#which i have done with my original post as well

[deepdreamnights]

A shorter sum-up that may correct some of the inevitable misunderstandings from the rather loose use of the term "scrape."

A guy making low-rent audiobooks downloaded a huge chunk of AO3 content for his robots to read, in the precise same way creepypasta youtubers have been operating for years.

That's it, that's the whole deal.

Generally in AI conversations it means to harvest and process training data. Whereas here it's being used in the older, pre-AI term, of grabbing a bunch of data from an un-or-under-protected website via bot.

Which yeah, it's scummy, but it's analogue scummy, and well in keeping with a number of common copyright misconceptions. I can't tell you how many idiots I've met that thought fanworks had no IP protections because they were violations of the corporate owners' IP.

But this?

**A note about the AI that Weitzman used to steal our work: it’s even greasier than it looks at first glance. It’s not just the method he used to lift works off AO3 and then regurgitate onto his own website and app. Looking beyond the untold horrors of his AI-generated cover ‘art’, in many cases these covers attempt to depict something from the fics in question that can’t be gleaned from their summaries alone. In addition, my fics (and I assume the others, as well) were listed with generated genres; tags that did not appear anywhere in or on my fic on AO3 and were sometimes scarily accurate and sometimes way off the mark. I remember You & Me & Holiday Wine had ‘found family’ (100% correct, but not tagged by me as such) and I believe The Shape of Soup was listed as, among others, ‘enemies to friends to lovers’ and ‘love triangle’ (both wildly inaccurate). Even worse, not all the fic listed (as authors on Reddit pointed out) came with their original summaries at all. Often the entire summary was AI-generated. All of these things make it very clear that it was an all-encompassing scrape—not only were our fics stolen, they were also fed word-for-word into the AI Weitzman used and then analyzed to suit Weitzman’s needs. This means our work was literally fed to this AI to basically do with whatever its other users want, including (one assumes) text generation.

That's not how any of this works.

The OP is acting as though this is all being done through a single, automated system, and it isn't. Even the idea that this is Weitzman's AI is silly, as he's likely using off the shelf services. This scam is too petty to justify the cost of anything custom in either time or cash.

Here's what's actually going down, in all likelihood, on the pirate's side of things:

He figured out the most popular works via simple metrics and got a bog-standard website downloader go to work on it or he spent a night right-clicking.

The resulting files for the fics were loaded into word or some similar program and a macro was used to automatically fix formatting for the autoreader.

He ran each fic through an autoreader, and posted those like any other .mp3 file.

Meanwhile, he gave Chat GPT the story link and said "Summarize this and give me a cover prompt"

He takes the cover prompts and runs them in Midjourney with some standard formatting cues.

Now, what isn't happening at any stage in this process is processing the work into a dataset.

Generative AI systems do not continually harvest and incorporation information given to them by end users.

This is outside of their capabilities with a few specific exceptions ( Some AI services log user interaction for later processing into a training dataset, but that is a separate process, and Chat-GPT has features to webcrawl specific sources of "Trustworthy information" but in those cases its functioning as a search engine.) But incorporating data into the training dataset requires crunching the whole set of weights.

Even if one developed a generative AI system that could actively harvest and learn information, you wouldn't want to let it. Unfiltered junk data degrades dataset quality very quickly and is an open invitation to disruptive overfitting through users being generally repetitive. It's okay for more than half your users to generate pictures of dogs or cats playing in the clouds, but you don't want that to be half your dataset.

The situation being, the disagreeable aspects of this scenario are all forms of analogue jackassery, people have been swiping fiction off the net and turning it into shitty autoreader autobooks for long before generative AI came around.

The only difference here is the quality of the robot voice and the thumbnail art.

And as to worries about AO3's stories being scraped for AI training, well, AO3 is part of the generally indexed internet-

-the chicken is already in the nugget. ChatGPT gobbled it up ages ago, and Google and Bing had done so before that as part of their search indexing.

Now, every AO3 author who is upset is well within their rights to be so. Their work was pirated in a non-transformative way, and this guy's mistake was setting up with completed ebooks rather than hawking a "I will autoread any webpage" app.

But there is a certain irony to the real panic being that the work might have been turned into a dataset for the creation of new works when that panic comes from fanwork creators. If dataset training is theft then so are fanworks.

SO HERE IS THE WHOLE STORY (SO FAR).

I am on my knees begging you to reblog this post and to stop reblogging the original ones I sent out yesterday. This is the complete account with all the most recent info; the other one is just sending people down senselessly panicked avenues that no longer lead anywhere.

IN SHORT

Cliff Weitzman, CEO of Speechify and (aspiring?) voice actor, used AI to scrape thousands of popular, finished works off AO3 to list them on his own for-profit website and in his attached app. He did this without getting any kind of permission from the authors of said work or informing AO3. Obviously.

When fandom at large was made aware of his theft and started pushing back, Weitzman issued a non-apology on the original social media posts—using 

his dyslexia; 

his intent to implement a tip-system for the plagiarized authors; and 

a sudden willingness to take down the work of every author who saw my original social media posts and emailed him individually with a ‘valid’ claim,

as reasons we should allow him to continue monetizing fanwork for his own financial gain.

When we less-than-kindly refused, he took down his ‘apologies’ as well as his website (allegedly—it’s possible that our complaints to his web host, the deluge of emails he received or the unanticipated traffic brought it down, since there wasn’t any sort of official statement made about it), and when it came back up several hours later, all of the work formerly listed in the fan fiction category was no longer there. 

THE TAKEAWAYS

1. Cliff Weitzman (aka Ofek Weitzman) is a scumbag with no qualms about taking fanwork without permission, feeding it to AI and monetizing it for his own financial gain; 

2. Fandom can really get things done when it wants to, and 

3. Our fanworks appear to be hidden, but they’re NOT DELETED from Weitzman’s servers, and independently published, original works are still listed without the authors' permission. We need to hold this man responsible for his theft, keep an eye on both his current and future endeavors, and take action immediately when he crosses the line again. 

THE TIMELINE, THE DETAILS, THE SCREENSHOTS (behind the cut)

Sunday night, December 22nd 2024, I noticed an influx in visitors to my fic You & Me & Holiday Wine. When I searched the title online, hoping to find out where they came from, a new listing popped up (third one down, no less):

This listing is still up today, by the way, though now when you follow the link to word-stream, it just brings you to the main site. (Also, to be clear, this was not the cause for the influx of traffic to my fic; word-stream did not link back to the original work anywhere.)

I followed the link to word-stream, where to my horror Y&M&HW was listed in its entirety—though, beyond the first half of the first chapter, behind a paywall—along with a link promising to take me—through an app downloadable on the Apple Store—to an AI-narrated audiobook version. When I searched word-stream itself for my ao3 handle I found both of my multi-chapter fics were listed this way:

Because the tags on my fics (which included genres* and characters, but never the original IPs**) weren’t working, I put ‘Kara Danvers’ into the search bar and discovered that many more supercorp fics (Supergirl TV fandom, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor pairing) were listed.

I went looking online for any mention of word-stream and AI plagiarism (the covers—as well as the ridiculously inflated number of reviews and ratings—made it immediately obvious that AI fuckery was involved), but found almost nothing: only one single Reddit post had been made, and it received (at that time) only a handful of upvotes and no advice. 

I decided to make a tumblr post to bring the supercorp fandom up to speed about the theft. I draw as well as write for fandom and I’ve only ever had to deal with art theft—which has a clear set of steps to take depending on where said art was reposted—and I was at a loss regarding where to start in this situation.

After my post went up I remembered Project Copy Knight, which is worth commending for the work they’ve done to get fic stolen from AO3 taken down from monetized AI 'audiobook’ YouTube accounts. I reached out to @echoekhi, asking if they’d heard of this site and whether they could advise me on how to get our works taken down.

While waiting for a reply I looked into Copy Knight’s methods and decided to contact OTW’s legal department:

And then I went to bed.

By morning, tumblr friends @makicarn and @fazedlight as well as a very helpful tumblr anon had seen my post and done some very productive sleuthing:

@echoekhi had also gotten back to me, advising me, as expected, to contact the OTW. So I decided to sit tight until I got a response from them.

That response came only an hour or so later: 

Which was 100% understandable, but still disappointing—I doubted a handful of individual takedown requests would accomplish much, and I wasn’t eager to share my given name and personal information with Cliff Weitzman himself, which is unavoidable if you want to file a DMCA.

I decided to take it to Reddit, hoping it would gain traction in the wider fanfic community, considering so many fandoms were affected. My Reddit posts (with the updates at the bottom as they were emerging) can be found here and here.

A helpful Reddit user posted a guide on how users could go about filing a DMCA against word-stream here (to wobbly-at-best results)

A different helpful Reddit user signed up to access insight into word-streams pricing. Comment is here.

Smells unbelievably scammy, right? In addition to those audacious prices—though in all fairness any amount of money would be audacious considering every work listed is accessible elsewhere for free—my dyscalculia is screaming silently at the sight of that completely unnecessary amount of intentionally obscured numbers.

Speaking of which! As soon as the post on r/AO3—and, as a result, my original tumblr post—began taking off properly, sometime around 1 pm, jumpscare! A notification that a tumblr account named @cliffweitzman had commented on my post, and I got a bit mad about the gist of his message :

Fortunately he caught plenty of flack in the comments from other users (truly you should check out the comment section, it is extremely gratifying and people are making tremendously good points), in response to which, of course, he first tried to both reiterate and renegotiate his point in a second, longer comment (which I didn’t screenshot in time so I’m sorry for the crappy notification email formatting):

which he then proceeded to also post to Reddit (this is another Reddit user’s screenshot, I didn’t see it at all, the notifications were moving too fast for me to follow by then)

... where he got a roughly equal amount of righteously furious replies. (Check downthread, they're still there, all the way at the bottom.)

After which Cliff went ahead & deleted his messages altogether. 

It’s not entirely clear whether his account was suspended by Reddit soon after or whether he deleted it himself, but considering his tumblr account is still intact, I assume it’s the former. He made a handful of sock puppet accounts to play around with for a while, both on Reddit and Tumblr, only one of which I have a screenshot of, but since they all say roughly the same thing, you’re not missing much:

And then word-stream started throwing a DNS error.

That lasted for a good number of hours, which was unfortunately right around the time that a lot of authors first heard about the situation and started asking me individually how to find out whether their work was stolen too. I do not have that information and I am unclear on the perimeters Weitzman set for his AI scraper, so this is all conjecture: it LOOKS like the fics that were lifted had three things in common:

They were completed works;

They had over several thousand kudos on AO3; and

They were written by authors who had actively posted or updated work over the past year.

If anyone knows more about these perimeters or has info that counters my observation, please let me know!

I finally thought to check/alert evil Twitter during this time, and found out that the news was doing the rounds there already. I made a quick thread summarizing everything that had happened just in case. You can find it here.

I went to Bluesky too, where fandom was doing all the heavy lifting for me already, so I just reskeeted, as you do, and carried on.

Sometime in the very early evening, word-stream went back up—but the fan fiction category was nowhere to be seen. Tentative joy and celebration!***

That’s when several users—the ones who had signed up for accounts to gain intel and had accessed their own fics that way—reported that their work could still be accessed through their history. Relevant Reddit post here.

