#and I’m finally adding to the discourse

[moonstrck]

Rereading ACOSF and Nesta and Cassian’s first sex scene ended in such a fucked up way, imo.

Despite obviously feeling a connection and saying he was “beyond lies right now” after calling her “sex” beautiful, Cassian immediately switches up and stonewalls her. She had said “just sex” at first when they began messing around, yes, but you can tell he pulled this just to spite her and leave her reeling.

Especially how when complimented she said “no one’s ever called it beautiful before”, showed him her genuine self and shared that the experience was “too good”. Almost like she knew it was too good to not end with some kind of punishment and pain, like everything in her life had up to that point.

I just found this so… ick. I’ve been in a position like that where someone just changes their demeanor and shows complete loss of interest in you after they’re satisfied and it’s such a disgusting feeling of being used. She even said she felt empty afterwards. And she had been self harming via sex before this (WHICH WAS ONE OF THE REASONS SHE WAS LOCKED IN THE HOUSE OF WIND!!!) and he did this. Again, ick

[doki-doki-imagines]

Kisses

tw: some suggestive, nsfw (Johnny Cage one)

author note: another idea I needed to write out. Hope you'll enjoy reading those!

If there is something Raiden can’t stand is seeing you cry; tears and snot don’t suit you. Raiden’s warm hands cup your face, calloused hands against your soft cheeks, thumbs brushing the remaining tears  “Come with me” he whispers, chocolate brown eyes looking at you with such passion they almost make you forget all your problems.

He takes you to the field where he spends most of his day “The stars here are brighter than anywhere else” he tells you, voice strong and reassuring before sitting on the ground next to you.

Words escape your mouth like a waterfall, no filter, brain shut, just the need to share, something you are not used to do.

Raiden listens to you, eyes never leaving your face, while you look at the starry sky, your eyes always elsewhere, too worried you’d lose the thread of the discourse if your eyes happened to meet.

“If I know something is that everything other than death has a solution.“ His forefinger push behind your ear a strand of your hair, the action makes you jerk, eyes widening and finally, you look at him.

There isn’t much light, but the moon frames his face perfectly. You can see a reddish hue coloring his cheeks, and a smile full of hope that makes your heart thump with joy “I’m sorry I can’t offer you a better answer, but-“ his hands grip your arms, strong, but without hurting, his strength perfectly stable “Never let yourself down, life will get better believe me.” You bite your tongue “It never does Raiden” you’d like to reply, but his words carry so much hope that you can only nod at him.

He lifts himself up from the ground and extends his hand out to help you.

“Thanks” You say after minutes of silence, your steps on the ground the only sound, not even cicadas try to interrupt.

“For the hand? It really is no-“

“For the company, for your words.” You look at him, now standing in front of your room. You kiss his cheek and wish him goodnight, a shy smile appears on his face as he waves at you.

The newfound warmness spreading from your heart is a new problem you’ll have to learn how to deal with in the next few months, for now, you can only rest and wait for a new day to start.

“You finally woke up, you idiot.” Tomas could recognize that voice between millions of others, so sweet and so caring even if they just called him an idiot.

Grey eyes scan the room, he’s in the infirmary bed, at Madame Bo restaurant. He and Kuai Liang got ambushed not that far and he remembers getting hit at the back of his head; that stung a lot.

“Do you know who I am?” Your voice trembles and Tomas has the urge to coo at you; obviously, he knows who you are, his heart keeps thrumming mercilessly against his ribcage the moment he opened his eyes.

“Yeah, I know, who do you think I am? A simple knock on the head won’t either kill me or make me lose my memory.” He half teases, but the scowl is still stuck on your face.

“Tomas-“ Your voice is serious and he can only look at you, at your trembling lips and shiny eyes “I seriously thought I lost you.” Your arms envelop his figure, your face hidden resting on top of his right shoulder,  new warmth adding to Tomas one.

He is stuck in place, but his mind is running wild. His left hand pats your head and he feels the corner of his lips twitching.

You must care about him a lot.

You lift your head up, your teary eyes locking into his gray ones, pupils wide, so deep he may lose himself in them. Tomas feels the time slowing down, almost stopping, your lips inching closer and closer ‘till they finally touch.

He reciprocates, not a single second lost, your lips dancing and searching for each other, breath mingling, tongue fighting in a battle of supremacy, both wanting to feel more of each other. Tomas pulls you towards him and your body falls onto his, chest against chest, heart beating at the same rhythm, divided by the layers of your clothing. Limbs tangle, hands everywhere, caressing and groping;  from an outside view, it wouldn’t be able to tell where one starts and the other one ends.

This ‘till your hand pulls Tomas’ hair. He breaks the kiss and flinch, maybe that was more than a little hit on the head. He can see you try to pull off from him, eyes full of worry, but his hands keep you in place, on his lap, fingers leaving indent on your hips that will for sure bruise.

“I-I shouldn’t have, sorry Tomas.” Your hands, so tiny and soft in contrast to his ones, push against his chest, like you are trying to distance yourself from him, head turned to the side not looking at him.

Your hair messy, your lips still red and bruised, and that worried expression, fuck, Tomas would like to frame his moment, your cuteness overwhelming all his senses.

Then you both hear a voice, it’s Madame Bo telling you to go back to work, the signal that he has to let you go. You remove yourself, Tomas’ hands finally loosening up. You brush your clothes in place and rush towards the exit.

“See you later” Tomas rasps out.

You nod.

Later you’ll have more time to talk about your feelings.

“Johnny-“ A breathy moan escapes your mouth.

The atmosphere is humid, the heat of your two bodies entangled is almost suffocating.

You missed Johnny, this new project he has been working on keeps him away from home for months. You are a supportive partner, you love him and you want to see him happy but, fuck, you missed him so much.

You are lucky he is on your same wavelength. He opens the door and your lips are already locked, hands unbuttoning shirts and pants being thrown somewhere.

“I missed you so much, Johnny.” You gasp in between kisses, your hand on the back of his neck to keep him impossibly close to you.

He groans, his hands now on your lower back lifting you up from the ground.

Everything else is a blur in your mind, you soon find yourself lying on the bed, legs open and Johnny working his tongue southward, your warm sex as inviting as water in the desert.

“Fuck-“ Your hand lay on his head, trying not to grip to harshly his dirty blonde locks.

“Yeah baby, tell me how good I am.” You look down to see his hips grind against the mattress, so desperate for you.

A wave of pleasure licks down your spine, your eyes roll back, throat exposed while you bit your bottom lip trying to keep a louder moan.

How good it is to be desired.

“J-Johnny you are so go-“ Your phrase gets interrupted by a gasp, a particular flick of his tongue makes you see stars, your legs reflexively close, but Johnny’s strong hands keep your thighs apart, fingers circling the inner side and you don’t know if it is done to calm you or him.

One of his hand leave your legs to play with your sex, his face now squeezed between your soft thighs, but your mind is too fogged to worry about crushing him, not that he minded his motions only getting faster and uncoordinated.

An orgasm soon permeates your body, Johnny lifts up, his lips drenched with your essence, his pupils blown wide, your heartbeat impossibly fast, a different kind of heat enveloping your limbs.

Your lips meet again, you taste your flavor on his tongue, lips locking, his hands now resting on your waist, pushing your chests impossibly close, but not enough, never enough.

“I love you.”

The night ahead is still long.

Bi-Han is awake, sitting on your bedding, naked, but the covers hide everything under the navel. The moon shines bright in the sky,  the light and shades framing his lover's body sleeping soundly next to him.

Bi-Han is a man eaten by greed, by pride, a man made more of scars than flesh.

But you love him and he loves you. It’s a feeling he never knew, it isn’t the kind of warmth he got from his mother's compliments, or from his brother's support, it is something much more exhilarating, that makes his eyes soften and his hardened core melt more than he’d like to admit.

His eyes land on your body, so soft, so sweet, he wants to defend you from all the ugliness of this world.

Maybe from him too.

He looks outside the window, the night is still long, but there is no sign of tiredness in his eyes.

“Bi-Han, it is late you should sleep.” Bi-Han breaths, he didn’t even notice how long he had been keeping his breath in, mind so busy and heart uneasy.

Your arms wrap around his neck, naked body laying on his back, your lips kissing his neck, where arteries and veins flow.

“Worried about something?”  Your eyes look at his face, he doesn’t look back but he knows, searching for any telltale sign of his emotions.

“Nothing you should worry about sparrow.” He breathes out, voice raspy as always.

You don’t believe him, he knows it. Your hand starts to trace the scars painting his skin, your lips barely caressing the newborn scratches on his back.

