#statistically significant sounds like a ship

[bowtiepastabitch]

at the risk of sounding insane,,, would you mind sharing more about how you gathered your good omens fanfic data. I am similarly curious about rwrb’s firstprince pre/post the movie release this year, bc I think I have noticed trends that were popular but would like some evidence that isn’t anecdotal

Yes of course, no gatekeeping in this household!! So the key is to get really good at using ao3's filtering system and then the rest is easy as pie.

(if this seems oversimplified, it's because my brain doesn't really process what level of complexity to start at and it just makes sense to say everything. I've been told I sound demeaning before. I promise I'm not.)

Step one: Open your fandom page, making sure you're starting out with no other filters on it so you get the best data possible.

Step two: Make a spreadsheet. This is the easiest way to make sure all your numbers stay where you want them to, and it will auto-generate your graphs for you if you organize it well. This is what my fic ratings sheet looks like; the bottom row is an automatic sum of each column, so I can make sure it matches the total showing on ao3.

Step three: Get to scraping. I do all of mine by hand because it's my happy place, so if you're wanting a code that will do it for you then I'm sorry I can't offer that. You can filter by lots of things, depending on what you want to know. This is what a pull looks like for all fics under the good omens tag, with the data organized for ratings and the top ten most popular tags displayed as well.

For more complex data, such as to pull by date, you just filter further. For example, all fics from 2020 would look like this:

^that's the number you want to write down for the total. Here, that's 13,116 works published (updated) in the year 2020. If I want to see how many fics tagged "angst" were published in 2020, then I'll leave the date filter on and add the angst filter as well:

Which gives us 2,448 works published in 2020 under the angst tag. You can also do this the way you would filter for any tag, as well as exclude tags, when looking for fics. You can filter by relationship type, different ships, crossovers, archive warnings, as well as any tag you can think of.

At the top of the filter bar you can have it sort by different benchmarks of popularity, if you're trying to get a feel for what's actually being read, or by wordcount, both of which I find very useful. You can also filter by wordcount, under "More Options," to remove for example any work under 50 words (removes podfics and solely art posts).

Step four: Share your work! I recommend finding a video explaining the basics of your spreadsheet platform and learning to make simple calculation cells and graphs, and then I also use canva and sometimes other online graph makers to give it a little pizzazz when I feel like it needs something snappier. Be aware that ao3 is a constantly evolving site so data can only be accurate to a certain degree, but since we're not sending a ship to the moon on these numbers it's not enough to throw off the statistical significance of your findings. And please, tag me when you do! I'd love to see what you come up with:)

[obstinaterixatrix]

so there’s the obvious angle of bl as primarily a genre directed to an audience of straight women and the imposition of heterosexist schemas/narratives as a natural consequence of that context (possibly consciously but mostly subconsciously), but another angle I’ve been toying around with is the idea of some of the standard semi-miserable dynamics/tropes as—on a metanarrative level—some shade of psychosexual revenge fantasy. I’m going to sound insane for a second

caveat that this language is gonna be very binary because I’m going by really broad categories and also I’m gonna basically be talking about porn so like, nsfw text. also this is specifically about manga, romance novels/webnovels are its own category and I don’t know shit about videos.

anyway, something that’s kind of interesting is the broad dynamics of straight smut for straight men have a somewhat equal level of pleasure for male and female characters (excluding subtypes that are explicitly dub/noncon-focused). meanwhile, straight smut for straight women has a significant emphasis on sex being more pleasurable for the ‘top’ and more taxing for the ‘bottom’; there’s a split between the romantic fantasy of ‘being prioritized and everything feeling amazing’ vs ‘wild passionate affair that tends to lean into dubcon dynamics’ (because of the complicated relationship a vast majority of women have with sexuality and therefore part of the romantic fantasy involves some kind of force involved) (yknow bodice rippers etc). I feel like the split is still pretty heavily skewed towards the latter rather than the former. anyway, other than the ‘romantic fantasy’ element, it’s somewhat interesting to consider the broad dynamics of m/f smut for straight men vs straight women in terms of: yeah there’s a lot of women that talk about unsatisfying sexual encounters with men and not having a partner that was aware of her needs. so on a different level, these two different romantic fantasies for these two different audiences kind of mirror the… collective cultural experience, to some extent.

to go into pretty baseless psychoanalytical speculation, that’s why I think one element of bl dynamics is some subconscious/subtextual revenge by having a male character in the ‘bottom’ role—this has him play out the role of a ‘woman’. (not in a specifically homophobic way, although a heterosexist society is inherently homophobic). like I think readers get some kind of satisfaction seeing sex suck for men in a way it sucks for women (narratively and culturally). I don’t think it’s necessarily the main reason, but I feel like it contextualizes some audience engagement. and it’s been really interesting to see the shift in genre over the years, as society has become… marginally less homophobic, and there has been an increase of bl written to be more mindful/complex about incorporating ‘Gay People Exist In The Real World And Not Just As A Narrative Proxy’ (the yaoi -> bl transition, though it’s impossible to fully separate them as distinct categories). actually that reminds me, akiko mizoguchi has a thesis in english I’ve been meaning to read—there was an actual for real museum exhibit in japan about BL that was really thorough and I think mizoguchi wrote a full ass book but it’s only in japanese 😔 I think there was data from someone who’s been cataloguing statistic on every ship that shows up in doujin events or something crazy like that? goddamn. anyway this also doesn’t incorporate bl as a genre that initially had primarily queer women as creators but that’s out of scope and actually I forgot where I was going with this and I wanna go do something else now bye

[myblogswesome]

TikTok for E-commerce

In today's competitive e-commerce landscape, a presence on TikTok is no longer a luxury, it's a necessity. This engaging platform boasts features specifically designed to streamline product sales, making it a goldmine for businesses looking to expand their reach and boost conversions.

What is TikTok?

Launched in 2016, TikTok is a video-sharing social media app that exploded in popularity, particularly among Gen Z users. It allows users to create, watch, and share short, quirky videos on any topic. Businesses are catching on to its potential, utilizing it for advertising, brand awareness, and even direct sales.

Creating a TikTok Business Account: A 5-Step Guide

Download the App and Create an Account: Get started by downloading the TikTok app and setting up a new account. personalize your profile with a picture, bio, and links to your other social media channels.

Switch to a Pro Account: Unlock valuable features like analytics, performance tracking, and a link in your bio by upgrading to a Pro (Business or Creator) account.

Embrace Authenticity for Maximum Engagement:

Consumers crave real, relatable content. Ditch the staged productions and focus on creating raw, engaging videos that resonate with your audience. Think "friend sending a video" rather than "polished advertisement."

Engage with Your Audience and Be Consistent:

The key to growth on any social media platform is consistency and audience interaction. Regularly post engaging content (1-4 times a day is ideal) and actively engage with comments and likes. Utilize trending sounds and hashtags to increase your chances of going viral.

Partner with Influencers:

Collaborate with relevant TikTok influencers to gain exposure and tap into their established audience. Consider the Creator Marketplace to discover influencers that align with your brand and target market.

Why is TikTok Perfect for E-commerce?

A Growing Audience: TikTok boasts a massive user base, with a significant portion falling within the coveted Millennial and Gen Z demographics. There's a high chance your target audience is already hanging out on TikTok.

Highly Engaged Users: TikTok users are loyal, with an impressive 91% visiting the app daily and spending an average of 52 minutes immersed in content. This translates to ample opportunities to connect with your ideal customers.

The Power of the Algorithm: Unlike other platforms, TikTok's algorithm can showcase your content to users who don't even follow you. This opens doors for organic reach and brand awareness beyond your core audience.

Welcome to Social Commerce: Selling on TikTok

TikTok offers a seamless social commerce experience, allowing users to discover and purchase products directly within the app.

TikTok Shop: This feature enables merchants to showcase and sell products through in-feed videos, live streams with shopping carts, and a dedicated product catalog tab. Users can make purchases without ever leaving the app.

The Shopify Partnership: The integration with Shopify allows businesses to create targeted video ads, track conversions, and include shoppable call-to-action buttons. Additionally, in-app purchases directly from Shopify stores within TikTok are on the horizon.

Managing the Influx of Orders

With increased sales comes the challenge of efficient fulfillment. Invest in robust shipping software to automate order processing and provide a seamless delivery experience for your customers.

Key TikTok Statistics to Consider

Globally Downloaded: TikTok is the most downloaded app worldwide, boasting over 1 billion monthly active users.

Shifting Shopping Preferences: Consumers are increasingly drawn to engaging, visual content over traditional text-based ads.

The Rise of "Shoppentertainment": TikTok's entertaining format presents a powerful opportunity to showcase products in a fun and memorable way.

Influencer Power: A staggering 61% of consumers make purchase decisions based on influencer recommendations, and many turn to TikTok for product research.

Inspiration Station: A whopping 58% of users discover product inspiration on TikTok, with 67% admitting to being impulse-purchased after seeing something on their feed.

Join the TikTok Revolution

The time to act is now! Create your TikTok e-commerce account today and unlock a world of potential customers eager to discover your brand. With its unique features, engaged audience, and ever-evolving social commerce landscape, TikTok offers a powerful platform to propel your e-commerce business to new heights.

