#dean imperial

[quotesfrommyreading]

Far from resisting such royal parochialism, Britain should embrace Charles as the emblem of its new normal age. Very few people in the world know the names of the Dutch, Danish, or Norwegian monarchs, but their citizens are much more prosperous and their kingdoms more settled. If Charles joins them in comparative anonymity, that should be celebrated.

In 1962, a decade into Britain’s second Elizabethan age, the American grandee Dean Acheson caused real hurt and anger in London by declaring that Britain had lost an empire but had yet to find a role. The entire reign of Elizabeth was filled with her chief ministers searching for the answer to this challenge. But with her passing, Britain can cease its search. Not playing a central role in the great game is a perfectly noble aspiration, a liberating opportunity—and one that King Charles is well suited to symbolize.

  —  Queen Elizabeth's Funeral Ushers in the Era of the Hobbit King

[mossadegh]

• Mossadegh media: newspaper & magazine articles, editorials

[frankentyner]

Part II

[starplusfourletters]

I read vision of the future (hand of thrawn book 2 aka Who Scams the Scammers)

(spoilers) and once again it turned into a liveblog, apologies

Hold up are we doing Warrior Cats? Is this Warrior Cats Planet??

What base is “arm around your waist to serve as a psychic translator conduit”

Omigod I WISH my Warrior Cat name were “Jaded of Mara”

Everything I know about Soontir Fel I learned from x wing but I would not have guessed his primary motivation to be "dirt"

@ luke and mara: the girls are talkingggggg

North Barris Spaceport has me twitching

Ghent not remembering who the president is and just assuming it’s probably Leia. I mean fair

What base is "holding hands to brace yourselves over a swarm of flesh eating insects"

So we’re finally asking why Mara ISN’T actually dark side and the answer is… shrug emoji?

Man Zahn really is stuck on “character bonding hike” as a device huh. But consider I eat that shit up

Oh No Lando is racist

LMAO at “so oblivious you need a child pterodactyl to tell you to just kiss already” to “besides I don’t want my life to be like spiderman three I hated that movie” to “kissing with dubious consent” ALL ON THE SAME PAGE like Zahn finally realized he really needed to get this show on the road

LMAO at Ghent getting a free pass from Pellaeon to hack the empire. Like you’re just going to get the thing you need and not steal all of our military and political secrets right? Riiiight? Even more LMAO at the fact that that would probably not even occur to Ghent

When everyone assumes they're the protagonist so finding this one macguffin is their job personally. Like guys I like the energy but maybe we've got enough different plans to do the same thing (the exception, hilariously, being Luke) (and Oh No it turns out Luke is the one to find the macguffin because You Have to Follow Your Heart and Let the MacGuffin Come to You. I eat that shit up also)

Mara’s just... So great.

Not to make everything about my blorbo but absolutely to make everything about my blorbo I do wonder to what extent Ahsoka’s characterization post-Rebels doesn’t click for me is because a lot of the more obvious directions for Oldsoka overlap with Mara, and the powers that be didn’t want to reinvent the Mara Jade wheel. Not to say they have similar characterization – Mara has terminal sam coded dean girl syndrome – but idk, in dynamic range maybe? Calling out bullshit, weaponizing her own abrasiveness, covering insecurity with humor, being Kind of a Lot with a side of trust issues at any given moment – there are modes Mara and Youngsoka share that didn’t pass to Oldsoka apparently. Idk possibly all this is just me wanting them to TALK

Establishing that you can do evil things for selfless reasons without necessarily being in any danger of falling to the dark side is... Philosophically interesting

We interrupt this tale of political espionage to bring you Jedi Relationship Counseling (spoiler alert: communication is key)

"That part of her life [Mara’s time with Palpatine] had died unmourned" I mean mourned a little bit. Mourned for at least a book and a half

I've been willing to suspend my disbelief on everything in this book until "both Luke and Mara forget that ysalamiri exist"

I will never not be a sucker for The Movements and Transferred Ownership of Emotionally Significant Weapons

Oh No thrawn made a second foundation

The Aing-Tii seem OP but whatever

Oh No the second foundation forgot to close the garage doors

(Re: The Jade’s Fire) I know Mara’s having a Moment, and I promise I’m taking it seriously, but when the warrior cat asked “What is it you want, Mara Jade” my WHOLE BRAIN responded with "I want Hermione Granger! And a rocket ship!"

Moranda has real Kevin from home alone energy and I'm living for it

Is it bad that I’m actually kinda happy the Imperials’ Bothawui shield plan worked? Like, they had a really interesting plan and I’m happy for them. They earned it

WAIT IS MORANDA DEAD FR?

What base is “full mind meld while you’re fighting for your lives”

Who would win: ~1.5 Jedi, 2 sentinel droids droidekas, or Artoo with a sauntering gun

If I had a nickel for every time this duology explicitly established Jedi can’t go completely without oxygen, even when in a trance, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot but which makes me feel like the Ahsoka show had a weirdly specific axe to grind with the source material

Luke’s proposal to Mara is Just. The. Funniest. Thing. That’s some Anakin-level cringe and the prequels aren’t even out yet. He truly is his father’s son.

I mean POV there’s this guy and for a couple years you want to kill him, and then you realize that’s more of a You Problem, so then you’re friendquaitances for a decade mostly because you don’t approve of the shit he’s getting into, and then you have one (1) honest conversation and get caught in a death trap and he’s like “so I think the next step for us is marriage”

LEIAAAAAA! Full Jedi Knight Leia is both terrifying and hot. I would run.