Sooo—

We’re obviously not done. The fanwork that was stolen by Weitzman may be inaccessible through his website right now, but they aren’t actually gone. And the fact that Weitzman wasn’t willing to get rid of them altogether means he still has plans for them. 

This was my final edit on my Reddit post before turning off notifications, and it's pretty much where my head will be at for at least the foreseeable future:

Please feel free to add info in the comments, make your own posts, take whatever action you want to take to protect your work. I only beg you—seriously, I’m on my knees here—to not give up like I saw a handful of people express the urge to do. Keep sharing your creative work and remain vigilant and stay active to make sure we can continue to do so freely. Visit your favorite fics, and the ones you’ve kept in your ‘marked for later’ lists but never made time to read, and leave kudos, leave comments, support your fandom creatives, celebrate podficcers and support AO3. We created this place and it’s our responsibility to keep it alive and thriving for as long as we possibly can.

Also FUCK generative AI. It has NO place in fandom spaces.

THE 'SMALL' PRINT (some of it in all caps):

*Weitzman knew what he was doing and can NOT claim ignorance. One, it’s pretty basic kindergarten stuff that you don’t steal some other kid’s art project and present it as your own only to act surprised when they protest and then tell the victim that they should have told you sooner that they didn’t want their project stolen. And two, he was very careful never to list the IPs these fanworks were based on, so it’s clear he was at least familiar enough with the legalities to not get himself in hot water with corporate lawyers. Fucking over fans, though, he figured he could get away with that. 

**A note about the AI that Weitzman used to steal our work: it’s even greasier than it looks at first glance. It’s not just the method he used to lift works off AO3 and then regurgitate onto his own website and app. Looking beyond the untold horrors of his AI-generated cover ‘art’, in many cases these covers attempt to depict something from the fics in question that can’t be gleaned from their summaries alone. In addition, my fics (and I assume the others, as well) were listed with generated genres; tags that did not appear anywhere in or on my fic on AO3 and were sometimes scarily accurate and sometimes way off the mark. I remember You & Me & Holiday Wine had ‘found family’ (100% correct, but not tagged by me as such) and I believe The Shape of Soup was listed as, among others, ‘enemies to friends to lovers’ and ‘love triangle’ (both wildly inaccurate). Even worse, not all the fic listed (as authors on Reddit pointed out) came with their original summaries at all. Often the entire summary was AI-generated. All of these things make it very clear that it was an all-encompassing scrape—not only were our fics stolen, they were also fed word-for-word into the AI Weitzman used and then analyzed to suit Weitzman’s needs. This means our work was literally fed to this AI to basically do with whatever its other users want, including (one assumes) text generation. 

***Fan fiction appears to have been made (largely) inaccessible on word-stream at this time, but I’m hearing from several authors that their original, independently published work, which is listed at places like Kindle Unlimited, DOES still appear in word-stream’s search engine. This obviously hurts writers, especially independent ones, who depend on these works for income and, as a rule, don’t have a huge budget or a legal team with oceans of time to fight these battles for them. If you consider yourself an author in the broader sense, beyond merely existing online as a fandom author, beyond concerns that your own work is immediately at risk, DO NOT STOP MAKING NOISE ABOUT THIS.

Again, please, please PLEASE reblog this post instead of the one I sent originally. All the information is here, and it's driving me nuts to see the old ones are still passed around, sending people on wild goose chases.

Thank you all so much.

[clouds-of-wings]

Because Spotify doesn't really know that much about my listening habits and because I enjoyed writing this kind of post last year I'll once more make a post about my ACTUAL musical favourites this year. So here goes! Album time!

Grendels Sÿster: Abstieg in die Traumkammer (2024, heavy/folk metal) -- This was by far my favourite album of the year. It came out this August. First album by the band, and what a debut! The album has an English version too (which you can also find if you click the link), but I vastly prefer the German one. The lyrics are really excellent and they fit so, so well with the character of the German language. Musically I would say they sound like "early Týr with a female punk singer", the lyrics feature retellings and re-imaginings of various mythologies and mythological themes of the world, ranging from Norse to Greek to (on their EP) Hinduism or even Tolkien's Valar. They once called their genre NWONOEM (New Wave of Nerd-Oriented Epic Metal).

Other albums I liked, in no specific order:

Kornalyn: Intemporel III (2024, folk) -- Kornalyn has been at this for a few years. He's a French anarchist and folk musician who records modernized versions of traditional leftist & worker songs. He's versatile, he's talented, he's got spirit and a great voice. Worth checking out whether you're a comrade, a history enthusiast or a folk fan.

Alice Longyu Gao: Let's Hope Heteros Fail, Learn and Retire (2023, hyperpop) -- Okay, I'm versatile too. Or at least not so set in my ways that I can't appreciate different genres than I normally listen to. Alice's hyperpop songs have a chaotic artistic spirit that I find charming. In a way, some of her songs are pretty metal-ish too - they remind me a little of old SOAD songs. She's funny, she's innovative, she's a delight.

Stonefield: The Light of Lies (1990, prog rock) -- Some awesome prog rock from the 90s. The singer sounds like DIO. If you like the hammond organ, CLIK TEH LINK! If not, click it anyway, you may start to! When I tried to find out which year the album was from, I found their EP The Eyes of the Dawn (1989), which is also so fun.

Alvader: Hereniging (2024, folk metal) -- Hey you! Do you like Heidevolk? If you found this post through the folk metal tag I bet you do. In this case definitely listen to this band. It's made up of ex-members of Heidevolk and sounds a lot like the "original".

HammerFall: Avenge the Fallen (2024, power/heavy metal) -- What can I say about this one. It's HammerFall. It rules by default. It sounds like all their other albums. HammerFall are one of the few bands where that's a compliment.

molllust: In Deep Waters (2015, symphonic metal) -- There is no music I like better than symphonic metal that takes the "symphonic" part really, really seriously. molllust are one of the few bands that do. Between Janika Groß's gorgeous orchestrations and her operatic voice, this is one of the bands that give me hope for the genre. At first I actually found their older stuff too inaccessible, but after I listened to the newer and more straight-forward Mother Universe album a lot last year, In Deep Waters became a lot more approachable to me.

Wintersun: TIME II (2024, Extremely Delayed Technically Complete Symphonic Death Wish Metal) -- I still can't believe my eyes, or ears. Am I dreaming? Is this the real life? It's really out! And Nuclear Blast didn't even give it a digibook edition (I have the one of TIME I and thought I might have a matched set one day). Is this because their corporate overlords don't care about physical media or are they just so DONE with the album, and Jari in general, that they didn't make more of an effort out of spite?

Norrsinnt: Djupt inni skoga (2024, folk metal) -- Somewhere between heavy folk and very folky metal. A collection of songs the artist released individually over the past years, but the album only came out a short while ago. He fortunately seems to have decided against using an AI image as cover art in the end, so I don't feel bad listing this album here. Oh, there are albums that I found this year and liked musically which I'm not listing for this reason, definitely! I'm glad this one isn't among them, because I've known all these songs for years and I'm quite fond of them, and of the power and originality of the vision behind this project.

Nightwish: Yesterwynde (2024, symphonic metal) -- I didn't expect too much from this album, but ended up really liking it! My favourite parts are, of course, the orchestral passages. I like how Nightwish are still capable of evolution, new paths, instead of being stuck in the 2000s. And, after all, what could be a more fitting topic for music that's as larger than life as symphonic metal than just the totality of existence, the universe, the human equation, the meaning of it all?

Romuvos: Spirits (2024, folk) -- Pagan Folk, immersive, meditative, dark. I don't have much to say about this, other than that I have listened to it a lot this year.

KAMIJO: ??? (????, symphonic power metal) -- I usually only have albums on this list because I'm old-fashioned like that, but that's really unfair to Kamijo, who's my top artist of the year on Spotify and whose greatest songs are spread out across a multitude of single bonus tracks and short EPs. So I will link his song TEMPLE and say doumo arigato gozaimasu, vampire prince rockstar-san, nay, -sama!

---

I also continued my exploration of the world of opera. Since I think I'm beginning to know my taste, there were a lot of works I started and didn't finish, but some I liked very much. My favourite was L'elisir d'amore (1832), which I watched in two different versions and listened to all summer. It's a rather light-hearted one, but the music is nevertheless dramatic, it's fast, it's powerful and... somehow rich. And it's just pretty, I'm not immune to the charms of the easily lovable Italian opera, or of Rolando Villazon and his musical and comedic talent. I'd definitely recommend this recording even to people who have never watched an opera before.

I also really liked Eugene Onegin (1879, can't find the recording now) - much more tragic than the one above, few operas I've watched had a better plot, I read the novel it's based on afterwards - as well as a whimsical 1979 recording of L'incoronazione di Poppea (1643) and a gorgeous staging of Atys (1676, only French subs here, sry). Baroque opera is superior to the later stuff according to me. The beautiful music, the melancholic observations on life in the libretto, the way the operas always seem to reach for the divine, beyond the limits of mundane human existence - it strives for perfection, and my ears think it comes close.

And that's my musical breakdown of the year :)

[rei-ismyname]

X-MEN #9 Review - Raid on Graymalkin 3/4

Crossover events always have a lot of moving parts, keeping track of them while driving the story forward in a coherent fashion has to be a mark of success. X-Men #8 started the event off elegantly, keeping the momentum up until the very last page when the two X-Men squads came face to face. Uncanny #7 muddled that up and didn't get a lot done by slowing down, but X-Men #9 is a worthy successor to the previous issue - it's kinetic and always moving forward, with enough variation in tension to make the big moments hit. Mackay seems to be hitting his stride, which makes me happy.

'They're not just mutants. They're X-Men.' Damn right.

Uncanny #7 put the brakes on by recapping and introducing petty conflict, though it did recontextualise the planning phase of the raid. Rogue came out of it looking petulant and irresponsible - something that I think it's healthy to just accept - I'll discuss that in her book. Here and now it's a problem that our Alaskan team have to navigate, the recklessness of allies blown up in everyone's faces. At least they've stopped fighting. As I said at the start of the event, one of the metrics I'm judging on is how well this event fulfills its promises - primarily a much hyped ideological divide between Rogue and Cyclops.

Immediately we follow up on where Kurt and Psylocke teleported to, after some posturing Kurt theorises that they're being manipulated. They start working together. Nice! This will pay off later without taking up too much space. Call it the C plot. The B plot is the POV of the Graymalkin command centre, with Ellis being the worst and downplaying the X-Men's effectiveness. Captain Ezra disagrees, while Scurvy confirms he's tampering with the X-Men's emotions. Importantly he can't do that and control the Trustees, implying that he was speaking through the Blob and Siryn last issue.

The fight between the two teams of X-Men and Graymalkin's forces takes up quite a lot of the issue. It's well executed with cross-team bonding moments and shows how well they can work together.

Ransom redeems himself a bit after starting this fight by stepping in after Temper is knocked down. There seems to be some chemistry there, which is cute, and also shows that Rogue's team isn't following her lead unthinkingly. It's a good character beat and a reasonable side effect of her poor leadership. The joint X-teams take out the trustees and Wolfpack easily, allowing conversation to resume.

I will say that Marvel has a habit of pairing dark skinned characters romantically, enough to give a slight creepy miscegenation vibe to me. That's probably its own post though, after my white ass does a lot of research.

