots of AUs I never found and I don’t even know exist! Every once in a while, I try exploring blogs or using tumblr search engine. It gets me results, but not as much as you would expect (tumblr search engine is not the most effective tool for that kind of things...). My ask box is also open in case you want to suggest a new tag/new post (see Q4 & Q5).

2. Are new AU tags meant to be added on the list?

I intend to. But it vastly depends on the AUs that cross my path (see Q1) and of the time I can manage to spend on the list. But I am always happy to discover new AUs :) On a side note, I intend to edit this version of the list rather than posting new versions. As long as I don’t have to split it again it should be fine!

3. Do you continue tagging the posts you reblog?

Yes, I try. So if you click on the same tag now and then in a few months, you may see new posts. ‘May’ of course, because I don’t encounter every AU everyday and some AUs are more popular than others...

4. Can I suggest an AU tag?

Yes please! The more tags the better. I can’t guarantee I’ll add it to the list though. Maybe I already use a synonym (or a concept too close to create a new entry). I also need to have more than two posts about an AU to create a tag (otherwise, it will be tagged as “Other AU” and possibly “Other /thematicName/ AU”). So it is best you also suggest post(s) bond to the AU you suggest (please send me links to those or directly submit the post(s) otherwise I might never find them!). It can also take me a few weeks to effectively add the new tag to the list since I must check possible affiliations/redirections/proximity (see “HOW” section of ABOUT) and see if it fits in any thematic list.

I must also warn you that I reserve myself the right to refuse an AU I am really uncomfortable with (typically heavy gore and obvious/graphic abuse). I try to be inclusive but there are some things I can’t bring myself to reblog. You can try reblogging and tagging that AU yourself, then create a post with a ‘yourBlogName.tumblr.com/tagged/tagName’ type of link, and I might add a link to that one post in the list. To be discussed. However, I will not add a pe /dophilic AU to the list. Ever.

5. Can I suggest post(s) for existing AU tags?

Yes, please do!! You can send me the link via an ask or submit it. Just try to look at the post’s notes beforehand (”see notes”) to see if I haven’t reblogged it already.

6. Can I suggest a new thematic list?

Yes you can! I can’t guarantee I’ll have the time to make it, but it could happen. Please try to provide an explanation for the theme (to make sure I get what you mean), with maybe a definition and an example of which tags you can see belonging to it (and which you think don’t). Note that all the tags appearing on  thematic lists already exist in the general AU list, so I won’t come up with new tags for a new thematic list.

7. What about Kylux adjacent?

I only included technicians (Matt/Techie), since it was the first adjacent paring to emerge. Also, since Matt is a radar technician he is still technically in the Star Wars universe. I wish I could have “tracked” every adjacent pairing but there are so many and I lost count. It would have taken me an incredible amount of time I didn’t have. If you happen to have your own tag list referencing all/part of those adjacent ships, you can contact me if you’re ok with me adding a link in my AU list redirecting people to your blog for Kylux adjacent.

8. The same post appears twice or more for the same AU. Is it normal?

No, I try to have each post to only appear once for each AU. BUT this list has been in the making for so long and some tags have so many posts that it is sometimes difficult to avoid duplication. If it bothers you, you can send me the links to those posts (all of them please) and I’ll try to settle it.

9. I am confused as to why you tagged a certain post like you did. Could it be a mistake?

It could. I do my best but sometimes it is hard to sort posts into tags. It could also be that the post comes from a series of posts and that it only becomes clear that the serie belongs to an AU when you read/see all the posts. Both scenari are an option, so feel free to message me about it. 

10. I am the OP of a post and you definitively tagged it wrong...

Ooops sorry! Please send me an ask so I can settle this!

11. I encountered a broken/incorrect link inside the list...

That is not normal. All of the tags displayed in the list should be working. This is however possible. There are many tags and I might have made a mistake. Please send me an ask with the name of the broken tag so I can fix it!

12. In ABOUT you said that there needs to be more than two posts for an AU to become a tag. Yet I found an AU tag with only two posts...

It happens. As I said in ABOUT, this is a general rule, and there are exceptions. If there are only two posts, but (one of) those posts are(/is) long, contains multiple art or a combination moodboard/fic, I might decide to make it a tag anyway. If, on the contrary, you spot a tag with three or more posts that doesn’t have a proper tag in the list, please let me know!