 “Tell me your worries, my heart.” Your arms hug his frame and push him down together with you.

Bi-Han doesn’t struggle against your hold, his head now in the crook of your neck, free hair tickling you.

“Don’t worry about me, tomorrow is a busy day and you need to rest.”  He kisses the tip of your nose, his calloused hand caresses your cheek, thick fingers drawing circles on your skin.

You kiss him, in a slow liplock. Eyes closed, hands holding.

Bi-Han bites your bottom lips before breaking the kiss and you groan, the only kind he likes.

He looks into your eyes and he only finds love, sweet and blissful. A new fire starts inside his heart.

Bi-Han still doesn’t know how to protect you from this accursed world, for now, he’ll have to settle for showing how much he loves you.

[enluv]

soft launching with mingyu !

PAIRING! - non!idol kim mingyu × fem!reader

SYNOPSIS! - mingyu and y/n portray their relationship through a series of soft launching <3

genre(s): comedy, tooth rooting fluff, soft launching

warnings: profanity, some lighthearted bullying & friendly discourse buts that's all! do tell me if I missed something!!

soft launching masterlist -> found here!!!

coco’s <3 note: okay so this is the first soft launch I’ve done in a WHILE so if it’s absolute dog crap please spare my feelings and pretend it’s good 😭🙏 i personally have not been feeling too well lately and by default my writing takes a bit from that and i made this to try and get myself back and out my small slump! as well as maybe dip my finger into svtblr !! this is very much dedicated to @odxrilove who is the best wife ever, you can thank her for finally getting me to write for seventeen :) i do hope you all like this! i know it’s not much (or the best 😭) but i tried!!! I’m getting there! thank you so much and as always, feedback & rbs are appreciated!

soft launching taglist: @junebug032 @jwonsgirl @ggggghost @beoms-sugar @luvlee1313 @chaerybae @aernx @forever-in-the-sky2

— Want to be added? Check out THIS form!

[demonsonthemoon]

“Le spectre aromantique pour les nul·les » (Arospec 101 – French edition!)

In honor of #AggressivelyArospectacular, I spent last month motivating myself to finally translate my zine “Arospec 101” into French.

I wrote “Arospec 101” a few years ago during a 24 Hours Zine Thing. The goal of this zine was to serve as an introduction to the topic of aromanticism, and as a documentation of discussions happening around arospec-ness at the time.

The original, English version can still be downloaded for free here (and should then be printed on A4 paper, cut and folded). You can also reach out to me if you would like to buy or trade a paper copy.

In 2022, it was translated into Spanish by Esther (@waru-chan8). This version can be found here.

Last month, in 2024, I realized that there are still very few sources available in French about aromanticism. The few sources that do exist tend to focus on aro-ace discourses and leave behind the allosexual aromantic experiences (including mine.) Also, I’ve seen discourse emerging in France from people who are asexual and aromantic but who are totally detached (and mostly unaware) of the aromantic culture that has developed in English online.

Therefore, I wanted to share my experience and the things I learned in these same English-speaking online communities, for a French-speaking audience.

This whole project was also a reaction to an arophobic comment from a colleague of mine in an LGBTQIA+ organization, as well as to the general invisibilization of arospec issues even in an organization claiming to include the “A”. Considering I’m quitting that job next month (for unrelated reasons), I hope that leaving behind this zine will help my team remember that this “A” does not only stand for Asexuality…

I also took the opportunity of this translation work to update the contents of the zine a little bit. (For example, I added a section where I recount my experience of dating as an arospec person.) Should I make an updated version of the English version as well? Let me know if you think it’s necessary!

You can download the French version of this zine for free here.

Bisous 😘

[heycarrots]

There’s been a lot of discourse about the nature of James and Miranda’s relationship. There’s even been a lot of discussion on my podcast about it. One thing I want to make clear is that my podcast is a platform for discussion on all points of view. I’m not going to agree, 100%, with everything that’s said, but it makes the views of my guests no less valid. There’s no right or wrong, here, because this is art and therefore, it is subject to interpretation.

My intent, however, is to attempt to get as close to the original intent of the actors as possible because we look at a show or a film or a play as going through several layers of distillation. Each level purifies the intended narrative leaving its truest essence.

When we make a reduction sauce using an alcohol of some kind, let’s say a red wine, the heat applied to it burns off things we don’t need for flavor. You’re never going to get drunk off of red wine reduction because there’s almost no alcohol left in it. That all gets burned off, leaving only the flavor components, which is what we wanted all along, anyway. We want that extra element that enriches the flavor of the steak, by adding nuance.

So let’s take apart that meal.

We start with the birth of the idea. The story kicks around in an author’s head, trying to get out, growing bigger and more persistent until it outgrows the confines of the mental box inspiration is stored in and has to be let out. That idea, that’s the cow.

The author raises that idea, feeds it, watches it grow, and then, ultimately slaughters it. That sounds awful, but once you have that idea pulsing, growing, evolving and then finally commit the final draft on paper, it is a kind of death. The life of the story comes to an end and it becomes memorialized in a mausoleum. Readers will come to visit, spend time with it, lay down flowers, cherish it, and mourn its passing.

The next level is adaptation. That’s the steak. There are many ways you can slice the story, large roasts encompassing the whole story or a smaller, hyper-focused character study fillet mignon.

A writers room gets hold of the cow and carves it up. They choose what gets cooked and what gets tossed. A GREAT group of writers saves the bones. They take in the entire supporting structure of the piece and while the whole story may not make it onto the screen, they will have slow roasted the bones for a stock. When you watch a show like Black Sails, where themes are introduced that won’t fully be explained or explored until several seasons later, that’s what that is. It is the stock being used to flavor the whole dish. You’ve distilled the entire cow to its purest essence and so every scene, every line of dialogue, every acting choice, encompasses the entirety of the story. A line from episode one is defined by knowledge of the finale and in regard to dialogue, defined by an actors’ knowledge of a character’s backstory. There are many writers rooms who are creating the bones of the story as they go, which means they aren’t starting with a rich stock. You can’t trace back character motivations or choices to begin with because those motivations changed throughout production.

Black Sails, again, isn’t one of those shows. Steinberg and Levine came into the writers room with their stock pot full and sloshing, spilling story everywhere. The richness of the details they were laying can make season one a bit hard to consume unless you are ready for a story on that level. Viewers need to come to the table with some bread to sop up all those character details because we WILL need them later.

Over the course of finalizing scripts and blocking out episodes, the steak is cooked. Like any great steak, this story is medium rare. More juice comes out with every bite. It’s what makes the show infinitely rewatchable. It continues to cook on the plate, but because it wasn’t overdone, it never dries out.

When the actors get ahold of it, that’s the reduction sauce we were talking about. That sauce provides nuance and flavor. That’s the emotion. A line of dialogue on a page is just ink. It’s nothing until it’s spoken aloud. And like any bit of language in this world, it’s subject to interpretation. In this case, it’s the actor who does the interpreting.

I spoke on the podcast about the art of subtext and how huge a role it plays in Black Sails. One example we used is Jane Eyre. It’s one of the most frequently adapted novels in the English language and with each adaptation, we get a new version of our characters. The most volatile and subject to change is Rochester. There are MANY versions of Rochester that I find appalling (including the original beast in the book), but each actor has formed him into something else, based on their performance. Toby Stephens takes Rochester and turns him into a silly tragic romantic, broken many times over by a society he never really fits into, despite the status of his birth. He connects with Ruth Wilson’s Jane because she fully and happily inhabits that space on the fringes that Rochester thinks he needs to climb out of. Jane takes his hand on the outside of the wall, turns him away from the guarded palace and shows him the wild world that was at his back this whole time.

This is what Toby Stephens, Luke Arnold, Louise Barnes, Zethu Dlomo, and really all the actors for whom their subtextual choices make them reflect like prisms, have done with their performances.

In the final distillation, character motivations and emotions are finalized by the actor. Writers can pontificate, the source material lies dead in its lovely tomb, but stories live and breathe by their storytellers.

What we’re left with is Toby’s face telling the world how deeply Flint loves Silver. Every single choice tells this story.

We’re left with Luke showing us how much Silver is repressing in his feelings for Flint. Luke’s face shows us an incredible depth of feeling and a door slamming shut.

