#makes me think it is perhaps someone who's not just a troll + is actually just under the impression that this is an ok thing to send someon

[rollercoasterwords]

tried to read wfrau as i saw people rec it, but there's something bothering me in that fic. i don't like the alpha-male-ification of remus in wfrau. remus is not a beast who can fight another beast werewolves. he was a timid, sheltered boy in canon, but it's like you're making him fit into the fanon toxic wolfstar heteronormative box. it feels weird to read. please don't make me start on why it seems like you hate sirius OR use sirius as a self-insert to indulge in your fetishization of remus. like why do you write sirius as abused, when it was canonically remus who was disabled. can you consider rewrite some points in the fic, aligned to canon?

lmao where do i even start with this. uhhhhh okay first of all to answer your question - no, i will not be rewriting to make my non-canon-compliant fic more compliant with canon. if you don't like it, i suggest you don't read it! i'm not writing the story for you, and i'm not really sure why you think it would matter to me whether you like it or not. there are plenty of other fics out there that you can go read.

this fic was explicitly written to be a werewolf-fighting ring au. if you don't like remus fighting other werewolves, then i'm baffled as to why you even started it in the first place, considering that it's clearly tagged "werewolf fighting ring." i don't agree with your interpretation of canon that he was a "timid, sheltered" boy; even if i did, this fic is specifically exploring how the characters would be different in an au, non-canon-compliant version of their world. if the gay romance between two men is too heteronormative for you, there are, again, other fics out there that you can read. and if you don't want to read about "toxic" relationships then u DEFINITELY shouldn't read this fic, because none of the relationships in it are wholesome and healthy lmao. if you think i hate sirius...i don't even know what to say lol. like yeah i hate him so much that i've written hundreds of thousands of words of fanfiction about him. that checks out! and remus is fetishized in this fic for being a werewolf, which is a topic that gets explored in-depth in his pov chapter and is not something condoned by the narrative. i'm assuming you didn't read that far, though, and that what you mean by "fetishization" is the fact that sirius finds him sexy. so. again, i think you probably should just not read this fic if characters being sexually attracted to each other bothers you. i write sirius as being abused because that's the story i wanted to tell; not really sure how remus being canonically disabled is something that would cancel that out? those are two separate things. and remus's canonical disability is his lycanthropy, which....also exists in this fic. and is another topic that gets explored throughout the story.

in conclusion i truly cannot emphasize enough that i am not the person out here reccing this fic, i am not trying to grow an audience or go viral or any of that bullshit. not sure where you got the rec from, but i have actually asked people not to post about my fics on tiktok to try and avoid them blowing up there, because i do not want people like you reading them. i include an entire warning on the first chapter about the fact that this fic is dark and deals with heavy topics; i've tagged the fic thoroughly and have also included "additional tags to be added" to remind people that it's a wip and things are subject to change. all this is to emphasize -- i really, really, really don't care if any person reading the fic dislikes it. i don't care if they dislike it so much that they have to stop reading, because i don't care how many people are reading it in the first place!! i'm writing this story purely for fun, for myself, so i'm going to write what i want to write. even if you intended for this message to be polite, it just comes off as incredibly entitled to ask a stranger on the internet to spend hours of time and labor tailoring a story to your specific tastes, and if you think this type of message is okay to send then i think you should genuinely sit down and reevaluate the way you approach fandom. nobody is making you read fics you don't like, so just....don't read them.

[tossawary]

One of my favorite Discworld books is actually one of the more obscure ones, "Moving Pictures", which is about the invention of films and the movie business in this fantasy world that has dwarves and trolls and wizards and so on. It has its rough patches like every early Discworld book, but Ginger's speech about people who were born in the wrong time or wrong place for their dreams really gets to me in a good way, and I love all of the references to classic films and commentary on fame and creativity. It also has classic characters like Gaspode the Talking Dog and C.M.O.T. Dibbler, and it introduces Detritus's romance with another troll named Ruby.

Perhaps most importantly to me is that this book introduces Ponder Stibbons, who is a wizard, and who goes on in later books to be one of the most important members of the Unseen University (he holds like twelve different positions), in that he's one of the few people who can competently manage a project and so ends up managing nearly everything. (Bear with me, it's been a while since I read any Discworld and my memory is a little rough.) In "Moving Pictures", Ponder is the classmate (roommate?) of a fellow named Victor Tugelbend, who is one of the main characters.

Victor begins the book as a career student, in that a wealthy relative left him a great deal of money exclusively for school; so as long as he STAYS in school, all of his living expenses are paid for. If Victor graduates, that's the end of the money. If Victor drops out, that's the end of the money. But if Victor manages to hit a specific mark range in the 80s every year, then he gets to stay on for another year and try again, and so Victor is perhaps the most dedicated and knowledgeable wizardry student in the university's history, because you have to know what the right answer is in order to intentionally get a certain number of the questions wrong, so that you can continue to coast along on your college fund.

Ponder's graduation is (accidentally) Victor's fault, because Victor runs away to get into the movie business. (I won't spoil what happens, but it's VERY funny.) Now, I like to imagine after the events of the book, after Ponder holds a faculty position in the university, Victor comes BACK to the university occasionally as a disgustingly well-paid external consultant, which drives Ponder UP THE FUCKING WALL. Like, people are so stingy all of the time but SOMEHOW the university budget has room to bring your offensively handsome dropout roommate back just to say, "Hmm, yes, that looks bad. Have you tried turning it off and on again?" I'd throw a fit, honestly. (As soon as Ponder has enough seniority, he probably puts his foot down to stop this if Victor isn't actually useful. Maybe he is, idk, but maybe not for THAT consulting fee.)

I also like to imagine that Victor Tugelbend and Theda "Ginger" Withel are still together, maybe even still acting (badly? mediocre-ly? decently?) together, in some dingy little theatre (Ginger is the director and runs their acting troupe like a tyrant) where the front seats are regularly filled with middle-aged folks who still sigh over the memories of moving pictures. (Moving pictures are now, presumably, VERY illegal in Ankh Morpork.) Victor and Ginger have only because even more attractive as they've gotten older, which is EVEN MORE OFFENSIVE to poor Ponder because his former movie star former roommate is married to another gorgeous former movie star?! I'd throw another fit.

Anyway, I think Ponder deserves to have an affair with a pair of aging former movie stars. I like to imagine this purely because I think it's funny. He seems kind of busy for marriage, so joining someone else's marriage part-time might be good for him. It probably makes most of the rest of the Unseen University faculty breathlessly envious and that really does it for him.

And I think that this affair would OF COURSE be covered by every newspaper and tabloid in the city, including The Times, and William de Worde and Sacharissa Cripslock don't fully understand why their entertainment reporter is so breathlessly excited about people who were famous over a decade ago? (Supermarket tabloids love to tell me about alleged affairs of people who were famous 20+ years ago.) The article on Victor Maraschino and Delores De Syn's failing marriage* is their bestselling newspaper in months and William puts his head down on his desk in despair. (He's fine. This happens on a weekly at least basis. He just needs a minute.)

*Victor and Ginger are very happy with this situation, actually. They're going to take Ponder to dinner to go on a double date with Ruby and Detritus soon. Victor and Ponder are going to get distracted arguing about some of the Inadvisably Applied Magic research projects, but that's fine, because Ginger wants to talk to Ruby about this one-troll-woman-show concept. (Detritus will proudly hand out tickets at the Watch station and accidentally intimidate all of his coworkers into accepting the invitation.)

[subastian-swallows]

HLC ROMANCE — WHAT WE DESERVED

Ominis Gaunt — Head Empty, Thoughts

This has been requested by the lovely @tinaexe and obviously NEEDED! Like the Sebastian one, I feel like as a fellow BioWare fanatic — romance is my forte, in games! Ominis is a little harder as most will be based on what if’s, as unlike Seb, we don’t fully get a developed relationship with him in the game. (We kind of are friends at the end?) So because of this, we only truly see him expanded through Seb’s quest line.

So, let us begin at the beginning:

If you decide to be in Slytherin, you meet Ominis in the Common Room. I actually really love this interaction! I think it’s a nice way to set him up as a character, but would have loved more dialogue options — a big thing the game failed on. I understand it wasn’t their aim, but more dialogue, more choice, would make relationships develop more and make your own character feel more real. I think the only bad thing about this interaction, is that he is too sweet straight away (HERE ME OUT LOL) Ominis comes off as someone who is very picky with his friends, I would have loved to have him more indifferent here — just for a lovely enemies to lovers type thing. Think Morrigan from DAO but more tame…way more tame lmao. (This is just me, tbh it fits his character that he’s kind. I also like the idea that he’s extra kind because of how he grew up — but easily snaps if upset) If you aren’t meeting him here, it would also be DADA! I like the idea that he would make fun of Sebastian losing here, perfect opportunity for romance points — the curiosity of you beating Sebastian would win points with him for sure. Flirty-ish dialogue could be added here!

