#scourge sunday

[scourge-sympathiser]

SCOURGE SUNDAY 054/???

sea urchin

[zombiebitezz]

WARRIOR CAT A DAY #4

SCOURGE LEADER OF BLOODCLAN 😝

Yalll sorry for not posting for two days but like you gotta admit this design kinda fire so hopefully that makes up for ittttt 😎😎

So yeah I hope y’all have a great day/night or what eva and see you tmr for hopefully another design 🤠

Ps. Please full screen the art idk for me personally the quality sucks 😭

[moonchild-in-blue]

When Tyler said:

Thank God it's Friday 'cause Fridays will always Be better than Sundays 'cause Sundays are my suicide days

He was so right actually. Because why do you have to go through the full spectrum of human emotions on a Sunday evening.

[therealbeachfox]

Twenty years ago, February 15th, 2004, I got married for the first time.

It was twenty years earlier than I ever expected to.

To celebrate/comemorate the date, I'm sitting down to write out everything I remember as I remember it. No checking all the pictures I took or all the times I've written about this before. I'm not going to turn to my husband (of twenty years, how the f'ing hell) to remember a detail for me.

This is not a 100% accurate recounting of that first wild weekend in San Francisco. But it -is- a 100% accurate recounting of how I remember it today, twenty years after the fact.

Join me below, if you would.

2004 was an election year, and much like conservatives are whipping up anti-trans hysteria and anti-trans bills and propositions to drive out the vote today, in 2004 it was all anti-gay stuff. Specifically, preventing the evil scourge of same-sex marriage from destroying everything good and decent in the world.

Enter Gavin Newstrom. At the time, he was the newly elected mayor of San Francisco. Despite living next door to the city all my life, I hadn’t even heard of the man until Valentines Day 2004 when he announced that gay marriage was legal in San Francisco and started marrying people at city hall.

It was a political stunt. It was very obviously a political stunt. That shit was illegal, after all. But it was a very sweet political stunt. I still remember the front page photo of two ancient women hugging each other forehead to forehead and crying happy tears.

But it was only going to last for as long as it took for the California legal system to come in and make them knock it off.

The next day, we���re on the phone with an acquaintance, and she casually mentions that she’s surprised the two of us aren’t up at San Francisco getting married with everyone else.

“Everyone else?” Goes I, “I thought they would���ve shut that down already?”

“Oh no!” goes she, “The courts aren’t open until Tuesday. Presidents Day on Monday and all. They’re doing them all weekend long!”

We didn’t know because social media wasn’t a thing yet. I only knew as much about it as I’d read on CNN, and most of the blogs I was following were more focused on what bullshit President George W Bush was up to that day.

"Well shit", me and my man go, "do you wanna?" I mean, it’s a political stunt, it wont really mean anything, but we’re not going to get another chance like this for at least 20 years. Why not?

The next day, Sunday, we get up early. We drive north to the southern-most BART station. We load onto Bay Area Rapid Transit, and rattle back and forth all the way to the San Francisco City Hall stop.

We had slightly miscalculated.

Apparently, demand for marriages was far outstripping the staff they had on hand to process them. Who knew. Everyone who’d gotten turned away Saturday had been given tickets with times to show up Sunday to get their marriages done. My babe and I, we could either wait to see if there was a space that opened up, or come back the next day, Monday.

“Isn’t City Hall closed on Monday?” I asked. “It’s a holiday”

“Oh sure,” they reply, “but people are allowed to volunteer their time to come in and work on stuff anyways. And we have a lot of people who want to volunteer their time to have the marriage licensing offices open tomorrow.”

“Oh cool,” we go, “Backup.”

“Make sure you’re here if you do,” they say, “because the California Supreme Court is back in session Tuesday, and will be reviewing the motion that got filed to shut us down.”

And all this shit is super not-legal, so they’ll totally be shutting us down goes unsaid.

00000

We don’t get in Saturday. We wind up hanging out most of the day, though.

It’s… incredible. I can say, without hyperbole, that I have never experienced so much concentrated joy and happiness and celebration of others’ joy and happiness in all my life before or since. My face literally ached from grinning. Every other minute, a new couple was coming out of City Hall, waving their paperwork to the crowd and cheering and leaping and skipping. Two glorious Latina women in full Mariachi band outfits came out, one in the arms of another. A pair of Jewish boys with their families and Rabbi. One couple managed to get a Just Married convertible arranged complete with tin-cans tied to the bumper to drive off in. More than once I was giving some rice to throw at whoever was coming out next.

At some point in the mid-afternoon, there was a sudden wave of extra cheering from the several hundred of us gathered at the steps, even though no one was coming out. There was a group going up the steps to head inside, with some generic black-haired shiny guy at the front. My not-yet-husband nudged me, “That’s Newsom.” He said, because he knew I was hopeless about matching names and people.

Ooooooh, I go. That explains it. Then I joined in the cheers. He waved and ducked inside.

So dusk is starting to fall. It’s February, so it’s only six or so, but it’s getting dark.

“Should we just try getting in line for tomorrow -now-?” we ask.

“Yeah, I’m afraid that’s not going to be possible.” One of the volunteers tells us. “We’re not allowed to have people hang out overnight like this unless there are facilities for them and security. We’d need Porta-Poties for a thousand people and police patrols and the whole lot, and no one had time to get all that organized. Your best bet is to get home, sleep, and then catch the first BART train up at 5am and keep your fingers crossed.

Monday is the last day to do this, after all.

00000

So we go home. We crash out early. We wake up at 4:00. We drive an hour to hit the BART station. We get the first train up. We arrive at City Hall at 6:30AM.

The line stretches around the entirety of San Francisco City Hall. You could toss a can of Coke from the end of the line to the people who’re up to be first through the doors and not have to worry about cracking it open after.

“Uh.” We go. “What the fuck is -this-?”

So.

Remember why they weren’t going to be able to have people hang out overnight?

Turns out, enough SF cops were willing to volunteer unpaid time to do patrols to cover security. And some anonymous person delivered over a dozen Porta-Poties that’d gotten dropped off around 8 the night before.

It’s 6:30 am, there are almost a thousand people in front of us in line to get this literal once in a lifetime marriage, the last chance we expect to have for at least 15 more years (it was 2004, gay rights were getting shoved back on every front. It was not looking good. We were just happy we lived in California were we at least weren’t likely to loose job protections any time soon.).

Then it starts to rain.

We had not dressed for rain.

00000

Here is how the next six hours go.

We’re in line. Once the doors open at 7am, it will creep forward at a slow crawl. It’s around 7 when someone shows up with garbage bags for everyone. Cut holes for the head and arms and you’ve got a makeshift raincoat! So you’ve got hundreds of gays and lesbians decked out in the nicest shit they could get on short notice wearing trashbags over it.

Everyone is so happy.

Everyone is so nervous/scared/frantic that we wont be able to get through the doors before they close for the day.

People online start making delivery orders.

Coffee and bagels are ordered in bulk and delivered to City Hall for whoever needs it. We get pizza. We get roses. Random people come by who just want to give hugs to people in line because they’re just so happy for us. The tour busses make detours to go past the lines. Chinese tourists lean out with their cameras and shout GOOD LUCK while car horns honk.

A single sad man holding a Bible tries to talk people out of doing this, tells us all we’re sinning and to please don’t. He gives up after an hour. A nun replaces him with a small sign about how this is against God’s will. She leaves after it disintegrates in the rain.

The day before, when it was sunny, there had been a lot of protestors. Including a large Muslim group with their signs about how “Not even DOGS do such things!” Which… Yes they do.

A lot of snide words are said (by me) about how the fact that we’re willing to come out in the rain to do this while they’re not willing to come out in the rain to protest it proves who actually gives an actual shit about the topic.

Time passes. I measure it based on which side of City Hall we’re on. The doors face East. We start on Northside. Coffee and trashbags are delivered when we’re on the North Side. Pizza first starts showing up when we’re on Westside, which is also where I see Bible Man and Nun. Roses are delivered on Southside. And so forth.

00000

We have Line Neighbors.

Ahead of us are a gay couple a decade or two older than us. They’ve been together for eight years. The older one is a school teacher. He has his coat collar up and turns away from any news cameras that come near while we reposition ourselves between the lenses and him. He’s worried about the parents of one of his students seeing him on the news and getting him fired. The younger one will step away to get interviewed on his own later on. They drove down for the weekend once they heard what was going on. They’d started around the same time we did, coming from the Northeast, and are parked in a nearby garage.

The most perky energetic joyful woman I’ve ever met shows up right after we turned the corner to Southside to tackle the younger of the two into a hug. She’s their local friend who’d just gotten their message about what they’re doing and she will NOT be missing this. She is -so- happy for them. Her friends cry on her shoulders at her unconditional joy.

Behind us are a lesbian couple who’d been up in San Francisco to celebrate their 12th anniversary together. “We met here Valentines Day weekend! We live down in San Diego, now, but we like to come up for the weekend because it’s our first love city.”

“Then they announced -this-,” the other one says, “and we can’t leave until we get married. I called work Sunday and told them I calling in sick until Wednesday.”

“I told them why,” her partner says, “I don’t care if they want to give me trouble for it. This is worth it. Fuck them.”

My husband-to-be and I look at each other. We’ve been together for not even two years at this point. Less than two years. Is it right for us to be here? We’re potentially taking a spot from another couple that’d been together longer, who needed it more, who deserved it more.”

“Don’t you fucking dare.” Says the 40-something gay couple in front of us.

“This is as much for you as it is for us!” says the lesbian couple who’ve been together for over a decade behind us.

“You kids are too cute together,” says the gay couple’s friend. “you -have- to. Someday -you’re- going to be the old gay couple that’s been together for years and years, and you deserve to have been married by then.”

We stay in line.

It’s while we’re on the Southside of City Hall, just about to turn the corner to Eastside at long last that we pick up our own companions. A white woman who reminds me an awful lot of my aunt with a four year old black boy riding on her shoulders. “Can we say we’re with you? His uncles are already inside and they’re not letting anyone in who isn’t with a couple right there.” “Of course!” we say.

The kid is so very confused about what all the big deal is, but there’s free pizza and the busses keep driving by and honking, so he’s having a great time.

We pass by a statue of Lincoln with ‘Marriage for All!’ and "Gay Rights are Human Rights!" flags tucked in the crooks of his arms and hanging off his hat.

It’s about noon, noon-thirty when we finally make it through the doors and out of the rain.

They’ve promised that anyone who’s inside when the doors shut will get married. We made it. We’re safe.

We still have a -long- way to go.

00000

They’re trying to fit as many people into City Hall as possible. Partially to get people out of the rain, mostly to get as many people indoors as possible. The line now stretches down into the basement and up side stairs and through hallways I’m not entirely sure the public should ever be given access to. We crawl along slowly but surely.

It’s after we’ve gone through the low-ceiling basement hallways past offices and storage and back up another set of staircases and are going through a back hallway of low-ranked functionary offices that someone comes along handing out the paperwork. “It’s an hour or so until you hit the office, but take the time to fill these out so you don’t have to do it there!”

We spend our time filling out the paperwork against walls, against backs, on stone floors, on books.

We enter one of the public areas, filled with displays and photos of City Hall Demonstrations of years past.

I take pictures of the big black and white photo of the Abraham Lincoln statue holding banners and signs against segregation and for civil rights.