We’re left with the incredible intimacy between James and Miranda, which speaks of a decade of shared physical intimacy. There’s an openness, a freeness to it until the moment in episode 3 when Miranda learns that James has found the Urca and is leaving soon to pursue it. She gives some of it away when she says “I thought I’d have you all to myself”. She is mourning the loss of intimacy that she only gets in short windows of time. They aren’t strained because James isn’t attracted to her, but because he’s rarely there. She has him for a few days at a time before he’s off on another hunt. The coldness starts from the moment he tells her he’s leaving in a few days because I believe she thinks he won’t be coming back, that this is the hunt he won’t survive and she’ll finally have lost both James and Thomas. From the moment Richard Guthrie darkens her door, she’s looking for a way to weaponize him and get them out. For her, it’s a race against the clock and she’s willing to sacrifice a bit of her relationship with James in the present to secure happiness for them in the future.

This is also why James still has sex with her before leaving, even though he’s furious for her reading Meditations to Richard. This is how they connect. They connected through physical intimacy in the flashbacks, as well. Him stroking her thumb in the carriage before the kiss. Tactile contact to seal their understanding of each other. Miranda bracing her hands on his chest during important moments in the Hamilton’s home, something she also does to Thomas, to show physical connection, physical intimacy. Miranda thrives on physical touch.

To think that, for 10 years, James is lying there like an object for Miranda to use, is, to me, short sighted. To think that James doesn’t love Miranda outside of a group, is also ignoring the fact that, 10 years on, James will not leave on a hunt (angry as they both are) without physically connecting with her, trying so hard to reach beyond his anger and the wound freshly opened from sight of that book he’s chosen not to look at for probably the better part of those 10 years. The way his hands hover over her back after she comes and he desperately wants to be with her in that moment, like the best of their moments, but he just can’t, speaks to the depth of his love for her.

So many fans of the show point to this sad sex scene as one of the most important character moments for James and Miranda, but I consistently come to the opposite conclusions about WHY it’s important and what we learn from it, because I’m taking my cues from the actor’s choices, not the director or the writers. On the page, in plain ink, he hates having sex with her. Toby and Louise show us, however, that they are trying to recapture a thing that is fleeting, reaching out to each other to patch up an old wound from which the scab has been picked off, leaving it seeping and raw.

From Toby’s performance, regardless of the words he uses years later to describe it, we see not a character who “loves men” or a character who “loves women”, but a character who LOVES. I don’t see Flint defining that love in terms of boxes and parameters. He’s a character who must be coaxed out, but then loves without reason, without a safety net, as he proves with his love of Silver. As was also referenced by a guest on the podcast, he places a sword in Silver’s hand and says “do it”.

Anyway, this post got away from me and took several turns, but the love between James and Miranda being dismissed by so many in the fandom has been bugging me for a while and I just needed to emotionally vomit on tumblr.

[yesimwriting]

“Armand is a switch not a sub!!!!” I yell as I am dragged to be locked away behind bars.

“He’s the biggest brat tamer to ever exist!! Look at him and daniel!!” I manage to scream out before I’m banished for eternity.

I’m sick of people thinking he’s not the intimidating vampire that he is!!

ohh i have thoughts on this (also i opened this ask while in the car with my dad 😭)

but i'm shy so we're discussing below the cut

also keep in mind that everyone's entitled to interpret media differently so if you disagree with me (and/or anon) that's totally okay, just be nice about adding discourse or ignore the post all together

(general nsfw discussions below the cut, but also a lot of character analysis)

I think part of the reason that Armand being considered a 'switch' is a hot take is because people forget that switches can exist on a spectrum and have preferences. I definitely think Armand is a switch that tends to prefer being a sub, but depending on the dynamics of his relationship with his sexual partner, he does enjoy being dominant in certain situations/scenarios.

These situations/scenarios for sure revolve around brat taming. The desire to break an obstinate person's will until they're so desperate for his approval that he's certain they'd never leave him is definitely the driving force behind this side of him.

I feel like that's a little too close to sexual psychoanalysis, but I do think that when he wants to have that kind of power over someone, in some ways, it's an attempt at balancing the extent of obsession between him and his partner. A stubborn partner relinquishing that kind of control indicates that they're as infatuated with him as he is with them.

Because of that, I do think that when he's being a sub he's permitting himself to be more emotionally vulnerable. I think in a long term relationship, he'd be a sub more regularly, but if his partner wanted him to play the more dominant role every once in awhile (or if they pushed certain buttons) he definitely wouldn't mind switching roles.

Also, if Armand is taking on the more dominant role he's also playing into his more sadistic tendencies. He was a little too content torturing Louis and Daniel in the 70's.

Speaking of Armand's week long crash out, when you think about what really set Armand off was Louis making Armand feel so incredibly dismissible, so incredibly easy to abandon. What's easier to leave behind than someone that's only ever bored you?

I could go into the dynamics of what happened in that apartment forever, but I'm just going to touch on it a little more so that this doesn't get too long. I think part of the reason Armand played with Daniel so much (despite Louis being the one to really trigger him) is because when Louis called Daniel 'interesting' in that context, Louis unintentionally turned Daniel into the culmination of everything Armand is afraid of not being.

Louis, Armand's partner of several decades at this point, has just named a practical stranger as the object of his fascination. Armand's desire to assert dominance over Daniel in that context was at least partially because he wanted to feel capable of making a source of obsession devoted to him.

(Also as a final side note ik when he’s in a brat tamer mood he’s WAY too good at it)

Anyway I hope this all makes sense!!

[rrezshifts]

𝓶𝙮 𝔣𝙞r𝙨𝙩 a𝙫𝙚n𝙜𝙚𝙧s 𝙝e𝙧𝙤 g𝙖𝙡a

𝙞n m𝙮 ʏᴏᴜɴɢ ᴀᴠᴇɴɢᴇrs ʀᴇᴀʟɪᴛʏ

the avengers hero gala is a place for all heros that have been recognized by the avengers to come together, dress their best, and celebrate themselves and the work they’ve done in the past year. you will often find many of the x-men attending this gala, as well as the avengers themselves and many other hero teams from across the world. not to mention the many solo heros and vigilantes. while this gala seems all glitz and glamour, it’s also a time for the heros, if they choose, to share their efforts in rebuilding communities and continuing to give back to the citizens on and off earth. this isn’t just a time to reflect and celebrate wins. but also a time to mourn losses and acknowledge the work that must be done. this gala is not televised apart from the refreshed news feed many may find themselves in as heros walk across the red carpet and into the event.

build-up.

not just anyone can attend these galas, unless you are a high level attendee, you aren’t even allowed a plus one. so when the gala rolled around in january of 2025 about a month after me and tommy started dating, he got very upset when he found out he couldn’t bring me. in fact most non-hero guests had to be invited by the committee themselves and often needed an extensive background check before an invitation could be approved.

now, january 2026, it’s been over a year after me and tommy started dating. since that time, my name has been dragged through the mud on social media and i have been attacked and harassed online just for dating tommy. due to this me and tommy have had to become fully open about our relationship with the public, confirming my name and our relationship to the masses online, while the avengers organization had to update and reaffirm their expectations of online engagement and discourse surrounding avengers associated heros and, now newly added, their partners.

after all that mess, me and tommy’s relationship is publically acknowledged and cemented. and because of this, a lot of fans have been vocal about their expectations to see me on the red carpet next to tommy. and ever the party planner as well as the expert at giving people what they want, tony stark, head of the planning committee, extended an invitation to me for the 2026 avengers hero gala. i was personally very hesitant to go. but tommy was begging me to. i gave my excuses and tommy gave his remedies. “my closet has nothing for this event,” i’d say. “we’ll get you a stylist,” he’d retort. “i’m too socially awkward for a red carpet interview.” “i’ll do all the talking, or hell, we can skip every microphone and reporter we see.” until finally i just admitted i was scared and worried to be in the limelight and focal point of the media. to which tommy just told me he can’t fix that, but he knows that i have nothing to worry about. every photo of me would be perfect. and all of the interviewers questions are pre-approved, and they can face fines or worse (career wise) for asking out of line questions. but he also told me to just think about it, he won’t make me go. but he’d hope i’d come to at least one gala with him in our lifetime.

my outfit.

from gucci’s fall/winter 2022 collection. i wore a plaid moss green suit with a fur collar and cuffs. under the coat was a white button up collared shirt with a black faux leather tie. a pair of sunglasses to accessorize. and my hair was recently cut and styled for the event.

tommy’s outfit.

from louis vuitton’s fall/winter 2024 collection. tommy wore a military-green suit with an attached skirt, and blue buttons. the shirt underneath was plain white and the tie was brown and perfectly tucked. (bags/ccessories shown were not worn).

matching moments.

while both me and tommy matched on the green aspects of our outfits, as suggested by our stylists due to tommy’s green super suit. we also had matching accessories that laid around our necks and over our ties. three overlapping pearl necklaces.

stand out moment on the red carpet.

at our first of only a few interviews, a interviewer informed tommy that fans were hoping for a young avengers movie adaptation, with rumors also now circulating of that possibly being in the works in the writers room. they then asked tommy, “if you had to cast someone to play you in an adaptation, who would you choose?” tommy gave them a genuine answer but he’s no good at names so he ended up describing the actor’s filmography. the interviewer then turned to me and asked “and what about you?” i awkwardly stumbled out a few words about not knowing many actors but that i knew who tommy was describing and he seemed to fit well. only for the interviewer to clarify, “no i meant who would play you? don’t you think you would make an appearance in films like this?” i answered surprisingly fast, especially for being nervous. i could feel tommy’s eyes on me as i explained that i didn’t think i would make an appearance in any avengers cinematic universe films, i didn’t think i was important enough for something like that. to which tommy cut in to say, “now that you say that, i’m going to have to make some calls and pull some strings. so start thinking of actors.”

