#there's a long way to go

[valleyofthemachinegods]

She finds him halfway between the landing pad of her ship and the complex, looking entirely the exiled-yet-redeemed husk of a man she'd taken him for. It's almost whimsical how he looks, staring off into the landscape, the slight breeze billowing the white fabric that adorns him nigh-hypocritically. Hildr-- and that is who she is today-- isn't entirely surprised; a deaf man could hear the whispers that follow him, the accusations. It's warranted, she knows; the same for her, though they dared not to create cause for her eye to fall on them.

Commander or not, she is just as guilty as he is.

"Arcann," she greets, noting the way his body shifts, as if surprise had conquered the Force, as if he hadn't felt her presence long before she'd announced it.

-- conjecture, possibly.

Still, Hildr finds a place at his side, letting the scenery draw her gaze in the same way it always does. Odessen truly is something to behold, a rarity, and certainly not for the sake of a balanced Force.

"Commander," he returns her greeting at last. She feels him shift again, uncertain. It's curious, unexpected, and she wonders if he'll offer her any insight into his head.

"You haven't said why you spared me."

Ah, there it is.

She prefers it when he is less forthcoming.

"You haven't asked," she hummed in response. The tips of her gloved fingers drum against the railing, less impatient than they are a manifestation of idleness.

She can feel the sidelong glance he gives her. This is a familiar exasperation, previously encapsulated in her dry quips during battle.

The Commander deigns, just this once, to be forthcoming. "It's complicated," she admits, resting her chin in her hand. "Multi-faceted."

The silence he offers her is well-deserved, she thinks. Arcann patiently waits for her to continue, and she must realize that she's brought this on herself. How easy it would be to simply leave it at that-- but it wouldn't be fair, not to him. Owing him something, for all of the blame and unuttered projections she pins to him, a small token in retribution.

"Do you remember what I said to Vaylin?"

"That we can choose to be better." It sounds better coming from him.

"I didn't do it for Senya," she says quietly, with an edge from an accusation that simply wasn't there, the distortion of her mask hardly allowing the words to filter out. That's the first lie: she places much more on Senya than she'd ever admit. "And I didn't do it for you either," lie number two, "yet I can't deny how selfish I am. Blame it on our bad childhoods, but there is something in you that's also in me."

I'd be afraid to let that die, she omits, because what would that mean for me?

"If you can change, there's a possibility that I can too." There's something weighing her down, an anchor in the syllables, a vulnerability that she had yet to cut out of herself. Hope had been extinguished from her long ago, somewhere aboard a young girl's ship adrift in the fringes of Wild Space-- so whatever this is, she thinks she can allow it. Her hand drifts to his, metallic-skeleton from the darkest spaces between the stars, rests on top of it.

Again, the silence sinks between them, snowdrifts in an endless tundra. It isn't uncomfortable, though her breath is only released once lungs begin to strain.

"We can choose to be better," he says again, lowly, at last, and with a sort of understanding that she loathes. If there is anything else, she is closed off from it. Not unkindly, he removes his synthetic hand from under hers. "If you found something redeemable in me, after everything, then it is in you too."

For all that she is, she can't look at him. The rejection doesn't sting because she doesn't let it: because she knows that friendship is a long stretch for someone like her. She recalls Aurine complimenting her dead eyes, once.

"Of course." Her gaze is drawn again to the black durasteel of his arm, glinting in the sunlight. She traces it up to his ruined face, now directed at her.

"And," she deflects, "If I'd killed you, who would be left in the galaxy to suffer with me?"

[verflares]

just how long is forever? // not long enough, with you

pssst. check this out on inprnt :]

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

Of the 19 hijackers who carried out the Sept 11 attacks:

15 were from Saudi Arabia (a powerful/oil-rich country the U.S. works hard to maintain diplomatic relations with)

2 were from the United Arab Emirates (also a powerful/oil-rich country the U.S. works hard to maintain diplomatic relations with)

1 was from Egypt, 1 from Lebanon.

None of the hijackers were from Iraq.

None of the Sept 11 hijackers were Iraqi.

None of the 9/11 hijackers were from Iraq.

[catmask]

does anyone have like an anti aesthetic. like something you look at and can recognize as a complete fashion/interior design/artistic movement and understand it but it makes you shudder seeing it. i am not talking like “its morally bad” “its poorly structured” like just sheerly devoid of joy for you actually invites a repulse response.

