#That said I WILL be holding people accountable for their actions and none of what went down was excusable in the slightest

[bleedinghearth]

Re: Stuff

I have all the replies I owe drafted. I'm picking at them, and will continue to pick at them, I've just been focusing more on discord RP at the moment because that's what I'm vibing with more.

And I'm sure everyone wants to know my thoughts on last night's situation, but I've already said my piece and the people who need to see it have seen it. I'm not going to clog anyone's dash with bullshit because that's not what we're here for, we're here to enjoy a collaborative hobby, for fuck's sake. Breathe.

Life is too short to be so angry.

The upsilon timeline still exists, as many muses who were not involved with certain parties or part of their lore are still compliant and within that continuity. We'll see how things pan out.

[fyregrayfong]

A Ride To Remember

paring: Melissa Schemmenti x Reader

word count: 1.4k

Warning: none?

"I'm glad we have another thespian in Abbott," Jacob said as he settled into the backseat of your Honda Accord. "I'm not a thespian. I just watch" you gently offer. Earlier in the week during lunch, Barbara and Jacob had been discussing an upcoming production at the Bushfire Theatre. "I can't believe 'Life is a Dream' is being showcased here," Barbara chimed in as she fastened her seatbelt.

"Well, from the sounds of it, it sounds... interesting," Melissa quipped as you closed her door and got into the car. As you joined them, you listened to Jacob and Barbara excitedly exchange how the theater will portray the characters, shaking your head softly as you exchanged a smile with Melissa.

Once the two decided to see the play, Barbara asked Jacob if she could invite Melissa, given that the two had become friends since becoming roommates. Jacob agreed and suggested you join to keep the group in equal numbers. Since Janine has been busy in her new district role. You insisted on driving the four of you to the theater.

"So, who's the Quasimodo guy?" Melissa asked from the front seat as you began the drive downtown.

"Segismundo," Jacob gently corrected her, launching into a detailed explanation of the main character's background and history. Despite Melissa's regretful expression, you couldn't help but chuckle softly at her mistake.

—

While the play unfolded onstage, your eyes frequently wandered to Barbara and Jacob, who were captivated by the performance. You slid your hand into Melissa’s, surprising her and earning a warning look. The two of you exchanged a silent discussion, gesturing to your friends who were engrossed in the play. Melissa relaxed and intertwined her fingers with yours, both of you enjoying the subtle intimacy as you softly ran your thumb over her hand while watching the play. With each exchanged glance between you and Melissa, the connection between you deepened, amplifying the enjoyment of each other’s presence.

—

As the four of you navigated through the crowd exiting the building, you kept holding Melissa’s hand to avoid losing her in the sea of people. Once outside, you both let go, and you breathed a sigh of relief. "The play wasn’t that bad," you remarked with a smile.

Barbara agreed, letting out a happy sigh, while Jacob suggested grabbing coffee before heading back to end the night. No one opposed, and Jacob led the way to a nearby coffee shop. As Jacob and Barbara walked ahead, discussing the theater’s performance, you and Melissa followed, enjoying the quiet moment together, with your hands occasionally brushing against each other, a secret dance of affection in public.

Barbara looked back and saw the two of you oblivious of the action. "Do you agree, dear?" Her question caught you off guard. "I’m sorry, what?"

Jacob jumped in, redirecting the conversation to the play's conclusion “Segismundo’s conclusion at the end of the play. How he condemned the rebel soldier but Barbara is saying it’s about moral awakening”. You and Melissa exchanged a glance, scrambling for an answer. "Umm… I would think both of you are correct? It seemed like Calderón purposefully made it ambiguous, whatever the viewer takes and in return adds additional tension and depth to the play" you offered.

“Nerds,” Melissa scoffed, breaking the tension. Jacob and Barbara nodded, taking your words into account and continuing their discussion. You chuckled softly, grateful for Melissa’s quick save, as the four of you continued to the coffee shop.

—

Jacob opened the doors to The Toast Cafe, and you let Melissa and Barbara pick out a table. "What would you like to drink, Barbara? My treat," you offered, pulling out chairs for both women. Barbara requested tea, while Melissa nodded in agreement with your usual order. You met up with Jacob, letting him order his drink, and then you ordered for yourself and the two ladies.

After the barista made the drinks, you joined the ladies and handed them their beverages. "Oh, you did order a drink, Melissa," Barbara commented, noticing Melissa’s slight hesitation. She held her coffee cup and nodded “Yup, must’ve not heard me” she quickly took a sip to prevent the conversation from continuing.

—

On the drive back to Abbott, the group enjoyed watching the city lights while listening to soft music. Seated comfortably in the back were Barbara and Jacob. Meanwhile, in the front seats, you and Melissa exchanged furtive glances. After a while, Melissa absentmindedly reached her hand over and intertwined your fingers, resting them on your thigh as you navigated through the city streets. Melissa softly stroked your hand as you focused on the road.

Jacob looked away from the window and glanced over at his colleagues, noticing Melissa's hand. He thought with how dark the cabin was that he was seeing things but as each street light passed the image was clear. His face lit up with surprise, and he exclaimed, “Oh my god!”

The sudden outburst startled everyone, causing you to slightly swerve. Melissa’s hand immediately withdrew, her fight or flight instinct kicking in, while you regained control of the steering wheel after swerving out of the lane. "What?!" you exclaimed, “Yeah what the hell Jacob!” Melissa looked back at you just as Barbara grabbed onto the car and her chest, thinking this was the end.

Jacob looked at the both of you. “You two… you’re seeing each other!”

You and Melissa froze, exchanging panicked looks as you struggled to come up with a plausible explanation.

Barbara, ever the voice of reason, shook her head. "Come on, Jacob, don't be ridiculous. Melissa and y/n are just... friends, right?"

Jacob raised an eyebrow skeptically, his grin widening. "Oh, please. I may teach sixth grade, but even I can see the sparks flying between those two. No need for headlights with how bright they are"

Melissa cleared her throat, attempting to steer the conversation away from their personal lives. "Don’t be ridiculous. How about that Quasimodo dude and Rosario chick?"

“I already told you, Segismundo and Rosaura,” Jacob gently corrected her, launching into their stories before he stopped. “Oh, nice try, Schemmenti,” he added with a knowing look while Melissa stares daggers at him. The both of them having a silent discussion with just their looks before he relents “Alright, I'll drop it... for now.." 

But Jacob's intuition couldn't be swayed. His playful demeanor masked a keen awareness that sent a shiver down your spine. You and Melissa exchanged a glance, silently acknowledging the precariousness of your situation.

Once leaving the parking lot, dropping Jacob and Barbara at their cars, leaving Melissa last. You drove around the lot before leaving the lot entirely to actually drive her home. Once arriving at her apartment building you walk her to the steps of her building door, offering Melissa your leather jacket. You slide your hands in your jean pocket as the Philly air gets chilly. The both of you share a look before letting out a laugh. “That was close,” you murmured to the redhead. “Yeah, it was my fault. I forgot they were in the backseat when I took your hand,” her cheeks blushed softly, and you shared a smile. “It was weird driving without your hand there,” a slight smirk on your lips as you looked around, in case Jacob was driving up. “You think the coast is clear?”

Melissa glanced over then up at the window for a second and nodded. “Jacob’s gotta be asleep by now,” she whispered, and you took your hand out of your pocket, closing the space between you. Gently tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear, you whispered, “Goodnight, Melissa,” gazing into her green eyes.

“Goodnight, hon,” she whispered back, resting her hand on your cheek. Your hands rested on her waist as you leaned in, sharing a series of slow kisses that deepened into a short makeout session.

Melissa let out a small laugh as she pulled back, softly resting her forehead against yours. “You should go before Boy Wonder sends out a search party,” she teased, lightly tapping your cheek before sliding out of your jacket and handing it back to you.

“You’re right,” you agreed, letting out a soft chuckle, sharing a last kiss then whispering to agree to see each other in the morning. You waved goodbye once you reach down to your car as Melissa went inside her house, not driving away until you saw the door close behind her.

Neither of you noticed that Jacob was watching the whole exchange from the bedroom window, a smug look on his face as he turns to walk back to his room. “My gaydar is never wrong.”

[alienwithaguitar]

Does anyone else think this Wilbur thing has been blown way out of proportion? First of all, I am in FULL support of Shelby and am not defending Wilbur. As a victim myself, I sympathize with her story, and I will never discredit her experiences. But this community is going to extremes that make me so fucking uncomfortable.

What people forget is that Wilbur has a record label. He CAN'T say whatever he wants. There’s a reason he made a statement not an apology, why Lovejoy hasn’t said anything, why he never mentioned Shelby by name, why he didn’t apologize- because making promises can get you in legal trouble. One of the first things you learn about car accidents is to not apologize, even if it's your fault, because that will be used against you in court. Admissions can even get you in trouble for things you didn’t do, if the other party decides to push for that. He’s almost certainly not allowed to apologize because his record label can't risk the legal trouble. We can excuse Quackity for making poor statements for the same reason, so why can't we keep that energy here?