[ljbrary]

20 questions for fic writers

tagged by @anxiety-banana HEY AB ILY I'M SORRY I KNOW YOU TAGGED ME IN THIS A MONTH AGO SO THIS IS SO LATE BUT STILL

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

22

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

101,550

3. What fandoms do you write for?

right now ive been writing for the last of us but most of my fics are star wars (specifically most of them are the clone wars) and i have one six of crows fic

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

all of them are star wars fics

lean on me (but let me laugh, first)

don't fix it if it's not broken (but broken's only a point of view)

fill the hollow space with silence (and other words of comfort that aren't so comforting)

it's a process (you wouldn't understand)

it's not good grief (but it's better)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

i think i get to most of them and i seriously try my best to but like i struggle with replying to even my texts irl and i have no concept of time at all (the adhd is adhd-ing unfortunately) but every single one literally makes my life

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

i think either the love only lasts so long (the grief lasts longer, the guilt never leaves) or this silence hurts worse than the truth (if only you would tell it) which are quite literally the same exact situation just from different povs because i have never had an original thought in my life. it's post-mortis arc in the clone wars with anakin and ahsoka and the transparently trauma-shaped elephant in the room between them.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

i honestly have no idea? so im just going to say my tlou fic statistically significant because although its bittersweet it ends with joel and ellie together and thats literally all i need to be happy at this point in my life.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

no, but i probably should.

(that was a joke. but like if i did its fine bc i have 3 brothers who've already found my ao3 and bullied me for it so the hater would prob need to get real creative after all that lmao.)

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

no

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

no i dont have the executive functioning skills necessary to plan one of those out but they sound interesting.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

guys my fics aren't that good. if someone stole it they'd just return it no worries.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

no i haven't but that would be sick.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

like ab said in her post, ab, ash, and i tried but it just never came to fruition but it was a fun attempt

also my older brother and i when we were younger tried to write a percy jackson fic together.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

i like found family more than romantic stuff, but if i have to choose definitely percabeth because they are the reason i have unrealistic expectations in life.

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

ALL OF THEM IM SO BAD AT FINISHING THEM

16. What are your writing strengths?

thats so funny lmfao

okay but self deprecation aside idk maybe like imagery or metaphors sometimes? also apparently writing emotion ig? my english teacher in high school told me i was good at the psychological aspect of understanding a character and their actions/emotions but i don't know man

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

for starters, starting. im supremely bad at starting things. i always struggle with intros/the beginning of writing pieces. and i struggle with plotting/planning things. i also am incapable of writing genuine dialogue, every conversation i write sounds so disjointed and awkward. i also tend to focus too much on the introspective aspect of characters and forget about that irrelevant little thing called a "plot."

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

i made up my own language for a few star wars fics and it was so atrocious that i can't even bring myself to reread them again so i think i'll be staying away from that one for a little while.

however if i was smart or savvy enough to pull it off i would totally do it that would be sick.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

percy jackson when i was 10 years old on wattpad. my older brother and i co-wrote the fic and then i made my friend at school edit it on the computers in the library. still have yet to live that one down.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

weighted words hurt more than loaded fists (if you know how to use them) i have a soft spot for it even though it's one of my least popular fics in terms of like hits and kudos. its just a found family (shocker, i know) modern/foster care au with rex and ahsoka. i like the imagery, metaphors, and just the vibes overall.

okay leaving this open to anyone who wants to do it!!

[emotionalcommerce]

Increasing Effect of Video Messages On eCommerce Stores

The most broadly utilized and quickly growing kind of media correspondence today is a video messaging. Video messages are fabulous for friends and family, companions, family, and in the middle between. create your gift video gift to see its gigantic power since they initiate both the feelings of sight and sound.

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The utilization of Video Gift Messaging Extension se by organizations and master specialist co-ops is quickly expanding. Why? Video is a better sort of media than text. Everything is conveyed more unmistakable when introduced outwardly as opposed to literarily, whether you are selling, publicizing, teaching, or basically captivating with buyers.

As indicated by statistics, individuals hold 95% of a video's message rather than 10% in the event that they read it. What's more, that is where a video message's solidarity rests.

Cash In The Advantages Of Video Gift Messaging

No one but video can send non-verbal signs like eye to eye connection, manner of speaking, and non-verbal communication, which are all critical for getting a profound reaction from watchers. The best system to foster a relationship and brand fondness with clients is to summon feeling and give them a significant encounter. A by and large unexploited method for drawing in and keep clients is by utilizing video correspondences.

Video messages are an extraordinary procedure to interface with clients who aren't exactly prepared to purchase. Many organizations currently use video as a client care instrument, yet they actually may not completely comprehend how compelling video messaging can be for client maintenance.

This is a consequence of organizations not considering the benefit of stressing profound encounters and client produced content. Offering video messaging to purchasers permits them to immediately fabricate a feeling of trust between the business and their beneficiary that the organization can't give all alone. This gives clients more prominent impact over the giving system.

A video transfer is only the start of video messaging. Also, it incorporates the occasions that will be remembered for the video message. Utilizing the events that accompany the video good tidings gives a gift a much more insightful touch. Brands get to make occasions that clients will choose, and beneficiaries will appreciate.

The video gift message insight for the beneficiary is made seriously enduring by additional plan parts. For greatest achievement, an organization needs to comprehend how to use the force of video gift messages.

Beneath, we've recorded a couple of best practices exhaustively:

Show a live model and literary data about the video gift messaging choice right on the first page of your site.

Personalized Video Messages

Any shareable video content that a client needs to ship off their beneficiary qualifies as a customized video message. This could be a new video that was transferred or a constant video.

The video film can incorporate anything from an individual offering their most significant individual contemplations to their companions or an individual let somebody know everything that they generally wanted however never said. It tends to be anything and is a method for communicating your thoughts when you can't do it face to face.

A ecommerce business will remember the video gift message choice for their biological system for clients to use while on the gift-giving excursion. At the point when clients connect with a store's source of inspiration, they incorporate a video gift message.

From that point onward, they will be approached to choose what is going on and record or transfer a video of their decision. They've completed their task once they incorporate a video! The video message is then changed into an exceptional QR gift messages that are imprinted on an event card and imparted to the collector either truly or carefully, contingent upon the store's favored conveyance strategy.

At the point when the gift beneficiary sees their QR code card, they will be urged to filter it and see their interesting video message!

They are connected to explicit event plans displayed on the QR code card and the video's greeting page.

Video Is the Best Medium

Indeed, we have found out about video showcasing and the way things are arising as the most up to date state of the art device that empowers organizations to develop their promoting endeavours in a creative and problematic manner. However, it is the right second to check it out and welcome on some staff.

Video showcasing is a really inventive promoting technique. When done accurately, it can essentially build lead or deals transformations, client devotion, and rehash business.

Send Video Gift Message In Most ideal Manner

Now that you know about what Video Gift Messaging Extension are, you can utilize them successfully. The legitimate subsequent inquiry is the means by which to communicate these messages.

Genuinely or carefully is the least complex reaction. The proper conveyance technique relies just upon the arranged stream and present satisfaction of a store. Continuously convey actual video gift messages, is the way we prompt.

To try not to obstruct a store's tasks, the video gift message application is easy to incorporate into an assortment of satisfaction systems. As you are currently mindful, video messages accompany event card formats. Utilize the video messaging power for your organization by utilizing the Video Gift Messaging application right away.

[stoveflavor96]

How You Can Contact Prodigal Relatives For Your Family Tree

funeral program https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XRkNKBUx4_8HAsGxM_EFFsw4IOcOvlePgus5ZaOvMdQ/edit?usp=sharing funeral program funeral program Two legendary professional gamblers are Stuey Unger and Archie Karras. Stuey has won three World Connected with Poker (WSOP) gold bracelets and is known as by many to become greatest card player of all-time, especially Gin that was his custom. Stuey won regarding dollars playing cards, number of could beat him. Archie was a working male who came to Vegas with $50 with his pocket, borrowed $10K and turned it into 40 million usd. He did this by playing pool, then playing cards, then playing craps. I noted this will want to the social worker who communicated the request on the boy's nanna. It took several months, nevertheless the picture finally arrived involving mail. Ended up being an obituary card one mother's picture on the front, the card that had been passed out at her funeral. The key I've found to the process is to try and the autopsy on the failed sales call absent. The sooner can easily do it, the sooner you can use what you've learned towards next sales call.

It used to be only men could be pallbearers. Emily Post in her etiquette book stated it was actually exclusively an activity for males. Now many women serve as pallbearers too. Abigal Van Buren, the columnist of Dear Abby fame, ran a range of letters from female readers who had served as pallbearers. For your benefit found the experience to be significant and meaningful. Basket of Flowers: This can be either with or without a true handle; may just a lot of different of flowers that is shipped to either the funeral home or home with the deceased.

As for the actual service, the funeral home can help provide an officiant, one does do canrrrt you create someone do perform the ceremony of the choice. Might typically develop into a religious person, and most funeral home will together with a remedy. One nice thing is always that along the particular planning, hybrid cars even get the option to pay for some or all of the expenses at today's costs. Tend to be a few options that cannot be acquired ahead of time, due to the fact payment for services of others (sometime in the distant future) cannot be accurately expected. You can, however, put money towards these outlay. I in order to be somewhere in the guts of these pro bettors. I want in order to become disciplined throughout my approach, do not want entirely take threat away because then for some reason isn't wagering. I want in order to my decisions based on sound principles, not impulsively. That being said, there will be when I go for it and put mathematics and statistics sideways. Maybe that in order to my downfall, or maybe that lets me even worse a run like Archie Karras.