13. I don’t understand why you tagged a specific post “other” alongside  already existing tags...

“Other AU” is a default tag I use when there is no existing category fit for a post. A post tagged “other” can also be tagged “Other /thematicName/ AU” if it fits in any of the thematic lists. Also, you must remember that posts can be multi-tagged as a same post can have multiple “dimensions”. For example, it can depict a scene happening on a boat (”Cruise AU”) where Kylo happens to be a secret agent (”Agent Kylo AU”). Thus, if there’s a specific dimension about an AU that would justify the creation of a new tag, but I don’t have enough posts of that kind to actually create it (yet), the post will be tagged “other”, even though the other(s) dimension(s) are already depicted by existing tags. Let’s pretend that in the previous example, “Agent Kylo AU” was not yet part of the list. I would have tagged it “Cruise AU” and “other AU” (+ “Other Jobs AU”). I might even have added the “Agent Kylo AU” tag for internal purposes (so I can check how many of them I have and determine if it is time or not to add a new tag to the list).

14. A “Read More”/redirection link on a post doesn’t lead anywhere...

A “Read More” link redirects you to the OP blog. If the blog has changed name/been deleted or if the OP removed the post, you will end up nowhere. It is sad but you won’t be able to read the full post and there is nothing I can do about it. When it happens, you can however send me a message so that I can precise on the post that the “Read More” option is not an option anymore (please send me a link to my reblog of the post otherwise chances are I’ll never find it). Same goes for any other redirection link(s) present on the posts. If the page you were supposed to land on doesn’t exist anymore, I can’t do much about it, save warn people about it.

15. You reblogged comics in the wrong order...

Reblogging multiple pages comics is difficult. Either you reblog it entirely at once, either you reblog each page as it goes (the comic appears thus in reverse order in your blog). And if you miss some, it quickly becomes a mess. I tried to reblog relatively short comics at once, starting with the last part (so that the first page appears first when people scroll/navigate) but I often couldn’t. Some comics are not even complete, either because they were left unfinished, either because I just lost the thread. If there are navigation links within the posts, it is probably best you follow those. If not, maybe try to open the pages in different tabs and to order those accordingly. Or, and this is probably my best advice, try looking on the OP blog. They probably have a tag for their comic and it may make things easier!

16. You reblogged one of my posts and I’d rather not have it referenced by your list...

No problem! Please contact me I’ll untag it asap!

17. I have a question regarding the list that is not referenced above. Is it ok for me to ask it?

Yes, of course. Just be sure your answer doesn’t already lies in the ABOUT section (and refer to Q18 in case my answer doesn’t come too fast...).

18. I asked you a question but am still waiting for an answer...

Obviously (except if you were sending (anon) hate), I am not mad at you. I might need a few days to answer you. If a week has passed and I didn’t post an answer, chances are: 1) I didn’t see your message (tumblr eats it sometimes) or 2) I’ve been out of tumblr (busy with work, on holiday or something) or 3) my brain is not really complying at the moment. I do have down periods and, when it happens, I might not have the heart/energy to answer. It can last a few weeks or several months. I try to look at my inbox when I come back on this site but I might miss a message if too much have been sent. In any case, you can try and send your question again later.

See ABOUT for more general information

[dogpantry]

A quick guide to ball python substrate:

[This is not meant to be a comprehensive guide, but a starting point for further research. I encourage you to browse snake groups and look at other people’s opinions on substrate to then formulate your own. Pet ownership is a constantly evolving thing, and continuing education is paramount! That being said, I hope this guide is helpful.]

There’s debate sometimes about the “best” substrate. Though I don’t think there is any best substrate, I do think there are substrates that are best for certain keepers (and regions). Remember that ball pythons need relatively high humidity (I shoot for anywhere between 55%-60% as my ideal) and so you’ll need to take that into account when choosing a substrate. For example, some substrates are better at holding humidity than others. If you live in a dry area then more wet, absorbent substrate will be your best friend. 

