#-next world war!'

[dearqueerdeers]

anyone else feel ummmmm the dread

[a-compass-without-a-needle]

This is what happened after 3.1 isn't it?

[cspcrashing]

one day the gold of wheat fields will replace the memories of spilled golden blood

[idol--hands]

[ask-geralt]

I'm very sleepy but I've had another Edwin thought.

Before WWII, the unnecessary gendering of pink and blue was actually swapped; pink was associated with boys, and blue with girls. The reason it swapped after WWII is gay men sent to concentration camps were marked as such with pink triangles, and so the color became associated with femininity instead of masculinity. Tragic yet fascinating stuff, and absolutely worth knowing, as all things relating to concentration camps, especially in WWII, are. How to avoid history repeating itself, etc-

But why does that make me think of Edwin? Yes he's gay, but he predates WWII, and he's definitely not associated with the color pink?

It's because of all that, and he's associated with blue, of course!

Blue was the needlessly gendered girl color in Edwin's time, and he liked it even before he died, the blue cap Simon snatched off him, remember? I'm not 100% sure on if it's a one to one or if we've gone even harder on the needlessly gendering, but picturing every instance of blue related to Edwin as pink instead as a thought exercise for the fem vibes of his clothes is fun, to me at least.

[houseofmarcella]

dear god Albus Potter do you utterly haunt my thoughts

Just… Albus in the cursed child, for as mixed as people seem to be on it… Albus as the certified middle child who doesn’t have the cloak, doesn’t have the map, who doesn’t even have a family name?

Can you imagine little Al (not yet Albus because that’s a name he truly goes by once he has Scorpius) tucking himself into the cracks of the door as he hears his parents talking, hears his dad say it would have been better to know they were having two boys so they could have just called him Sirius

Al, getting teased by his invisible brother, yet seeing so distinctly that his father chose James over him for their family legacy

Al, who grew up on the filtered advice of a distant, out of reach mentor who he could never live up to. Not like James with his fun, his humor, or Lily with her love and her girlhood.

(Albus, who will hear Cedric called the spare and understand far too well what it’s like to be of secondary importance)

Al, who out of all his siblings looks the most like his father, a reflection to every family friend of what harry went through and an eternal reminder to himself and the world that he will always be his father’s legacy (he will look in the mirror for most of his adult life and see his father before he sees himself)

Al, age 11, seeking comfort on the train platform as everything changes around him and getting another lecture about bravery that he doesn’t feel he has

Al becoming Albus on that train, when the boy who would become the most important person in his life actually asks him, asks him what he wants to be called

Albus, under the sorting hat, struggling but thinking about who he wants to be outside of his family’s legacy and getting put in Slytherin for it

Albus, who grew up on war stories and hogwarts hyjinks staying up half his first night because he’s afraid of his peers, but doesn’t want them to know that because he so desperately and conflictingly wants to both fit in and stand out

Albus, who is bad at flying, humiliating himself in front of his peers, because he isn’t harry but isn’t Quidditch player Ginny either… Albus, who all the adults see as Harry’s extension; Albus, who struggles with charms like Lily never will, who can barely make his matchstick silver under the blue eyed portrait in the room, who struggles to parse through the moving and unequal words of wizarding textbooks, who attracts bullies like flies and doesn’t yet have his mother’s hexes to fight back

Albus, struggling to write that first letter home, to tell his parents and little sister that he’s different from them; Albus who doesn’t even get to tell them because James tells them first

Albus, who doesn’t get a green scarf and hat until after the first snow, unable to parse if it’s the color, the fact that he’s the second born, or maybe just that it’s him that made it come later than James’ had

Albus, who goes back home for Christmas and faces his father’s disapproval for befriending a Malfoy, his father’s distrust and attempts to assure his morality for befriending someone harry assumes cruel and antagonistic

Albus, having to hold awkward conversation with Rose and Ron and Hermione, because neither of the kids want their parents to know they’re not talking (they find out eventually, and though they’re nice about it, Albus knows they’ll always put Rose’s feelings first)

Albus, who is suddenly assumed more malicious and problem causing than he ever was before, who suddenly is seen as a prime person to scot the blame off to when things go wrong

Albus, who gets chosen after his sister (“just like her mother!”) during the family quidditch match; who gets meaningful looks from his Uncle Percy; whose Christmas sweaters are no longer red but never green; who suddenly cant seem to talk to his uncle ron anymore, someone who used to understand what it was like to be James’ brother

Albus potter who stradles the line of too Potter for Slytherin and too Slytherin for his family.