[flightwoolen31]

E-mail Advertising A

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[pategravesen01]

How To Calibrate Battery On An Android Device

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[wowsoboring]

Deconstructing baseless Harry Potter arguments #1: Harmony Edition

There’s a very helpful account on instagram (this instagram page merely gathers toxic harmony shippers, they don’t ship Harmione or hate all Harmione shippers, please don’t send them hate, show them love and support) where you can essentially find stupid fucking bashers who make baseless arguments. I’m all for Harmione shippers, as long as they don’t denounce Romione, bash Ron and just peacefully co-exist. To my pleasure, such people are out there: they just dont seem to be seen as often as the ones that are not nice. Maybe all I see is the mean people and the majority is nice, but in this post, I am attacking those who make baseless claims and bash Ron/Romione/Hinny/Ginny. I don’t myself hate all Harmione shippers. On top of that, as a Romione/Ron fan, i do acknowledge Ron’s character flaws along with Hermione’s and I hold them on the same pedestal.

This is copied directly from my own instagram page, granger.weasley_ on ig.

Anyways let's get deconstructing

1)

rebuttal:

Yeah okay mf; maybe don’t compare real-life relationships with fucking fictional ones. Your relationship going wrong has nothing to do with Ron/Hermione. It has everything to do with you and your ex: the *real life* people involved in it.

2)

rebuttal:

The weird subreddits and discord servers also seem to have a lot of die-hard Harmione “non-canon” shippers. They bash Ron and Romione (along with Ginny and Hinny) with a burning passion without any objective sense of remorse. They ignore all the merits of Ron’s character and bash him to push their agenda. They can’t even do so much as fucking acknowledge any of Hermione’s character flaws but still somehow manage to fixate on that one time when 11 year old Ron just shit-talked one line while Hermione had just publicly humiliated him in front of the Charms class and practically shouted at him for doing the spell wrong just before. I personally don’t because Hermione was 11 too and wasn’t that good at social cues that early on, which is more than okay. Neither am I.

Only a few people in the Romione fandom bash Hermione. And it’s not like Harmione shippers (most, not all!) don’t bash Ron and Ginny remorselessly, right? The fucking hypocrisy.

If someone considers Ron as the best member of the trio, it is their own opinion and not a fact. I do that. If you consider Harry and Hermione as the best member of the trio or in the whole wizarding world, most people don’t give a flying fuck and probably won’t argue with you because it is simply an opinion. That will only happen when you pass that off as a fact.

Statistically speaking, most (not FUCKING all) Harmione moments are in the movies. The weird dance scene especially. The passionate kiss that happens in Ron’s vision, shit like that. Ron is pushed to the sidelines in the last set of movies while Harry and Hermione show each other endless love and support. “I’ll go with you”. The books on the other hand, describe Harry and Hermione as siblings multiple times, with very little Harmione references.

3)

rebuttal:

So you don't want us to fixate on the large majority of Harmione shippers who do the exact same thing, just kissing Hermione's and Harry's ass and hating on Ron. However you will fixate on people who are most likely not EVEN bashing or hating but pointing out a few character flaws in Hermione in a fair and unbiased way. I would know, I'm a huge fan of Hermione as an individual character (in the books). The only criticism I've seen of Hermione to this day has not been bashing. In the comment section of my own fics (shameless plug) I've seen some Hermione bashing. On an ao3 comment section. And I've seen so damn fucking many people bashing Ron, Ginny, the Weasleys etc. and garner tens and thousands of upvotes on quora.

What does Ron even need excusing for? The running away incident and Krum. What does Hermione need excusing for? Canaries, contributing to Ron's insecurities by making him jealous through Cormac and Krum even though she didn't even like them (especially not Cormac, she fucking hated him). Ron wore a locket that literally highlighted his fatal flaw (insecurity) in an echo chamber. Harry kept getting annoyed when Ron wanted to check in on his family. Harry asked Ron to leave; Ron didn't say that shit in the books about Harry's parents being dead: that was plain shock value.

And sorry for repeating myself but I have seen quite a few Harmione shippers bash Ron and Ginny and excuse every single thing Harry and Hermione have done.

4)

37 upvotes on this weird comment that makes no sense? Echo chamber alert! You know what us Romione/Ron fans all have in common? We have never experienced such an echo chamber. I made a pro Ron/Romione post on reddit and got a considerable amount of people who bashed Ron and Romione in the comments.

The amount of Hermione haters is very few compared to Ron bashers. Nobody hates Hermione for being independent, determined, etc. We dislike perfect movie Hermione who’s an unrealistic image of females and seems like some sort of agenda than a real woman. Most Romione shippers/Ron fans and book fans in general (except for you apparently) dislike movie Hermione and still are fans of realistic book Hermione. Most, not all. In general, we do not claim anyone who does the exact same thing to Harry and Hermione that these sorts of Harmione shippers do to Ron, Romione, Hinny and Ginny. I say this on the behalf of all Romione shippers and Ron fans.

Ron's not a bitchy lay-about drama causing loser. That's Steve Kloves's movie Ron. In the books Ron is realistic and simplistic and apologizes whenever he causes problems. He acts up substantially twice in a span of 7 years where he is also a hormone-fuelled teenager.

This is so contradictory and juxtaposed to the point of near delusion. First you talk about how Romione shippers bash Hermione and then you bash Ron as a Harmione shipper. Mate, fighting fire with fire will get you called a hypocrite. Fix yourself.

5)

So the movies are fine when they work according to your agenda? And yes how dare he add such a (fake) chemistry fuelled moment between Harry and Hermione while defeating the entire purpose and groundwork for Romione, the sadness caused by Ron leaving and so many more things? Those Harmione moments you mention seem friendship -esque more than anything else.

Steve Kloves's moments ruined many things while just paying fan service to the Harmione fans he'd birthed through years in the course of 6 movies where he showed Ron as a, how you so eloquently describe it, lay - about drama causing bitchy loser, Harry as one dimensional and Hermione as a zero - dimensional Mary Sue who might as well be the main titular character. Obviously Harmione fans such as yourself don't see the problem with it as it fits your narrative

6)

We do care about Harry and Hermione at large. Most Romione shippers rightfully bash Draco, Pansy, etc. not particularly Harry and Hermione, that's quite rare. Harry and Hermione can get along without Ron as friends. Ron and Harry can also get along without. Hermione as friend. So can Hermione and Ron without Harry as friends or more. I don't understand your point and how what you said is any different than Romione or Ronarry’s friendship.

7)

Constant arguing is not what they do. They bicker, they apologize, and sometimes they just do it for the heck of it. They are argumentative teenager. Opposites attract doesn't work in the sense of fire and ice, it works in the case of Brownie and ice-cream. Ron is passionate, laid back and insecure. Hermione's passionate, a workaholic and not as insecure. Ron can help her get calm and composed and get her to give herself a break. Hermione can motivate Ron and re - enforce his confidence.

It wouldn't be step incest. Harry and Ginny do not regard each other as siblings. They do not look similar whatsoever. And a Harmione shipper also bashes Hinny and Ginny along with Ron and Romione? Checks out

" that fucked up Harmony" hahaha. What?

8)

Are you literally going to date someone on the basis of what Harry Potter ships they prefer? That is so shallow end depraved. Your Harry Potter ship preferences should not be the groundwork for your dating life. Please understand that. Harry Potter is a fictional world which is not real. Hogwarts doesn't exist. Magic doesn't exist. I sound like a Dursley but that's what it is: a fictional realm with fictional character. I would personally not give a fuck if my best friend or significant other was a Harmione shipper. In the case of them being a Ron basher, I would ignore it as if it was just a minor inconvenience and something we wouldn't be discussing and that's how it should be with you. Fuck BuzzFeed, your opinion on what Harry Potter ship / character is your favorite says squat about your personality and relationship with others in a romantic or platonic context. But who cares? Live your life however you want. I'll be stoic.

9)

It's not opposites attract rubbish or high school opposites attract. Ron and Hermione aren't polar opposites like I said, they are a bit different but similar too in many ways. They have a lot more in common than Harry and Hermione. Ron and Harry have the most in common. Both Ron and Hermione are passionate, loving, argumentative, caring, etc. Your argument lacks substance. It's biased trash. And what does “obhwf " mean?

---------------------------------

at the end of the day, i’m just an annoyed teenager. I try my best to be open-minded to people but only as long as they are too. I tried to use my brain more than my feelings for this post. 

[misc-headcanons]

Hi! Can I please request a yandere headcanons of X Drake, Killer, and Hawkins?? Thank you very much! Love lots to your blog!!

(TW: Yandere)

X-Drake

He's the kind of yandere that watches his object of obsession from afar, keeping them safe from any danger that could possibly come to them. They probably only ever met once, maybe twice, but he just couldn't get them out of his head after that. They're too caring, too compassionate for a world full of conflict and betrayal. They're too precious to just leave alone. 