“So it is treason” – Some random guy

Lando needs to be on the New Republic payroll simply for being willing to speak to any of the other characters and also he needs a raise. This poor guy getting called on to command the entire New Republic fleet mid-battle and he’s like “I’ve been a civilian for 15 years and also I knew you would pull some horse piss like this steve”

Mara Jade, Imperial protege. Skills include: Identifying load-bearing walls. (Now all I want is Property Brothers: Sith Edition)

Mara please. Luke please. These absolute idiots. This is some pear scene shit. I hope nothing bad happens to them ever

The whole back half of this book has been an emotional rollercoaster for me specifically because I wanted Flim to be Thrawn FR soooooo baddddd. And now I’m sad. His name literally means scam don’t do this to me Zahn

I’ve been amused by all the Star Wars universe idioms but I gotta take a moment to specifically showcase “burned your sky-arches.” Karrde is a delight to have in class

Having an independent intelligence agency that’s supposed to work for both the New Republic and the Empire seems absolutely unhinged but go off I guess

When the New Republic and Empire sign peace accords and Luke can’t even be bothered to show up

Mara is great and her arc is fuckin hilarious to me. The narrative has identified her as The Damaged One and I’m like???? She came to terms with her troubled past, drew her own boundaries regarding the Dark Side, recognized that there are people who care about her instead of pre-emptively pushing them away, and resolved to form deeper emotional connections. Smash cut to ROTS Anakin whose physical and psychic damage has literally turned his brain into oatmeal

Again I know this was before the prequels Mad points for explicitly saying Mara needed to form attachments to become a Jedi. Zahn being pretty gangsta there

OH NO THEMB

[panicroomsammy]

Analysis of s15e6 because one of my mutuals wanted polisci analysis of Supernatural and the nuclear family and this episode crawled inside my brain.

The b plot of the episode is Cass investigating a series of deaths in a small town he’s been hiding out in since his fight with Dean. He goes to the sheriff’s office and the sheriff is dismissive, telling Cass that since it is a small town people don’t go missing there, if they do it’s never locals, and that the woman who is complaining about her son going missing complains about there being a Fourth of July parade as a way of discrediting her. There is so much to unpack in this scene. That locals never go missing and it is always outsiders who go missing has a sinister undertone with the implication that the town takes care of their own, perhaps to the extent of killing meddling outsiders. The sheriff Others tourists, not caring if they die and implying that they deserve it while there is a subtextual implication that the townspeople or the sheriff may be active participants in purging themselves of such Others. When he attempts to discredit the mother of the missing boy by saying that she complains about the Fourth of July parade, he attempts to Other her to Cass by saying “look, she isn’t one of us she criticizes patriotism/the nation, so she must be an outsider.” This was simultaneously so extremely on the nose and blink and you’ll miss it. The woman has anti-imperial/anti-colonial political views, so we shouldn’t care if her child dies. It is later revealed that the sheriff is the monster and Cass calls him out, saying “It’s always you selfish little men in positions of authority. You take what you want, who you want. You believe your power will protect you.” This is, again, shockingly on the nose. Supernatural rarely makes those in positions of authority the monsters. I can recall of the top of my head dozens of episodes where the sheriff helps and no other episodes where the sheriff is unambiguously the monster. Cass’ use of the word “always” applies more to real life than to the world within the show. It is also important to note that the victims who Cass helps are nonwhite and moved to the town from a city. These factors combined make the episode almost seem to serve as a critique of social institutions such as the police, except for two things, the first being that by making the sheriff a literal monster they Other him from his community, displacing the blame for real life corruption onto him and away from his human counterparts. Even when someone inside the community is the monster, they are still a monster rather than a person. And on the rare occasion that the “monster” is a person they are poor and rural (The Benders, Family Remains) rather than a wealthy white man in a position of power.

The second is the a plot of the episode. Sam is captured by a mother witch and her daughter who are working to bring the other daughter back to life. The younger sister tells Sam that her older sister tormented her all her life, and Sam offers to help her escape her family, but instead of taking him up on this she chooses to stay devoted to them and dies with them. This is a much more conventional Supernatural episode plot: the choice of the nuclear family over all else - even when family is hell.

The show does not have a political message - it was created to be an artistic expression of feelings - both positive and negative - about family and to be a story about stories. The form that those stories take - urban legends that revolve around suburban fears about the nuclear family - make it fascinating to analyze, but for an understanding of subconscious influences upon the writers that in turn recreate those biases in viewers, not for a purposeful political message.

[most-hated-blorbo-bracket]

any chance of an updated list?

Of course!!

Also, this is the NEW and FUCKING IMPROVED LIST, I alphabetized it so it’s even better than before >:3

Currently, we have 340 unique characters (if I counted right) and 487 total submissions. The top three most submitted fandoms are Homestuck, Danganronpa, and One Piece, excluding submissions that were spelt wrong or spelt differently. The top three submitted characters are Haiji Towa, Vriska Serket, and Stella Goeta (stella has so many submissions it’s funny)!

Finally, this is the raw, unedited list of characters submitted so far. Just because they are here doesn’t mean they’ll be in the tournament; it just means they’ve been submitted, regardless of media or what character they are!

as always, list under the cut!

This first list is for characters with two or more submissions. Characters who have three or more submissions will get first dibs in the tournament!

Akechi Goro

Akio Ohtori / Himemiya

Anakin Skywalker

Ansem the Wise

April O’Neil (2012)

Ardyn Izunia

Ayin

Azula

Bill Cipher

Boston

Bramblestar

Buzz McCallister

Caillou

Chibiusa

Childe

Cici

Cullen Rutherford

Darkstalker

Dazai Osamu

Dio

Dio (Zero Escape)

Donald Trump

Donquixote Doflamingo

Dr. John ‘Jack’ Seward

Drannus

Eichi Tenshouin

Elias Bouchard/Jonah Magnus

Eridan Ampora

Evan Hansen

Every Genshin Impact Character Ever

Glenn Quagmire

George Wickham

Greg Heffley

Haiji Towa

Happosai

Her Imperious Condescension

Higashikata Josuke

Huey Emmerich

Ibara Saegusa

Izzy Hands

JD

Jace Herondale / Wayland / Lightwood / Morgenstern

Jin Guangyao

John Gaius

Julia Mazzone

Junko Enoshima

Jurgen Leitner

Katsuki Bakugo

Kokichi Ouma

Kristoph Gavin

Kromer

Kusaka Masato

Kylo Ren

Kyubey

Lance Dubois

Le’garde

Live Action Buggy

Makima

Mal

Marvin Falsettos

Meenah Peixes

Merlin

Micah Bell

Michael

Minoru Mineta

Mr. Bungee

Pierce Hawthorne

Pierre

Princess Daisy

Ranpo Edogawa (Beast)

Regal Farseer

Ronaldo

Rose Quartz

Santa Claus

Sasuke Uchiha

Scrappy Doo

Sentinel Prime

Shiver

Shou Tucker

Simon

Simon Laurent

Sosuke Aizen

Spamton

Stella Goetia

Teddy / Kuma

The Maverick

The Metatron 

The Once-Ler

Thistleclaw 

Tony Stark

Tsumugi Aoba

Ty Betteridge

Val Velocity

Viren

Vriska Serkat

William Afton

c!Dream

Ōchi Fukuchi

The next list is for characters only submitted once. If you want these characters to have a higher chance of being added to the tournament, feel free to submit more propaganda for them!