Wilbur has always been an unstable man. As a long time fan and someone who heavily relates to YCGMA’s themes of being awful and feeling like you’ll never get better, he struggles with a lot of mental problems. His persona has been built around manic, destructive tendencies and that’s something that’s been a part of his brand for YEARS. He's brought up drugs and alcohol use in the past, and one of his closest friends recently passed away, which certainly only added to things. Mental health isn't an excuse, but it is a REASON. (Listen to Mammalian Sighing Reflex and tell me it doesn’t resemble compilations of artists deteriorating as they lose their sanity)

I don’t understand how anyone can actively want him to kill himself. Or wish that he gets worse. You can’t claim to be an advocate for mental health and helping victims if you don’t want EVERYONE involved getting serious help. Wilbur needs therapy, he needs to atone if either of them want to heal. Nobody has to forgive him, or welcome him back into their life, but he absolutely deserves the chance to fix himself to ensure this doesn’t happen AGAIN. 

If you can seriously say that you want him to get worse, and you don’t care about his mental health, then you DON'T care about victims. Leaving a destructive man to rot alone WILL lead to repeat events in the future. As someone with multiple diagnoses for debilitating mental illnesses, when I was at my lowest, I hurt myself. I hurt other people. Mental illness isn’t cute shit you put in your bio. It's terrifying, isolating, exhausting. And if I wasn’t given a chance at therapy and healing, I could have continued hurting people for the rest of my life.

These tweets just confirm none of you actually care about mentally ill people, it's all situational and performative. This is the most clear cry for help I've seen and you're feeding into it. Most of you will never understand what debilitating mental illness is like, how easy it is to hurt people you care about. You can hate him, be pissed, wish he never did it, deplatform him, I AM TOO! But nobody involved would be happy if he killed himself. These are real people, not characters in a soap drama. Actively wishing for him to kill himself is disgusting. If you care at all about Shelby getting closure, Wilbur needs to understand what he did wrong and fix it, so she can move on.

Also the lying I’ve seen is so stupid. The spotify stuff is fake. Anyone who’s a casual fan of Wilbur has known for a long time that’s not his spotify account. It’s a fan account that posts unofficial versions of his songs. So easily debunked and yet people still hold it against him??

Again, I'm in FULL support of Shelby. I fully condemn his actions, and as a victim I'm so proud of her for speaking up. But at the end of the day, we’re people. I'm glad many of you have never had the kind of debilitating downward spiral that leads to you hurting yourself and others, but if you think that makes it okay to wish an unstable man takes his life, then you can’t say you’re a mental health advocate. Take care of yourselves, please think twice about your own morals if you're sitting around hoping fans and creators commit suicide.

If you are one of the people actively waiting for him to kill himself, I pray that you never find yourself hurting others at your lowest, and I pray that people show you the kindness you didn't give to him.

[gotham-daydreams]

Weird to say, but I think I'm pretty forgiving of Damien. Yeah, he's rude and ignores the reader, but he probably does the same to everyone else lmao. With Dick who pays careful attention to everyone, it's a betrayal that he would neglect the reader because he should have been an older sibling. Plus Damien is like ten, it's kinda hard for me to hold him accountable when he grew up without knowing better and he's just emulating older members of the family. I'm pretty sure this is how youngest sibling privilege works lol

Yeah, I completely agree! Even then, it can be difficult to know that what you're doing is wrong when you see the people you admire and respect doing the same thing.

Like you said, Damian, in reality, is probably rude to everyone else and ignores them from time to time too. Though for the sake of the "Not [ ]" series, he just so happens to ignore the reader a little more when compared to the rest of the Batfam. Which can still be chalked up to him just following the mannerisms of the family without even thinking much about it.

Regardless, neglect is still neglect and what happened to the reader still isn't right- but I do kind of agree with you that Damian probably holds the least amount of capability. He's young, and you can't really expect him to fully be aware of the effects his actions have on other people, especially when that person:

1. Hasn't expressed how negatively the whole situation has effected them, and they don't exactly appreciate their entire existence getting ignored by so many people. (Which is valid and understandable! Because how can you expect someone who's been ignoring you for so long to not only listen to you, but even acknowledge you enough to notice you have something important to say? How can you expect someone so seemingly set on ignoring you, to care? You can't. So the reader stays quiet, but it is something worth pointing out, I feel.)

2. Again, sees that everyone around them pretty much does the same thing. So it's more of a "if they're doing it, it must be for a reason, so I'll do it too" (since Dick and Bruce are also ignoring you, and Damian actually cares about both of them).

Damian is the least aware that what he did was wrong to begin with because no one told it was, and those around him almost seemed to enable that behavior by continuing to do it themself.

I'd like to believe that maybe his behavior would've changed if he knew how badly it was effecting the reader, but that's also to assume that the others wouldn't. Though who knows?

As for everyone else? They're way past old enough to know that what they're doing is wrong. The neglect as a whole was a "team effort", and even if they won't consider it that, it basically was. All of them neglected you except for Alfred, and they all did it over the course of nearly the reader's entire stay at the Manor. If anyone should've known, it should've been them, and depending on your interpretation of the situation and everything - some are more at fault for neglecting the reader when compared to others.

Especially if they seemingly didn't ignore and tried to spend time with/bond with other members of the family, but the reader just didn't make the cut time and time again.

Like you said — Dick is easily one of the worst offenders simply because he's loving and all this stuff to the Batfam, but just not to the reader —and especially when compared to Damian who was just none the wiser for the most part.

[windvexer]

Hi, I hope you are not too busy lately. May I ask for advice ? When it comes to hexing, I heard someone advising to but the remains of the ritual as far away as possible from the house (I can't but the remains of the spell near the targets house but I can put it away). But I also remember reading that one should keep the remains of the spell in case something goes wrong. Is it dangerous to keep the remains of a hex inside my house or would it better to keep it ?

Ooo! Resolving conflicting magical information, are we? :D Love it.

Short answer:

Longer answer:

IMO, both of these plans of action are predicated on some assumptions.

Taking the remains of a hex very far away from the home (and sometimes, as you mention, ideally near the target) is, from what I've seen, generally done by witches who are pretty much fuckin' done and are washing their hands of the situation.

Hex-casting is often an intensely emotional experience and can feel like a deep 'purge' on the part of the practitioner, a bloodletting of the poison within the practitioner to flow downhill to the person who, as far as the witch is concerned, ought to host it instead.

When the experience of the hexcasting is one of purification of rage, a practitioner may just want to get the fuck rid of the spellcasting remnants and get on with their life.

This is not an amagical action. Inasmuch as your magic probably should make you feel really good about the world you live in, your life, and your actions, deciding to be completely over it and get rid of spell remnants can be deeply magical, both in the personal and metaphysical sense.

Another reason people like to get rid of hex remnants is because they can reek of that nasty soul stank you've just bled out all over into the world, and hanging out with them can be uncomfortable and bring up unwanted emotions.

Fortunately, witches gonna witch, and if you desire to keep spell remnants without them leaking all over your nice life, there are many methods to contain and control magical objects.

All that being said, do I find that keeping hex remnants is actually dangerous? Well, no. I find it to be uncomfortable. They remind of of anger and injustice and all the bad things I felt that made me want to do it in the first place. "Negative vibes" spilling out into your environment isn't dangerous so much as it is a bit icky.

If we take a moment here, we should consider that most probably, the average hex should not be so dangerous that the spent spell remnants are actively generating danger for any random person who comes into contact with them.

I mean... do what you want to other people, I suppose. But if you are casting spells in such a way that they are so powerful and tumultuous that the little blob of burned candle wax or whatever is constantly generating harmful, dangerous effects even within a magically protected household, idk. Probably do just get rid of it at that point. Or try new spellcasting methods. Etc.

On the topic of needing to keep spell remnants so you can continually work over the spell, it's a decent option, but also:

On a personal level I'm not sure why you'd go out of your way to try and harm someone with magic, and then keep the remnants to make sure it's doing the exact kind of harm you want in foreseeable ways. Either get after 'em or don't, you know?

You can still influence and control prior spells you've cast even if you do not have the spell remnants.

Overall I really think that you should just do what makes you comfortable. I don't think you should feel obligated to hold on to hex remnants just because something hypothetically might happen down the road. If things can go to far you can do a reverse uno on your own magic and cast new spells to help.

On the other hand, if you feel like it's a good idea to keep the remnants around, set up a magical situation that safely holds these remnants in "jail" so you don't have to worry about the vibes leaking out into your house.

[None of this takes into account spells that dictate something specific must happen to materia magica, etc.]