© rrezshifts last updated. 02/17/2025

[cto10121]

Lately there has been a discourse regarding the status of fanfiction and it ended up giving birth to awful takes among one of them people calling Romeo and Juliet a fanfiction of Brooke’s poem

I’m as guilty as anyone when it comes to misusing the term fanfiction (although in my defense, I always mean it as a joke, I swear!!!). But yeah, William Shakespeare did not write fanfiction. At all.

He adapted works into plays. Which, yeah, can function very similarly to fanfiction in that they are both transformative. But the most important distinction between the two lies in their purposes. Shakespeare was not writing a whole new plot with established characters in fun “what-if” type of scenarios. He was adapting the story and characters as-is into a new medium—either that, or just plain writing historical fiction.

To that end, he did not change Brooke’s poem very much. He kept most if not all the plot, just rearranged things (moving the plaza-wide fighting to the beginning, etc.). He changed Mercutio from a random suitor to Juliet—cold hands and all—to Romeo’s friend and made his death the trigger for Romeo finally dueling Tybalt.

He also changed the characters’ personalities, adding depth and rationale to their actions. He problematized Verona’s world and the adult characters way more than Brooke’s poem ever did. More importantly, though, he wrote Romeo and Juliet as being really and truly in love and got rid of Brooke’s Aesop about the dangers of lust and disobeying your parents. The thematic changes are so much that the poem actually reads like a bad fanfiction of Shakespeare’s work than Shakespeare’s play.

Of course, adapting Romeo and Juliet is pretty cut-and-dry in comparison to Shakespeare’s other plays. Most of Shakespeare’s other plays did involve more extensive reworkings. Shakespeare also used canon mythological figures like Theseus and Hippolyta alongside OCs in a new plot; that’s probably the closest he ever comes to actual fanfiction. But unless you are prepared to argue that the screenwriters for Marvel movies are fanfic writers…it’s best to leave Shakespeare out of it the discourse altogether.

[cleolinda]

Weekend links, February 16, 2025

My posts

Silent Hill 2 update: I HAVE FINISHED THE GAME OMG. I actually played the final boss battle pretty well (...for me), but honestly, I played the one before that so badly that I just confused the two Pyramid Heads to death. I’ll take it. 

(Here’s my tag for my playthrough posts generally; here’s my final list of achievements. I am not telling you how many times I opened the map.)

What this means is that I’ll be able to start recording the full commentary on New Game+ next week. @idoherty451 will have his first one on Twitch next Wednesday, and I may be able to post my first video on Thursday or Friday. That is, under ideal conditions—there’s no reason I shouldn’t—but I’m always afraid of tempting fate and, like, causing the entire state of Alabama to sink into the sea. 

The idea is that it’s actual video gameplay with voice commentary, not just my janky Voice Memo audio from the early days, but it’ll also come with a writeup/summary of what I’m discussing, sources, links, other videos I watched, and so on. I’m going to post my basic notes-to-self outlines on Patreon first, if you’d like to see what I’m planning on talking about before I sit down and restart the game. 

Meanwhile, I figured out that horror is a safe rollercoaster you can get on, yes, but it’s also a rollercoaster you can get OFF. Except that I started half-dreaming about Pyramid Head.

Reblogs of interest

Kendrick Lamar at the Super Bowl:

Watch Josh Johnson accurately predict how that performance was going to go

The political imagery of the half-time show

A Crash Course to Kendrick’s Super Bowl Performance, from a Black Woman

--

The American Medical Association is monitoring the bird flu on YouTube even if no one else is

The new version of “Do not comply in advance”

Bison Ranchers Return Thousands of Animals to Native Lands and Witness Total Rejuvenation of Ecosystem

Some really lovely Protect Trans Kids stickers

I too was terrorized by the Flesh Hat Kid until someone said to filter the “tubi” tag (no, I can’t just use Ad Block; I use the Tumblr mobile app)

@dduane has helpful hints for your smut worldbuilding

The Traveler’s Warning, a comic

All the loving effort that went into filming the Lord of the Rings trilogy

Mr. Frodo, do you remember the ribs

If you’re not familiar with “I would never jeopardize the beans,” start there, but now we have “beans r not woke. How could u do this?”

How to turn off Google’s Gemini AI tracking

An interesting discussion of non-coercive parenting

"it’s amazing the entire dashboard is just old things. shakespeare. arthuriana. gargantua. the epic of gilgamesh" is why I'm still on Tumblr

I forgot to link this comparison of Nosferatu and Breaking Dawn last week but it has haunted me ever since

“WHAT??? WILL YOU DIE THE RICHEST MAN IN THE GRAVEYARD?”

Beneficent Chain Posts: the Toad of Success

This penguin would like to science

The gator and the stolen hat

The Gunch

Video

A Vine compilation with the rare Baby Sand Guardian

I could really use a crow bar

An amazing folklorico Sailor Moon cosplay

Cleaning along desire paths

Qi gong: stretch now while you still can (I am a big fan of “gentle fitness”-type videos)

A big week for music:

Hostile government takeover

Three bears and ten thousand rats

How I flirt with your dad

Side note: "The Slur Song" is climbing the actual music charts

The sacred texts

Pop Tart discourse

Where is the sprezzatura?

Personal tag of the week

You know what, let’s go with polls; I really enjoy those picker wheel polls, although I’m not sure what a Genasi ranger is.

[yourlegacysnotyourstosee]

Oh shit wdapteo comes out next week I have to actually post my predictions.

Dnp 2025 predictions (in no particular order):

Corgi adoption

bwgfeo posted on April Fools or…

Hard launch on April Fools

Big project reveal in March. This is not a prediction Dan said in a preshow that they’re going to do something in March. (My prediction is some kind of game show or tour documentary)

Ditl on tour

✨medical emergency✨ (again)

Phil dyes his hair blue

Bert and Ernie Halloween costumes

Tit is released on dvd w/ commentary like ii

Phil FINALLY tells us what his favorite Scooby-Doo episode/movie is (I am the only one who wants to know this information)

Poppy playtime chapter 4, but they wait until Spooky Week to play it

They talk about the third Sonic Movie in a video, people try to cancel Dan bc he makes a joke about Tails being a “Power Bottom”

The next Tik Tok reaction video is full of Nosferatu memes

Phil solo project (PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE)

Phil says Faggot

More rpf discourse

Gamingmas or Dilmas

Windows go back on the Howlter house as a Christmas present

Birthday livestreams again

Phil gets a piercing

Results:

2+3. Nothing could have prepared me for the Phregnancy

4. Yes????? I mean they’re livestreaming tit which is a project they’ve technically already done, but it’s also not technically over and they’re adding the pre and post show livestreams which could be considered a separate project

5. No 💔💔💔

6. WE NEED TO GET OFF THE SEA!!!!!!! Not as bad as Phil almost dying but I’m still counting it

11. They did not wait until Spooky Week. Genuinely I think it would be so fucking funny if one of these days they purposefully don’t play a game that everyone wants them to play and then like a year after everyone stops bothering them about it they post

12. Sonic 3 came out long enough ago that this will not happen

13. Nope. Kinda disappointed tbh

16. Of course :) girl what is going ON in r/danandphil?????????

18. They finally went back up in February

19. None :(

[lizardanya]

not to continue being annoying and bringing up dead and irrelevant discourse (totk) but it’s kind of crazy to me how much almost mandatory resource farming they added into that fucking game.

like i Understand why they made armor upgrades cost rupees in addition to resources, it’s the same motivation they had for making hearty resources rarer and upgrading gemstones to functional items instead of just something you sell or an occasional upgrade item, it’s balancing the game to be a little more difficult by making its systems a little more complex. the difference is that 1. making hearty food more rare is just basic balancing 2. the reason the gemstone thing worked is bc it’s fundamentally about making me make an additional choice, going ‘do i sell this ruby to be richer or do i use it to set things on fire. what do i want more money or to set things on fire”. that choice is kind of diminished by the fact that there’s so many other elemental items that could be used for that purpose that are easier to get and that you accumulate naturally (i.e.: monster parts from elemental variants of enemies), but it’s still a choice that the player will most likely engage with at some point (probably early game). the idea is there.