The four year old boy we helped get inside runs past us around this time, chased by a blond haired girl about his own age, both perused by an exhausted looking teenager helplessly begging them to stop running.

Everyone is wet and exhausted and vibrating with anticipation and the building-wide aura of happiness that infuses everything.

The line goes into the marriage office. A dozen people are at the desk, shoulder to shoulder, far more than it was built to have working it at once.

A Sister of Perpetual Indulgence is directing people to city officials the moment they open up. She’s done up in her nun getup with all her makeup on and her beard is fluffed and be-glittered and on point. “Oh, I was here yesterday getting married myself, but today I’m acting as your guide. Number 4 sweeties, and -Congradulatiooooons!-“

The guy behind the counter has been there since six. It’s now 1:30. He’s still giddy with joy. He counts our money. He takes our paperwork, reviews it, stamps it, sends off the parts he needs to, and hands the rest back to us. “Alright, go to the Rotunda, they’ll direct you to someone who’ll do the ceremony. Then, if you want the certificate, they’ll direct you to -that- line.” “Can’t you just mail it to us?” “Normally, yeah, but the moment the courts shut us down, we’re not going to be allowed to.”

We take our paperwork and join the line to the Rotunda.

If you’ve seen James Bond: A View to a Kill, you’ve seen the San Francisco City Hall Rotunda. There are literally a dozen spots set up along the balconies that overlook the open area where marriage officials and witnesses are gathered and are just processing people through as fast as they can.

That’s for the people who didn’t bring their own wedding officials.

There’s a Catholic-adjacent couple there who seem to have brought their entire families -and- the priest on the main steps. They’re doing the whole damn thing. There’s at least one more Rabbi at work, I can’t remember what else. Just that there was a -lot-.

We get directed to the second story, northside. The San Francisco City Treasurer is one of our two witnesses. Our marriage officient is some other elected official I cannot remember for the life of me (and I'm only writing down what I can actively remember, so I can't turn to my husband next to me and ask, but he'll have remembered because that's what he does.)

I have a wilting lily flower tucked into my shirt pocket. My pants have water stains up to the knees. My hair is still wet from the rain, I am blubbering, and I can’t get the ring on my husband’s finger. The picture is a treat, I tell you.

There really isn’t a word for the mix of emotions I had at that time. Complete disbelief that this was reality and was happening. Relief that we’d made it. Awe at how many dozens of people had personally cheered for us along the way and the hundreds to thousands who’d cheered for us generally.

Then we're married.

Then we get in line to get our license.

It’s another hour. This time, the line goes through the higher stories. Then snakes around and goes past the doorway to the mayor’s office.

Mayor Newsom is not in today. And will be having trouble getting into his office on Tuesday because of the absolute barricade of letters and flowers and folded up notes and stuffed animals and City Hall maps with black marked “THANK YOU!”s that have been piled up against it.

We make it to the marriage records office.

I take a picture of my now husband standing in front of a case of the marriage records for 1902-1912. Numerous kids are curled up in corners sleeping. My own memory is spotty. I just know we got the papers, and then we’re done with lines. We get out, we head to the front entrance, and we walk out onto the City Hall steps.

It's almost 3PM.

00000

There are cheers, there’s rice thrown at us, there are hundreds of people celebrating us with unconditional love and joy and I had never before felt the goodness that exists in humanity to such an extent. It’s no longer raining, just a light sprinkle, but there are still no protestors. There’s barely even any news vans.

We make our way through the gauntlet, we get hands shaked, people with signs reading ”Congratulations!” jump up and down for us. We hit the sidewalks, and we begin to limp our way back to the BART station.

I’m at the BART station, we’re waiting for our train back south, and I’m sitting on the ground leaning against a pillar and in danger of falling asleep when a nondescript young man stops in front of me and shuffles his feet nervously. “Hey. I just- I saw you guys, down at City Hall, and I just… I’m so happy for you. I’m so proud of what you could do. I’m- I’m just really glad, glad you could get to do this.”

He shakes my hand, clasps it with both of his and shakes it. I thank him and he smiles and then hurries away as fast as he can without running.

Our train arrives and the trip south passes in a semilucid blur.

We get back to our car and climb in.

It’s 4:30 and we are starving.

There’s a Carls Jr near the station that we stop off at and have our first official meal as a married couple. We sit by the window and watch people walking past and pick out others who are returning from San Francisco. We're all easy to pick out, what with the combination of giddiness and water damage.

We get home about 6-7. We take the dog out for a good long walk after being left alone for two days in a row. We shower. We bundle ourselves up. We bury ourselves in blankets and curl up and just sort of sit adrift in the surrealness of what we’d just done.

We wake up the next day, Tuesday, to read that the California State Supreme Court has rejected the petition to shut down the San Francisco weddings because the paperwork had a misplaced comma that made the meaning of one phrase unclear.

The State Supreme Court would proceed to play similar bureaucratic tricks to drag the process out for nearly a full month before they have nothing left and finally shut down Mayor Newsom’s marriages.

My parents had been out of state at the time at a convention. They were flying into SFO about the same moment we were walking out of City Hall. I apologized to them later for not waiting and my mom all but shook me by the shoulders. “No! No one knew that they’d go on for so long! You did what you needed to do! I’ll just be there for the next one!”

00000

It was just a piece of paper. Legally, it didn’t even hold any weight thirty days later. My philosophy at the time was “marriage really isn’t that important, aside from the legal benefits. It’s just confirming what you already have.”

But maybe it’s just societal weight, or ingrained culture, or something, but it was different after. The way I described it at the time, and I’ve never really come up with a better metaphor is, “It’s like we were both holding onto each other in the middle of the ocean in the middle of a storm. We were keeping each other above water, we were each other’s support. But then we got this piece of paper. And it was like the ground rose up to meet our feet. We were still in an ocean, still in the middle of a storm, but there was a solid foundation beneath our feet. We still supported each other, but there was this other thing that was also keeping our heads above the water.

It was different. It was better. It made things more solid and real.

I am forever grateful for all the forces and all the people who came together to make it possible. It’s been twenty years and we’re still together and still married.

We did a domestic partnership a year later to get the legal paperwork. We’d done a private ceremony with proper rings (not just ones grabbed out of the husband’s collection hours before) before then. And in 2008, we did a legal marriage again.

Rushed. In a hurry. Because there was Proposition 13 to be voted on which would make them all illegal again if it passed.

It did, but we were already married at that point, and they couldn’t negate it that time.

Another few years after that, the Supreme Court finally threw up their hands and said "Fine! It's been legal in places and nothing's caught on fire or been devoured by locusts. It's legal everywhere. Shut up about it!"

And that was that.

00000

When I was in highschool, in the late 90s, I didn’t expect to see legal gay marriage until I was in my 50s. I just couldn’t see how the American public as it was would ever be okay with it.

I never expected to be getting married within five years. I never expected it to be legal nationwide before I’d barely started by 30s. I never thought I’d be in my 40s and it’d be such a non-issue that the conservative rabble rousers would’ve had to move onto other wedge issues altogether.

I never thought that I could introduce another man as my husband and absolutely no one involved would so much as blink.

I never thought I’d live in this world.

And it’s twenty years later today. I wonder how our line buddies are doing. Those babies who were running around the wide open rooms playing tag will have graduated college by now. The kids whose parents the one line-buddy was worried would see him are probably married too now. Some of them to others of the same gender.

I don’t have some greater message to make with all this. Other then, culture can shift suddenly in ways you can’t predict. For good or ill. Mainly this is just me remembering the craziest fucking 36 hours of my life twenty years after the fact and sharing them with all of you.

The future we’re resigned to doesn’t have to be the one we live in. Society can shift faster than you think. The unimaginable of twenty years ago is the baseline reality of today.

And always remember that the people who want to get married will show up by the thousands in rain that none of those who’re against it will brave.

[allthegeopolitics]

Egypt has been certified as malaria free, with the World Health Organization (WHO) calling the achievement “truly historic” and the culmination of nearly a century of work to stamp out the disease. “Malaria is as old as Egyptian civilisation itself, but the disease that plagued pharaohs now belongs to its history and not its future,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement on Sunday. “This certification of Egypt as malaria-free is truly historic, and a testament to the commitment of the people and government of Egypt to rid themselves of this ancient scourge.”

Continue Reading.

[misfitwashere]

ROBERT REICH

MAR 14

Friends,

It seems as if the horrendous Trump news doesn’t end — and it doesn’t. We’ve barely endured just over seven weeks of his scourge and every day brings new awfulness. 

But the worse it gets, the more Trump, Musk, and the rest of the oligarchy reveal themselves. And the more they reveal themselves — the more they abuse their wealth and power, side with Putin, trample civil liberties, and ride roughshod over the Constitution — the stronger the backlash against them will be. 

Here’s this week’s summary of 10 reasons for very modest optimism.

1. The Trump slump is worsening.

The first reason for very modest optimism is the current bad economic news. Americans voted for Trump because they thought he’d fix the economy. Many are now suffering buyer’s remorse. 

On Monday, in retaliation for Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports, China began imposing tariffs on a range of American farm products, including a 15 percent levy on chicken, wheat, and corn. This is already beginning to hurt the Farm Belt — mostly Republican states and Trump voters. 

On Wednesday, after Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on all aluminum and steel imported into the U.S. went into effect, the European Union announced retaliatory tariffs on about $28 billion worth of products, including beef and whiskey — also mostly produced by Republican states (think Kentucky bourbon). Europe is also slapping tariffs on Harley-Davidson motorcycles, made in the Rust Belt.

In response this morning, Trump threatened a 200 percent tariff on all alcoholic products from EU member states. As a result, Trump voters — largely working-class — will be paying more.

Canada also announced new tariffs on about $21 billion worth of U.S. products.

What does this all mean for the economy? 

In a Fox News interview that aired Sunday, Trump did not rule out the possibility that his policies would cause a recession. That possibility is growing by the day. 

The stock market has continued to plummet. Yesterday, the S&P 500 fell 1.4 percent; the index is now down 10.1 percent from its peak reached less than one month ago and in a “correction” — Wall Street slang for when an index falls 10 percent or more from its peak and when investors worried about a sell-off gathering steam.

Other major indexes, including the Russell 2000 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, were already in correction territory.

The rest of the economy isn’t far behind. 

Last Friday’s jobs report showed employers adding 151,000 jobs in February — half as many as in November and December. Leisure and hospitality jobs have declined in the past two months, suggesting that consumers are pulling back on discretionary spending.

The labor force participation rate also fell 0.2 percentage points, to 62.4 percent, mostly due to declining employment among men. The number of workers employed part-time who wanted but couldn’t get full-time work increased by 460,000 to 4.9 million, the most since spring 2021.

CEOs’ assessment of American business conditions is the lowest since the spring of 2020. The New York Times monthly consumer survey finds households feeling gloomy about their year-ahead financial situations. 

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Monday that Americans are increasingly worried about the state of their finances. The perceived probability of missing a minimum debt payment over the next three months climbed to its highest level since April 2020, when the economy was in a Covid-19-related freefall.

Egg prices, an emerging symbol of America’s affordability crisis, jumped 10.4 percent last month after a big rise in January.

