#current events of my life

[jomiddlemarch]

Questionnaire Tag Game

Tagged by the glamorous @orlissa

Last Song

Whatever song by Pamplemousse Siri serves up to me.

Currently Watching

Season 3 of Abbott Elementary on Hulu, One Day limited series on Netflix, The Power on Amazon, Season 4 of All Creatures Great and Small on PBS.

Currently Reading

Slightly Married by Mary Balogh, plenty of fanfic, WashPo/NYT.

Current Favourites

Listening to my daughters' wind ensemble play the Star Trek Out of Darkness theme at band practice, my nice new heating pad with the sage green cover, pomegranates, Cabin/Cottage Chronicles on Max, that first cup of tea in the morning, Linda Holmes's Flying Solo.

Tagging @fericita-s @tortoisesshells @daisyyydaisyyydaisyyy @sagiow @ladamedusoif @tessa-quayle @amarguerite @trulybetty @nervousladytraveler @artielu @iamstartraveller776 @incognito-princess @asteraceae-blue

[sensitiveheartless]

StressTM

[omgeto]

best friend!gojo who acts super cool and nonchalant when you’re around others, but his stomach forms knots of nervousness on the inside, when he’s just around you.

“what are you doing?” your say, your voice merely above a whisper as you feel your head being turned to face your best friend, distracting your attention from the movie being played.

gojo pauses, and you can practically hear him gulp as his fingers still, holding your chin. but his internal voice (which is actually the voice of geto) tells him to just do it, and he does. he pulls you into a kiss that is so soft and slow you practically crumble in his hold, you didn’t know what spurred his actions but you knew that they felt right.

as you finally pull away from each other your lips plump, your breath laboured, he smiles. “I’ve been wanting to do that for the longest time”

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

if you're wondering why I kind of abandoned this blog, there's several reasons (fandom just doesn't feel fun anymore, I'm trying to cut back on screen time, I've been feeling like my faith is in contradiction to what I see/read/interact with on here is for years and years now) but the final straw has been what I see on my dash every day about Israel/Palestine.

I keep seeing people I used to interact with and used to like now peddling conspiracy theories, debunked claims, inflammatory headlines, and even bloodthirsty rhetoric with tens of thousands of notes (when corrections of those posts get ~500 notes at best), and reacting to nuanced conversations like they're calls for hatred, all while turning a blind eye to the very literal vicious hatred or sheer ignorance in many of those big posts. The level of black-and-white thinking is so strong that we are wayyyy past 'us-vs-them,' we're in the kind of discourse where even 'know thy enemy' (being interested in understanding the opposing arguments even just so you can dismantle them) is considered hatred - people can't be bothered to know what they're arguing for or against, nothing short of plugging your ears and screaming for the death of the Bad People is enough. This is a wave of just about the most hypocritical, callous and uninformed 'activism' this website has ever been guilty of and it's too much. I'm done with this.

And yes, this is about antisemitism. You can all shout 'not antisemitic, just anti-zionist' all day long but you have done jack shit to prove you don't hate Jews beside chanting 'punch a nazi' in the same breath you use KKK slurs and cheer for groups that have 'curse the Jews' in their slogan. I trust none of you anymore.

[maladaptivedaydreamsx]

not me immediately getting jude from this

who did you guys get? 👀

[buck-up-buck]

Canon Events that have happened over the three episodes that have me going INSANE (like, these actually happened and are not Fanon.)

Buck asked Tommy for a tour of Harbour, not because he wanted to consider learning to fly, or leave the 118, but soley because he wanted to hang out with Tommy.

Buck used Christopher for information on Tommy.

Buck pretended to suddenly be into Basketball so that he could go to the game, just because he knew Eddie and Tommy would be there.

MADDIE MOCKED BUCK ABOUT OPENLY HAVING A CRUSH ON EDDIE.

Buck body slammed Eddie while playing Basketball (honestly, I still cannot get over the fact that he YEETED THIS BOII).

Tommy got Buck's address from Eddie and chose to come around to apologise to Buck even though, TECHNICALLY, Buck was the one acting like a spoilt brat all episode.

BUCK WAS KISSED BY A MAN. SPECIFICALLY, BUCK WAS KISSED BY TOMMY. And then proceeded to be swept off his feet by this man and was left starstruck in his apartment, after Tommy openly communicated that he had to go to work and wasn't just kissing and bailing.

"I'm an Ally."... Need I say no more.

