batsintheshadows

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I really want more versions of the second age where, instead of Celebrimbor being like, distrusted or fringe or whatever, and that's why he's in off in Eregion and no ones paying that close attention, it's actually the opposite.

Gil-Galad is ignoring Eregion because that's the one place he can count on to be stable and well-managed. Celebrimbor is an experienced leader and his followers are pretty moderate.

Meanwhile he's balancing Galadriel, who while competent is only 'sane and moderate' when judged against other the Finweans who crossed over to Beleriand. She's never killed a werewolf with her teeth, therefore she's the normal one.

And then there's the faction being led by Elrond. Who is sane but also barely an adult by elven standards. Also, his faction would be composed of some combination of die-hard feanorians (look I think he'd take in the ppl he grew up around, regardless of how you interpret his feelings about his childhood) and die-hard nolofinweans (the survivors of Sirion are always going to be ride or die for this man) People who would really like to kill each other, except they all agree that Elrond should be king rather than Gil-Galad, and are waiting for Elrond to give the slightest indication that he wants to be.

Frankly, Gil-Galad isn't worried about Eregion because he has way bigger problems. And, oh what's that? Celebrimbor sent him a gift? Oh what a lovely ring! And there's a note attached, I wonder what- Oh. Oh No.

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A Cloud and Landscape Study by Moonlight by Johan Christian Dahl

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Because it is the anniversary of his death, I wanted to share a small story about my grandfather.

Before I knew that I was intersex, I identified as a trans man. And I went the way any trans man has to go if he wants to transition in my country. My parents thankfully were supportive but I was afraid to tell my grandparents. My grandparents were German and lived/were raised during the third reich. While both of them never said or acted in a way that suggested that they had fascist views (my grandfather was until he died part of a leftwing political party), but there still was this fear in me. "They are old, they grew up surrounded by abhorrent beliefs...". And then there was my aunt. Who would constantly claim that my grandfather was homophobic.

The problem was, back then, there were no openly out gay people in our area, so I never got the chance to see my grandfather interact with someone who was queer. So I just believed her. Because she was so insistent on it. And because it confirmed my fears and my brain loves to be constantly afraid.

But I knew I wanted to come out. I had to, eventually, because I had stopped my estrogen treatment (back then, I did not know that I got that because I was intersex) and went on testosterone instead and first physical changes began to show. We all lived in one big house, so my grandparents would eventually notice.

I was so afraid that my father at some point offered to talk to his parents. I waited outside in the hallway that led to their kitchen and listened.

My father explained, easy to understand, that I was going to transition from female to male because I felt terrible in my body. My grandfather asked, "Is that why the child* is so depressed all this time?" I had been in and out of multiple clinics for manic depression at that point. My father gave a yes. And my grandmother made the incredibly selfish comment, "Can't that wait until I am dead?"

Before I even got time to be upset, my grandfather slammed his fist down on the table. I had never seen or heard him do anything like that before. He was a very calm and collected man who preferred to leave the room before he got too angry. "No, it can't wait. The child gets to get well now. And if that is what is going to help, then it needs to be done."

From that day on, he never used my deadname again or used the wrong pronouns for me. Sometimes, he would stop in a sentence to think and remind himself, but he did always address me correctly.

He celebrated with me when my name was legally changed. He built the bed frame for me and my boyfriend's bed when we moved in together, just like he had built the first adult sized bedframe for me when I outgrew my small bed. He drove my boyfriend to his chemo sessions because my grandfather also had cancer and knew how terrifying it was to go alone.

Did he fully understand what it means to be intersex? To transition? No. But he understood that one of his loved ones was suffering and that he could help to alleviate that pain. And so he did.

He taught me calligraphy. He taught me how to sew. He taught me bookbinding. He gave me many gifts.

But the biggest gift he gave me was, that when someone hated me for what I am, I could stomach it. Because this man was willing to unlearn the bigotry he had been taught for decades so he could love me for who I am.

*in my grandpa's dialect it was normal to refer to children as just 'the child' (genderless)

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no way i just saw people in tiktok comments crying screaming throwing up at the idea of aslan being a jesus figure. worsties the lion literally dies to save edmund (the sinner) and then rises from the dead. he tells the pevensies he can be found under a different name in our world. what else could this have meant

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comments are turned off on this and i know it was a bloodbath in there

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My friend is trying to name herself, and she's like, "Oh, what's that name that's like marmalade, but it's a name?" and I know she means Adelaide, but I think I can talk her into naming herself Marmalade if I play my cards right here.

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my cat has not been enjoying the heatwave

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new canon: pike and scanlan getting married by a scanlan impersonator

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i’m at a party right now and i heard someone on a walkie talkie and i turned around and it’s a mom who left her kids home on their own for the first time ever (they’re old enough) and they live a few houses down so she gave them a walkie talkie to call her if they get nervous. they just walkietalkied her for permission to eat ice cream

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Art snobs are actually a thousand times less annoying than people who respond to everything with "it's not that deep bro"

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Happy 10th birthday to the best tweet of all time.

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heartwarming: found family just as oppressive as real one

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Another fantasy trope story:

A story where a prominent prophesy very clearly states that this specific important thing Must Be Done by the firstborn of one specific guy. So three young heroes head out to fix this: This Guy's official firstborn heir, his bastard he didn't even know about before getting married, and his unofficially adopted orphan kid who just started living with him at some point, who is the oldest of the three so technically speaking is still the one who was born first. And all three must go because while the meaning of the prophesy itself is very clear, it's an utter mystery to everyone which one of them counts as their father's firstborn.