Things would get complicated when he's needing to move on to another island as part of his work, and the thought of leaving ____ alone and unprotected physically pains him. So he uses his connections with various factions (Marines, Kaido, etc.) to spirit them away. If they're in WG-occupied territory, he manages to get them put into a form of "witness protection"--and no, it's never explained what they witnessed that warranted this. If they're in Wano, he uses his authority as a Headliner to let them know they've been selected for an important role within Kaido's crew (that is, X-Drake's significant other).

Even if they don't love him back or even say they hate him, he isn't angry. He's hurt, but he doesn't want to force them to love him; all he wants is to keep them safe from the world, and he's going to keep them safe whether or not they appreciate it/him.

He's too shy to be physically affectionate or initiate anything like cuddling, and he'd probably turn red or pass out as if he saw them nude. The best way to lower his guard is to give him that affection and use that opportunity to either try to escape, or by bargaining your way to getting more privileges like going outside--just make sure to ask him while squeezing his hand or smth while giving him some puppy eyes.

He feels guilty whenever he scares them, especially if they see him go into his Zoan form while fighting someone. He doesn't want them to be afraid of him; he's trying to protect them, so he's the one person that should NEVER make them feel that way. Whenever it happens, he'll actually give them some space and alone time (in his locked bedroom, or with some of his men outside whatever room they're in) until they're not as shaken up and scared of him.

Killer

A self-loathing/self-aware yandere. He knows he's obsessed, and he hates that he'd want to make someone be close to him. His nakama are close, but this is different. He wants to hold his obsession close and be loved romantically, you know? He thinks he's too repulsive to think of wanting that, but he just can't stop himself from having those desires. 

He would have fallen for them when they met, when they were so kind and compassionate towards a stranger like him--and a pirate, no less. He's not used to receiving that kind of compassion, and once he gets a small bit he winds up addicted to it. He can't stop wondering what it'd be like to feel their gentle hand on his arm again, or seeing them without his mask and looking up at him so sweetly--no, that's not going to happen, stop thinking about it dammit.

Eventually he'd give in to those thoughts and just take them. Kid his crew typically trash whatever island they visit, so in the chaos of that he'd just sling them over his shoulder and take them to the Victoria Punk. He'd be apologizing to them quietly, even though he knows the sounds of fighting, screaming, and gunshots covers up what he's saying to them.

Kid's kind of annoyed that Killer grabbed an extra mouth to feed, since they usually all just bring back weapons and anything that'd sell for a lot of money. But Killer doesn't seem to want to sell this random person, just sorta...keep them? Kid shrugs and says Killer's responsible for them, and he thinks of ____ as basically Killer's pet or something.

Killer understands if ____ doesn't love him back, but he really tries to keep them as happy as he can given the whole "kidnapping" situation. He apologizes and does his best to treat them like royalty when he's around, but he doesn't ever let them leave his room unless he's with them or someone in the crew is watching them. He cooks anything they want to eat and the most physical thing he does is hold them when he goes to sleep at night. They're one of the only people he'll take his mask off in front of, and he can't help but smile (even if it's ugly to him) whenever he holds them at night and they don't try to squirm away.

Hawkins

Easily THE scariest yandere of the three. He'll know when you're planning to escape based on probability and in general he's just always able to stay one step ahead of you. He isn't scary because of the things he does; he doesn't yell at or threaten his obsession or anything, and he actually doesn't even like killing/hurting enemies in front of them. But he's a master of manipulation and he's able to coldly calculate his obsession's every move.

He doesn't even know how it happened, and that just makes his obsession grow further. ____ was a completely unpredicted player and he had no idea why his thoughts kept drifting to them after only seeing them in passing. Why was he thinking about them so much? He couldn't calculate an answer, and he decided to "observe" them for a while. Eventually he wasn't satisfied with that and decided that maybe he could find out why he was so infatuated with them by having them closer to him. And so, ____ gets promptly snatched up by him and his crew.

There's a lot of planning involved when it comes to Hawkins and his obsession. Prior to their kidnapping, he makes sure to steal enough clothes in their size that he thinks they'd like to have on the ship; he'd also have his crew take any personal/sentimental items with them from their home (that he learned about from his "observations). He'd also sit them down in his quarters after the kidnapping and calmly explain why he took them, and he'd even apologize for it. It's just something he needs to do in order to learn about why a statistical anomaly like them managed to infatuate him.

He's the least physically affectionate of the three, and there are times where he seems so cold and distant that he doesn't even care about them or love them. He does (in his own mind, anyway), it's just that he isn't a naturally "cuddly" person.

The most PDA ____ would get daily is whenever he takes their hand or links arms with them as he "escorts" them. He does enjoy brushing/playing with their hair in the evenings and mornings, though. It's relaxing to him, and when they're alone together he's much more likely to smile. He even kisses their forehead or cheek goodnight after they've gotten "accustomed" to their life as his prisoner companion.

[my-writings-and-musings]

This is the medic berth sharing anon, and I forgot to add, what if when talking to a bot(not necessarily a medic), the conversation some how drifted to where the human just casually mentions that professional cuddling is A Thing, and what would the reactions be?

I've got a lot here as a follow up because once again, your ideas inspire me anon! Prepare for a wall of text!

Rodimus

·He's not necessarily surprised, because your species is so incredibly soft, why not have humans who specialize in using that talent? But he's still never considered it before, and is curious as to how one becomes a "proffesional" at something so basic, and what kind of training it could possibly entail.

·Hearing that it's more for humans who have endured trauma, or humans who come from cultures or backgrounds where such contact is frowned upon, makes him a little sad. He's an affectionate bot and can't imagine not having access to something so simple, but then realizes their own species could perhaps do with some physical affection based therapy, not that he feels qualified to suggest such a thing...

Drift

·After a brief request for more information he's delighted by the sound of the practice, even if he doesn't have all the details. Creating harmony through positive energy and healing through affection is a personal ideal of his, and to hear another species practicing it is quite uplifting!

·It's unfortunate it isn't widely practiced, but the mere fact it exists is enough to give him some inspiration, so he asks for as many facts as you can give. With a bit of planning he absolutely intends to pursue this for Cybertronians, even if by just bringing it up as a proposal, and hopefully Ratchet will be willing to give it a chance!

Ultra Magnus/Minimus Ambus

·Initially he needs you to repeat yourself and explain in more depth, because he's certain he heard you wrong. How can one do something so common "professionally"? It takes a fair amount of conversation and a lot of context for him to understand the therapeutic aspect, which he begins to see once you also lay out what a social species humans are and how damaging solitude can be.

·The idea of healing through affectionate contact is something he can grasp, at least. Cybertronians aren't so different, though many such needs have long been neglected, and he is doubtful it could catch on until a significant amount of restoration is done. He'd be interested in seeing it happen, and can see how it would benefit a war ravaged population, provided there is proper licencing for those who wish to pursue it.

Ratchet

·He's immediately intrigued, but not at all surprised, and discusses the similarities such a practice reveals between humans and Cybertronians. As imposing as bots may be, they're still a social species, and a lack of physical affection can do great harm. Also like humans, bots tend to be unaware of the depth of the need until they're suffering.

·Talking about it really gets him thinking. They've neglected a lot to win the war, and now that they're here, needs like this should come back into focus. It would certainly be worth it to encourage such things where he can, even if bots don't understand or believe in the benefits. They may not have proffesional cuddlers, but this ship is undoubtedly bursting with lonely bots who'd be willing to give it a try.

Rung

·As a kind of therapy, it's entirely new to him, but the benefits are exceptionally clear even before you elaborate. Bots are a caring and tender species under all that armor, despite the image the war has created, so he can see that humans would find solace in such a thing due to their similarities. Being a proponent of slow and measured healing also makes the idea quite agreeable.

·He discusses the possible changes one would have to make for Cybertronians, which would probably be somewhat significant due to their differences in size, anatomy, and cultural practices. The basic idea could still stay though, especially for the many traumatized not just by battle, but by the shortage of tender intimacy the war created in its stead. He'll absolutely write a paper on this, and he actually feels it's worth publishing! Should you suggest he'd be a natural at providing such care he will blush for a multitude of reasons.

Swerve

·He keeps it to himself, but his first emotion is one of absolute longing. Someone to just hold you, and comfort you, with the skill of a therapist but the gentle embrace of a friend? He plays it off like he sees it as another quirky human thing, but he subtly prods for more information under the veneer of casual conversation, and starts wishing his own kind had an equivalent.

·As much as he'd prefer having someone who just wants to be with him like that as a friend, the idea of a proffesional is still tempting beyond belief, and he wonders if the increased interaction between your species might make some bots pick up the trade. Just enjoying the simple, uninterrupted company of another for a bit would be heavenly, but he's absolutely not willing to say that out loud.

Skids

·Knowing that slow and steady therapy works, he can definitely see that being helpful, even if he doubts he'd ever get anything out of something like that. He likes to move and have fun when he socializes, and sitting still with someone would probably just end in a nap for him, not that he minds the idea of that too much...

·One thing he is curious about is the statistics of the occupation, as baffling as they may be. Why are the proffesionals mostly female and the clients mostly male? Don't humans, like bots, long for affection no matter their physical makeup? An explanation of stereotypes and gender roles and everything involved on that front just makes him think he needs a drink.