Now, I’ll do gifts first this time — mainly because we don’t really spend any time with Ominis lmao, so from here, apart from some quests like the scriptorium etc will be my interpretation! With gifts for Ominis! I like the idea of him being a sweet tooth, so the idea of being able to buy sweets from Honeydukes would have been so neat for this. (This would the small relationship point add on.) for bigger gifts, I like the idea of him being into more refined artefacts! Like interesting things you find on your journeys. Think:

Sculptures/art type stuff: x20 romance points

Flowers: x10 romance points

just for fun lmao — dark magic artefacts: -30x romance points

Unlike Seb, Ominis should be harder to romance! I stand by the idea, that he is hesitant and feels more complicated when it comes to love. Considering his upbringing, bringing down the walls is the first step! This is where more dialogue plays into part, remembering things that are brought up later — a big bonus to romance points!

Now interesting idea, re-meeting Ominis in Hogsmeade! I think with an Ominis romance for it to work alongside the plot — it would be mostly through Sebastian. (Drama for all those that love both — me everyday battling my inner demon of wishing to romance anyone else, but Alistair in DAO!) I like the idea of him interrupting your visit with Sebastian and perhaps helping alongside you and Sebastian with the troll! Would have been really neat to see more action from him. Flirty dialogue could be added, but it would be met with a flustered/confused Ominis.

This is where we linger from the quest line a bit, because well let’s be honest, Sebastian would never let Ominis know he’s taking you to the restricted section. So, this is where I kind of make it up. I think a small quest would work here with Ominis OR simply another one on one conversation. This could be where you learn a little more about him, if you picked the right dialogue OR you could upset him. I think a big part of this game would have benefited with a main character that had more choice. Even in Mass Effect you get two options, sometimes three — same with Dragon Age Inquisition, but the main character still feels more real, simply because of the choices! A quest for Ominis here, could be anything really, maybe he’s in the library and needs help with something or you find him in the DADA tower needing help etc.

Undercroft, baby! Here is the thing, I love the idea of Sebastian still taking you here — but like Sebastian’s one, Ominis should have caught you in the act! I would have loved to have him pissed off and you have to work your way out, but actually getting the chance, rather than him automatically not believing you or giving a shit. This would be the first instance of where romance points matter, if you have enough he apologises and takes it out on Sebastian, if you don’t, he takes it out on the both of you and is grumpy.

Scriptorium. This is the quest. I would feel like this is the major quest to determine whether you are locked into a romance arc with Ominis and I could even agree that this would be where you’d lock in either of the boys! I’d like to think that this quest should have had more chances to side with either boy, depending on who you wanted and what you believed. It needed more banter, comforting dialogue where you could commend Ominis for helping you both and it would have been perfect for flirty dialogue — making him all flushed and shy. This would also be where he starts to see you as something more, if you pick the right dialogue. Perfect opportunity for Ominis to take care of you when Sebastian crucio’s your ass.

Relic moment. OKAY! Here would have been so perfect to show that your romance points mattered. Imagine that depending on how you’ve interacted so far, it would determine if he would trust you or not. He was too trusting at this point, TBH. He knows how Sebastian is, not you and so this felt a little strange to me. So the idea, that at this point your romance points mattered, to determine if you had to curse him would be HUGE. Because if you had to curse him, I’d love to see it be a huge factor that he can’t be end goal. By this point, I think you also have to be completely against dark magic and Sebastian using it. This would be big points for Ominis’ romance.

Conversation about Sebastian it’s Ominis! Worried! You express what is going on, the mine situation etc. This would be where Ominis is more shy and clear with his feelings without actually telling you, if your romance points are high enough. A gift from him? A ROSE?

Solomon quest, rip. Ominis would need you to be fully on his side here. You would need to have the opportunity to support him in this and with dialogue omg I hate it. Still agree with being able to stop Sebastian, having enough romance points with Sebastian, to the point of stopping him before he does anything — would tie into if you could complete Ominis’ romance. I like the idea that they tie in together here and you had to have thought about both throughout. Ominis and Sebastian are practically brothers, so it makes sense.

THE ENDING: You could only get a good ending IF you save Sebastian, I just think it’s very fitting. If you can stop Sebastian, I feel like Ominis can really open up. If you don’t I think he would be toooo heartbroken for a romance. If you succeed, you get the kiss and hug scene and he shows his appreciation for you — thanking you for being there for him RIPP

Bonus: Winter Ball like Sebastian — only agreeing to go with you if romance points are high enough. ALSO, I like the idea of a moment to stick up for him or he sticks up for you. BECAUSE CUTE.

I might have missed stuff and more definitely could be added, but this is the basic romance plot line — that could have worked. We just needed more dialogue, more options and more quests for him!

[hollowwrites]

To Hogsmeade

Ominis x MC

Summary - On my eternal quest to shove Ominis into every single part of the game. Plus I wanted to explore more happy playful Ominis and obviously ended up talking about his family…sad.

Warnings - None, Just a rewrite of Hogsmeade with Omi, Violence(?) for troll battle

Word Count - 2130

~

Tomes and Scrolls

Ollivanders

J.Pippin’s Potions

The Magic Neep

Don’t know what that is, or that. What’s a Neep?

Evelyn sighed heavily. No way she could try and navigate Hogsmeade on her own, though that was her plan. She’d been on her own for just over a year now, she could handle a little village. Though as her eyes scanned over the foreign words and magical phrases on her list of items, Evelyn felt less confident in her independence.

So she begrudgingly made her way back to her new home of The Slytherin Common Room. No doubt where she would find Sebastian, the boy who Professor Weasley had offered up as her guide.

And she was right. He sat opposite Ominis, his palm pressed angrily into his cheek, fingers tapping impatiently at his temple and his brows slammed over his eyes, flicking through the pages of a rather large and dusty tome.

The blonde Slytherin however, looked quite the opposite. He had an airy almost smug smile to him, as though he had gotten his way with something. The lopsided smirk turned to a soft smile as she approached and he turned slightly in her direction.

“Don’t mind him…” Ominis said, his voice thick with amusement “…He’s just sulking”

“I’m not sulking…” Sebastian snapped, his head rising from out of the pages of his book. His expression lightened somewhat as he looked over at Evelyn. “Ah…my new charge” he beamed

“Not anymore…” Ominis taunted turning his wand over and over in his hand, the smirk coming back alongside a low chuckle

“Must you?” Sebastian muttered, his eyes returning back to the book on the table.

“Have I missed something?” Evelyn said rather amused with their little back and forth.

“Oh quite the tale actually. You see-“

“I got caught in the Restricted Section again and now I have detention” Sebastian interrupted much to Ominis chagrin.

“Oh… So when do you have detention?” She asked taking a seat next to Ominis. Sebastian craned his neck to look at the Grandfather clock behind her, leaning back till he was on just two legs of the chair.

“Half an hour” he stated as all four legs slammed back against the stone floors.

“Hmm…So I’m guessing you can’t show me around Hogsmeade?”

“That’s why he’s sulking. You were his ticket out of detention but Madam Scribner was quite insistent. Wasn’t she Sebastian?” Ominis turned back toward his friend, gloating.

Sebastian grumbled under his breath, the words ‘Hag’ and ‘Old Witch’ barely audible amongst his mumbling.

“Great…I need someone to take me and show me around. I thought possibly I could do it myself but…” she paused to pull out the list of items she needed to acquire and Ominis’ eyes waywardly drifted towards it. “…I don’t understand half of the words on this page”

Ominis flicked his wrist, the tip of his wand changing from its usual slow pulsing red to a constant bright blue. He pressed into the paper and his eyes swayed to and fro as if he were reading the words, despite his gaze remaining somewhere off to the side.

“I can help you with that” Ominis smiled, stowing his wand away

“Could you?” Evelyn turned to him excitedly, clasping her hands in front of her almost as though she were begging.

“Yes, whenever you’re ready”

“Oh thank you so much…” she sighed in relief “…I hope it’s no trouble for you. I hate being a burden”

“Nonsense…” Ominis waved his hand dismissively “…not a burden at all. As you’ll come to learn, Hogsmeade is a quaint little town. It’s never a burden to visit there. Shall we walk this one to detention and make our way there?”

“I don’t need an escort” Sebastian protested

“I don’t know…” Evelyn said with a sly smirk on her face “What little I know of you I think perhaps you do”

Ominis laughed loudly and began rising from his chair.

“Do you need any help at all?” Evelyn asked holding her arm out for Ominis. She was still quite unsure of the boys abilities.

“I’m okay, thank you. It’s been quite some time since someone has offered me assistance. It’s quite nice”

“That’s because everyone knows you don’t need any. You’re perfectly capable. More so than most people”

“Still, Sebastian. It would be nice for you to ask” Ominis said with a frown.

“Honestly, Sebastian, it’s like you two aren’t even friends” Evelyn piled on, shaking her head with faux disappointment.

“Unbelievable…”

~

The trio walked through Hogwarts till Sebastian separated off towards the Library. Scribner had apparently sentenced him to scrubbing the Library floors. A fact that caused Ominis to chuckle and Evelyn to wince sympathetically. She had only seen the Library once, accidentally, when she made a wrong turn. The place was huge.