the fairy fountain thing is just lazy. it’s not forcing me to engage with an existing system in a new way, it’s not asking me to make an interesting choice, it’s just like great. i have to grind for two things now instead of one. this process that was already inherently about grinding for resources is now just even more so. that’s the type of shit that doesn’t make engaging with this system more challenging, just more boring, meaning i’m just more likely to not engage with it more than necessary. and maybe that’s the goal? people said botw was too easy so we’re just gonna make one of the ways to make the game easier for u so boring u wouldn’t want to do it. great, guys. wonderful.

and like for context this criticism is coming from me, a guy who upgraded every single piece of armor in botw after completing the game just for fun. a guy who found every single blupee and cave in this game at the time when guides to the game were still being written so no one resource had the complete list of all the caves, nor all of koltin’s locations. a guy who FARMED STAR FRAGMENTS IN BOTW. do you know how boring, tedious and meaningless farming star fragments in botw is?

my point is i’m not someone who’s unfamiliar with boring, repetitive tasks that offer little to no reward apart from the feeling of accomplishment. i don’t mind farming for resources in theory. its just that there are aspects of totk’s resource farming that just make me feel cynical and not want to engage on principal, like it feels like the developers are sending me on a boring side quest that will make me feel like this game has more content than it does, just because they’re refusing for its systems to be simple or convenient. don’t even get me started on how needlessly complicated upgrading ur battery is, there is no reason for me to be talking to more than one npc, there’s no reason for this amount of transactions or locations being involved, this is all just busywork.

i’m gonna be so real i never finished totk, i at least checked out all the content it has to offer apart from the final boss fight, and part of it was bc i was like this game didn’t earn a final cathartic moment. this game just made me do a bunch of busy work, insulted my favorite characters (except for mipha ig… ill take it as a small peace offering from the devs for wasting her potential in botw), and took my favorite horse (guardian stalker) in the divorce.

also gleeok is a bad mini boss

[blank468]

Alright let’s beat the dead horse to the ground so hard that it can travel to the center of the earth. I found a tweet from someone who tries to defends Bakugo’s resurrection and say how it and his death raised the stakes in the final arc. I’m not going to reveal who made the tweet just to protect their identity but if you’ve been on Twitter you’ll most likely know where this paragraph came from.

“Edgeshot knows he can’t come back from this. Edgeshot is sacrificing his life to save a kid’s life I want everyone to remember that there aren’t as many pro heroes left after the first war many of the pros retired because of the discourse that happened after the first war. Plus, we know edgeshot’s efforts were in vain now, because Edgeshot isn’t the one who revived him He helped hold him together, but he didn’t bring him back to life. By pure luck, Bakugo’s own sweat exploded and jump started his heart. This type of stuff is seen in Shonen all the time, so I don’t wanna hear any complaining about this one. (Jjba pt3 spoilers until ⭐️) Let’s not forget when Star Platinum stopped Jotaro’s heart so Dio couldn’t hear the beat ⭐️”

First of all, I could care very little if Edgeshot was one of the majority of heroes that retired after the events of the war arc. Edgeshot as a character is a nobody. I’ll be honest, I thought he was pretty cool when he showed up in Kamino and his quirk looked interesting. But just like a majority of characters with interesting concepts, Edgeshot falls back into the corner and is given barely anything to do and has had no meaningful impact and connection with anyone before the final arc even started. I don’t feel anything about him sacrificing himself for Bakugo because he has never been shown or established to have any sort of character for me to give a crap about. I don’t care if he and Best Jeanist were students together at UA. I don’t care if he’s going to end up as dental floss for the rest of his life. I certainly don’t give a crap that Bakugo is now feeling grateful to be brought back by some hack who he had barely knew.

Speaking of Bakugo, if all of this is really Horikoshi intended to happen in his story, then why not do the basic thing when writing any story is to make a plan. There clearly should have been a dynamic between Bakugo and Edgeshot for this moment to feel impactful than it does. Horikoshi really dropped the ball with having his favorite character join Deku and Todoroki in the work study with Bakugo. He can’t go through a single arc that Bakugo is in without getting him involved with crap he has no real contribution to. I said in a previous post that Wonder boy has no real purpose/contribution in the main story line. His involvement with things like Deku, OFA and other side plots doesn’t amount to anything other than mindless yelling, guilt tripping, and just him treating everything as damn a competition. An egregious example would be the Endeavor Agency arc. Him acting ad the third wheel along with Deku and Todoroki doesn’t do any thing but give us more annoying moments with him. It’s one of the reasons why I dislike the dynamic between these three. I could on about why their dynamic is the most annoying and stupidest crap I’ve seen but that’s for another story. So back to the Endeavor Agency arc, He acts incredibly aggressive and inappropriate when he’s with the Todoroki family. He’s only in that arc so he can have power progression.

If Horikoshi wanted me to care about his dynamic with Edgeshot, why couldn’t he just have Bakugo do the work study with him instead of making a third wheel just because he’s afraid that his fans will get upset. Bakugo taking up on a work study with Edgeshot would have given the story a chance to do things that would have improve the final arc than it does. Let’s list them.

1. It gives a chance for Bakugo to develop as a character on his own without it being related to Deku

2. It could have helped painted Bakugo in a better light by having him feel guilty about Best Jeanist and make him regretful for his shitty attitude towards him during his internship

3. It would have given the creator an excuse to establish Edgeshot as a character and his relationship with Best Jeanist.

4. Edgeshot would give Bakugo some words of advice about not getting hung up over your past mistakes and focus more on improving yourself.

5. Edgeshot would have stated that he doesn’t blame Bakugo for what happened in Kamino; especially towards Jeanist

Second of all, what exactly is in vain here exactly? The only thing that I can think of that is in vain is his ego. Edgeshot I would think would have been better established to be more than just a support hero if he can do medical treatment on a battlefield. He had knowledge of this ability all this time and he chose to randomly choose it on this one kid who he barely knew.

Third of all, just because you excuse something by saying it’s a Shonen and you should expect it to happen doesn’t automatically excuse bad writing. Most shonen not only establish the world so the audience can get familiar with but they alsocreate rules on how stuff work like power scales for example.

Where in this story has it been established that Bakugo’s quirk can jump start damaged organs with the touch a tiny explosion? And how does that tiny explosion not do any damage to an organ that was or not have been stitched yet?

So basically what I’m saying is that Bakugo’s quirk somehow being able to jump start his heart was an asspull. And no, saying that you have spoken to a real doctor to get knowledge on the science of heart surgery doesn’t excuse your bad writing. It was already bad enough that a nobody character came in and turned into the world’s greatest surgeon incredibly late in the story, but the very thought that Wonder Boy’s quirk was able to jumpstart his heart without it damaging him is not only ridiculous but it ruins the stakes for this story. Why as a reader would I feel worried for a character if I know they’re going to be fine? Imagine if there’s a sequel to MHA and Bakugo as a Pro hero gets pummeled by a villain and his limbs were broken to the point where shouldn’t move. Would Horikoshi have Bakugo’s quirk somehow instantly heal his wombs and he’ll get back up like nothing just happen? How many fake out deaths is the creator’s pet going to have in this story? The amount of times characters have walked out of situations that should have killed them is not only laughable but proves why the story has no real stakes.

[monstersflashlight]

My secret:

I feel like I’m starting to grow a bit more conservative with each passing year

I’m scared to tell anyone this cause I feel like all people in my relative age group are extremely liberal/progressive and it’ll be harder for me to make friends

I’ve found from observation that a lot of times liberals/progressives make the assumption that:

Conservative = bigots

Conservative = uneducated or low intelligence

Conservative = morally wrong opinions

In the reality one of the big points that’s pushing me more towards conservative views is because I’m finding that a lot of liberals/progressives are very hypocritical and not the kind and respective people they claim to be

There’s a big “holier than thou” sentiment and competition of who’s more oppressed and I just can’t help but feel that groups I used to support love being a perpetual victim

It doesn’t help either than when good natured criticism or skepticism is raised towards any causes that liberals/progressives have people are immediately shot down as being x-phobic or x-ist for having a different opinion. There isn’t any room for polite and civil discourse as the conversations seem to always devolve into public witch burnings

There’s just so much hive-mind mentality and tribalism that it’s hard now for me to want to support or associate with liberals/progressive idealogy

Hi anon! To be completely honest, I'm a radical leftist, so there's that. But I'm gonna try to answer you without being judgamental bc I think that goes anywhere.