Whirl

·Of course he cracks a few jokes about tiny squishy humans needing to be mushed, but it's in good humor, because he actually gets it pretty much right away. The whole idea is a sappy one, but all of therapy is sappy, and you can thank brains for being so darn easy to trick up with feelings for that little design flaw.

·He explains that the biggest part of you to hurt when someone screws you over is your sense of trust, so something that makes you be super vulnerable is obviously the way to fix it, at least for some. After emphasizing how he'd never benefit from such a thing, he posits that cuddling is potentially the most dangerous thing you can do, making folks willing to try it on thr regular with strangers pretty damn brave. His logic on the ease of stabbing while snuggling is not one you can argue.

Chromedome

·Fully aware of the chaos life can bring, he immediately gets why someone would want a little time to relax with someone calm, even if it's more of a clinical session than a platonic bonding. Admittedly the lack of concrete guidelines does worry him a little once he hears the qualifications are rather loose, but is anything perfect?

·Being a bot who fully gets how desperate a suffering individual will go, he can't help but consider what a benefit such simple pain relief could be, but also mourns for those who don't have access to something so... basic. Suffice to say he gets ample cuddling, and knows full well how precious every moment is.

Rewind

·Being so focused on memory has taught him the emotional impact even a little encounter can have, so he isn't at all surprised some species would have learned to utilize this, only that his own hasn't. Being such a varied and armored species can make any intimacy difficult, but that hardly means they're strangers to snuggling after all.

·The thought of such loneliness can't help but make him a little sad, especially when he learns many of the humans seeking out this service are in relationships. Not a day goes by for him without hand holding or hugs or nuzzles... He hopes your species makes this more common as therapy for their own sake.

Cyclonus

·Initially he's a bit bewildered, though many aspects of earth culture bewilder him, and further discussion does little to help him grasp the concept or its benefits. It seems silly and, at least internally, he can't help but perceive it as inappropriate. It isn't until you elaborate on why humans seek this service out that he begins to get some clarity.

·Hearing about how many human cultures frown on caring contact in virtually any situation, even between partners, is a little alarming. He knows the struggle of expressing emotions after even allowing yourself to feel them, but to be so caged by tradition that one needs secret contact with a proffesional for a taste of warmth or companionship... well, that's unfortunate.

Tailgate

·Immediately you see him perk up, as if the mere mention of cuddling catches his attention. He asks lots of questions, some on the proffesion and others on the ways humans express care, and while saddened that the job is needed he's happy that help is there for those who need it.

·You're then given an enthusiastic but confidential talk on how he's finally getting all the hugs he needs with Cyclonus, who will never admit it but he's certain is benefiting from the cuddling as much as he is. While not aware of the six million years he was out, it's felt as if his body is, and thus he's been eagerly catching up with loving snuggles whenever possible. Speaking of which, want a hug?

Velocity

·She's not at all caught off guard by the idea, as it makes a lot of sense for the sake of mental health, especially to a doctor of a species that could use the practice. While Caminus has been spared the war between factions, it's unfortunately not a haven for emotional wellbeing either. The need to stand out and meet cultural requirements of frugality forces many to be just as reserved with their needs as the humans seeking out help that you describe.

·She wonders if it'd be possible to introduce something like that to her own people, if not on Cybertron. But there's a lot of cultural resistance, just as she's sure you've seen on earth, to taking care of oneself even for such a basic need. She expresses respect for humans on actually taking the steps to improve.

Nautica

·As with all new things, she's immediately interested in learning the full depth of the subject, both inside and out. If you don't know it all that's okay! She can just plough through a few books and then she'll feel like she's got it down! This means she wants to know about human therapy, affection, cultural hindrances, the neurochemtistry of physical contact... Anything you know to start on these subjects would be helpful.

·Before and after her quick study break, her biggest takeaway is the huge taboo humans have placed on touching, something she can barely wrap her head around. Sure, bots have unnecessary hangups as well, but casual taction just... happens? Why would any culture have issues with that? Even as someone who occasionally trips up and crosses physical boundaries, she knows that space is important, but it's not meant to be a barrier. You'll let her know if you need a break from what sounds like an exhausting mindset, won't you? She's always here for a quick hug or even just a shoulder pat!

Megatron

·All talk of human culture once made him cringe, not out of disgust, but out of an admittedly deserved guilt. With you he's at least opening up to conversation on the topic, and this is one of the things he needs a bit of elaboration on, as his bafflement is so great you can see it on his face. His experience with physical affection being nonexistent doesn't make it any easier for him to follow.

·When you mention the concept of being "touch starved" he finally gets it, but has a less than thrilling realization himself. He's never heard a word describe his deeply buried longing so effectively, and your talk of earth culture occasionally stifling people to the point of needing these services strikes a nerve he hadn't known was so tender. As with every other vulnerability in his life, he buries it down and secures the weakness firmly away, keeping his expression neutral as he pretends the topic is just another curiosity.

[olivish]

Here it is! Part 3 of the "Who was Alex's father?" / "Melanie becomes friends with Ben" story. (I really should make a title at some point.)

Part 1 Part 2

Quick Recap: 8 years pre-Freeze, in the leadup to launching Snowpiercer's first commercial iteration, Wilford sent Melanie to oversee track completion between Jerusalem and Tehran. While she was overseas, she fell in love with a photojournalist who was covering the refugee crisis in Lebanon.

On the day Melanie was supposed to return to Chicago, there was a massive earthquake in which he was killed and she was badly hurt. We pickup the story from Ben’s point of view:

Part 3

1. When Ben found out that Melanie was alive and expected to make a full recovery, he stopped calling. He considered visiting in the hospital, but one of his coworkers tried that and ran into Wilford, who flew into a rage. He demanded to know if his engineers really had nothing better to do than deliver teddy bears.

“She’s doing more work than you are,” he said. “Now go away!”

Day and night, Wilford guarded Melanie like a gargoyle.

“That’s his guilt,” went the chatter in the breakroom. “Guilt? About what?” “He sent her over there.” “You’re nuts. Wilford doesn’t feel bad about anything.��� “And yet, he won’t leave her room.” “Here’s a thought. Maybe Melanie’s really dead, but he doesn’t want us to catch on. Figures we might try and bail before the ship goes down.” “Weekend at Bernie’s?” “She’s fine! She’s fine! Melanie says get back to work!” [chuckles] “Seriously, though. Is she okay? Should we send a card?”

2. Nobody sent a card. In five years of development, Melanie had never given anyone a card, for anything. She once told Ben, cards are a pointless waste of paper. “And the glitter,” she went on, rubbing her fingers together with a grimace. “They all have glitter.”

“They make cards without glitter.”

“Doesn’t matter. They sit next to the cards that do have glitter, and it transfers. And card shops always smell like scented candles. Have you noticed that? The miasma of rose hips and vanilla?”

“I hadn’t noticed.” Also, he wasn’t sure what a miasma was. Ben watched as Melanie went back to work. She seemed to have forgotten why they were talking about greeting cards in the first place.

“So, I’ll just sign your name to this one?” he asked.

“Okay.”

“There’s a party. With cake. And booze.” When she didn’t say anything, he offered, “You should come.”

“Oh. Well. Sure. Maybe. If I finish this work in time.”

Ben knew what that meant. Melanie hated staff parties. If the idle conversation weren’t enough to keep her away, Wilford had started bringing Audrey along as entertainment.

And there was nothing more glittery than Audrey.

3. When Melanie came back to work, her coworkers didn’t find it strange that she kept to herself. She’d always been like that, after all. People welcomed her back and asked how she was, but with Wilford always looming, there wasn’t much opportunity for conversation.

“It’s just a few broken ribs,” she said. “I’m fine.”

She didn’t look fine. It was obvious to anyone with eyes, she wasn’t revealing the half of her injuries. Most glaring of all was a crushed right hand, which Ben knew must be killing her. Not just in terms of pain, but Melanie was a notoriously tactile person.

“You can’t understand something unless you put your hands on it,” she once said. They were testing a new diagnostics program he’d written, and she was sure the readings were off. She could feel it. He disagreed, and when it turned out Melanie was right, she gave him a little lecture.

“Fingertips over sensors,” she said. “Get your hands dirty once in awhile, you’ll have better instincts.”

Ben chaffed at the criticism, but there was no arguing with someone who was always right. When it came to machines, Melanie had the magic touch.

Now, maybe half the magic touch.

But Ben couldn’t bring himself to be cute or ironic about it. Melanie losing her dominant hand only a year from completing her magnum opus seemed like a kind of cruel, cosmic joke.

4. Wilford pulled out all the stops as he tried to help Melanie adjust.

“You haven’t got one hand,” he said, standing close behind her, bringing his arms forward, palms up, fingers wiggling. “You’ve got three.”

“Thank you,” she said. “But really, I can manage on my own.”

“And miss your chance to command two of the devil’s finest playthings? Nonsense! It’ll be just like old times. Perfect sympatico.”

Wilford gave her arm a gentle squeeze, and while he was still behind and unable to see her reaction, Melanie seemed to slip. She was... repelled. Then, her eyes snapped up, realizing for the first time that Ben was standing there.

“Oh, bother,” Wilford sighed, still not releasing her arm. “Can we help you?”