The argument continues in the command centre, with nobody having changed their mind. Scurvy especially has a defeatist attitude, so Ellis slaps the shit out of him and lets him off the leash. It's revealed he claims to be the equal of Xavier telepathically, with Chuck conceding that he's a concern in the Infinity Comics, but what we've seen in this event has been pretty weak (except for controlling multiple people.) His offensive utility has been underwhelming.

Kurt and Psylocke agree that they shouldn't free Omega Red. Presumably they didn't read X-Force where he'd made a lot of progress reforming and responded well to not being manipulated or controlled. Kinda like Wolverine. I hope that's not undone.

The two X-Men teams are bonding even further, calling back to the old days. They reach a tentative agreement to collaborate, but then the sticking point from Uncanny #7 resurfaces. Ignoring Scott's valid question of whether freeing Charles is a good idea, Rogue insists they free him with no explanation.

Scott doesn't just disagree, he meets Rogue's absolute stance and refuses to allow it. They've both flipped to the opposite of their original positions. Scott wanted to break the prison and Rogue just wanted her people back. This is explicitly the leaders butting heads and Rogue escalates into accusation and chest poking.

Scott keeps his cool and explains his position, removing Rogue's finger from his chest. He makes an excellent point though it could be explained better. The guts of the argument is present, but he doesn't mention the many examples of Charles' oversized influence. He shouldn't really need to, though, and the closeups we get of Logan, Gambit, Magik, Temper and Juggernaut implies they at least think he has a point if not outright agree.

This is an ideological difference between the two, as promised, but it doesn't look like Rogue is coming from a place of reason. She doesn't respond to his argument or show any empathy for his uniquely informed position. Scott knows better than anyone what Xavier is like, having been his child soldier since he was 15. Rogue should absolutely know he has a point, too, but she's not interested in hearing it. Rogue delivers a violent ultimatum and Scott pushes back, standing his ground by putting his body in between her and Charles. It's disappointing in the sense that it's a bad outcome, but it's consistent with Rogue's cowboy characterisation so far. She knows best and isn't interested in talking about it. We don't actually know if Scurvy is still affecting them, as he's not controlling the trustees anymore.

Then this clown shows up, interrupting the argument. Scurvy makes a badass boast, though it's not quite clear what he's actually doing beyond 'psychic attack.' Nobody attempts to use Red Triangle protocol but maybe it doesn't work that way. It's implied he's a telekinetic as well, though his reason for believing in this 'dream' isn't fleshed out just yet. Working with Ellis I'd assume would be against his interests, and a new psychic rivalling Chuck should be significant. Maybe he's a product of 3K. My question is - if he can do this, why bother with weak emotional tweaks? He seemed reluctant to enact White Light Protocol but we don't know why.

Famously, The Juggernaut has impeccable psychic defences while wearing the helmet, so he tries to get the door open thinking they need Charles to take this guy down. I wonder if Quentin would be able to thrash him? Probably, though he was taken out last issue.

Surprisingly, Charles Xavier casually strolls up flanked by Kurt and Psylocke. Interestingly their faces are pointedly covered by hair, so I'm not sure this can be taken at face value. Chuck reveals he's not Inmate X and does a heavy handed title drop for the reboot line.

The issue ends there on another cliffhanger with Raid on Graymalkin to be concluded in Uncanny X-Men issue #8. X-Men #9 was solid, a slight step down from #8 but with the inherited responsibility to follow Uncanny #7's chaotic plotting and sluggish momentum. I give it a pass for that, though it would have been nice to continue the Rogue/Cyclops discourse in a linear fashion. That wasn't possible without leaving out crucial information and development so I give it a pass on that. Importantly, the promised ideological divide was actually developed. It felt like a genuine disagreement the two might have, and I loved the atypical layout that gave us the team members' reactions to Scott's reasoning. That's important as these people all have extensive experience with Charles Xavier and a stake in the outcome. Rogue came across as unreasonable and impetuous as she's been characterised this era. While I don't think it's a good look for her, I can appreciate the consistency. If this is where Rogue is at right now there's plenty of conflict and drama to be had there.

Part of the problem with this event's tension is rampant editorialising. We more or less know how this ends so the execution needs to be excellent. Mackay and Stegman have done their part really well, though I'll be reserving my judgement on the promise that needs paying off - the Rogue Cyclops Schism - for when Uncanny finishes the event. If that is actually Xavier I'd expect him to dominate the narrative but I expect he'll choose to stay as @mkpersephone theorised. That will be a problem for selling the ideological divide believably, but it's on Simone to land that plane. My one complaint about missing story beats is Scott's team being acutely aware of the consequences for the Raid. I think a reminder would have been helpful, preferably said to Rogue's face.

Looky look, a blanked out data page! How very Krakoan of them :). Who's your guess for Inmate X? Shaw? Legion? Colossus? Omega Red? xZibit? Exodus? Angus MacWhirter? Briar Raleigh? I've got no idea. Exceptional X-Men #4 review coming soon! ❤️

[corallapis]

‘wait, it’s all the master?’ ‘always has been’: or, So Why Do People Think the War Chief & the Master Are the Same Character, Anyway?

hello, it is i, sebastien, resident master=war chief truther. as you can imagine, i’m currently having the time of my life enjoying one of the few bright gems from the mess that was the war games in colour. i mean, of course, the master’s themes (yes, themes with an ‘s’) playing over the war chief, giving a very unsubtle nod to the wide-held belief that the two characters are one and the same.

but why, perhaps you’ve wondered, do people think that? is it just that some master-obsessed fans see a time lord villain and can’t stretch their imaginations enough to conceive of there being more than one bad guy who’s run away from gallifrey and made an enemy of the doctor? no. come on, give us some credit! i freely admit to being master-obsessed, and find the vibes very compelling, what i truly like to deal in is Cold Hard Lore, straight from the text. and, boy is there a lot of it! to summarize:

the war chief was introduced in the war games, written by malcolm hulke and terrance dicks. (dicks, of course, was also co-creator of the master, with barry letts). based on the novelizations, i firmly believe that malcom hulke intended his character, the war chief, to be the master. dicks also hinted along these same lines.

but, i hear you cry, didn’t dicks go on to write timewyrm: exodus, which shows us a future incarnation of the war chief that isn’t the master? yes, because the official editioral line for the vmas & vnas was that the war chief & the master were to be treated as two distinct characters. this caused more than one writer who personally believed them to be the same to write otherwise in a professional capacity. writers still dropped hints or left space open to link the two despite this editorial limitation.

and what about magnus, the guy who’s well-known in current fandom as the “academy era” version of the war chief? magnus was originally written as a younger incarnation of the master, not the war chief. in flashback, goth opera, and invasion of the cat-people, the character of magnus is a young master. so why did gary russell retcon the character in divided loyalties to be the war chief instead? he did so out of respect for david mcintee, who had recently written an early master story which used the koschei. despite divided loyalties’ portrayal of magnus and koschei as separate characters, it actually in large part serves to conflate the two further, due to said retconning.

in faction paradox lore, the war king is a version of the master (i don’t need to make a post on that, do i?) that was also once the war chief.

craig hinton’s rejected pda time’s champion (ultimately completed & published after his death, by chris mckeon) explicitly depicts the war chief as an incarnation of the master, as well as reasserting that magnus was the name the master used at the academy.

and now also the music choices in the war games in colour :)

of course, this list of Evidence (elucidated in detail below the cut) doesn’t mean you’re obligated to think the war chief is the master (canon, in doctor who more than most, is what you make of it), but i hope it gives you idea of the long history of the character(s) and why other people do!

the ‘70s target novelizations

the essential thing to know about the early target novelizations is that they were written to be self-contained, so that they could be enjoyed by an audience that hadn't seen the show. they weren’t written in the same order as the television serials, and as such only assumed reader knowledge of previous novelizations, not tv stories. for example, in doctor who and the doomsday weapon (aka colony in space) jo grant is shown joining unit and meeting the doctor for the first time, despite having done so three stories earlier and in completely different circumstances from a tv perspective, because that is the first novelization her character appears in. got it? good.

doctor who and the doomsday weapon (aka colony in space) is also the first novelization to feature the master, and was written by malcolm hulke in 1974. it begins with a scene that doesn’t occur in the tv story, where a senile old time lord tells his apprentice about the theft of two tardises by a pair of time lords now calling themselves the doctor & the master:

“There have been two stolen, you know.” The younger Time Lord didn’t know. “By our enemies?” he asked. “No. By Time Lords. They both became bored with this place. It was too peaceful for them, not enough happening.” The old Keeper smiled to himself, as though remembering with some glee all the fuss when two TARDISes were stolen. “One of them nowadays calls himself ‘the Doctor.’ The other says he is ‘the Master.’”

this ‘only two tardises stolen’ business is a big deal in hulke’s novelizations, as we will come to see. and, just to clarify, there's no question of this meaning the master might be being conflated with the monk here — the time meddler won't be novelized until 1988. remember, the novelizations are self-contained, and do not rely on knowledge of previous tv stories. except the older time lord continues, and a little further on says:

“There were tens of thousands of humans from the planet Earth, stranded on another planet where they thought they were re-fighting all the wars of Earth’s terrible history. The Doctor” — he interrupted himself — “I told you about him, didn’t I?” “Yes,” said the young Time Lord, now used to the old Keeper forgetting what he had already said. “You mentioned the Doctor and the Master.” “No, it wasn’t the Master,” said the old Keeper in his confused way. “The Master never does anything good for anyone. He’s thoroughly evil. Now what was I saying?”

‘wait,’ you say, ‘you just made a whole point of the novelizations being self-contained. but the war games wasn't novelized until 1979, so readers wouldn't know about it yet. why is hulke bringing it up now?’ why indeed? hulke summarizes the events and specifically brings them up in relation to the doctor & the master. the facts are presented to us: a) there were only two tardises stolen, by the doctor and the master. b) they went by different names at some point. c) this seems to have something to do with the war games. d) it maybe wasn’t exactly the master in the war games (but perhaps he was calling himself something else then?). it is quite ambiguous — the keeper's confusion leaves it open to interpretation, but the fact that this whole little scene serves as an introduction to the master (he steals the keeper's files in order to discover the doomsday weapon) is, in my mind, quite an extraordinary hint, especially when paired with hulke's novelization of the war games.

later that same year, in doctor who and the sea-devils, hulke again brings up the two stolen tardises, which we will get back to:

“But what use is your TARDIS to you while you’re stuck in here?” Jo asked. “It would be difficult for you to understand,” said the Master, “but my TARDIS is my proudest possession.” The Doctor laughed. “You don’t even own it! You stole it from the Time Lords!” “As you stole yours!” retorted the Master.

terrance dicks then wrote doctor who and the terror of the autons in 1975. additional info is added to the scene between the doctor and the time lord who comes to warn him about the master’s arrival on earth:

“As a matter of fact, I’ve come to bring you a warning. An old friend of yours has arrived on Earth.” “One of our people? Who is it?” The Time Lord pronounced a string of mellifluous syllables — one of the strange Time Lord names that are never disclosed to outsiders. Then he added, “These days he calls himself the Master.”

he uses the master’s gallifreyan name first and then provides his title. again, this suggests that the last time the doctor & the master met the latter was using a different name.

then, we’re given a description of the master, including:

Already he had been behind several Interplanetary Wars, always disappearing from the scene before he could be caught. If ever he were caught, his fate would be far worse than the Doctor’s exile. Once captured by the Time Lords, the Master’s life-stream would be thrown into reverse. Not only would he no longer exist, he would never have existed. It was the severest punishment in the Time Lords’ power.