“Just ignore him” Ominis smiled as he held open a door leading her towards Hogwarts’ Courtyard. “He’s a little bitter I couldn’t get him out that detention”

“Get him out of it?” Evelyn asked with a raised eyebrow

“Yes. I usually do.”

“How?”

“As I’ve said, My family are descendants of Salazar Slytherin. My name is well respected…and feared. And they have a good relationship with The Black Family. Our esteemed Headmaster…”

“Ah…”

“Ah Indeed” he smirked

“So you’re a good one to know?” She said nudging him with her elbow slightly “Don’t worry…I don’t plan on getting into any trouble”

“Good…I have my hands full with Sebastian” He chuckled lowly, pushing one of the large entrance doors to the Courtyard.

She was quiet for a second, something that left Ominis a little perplexed.

Maybe it was colder than she expected? He thought as a sharp wind blew past him.

“It’s…beautiful here” she murmured

Oh…

“Yes…” he laughed softly “…I have been told that”

“Sorry” she muttered and fell into step with him again. “It must be annoying…people talking about what the can see all the time”

“I’m used to it” he shrugged

“Still…I’ll try my best not to do that”

“That’s…very thoughtful of you” Ominis said with a frown. He wasn’t used to people being this pleasant towards him. It felt…nice.

“It’s the least I could do. Showing me around the castle, outside the castle. I’m indebted to you”

“Ha…don’t tell Sebastian. He likes having people in his debt.”

~

Check, Check and Check.

Slowly, they worked through her list. Ominis stuck to her like glue as they shopped, making sarcastic little comments about how she’ll be a better Potioneer than him in a matter of days. He’d even stowed his wand, happy to let her guide him with her dainty little hand at his elbow.

However, On their way towards Ollivanders, their last stop, Ominis’ face took a turn. Like a thin mask of sadness and anger across his normal stoic features.

It was only after they passed an older couple on the street corner that Evelyn knew the root of her companions sudden change.

“Pah, Gormlaith Gaunt was the sort who’d flay her own mother”

Ominis sighed heavily, turning to Evelyn with a half-hearted smile, hoping she hadn’t heard their hushed conversation.

“Are they talking about your family?” She said gently touching his elbow as she had the rest of the evening.

“Yes…it happens a lot. Like I said…feared” he huffed in annoyance, eyes darting around “Maybe you should have come here with someone else. I don’t want you getting a reputation of-“

“Oh hush…” she huffed and linked her arm with his. “Come on…we need to get my wand so I can duel Sebastian properly”

~

The troll was lead away from the main square, much to Ominis’ relief. He didn’t relish teaching Evelyn an impromptu DADA lesson, though she seemed capable enough.

What was annoying Ominis now, was the incessant child screaming somewhere behind him.

Yes, there was a troll. And now it’s gone. Cease your whining.

It was this very screeching that prevented him from hearing the second troll stumbling down from the hills behind Hogsmeade. By the time it had crashed into the building behind him and raised its club high above its head, it was too late.

“Protego” Evelyn muttered with perfect control and an unwavering boldness.

The club bounced off the little bubble around Ominis and caused the creature to stumble backwards as it ricocheted off the protective charm.

“Come on….” Evelyn said with that same confidence, grabbing his hand and pulling him away from the recovering troll.

The roar of the troll almost deafened Ominis until another ear piercing and foreign noise filled his ears. It crackled and surrounded him, then a thunderous pop sounded from ahead…and then silence.

No mouth breathing of an angry troll.

No debris being sifted through.

Just Evelyn panting and her heartbeat hammering in her chest.

“What happened?” Ominis asked cautiously, fumbling for his wand within his robes. I should never have put it away! I could have died, she could have died!

His location charm activated immediately, showing him a vague image of the devastation around him…and the silhouette of his new friend staring awestruck at her new wand.

“I…don’t know”

~

Ominis’ mind was reeling. He couldn’t believe how easily he’d let his guard down and it almost resulted in them both getting pulverised by a troll. His fingers drummed idly along the side of his Butterbeer generously gifted to them by Sirona.

And as he listened to her excitedly explain the magic that erupted from her, he found himself letting his guard down again. He caught himself leaning on his palm, listening to her dreamily. It was so refreshing hearing someone be excited about magic.

He had grown up around it. It was woven into every fibre of his being to the point his family abused it on a daily basis. Magic had become something Ominis borderline detested, and hated how he had become reliant on it.

However, her ignorance to all things magical, that which had become commonplace for him, was endearing and…adorable? Her passionate ramblings became infectious and he too was suddenly fussing over the smallest of things.

She levitated a feather today.

And he acted like he hadn’t done that exact same thing 5 years earlier.

Though the whole afternoon wasn’t completely devoid of negativity. The moment they took a step into the Three Broomsticks, the jovial chorus of conversation died down briefly to stare at the pair.

The Blind Gaunt. The Sightless One. That one Blonde Gaunt.

He and his family gathered many names. Pity it hadn’t caught on how much he hated them. Maybe then he’d be able to visit Hogsmeade in peace.

They just assumed all Gaunts’ were the same.

So when the devious pair of Rookwood and Harlow erupted into the Inn, Ominis turned his head in the other direction. No doubt his mother had paid the Mercenaries to check up on him. And possibly drag him kicking and screaming back home.

Wouldn’t be the first time.

“No need for theatrics. I’m only here for this one anyway”

“Me?” Evelyn said shakily

Ominis turned back and heard the faint gasp of Evelyn as Rookwood loomed over her. She’d stood from her chair and now had her wand drawn, Sirona too, her own pointing at the stockier of the pair. He could hear the faint crackle of magic from her wand as she readied to cast.

They were here…for her?

Well that simply wouldn’t do. She was far too innocent and naive for these brutes. Ominis stood then and reached out in front of her, his hand finding her waist and pushing her behind him. He hovered protectively around her shielding her with his body the best he could.

“I only want a quick word” Rookwood took another step forward.

“Perhaps you didn’t hea-“

“That’s that Gaunt kid!” Harlow exclaimed “Ranrok didn’t say nothing about the Gaunts”

“That doesn’t matter. They-“

“I ain’t tangling with the Gaunts. The things they do to their own family…I ain’t about to find out what they do to their enemies” Harlow quickly stowed his wand and exited the Inn. And without back up, Rookwood did the same.

“Can’t drink Butterbeer forever” He taunted as he left, the door swinging violently as he pushed through.

Sirona turned on her heels to the other patrons, her brow heavy over her eyes.

“None of you saw fit to help?” She scolded. The Inn remained quiet, an awkward silence seemed almost deafening. “They’re students! You should all be ashamed” She huffed, throwing her cleaning rag at the barrels in frustration.

“I’m sorry I…I knew you should’ve come with someone else” Ominis stuttered. Once again he’d almost gotten her killed.

“Not at all…” she breathed, her tone a mixture of joyous playfulness and deep gratitude “…seems you were the exact right person for me to come with”

Masterlist

[sgiandubh]

Hi!

Fitness anon here… 

Perks of living in Europe and having more than one kid I can actually assure you that everything a certain blogger emphasises as special we do here more or less regularly.

We drive more than two hours on a weekend to go to a beach, visit friends or basically have a nice time with family and friends away from home. Our kids are familiar with this way of life from an early age and adapt in general very well. 

Europeans are really capable of handling these kind of things all at once and we really like to have this kind of experience with our kids like a short sightseeing trip, visiting capitals of our neighbouring countries, exploring different countrysides or visiting historical places or museums.  So nothing special or unusual at all. 

But maybe for some blogger who is not interested in actual facts, it is just mind-blowing and does not fit into the agenda.

I am really sorry (not!) if I have destroyed an illusion someone wanted to create for some people. 

And also as usual - as pointed out in previous posts - all of the reels were down by herself. No doubt about it.

Dear (returning) Fitness Anon,

Thank you, as always for coming back with more witty insight. Lifestyles across the world vary and, of course, US vs Europe is no exception.

But when you are THE Troll of an entire fandom and you do have a history for being used to promote various convenient narratives, you certainly do not bother explaining these to your essentially US-based followers. Who could not care less about anything, unless it fits their own limited views, I am very sorry to say it.

I remember lots of week-ends spent with family and friends, when I was a child. Yes, even in a dark, grey Eastern European country with severe food shortages during the second half of the 80s: we made do and God, we were resourceful!

So much so, in fact, that I kept the week-end travel habit for life. Probably dozens of city breaks, at home and abroad. Never regretted a thing.

That being said, a divorced parents' child would perhaps need to keep a consistent routine of sorts. I remember the absurd fuss about it when I was one of those children, a long time ago, even if my father never wanted shared custody. He just, heh: he just left and that's it. But this is just me, maybe - still, something strikes me as odd, in all this.

And yeah, I totally agree. Clearly a dynamic duo trip: why do people have to make a whole bunch of crazy speculations about it is certainly beyond me.

Here, Anon, to say thanks for dropping by. A random sunset pic from a week-end trip to the Danube Delta. Evening boat tour on Lake Razelm, something not easy to sort out. But my fingers itch already for the wheel, all summer long. To entice all of you with off the beaten track stuff from home:

(Year is 2012, I think)

[bridgetoesoteria]

🔮Quickie Read: Pick an Oracle Card🔮

Short & sweet read. Just going to see what comes out. Numbers correlate with piles.

(Psst! I'm going to split the readings so the post isn't ridiculously long. Piles 1-3 on this post).

Hope it resonates!🤍

Using Mystic Misfits Oracle Deck + Playing Cards

Pile 1

Spread: 10 of Spades, The Joker + Lovers (Oracle)

You may be holding onto something you need to let go of. I am getting that it is some kind of loss or a sense of loss. You might have had to let go of a person in some way, whether that was through breaking up or physical loss.

I'm not saying "let go" in an invalidating, trivializing way. "Process" would have been a better term. Its like you are paused in the grief/regret stage. Wishing for what no longer is. The skull has a tiny little star on its head. It made me think of the star card in tarot. Healing. You could have to let someone, or something, go that you hoped to see improve. You have a lot of history. This could be related to struggling with mental health.

The movie Lovely Bones came to mind. I am not suggesting to watch it. Its not a pleasant movie and may trigger some people. But iykyk. Perhaps something about this movie is meaningful?

TL;DR: If you are struggling with grief, mental health, or anything else. Please tell someone you trust. Ask for help with processing whatever events you are dealing with.

Pile 2

Spread: 5 of Clubs, Jack of Diamonds + Fairy (Oracle)

When I'm reading playing cards I never know whether I should consider jacks as pages or knights. So I just think of them as both and go with the energy I feel. This one feels more knight-y...

(Probably) y'all rn 🤣🤣:

Okay, let me stop trolling. Yes, this jack feels like more of a knight of pentacles. So a lot of you could be on the younger side or just really youthful. You could be used to being looked as childish or childlike. You could like to joke a lot and not take things too seriously and that may be getting you in trouble in some way. Maybe you feel like you might need to "grow up," in some way and you are wrestling with what that truly means.

Or, you could have gotten into a disagreement with a youngish masculine. Maybe your personalities don't always mesh. I don't think this will be romantic for all of you. I actually feel like it is a platonic or familial for many of you.

For both scenarios, give the situation time to calm down. If you want to reconcile with someone, don't be impulsive about it. You should probably send something sincere, thoughtful, and as "too the point" as you can get it. Depending on your situation, you may even want to meet up. If this is more about you making decisions for your future. Again, don't do anything impulsive. Move at your own pace. Embrace who you are while remaining open to who you can become.

TL;DR: If you are feeling pressure to "grow up," take a breath and make the decision when you are less conflicted. Its possible to stay true to yourself and open to change. If you are butting heads with someone else, give things time to settle then send a sincere message/peace offering.

Pile 3

Spread: 7 of Spades, Ace of Diamonds + Sun (Oracle)

Right away, if you are wondering if a certain person is lying to you or in someway being duplicitous...you're probably right. For some of you, I feel like there is a feminine energy that is burning with jealousy. Some possible reasons that come to mind:

Run-of-the-mill hatin' ass hoe

Thinks you stole her man

Thinks you stole her "position"

Like...sis is mad mad. And they are willing to try and sabotage a new beginning, opportunity, or offer for you. If this isn't someone else, this could be how you are feeling toward another person. You could feel like they get all the spotlight.

If you're winning right now, keep it to yourself. There are def haters in your energy. They don't see you as celebrating your wins when you talk about them, they see you as bragging. If you aren't telling them directly, they know somehow and think that you are on a pedestal and haaate it. Be careful about saboteurs. Loose lips sink ships besties!!

TL;DR: Mad haters around so keep your business to yourself. Not everyone is happy to see you do well and they are willing to so something about it (as in sabotage your success). For others, you are the one doing the "hating," and may view someone as a rival in some way. Don't let this hate consume you. You are great and have much to offer too <3

~ K

[babiebom]

apologies for my absence- holiday periods are tiring lmao how were they for you? unfortunately we have yet to watch the fnaf movie, as our group is one that is exceedingly difficult to make plans around because we're all busy 💀 but then there's the one guy who doesn't want to leave his house lmao luckily, iv'e been pretty good at staying away from spoilers, so i've got that going for me. on the other hand, i'm planning to go see Trolls 3, and my mother and sister recently went to see the new Wonka movie. Though from what i've heard from a friend, Wonka's no good :// Yeahhh, if i actually commit to the mod, i'd have to learn pixel art and reteach myself code and programming 😭... i used to be somewhat decent at it. oooo yes i love a good choose your own adventure! they're so much fun and i've actually coded 1 of my own :,) it was through Visual Basics though, so the formatting was a bit weird for me lmao if you're going for a visual novel type of look and playability, I'd probably recommend Unity or itch.io? in my experience, Unity is probably easier to use.. theres another website/app i used but i can't recall the name sadly :( if i do i'll get back to you though! i don't have that much of a detailed request this time, but perhaps some fluff and love languages between rasmodius and the reader? or like hcs of rasmodius's evolving interest/thoughts arund the reader before finally getting together? i'd perhaps request nsfw/smut stuff too but tbh i just don't have any ideas 💛 tysmm :D -🔮

A/N: I’m glad you’re okay!! Honestly I’ve been sick these past couple of weeks (I caught pneumonia and had it for a month before going to the hospital. I thought it was a cold oopsies) I haven’t watched anything new recently but I am watching the third season of singles inferno with some friends. And I guess until I can figure out how to make a visual novel I have to write the fic out lmao sucks for me because I think a game would be better but oh well. What can I do? And like always I’ll try to do both!! Check back for the second one!!

Tw: cursing, slight nsfw but no full on smut. Let me know if there’s something I missed!!

Wc: I have no idea! But these are headcanons so 10+ is the goal!!

Sdv Masterlist

Okay so there are five main types of love languages.

Physical touch, Words of Affirmation, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, and Quality Time.

I would also like anyone reading this to remember that these love languages are how you want to be loved/receive love not how you show love to others.

I do think that Rasmodius is very connected to himself

And by that I mean I think he knows himself very well, or at least he thinks he knows himself very well.

And for a long time I think he probably thought that Quality Time and Physical Touch were his main two love languages.

I mean idk if it’s canon but in my opinion I do think he cheated on the witch with Caroline

And I’m not gonna go into it here because this isn’t about them, but I think it might’ve had to do with that and his own struggles with temptations.

And I also think gift giving is canon for literally every single character in stardew because that’s the main way to befriend someone.

But I think that after marrying you/beginning to date you he realizes that his actual love language is words of affirmation.

While Physical touch and quality time are still very important to him, being with you makes him see that he really does like being praised.

Like whenever you say that he has done something well, or that you like something he has done his heart flutters as if he were a teenager again.

Especially when it comes to his magic

Like I feel like the townspeople aren’t really fond of him

And they never thank him for the things that he does whenever they actually need him for stuff

Like the haunted maze

Like they’re just talking about how weird he is and how he got it done

But they never stop and say anything that’s positive like WTF

So I think he would appreciate whenever you thank him or praise him and it would go straight to his head (which one idk 👀)

With quality time I feel like you get a lot of it after he moves to the farm

Like unless he’s working in his tower, or you’re off somewhere like in the mines

That you’re like together even if it’s spent in silence

And he loves that

Like he was super lonely before even if he doesn’t want to admit it

So just being in the same room as you counts as quality time for him.

And if you’re doing an activity that’s particularly domestic

He’s in heaven like he doesn’t wanna make it a big deal

But baking and helping you around the farm makes his heart soar.

I think in terms of how he shows love i think he would show it in acts of service and gift giving

Like oh you don’t feel well?

Don’t bother going to the clinic he’s just going to create a potion that stops you from getting sick

You’re afab and you’re having bad cramps during your period?

Consider them gone

Look at this thing he got for you

And while yeah this might seem like either a lot of insincere

In his mind and heart this is how he shows that he appreciates you and wants you to live a good and easy life.

If he can make things easier and less stressful for you

That’s exactly what he’s going to do

He loves you and while he loves receiving attention and love he’s kinda crap at giving it in the same way because he just doesn’t really know how

So this is how he does

He’s VERY romantic sometimes and shows it through gifts and services.

Very cute and a good significant other when you get past his rough exterior.

[secretsofthestorymakers]

Translating the Runes in Secrets of the Magic Makers

Ok, so I already said in my previous post (X) that I love Secrets of the Magic Makers and the runic writing in Frozen in general, but now I’m going to actually talk about the translations of the runes.

Most* of the runes shown in Frozen movies and shorts are historically accurate and translatable. They are Younger Futhark runes, used in Nordic regions beginning around the 9th century. The Younger Futhark alphabet has 16 runes and is a simplification of the Elder Futhark, which had 24 originally. The Younger Futhark alphabet was used throughout Scandinavia in the Viking Age and declined after Catholicism was introduced. (Source: Runes Illustrated by Rachel Newcombe)

* I say most because the runes in Olaf’s Frozen Adventure on the bell are not historically accurate. They are simply a direct English transliteration of the words “Ring in the Season”

Disney worked with Old Norse language expert Jackson Crawford (you can find his YT channel here (X)) to ensure that the runes in F1 are historically accurate.

Ok, history lesson over, let’s actually talk about how these runes are relevant to the Frozen story.

I did not translate these myself, although I have kind of taught myself how to now. These translations come from Panya on this website. If you are interested in the detailed translations, I would highly recommend checking it out, as it is truly fascinating!

Here is the cover of the book. It translates roughly to Runes of Knowledge, but I believe this book to also be Secrets of the Magic Makers (see my previous post for full explanation).

The inside of the book is 9 lines of text, repeated twice. It appears to say something like

Someone (subject is unclear) was turned to stone (ice?) by the power of the moon. The trolls from the dark mountain realm have healing hands. A soul wounded from cold will heal if brought very quickly to the field of them (the trolls). Trolls have such a nature that they can get sorcery out of the body to save it. Such action done in true love is the only one which can thaw a heart stoned (frozen?) very quickly.

It isn't exactly clear or easy to read, but I think that it tells the story of an ancient Arendellian (possibly Aren, but that’s mostly just a headcanon) whose heart was frozen by some power of the moon. It goes on to say that trolls have the power to remove magic, but that the only way to thaw a frozen heart is an act of true love.

This is VERY interesting as it implies that someone in the ancient past had a frozen heart. It could just be an old story, something that never actually happened. I personally don’t believe there was ever a single person who was the fifth spirit before Elsa and by extension no human who ever wielded ice powers like hers before. Another option is perhaps whoever it was that angered the spirits in some way or ventured too far into Ahtohallan and began to freeze? Or it could be a figurative frozen heart in the sense of a lack of love and compassion. I suppose only Ahtohallan knows this answer.

The other thing that makes this interesting is that it directly says that an act of true love will thaw a frozen heart. Which means that the answer was right there all along. The entire message of love will thaw was summed up here in runes at the very beginning of the movie. This also means that this was part of an Arendellian myth or story at some point and has been forgotten by the time Elsa is born.

So yeah, not really a big revelation or anything, but it is certainly interesting. I would love to know more details about this story and its origin, but again, only Ahtohallan knows. Overall I do think it's fascinating, as it gives us more information about Ancient Arendellian beliefs and traditions that still hold relevance in the time Frozen is actually set. As someone who is OBSESSED with the ancient myths and stories of Arendelle and the surrounding areas, this is so so intriguing to me and I absolutely love it!

[sleepynegress]

HELLO! I'm sorry you've been getting idiotic anonymous people being rude about Uhura. I saw your lovely post about her and it made me happy to see that people appreciate her! She is so much more than lots of fandom pretends. Also I high-key agree that Karl Urban absolutely nailed his performance of Bones. It was so dead on!!! Zoe's Uhura was lovely too but as you say, sharper around the edges, and personally I felt her relationship with Spock was very sweet but difficult initially for me because I really get stressed when one person doesn't get the emotional needs of another. So their really gentle scenes made me SO happy when they finally happened. The warmth and gentleness shone through and won me over entirely. Zoe played sharp with just enough warmth. But I still love Nichelle's too. Uhura is great! Anyway didnt have a huge point here just happy that you also love her and call people out LOL

The main issue is the misogynoir and perhaps TERF leanings against the most recent player in the part, Celia Rose Gooding. She is non-binary and goes by she/they pronouns. She also has a short close-cropped style which beautifully frames her face. The troll is hyper-fixated on attacking that, disparaging her presentation of femininity using coded language to imply aggression or masculinity. This is extra backward because, of the three players who took on Uhura, she has the darkest skin tone, has the fullest lips and a wide nose bridge, and her hair is the only one not in a straightened or processed style (which is fine for an option BTW). All of these things together are rare aesthetics for a Black woman, and appropriate, especially for an sub-Saharan African woman's character presentation, especially in a futuristic sci-fi mainstream iconic franchise, like Star Trek and so important for young people to see as normalized femininity. I think of Lupita Nyong'o talking about the effect Alek Wek had on her...just being there as this South Sudanese supermodel, with very dark skin and short natural hair...

Celia Rose is the particular target this troll has framed as their "fanhood", with thinly veiled insults and backhanded "compliments" that keep dogwhistling in their posts with various account names.

As for Zoe's Uhura, that professionalism and sharpness, when it came to her abilities and focus on her studies was an obvious intentional writing choice to stave off the very criticisms *she still got* because of the misogynoir of that era...

People were accusing her of coercing Spock into her ship assignment and even assaulting him(!).

That mess never makes sense, but hating Black women for existing or having what we are perceived as not "deserving" is sadly an old tradition (see those who make a hobby out of hating Megan Markle). And now, I see people praising the OG Uhura, Nichelle, for aspects of her character that were actually forms of limitations on her because of production bigotry...i.e. the forced interracial kiss, that people constantly cite as some forward thing w/o the context that it was forced because the implication was that no one in her crew would willingly kiss a Black person. IOW, aliens assaulting them for their entertainment was the lesser evil and more palatable to white audiences than someone choosing to love on Uhura (and I would add *especially* someone white, because even showing Black affection and love in that time was a rare thing, and her episode showing some yearning towards an old love showed no physical affection between them either). Anyway, all that to bring it right back around to ALL the Uhuras are great. And the weird microaggressions, macroaggressions, hatred, and attempts to shove them into a particular box are misogynoir; a microcosm of the kind of bullshit too many Black women go through on the regular just for existing.

Celia is a Rose and I hope she shines, gets loved on, has friends (including some Black ones) who are genuinely concerned for her well-being and actually help her when she's in need.

P.S. I missed this reading way too fast before but this bit is sus IMO Zoe's Uhura was lovely too but as you say, sharper around the edges, and personally I felt her relationship with Spock was very sweet but difficult initially for me because I really get stressed when one person doesn't get the emotional needs of another. If you meant Spock not reading Uhura? Then yeah, I agree. If you mean Uhura not reading Spock?? I can't walk with you there because Spock literally almost hindered Uhura's career and got her on an exploded ship(!) because of his emotional bias and almost killed Kirk on the bridge because he was not managing his emotions well. Meanwhile Uhura read him well enough to provide some comfort after the loss of his mother.

[rogue-of-heart-classpecting]

ayo im kinda trying to assign a classpect to myself and im stuck between Bard of Void and Prince of Time can u please tell me more bout it?

Ok!!!

BARD OF VOID

The bard is someone who basically thinks, feels, acts, or IS one way for most of their life up until a point where they change fundamentally and become the exact opposite. In a destructive way. For a bard of void, this might look like encouraging people to look things up, explaining things to others, Passively Destroying Void. By encouraging light. They would value knowledge and enjoy learning. OR luck or like water or actual light or whatever. At some point the bard would suddenly realize like… mysticism and not knowing some things is actually the correct… way. To be. Like they change their mind. And then they start destroying shit. Perhaps literally. Burning libraries, shooting out lights, maybe they could even manipulate the heroic/just clock to cause people to die or not die (luck can influence the outcome as seen by aranea and I think maybe vriska I can’t remember). This time they would be Passively Destroying USING Void. Ok? And like let’s not forget they can still passively destroy void as well. And they could destroy using void before. Maybe now they tell people misinformation… they… hmm… using void to destroy… they could thanos snap people out of existence? Into the negative space? That’s destructive. They could perhaps send basically ANYTHING into the shadow realm. And before….. they would have been able to destroy using void… that might look likeeee…. I’m trying to think about gamzee pre-sober. Destroying using rage. I’m thinking about when he tries to pray his computer out of his sylladex and then it doesn’t work so he just grabs it? That’s sort of destroying by debunking… since rage is about the truth. You see what I’m saying? So before, the bard of void could have been like trying to look something up and then just given up and decided it’s best that they don’t know? Something like that. THE MOST IMPORTANT thing for a bard is determining when and where they would snap. Please keep that in mind. They have unpredictable personalities and are very capricious.

PRINCE OF TIME

This is a powerful and scary guy. The bard is kind of goofy and in your face, but the prince is angry and brooding and cold. The prince’s job is to destroy an aspect that…. Hmm…. It seems like the prince’s aspect is a bit of a nuisance in their sessions. I always wonder how hussie could have carefully planned each and every character to represent their class and aspect in every way correctly. The prince’s aspect is maybe a threat to the successful continuation of the session. I think it’s kind of up to them to not get carried away but to sort of clean up the excess aspect. Dirk sort of nuked everyone’s interest in Jake by proving how shit a boyfriend he is. Which was holding everyone back a bit. Eridan… went way overboard with everything. Dirk could have definitely broken everyone’s spirit and destroyed the souls of all players if he was an antagonist. Like eridan. Eridan’s session was like a bunch of naive teenagers expecting to beat this game like a challenge instead of like a journey. And he got rid of that naive optimism right away. Honestly in feferi alone there was hope for a brighter future like beforus which is definitely less bloodthirsty and colonial. And he nipped that in the bud along with every other positive future aspiration the team had. As far as he could, at least. We don’t have a lot of information about the alpha trolls session, but there is a lot of discord and ill will going on in there. I think there’s also much more disillusionment among the players. Granted they are all dead already so that kind of makes it more obvious that this isn’t going to go well. A prince of time might be a really bad sign for the session. Or it could be everyone is lollygagging around and there’s an excess of time and things are taking forever. The prince could like move through time I assume and maybe skip forward. They could perhaps fast forward the session for everyone? Jade was able to manipulate space to affect everyone. Unlike how Dave mostly affected his own timeline. This fast forwarding thing could really screw up everyone’s day. Maybe even like making people too old and decrepit to work like with osteoporosis and shit. Or skipping to the end of the game. That could be misguided and everyone isn’t ready yet or it could be vengeful and vindictive. They could even maybe age the frog (again, misguided or on purpose) and accidentally kill it or something. The time player is supposed to breed the frog. It is NOT the knights job, karkat just did it bc he’s the leader and since he’s not the time player he caused The Tumor. Anyway. Are you more of a fighter or a wildcard?

[dreamsister81]

Hi! Found this answer on a Redit thread. Your take?

he was probably bi. My friend who i worked with at a record store went out to dinner with him and some band mates and Jeff had some drinks and came on to him. I also knew of a couple of his girlfriends in NYC. He was probably like many people open to many things. That's all I will say.

Then there's this long spiel:

I’m late to the party but I went down a hole with this last year after I too listened to ‘Dream of you and I’ and was like that felt very personal and astute for someone everyone seems to assume is het. I went looking here then too and couldn’t find anything so hopefully the next person like me will find this.

I’m a queer person and have always strongly identified and loved his music but besides just my personal opinion that many of his songs have that ~queer energy~ and coding in them I did find a couple of less subjective things. Unfortunately none which lead to solid answers but might make other queer people like me feel happy and satisfied with what we are seeing in him (people who are die hard 'he could never be gay blah blah he’s had all these gfs' are never going to come around but for the rest of us it might be enough).

First big one is this 1997 article published a month after his death. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1997-06-20-9706200305-story,amp.html it quotes him twice describing himself as a homosexual and gay. Unfortunately I can’t find the original articles from which the quotes are pulled for more context but for the most part... idk if we really need it. Feels to me like the author saw how he was being memorialised (perhaps knew him personally idk) and didn’t want this part of him to get lost. Here are the quotes in the event that article disappears one day too...

It's all about getting to a place where I can let my deepest eccentricities out," Buckley once said in an interview shortly after the Uncommon Ground show. "I just see things a little differently and express myself a little differently and I think it's because I haven't been in one place for very long (in four years, Buckley attended three high schools). So I was seen from my childhood as hyperactive, homosexual, weird, insane, obnoxious, offensive, funny. . . . It's a tremendous point of pain, my inability to relate to the status quo."

"I am a storyteller, lounge singer, I am the entertainer, I am the rock star, I am gay, I am wrong, I am there for the story to go down, the cocktail host-shaman, the little romantic chanteuse wanna-be," Buckley once said, trying to explain the image. He says he wanted it as the cover art for the album, but was talked out of it by friends and the record company. "All the men hated my Judy Garland jacket."

The article also mentions Judy Garland's jacket which he wears on the cover of Grace. Which would be my second obvious clue that he’s not a straight man. Idk how much you know about Judy but she was very much an icon in gay male circles at the time and prior - you can look that up if you’re unfamiliar and find plenty of info. He’s spoken about the jacket and other people have spoken about elsewhere too, you could look for more of that if you’re curious.

More directly from Jeff and related to his music is the Last Goodbye video which includes a clip of two men kissing. Pretty self explanatory. Whole video is pretty homo romantic tbh. Can’t imagine the record label was stoked about that if they didn’t even like the jacket. I imagine he would have had to fight to put that in which... why would you do that if you were straight?

Next I found some random forum thread (https://www.datalounge.com/thread/16719162-jeff-buckley) plenty of trolls and people being like no he’s straight and offering no real commentary but also some people who agreed. One gay guy who met him had assumed he was gay and didn’t find out he had a gf till after his death.

“Who actually knows? I met Jeff a bunch of times in NYC in 92/93. He was a nice guy. My BF went to NYU for grad school and I moved back there after leaving in 1988 when I graduated from there. Being back in the city, I threw myself back in the music scene. I would see him play and see him at other venues. I was 2 years older and liked Jazz. We mainly talked about music and guitars. I never asked, but always assumed he was gay. I was shocked when I found out that Joan Wasser was his girlfriend at the time of his death.”

Someone else there also mentions Judy Garland again and his cover of ‘The Man That Got Away’, you can listen to Jeff sing it on the Mystery White Boy live album. You could take his little intro to that song in a queer way too if you wanted.

Someone else in the thread also links to this 1995 MTV interview + outtakes video and just says “he seems gay in this video” which made me laugh but I mean.. they’re not really wrong. You should watch it either way because it’s a cute interview. https://youtu.be/vcxGwQKW6Ac

From the ‘In His Own Words’ book which fortunately and unfortunately is very obviously curated there are a couple things that are specifically queer. You’ll have to excuse any small errors in this, some of it is hard to read.

“Thanks for the beat, for the sumptuous rhythm you give that I continue at the silent handoff, watch me run baby. My baby’s got a strong right arm. The drag queen... such a queen, queen 4 my lust and juicy hope of happiness somewhere in this world... her back, her shoulders, her ecstatic downcast eyes that lead to her legs... just like my baby oh you should see her, you are both oh such the real thing, such the real thing... I smiled when you weren’t ready (word I can’t make out) the show and I brought you some (cut off page) kissed my cheek and it kept me (cut off page)”

“It’s something you don’t realize You’re funny that way Hatred and fascination Hatred and fascination

For the cultures closest to the earth For the lovers throughout history of the same sex For the feminine in all things For the body itself For the surrender and courage of the heart

DECODE THAT FUCKING EVANGELIST DEVIL DOCTRINE”

I feel like there was one more but I didn’t write it down and I can’t see it just flicking through the book again sorry - if I remember I’ll come back and add it next time I read it. There are other things in the book that also made me think he was queer but they were more subtle. Those are the two things that explicitly mention queerness. There’s also plenty in the book where he writes about sexual attraction to women or alludes to relationships with women so before someone comes at me about not acknowledging that - here I am. I will say though people who are gay have relationships with people of the opposite sex when they’re working themselves out, doesn’t make them any less gay. Also he could be any other variation of queer and be having relationships with people of any and all genders and identities.

You can read into all his lyrics or things he’s said in interviews or his general demeanour or whatever it is you want to. I could keep linking to what I recognise as queer coded but some of it’s more subjective and the rest of it is just too nuanced to try to articulate or argue on the internet.

Sentiment is basically that it’s very likely that he was gay or queer but that it was the 90s and that he grew up in the 70/80s - a time when being gay and out was not something one could comfortably or safely do much of the time. Especially not as a public figure. He was also very young, which unfortunately means maybe he never got to fully realise or authentically live out his queerness. Which really adds another layer of tragedy to his death if I’m honest.

If he was alive today with the evolution of queer language and general understanding we have now who’s to say how someone like Jeff - who was so obviously and openly in touch with his feminine side - would describe his gender identity let alone his sexuality.

Each to their own but if you’re queer and see yourself and your community reflected in him I don’t think anyone can accurately or definitively tell you otherwise.

It's all subjective opinion and an unsubstantiated claim imo...I don't think he was, but, as also claimed, "people that want to insist' won't be convinced otherwise...I have a very good idea who the long one is too lol. The Last Goodbye video...they seem to forget, or don't know, the part that involved Merri was inspired by Jean Cocteu who was, if the blurb I read is correct, gay... perhaps that was included to reflect that? Or maybe something similar was in something related to him that inspired? Who knows? They were also friends of her's, maybe she wanted them to be in it for whatever reason. They also miss a crucial thing: Jeff, to me anyway, did not think along lines, and may have acted in ways perceived as gay (hence being called so as a kid), but didn't think of it as being "gay" or "not gay", he just did whatever came, it doesn't necessarily mean he's gay...also, what they take as "codes" may not actually be (and people, please don't @ me, this is only my opinion and impression... I was asked, I'm replying, thanks)...

[naomitours]

Tromsø, Norway: The North Above the North

I am not a "cold-weather" person, both in personality and in personal inclination. So you might wonder why someone like me would go to Norway in December. And if you asked me this after I actually got there, it would've been a damn good question! But I had a single reason, and a good one:

That's right, I went to see the northern lights. The green lady. "A-AURORA BOREALIS??", in the words of Superintendent Chalmers. People much smarter than me say this is caused by the sun's upper atmosphere emanating a solar wind that reaches *our* upper atmosphere. While not the most consistent place in the world to see it, Tromsø is one of the easiest and largest to try your luck.

Disclaimers from the Top of the World

The first thing you should know about Tromsø is that the sun doesn't come up for most of winter. You'll have light for a few hours, sure, but it's not the same. The meaning of darkness is different when it's ever-present, and those brief few hours of light mean everything. I found myself wanting to shed my coat and soak the light in through every pore of my body.¹ Depression is a real problem here, so is alcoholism. (I was even told by a local that they track alcohol purchases via card, to make sure nobody is drinking too much in the dark months!)²

The "sunset" over the Tromsø harbor, 1:35 PM.

The second thing you should know is that you need traction on your footwear. Pack your snow boots, or buy some shoe spikes because otherwise you'll be spending a good chunk of your time here on the ground, cursing the ice. My dumb-ass had decided to come to Norway on a whim, without thinking or preparing, so I showed up in my Doc Martens slipping and sliding. I almost couldn't make it to my Airbnb, my host having to come down and help me up the hills!! Thankfully I was able to borrow boots from my, again, incredibly lovely host³, but my god you've never appreciated gravel so much!

The Tromsø Troll Museum

That's right, the main attraction in the city, the reason you flew hundreds, perhaps even thousands of miles! This tiny museum with a bunch of trolls scattered all around!

It's a cozy space, and if you're as fascinated as mythology as I am, it's really a must-see if you're in town. Also, there's a replica of a hulder. According to local lore, these were beautiful women who would often try to lure men away from their human homes, to live in otherworldly pleasure with them⁴, or they would marry human men and join our world, retaining their otherworldly strength⁵!

Aurora Borealis

The biggest disclaimer I'd offer for the northern lights is this, you are never guaranteed to see them, even if you do everything "right". This was such a huge source of anxiety for me until I finally had a good sighting, then I was able to relax. I recommend doing some guided tours, these are not necessary (I saw them once right outside my Airbnb!) but it's going to maximize your chances by getting you away from the city's light pollution. There's many different modes of transportation for this, I myself took a bus and a boat, but I saw advertisements for planes, helicopters and even dog sleds*. The first time I ever witnessed the northern lights was on a sleepy little boat tour, New Year's Eve 2023.⁶

The interior was very cozy, more importantly it was warm, essential on a night with subzero wind chill. I enjoyed cookies and coffee and hot chocolate with marshmallows!

The lights don't look like the pictures, that should be stressed. The vast majority of aurora borealis photos are taken via long-exposure, and our eyes just don't work the same way. But on a good night you can see a faint green distortion in the sky, as if a riff into another dimension. It's like you expect an alien spaceship, or the giant hand of a monster to come ripping out of it, changing our world forever.⁷ But for the natives of Tromsø, it's just a day like any other.

View of the Aurora Borealis, from my Airbnb the next day.

I also recommend booking a few different tours, if you're like me and only really need to see it once, many will let you cancel on 24hrs notice if you pay extra. I recommend this as a good way to save money, but I'm kinda a cheapskate, so what do I know?

Also, please don't be discouraged if you don't see the lights on any given tour, you still do get some really beautiful photographs. It's important to keep a sense of relativity about you, you are standing at the top of the world, in the freezing cold. And in this moment you are having a novel human experience, regardless of whether or not you see some pretty lights on top of it.

What I Ate

Now, you might think the food is very bare-necessities in this sleepy arctic city, but you'd be surprised! One of the first things I had was something I had actually failed to find in Oslo, a delicious Norwegian donut called a skolebolle:

With a custard center and coconut flakes trimming the top, it's a deliciously sweet treat that I found in a Eurospar for the equivalent of a dollar. I recommend enjoying it with black coffee! Not pictured are the other things I got from the store, including paprika-flavored potato chips (highly recommended) and a large bar of Freia milk chocolate, which you'll not be disappointed by.

There's also an abundance of little convenience stores that will get you hot meals for relatively cheap (Northern Europe is expensive!) On the right you'll see a pepperoni calzone that was pretty good, along with a Norwegian soda that was less so. But if you're looking for a finer taste of Tromsø, stay with me:

This is a sampling I did of Aquavit, the signature liquor of Scandinavia. All of it was made right here in Tromsø, and I had a lovely guide for this tasting. To name a few, lingonberries and reindeer meat, not to mention a small slice of grapefruit.⁸ It's a little skimpy, however the point isn't to eat, but to taste!⁹

Conclusion/Takeaways

It can be a very scary thing, to be so far away from home. In all my years of travel, though that uncertainty has diminished, it never truly goes away. Maybe travel is just like any other experience, your tolerance to it builds until you only feel the original high when you get even further out of the world as you've known it. In this way, travel is much like a drug. But what moves me most about travel is its capacity to help us understand not just the planet we live on, but our own place within it. And if you ever feel lost for purpose, I might recommend standing on top of the world, hunting for otherworldly apparitions in the sky //

Footnotes:

¹ Of course, if you actually try to walk around in Tromsø without a coat, you will a)freeze to death and b)look stupid

² LITERALLY 1984

³ Of course, I had to return the boots when I left for the airport, meaning I fell not once, not twice, but THREE times trying to get down the hills to the bus stop. Seriously, you can't wear your Docs, no matter how fashionable and punk rock they are!

⁴ But why would you want to do that, when society is sooooooo good?? Like, who wants to live in a fantasy world where there is no suffering or want when we have Pizza Hut here, right now?

⁵ A hulder also features prominently on the cover of that one metal album by the murderous Nazi that your friend still listens to, despite knowing he's, you know, a MURDEROUS NAZI.

⁶ I would later go on to watch a man in lederhosen play The Weeknd, Cher, and at midnight ABBA's "Happy New Year", all on a keyboard. Dude was a one-man entertainment MACHINE, the vibe was immaculate.

⁷ As seen in Avengers 17: We Saved the World Again, in theaters this summer! Go watch it. Right now. The corporations demand it. DO IT. CONSUME.

⁸ Make sure your meds don't interact with grapefruit. Grapefruit may cause side effects including sour taste. Ask your doctor if grapefruit is right for you.

⁹ You know, like, a tasting menu or something!!

[rollercoasterwords]

ok here's the essay re: "realisitc?? they're literally wizards!!"

upon further reflection (25 min voicenote 2 twin, 1 conversation w 2 friends) i think i have. managed 2 organize + articulate my thoughts.

obligatory disclaimer: this literally does not matter i'm talking about hp fanfiction in 2023 this is not a serious issue beyond being like. kind of annoying. unfortunately i just enjoy writing abt stupid fandom discourse hopefully going back 2 school will cure me of the incessant need 2 write essays for fun but who knows. anyway me writing this essay is not me saying this is a huge or important issue i just like 2 talk <3

anyway! the ~discourse~ i've been noticing in the marauders fandom, which from my pov has had sort of an uptick recently (although who knows if that's objectively true--maybe i've just stumbled across more of it. from where i'm sitting, though, it seems like it's become more of a hot topic in recent months) generally goes as follows:

person a: omg ugh i hate that in [x fic] [x character] has/is/does [x flaw] :(

person b: oh well [x character] having/being/doing [x flaw] makes the story more realistic

person a: UM they're literally wizards at a magic school lol....who cares if it's realistic....

and the reason this both interests + annoys me is that i think. giving person a the benefit of the doubt + assuming they aren't being purposely obtuse (bc in that case we're just talking abt trolls), it demonstrates such a gap in understanding. bc the thing person a is fighting w that response is literally a strawman

the strawman:

saying "um they're literally wizards" is only a "gotcha" moment if it's pointing out an inconsistency in person b's thinking. it is only pointing out an inconsistency if, when person b says "it makes it more realistic," we take that to mean that person b is saying "a story is better if it more closely matches our own reality." in that case, saying "they're wizards!!!" points out an inconsistency, bc obviously characters being wizards does not match reality. gotcha!!!

the problem is that that isn't what person b is saying. so by responding "they're wizards" as if that's some sort of "gotcha" moment, person a is misinterpreting person b's argument, constructing a strawman that nobody is actually arguing, and then tearing down that strawman with a pithy little sarcastic comment that positions them as soooo much more reasonable than person b.

so what is person b actually saying?

the problem is that saying "[x character] having [x flaw] makes a story more realistic" is not an argument about the story being better, it's an explanation for why someone would write the story that way.

another disclaimer - some "person b"s in this situation might, in fact, be using "it's more realistic" to try and argue that a story being more realistic makes the story better; however, that is not a position i'm going to be defending here. i think any argument that roots itself in a so-called "objective" measure of what makes a piece of art better or worse is a non-starter, and in that case i think person b and person a are perhaps both misguided in different ways.

but what's happening from person b's pov is - person a asks "why would anyone write [x character] with [x flaw]?" person b tries to answer that question by explaining: well, it makes the story more realistic. the implication here is -- a story being more realistic is a personal preference that some people are going to prefer; people write + read stories for different reasons. this is the reason that i enjoy the story, personally. that's it!

and the thing is, "realistic" in the context of a fantasy story does not mean "matches real life exactly." in the context of fantasy, "realistic" refers, in my mind, to two things:

1. cohesive internal logic

even within a fantasy universe, there are going to be structured societies, rules, laws of natures, etc. what makes a fantasy story more realistic is not how closely it adheres to real-life structures + rules, but how closely it adheres to its own established structures + rules - its own internal logic.

for example: in my fantasy world, fairies can fly but mermaids can't. then, suddenly, without explanation, i write a scene where a mermaid can fly. this makes the story less realistic, in that it breaks from its own internal logic, and stretches the limits of readers' abilities to suspend their disbelief. like - we've already sort of "agreed" to suspend disbelief about fairies + mermaids existing, because that's just the established norm of the story, but as readers we are still looking to follow some internal logic. oftentimes, when people are complaining about fantasy stories being more or less realistic, they are referring to the story's own internal logic.

this means if someone is writing hp fanfic set in a canon universe, working in the established canon universe where certain biases + flaws exist, it makes the fic more realistic to adhere to that internal logic. obviously, a fic writer can choose to change that internal logic and say, for example, "in my story the wizarding world doesn't have homophobia, and that's an established societal norm that is part of the story's internal logic." that's fine! it's just a matter of personal choice whether that's the story that somebody wants to write or not, y'know?

2. reflection on real life

the other aspect of "realism" that i think people are referring to when they talk about a fantasy story being more or less "realistic" is the ways in which that story does reflect actual reality. like--fantasy stories don't exist in a vaccuum. many writers use fantasy stories to reflect realities from actual life; things like prejudice or oppression or war, etc. placing these real-life issues into a fantastical setting allows a new lens through which to think about them, pushing us to examine them from different angles.

for example - take k.a. applegate's animorphs series. it is, in many ways, completely unrealistic, in that it's about kids who can turn into animals fighting off an alien invasion. but k.a. applegate wrote the books to demonstrate the utter horror and devastation of war, and much of the subject matter reflects real-life wartime situations. a kid who only hears about war through the news or through action movies where there's a clear good guy and bad guy, a clear right and wrong, might find it easy to disregard the horror. but when applegate took those real-life situations and placed them into the fantastical setting of animorphs, she's providing an age-appropriate way for children to understand that no, war is not an action movie, it's a horror story.

this is why "realism" in fantasy matters to people. some writers are using fantasy not as pure escapism, but as a way to explore real-life issues through a different lens, one that may allow people to empathize with an issue in a way they normally don't. obviously, some people are just writing fantasy for fun escapism -- and that's fine! there's space for both types of stories to exist simultaneously; what doesn't make sense is assuming that just because somebody engages with media differently from you, there must be something wrong with it.

anyway. the conclusion to all this i suppose is that i think if you genuinely do not understand why someone would write a character a certain way, rather than assuming the worst or assuming there's no good reason it's generally better to like. actually ask and listen to the answer people are giving u + try to understand where they're coming from. not everyone is going to want to read the same types of stories, and somebody writing a character w certain flaws shouldn't feel like a personal attack, bc fandom is a self-curated experience where u literally don't need 2 read or write anything u don't want to. The End

[bluespring864]

It’s perhaps people like you who drove the rafolearchive off this site. What does it matter if they posted Rafa’s positive words towards Nole? Most of Rafa’s words towards Novak are actually positive or neutral. I think maybe you have built some sort of evil caricature of Rafa in your head and that’s okay you do you but the thing about his conditioning I cannot let slide as someone who also deals with chronic pain. Sorry @bluespring864 for doing this on your page.

Oh boy. Yes, me, who routinely sent the rafolearchive (off-anon!) asks and left them comments under anon asks they got where someone was really mean in their inbox and reblogged a lot of their stuff with nice comments about Rafa and Nole must be the one who drove them off this site.

I don't know what you're reading into my words but I literally said the rafolearchive mostly reposted happier interactions between Rafa and Nole because most of us enjoy people getting along well. And in the "most of us" group I very much included myself. (I think someone else may have said something about the rafolearchive posting more of Rafa's positive interactions with Novak (which is true, but in this case please talk to them and not me? Oh, I just realised, is that why you're 'apologising' to me for "doing this on my page" because one of my mutuals doesn't have their inbox open? Wow, that's a new level of being an online troll. So I guess that other part wasn't directed at me either lol. Still ridiculous to accuse another user of (politely) speaking their mind. If you were interested in an honest discussion you could just have replied to that conversation on the other post you took offense to. But clearly you need to hide behind anonymity. Future anons from you will be deleted unless you manage to stay more polite towards me and my mutuals. And please don't use me as proxy for fighting with someone ever again, what a godawful move. By the way I am sorry to hear you're dealing with chronic pain. I know something about living with pain for long periods of time and I know how bitter it can make people, I've spoken about this before. Which is the main reason why I started answering this in good faith until I realised exactly what you were doing here.

[mittensmorgul]

For some reason I had this idea that The Winchesters could lead to a spn reboot instead of being a prequel to the actual show and now that we know it's on a different Earth I'm even more scared it could be a possibility. I know the same team who are making TW would do justice to a reboot but I'm so not ready for that. I'm probably wrong anyway but I had this thought for a while.

Hello! I don't know how helpful it is coming from me, another random viewer on the internet, but I don't think there's any intent to "reboot" Supernatural. Yes, that's a word that keeps getting used in connection with it, but "reboot" technically means "restart it again from the beginning and retell the same story." And I do not see that happening in any iteration of their universe.

What I CAN see happening is one of several things (possibly more than one of these things!):

--a CONTINUATION of the original series, picking up where DEAN'S story in The Winchesters ended. We have new information about what his time in Heaven has been like, and apparently it's been unsatisfying enough that it's sent him trolling through universes hoping to find even one happy version of his family. That doesn't scream "person who is at peace and happy with his circumstances." That screams "person who is desperate to finish telling his OWN story. A CONTINUATION of Supernatural is where that storytelling could happen.

--a CONTINUATION of the Winchesters, and the characters we've met and grown to love in that universe, with or without any further interference from Dean. There's unlimited potential in the stories THEY can tell us about their lives now, you know? That wouldn't be rebooting the original show, it would be its own thing entirely.

--perhaps even other shows entirely built on the same premise, now that Dean has set the precedent of traipsing through the alternate universes like he did... what else is out there? like the akrida hopping universes, as well... with interdimensional travel established, what might someone do with that knowledge and what other iterations of the universe might there be to explore?

I personally believe that Jensen (and honestly many people involved in the original series, and not JUST Jensen) is 100% interested in eventually giving us the first one. And I personally believe that the little dimensional loophole Dean jumped through in The Winchesters jammed his fancy lil boot in the door to make that happen. And I do not believe that if either of the other two happen first that it would be intended as a replacement for that primary eventual objective for them.

And honestly, I'll be happy to keep seeing Dean on my tv screen in any way I can get him. So I have that going for me, too :'D

[giantchasm]

The other night I was thinking about whether or not Penny should qualify as an evil team leader (the answer was “objectively, no, seeing as how she and Team Star don’t do anything even remotely immoral, but I’m counting her as one anyways because we deserve our first terminally online transgender teenager evil team leader”) and it made me come up with a really funny AU.

AU where Team Rainbow Rocket touches down in Paldea and when the Paldean government catches wind of it they decide to send Penny, “infamous leader of Team Star” to infiltrate their ranks and figure out what it is they’re planning.

She, of course, would be pretending Team Star is muuuch eviler than it actually is in reality. And to her shock (if only for the comedy of the AU), Rainbow Rocket would fall for it. Something-something Giovanni knows better than to underestimate children after almost having his ass whooped by a ten year old.

Initially, Penny would only be doing this because she still owes Geeta a favor for “stealing an incomprehensible amount of money,” but as she got deeper into it she’d realize she’s actually having a blast trolling these old men.

Though, since it’s my AU and I make the rules, she’d be infiltrating an expanded version of Rainbow Rocket. Perhaps they’ve gotten new recruits since USUM. The team would of course have the original core members: Giovanni, the inter-dimensional crime boss, Archie, who flooded the world, Maxie, who created an apocalyptic drought, Cyrus, who recreated the world in his image, and Ghetsis, who killed N and then used his dragon to rule over Unova with an iron fist, but it would also have some extras.

(EDIT: DID I SERIOUSLY FORGET LYSANDRE? HE’S THERE TOO)

These extras would be a successful version of Archer: Giovanni’s right hand man, a version of Colress from a world where Ghetsis successfully destroyed Unova with Kyurem but was then killed by it, leaving him in charge in his place, a Lusamine who flooded the world with ultra beasts and is high on neurotoxins at all time, a Guzma who… idk, strongarmed his way into becoming a tyrannical Kahuna?, a regretful Rose from a world where Eternatus destroyed Galar, and Volo, who also managed to kill God a la Cyrus and rewrite his version of reality.

I also think it would be funny if Marnie were there and ALSO a spy. I know Piers is probably more of a leader to Team Yell than she is but I don’t like him so she gets the honor. Maybe she and Penny don’t even know the other is also an infiltrator at first and are both like “…they have an ACTUALLY evil sixteen year old here? god damn”

Cue she and Penny getting caught up in chaos and evil schemes. But mostly chaos. Most of these fumbling idiots just remind Marnie of her well meaning but stupid fans back home. Penny shows these mob bosses anime because she’s upset they haven’t seen Evangelion. Someone has to show Volo how to use the computer. Giovanni asks Marnie and Penny for tips on connecting with his teenage son who, and I quote, “thinks he’s cringe.”

…Penny is starting to wonder if maybe these guys aren’t as big of a threat as they and the government seem to think they are.