Buck acted like a totally fucking idiot on his first date with Tommy, and proceeded to have Tommy cut the date short because of how unready he seemed. WHICH BY THE WAY, TOMMY AGAIN COMMUNICATED SO BEAUTIFULLY WITH BUCK AND PROCEEDED TO STILL CALL THIS MAN ADORABLE. HE CALLED HIM ADORABLE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD.

Buck accidently outed himself to Maddie because he was doing a ramble ramble about his lil buck'ed up date.

Buck told Eddie he was on a date with Tommy, and Eddie proceeded to be the bestie of besties to Buck and told him, they all loved him anyways. HE USED THE WORDS. Bucks face in that scene will forever make my lil gay heart WEEP.

Buck told Eddie he couldn't stop thinking about the hot pilot that kissed him. CRYING.

Buck proceeded to grow the fuck up and apologised to Tommy, face to face, out in a public space, knowing full well that Tommy could have dropped his ass there and then, but still wanted to show him how sorry he was, and that he was, in fact, ready.

BUCK INVITED TOMMY TO BE HIS DATE TO THE MADNEY WEDDING DESPITE ONLY technically GOING ON TWO DATES. AND THEN TOMMY. SAID. YES. HE SAID YES. YES.

Buck also then invited Tommy to Chim's bachelor party, HELD HIS ARMS OPEN ACROSS THE ROOM READY FOR A HUG, told Tommy off for his outfit, showing off true Clipboard Buck form, AND THEN TOUCHED HIS PECK.

Eddie, the bestie of besties, got all sappya and jokey when he saw Tommy and Buck together.

Buck got all pouty when Tommy had to go to work, BUT TOLD HIM TO BE SAFE. HE SAID BE SAFE DAMNIT.

Buck got all goofy and smiley when he saw that Tommy had arrived at the hospital, MEANING, that he was most likely texting Tommy all day updating him on everything that was going on, even if Tommy couldn't respond while attending to the fire.

BUCK. CALLED. TOMMY. A. BEAST. HE SAID THIS CANONICALLY. ARE YOU JOKING. HE FULLY ATTACKED MY MAN, WHILE HE WAS COVERED IN SOOT AND SHIT, SNOGGED HIS FACE OFF IN A HOSPITAL WAITING ROOM, AND CALLED HIM A BEAST. I AM DECEASED.

Buck, the idiot that he is, proceeded to out himself, to his entire family, by coming back into the room, most likely 15 to 20 minutes after leaving, covered in soot because he had been uncontrollably making out with his hot pilot boyfriend.

Eddie, the bestie of besties, GOT SO FUCKING SMUG WHEN HE SAW BUCK AND TOMMY WALK BACK IN THAT ROOM. HE PULLED THE SAME FACE I PULL WHEN MY FRIENDS HAVE COME BACK FROM MAKING OUT WITH PEOPLE AND I AM HERE FOR IT. EDDIE YOU BESTIE SLAY SLAY SLAY.

Hen, the queen that she is, has most likely spoken to Karen about her suspicons of Buck's sexuality, and procceed to say ABOUT DAMN TIME. SHE KNEW THIS WHOLE TIME. HER GAYDAR IS ON FIRE. I LOVE HER.

Again, all of these events happened IN ACTUAL EPISODES, not in a fanfiction. I am FERAL over this. Bi!Buck is the best thing to ever happen to me.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk and if you don't ship BuckTommy, leave.

[kybelles]

so after a recent conversation with my friends we’ve come to a realization: fandom loves Slave Rights Advocate laurent trope. whether it be an arranged marriage au, a time travel au, an auguste lives au or any kind of setting where slavery is still in motion; it’s always laurent who opens damen’s eyes to the horrors of slavery and insists they can’t be with each other until slavery is abolished, that slavery is a deal breaker on whether they can be together or not. now i certainly don’t want to sound like i’m policing anybody’s creative choices but it’s become such a common trope in the fandom that it is baffling at this point because. here’s the thing. slavery isn’t one of laurent’s battles. at all.

allow me to explain further before i make people angry. it’s clear laurent is against the fundamental premise of slavery and finds it inhumane. but through the series (counting out taofc where he and damen are trying to build an empire together), he doesn’t actively fight or challenge the system or slavery. i don’t even think this is a hot take when you remember that he;

i. didn’t protect the akielon slaves in arles until damen begged him to and sold them to torveld for personal gain (which was the best course of action he could take under the circumstances but as i said, he wasn’t above using them)

ii. referred to damen as his slave constantly in both a technical and romantic sense

iii. got turned on by playing master and slave and master and pet

iv. used isander as a way to get back at damen: was fed by isander in the feast, stroked him, allowed him to kiss his feet and boots etc.