which brings to mind the war games, certainly intended to be an interplanetary war (with the eventual aim of ruling the galaxy) even if it never really got off the ground. more significantly, though, the punishment described here is exactly what the time lords did to the war lord in the war games & what they would have done to the war chief, if he hadn’t escaped. (note even stories that don't posit the war chief as the master assume he escaped, despite his onscreen death — he is a time lord, after all.) and, speaking of that escape, the doctor asks:

“Is his TARDIS still working?” “I’m afraid so. He got away before it could be de-energised.” “Then he was luckier than I,” said the Doctor sadly. He had never really got used to his exile.

the master’s escape described here could, of course, mean some general, unseen-by-us escape from the time lords by the master, but the conversation strongly suggests that the doctor and the master were escaping from the same event: the master was ‘luckier’ than the doctor because he succeeded, while the doctor’s tardis was captured and he was forced into exile. and that happened, of course, in the war games.

which in 1979, malcolm hulke wrote the novelization for. in doctor who and the war games, a change occurs when the war chief invites the doctor to rule with him:

“Now I understand,” said the Doctor. “It’s my TARDIS that you want. But surely you have one of your own?” The War Chief smiled. “No more mine than yours is really yours! We are both thieves, Doctor. Yes, I do have a TARDIS hidden away. But are not two better than one? While I rest and enjoy the spoils of victory, you can patrol our empire. And I shall do the same for you.” “Our empire?” “We shall rule the galaxy without fear of opposition,’ the War Chief said confidently. “For we shall be the only two who can travel through both space and time.”

this invitation is, of course, very reminiscent of the master’s ‘half-share in the universe’ proposal, but much more significantly: their empire will be secure because they have the sole two stolen tardises. crucially, this is a deviation from the tv story, wherein the doctor realizes the war chief is allying with him because he doesn’t have a tardis of his own, only the failing sardits. hulke intentionally chose to amend his own story to emphasize this, and we know these two stolen tardises are the doctor's & the master's, as hulke told us in previous novelizations. thus, there's no doubt in my mind that malcolm hulke, co-creator of the war chief, intended his character to be the master.

all other master=war chief lore is building off of what was implied in the novelizations, some more explicitly, some less.

virgin books says no

in 1991, terrance dicks wrote a vna, timewyrm: exodus. in this novel, the war chief appears as a botched two-bodied regeneration after his death at the end of the war games, called dr. kriegslieter. as said in the beginning of this post, virgin’s editorial policy nixed the idea of a connection between the war chief and the master. but, reading timewyrm: exodus, there seem to be shades of him anyway. like when the doctor realizes who kriegslieter is:

And behind them, aiding them, manipulating them, giving them the time technology they needed, the Time Lord renegade who called himself the War Chief. Or, in German, der kriegslieter. “Well, he couldn’t have spelled it out for me much more plainly,” muttered the Doctor.

he really couldn't have. just like all the times the master’s alias has been an exceedingly obvious translation of his own name. and then there's also kriegslieter’s plan, which is to steal the doctor's body to use as his own (complete with sexual innuendo):

“Once I have wrested from it the secret of the TARDIS, your mind will be of no further interest to me. But your body…” “Please,” said the Doctor, looking embarrassed. “Ladies present.” “We are both Time Lords, Doctor, our brains and our bodies are compatible. Regeneration therapy is far beyond the War Lord’s scientists, but even they can manage a simple brain transplant.” Kriegslieter studied the Doctor with detached, clinical interest. “To be honest, it isn’t the body I would have chosen but it’s infinitely superior to the one I have. When all this is over Doctor, I shall be you — and you, or whatever shattered gibbering remnant of you is left, will be me. Appropriate, don’t you think? A crippled mind in a crippled body…”

this was, of course, the master’s plan in the keeper of traken (and many others since). in addition ‘we are both time lords’ is a direct echo of both the war chief in the war games and delgado in the mind of evil, the claws of axos, and colony in space.

kriegslieter also calls seven ‘my dear doctor’ throughout, which is not a quirk of speech that the war chief has been ever shown to have. i can't claim it's unique to the master, but i think there's a certain history there. (did you know ainley says it five times in one 50 min long serial?)

similar can be said about the dark path, written by david mcintee in 1997, which explores a villain origin story for the master. though early drafts of the novel mentioned the war chief as a separate character, this was cut before publication (and can be found instead in the charity anthology perfect timing). on mcintee’s tumblr, he indicated that he left the ending ambiguous in order to facilitate other incarnations between the koschei of the novel and delgado’s appearance on-screen, specifically citing edward brayshaw (the actor who portrayed the war chief) as an example. mcintee also posited, in the tags of a gifset of the war chief: ‘#depending on your point of view #the master #or not #does it matter?’ and on another, cryptically, ‘#oh if only i could tell you-’

i think it matters in some sense, or else i’d probably not be writing this post! but again, it goes to show that writers during the virgin era were aware of the connection between the two characters, whether their views on the subject aligned with the editorial line or not.

magnus, as the master

as said before, the character of magnus was introduced in the comic flashback, which appeared in the doctor who magazine winter special for 1992, edited by gary russell & written by warwick gray. it depicts seven and benny viewing a scene from the doctor’s past, where two old friends, thete and magnus, are at odds.

BENNY: Pistols at ten paces, anyone? DOCTOR: Yes… ‘Thete’ and ‘Magnus’. Funny how old nicknames can stick. They were good friends once. A long time ago.

magnus was, at the time of this comic's creation, meant to be the master. there is no connection to the war chief in this story. which is why when goth opera, written by paul cornell, is published in 1994, magnus is the name used for the young master when listing out the doctor's school friends:

“That was when I was young and wild, Doctor. My contemporaries and I grew up to take our responsibilities seriously.” “Ah…” The Doctor nodded. “Unlike my year. I begin to see.” “Yes.” Ruath warmed to her subject, sipping from the goblet. Her eyes never left the Doctor’s. “Mortimus, the Rani, that idiot Magnus. And you, Doctor. All graduates of Borusa’s Academy for scoundrels.”

and, in 1995, when gary russell wrote invasion of the cat-people, he again used magnus as a name for the young master, referencing the master running out of lives far more quickly than the doctor by the time of the deadly assassin:

Polly smiled. “I’m glad you’re completely recovered, Doctor. You had us worried, you know.” “Regeneration’s a tricky thing,” he said. “And it was my first one. Always the trickiest. They’re supposed to get better as they go on, so long as you don’t flitter them. Always used to say to my academy chum Magnus, ‘Magnus,’ I’d say, ‘Magnus, don’t throw old bodies away like you would a suit. They don’t grow on trees.’ Or something like that. Never listened though.”

then, when gary russell wrote divided loyalties in 1999, he followed mcintee’s lead in using koschei as the name for a younger master, and instead retconned magnus as a younger war chief, showing the two of them interacting during the doctor’s academy days. for someone who doesn’t think the war chief and the master are the same (and russell doesn’t), this was a strange move… surely naming the young war chief character quite literally anything else would’ve neatly severed the two, but using a name already established as the young master’s just confuses the whole thing and leaves them even more intertwined than before.

(if you’re a fan of the academy era and strongly adhere to the lore in divided loyalties and so this is a particular sticking point for you, remember that all the academy era scenes we see in the novel are actually part of a nightmare the fifth doctor is having — who’s to say he didn’t dream his best friend as two different people? he forgot which one of them killed a guy with a rock, after all…)

the war chief king

in the book of the war, the 2002 faction paradox ‘encyclopedia’ edited by lawrence miles, the entry on the war king (the master, as he was known as president of gallifrey during the war in heaven) states:

His personal assistant notes that his office is brimming with official business, but devoid of decoration. The only concession he makes to sentimentality are the components of a hypercube, twelve white squares stacked neatly on his desk. Its significance is unclear, but it’s thought to be the War King’s last remaining link with his unfortunate past.

the very first use of a hypercube was, of course, at the end of the war games, when the second doctor used it to call in the time lords. though an allusion to the war chief was not the author of that entry's original intention, the connection was made in readers’ minds and became an established part of faction paradox lore, becoming even more firmly cemented as other writers ran with it. the war king spells it out himself in the 2021 audio sabbath and the king by aristide twain:

THE WAR KING: I have failed to introduce myself. I am— ah, but as we have just seen: names have power. I do not think I shall grace you with one of my true names, Sabbath, no, not yet. Let’s see. The Deathless? Oh, let us not get ahead of ourselves just yet. Chief and Master, Minister and Magistrate, President and King… I have been many things.

twain again linked the two characters in the 2023 short story the god who came for christmas, a sequel to the 1986 fasa ttrpg adventure the legions of death. fasa portrays the war chief and the master as separate characters, but twain bridges this gap in a particularly masterful way.

time’s champion

and finally we have time’s champion, originally written in the '80s(?) by craig hinton, completed by chris mckeon in 2008 as a charity publication. first, we have mel stumbling upon a corridor of portraits in the tardis:

Her first impression was that the Doctor was at the end of a long, thin corridor. And then she realised what the corridor was. An art gallery, the length hung with paintings, from the doorway to the far distance. As she started padding silently along the corridor, she looked at the paintings, and saw they were all portraits. Portraits painted in a variety of styles, from photo-realistic to impressionist, and everything in between. And she recognised some of the subjects. […] Moving on, Mel had hoped for something a little less depressing, but it wasn’t to be. The atmosphere had changed again: it was still cold, but a sterile light was now bathing the area. Then she realised why: the sterility, the coldness — trademarks of the Time Lords. This must be the Doctor’s own people. Pride of place was given to the Master — or rather the Masters: the familiar, music-hall villain in his velvet penguin suit had been captured in all his melodramatic glory, but there was also a suave, older man, his eyes radiating a fierce, evil intelligence wrapped in charm, next to which was positioned the portrait of a young, satanically handsome man with long, sharp sideburns and a thin, beard-length moustache, whose hand vainly clutched at a strange medallion hanging around his neck, as if clinging to the only power in his possession. And then there was an image of the cadaver, that rotting corpse that Mel knew was all that remained of the Doctor’s oldest friend and oldest enemy, animated by nothing but pure malice and spite.

the description of the ‘satanically handsome man’ is obviously the war chief.

and then, the doctor remembers events from his past:

The night time vanished into the shadows of light, as new images, all familiar, threw themselves past the Doctor’s eyes: his tedious years at the Academy, his rise in the Time Lord hierarchy, his flight from Gallifrey, the early years of his exile, the planet of the War Games and his reunion with the Master, the lost years of imposed servitude to the Time Lords, all his memories and so many more impressed their way across the Doctor’s vision, even up to the moment of the present day. Then, abruptly, the vision ended. The Keeper began to speak again.

his reunion with the master occurs during the war games and precedes his exile (which is when his meeting with delgado’s master occurs).

and magnus is once again used as a name for the young master:

The Doctor and Benton managed to glimpse him as he raced past. He was young, with a curving moustache and a dark, haughty face accustomed to obedience but now shadowed and twisted by fear. He ran onwards without even pausing to acknowledge their presence. He seemed desperate to outrun something. Moments later, a group of well-armed and uniformed men rounded the corridor and also hurried past the Doctor’s party, following the fleeing man in their wake. Steadying himself against the cool stone wall at his side, the Doctor watched the squad pass, recognising them as members of the Chancellery Guard, but clothed in armour and dress from the long departed era of his days in the Academy. The Doctor paused, wondering where he had seen that face before. “Magnus?” the Doctor whispered. Benton stepped over to the Doctor. “Who was that bloke those boys were chasing after, Doc? He looked a bit like the Master.” The Doctor gazed into the distance. “That he did, and for good reason.”

for good reason indeed :)

[dramaticallytotal]

TDWT Headcanons Pt. 1

Just some headcanons for World Tour!