Absalom

Abyss Sibling

Adam

Agamemnon 

Airy

Akane

Akito Shinonome

Akito Sohma

Alastor

Alexander Hamilton

Ali Lectric

All For One

Aloise Trancy

Anatole Kuragin

Angel Dust

Anne Hathaway

Any Character From Welcome to Nightvale

Anyone From The Locked Tomb

Aranea Serkat

Ashfur

Astarion

Asuka

Bella Swan

Ben Jackson Walker

Betsy Wolfe

Billy

Billy Hargrove

Black Pete

Blackbeard

Blitzo Buckzo

Booker

Box

Bro-Strider

Buck Cluck

Buzz (cheerios)

Byakuya Togami

Caesar Clown

Caliborn / Lord English

Captain Kuro

Cersei Iannister

Chloe Bourgeois

Chris McClain

Chrollo Lucifer

Cicero

Clara Oswald

Coco

Cozy Glow

Cynte

Damian Wayne

Dan Moroboshi

Dean Venture

Dean Winchester

Detective Saracusa

Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd

Disembodied Voice

Don Flamenco

Dr. Henry Miller

Drew

Duke

Edelgard

Elias Ainsworth

Elias Ainsworth

Elon Musk

Equius Zahhak

Erebus

Eric Cartman

Erlina and Brugaves

Eugene Coli

Every Single Country In 1993

Everyone In Romeo And Juliet

Father / Dwarf In The Glass

Feferi Peixes

Five

Five Pebbles

Floch

Foreman Oyun

France (Hetalia)

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu

Gamzee Makara

Georg Weissmann

God

Goeffry St. John

Gordon Blackwall

Graham Spector

Gra’ha Tia

Haiji Senri

Heath cliff

Henry Miller (OC)

Henry the Eighth

Himiko Toga

Hisoka

Hiyoko Saionji

Holly Blue Agate

House

Huey Laforet

Ianthe Tridentarius

Il Dottore

Inspector Tobias Greyson

Itsuki Shu

Izumi Sena

JJ

Jacopo Bearzatti

James T. Kirk

Jayne Cobb

Jiren

Joe Destefano

Johnny

Jonah Magnus

Jonathan Groff 

Judith Ford / Natalie Cook

Judo

Julia

Julie-Sue

Ken

Kevin

Kusunoki Muu

Kyouichi Saionji

Ladd Russo

Lady Catherine de Bourgh 

Lebreau Fermet Viralesque

Light Yagami

Liontari

Lotor

Louie

Louis

Luke

Mahiru Koizumi

Makoto Itou

Marie

Marlon

Mary Keay

Master Crown

Matou Shinji

Matpat

Me

Medusa Gorgon

Meredith Rodney McKay

Michael Scott

Miguel O’Hara

Millions Knives

Moash

Moeka Kiryuu

Monokubs (Except Monodam)

Mori Ougai

Morris

Mr. Collins

Ms. Valentine

Muu Kusunoki

Muzan Kibutsuji

Mystery Hunter (Jeremiah Hartley)

Nagito Komaeda

Nanami Kiryuu

Narumi

Natsumi Sakasaki

Nefera DeNile

Nickel

Nikola Tesla

Noor Pradesh

Ocelot

Octavian 

Ogai Mori

Orochi

Otto Apocalypse

Paul Von Oberstein

Pencil

Petyr Baelish / Littlefinger

Prince Louis

Queen Scarlet

Quiche

Quill Kipps

Rafal (FEE)

Rafal (SGE)

Rafe Cameron

Randy

Raven Queen

Rebecca Costwolds

Redd White

Riley Finn

Roger

Rohan Kishibe

Roland

Roshi

Rumpelstiltskin

Ruruka Ando

Sakazuki Akainu

Sandy

Sanji

Sebastian Mechaelis

Sheldon Cooper

Shen Jiu

Shiki Tohno/Nanaya

Shinonomes (both)

Shredder

Sigma Klim

Silver Spoon

Skizzleman

Slayer

Solf J. Kimblee

So Sejima

Splinter

Stark Sands

Steven Universe

Stormcaller

Subara Akehoshi

Tatsumi Kazehaya

Teruhashi Makoto

Teruteru

The Eleventh Doctor

The Entirety Of Homestuck

The Groke

The Little Palace Mistress

The Mage

The New Ninja

The Old Palace Master

The Operator

The Pale King

Tim Drake

Tom Wambsgans

Tomaru Sawagoe

Touichiro Suzuki

Trishna

Tumblr Staff

Valens Van Varro

Verstael Besithia

Victor Frankenstein

Vivienne Medranno’s Impsona

Voice In The Calm Ad On Spotify

Volgin

Wanderer/Scaramouche

Wen Chao

Whiteout, Clearsight, and Benjamin

Will Shuester

Willy Stampler

Woodes Rogers

Xisuma

Yoshiharu Hisomu

Yu Ziyuan

Yumichika Ayasegawa

Yuri Briar

Zeke Jaeger

Zenos Galvus

Zhou Zishu

[blessyourhondahurley]

Suptober day 4 - Commencement

Castiel completes his training with Rowena, and it all goes very fast after that!

A new part to my 2019 series Rowena's Shop

Suptober prompt: Nimbus Flufftober Prompt: Cinderella Moment Fictober Prompt: “Do you even know what this means?” Inktober Prompt: Dodge

(Read on AO3)

“Oh, well done, Castiel! Very well done, indeed! You've gotten it exactly right! Look!!”