Albus Potter, who’s ambition has been squashed out by bullies and disregard and distrust, struggling to find his identity in a house and world that is still in the midst of undoing decades as an indoctrination machine…

[hegodamask]

What losing command of the Death Star does to a mf

[fansblogs]

ok fuck it i’m maintagging this,,, everybody look at him. look at how sweet he is. if you hate him you will die and go to hell

[starleska]

what's going on in Doctor Who and who is the Rani? (a guide for newcomers!) 🧪

if you're a Doctor Who fan you may have seen your fellow Whovians losing their absolute shit over the past day due to events within the latest episode, The Interstellar Song Contest. i know there's a lot of folks here who are new to the show, largely here because of Lux (or who have come back after a long absence!), so you may be a little out of the loop on what's happened! here's a handy little guide to get you up to speed 😉 (big spoilers for The Interstellar Song Contest, and all of Doctor Who from The Giggle onwards!)

part one: bigeneration

in 2023, in the episode The Giggle, the Fourteenth Doctor (played by David Tennant) bigenerated. this is a type of regeneration (where the Doctor dies and comes back in a new body) we've never seen before, where a Time Lord splits off into two separate bodies. the Fourteenth Doctor didn't technically die, but the Fifteenth Doctor (played by Ncuti Gatwa) was 'born' and split off from Fourteen's body, meaning there are now two whole Doctors! this process occurred because of the powers of the Toymaker (played by Neil Patrick Harris), the main villain from The Giggle: an all-powerful god of games.

chronologically, the Fourteenth Doctor still comes before the Fifteenth, and he lives out the rest of his regeneration on Earth with former companion Donna Noble (played by Catherine Tate). everything the Fourteenth Doctor experiences is understood to inform what the Fifteenth Doctor becomes (confusing as that might be!). it's important to note that the Fourteenth Doctor is characterised as being exhausted and in desperate need of support. this is why many people consider (or...well, considered, as of the Interstellar Song Contest) Fifteen to be a 'post-therapy' Doctor: a well-adjusted, emotionally open Doctor who emerged after Fourteen had an extended period of rest. that leads us to...

part two: Mrs Flood

following the Toymaker's shenanigans, Doctor Who has taken on a lot of fantasy-oriented elements, which is a big change from the usual straight sci-fi of the show. alongside the Pantheon of Discord (the gods including the Toymaker, Maestro, Sutekh, and Lux Imperator), the Doctor has been followed by the enigmatic Mrs Flood (played by Anita Dobson): an older, upbeat lady with the bizarre ability to break the fourth wall. throughout series 1 and 2 Mrs Flood is shown to have knowledge of the Doctor, is always inserting herself into the Doctor's adventures, and looked to be dressing herself up as the Doctor's former companions. she has been the biggest mystery out of the whole series!! the theories about Mrs Flood are too many to mention, but lots of us were of the opinion that she was another Pantheon member: perhaps some kind of reality-breaking Story god, or the Mistress of the Land of Fiction. but it turns out we were wrong...!

part three: The Interstellar Song Contest

in the episode The Interstellar Song Contest, an alien (Hellion) named Kid attempts to murder three trillion viewers, alongside everyone on the space station watching the titular song contest. he does this by deactivating a dome keeping all the contestants safely on the ground of the space station, causing them to hurtle upwards into space (still trapped within a mavity bubble) and freeze, effectively halting all their lifesigns and putting them into a semi-comatose state. one of the victims of this act was Mrs Flood. once the Doctor and his temporary companions Gary and Mike revive everyone, Mrs Flood reveals that her 'double brainstem' (a feature only possessed by Time Lords) was damaged by the freezing process. Mrs Flood then begins to regenerate...but instead, she bigenerates, and out pops a very familiar face (played by Archie Panjabi!). this new woman introduces herself as the Rani: confirming that Mrs Flood was a Rani (?!) whereas she, the new Time Lady, is THE Rani, the definite article. so who is the Rani, and why are we all losing our minds...?!