• Lindsay can sew very well. She taught herself after some wardrobe malfunctions. She can hand sew and machine! She is learning how to crochet and knit as well. So she was excited to practice during the boat weaving challenge.

• The network Chris works for is called Drama Productions.

• When Noah becomes his assistant, Chris gets him a custom red sweater vest to wear instead of the red or blue button ups the rest of the crew wear. It's still the same red, except it now has an anagramed DP on the left breast. This leads to the nickname Danny Phantom.

• As seen in one of my previous posts: Trent and Eva also get into World Tour. Eva because Noah pretended to be asleep and clung to her so he wouldn't be alone with Owen and Izzy for the competition even if he loves them. And Trent because he accidentally got knocked out. (Flimsy, I know, but he's such a good guy that the only way he wouldn't have left the bus would be because he's incapacitated.

• A lot of contestants made deals with Chris and the producers for more money. I.e., Lindsay forgetting Tyler's name, Ezekiel going feral, Duncan and Courtney's breakup but they refuse to make it a cheating plot. Gwen and Duncan are just best friends in this one. Also, Alejandro and Heather have deals to try and have a showmance if they can work it. Oh, and DJ's animal curse.

• That is kind of blown out of the water when Alejandro meets Noah. He falls fast and hard. He still tries to do the showmance with Heather because, hey, money is money. But he also is always helplessly flirting with Noah.

• Once Noah is on the show, the producers quickly realize that, basically, nothing gets done, and everything seems to be falling apart without this 17 year old. Which is sad. That's what they end up arguing with Chris about in China and such because Noah won the aftermath challenge to get back in the competition.

• He wasn't originally going to do so, but he did it out of pure spite for the producers.

• Chris and Chef do pseudo adopt Noah, and they are doing their best not to show him any favoritism. But if they sneak him some snacks and books here and there, who's gonna know?

• None of the animals will attack Alejandro because of his animal thing, Noah, because he trained and wrangled them all before, and Izzy but that's because she either can communicate with them or because they are scared of her.

• Trent and Gwen still have feelings for each other but don't know how to tell each other, so it leads to a lot of tension.

• Ezekiel, Harold, Alejandro, Noah, and Izzy are all polygots. Ezekiel, Noah, and Izzy all tie for the most with 8 languages under their belts.

• Eva, Courtney, and Heather are all bilingual.

• Cody, Sierra, Alejandro, Owen, Trent, and Bridgette all have big sweet tooths! But Trent and Alejandro try to hide it.

• The plane is actually two-leveled with a hidden top level where the crew and staff stay. Chris and Chef also have rooms up there, but for appearances sake they stay in the ones on the bottom floor. (Chris may have made up a room for Noah)

• Noah talked Chris out of the grand piano and jacuzzi before the plane was rented. Also, yeah, the plane is just made to look like it's falling apart. The holes that randomly appear in the show are just stunts made purely for the sick producers who believe the plane is an old rust bucket.

• The intern deaths are also stunts.

• Everyone is scared of Sierra but do their best to protect Cody from here. And when she gets in a mood when she remembers the "Noco" moment from season one, then everyone protects or hides Noah.

• I don't know if I'm going to give her a redemption this season or for All Stars, but basically she doesn't get voted out for so long because the producers are making Chris keep her on the show because she is good drama for the ratings.

• Team Chris + Eva all take turns sleeping with Noah due to his sleep cuddling with the exception of Tyler and Alejandro until it accidentally happens, and both just accept it. It ends up becoming a whole plane thing. With the exceptions being Cody and Sierra since she will not let that happen again. Even Heather let's it happen, but only because it helps keep them both warm, not because she's secretly fond of the dweeb or anything.

• Leshawna and Heather are pretty good friends this season, but Alejandro does mess with this friendship. It's only after the show that the two girls rekindle.

Part two

[lykegenia]

2024 Writing Roundup

tagged by @juneiper-art - thank you!

words posted: 73,510

additional words written: between all the buffer chapters in my longfics plus a few sundry bits it's at least 30k

grand total of words: just over 100k altogether, I think

fandoms: Dragon Age, The Wayhaven Chronicles, and a backstory short story for one of my DnD characters

highest kudos: Rosemary and Citrus, a Rookanis slow burn retelling of Veilguard that's already grown far past its original scope

highest hit oneshot: He Makes Her Cry (He Doesn't Like It), my first foray into MasonxF!Detective from TWC, set during Book Three

new things I tried: I mostly stick to my habits, though with Rosemary and Citrus I've been posting as I go and trying to stick to a proper schedule, which is unusual for me.

fic I spent the most time on: As The World Falls Down, my AU retelling of Dragon Age Origins in which Alistair was raised by the Couslands instead of going to the templars

fic I spent the least time on: He Makes Her Cry, but only because it's so short compared to the others

favorite thing I wrote: This whole upcoming chapter for As The World Falls Down, really, but here's a sneak preview:

Cautiously, he wended his way through the shadows to Eamon’s office, girded by his imagination and the knowledge that getting caught couldn’t be worse than whatever fate was being decided for him just beyond the door. Even before he rounded the final corner, he caught the timbre of angry male voices spilling out into the hallway, and as he edged closer along the wall so that the squeak of floorboards would not betray him he strained his ears to make out the words. “– told her he sleeps in the kennels, that he gets only scraps from the cook! There is no answer for it.” The voice held a note of familiarity, but one that Alistair could not place over the shock of hearing himself so vehemently defended. “Regardless of where you get your information, this is not a matter within your purview,” came a terse reply – Eamon, in a tone low and deep with disapproval. “That is your concern here?” demanded the first voice. “I made enquiries after what I saw that day. I must say, you kept him well hidden, but that does not excuse you. Had I entrusted one of my children to the care of another, only to find them so poorly mistreated, the person responsible would find themselves very sorry indeed.” “You told me the boy was cared for.” This was a third voice, the second stranger who had ridden into the yard. “You assured me it would be so.” “I have done more for him than any would rightfully expect me to, given the circumstances,” Eamon retorted. “I have even secured him a future in a role worthy of respect –” “You wanted to make a problem disappear and thought the templars would be the easiest way to explain it.” “How dare –” “Enough!” The third voice sounded angry, and weary. “Eamon, I should have been consulted before you spoke with Knight-Captain Renwick.” “Consulted?” the second voice scoffed. “Forgive me, Your Majesty, but –” All three went silent. Too late, Alistair clapped his hand over his mouth. He backed away from the door, the imaginary echo of his gasp ringing in his ears. Whichever way he tried to run, the hallway was too long, he wouldn’t be fast enough to get out of sight before –

favorite thing(s) I read: I've done a lot more reading this year, but I'm limiting it to three:

Kiss Me Moonstruck by @theluckywizard - I'm in love with this Garrett Hawke, who manages to be a famed mercenary at the same time as a complete sap and a passable wit, and the premise of the story happens to tick all of my favourite romance tropes

Attachment Theory by @thee-morrigan - Everything about this Natex F!Detective AU is rich and delicious and the imagery is gorgeous

Sanguine by @effelants - If you want an Alistair whose characterisation is on point, then this is the fic for you. The Changes to the plot of the game keep the story fresh, and the mystery around Moira is a very compelling dive into the lore around magic and spirits

writing goals for 2025: be more consistent with actually writing, try to get my word count up, and actually go back to the longfics I've been neglecting and start posting again

new works:

Patience, And Words, And Waterfalls - TWC, musing on Leah's inability to tell Nate how she feels

Mercies - The battle for Haven, with the feelings starting to show between Cullen and Maighread Trevelyan

He Makes Her Cry

Rosemary and Citrus

Tagging forward to everyone already mentioned, plus @vela-ad-astra @athenasdragon @serenpedac @naiatabris and @lalizah - no pressure!

[erosjournal]

☆ it's the most wonderful time of the year !

~ leo valdez x jason grace (minor piper mclean x reyna avila ramirez-arellano, and other ships)

~ synopsis : leo really loves christmas , yet jason never really got the chance to celebrate . leo hopes to make this the best first christmas for his boyfriend.

~ tw(s) : none ! just a little mix of angst and fluff !

~ posts that clear stuff up : traveling back and forth , two homes , deleted scene

It was December 1st, the crisp holiday air filled New Rome. Jason had invited Leo over for a walk to get some coffee (hot cocoa for Leo) and just talk. They'd been dating for 4 months and Leo wouldn't have it any other way.

"Jase, how's it been here in New Rome?" Leo asked, wrapping an arm around Jason's jacketed arm and sipping his cocoa. Jason cleaned his glasses, the steam from his coffee blurring his vision.

"It's been okay," He glanced over to Leo, kissing his hair. "Missed you a lot," Leo snorted, nuzzling into Jason's jacket.

"I've missed you too, Wolfy," He laughed. Jason smiled. Leo being happy was his favorite thing ever, he'd trade anything to see it over and over again. Leo glanced around New Rome. The street was flaking with frost, snow threatening to fall.

"So, Jase, what's Christmas like here? I mean, you've been here, like, your whole life, right?" Leo asked. Jason seemed to hesitate, his lip scar twitching.

"Well..." Leo raised an eyebrow. Jason scratched his neck. "I was never really able to celebrate any holiday here, since I was always busy in Camp Jupiter or off on a quest. Never got a holiday break," He joked, but Leo's smile faltered.

"You never got to take a break during the winter?" He asked quietly. Leo couldn't imagine that. Christmas was his favorite time of year. During Thanksgiving, he would have to spend hours being ridiculed by family. While during Christmas, it would be just him and his mom. She'd use whatever money she made to get him a little something as a gift, and they'd go together to the library to rent a holiday movie. The Santa Clause was always his favorite.

Jason shrugged and stopped walking. Leo frowned.

"Well, that we can't have that." He argued. Jason laughed but Leo kept his upset face on. He was determined for Jason to have the best winter of his life.

The first day, Leo decided to take his boyfriend shopping. He pulled Jason into a nearby shop, close to their apartment, which was decorated inside and out with christmas decor.

"Here, let's get some decorations for the apartment, and some sweaters!" He grinned, noticing a wide collection of cute and ugly christmas sweaters. Jason eyed them uneasily and frowned.

"Why would we waste money on this?" He asked. Leo tsked him and smiled.

"It's a silly mortal tradition, buying ugly sweaters." He taught, looking through them. "Though, some of these are too ugly." He scrunched his nose at a bright green one with glowing red lights and bells. Jason chuckled.

"Well, we bought matching sweaters in October, let's get some holiday themed ones." He helped Leo sift through them and stumbled upon a blue one with a snowman and snowflakes, and a brown one with a red hot cocoa mug. Leo looked over and his eyes widened.

"Let's get those!" He yelped. Jason sighed as Leo pulled them off the rack and dragged him towards the cashier, which on their way there, Leo bought as many christmas lights and other decor he could grab. They bought them and went back outside in the chilly air.

