#working caption was op blacked out and made this

[woosansang]

poppin

[can-i-make-image-descriptions]

Image Descriptions and Accessibility in General on Tumblr for New Users

What are Image Descriptions

Image Descriptions are text following a picture explaining what’s in that picture. They are primarily for blind/visually impaired people with screen readers and visually impaired people who can read text but have issues with pictures.

They also help people who have trouble:

focusing on/understanding a picture

reading text on images (ex low contrast, weird fonts, etc)

getting images to load

Without image descriptions posts are not accessible to many people, so if you can it's best to include a description or alt text every time you post an image.

Alt text vs image descriptions

Image descriptions are written in the body of the post itself, and have some kind of text before and after, to explain that what's coming up. They typically begin short and concise, but can expand to more detail.

Alt text is added to the image itself, and is what is read by screen-readers (which will otherwise just say "image"). There is no need to add any explanation before the description so you can just say "a description of the image". Alt text can only be added by the original poster, by clicking on the three dots in the bottom right corner of the image and clicking 'update image description.' It is typically short and concise.

On tumblr, alt text is currently available on web by clicking on the alt button (or via new xkit - accesskit - move alt text to captions below image). On mobile, alt text is available in some versions of the app through clicking on the alt text button. Image descriptions are visible on all posts, although if you put them under a read-more, that makes them less accessible. (Thanks to @911described for helping with this section)

How to Make Image Descriptions

Awhile ago I made this general guide. I learned from examples, so here are descriptions made by a bunch of different people. I've also made templates for a lot of common images you'll see on Tumblr.

Other Concerns

Gradient or all caps text make most screen readers read out the word one letter at a time. In addition, these plus text that is bold/italicized/underlined, in colors other than black, or in weird/fancy fonts are difficult for many people to read.

How Filtering Works

You can filter out both words/phrases and tags in the filtering section under the general section in the settings. When filtering out words from a post, it will look at both the text of the post/reblog chain and at the url of op and the rebloggers. When filtering out tags it will look at the tags of the specific post on your dash, and at the tags of the original post.

Tagging for Common Triggers

Don't sensor trigger warnings (for example don't tag suic!de) because then people who have them filtered will still see it.

Tagging for Flashing Lights

If you post a gif or video in a post that flashes, you should tag it with something like "flashing lights" and Not "tw epilepsy" because if any of the tags in the original post contains the world epilepsy it will show up in the epilepsy tag, which is dangerous. Check out this post from @photosensitive-despair for more info about tagging photosensitive content.

Tagging for Unreality vs Misinfo

Things that could trigger delusions/psychotic episodes/etc should be tagged with unreality. This includes:

content that has existential themes related to reality/things not existing (example: a philosophy such as solipsism, do not look up the term if unreality stuff is triggering for you)

extremely surreal content(example: sometimes content such as weirdcore/dreamcore aesthetics can fall under this umbrella but again this is very subjective)

content that reinforces or encourages common delusions(example: that one "im living in your walls" meme)

Things like rp blogs and fake/edited tweets should not be tagged with unreality, unless they contain triggering content. Consider tags like "fiction" or "misinfo." See this post for more info.

Edit:

Addition from @mindflamer

You can look through the reblogs of a post to see if someone's already written a description. There is a button to see just comments vs. comments + tags which makes it easier. Scroll through looking for brackets [], ID, or Image Description. This is great to do if you can't write your own IDs for whatever reason, so that you can at least spread the version of the post that's described if there is one.

If you're not able to write IDs consistently, some is better than none. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. You can use the tag #undescribed to make it easy for those who need them to filter out those posts. Similarly, if you primarily tag triggers but can't for certain posts, you can use a separate tag on that to be filtered such as #untagged.

Please, if I forgot something, sound off in the notes and I'll update this post with it

[jaxteller87]

Traditions 2

A few days later, I found myself at the shop, and business was slow as it tends to get around this time of year. In fact, the workload has been so manageable that I’ve had the prospects sweep the parking lot just for something to do. I had taken my lunch break early when I received a text message from Amber. The text contained a picture with the caption, “You’re not going to believe this.” In the photo, there was a little black cat nestled inside a box.

I immediately texted Amber: “You bringing the cat home?”

Amber’s response came quickly: “Gonna take it to the vet first, make sure it’s okay. If all’s good, then yeah, we’ll bring it home.”

As I glanced at the picture again, I couldn’t help but notice a small red bird perched nearby, giving the whole situation an eerie sense of déjà vu.

Work at the shop passed quickly despite nothing to do, and after a short bike ride, I joined Amber back home to prepare the introduction of the cat to our kids.

“The vet said that despite being left alone for who knows how long, it seems to be in good shape,” Amber mentioned as we gathered around the big box. Buttercup and Hazel, our dog, curiously approached, sniffing the box before the kitty leaped out, playfully tapping Hazel’s nose and then Buttercup’s.

I was reminded of a similar situation as we watched that cat in the box. “Babe, have I ever told you about what happened at the clubhouse during bike week a few years back when everyone was paranoid about the Mayans?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Amber replied.

“It was during bike week in Charming, and tensions with the Mayans were higher than ever after a little scuffle on the highway. Chibs, Ope, Bobby, Tig, and I had just left the clubhouse one night; it had to be about two in the morning when we heard a commotion coming from behind the shop. Instantly, we all thought the Mayans were here to burn down our clubhouse or something.”

“Oh, damn,” her eyes perked up.

“Yeah, right? So, there we were, circling the area like drunken marines in the night, thinking we were as silent as ghosts. In reality, we were probably louder than Tig’s room that one time he snuck three Thai dancers in.”

“Ew,” she muttered.

“The rustling was plain as day. There we were, guns drawn, and I was even giving out hand signals like some green-beret special forces soldier. We were ready for a showdown. But just before Ope walked up to a pile of boxes and garbage bags, a little black cat shot out and ran right between his legs.” I couldn’t help but start laughing, which, in turn, made Amber start laughing. “I won’t even pretend like it didn’t scare me either. Ope screamed so loud, the neighbor's dogs started barking.”

“So, it was just a cat? Not the Mayans?” she asked amidst her chuckling.

“Yep. Just a cat. But the funny thing was Bobby,” I said with an ear-to-ear grin, “Old Munson jumped higher than all of us, which, considering that he’s, well, Bobby, was not only funny but also damn impressive.”

We stood there with a smile on our faces, watching our newest fur addition get acclimated with the family. “Over the years, I’ve come to understand that some people aren’t animal people, but how could anyone abandon such an innocent soul?” The kitty continued to squirm, eager to explore its newfound surroundings.

Finally, our children arrived home from school and daycare. “Hey! Guess what, you guys? I think Mama might have a surprise for you in the garage!” I said with a smile.

“A surprise!” they exclaimed.

Both kids eagerly followed me, their faces beaming with excitement. “Go look in the box, love bug,” Amber encouraged Mary. She eagerly approached the box, with Thomas trailing behind. “Mommy, Daddy, thank you!” Mary exclaimed when she saw the little kitty hop out of the box.

“Thank you, Mommy!” she squealed happily. I gently picked up the kitten and placed it on Amber’s lap, where it happily curled up, purring contentedly. Thomas waddled over and began gently petting the kitty. We fibbed when Mary asked if Amber had found the cat, as we knew that if we told her it had been abandoned, she would burst into tears. Mary got her soft spot for animals from Amber, who always had a tender heart for them.

Later that night, as we sat in the living room, “So, Mary, are you going to name that kitty Binx?”

Mary thought for a moment before replying, “You know, I think he’s more like Shadow.”

“Shadow?” Amber and I laughed, exchanging a knowing look.

After the kids and animals were sound asleep, I found Amber outside, gazing up at the moon. When I opened the door, she turned to me with a gentle smile.

“I know it was you, Mama. I knew it when I saw the red bird by the box. It’s like how the butterflies are for Mary. I haven’t told Jax this yet, but I know this stuff might seem silly to him. But thank you, Mama. The kids love the cat, and so do I. Lately, I’ve been missing you and Daddy a lot. It’s hard to believe it will be ten years at the start of the new year.”

I walked out onto the back patio and joined Amber, who was in tears. This was a ritual we had developed over the years. After her parents passed away, she would often sit in my lap and cry for hours.

The next morning, as I woke up with a yawn, the cat jumped from the bed and strutted over to Buttercup, giving her a playful tap on the nose.

A few days later, while working in the shop on a car, I noticed two little red birds hopping around. I did something I had never done before. “I’m taking good care of Amber, you know, and the little ones,” I chuckled as I spoke, almost not believing I was doing it. One of the birds edged closer to me, and I continued, “She’s my world, and they all are. We’ve created a little happy life for ourselves.”

“Thank you for sending the cat as a sign,” I smiled at the birds, and with that, they soared up into the sky and disappeared, leaving a sense of connection and comfort in their wake.

[trascapades]

✊🏿🖤☮ #ArtIsAWeapon A revolutionary brilliant Black king was born 95 years ago today (January 15, 1929). I do not have the words to adequately convey my deep gratitude, respect and admiration for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s service, sacrifice, courage and love. Thank you @berniceaking for continuing your father and mother's work.

I do not know when or where Dr. King made the speech from which this clip was taken (I have researched for several years). I watch this often - especially when I hear white supremacists and white liberals alike attempt to sanitize Dr. King's radical, revolutionary messages to us. Watch him speaking more of these powerful, transformative words on @youtube: https://youtu.be/voV9ld-Qooc

"I come here tonight to plead with you. Believe in yourself and believe that you are somebody. I said to a group last night: Nobody else can do this for us. No document can do this for us. No Lincolnian emancipation proclamation can do this for us. No Johnsonian civil rights bill can do this for us.

If the Negro is to be free, he must move down into the inner resources of his own soul and sign with a pen and ink of self-assertive manhood his own emancipation proclamation.

Don’t let anybody take your manhood. Be proud of our heritage…we don’t have anything to be ashamed of.

Somebody told a lie one day. They couched it in language. They made everything Black ugly and evil. Look in your dictionaries and see the synonyms of the word Black. It’s always something degrading and low and sinister. Look at the word White, it’s always something pure, high and clean. Well I want to get the language right tonight.

I want to get the language so right that everyone here will cry out: ‘Yes, I’m Black, I’m proud of it. I’m Black and beautiful!'" - Dr. King

•

Images and caption reposted from @zebablay I am honestly so deeply depressed and disgusted by everything at the moment. But, a few thoughts on this day: Allyship should not be transactional. Genocide is not and never will be justifiable. And, there is something so deeply perverse about how Western imperial powers harass, surveil and ultimately kill freedom fighters/leaders like MLK only to sanitize and sloganize their messages, then suppress/weaponize their legacies in the name of genocide and empire. This country did not deserve Martin Luther King Jr. Did not. Enjoy your day off or whatever.

1. Coretta Scott King gazes into the eyes of Bernice King, then 5-years-old, at MLK’s funeral

2. Tweet by @berniceking

3. Excerpt from Nikki Giovanni’s “Reflections on April 4, 1968”

4. MLK on the scam that is settler colonialism

5-7. Excerpts from Michelle Alexander’s 2019 NYT op-ed “Time to Break the Silence on Palestine”

8. bell hooks on MLK

9. Mother and daughter, grieving

#HappyBirthdayDrKing

#BlackandBeautiful #DrKing #MLK #revolutionary #AmericanHero #MartinLutherKingJr #ImBlackAndBeautiful #FreedomFighter #BlackBrilliance #RadicalLove #NationalDayOfService

[castle-dominion]

castle 7x9 last action hero

the action movie episode liveblog

hard kill garbage earbuds sus person running person dead person!! Love the music btw talking out loud to himself

Aw I love 90s beckett's style Oooh allclads are a good brand! But bex is right, some pans just Work Better, you can't just live life with a full set of one, you need a couple mismatched ones thrown in there too. & it has pictures in it.

Cousin sofia! Nice Bex offended mr kuniak XD ofc he never said anything, that'd be impolite

Hohhhh her puppydog sleeves <3

raises crime scene tape uwu He's that guy! Esposito's face of "Really castle? HIM above any of the OTHER action heroes?" RC: Ex-Navy Seal Zen master Rico Cruz? With the catch phrase “Time to hit Cruz control”? JE: Yeah, I was never a fan. KR: Me either. What’s he done lately, anyway? JE: Yeah, right? RC: (seriously) Beat leukemia. KR+JE:

Lanie <3

LP: Cause of death is clearly strangulation by ligature. KB: A narrow ligature, from the looks of it. KR: Made by a thin wire tied to two wooden dowels? KB: KR: CSU found this in a dumpster. KB: A garrote? Who would use one of those? JE: Special forces will sometimes, when they want to kill quietly. RC: The bigger question is how they got the drop on Lance Delorca. KR: Uh, Lance played an action hero, Castle. Doesn’t mean he was one. RC: Au contraire, mon frère. Thank you transcript for actually saying that, screw you captions. I speak French, I want to see the words. If hearing bilingual people can understand the french, Ddeaf/hoh ppl should be able to have that same opportunity. RC: Lance was born in Spain where, before he became an actor, he was a member of the CNI, the Spanish Intelligence Agency. He was black ops. This man was a lethal weapon. Me then: Wow, that's so fake, he wouldn't become an american actor. Jon Huertas: *was in the military, poor guy, before becoming an actor & is literally Esposito in this very show* But then again, I have a friend from Israel/Sri Lanka (I think he grew up in israel but was originally from sri lanka, idk) & he was in the air force for thirteen years but I met him as a cheap cafe sandwich maker in the banquet cold kitchen. I mean he left that job a couple weeks ago for private security but other than that. My point is, being n the military does not denote your future, you can escape your past.

Love the music btw

*Knows it word for word* RC laughs. He notices KR+JE’S looks. RC: I was raised by a single mother. Hard Kill was how I got my brotime. KR: That explains so much. JE: Mmhmm.

JE: Yeah, the guy from The Indestructibles movies, where all the badass action heroes band together for one last mission. KR: Before they die of old age? JE: Hey. That’s a great film. And so was the sequel. Sequels are never good bro KR: (sarcastically) Yeah.

KR: The redhead, she’s an archaeologist? That strains credibility. (XD casually sexist) JE: Yeah, in a good way. KB: Hard at work investigating, I see. They all turn around quickly. (Love her)

Castle being sort of helpful while just watching movies *pushes esposito out of the way a bit* why garroute, not garawt? KB: I know what her name is. While you were having your B-movie festival, I tracked her down. She’s in New York. She’s shooting a film and she’s on her way in now. *Esposito's face lights up & Castle accidentally hits ryan*

love the music XD but bex, let Castle find girls pretty in the past tense, he had her poster on his wall when he was younger & def before he met you that is ok.

oh no Another indestructibles? before they all die of old age? Yay friends Wow guns Cheesy is not bad KB: The real miracle is how a girl like that’s hanging out with a bunch of guys old enough to be her grandfather. She's not wrong

RC: Hi, Mr. Harmon. Huge fan. Huge fan. (he holds out his hand for a shake) I – I’m – it’s an honor – honor to meet you. Brock Harmon: The honor is mine. I’ve passed many an hour in the john reading your books. (in the washroom but still, he reads em! Love it when two celebrities are fans of each other lol)

Sometimes they say first names, sometimes they say last names.

When castle said that I just thought "Jon huertas was drawing on his past as an airman to play a detective (who used to be a green beret)" but also I miss the days when Castle said smart stuff

Just so happens that everyone they need is in new york i love it

I know why they are "stonewalling" her heheh oh yeah she has "guys" in washington now!

Why Hard Kill of any of the ppl he's played?