[piggycyberwarrior]

TR- what it’s like to date Manjiro ‘Mikey’ Sano

Summary: what it’s like to date him!!

Requested: nooope.. 

warnings: none.. well i didnt proof read that shit ....

characters: Mikey

a/n: sorry for being offline for so long I had a tough time but i am backkkk. Make sure to drink enough water!!! love you all. Request are open btw XD

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

To be honest... Mikey is touch starved. that's a fact. He had lost so many people and meeting you was one of the best things that could have happened to him. You picked up his pieces over and over again and put them back together. Very carefully with a lot of love... and Dorayaki. 

When he finally had the courage to tell you how he felt, he was so nervous... poor baby. He didn't want you to reject him because then he wouldn't be able to look you in the eye anymore. when you said that you like him too, he was so relieved. three words: bone crushing hugs.

Mike would make a great boyfriend. Sure, it's a little exhausting sometimes to see his people following you around on your lunch break and he always has someone checking up on you, but you know he's only doing it to protect you and with that in mind it's easier to be accompanied by gang members. 

 CUDDLES! I can't say it enough. Mikey kind of loves to touch you? (Definitely has a thing for thighs) so it's only understandable that he's always glued to you (I mean have you seen him with ken-chin???) it’s even worse with you. He's like a little kid. Always grinning and always wanting to hold your hand. 

I think Mikey has nothing against PDA. He would kiss you in the middle of thousands of people or make out with you if he wanted to.(draken told him that if you were embarrassed about his actions, he should take that into account, so now he would hold back in public if you were uncomfortable with showing affection in puplic.

. Would definitely and I mean definitely! tackle you if you were careless... you'd just walk around the living room and poof! you'd be on the couch with an almost sleeping Mikey on top of you. 

I think Mikey is someone who also likes to be held. So either he's lying on top of you with his face pressed into your chest and his hair wildly splayed over your nose so you have to hold back a sneeze or two. His arms wrapped tightly around your middle. Or he would like to lie on your lap and put your hand in his hair again and again when you stop playing with it.

would love it if you would ride his bike with him at night. It's always so quiet and peaceful at that time. just you, him and his bike.

also a huge fan of lazy make outs! when you just got up and see that gorgeous blonde boy looking at you and grinning lazy “good morning baby~” he hummed as his lips ghosted only an inch away from yours. You smiled happily “Morning bubs. Slept well?” you asked as you stared at his pretty lips. “Y’know I always sleep good when you’re with me” he smiled as he cupped your cheeks and pressed a tired kiss on your lips. “I love u” he whispered as he kissed you again. Your lips moving in sync with his. Matching his slow rythym and inviting his tounge as it licked your sugary lips. “I love you too, Darling” oh how he loved that nickname when you said it a little bit breathless like that. 

If you have siblings (it doesn’t matter how old they are) he tries to get along with them. Playing princess with your little sister or playing video games with your brothers. Even joining the gambling night were your whole family attends. There he sees a new side of you. A simple game easily turns into war with you. 

he enjoys seeing you living your best life. If you’re happy he is happy too. Anyway he expects you to accept his family too. And with family I mean emma and his gang. Escpecially draken... but that shouldn’t be a problem. You’re friends with ken-chin.

WILL call you things like “Y/n-chin” or “baby” even things like “Potato” or “doll”,”Mouse” and so on. I AM NOT EVEN KIDDING WHEN I SAY YOU THAT THIS! MAN! LOVES! AND I MEAN LOVES!!! WHEN YOU CALL HIM OLD FASHIONED OR DUMB NICKNAMES!!!!! hit that bish with things like “Darling”, “love” “bubs” “beloved” “cutie” “Pizza face” “Chippy” “gentleman” I could continue for HOURS. 

“hey darling could you go grocery shopping with me?... I am buying you some dorayaki too” he hoped you would not see the blush adorning his face as he listened to your voice full of love for him

if someone EVER tried to mess with you ohohohoooo (they’re dead or beaten till they cant walk anymore :)

baby if you are insecure... i’m sorry but that boy won’t have a CLUEEE unless you directly tell him... he is just a precious baby that loves everything about you so he wouldn’t ever think about the fact that you dont like your body or something else about yourself. But if you were the one to tell him he would be SOOOOOOO supportive of you. always cheering you on when going to the gym or kissing every imperfection, scar or stretchmark (you are beautiful bubs, i love you) and telling you how much he loves you

[jmdbjk]

Not the usual ...

Hate'll paralyze your mind Gotta see the other side It costs you nothing to be kind Not so different you and I Looking for love in a different light Until we find that equal sign ~~ j-hope

I am not sure how to start or if I can even touch on everything that's going on in my mind and what follows will probably be disjointed, messy and all over the place.

When the concept of "fandom implosion" was set in front of me, I was skeptical (my middle name), "no, that most likely won't happen."

Me: "Army are pretty cohesive, we are mostly smart, critical thinking humans who can spot the bullshit a mile away and we are resilient enough to carry on."

Remarks such as: "you don't need to announce your departure from the fandom, just go!" accompanied by "the fandom needs a cleansing" and "slough off the ones who are not here to support BTS" and each time, we move on believing we are stronger, better and will persevere.

Yet, every week that goes by since that concept entered my BTS mind, it seems that there is something else that furthers the process of this *now obvious* fandom implosion that is occurring before our eyes.

This stuff going on today in Korea, the wreaths in front of the Hybe building, the trucks, the relentless negativity supposedly FROM K-ARMY is downright disappointing and disheartening. They said for I-Army to let them handle it.

But this is not it y'all.

You have played right into MHJ's hands in sowing negativity in the general public and korean news media. Most concerning to me now: my trust in K-Army has faltered. I know K-Army is not a monolith, just as no faction of the fandom holds more weight than any other, but damn, these people have the attention of their general news media and now they have to deal with the consequences.

Hybe put out a statement about the status of legal proceedings and the statement included an apology to Army. THEY APOLOGIZED TO US, THE FANDOM!

But obviously, that wasn't enough.

I am Army and know all the details of what has happened and is happening and I DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE LOGIC OF RELENTLESSLY BEATING UP HYBE, I am confused as to what's happening. What makes anyone think the general public and news media will dive deep enough to understand all the details and nuances?????

Can this also be the work of the organized, paid antis? Yes, it could, but some of my trusted K-Army accounts on X are also supporting this mess. WHAT THE FUCK ARE Y'ALL THINKING???

Maybe I'm too American to understand the logic behind what's happening over there. Or maybe its just my nature to always think beyond the action happening to what the aftermath might look like.

But tell me, exactly WHO and exactly WHAT company are we to have faith in for BTS if not Hybe and BigHit? Tell me who? Just cut the group loose and then what? Let them get eaten alive by the media, the general public, every other fandom and hater? Force them to focus on rebuilding their own careers? Force them to have to rebuild another company? How does that support them? How does that protect them? Do you think another company will instantly materialize to pick up the pieces? If you do, you are truly living on another planet.

They should be focusing on their art, not on any of this.

It is usually easy for me to reassure myself that "this is only happening on X/social media," and mostly removed from the real world. But not this time.

The most heartbreaking thing about it all is NONE OF THE MEMBERS can refute, debunk, rebut or speak on this on their own behalf. They are being raked over and over again and there is nothing they can do except carry on. RM doing his best at promoting. Jimin and Jungkook just serving their country the best they can. Jin coming back not into loving arms of his fandom but the ashes of what we once were. Yoongi... my god... I can imagine the cyphers pouring out of him this very second... but he must be silent now.

I am here to support BTS, all seven members. As soon as Namjoon's single was available again on the BTS store website, I bought it. I will buy the song on Apple Music and Amazon. I plan to march over to Target on the day of the album's release to buy it. I can't wait for shipping, I must have it immediately. I have done this with every member's release.

I want to wake up and this be a bad dream. I am certain all the members do too.

My apologies for this very negative post but damn, I had to get it out of my head. Individually, we each have a limit. I am going to recharge my BTS batteries so I can fight another day in what's left of this crazy fandom.

No truer words spoken: Being a fan of BTS, being ARMY, is not for the faint of heart.

[heavenwontbethe-same]

Frankly, seeing how little people are talking about the taylor swift-m*tty healy thing on here is quite disappointing. I'm not even going to start about m*tty because if I do, I won't be able to stop, so I'll be talking about taylor's role in all of this.

Taylor is someone who has been in the industry for well over a decade and obviously has a lot of media training and media literacy. She is a woman who is not seen publicly if she does not want to be seen. So for her to be seen publicly so soon after the break up was announced, to be seen publicly with friends and then them mass unfollowing joe, the timing of these announcements after all the tickets were sold and she made her millions, her choice of surprise songs and her reactions to specific lines during them, reads very much as a ploy to get the criticism off of her and play victim. Of course, none of us were privy to their relationship, as it should be, so no one knows what happened between them. But joe has never publicly spoken about it, nor does it look like he ever will.