"Okay. Well, I bought the brown one in my size and the blue one in yours," Leo informed, shoving the brown one over his head. Jason rolled his eyes and unzipped his jacket, daintily placing it on the frosty ground before putting his own matching sweater on. Once they were done, Leo insisted on taking a picture on his demigod-safe phone ("I made them originally for emergency contact, but Chiron doesn't need to know...").

Leo looked at it, grinning. He immediately changed it to his lock screen, Jason chuckling at how sweet his boyfriend was. He pulled Leo close and kissed his forehead.

"You're so cute," He teased. Leo rolled his eyes.

"Yeah I know, what's new?"

The next day, Leo took Jason ice skating. Leo was actually decently good, for being a demigod whose powers were literally quite the opposite. Jason wobbled a bit on the ice, very hesitant.

"How are you so good?" He asked nervously, frowning. Leo held Jason's arm as he tried to help him get off the wall. His glasses would fog up and Leo thought he was really cute like that.

"My mom taught me when I was younger. Since she liked ice skating, I learned how to so I could skate with her." Jason nodded, trembling a bit. "Here, hold my hands." Leo adjusted so he was skating backwards and Jason was being pulled forwards. Jason still wobbled on the ice, but got the hang of it after a bit. With Leo's guidance, he was able to glide (hesitantly) along the rink by himself.

"Whoo! Look at you, Grace!" Leo teased, watching as Jason pushed along the rink... then fell. Leo broke into laughter before going over and helping him up.

"Don't ever say a WORD about this again, Valdez." Jason flushed, frowning. Leo just doubled over, laughing harder.

A few days later, Leo and Jason were in their apartment in New Rome. They had decided to start decorating for the holidays. Jason helped Leo reach the higher spots on the walls to stick up tinsel and the paper snowflakes they'd cut. Leo was wearing Jason's blue sweater and Jason was wearing Leo's tank top. There were little nicked fire markings on it.

"Hey, Jase," Leo said, his tongue sticking out as he reached on his tip toes. "Can you help stick this up?" He turned and Jason was sorting through a box of other decor. He looked up.

"Hmm? Sure," He walked over and started to take the item out of Leo's hand, who shook his head.

"No, no. Can you pick me up?" He asked, grinning ear to ear. Jason sighed, blushing, but complied. He wrapped his arms around Leo's waist and picked him up, their feet hovering. Leo giggled. "Okay, up higher." Leo commanded. Jason just did as he was told, moving up and down, left and right, wherever Leo asked him to.

When they were finally done, they sat on the couch, looking at the walls covered in decor. Leo smiled, laying against Jason's chest. They'd turn on the fireplace, which was crackling softly in the background.

"We did a pretty good job, Jase." He sighed into the thin cloth of his shirt. Jason smiled and ruffled Leo's hair.

"Yes we did." He responded, smiling. He placed a kiss in Leo's hair as the sun started to set.

"JASE! DON'T FORGET TO PUT ON A JACKET!" Leo yelled from the door, wearing overalls and a sweater. He probably should've worn something more, but the cold hadn't gotten to him yet. He shoved on his work boots, which were also snow/water repellent, and stepped outside. It was chilly, but not enough for Leo to need some more warmth. Jason was good at that too though, a big, cuddly, warm guy.

They were staying at CHB for the time being, since Jason and Leo were going to hang out with Piper and Reyna, along with Percy and others, for the holidays. They'd all been hanging out since the pair had gotten to camp, but Piper had left to visit her dad for a bit.

So now Leo had Jason all to himself again. He took a step on the porch and it left deep, melted prints. Leo looked at it then shrugged, continuing to walk until he got down the stairs and onto the grass. Usually it didn't snow at camp, but Chiron had let the campers enjoy some seasonal weather every now and then. And now that the holidays were right around the corner, the campers had gotten him to let some snow in.

"Uh, Leo?" Leo blinked out of his thoughts about boot prints and turned around. He stifled a laugh. Jason was wearing his sweater, along with a bulky/puffy white jacket, a red scarf, a beanie, and gloves. And some boots. Leo couldn't hold it in longer. He laughed and Jason frowned. "Hey, that's not nice! I'm trying to stay warm!" He argued. Leo walked back over to him and kissed his rosy cheeks.

"Sorry, mon amour, you just--" He broke into a fit of giggles again, Jason's cheeks flushed from the cold and now embarrassment. After Leo calmed down, he walked back inside. He grabbed a much thinner but fleece lined jacket, and took it out to Jason. "Wear this instead, alright?" He shrugged as Jason swapped out the jackets, looking much less restricted in it.

"Thanks," He shrugged sheepishly. Leo smirked.

"I know, I'm the best," He grinned. Before Jason could respond to the comment, his hand was grabbed by Leo's. He started running down the porch, down the stairs, and into the middle of the field of snow. There were a few campers who were playing in it, running around, or taking walks. Then Leo had an idea.

"We should make a snowman!" He exclaimed. Jason cocked his head.

"A what?"

"Snowman! Look," Leo started packing some snow together with his hands, which kept melting. He frowned and it was Jason's turn to laugh.

"Let me try, love," Jason balled up some snow in his hands, and held it up. Leo watched him, mesmerized at how Jason would smooth out each bump, lump, or scruff. It was perfectly round. Leo blinked

"Yeah--Yeah that's good, uh," He blushed, embarrassed that Jason might've noticed him staring at his hands. "Anyways, now we roll it through the snow." Jason complied, rolling the snow ball on the ground. Leo smirked as Jason would be amazed at how much snow the ball collected, becoming larger and larger. Finally, it was about the size of Leo's head.

"Like this?" Jason asked, patting the ball. Leo nodded, his eyes sparkling.

"Yeah! Okay, now we need to make two more--"

"What!?" He exclaimed. Leo rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, we have to make 2 more and then we stack them, like a man made up of snow!" Leo grinned. Jason sighed.

"Leo, I don't think I can make two more, especially bigger ones." Leo pouted. Jason frowned. So Leo fell behind the ball and grabbed a chunk of snow, chucking it at Jason.

"Snowball fight it is then!" He jokingly yelled, Jason ducking the melted snow only by a milisecond. He stood there startled, then his competitive side kicked in.

"Oh, you're on Leo!"

~~~

"What are they doing?" Percy asked, looking out of his cabin, watching Leo and Jason throw snow at each other. Annabeth took a long sip of her tea, sighing. "I thought they were snowball fighting, but Leo's snow is melted and Jason's is... too perfect." Annabeth raised her eyebrows, still sipping her drink.

"They're flirting." Percy looked over at her, looking confused.

"Are you sure?" Percy asked. Annabeth nodded.

"Yeah, they're gay. That's how they do it." She teased, a smirk sneaking on her face.

Leo was sitting in the apartment, wearing Jason's sweater and shorts. He held a cup of cocoa in his hands, which stayed warm since he kept reheating it. He'd lit candles and was now laying on the couch, waiting patiently for his boyfriend to come back home.

Jason had said he was going to pick something up from the stores before heading home, and it was becoming late fast.

Little Festus, or Festie as Leo called him, came bounding into the room. Leo sat up and smiled, scratching him behind the ears.

"Hey boy!" He giggled. Leo had created a smaller body for Festus to live in. He'd connected the mind of Festus and "Festie", so they both had the same memories and thoughts, it was just so he could stay with Jason and Leo in their apartment sometimes. The bigger Festus would usually be asleep in Bunker 9 when this happened.

Festie jumped on the couch, nuzzling Leo. The cold bronze shocked Leo, but he just kept cuddling his dragon while trying to keep the cocoa from spilling. "I hope Jason's safe," He mumbled.

As if on cue, Jason opened the door. His glasses were foggy and his breath was short. He carried a bag that seemed to be filled. He looked at Leo and Festie on the couch, grinning.

"Hey, mon amour!" Jason exclaimed, taking off his snowy shoes. Leo smiled, getting off the couch with Festie bounding at his feet. He walked over to Jason and kissed him.

"Hello Jase," He smiled. He helped him take off his jacket and tried to take a sneak peak into the bag while talking to Jason. "What took you so long? Festie and I were starting to get worried,"

"Oh, don't worry, I got something real special!" He promised. After they finished putting away his snow gear, he held Leo's hand and pulled him to the couch. Leo sat there, waiting impatiently.

"Well," Jason started. "You told me how you and your mom would go to the library to rent movies, so I got some for us," He opened his bag, showing the stack of DVDs sitting inside. Leo raised his eyebrows, pawing through them. Jason watched him nervously. "I just thought it'd be something sweet, you know?" Leo looked up, tears pooling in his eyes.

"Jase, you sap," He leaned in and kissed him tenderly. He sat back, trying not to cry. "You remembered."

"Of course I did. I love you." Jason smiled, pulling a specific movie out of the bag. "And I got The Santa Clause, I know it's your favorite," He blushed. Leo's heart just melted farther. He just stared at it and broke into tears, Jason pulled him into a hug as he cried. Leo felt so loved. Jason remembered the little things about him? That was something he couldn't get around his head.

Once he'd calmed down, Jason went to put the DVD in the player. When he got back to the couch, Leo nuzzled on his chest and Jason pulled a blanket over their laps. Festie jumped besides them and rested on the neighboring couch cushion.

"I love you Jason."

"I love you too, okay Leo?"

Jason inspected the tree, frowning. He was hovering ever so slightly off the ground, the way he did when he was intently focused. Leo watched him and rolled his eyes.

"Jase, I'm sure the tree's fine." He assured his boyfriend. Jason shook his head, still looking it up and down.

"It's just not right! See, this part's missing too many branches, and there's not enough foliage here..." Jason responded, using his hand to puff up parts of the branch. Leo sighed.

"It doesn't have to be perfect, mon amour." He promised. Jason didn't believe him.

"No, it does! If we're going to be doing Christmas the right way, it needs to be perfect." He complained. Leo just gently tugged on Jason's sleeve, causing him to come back to the ground and break his attention away from the tree.

"Jason, listen to me." He said, pulling Jason's head so they were touching their foreheads together. "It's okay. It doesn't have to be perfect, alright? I promise you, I'll love it even if it isn't perfect." Leo muttered between them. Jason closed his eyes, sighing.

"You're right. I'm sorry." Leo shook his head.

"Hey, don't be, okay? I get it, my mom would always have to remind me that I didn't have to get the most perfect thing for her. As long as we both loved it." He kissed Jason's nose. "Do you like the tree? Besides all the imperfections? I think that it makes it more like an actual tree, and not something cookie cutter."

"I mean, I guess. It's kinda pretty like that." Leo nodded. He stood up right and held Jason's chilled hands in his own.

"Yeah, it is. Plus, we can cover the more messy bits with even more ornaments!" Leo exclaimed, his eyes sparkling. Jason sighed a laugh, smiling at his overly excited boyfriend.

"Yeah, you're right. But I think we should keep it uncovered. Reminds us that we don't need to be perfect to be chosen, right?" Leo nodded.

"Yep! Okay, hold on," He dashed off, looking for the owner of the tree farm. "Sir! Sir! Yes! We'd like that one!"

"Oh yes, thank you Mrs. Jackson!" Jason thanked. Leo held his hand, trying to listen in on the conversation over the phone. Jason used his height to his advantage, straining away. "Yes, that sounds great. Again, thank you!" He put the landline down and Leo practically jumped with impatience.

"Jase! What was that about?" He exclaimed, Jason chuckling.

"Calm your horses, love." He kissed his forehead. "Mrs. Jackson and Percy have invited us over to their Christmas family dinners, and the whole Argos 2 crew will be there. Plus Nico and Reyna." He informed Leo and his face glowed with excitement.

"Wait, really! Oh gods! I haven't been at a family dinner in such a long time," He jumped for joy. Jason enjoyed seeing his boyfriend so happy.

"Yup! And it's a potluck, so we have to bring something."

"Don't worry Jase, I got that all figured out! Just change into something... nice but not too fancy." He dashed off then slowly walked back. "Do you think we can bring Festie?"