“I have upgrades for the harmonic module,” Ben replied, presenting a thumb drive. “It’s a secondary system, designed to kick in for high volume calculations. It’s stochastic, so it should give us faster results, without-"

"-without a statistically significant impact on accuracy," Wilford finished his sentence. He smiled, impressed for once. "Well, well, Bennett. At least someone was working while the bosses were away. How about it, my dear? Are you in the mood for some nondeterministic computational theory, or is that too dull for this, the week of your triumphant return?”

Again, Ben met Melanie’s eyes. And again, every neuron in his brain screamed, something was very wrong.

Down the assembly line, a forklift dropped a pallet of supplies and Melanie flinched, though her facial expression remained unchanged. Blank. Empty. Not like she was somewhere else, but like she existed nowhere at all.

5. That night, for the first time in fifteen years, Ben dreamed about the car crash that killed his youngest brother.

Everything came back, as vividly as the day it happened. The bang-and-ring. The sickening spin. Shattering glass. Inversion. Crunching. The smell of gasoline and the taste of blood. And little Ian, just 8 years old and perfect, lying in the back seat next to him, his eyes open but unseeing. There were no final moments. He was just gone.

Ben awoke gasping and sweating. He ran to the bathroom and splashed water on his face. “Fuck!” he yelled into the towel as he dried off. What the fuck was that!?

But it didn’t take a genius to figure this one out, did it?

“Christ,” he mumbled, pulling out the bourbon. He poured a double, but stopped with the glass an inch from his lips. With another curse, he pitched the amber liquid down the sink. He filled the kettle, boiled water, and made tea.

As it steeped, he closed his eyes in meditation, counting every breath until his timer went off. 4 minutes.

When he opened his eyes again, it was snowing. Thick flakes, landing softly on the balcony. The Chicago cityscape twinkled in the background.

He thought about Melanie.

He thought about the vacant expression on her face. He’d never seen her like that before. But he recognized the look, from his own reflection, many years ago. 

He remembered being numb, exhausted, white knuckling every moment, startling at the slightest sound. After the accident, his older sister, Cecelia, took care of him. She slept next to him at night. She taught him breathing exercises. She took him to a doctor when things got really bad. And then she took him to another doctor, when the first one turned out to be useless. 

Cee probably saved his life.

Ben wondered if Melanie had her own Cecelia, or if it really was just Wilford. To his credit, the master engineer seemed to be doing everything in his power to put his broken protégé back together. And yet.

Ben frowned as he watched the snow come down. He just knew, something was very wrong.

There is a Part 4, it's coming soon...

[subjecta5newtella]

thoughts on newtmas :) go on :) i’m listening :)

sami rly said ok time for violence. this is going to be so long sorry everyone.

if we’re talking newtmas itself as a ship in itself, outside of any other influence (and specifically in the movie version, which is generally what people are talking about), I think it’s a good ship. I would have to be the most unobservant motherfucker alive to not see what people see in it, and I am not, in fact, the most unobservant motherfucker alive. it’s a good dynamic with good chemistry and realistically I think if I’d started with the movies rather than the books, I would’ve gone all in for it.

however. I personally am incapable about talking about it in isolation.

I realize from that segue it sounds like I’m about to lead into some grand moral point, but mostly I just liked how dramatic it sounded. anyway. I feel like I need to start with a disclaimer that the easiest, simplest part of this is that you tend to get attached to your first ships in a fandom, as well as your initial feelings about the characters. obviously you can change your mind about any of those things, but it does stick with you. if we’re going to be kind and skip my internalized homophobia era (please be kind), I shipped thominho and nalby because that’s what was big at the time. I also just... did not like book thomas very much, so I wasn’t about to ship him with my favorite character.

(complete and utter tangent: it’s interesting to me that people read the books now and overwhelmingly see newtmas. I recognize that every time I start a sentence with “it’s interesting that” it automatically sounds shady, but i genuinely just love Analyzing. anyway some of it’s definitely people seeing the movie first or having fandom content as a first exposure even in passing, all of which are valid ways to engage, but I do kind of find it fascinating when people talk about book!newtmas as some massive presence because then... theoretically we all should’ve seen it pre-movies? the ship existed, usually among people who hardcore multishipped, but it wasn’t anything like it is today. not at all to say that reading it like that is invalid, it’s just interesting to me the way some people talk about that interpretation, rather than the interpretation itself)

anyway. with that all out of the way, i do have some actual issues with newtmas, although it really doesn’t have anything to do with the characters or the ship itself. these are things that surround the ship and affect my feelings about it, meaning that I never bought in despite, like I said, Seeing It. my main issue with it is how much the roles of other characters have been reduced to create the ship in its current form. I’ve talked at far too much length about the way minho was adapted and honestly will probably talk about it more, because that’s the big one to me (that post can be found here, for those who don’t keep up with every rant I’ve ever gone on for some reason). I will not go so far as to say that’s required reading to fully understand this post, but I would recommend it since I don’t want to just repeat myself. so much of newtmas being the major ship feels like it’s predicated on minho not being there and not having anywhere near as strong a relationship with thomas and newt as he did in the books, and that will never sit right with me.

newt’s relationship with alby is his other most significant dynamic outside thomas and minho, and i feel like it might be surprising to hear me say this, but i get why that one was reduced for the movie. there’s only so much time in the film, so you want to focus on the characters who are going to make it past the first one. I do have a problem here, but it has more to do with dashner and with some fandom bullshit. with dashner, i think the crank palace is the worst of it (I could’ve just stopped that sentence at “I think the crank palace is the worst” but whatever). since all my rants lead back to each other, I’ll link the relevant one here, but the general gist is that my biggest problem was that newt does not seem to have any more of a post-swipe past than thomas does despite theoretically having two more years of memories. given that fact, I don’t know about you, but I would kind of expect alby to be more of a presence in his consciousness. that’s true of pretty much any of the original gladers, but newt and alby are clearly very close in the first book, and again, alby saved his fucking life. he’s literally mentioned once. dashner prioritized the newt/thomas dynamic so much that newt seemingly had no meaningful relationships with anyone else. tcp isn’t immune to treating minho badly either; like I said in that post, it sounds like newt read the wikipedia page on minho. is any of this the fault of the ship itself? does this change anything that came before it? no, but the whole thing feels massively disingenuous, and also kind of disrespectful to people who actually, like, gave a shit about the other characters. also, the way he’s retconning makes me real nervous.

the other part, like I mentioned, is the fandom more than any of the actual content. I’m aware that part of this is just a statistics game and also that’s it’s not representative of all newtmas shippers, but most of the alby bashing I’ve seen comes from newtmas people. it’s... baffling to me, honestly. what’s the point in putting down a ship being kept alive by me and like 3 other people? what do you gain by misrepresenting a character to the point of maliciousness when you could easily just not engage with them? again, I know it’s not everyone and it doesn’t have anything to do with the ship, but I’d be lying if I said things like this don’t color my perception. if someone goes out of their way to put down a ship I like, I’m not really gonna want to associate myself with their ship. I’m gonna cling to my own harder out of spite, actually.

also.... okay. so I peaced out to go do other shit between earlyish 2015 and mid 2019. and it was very weird to temporarily leave the fandom while the two main (in my recollection at least, which could be biased by who i was friends with) mlm ships each included one of the explicitly non-white characters, and come back to find it almost entirely dominated by white boy/white boy... like. I don’t wanna make a statement as simple as “the fandom is racist” because a) it’s not my place to say that, b) if we want to go into that, there are other examples of fandom racism where it’s Blatant and there really is no excuse, whereas this is a bit more complicated imo because c) like. that’s the dynamic the movies gave us. the movies focused very heavily on the newt and thomas dynamic, so of course that’s what the fandom is going to focus on. there’s a lot to say there, but that’s a different issue. it does.... still contribute to the bad taste in my mouth, though, and also contributes to me feeling like I need to keep those ships alive. it’s not about who has the Most Progressive Ship, I just feel weird about the particular shift I’ve seen here.

on a note that sounds less like I’m leveling accusations, New Relationships just aren’t my vibe. you look at my ao3 and it’s like. friends of many years to lovers. established relationship. friends to lovers to exes and back again. just from a dynamics perspective, there are other ships that are more interesting for me to explore. there. this is a lighter reason.

idk overall I don’t wanna sound like I’m on some Moral Crusade here, even though i know some of my points made it sound like that. this is really just me putting all of my thoughts that I can currently round up in one place in order to... idk, explain myself? and like it’s stupid that i feel the need to explain myself, but I know it’s weird not to ship it at this point, and I know if I did I would have so much more content to choose from and a much wider audience for my own content. there’s just baggage there thats entirely separate from the ship itself, having seen the shift and knowing what had to change in order to center newtmas. I’m not trying to sound like I’m better than anyone; I just think maybe I have a different perspective on things having been here for long enough to qualify it as a new mental illness, and that’s ultimately why I feel the way I do.

[96thdayofrage]

Baseball was warned. In a 1974 article about the lack of Black MLB managers, the Sporting News pointed to an equally pressing concern: the decline of the Black player. Editor C.C. Johnson Spink wrote that over the previous five years, there had been a significant drop in the numbers of African-American players drafted, from 40 percent to roughly 15 percent. Spink also wrote that, statistically, Black players had outperformed their White counterparts.