part four: the Rani

the Rani is an infamous Doctor Who antagonist (originally played by Kate O'Mara) who faced off against the Sixth and Seventh Doctors (played by Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy) in two serials: The Mark of the Rani and Time and the Rani. she is an extremely intelligent and amoral Time Lord who runs complex biochemical experiments on humans and other species, without regard for how they may be harmed. she is ruthless and terrifying, and has no problems with subjugating or even murdering entire populations. even the Master is a bit put-off by her 💀 the reason everyone is going nuts is because, for decades, it has been a long-running joke that any new female antagonist must be the Rani. she's a fan favourite who many fans have wanted to see again, but due to issues with rights to the character lasting all the way back to Classic Who in the 80s, we've never seen her brought back...until now. some of us did jokingly speculate that Mrs Flood could be the Rani because of the Rani's penchant for dressing up as companions, like she did with Mel Bush (played by Bonnie Langford):

...but none of us expected to be right!!!! 😱 so there you have it. Mrs Flood was actually the Rani this whole time, though a very odd version of herself, and the Rani has bigenerated from her and made her formal return. add in the cameos by Susan Foreman (played by Carol Ann Ford), the Doctor's granddaughter, and this episode has rocked the Whovian fanbase!! presently we have no idea why Mrs Flood's personality is so different than the Rani's, or why she is immediately deferring to the Rani's power...but i do suspect that the Rani's return may 'end' the fantasy storyline and place the Pantheon of Discord back outside of the universe. my absurd speculative theory is that the Rani is responsible for the baby farm in Space Babies, and she was experimenting with creating little Time Lords. i'm also partial to the idea that she may be Belinda's mother, but that's completely deranged 😂 guess we'll have to wait and see!!!

[glendylucast]

"Would you kindly invest for 'our cause', please?"

Yes...

Peleliu Landing, but make it manga

John Basilone, Robert Leckie and Eugene Sledge as cover boys

I know I should've put ammo somewhere for Leckie since that's his quotes (I believe in amunitions) but a whole rifle looks better so... the ammo is in the weapon lol

[hijinxinprogress]

12 year old tim realizing robin’s not coming back to gotham and deciding that it’s Batman’s fault so he has to ruin the little bit of sanity and peace of mind Bruce has managed (read: struggled) to keep in his grasp:

[applebees4prez]

goddd the trope of “we could always rely on each other and you were the person i trusted most in the world but then you chose someone else over me and our relationship has never been the same” always hits me so hard, but ESPECIALLY when there are queer undertones to relationship one but then heteronormativity wins out. like god it’s such a sucker punch. so many queer people have experienced that really close same sex relationship where you thought you were going to be with that person together, even if you didn’t even realize it was romantic at the time, but then they became interested in the opposite sex and everything changed.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Bingqiu ponies (Happy Birthday @Piosplayhouse!)

[sleepyorchidmonster]

Soo, remember in Glorious Masquerade, when Malleus came up with the story that the cause of the Crimson Lotus was unknown, and Rollo was actually trying to save everyone alongside the NRC students?

What if that's another bit of foreshadowing for the end of Book 7?

Briar Valley is in a really precarious position now, still recovering from the Silver Owls, with the Senate mostly taking over while Maleficia grieves, so Malleus overblotting is just another blow to the fae, even if students like Leona, Kalim, Vil and Idia manage to advocate on his behalf.

So why not spin the tale of how there was an unnamed threat on the island that was so Dire (pun intended for Crowley) and all-encompassing that Malleus had to go all out?

To avoid collateral damage and prevent the issue from reaching the rest of the globe, he had no choice but to use his UM to cover the whole island, keeping everyone safe in a peaceful slumber while the threat was dealt with. Luckily, STYX coordinated efforts with the rest of Briar Valley and they managed to subdue the threat both inside and outside the barrier, and everyone is safe now!