Comfy and dozing in his overstuffed armchair, Dean can hear Rowena's words of effusive affirmation drifting in through the curtained doorway to the back of the store. The cooing, approving tone of her voice is one she's never used with him, of course, but Cas has been drawing it out of her more and more often lately as he's neared the completion of his studies. From the sound of it, he's just ticked another box on the list of spells he needs to master before he “graduates,” whatever that word means for a literal sorcerer's apprentice in the Year of our Lord 2023.

He's starting to doze off again when his boyfriend comes bursting through the doorway, a wide, gummy grin on his handsome face.

“Did you hear?!? I did it!!” he trumpets.

Dean stands to give him a hug. “I heard, honeybee! Nice work!! Does that mean you guys are done for the day, or are you taking a break? Maybe we could go grab a late lunch...?”

Cas gives him a firm, full-bodied squeeze, then pulls away, shaking his head. “No, beloved, I did it. That was the last one. I'm finished. Do you even know what this means?”

Dean watches, mouth agape, as he murmurs a few sibilant words and flicks a finger. The cozy glow of the shop's chandelier dims as a nimbus of luminescent power gathers around Cas's head. The blue highlights in his hair coil and eddy, then the color surges, flowing down the man's body and draping it in a floor-length brocade cloak that perfectly matches his gorgeous eyes. It's a Cinderella Moment if Dean's ever seen one.

“Holy shit,” he mutters.

“Indeed,” Rowena intones sarcastically as she walks into the room. “Eloquent as ever, I see.”

“Hey, screw you, Broom Hilda,” Dean snipes back. “Forgive me for being in awe of my boyfriend the fucking wizard.” He rolls his eyes at her and turns back to Cas. “So, what happens now? Can we celebrate? Go out for a nice dinner? Or should we just skip to dessert?” It's a cheesy line, but God help him, that little display of power got him so freaking turned on. If Rowena wasn't here he would 100% be on his knees right now.

Cas seems to be on the same wavelength, because he's got a dirty smirk on his face. He opens his mouth to respond, but Rowena throws up a waggling finger.

“Ah ah ah, there'll be plenty of time for that sort of business later. Right now I need your help with the last o'my cases.” She gestures behind her, at a teetering pile of steamer chests that definitely was not there a minute ago.

And the same-wavelength thing must still be in effect, because the two of them reply in unison, “Wait, what?”

“I've been stuck here long enough, boys. Now that you're ready, Castiel, I'll be goin' walkabout for a bit.” She points again at the trunks, an imperious quirk to her brow, and the two men scramble to fill their arms.

Rowena herself picks up the tiniest, daintiest little handbag and leads them, shuffling under the immense weight of her luggage, out the side door to the alley. Her car, like her a sporty little compact number of indeterminate age, make, and origin, seems much too small to hold so many massive cases. But of course, like magic, it all fits neatly into the boot, with ample room to spare.

Dean slams the lid down, then rounds on her. “So, what, Cas finished his training five minutes ago and you're getting outta Dodge? How long are you gonna be gone? What's gonna happen to the store? Wh–”

Whatever other question he'd been about to ask dies on his tongue when she snaps her fingers. (He's honestly not sure whether she did a silencing spell on him or he's just terrified of her.)

“It's tradition, you utter gowk. I've nothing more to teach our Castiel, and the shop practically runs itself, has done for centuries. And, much as I loathe to admit it, you've become quite an exemplary assistant in all the years you've been lollygaggin' around here waiting for your fella to do his lessons. The pair of ya'll do fine. And I'll be back around, in a few months or years or... Well, eventually. Cheerybye, boys!”

And she's gone, in a puff of sweet-smelling exhaust.

Dean and Cas stare at each other for a full minute, slack-jawed and stunned. Finally, Dean gathers himself enough to break the silence.

“Honeybee,” he says hoarsely. “What the fuck.”

[dyed-red]

I voted for priest Sam hair! Not only because it was the correct choice, but, hey, bribery! So for a mini Dickey, a choice between outsider POV of the boys being weird about each other or late seasons domestic!Winchesters? If neither of those work for you, write something you like 😁

I love that my bribery accomplished nothing, because everyone taking me up on the offer is someone who was already going to (or already had) vote for the correct choice anyway :D truly net zero impact on the poll, which is likely for the best.

and ahh, i do love both outsider PoV and domestic!chesters, so this is good. and in my typical fashion, my answer is:

Set after 12x11, "Regarding Dean".

They're very beautiful boys is the thing. Well, not the thing, but certainly part of it. Rowena thinks that anyone would be hard-pressed to judge her somewhat embarrassing lack of self-preservation in this regard, if they too got to experience the full effect of Sam Winchester imperious gaze or Dean's intermittently roguish and boyish smiles.

That or, like so many before her, she truly just did contract Winchester Derangement Syndrome. Oh well.

She'd wanted to skirt out of town quickly, after helping fix up Dean's memory. It would be the prudent thing to do. But it was also an opportunity, one that might not drop into her lap quite so easily again anytime soon, to get a read on the brothers without being observed herself. One had to wonder how they did it, held the world together with duck tape and a can-do attitude, considering how ordinary and brutish they'd seemed at first.

Well. Maybe not entirely brutish. Sam's command of Latin and spellwork had always intrigued her. But that was neither here nor there, and he wasn't accomplished enough a spellcrafter to see through the glamour that she wove around herself -- an angling and aging of the face, a darkening and straightening of the hair, a thinning of the lips and tinting to the eyes. Enough that, with an outfit passably dull, she could opposite to them in the pub where they made their way for dinner and rest before they'd set out in the morning. A quiet place on the outskirts of town, locals trudging work boots in and tired or sore from the day. Sam and Dean fit right in. They seemed to fit in most anywhere they went.

Better chameleons than even her glamour could afford her. A few hundred years and Rowena wasn't sure she'd perfected the art of invisibility as well as two men gorgeous enough to be on magazine covers. That was something.

She'd followed them in, waited across the parking lot, and wondered if Dean had injured himself somehow on the day's misadventures. She didn't recall anything, not much action except for at the end there, otherwise just Sam pasting sticky notes to objects and Dean becoming cuter and more bearable by the minute. She didn't recall anything, but Sam's hand never strayed from Dean's back as they made their way across the lot, and Dean never shrugged it off.

