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#401 quotes
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Walker 4.01 || quotes
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tmsource · 2 months
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blue bird countdown -`♡´- ↳ [12/100] days of Jane and Lisbon
I did what I had to do and I'll live with the consequences.
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sharry-arry-odd · 1 year
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"I wouldn't say he's a fun person to be around, but he helped me. I'm grateful to him." Ma hit her. "He cut off your hand." Zhu smiled at her indignation. "Why should I hold that against him, if in the end we both got what we wanted? Even if it does mean you're going to have to do my hair and tie my clothes and wash my left elbow for the rest of our lives."
She Who Became the Sun, by Shelley Parker-Chan
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soldier-poet-king · 2 years
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I took my mother's car to work today on the big scary highway and didn't die and also shaved over an hour off my commute, round trip, and got an extra half hour of sleep in time AND was actually on time to work
So I guess despite the ECONOMY I'm going to have to get a car, just to preserve my sanity and not be sad and full of ennui 24/7 bc honestly the last two days were the worst I've had in A Long Time
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thyme-in-a-bubble · 9 months
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soup
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a/n: this whole fic is 100% @chvoswxtch fault because one day when I was about to make dinner she planted this idea in my mind, after too long of winding each other up with thoughts about him, when I attempted to say goodbye so that I could cool down enough in order to not cut my fingers off or burn the food because I was too busy drooling, this menace just went, and I quote: "try not to think about him fucking you from behind while you cook." needless to say, I was a mess that night.... I was already a mess before, but then I just 401 error and I haven't recovered yet
warnings: frank castle x reader, smut, established relationship, cooking soup (good soup), kissing, clothed sex, kitchen sex, couch sex, dirty talk, size kink, oral, fingering, light anal, penetrative sex, unprotected sex, impact play, orgasm denial, multiple orgasms, creampie, cumplay, overstimulation, just them being cute and nasty and domestic together
word count: 3577
∼ gentle reminder that feedback, but especially reblogs are the way you support writers on here ∽
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The soft sound of Nat King Cole crooning was barely audible from the speakers in the living room, mixing and mingling with the soothing rhythm of raindrops pattering against the window in front of you, yet your hips still gently swayed to the tune as you grabbed the stripped oven mitt still laying on the counter beside the stove from the last time you’d checked on the broth bubbling away in the large pot. 
Lifting up the heavy lid, the heat from the metal slowly began to seep through to your touch as you checked on the progress, briefly watching the ivory beans dance around in the simmering liquid, wispy aromatics bubbling alongside them, before you covered it up once more. 
Standing beside the sink, you transferred the lightly dripping head of dark green cabbage onto the cutting board. After temporarily getting distracted by a thunderous roar that was heard from somewhere outside far in the distance, you then sliced the knife in your hand straight down the middle of the cruciferae, the crunchy vegetal sound reverberating off the kitchen walls. 
Hearing the floorboards suddenly creak, you whipped your head around to find Frank leisurely leaning against the doorframe, eyes glued to your form as an adoring smile warmed his stern features. 
“Frank!” you exclaimed, chuckling lightly at the fright he had managed to stir in you, “when did you get home?”
“About three songs ago,” he stated, the gentle music still buzzing from the room behind him. 
“And you’ve just been standing there this whole time?” you bit down on the smile that fact conjured. 
“Yep,” he drawled, readjusting his crossed arms. It didn’t take long after you’d turned back to the task at hand that you felt his warm touch wrap around your waist and felt his deep voice tickle your ear, “what are you making?” he rested his chin on your shoulder. 
“Soup,” you shared, cutting rhythmically through the hardy greens. 
“Mmm,” he hummed, craning to plant a tender peck upon your clavicle, his beard gently scratching your skin, “that sounds great…” his tender hands nearly burned through the material of your dress, causing your moments to slow down ever so slightly, “so, what do you have to do now?”
“Well, the base and the bean are already cosy in the pot, doing its thing,” your breath briefly hitched, interrupting your determined explanation, as his wandering touch triggered goosebumps to erupt across your skin, your form instinctively curving into him as his fingers lightly caressed your midsection, your still swaying hips and just shy down your thighs, “but I thought I’d get a head start with this before it’s time for them to go in so that I don’t go and get distracted by something else and then end up having to rush cutting it up.”
His slow breath clear in your ear, he sneakily brought your hips back flush against his, your soft bottom a stark contrast to the excited tightness in his dark jeans. Feathery kisses roamed your neck as your chopping gradually came to a stop, your eyelid growing heavy as you felt your pulse spike, especially making its presence known between your legs. 
Inhaling deeply, his hands slid up to capture your covered boobs in a teasing grasp, “Frank…” you warned softly, though your ass lazily melted back against his hardness.
“Yeah?” nose gracing the shell of your ear, his touch boldly drifted down your dress, effortlessly finding your centre through the fabric, your pulse thumping against his graze. 
“I am holding a knife,” you pointed out, trying to compose yourself, even though the way that he caressed you over your clothes successfully swayed your brain to fit something else into your evening’s schedule. 
Nipping gently at your flushed cheek, you heard the smirk on his lips as he acknowledged, “so?” burying his fingers in the fabric billowing around your legs and slowly hiking it up, “you really think that fact scares me?”