Taylor also has a history of cheating: on calvin with tom, on tom with joe, and now it seems on joe with m*tty. It doesn't look like she ever imagined the backlash against him to be so severe, regardless of the fact that his multiple offenses are wide spread and just a quick google search away. And taylor obviously spends a lot of time on the Internet if she knows about "mother is mothering" and snow on the beach not having enough lana, so she is obviously also coming across content criticising not only m*tty but also her for her complicitness in his behaviour and exactly why it is harmful and hurtful to marginalised communities and her fans within them. It wouldn't be a stretch to assume that her behaviour since the break up announcement has been pr move after pr move to shift the blame onto joe, implying that he cheated with the surprise song choices, pushing the narrative that he was uncomfortable with her level of fame, to make people focus on that, because she knew parading m*tty around would bring criticism her way. She surely thought that saying that this is the happiest she has been in all aspects of her life after ending a 6+ year long relationship and being publicly romantically attached to a raging racist, antisemite, islamophobe, sexist would get the heat off of her, because people are quick to overlook anything negative concerning her and not hold her accountable. This is not me hating on her, this is holding her actions accountable, and you are not a bad fan if you do. But you cannot go around making literal documentaries talking about how you want to stand on the right side of history, about activism and feminism, to then just go and never address anything regarding any of those topics again.

The fact that she is publicly dating a man that goes against everything she has claimed to care about, that she refuses to address all of the harmful things he has said and done, not only shows that she doesn't care about her marginalised groups of fans, but also endorses his actions. As taylor said herself, she wants to be defined by the things that she loves. So if she loves m*tty, then you damn well know what that makes her.

[saintsenara]

1,8,18,21,22

thank you very much for the ask, @ashesandhackles. let's see how these go down...

[choose violence ask game here]

1. who is the character everyone gets wrong?

the last time i answered this question i said sirius - both fanon sirius and dark!sirius - and i stand by it, so this time, let's say... dumbledore.

and, actually, i think this for many of the same reasons which inspired my sirius answer. i really dislike dumbledore bashing, since it’s so frequently based in a complete misunderstanding of his character and the role he serves within the series’ narrative conventions - above all, the fact that the omniscient vibe he gives off in books 1-6 is not actually omniscience at all, as book 7 reveals; dumbledore doesn’t know that sirius is innocent, or that moody is barty crouch jr., or that kreacher is passing information to voldemort, because he’s just a human being. far too many criticisms of dumbledore don’t take this into account, ascribing to malice what is clearly just fallibility.

but, with this said, i dislike the anti-bashing turn in dumbledore-centric fics just as much, because many of these pair the idea that dumbledore is fallible (good and correct) with the idea that he is - for want of a better term - harry-ish. and this is just as bad a misreading of the character. dumbledore is not impulsive or reckless or radical - he holds radical views, but he does nothing to actually advance them in society (this is a man who is at the heart of the establishment for half a century, who does nothing with that power to dismantle the oppressive social structures which drive wizarding politics and prop up blood-supremacy). dumbledore is a hypocrite - he’s happy to be depended on by fudge, he is appalled that fudge might depend on lucius malfoy. dumbledore lives in an ivory tower. dumbledore projects his shame and self-loathing onto others in a way which is detrimental to their own happiness. and so on.

none of these things preclude dumbledore being courageous, but his ‘gryffindor courage’ is remarkably un-gryffindorish, and a lot of pro-dumbledore writing is surprisingly unwilling to confront this.

[also, there’s the other layer of pro-dumbledore writing i dislike - when authors make him hyper-whimsical. the man is stylish, rather than dressed like he ran into a charity shop and fell over. his sweet tooth is an incidental detail - and a trait which harry also shares - rather than his entire personality. he is not dithering and indecisive - he is a creature of inaction, but he tends to have settled on a single ‘right’ course very quickly in his mind. he is not silly. he is not a blushing fool in his relationships - all evidence is that he had just as much power over grindelwald as grindelwald had over him. he is not particularly emotionally demonstrative. he is physically strong. he is taller than voldemort. and, crucially, his mask of benign good humour is fake. all of his ‘whimsical’ traits are part of the act, the real dumbledore is ruthless and damaged and a nerd who loves reading and it’s iconic. let him be that way.]

8. what is the common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about?

there is no such thing as canon compliance.

by which i mean that ‘canon compliant’ is a useful tag to have on ao3 as an indicator of chronology - it’s a good shorthand for ‘the people who die in the series will die in this fic too’, ‘the main events which happen in the books will be mentioned here’, and so on. but i’m not sure that i think it goes beyond that.

and the reason for that, is that i have never seen anything which purports to be canon compliant beyond chronology - including my own work - which actually is.

there are several reasons for this:

the first is something which, if you’ve read other posts on this blog, you will know is a common refrain of mine - that the series is bound by specific genre conventions. if authors are transferring the action into a genre different from the ones the series makes use of, they are not writing something which is canon compliant, but canon coherent.

the second is that if authors are filling in gaps which are missing from the series - above all, the marauders-era or post-war-pre-epilogue timeline - they are doing something which is materially no different from writing a non-canon ship. i.e. writing exactly what they want. if your fic is crammed with original characters, or your marauders listen to cool muggle music, or you’ve spent more than twenty seconds thinking about the wizarding political or legal system then i love that for you - this is good and everyone should do it. but it’s not canon compliant. it’s canon coherent.

the third - and undoubtedly most controversial - is that you cannot write something canon compliant and hold the principle that the author is dead. because we know exactly how jkr thinks that canon should be interpreted, and this is often in ways which are - to borrow a phrase from ursula le guin - rather ethically mean-spirited. jkr’s views on fairness, violence, class, motherhood, love, and - of course - gender weave themselves into the narrative in ways which cannot simply be written off as ‘oh, it’s just harry’s perspective.’

i believe we have a moral imperative to know what she thinks and to interrogate the ways in which this appears in the canon text. i also think - obviously - that we don’t have to agree with what she thinks in order to write things which feel close to canon. and i don’t agree with her - not only when it comes to her views on trans people, which are actively harmful - but also when it comes to things like the fact that she’s clearly someone who’s rather vindictive, but who believes that this vindictiveness is really a strong sense of fairness (look, for example, at the dichotomy between how the text presents violence against people it thinks ‘deserve’ it - harry using the cruciatus curse on amycus carrow being a great example, neither harry, nor mcgonagall, nor the narrative give a fuck - and those it thinks don't). or the fact that her own experience of both motherhood and daughterhood - an experience which was clearly very traumatic for her (her mother died of multiple sclerosis, her first husband was violent towards her, she has an extremely difficult relationship with her father) - drives the series’ prioritisation of sacrificial motherhood, criticism towards mothers who don’t make their children the focus of their entire world, and certain coolness towards fathers (especially absentee ones - who will be blamed by the narrative for being murdered by their own sons). or the fact that she has extremely narrow views on cisgender women, even before her views on trans women are taken into account, which turn up again and again in how female characters we are not supposed to be sympathetic towards are written.

i am not, of course, suggesting that writing a fic which is heavily based in canon means that an author supports jkr’s views. what i am saying instead is that fics which engage with questions such as how harry understands violence against the bad guys in ways which go beyond ‘lol, lmao’ or which write lavender as a person whose fondness for stereotypical femininity doesn’t make her insubstantial or which point out that the narrative blaming merope gaunt for dying directly justifies everything voldemort believes are canon coherent.

and, actually, i think that this broader term - canon coherent - is a better one to talk about the non-chronological aspects of canon compliance. because the dividing line between canon compliant fics and canon divergent ones is incredibly arbitrary, and often doesn’t take into account how close to canon the writing in otherwise canon divergent stories often is. after all, if someone writes a story in which harry feels exactly like his canon self, except that the romantic partner he ends up with isn’t ginny, that is arguably more canon compliant than a piece of happy-ever-after hinny in which ginny is a doormat who gives up her career to be harry’s bang maid and harry speaks like he’s had twenty years of therapy. but only one of these pieces will be welcomed onto canon compliant rec-lists and into canon compliant discussion spaces.