While on the topic, I want to take a second here and refute the claim that spikes in humidity can cause an upper respiratory infection (RI). It’s my belief* that RIs in ball pythons happen more because of a combination of incorrect husbandry than they do from either a spike in humidity alone or a drop in ambient temperature alone. I was constantly wetting my substrate when I lived in West Texas (yes, even with the use of substrate like Eco Earth), but because my hot spot was kept at a toasty 88-92 degrees Fahrenheit and my ambients were always 80-85 degrees, my snakes never got sick. 

I still occasionally need to wet my substrate in East Texas, and I use paper towels now, however things like putting water bowels on the warm side of enclosures certainly helps, as does wetting the substrate at the same time every day. So, if you choose a drier substrate and live in a drier area, keep the whole sum of your husbandry in mind when maintaining your enclosure. It’s important to always check and re-check humidity and heat.

*As far as I know it’s merely speculation from the ball python community that spikes in humidity cause an RI. There has been no formal research for that claim or against, so do with that what you will. That being said, I wet my substrate to get humidity to 60%-65% from a dip of 47%-50%. If you’re needing to wet your substrate to increase humidity from more than a 10%-15% gradient then I would heavily consider switching substrate. Now, onto the post.

First, let’s look at substrates that should never be used for ball pythons:

Cedar is toxic to ball pythons

Pine

Sand (they are tropical, people)

Newspaper (c’mon...............do I even need to elaborate)

Aspen

This is debatable. I add aspen to this list because it’s dry and dusty, and not necessarily conducive to a ball python’s other heating and humidity needs.

Almost any bedding used for r.ats, m.ice, or other r.odents such as Carefresh and fleece.

Cypress mulch AKA “Forest Floor” (not because it’s bad for ball pythons, but because it’s bad for the environment)

Some people include paper towels in their list of substrates that aren’t for ball pythons, but I disagree and will elaborate on why below.

Next, let’s look at acceptable ball python substrate:

Sphagnum moss is a great addition to an enclosure, though I would never use it alone.

Coconut fiber AKA Eco Earth (best when mixed with other substrates because it is so loose)

Coconut substrate (like “ReptiChip,” which is mixed well with Eco Earth). Some claim that their ball pythons have choked on ReptiChip (and ReptiBark) however the risk can be eliminated by watching your snake eat and/or checking on them every few minutes as they do. You can also consider feeding on a slab of slate tile or paper towels so that when the snake strikes they aren’t getting a mouthful of substrate.

ReptiBark (made from the bark of fir trees) is a decent choice, however in my experience it works best when paired with Eco Earth.

Organic soil (with no additives). I have never used this before, but I heard that it can get seriously dusty when it dries. 

Paper towels*

Personally, I use *paper towels and that’s for a few reasons:

It’s so much easier to keep enclosures clean. Cleaning can be an hours-long endeavor when you’ve got 10 snakes like me, and it’s especially troublesome when you’re a graduate student. I use paper towels because when my snakes soil them I can quickly replace them, and there is little to no residue left behind. It makes spot cleaning more effective and efficient. 

You can always add other substrates to paper towels. I add stuff like big river rocks, a light dusting of Eco Earth, different textured paper towels (such as Viva versus Bounty), slate tile of different textures, and it’s only recently that I’ve thought about adding sphagnum moss to the mix as well. (And if your snakes want to/like to burrow I’ve found that adding things like this give them that feel of burrowing without actually needing the six inches of substrate.)

They allow me to better control the hot spot. Even just an inch of substrate like Eco Earth or ReptiBark makes maintenance of a hot spot difficult as the top of the substrate is always going to be cooler than the bottom. But with paper towels, the likelihood is high that the top of the paper towels are going to be as warm as the surface of the tub, thus eliminating the chance of my BPs going under the substrate and burning themselves. 

They let my young snakes in the racks take advantage of the six inches of head space. I’m not willing to take inches away from my snake’s head space, and paper towels are thin enough that I can manage that. 

That’s all, folks! Whatever you choose, just be sure your decision is an informed one. And as always, my ask box is open for any questions, comments, or concerns.

[nd-bumble-bee]

Some Thoughts About Antisepticeye:

I really like puzzles, mystery solving, & storytelling. I have no idea if anyone else has made these connections or publicly stated them. But I also might have an overactive imagination, which got me to start going down this rabbit hole. 

So when I think back to Seán saying that nobody has really figured out who or what Anti is, I got curious. Eventually (today-ish), my brain decided to take that as a challenge.