KR: (reading the tagline) “Time to hit Cruz control.” Maybe that’s what I need, a catchphrase. (he lowers his voice) Time to meet hard justice. Time for prison time. (nOOO I HATE IT MY FACE IS CAUGHT BETWEEN A CRINGE & A SMILE JHDSKJHSDFJ) XD on second thought: don't. clipping.

Oh yeah I remember this stuff. Man's a regular little robotics high school student!

Oh yeah sobriety. Loev the set behind them too lol

Ooh I noticed the commotion in the background this time! Man holding his face!

Classic action movie other wife XD

{But Castle couldn't tell that this man was NOT ex-cni? He got beckett's entire life story so why is this like this?} btw I want a fanfic where castle pulls the same trick he did on beckett to learn abt esposito & ryan's lives

espt layers upon layers isexy

Enrique Gomez: He needed a bodyguard. Somebody he could trust. And I know such people. But none of them were available on such short notice, so I couldn’t help him. I mean yeah no yeah that's how things go

At least he ASKED his friend I mean Tavi was a sheep herder too! But then he became an operative! & wanted to be a lawyer! & then became captain of the army! & then became the king of the entire nation!

Aww castle so depressed deeply personal XD Tori *pops out* *pops back in*

Earology XD but also acupuncturists might know a lot, I feel like that could be a plot point in a future episode & the shows the little animation XD like girl why not just say "I have an ID" & give the ID & if they ask say "I compared her ear shape to pictures of women connected to Lance DeLorca" & show the green pic of the scan but since you already compared it, you don't need to compare it to any more (which is where we got that pretty ear shape animation from)

not quoting, rather clipping, but the captions are incorrect so beware

I like how dark the obs room is in comparison to the inter room but the box is still so dim

set smth right! Words we've said before!

RC: My opinion is not affected by her skimpy outfit. I’m speaking as an objective investigator. Someone who has set their personal feelings aside. KB: Along with your poster? RC stops abruptly. RC: Who told you? It’s Ryan, wasn’t it? Apparently everyone knows ryan as the blabbermouth. "She's going away with her boyfriend!" "It only proves that Ryan has a big mouth" like girl this is a minor character trait for him at this point

Yay I'm hopefully getting my meds filled! I went to the hospital for self harm & suicidal motives on wednesday & I still haven't gotten my meds yet *goofy face emoji* but now I am yayay

why does ryan say "except for her story is still holding up" instead of "except that her story is still holding up" but ig it's better "except FOR the fact THAT her story.."

slaps ryan's mouth XD

her fridge is EMPTY

THANK YOU! Thank you Lanie for giving us all this information, all the reminders of the past, the explosion, the best apartment ever! Also I totally thought that they were going to kiss & then I forgot this isn't fanfiction. Btw we need more femslash in fandom. Straight women, we need you! Lol wine in ceramic mugs

Ooh Ryan's outfit! It was good yesterday but now it is also good today!

Hollywood style one at a time fight, castle's face, espt's face, castle's face, espt's nodthe MUSIC, man he did a great job choosing the right instruments for this!

Reminds me, I was in martial arts as a kid (& I wish I could go back but college is awful & nobody should have to work more than five hours a day /gen /revolution /ubi) & some friends of mine got into a fight at mcdonald's & they TOTALLY should have asked for the security footage!

btw, kicks are low not for their face

You get sides of pork, not sides of beef. Cattle are cut into quarters. Sorry lol I took a meat fabrication course in college

Standing in a very fenton oconnell type way there huh

JE: AD says his name is Ernest Howe. He’s playing ISIS militant number twelve. KR: Not for long. You know what time it is? It’s Ryan time. KR walks, JE follows him. JE: Please. Just stop. KR: Name’s Ryan and I hate lyin’. (he flashes his badge) JE: Oh my god KR: Ernest Howe! NYPD. not clipping too embarrassing KR: Oh, you’ve got trouble. Ryan trouble. JE hangs & shakes his head EH, softly & deeply: I don’t know what that means.

add to 1x7 when esposito & ryan were about to fck "moot" btw love espt's outfit. "put the hurt on all of you" sounds like irish, "there is hurt on me" or "there is hunger on me" is how irish sentences work

wait then why were you there beating on him in the alley? Or maybe they couldn't connect him to any of the assaulters, he just looked kind of like them

Ryan mr narco didn't notice? well ig it has been like 9 years since then...

love a good old middle aged dude

RC: I’ve learned that every good fiction contains a kernel of truth. Mr writer

BH: Say, the gang and I are going out for drinks later tonight. How’s you like to come with us? RC: RC: BH: Castle?

RC to KB: You are my boyhood dream.

XD that little run! He's a teen girl I love him!

There is NOT enough space for three broad shouldered adlult men to sit in a caar together

BH: Somebody takes out one of our own, we take him out. Valid ig? but castle is right: Oh, guys. Hey. Listen. If your plan is to go to the club and steal that slot car, no, that would – that would taint the evidence. Rolf Magnus: Actually we can compel the DA to consider it, since the car technically belonged to the victim, Lance. Wow actually smart lol

Where is Castle? Oh wait that's him. When did Castle change? Cool guys don't look at explosions

Love the heist comp XD. & they call him el jeffe XD I love the triframe but castle is conspicuous Lol always check, esp if you don't want to create a distraction Now get gone he's only on his way you can still get gone! Pull the fire alarm! Oh good for her lol

KB: You’re telling me that this was handed to you by a concerned citizen? RC: Uh … yes.

KB: And reward you for your []illegal behavior? (she shakes her head) I think not.

& then she livetells him anyway?

They be f*ckin' /j "omg this is not what I expected to be listening to"

yk what trey, that's valid. But also dude maybe ask for help yk what the DA might feel bad for you but also girl go to the authorities at that point maybe except that yk how cops are but at least theyd arrest boothe for conspiracy to commit murder

What did the blood bone marrow donor have to do with all of this?

he's your real dad & blood bone tests showed that?

ryan weird with the vest half open tbh

Ohhhh his son that's how this was involved!

WOAH THE JEWELRY WIRE IS THE SAME!?!? I don't think Lance was trying to ruin things, just trying to build a connection with a kid he's met a few times, his friend's kid, who just so hapens to be HIS kid.

Gates said good job to castle XD!

RC: I was just going to suggest the exact same thing. We’re starting to think alike now! As if they haven't been doing this since s1 XD KB: (laughing) That is horrifying. Okay, go cue up the movie, open up a bottle of wine. I’ll be home in a bit. I’ve just got a stop to make first. (& make popcorn!) RC: Well, if I’m thinking what you’re thinking and it’s to pick up a sexy archaeologist costume, don’t worry. (he drops his voice to a whisper) I’ve already got the whip. KB: *surprised pikachu*

but girl that's nice wood! & that is too good of a carving tbh

cinematic <3

Mkay so it's 17 & I started watching at 13.30 so that's 4.5 hours & 3 hours is already double my allotted time this was triple my alotted time which means it took me sextuple times the episode... then again a lot of it WAS spent trying to upload stuff to tumblr, at least 30m.

[is-the-rat-vid-cute]

[Video ID: A TikTok video by user bethabiff. The audio is “Alice in Wonderland” by Joanna. The video shows two rats outside in a playpen, on grass. One of the rats is black hooded and the other is a hooded brown rat. The black hooded rat is being stroked by the person filming, and as he is being stroked, his tail is wagging. /end ID]

Rating: Not Cute

As I have discussed many times on this blog, bringing rats outdoors is not safe. Even in a playpen that is mostly covered like this one, the possibility of parasites, bacteria, pesticides, or ingesting toxic plants is still an issue. There is also the fact that rats are incredibly good at burrowing, and could easily dig underneath the playpen and escape.

Tail wagging is a normal behavior for rats and is often indicative of a strong emotion. Some rats do it when they’re being pet to show that they’re happy or content, and some rats do it when they’re territorial or angry as a way to get that energy out or warn others of their displeasure. Not every rat does it, but if you come across a rat that tail wags it’s not anything to be concerned about.

In this specific case, I also want to note the follow-up video that was made after the original post. I am unable to add a second video to this post, but the link is here: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRYtBF8U/?k=1 I will also put a video description at the bottom of the post.

This video confirms some more issues with the husbandry in the previous video. In the caption of the first video, the OP mentions Emile being upset that he had gotten attacked by another rat named Bruno. In the follow-up video, Bruno is showed wandering around the playpen with the other rats, and the OP mentions that he is being neutered soon. However, hormonally aggressive rats NEED to be separated from cagemates until at least 4-8 weeks after a neuter. Any time before then, they are capable of biting hard enough to kill another rat or cause severe nerve damage to humans. It’s an unnecessary risk and is unfair for the other rats.

Additionally, this comment was pinned under the second video:

[image ID: a TikTok comment by user bethabiff, the creator of the video that the comment was pinned on. The comment says, “Dear TT vets: I know the risks for my area, I take precautions, I’ve owned rats for most of my life, I work at a vet. [thumbs up emoji] /end ID]

Unfortunately these are pretty empty statements. Knowing the risks but choosing to put your animals lives in danger for “cute videos” frankly isn’t a responsible or ethical thing to do. I’m also curious what precautions they take against risks like parasites or bacteria, since rats cannot be vaccinated or given preventative parasite treatment like dogs or cats can. And honestly, owning rats most of your life or even “working at a vet” doesn’t necessarily mean you know best. I’ve had supposed exotic vets tell me flat out incorrect advice, that I knew was incorrect because I had read the scientific studies about the condition beforehand. And experience does not equate to expertise, especially if you don’t update your husbandry as new information comes out. Regardless, “knowing the risks” and still presenting bringing rats outdoors is irresponsible and encouraging other people to get a playpen and try it out for themself shows either a lack of actual knowledge, or a lack of care for the animals involved in these practices in favor of views and “cute” content.

———

[Video ID: A TikTok video by user bethabiff. In the video, bethabiff is replying to a question by user imactuallykira who asks, “what do you use to keep them contained outside[?] i wanna let my ratties play in the grass [pleading face emoji]”

During the video, the OP is speaking while three rats run around in the same playpen on the grass as the previous video. In addition to the two hooded rats, there is also a solid-colored brown rat visible. They wander around the playpen grooming themselves, digging, and eating grass during the course of the video.

The audio of the video is as follows: “I got that question a lot, so let me tell you where I got this pen. I got it where you get all good things in life: Amazon. I just search ‘small creature plastic playpen’ and that’s what it looks like. In the picture, it looks like a big rectangle one with no lid. And that’s because you can kind of customize it once like, all the panels come, you can put them together and make it any way you want. You can get multiple - like two different shipments - and put them on again and make a really big one, but the one kind of fits my need, and they like it a lot.

Also regarding the tail wagging, people were asking why he was doing it, and the honest answer to that is I’m not a hundred percent sure. So, rats can wag their tails for multiple different reasons: happy, sad, nervous, angry. And I think in this - in the case of the video, he was both a little upset and happy. Happy that I was petting him, but also sad that he just got attacked by Bruno. So I think he was doing that for a little bit of both, but he really seemed to like it, and he’s a sweet little angel baby. Bruno on the other hand is a little hormone monster, and he’s getting neutered on Monday everybody, so that’ll be great. And Bambi’s just pretty chill. Aren’t you Bambi? Yeah anyways, thanks for making Emile the star he is. Yeah, you gonna wag one more time for the folks at home? [The OP starts petting Emile, and he wags his tail again.] Oh my god you actually did. Oh my god yes Emile. Bruno get out of here.” /end ID]

[shefanispeculator]

If we had to make a guess, we’d say that Gwen Stefani seems like a pretty cool mom. The Grammy winning artist has three boys — Kingston Rossdale, 15, Zuma Rossdale, 13, and Apollo Rossdale, 7 — all of whom she shares with ex-husband Gavin Rossdale. Over the course of her career, Stefani has balanced her work as a singer and a coach on The Voice all while parenting her three sons.

Of course, Stefani has had a lot of help. In early July 2021, Stefani married her fellow Voice coach Blake Shelton after more than five years of dating. Throughout so many of her major life transitions, from fame to divorce, and a new, high-profile relationship, Stefani has seemingly remained so grounded, and shown fans that her boys always come first. Although she doesn’t post about her kids often, we’ve rounded up a few of our favorite photos of Gwen Stefani with her sons, and you can check them out below!

Gwen Stefani’s Sons Join Her On Her Wedding Day

It was so important to Stefani to include all three of her sons into her wedding to Blake Shelton. The trio posed with their mom and her new husband for a series of photos, some of which Stefani shared to her Instagram account, following the romantic nuptials. In many of the photo ops and during her ceremony, Stefani wore a custom made veil, with each of her son’s names etched into the fabric.

Gwen Stefani, Blake Shelton, & Her Sons Hit A Hollywood Premiere

Back in April 2019, Stefani and her boys hit the red — or in this case orange — carpet for the premiere of the movie UglyDolls. Stefani looked so happy, smiling from ear to ear, while her sons posed for photos alongside the “I’m Just A Girl” hitmaker’s future husband, Blake Shelton. It was the perfect occasion for a family outing, and this quintet looked super sweet.

Gwen Stefani Celebrates Son Apollo’s Birthday

If there’s one post featuring her sons that fans can always count on, it’s birthday posts! On February 28, Stefani took to Instagram to share a selfie featuring her baby boy Apollo — who turned seven years old. Stefani and her youngest cuddled up to one another as the mom of three snapped the photo. These two are just so sweet.

Gwen Stefani Introduces Post Malone To Her Sons

During a stint in Vegas, Stefani got some major cool-mom points when she introduced her older two boys, Kingston and Zuma, to Post Malone. The trio even took a photo with the artist. Now, that’s pretty awesome.

Gwen Stefani Takes A Selfie With Zuma

During a holiday Disney On Ice outing in December 2017, Stefani snapped this cute selfie with her middle child, Zuma. The pair cozied up for the photo, and Stefani commemorated the night that she described in the caption as “so fun.”

Gwen Stefani Enjoys Take Your Kids To Work Day

For most children, Take Your Kid To Work Day likely involves office buildings, swivel chairs, and maybe lunchtime at a restaurant. For Stefani’s kids, this day includes heading to set and hanging out with A-list Hollywood talent. On April 30, 2017, Stefani took her two eldest boys, Kingston and Zuma, to work and snapped this black-and-white selfie in the process.

Gwen Stefani Rings In The New Year With Apollo

On New Year’s Eve in 2016, Stefani had the best NYE date with her youngest son Apollo by her side. The two puckered up their lips for the camera as the singer and mom snapped a selfie. Apollo looked absolutely precious in his “Happy New Year” hat.

Gwen Stefani Takes A Selfie With 10-Year-Old Kingston

One of the best elements of Stefani’s Instagram is that the photos go back so many years! This 2016 selfie was snapped while Stefani was on her “This Is What The Truth Feels Like” tour. The singer took the photo with her eldest Kingston, who was just 10 years old at the time!

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

Good until the last post with wrong son!

[huigusu]

#showyourprocess

From planning to posting, share your process for making creative content!

To continue supporting content makers, this tag game is meant to show the entire process of making creative content: this can be for any creation.

RULES: When your work is tagged, show the process of its creation from planning to posting, then tag 5 people with a specific link to one of their creative works you’d like to see the process of. Use the tag #showyourprocess so we can find yours!

Thank you so much to @cloudylotus​ and @wendashanren​ for tagging me for this set ❤ (please check out their respective posts here and here as well 🥰) and to the members of mdzsnet who started this!