[and it’s worth mentioning that plenty of canon compliant only spaces do allow flexibility - above all in being open to interpretations of characters such as james, harry, and hermione in which they are not white. this is good and they should continue to do this, but we can go further, especially in accepting queer interpretations of the main characters into canon compliant discussion.]

i also think - and i’m aware this may sound cruel - that thinking in terms of canon coherence, rather than compliance and divergence, would be good for everybody’s ego. i can acknowledge that plenty of people who diverge from canon can be dicks about it - and i think that the criticism people who prefer the canon endgame ships often get for being ‘boring’ (and, in the case of ships such as remadora, ‘homophobic’) is bullshit - but the canon compliant girlies (gender neutral) are, in many cases, no better. it is not harder to write something ‘canon compliant’ - not least because, as discussed, you’re not - and it is not evidence of an author engaging more seriously with the text and its themes. there is a tendency i have noticed in the fandom spaces i inhabit, many of which feature people whose preference is for the canon ships etc., for non canon pairings to be treated as - essentially - crack ships, especially in stories which are light or whimsical in tone. but when i say that writing on tomarry or snarry or snack or snapemort or drarry or riddledore or wolfstar or what have you can deliver characterisation and worldbuilding and narrative construction which feels infinitely more plausible than many ‘canon compliant’ pieces of writing, i mean this entirely seriously.

and i think it would be good if the dividing line which leads many people to say ‘i don’t read canon divergent fics’ or ‘i don’t read canon compliant fics’ was instead blended into a preference for fics which are canon coherent or otherwise. we would all learn something.

18. it’s absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on…

delphini.

another reason why canon coherence over canon compliance is valuable is it means that one can pretend the cursed child doesn’t exist.

but i would like to make a case for the fact that delphini as a concept (so, nothing like the way she’s written in that play…) makes sense and is a character i’d like to see added to more stuff. she works within both voldemort and bellatrix’s canonical arcs, she gives rodolphus something to do post-war after he spends canon being futile, imagine how funny it would be if teddy had a crush on her, george-michael and maeby style (truly les cousins dangereux), imagine how funny it would be if she is the spitting image of her muggle grandfather and her dad’s having a crisis every time he sees her, imagine her trying to parent trap voldemort and bellatrix into actually falling in love…

you can do serious things with her too - in fact, i have - but, as someone who thinks anything is improved by someone spindly and vaguely sinister, i think she’s a hoot and she deserves to turn up in more things.

21: what part of canon do you think is overhyped?

my eyes were bone dry when dobby-ex-machina died.

22: what is your favourite part of canon, which everyone else ignores?

that harry is a luxury boy. let my man buy his solid gold cauldron, hagrid, don’t be a narc.

[in general, i don't love versions of harry which show him as really abstemious or austere - he's pretty careless with his possessions and he doesn't regard the expensive things he owns as something to be unusually protective over. in his adulthood, he's 100% making sure his shed is stocked with the best brooms on the market and buying himself a little treat whenever he's feeling spenny.]

[thedomesticanthropologist]

A comment you said on your last post really hit me as a good point of development/angst, please take or leave as you'd like and apologies if I've mischaracterized your Tav at all, but still hope this helps turn some wheels. "As a Cleric of Ilmater Mira is no stranger to Suffering for the sake of Faith." Has Mira considered that Astarion suffered for nothing?

Ultimately Mira's suffering gets her a cool connection with a god and awesome powers. Would that not make Astarion bitter in that respect? To me it seems like Mira is constantly pushing back against Astarion with a lot of "why is he like this" and "you have to be better because it's the right thing to do." At what point does Astarion share his story with her about that boy he tried to spare from Cazador's wrath? I feel like with this dynamic, that would be something he'd bring up as proof that she just got lucky that her god gave a shit about her in particular. Like he did the right thing, was horrendously punished for it and as far as he's concerned, Ilmater was sitting around twiddling his godly thumbs.

I feel like that would be a good point to develop some better mutual understanding between the pair of them that would make Mira maybe not forgive Astarion in the Act 2 confession, but at least understand where he's coming from, rather than just pushing her worldview.

So! You gotta keep in mind that the story you're referring to isn't told to the player character until Act 3, well after his confession.

By the time he confesses, Astarion has (depending on how many cut scenes you've managed to snag/long rests etc) Only told you that he lured victims back to Cazador, and that Cazador is a monster.

He's told you about his scars, and how he pities the other 6 of his "siblings". Plus a few small anecdotes, but *none of them* about anything he's ever done for anyone else.

He has however:

- Been extremely racist towards the Gur based on being attacked by them, likely having been hired by Cazador based on how the story was told so Mira explained that you can't hold an entire race of people accountable for the actions of the few. Astarion said he absolutely can, and fuck you

- Assaults you in your sleep then begs for blood and if you do trust him enough to let him bite "I'll be as gentle as a babe! I only need a little" but u don't pass the checks he will murder you

- Tried to abandon the Tieflings to their fate and told Mira they should move on not because of the tadpole problem, but because killing goblins "would take hours" and he's too lazy to bother

- Repeatedly and loudly stated that he desires power over all else, but has NOT yet told her its because he's scared/desires to feel safe

- Asked to be left out of the Nere quest because he didn't want to ruin his nails and would prefer to move on. Mira said Nere isn't the point, the gnomes are and he was EXTREMELY racist towards deep gnomes in general. He has NOT yet explained to the PC / Mira why he is against digging through rock (the crypt for a year thing) by the time he does this

- Tells you if you get in the way of what he wants he will go through you if necessary (denying him the tadpoles) and to stay out of his way

- Snaps at you about how to deal with Yurgir if you try to figure out what's going on instead of immediately killing him, even if you plan on killing him, and also rails against PC loudly in many other instances as well

And much much more, I won't go on. The point is that by the time he confesses, you have no back story. You have nothing to go on. There is nothing to trust. And the ONE thing Mira and Astarion had together where she thought they were making headway, their physical relationship, has now just been revealed to be a huge scam from the start.

Not ONLY that, but he doesn't regret doing it. He is proud of his simple plan and upset that it fell apart (at least that's how he presents it) and does NOT apologize for trying to use her. He instead says because he fell in love and she is so incredible he feels he can trust her enough to confess his deception without fear of being kicked out of the party.

You must remember that while Astarion has reasons, he hasn't revealed them. And if you judge a man based on his words and actions, at the point of the confession scene, he's not got a lot going for him besides puppy dog eyes and a backstory of admittedly horrific slavery that has only been lightly touched on because he wants you to know Cazador is Bad, but he's not about to spill his guts on what really all happend to him yet.

TLDR: Faith is just about all Mira has to give at this point, and Astarion has made her suffer by gaining her trust through manipulation and then only messing up because HE caught feelings.

In other versions of the game, if you don't finish his quest, he breaks up with PC very cruelly.

If you make it to Act 3 with Caz and you don't make the right dialogue choices or pass the persuasion and instead just say you won't let him ascend, he says he hopes you die screaming.

This man is my fave, don't get me wrong. But without the knowledge of his entire character, when you go in blind or you play a character that you don't give High Insight to, you have to see that he is a very difficult person to navigate. Especially a Lawful Good Cleric of Ilmater who's life purpose is to help and alleviate suffering.

She feels called to him because of his suffering and she *does* have faith she can help, but that faith is majorly BLIND right now and it hurts to know the man who proved time and time again that he isn't trustworthy just confessed his love by explaining that he has been extra untrustworthy

[goldenpinof]

The fact that looking into technical failures to understand the businesses we are patronizing (and let's be clear every bit of money sent DnP's way means you Are Doing Business With Them in the literal sense) is far from negativity aside... I don't think we should have a knee jerk reaction against anything negative being said as a rule, because that's how you end up platforming and pedestialising horrible things just because your favourite celebrity does them. Like, we need to bring back an understanding of when negativity is "uncalled for" (to do with things that are none of our business as consumers, audiences, and patrons, or otherwise to do with personal/harmless stuff) and when it isn't uncalled for, otherwise we create an expectation of just never being allowed to criticise anything, from the quality of the works presented to us, to quality of service with merch, to collabs with harmful partners, and eventually to misuse of a massive platform for nefarious ends.

Thankfully dnp have had way more integrity than most exploitative content creators out there. But that's certainly in part due to mutual respect between audience and creators and if we start hand wringing about small criticisms we will not be able to maintain that mutual respect and make ourselves easy to exploit.

Not to go on a big rant or anything, I just feel it should be stated that criticisms aren't always bad faith, and it's good that we have people in this fandom (like yourself ❤️) willing to hold some stuff to account where it's important+ where it concerns us directly

~ 🪴

"let's be clear every bit of money sent DnP's way means you Are Doing Business With Them in the literal sense" EXACTLY. and their business decisions affect us, unfortunately.

thank you so much for saying all of this, Hazel. phandom has a weird relationship with criticism. i experienced it more than once, unfortunately (did it teach me anything? no, i'm still here. rip to my mental health). for some reason a lot of people think that if you criticise what dnp do, you automatically criticise and dislike them as people. which couldn't be further from the truth. i try to criticise their work and actions related to their work, not them personally. the same goes for Matryn and his work. and if in the end something gets fixed or just a little bit better, i try to comment on that as well. i like seeing progress. like today with wad merch. i will update my post about irl merch, because i mentioned 9 months to gather the merch from all over the world. but Dan found other way, and that's great! only he confused us with "many weeks" and "i will try" before that.

i realise that maybe a breakdown post (or two) would be better than making 10 about basically the same thing. it's emotions. merch stuff is a rollercoaster. i haven't felt so many completely opposite emotions in a long time. and some of them are ending up on my blog in a form of criticism and yelling.