This may be a bit lengthy, so if you plan to read all of this: Buckle up, buttercups!

Now, I'm not usually one to try & actively theorize about this kind of stuff. But I love learning about lore & psychology! One thing I know is that there are a bunch of people in Seán's community who love to come up with theories about the egos, especially Anti (& I totally understand why, since Seán & Robin are pretty damn good at storytelling). One common thing that pops up is the idea that Anti is a glitch (bitch) or a demon. Or both. But because of what Seán said, either those ideas are incorrect or they’re not specific enough & we need to dig deeper. Like, much deeper.

One thing that caught my attention was a post on Tumblr (I included the link to it so it can be properly credited) that talked about the 1st time we actually see Anti's full body (the HTC Cubicle video) & how he 1st took over Jack's body VS. how he is able to do that now. But that's not the 1st time we see Anti or any hints of him at all! I looked into this by watching an edit someone made with (almost?) all of his appearances from the beginning of the channel up until the Bio Inc. Redemption video in 2017 (you can find this collection here). Obviously, Anti has made more appearances afterward, but I focused more on the early days for this as well as some of the more recent things Seán talked about regarding PMA & his mental health.

While I have met Seán in person (& can confirm that he gives amazing hugs!), I'm in no way involved in his personal life. So I could be wrong about some of the thoughts I have moving forward. I'm basically going by what I've seen & heard from videos, live shows, pannels, etc. & taking guesses based on that information & what I know about building/creating a character (I've done interactive theatre in different settings where I had almost total creative freedom in that with some guidance & training). I also can’t speak for Seán because...I’m not him.

I wouldn't doubt if any of Seán's egos came from very personal places, maybe some of them were made because of some silly idea that he decided to run with & build on. But Anti was possibly from a very personal place in Seán's mind (especially if this was one of the 1st egos he created).

And this lead to a thought that crossed my mind & started this whole dive into the rabbit hole:

What if Anti is a "glitch" in Seán's mental system?

Okay, hear me out on this:

We know there was a period of time where a bunch of YouTubers (including Seán) were creating evil versions/counterparts of themselves. I can't say how much thought was put into all of them (because again, I’m not them), but I don't doubt Seán thought this through A LOT because he's pretty damn methodical about what he chooses to show us (the audience). Meanwhile, Anti is chaotic, much harder to predict (especially because he's been much more careful about showing himself lately), & loves to fuck with everyone. But what about the character creation aspect of this? Where did Seán pull this character from?

My guess is that Anti is an embodiment of some of Jack's darker thoughts & feelings if they were more exaggerated or taken into a much darker, more sinister direction. Seán has talked somewhat openly about being depressed, sad, & lonely (particularly when he started making YouTube content). He has also talked about his fear of letting us down/failing us as a content creator, feeling that what he puts out there needs to be perfect, & the anxiety that causes him to feel sometimes. Just because the Seán/Jack we all know & love is kind, caring, & wouldn't want to harm anyone, doesn't mean he has never experienced some dark, scary thoughts. Especially if he's not kidding about having ADD or experiencing OCD-like symptoms (I'm only grabbing this from anytime he has says his "OCD kicks in" or talks about his "ADD" brain, I'm giving the benefit of the doubt that there's at least some truth to this). One thing I can say from personal experience is that when your brain is a hot mess & you have been through some shit (even if it’s just emotionally), it's hard to not have some dark & scary thoughts, which is why we try not to be alone with them.

And then there's Seán's interest in video games & computers. When you find a glitch in a game or software, it may or may not cause problems down the road (some of them are actually pretty funny & harmless!) depending on what happens next. You know what else runs on tiny pulses of electricity & some form of "wiring"?

Your brain!

In Jack's case: Those times when he was having negative feelings & thoughts could have opened a gateway for his "glitch/virus" (Anti) to work his way into Seán's brain wiring. You could go as far as to say that Anti is trying to crash the whole damn system! Trying to delete the "Seán/Jack" software & claim it for himself.

At 1st, Anti thought the easiest way to do that was to kill Jack (which he has tried at least twice now). But what if Anti realized at some point that if he was actually successful in killing him, there would be no "system" to take over because it would permanently shut down? And Anti may not have much interest in claiming a damaged body if there's a possibility he can keep it in the best condition possible.