[evenlyevi]

False halo

[octarineblues]

supporting communities & people impacted by the Southport attack and the far-right riots in the UK

here is a list of community fundraisers I found, starting with those aiming to support the Southport community after the appalling attack at a children dance party, to the fundraisers helping those affected by the subsequent racist and Islamophobic far-right/nazi riots

Edited on 5 August to include Middlesbrough fundraisers. Edited on 6 August to correct the link on the Books for Spellow Lane fundraiser, to adjust the name change for the Belfast fundraiser, and to adjust the wording in the second last paragraph.

Southport:

Southport Strong Together Appeal - organised by the community foundation for Merseyside, for those affected by the Southport knife attack

United for Southport families - the funds will be distributed among the nine families of the children who were at the party

Swifties for Southport - a fundraiser for the Alder Hey Children's charity, which supports the victims and the affected families, as well as first responders and clinicians. Extra funds will also support the wider Southport community

Fundraiser for the Southport Mosque - a fundraiser to aid rebuilding or possibly re-locating the Southport Mosque after the damages it suffered during the riots

Rebuilding Windsor Mini Mart - fundraiser to rebuild the locally-owned grocery store that was targeted during the attacks, broken into, and looted

Liverpool:

Fundraiser for the Spellow Hub - the Spellow Hub was broken into, looted and set on fire at night during the riots. The Spellow Hub is a newly created one-of-a-kind (in the UK) institution, which consists of a library as well as a community centre with a mission to help people get education and pathways to work

Books for Spellow Lane - another fundraiser for the library in the Spellow Hub, to replace the books and rebuild the library there edit: included the correct link

Hartlepool:

Fundraiser for the Nasir Mosque - the Nasir Mosque was attacked following Southport riots; this fundraiser is organised by Hartlepool citizens to help the mosque deal with the damages as well as to show appreciation for the role of the mosque in the community. edit: the funds will be also distributed to the local community!

Rebuilding the Farm Shop - the shop was targeted during the riots, and when the owner and his son tried to protect it, they were also violently attacked. The fundraiser is to help fix the damages to the store.

Sunderland:

help rebuild Citizens Advice Sunderland offices after arson - two of the Citizens Advice Sunderland offices were set on fire during the riots, and one of them is completely destroyed.

Hull:

Hull Help for Refugees - a local fundraiser to support the Hull Help for Refugees charity, the donated money will be re-distributed to community members affected by the riots

Fundraiser for Hull Help for Refugees and Welcome House in Hull - collected money will be donated to the two charities

Belfast:

help fix racially motivated damages - originally the fundraiser for the Sahara Shisha Cafe which was targeted by the far right in Belfast during the riots, now a fundraiser for all affected businesses in the area. edited to reflect the change of the name of the fundraiser to avoid any confusion

Middlesbrough:

Supporting residents after the riots - Middlesbrough has suffered so much during the riots, lots of businesses as well as just regular family homes were vandalised, had their windows smashed or even were broken into. This fundraiser wants to distribute the funds between affected people to help them fix the damages, and to generally support the local community. the newest fundraiser, imo potentially the most urgent one

Fundraiser for a Care worker's car which was set on fire - a car belonging to an employee of a care agency was set on fire during the riots while he was on shift at a care home.

If you want to donate locally but there is no fundraiser to support where you live, consider donating to your local charities oriented towards Muslim or PoC communities, or towards anti-racist and refugee organizations! And go support your local Muslim/Arab/Black/Asian/Refugee owned businesses!

If you have any information about other local fundraisers, feel free to add to the post or don't hesitate to let me know and I will add them here! We have seen so much hate in the past few days, we have to stay strong and keep supporting each other!

Stay safe everyone 💛

[luzity]

first vs last appearances

[hinamie]

unconditionally

[doomdoomofdoom]

Kamala Harris does want "transgender surgery on illegal aliens that are in prison", btw.

So since Trumpists are getting mad enough about the jokes to actually cite their sources, I thought I'd put the source out into my left extremist commie faggot echo chamber, too.

The claim originates from an ACLU questionnaire she filled out for her 2020 presidential candidacy, specifically this section:

She wasn't given a new questionnaire for 2024, and has stated that while her policy on some things may have changed, her values had not. (This most likely means she moved more to the center to appease larger demographics and cut corners to reach compromises. The basic politician stuff.)