[kataraavatara]

In my professional opinion of someone who works with bullied kids, it matters very little if the bullies only acted to please a ringleader, or that they didn't fully understand what they were doing, because none of that actually changes the outcome of their actions and the hurt that they caused other kids.

The victims' trauma is the same regardless of the bully's intention or understanding of the situation.

Anon is talking about this post: https://www.tumblr.com/kataraavatara/737076787323027456/tw-picture-of-aemond-targaryens-biggest

Despite having Aemond in the title, which I’m sure was misleading and confusing to some viewers, the post wasn’t about Aemond, because everything doesn’t revolve around Aemond. The post is about Jace and Luke.

I never once said that Aemond’s “trauma” was less valid, I was hitting back against the characterization of Jace and Luke as these malicious masterminds whose sole purpose in life was to bully poor innocent Aemond and fans who refuse to hold Aegon accountable for his role so they can demonize Rhaenyra’s sons. If people actually cared about Aemond, they would make posts bashing Aegon, the primary perpetrator, instead of Rhae’s boys. It’s obvious Aemond is just a prop for them so they can spew hate about the “bastards”, because apparently twenty first century citizens seriously have an issue with that.

And I’m also going to come out say it- the reason the fandom is so hung up on Aemond’s “bullying” and “trauma” is because he’s such a poorly adjusted adult. Jace and Luke were obviously bullied by Criston Cole, but they don’t walk around with a massive chip on their shoulder about it. As someone who’s been in therapy for trauma, I say this with all the sympathy in the world- at a certain point you have to put on your big girl pants and learn how to cope so you can be a functioning adult. Aemond is a grown man holding onto something that was done to him when he was in fifth grade. It’s not tragic, it’s pathetic.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

A stunt impeachment inquiry.

December 13, 2023

ROBERT B. HUBBELL

          House Republicans will vote to open an impeachment inquiry of President Biden on Wednesday. Why? They can’t say—because they don’t know. Oh, sure, they have baseless conspiracy theories—but no evidence (a common situation with conspiracy theories). So, because they have no evidence to support baseless conspiracy theories, they argue they need an impeachment inquiry to help them pursue imaginary evidence—thereby maintaining the illusion of corruption where none exists.

          Of course, the real reason they will open an impeachment inquiry is because Donald Trump told them to do so. Trump was impeached twice—a level of disgrace achieved by no other president. Trump's solution is to denigrate and debase impeachment so he can argue that impeachments are nothing more than partisan retribution. As always, Trump seeks to undermine the institutions that dare to hold him accountable. Here, he is assaulting the Constitution because its provisions were (rightly) applied in a way never before witnessed in the history of our nation.

          The efforts of House Republicans to evade answering the “Why impeach Joe Biden” question would have been funny if they were not tragic and dangerous. Indeed, several House Republicans admitted that they did not have evidence to impeach Joe Biden—which is why (they claim) they need to open an impeachment inquiry. See Talking Points Memo, As They Admit There’s No Evidence, House Republicans Will Still Greenlight Impeachment Inquiry.

          The tragedy of the stunt impeachment inquiry is that it comes at a time when congressional Republicans are failing at every level in discharging their constitutional duties. Ukrainian President Zelensky visited with President Biden and senior congressional leaders on Tuesday—and left empty-handed. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell—a strong ally of Ukraine—expressed doubt that Congress will authorize additional funds for Ukraine before January, a month after the US will reportedly run out of funds earmarked for Ukraine. See Politico, McConnell: Border-Ukraine deal this year ‘practically impossible’.

          But if action on funding Ukraine is delayed until January, it will be swept into the maelstrom of two deadlines for government shutdowns. Current government funding expires on January 19 and February 2, 2024. While Senate negotiators are reportedly hard at work to reach a compromise, any compromise requires resolving intractable, decades-old issues relating to the management of the US southern border. By tying funding for Ukraine to the resolution of long-standing immigration issues in the US, congressional Republicans seem to be carrying water for Vladimir Putin and (therefore) Donald Trump. 

          Speaker Mike Johnson set an unattainable bar in setting conditions for aid to Ukraine. He said,

What the Biden administration seems to be asking for is billions of additional dollars with no appropriate oversight, no clear strategy to win and with none of the answers that I think the American people are owed.

          Johnson is demanding that the US exercise “oversight” of Ukraine’s “strategy” for defeating an invading Russian army. As the brave Ukrainian people have demonstrated, their “strategy” is to resist Putin’s vastly larger army with every ounce of determination and bravery they can muster. That bravery has held the Russian army at bay for more than 600 days, a stupendous achievement that continues to defy predictions that Ukraine would collapse in a week. The Ukrainian bravery and battlefield success is apparently not enough for the milquetoast Mike Johnson.

          President Biden responded to the vacuous, mealy-mouthed statement by Johnson, saying it was a “Christmas gift” to Vladimir Putin. Biden also noted that news commentators in Russia’s state-controlled broadcast network celebrated the Republican stonewalling of aid to Ukraine. Biden said,

This host of a Kremlin-run show said: ‘Well done, Republicans. That’s good for us,’” If you’re being celebrated by Russian propagandists, it might be time to rethink what you’re doing. History, history will judge harshly those who turn their back on freedom’s cause.

          The GOP’s impeachment and the reluctance to provide more military aid to Ukraine are rooted in Donald Trump's scheme to use his control over Republicans in Congress to inflict political damage on Biden—even if that vendetta hurts the interests of the American people and its allies.

          The good news (explained below) is that Democrats are making progress toward regaining control of the House. Indeed, Speaker Johnson’s stunt impeachment and abandonment of Ukraine will hasten that outcome.

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

[habizuh-studios]

How You Make Me Sway

Summary: I was bored out of my mind, and there was nothing to do in the church. Unless you count for the radio in the corner. I turned it on, not expecting a slow song to play. Of course, when Johnny extended a hand out towards me, I didn’t think he’d say, “Wanna dance, Pony?”

OR: In which the boys are bored at the church and Ponyboy decides to dance with Johnny. :) AO3 LINK (there's a part 2 bc of the 4096 limit for my tumblr folks, check notes or my blog)

I was bored out of my mind. Maybe running away wasn’t the best idea after all. Johnny and I had run to the church about two days ago. Johnny had gone for supplies, and all was well, but neither of us were in the mood to read Gone with the Wind and there was really nothing that we wanted to do. Unless you account for the radio in the corner. There was really nothing else to do- everything was so still, and though I usually just zone out and let my imagination take me anywhere, I wanted to spend some more time with Johnny. I think he was bored out of his mind too. The black-haired boy was dangling with only his legs holding him up from one of the dusty pews, arms on the floor. I eyed the radio in the corner, suddenly getting up. Johnny looked at me questioningly, and I blushed a little, flustered. I think I stuttered out something about wanting to turn on the radio, and Johnny got up from his awkward position and followed me there. “What song are you gonna play?” He asked, curious. An idea had been in my mind for the past few minutes, and I wanted to test it out. Answering Johnny’s question, albeit flusteredly, I mumbled, “I dunno.” I’m pretty sure I said it quickly, so I have no idea how Johnny heard it. “That’s fine, just turn it on and we’ll see what song plays,” Johnny said. He was cool like that. I grinned up at him crookedly like Two-Bit, “Once I figure out how to turn on this radio.” It was a different brand than the one we had at our house- it was probably newer, with a bunch of fancy knobs and switches. It wasn’t too hard to turn on, though, and eventually, it landed on a slow song. The kind of song that I’ve seen people dance to in movies, all elegant and fancy. You see, I know how to dance- before my parents died, they would dance together in the living room, laughing and smiling at each other. I vividly remember Sodapop bursting into the room and wanting to be a part of the action back then. My mom laughed, smiled at my dad, and took his hand, teaching him. At the time, they were dancing to a slow song- the type of songs where one of the people has to put one hand on the waist and where they spin together slowly. My parents were good dancers, and I think Sodapop was, too. Eventually, Darry and I went to the living room. We used to be a lot more competitive, so when we saw Sodapop dancing with Mom, Darry and I had said we wanted to learn, too. And so we had. I’ll probably never admit it to anyone else, but I really liked it. Maybe I enjoyed the song, or the steps, or maybe it was nostalgic because that was a really nice memory with my parents. Sometimes, when I’m zoned out, I’m imagining that scene or something similar to it. So when Johnny extended a hand out towards me, I didn’t think he’d say, “Wanna dance, Pony?” I don’t know why I stared at his hand like it gave me the world, but I took it anyway, and replied, “Do you know how?” “Not really,” Johnny awkwardly smiled. “But I think you’ve mentioned knowing how once or twice.” Gosh, I had? How many things have I mentioned to Johnny and forgot about? “Well, you’re right about that.” None of us said a word, but I guided Johnny’s hand to my waist and put my arm on top of his. My other hand grasped his other hand, and I held it out a little away from our faces- I’m pretty sure you have to do it farther, but I really didn’t feel like it. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Johnny broke in, slightly grinning, “This comfortable, Pony?” I nodded my head, smiling back. I then realized I would have to explain the footwork, and waited for a beat in the song, before explaining- I basically forgot how to do it, but I can remember the people in the movies doing something similar, so I based any gaps in my memory with their movements. “You basically just step out and together in any direction, and I’ll follow,” I said. “You have to do it constantly- unless you wanna stop or something, then we can.”