So like anyone creating a computer virus or hacking into a system would do: Anti had to adapt & try a different approach. This could explain why when he last spoke to us (& anytime we see him afterwards), there was no throat slit or any injury to Jack’s body. Because Anti doesn't need to physically kill Seán. He needs to kill him mentally/emotionally! Which is slower, harder to pick up on, & potentially more effective in the long run because it builds up over time.

And being the glitch (bitch) that he is, Anti is slowly feeding off of Seán's doubts, fears, insecurities, etc. to become stronger than ever. Anti is slowly integrating his "code" in small fragments that are harder to find as deep & scattered as possible so then when they finally are able to fully connect & Seán is manipulated into the right mindset, Anti can hit the kill switch. And once he does that...it's hard to say what happens next.

We already know that Anti is able to physically project himself into our world. He actually may be doing exactly that or "hacking" into the other egos, manipulating his "puppets" (JJ; working on Chase; maybe Marvin?) in order to eventually get Jack to where he needs him to be mentally & emotionally in order to go for the "kill."

This could be where the events of the “Mayhem” videos come into play. Since Anti probably has JJ under his control already, Chase would obviously be the next best place to start. Chase’s state of mind is exactly what Anti is looking for & he knows exactly what buttons to push to use Chase however he wants to.

I’m not exactly sure how the “time is broken” concept plays into this yet (I honestly haven’t thought about that until later on as I finish writing this). Seán did mention that he’s really into sci-fi, space, things like that. I wouldn’t be surprised if Anti’s appearances in the Observance videos are adding on to what has already been building. Maybe the egos are all fragments of how Seán might exist in alternate universes? Or how he imagines he would?

But I mostly focused on the early stuff because if we want to know (or continue guessing) who or what Anti truly is...it’s probably better to start from the very beginning.

As awesome as it would be to hit the nail on the head with this: I also understand that I might be completely wrong or going in the way off into the wrong direction with this. Hell, I probably dug WAAAYYY too deep for this one. But I didn’t want to let this fester (especially if I end up being right!) in my brain & I’m curious what others might think about this. And hey, it’s JUST a theory. A GAME Theory! An Ego Theory!

If you actually read through this all of this: Thank you! I really appreciate it!

And now, my brain is off to go hyperfocus on something else...

[torchsongdiva]

Surviving Covid 19

  Close friends, family, and some people who follow me as a musician on social media are aware that I was recently very ill with Covid 19. I live alone which presented a few challenges, and am still recuperating, well over a month later. 

  I haven’t said too much about it online, apart from trying to battle the disinformation about the disease out there, and privately providing information and moral support to those who have become ill more recently than I, and who felt lost and confused by the system in place. 

  However, I feel that it’s time that I spoke about this publicly, in the hope of helping others and perhaps saving a few lives.

  The biggest problem we face right now is a lack of easily accessible information. I have research experience, which helped me a great deal to understand what was happening to me, but not everyone has that skill set and therefore I hope my experience will be useful. 

  In the UK they have three symptoms listed on the NHS website, just three. This is wholly inaccurate and has cost lives. I am a member of a number of Covid survivors groups, and most of those in these groups share similar experiences to myself, and are still in recovery.

  Symptoms of Covid 19 include, but are not limited to the following -

1. Fever ( I had this on the 1st night, but didn’t get another one until week 2, when I was hit with fevers, cold sweats and teeth chattering chills which came and went for the next 2 weeks. They do come and go intermittently for longer than that while you recuperate but they aren’t the same)

2. Dry Cough ( I personally only had this on the first night, I never really had a cough for the rest of the illness)

3. Anosmia ( I personally didn’t experience this, I did however experience a severe change in taste and smell in week 2. Everything smelled and tasted of chemicals which was extremely unpleasant. I would have preferred a complete loss than the experience that I had. Thankfully it passed after a few days, though I still occasionally detect that chemical taste momentarily)