1. Planning

I try to alternate between gifsets based on quotes and gifsets based on a single scene for the cql edits I create! This is because the ones based on quotes require significantly more thinking for me to come up with scenes to fit, alongside getting all of them to adhere to one colour scheme and then inserting the typography, rather than just me focusing on a single scene 😅 This time it was time for me to pick a quote, which I usually do from my #words tag on my tumblr where I like to collect poetry I resonate with.

“Oh, let my chest split open, let my blood spill over, body be still! I’ve bled for you, and you won’t even show me your face.” - Yi Kwangsu (via skogenflicka)

For the quote used in this set, I had thought that it fit wangxian so I had already tagged it to find later 😄 I also searched it up to read a little more on the background of the story and author and was surprised to find that it was from a short story on gay, unrequited love, which made it somehow more appropriate as I wanted to fit lwj’s perspective during his mourning years.

To select the scenes, I split the quote up into four lines and wrote the summary of the the scenes that demonstrated them quite literally, as in the things lwj did for wwx out of love even when wwx was pushing him away, + ep number and timestamps for easier gif creation. I knew that I wanted to focus on text effects too so the 3rd gif was specially picked for the horizontal movement of lwj across the frame.

2. Creating

- oh, let my chest split open (wen brand at the cold springs)

- let my blood spill over (blood running down his hand as he holds onto wwx)

- body be still! (lwj holding the rods as punishment for visiting burial mounds)

- i’ve bled for you, and you won’t even show me your face. (wwx pushing lwj’s hand off his and turning away)

I use Handbrake to isolate the scenes I want and then Photoshop to import and pare down the number of frames. I favour larger gifs, especially so that there’s room for the typography, so these were the usual 540px ratio across for cropping. For the first gif in this set, I didn’t have the special episodes downloaded so I used a screen recorder to get the needed frames of lwj’s chest brand! I remember not being happy enough with the length/framing of the brand from the regular episodes. I didn’t cut out his nipple and so many tags I see talk about it 😂

Colouring

Okay so! I knew I wanted to try out a darker colouring as the ones I do are more bright, so I went to look for tutorials and I found this psd that had a good effect for what I wanted after I modified/removed many of the layers. I wanted to work with existing colours already within the chosen scenes rather than modifying or emphasising them to go with the muted, anguished mood of the quote. The colour scheme thus became dark, maroon red (wwx) from the blood and wwx’s tassel, as well as turquoise (lwj) from the water and lwj’s robe. I then added a channel mixer layer and selective colouring layers to make the turquoise of the waters that the psd had removed stand out more, and then another vibrance layer and an additional selective colour so that I could match the blues/reds across gifs. Thankfully, I could copy this colouring over to the other gifs with a few alterations of hue/saturation, curves and levels ���� After colouring, I resize, denoise, and sharpen the gifs.

Typography

I really wanted to work with some text effects and get out of my comfort zone in this one. In line with the three parts of the first line of exclamation in the quote (and the parallel structure for the first two parts which I found hit so hard 😭), I wanted to highlight the alliteration I found in them - the words ‘split’, ‘spill’, and ‘still’. For the first two gifs, I decided on linear gradient overlays at 45 degrees + taupe drop shadows with the colour from the colour scheme other than the colour already in the gif. In the second gif, I used the pen tool to draw a line (in blue below!) that followed the curvature of their hands, then pasted the text in. I realised that I had to draw a separate line for the word ‘spill’, which after a lot of trial and error turned out to be much simpler after turning off the first pen layer visibility (the new line kept connecting to the first 😓)

As for the third gif, I initially thought of masking each frame to make the words appear as lwj moved from left to right, then I remembered that using the ‘overlay’ blend mode on the text hides it when it is on top of the colour black! 😄 In this case, lwj’s hair is black so I just had to position the words properly so that the words ‘body be’ would reveal themselves while giving time for the word ‘still’ to also have a nice effect after. (If you look closely you can see them a little in lwj’s hair 😅) The word ‘still’ took a lot longer to figure out, but in the end using ‘difference’ for the overall text layer and ‘pin light’ for the dark maroon colour overlay gave the clearest dark red effect as the camera panned.

Finally, in the last gif, I wanted to have the effect of the word ‘face’ change from a dark maroon gradient to turquoise with wwx’s hand moving lwj’s away to have it be a bit symbolic I guess 😅 of wwx’s leaving lwj? The ‘linear burn’ setting for the overall text layer (solid turquoise) and ‘difference’ for the gradient overlay (maroon) ended up working best to make the red disappear the moment wwx’s hand ran over the word, unlike other settings where the colour looked mixed/too messy.

3. Posting

I usually save the gifs and look at them on tumblr to see if I need to adjust any colours to match better or make them more vibrant (and ask yan what she thinks HAHA). These were fine, so I wrote the caption to summarise the source of the quote, added links to research and the op of the quote on tumblr, and wrote my tags. If it’s a post with translations of what the characters are saying/from the novel I typically take more time to edit the translations/do my own translation. I check if it is loading fine on mobile and edit the saved draft if necessary, then I post! 💕

Tagging but no pressure please!! 💗

@lanwuxiann for this amazing wangxian wedding night edit 🤧🤧🤧 that had me yelling into my pillow

@inessencedevided​ for this heartbreaking nie brothers set (which included manhua scenes!!)

@lan-xichens​ for this really lovely wwx + lotus pier edit, the colouring of which i think about from time to time

@mylastbraincql​ for this gorgeous jyl set with soup set with such pretty blending

@still-snowing for this beautiful piece of wangxian art about lwj holding wwx’s hands through the years that i teared up over multiple times

[wanyinxichen]

#showyourprocess

Hello! I was tagged by both @highwarlockkareena​ and @fengqing​ for two different gifsets: this one and this one. So I’m going to try and go through what I did for the Xichen gifset here and I’ve done the Jiang Cheng one in another post!

RULES — When your work is tagged, show the process of its creation from planning to posting, then tag 5 people with a specific link to one of their creative works you’d like to see the process of. Use the tag #showyourprocess so we can find yours!

1. Planning

When it comes to my gifsets I don’t really go in with a real plan, I just sort of have an idea in mind and see what I come up with! In the case of the request gifset I had the concept that someone had requested from the network, so I had a basis of what they wanted, almost like a commission of sorts to fulfil. 

They wanted “It would be cool to have it differentiated with a contrast of b&w and color, but I trust you guys to color it however you’d like.” I decided the best option for this request was Lan Xichen and his grief over NMJ and JGY, so I started to look for scenes of them. Luckily, I have every episode downloaded in HD so I can browse as I like - so I started looking for what fit, mostly around episodes 41 (for the flashbacks) and 50 (for Xichen’s grief).

2. Creating & Colouring

I use Photoshop CS5 (old school!) to make my gifs and KMPlayer for my screencap taking (you can find a tutorial for it here!) I always have sixty frames for my gifs and set them to 0.05 speed. I don’t tend to save my psds unless I really like the colouring, but I can use screencaps! Since I wanted to incorporate the OP’s request for colour-greyscale, I decided to do it with this part of the gif:

I basically had to go through each frame / set of frames and add a layer mask to each one to make it greyscale, so it looked like this in the photoshop layer list:

Basically, I cut out the NMJ and JGY parts using a layer mask and made it so only LXC and the backgrounds were in colour. For the text I used two contrasting fonts and (after checking with the discord!!) used a dark blue background on the second part - using a blue from the background to go with it.

I also used layer masks for the second part of the gifset, this one. I then coloured NMJ with a black -> dark red gradient and JGY with a black -> dark yellow gradient to reflect their primary colours. For help with layer masks like this I reference tutorials like this one!

The third Xichen gif was another layer mask, to make him in colour and the background greyscale (and I blurred LWJ too) and the fourth was greyscale into colour, using a fade to swap between the bowing scenes and the Xichen scenes.

For the text I added a stroke of 1px in black and then made it so that it had less opacity; it adds a softer effect to the text. (I’ll go other some of the other text effects I use in my Jiang Cheng version!)

For my basic colouring process, I use the following things, generally in order:

1. Curves layer (using this trick). 2. Brightness/Contrast layer (brightness up, contrast down a little). 3. Selective Colour (to adjust the colours to pop the way I want, e.g. in the first gif I popped out the blues). 4. Vibrance (to bring up the colours a lot more). 5. Gradient map layer (to adjust colour tone - usually I use either a black->white one or the following):

I can do a more in-depth colouring tutorial (especially for the Untamed!) if people want.

3. Posting / Sharing

I always save to drafts first so that I can check that 1) tumblr didn’t mess it up 2) there are no glitches I didn’t notice in photoshop and 3) I can add captions. For coloured captions I use this tutorial just to get a colour gradient. Save as a draft to make sure it’s all saved properly and looks good and then you can post!

These are my gif saving settings, in case you’re curious:

I hope this all makes sense and if you have any questions then please let me know and I’ll be more than happy to answer them for you, any time. If you’re reading this then consider yourself tagged with your favourite gifset/graphic of your own! (I would tag specific people but I think many people have been tagged already!)

[thechildofstark]

Fuck John Walker (and also some other stuff): A Response To Episode Four

WARNING: some bad language, death mentions, violence mentions, blood mentions, racism, spoilers for for ep 4 of tfatws 

DISCLAMER: I have some Opinions about various characters. These do not extend to the actors, who I’m sure are lovely and should be treated with the dignity, privacy and respect that they deserve. 

“Fuck John Walker” was originally meant to be the subtitle. I decided on it when he screwed up the op for Sam. It got ungraded during the final scene, because nothing else could possibly compare as a necessary title to this post. 

Essentially, some (out of order) thoughts on episode 4:

~*Sam and Bucky, working together*~ (pretend this is a musical jingle)

The contrasting ways that they interacted with the displaced

While the incredibly valid argument can be made that Sam is the least privileged of the group (I’ve made it) it is obvious that he has had the most structured civilian life: approaching the people he comes across openly. Yes, he is polite and calm, but the closest thing to this he has personally come across in the past (that we know of) would be the war vets he worked with and the critical difference is that they wanted to be there. From what I remember of Sam’s groups they didn’t seem to be a sort of mandatory requirement: you came because you chose to. Or at least, you came prepared for the situation. Here, Sam is an outsider and an unwelcome threat. These people are not going to open up to him. 

Bucky is quieter, but still quite straight forward in the way he presents himself. I think he may show a little more care for the environment he is in than Sam but that isn’t saying much. Yes, he has experienced much worse things than Sam but we still see his unfamiliarity with this sort of situation paired with some less than stellar social skills really not working in his favor. 

Look, I love both these 2 to death. But this is not what they know. 

Zemo on the other hand quite likely lived in a place similar to this after his family was murdered. He shows an understanding of how this sort of situation would work, going to children who:

a) wont necessarily peg him as an outsider

b) are bribable

also I think he was genuinely super glad to give those kids that candy and money. He would have been such a good dad. now I have Zemo feels. somebody help me.

The inclusion of the Dora Milaje was incredibly awesome, and not just because I simp for powerful women. Narratively, this was the perfect place for them to join the party and assert their right to apprehend Zemo. 

Bucky speaking Xhosa (i think it was?) is very cool

 I would like to take this moment to formally state that Caption John Walker is a motherfucking asshole. 

It was also really nice to see Sam’s therapist skills, that worked against him earlier really help him here. 

I liked seeing that more human side of Karli, and having her interact with the “enemy” and have serious conversation about what everyone is doing.

Until Captain Insecurity has to destroy the op because he doesn’t trust the people he chose to work with, no one has comms or anything I guess?

Also Walker deferring to Bucky for team decisions over Sam, talking over Sam and acting like he knows better than Sam?

I smell racism in this Chili’s tonight

It was also really interesting to get a more in-depth look at how Zemo views supersoldiers. Nearly all the ones that he has either heard of or interacted with (destroyed) had either volunteered for the serum or were so brainwashed that it didn’t make a difference. These people are a dangerous enemy to be eliminated, alongside people like Dr. Nagel. His entire worldview is focused on their destruction that the idea that one of them could be a normal person is impossible to him. The only exceptions acknowledged are Steve (paragon of saintly virtue) and Bucky. 

And the fact that after his family died and his country devastated he would most likely have fixated on both the Avengers and the “concept” of a superhuman being as something to blame for his loss. His refusal to concede his position to Sam isn’t just arrogance, although that seems to be a part of it, but the fact that he has spent so much time and energy in destroying both the Winter Soldier program and most likely other similar operations, along with the Avengers that this hatred and belief in the danger has most likely become one of his core beliefs. To change this would be to question his vendetta against the Avengers, to question his actions against the Winter Soldier program which he knows was a horrible thing, and to question why he has spent the past seven years in maximum security prison. This isn’t something he is ready to do yet.  

The fact that Bucky is a noted exception is something that stands out to me. Zemo knows that Bucky is a good person, regardless of the serum. 

Bucky is also the only main character (that I can think of) that was injected with the serum against his will. The fact that he didn’t seek it out could quite likely be part of the reason that Zemo doesn’t look down on him for it - it is framed that the sort of person that seeks out that sort of strength/power would be a “supremacist”, someone who would use their abilities to harm and subjugate others.

And while we are at the apartment may I say how funny it is to see Zemo just. Literally being Sam and Bucky’s sugar daddy. He transports them and houses them and makes them fancy tea. It’s possible he’s providing them with clothes. Either way, love it. Cannot wait for the boys to work it out.

Sam and Lemar’s responses to being offered the serum are an interesting juxtaposition to how they view the concept of supersoldiers. They have both experienced hardship and survived war but Sam is the one that has gone up against Gods and monsters and he wants none of that, thank you. 

And Lemar is so comfortable with saying yes because it isn’t actually being offered to him. Walker expresses some hesitation in their discussion because for him, it isn’t hypothetical. This is something real that can and will effect him for the rest of his life and he wants to make the “right decision”.

The return of Erskine’s belief that the serum not only effect the physical but the mental, emotional and (possibly?) spiritual. This isn’t something that’s really been touched on outside of The First Avenger and I liked that it turned up here. But the fact that it was the reason Walker felt comfortable taking the serum? Eww

The Dora Milaje kicking names and taking ass is super awesome. They are so incredibly skilled and have such amazing teamwork and are also super beautiful I love them 

Sam and Bucky just. Watching. Enjoying the show. Absolute kings. 

Zemo being the sneaky little sneak that he is :)

One one hand, Bucky losing his arm in the fight was very awesome. One the other hand, he has a long history of complicated bodily autonomy in relation to that arm so........  Neutral opinion it is then 

Karli, honey, I really want to like you but can you please keep the mans family out of it. Okay?

And another thing that this show made me think about: kids left to fend for themselves after the Blip (uuuurrrggh it hate calling it that. stupid canonical name). I think it’s good that at least some people took it on themselves to take these children in, to give them good lives and families.

The way that Sam has incorporated his wings into his combat style is very cool

Okie dokie can’t avoid it forever lets get this over with. 

LEMAR MY BEAUTIFUL SON NOOOO

those fuckers (the writers i mean)

Side note: did they really have to make the first main character death of the series a Black “sidekick” character? No. No they did not. 

Side side note: I understand that this is a perfectly valid way (ew) to “advance the plot” but I can and will be annoyed about it

And now we really get into the shit. But...........................

As much as I absolutely unequivocally hate John Walker I actually like the thematic parallels of how they did this. All throughout The First Avenger Steve is adamant on how he doesn’t want to hurt anyone, he just wants to stand up to the bullies. It’s only after Bucky dies that he says he wants to kill all the Nazis and really get into the horror of it all. The fact that John, who has absolutely been on the edge for the entire episode if not longer, only loses it after Lemar dies?