in fact here are plenty of instances where it’s clear laurent enjoyed the type of power he had over damen:

and here’s the only part where i can remember damen and laurent discussing slavery after damen’s identity is revealed and they have the possibility of a future together. as you can see, laurent’s attitude towards it is pretty neutral. he doesn’t approve, but it’s clear he’s not a passionate champion of the anti slavery movement.

let me make it clear that none of this is a criticism towards laurent. it’s important to remember that capri started as a slavekink fic (in pacat’s own words) and though it evolved, by the final draft she still kept some of those elements: like making the first night between lamen a romantic, sacred, precious thing between them; laurent telling damen he’s his slave by feeding him as a slave would, damen calling himself laurent’s slave as a sign of submission/love/romance before their first kiss, laurent saying damen is still his slave before sleeping with him… the narrative still eroticizes slavery to some extent and uses it as a vehicle of romance.

the thing is, laurent finding enjoyment in these practices is not the problem. when the fandom loves to pretend like laurent would be so disgusted by the idea of slavery (even though the text repeatedly shows he’s not) , that he; a perfect civilized blonde veretian angel would come to akielos and educate those barbarians about how horrible slavery is and damen would only open his eyes to the truth through laurent’s guidance, that’s when my issues start. because, like i said, this was never laurent’s battle and it pretty much reads like laurent is some sort of white savior, someone who comes to damen’s country to “fix” the problems of akielos without understanding their history, needs, or the region’s current state of affairs.

another very important thing to underline is that the whole slavery ordeal in the series was damen’s character arc, not laurent’s. he’s the actual slave in the scenario, and as much as laurent doesn’t like slavery, damen didn’t come to the conclusion that it was bad because of laurent’s preachings. it leaves a bad taste in the mouth that damen was the one who actually experienced slavery and faced countless humiliations in vere and yet people still insist on making laurent educate damen about why it’s wrong, even though he himself has never experienced slavery in his life. (one might argue in aus where damen was never sent to vere as a slave he wouldn’t come to the same realizations but that still doesn’t mean laurent would have a passionate agenda regarding slaves. at best i believe he would demand damen to stop sleeping with his slaves as they are monogamous.)

choosing laurent as The One who firmly stands against slavery is bad from a narrative pov too. making this specifically about laurent makes no sense because it's got nothing to do with him. it's not his country! he doesn't care about akielos the way damen does. everything about it thematically relates back to damen; who exists as a metaphor for akielos - any insult or injury done to him is an insult to akielos. he embodies it’s values and it’s people, and by becoming a slave he’s reflecting the current slave state of akielos, and through finding liberation for himself he’s also finding liberation for akielos. it’s a powerful symbolism for how akielos is changed and freed directly BECAUSE of his own personal liberation. laurent has nothing more than an intellectual interest in anti-slavery and he only ever begins to care about akielos because he cares for damen. but damen was raised with it and experienced it and cares very deeply about it. it’s his country! it's his story!

tldr; through the series, it was damen’s journey to experience what it was like to be a slave, to see the true horrors of this practice and decide he doesn’t want to rule his country that way anymore. so taking his agency and giving it laurent, someone who was neutral at best about slavery, feels incredibly insensitive and wrong.

[distressed-bird]

Kalina is the most interesting character to me because of all she has going on…

she is Cassandra’s familiar, she is simultaneously a pet and a friend and a servant and a family to a goddexx that is simultaneously her owner and friend and creator and parent and her god and reason to be—Kalina’s relationship to Cassandra is hard to put a name or label on (since what does being a familiar even mean?) but the bottomline is that this cat loves her deity enough to put everything and everyone on the line for her…

And adding in that she is a child of divorce. So to speak. I am extremely normal and haven’t been driven mad by the detail that baby itty bitty kitty Kalina was at Cassandra’s wedding to Ankarna and is remembered to have been toddling after her as she walked down the aisle…

Kalina will be the death of me /lh

[scrawnytreedemon]

While I intend this blog to remain a largely news-free space due to the constant hellstate of the world, let me be clear that I stand in full support of both the Palestinian and Jewish peoples who are currently experiencing relentless hate and suffering in these horrid times.

I am disgusted at the number of people, especially "progressives" on this website who have used this situation to spread both Islamophobia and Antisemitism. This goes double if you dared to reblog those "punch nazis/fascists <3" and "[x] are welcome here!" posts while in the next breath spreading dangerous fucking narratives that kill people.