[poppyandzena]

The most recent anon is so right. Every accusation they make is an admission. I wish that meme someone made of Poppy that said "It's okay when I do it" had gotten shared more.

It's just constant:

Poppy: "every single person who is against me is all the same entity all coordinating on their efforts and they are all accountable for every single action that anyone else takes! They're all complicit because they are a PART OF IT"

Also Poppy: "*I* didn't write the NightWyld doc. *I* didn't create the picture of Noeh with the word r*pist on it. That was OTHER people. I only shared it and pinned it and shouted it out from my 6 different twitter accounts! But that's NOT ME YOU IDIOTS. You can't hold me responsible for the bad parts of that!"

Poppy a few months ago: "I WAS DOXXED! Using my name IS a doxxing effort! I'll make a whole video about it to make money and get attention!"

Poppy now: "well I was wrong about that before so THIS isn't doxxing, now. GOD YOU IDIOTS. Just because I said it was BEFORE because it helped me doesn't mean that it counts ANYMORE"

Poppy for months: "you HAVE to believe victims! How dare you doubt me?? You're just an SA apologist"

Poppy now: "here's a bunch of tweets that Milena CLAIMED were harassment for absolutely no reason! I mean, sure, most of the people in these tweets literally came out and said that they FELT harassed, and posted multiple tweets about how uncomfortable they were, but YOU CAN'T BELIEVE THOSE PEOPLE. They only claimed that they were harassed because they want clout and likes! You can't believe EVERYONE! Some people are just doing it for attention! Not like me, who said that I started using the r*pe word because I wasn't getting enough "traction" with regular assault claims. That's DIFFERENT YOU MONSTERS."

Poppy for months: "here are 50 tweets a day about why these 200+ page documents are impossible to read and completely out of context. YOU CAN'T EVEN TRUST THOSE - THEY PROVE NOTHING!"

Poppy now: "omg, this 286 page doc that is mostly just hand-written text and opinion from one person is the SLAM DUNK PROOF that everyone was just lying! WOW!"

Poppy for months: "anyone who even LOOKS at KF is a farmer and is a fucking monster"

Poppy and Saige, also for months: "and here's another thing that I read on the KF thread that is just fucking bullshit... everything those KFers say is so stupid"

(this next one is my favorite because it shows just how much Poppy doesn't even know how much she admits out loud)

Poppy for months: "anyone who just believes those docs and doesn't come talk to me is a fucking traitor. I've lost all of these friends and my job because of these fucking LIES"

Poppy in regards to Loomie: "omg they didn't even READ the docs! They just literally just left for NO REASON before the docs even came out because of their personal interactions with me and how awful I was to them. It was literally just "vibes". I'll even show you the DMs where they won't be a friend and support my delusions about r*pe. It had NOTHING to do with their very real and clearly communicated concerns about how I was treating an unhoused person! It was literally just fucking VIBES. what a LOSER"

Poppy for months: "Noeh is a r*pist and awful and terrible and here's 1000 tweets about it. So many tweets that my boss and most of my friends tried to stop me and finally ended their relationships with me because they thought it was too much"

Poppy now: "Milena STARTED THIS WHOLE THING. SHE started a harassment campaign against me! It all started with her original doc! None of this ever would have happened without it! Everyone is harassing ME and I haven't harassed a single person at all ever!"

(Poppy, remind us again how Milena's original doc had ANYTHING to do with your behavior around Noeh and your month's long online campaign to label her as a monster?)

BONUS PETTY: how come all of your tweet replies are always restricted to "followers only", Poppy? Are you a wee bit afraid that your few remaining followers will see the hundreds on comments against you on every tweet? Worried that the negative comments will outweigh the likes and retweets from YOUR OWN ACCOUNTS?

I hope people just keep resharing that Narcissist's Prayer on everything she posts.

^🧡

[draguta]

.a court of ash and smoke | twenty-six.

pairing: lucien vanserra x fem!reader

summary: five years before feyre archeron ever stepped foot in prythian, another human girl found herself in the spring court. but the trials and tribulations of her time under the mountain left her with nothing but a certain red-headed high fae emissary, who had once resented her entire presence, to help and guide her.

chapter warnings: violence

chapter word count: 2727

🩸 series masterlist 🩸

please remember to reblog, like, and share a comment if you enjoy this series - it is always appreciated by writers to see their hard work valued.

🩸 tip jar 🩸 🩸 tag list 🩸

Power

“What is the meaning of this?”

A heavy silence hung around the sentinels, none of them daring to even breathe. Even the laboured breaths of you and Wren seemed to stutter to a halt at the sight of him. Wren himself was standing straight in a second, sword held loosely at his side as he nodded his head low in respect of the High Lord.

“It’s the Munera, High Lord,” Silas stepped in, although his face no longer bore that gleeful joy that had been written across it mere moments ago. Now it was solemn, likely in anticipation of the punishment that he knew was coming his way. “You know we do this every year.”

“I do,” Tamlin growled, hands clenching at his sides - no signs of claws though. “But that doesn’t explain why my sister is taking part in it, does it?”

His eyes darted from Silas, to the sentinels that stood behind him, and then whirled around to Lucien, fierce and vicious and altogether terrifying. You knew him too well, you knew that this was not something he would let go. You knew that they would be punished for your insolence, for you having disobeyed your brother.

“It was my fault,” you stated firmly, taking a step closer to him. Behind you, Wren did the sensible thing and departed swiftly after a nudge from Silas. It would seem that the other sentinels all took the hint as well, turning away from you and mingling amongst themselves, waiting for the chastising to be over with so that they could return to their festivities. “I asked them to let me participate. So, if you’re going to punish anyone, then punish me, not them.”

Tamlin growled again, and within an instant Lucien was by your side, pushing you behind him slightly, Silas close to your right. You knew Silas would never fight his High Lord on your behalf, but perhaps if he was close enough and Tamlin lashed out, he might take the brunt of the force instead, or push you out of the way.

“Leave it, Tamlin,” Lucien said firmly, squaring his shoulders tightly. “It was a bit of harmless fun. No need to get angry.”

“She could have been hurt,” Tamlin snarled, taking a step toward Lucien, eyes glinting with rage. “And it would have been your fault for letting her think she could compete.”

“This is no one’s fault but my own,” you countered loudly, pushing past Lucien and Silas until you were standing directly in front of Tamlin. His eyes snapped to meet yours, but you didn’t cower or hide from his glare as you once would have. No, you stood your ground, feet planted solidly on the grass, chin raised. “I can be held accountable for my own actions, now and any other time. You cannot keep blaming the people around me for my decisions, Tamlin.”

Tamlin reached out, grasping at your upper-arm. You felt Lucien startle behind you, but Tamlin was already dragging you away from the sentinels, away from Silas, away from the training area, and back toward the manor. He pulled you across the fields, past the stables, Lucien hot on your heels.

“I cannot have my sister running wild about the court. Not now, not when we need to show a united front. What would people say?” He barked over his shoulder. You pulled at your arm to push him off, but to little avail, his tight grip holding you in place. “You are a Lady, they should have known better.”

You didn’t miss the scowl he shot at Lucien.

“I am not a Lady,” you argued back firmly. You were at the top of the hill now, overlooking the manor to the North, and the sentinel’s training grounds to the South. You gathered all of your remaining strength and yanked your arm away from his, causing you to stumble back slightly. But you caught yourself, staying planted on your feet as Tamlin whirled back to stare at you harshly. “Don’t you see? I am not the sweet, innocent girl that I was when I first came here anymore. And you are certainly not the kind-hearted male that took me in.”

Tamlin growled, and Lucien placed a calming hand on your arm, yet you shrugged even that off, your anger taking over. Your fists clenched at your sides, and your jaw gritted.

“We have changed, all of us,” you continued firmly. “And keeping us locked up in these grounds, keeping us in that house…it’s no better than what Amarantha did to us. She kept me trapped under that mountain for five years, and now, when I’m supposed to be home and be free? Now it is you who is keeping me trapped.”