Because Lemar is arguably meant to be that stand-in for Bucky in the eyes of the public, and they are obviously close friends..........

Just - 

I feel I may have accidentally been slightly nicer than I planned to Walker in this post. I’m not sure how I feel about that. 

But C****** J*** W****** is NOT Captain America. Up until now I’ve been calling him “Fake Cap” in my head and to my family, but he doesn’t even deserve that honor. 

And the blood on the Shield. Dear god that was horrible. 

And the fact that, as it was pointed out in this very episode, this man fully represents everything that is Captain America, to the world. He isn’t only tarnishing his own legacy, he is also destroying Steve’s. And to some extent, Bucky’s. The whole reason that Bucky Barnes is considered a “Superhero” is because, at least in America he is known as “Cap’s Best Friend”. He was marketed that way for over half a century, and after the whole “Winter Solder” thing, goodwill or no, brainwashing or no, this could end very ugly for him. Not to mention that Steve Rogers is most likely to be forgotten to history in favor of this freak. 

And on that note, where the fuck is Steve? This is set only 6 months after Endgame, if he had died we would know. So what the hell is he doing? Because I know he got perpetual brainrot going back in time to be str8 and boring but dear god if the show tries to tell me that he’s just chilling in some senior’s center in Alaska I will actually call bullshit. Steve Rogers would never. Okay this is a whole separate post on my thought on Steve. Watch this space I guess. 

And while we’re all here, Bucky Barnes needs a goddamn boyfriend. I’ve done some thinking, and here is a compiled shortlist: 

Sam

Zemo

De-aged Steve (he would be higher but I’m still mad at him for the whole “vanishing without a word to relive Jim Crow and the Lavender Scare. :/ )

IN THAT ORDER. 

That’s all folks. 

Feel free to send me asks if you want clarification or extra details on anything. 

And finally - 

the thing we all came to see:

FUCK

JOHN 

WALKER

fin

[the-delta-42]

Ghosts from the Past

Ghosts from the Past

Beckett glared down at her station, pointedly ignoring the Captain, and the Captain vice-versa. She was vaguely aware of Boimler’s happy little hums as he worked and how Commander Ransom was glancing between both her and the Captain as if he was waiting for something to happen. At the moment, everything was peaceful.

That peace was broken when the ship was rocked to one side and an automatic red alert sounded. Beckett released her grip on her station, looking down to in put a new heading, she found that her hands were dirty, covered in dust and soot. The next thing she noticed was that her sleeves were rolled down and one was torn. She then noticed that it was her old uniform, black with a single red band around the wrist. Captain Jonas was demanding a damage report from Ops, while Commander Alias was checking the Ship’s structural integrity. Beckett vaguely heard that the USS Columbia had been destroyed and its hulk is what collided with the ship.

The ship rocked again, making her head connect with the console. Suddenly, Beckett was on the Cerritos, with Commander Ransom’s hand gripping her shoulder. She felt herself being hauled to her feet and moved towards the turbo-lift.

“I’m fine.” Slurred Beckett, not noticing the look that was exchanged between Captain Freeman and Commander Ransom.

Shaxs checked Mariner’s console.

“Appears to be a left over mine from the war.” Said Shaxs, before wiping the blood off the console.

“Damage?” Asked Freeman, looking over at Boimler.

“Minor damage to the underside of the saucer section, Captain.” Said Boimler, “I thought all the mines were dismantled after they surrendered.”

“Don’t trust Dominion,” Grunted Shaxs, going back to his console, “or Cardassians.”

A Cardassian lieutenant threw the Bajoran a filthy look.

The Captain sighed, “Renew our course, keep an eye out for anymore mines, Ensign.”

“Aye, Captain.” Said Boimler, before freezing and turning back to face her, “Captain, if you don’t mind me asking, what was Mariner talking about?”

“In regard to what?” Asked Freeman, sitting back in her chair, “If she was fine, then it was in reference to her concussion.”

“No, about The Columbia and The Serengeti.” Said Boimler, making Freeman and Shaxs stiffen.

“Just a couple of ships that were lost, nothing to major.” Dismissed the Captain, using her PADD send a notice for a meeting with the rest of the Senior staff.

A sudden moan echoed throughout the bridge, making everyone look at Ransom’s seat.

“Hm, doesn’t even sound like him.” Grunted Shaxs.

GOTP

Mariner tried not to groan when the light from the tricorder scanned over her eyes. Doctor T’Ana growled as the Ensign winced.

“Stop doing that, if you keep it up, I won’t be able to get a proper scan because you’re not staying still.” Growled T’Ana, while Tendi fluttered around the sick bay, checking up on the other patients.

“Doc, I’m fine.” Whined Mariner, trying to get off the bio bed.

“You have a concussion and your skull is fractured, now hold still.” Snapped T’Ana, placing a hand on Mariner’s shoulder and forcing her down into the bed, “Tendi, hold her still.”

The Orion moved to stand by Mariner’s head, glancing apologetically at her friend, Tendi placed her hands either side of Beckett’s head and held her still as T’Ana went over the head wound with a dermal regenerator. Beckett blinked and she was suddenly on the USS Argentina, with Dr. Solek scanning her.

Tendi removed her hands, inadvertently jerking Mariner back to the present.

“Okay, you need to be on light duty for the next couple of days,” Said T’Ana, “bother Nurse Westlake if you have any other pains.”

Beckett sat up, non-verbally acknowledging the Chief Medical Officer. Commander Ransom had left as soon as he had handed Mariner to the medical staff. T’Ana picked up a PADD and frowned, before quietly telling her staff that she was needed elsewhere, and that Nurse Westlake was in charge.

Beckett took a deep breath and stood up, waiting for another tremor to shake the ship. When nothing happened, she took another step and within moments she was walking the corridors of the Cerritos, casually undoing the top of her uniform as she approached her bunk. After hauling herself up onto the bunk, she lied on her side and pried a panel off the wall, carefully manoeuvring a PADD and a book out of the hole.

The PADD had a series of letters on it, all from the same person, with the most recent ones unread. Beckett glanced at the PADD, before opening the book. The first thing she saw was Lieutenant Commander Hur, along with Ensign Smythe, she flicked through the book, finding pictures of other Starfleet officers and crew members, until she came across a picture of her with another girl next to her. Both Beckett and the other girl had many visual similarities, same eyes, same face structure, same grin, Beckett glanced down at the caption underneath the picture.

Ensign Sarah Mariner & Lieutenant Beckett Mariner

Beckett’s throat started to tighten up, as tears started to burn her eyes. She took a shuddery breath, as she attempted to stem the flow of tear falling into her bunk. Beckett curled into a ball, subtly rocking herself.

GOTP

“Computer, display Starfleet Service record, Mariner, Beckett.” Said Captain Freeman, as she and her senior staff were gathered in the conference room. Boimler quietly stood in the corner, having entered just before the senior staff to clean the surfaces, only for the Captain to deadlock the doors and soundproof the room.

Mariner’s record appeared on the screen, listing five ships, each a different class and her various merits and demerits, along with a note for her demotion to Ensign.

“Display Postings during 2373 to 2375.” Said the Captain, as a section of Mariner’s record highlighted and was enlarged, “Read out the text.”

“Posting; USS Argentina, Akira Class Heavy Escort. Commanding Officer; Marcus Jonas, Captain. Executive Officer; Maria Alias, Commander. Science Officer; Maria Alias, Commander. Chief Medical Officer; Solek, Commander. Chief Engineer; Hur, Lieutenant Commander. Chief of Security; Beckett Mariner, Lieutenant. Operations Officer; Sarah Beckett, Ensign. Tactical Officer; Beckett Mariner, Lieutenant.” Said the Computer, as the commanders frowned.

“Computer,” Said Captain Freeman, her voice strained, “Display and read the current postings of the Senior Staff of the USS Argentina.”

“Marcus Jonas, Captain, current posting; Rear Admiral, Deep Space 11.  Maria Alias, Commander, current posting; KIA. Solek, Commander, current posting; KIA. Hur, Lieutenant Commander, current posting; KIA. Beckett Mariner, Lieutenant, current posting; Ensign, USS Cerritos. Sarah Mariner, Ensign, current posting; KIA.”

“Computer, was the USS Argentina, involved in any major conflicts.” Questioned Commander Ransom, leaning forwards.

“USS Argentina served in the Dominion War, served with distinction and was named the Flagship of the Seventh Fleet.”

The temperature in the room dropped, Boimler’s grip on the tools he was carrying loosening slightly.

“Computer, how and when did the Officers on the USS Argentina die.” Questioned Billups, while the Captain looked as if she wanted to be sick.

“Maria Alias, Deceased, Cause of Death; Console overloading in close proximity, Conflict; Battle of Tyra. Solek, Deceased, Cause of Death; Sudden decompression of deck 14, Conflict; Battle of Tyra. Hur, Deceased, Cause of Death; Dilithium chamber decompressing in close proximity, Conflict; Battle of Tyra. Sarah Mariner, Deceased, Cause of Death; Hull breach on Deck 1, Conflict; Battle of Tyra.”

“Computer, are there any notes attached to the USS Argentina?” Asked Dr. T’Ana, her claws releasing the arms of her chair.

“Lieutenant Beckett Mariner is demoted to Ensign after physically assaulting a senior officer.” Said the Computer, just as Boimler’s tools fell out of his hand.

Everyone jumped and looked at Boimler.

“Brimler?!” Yelled Shaxs, “What are you doing in here?!”

“I, er, well, um-” As the Bajoran stomped towards him, “I came in here to clean, but then you all came in and locked the door, so I was stuck and couldn’t get out.”

“Ensign, you know Mariner fairly well, don’t you?” Said the Captain, still looking at the screen.

“N-not particularly, we work together sometimes.” Said Boimler, making the Captain pinch the bridge of her nose.

“Ensign, cut the bullshit.” Said Freeman, spinning her chair to face Boimler, “The two of you are practically joined at the hip, if one of you goes somewhere, the other is not far behind.”

Boimler swallowed, as the Captain leaned forwards, “Has Mariner made any remarks about the Dominion War, either directly or in-directly?”

“W-well she has said she’s seen things.” Said Boimler, getting a groan from Freeman.

“Anything specific?” Questioned the Captain, barely containing her exasperation.

Boimler shook his head.

“Computer, unlock doors, remove sound proofing.” Said the Captain, making the computer beep twice, “Dismissed.”

Everyone got up to leave, except the Captain, who remained in her seat. Boimler quickly gathered his equipment and rushed out of the conference room.

Carol remained in her seat, only moving when she heard the doors close after the ensign left. She let out a heavy sigh, The Cerritos hadn’t seen action during the Dominion War, being deemed inefficient during battle scenarios and ‘not important enough’ to be put on active duty. She’d heard from Ian that the Quito had been placed on Medical duty, only going in after the battles were won. She had mistakenly assumed that Beckett had been with them.

Carol had friends that had either been killed or had someone that had been killed, it broke her heart when two Officers arrived to inform her of Sarah’s death, but now knowing that she’d almost lost both nearly broke her.

“Computer, hail Admiral Ian Mariner on my private channel.” Said Captain Freeman, she wanted to know if Ian knew about Beckett’s service.

GOTP

The ship suddenly shook at it dropped out of warp, the jovial mood drying instantly as the ship shook again.

“Shield’s up, Red Alert!” Barked Captain Jonas, as the MDS shorted out.

“Shield’s up, Captain,” Said Beckett, as the ship shook again, “initial scans complete, reading 248 Dominion and Cardassian Vessels.”

“Damn.” Swore Jonas, turning back to the view screen, “Helm, evasive pattern Alpha-4.”

“Aye, Captain.” Said Sarah, turning to the Helm controls.

The ship suddenly shook with a greater magnitude, making Beckett’s head slam against her console. Captain Jonas demanded a damage report from Ops, while Commander Alias was checking the Ship’s structural integrity. Beckett vaguely heard that the USS Columbia had been destroyed and its hulk is what collided with the ship.

“Mariner, get your sister down to sickbay.” Ordered Jonas, as Sarah got up.

“No,” Slurred Beckett, trying to keep herself standing, “I’m fine.”

“Bullshit.” Said Sarah, putting one of Beckett’s arms around her shoulders.

“Deck 14.” Said Sarah, as soon as she and Beckett were in the turbo-lift.

Beckett blinked in and out of consciousness, waking up to Dr. Solek running a dermal regenerator over her head wound.

“I don’t suppose you’ve got anything for the headache, doc.” Groaned Mariner, vaguely aware of Sarah and Mike arguing.

Solek pressed a hypo spray against her neck, “That should deal with the pain for now, Lieutenant.”

“A head wound like that; she should remain here.” Said Mike, while Sarah shook her head.

“We’re out numbered at least 2-to-1, Beckett’s needed on the bridge.” Argued Sarah, as Beckett, hobbled over to them.

Mike opened his mouth, only for Beckett to put her hand on his arm.

“Babe,” whispered Beckett, getting Mike to look at her, “I’ll be okay.”

Mike sighed, and quietly acquiesced. Beckett gave him a quick peck on the lips, before leaving sickbay with her sister, both stumbling at the ship shook.

“Bridge.” Said Beckett, as soon as she entered the turbo lift.

The two arrived on the bridge to Commander Alias spraying something with a fire extinguisher. Both Mariner’s took their stations, Beckett immediately firing a salvo of torpedoes at a Keldon class warship.

There was a sudden explosion from the science station, sending Commander Alias flying. The woman landed, with her neck hitting the Captain’s chair with a crack.

“Bridge to Engineering.” Said Jonas, immediately checking on his First Officer.

“Engineering here.” Came a distinctly non-Tellarite voice. It belonged to a human cadet, Sam something.

“Where’s Chief Hur?” Demanded Jonas, as another console exploded.

“He’s dead, sir, Dilithium explosion in the face.” Said the Engineer.

Jonas groaned, before tapping his combadge, “Bridge to Sickbay.”

There was silence, until the ship shook again.

“Ops, what’s the current status of Sickbay?” Said Jonas, as Beckett fired at a Dominion attack ship.

“The Glenn, Cicada and Sebrova are gone, Sir.” Reported Beckett, as Sarah checked one of her consoles.

“Sir, deck 14…just decompressed.” Reported Sarah, making Beckett freeze.

“What?” The young woman asked, weakly.

“I’m sorry Be-” Sarah was cut off when the bulkheads in front of her suddenly went, sucking her out into the vacuum of space.

An emergency forcefield suddenly burst into life. Beckett stared at the space Sarah had been occupying moments before.

Beckett was suddenly shaken out of her trance when the Captain put his hand on her shoulder.

“Lieutenant!” Barked Jonas, “We can mourn later, but right now, we have no time for emotion!”

Beckett nodded minutely, before looking at her console, “Sir, the Star Ships Discovery, Sulu, Sutherland, Totem, Destiny, Sentinel, Vancouver, Macedonia and Churchill have all just dropped out of Warp.”

“How many of ours can get out?” Said Jonas, going to the helm.

“Six or Seven, sir.” Said Beckett, as the Captain took the helm.

“This is the Argentina to the Fleet, fall back, head toward Federation space at best possible speed.” Ordered Jonas, as the USS Argentina started to turn around.

“The fleet are acknowledging, Captain.” Reported Beckett, before two explosions caught her attention, “Sir, USS Cardiff and USS London have just been destroyed.”

“Well, 14 is better than nothing.” Grumbled Jonas, as the ship went to warp, arriving at Starbase 615 after a few hours.

Jonas looked out the hole in the bridge, “Wonderful, we’ve warped in just in time for Captain Picard and Admiral Paris to see our sorry asses.”