2. Trump’s support continues to tank.

The consequence of all this for Trump’s political support? It’s tanking. In the latest Emerson national poll, 46 percent of voters say his policies are making the economy worse rather than better, while 28 percent say the opposite (the rest had no opinion). 

In a new CNN/SSRS poll, almost three-quarters of Americans view the current economic conditions in the U.S. as poor, 51 percent of the public say they think Trump’s policies have worsened economic conditions, and just 28 percent say that his policies have improved things. 

In the same poll, the share of Americans saying they expect the economy to be in bad shape a year from now is up 7 points since January, just before Trump took office.

Fifty-five percent of Americans surveyed say they fear Trump’s cuts to federal programs will negatively affect the economy, and just over 50 percent say that they will negatively affect their own families or local communities.

In a new YouGov poll, 48 percent of Americans think the economy is getting worse, up from 37 percent at the start of Trump's second term. Forty-seven percent expect higher inflation in six months — more than twice the share six months ago.

In the latest Quinnipiac poll, 54 percent disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy; only 41 percent approve.

In a new CNN poll, 56 percent of voters disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy — higher than at any point during his first term. In addition, 61 percent disapprove of tariffs.

I don’t have huge trust in polls but when all major polls show the same thing, there’s reason to believe them. 

3. Musk’s claimed savings don’t exist, and his businesses are going down the toilet. 

Musk continues to claim big savings from his DOGE effort to take a chainsaw to government. But so far, the actual savings have proven to be tiny. 

Soon there will be no way to tell, because Musk and DOGE have just stopped providing identifying details about the cuts — so there’s no way to fact-check them. Not only is this a major step backward from Musk’s promise that he’d be “maximally transparent,” but also it makes his claims of savings nothing but unverifiable propaganda. 

DOGE has refused to answer Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests from journalists and watchdog groups. On Monday, though, a federal judge ruled that DOGE is likely subject to the FOIA — a win for journalists, watchdogs, and researchers who have demanded greater transparency. On Thursday, another judge ordered Musk and DOGE to turn over records and answer questions in response to a legal complaint filed by Democratic state attorneys general. 

Meanwhile, Musk’s growing political power and his shift to the political hard right are damaging his businesses. 

Consumers are boycotting Tesla. More than a dozen violent or destructive acts have been directed at Tesla facilities. Tesla’s stock has fallen by more than 35 percent since Trump’s inauguration; it’s down 50 percent since December. 

Musk is so alarmed by this that he got Trump to hold a White House promotional event for Tesla this week — where Trump essentially read a Tesla sales pitch and lied that consumer boycotts are “illegal.”

In Germany, sales of Teslas plummeted 76 percent in February compared with a year earlier, according to figures released Wednesday. 

Antipathy to Musk is also denting sales of his Starlink satellite internet business. 

Musk raised alarms this past weekend when he wrote on X that Ukraine’s front line “would collapse” against Russian forces if Starlink were shut off. 

Radoslaw Sikorski, Poland’s foreign minister, suggested that his country “will be forced to look for other suppliers” if Starlink is “unreliable.” Musk later told Sikorski to “be quiet, small man.”

Andrius Kubilius, the European Union commissioner overseeing defense and space, talked of quickly replacing Starlink if necessary.

Italy is having second thoughts about awarding a $1.6 billion contract to Starlink. 

Over the past week, shares in Eutelsat — the French rival to Starlink — have more than tripled.

4. The FBI is moving to criminalize groups like Habitat for Humanity for receiving grants from the Environmental Protection Agency under the Biden administration.

I’m including this as a reason for optimism because it so clearly demonstrates just how absurd and extreme the Trump regime has become.

On Wednesday, Citibank revealed in a court filing that it was told to freeze Habitat for Humanity’s bank accounts, at the FBI’s request. The reason? The FBI alleges that the group is involved in “possible criminal violations,” including “conspiracy to defraud the United States.”

Habitat for Humanity, you may recall, is the group that builds low-income houses in America’s communities. Jimmy Carter worked with them for decades. What did they do to earn the FBI’s ire? They received a climate grant from the Biden administration’s EPA. 

Other nonprofits also being targeted by the FBI for receiving climate grants include the Appalachian Community Capital Corporation, the Coalition for Green Capital, and the DC Green Bank.

Yet these groups’ applications for government grants for environmental work were fully reviewed and accepted by the Biden administration’s EPA. 

This is not fraud. It’s targeted harassment. And it will be viewed that way by most Americans. 

5. Trump’s “beautiful bill” is stranded. 

Trump apparently believes that fees from his tariffs when added to savings from Musk’s budget cuts will enable him to finance another large tax cut mainly for big corporations and the wealthy. 

Even if he’s correct (which seems extremely doubtful), those tariff fees are financed by American consumers who will be paying higher prices for imports and who’ll also be losing services because of Musk’s cuts. They are are largely working-class Trump voters. Talk about reverse Robin Hood. 

Meanwhile, Republicans in control of the House and Senate are divided over the size of spending reductions that should accompany their pending tax cuts, which budgetary yardstick they use, and whether a debt-ceiling increase should be attached. 

The Senate still hasn’t agreed to the House strategy to pass one bill that would address the fiscal matters along with border security, after months of debate over whether to split Trump’s priorities into two or even three party-line bills.

Until these questions are resolved with an agreement between House and Senate Republicans, Congress can’t unlock the door to the fast-track “reconciliation” process that circumvents Senate Democrats. And until they unlock that door — which could take weeks or months — Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” is stranded.

6. Bernie is rallying the Democrats

On Friday night, Bernie Sanders drew a crowd of 4,000 in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in what he calls his “Stop Oligarchy Tour.” On Saturday morning, another 2,600 in Altoona, Wisconsin, a town of less than 10,000 residents. Then 9,000 in suburban Detroit, where United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain introduced him.

Each stop has been in a swing House district represented by a Republican.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will join Bernie on the road in the coming weeks. She’s also planning solo appearances in Republican-held congressional districts in Pennsylvania and New York and other districts where Republicans have declined to hold in-person town halls because they might face protests.

Elizabeth Warren and Greg Casar headlined a 3,500-person rally in Austin,Texas — the heart of Musk’s business empire. 

Tim Walz and many House Democrats will host town halls in GOP districts where their Republican congressmen are avoiding town halls.

Bernie is showing Democratic lawmakers and prospective candidates how hungry Americans are for a strong counteroffensive against Trump and Musk — in contrast to Democratic political operative James Carville’s suggestion that Democrats “roll over and play dead,” and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s willingness to surrender to Republicans on the budget resolution. 

7. A coalition of 21 Democratic attorneys general has sued Trump, and the federal courts are becoming even more active in stopping him. 

On Thursday — two days after the Education Department fired more than 1,300 workers, purging people who administer grants and track student achievement across America — a coalition of Democratic attorneys general sued the Trump regime, saying that the dismissals were “illegal and unconstitutional.”

The coalition is seeking a court order to stop what it calls “policies to dismantle” the department. 

Meanwhile, Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia condemned Trump’s executive order punishing law firms that have had Democratic clients, such as special counsel Jack Smith — denying their attorneys access to federal buildings and stripping them of government contracts. 

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge William Alsup ordered federal agencies to rehire tens of thousands of probationary employees who have been fired by Trump. Judge Alsup described the mass firings as a “sham” strategy by Trump’s Office of Personnel Management to sidestep legal requirements for reducing the federal workforce.

Alsup ordered that probationary employees across DOD, Treasury, Energy, Interior, Agriculture, and the VA be hired back “immediately.” Alsup also lashed out at the Justice Department over its handling of the case, saying Trump lawyers were hiding the facts about who directed the mass firings. 

Another federal judge has blocked the deportation of Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, whose green card was voided by the Trump regime and was then imprisoned for his political views. 

8. Oligarchs are revealing themselves for who they really are.

This week further revealed how the American oligarchy is using their wealth to curry favor with Trump. Some examples: 

Jeff Bezos has decided to stream all seven seasons of Trump’s former reality show, “The Apprentice,” on Amazon Prime. Trump was an executive producer and is likely to receive royalties from the agreement. He even plugged the deal on Truth Social. 

Bezos’s Amazon is also paying $40 million for a documentary about the life of Melania Trump. According to The Wall Street Journal, she’s set to make $28 million from the deal. 

Bezos has also washed his Washington Post clean of any op-eds critical of Trump (leading to the resignation of some of its top opinion writers, such as Ruth Marcus) and refuses to carry ads critical of Trump. 

Meanwhile, Musk, the wealthiest person in the world, who spent more than $250 million to help elect Trump, is donating an additional $100 million to help further Trump’s agenda. 

9. Other nations are uniting against Trump, and the global right is losing ground.

It’s also become apparent this week that Trump is, ironically, the great unifier of Europe. Trump’s policies have helped leaders who were struggling with stagnant economies and rightwing opponents. Facing down American tariffs and drawing together to confront an ally that is behaving more like an adversary has proved to be good politics.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s whirlwind of diplomacy — trying to marshal a European peacekeeping force for Ukraine while also working to salvage the alliance with Washington — has won him praise across Britain’s political spectrum. Starmer’s poll numbers have bounced back from what was a dismal first six months in government.

In Mexico, President Claudia Sheinbaum has won praise and stratospheric poll numbers for her coolheaded handling of Trump’s tariffs. Mark Carney, a former central banker, was catapulted to the leadership of Canada’s Liberal Party with 86 percent of the vote on the belief that he can manage a trade war with the United States.

Carney’s party, which lagged the Conservatives by double digits under the premiership of Justin Trudeau, has recently closed the gap, putting the Liberals within striking distance of a victory in an election that Carney is expected to call soon. The Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre, has struggled to regain momentum, and Liberals have been quick to paint him as a Canadian Trump.

10. Americans will soon feel the effects of the Trump-Musk chainsaw.

Most Americans don’t care terribly much that government workers are being axed, but they do care about government services being axed. They’re about to feel those effects very soon. This is also cause for modest optimism because the sooner most people feel those effects, the stronger will be the backlash against the Trump regime. Consider, for example: 

— Weather. The National Weather Service produces lifesaving forecasts, but Trump is cutting 20 percent of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — hobbling weather forecasts. 

— Food stamps. Millions of poor families, many in red states, rely on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance — food stamps — to have enough to eat. The Trump regime is making substantial cuts and wants states to make up the difference. Most red states cannot. 

— Veterans benefits. Over 9 million veterans depend on benefits from the Veterans Administration. But Trump’s cuts at the VA have disrupted medical treatment, ended studies involving experimental treatments, forced some facilities to fire support staff, and created uncertainty amid the mass cancellation of hundreds of VA contracts. The VA serves a constituency courted heavily by Republicans. Veterans, including Republican-leaning vet groups, are fighting back against Trump’s VA cuts.

— Measles. With lower rates of vaccination against measles and a vaccine skeptic at the helm at HHS, we’re witnessing significant measles outbreaks in Texas and New Mexico that have infected more than 250 people — many of them unvaccinated school-age children — and claimed two lives; a flu season that led to record numbers of hospitalizations; and the potential for a bird flu epidemic. 

— Tuberculosis. Americans are vulnerable to communicable diseases that exist in other nations, such as tuberculosis, which kills more people worldwide than any other infectious disease. But since Trump ordered the freeze on USAID, the entire system of finding and treating TB has collapsed in dozens of countries across Africa and Asia.

— Education. On Tuesday, Trump and Musk fired half the Education Department, purging people who administer grants and track student achievement across America. Education cuts will hurt red states in particular: States that voted for Trump last November, on average, use more federal funding in their education apportions than states that voted for former Vice President Harris.

— Social Security. More than 100 million Americans depend on Social Security. But Musk’s DOGE is now combing through Social Security databases to flag suspicious payments. Musk describes Social Security as rife with fraud and repeats the conspiracy theory that Democrats have used it as a “gigantic magnet to attract illegal immigrants and have them stay in the country.” Earlier this month, he referred to Social Security as “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.” 

This week, DOGE tried to eliminate Social Security’s phone customer service, only to scrap the plan after massive public backlash (although DOGE is still cutting phone options for direct deposit changes).

***

I offer you these reasons for very modest hope not because I want you to deny the awfulness of what’s occurring, but because I want you to see we are not necessarily doomed. Not all is lost. There are reasons to believe that the vast majority of Americans are catching on. And if that’s the case, the scourge will be over. We may even be stronger for having gone through it. 

[katakaluptastrophy]

"I’ve already pretty much revealed that Alecto begins with the descent of Christ into Hades." - Tamsyn Muir

That's right...it's time for more Bible study for fans of weird queer necromancers!

It's currently Holy Week, the week where Western liturgical Christians reenact the events of Jesus' death and resurrection in real time. And today, it's Holy Saturday. So Jesus died on the cross on Good Friday. He rises from the dead on Easter Sunday. But what happened in between? His body lay in the tomb...but his spirit was otherwise preoccupied. Because on Holy Saturday, Jesus went to Hell.

But why would Jesus go to Hell? Because the resurrection was not just about saving the people who came after it - it was a bit more...wibbly wobbly, timey wimey.

To be a bit more specific, he didn't visit Hell Hell. The place Jesus visited isn't Hell in the sense of eternal punishment of the damned, but Hades or Sheol or the Underworld or Limbo - a place for those who were mostly good but lived before Jesus' resurrection had made salvation possible. So before his resurrection, Jesus went to make that salvation retroactive. Particularly, according to tradition, to major figures from the Old Testament, including Adam and Eve.

So Nona the Ninth ended with Harrow walking off into the River in search of theological truth. And Alecto the Ninth apparently begins with Harrow in Hell:

Alecto the Ninth, ACT ONE HARROW IN HELL CHAPTER 1 At a point in the slit she was carving through life, Harrowhark Nonagesimus woke to find herself lost in a dark wound. She had been walking when it had all gone black– any path ahead or behind was blotted out; now she was here.  - Tamsyn Muir reading at TorCon

This is riffing heavily on the beginning of Dante's Inferno:

"In the middle of the journey of our life I came to myself within a dark wood where the straight way was lost." - Dante Alighieri, Inferno

But lots of people go to Hell. What's so special about Harrow going there? Because the traditional name in English for Jesus' chthonic salvation adventures on Holy Saturday is "the Harrowing of Hell." "Harrow" comes from an Old English word meaning to attack or despoil - a very martial way of expressing the idea of Jesus as the victor over sin and death.

Harrow ended NTN realising that she cannot trust John's account of metaphysics. That she needs to discover the reality for herself. The faith of the Nine Houses and John's own styling as god rests on the foundation of the Resurrection - John is the "ransomer of death, scourge of death, vindicator of death", his power is understood to be absolute: "Let the whole of everywhere entrust themselves to him. Let those across the river pledge beyond the tomb to the adept divine."

And yet even that prayer - "let those across the river..." - introduces doubt. Magnus jumps in to silence Abigail when she expresses her heretical belief in the River beyond, and Harrow herself scoffs that "it has been thousands of years since anybody bothered to believe in the River beyond." Abigail believes that John knows nothing about what exists beyond the River. And what about Hell? In HTN, Ulysses the First is described as "languishing in Hell" after his run-in with a Resurrection Beast. John himself describes the stoma as "the mouth to Hell", "a portal to a place I cannot touch - somewhere I don't fully comprehend, where my power and my authority are utterly meaningless."

In the Book of Revelation - the Bible's account of the end of the world - Jesus holds "the keys of death and Hell". John may have resurrected the dead, but he does not comprehend what is beyond it. Both the destination of the good, the River beyond to which the souls of little Isaac and Jean should have traveled lightly after their short and brutal lives, and the Hell that lies beneath the stoma are outside of his power. He is a few keys short of the full divine bunch. He can manipulate death, but he is not really its master.

And so Harrow walks off into the River to look for something or someone she can call god. Harrow, who shares a name with the defeat of death across time and space. Harrow, who is of the unbroken line of Anastasia. Anastasia was kind to Alecto, who like Eve is the mother of all and like Adam walked on the empty earth with god.

In Orthodox icons, the Harrowing of Hell is depicted with Jesus triumphant, leading Adam and Eve by the hand from their tombs. The traditional term for this image is an anastasis, the Greek term for resurrection. Adam and Eve, whose sin broke the intended shape of reality, are restored to wholeness with god.

How will Harrow answer her questions about god? What really is beyond the stoma and what would it mean to conquer it? What does it look like, metaphysically, to restore the world of The Locked Tomb to wholeness, and what will it cost?

[inevitably-johnlocked]

A-Z Sherlock Fan Fiction Tropes Bingo

Ahhh, so I saw this Fanfiction Bingo Card by @swissmissing going around, and even though I wasn't ever tagged, I wanted to do some recs of my own because, like, that's my whole brand LOL. I hope no one minds...🙃 I needed to have a list ready for this Sunday, and this was perfect, LOL.

And because I'm always trying to overachieve on these challenges, I'm going to do full black out, BOTH tropes in each square.

This will be a Combination of my read fics and "to read" fics [to fill in spaces I don't have tags for], which I will append the latter with (MFL) just like so, for those of you who only want fics I've personally read. And apologies, I had to remove some of my standard links to fit them all within Tumblr's link limits, so author names aren't clickable AND I've removed all series' links, so be sure to check out other stories by the authors!!

AND FINALLY, this is a rare list that I DON'T have in word-count order, just so y'all know! I hope you guys like the fics I've pick for y'all. Literally random picks from my lists, based on tag searches, LOL.

AU: A Further Sea by i_ship_an_armada & ShinySherlock (E, 125,492 w., 23 Ch. || Historical Pirates AU || Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Doctor John / Pirate Captain Sherlock, Sailing, UST / RST, Masturbation, Action / Adventure, Mild Angst & Peril, Romance, Shaving, Molly/Janine, Bottomlock, Hand / Blow Jobs, Past Drug Use, Slow Burn, Mild Violence, Facial Shaving, Happy Ending) – Here be a tale of adventure for both body and soul, but beware if ye be not of stout heart, for this be piratelock, ya savvy? Luckless ship's surgeon John Watson takes a chance, and finds himself eye to eye with The Ghost, the scourge of the seven seas and a definite thorn in the side of the blaggard, James Moriarty. But when John finds there's more to this most cunning pirate than be meetin' the eye, he has to choose... is it a pirate's life for him?

Amnesia: I Need You To See Me by Mssmithlove (E, 12,625 w., 1 Ch. || Angst, Amnesia, Soldier!John) – After going back to war, John is yet again invalided home, this time with a broken ankle and a chunk of his memory missing, unable to recall the last five years he's spent being Sherlock Holmes' partner and husband. Part 9 of Happiness Awaits

BDSM: Lock and Key Series by 221b_hound (E, 59,509+ w. across 14 works || Series WiP || Post-HLV, Tattoos, First Kiss/Time, Anal, Hand Jobs, Captain John, Cuddling, Sherlock's Scars, Possessive Johnlock, Exhibitionism / Voyeurism, Frottage, Blow Jobs, Masturbation, Sherlock in Panties, PWP, Dirty Talk, Sexual Fantasies, Restraints, Photographs, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Light BDSM, Assorted Kinks, Sherlock in a Sheet, Sex on Furniture, Domestic Fluff) – John has been back at Baker Street for a year, following the debacle that ended in Mary's death. Things are good. Back almost to what they used to be. Sherlock might wish they were something else, now, but he only has himself to blame, he thinks. It's too late, now, for the things he first denied before he'd ruined any chances he might have had. Sherlock also thinks that people who get tattoos are idiots. But perhaps he's about to learn a thing or two, not least of which might be it's not as late as he thinks it is.

Bodyswap: Inexplicable by emmagrant01 (E, 34,664 w., 6 Ch. || Body Swap, TSo3, Magical Realism / Artifacts, Infidelity, Angst) – So what was in that matchbox, anyway? John and Sherlock find out, the hard way.

Crossover: Perdition's Flames by i_ship_an_armada (E, 63,435 w., 21 Ch. || Star Trek Fusion || Established Relationship, Genetic Engineering, Angst & Fluff, BAMF!John) – Sherlock would do anything to save him. Risk anything. Give anything. His money, his life. His soul. What he does, though, is change both of their destinies forever. Genetic re-engineering is the only option left. It turns out researchers underestimated the life expectancy and potential abilities of genetically re-engineered subjects. The British government and what would eventually become the United Federation of Planets, however, had not. Part 1 of PF Universe

Crack: Fucking Cake by Random_Nexus (E, 12,965 w., 1 Ch. || Pre-Slash, Humour/Crack, Inanimate Object Smut, Frottage, “For a Case” / “Experiment”, PWP / Kinky, Mutual Pining, Fluff) – Sherlock brings home a chocolate cake, John finds him about to have sex with said cake, then exceedingly weird hijinx ensue. Part 1 of "Fucking Baked Goods" - Sherlock BBC

Domestic: Back to the Start by slashscribe (M, 14,088 w., 1 Ch. || Sherlock’s Violin, Pining Idiots, Fluff, Domestics) – Sherlock hasn't played the violin since John's wedding (which is long since over), and when John returns to 221B, Sherlock relearns the violin as he and John relearn each other. Post S3 fic with an obscene amount of pining, idiocy, and attempts to pawn off tea duties.

Disability: Breakable by MissDavis (E, 117,627 w., 34 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Established Relationship, Major Character Injury, Fluff/Angst, Depression, Paralysis/Disabilities, Hurt/Comfort, POV Sherlock, Mental Health Issues, Drug Use, Happy-ish Ending) – After John is seriously injured, Sherlock struggles to figure out how to help him, keep himself sane, and maybe, just maybe, get their life back to the way it's supposed to be. Part 1 of Breakable Not Broken

Established Relationship: Caught In The Act Series by ShirleyCarlton (E, 9,217 w. across 7 works || Established Relationship, Unintentional Voyeurism, Alternate POVs, Humour, Blow Jobs, Walking in on Someone, Switching, Public Sex) – This is a series of six scenarios written from the points of view of six different people as they accidentally walk in on Sherlock and John having sex.

Enemies to Lovers: Synchronicity by Calais_Reno (T, 46,424 w., 10 Ch. || Alternate First Meeting || Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Case Fic, POV John, Bullying, Coming Out, Forgiveness, Drinking/Bars, Boarding School, Drunk John) – John and Sherlock meet again, years after they were school boys together. John hasn't forgotten why he still hates Sherlock Holmes. (MFL)

Future: Uncharted Territory by J_Baillier (T, 19,603 w., 4 Ch. || Dystopian Future / Black Mirror AU || Alternate First Meeting, Angst, Drama, Homophobia, Bisexuality, Technology, Humour, Romance, Near Future, Happy Ending) – The System puts people through a series of assigned relationships in order to determine who their Perfect Match is. John believes that it works; Sherlock really, really doesn't. One of them is probably going to be wrong.

Fluff: A Lifetime Together by LondonGypsy (M, 8,886 w., 1 Ch. || Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Falling in Love, Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Pining Idiots, Alternating POVs, Domestics, Retirement) – John and Sherlock falling in love.

Gen: Octopus by glass_rose_paperweight (G, 705 w., 1 Ch. || Established Relationship, Fluff, Bed Sharing, Limpet Sherlock) – A week after Sherlock and John finally get together, and John is finding sharing a bed with Sherlock Holmes to be ... difficult, sometimes. If not downright suffocating.

Genderswap: Cockscomb by birdie7272 (E, 115,302 w., 32 Ch. || Femlock / Gender Swap || Light Dom / Sub, Sensual Play, Cocks, Lace, Safe Words, Pining Sherlock, Case Fic, Truth or Dare, Slow Burn, Feminism, Relationships, Sexuality Crisis, Cheating, Power Play, Manipulation, Control) – Lace, whiskey, and a case full of cocks leads to a brand new kind of adventure. AKA The One With All The Cocks… When There Are No Cocks (MFL)

Historical: Enigma by khorazir (M, 289,667 w., 23 Ch. || Codebreaker / WWII / Imitation Game-Inspired AU || Case Fic, Espionage, Period-Typical Homophobia / Sexism, Pining Sherlock, Inexperienced / Virgin Sherlock, Implied / Referenced Drug Use, Non-Graphic Violence) – It’s the autumn of 1941, war is raging in Europe, German U-boats are raiding Allied convoys in the Atlantic, the Luftwaffe is bombing English cities, and the cryptographers at Bletchley Park are working feverishly to decode their enemies' encrypted communications. One should consider this challenge and distraction enough for capricious codebreaker Sherlock Holmes. But the true enigmas are yet waiting to be deciphered: an unbreakable code, a strange murder, and the arrival of Surgeon Captain John H. Watson of the Royal Navy. (MFL)

Humour: Equine Arse Anonymity by Kayjaykayme (E, 3,834 w., 1 Ch. || Established Relationship, Public Sex, Coming in Pants, Humour, Halloween, Hand Jobs) – Sherlock needs to speak with suspects at a fancy dress ball. He chooses a couple's costume for himself and John. It is logical, practical and well thought out. John doesn't agree and exacts sweet revenge.

Illness: Only To Be With You by SinceWhenDoYouCallMe_John (M, 40,768 w., 4 Ch. || Black Mirror / Future AU || Character Death, Future Technology, Sickness/Cancer/Illness, Heavy Angst with Happy Ending, First Person POV John, Pining John, Heart-Wrenching Angst, Promise of Forever) – I tell myself that next time I’ll come near this same place again. Wait around for the mysterious stranger in his coat to dash past me, hot on the heels of a new criminal in black. I think this all the way back to my Exit, planning where I’ll wait and what I’ll say when I see him. Scheming on how to get his name. It’s only once I reach the Exit Point door that I realize two hours and forty-five minutes have passed, and I realize that this won’t be the last time I Visit. It won’t be the last time at all.

Imprisonment: THERE BUT FOR THE GRACE OF JOHN WATSON by skyefullofstars (T, 110,758 w., 24 Ch. || Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Angst, Violence, Whump, Nightmares, Murder, Drug Addiction, Torture) – While Sherlock grapples with his new-found feelings for John Watson, he faces a very real threat: John's kidnapping and shooting at the hands of James Moriarty. And the knowledge that the love of his life is being used to test an addictive drug - at the risk of John's sanity and life. Prequel to THE BOYS OF BAKER STREET. Part 1 of THERE BUT FOR THE GRACE OF JOHN WATSON

Jealousy: The High Tide Series by stardust_made (E, 15,269 w. across 3 works || OMC, Angst, Jealousy, Developing Relationship, First Time, Romance) – A little favour Sherlock stupidly agrees to do for Mycroft leads to John meeting a handsome, afluent man, who is going out of his way to woo him. Sherlock struggles with the situation and with his own reactions to it.

Jilted: Love Is Series by SilentAuror (E, 36,903 w. across 2 works || Post S3, Alternating POV Each Story, Angst, Unrequited Love, Rejection then Reconciliation, Romance, Mary Divorce, Eventual Happy Ending) – At Mrs Hudson's urging, Sherlock finally decides to tell John how he feels about him.

Kids: The Baker Street Nativity by SwissMiss (E, 99,662 w., 23 Ch. || Nativity! AU || Teacher Sherlock / TA John, Pining, Sherlock POV, UST, Angst, Christmas, Music/Song Fic, Anal / BJ’s, First Kiss / Time) –Fusion between Sherlock (BBC) and Nativity! (2009 movie starring Martin Freeman). Sherlock is a primary school teacher and John is assigned to be his classroom assistant. Together, they are charged with putting on the school's Nativity play. What could possibly go wrong? Part 1 of The Baker Street Nativity Verse

Kink: John and Sherlock's Kinky First Times Series by wendymarlowe (E, 247,051+ w. across 45 works || Series WiP || Short Stories, Assorted Tags with Assorted Genres, PWP) – A collection of short imaginings of how Sherlock and John might finally allow their relationship to become physical. Don't be afraid of the giant cloud of tags - each fic stands alone and you can read them in any order.

Long: Free Falling by twistedthicket1 (M, 203,574 w., 38 Ch. || Guardian Angels AU || Guardian Angel John, Fluff and Angst, Humour, Kidlock / Teenlock, Light Mystrade, Passage of Time, Possessive John, Drug Use / Overdose, Victor Trevor, Graphic Bullying, Big Brother Mycroft, Hard Drug Use, Depression, Possessive Sherlock, Possessive John, Panic Attacks, Nightmares/PTSD, Pining, Healing Abilities, Kidnapping, Violence, Torture, Blow Jobs, Virgin John, Emotional Development / Attachment, Mortality, Happy Ending) – All Guardian angels are born with a Chosen human. When this child is born, the angel comes into being to protect and care for them during their life on Earth. For John Watson, all he cares about in the world revolves around his Chosen, Sherlock Holmes. Watching him grow up though, the angel soon learns that God must have had a sense of humour the day he decided to make Sherlock, as trouble seems to follow him like a magnet wherever he goes. John can't decide what's worse, the idea of losing his Chosen one, or the fact that he may be breaking the most taboo law of heaven as he disguises himself as a human to better protect and befriend the beloved detective he's always watched from afar. He was meant to care for him. But what happens when caring evolves into something more? What happens when an emotion an angel is supposed to be incapable of possessing comes to life suddenly and viciously inside John's chest? 

Love Triangle: Isosceles by SilentAuror (E, 56,609 w., 7 Ch. || Post-S4, POV John, Original Male Character / Sherlock Dates Another Man, Love Triangle, Jealous John, Virgin Sherlock, Sexual Coaching, Angst, Romance, Domesticity, Unrequited Feelings, Miscommunication, First Kiss/Time, For a Case, Friends With Benefits, Bottomlock, Love Confessions, Spooning) – After solving a case for a major celebrity, Sherlock gets himself asked out. When John asks, he discovers that Sherlock has no intention of going, at least not until John agrees to coach him through whatever he might need to know for his date...

Magical Realism: The Frost Child by twistedthicket1 (M, 9,994 w., 2 Ch. || Frozen-ish AU || Magical Realism, Christmas, Angst, Fluff, Powerful John) – In a world where people are born with a Gift of varying levels, simple John Watson is the last person one might look at when thinking of any strong Magick capabilities. Hiding comfortably in the shadow of Sherlock's brilliant deducing abilities, John is content to keep it that way...

Major Character Death: I Think I've Come A Long Long Way To Sit Before You Here Today by ArwenKenobi (T, 18,251 w., 3 Ch. || Grief/Mourning, Passage of Time, Major Character Death, Alternating POV, Sherlock Whump, Pining Sherlock, Hospitalization, Coma, Revenge Murders, Hallucinations, Love Confessions, Brutal Accident, Mystrade, Ghost John) – One year after John is killed Sherlock starts to wonder whether John has actually gone anywhere.

NSFW: Caves in the Mountains Are Seldom Unoccupied by starrysummernights & TheMadKatter13 (E, 7,925 w., 1 Ch. || Were-Creatures ||  Werebear John, Pseudo Bestiality, Rimming, Dub Con, Rough Sex, Come Inflation / Eating, Size Kink, PWP, Bratty Sherlock, Rutting) – “This isn’t something to play at, Sherlock,” he snapped. “If it doesn’t work out- what you’re asking of me- we can’t shrug and say 'oh well, at least we tried'. If we do this… I could seriously hurt you. Do you understand? I could lose control. I could… I could kill you.” 

Next Gen.: If Equal Affection Cannot Be by blueink3 (E, 31,156 w., 3 Ch. || Post S4, Family, Retirement, Grown Up Rosie, Angst, Reunion, Loneliness, Sussex, Fluff, Sexy Times, Happy Ending) – Sherlock fled London a couple of years after John left him in hospital with nothing but an old walking stick and a half-hearted goodbye. Rosie grew up thinking that Sherlock died when he committed suicide in front of her father by jumping from Barts' roof. So it's somewhat awkward when they run into each other in a Sussex general store between the loaves of bread and the Mars bars... (MFL)

Omegaverse: A Fold in the Universe by darkest_bird (E, 152,869 w., 26 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Omegaverse / Prime Universe Crossover || OmegaJohn / AlphaSherlock, First Kiss / Time, Friends to Lovers, Established Relationship, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Dubious Consent, Humour) – Alpha Sherlock and Omega John are in a relationship. Prime Sherlock and Prime John are not. So what happens when a freak fold in the universe switches one John for the other?

Only One Bed: The Cure for Snoring by Goddess_of_the_Night (G, 1,278 w., 1 Ch. || Sleepy Conversations, Bed Sharing, Cuddling, Fluff, Domestic, Platonic / Sleepy Cuddles) – Sherlock and John spend the night in Scotland after finishing a case. The sole Inn in town only has one room left...one bed. This would be fine - if not a bit awkward - if Sherlock hadn't developed a habit of snoring loudly. John suffers through many hours of sleeplessness before he discovers that skin-to-skin contact stops the noise. Part 1 of Dreamscapes

Parenthood: Iris by slashscribe (E, 11,948 w., 1 Ch. || Parentlock, Pining Sherlock, Post-S3) – Sherlock does his best to make John happy when John comes back to 221B with his new baby after the events of Season 3, but Sherlock has a track record of getting things wrong in this area. This story is an exploration of their gradual shift from friends to lovers, told from Sherlock's perspective, full of a lot of pining and lack of emotional awareness.

Platonic: The Green Blade by verityburns (T, 72,929 w., 15 Ch. || Case Fic, Bromance) – As a serial killer hits the headlines, the police are out of their depth and the next victim is out of time. With faith in Sherlock Holmes at an all time low, this is a case which will push loyalties to the limit...

Queer: Rupert Street by WritingOutLoud (M, 27,262 w., 9 Ch. || Alternate First Meeting || Case Fic, Sexuality, Demisexual Sherlock, Drugging, Smart John, Sherlock Has Internalized Biphobia, Fluff, Angst with Happy Ending, Gay Bar, Flirting, John Manipulates Sherlock to Eat, John Deduces, Arguments, Kidnapping/Torture, Hospitalization, John Whump) – Discharged from the war with nothing but the clothes on his back and a realisation of his bisexuality, John Watson has to learn who he’s become. He can’t afford London on an army pension, but the city is the only friend he has. In an effort to understand his newfound queer identity, he heads to a bar one night, where he stumbles across a mysterious stranger who turns his life upside down. ‘I dug around inside myself, and I'm not quite sure what I found, but it was beautiful and terrifying all at the same time.’

Quest: Licence to Kiss by fellshish (T, 13,739 w., 4 Ch. || Post-ASIB, Sort-Of Bondlock, First Kiss, Love Confessions, Mutual Pining, Angst and Humour, Bed Sharing) – Sherlock loves John, and John loves... James Bond. He only made Sherlock watch every single film. Tedious. And now John's birthday is coming up. Sherlock can't tell him how he feels, but he can organise an amazing gift: John's very own spy adventure. Sherlock begs Mycroft for a real case with some extra gadgets. And perhaps some actors pretending to be criminals. What could possibly go wrong?

Retirement: Through the Clouds by Mazarin221b (E, 20,004 w., 6 Ch. || Retirement, Sussex, Bees, Home Improvement, First Time, Romance) – Sherlock takes a remarkably early retirement at 47, and convinces John that a change of pace would do them both good. They buy an old cottage on the South Downs, and exchange their nonstop life in Baker Street for quiet contemplation, bee studies, and book writing. They might go completely insane, but sometimes it takes stepping outside of the life you're living to find the life you want. Part 1 of Through The Clouds

Road Trip: Hitting the Water at Sixty Miles an Hour by what_alchemy (E, 30,568 w., 5 Ch. || Fake Rel., Road Trips, Slow Burn, Mummy Holmes) – “You love your mother, Sherlock?” John watched the muscles in Sherlock’s jaw jump. He nodded in one sharp jerk. “Then we’re going to her party and making her happy.” John let out a resigned sigh. “As a ruddy couple, you bastard.”

Soulmates: The Heart On Your Sleeve by flawedamythyst (T, 5,441 w., 1 Ch. || Soulmate AU || Sherlock POV, Heartmarks, Pining, Fluff and Angst, Semi-S1 / S2 Canon Compliant, Reunion) – Sherlock stared at the imperfect circle on his left wrist in horror, then sat down on his bed with a bit of a thump. After over thirty years, his heartmark was finally showing activity. This was not good.

Slow Burn: Tomorrow's Song by agirlsname (M, 24,645 w., 5 Ch. || Post-TRF, POV Sherlock, Angst with a Happy Ending, Virgin / Repressed Sherlock, Love Confessions, Slow Burn, Pining, Jealous Sherlock) – How can he think a relationship with me would be a good idea? I am the sort of person to take a break from my life and when I come back after two years, I expect to find it exactly as I left it. In reality I find it shattered to pieces. (I actually equate you with my life. When did I start doing that?)

Teen AU: The Sky is Full of Fiddles by agirlsname (T, 25,659 w., 6 Ch. || 1895 Teenlock || Romantic Fluff, Bed Sharing, Swedish Folk Music, Dancing, Sherlock’s Violin, Poetry, Skinny Dipping, Summer Love, First Kiss, Proposals, POV John, Gay Surprise) – It's 1895 in the heart of Swedish folk music and dance. During certain weekends, boys are allowed to visit girls at night, wooing them with fantastical poems. If a girl lets a boy into her room they can share a bed all night, fully clothed, to talk and eat caramels together. John is seventeen and looking for a girl to marry like everyone else. He's very surprised when another boy suddenly stands outside his door, wanting to share his bed… (MFL)

Time Travel: The Engine by stitchy (T, 8,294 w., 1 Ch. || First Kiss, Post-HLV, ASiP Do-Over, Sci-Fi, Time Travel) – Shortly after the events of His Last Vow, Sherlock has an opportunity to revisit the night of A Study in Pink and get some perspective on the destiny of he and John's relationship.

Undercover: The Skin Over My Heart by standbygo (E, 8,849 w., 1 Ch. || Post-Hiatus, Fake Relationship, Case Fic, Dog Tags, Military, Homophobia, Gay Bashing, POV First Person Sherlock, Friends to Lovers, First Kiss / Time, Declarations of Love, Undercover, Haircuts, Flashbacks, Touching, Pining Sherlock, Hospitalization, Metaphors, Introspection, Hand Jobs, On the Couch, John’s Past, Angst with Happy Ending) – Sherlock and John are still trying to adjust to Sherlock's return from his hiatus when John's friend Bill Murray brings them a case. Someone is targeting the LGBTQA+ members of Bill's unit. John and Sherlock go undercover at the unit, but when they end up having to flirt to flush out the suspect, Sherlock realizes he's in over his head.

Unrequited: Love Is Series by SilentAuror (E, 36,903 w. across 2 works || Post S3, Alternating POV Each Story, Angst, Unrequited Love, Rejection then Reconciliation, Romance, Mary Divorce, Eventual Happy Ending) – At Mrs Hudson's urging, Sherlock finally decides to tell John how he feels about him.

Vampires: Bleed Me Out by antietamfalls (E, 87,987 w., 14 Ch. || Vampire AU || Bonding, Vampire Sherlock, Fluff & Angst, Hurt/Comfort, John Whump, Magical Realism) – John isn’t exactly surprised to discover that Sherlock isn't human. His vampirism doesn't pose a problem, even when their relationship gradually grows into something more. That is, until a deadly revelation about John’s blood sends their lives spinning dangerously out of control.

Villain POV: Genesis by pasiphile (M, 19,521 w., 1 Ch. || Graphic Violence, Moriarty’s Past) – Before he was Jim Moriarty, he was just Jimmy, a street kid with more pain in his past and more ambition in his head than he could handle, and only one other person he could bring himself to trust. Part 6 of This Life Is A Trip (When You're Psycho In Love) (MFL)

Whump: Trapped and Upside Down on the M6 by BootsnBlossoms (E, 4,256 w., 1 Ch. || Whump, Car Accident, Hurt / Comfort) – Everything felt wrong. His hair was going the wrong way. His arms were bent in ways he wouldn’t choose to bend them. His neck hurt and he couldn’t really feel his toes. Something was dripping on his face – and rolling up. A car crash. He had been in a car crash.

Werewolves: John Watson’s Moon by patternofdefiance (E, 11,314 w., 1 Ch. || Supernatural Creatures || Werewolf John, First Time, BAMF John, First Time, Anal, Fleeting Depictions of Violence) – Sherlock finds out John is a werewolf and wants to see the transformation. It, uh, gets really kinky.

Xenomorphism: Forest King by Elphen (E, 141,856 w., 27 Ch. || Magical Realism / Omegaverse AU || Mythical Creatures, Group Sex, Body Worship, Drinking / Impairment, Dubious Consent, Anal Fingering/Sex, Transformations / Shapeshifting, Mpreg, BAMF John, Possessive Sherlock, Celtic Mythology, Paganism, Sherlock’s Violin, Frottage, Illnesses, Caring Sherlock, Netherworld/Underworld, Coping Mechanisms, Paternal Lestrade, Defensive John, Big Brother Mycroft, Insecurity, Self-Esteem Issues, Misunderstandings, Mild Jealousy, Pregnant Sex, Male Lactation, Birthing, Emotional Support, Parenthood, Family History) – After falling out with his sister, John ends up in a Cornwall Midsummer’s Eve celebration in the middle of a forest that’s rather…different. After the hazy night of magic and passion with a pale-eyed man, he goes home to London. He’s in for a surprise when his stomach starts growing and buds appears on his head. Not one to just accept things, he returns to Cornwall to demand an explanation. When he meets the forest king, Sherlock, again, he has to come to terms with not only what’s happened to him but what kind of magical world he’s been thrust into. Plus, there’s the questions of whether he trusts the antlered man and how he'll survive being apparently pregnant. Sherlock isn’t much help. That doesn’t mean he isn’t trying to somehow make John understand his feelings, however, even if he’s greatly hampered by being Sherlock. They slowly move forward but problems beyond their control may arise from an act done with the best of intentions. How will they cope, separately and together? (MFL)

Xmas: Our Enthusiasms Which Cannot Always Be Explained by withoutawish (M, 32,961 w., 1 Ch. || Christmas, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Post-TRF, Case Fic, Mild Gore, Sherlock Whump) – The list that is tacked haphazardly on the refrigerator of 221B reads, ‘Kidney(s), and/or a full cadaver (preferably male, late 30s, under six feet tall), bag of fresh toes, sixteen cow’s eyes (corneas retained), dual exhaust hand –held flame thrower, an unopened first edition copy of Joseph Conrad’s 'Heart of Darkness', and no less than ten abhorrently gruesome murders in the upcoming month.” The one neatly hanging next to it simply reads, “Sex.” One of these lists is not John Watson’s. If John Watson were to put what he really wanted in list form, to live in a land somewhere beyond ‘almosts' now that Sherlock Holmes has indeed returned to him, he would never be able to look his flatmate in the eye ever again.

Zombies: The Hollow Ones by antietamfalls (M, 100,244 w., 23 Ch. || Walking Dead Fusion || Zombie Apocalypse, Angst, Slow Build, Emotional Constipation, Protective John, Hurt/Comfort) – The dead walk. Mangled corpses of the deceased rise and mindlessly feast upon the flesh of the living. John wakes up, alone and confused, into the remnants of a city gone mad. He will search for answers. He will find Sherlock at any cost. And he will learn that the living are far more dangerous than the dead. (MFL)

Zoomorphism: How to Build a Heart out of Ashes by Teumessian (E, 144,931 w., 31 Ch. || Changeling AU || Slow Burn, Drug Use, Mentions of Child Abuse / Bullying, Mentions of Student/Teacher Relations, Uni-Age) – In an AU where a small number of the population become Changelings at a young age, at 17 John Watson believes he's destined for Normal life but then the Change takes him and he is sent to the Baker Institute. There he meets Sherlock Holmes.

[shrinkrants]

It’s possible that future generations will look back on this scourge and see something else — not just what was destroyed but also what was born. Even prior to Trump, our democracy was deeply flawed. The moneyed interests were drowning out everyone else. Inequality was reaching record levels. Corruption — legalized bribery through campaign contributions — was the political norm (Musk is the logical ending point). The bottom 90 percent were getting nowhere because the system was rigged against them. It’s entirely possible that future generations will look back on this awful time and see the seeds of fundamental reform. Many of you are leading this. In hundreds of thousands of ways, you are beacon lights. You are the beginnings of positive change. Whether it’s your appearances at Republican town halls, or your phone calls that are daily jamming the Capitol and White House switchboards, or your mountains of emails and letters, or your myriad actions protecting the vulnerable in your communities, or your grass-roots activism in Wisconsin and elsewhere: You are the groundswell of America’s new resistance, the green shoots of our future democracy.

[scourge-sympathiser]

SCOURGE SUNDAY 058/???

the leader of bloodclan

[shoot-i-messed-up]

fuck it, I've been thinking about the Hal Jordan: The Guy Who Made Superman Cry Thrice epilogue again, so here's a little snippet of something I've already written. Idk if it'll make it in or if it'll be changed, but I like my characterization, so here it is CW: the lightest of allusions to Hal's rape recovery + spoilers, obvi

Because Batman was an actual douchebag, Hal was back on the JL active roster for two days before that Sunday afternoon, he was called in for the bureaucratic scourge of all superheroes everywhere: monitor duty. In his darkest moments, those three months being powerless, he came to miss all aspects of being Green Lantern, even monitor duty, but faced with the actuality of the situation, that was no longer the case. He hadn’t even been able to stop a mugger before getting stuck on monitor duty, for Christ’s sake. Batman must’ve switched his shifts out for Hal as soon as he was available. 

Hal zeta’d up to the Watchtower, grumbling to himself all the way there, but when he stepped out of the Zeta Beam tubes, he noticed that all of the lights were turned down to dim, as if to save energy on Life Support. Hal was alert now, and he flew up to the control deck. There was no one around to operate the Zeta Beam tubes, the promenade, or the control deck, not even a skeleton crew. No Martian Manhunter or Mister Terrific or anyone.

“Guys?” Hal said, voice echoing through the empty promenade. “Hellooooo? If this is a prank, it’s real unoriginal!”

With a second, a red blur rushed into his vision, and the Flash was in front of him. “Hal!” Barry said, looking harried, though thankfully uninjured at a glance. “We need you in the cafeteria ASAP.”

“What’s the sitch?” Hal said, but Barry had already sprinted to the hallway, and he called out over his shoulder, “No time to explain, just follow me!” and the red blur disappeared down the corner.

Hal sighed and flew after him. “Figures that this happens on my shift,” he muttered, though he actually would enjoy a good stress-relieving tussle right about now.

A few minutes of flying later (Hal could cross lightyears in seconds, but Batman would not be appreciative of a Hal-shaped hole in the Watchtower’s walls, so he had to be a little careful), Hal arrived at the cafeteria doors, which were firmly closed. Hal eyed the palm scanner that would open them, and because he hadn’t survived ten years of being a Green Lantern without learning something, he asked the Ring to scan the inside of the room for potential danger. Hal assumed Barry must have gotten here before him, which said something interesting about those closed doors.

“There are no potentially life-threatening dangers detected,” the Ring said, which was the first time it had spoken to him since he had enough willpower for it to work again. “However, the lights are currently turned off, which may be a hazard to beings with limited spectral ranges. Additionally, there are currently one hundred and fifty-two life forms inside the room known as the Watchtower cafeteria. Shall I give a more comprehensive analysis report?”

Hal grinned. He knew what this was. “I’m good. Thanks, Ring.”

The Ring subsided, and Hal pressed his hand to the palm scanner. He really wasn’t sure how that thing worked, especially since he and many others of the League wore gloves, but whatever, it opened to him, anyway. Hal stepped inside the dark room, and a beat later, the blinding lights turned on, and there were friendly, smiling faces everywhere he looked.

“WELCOME BACK!!” the entire one hundred and fifty-two members of the Justice League screamed.

The cafeteria of the Watchtower was usually a gray industrial room built more for function than for aesthetic, with its only concession to comfort being wooden circular tables and stools that could pass as furniture in a reasonably upscale coffee shop. Today, however, most of the tables had been pushed up against the walls to make room for a makeshift dance floor in the center of the cafeteria, and a pulsing disco ball hung just above. A garish banner draped above the windows, proclaiming CONGRATS! IT’S A BABY BOY! with the ‘baby boy’ crossed out, and replaced with squished writing of GREEN LANTERN!!! And there were balloons. Balloons everywhere, of varying sizes and occasions. There was even a giant inflatable T-Rex behind the bowl of punch; it was like some nine-year-old’s demented idea of what a birthday party should look like. Hal knew, like he knew that grass was green, that Oliver Queen had been the foremost decorator.

Barry ran up to Hal’s side with a smile, but after seeing Hal’s expression, his own flipped from cheerful to mildly offended. 

“You knew about the surprise party,” Barry accused. “How could you possibly have known? I didn’t even know until this morning!”

“Ignore Mother Hen over here, I told him not to invite the Question,” Oliver said, giving Hal a warm clap on the back with his free hand as his other held a beer. Oliver Queen, keepin’ it classy since ‘73.

“What was I supposed to do, not invite one Leaguer but invite everyone else? We aren’t third-graders, and this isn’t some elementary school birthday party.”

“Sure looks like one,” Hal said with a look at Ollie, but Oliver was just focused on Barry, gesturing with his bottle.

“Dude, I’m telling you, that nut can’t keep a secret to save his life. He saw CADMUS security tapes showing a parallel Earth Superman kill President Luthor and immediately went to confront Superman about it.”

“That’s just because he thought that was the best thing to do in that situation! Obviously, when there’s a secret that everyone wants kept under wraps like a surprise party, anyone would keep their mouth shut. Besides, he’s literally the Question, ‘secrets’ is his whole job!”

“Ah, but therein lies my point! Conspiracy theorists got loose lips by nature. The Question is a conspiracy theorist. Ergo, the Question got loose lips.” Oliver dipped into a bow, which, since he still had an arm around Hal, made him stagger, too. “I rest my case.”

“Okay solid argument, except for the fact that he doesn’t have lips in the first place,” Hal said fondly. He missed these two and their silly nonsense squabbles. “Ollie, Barry, it’s good to see you two—you know, barring my latest adventure.”

Oliver looked like he had some choice words about said latest adventure, but before he could say anything, a female voice shouted, “Green Lantern Jordan!” 

Hal turned and saw Diana was at his side too now, with a flower crown instead of her silver tiara. “As the guest of honor, it is customary that you assume your position on the throne,” Diana said, apparently 100% serious. “Come with me, I shall show you where it is.” She looped an arm through Hal’s and dragged him over to one of the corners of the room. Now that the ‘surprise’ part of the surprise party was over, the partygoers resumed their previous conversations and various activities, so they paid them little mind. However, as Hal and Diana passed through the crowd, there were a decent number of salutes along the lines of Jordan, great to have you back! and Lantern, you still owe me sixteen dollars.

“Guys, this really isn’t necessary,” Hal protested, dragging his feet. 

Barry put a hand on Hal’s shoulder, fleetingly, as if he remembered he shouldn’t touch so casually. “Hey,” said Barry, baby blue eyes full of concern, “if you feel uncomfortable with this whole shindig, I’ll have everybody cleared out before you can say ‘in a flash.’” 

“Ah, hell, I didn’t think—” Oliver said.

“I’m fine,” Hal said, which was apparently the wrong thing to say because ever-perceptive Diana said, “But is this fine?”

All three expectantly looked at Hal, awaiting his answer, Oliver with a face that gave away nothing while Barry and Diana began to slide past concern into alarmed. Hal inwardly squirmed at the attention. It’s high time you learned how to accept that kinda fussing, Clark had said once.

“Guys,” Hal temporized. “I’m not uncomfortable, really, I’m not. It’s just that the dubiously constructed ‘throne’ over there looks like it came straight out of a small town high school prom with a poorly spent budget, it’s a little much for lil’ old me.” 

Both Barry and Oliver’s eyes checked in with Diana, and Diana must have been satisfied with Hal’s answer because she said, “Lantern, you mustn’t be so humble,” and resumed dragging him to the throne. 

“Diana, c’mon,” Hal pleaded, “I don’t need to sit on a throne.”

“Make way for the returned Green Lantern! Thank you, thank you, and thank you,” Oliver said. Diana’s resumed pushiness (in both senses of the word) apparently gave Barry and Oliver the sanction to return to joviality, which showed in the way Oliver swiped a slice of pizza from a nearby partygoer and handed it to Barry as they walked. They did that act to Hal all the time, and it drove him up a wall. The Ring was evidently no match for the clever fingers of Green Arrow and the insatiable hunger of the Flash. 

“I was only gone for three months,” Hal said, looking askance at Barry Speed-Force-scarfing down the pizza.

“Almost four,” Ollie corrected.

“Really, only four?” Barry said, now the picture of innocence. “It only felt like one to me. Well, I suppose time flies when you’re having fun.” Hal reached out a hand to cuff him, but of course that was folly. Barry sped off to the refreshments table, laughing.

“I do mean it, though,” Hal insisted to Oliver and Diana. At this point, he was almost resigned to his fate. Even if he managed to escape, Diana could easily grab him again and throw him over her shoulder in a fireman’s carry—the view would be great but not worth the emasculation. “This really isn’t necessary.”

“We have gifts!” Diana chimed in.

Hal perked up. “Oh, well in that case—“

[physalian]

In the vein of “don’t assume you can’t be duped into fascism, it can happen to anyone” I actually had a former friend (we are no longer on speaking terms) who was unknowingly slipping down that slippery slope, and it started with her fandom opinions, and I think it’s worth sharing.

Full call-out, this is about you, ACOTAR fandom.

I never read these books. I read SJM’s other series, TOG, and I never want to read more. But, this friend spoke often about her grievances with the series that she adores, so I unfortunately know too much about this fandom for someone who couldn’t get past the first two sentences of book 1.

Now in this fandom is the Nyxlin ship. From what this person told me, it’s a severe age gap relationship between an immortal, very old fae man (male, whatever) and his… ex’s infant/toddler son with her abusive as fuck manchild of a mate.

My lack of knowledge of this ship and its nuances is important here, bear with me.

This girl absolutely despised Nyxlin—and as far as I know it’s entirely fanon even SJM wouldn’t stoop so low—but this isn’t about the actual ship. It’s what this girl said about it, and what her fears about it then began to justify.

See, this girl grew up deeply, deeply conservative, and busted out of it. Then she met me and learned how far she had to climb because boy was she still an insulated little white girl, but with a huge superiority complex.

This ship was her tentpole justification in absolutely everything. Think of the children, stop the p*edos, people shouldn’t write dead doves, etc.

Here’s where the part about me not having any of my own knowledge of this Nyxlin ship comes in.

I started to agree with her.

I only heard about the scourge of these shippers from this girl and already hate this series and had no desire to go looking up these fics, blogs, or fanart myself and I already have a low opinion about what this author and her shit series has done to fantasy. So, of course, all this was very, very easy to believe, because I wanted to believe it.

She slandered these people, made them out to be all closeted monsters exercising their gross fantasies through fandom, and that writing this stuff brought into the world fiction that would inevitably entice other people into adopting these Problematic sexual fantasies, and if we stopped writing about them, no one would know such fantasies were even an option, and they’d all go away.

Until I actually anon-asked a blog who blocked this girl what she likes about the Nyxlin ship.

And I don’t remember the response clearly, and it’s far from like, a saintly noble endeavor, but she emphasized six ways to Sunday that what she was shipping was the idea of these characters as a concept, aging up the canon-toddler.

I, still, don’t give a fuck about this ship. I don’t know how many Nyxlin shippers are out there really drawing art of an adult man with an infant, or writing fics about them. I don’t know how many are like this person here who is all-but entirely divorced from the canon.

And I don’t care. And my pearl-clutching ex friend shouldn’t have cared either.

Are there problematic shippers? Yes. And by problematic I do mean “losing their goddamn minds and horrifically bullying someone who dares insult their ship” kind of problematic, because they’re fictional characters y’all.

Is there a non-zero chance that there is someone lurking in the Nyxlin sub-fandom hiding behind “it’s just fiction”? Yeah, probably. Will you, prophetic judge jury and executioner who just inherently knows which ones are evil, be able to expose each and every one with unfailing accuracy?

Fuck no.

But it is just fiction. They’re not real people. More to the point—in this girl’s crusade to kill Nyxlin, she was hardcore pro-censorship with the classic “you can’t possibly defend the p*dos, p*do” argument.

And I know she was on her way to moving those goal posts, like all of these people always do, because she was supposed to beta read for me. My queer vampire novel.

She dropped the ball even though I held up my end to read her very hetero Feylin fic, and after pulling teeth, she told me that, among other things, she didn’t finish it because she was never going to like it, because she doesn’t like gay pairings.

Oh but she has a gay brother. So. You know. Ally.

Shockingly, as a queer person, I am capable of adoring fictional hetero romances. Crazy, I know. It’s like… they’re just people.

It wasn’t like I handed her filthy gay erotica. “Gay” as a word never even pops up in the book and it wasn’t a coming out story. They’re literally just characters in romances who happen to be same-sex.

I don’t know the depths of the Nyxlin ships or how Problematic it really is and I don’t care. What I do know is that this girl was using it as her shield to slowly creep her morality (and she was very big on injecting morality into places where it need not be) into her purified vision of fandom, whether she was aware of it or not.

Reminder: The ACOTAR fandom, an entire series based on romanticizing abusive relationships by a privileged, insulated, middle-class white lady who isn’t a very good writer if TOG is anything to go by. This girl wanted to “save” ACOTAR.

It was like she was ashamed to be associated with a fandom where such people existed and, honey, look in the mirror and think about exactly what book you’re so in love with, and how every fandom has shippers like this. If you have to say “I’m doing it with dignity, unlike those degenerates” you are not, in fact, doing it with dignity.

And I almost bought into it until I stopped and remembered that it’s none of my goddamn business.

And if anyone is going to tell me “ok but Nyxlin is actually very problematic because—”

No.

Then block the ship and its supporters. Leave them to their corner. Block the tags on AO3 and keep writing whatever floats your boat. You don’t have to like their ship, you don’t have to support their ship, but you cannot go around saying “they shouldn’t be allowed to write and propagate this ship”.

Because soon enough someone more bigoted than you will come for yours.

[sacredheart-stigmata]

Holy Week Novena Day One: Compassion Friday / Friday of Sorrows

Opening Prayer: 

Almighty Father, Goodly Creator who sent Your only Son, Jesus Christ, to the cross that we might be saved from the snares of death and liberated from the chains in this life, prepare our hearts these nine days as we pray through the most holy of weeks. May we unite ourselves in body and mind to You, and ready ourselves to live, die, mourn, and live again. Grant us grace and mercy as we proceed, and wisdom to trust You in all things. For only Your love brings light and life to all who seek it.  Amen.

Meditation:

The Friday before Palm Sunday, known as Compassion Friday, the Friday of Sorrows, and the Passiontide of Our Lady, is a day to meditate and contemplate the pain Our Lady felt at her Son’s Passion, and the five spears that pierced her heart as she stood, crushed but unwavering, by his side, as seen by Saint Bridget.

The first spear stuck her when Jesus was stripped, ridiculed in his nakedness as he was tied to the pillar to be scourged, skin as bare as the day he came from her womb. The second spear was the jeers and mockery of those who once shouted ‘Hosanna!’ as they laid their cloaks at Jesus’ feet, forever tainting the word to her. The third spear was Jesus’ pierced brow, the crown of thorns pressed down on his head with such harsh cruelty that it split skin, sending lines of holy blood down his face. The fourth was Jesus’ dying cry, ‘Eli, Eli, lama azavtani’, for Mary knew in that moment that her Son felt abandoned by all, even her. 

The final spear was the sharpest of all, digging deeper than all the others, twisting inside her heart and ripping it asunder, as her pride and joy, flesh and blood, baby boy, gave up his final breath. 

Soon, Holy Week will be upon us. We shall start with Lazarus Saturday, celebrating one of Jesus’ last and grandest miracles, then Palm Sunday, where we raise our palms and cry out hosanna with all the heavenly host. On Fig Monday, we will reflect upon our own hearts, and prepare them on Holy Tuesday. Come Spy Wednesday, we shall mourn the beginning of the end in Judas’ choice and the adoration of Mary, sister of Martha, then break bread with Christ on Maundy Thursday. We anguish with Jesus as he is torn and bloodied and crucified on Good Friday, and face both grief and hope as Black Saturday comes and the Easter Vigil approaches. Mary, Anguished Mother of God, the Mother of Compassion, in these coming days towards the final hours of your beloved, remember us. Pray for us, that we might find true fruit in this Holy Week, and grow closer still to the Savior of all. 

Let us take this time now to pray alongside the psalmist and Our Lady of Compassion as we remember their sorrows, and the sorrows of our Lord. 

My eyes are blinded by my tears. Each day I beg for your help, O Lord;     I lift my hands to you for mercy. Are your wonderful deeds of any use to the dead?     Do the dead rise up and praise you?

Can those in the grave declare your unfailing love?     Can they proclaim your faithfulness in the place of destruction?Can the darkness speak of your wonderful deeds?     Can anyone in the land of forgetfulness talk about your righteousness? O Lord, I cry out to you.     I will keep on pleading day by day.

(Psalm 88: 9-13)

[the-fastest-things-alive]

Hey!

This blog is centered around our fic, the Fastest Things Alive, which began as a chat fic and is currently spiraling wildly beyond our control. We each write a group of characters, and have thrown together the games, comics(yes, all three), movies, shows and other various media as it strikes our interest. On this blog you can interact with your favorite characters, ask questions about the fic, and generally just vibe with us!

We try to update the fic around once a month, typically on Sundays, but don't expect a particular date. We aren't that organized.

Here's the first chapter! It's about 2k, and a fairly light read. This thing started as a chatfic... yeah. Yeah.

And the hellspawn! Organzied by who plays who! This list stays consistent with the point the fic is at(currently chapter 15), so minor spoilers ahead.

@ivythesnivy

KnightOfTheWind: Modern/IDW Sonic

ClassicVibes: Classic Sonic

X-tremeEscapist: Sonic X

FutureFrontier: someone help this man

ChaoticEquilibrium: a little shit

AberrantAdventure: I think this one's worse

@vixiyne

VivalaRevolution: Archie Sonic

Youshouldseemeinacrown: A post genesis wave au Scourge, he's so depressed I stg

SpaceCop: Zonic the Zone Cop

MachMeInADenny'sParkingLot: Boom two, electric boogaloo. Don't ask. Or do!

@yourfreindlynighborhoodspycrab

NotGonnaRuleYouCantMakeMe: Underground Sonic

@umbrenshadow

SunshineHog: Sunny(Fleetway Super Sonic, post split)

TheUltimateKnightform: Sir Lancelot(SatBK)

VoidHopper: Void Scourge. Scourge of the void... another post genesis wave Scourge. We're starting a collection.

We also have a discord server! Come chat with us! We're building lore archives and post BtS if y'all are interested!!!

https://discord.gg/4xwAXxyG

And with that, welcome to the mulitversal Sonic chatfic to end all chatfics!

[myremnantarmy]

I WILL GIVE ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING

-

Any time I feel physical pain, I try to imagine what Jesus went through by multiplying what I feel at least a hundredfold. A surface flesh wound hurts so badly, and I imagine that the deeper the wound, the more painful it must be. Imagine being pierced in many places on the head, struck repeatedly with a heavy cross along an uneven, hilly path, scourged with a flesh-rending whip, and eventually nailed with large, blunt nails to a cross. And all the while, He bore these torments without a single complaint. Imagine someone suffering all this to save me from death.

How could I possibly whine about going to Church on Sunday? How could I fail to see the seriousness of the journey to heaven and the need to take my soul seriously? How can I possibly hold it together and not sob like a child every time I approach the altar to receive Communion—or at Confession, as I recount the many ways I have hurt so gentle a Savior?

There is nothing this Jesus could ever ask of me that would be too much to give—not my job, my family, my house, my car, not even my life. I would give Him all of these things and weep that I have nothing else to offer to the One who has given me everything. He has given me His Body and His Blood, His Family—His Father to be my Father, His Spirit to live in me and be mine. And even on the Cross, in the midst of so much pain and shame, He thought of me and gave me His Mother to be mine, to intercede and care for me.

May I never whine about anything again—or boast of anything except that I am so deeply and completely loved by God.

Thank You, Jesus.

@ Kenneth C. Alimba

[bvckbiter]

"Please hold me?" For Nemesis and Ethan? Au or not, your choice

for the request game

"Please hold me," Ethan shakily whispers.

Even with his eye level being dead-on at her shoulders, Ethan still feels the way her gaze narrows downwards at him. The feeling is pretty hard to miss—it's like lava was pouring straight through his skull, lava made up of the memories that made him the most furious, the most vengeful.

"Why?"

Waking up to an empty, cramped apartment, and falling asleep with it still empty, knowing that his father's employer was a merciless bastard. Watching his father, who'd lived a thankless life, die an equally thankless death when he put himself between a runaway child and a robber. The robber stepping over his father's still-warm body and unhinge suddenly serpentine jaws to swallow the child whole. The satyr chucking him into a cabin of forgettables despite all the shame, the loss he'd endured to get to Camp.

All the times his body froze up, all the times he lowered his head and forced himself to believe that he couldn't have done anything about the situation. All the times he had ignored the capacity to be a scourge—when he should've known that retribution was a blessing, not an omen, and it ran in his blood. The ability to make others answerable for their actions was a privilege in this world.

So why was he freezing up again? Surely the tip of the blade pointed towards his eye was no more gruesome than the dead bodies he saw in his dreams every night.

"The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak," Ethan mumbles—an offhand phrase he remembers from his Sunday school sessions.

"Are you saying you do not have the strength?" Nemesis coldly asks. "All I require is your eye."

The knife shakes in his hand. "Rather that I do not have your strength."

"Of course you don't. You're just a whelp. You'll live no longer than your father did."

"Make my hand yours, and it won't matter how long I live. I will be your vengeance."

"Hmm. Drop the knife."

It takes every bit of his strength to not drop to his knees and sob in relief as well. He knows his mother well enough to know that she's not rescinding her command.

Golden light encases his hand, weaving intricate patterns atop the tip of his index finger. Two little arches rise above his nail as if to form an extended claw, and when they meet, the light glitches blood-red.

"Much easier to pluck it out like this, no?" Nemesis' hand comes to rest on his shoulder, and Ethan sees that she has a similar magical claw extending from her index finger, too. From below, her other hand prods his elbow upwards.

Flashes of golden and blood-red fill the vision of his left eye. His mother steps away.

"Do it quickly. I will continue whatever you have managed to finish."

*

^^ thats the vibe lol but magical lights ✨✨✨

anyway this is a result of me coming to the conclusion that the most fucked up way for the eye offering to happen is if ethan maims his eye first then nemesis carves it out to seal the deal. talk about a tiger mom

thank you for this request! ethan my pookie pie