If Black players left baseball, he concluded, then the game would suffer.

Three years later, Atlanta Braves general manager Bill Lucas, the league’s first Black GM and also the highest ranking Black official in MLB at the time, sounded a similar alarm, telling a reporter, “I’ve noticed a decline of Black ball players drafted and being funneled into the minor leagues and a decline in the number pursuing the major leagues. It’s an indication we may be losing some good athletes to other spring sports.”

Lucas wasn’t alone. The popular Black sportswriter Doc Young wrote numerous editorials about the decline of the Black superstar. Investigative pieces in newspapers across the country highlighted the general decline of Black American players. MLB officials publicly stated there was a problem. Monte Irvin, who integrated the New York Giants in 1949 and was at that time working in the commissioner’s office, said, “Black kids are not just playing as much baseball as they used to.” His solution? Get the kids when they were young. As he put it, “in the inner cities, a kid may have baseball ability right after he gets out of grade school but doesn’t know what to do with it. We have to get scouts to dig him out, to tell him where to play.”

The numbers told the story: From 1947, the year Jackie Robinson broke into the major leagues, to 1973, the number of Black players in MLB increased. But from 1973 to 1976, Black participation dropped from 144 to 109 players, or from 24 percent to 18.2 percent of the league.

Still, Lucas seemed largely unfazed. “I don’t think it’s serious, though,” he said. “The Black ballplayer’s not becoming extinct, or anything like that.” MLB lacked urgency, too. Perhaps the sport’s leaders were blinded by the fact that, in 1977, Black superstars were still prominent. Though Henry Aaron, Willie Mays, and Jackie Robinson were gone, players such as Joe Morgan, Reggie Jackson, Willie Stargell, and an aging Lou Brock were thrilling fans. MLB had two Black MVPs in George Foster and Rod Carew; two Black Rookies of the Year in Eddie Murray and Andre Dawson; a host of rising Black talents including Dave Parker, Dave Winfield, and Willie Randolph; and a Black No. 1 draft pick in Harold Baines.

That year, the most MLB did to reconnect with Black youth was to use Jackie Robinson Week – the 30-year commemoration of his breaking the color barrier during All-Star Week – to, as Irvin put it, “make them (young Blacks) aware of Robinson’s contributions.”

That would not be enough.

At the game’s lower levels, the Black talent drain already was underway. For years, Black players had argued that teams had unwritten quotas governing how many Black players they would have on their rosters. Because of these quotas, they believed that Black players had to be great – or else they would never get a real chance to carve out playing careers. Black kids believed this, too. Gates Brown, a former Detroit Tiger who worked in the organization after his retirement, said in 1977 that when he tried to recruit Black kids, “you still get the same line: you got to be twice as good as the White kid.”

Brown had no remedy except to say, “Be tough, hang in there.”

Crucially, baseball’s scouting system had changed. According to Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, when barrier breakers like Jackie Robinson came in, most teams started to sign Black talent, believing that was the best and cheapest way to compete. A generation later, however, scouts felt that they had tapped that mine. So they stopped looking for Black gems – or even showing up at all. One Black player concluded that White scouts refused to go to the inner city and scout Black players because they were afraid. Meanwhile, Black scouts were disappearing. Of the 566 official MLB scouts in 1982, only 15 were Black. Fourteen teams did not have any full-time Black scouts. That led the great Joe Morgan to ask, “How can you expect to sign a lot of Black players if you don’t have a lot of Black scouts?”

This lack of Black scouts coincided with teams’ increasing dependency on drafting college players. From 1972 to 1982, MLB teams went from drafting 334 collegians to 615, a near reversal of numbers when compared to high school players. Pittsburgh Pirates player Bill Madlock believed that this was intentional, done because fewer Black players played in college. Purposeful or not, the change had a huge impact on the Black talent pool for two reasons. First, by the 1970s, a number of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, or HBCUs, had begun dropping baseball. As Black Sports reported in a 1971 article, these schools lacked the resources to field teams. Most did not offer scholarships. Without that, many potential players instead chose to concentrate on their books. Second, the predominantly White institutions that could offer baseball scholarships were limited to only 13 per team. As a result, a host of young Black athletes who looked to college sports for potential economic mobility saw limited chances in baseball and so tried their luck with football and basketball, "They seemed to be turned off by baseball,” said Brown, the Tigers lifer. “More concentrate on football and basketball. There's more money, and they get to the big-time quicker."

Baseball also lost Black talent because America’s structural inequalities had taken their toll on the inner city game. In the late 1970s, youth coaches noted that while the sport was doing fine in the mostly White suburbs, inner cities struggled to field teams from the Little League to high school levels. As one youth leader in Miami put it, they lacked money for league sponsorships, kids couldn’t afford equipment, and the facilities were neglected. MLB officials understood this, and, Irvin concluded, “they don’t have the wide-open spaces for baseball anymore.” But the sport didn’t do anything about it.

With MLB unwilling to truly step in, it mostly fell on individual Black players to do what they could. In the late 1980s in Los Angeles – a city that had a rich history of producing Black talent – Black stars such as Darryl Strawberry and Eric Davis saw the warning signs. They returned to practice at Harvard Park, a public gathering place in the middle of one of the most dangerous sections of the city, the type of place where you were more likely to see someone struck by a bullet than struck out by a pitch. They helped youngsters with tips and gear and otherwise remained a presence, letting Black kids know that baseball could be a future home for them, too. Soon, programs like Reviving Baseball in the Inner Cities, which is run by MLB and still exists today, would follow their lead to provide kids with opportunities to play ball.

But by then it was too late. Baseball’s failure to get out in front of the problem in the 1970s and early 1980s had real and lasting consequences. The number of Black players in MLB remained relatively stable from 1977 to 1987 – and then the well nearly dried up. Today, the number of African-American players sits at an all-time low of roughly 7 percent. If MLB wants to increase Black American participation in the game, the league will have to make massive investment in youth baseball, bring more Black decision-makers into the fold, and stop repeating the same tired lines that the game isn’t as cool or appealing as basketball and football.

Today’s baseball fans, a demographic group that itself is also shrinking, have far fewer Black stars to get excited about. Yesterday’s icons warned us this day was coming. But the league never righted the ship. And that makes it fair to ask: Even now, is the league truly dedicated to fixing this problem?

[fortuitousraven]

 Fic writer review, thank you to @undercat-overdog​ for the tag :)

how many works do you have on AO3? 

9, but 5 of those are meta.

what’s your total AO3 word count?

36 607, I’m a slow writer yes and unfortunately don’t have a lot of spare energy for writing either X)

how many fandoms have you written for and what are they? 

Almost entirely Tolkien, but one of them is also cross-over with Game of Thrones. Harry Potter also if unpublished fic counts ;)

what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1) Course Correction (19 002 words, published 2020-03-22). Ar-Pharazôn conveniently dies, leaving Queen Tar-Míriel and Evil Chancellor Sauron in an awkward stand-off. Plotting ensues ;)

Which is funnily enough also exactly tied for both kudos and subscriptions with Everyone is finally working together (9 877 words, published  2019-12-09). Take the jokes that Westeros being Westeros means it would count as an actual improvement if Sauron conquered it, and make an actual fic playing that out slightly more seriously ;)

That my current (and best written if I do say so myself) fic has the exact same stats as my first fic (I still like the ideas but the execution is very rough in retrospect XD) really goes to show that tropes account for a lot when it comes to fic statistics ;)

3) A review of the history of the Akallabêth

Also throwing in a meta work because I only have 4 fics X). Basically discusses the Silm and HoME versions of the story and why I prefer the latter.

4) Finrod Saves the Day

In which Númenor gets a good influence instead of a bad one. Aka the Finrod/Pharazôn ficlets.

5) Wise Heart

My Tolkien Secret Santa fic from last year about Andreth’s experience in becoming a wise-woman ^_^

do you respond to comments, why or why not? 

I always try to, I like hearing people’s thoughts on the story/canon :)

what’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending? 

I don’t really write angsty endings XD, but the closest is probably the Andreth fic?

do you write crossovers? if so what is the craziest one you’ve written? 

Yes, the Tolkien/GoT one, which is also the craziest one. Crossovers are hard to do well but they can also be a lot of fun.

have you ever received hate on a fic? 

Luckily, no.

do you write smut? if so what kind? 

I’ve written it exactly once as an experiment (m/f, unpublished for now), but I liked how that came out so we’ll see how it goes further XD

have you ever had a fic stolen? 

Not as far as I know.

have you ever had a fic translated? 

Not yet, but I’m working on translating some of mine myself. It’s just going slowly because writing new ideas is more fun X)

have you ever co-written a fic before? 

No, but it sounds fun to try sometime!

what’s your all time favorite ship?

Hard to say for an all time favourite.

I’ve been on a big 2nd Age kick for a while, and my favourites for that setting is Sauron/Tar-Miriel and Sauron/Celebrimbor. And when I was just into LoTR it was Faramir/Eowyn and Aragorn/Arwen.

what’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I want to finish my first fic, but I’m not entirely sure that’ll be manageable X)

what are your writing strengths?

I think I’m good at coming up with interesting plot points. And background, a reason I write so much meta is because I’ll inevitably wind up pondering the implications and thematic connections while I write a fic XD

what are your writing weaknesses? 