So, I think you should wonder why they are more progessive/liberal than you? What's their motivation? Why do you think progressive people are hypocritical? I feel like we don't question enough what motivates our political beliefs, and it's always a fun mental process to have. Other than that, I don't think all conservative are bigots, but I do think a lot of them are because that's what they act like.

Regarding the morality of it, I don't tend to argue with moral because there's no point, somebody is not going to change their morality for a few words I say out there, especially when there's religion mixed, so I try to be as objective as possible. I do think there's a group of liberals/progessives that are going in that route, and I don't like it, so I just don't mix with them. For me morals aren't about "being better than" but more like protecting what's important and defending it. Adding to that, you can't be perfect on everything. And by this I mean the general population, not any specific politic belief. We live in a late stage capitalism that pushes us to do stuff that it's not great but that's how the system works sometimes. So trying to fight for a moral ground in certain stuff is just stupid. We are all humans and we make mistakes.

That said, I have to say that as a member of a few opressed groups, I do think certain things are easier to do than others. Changing vocabulary, for example, I think that's a thing everybody can do. Not using slurs, not punching down, not making fun of people that are opressed (for their opression)... Those are easy ways to be a bit better to the world. But! If people are making you feel bad for saying different opinions that aren't due to what I just said, if it's trully just a different opinion, I'd say change the people you are talking to. And by this I DO NOT mean hang out just with other conservative people, but just, better people.

Now, as a final thing... What makes you push away from liberal/progressive becuse of all of what you mentioned? Why go into conservative views instead of trying to make liberals/progressive better? Because those are the kind of questions you have to ask yourself. At this point in the political situation in the world, conservatives aren't really pushing for economics and strict views in certain matters, but for opression of minorities and poor ppl, and I just don't think you want to fall into that kind of mentality.

Sorry for my long rant, we can talk more if you want. :)

[midnightsun-if]

”Its V day and y'all know what that means! Angst! If its okay could you please do the MC is cursed into deep slumber so mated or deep romance ROs tries waking MC up with a true love's kiss but it failed but someone else tried on MC and it worked and how would they feel about not being the true love”?” this but when the mc wakes up they are incredibly angry at the not RO because their body wants them and tries to make us want them but we want the RO. Like “I DONT WANT YOU I WANT THEM I LOVE THEM!!!” And mc hating themselves because of it. How would the ROs react to that?

Koda: He’d be by your side, doing everything in his power to try and get you to understand what’s happening, that nothing could be changed— something that’s made all the more difficult because he barely understands it himself. He just hates seeing you like this, in so much pain because you’re denying yourself of what you truly want. What would clearly be the best for you. “T-This isn’t easy, sunshine, but this is how it’s gotta be, I think.” Koda rubs the back of his neck, looking down at his lap. “It’s not fair, and it’ll hurt for a long time, but it’s how it’s supposed to be. Mama always told me that you don’t go messin’ with the natural order of things.” Whiskey brown eyes look up to meet your own gaze, imploring you to understand. To listen. “I want nothing more than to be yours, and for you to be mine, but that’s not how it’s supposed to be.“

Scarlett: That’d probably make it worse, honestly. It’d absolutely destroy her to see physical proof that your beast wants someone that isn’t her— when all her beast wants, all her beast will ever need, is you. It’d twist the knife so deeply into her heart that it’d become a mere husk of what it once was; the final scar that would never heal. Her anger would only exemplify because it’d also make her realize how hopelessly in love with you she still is. She wouldn’t wish to see you suffer, the love she still has for you making the sight absolutely painful, so she’d make it clear that what was could never be again. “I know you’re fighting, I know that you don’t want this, but you’re only doing yourself more harm. You’re only causing me more harm by spouting such beautiful words that are nothing more than the most ugly of lies.” Pursing her lips, Scarlett takes your hand in hers for, what she knows is, the last time. “We were not meant to be. I was a mere chapter in the book of your life, and I will come to accept that, but you need to accept that this is how it’s meant to be. I’m letting you go, letting you be free.”

Cyrus/Cyra: They’d treat the situation methodically, coldly to some, because they couldn’t bear to let themself open up once more. They don’t even know why they’re torturing themself by continuing to be in your presence, not when your very essence is calling out for someone else. They hope, that with the distance, with the added ice between you both, when there used to be nothing but gentle flames, that you’d begin to understand that nothing could be the same. “You need to stop fighting this. It’s wholly irrational to try and fight the mating bond when it’s been established the way it has.” Their words are hollow, empty of any discerning emotion as they look over what the healers have written down. “You’re only causing yourself more issues in the long run.” They look up then, some gold returning to their crimson gaze. “Only causing me more pain by not letting me go in the same way I’ve had to do so to you.”

Quinn: Their wolf would howl in triumph that their mate is clearly trying to pick the better option, but Quinn would quickly give them a reality check as it’d be clear how much discourse your body would be going through due to the choice. Something that should never be the case when it comes to true mates— it’d be all the proof they needed to truly bring the process of stepping back. Even if their wolf, much tamer now, more subdued, still snarled in the recesses of their mind at the prospect. “Sweetheart,” they murmur, gently taking your hand in theirs. Trying to ignore how right it made them feel— your touch, your scent, the sound of your voice, was home to them. They just had to deal with the fact that they’ve been evicted. “It’s honorable what you’re trying to do. That you’re trying to fight for what we had so hard, but I can’t let you continue on like this. I promised that I’d always protect you, and that means I have to protect you from yourself too. It’s time to stop. For both our sakes.”

Caden: For a brief moment they’d let themself believe that everything was going to be okay— that you’d be able to go back to them, but it’d be only that. A dream. A fantasy borne from a desperate mind. They wouldn’t be able to handle it, wouldn’t be able to look you in the eyes as they break the news that this couldn’t go on. They’d be completely retreated into themself because they know if they looked at you, truly looked at you, they’d let themself believe that this could have a happier ending. “I-I sent in my resignation.” They pluck at the end of a knitted scarf, one that you said looked nice on them so long ago. “I think it would be best if I get some space for a while. For the both of us. You need to settle into the new normalcy of your life and I—“ They bite their lip, argent eyes going misty. “I have to deal with the fact that mines been destroyed.”

Sloane: A spark of their former anger would arise due to the situation— about how unfair the situation clearly was to them and to you. But they wouldn’t wish for you to suffer. Wouldn’t wish for you to be anything but happy— even if that happiness could never be with them. It’d take them a bit to truly come to terms with it, meaning to actually come and see you to talk to you, but they’d be firm in their resolve once they do. Even if their heart was cracking open which each moment spent in your presence. “Don’t need to make it a big deal,” they say, flicking their lighter open and close. Wanting nothing more than to smoke, but refraining due to their current location. “You may love me, but that doesn’t mean shit in the long run, does it? Not when you have the person you’re supposed to be bonded to always trying to see you. I’ve spent my whole life feeling like a runner up, like an imposter, and I think I deserve to not feel that when being in a relationship.” Hazel eyes raise to meet yours. “I deserve that, right?”

Blake: They’d be stiff the entire time, wouldn’t be able to hold eye contact with you for long, the sense of familiarity between you both would be so strained… Everything and more had shifted and Blake wouldn’t know what to do with that. It’s one thing to lose the love of your life, but to lose your best friend on top of that? It makes everything too real, too painful, and Blake just wants to get away from it all. Meaning, for the first time, they wanted to get away from you. Of what you represented in their loss. “T-“ They clear their throat, ducking their head as they anxiously tug at their pendant. “Let’s not make this any more difficult than it already is. It’s a shitty situation no matter how prettily we try to wrap it. We’re both going to need some time.” A frazzled hand runs through ash blonde locks. “Don’t know how long that’ll take, but it needs to happen. For both our sakes.”

Reginald/Regina: For a moment, wherein they let every selfish thought run free, they let themself believe that this means everything will be okay, that you’ll fight the clear pull you feel towards someone else, and that you’ll be theirs again like they’re yours, but then they’d see the turmoil you’re in and that would all vanish. How could they say they love you when they let you be in this pain? How could you ever be happy together when you could be happier with someone else? It’s clear what needed to happen… They just wish they could have worn their rose-colored lenses a bit longer. “I don’t want you to think I hate you because I don’t.” A watery smile is sent your way, blue-green eyes shimmering with suppressed tears. “You’ve meant more to me than I ever thought possible. You opened up a whole new world of possibilities to me and I can never thank you enough for that. Even if our story ends here today, I know that’ll I’ll always look back on this chapter fondly. Even if it may take me a while to do so. I hope you’ll be able to do the same.”