So many people in online political spaces evidently see this as nothing more than a case of picking "sides", when ultimately what matters is supporting the oppressed against fascist governments and militias, wherever they are.

Common people will always have more alike with each other than their leaders. This is not a novel concept. Your activism should always be motivated by love and compassion first, and hatred second. If you use your beliefs as an excuse to find an acceptable target to vent your hatred towards regardless of the actual material outcome, you are no fucking activist.

You're a bigot.

[boyguk]

It annoys me an immeasurable amount that people are begging for season 2 or a happy ending because they hate that Fellow Travelers clearly has an unjust and sad ending, and because Tim and Hawk never get to have enough time together. Like that’s the point, you’re supposed to feel that way. You are supposed to be sad and frustrated that people were treated like shit for being gay and that the hatred affected their entire lives. Tim and Hawk might be fictional characters but the real world is full of people like them, the stuff they’ve gone through was many, many people’s reality (and still is!), which makes the total tone-deafness so gross and frustrating.

[noxious-fennec]

Alright. I want you all made perfectly aware that I have completely cut support for Wilbur soot and any associated projects. I find his "apology" to be disingenuous and trashy damage control, and it undermines whatever desire he has to improve, however genuine that is.

I 100% support Shelby and any victim of such disgusting behaviour, i commend them for their courage, and I wish them nothing but prosperity, support, and happiness. I will always value their peace over whatever art he made. I'll find other fucking art.

[goldkirk]

.

[saytrrose]

Hey guys small update the date was wonderful, however uh

I have seen a dead body for the first time and had to call 911 so that’s nice

[historia-vitae-magistras]

Please let us be a part of your thoughts about francis childhood! 🥹

To begin, before the haute frogs get on my case for something, as always my takes are historical fiction or even more accurately historical fantasy and is me fitting together as many of my niche interests into a plotline as possible. It's not me slapping some iconoclast label on myself coming to destroy European values or whatever someone's going to put in the box this time. Yes they probably suck, yes I know I'm some uncultured turnip fucking inbred North American peasant. No, I don't really care. Just keep scrolling and let me post one thing about France without getting a six part message in the box.

So in 52 BC, little baby François pops into existence to his 'mother' (I don't do bio parents but they mimic human relationships) Parisii. She's a somewhat more minor figure, existing as a client-kingdom to the larger Senonii. Some dingbat working for a municipal archive mislabelled a coin as having a nymph-like feature on it and I had the absolutely brilliant idea to link maman up there with Mélusine from whom a lot of noble and royal families would claim descent. Rome, Lucius, has taken Greece, Hélène, to wife and wanted to claim François and continue expanding his role as pater familias. The representative of the Arverni or Gaul, whom I'm now thinking of as a somewhat more rugged version of adult François was trying to build a coalition to coparent the world's most high strung child kick out the Romans. But Lucius won, and Papa Gaul spent the rest of his life chugging Roman wine and being bitter. Parisii (really need a name here) and her bouncing baby boy became a favoured mistress and one of Lucius' favourite protégés.

He grows up the quintessential Roman boy. Bright, brutal and pure bonhomme. He's a handsome, fair boy. The spitting image of Arverni/Gaul but sleek and fair. He could throw a spear, recite Homer and picked out the most stylish sandals from Rome. He was perhaps the best debater of all the sons of Rome, a politician and social butterfly.

And he's a bitter disappointment to Arverni. François has always been able to ride a horse, fight and meet the metrics of cultural masculinity but his heart lay in the abstract and artistic. The arts, philosophy. His mother might be getting railed by his stepfather but François doesn't mind at all because Helene is regaling him with stories about Strabo, Plato, and Diogènes. He had a crush on the memory of Alexander the Great. But in all things, he was sociable. All the sunniness of his Mediterranean shore around people. He could charm his way out of the colleseum if he'd needed too. He's a leader in that way the charming and polished those following hardly notice until subjugated are.

[generalsmemories]

ya'll please i haven't even finished the 1k requests and we're already nearing 2k.

[wooshofficial]

See the thing is about all the things happening in Gaza right now is that it’s not an isolated conflict. It doesn’t affect just the Palestinian people. I’m American and I watched as 70+ of my peers and professors got brutalized by police for standing in solidarity with Palestine on Thursday, and we’re not the only college this has happened at. Hundreds of thousands of people have died in the past 7 months, including international doctors, refugees, journalists and reporters who hailed from all over. This genocide doesn’t just affect Palestine. It affects the world at large, so please keep your eyes on what’s happening in Gaza, Rafah, and wherever Israel decides to target next.