~~~

Jason and Leo stood nervously at the door of the Jackson residence, both wearing their sweaters and slacks. Jason held the plate of tacos and Leo held Festie's leash. He squeezed the hands they held between them two.

The door opened and the face of Percy Jackson popped out. He was wearing a bright red shirt with Rudolph on it, holding his sister on his hip. "You guys made it!" He grinned. Jason nodded.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." He smiled, squeezing Leo's hand. Leo adjusted his bag, full of mini supplies for Festie, along ear plugs. He and Jason both had their own pair, but he wasn't super concerned since it was a group of 9 kids with neurodivergent tendancies.

"Thank you again, for inviting us," Leo reminded, Percy grinned larger.

"Of course! You guys are welcome here anytime," He opened the door larger so the two (three, if you include Festie) could walk in. It was average size for an apartment, but seemed smaller with the sheer amount of people that were there. Most people were on the couches, talking happily about something. They looked up and greeted the two boys.

Percy lead them towards the table in the kitchen, piled up with food.

"You guys can leave your food here," He said, moving some things to make space. Jason settled it down and they followed Percy back out. Before they even left the kitchen, Piper was up on her feet, jumping to hug them both.

"I've missed you," She cried, squeezing them both extremely tight. Jason couldn't breathe and Leo giggled.

"Me too, Pipes." He mumbled back into her shoulder. After a minute, she finally stood back, looking at the mini dragon. She crouched, petting it's smooth metal.

"Who's this cutie?" Leo looked smug, happy to brag about his child/dragon any day.

"Festie! He's basically a mini Festus with the same chip." He announced, grinning happily. Jason kissed his cheek. He always thought Leo was adorable when he was talking about his creations.

Reyna walked over, holding a glass with something in it (Jason assumed wine at first, then remembered they're 17/18 year old's in America).

"Hey, guys, wanna come join our spot? You guys also should probably get some food," They said, handing a glass to Jason. He eyed it uneasily. "Apple cider with a little bit of nectar," Reyna assured, taking a sip of their own drink. Jason nodded and drank some. It tasted sweet due to the apple juice, and the nectar made it taste all the better. It reminded him of Leo's hot cocoa stained lips.

After a bit of chatting, Leo headed to the kitchen to get him and Jason a plate, while Reyna and Piper took Jason and Festie to the couches. There sat Hazel, Frank, Nico (and Will), Annabeth, Percy, and of course, Reyna and Piper. They all seemed very excited to have everyone together.

Leo came back and Jason rested his head on Leo's shoulder. Leo knew Jason struggled with social interaction sometimes, especially in a huge setting, but he didn't care. He loved his boyfriend and he'd do anything to keep him comfortable. One thing about Leo was that he had anxiety mostly around Percy. Talking to anyone else was either borderline scary or chill, but Percy gave him the most nerves. Specifically because of his blow up after the whole New Rome incident.

Leo did most of the social interaction for them. Jason would occasionally talk to the group, but would go back to enjoying just resting on Leo. After everyone had eaten, they went around sharing stories from their travels and munched on dessert.

"Jason," Leo whispered. Jason looked up.

"Hm?"

"Do you want to have dessert?" Jason saw the rest of the group eating a Christmas log cake. Honestly, Jason had forgotten how exhausting it was to be in a big group like this. And he loved hanging out with them, it was just that sometimes he found it hard. He nuzzled deeper into Leo's neck, shaking his head. Leo nodded.

"Hey guys," He informed the group. "I'm feeling a bit tired, so Jason and I are gonna head off early, is that alright?" The group nodded, saying their goodbyes and the two headed out the door.

~~

Once they got back home, Leo hugged Jason.

"Hey, everything alright?" He asked. Jason nodded, kissing Leo's forehead.

"Just tired. My social battery wasn't ready for all that." Leo nodded. He got that. He kissed Jason back.

"Oh. No problem. Should we cuddle up and watch something? Head to bed?" Jason shook his head.

"How about we make hot cocoa and talk?" Jason offered. Leo smiled, nodding. Jason used to not like hot cocoa that much, but he did after Leo started drinking and making it constantly at their place(s).

"Sure. Go change, I'm gonna boil the milk." Leo moved towards the kitchen and Jason went to his room to change. In their apartment, there were 3 bedrooms. One for Leo, one for Jason, and one for a guest. They usually slept in each other's room, but each had their own just in case they needed some space.

Jason came back in Leo's tank-top and blue pajama pants. He wrapped his arms around Leo as he made the cocoa, which caused him to giggle.

"Jase! You wanna try some?" Leo held up the spoon, which Jason took a sip from. He smiled in approval. Leo poured two mugfuls, with Jason still around his waist, and put whipped cream on his. Jason didn't like whipped cream, but who was Leo to judge?

They sat down on the couch, sipping their drinks. The night was young but neither of them were tired. They enjoyed hanging out with the whole 7, but sometimes it was difficult. It brought back a lot of bad memories along with the good ones. They were fighting for their lives most of the time, anyways.

"I'm sorry I left you to talk for us two," Jason offered. Leo looked surprised. He shook his head.

"No, it's fine! I love talking to people!" He grinned. Jason nodded. Leo had whipped cream on his nose, which Jason wiped off.

They kept talking about their fond memories of their days on the Argos 2, the hardships and the ones that made them laugh.

They talked until the next morning, in which they fell asleep on the couch, cocoa spilled on the floor.

And finally it was Christmas eve. Leo and Piper had forced Jason and Reyna to stay up with them that night, looking for Santa Claus.

"Pipes, he isn't real--" Reyna attempted before Jason shot a hand over their mouth. He squinted.

"Last time I said that, they threatened to put me on the roof for reindeer scouting duty," He whispered. He looked back at Reyna. "Seriously. I'm doing you a favor."

They sighed, peeling Jason's hand off of their mouth, and kept it shut.

Leo and Piper were giggling, thinking they were so sneaky kneeling under the kitchen table. Across from them, Jason and Reyna were sitting behind the couch.

"Does this happen every year?" Jason shrugged at Reyna. They both were going through Christmas activities with their respective partners for the first time.

"Apparently we-- they did this at Wilderness School too." He sighed. Nothing happened for a while, just Leo and Piper going through a sugar crash from being on cocoa and candy canes.

Jason looked at Reyna, putting a finger over his lips. Then he closed his eyes, and snapped. They heard yelping over from Piper and Leo's side, squealing from excitement. Reyna looked over the couch to see what they were so interested in. Snow fell through the chimney, leaving... were those footprints? Reyna rubbed their eyes to make sure they weren't asleep or sleep deprived and hallucinating.

Nope, they were there.

"Jason?" They whispered. He smirked.

"Keeps us from staying up all night." Reyna nodded slowly and sympathetically, not possibly being able to fathom staying up for some fictional housebreaker.

They heard shuffling and giggling, Leo and Piper crawling out from their hiding spot to look at the chimney. The cookies and carrots were gone. All four looked up as footprints were heard on the roof. As always, Piper and Leo tried to rush out to get a glimpse, but never could.

"One day we'll get him," Piper announced, Leo nodding alongside her.

"Yeah! We won't give up!" They high-fived while Jason snicked softly under his breath. Leo and Piper went back to the chimney, observing and plotting for next year. Reyna tapped Jason's shoulder as the two moved to the couch.

"How'd you do it? The cookies and the hoof-prints?" They asked, raising an eyebrow. The snow was something simple Jason could do, but the other aspects confused them. He smirked.

"I had Tempest go and walk on the roof, while I use a little wind to get the treats to go up the chimney. I'll get them tomorrow." He said matter-of-factly. Reyna looked surprised. They couldn't believe how planned out Jason was.

"That's... kinda cool."

"I know right? I told Annabeth and Nico and they both want my help to prank Percy and Will."

"I wanna see that."

"Let's go do it!"

Reyna had wanted to stay with them and open gifts, but had some urgent last minute work to do at Camp Jupiter. So they said their goodbyes.

Leo, Piper, and Jason sat in a circle, gifts in their laps. The tree in Leo and Jason's living space had piles upon piles of gifts, but Piper and Leo had a tradition. They would always opened each other's first, and now Jason joined their bubble.

"Pipes, open mine first!" Leo exclaimed, handing over his gift for her. Piper laughed, sighing.

"Yes, yes, repair boy. I'll do yours first." She took the wrapped box out of his hands. She started peeling the paper back slowly, trying to pull out the anticipation of the gift.

"Hurry!" Leo exclaimed. Jason sighed and rubbed Leo's shoulder.

"Calm down, love," Jason assured. Piper snickered and finally opened the gift. She gasped.

Inside was a glass flower lamp, one which had a steam that could twist and turn to the owner's liking. Leo had been working on it for a while, practicing glass techniques to make it work just right. Even Jason helped, keeping the electricity in the lamp ever going. The petals were a watercolor pink and the bulb a soft yellow center. Piper blinked back tears.

"You remembered..." She whispered. Leo smiled nervously, shrugging.

"Of course. It's not perfect... but," He shouldered her. "You're my best friend. And my sister."

~~

Wilderness School was not for the faint of heart. The place wouldn't let the kids celebrate holidays. The only permitted one was Christmas. This was when all of the kids were excused from classes and were taken to the snow, by bus, to play. That had been Piper's first time seeing snow. Then they'd head back to the school and get "gifts". These usually consisted of minor things, such as a piece of candy, or a stuffed animal. The kids wouldn't dare complain anyways.

When Christmas was just around the corner, the staff had left Leo and Piper on recycling duty. While Leo was sifting through the stack of old newspapers, Piper was sitting on a box reading a catalogue. It was the kind that stores would leave on door steps and kids would circle their favorite items in hopes of getting them for Christmas.

"Leo," Piper said suddenly, causing Leo to look up from his work.

"Hm?"

"Look," Leo stepped over and looked over her shoulder, noticing the beautifully crafted glass flower lamp. It was a pretty shade of pink, something Piper was definitely interested in.

"Wow." He muttered. Piper nodded. She looked up at him.

"When we leave, we should get one!" She announced. Leo smiled fondly.

"We? Pipes, I ain't got that kind of money! Plus, you're the one with the super rich dad," He teased. Piper rolled her eyes.

"Whatever!" She looked back at the lamp. "Just... promise me we'll be friends long enough to buy it?" Leo hesitated. He pressed a kiss on her head.

"Of course." He bit his lip. "When we leave, right?"

"Yeah." She smiled. "When we leave."

~~

After their fond sibling moments, Piper opened her gift from Jason, Chappell Roan CD's, and it was Leo's turn.

"Shit, I should've gotten you something better," Piper laughs, rubbing her eyes. Leo shook his head.