By the time she slipped inside, found herself a stool at a table with a view of their booth, they were seated across from one another. She'd never noticed, never bothered to, how far their legs stretched under a table, tangled up into each other's foot-space. At her height, not an issue she had frequently. But Sam was leaned back, fingers on the table, leg, ankle jostling against Dean's calf underneath it. He looked relaxed, and something in Rowena's chest eased at seeing it.

The curse was properly fixed then. Of course she wouldn't wait around in town just to be sure, she wasn't their minder and anyway she'd been certain it was fixed before they parted ways. Still though, confirmation never rankled.

Dean looked around and Rowena turned her gaze to the bland offerings on the menu and in her peripheral she heard his voice, not the words, and then Sam's laughter, loud and startled for a moment then quieter.

When she glanced over, Dean was grinning, leaned in, and Sam's face was so fond her own stomach felt a little gurgly, as if caterpillars (never butterflies) might take up residence.

There was a motion, quick dart, and Sam's hand was on Dean's. Overtop, maybe on his wrist. Rowena's caterpillars turned to lead -- waited with bated breath as their waitress came over and they separated, expressions shifting quick like guilty schoolboy -- and then burst forth into winged insects instead, fluttering around her insides. She bit the inside of her cheek, eyes alight, and ignored the moths taking up residence inside of her.

Well, that was something then.

It wasn't all that scandalous, that kind of sin. Proscribed by the law of every place and time, but something you saw a time or twenty if you lived long enough. It wasn't as if she hadn't suspected. Her imaginings had been more brutal though, more teeth gnashing end-of-world anger with each other, clinging and messy and mad with it. Hand touches across the tables and -- the memory surfaced from earlier in the day -- delighted grins over the potential for a front row seat to some 'live skinemax', that hadn't been what she'd conjured up.

And oh, to be the live entertainer with Sam, to have pleasure made into a show for Dean's affections. Too bad Sam had to be so focused on fixing his brother, they could have had some real fun that afternoon. She certainly wouldn't have complained.

She ordered something herself, a salad and, because life was short, two types of dessert to follow. If there was some thing cold-blooded American capitalism had done right, it was egregiously portioned and delectably indulgent desserts.

The brothers ate, and laughed, and sighed across their bench from each other, seeming weary but well. Ordinary, but far from it. Their legs tangled deeper into each other's space. Dean's fingers drummed an absent pattern, no doubt from one of those rock bands he liked, and Sam nudged him with his leg and directed him to where some dart boards were setup. They brushed shoulders and elbowed each other, were close enough for her to catch snatches of their conversation. Teasing, mostly. Challenging, boyish one-upmanship. Flirting, quite obviously, when Sam's voice dropped to growl something in Dean's ear she couldn't catch, the tone of which had her stomach swooping anyway.

They left not long after, when her second dessert arrived. A little flavourless, in comparison. She left without bothering to finish, left town that night without dawdling any longer. The boys were good, and were comforting each other, and they owed her one. The rest was between them.

[baldy-wan-kenobi]

Okay people, here we go:

Baldy's Book Club

Episode 1: "Into the Storm"

By Taylor Anderson, Book 1 of the Destroyermen series.

Okay, so, on the recommendation of my most esteemed mutual @frogblast-the-ventcore , I have been coerced to read the Destroyermen series, and post my thoughts about them as I do.

So, for part 1, here we go. I'm going to assume those of you reading have read the book, cause if you haven't, you should be going to buy it, right now. I mean it.

First and foremost, this book was written by a ww2 nerd, for ww2 nerds, and by god does it show. Taylor Anderson is a professor of history, and it shines through in every part of the book. From the technical details of the USS Walker, to the shortcomings of the Mk. 14 torpedo, to the attitudes, lives, and habits (both good and bad) of a 1942 Asiatic fleet destroyerman. Speaking of which, call me Dean Kamen, cause that's a perfect segway to talk about

The Characters

To begin with, do not expect a normal person's assessment of these characters. Expect a Normal™ person's view of them.

First: Captain Matthew Reddy. Oh my lord this man. He's an absolute mess, knows it, and yet cannot let that show, because, well he's stranded in an alternate universe with humanoid lemurs and sapient velociraptors. In my head, he's got total divorced dad energy going on, 30-something going on 50 because of stress, greying at the temples but still hot in a DILF kind of way, not overly muscular, and with one hell of a voice. (I'll admit the audio book colored my perception, but it's a fantastic audio book so I don't care.)

Next, Chack-Sab-At, the biggest and most baddass guyfailure to ever live. "Oh, I'm a pacifist" then the very second that an enemy without moral repercussions comes along he's all "I love violence and killing and murder and death and injuring people and blood and biting and cutting and-" like, seriously, dude says he's a pacifist before turning around and becoming Furry Doomguy.

Next, Dennis Silva, he-who-was-told-not-to-fuck-the-monkey-cats-but-did-it-anyway. Moving on,

There's literally more I love about the characters than I want to sit here and type out, so I'm going to cut it short, but Oh My God these characters are A+.

Next, I just want to touch on something these books made me feel. A lot of times, as an USAmerican with an actual brain, I can get bogged down in the fucked-up shit my country has done and feel like I can't celebrate what makes the US cool without making it sound like I'm excusing all the bad stuff, but this book kinda made me stop for a minute and go "man, the US is kinda fucking rad, when you think about it." Because, you know what? It is. Yeah, we've done fucked up shit, but we've also done some pretty awesome stuff. For every My Lai Massacre, there's a moon landing. For every Trail of Tears, there's a Berlin Airlift. Sometimes, it's okay to take a moment and just go "Fuck yeah, guys. Were pretty cool." Because this book really makes you feel that, at least it did to me, but I'll get off my red, white and blue high horse and keep going.

Alright, now we come to the part that I need to get out...

THE BRITISH EAST INDIA COMPANY

Literally everywhere in my life, I am haunted and stalked by the specter of a long-dead megacorporation. In every piece of media, in every topic I research, no matter what, they're there. As the Frogman quoted from me in a meme a while back "I'm being haunted by the ghost of English imperialism". What the fuck? Anyway, if you wanna chat about the book, please do, because I am at terminal levels of Fandom.