You couldn’t be certain, but you were sure you saw Tamlin flinch. You didn’t blame him - the words were harsh, to compare him to her, yet they were truthful nonetheless.

He didn’t say anything for a minute, his stone-cold face faltering ever-so-slightly, until he gritted his teeth, and said, “If you cannot be trusted around the grounds alone, then you will not even leave the house. Is that understood?”

He reached for you again, but you stepped back, and pure, unbridled rage flooded through your body.

Lucien whispered your name, and you didn’t need to look at him, or look down at your hands to know what was happening. Only seeing the way that Tamlin’s face paled told you that those tendrils of red smoke were slinking from your palms, wrapping themselves around your wrists, reaching out toward Tamlin.

And for the first time, you weren’t scared of them. You didn’t try to stop them or hold them back. You let them out - you unleashed them, just as they had wanted. That tingling feeling, like being shocked by lightning, once again rippled through your body in waves, each and every hair on your body standing to attention as your back arched, and the power erupted from you. Even the leaves on the trees whooshed with the force of the explosion that had come from within you, red smoke bursting from your body in a dark, unyielding blanket that swept across the grounds with an unrelenting force.

Tamlin and Lucien were thrown back to the ground, Tamlin hitting his head against the trunk of a tree nearby, blood seeping from the wound that you knew would heal within minutes. He yelped in pain, but you didn’t stop. One more wave of power had the sentinels rushing toward you, lining the edge of the hill, swords in hand, ready to take on whatever threat was present in their court.

You were sure they hadn’t expected that threat to be you.

When the power finally dulled, you somehow felt lighter than you had since even before your days Under the Mountain, as if the very act of allowing that power to seep from you, to breathe, was taking a weight from your chest, letting you finally breathe too.

You snapped your eyes back down to Tamlin, where he lay on the ground clutching his head, his face pale and eyes filled with terror as he looked back up at you. You took a step closer, red eyes flashing with rage.

“Listen to me, Tamlin,” you spat ferociously. “I stand on my own two feet. I am strong. I am powerful. I killed Amarantha. I do not need you to protect me, or keep me locked away. Do you understand that?”

He blinked but did not speak, not as you turned on your heel, sparing one glance at Lucien to make sure he was okay - he was on the ground, but unhurt, eyes filled with concern as they trailed your steps - and began to descend the hill back toward the manor.

When you were finally back inside, storming up the stairs toward your room, that was when you felt the presence behind you. You couldn’t hear their footsteps, but you could feel them there. You paused, spinning around - the hallway was empty. You clenched your jaw and fists once more. You must have just been paranoid.

But as you turned back to your room, hand wrapping around the door handle, whoever that figure was came up behind you, giving you no time to fight back as they pressed a cloth against your face. The smell was strong and burning, but almost sweet, like lemon, and with each inhale that you took, the world around you grew more and more hazy, until eventually, you fell into a deep sleep.

“You did what?” Lucien all-but screamed, rounding on Tamlin.

They were in his study now, Tamlin having dragged him there almost immediately after giving orders to the sentinels following your outburst of power. Tamlin sighed, throwing himself into an armchair by the fire and running a hand through his hair as he moved to balance a leg on his opposite knee.

“She was a danger to the court,” Tamlin said quietly. “Something had to be done.”

“So, you pumped her full of faebane?” Lucien shouted. He turned in disbelief, gripping at the roots of his hair as if the action might stop him from bringing those fists into contact with Tamlin’s jaw.

“I didn’t pump her full of it. It’s a faebane collar,” Tamlin snapped. “And she gave me very little choice. Those powers of hers are unruly at best. This was the only way.”

“Her powers,” Lucien said through gritted teeth, “are only unruly because she’s been given no chance to learn how to control them! Because you would rather hide her away until you can find a way to get rid of them, than let her use them in any way. You know full damn well that when powers aren’t used they become uncontrollable. Cauldron, we were lucky it happened outside and not in the manor - she might have brought the place to the ground!”

“Exactly,” Tamlin snarled. “What would you have had me do, hm? Let her continue walking around, acting like a brute with the sentinels, until one day she snapped and took us all down with her?”

“Faebane was not the way.”

“Faebane was the only way.”

Lucien growled under his breath, turning back to look at his friend, his High Lord. "Where is she?” He asked, voice low and gravelly. Tamlin narrowed his eyes.

“She’s in her room,” he said matter-of-factly. “But the door is locked. She will not be getting out of there, and you will certainly not be going in.”

In two long strides, Lucien was crossing the room, looming over the High Lord of the Spring Court. “We’ll see about that.”

Your head pounded, almost as if someone were chiseling a nail directly into your very skull, into the heart of your brain. It took a long moment for you to gather the strength to open your eyes, and when you did you almost immediately regretted it, that head-splitting ache screeching itself through your skull, into your ringing ears. Your vision was blurred, although you weren’t sure if that was just from the darkness that loomed in your room.

You sighed, running a hand across your face as if that might quell the pain, but froze as your fingertips grazed over something metal around your neck. Bile rose in your throat.

In an instant you were on your feet, unsteady and wobbly as they were, clambering toward the mirror at your vanity table. Eyes wide, you let them run over your face – seemingly unharmed, despite the figure that had snuck up behind you – but when they fell to your neck, a sob caught in your chest.

A thin, golden band was wrapped tightly around your throat, encrusted with spring court green emeralds. But those emeralds glinted in a way that was different from any gemstone or diamond you had ever seen, almost as if they weren’t reflecting the light, but rather radiating their own, glowing illuminate. And there was a smell, one that caught in your nostrils as you ran my fingertips against the metal necklace, cool against your touch. It was an almost overwhelming smell, despite the dullness of it, that caught in your nostrils and throat, causing you to gag and choke slightly. Almost like smoke and carrion and rotting food. It wasn’t a smell you were familiar with.

You tugged at the necklace, but it didn’t budge. It stayed tightly in place, firm around your neck, and as you reached back, to your dismay, you found it to not have a catch at the back. Only the smooth gold remained, with no way of removing it.

Magic. Whatever this necklace was, it had been placed there with magic.

You stifled a sob.

A familiar voice sounded at the door, and you were on your feet in minutes. But as you reached for the door handle, you found that it would not turn, and the door itself would not open.

“Let me in,” Lucien said firmly from the other side, and you pulled harder at the door handle, to no avail. It would not budge. “I said let me in, dammit.”

“We can’t do that,” another voice – a sentinel, perhaps – replied. “The High Lord said that no one was to leave or enter this room without his express permission. You know that.”

“I don’t care what Tamlin said-“ Lucien began.

“Lucien?” You sobbed quietly through the crack in the door, and Lucien paused mid-sentence. A second later, through that tiny little gap between the door and its frame, you caught sight of red hair and a golden eye looking back at you.

“Y/N?” He whispered back. “Are you okay?”

“I-I think so,” you murmured, holding back a sob. “What’s happening? Why am I locked in here?”

Lucien’s face went grave. “It was Tamlin’s orders,” he explained. “As was that thing around your neck.”

Your hand drifted back up to the golden necklace – collar. It felt as if it were choking you, strangling you of your very life. “What is it?”

“Faebane.” He gritted the word out as if even saying it was difficult for him. “It dampens your powers, keeps them at bay.”

The nausea swirled in your gut. Tamlin had done this – all of this – locked you away in your room and choked you with a faebane collar, all because you had stood up to him in the grounds that afternoon. Because you had shown him your real power. He was scared of you, you could see that now.

He thought you were…dangerous.

You couldn’t stop the sobs from wracking your body this time, and instead let them flow free, let them shake your shoulders and drip from your eyes and grasp at your breath in their clutches.

“Hey,” Lucien whispered soothingly. “Look at me.”

You did, catching his golden eye with your own. He turned slightly, moving so that instead it was his russet eye that he was looking at you with, fire blazing behind that rusty-coloured iris. And then his hand came up to press against the wood, visible through that crack. You moved your own, and placed it against the door, and for a moment, you both stayed like that, so close yet untouching through the wood.

“I promise you,” he whispered. “I’m going to get you out of this. I swear it. And when I do, we’ll go far from this place, together.”

Another sob echoed through your body.

“I love you,” you whimpered. Lucien loosed a breath.

“I love you too.”

One more moment together, pressed against that door, and then he was gone.

You didn’t move from the door, squashed up on the floor, back pressed against the wood and knees curled to your chest. Your sobs didn’t stop either, and if the sentinels on the other side could hear you, they did nothing to ease your pain.

It was late now, but what time exactly it was, you didn’t know. The only thing you knew was that you were alone, once more, trapped in a room against your will, just as you had been under that mountain. It all came flooding back to you.

No, not alone.

There was something there in the shadows, in the corner of your room. Something moving. Coming toward you. A silhouette, figure in the night, great shadowed wings spread behind it, and a glint of something blue.