It boils down to this: If you're in prison, whether for "illegal" immigration or other crimes, you rely on the state to provide you with necessary amenities, like food and health care. Her argument isn't "hell yeah everyone in prison should get sex changes for free". It's "gender affirming surgery is a necessary medical procedure. If you are in the states care while this becomes necessary, the state should provide it." If you're outraged by your tax money being used on this, consider the massive amount of people being incarcerated in for-profit prisons, on your dime. Then ask yourself if maybe a prison reform might be in order.

Worth noting: In 2015, while Attorney General, Kamala Harris actually argued against providing gender-affirming surgery to an incarcerated trans woman, claiming that HRT and psychotherapy were sufficiently covering her medical needs. She has since obviously changed her stance and assumed responsibility. (I would like to take this moment to remind my fellow left extremist commie faggots that "willingness to learn and rethink your views" is infinitely more valuable than "perfect from the start and unwilling to listen to anyone")

Also found in the source: This image of Kamala Harris participating in the 2019 San Francisco Pride Parade, wearing what I believe to be a sequin rainbow embroidered denim jacket.

I encourage you to read the provided CNN article and the answers to the ACLU questionnaire, as they give great insight into her values.

TLDR: Based.

[allergictolife09]

How do some people think atsushi is just some uwu innocent soft boy when he's literally so salty

Do they not see this

[bloominglegumes]

i love normal guys doomed by the narrative

[bigfatbreak]

Birds of a Feather previous / next

[pineapple-frenzy]

Book 2 au: sparring sessions and short hair katara

They like to have sparring sessions in order to keep their bending skills sharp. They allow themselves to go all out and not hold back at all cause they know if anyone got hurt, Katara could just heal them

But anyways, wouldn't it be kinda funny if Zuko accidentally burned Katara's hair tho? Aofkqldkkajfjd

The "I think we can save the hairloops" line is from @linnoya-writes thank you for that!! :>>

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

the fact that shakespeare was a playwright is sometimes so funny to me. just the concept of the "greatest writer of the English language" being a random 450-year-old entertainer, a 16th cent pop cultural sensation (thanks in large part to puns & dirty jokes & verbiage & a long-running appeal to commoners). and his work was made to be watched not read, but in the classroom teachers just hand us his scripts and say "that's literature"

just...imagine it's 2450 A.D. and English Lit students are regularly going into 100k debt writing postdoc theses on The Simpsons screenplays. the original animation hasn't even been preserved, it's literally just scripts and the occasional SDH subtitles.txt. they've been republished more times than the Bible

[pupkinpumpkin]

Rook being a very physically touchy person and Lucanis avoiding touch at all costs from built up trauma from childhood, his work as a Crow, and the Ossuary. Them always asking for Lucanis' permission to touch him, and before Tearstone Island, they hug him and he still flinches but he holds them tight

As Rook is taken into the Regret prison and they see a vision of Lucanis' body on the ground, they scream his name out of concern and fear but all Lucanis hears is them screaming for him to help, and then they're gone. They're gone. He thinks they were screaming his name, begging him to save them and now they're gone.

Weeks into Rook being taken into the Regret prison and now a man who couldn't be touched without reflexively drawing a blade is craving the warmth of his partner who he thinks he'll never see again

Lucanis pulling Rook out of the prison, knowing it's them right away because of their hands. He missed their hands, he missed their touch, he missed their warmth, he missed them.

When Rook gets back, Lucanis' touch is slow and soft, almost unbelieving. Weeks of stress and torture and pain and guilt and regret, and now they're here. Once they're finally together, he feels as though the world is in their arms and if killing a god is the only way to stay there, he will do what a Crow does best and fulfill this contract

[plesiosaurys]

getting emotional over footage of an amateur scuba diver interacting with a coelacanth. they are hunted by large deepwater predators, and here comes a large creature bearing the brightest lights it's ever seen, making strange noises, but it does not shy away. it hovers, calmly, as the diver reaches out and trails a hand down its back. im strongly against the anthropomorphizing of real life animals but the stupid emotional part of me loudly insists this is because it recognizes us, the alternating movements of its four paired limbs matching the diver's four paired limbs, & it is thinking, "hello, cousins, we missed you these 66 million years, it's so good to see you again. welcome back, welcome home."