Anyway, if you want to read along for the next Baldy's Book Club, we'll be reading Crusade, the next book in the Destroyermen series.

(P.S. Frogman, I know this review isn't very good, but my brain is soup rn so this is whatchu get.

[rmwb-fanfics]

Could you rank the male HP Characters in terms of Cock Lenght, like how you see them in RU? Thanks!

Hi Curse, hope you’re doing well.

Thanks for asking! Honestly tough one to answer but here we go.

Harry: 9 inch wonder. Brother doesn’t need the spicy double digits he’s all good with the motion of the ocean. Ginny doesn’t complain.

Ron: foot long subway slammer. Ron Weasley FUCKS. Pair this with his lean, defined physique and you’ve got yourself a winner.

Bill and other Weasley men: 7 inch with a great personality.

Draco: Says it’s 13 is really 4. “It’s big though, like.. in girth,” he says to the hooker he hired off the streets of Paris.

Dean: Gay and POC? The imperial system can’t measure that one so probably like 30cm flat. Weird curve though.

Sirius: “I’ve never measured,”. Has measured, is disappointed.

Remus: doesn’t really matter because Tonks can change whatever she’s got going for her to work around him.

Lucius: unfortunately has something going for him at ten inches but Voldemort might rip it off if Narcissa and Draco fuck them over one more time.

Grindelwald: [REDACTED]

Dumbledore: is dead so im spared.

Arthur: no way Molly had that many kids without enjoying herself. 11 inch people pleaser.

Greyback: considering the fact that he doesn’t wear clothes most of the time it’s probably permanently shrunk due to the cold and Tonks doesn’t think he’s got much going for him so let’s trust her.

Elizabeth: doesn’t have a dick but she gives off big dick energy.

Teddy: bro is a tall lanky natural blonde yeah he’s packing.

[maybe-i-will-fandom]

Anyone got any essays on 6x4 Queer Studies & Advanced Waxing?

Abed wanting to let the birds stay so they won't scare away the mom. Talking about his mom taking his half brother to AZ, leaving Abed behind. His speech to Elroy. Elroy relenting.

Dean having a queer issue and immediately calling Jeff and Frankie. Jeff. And. Frankie. Alone. Separate from the rest of the Save Greendale Committee. Gaydar?

Frankie practically coming out. Jeff and Craig's little pantomime about that.

Jeff's "unfortunately" about how anything that isn't straight is perceived as gay. His "we're afraid deep down that all of us are a little political"

The message against Imperialism and America's Japanese Internment somehow buried in what seemed initially like just a pile of racism.

Elroy and Abed raising the birds together. Burying them together.

All the gay students that came up to the Dean to thank him and tell him how much his visibility meant to them.

Them all crying at Chang's performance. The Dean apologizing to Abed from it 😂. The unarmed black man vs the unarmed gay dean speech. The Dolly Parton parody

The cat mask ceremony Abed planned and everyone went along with 😭

[fatehbaz]

Driven by utilitarian concerns with scarcity and fears of cascading environmental degradation, colonial officials implemented tree-planting programs of all sorts -- seed farms, erosion control projects, school forests and so on. [...] Imperial forestry describes a shared set of practices, convictions and institutions that bound Japanese forestry professionals into a network that spanned the Japanese empire itself. [...] Japanese woodsmen (with a venerable forestry tradition all their own) came to terms with Western notions of natural resource management and "scientific forestry." [...] Japanese foresters tailored European ideas about ecology, sustainability, and industrial development to the particular needs of the Japanese empire and the different biomes it encompassed. [...] Japan has played an outsized role in the management and control of Asia's forests. To understand how Japan has maintained such verdant hillsides at home, [...] we need to more fully appreciate its control of sylvan landscapes abroad -- be they in the colonial empire before 1945 or in Southeast Asia thereafter. [...] [W]e ought to place tenant farmers in colonial Korea and shifting cultivators in Kalimantan in the same analytical frame. [...]

---

The most obvious legacies are material: flora introduced during colonial occupation that still grow in Korea today. [...] As part of a campaign to supposedly "beautify" the Korean landscape [...], Japanese settlers planted [...] cherry blossoms along streets, in squares, and within parks across Korea. [...] Another impact can be found in the forestry institutions founded during colonial rule. The flagship Forestry Research Station established by the colonial government, for example, only grew after liberation, becoming a hub of agro-forestry research that underpinned South Korea's economic take-off under Park Chung-hee. Many of the architects of South Korea's so-called "forest miracle" -- the wildly successful project of reforestation in the 1960s and 70s -- were trained in colonial scientific institutions. This is not to suggest that the dense forests that today blanket South Korea are somehow due to colonial rule. Reforestation under Park was born of markedly different circumstances -- its Cold War context, authoritarian rule and energy portfolio. But that doesn't mean that foresters on either side of 1945 weren't united by the same sets of anxieties and aspirations. [...] [A] set of abiding concerns [...] have animated forest conservation measures across the full sweep of the tumultuous twentieth century in Korea. [...]

---

[R]eferences to the ondol (the radiant heated floors conventional to Korean dwellings) are everywhere in the forester's archive. Japanese woodsmen quickly marked the ondol and its associated lifestyle as ground zero of deforestation. By the 1920s, forestry officials had launched an ambitious campaign to gain control over the energy consumption patterns of the home -- a crusade on caloric inefficiency that furthered the reach of the colonial state into the domestic sphere. In this sense, the ondol provides an illuminating lens through which to examine how forestry touched the lived, even bodily, experience of colonial rule in a sometimes bitterly cold environment. This is especially true of the civilian experience of the Asia-Pacific War in Korea, a period of fuel scarcity that resulted in draconian programs of caloric control. [...]

[W]e have much to gain by looking beyond the boundaries of the islands of Japan to write its environmental history. Understanding the tree-smothered hillsides of the so-called "green archipelago" requires that we pay close attention to its material linkages with the rest of Asia. It demands that we track commodity chains, supply lines, and resource politics across the Pacific.

---

Words of David Feldman. As interviewed and transcribed by Office of the Dean, School of Humanities at University of California, Irvine. Transcript titled “Seeing the forest for the trees.” Published online in the News section of UCI School of Humanities. 21 May 2020. [Some paragraph breaks and contractions added by me.]