That way, the world can see Malleus not as an uncontrollable monster, but as a fierce protector who might go a bit overboard, but means well (also he's a dragon and his remaining family was on the island, so his protectiveness is understandable). Therefore, it's best to befriend the fae and Briar Valley than make enemies out of them!

The only problem is the rest of the student body and staff that saw the overblot at Lillia's farewell party, but I'm pretty sure STYX's Lethe program is back on to deal with the mobs, while the rest of the cast can be sworn to secrecy in exchange for having Malleus owe them a favour (they can use Azul's UM for the NDA).

As for the problem, NRC has been dealing with overblots at least once a month, not to mention the STYX invasion, and the Phantom Dwarves back in the mines, and how Book 7 might introduce the true mastermind and that's what we have to deal with in Book 8... They just have to pick ONE of the options above.

As a sidenote, having Sunset Savanna become Briar Valley's fiercest allies because Leona told his brother that Malleus is his friend would be so funny. Falena sees his depressed brother going to the trouble of making a whole Power Point presentation to convince the council on the benefits of allying to Briar Valley, all to save a school friend, and just decides that Malleus Draconia will have his unending support. Kifaji too.

(Leona has been ignored and belittled so many times that he prepared for the worst and made a whole slide presentation in hopes of defending his point well enough. Shoud've just led with "Malleus Draconia is a friend of mine who just went through a very traumatic experience and I want to help him" Kifaji and Falena would accept in a heartbeat).

BONUS:

Leona: *Practicing his Power Point presentation at 2AM*

Cheka: Unca, what are you doing in the middle of the night?

Leona: I'm just practicing, no one (my dormmates aside) ever likes my ideas and I have to make sure this works...

Cheka: Why?

Leona: Well you see... [starts explaining the inportance of supporting Briar Valley at theur moment of need and the benefits an alliance may bring to the table] ... also the Lizard would love if-

Cheka: Why do you keep calling Malleus Draconia "Lizard"? Is he your friend? Do you want to help him?

Leona, sighing: Yeah kiddo, he is my friend. He's been going though some tough times, almost lost his father and brother, and as much as we butt heads, well, no one deserves that...

Cheka: So why don't you just say that he's your friend and you wanna help him instead of talking about those "tweatwies"?

Leona: First of all, it's "treaties", and second, well, Briar Valley is in trouble, and helping them might get us in trouble too. Also I'm just the accursed second prince, people never listen to me, I need to back up my proposal with facts.

*random noise that sounds like a mix between a growl and a sob (Falena and Kifaji are eavesdropping lol)*

Leona: What's that?!

Cheka, panicking: Probably the wind....

*THE NEXT DAY*

Leona, finishing the presentation: And that's my proposal, any questions?

Random councilman: Well I-

Kijaji, smiling menacingly: I think it's a splendid idea, Leona. Briar Valley has been a longtime friend of ours, so it's only right that we help them in their time of need.

Falena, also smiling menacingly: Agreed! I'm so proud of you, my brother!

Leona: Wait, seriously!?

Falena's wife, smiling and sharpening a knife while subtly observing the other councilmen, marking targets: Of course, Leona! You have a sharp mind and this is a good plan. Briar Valley will have Sunset Savanna's full support for the coming criais, isn't that right, councillors?

Other councillors: Yes Ma'am!! Don't kill us pls

[fantastic-nonsense]

the videos coming out of Syria right now are unbelievable. truly never thought I'd see the end of the Assad regime in my lifetime after 2016 happened and now I'm watching videos of people celebrating in the streets, statues being toppled, and dozens of refugees and political prisoners reuniting with their parents, spouses, children, and friends.

[ahoneesan]

i cant say i feel very much for "the eroticism of the machine" or whatever the milsim-fetish-denial girls are into these days but i can say im deeply into this fantasy world where every soldier has a special special woman who only looks at you and she loves you and she thinks nothing of you and she supports you and she kills the parts of you that arent useful to her and youre hers but youre a tool but youre her tool and