[the-al-chemist]

Human Errors

I’m publishing this story as part of @hphm-ship-week, for the prompt “Second Wizarding War”. I actually wrote the first draft of this about three years ago. It came to me after reading an online discourse about how people should know better as they get older than to make mistakes. Perhaps this is true, but it isn’t the case. To err is human. We never stop making mistakes. We are all mainly making it all up as we go along.

With that in mind, this story is for anyone who has ever made the realisation that they’ve gotten to the point where they thought they’d know it all, but still feel like they don’t know anything. Welcome to the club.

Warnings: mentions of death, war, grief, trauma and PTSD.

Dragon wasn’t usually allowed on the bed. He had his own basket in the kitchen, where the stone floor was cool in the summer, and the oven warm in the winter. His master did let him into the bedroom occasionally, but even then he was expected to lie on the rug. It was a special occasion when he was permitted to go “up”.

In the last few days, though, there had been a lot of special occasions. One each night, and every morning. Either that, or this newcomer was just a bit more lenient than his master was. He didn’t really care what the reason was, however. He was just happy to make the most of it.

A creak on the bottom step this morning made Dragon roll off his back and onto his belly, which his honorary packmate had been scratching for him a few seconds earlier. He let out a low growl.

“It’s just me, Dragon.” As his master’s voice called up the stairs, Dragon stopped growling, and wagged his two tails. “Am I alright to come up?”

The female human moved beside Dragon so that she was more upright. “Yeah.”

Dragon’s master smiled as he reached the top of the staircase, carrying what looked like two narrow, tall water bowls.

“You’re taking liberties again,” Charlie muttered as he sat on the end of the bed. He passed Artemis one of the mugs of tea and added for her benefit, “Him, not you.”

“I guessed as much,” replied Artemis, taking the mug from him. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. I thought that if I was going to wake you up, I should at least bring you tea.”

“I was already awake.”

“Right.” Charlie inclined his head and took a sip from his tea, regarding Artemis over the top of the mug. She had yet to drink, and was instead staring at the wall opposite the bed, chewing the inside of her gum and tapping one finger against her own mug. “You know, you don’t have to wait for it to cool down. It’s not actually that hot.”

Artemis said nothing. Charlie tried not to sigh as she continued to ignore the drink in her hands. She had been in this state for four days now, ever since he had awoken to the sound of banging at his front door and opened it to find her on his doorstep unannounced, broomstick in hand and completely bedraggled.

He had known immediately that something was very, very wrong. She had clearly flown to the reserve overnight — and that wasn’t exactly a short journey to make — and from the grimly panicked expression on her face, she’d done so out of shock and desperation. If that wasn’t enough, the fact that she couldn’t even find the words to tell him what the matter was when he asked her paid testament to how shaken she was.

It took a lot to shake Artemis Hexley.

It wasn’t until after he’d arrived late for his shift and been remonstrated for it by his boss Magda that he found out what the reason was behind Artemis’ unexpected arrival. It was all anyone was talking about: the death of one of the competitors during the final challenge of the Triwizard Tournament. His heart sank further when he learned the name of the victim.

Diggory. Cedric Diggory. No wonder Artemis was in such a state.

He had decided to act as if he hadn’t heard about Cedric’s death. Knowing Artemis — which he did, very well — there wasn’t much point in forcing her to talk about it. She’d speak when she was ready. In the meantime, he’d just have to wait, and hope that he’d not have to wait too long.

That morning, though, he had received a letter from his family in England that had made him rethink this strategy. The news they’d sent was… strange. Strange, terrifying, and overwhelming.

There was a growing pit of uneasiness in his core as he considered his next move. Somehow, though, he managed to force a smile and a tone of voice that could almost pass for cheerful.

“I was just thinking,” he said, scratching Dragon the Crup behind his light brown ears, “that maybe this morning you’d like to come for a walk with me and Dragon, before it gets too hot.”

Artemis’ answer was simple: “No, thank you.”

“Or we could go for a fly after breakfast?” Charlie persisted, smiling in spite of Artemis’ blank stare and his own feelings of dread and fear. “I just think it might be good for you to do something other than sit in my bed all day, that’s all.”

Artemis’ eyes narrowed, and she pursed her lips as she slowly turned her head towards him.

“Is that your way of saying you want your bed back?”

“No. Not at all, I just thought you could do with getting some fresh air and a change of scenery. Maybe even eat a vegetable, and have a shower.”

Artemis frowned, and sniffed herself in a way that was almost subtle — subtle for her, at least. Charlie’s smile became entirely genuine for a few moments, before it faded. He wasn’t getting anywhere with this. He didn’t want to, but he was going to have to push the subject.

“I got a letter from Dad this morning,” he said, not sure even as he spoke how this conversation was going to go. Judging from the way Artemis had already stiffened, it was unlikely to go well. “He was talking about some stuff that happened after the last challenge, and it was a bit confusing. From what he said, it sounded like you might know what he was going on about, so I figured that I should probably just ask you about it.”

A tense silence hung in the room. Artemis shook her head.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she said, eventually, her voice quiet and hoarse.

“Yeah, I know, but I just want to understand what… it doesn’t make any sense, what Dad’s written. His letter says that You-Know-Who… that he’s back,” Charlie frowned, and Artemis shuddered. “Is it true?”

Artemis merely nodded in response. Charlie swallowed, hard.

“And Cedric?”

“He’s gone,” Artemis closed her eyes. “He was killed.”

“In the challenge?”

“By… him.”

Charlie swore under his breath, and ran a hand through his hair.

“How? Why?” he asked, his voice catching with both one-word questions. “What happened?”

“The Cup. It was turned into a Portkey, transported Cedric out of the maze. Your brother’s friend, too,” Artemis still hadn’t opened her eyes. “Apparently there was a duel and some Death Eaters, and You-Know-Who. Alive. They came back and Cedric was… Everyone was screaming, and crying, and then there was all this chaos, and there was a Death Eater spy at Hogwarts. I saw Dumbledore afterwards and he told me all of it. I didn’t know what to do, so I came here.”

Charlie had to force himself not to put his arms around her. His chest tight from the gravity of the news and aching for his friend’s sake, he drew a shallow, almost painful breath before speaking again.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I didn’t know how.”

That was fair enough, he supposed. The whole situation was so bizarre and terrible that it was hard to know what to think, let alone how to talk about it. Still, he wished she had told him. This was important, after all.

“That’s alright,” he said, with a shrug. Artemis shook her head.

“No, it’s not. I should have told you.”

“You didn’t know how. I wouldn’t have known how to say it either, it’s so—”

“That’s not…” Artemis drew a shaky breath and pulled her knees into her chest. “I just didn’t want you to hate me.”

“I could never.”

“Not even if it was all my fault?”

Charlie frowned, and Artemis lifted her hazel eyes to meet his. They had a sincere expression and were almost tear-filled. Though Charlie doubted that Artemis could have actually caused this horrific turn of events, it was obvious that she thought she had.

“Try me,” he said, with a sad smile. Artemis sighed.

“I… it was really busy that morning, getting things ready and everything. Bagman was being useless as always, so I was running around like mad, and I was already not quite… Well, I had a stressful evening the night before. It’s not important, not anymore.”

Charlie’s eyes drifted to her knees, where her hands were resting, the tips of her bare fingers digging into her legs. Artemis, either by instinct, having caught Charlie looking, or sensing that he was looking, shifted the position of her hands, so that the right covered the left. Both were bare. Charlie felt his heart skip a beat.

“Anyway,” Artemis continued, “I got there and I offered to help Badeea by taking the Cup into the maze. But then, I ran into Moody and he took one look at me and said I could do with a break, and he was happy to take the Cup into the maze for me so I had one less thing to do, and I… I gave him the Cup.”

��You’ve lost me, sorry,” Charlie said, placing his not quite empty mug onto the floor by the bed. “How does that make any of this your fault?”

“Don’t you see? Moody was the Death Eater spy.”

“What? But he’s an Auror!”

“No, it wasn’t actually Moody. It was the spy using a Polyjuice potion,” Artemis explained. “But that was his plan. Get the Cup, turn it into the Portkey. And I just… handed it to him. Just like that.”

Her eyes lifted to the ceiling and she blinked, hard. A single tear rolled down her right cheek, its course altered slightly as it deflected at the level of the small scar under her cheekbone. Charlie’s fingers itched to wipe it away for her, but he didn’t. There were certain lines he didn’t want to cross, and touching Artemis’ face would definitely definitely overstepping some kind of boundary.