[stormbeyondreality]

Thanks for the WIP (whenever) Wednesday tag @fallen-chances! Have something from Ebonsong Verse 2: Mercy Mirror (aka the sequel to Snowbloom).

“I wish I’d grown up like you and knew all of this already.” Elisif started spinning her little decorative drop-spindle, only to stop the moment someone almost came in range of being hit by it. Erlind snorted, holding the door for her and a few of their other classmates. “I don’t think you’d have liked it much. Besides, I think Dean Gemane explains things better than any of the tutors or books that my father assigned my siblings and I.” “Beg your pardon, but I don’t believe I’ve seen you around anywhere here before.” A young man’s voice with a considerably more posh accent than Elisif’s floated from shortly down the hall. Erlind turned to see a small gaggle of five approaching, all dressed in fine clothing with finer stitching, led by a blond, blue-eyed Nord with a bit of well-trimmed stubble and a dog’s head embroidered on his lapel. He held out a hand. “Haldric, of Clan Hearthguard. You may know my family from the dogs we raise and train; the finest in Skyrim, if not all of Tamriel, but my mother especially gives a significant amount of coin to support institutions such as this.” Haldric waved a hand at the college around them. “If you haven’t heard of my family, you may have heard of one of my friends’-” The same hand waved again to indicate the four behind and around him. “Allow me to introduce Isobel Aerius, Cyrenil Silinor, Julienne Riscel, and Metina of Clan Silverwit, all of well-known and well-respected families in Solitude.” Haldric’s four compatriots nodded politely when he introduced them each: a brown-haired Imperial with soft features and a butterfly pin in her hairnet, a classical Altmer with his hands folded neatly and a roguish smile, a Breton even shorter than Erlind with her fiery hair bound in intricate braids, and another Nord the same height as Cyrenil, her eyes as silver as her family’s supposed wit. They all watched Erlind and Elisif more closely than Erlind would have preferred.

I tag @oblivions-dawn, @nightinngales, @nerevar-quote-and-star, @incorrectskyrimquotes, @yewphoric, annnnnnd @soupcans!

[hinderr]

Why do you think Gideon captured Dean alive? If you remember how this happened, it seems that he planned to capture the prisoner from the very beginning. The Mandalorians were deliberately lured to the base, deliberately divided, Dean immediately began to be grabbed and entangled with ropes. As if he was not going to be killed on the spot from the very beginning.

Also, have you noticed that Gideon seems a little…tired? Оr it seemed to me? Just wondering :)) When I looked the episode, it really seemed to me, that he is satisfied with life in general, but he still has not fully rested after prison. It even seemed to me that this was why he did not participate in the battle, although in the first season he calmly fought along with his soldiers.

Honestly I feel like the reason he singled Din out must have something to do with Grogu. Gideon spent a lot of resources trying to capture Grogu in the first 2 seasons and there is something that he's doing that he keeps a secret even from his other imperial friends ('clones are your obsession, not mine' yeah my foot gideon). I also figure it's because Din did best him in combat last time they met, Gideon probably wants to show that he's stronger in the new suit

Now that you mention it, yeah sorta! He seemed slightly less energetic than before. I figure the reason he didn't participate in the battle is because a) he's not actually the bestest at it and b) he probably figured the Mandalorians arent worth his time. Then again, the Gideon I thought I knew would've loved to rub it in their faces for as long as possible. There's something about the way he held himself that seems less...imposing? Definitely more tired.

Everytime I think about whatever Gideon may be planning to do to Din, I'm reminded of the fact that we've yet to see our season-promised helmetless Din scene. And a pit in my gut forms

[zvaigzdelasas]

President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the slum priest who became his country's first democratically elected president, resigned today under intense pressure from the United States and the threat of an invasion of the capital by armed insurgents[...]

President Bush ordered the deployment of the Marines to Haiti as part of an "interim international force" to restore order. Both France and Canada have agreed to send troops, too. The United Nations Security Council met in emergency session to consider a resolution for a multinational force.

Mr. Aristide was once hailed as the man who could deliver peace and freedom to his nation, a slave nation that liberated itself 200 years ago from its imperial oppressor only to stifle under a blanket of strife and poverty. But his presidency crumbled as he violently cracked down on political dissent and armed rebels seized Haiti's north this month. The Bush administration, which had earlier been reluctant to suggest that an elected president step down, has shifted its stance over the past several days, increasing the pressure and finally strongly urging him to step down.[...]

James Foley, the United States ambassador to Haiti, said that an international force consisting of security, aid and administrative personnel "will rapidly be in Haiti" to help stabilize the country. Violent clashes between government supporters and armed militants have left as many as 100 people dead since early this month[...]

In sending the Marines to Haiti, Mr. Bush said: "The government believes it is essential that Haiti have a hopeful future. This is the beginning of a new chapter."

About 50 Canadian soldiers provided security at the airport in Port-au-Prince today, assisting a Hercules transport to fly Canadians out of the country to the Dominican Republic. Canadian officials promised today that they would provide further military assistance as part of an international force.

In Paris, French government officials said tonight that France, the first country to demand Mr. Aristide's resignation, was ready to participate in an international peace force in Haiti, but would await definition of the force's mandate by the United Nations Security Council. France also said it would send aid.[...]

American policy toward Mr. Aristide shifted swiftly. In July, Brian Dean Curran, then the United States ambassador here, said, "The United States accepts President Aristide as the constitutional president of Haiti for his term of office ending in 2006."

But the Bush administration decided in the past three days, as a senior administration official said Saturday, that "Aristide must go."

2004

[whumplovers-collaborate]

WLC 2023 Spring Fic Exchange Works

Hi! We in the Whumplovers Collaborate server have been having fun writing gifts for each other in this recent exchange

We present to you the Whumperful products of our hard work, with fics in fandoms across the board, and some OC works too (:

Careful What You Cast For by FoofsterRoonie @foofsterroonie

Fandom: Supernatural

Sam finds himself on the search for a cure after casting a spell with unintended side effects, Dean ends up taking care of his little brother.