4. Fatigue (This is a hard one to explain as I’ve never really experienced anything like it. That seems to be the opinion of all others who have had it too. On Wk1 I just felt exhausted, on Wk 2 it hit me like a sledgehammer. I now understand this was silent hypoxia. I could barely get out of my chair to walk 6 feet to the kettle. Just picking something up off the floor was like climbing Mount Everest. Just because you are not in bed doesn’t mean you aren’t seriously ill. I am now on week 10 and am still experiencing fatigue after mild exercise, and this is something most Covid survivors are reporting. My advice would be to get an oximeter and call the paramedics if it drops below 95. I didn’t have one but they suspect it was probably very low)

5. Shortness of breath/tight chest ( I didn’t really notice this but I wasn’t able to move around much with the fatigue)

6. Fainting/blacking out (This happened to me on week 2. I probably needed oxygen support and could also have been low blood pressure due to the blood rushing to my organs in defence against the virus, but either way I should have had medical support. I have been told since that I could have died. 111 symptom checker was still not advising anything other than staying at home, and didn’t have the option to add any of these symptoms)

7. Gastric problems ( Many people contract the gastric version of Covid 19/ This is not something that 111 has much information about, and is potentially as lethal as the mainly respiratory version. I was eating relatively normally but lost my appetite on week 2 with the change in taste and smell. I personally started with the gastric symptoms in week 3, vomiting and diarrhoea on day 21, diarrhoea for the next few days, and morning gastric issues for the next 2 weeks. Stomach is still iffy on and off)

8. Reduced lung capacity ( This seems to be very common. My local pharmacy is reporting a huge increase in the number of inhalers being prescribed, and I’m aware of many people globally with the same issue. I’m a professional saxophonist and singer, and despite having the gastric version, have currently got the lung capacity of an 85 year old woman with asthma.)

  I have no idea if my condition will improve, chest X-rays have shown nothing, which I understand is quite common. Fibrosis may only show up via CT, and needs early treatment, but my GP is not allowed to refer anyone for CT scans, or to the respiratory clinic in my area, as they are only dealing with cancer patients currently. There is no post Covid treatment in place, my GP and others I have spoken to, are angry at the lack of information being fed to them from NHS England. They are being left to wing it, and do their own research. This very important stage, dealing with the long and sometimes complicated recovery from this disease has not been considered by this government. I find this unsurprising given that they chose to adopt a fire fighting approach to the  outbreak. This needs action now though, to prevent long term health damage which could be avoided if dealt with early in recovery.

  Other symptoms include rashes, headaches, ear and eye problems, dehydration, dizziness. brain fog and confusion. Also feet can develop purple lesions on the soles which then disappear. I experienced that very briefly, plus a very short period where the soles of my feet turned black, which I believe relates to low blood pressure, but it did frighten me when it occurred. 

  I personally felt quite dizzy, was inhaling large volumes of water during the illness and am still experiencing brain fog and blurred vision at times, something that others are also reporting. I began craving fresh fruit and ice-cream, probably Vitamin C and Potassium at the end of the illness. This disease lowers potassium levels and I’ve been following my body’s wishes by eating a lot more fresh fruit, especially bananas, for potassium. 

  During the period of fevers I was avoiding using paracetamol except at night, as fever is important for making your body a hostile environment for the virus. I’m also on other medication for long term medical issues, including blood thinners, which may have protected me against the blood clots that seem to be a big problem with this disease, but I can’t be certain of that, so I’ll leave those studies to the scientists.

  I also found that baths helped me feel a lot better but I did find it very hard to get in and out of the bath during the second week, so it probably wasn’t that good an idea, as I was living alone.

  Many people may have mild symptoms for a few days, fever, cough etc. and then feel absolutely fine, others may show no symptoms at all. 

  You also hear about the tragic deaths, and people who can’t breathe so need to be supported with oxygen and/or ventilators.

  What they aren’t telling you is that there are a large number of people, yet to be counted in the official figures, and/or tested, that have a serious form of the disease, but don’t end up in hospital, due to the incorrect list of symptoms. 

  111 in the UK have failed to identify people with dangerously low 02 levels, who suffer from what is being called ‘happy hypoxia’, due to the woefully inadequate symptom checking system.

  Most of the people I know that have had the virus, and there are many, have gone through this horrific illness without help, or recognition, because of the flawed symptom check and lack of testing. I have only been offered a test this week, long after I would have tested positive, but even then the site wouldn’t allow me to order one. I now need an antibody test, but can’t get one of those at present either.

We deserve better.