Description is probably the biggest, I was slammed for beige prose in most every piece of school writing X). But I do think I’ve been improving at that in my fics.

Balancing dialogue, I go for too much or too little, and then have to try to stitch it better.

Most other writing things too? I write for fun, not because I think I’m good at it XD

what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

It depends? In a Tolkien work people’s language choices are very significant ;), but you can definitively still go overboard too.

I stick to having the names be in specific languages, and some terms that don’t translate smoothly (e.g. osanwe). Apart from that, I think it’s better to be consistent and have dialogue lines be either fully translated or fully untranslated.

what was the first fandom you wrote for? 

I actually started out with original fiction, and then Harry Potter. And Tolkien was the first I published.

what’s your favorite fic you’ve written? 

Course Correction yay for being your own target audience and then liking the result ^_^

I tag @saurons-pr-department (if you like)

[xtruss]

With Nearly Half of U.S. Farmworkers Undocumented, Ending Illegal Immigration Could Devastate Economy

— By Meghan Roos and Alex J. Rouhandeh | April 21, 2021 | Newsweek

As heated conversations about U.S. immigration focus on migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border, a quiet scenario plays out on farms across the country—thousands of undocumented workers tending and picking the crops put food on American tables and fill cargo ships that supply the world.

America's reliance on migrant agricultural workers is a secret hiding in plain sight.

In New York's Hudson Valley, a historic apple farm utilizes a legal process for hiring migrant workers—the H-2A Temporary Agricultural Workers program. It enables Minard's Family Farm to legally hire migrants on a seasonal basis, and includes protections for both migrant and domestic workers that can result in fines if violations occur.

Jason Minard, whose family has run the farm since 1906, said he believes in the program despite its up-front costs and the risk of penalties.

"I don't look down on the program, I look at it as an asset," Minard told Newsweek. "It's a cost of doing business. It's an asset because of the bottom-line reality: Without these H-2A workers, these apples would not get picked."

H-2A workers prune Pink Lady apple trees at Minard's Family Farm.

A bill to reform the H-2A program, H.R. 1603, called the Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2021, passed the House on March 18. It includes a path to citizenship for H-2A workers. Until or unless it is approved by both houses of Congress, agricultural employers are left to decide how best to employ workers for physically-demanding work that typically does not appeal to U.S. workers.

According to a 2018 report by the U.S. Department of Labor, 49% of the U.S. agricultural workforce is undocumented —a significant statistic for a country that along with China and India ranks among the top three agricultural producers in the world.

In 2019, U.S. agriculture contributed about $136.1 billion to the country's gross domestic product (GDP). Agriculture alone makes up about 0.6 % of the country's GDP, but that number rises to about 5.2% when combined with related food industries, according to a 2019 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service report.

Agriculture and related food industries are also credited with providing nearly 11% of the country's jobs, according to the USDA's report, an estimated 2.6 million of which involve working directly on American farms.

Minard told Newsweek he realizes there are employers who don't take the same legal steps he does, and said that the complex legal process required, coupled with potential fines employers face for contract violations, may provide an explanation.

Fines for violations can range from $1,700 to $6,000. Fines for layoffs and improperly rejecting U.S. workers can reach $17,000. Violations of housing and transportation agreements can be as high as $59,000. The fines are based on individual workers, and are multiplied by the total number of workers whose contractual rights are deemed to have been violated.

These fees may deter some farms from getting involved with the program, especially when, by comparison, fines for hiring undocumented workers range from just $600 to about $4,000 for first-time offenders.

Muzaffar Chishti, the director of the Migration Policy Institute at New York University School of Law, described the penalties as a "slap on the wrist."

"Hiring unauthorized people has become part of the business model for a lot of employers," Chishti told Newsweek. "The consequences are so minimal that it is worth taking the risk."

From the migrant workers' point of view, U.S. agricultural employment serves as what former President Donald Trump's Ambassador to Mexico Christopher Landau described as a "pull factor." Migrants from Central America comprise a large percentage of those traveling to the U.S. in the hope of starting a new life, and while factors like violence at home and climate-driven weather events can serve as a "push" to seek refuge elsewhere, job opportunities also draw them to the U.S.

Agricultural workers from Bud Farms harvest celery for both American and export consumption on March 26, 2020 in Oxnard, California.

Landau told Newsweek he believes the U.S. should address some of those pull factors before trying to change the push factors in other countries, which he said would likely require a "multi-generational effort."

"I think, ultimately, the United States is making a terrible mistake by thinking that the answer for our country lies in trying to fix other countries," he told Newsweek. "We don't have a great track record in terms of nation-building. It seems to me the answer is much closer to home. I don't see how we can't get our own employers to stop hiring people illegally."

The H-2A program employers like Minard use today has a history dating back to the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which created the H-2 temporary visa program for foreign workers, and was refined in the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which created the H-2A and H-2B programs for agricultural and nonagricultural workers, respectively.

Before the H-2A program existed, the Bracero program was used widely among agricultural employers between the 1940s and 1960s. The Bracero History Archive estimates that about 4.6 million temporary worker contracts were signed during that time period. But the archive notes the program was riddled with problems rooted in employers' unwillingness to abide by its worker protection rules, which contributed to its demise and eventual replacement with the H-2 program.

Despite the existing legal options, the avenues for attaining these visas remain tight.

The H-2A visa process requires employers to follow a three-step process dictated by U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS). It starts with employers filing a temporary labor certification with the U.S. Department of Labor. Then, they must file an I-129 petition to hire a "nonimmigrant worker" to USCIS. Once completed, the prospective worker then applies for the H-2A visa at a U.S. embassy before journeying to the United States.

Though the steps sound simple, each part contains multiple sub-steps, which can be time-consuming and confusing. Minard's farm has experienced the complexity of the process firsthand.

"It's costly, there're a lot of regulations, a lot of record keeping," Minard told Newsweek. "For your average farmer, it may seem like a lot.

Because jobs requiring H-2A workers must also be offered equally to American workers, employers like Minard need to advertise the job opportunity locally, and must continue to do so until the H-2A workers complete at least half the time on their contract.

Minard says the American workers at his farm generally last only a few days. Nonetheless, he must hire eligible Americans when they apply.

Along with this regulation, Minard says a mandate requiring employers to offer paid hours during 75% of the duration of the H-2A contract, known as the "three-fourths guarantee," presents a logistical risk. On apple farms, for example, a frost might wipe out portions of the crop, calling for increased hours one week and virtually no hours the next. Farms who hire workers through the H-2A program must be equipped to pay their workers through the duration of their contract, even if weather conditions reduce the expected revenue yield from a crop.

"I think a lot of employers say, 'Well, what the heck, why should I bother to comply with the law, if my competitor down the road is hiring illegals and getting away with it?'" former-Ambassador Landau told Newsweek. "This is basically a way to get around a lot of the laws we put in place to protect workers in this country."

Undocumented agricultural workers face multiple forms of exploitation. In some cases, they encounter unsafe, dirty workplace conditions. In other cases, they face high productivity expectations that may result in long days under the sun with few breaks. However, even if the conditions and schedule mirror a law-abiding U.S. workplace, there are further risks.

Employers may tell undocumented workers their wages will be less due to their lack of legal status. Workers may feel compelled to stay silent after facing harassment by their supervisor. Workers who are qualified for full-time staff positions may be contracted for freelance or temporary work, devoid of employee protections and insurance options, due to their status.

Agricultural workers from Bud Farms harvest celery for both American and export consumption on March 26, 2020 in Oxnard, California. These agricultural workers are mostly migrant Spanish-speakers. They earn just above minimum wage, and in a good six-day week working 10 hours a day, they can earn around $1100.

"Are (those examples) as bad an exploitation as a sweatshop worker being chained to the assembly line?" Chishti said to Newsweek. "No, but it's exploitation made only by the status of the worker. All these things have been happening on the side while Congress has been vacillating on immigration reform."

The Farm Worker Modernization Act could provide a key step toward change in the agricultural sector. However, Chishti said for immigration policies to realize their full potential, they must coincide with comprehensive reform. He said in order for the country to have a successful immigration system, new avenues toward legal immigration, mandatory E-Verify, and overhauls to the H-2A program must be implemented together.

One element of the proposed legislation suggests expanding and requiring use of E-Verify, which cross-references an employee's I-9 form with records available to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration to confirm employment eligibility. The program was created in the mid-1990s, and has evolved to enable U.S. employers—about 967,000 of whom use it—to check a worker's employment eligibility online within seconds.

"E-Verify to me is the lynchpin of an effective immigration reform proposal," Chishti told Newsweek.

Chishti warns that if the nation cannot implement these reforms together, both employers and immigrants will find ways around the missing components. Without a reformed H-2A program or alternate legal method for employment, people will continue to illegally cross the border in search of work.

They may bring fake documents to prove their qualification for the job, and these qualifications may be approved without a mandatory, improved employment verification system. And without a clear path toward citizenship, those workers who do make it through are likely to face exploitation and miss out on the chance to and fully participate in American society.

"What I see as our choice is: Do we want as a country to have the people who live and work here be here legally, or illegally?" Landau told Newsweek. "I don't think that should be a hard choice."