Fate/Design, two faces of one coin by ProdBionic @prodbionic

Fandom: Supernatural

Dean had been acting off lately and Sam was out of tricks. The recent bout of nightmares that had overrun Dean's sleep –Sam's sleep as well because that was bound to happen when his brother would wake up shouting next to him– must've been triggered by the apocalypse creeping up on them and all it entailed. Memories of Hell, Sam presumed.

A regular hunt was Sam's fix to the situation. It was supposed to take Dean's mind off of it.

Of course, when had anything ever been that straightforward, or easy? In this case, nothing was what it looked like..

Baseline by shadowhuntingdauntlessdemigod

Fandom: Captain America, MCU

In which torture and a thirty-mile long trek back to the front lines landed Bucky in the field hospital. Lucky for him, Steve was the second-best mother hen out there, not that Bucky would tell him that, or admit to being one himself when the going got rough. He was a sergeant, after all. Looking after his men, which now included Steve, was part of the job description.

Fallout by contumeliouscorvid @contumeliouscorvid

Fandom: Daredevil

Lying had become something he was at ease with.

Tag to Rabbit in a Snowstorm.

Hollow by shadowhuntingdauntlessdemigod 

Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Soot-stained and debris-covered chunks of white and blue plastoid stick out from the rubble. The wreck of the Tribunal is a mangled mess of a graveyard and Rex's brothers will forever be its only occupants.

Eventually, he feels Ahsoka put a gentle hand on his uninjured shoulder. “I can’t leave them like this,” Rex says quietly. They have time now, he thinks, to do it right for both the first and last time. They’ll make the time, if they have to, on this unknown moon, to ensure that their men can rest as they deserve.

Soon by MnM_ov_doom @mnmovdoom

Fandom: Star Wars, The Bad Batch

Seeing Rex like this was disturbing. One moment he had been pacing around in the cockpit of the ship, looking exhausted and unwell, summarising the intel he had studied for the past couple of days and maybe this time he could find a way to hack into an Imperial database and look up Cody’s CC number and-

The next moment Rex had stopped, staggered, and collapsed.

For You by User_needs_a_Username

Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist

Edward goes in to give his report while Alphonse goes to pick Winry up from the train station. But it turns out something is happening in the Colonel’s office, and it involves a stranger and a gun.

an unlikely savior by Rookblonkorules 

Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist

When Roy is injured and bleeding out, the person he least expects is the one who comes to his aid.

one lone crow doesn’t make a murder by crowsinflight, crowsinflight (goldenzingy46) @goldenzingy46butwriteblr

Fandom: Six of Crows series

Kaz has been building up his persona as a monster, a demon, for a while. The past has a way of catching up.

Or: the fic where a religious zealot believes that Kaz is actually a demon and then tries to do something about that. Gratuitous whump.

If only by Kaufmann @kaufmann-6

Fandom: The Umbrella Academy

"They're going to kill me, Ben" Klaus whispered, his voice full of fear, and Ben shook his head.

"It'll be okay, Klaus" Ben felt like he was lying to Klaus and himself, but the least he owed his brother were a few words of comfort.

An AU in which Patch didn't notice Five's van across the street and Cha-Cha got tired of waiting. Angst follows.

Finding Home by Siegrrun

Fandom: Stranger Things

Steve didn't know what to do. He didn't know where to go. He should've seen this coming, prepared for the possibility. But, really, how can you prepare for your parents kicking you out?

Or, Steve's parents kick him out. He finds a new home.

Don’t Worry, Little Wing by SuperSilverSpy

Fandom: Batman

Suiting up, he put his comm in and swung out the window. “Oracle? What happened to Robin?”

“He snuck out of the manor three hours ago. We can’t find him.”

OR Dick heads to Gotham to look for a missing Jason Featuring hurt!Jason

Lights will guide you home by vel (pineapple_vel) @thaliaisalesbian

Fandom: Percy Jackson

You know how sometimes you think a bad day can't get any worse, and then it somehow does? Percy and Annabeth were trying to make a bad day better, only for it all to go wrong.

malice by Corrosion

Fandom: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild/Tears Of The Kingdom  

Link may not have his memories from a hundred years ago, but he's certain that whatever caused his current predicament hadn't existed back then. He wouldn't have survived.

How Pretty He Screams by ProfessorWorm 

Fandom: Sherlock (TV)

Everyone thinks Sherlock is dead. Sherlock wishes he was. John decides to live out his fantasies on his former friend. Moriarty has a confusing time.

When the Shift Ends by 99percentsure

Fandom: Emergency! (TV 1972), Adam-12  

How was Roy DeSoto to know his heading for a day off was gonna take such a nasty turn The Poles of Persephone-11 by The_Walking_Pie @the-walking-pie

Fandom: Star Trek: TOS

Following a shuttle crash at the pole of an unknown planet, McCoy and Chekov are the only survivors. Together, they must survive an arctic wilderness in order to reunite with the Enterprise.

A Stitch in Time by The_Walking_Pie  @the-walking-pie

Fandom: American Assassin

Mitch takes a bullet for Hurley. The man has a few words to say about that.

For the True King by The_Walking_Pie @the-walking-pie

Fandom: Original Work

The duty of any prisoner is to escape. Unfortunately, Gideon just happens to get caught in the process.

Detangling by the_diving_fox

Fandom: Original Work

Spinner is a space explorer who's been held hostage and mind-controlled for six months. Now, aboard a different ship and with his best friend, he must begin to deal with what happened to him.

Whiplash by Biarritz

Fandom: Original Work

Even the best have to let their guard down sooner or later. Being a Courier is dangerous; shopping isn't supposed to be.

The Traitor of Murland by NicolePascaline

Fandom: Original Work

Florence thought that King Percy was dead, but he's here to take back the throne and make the traitor pay for his treachery

The Chosen Hero by KnightlyCross 

Fandom: Original Work

The church couldn't stop the scientist since they had no evidence of malign actions. But after a young girl came bearing a prophecy, a hero to take down this scientist was chosen. At least that’s what The Church says.

This Cage Built For Two by Anonymous 

Fandom: Original Work

Ren’s luck has never been that great to begin with, but transmigrating into an otome game where he unexpectedly keeps dying? That’s got to be a new low.

Stay tuned for the next exchange! (Signups will open soon)

Only server members can participate so now’s the time to join us (: