Aventurine and his insane luck. The blessed one but his blessing is also a curse. He uses his good fortune like a weapon. It cuts him like a knife. It's meant to protect him, but he wanted to protect everyone else. He doesn't see the point of it. He resents his luck because it made him survive every tragedy, when his loved ones didn't. He loves it because he loves his mother, his sister, and his father, and it's one of the few fragments left of his first self, his truest self. Lucky boy, boy made of gold and honey. When he was born, rain fell. It was the god's blessings. Or was it the god's tears?
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Headcanon that all of the boys think someone else is Splinter’s favorite son.
Raph thinks it’s Leo, Leo thinks it’s Donnie, Donnie thinks it’s Mikey, and Mikey thinks it’s Raph.
They’re all bothered by this to different degrees and in different ways, some much less/more so than others, but they’re all wrong, Splinter does not have a favorite son, and never has. And when he tells them this, horrified they even thought otherwise and angry at himself for not being clearer with his love, it clears up some residual tension they didn’t even realize was there.
(Leo still thinks he’s the least favorite though.)
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Gay Cheerleaders AU
Y'all knew it was coming.
I'm thinking Lena would be the... third(?) year veteran, who is a legacy. Her mom Lillian was also a cheerleader, and then became the head honcho in charge of the cheerleading division. Lena grew up with the expectation of eventually joining the organization as a dancer, and naturally becomes a group leader (the youngest 1st group leader in the history of the organization?) through her sense of responsibility, magnetism, and compassion, even if she remains a little distant-- she doesn't share her whole self with the team, as she's constantly aware of needing to present the image of a perfect cheerleader, a perfect leader.
Kara would be the rookie, immediately awed by Lena's performance during tryouts. She's not in Lena's group, but her own group leader faces some... personality challenges, lets say, that have Kara taking on more of a responsibility than would normally be allocated to a first year dancer.
But when Kara and Lena end up bumping into each other in the studio for some solo practice, they agree to share the space and work together. Of course they end up bonding, and those practices lead to coffees, lunches, some movie nights.
They eventually become the darlings of the team, inseperably so. Young fans try to catch glimpses of them standing together on the sidelines, loving to see Kara acting herself (aka goofy) and seeing Lena laughing in response. Behind the scenes they become romantically and sexually involved, but they keep it hidden because while it's not explicitly forbidden, they do cheer for a very conservative state, and they know it would impact not only their squad but the team overall.
In their day jobs, Lena is a children's dance teacher-- she wants to do more, but Lillian wants it for the community-service image it presents. Kara would be a fitness trainer I think, something lucrative but flexible and reflective of her athletic and exuberant nature whereas Lena is a bit more reserved.
Kara and Lena span multiple seasons/classes, and in the off season Lena pops up on Kara's instagram a little bit here and there, which only fuels the quiet online rumors about them. Like, the people who clock them are also queer in a conservative region of the country, so it's not a mass pop-culture phenomenon-- yet.
That all changes when one night Lena is grabbed inappropriately by a cameraman or other stadium employee, and can't manage to extricate herself despite her obvious and vocal discomfort. Kara sees red. She slugs the man right across the jaw with a proper right hook. The cameras had only just started to pan over to Lena's commotion and catches the exact moment Kara lunges for him and spins Lena out of his reach.
Kara is the champion/brute of the moment, depending on who's talking. Some laud her for both her protectiveness of her teammate and her technique, while others condemn her for unladylike vigilantism. Why didn't she let the security team deal with it, she serves a role model for young girls what is she teaching them the thug life?
Most importantly-- and most dire, perhaps-- is that it clues Lillian into the deeper nature of their relationship. She corners Lena, and interrogates her as Lena tries and tries to deflect. Lillian all but tells her that she'll be watching Lena through a microscope, and terrifies Lena to the point she breaks up with Kara in an attempt to protect her tenure with the organization.
Kara doesn't really care about all that, but when Lena says it's what she wants, she respects that. Until the team goes to the superbowl, and in the height of emotions at the winning touchdown, Lena forgets herself and throws her arms around Kara's neck and kisses her.
She's stunned at herself, horrified even, but before she can even try to apologize Kara recovers and kisses her again, this time long and slow. The cameras not on the players or stadium stands are focused on them, and the next day and weeks they are the only ones anyone can talk about, for better or worse.
Lillian uses Lena's next year, her fifth and final, as leverage. Apologize publicly for her lapse in judgement, confirm it was only ever friendship, condemn Kara for assault-- or she's out.
Lena listens calmly, then smoothly rises.
"Then I'm out."
She walks out without a second glance.
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it actually really fucks me off to see people praising the ICJ’s decision when the Palestinians actually on the ground communicating with us are screaming to the rooftops that this isn’t enough. all the lib-brained cretins on this website crowing about ‘progress’ don’t seem to understand that incremental change means less than fucking nothing when you’re on the ground, watching your home and family and your people being bombed, systematically destroyed by israeli troops. it means nothing when you’re afraid for your life.
Palestinians don’t have the luxury of waiting, and we all know full well that Israel WILL NOT abide by this ruling. Unless greater intervention is made, the bombardment will continue; but the ICJ is a bourgeois, imperialist court, made to serve bourgeois, imperialist interests. While they have shown themselves to be more benevolent than I had expected by condemning israel and conceding that they are committing genocide, the fact that they couldn’t even ask for a ceasefire speaks volumes.
Whether it’s due to deliberate inaction or whether they simply lack the capacity to do so, the ‘international community’ is still failing Palestine. It is up to us to continue the pressure, continue the boycotts, continue the action; and to threaten greater disruptions if further progress is not made.
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The Battle of Hjørungavåg - for the Mythtalia March by @hwsevents
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"Never have Danes held such a battle with Norwegians, not before nor since" - Fagrskinna.
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The battle of Hjørungavåg took place outside the Norwegian coast in the year 986, and was a sea battle between an invading Danish army and a defending Norwegian one. It was a battle of great national significance as the ruling Earl Håkon defended the country against the Danish King Svein Tjugeskjegg aided by the Joms Vikings, who wanted to take control over Norway and christen it.
The battle begun after some farmers tricked the Danes into believeing Earl Håkon only had 2-3 ships with him. They charged forth and got surprised by 50 ships lying in wait for them.
It was a fierce battle, and despite the element of surprise, the Norwegians suffered heavy losses early on. Most of the losses were with Earl Håkon, who fought against Svein Tjugeskjegg, a fight so intense that he had to shed his chainmail as it had become torn apart by all the weapons hitting him. Håkon's sons Eirik and Svein Håkonson fought against the Joms Vikings, Eirik saving his brother. This is when the battle turns.
Suddenly, a terrifying storm hits, with fierce waves of hail. The storm seemed almost magic and supernatural, and on the side of the Norwegians. Had the pagans used dark magic? It is said that Earl Håkon had sacrificed his 7 year old son Erling in a ritual for victory (probably false). The Earls of Lade had a connection to the female godess and spirit Torgerd Hølgebrud, who was called on whenever the family was in need. She came along with her sister and other valkyries on horses with bows and arrows, sending hail towards their enemies.
Torgerd is interpreted as an ancient fertility spirit, and these spirits are also connected with a warrior aspect. They protected certain families and are some of the oldest creatures in the pre-Christian Norse religion.
The supernatural warrior spirits was a convenient excuse for why Svein Tjugeskjegg fled the battle; it was impossible to fight against gods and trolls. It also supported the savage ways of the pagan religion.
As Svein flees, he leaves the Joms Vikings behind to be captured by the Earls. They were about to be executed by beheading, but one of them managed to get a hold of the sword and chop the head off the man about to kill him. Eirik Håkonson is impressed by this and grants them their freedom.
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