Beckett didn’t say anything from her place on the floor next to her console.

Beckett was shaken away by a worried looking Tendi. Beckett saw a whole crowd of ensigns gathering around them.

“What?” Snapped Mariner, glaring at everyone.

“Mariner,” Said Tendi, cautiously, “you were screaming.”

Beckett was glad it was dark, so no one could see how red her face was.

“It was nothing, go back to sleep.” Said Mariner, rolling over so she was facing the wall. Mariner heard the crowd slowly disperse. She waited another few minutes before rolling over and carefully swinging her legs down and quietly creeping down the hall, unaware the Boimler was following her.

Beckett quietly slipped into Sickbay, thankfully finding it empty. She immediately started rummaging around the draws of medication. Finding the desired vial, Beckett grabbed a hypospray. She looked down at the draw, before grabbing a handful of vials and slamming the draw shut. Shoving the vials in her pocket, Beckett left Sickbay, unknowingly being seen by Boimler and Dr. T’Ana.

T'Ana stood still for a moment, before she tapped her combadge.

“T’Ana to Commander Ransom.”

GOTP

“I had my suspicions.” Said Ian, as Carol sat pinching the bridge of her nose, “She returned to the Quito a changed person, I just assumed that she was on clean up duty.”

“You mean like the Quito was?” Asked Carol, looking at her husband.

“Yes.” Responded Ian, “But to actually hear she was on one of the fourteen, it’s horrifying.”

“Her record states that she was serving alongside Sarah, specifically during the same battle that Sarah was lost in.” Carol leaned further into her chair, trying to gage Ian’s expression, “I’m surprised that, given her service record, she was demoted for assaulting a Senior Officer.”

“I’m not,” Said Ian, darkly, “It was Nechayev.”

“Oh, her.” Groaned Carol, her face going into her hands, “How did she get to Fleet Admiral, everyone who’s worked with her or known of her hates her.”

“I was surprised that Beckett lasted till last year, before knocking her teeth out.” Said Ian, smiling, “Something similar happened with you, if I remember correctly.”

“That was an Orion and it was an away mission.” Giggled Carol, before her combadge beeped.

“Ransom to Freeman.”

“Freeman here.” Said Carol, frowning.

“Dr. T’Ana just saw Mariner in sickbay,” Said Ransom, “Apparently, she took a handful of diphenylmethane vials from one of the draws and a hypospray.”

Carol sat in her chair silently, before leaning forwards, “Who else knows?”

“T’Ana and I have already alerted Shaxs to the situation.” Responded Ransom.

“Have Shaxs take Mariner to one of the guest quarters, the sooner the better.” Said Carol, standing up, “Have a security team check her bunk and get me a list of all the Officers that have experience with counselling.”

“Aye, Captain.” Said Ransom, before cutting the connection.

“The Quito will be joining you shortly,” Said Ian, getting up from his chair, “I’m going to try and get Admiral Jonas to join us, if Beckett went under the radar, I want to see his entire crew manifest for the entire Dominion War.”

“I guess I’ll be seeing you shortly.” Said Carol, before the connection cut off. She sighed and leaned forward, resting her forehead against her knuckles.

T’Ana had told her that drugs were going missing from sickbay for the past few months, sometimes it was pain killers, other times it was anti-depressants and sometimes, like now, it was sedatives. Carol really hoped that Starfleet Command would take her suggestion of Security cameras seriously, although she doubted that they would.

GOTP

Beckett carefully stashed the vials in the wall, before taking the hypo spray and pressing it against her arm. Before she could inject herself, the hypospray was snatched from her hand and she was yanked off her bunk. Mariner yelped, waking the surrounding ensigns, creating the sight of her dangling from her wrist, which was being held in a vice grip by Shaxs.

“I don’t suppose you could give that back and we can just forget anything happened?” Asked Mariner, hopefully.

Shaxs just shoved her into Ransom and a couple of security officers.

“Really?” Squawked Mariner, as Security grabbed her upper arms and practically carried her away from her bunk. The group passed Boimler in the corridor, before they carried her into a turbo lift.

Tendi and Rutherford shook sleep from their eyes, as Shaxs and a security officer started searching Mariner’s bunk.

“Wha? What’s happening?” Slurred Rutherford, before he accidentally rolled off his bunk.

“Mariner’s been arrested.” Said Tendi, as the female Trill started tapping the wall panels next to Mariner’s bunk, with one of them making a hollow sound, before prying the panel off the wall.

“Wow.” Said the Trill, before looking down at Shaxs, “You gotta see this.”

The Trill then started to pull different things from the wall.

“Legal, legal, legal, illegal, illegal, how the hell did she get one of these?!” Exclaimed the Trill, pulling a Mek’Leth that had what looked like dried blood on it, out of the wall.

Shaxs grunted, before picking up a bottle of blue liquid, pulling out the cork and smelling it.

“Romulan Ale.” Said Shaxs, before smelling it again, “A good brand as well.”

“The Doctor can sleep easy now, seeing that none of the drugs were actually used.” Said the Trill, before she started tugging on something, letting out small grunts as she pulled. She pushed the object down, rotated it and pulled it out.

“A book?!” Said the Trill, before she started flicking through it, “A picture book?”

A PADD fell out of the book, turning on as it hit the floor.

“Ah, crap.” Said the Trill, jumping down to pick it up, her thumb accidentally hitting play on a video that was on the screen.

“-and here we have Lieutenant Mariner and her wonderful fiancée Lieutenant Richards, enjoying a wonderful lunch together as we travel through the stars.”

The voice was similar sounding to Beckett’s, with the exception that it had an almost giggly quality to it.

“Sarah, what did we say about you recording on that?” Everyone recognised Beckett’s voice, even if it sounded slightly different, “I can’t keep telling the Captain that the PADD’s are faulty because you recorded over a briefing.”

“That was one time.”

“Every couple of weeks.” The new voice was male, after it let out a bark-like laugh.

“So, any feelings about the next assignment?” It was clear from her tone that Sarah was changing the subject.

“Oh, it’s going to go down in history.” Said past Beckett, “One that’s going to be celebrated and honoured for years to come.”

“I can see it now,” Said the male voice, “Gran! Gran! Tell us about the day we got our planets back!”

“Well, joking aside,” Came Beckett’s voice, laughter still clear in her tone, “I’m sure that the Seventh Fleet and our victory at Tyra will be what everyone’s needed since this war started.”

The Trill finally managed to hit pause, looking as if she was about to throw up. Shaxs glanced around, spotting the ensigns staring at them.

“Everyone, go to bed!” Snapped Shaxs, before gathering everything up and charging down the corridor. The book was left on Mariner’s bunk, before Tendi gingerly picked it up.

“Should we tell them they left this behind?” Asked Tendi, quietly.

“Let’s just leave it on the bunk for now.” Said Rutherford, rolling back over, opting to ignore the world around him.

GOTP

Mariner was deposited onto a chair in one of the guest quarters of the ship, a quick glance around told her that anything that could’ve been used as a weapon had been removed. Mariner scowled, as Ransom left the room with the Security officers, locking the door behind him. She folded her arms and waited for the Captain to make an appearance and bitch about how she was dragging the family name through the mud.

Ransom arrived on the bridge, carrying a PADD with the list of all Officers that had counselling experience.

“Mariner’s in Guest Quarters Gamma, the rooms been deadlocked and made child proof, anything that could be used to harm anyone has either been bolted down or removed.” Said Ransom, handing the PADD over to Captain Freeman, “The Doctor said the drugs will most likely leave her system in the next few hours.”

Freeman nodded, her eyes scanning each name and the associated rank that followed it.

“Commander, five of these Officers have left the ship.” Said Freeman, crossing off the names in her mind.

Ransom shifted, glancing to his feet in embarrassment. Shaxs walked onto the bridge, clutching the PADD that was found in Mariner’s bunk, “I think you’re going to want to see this, Captain.”

Freeman took the PADD and glanced over its files, noting the unread letters and the video that was paused mid-sentence.

“I’ll be in my ready room.” Said Freeman, walking off the Bridge, “Mr. Ransom, you have the Conn.”

Down in Sickbay, Dr. T’Ana, Nurse Westlake and Tendi were sorting through the vials. Most had been mixed together, which left them in a dangerous state, fortunately the diphenylmethane was practically untouched, with the exception on the one in the hypospray.

“She had enough to knock out a Terran Equine,” Growled T’Ana, going through the vials, “it’s as if she built up an immunity to it.”

“Well, it’s been five years since the war ended,” Said Westlake, “There could be a chance that she was doing thing before she was on the Cerritos, perhaps even before the war ended.”

“She was screaming in her sleep,” Said Tendi, getting a look from T’Ana and Westlake, “it happened just before she was arrested.”

“It could also be that she’s forgotten the war ended,” Said T’Ana, going through the vials, “I looked into her service history, there was a period where she’d been captured with a couple of Klingons.”

“That would explain why she’s made suicide combinations.” Said Westlake, before handing the vials over to T’Ana, “A couple of those would kill someone fairly quickly, the others appear to go for the slow approach.”

T’Ana shoved the vials into a machine to work on separating the liquids, before freezing.

“We’re missing one.” Said T’Ana, suddenly making Westlake and Tendi freeze, “Computer, monitor Ensign Beckett Mariner’s life signs, report if there is any change.”

The computer beeped.

“We need to check her bunk again.” Said T’Ana, stalking out of sickbay.

GOTP

Beckett scratched at her arm, hissing slightly as she drew blood, she felt the craving for the hypospray that Shaxs took from her. She needed the hypospray. Any hypospray. Beckett froze, swearing that she could hear Jem’Hadar marching down the corridors. They’d taken the ship, and most likely killed the majority of the crew.

She’d been deemed a target of high importance by them in the past, she didn’t know why, she just knew she needed to get out and she needed to get out now. Beckett quickly started to rush around the room, checking each wall and piece of furniture for a way out of the room. She could wear she could smell the burnt flesh that came with their energy weapons, the sound of their polearms cutting through the officers that lined the corridors.

She heard Captain Jonas yell, before going silent. Beckett frantically scrambled around the room, before readjusting herself and feeling the weight of a hypospray in her pocket. It was one of the slow ones, but she didn’t have time to go and find one of the fast-acting ones. Beckett placed the hypospray on her arm and injected herself with it. The screaming had stopped, and everything was going quiet. Beckett curled into a ball, as a searing pain flared to life in her chest.

The doors suddenly sprung open, Dr. T’Ana and Nurse Westlake rushing into the room.

“We need to get her to sickbay, stat!” Came T’Ana’s muffled voice, before someone gathered Mariner up in their arms and started sprinting down the corridor. Mariner was not embarrassed to say that her final thoughts were on how firm the sprinters chest was.

T’Ana rushed after Ransom, while Westlake grabbed the hypospray off the floor and checking the contents, noticing a small amount of the liquid pooling at the bottom.

Tendi jumped as Commander Ransom rushed into Sickbay, closely followed by Dr. T’Ana and Nurse Westlake bringing up the rear, holding a half used hypospray. Tendi’s heart stopped when she saw a shaking Mariner, who’d started to foam at the mouth. Ransom deposited Mariner on a bio-bed, just as T’Ana ordered Tendi to restrain Mariner.

Tendi did the best she could to restrain her friend, silently hoping that everything was just a really bad dream. Tendi didn’t even realise she was crying, until another nurse relieved her. Nurse Westlake finished identifying the components of Mariner’s self-made poison. Quickly throwing an antidote together, T’Ana took the hypospray from Westlake and all but jammed the instrument into Mariner’s neck and injecting the serum into her bloodstream.

Beckett stopped seizing almost instantly, allowing for the Medical staff to place her on her side. Tendi absently recognised it as the recovery position, given the number of times she had to perform the same practice on fellow cadets who’d drunk so much they passed out.

“Right, now that’s been dealt with,” Said Dr. T’Ana, rounding on the security officers, “did none of you think to check her pockets when you put her in there?!”

There were some guilty murmers, before Sickbay’s doors shot open, admitting Captain Freeman and two Starfleet Admirals. The dark-skinned Admiral ignored the sudden salutes from the command crew and stepped closer to the bio-bed.

“How is she?” Asked the Admiral, looking down at Beckett’s prone form.

“If we’d been any later, she would be under and sheet.” Said Dr. T’Ana, quietly noting that Captain Freeman seemed to be retraining herself.

“Have her family been informed?” Asked Commander Ransom, looking at T’Ana.

“They already know.” Said Captain Freeman, stepping up to stand beside the Admiral.

“Great, are we going to tell them that she didn’t die or…” Ransom trailed off, waiting for the Captain to speak.

“They already knew.” Said the Admiral, as Boimler and Rutherford entered sickbay, after getting a message from Tendi.

“How?” Asked T’Ana, looking between the Captain and the Admiral.

The Captain looked around, “What is said does not leave those bulkheads.”

After getting a nod from the rest of the crew, Freeman continued, “Ensign Mariner is my daughter.”

There was a collection of noises from the assembled crew, Shaxs, the security officers, Tendi and Westlake gasped. T’Ana yelled “I knew it!”. Ransom gulped and Boimler whined. Rutherford just blinked, before stepping closer to Beckett.

“Is she going to be alright?” Asked Rutherford, getting looks from the other crew.

“How are you not surprised?!” Demanded Tendi, scowling at Rutherford.

“When it comes to Mariner, nothing surprises me anymore.” Said Rutherford, before looking down at Beckett.

The other Admiral, who’d remained silent, looked at Rutherford closely, “Cadet Rutherford?”

“Ah, well, Ensign, but who’s keeping track, er, sir.” Stuttered Rutherford, getting a curious look from the others.

“Figures.” Muttered the Admiral, “He was a Cadet on the Argentina during the war, he was also one of the fifty survivors from Tyra.”

“Wait, you were there too?!” Exclaimed Boimler, getting everyone to look at him, “How many of my friend have been in a war? Tendi?!”

“I was fresh out of the Academy last year!” Protested Tendi, before Mariner groaned.

Beckett braced herself as she slowly started to sit up, only to gag and vomit on the other Admirals shoes.

“Nice to see you as well.” Groused the Admiral, getting Beckett to look up at him.

“Captain?” Asked Beckett, lightheaded, “I think that mine hit us harder than we thought, Chief Hur should take a look.”

Everyone froze, realising that Mariner thought she was on the Argentina.

“No need.” Said Jonas, looking down at Mariner.

“Okay, do you know where Dr. Solek is? I have a massive headache.” Groaned Mariner, clutching her head, “If Solek’s not available then I’ll take Mike or he’ll take me, whatever.”

“You might want to sit down.” Said Jonas, as Mariner started to stand up.

“Can’t.” Strained Mariner, “Got a tactical review to complete and a call to make.”

“The War’s over.” Said Jonas, getting an alarmed look from Beckett, “The Dominion Surrendered.”

“Great,” Moaned Beckett, “The war ended and everyone saw it except me.”

“It ended in 2375.” Said Jonas, “What year do you think it is and when?”

“2373, we’re supposed to be heading to Tyra,” Said Mariner, “They have a small fleet of ships, so retaking it should be easy.”

“The Dominion had 248 ships there,” Said Jonas, as Beckett’s eyes widened, “It was a massacre, almost the entire crew was killed.”

Beckett suddenly seemed to regain her bearings, before gagging and throwing up again.

“Oh fuck.” Groaned Mariner, “Has anyone got anything for me to wash this taste from my mouth?”

Tendi hurried off and returned with some water.

“I meant something stronger, but whatever.” Said Beckett, hopping to her feet and staggering slightly. She collided with Commander Ransom and immediately felt his chest, “Why is a brick wall in sickbay?”

“I’m not a wall ensign.” Said Ransom, making Mariner jump.

“Oh, it’s you.” Sighed Mariner, before looking around and spotting the Captain and the Admiral, “Captain! I didn’t pass out on the bridge, did I?”

“You can stop the whole ‘I don’t know who you are beyond rank’ shtick.” Said T’Ana, smirking at Mariner, “You’re mother already told us.”

“Oh.” Said Mariner, before looking over at her mother again and spotting the Admiral and paling, “Fuck.”

“Language.” Scolded the Admiral, folding his arms.

“Whatever happened, I didn’t do it!” Said Mariner, as soon as the Admiral stopped talking.

“So, you didn’t steal drugs from sickbay?” Asked Jonas, silently daring Mariner to deny it.

“Nooo…” Beckett trailed off, sounding unsure.

“Try again.” Said Jonas, his frown deepening.

“…yes.” Beckett’s voice had become small. Jonas sighed and stood to his full height.

“I honestly thought that had stopped when the war ended,” Said Jonas, his arms going behind his back, “Did you ignore the counsellor’s advice?”

Beckett stared at his blankly, “What counsellor?”

“What couns-You mean to say that in the five years that you’ve been serving, you never once got recommended to a counsellor?” Said Jonas, staring at her, “Didn’t anything show up during your physicals or at least your mental check-ups?”

“No,” Said Mariner, “I haven’t had a physical or mental check-up since Solek.”

T’Ana suddenly appeared behind Mariner, who suddenly realised what she just said and found herself being scanned. Mariner glared at Jonas, who smirked in return.

“Alright, everyone who isn’t medical staff, get out!” Snapped T’Ana, before collaring Mariner, “Not you, you have an overdue physical.”

Mariner silently pleaded for help, and was subsequently ignored.

GOTP

Despite what the Captain said, the news that Beckett was her daughter spread through the ship like wildfire.

“If they’re related, why is Mariner an ensign?”

“Did she really throw up on an Admiral’s shoes?”

“Why do you think she’s been so busy?”

Of course, all the chatter died down whenever Mariner actually appeared, given how she reacted when someone from Gamma shift tried to get a promotion by trying to convince her to talk to the Captain. He wound up in sickbay with a fork shoved into his hand and a glass decorating his head.

Not to mention the incident when the Captain walked into the bar and found Mariner mixing a concoction of drinks together, while sitting on a pile of unconscious ensigns. Beckett had given a vague explanation that translated to “They thought they could get a promotion by talking to me and got violent when they found they couldn’t.”

Mariner eventually staggered into the bar after going a few rounds with Shaxs.

“Reminded me to never smack talk Shaxs again.” Groaned Mariner, slumping over next to her friends, “I’d rather fight Jem’Hadar.”

Things were slowly getting back to its own version of normal.

Then Admiral Jonas turned up.

[mzminola]

Most of the time on here when I talk about racism it’s about the kind done by the creators of a given piece of media (author, writing team, marketing department, etc) but today I’m gonna talk about racism done by fans.

Specifically erasure and sidelining/downgrading characters of color in ensembles. The three examples I have are from the sort of tumblr-specific multi-fan reblog works. Gonna put this all behind a cut, with links & descriptions.

Example 1 [https://mzminola.tumblr.com/post/161130456813/sperari-foundloveinbudapest-obsessiforge]

The OP made a four-panel comic of Sam Wilson, Natasha Romanoff, Bucky Barnes, and Steve Rogers sitting at a table to play D&D, with a caption stating they headcanon Guardians of the Galaxy as the Avenger’s D&D campaign that Bucky DM’s. Sam & Natasha are only visible in the final panel, but they are very clearly there, and no other Avengers are.

Other people reblogged this with their own match-ups of which Avenger is playing which Guardian, and this particular reblog someone has done Natasha=Gamora, Tony=Quill, Thor=Drax, Bruce=Groot. 

Completely ignoring that the comic to kick this off features Sam Wilson, not those three other guys. When I first reblogged this, I tried to find commentators that included Sam, but it was a needle-in-a-haystack situation and I gave up.

Example 2 [https://mzminola.tumblr.com/post/186125797093/if-were-gonna-keep-rebooting-things-in-2019-then]

The OP suggest a Leverage reboot for 2019, lists a few ideas, and ends with “Sophie becomes president”. The first commentator points out that Sophie can’t, because she’s not an American citizen, and suggests Hardison instead, including the idea that with the voting machines un-hacked, Hardison wins in a truly fair election.

The third commentator says we can’t do that because of Hardison’s age, referencing a single episode where a character who is not Hardison himself says he’s 24. A fourth commentator suggests Parker or Maggie instead.

My objection here might seem a little nitpicky; if we rule out Sophie because of her nationality, why not Hardison due to his age? If we tweak canon to make Hardison old enough (since this is a reboot suggestion), or change what year the election is, why not tweak it to make Sophie American?

Well, that’s the thing: a lot of fandom racism of this type (erasure, sidelining) is easy to ‘justify’ or downplay in the particular instance, but is still part of an overall pattern. Much like how slash fandom still has a massive problem with sidelining women characters; sure a single fic might have decent reasons, but when it happens over and over and over again?

This Leverage thread had someone suggest the only black main character in the show become President of the United States in a fair election, and the response by some other fan was to immediately say that couldn’t happen because of one contestable trivia point.

Example 3 [https://mzminola.tumblr.com/post/189671198448/kaylapocalypse-lonepower-thrawn-thrawn]

OP suggests a Star Wars AU in which Rey is a hockey player and Finn is a figure skater. A+ concept, love it.

Then we get someone copying another reblogger’s tag of “Poe drives the zamboni” and someone else adds “poe “i just work here””.

And okay. Maintenance staff is fucking vital to everything, everywhere, but it’s still questionable to take a post about “what would these space action adventure characters do in an ice athletics AU” and assign the hotshot pilot a role that isn’t also athletics, you know? Its’s not like hockey and figure skating are the only ice athletics in the world, if you’re trying to give everyone a different niche.

~

So those are the examples I have on hand; first two are someone includes a character of color, other people ignore them or downgrade their role in favor of white characters. Third is someone playing with an AU (that gives a fun, positive role to a character of color, heck yeah figure skater Finn) and someone else brings up a character of color just to give them a less glamorous role than the originally mentioned characters.

So, what do we do with this?

Couple suggestions:

If you’re creating content with an ensemble, double check who you’re giving attention to, and if you notice yourself ignoring characters of color...include them! If you’re only including them with a bare nod, go back and include them more! If you’re giving them less interesting, glamorous, important, etc roles than the other characters, examine your own reasoning for a bit, to shake your assumptions up...and then go give them equally cool (or even cooler) stuff to do!

If you’re in a group participation setting like tumblr, don’t knock down what other people set up. Someone says “let’s have Character do Cool Thing!” and you know some canon factoids that get in the way of that...leave it be. Don’t jump in to say why it doesn’t work. I totally get the urge to correct people about canon, I really truly do, but this is not the moment to do it.

“What if I’m using the canon facts to suggest an alternative cool thing for the character to do?” Awesome, make a new post! So you know that “XYZ Canon Facts means Character cannot be Empress”? Maybe that’s worth including in your post, maybe it’s not, but either way making a new post of “Character could be Democratically Elected Prime Minister and Secret Princess!” is awesome! Now you’re contributing fun content without raining on anyone else’s parade, yay!

If you see someone else doing the “ignore or sideline” thing don’t reblog it with no comment. The examples I used in this post are all instances where I reblogged it and added my own commentary. Did I flat out go “hey you’re being racist”? No, I didn’t. I could have! I might in the future! What I did do:

I questioned where the hell Sam was and pointed out he was in the original comic, dismissed the age issue and re-asserted that Hardison should be president, and suggested an ice athletics role for Poe.

You know what I do even more often? I go back up the reblog chain. That’s one of the reasons why I have so few examples. It’s not always possible to go up the reblog chain; url changes, deletions, or the racism being embedded in the middle of a long reblog chain with unracist and cool stuff further down all mean that sometimes, I’m going to reblog a post that has these problems.

So I comment. I refuse to let the erasure and sidelining slide by.

Do you, hypothetical reader, have to do that?

I don’t know. I’m not you. But now you know about this pattern (if you didn’t before), and you know some responses to it, to make informed decisions.

[ttlmt]

how can you tell gifs are stolen?

i’m definitely much more aware of it now that i make gifs, but usually its not too hard to tell. thank you for asking :)

when i post gifs, i usually make a photo post, put the gifs at the top, and either have a quote, comment, or video title as a caption. i usually make that a link, sometimes i tag dnp or someone who requested a gif and it usually looks something like this

i’ll also have a creator tag (in my case, ttlmtbee, a lot of people just say ‘mine’ or ‘my gifs’), and use any tags i think will get the post more notes. of course there are some exceptions to all of these things (not all gif posts are photo posts, different creators have different formatting, some people use watermarks as well, etc.) but those are some things to look out for when seeing gif posts. also, you’ll notice that those two gifs match. when gif-makers make gifs, we colour-correct. usually make the colours more vibrant, mess with the lighting a bit, sometimes change colours all together for a cool effect. in these two gifs, the colouring is clearly the same.

in this post thats currently going around right now (and its not the only one, its just the one i saw most recently), the colouring is vastly different between gifs. some are black and white, some are more exposed, some have some of them even have watermarks from different creators. the sizing is also inconsistent. this of course could be a stylistic choice, but in this case its clearly not.

as for the tag situation, its tagged similarly to a normal gifmakers post, but that is another place i would normally check. there is no creator tag, but thats not always an indication (some creators don’t have one, some gif thiefs will)

i hope that helps a bit! if you see stolen gifs, unfortunately the only thing you can really do is just not interact. don’t give them attention/notes, gifmakers work really hard (often without much interaction and a horrible like/rb ratio), and it really sucks to see a post with thousands of notes with stuff that the poster did not make.

if you recognize the gifs, you can try contacting the creator of then and they can decide if they want to confront the post maker. unfortunately, only the creator can report for missattribution on tumblr. always be kind, some people don’t realize gif-stealing is bad (i was definitely guilty of it in the past, it didn’t click that gifs were made by people and not computers), so if you do notice it and want to point it out don’t be too accusatory just try to make them understand and ask them to take the post down.

note: all of this is my opinion as a gif-maker, and other gif-makers might have other opinions about this stuff or other ways to indicate. as for gifs posted with tumblr’s ‘gif’ feature, they will credit op in the corner and as far as i’m aware there is no way to opt out of your gifs being in the gif library. personally, its okay with me because my credit is still there.

[miserelysia]

“I Watched the Artemis Fowl Movie and It Made Me Very Upset” Liveblog!

So I decided I had to subject myself to this movie despite being Extremely Aware that it’s a massive pile of firey garbage. It was about as painful as expected, so I liveblogged to keep my sanity. Here’s basically what happened in my head while I was watching:

Josh Diggums: I feel so bad for Josh Gad's voice because it's painfully obvious they just didn't want Olaf showing up so they forced him into some terrible Bale-Batman voice that keeps cracking

why is this movie taking itself so seriously

Book Artemis: eternally unathletic dweeb

Movie Artemis: SURFING MASTER

the fuck, Branagh

THIS VOICE IS SO DAMN BAD, JOSH PLEASE STOP TALKING

okay Artemis is appropriately a little shit for EXACTLY ONE SCENE

FUCK OFF WITH FRIDGING THE MOM, BRANAGH

"ur mom's dead and ur dad's gone so ur a little shit" WHAT A GREAT COUNSELOR

fuck's sake

Book Artemis: immediately falls off whatever this hover thing is

COLIN FARRELL. SEXY MAN.

I ALMOST FORGIVE THEM FOR BRINGING HIM BACK EARLY

AND..... KNOWING ABOUT MAGIC

SDJFKSDF

WHATEVER

I WAS PREPARED FOR THIS

this voice is still terrible, Josh. I'm sorry

this kid is a pretty good actor

"all i really want is to believe in you" that was actually well-delivered

"Arty"

<sobbing>

OKAY IT'S NOT ACCORDING TO THE BOOK BUT FUCK ME THEIR RELATIONSHIP IS WELL DONE

i desperately need Butler to show up soon tho

I SPOKE TOO SOON

"DOMOVOI" ??!!?? YOU FUCKS

why

are his eyes

fucking ELECTRIC BLUE

HIS LITERAL FUKDFSUCING NAME IN THE BOOKS IS 'BUTLER' IT'S PART OF BEING AN INSANELY GOOD SECRET AGENT GUARDIAN HE'S NOT AN ACTUFL FUCKING BUTLER AND LITERALLY NO ONE EVER CALLS HIM "THE BUTLER" BUT HIS NAME IS BUTLER BECAUSE HIS REAL NAME IS SECRET HE'S FUCKING SECURITY FUCKING DID YOU READ THIS FUCKING BOOK SERIES AT ALL BRANAGH OR DID YOU JUSTDSJFKLDSHFSD:LFSEFAGH

i'm sorry

Butler is my absolute favorite character of the entire damn series and they fucking

can't even get OOOONNNNNEEEEEEEEE CHARACTER CORRECT

SCREAMS

did they think calling him "Butler" would be weird because they cast a black guy?????

AGAIN WHY WITH THE FUCKING ELECTRIC BLUE CONTACTS THEY'RE SO OBVIOUSLY FAKE IT LOOKS SO BAD. IF YOU MAKE THE DECISION TO CAST AN AFRICAN AMERICAN MAN JUST FUCKING OWN THAT HE HAS DARK EYES DON'T DO THIS

THE "OWL STAR"???? REALLY???? WHY NOT FOWL STAR

WHY

NOT

IT'S JUST SUCH AN ARBITRARY DUMBASS CHANGE IT MAKES NO SENSE

PLEASE DID I JUST MISUNDERSTAND THE REPORTER MAN

DID THE CAPTIONS JUST MISUNDERSTAND HIM?????

NOPE IT'S LITERALLY THE  O W L  S T A R

fuck off

i'm sorry

stuff like that just bothers me a lot

it makes ABSOLUTELY no sense to change it

Fowl Star made sense bECAUSE IT'S OWNED BY ARTEMIS FOWL

artemis has a lot more emotions than i remember him having

i will not forgive them for destroying the Butler/Artemis relationship in favor of a Dad they fucking fridge in the first half hour of the movie

oh boy nursery rhymes as codes

GROUNDBREAKING

i think the fairies would have something to say about you hiding their own shit from them, MISTER SENIOR

it's still a bad voice, Josh, I'm so sorry

okay Haven is pretty nice

"Haven" not "Haven City"

pretty sure

holly being a 13 year old girl is disconcerting

that was mentioned in a review

they're supposed to be Child-Sized not ACTUAL CHILDREN

also "small person = higher pitched voice" is such a stupid trope please stop

i like the Being diversity around the city

like lots of different types of humanoids

josh desperately wants to do the Olaf voice

i'm so sorry Josh

okay aside from the shit voice Diggums is pretty good

lol Cudgeon's already in jail

i

okay then

i know this is Opal Koboi

meh

i hate her in the books so they can fuck her up all they want

judi dench is batman too i guess

how many cigs you smoke judi root

OH BOY HOLLY HAS MISSING DADDY ISSUES TOO

fucking shit

"you're 84" and you look like a fUCKING THIRTEEN YEAR OLD

such bad choices

every time they say "Domovoi" i--

HISDFHSDHFH

JULIET

SHE'S

HIS

FUCKING

NIECE?????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????

SDFJLS:DKF FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKK YYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

FUCK YOU

FUCK

FUCK

FUCK YOU KENNETH BRANAGH

NO

NO

NO

NO

SHE'S

HIS

FUCKING

SISTER

HIS BABY SISTER HE LOVES AND CARES FOR EVEN MORE THAN ARTEMIS AND THAT'S A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT RELATIONSHIP THAN UNCLE AND NIECE

HOW COULD YOU LITERALLY DESTROY EVERYTHING ABOUT BUTLER AND STILL SLEEP AT NIGHT

<vomits into the sun>

eoin colfer i hope you made so much money off of this SHITSTACK

(genuinely tho that's literally the only consolation; now he can write more Good Books)

Juliet is cute but i know about all she does is make sandwiches

so fuck this

judi dench is Good

foaly is Okay

why's he wearing clothes tho

the chutes are a lot more... open than expected

BEECHWOOD SHORT THE TRAITOR

FUCK OFF

WHY IS HOLLY’S CHARACTER DEFINED BY HER FUCKING FATHER

THIS IS SO MUCH WORSE AN OUTCOME THAN I EVEN EXPECTED GIVEN THEY EVISCERATED HER CHARACTER'S DRIVE BY MAKING THE L.E.P. ALREADY HAVE FEMALE OFFICERS AND COMMANDERS

"get out cudgeon before i throw you out" okay they got Root completely right at least

aside from making him a her

but that's okay

because it's Judi Dench

awwwww happy flying scene bUT HOLLY YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE SHIELDED GOt DAMN

“any update?” "yes. i'm freezing" amazing, Butler

i mean dOmOvOi

HOLLY YOU'RE STILL NOT SHIELDED

CGI isn't too bad in this but honestly that's not impressive anymore

awwwww cute wedding scene

troll is about as ugly as possible

LOL JUST FUCKING THROW TIME FREEZE UP LIKE IT'S NOTHING

OKAY

LOL HOLLY GO DEAL WITH THE TROLL DON'T FOCUS ON ONE SMALL CHILD

THAT'S NOT HOW A TIME FREEZE WORKS

I

i mean it's COOL

i love the little Men in Green zipping around

but it doesn't make ANY sense

LOL SO WHY DO THE PEOPLE THINK THE PLACE IS TRASHED

lol gently floating troll

Hollyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Judi Root continues to be amazing

ok tbf Opal Koboi would be after the Aculos if it existed

OP MacGuffin plots are so tired tho like really Branagh

i love the wings on her suit

ARTEMIS WHEN DID YOU GET TO THE TREE

holly ur a bad 84-year-old officer

LOL CUDGEON IS RIGHT ON

AND JUDI ROOT CONTINUES TO BE

"Not Happy!" lol wat

who wrote that bit of dialogue and said "yes this a perfectly good thing to have her say when she wakes up in a cage"

"mesmerism"

boy i love these exposition dump convos between Mr. Sr. and Arty

LOL "most human beings are afraid of gluten, how do you think they'd handle goblins" is a great line

out of touch, but still funny

...why does the time freeze take forever to generate now when you did it in TWO SECONDS BEFORE

calm down holly damn

foaly's very pretty

sO DID THEY FREEZE THE *ENTIRE WORLD*????????

I THOUGHT THE POINT WAS TO FREEZE THINGS INSIDE SO YOU HAVE MOONLIGHT LONGER

AND

AND

whatever

i love this fucking ARMY coming out of literally everywhere

"TOP OF THE MORNIN'" OH MY FUCKING GOODNESS

whole movie is worth it

for that line

i love that they're entirely in green

and no one ever Shields

ever

they mentioned Shields once but NO ONE IS SHIELDED

BUTLER WOULD NEVER LET ARTEMIS INTO A FIGHT

SCREAMS

"TAKE THE SHOT"

WHY IS THE TIME FREEZE SO EASILY DESTABILIZED

FOALY

ARE YOU TELLING ME NO ONE HAS EVER SHOT YOUR FUCKING ENORMOUS DEVICE

omg no U GAVE OPAL KOBOI LEGITIMATE REASONS FOR DOING WHAT SHE'S DOING

YOU GAVE HER A SAD FRUSTRATING BACKSTORY

SHE'S SUPPOSED TO BE AN ARROGANT SELF-SERVING BITCH AND NOTHING ELSE

TWENTY SEVEN MINUTES??????

hOW DID ARTEMIS KNOW ABOUT MULCH DIGGUMS SPECIFICALLY

lol that is 100% a completely inhumane prison what the fuck, fairies

why does Holly have human music

well i'm glad we didn't have to watch mulch almost eat a dude's head

"My father was kidnapped."

"My father is dead."

"Can I trust you?"

"You'll have to."

BUT WHY

WHAT IS THIS DIALOGUE

WHAT IS THIS CHARACTER PROGRESSION

THERE's NO REASON TO TRUST HER

OR TO NEED TO TRUST HER

THIS IS COMPLETELY UNEARNED AND STUPID

glad holly's entire character REVOLVES AROUND A MAN NOW, BRANAGH

LOL THEY JUST DIDN'T GIVE ROOT A FIRST NAME???

JUDI ROOT CONFIRMED

"listen to us, grunting at each other like a pair of hippos with a throat infection" LMAO

i hope that was Josh Gad improv

LOL HE JUST FUCKING DESTROYS EVERYTHING IN HIS WAY WHILE TUNNELING

YOU DIDN'T EVEN REALLY TUNNEL IN, MULCH

HOW DID YOU COME OUT OF A PAINTING

DO THEY HAVE PAINTINGS IN A BASEMENT???

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SHEETROCK OR WHATEVER

IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SO EASY TO JUST

UGH

FOLLOW THE BOOK

COME ON

MULCH YOU ARE THE WORST BURGLAR

"what would your parents be" THEY'D BE CENTAURS MULCH

is... is Mulch on the second floor

HE TUNNELED THROUGH THE WALL ONTO THE SECOND FLOOR

artemis... just.. lets holly out

ok cool

LOL HIS NOSE HAIRS GROW AND MOVE LIKE TENTACLES

stupid and... funny? i guess

at least Cudgeon is the piece of shit he is in the book lol

oh boy troll time

BUTER WOULD NEVER LET MULCH DIGGUMS PICKPOCKET HIM

"jam all magic" OMFG THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE

BUTLER WOULD NEVER LET ARTEMIS FACE DOWN A FUCKING TROLL

LOL THEY JUST FIRE THE TROLL LIKE A BULLET

A TROLL-ET

DOMOVOI YOU ARE COMPLETELY USELESS WHAT THE FUCK

i wonder if kids even like this movie

omg butler couldn't even jump

i

i don't understand

he literally DOESN'T HELP AT ALL

IT'S HIS WHOLE THING

IS BEING ABLE TO KICK ASS

FUCKING COME ON BRANAGH

yeah fuck you branagh

are... are the fairies just DYING TO THE TIME FREEZE COLLAPSE???

"goodbye my friend. i'm sorry i was FUCKING USELESS"

branagh you're trying to activate my feelings with this Sad Death Scene(TM) but i am IMPERVIOUS because artemis has had NO RELATIONSHIP WHATSOEVER WITH THIS """DOMOVOI"""

COOL HE'S BACK NOW I’M SO GLAD ACTUAL FULL ON DEATH HAS ZERO CONSEQUENCES NOW THANKS TO OP FAIRY MAGIC

WHAT GREAT WRITING THIS IS

"i didn't cry did i" FUCK OFF

WHY IS IT SO DANGEROUS WHEN THE TIME FREEZE ENDS

WHY IS YOUR TECH SO SHITTY, FOALY

TIME FREEZES AREN'T SUPPOSED TO BE DANGEROUS TO THE OCCUPANTS

THAT GOES AGAINST ALL OF FAIRY RULES

...okay and then it just ends..........?

Domovoi: "you have to try!"

Artemis: "i can't, tho"

Domovoi: "it's too dangerous!"

WHAT IS THIS DIALOGUE

WHO WROTE THIS ABSOLUTE DRIVEL

"the aculos for my father"

THE L.E.P. DOESN'T EVEN HAVE YOUR FATHER YOU ABSOLUTE DOOF

holly how do u know how to do this

the... the aculos is just the fucking Book?

i feel slapped in the face

she just recites the words and. and.

whatever

whatever

i'm done

GO FIND YOUR DAD WHO'S MAGICALLY BACK

WHY WOULD HE BE IN THE BED ARTEMIS

YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE A GENIUS

this girl who plays Holly cannot act

i'm sorry girl

MAGICALLY BACK DAD

HOORAY HOLLY'S CHARACTER CONTINUES TO BE DEFINED BY HER FATHER

FUCK

YOU

WRITERS

AND BRANAGH

BUTLER WOULD NEVER CRY, DOMOVOI

i like the cool earpiece they gave Judi Root to maybe? disguise her hearing aid?

Haven does look pretty cool

too much water above tho it’s not Atlantis guys come on

"i'm a criminal mastermind" LITERALLY WHEN DID YOU SHOW ANY SORT OF MASTERMIND BEHAVIOR OR CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR

BESIDES BRIEFLY KIDNAPPING HOLLY AND THEN IMMEDIATELY LETTING HER OUT

LMAO THAT LAST SHOT OF JULIET JUST LOOKING EXCITEDLY OUT OF THE WINDOW AT THE HELICOPTER WHILE EVERYONE LEAVES HER BEHIND

WHAT'S THE POINT OF THAT EVEN

THIS POOR GIRL YOU’RE JUST LEAVING HER ALONE

WOW THIS PRISON/INTERROGATION PLACE HAS LIKE

NO SECURITY

HI HOLLY WHY ARE YOU HERE??????

THIS WHOLE ENDING IS JUST THE STUPID CAP ON TOP OF A STUPID SUNDAE

i need to go listen to the books again now

[eleanor-writes-stuff]

chemistry (my heart’s a city you’re out to destroy) - [i/iii]

Kylo Ren - superhuman, mercenary, and the world’s most dangerous man – has recently resurfaced after a mysterious three-month disappearance.

Rey Niima, listicle writer by day and investigative reporter by night, is way too busy to worry about that. Seriously, she’s got a million things on her plate - she doesn’t have the time to think about anything else.

Especially now that news editor Benjamin Snoke has returned to the office and seems hell-bent on making her life… interesting.

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s the Superman/Lois Lane AU I never thought I’d write! (Okay, not really. But... vaguely. Loosely inspired, I’d say.)

Happy belated birthday, @nancylovesreylo! Earlier this month you came up with one of the best prompts I've ever seen, and while I'm still holding out hope that someone will come along and do it justice someday, here's my little attempt at it in the meantime. I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 2 Also available on AO3. And hey, maybe check out my Twitter and Ko-fi?

Rey wakes up on the first Monday of February to find her phone blowing up with notifications.

The first tweet her eyes land on is a set of pictures with the very uninformative caption HE LIVES!!!, and she’s still blinking sleep out of her eyes when the first grainy photo finally loads and immediately captures her undivided attention as her heart gets lodged somewhere in her throat.

Kylo.

Hidden amongst the trees dotting the lake, loitering outside a darkened theater, perched precariously atop City Hall – all of the pictures are of Kylo Ren, MIA for three months now and even feared dead by some. Rey had thought herself unaffected by the rumors, secure in the knowledge that she would know somehow if something had happened to him, but tears spring to her eyes all the same as she stares at pixelated, zoomed-in images of him until her vision goes blur.

It’s a message, she knows, but it’s also one she can’t do anything about right now. So she shakes herself out of it and goes through the motions of her usual workday morning, setting her phone aside as she forces breakfast down her throat and pulls on a repeat outfit from last week. But as soon as she reaches the office, Rey can’t help the way her fingers automatically reach for her phone every five minutes to reassure herself that it’s real, he’s back, she isn’t just dreaming again–

She’s busy staring at him for the umpteenth time that morning when she walks right into a wall on her way to get coffee.

No, not a wall, Rey realizes as she looks up from her phone to find a solid expanse of chest and torso and black shirt. A little further up, and she finds a man looking at her as if he’s on a particularly bad trip and she’s a dancing, flying elephant.

Bewilderment is the best way Rey can think of to describe it, but all she’s done is accidentally run into him while on her phone; surely that doesn’t warrant the way he’s looking at her with wide eyes (she can’t help but notice how dark they are) and tense shoulders (broad, so very, very broad) and parted lips (thicker than she’s ever seen on a man, but still alluring somehow) that look like they’re trying to say something, anything–

Rey beats him to it. “I’m so sorry, I should’ve been paying better attention–”

The man blinks at her, and then promptly walks away.

She’s abruptly reminded of a piece of drunken wisdom Rose had taken it upon herself to share with the rest of the bar at last Friday’s happy hour, fresh off her latest failed Tinder date. The hot ones are always assholes, a tipsy Rose had sagely proclaimed to the bar, only to be met with supportive cheers and enthusiastic applause.

Maybe Rose and the rest of the bar knew what they were talking about after all.

“Fine,” Rey fumes to herself as she turns to watch the asshole’s retreating back cut a path across the office, eventually winding around the staircase leading to the newsroom upstairs. “Fine. Fuck you too, mystery man,” she mutters under her breath, and figures that is that. The news team barely ever mingles with the rest of them anyway, so with any luck Rey won’t ever have to see him and his perfect hair again.

Except after lunch that day Amilyn calls for a staff meeting on the second floor, and as Rey squeezes into the crowded conference room she catches sight of said perfect hair on the opposite end of the room, seated on Amilyn’s right. Thankfully he’s looking straight ahead, leaving her with only a view of that broad, broad back which Rey most definitely does not find distracting as she attempts to focus on their editor-in-chief’s… presentation? Speech? It’s the start of the week, so maybe Amilyn is just giving them all a little pep talk to get things off on the right foot.

In any case, Rey desperately hopes it’s nothing too important. And it probably isn’t, given that Amilyn starts wrapping things up fifteen short minutes later.

“And finally, I’d like to welcome Ben back to the office. It’s been a rough three months without you, and I’m sure the news team is glad to have its editor back. I know I am!” Amilyn beams as a polite round of applause fills the room, and Rey cranes her neck to catch a glimpse of the elusive Ben Snoke, who’d gone on leave to handle some sort of family emergency just days before she joined Raddus.

From the corner of her eye, she catches movement where there should absolutely not be movement. But maybe Mystery Man is just as curious as her, maybe it doesn’t mean anything that he’s slowly turning around in his seat and unfolding his gigantic treelike frame out of the tiny conference room chair–

Mystery Man stands and acknowledges the room with a nod and a tight smile. “Thanks, everyone. It’s good to be back,” he says even as those dark eyes land on her, and the smile falls off his plush lips. “I look forward to working with all of you again.”

Fuck.

Fuck.

The rest of the day goes decidedly downhill from there because there’s no coming back from the realization that your potential future boss hates you for some reason, but at least no one stops Rey when she’s the first to leave the second the clock strikes six.

It doesn’t actually make a difference – she knows he won’t be there until eleven at the earliest – but at least it leaves her with plenty of time to navigate through hellish rush hour traffic and still have dinner and change before she leaves for the Amidala Museum.

Their museum.

Rey can’t remember exactly when it became their spot, only that one day she spotted Kylo hanging around the museum on her way home and they ended up talking about their mutual love of the place for more than an hour. It had been one of the very first real conversations they’d shared, and just thinking about it still brings a smile to her face nearly two years later.

She’s chasing after a wisp of a memory about his favorite exhibit when a familiar, faint rasp announces his presence. It’s that damn voice modulator as always, giving him away before he can get the chance to sneak up on her.

A thrill races down Rey’s spine as she prepares to turn around.

Three months. It’s been three months since she last saw Kylo, last made him laugh, last stood a little too close–

She can feel him standing right behind her now, and a tiny shudder works its way through her body as Rey processes their proximity. Forget news editor Ben Snoke and his plush, kissable lips and his unfairly attractive voice – nothing will ever come close to the way Kylo sets her blood on fire.

“I wasn’t sure you’d come.”

Rey turns and nearly staggers backwards as she comes face-to-face with all six-foot-three of her masked man, and she folds her arms across her chest to keep her hands to herself as she tips her head back to look at him. “It’s been three months, Kylo. Of course I showed up.”

It’s impossible to tell with that mask of his, but Rey thinks she detects a hint of a smile when he speaks. “I’m glad you did, sweetheart. I…” he hesitates, and a gloved hand reaches out to pull her out of the tiny patch of moonlight and into the shadows of the grand, ornate pillars that hold up the museum. “I wasn’t sure if you would, after all this time, but I had to see you. Had to know how you’re doing.”

Not for the first time, Rey wishes she could at least hear his real voice. The growl of the modulator is so at odds with the sincerity of his words, a harsh reminder of reality when all she wants is to escape into a softer, kinder dream world.

But that’s never been in the cards for them, no matter how many pretty words Kylo whispers into his modulator, so Rey huffs out a bitter laugh and shakes her head at him instead as she pulls her hand out of his grasp. “Me? You’re the one who disappeared for three months! Kylo, I thought– I didn’t know what to think, but people were saying that… that…”

That he’d finally gotten what he deserved. That the world would be a better place without him. That they should all be glad to be rid of him and his knights.

Rey has tuned out op-eds and news shows for the last three months, choosing instead to dwell in the corners of the internet where everyone seemed equally concerned even though they’d never met Kylo at all, even though there was no way they felt the way she did, does–

“You could’ve let me known you’re alive,” she murmurs, dropping her eyes to the ground. “You could’ve done at least that.”

The modulator crackles, distorting his sharp intake of breath.

“I’m sorry. Things have been… difficult,” Kylo says with a sigh, yet another unpleasant burst of sound rushing past his mask. “Difficult and different, and I wasn’t really thinking, I couldn’t think at all–”

His hand rises to his head, and then falls back down. Rey’s noticed he does that sometimes, especially when he’s agitated or stressed or embarrassed, and all it does is make her want to take that stupid mask off and run her hands through his hair the way he’s itching to do.

It’d be flat from the helmet, she imagines, and so soft in her hands–

But that’s something for a kinder world. In this world Rey sets the urge aside to focus on his words instead, like a crow catching sight of something shiny for it to chase after and fixate on.

“What happened? Where have you been? Where are the rest of the Knights? Why haven’t you–”

Kylo laughs and shakes his head at her, the way he always does whenever she gets all ‘reporter-y’ – his word, not hers – on him. “Nice try, sweetheart.”

Rey shrugs, unrepentant as ever. He can’t expect her to stop doing her job just because of their unlikely friendship, just as she’s never expected him to stop doing his – even when it involves more bloodshed than she’s comfortable with.

“I’ve lost more sleep in the past three months than I have in the past three years, Kylo,” she tells him sharply, unashamedly. “I think I deserve an explanation–”

“Don’t you have work in the morning?” he interrupts, and even in its distorted form Rey can tell his voice is just a little too innocent. “It’s getting late, Rey. You should go home and get some sleep.”

She crosses her arms and scowls at him. “Are you serious?”

“Always,” Kylo intones with a nod of his helmet. “Now go home, sweetheart. I’ll make sure you get there safely.”

It’s not fair that he always makes her that promise no matter how their conversation ends, and it’s definitely not fair that she immediately softens at his familiar parting words, first spoken so long ago–

I should get going, she’d told him then, just a young reporter reluctant to step away from a living, breathing mystery that might prove to be her big break if only she could crack him. It’s a long walk home, and I’m alone.

And instantly, without a moment’s hesitation, the words had spilled past his lips: you’re not alone. I’ll make sure you get home safely, I promise.

Rey might not know much about Kylo Ren – might not know anything about him, actually – but on this, at least, she knows she can always trust him.

“Fine,” she gives in with a huff, pointing a warning finger at him. “But this conversation isn’t over yet.”

“It never is,” Kylo agrees, and the cheery note in his voice pulls a reluctant smile out of her. “Good night, Rey.”

“Good night, Kylo,” she whispers in return, and in the blink of an eye he’s disappeared – up into the sky or on the roof or maybe even to a different dimension; you never know with Kylo Ren.

Rey shakes her head at the thought and sets out into the night, knowing she has nothing to fear.

A week after her unfortunate first meeting with Ben Snoke, Amilyn calls Rey in for a meeting.

Thankfully it’s after hours, which allows her to wait until the news team has left for the day before she climbs the spiral staircase up to the second floor of the converted warehouse. Amilyn’s office is all the way at the end, and Rey can’t help but sneak a glimpse at Ben’s office as she walks past.

His door is closed, but the office is entirely dark. Empty, just like she’d hoped it would be.

Bolstered by that reassurance, Rey picks up the pace and quickly finds herself seated opposite her editor-in-chief, documents and pictures fanned out across the desk between them. She’s been discreetly looking into a chain of strip clubs for months now, trying to prove that it’s all just a front for the Guavian Death Gang, but her investigation has slowed down in recent months.

In her defense, it’s unexpectedly hard to focus on strip clubs when you’re constantly worrying about a certain mercenary and his possible death. Amilyn had been very understanding about the whole thing, even if Rey had never actually said anything about it to her, and had encouraged her to focus on fleshing out her cover as a mere listicle writer first.

But now that Kylo is alive and well and she’s written at least a dozen posts about the top ten hidden gems in Coruscant City, Rey is itching to get back to work.

“So you’re going back on stakeout duty?” Amilyn asks, worry lines forming between her brows as she picks up a picture of the club’s back door.

Rey nods. “It’s been a while, so I figured I should see if anything’s changed and familiarize myself with things before I try to go in. I’m thinking of starting next Monday–”

The door opens without warning, and both women immediately spring into action, sweeping all of the papers strewn across Amilyn’s desk into a haphazard pile.

“Amilyn, we need to talk–” Ben declares just as their boss drops a write-up about a recent ‘influencers’ summit’ – whatever the hell that is – on top of the pile, effectively hiding Rey’s work from view.

Ben comes to a screeching halt, and there it is again: that wide-eyed look of sheer horror over having to share a space with her. “Oh. I didn’t realize you’re still here.”

Rey quickly gets to her feet and sweeps the pile into her arms, summit write-up and all. “I was just about to leave,” she announces coolly without sparing him a look. “Amilyn, I’ll have that article about diving spots done by tomorrow night, if that’s okay?”

She doesn’t know anything about diving, but during times like these Rey tends to just go with the first thing to come to her panicked mind. So diving it is.

Amilyn nods as she plasters on her signature warm smile. “That’s more than okay, Rey. It’s just what we’re looking for, and I’m sure you’ll be able to execute it flawlessly–”

Fine, so maybe Amilyn’s laying it on a little too thick, but that absolutely does not justify the little snort that escapes Ben.

Rey turns to him with a scowl. “What?” she demands, clutching her papers close to her chest as she pins Ben with a glare, desperately fighting against her body to not react to the amused little twitch of his lips.

“Nothing,” he claims a little too quickly, barely meeting her eye for two seconds before he moves forward and settles into her abandoned seat. “Now if you’re done here, I really do need to speak to our editor. In private.”

“Fine,” Rey mutters before she bids Amilyn a good night and pointedly does not do the same for Ben. Screw him; he deserves the worst of nights for having the audacity to be so attractive yet so awful. Rey very nearly slams the door behind her, but manages to rein in the urge at the very last second. She does, however, stomp her way back to her desk, and maybe she bangs around her table for a bit before she finally slams her drawer shut, documents safely locked away, and allows some of the tension to drain away.

What even was that snort? What an asshole; he probably thinks he’s better than everyone here just because he writes about ‘real’ news–

With a frustrated growl, Rey kicks the thought out of her mind and focuses on work instead.

It’s only twenty minutes past six, so traffic is definitely still hell. Rey figures she might as well stick around and throw together that diving article; it’s half of what Amilyn is paying her for, after all.

The next time Rey looks up from her computer screen, an hour has passed and someone is clearing their throat behind her. She turns back for a curious look and immediately suppresses a groan.

Because of fucking course it’s Ben Snoke, looking down at her with furrowed brows.

“Why are you wasting your time on this shit?”

If Rey were standing, she would have taken several steps backward out of sheer shock. “Excuse me?”  she demands, voice colored by indignation and anger.

Ben, miraculously, does not back down. In fact, it’s almost as if he hasn’t noticed her reaction at all, because he pushes on and steers the conversation into an entirely unexpected direction. “You’re an amazing investigative reporter – or so I’ve heard,” he quickly adds before Rey can even begin to process the idea that Ben Snoke might know her work. “Any serious news team in the city would be lucky to have you. So why are you here posting about the same ten Instagram trends day in and day out?”

He seems… genuinely puzzled, Rey notes with no small amount of surprise. And maybe in any other case that would’ve softened her, and maybe under any other circumstances this would’ve been the perfect opportunity to ask if his team could use another reporter, but right here, right now… Ben was already dangerously close to the truth when he pushed his way into Amilyn’s office unannounced. She can’t let him get any closer.

“It’s a brave new world, Ben,” she huffs at him, going for a sneer and failing miserably as soon as she catches sight of a flash of hurt in his eyes. “Try to keep up. Escapism gets hits. Sensationalism gets hits. The same ten Instagram trends over and over again gets hits. But good old boring investigative work? There’s a reason newsrooms are growing smaller and smaller all around the country.”

And before Ben can defend his craft, their craft–

“Besides, that’s none of your business,” Rey states with a note of finality as she turns her back on him, returning her attention to her screen.

She waits for the hairs on the back of her neck to go down, for the odd prickle of awareness she feels around him to fade away.

But Ben lingers, and finally he lets out a heavy sigh. “You’re right,” he mumbles, and out of the corner of her eye Rey spots him placing a brown bag on her desk. “Here. Since you’re working late.”

She turns her head just the slightest bit, and then a little more to stare at him when she catches sight of the logo printed on the bag.

Pastries. He’s brought her pastries from the bakery around the corner.

“Um… thanks?” Rey reaches out and notes that the bag is still warm. “When did you–”

Ben sticks his hands into his pockets and fixes his eyes straight ahead, on her crowded notice board. “Breakroom,” he lies.

Rey can’t exactly call him out on it – what is she supposed to do, accuse him of taking the trouble of getting fresh food for her? – but she’s too puzzled to let it slide. “Wow,” she pretends to play along, “you guys just happen to keep fresh pastries on hand?”

To his credit, Ben remains nonchalant. “This floor might have healthy, balanced meal-prep lunches,” he shrugs, “but we have all the good stuff.” A pause, and then, a little quieter: “You should come up and check it out sometime.”

She’s been to the upstairs breakroom at least four times, and can confirm that they do not have ‘all the good stuff’. In fact, on most days the news people can be found hanging around the downstairs breakroom, hoping to swipe something from the lifestyle team’s latest video shoot or cooking experiment.

“Maybe I will,” Rey says, keeping her tone even.

Ben withdraws his hands from his pockets as he nods. “Okay. Great. Yeah.”

A painfully awkward silence settles over them then, but just as Rey’s about to reach for the bag and ask if he’d like to share something – it’s only polite to offer, since he’s the one who went and got them – Ben steps back and promptly turns on his heel. “I’ll just… I’ll just get out of your hair now.”

Rey reaches for him without thought. “Ben, wait!” she requests as her fingers wrap around his wrist.

When he turns he’s got that same look from that first morning again, this time focused firmly upon her hand on his. Rey’s cheeks heat up as she quickly lets go of him, and if her heart falls a little at his reaction it’s nobody’s business but her own.

“What…” Ben falters, clears his throat, and finally tears his eyes away from his hand to look at her for all of five seconds. “What is it?”

“I just…” Rey takes a deep breath, and offers him a smile. “Thanks,” she says, leaving it at that.

Slowly, hesitantly, Ben smiles in return. It’s a small thing, a barely-there curve of his lips, but his eyes are warm and bright as they hold hers, the first time she’s ever seen them that way, and oh fuck, Rey’s going to think about this a lot now, isn’t she?

“You’re welcome,” he murmurs, still smiling. “Don’t… don’t stay too late, Rey. Good night.”

This time, she lets him leave.

“Good night, Ben,” Rey whispers to his retreating back, wondering what the hell just happened.

But hey, at least now she’s roughly 80% sure Ben Snoke doesn’t actually hate her for no damn reason.

So this was originally meant to be done by last week, but then life got in the way as it always does. And it was originally meant to be a one-shot, but then it got out of hand as my stories always do. This one especially strayed further and further away from the plan with every word I wrote, but I hope it's still somewhat decent.

Hoping to update again this weekend and then sometime mid-next week for a third and final time, but we'll see how that goes. You know what they say about life and the best-laid plans...

As always, thank you for reading and I hope you liked it. Please don't hesitate to like/reblog/comment; I'd love to know what you guys think about this so far!

And once again: happy birthday, Nancy! <3

[backmygirlhood]

I wasnt in fandom until after they broke up, why do people hate CH?

sorry i took so long to answer. people hate him because he’s a bad person in many ways (racism, sexism, etc.) and because he was a whiny, annoying baby after him and taylor broke up. here are some reasons

about this is what you came for:

“After recording a full demo, they agreed to keep the collaboration on the down-low, but Swift was hurt after Harris did an interview and said he couldn’t foresee working with his then-girlfriend in the future.” so she wrote the song for him and agreed to use a pseudonym and then he did an interview and said he didn’t think he would ever collab with her even though she had just written a song for him.

about male guests on tour:

he never liked the photos of taylor’s male guests on the 1989 tour and when jason derulo took his shirt off, he posted this

i wanted to include a link to the original post but it’s flagged and the op is deactivated so i’m just gonna copy and paste it in here (sorry it’s long):

calling a girl at a show a “dumb fucking bitch” for asking him to play something original (as in making something up at the turntable) and egging on the crowd

perpetuating culturally-constructed ethnic stereotypes (he is behind arabs in an airport and uses the caption “making moves”)

making fun of an overweight person

making fun of susan boyle for the way she looks

inappropriate comments regarding women

poking fun at a woman for having body hair

being uncomfortable with being identified as black (because soul is historically an african-american sound)

overall douche behavior

i left out one photo since i’m guessing that’s the reason the og post got flagged

he dated rita ora and when they broke up in mid-2014 he refused to give her music she had helped him work on for her album, notably the song “i will never let you down”. he made it a big public deal by tweeting about it. regardless of how the relationship ended, it was immature.

this is more putting pieces together…….calvin was seen with his girlfriend on the beach the day before the BRIT awards. the next day he was at the BRIT awards hanging out with taylor and that’s when something started i guess (i used that link for the picture, i would ignore the tabloid story about how they were touchy). a little into march calvin and his then-girlfriend supposedly broke up “sometime around the BRIT awards” (she unfollowed him on instagram and deleted the pictures she had with him after the BRIT awards, so that says something about the timing). this seems like a scenario where he had a girlfriend and got cozy with someone else (namely taylor) and then stopped seeing the other girl right away. things happen but that’s really sketchy.

so yeah i always hated calvin, even when they were together, hope i could help