Artemis rubbed the right side of her face forcefully with the heel of her hand and inside of her wrist. She blinked again, and took a deep breath, as if steeling herself for judgement. But judgement never came. Not from Charlie.

“You shouldn’t feel guilty for that,” he told her. She stared back at him, clearly disbelieving. “Artemis, you weren’t to know. You can’t beat yourself up like this over something that you didn’t know about.”

“No, but I should have known—”

“How? How would you have possibly known that? I mean, the whole thing is unbelievable. You’d have to be mad for the idea to even cross your mind that someone might… that any of that might be true.”

“I guess,” said Artemis, unfolding herself slightly to stroke Dragon, who was nudging her arm. “But I should have known something was wrong.”

Charlie shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. You were stressed out, and someone you thought you offered to help you. There’s nothing suspicious about that. Besides, we have all trusted the wrong people before.”

“That was different.”

“How come?”

“We were children, then. You’re meant to trust your teachers when you’re at school,” Artemis reasoned, her eyes still firmly on Dragon. “We were told Rakepick had our best interests at heart, so we believed it. We weren’t to know better, not when we were only teenagers.”

“I suppose not,” said Charlie, frowning, “but at what point would you say that you should know better?”

“I dunno.” Artemis’ nose wrinkled. “It’s just that when you’re growing up, you just assume that adults know what they’re doing and have all the answers to everything, and if they do things that are wrong, it’s because they are all wrong. But now, we are the grown ups, and I don’t know about you, but I still feel like I’m just making things up as I go along.”

So, it wasn’t just Charlie that felt that way. “Yeah, me too.”

“Shouldn’t we know by now? What we’re doing, and what is right, and what is wrong?”

“I… I don’t know. I mean, it’s not like you turn seventeen and the trace disappears and gets replaced with some kind of fountain of wisdom, is it?”

“No, but it would be good if it did,” Artemis said, with the shadow of a smile.

“Oh, yeah. Instead we just carry on not knowing things, with the addition of feeling bad for not knowing them. It’s pretty crap, if you think about it.”

“When do you think it will happen? That we will figure it all out and stop having to muddle through our lives?”

“You’re asking the wrong person. I’m as clueless as you are.” Charlie half-laughed. “Maybe when… Maybe never. Maybe no one actually knows what they’re doing.”

“So what, everyone in the world is just stumbling around blindly trying to find their way, every single day, until they die?”

“Yeah, maybe.”

“Even McGonagall?”

That was a good question. Charlie considered it for a moment. “I think she might be an exception.”

Artemis grinned, smiling properly for the first time since she’d arrived.

“Probably. I can’t believe that she doesn’t know what she’s doing. What about Dumbledore?”

“He definitely thinks he knows what he’s doing,” Charlie replied. “But I reckon he doesn’t. He hired Rakepick, didn’t he? And this person who wasn’t actually Moody, he obviously didn’t know about that either.”

“No, that’s true,” Artemis bit her bottom lip. “Do you think he feels guilty, too?”

“I bet he does.”

Both of them were quiet for a while, Artemis watching Dragon, and Charlie watching her.

“It must be easier if you’re a Crup,” Artemis said eventually. “Life, I mean.” Charlie nodded, and she raised her eyes to meet his, before telling him, “I would like a hug now.”

“I think I can manage that.”

Charlie wrapped his arms around Artemis’ shoulders and pulled her against his chest, while Dragon jealously nudged his way between them. Artemis mumbled something, and Charlie made a questioning noise.

“I said” — Artemis lifted her head from his sternum to talk to him — “what happens now? Now that…”

“Now that he’s back? I don’t know. But I don’t think life’s going to get easier any time soon.”

“What should we do?”

“I’d start by having a shower.” Charlie kept his face straight as Artemis scowled. “In the nicest way possible, you don’t smell good.”

Dragon wriggled out from the middle of the hug as his new packmate batted his master with a forepaw. She stood up and padded away from them, and he turned to look at his master with pleading eyes and two sheepishly wagging tails. He knew he was about to be scolded for being on the bed.

But, to his surprise, his master merely patted him on the head.

“Good job, Dragon. Well done, boy,” he said, before he also walked out of the room.

Dragon watched his master leave without even telling him to get down. He tilted his head to one side and whined to himself softly.

Humans were such strange and confusing creatures.

[trollprincess]

So I think the Academy may have screwed over “Oppenheimer.”

Now I know what you’re thinking. “Wait, what are you talking about? Did you miss the Barbie snubs? Are you paying attention?” Yup, I’m totally paying attention. Let me explain.

This year’s crop of Best Picture nominees is very good. There’s not a one that doesn’t make me immediately flinch as to why it’s even there. There are some I might have added (“The Boy and the Heron” and “Across the Spider-verse” both deserve to be there, for example), but this is a good list. Not just by Academy standards, which can be questionable as hell, but by anyone’s standard.

Up until now, “Oppenheimer” has pretty much been a lock for this. It’s very well made, acted, directed, written, all of it. It’s good. It deserves it.

But. BUT.

Final voting is between February 22nd and 27th this year. So that’s an entire month of press and interviews and predictions and whatnot. And already the big story is not “Oppenheimer has 13 nominations.” It’s “Why the fuck weren’t Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig nominated for best actress and best director for Barbie?!”

And the thing is, they DID get nominated - Margot for producing and Greta for writing. Which is not me dismissing the fact they *should* have gotten nominated for directing and acting. (Note: There will be no Ryan Gosling shaming in this house. He deserves his nomination. So does America Ferrera. This is not a case of “only the man got the nomination.” Don’t erase America’s well-deserved nomination.)

So back to Greta and Margot. The next few weeks are going to be the Hollywood media asking “Did the Academy fuck up?” about their nominations. Did they not get the point of the movie? How does one of the best movies of the year not get a nomination for it lead actress and female director? Did Oppenheimer only get so much attention riding on “Barbenheimer”’s coattails? (Monetarily, oh, yeah. Awards show-wise, no.) Like, today we’re talking about their snubs, but it’s not going to stop today. There’s going to be discourse and prediction discussion and “Annette Bening stole Margot’s nomination” bullshit probably.

Basically, the Academy accidentally made the fact it snubbed Margot and Greta the story, and not the fact three other movies got more nominations than “Barbie,” including the likely winner of Best Picture.

The next part depends on if Hollywood can feel guilt and shame. So, you know, it’s anybody’s guess. But directors only voted for directing nominees, and actors only voted for acting nominees. Everybody gets to vote for best film.

Now, here’s the thing. Even IF they got nominated for directing and acting, they wouldn’t have won. Actress is between Gladstone and Stone (I’m hoping for Gladstone), and Nolan probably already has an empty mantel spot prepared. They just wouldn’t have won, it’s just nice to be nominated, yadda yadda.

But the Oscars have this *thing* where sometimes it’s not so much you getting an award because *that performance* deserved it, but because YOU deserved it. Leonardo DiCaprio should have gotten an Oscar for “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” and/or “Wolf of Wall Street,” they gave it to him for “The Revenant,” which isn’t as good as either previous role. Kate Winslet wins for “The Reader,” which if Best Acting By Kate Winslet were an Oscar category wouldn’t even make the list and would probably get beat by “Mare of Easttown,” which isn’t even a goddamn movie.

You’re an Oscar voter this year. It’s the end of February, and you’re looking at your ballot. And you’ve spent the past few weeks hearing about the Oscars fucked up. How Hollywood didn’t get the point of “Barbie.” How the Academy didn’t even nominate BARBIE for the fucking “Barbie” movie. And you might be thinking, “… I mean, we CAN still give them Oscars.”

Greta’s an easy choice. The Barbie script is incredible, and detailed and smart and funny. Greta already has Oscar nominations for writing. Adapting a book is one thing. Adapting sixty years of canon is a high achievement. I think this pretty much locked her screenplay win.

Margot is nominated for best producer. We’re going to spend the next four weeks seeing articles about just how much work Margot put into this movie. When Margot Robbie loves a project, she works her ASS off on it. And the work shows with Barbie. It’s a good goddamn movie, AND it made $1.4 billion dollars. As good as it was, “Oppenheimer” doesn’t make $955 million if “Barbenheimer” isn’t a thing. There’s an argument to be made that Margot deserves the producer nomination AND win MORE than the actress nomination, because as a producer she made TWO movies reach a billion at the box office, *and she had fuck all to do with one of them*.

So, yeah, I think the Academy might have fucked over “Oppenheimer.” Because for the next month, while people are debating what and who to vote for, all that right there? That’s going to be the discourse they’re sitting on right before voting for Best Picture.