"The fact that you got me something is all that matters, alright?" He opens her gift, revealing a wrench that had been painted pink and had hello kitty stickers. Leo chuckled. "I actually needed a new one of these," Piper grinned.

"I know. I asked Jason," Leo looked over at Jason, who was flushing a light red. He laughed, and kissed Jason's cheek.

"Sweet." He started opening Jason's gift, who seemed very nervous about it.

"I'm sorry if it's bad," He muttered. Leo shook his head, still peeling away the paper at the small gift.

"No, no don't say that Jase. I bet I'll love it." He opened it, his eyes gleaming as they reflected off of the Celestial Bronze surface. In his palm was a fidget spinner. It was heavy, made mostly out of (what Leo guessed) Celestial Bronze and... Imperial Gold? He weighed it. Yup. It was painted dark red, with fire emblems on it. Leo smiled, looking up at Jason.

"You got this for me?" Leo asked softly. Jason blushed, suddenly very interested in a loose thread from his pajama pants. Jason shrugged.

"I asked Nyssa and Harley to, um, help me make it..." Jason mumbled. Leo smiled softly, blushing just as hard. He lunged and hugged Jason, who was very startled by the attack.

I love you. Leo tapped on his shoulder. Sometimes they did that, when someone else was there or they felt too shy to speak it. Jason smiled, and tapped back on Leo's shoulder.

After their hug, Jason went about opening his gifts. First from Piper, another world traveling booklet. Jason had been very interested in traveling the world, especially since he'd only traveled by 1. Dragon and 2. Flying Boat. He'd wanted to explore more, and live the childhood that he never got to.

Then Leo's gift. He opened the bag, which was stained with soot fingerprints, and found an animatronic wolf. It was much smaller than Festie, about the size of his forearm, but it was beautiful. It had silver and gold metals in it, its eyes sapphires. Jason looked up at Leo, who was grinning and nervously biting his nails.

"Leo..." He blinked back tears, trying not to cry. "I love it." He leaned over and hugged Leo, then pulled Piper in. "I love you guys so much."

"We love you too," Piper and Leo said in response, smiling sadly.

They stayed hugging for a bit, just enjoying the company of each other.

Piper left to go back to visit her father. Leo and Jason were back at camp to celebrate with other campers. With Festie their new animatronic wolf pet, they walked around camp.

It was chilly and empty, people heading home for the holidays to spend time with family. Frost flaked the ground. Leo squeezed Jason's hand, smiling up at his boyfriend. They were both drinking cocoa.

"So," He started. Jason raised an eyebrow.

"Hm?"

"How are you liking Christmas?" Leo asked, his eyes sparkling. Jason felt his face melt into a smile.

"I enjoy it a lot." He kissed Leo's forehead. "As long as I get to spend it with you every year." He teased. Leo nodded.

"Of course, Superman. Wouldn't dream of anything else."

Once they got to Jason's cabin, because it was very cold and Leo wanted to cuddle up, they spotted a couple Demeter and Hecate kids.

"What are they up to?" Leo asked, watching them snicker and giggle. Jason looked up. Then he started blushing.

"I-- uh--" Leo cocked an eyebrow, looking up. Oh.

A mistletoe grew from the entrance, green and leafy with little red fruit. It seemed to glow with magic. Leo looked over at the kids, who must've grown it, and rolled his eyes. He held Jason's hands, looking into his boyfriends eyes.

"Well, we gotta stick to traditions, right?" He said, smirking. Jason flushed harder, nodding. Leo grinned and pulled Jason close, kissing him softly. It felt amazing. Sparks of warmth fluttered inside of them. Leo heard the kids whooping, but couldn't care less. He was with Jason. His Jason. The boy who loved him.

Leo stood back, his face flushed and his lips red. Jason looked similarly.

"Well," Jason stammered. "I think this Christmas has been a success," Leo nodded, smiling.

"Me too. Merry Christmas, Jason!"

"Merry Christmas, Leo!"

~ an : aaaaah !! i finally finished this !! this has been in the drafts for like, 3 months and i finally got to work on this !!!! this has been a blast and i am sososososos happy with it !! i think its a cute concept and i love christmas sm and valgrace and alsfjlaskdjf !! i hope you enjoyed this just as much :DDD (i dont have much to say abt this, js i really liked this hehe) 4.5 k words !!!!

ty to everyone who read my silly yaps abt this and voted on the poll!!

i love you all so much, and merry christmas + happy holidays!!!

tag list : @writerthatarts , @ros-amoebas , @emofloofchild

[capsiclesteebrogers]

Bridgerton fandom is nasty because people like you feel they can police other peoples thoughts and content and they are unable to stay in their lane just like you. So go fuck yourself with the moral highground, guess what I saw today - another nasty Nicola fan talking how Simone is arrogant because she is skinny and a curry sniffer. You seee any kanthony fan making posts in the polin and Nicola tag with this bullshit? Grab a mirror and think for a second why you are feeling you can somehow police other people, nasty romanian comunist

I was debating answering this ask until I got to the last part. It is incredibly insensitive to call someone a comunist simply because you do not agree with what they say. My country is still recovering after communism because we did not have the means to progress faster. My parents still talk to me about how they were affected by it and how awful it was. Please check your xenophobia because it is not normal.

I am not policing people's thoughts and contect. I am calling out people who are being (and have been for the past few years) nasty and deranged towards a real woman. People can post whatever they want but being a decent human being is a requirement for all of us. Call out these fans and make your own post. As I have previously mentioned, I have reported and blocked p*lin fans who have attacked Simone but I see few of these people because I try to curate my space as much as I can.

And yes, I have seen fans tagging wrong. I made sure to tag properly and censor both ship names. If my post appeared in the normal tag then it's tumblr's fault because I always make sure to tag properly.

I suggest you grab a mirror and reflect why you think being xenophobic and fatphobic to a person you do not know is ok. I simply made a post calling out nasty fans. I did not insult the actors nor the ship. Do you honestly believe this behaviour is normal? I made one singular post criticizing some shippers and you have already send me 4 asks. Please block me and leave me alone. Or maybe come off of anon and allow me to block you.

[radarsteddybear]

S2E23 "Mail Call" / S4E01 "Welcome To Korea"

[angorwhosebabyisthis]

honestly it's been really healing being back to actively contributing things and writing out thoughts on tumblr the last week or so, because while twitter tends to be easier for me to write out Thoughts on without getting overwhelmed, the environment in the twitter fandom circles i'm interested in is not only infested with antis but cliqueish in a way that is caustic to the fucking soul if you try to express a thought that's more than three sentences long--a hundred times over if you're autistic in slightly the wrong way--and it's incredibly reassuring to come back to an environment where the very kindest and most inclusive people toward you are not clearly thinking the r-slur the entire time they interact with you lmao

[her-canine-teeth]

bad astrology by flower face

[mortiflyer]

⇓

[doodlingwren]

It's 2024 can we please stop saying it's normal to trace or copying an entire drawing and pretending it's 100% your work? Just bc you changed the character or added clothes on a base you found on pinterest it doesn't mean you created original art

[lucalicatteart]

Poll adventure (paventure? lol) Day 4: read the small story tidbit below the poll for more details, OR just vote based on initial impression

(✦ see past poll results + further information HERE (link) ✦)

The winning option of yesterday's poll was that the adventurer should offer the Well Creature some bread and soup ….

"Completely unsure how to even begin to interact with the strange creature from the well, The Adventurer recalls reading in a book once that 'food is a universal language', or uh.. something like that.. thus, some hearty soup and bread would surely bridge any communication barriers... probably. He serves the little cannister of broth cold, straight from his bag just dumped into a wooden bowl, mostly because he's far too nervous to try and start a fire with someone watching.. hopefully they won't mind the food not being warmed..

After gently placing a single bread roll next to the soup, he steps back, gesturing towards the meal with an uncertain smile. The creature pauses, sniffs around, then promptly disappears back into the darkness. Just as The Adventurer begins to sulk over his apparent rejection, something stirs behind him... With a rush of creaking and plopping noises, the creature resurfaces, revealing it's massive serpent-like body as it hoists itself over the crumbled stone of the well's edge with it's many arms. It cracks open it's mighty jaw just far enough for a tiny blue tongue to slither out, then politely slurps at the soup, delicate enough not to spill any.

Stumbling backwards in shock, The Adventurer simply sits there staring the entire time whilst the creature happily (and rather quickly) enjoys their meal... Seemingly appreciative of his kind offerings, another strange slinking arm creeps up from the depths of the well, daintily opening a velvet sack with it's claws and laying out a small assortment of items onto the grass. Still a bit shaken, but also never one to turn down a free gift, The Adventurer senses that the creature intends for him to take any single item of his choosing... but, which one?"

[giantkillerjack]

Ya know. I spent most of my life with horrible painful soul-crushing social anxiety.

And after about 25 years of continuous hard work, suddenly, people started pointing out - to my utter bafflement - that I had, in fact, achieved my lifelong dream of being charismatic. I'm 29 now; I feel comfortable in most social situations, and it is a very rare person whom I cannot make laugh.

I am, undoubtedly, finally, charismatic.

But do you know what I found?

I found that now that I have an understanding of which social rules serve which functions -- Now that I have an understanding of just how much damage my awkwardness was doing to people, well,

I found that, actually, my awkwardness never really hurt anyone at all. People were just judgmental dicks to me about it.

Now that I have the skill-level to (most of the time) creatively vocalize what is in my head as soon as I think it and without fear, I can confirm once and for all what I had always suspected:

I was worth talking to when I was quiet.

I was worth talking to when I was awkward, and when the words in my head took time and patience to hear, and when most of my jokes didn't land. I was worth talking to the whole time.

So I just... I hope that if you've ever wondered whether you are worth communicating with, the answer is yes. Absolutely yes. Each of us has a soul worth sharing - and if you and I were talking, I would happily wait for you to speak (or communicate in other ways) without condescending, and I would never shame you for that harmless awkwardness that so many people feel the need to violently stomp out.

You are worth talking to. You just are. And you deserve people who will speak to you with kindness, with patience, and with the basic immutable respect owed to all people.

(I talk about this with some frequency, both on tumblr and in real life. At some point, maybe I'll gather all my thoughts on the matter into one post. At some point, I wrote about my personal experience trying to build my social skill. But I felt the need to say at least a little bit tonight after seeing this other lovely post, and I'm glad I did. It will happen again.)

[wasabikitcat]

Has anyone in this Olympics women's boxing argument ever stopped and thought about whether it would make any sense for women to be more susceptible to being injured in boxing than men? Like sure, it's a fairly common assumption that men are physically stronger than women, and therefore a man would have an advantage at boxing because he can punch harder... But how would that make you more resilient to being punched in the nose? Like I would think the assumed advantage would be that women can't hit as hard and therefore would require more effort to take someone down, but what everyone is arguing over is a woman having her nose broken from a punch to the face, when a man's nose would be just as broken from the same punch. Women don't have like, daintier and weaker facial bones or something. Being punched in the face "by a man" when you're a woman is literally no different than being punched in the face by the same person as a man. If we are to assume that men (note: the person being debated about here isn't a man or even a trans woman, she is cisgender, but I digress) are so Herculean that their punches are just too dangerous for women, then men's boxing should be banned outright because it's just too dangerous for men to be punching each other with that strength when a punch to the face is exactly the same for a man as it is to a woman.