Bunching the skirt up around your waist, clenching it tight in one of his iron fists, the other one dipped down below it and only briefly tickled you over your panties before hooking a finger in them and pulling them to the side. Fluttering through your glistening folds for but a moment, as soon as your hips bucked in search of more, he took it away. 
Turning your cheek to complain, his lips grazed your skin as his grasp enveloped yours still clutched around the kitchen knife and set it down for you. Fluttering eyes locking on his form, you watched as he sank down, kneeling behind you on the cool tile. Holding your gaze for a moment as he hungrily nipped at your arched backside, he then determinedly dove in, burying his face in between your thighs. 
“Holy shit,” you gasped, gripping onto the edge of the countertop as his tongue lapped up your essence, “Frank!” desperately latching on like your pussy was his oxygen and he had just come up from a dive in the deepest of oceans. His muffled moan vibrated against your folds, making your legs quiver, “you’re-, you’re-…” sturdy nose bumping deliciously against you as he fluttered up to bury his tongue in your heat, “holy fuck!”
Growling ecstatically as he momentarily pulled back, each of his broad palms glued to your soft cheeks, fondling the flesh below your hips as he admired how your core dripped for him. After landing a swift tap across your ass, he began to slobber at your little rosebud, determinedly moving with you as the dizzying sensation made you rise up onto your tiptoes. Framing your bottom with his burly arms, he then shifted one of them, lowering it till found your cunt, promptly plugging up your clenching pussy as his mouth devoured your other hole. 
Briefly retracting once again, you felt a dollop of his spit harshly impact your core, withdrawing his finger and spreading it around your glossy petals before shoving two of his digits right back inside, leaning back as he pumped them in and out, admiring your mess as his free hand lowered to palm his tightness through his pants. Curling them softly, he found that spot that drove you wild. One of your rowdy legs nearly kicked his ribs as he began to harshly rock his fingers within you, his hand nearly vibrating as your pussy squelched at the pressure. Though just as you felt yourself near the edge, his touch faltered. 
That tease, he had to have known how close you were. Arms flailing to get him back, your whines were swiftly knocked out of you and traded in for a breathless moan as he suddenly straightened up behind you and filled you up in one fell swoop. 
Clenching around his girth as he gave you a second to accommodate around him, you caught sight of his reflection in the raindrop-adorned window before you, his brow furrowed as he stared down at where you had taken him so beautifully. 
“Fuck, you feel so good,” you saw his eyes roll in his skull at the pleasure of your warmth. Wrapping his strong arms around your form, one of them came up to seize your jaw, hungrily turning your head so that he could capture your lips in a heated kiss. 
Grinding back on him as you were still so close, your collective moans mingled as your head tilted back, breaking off the needy kiss. With webs of saliva still connecting your mouths, you hazily blinked back into his eyes as he let go of your chin, grasping your hip and aiding you back against him, egging your desperate bucks on. 
“I missed you today,” he shared his breath as you chased your high, “real bad,” his nose gently bumped against yours with every needy roll, “and then I came home and saw you just-…” he let out a low groan, grasp tightening around your moving hips, “you’re like a fucking angel…” 
With frantic moans gushing out of you, your legs trembled as you creamed all over his throbbing cock. Arm feverishly twisting, you snatched up the edge of his dark t-shirt like a lifeline and whimpered, “I love you,” completely enamoured by his dark coffee eyes staring back at you, “I love you so much,” he crashed his lips against your own once more, silencing your entranced cry. 
Slowly pressing your hips further back against his, burying himself that much deeper within your still trembling core, your grip on him tightened as he moved you, sliding you silkily upon his cock and gently fucking the sensitivity away.
“I love you too,” his deep timbre washed over you, like magic the sound aiding your trembling pussy to quickly bounce back, “so much,” he disappeared in your eyes, “god, you’re sexy…” before your head sluggishly lulled back and reunited your vision with the drizzly window.
Your entire body rocked against the counter as he bucked up into you, “Frank,” you uttered breathlessly as he stretched you out at a rhythm that was both so slow yet so hard at the same time, “oh my god, you feel so-, so-…” you crumbled down against the table, your head right beside the cutting board, “fuck!” 
“I feel so what, huh?” he teased your blissed-out babble, “so hard? So big? So good?” his thrusts began to grow more selfish, the lewd clapping of hastily exposed slivers of skin echoing and overpowering all the other soothing noises that vibrated throughout the apartment, “you like how this cock fills you up to the fucking brim, do you?”
“Y-yes!” you struggled to get out, feeling his warm, broad palm spread over your spine as a tender anchor while he fucked your brains out. 
“Yeah, you love this cock, don’t you?” his hips slammed into yours, “tell me,” he dared you with a sharp smack across your bottom, “tell me you love it.”
“I love it,” you blubbered, your face buried in the crook of your folded arms on the counter. 
“You love what, sweetheart?” you didn’t have to peek back at him to know how hard he was smirking. 
“I love your cock,” your toes curled as his broad thumb suddenly began to rub over your other hole, “I love it,” still slick from his kisses, he swiped over it, “I love you-, I love-,” tickling you gently before slowly sinking it in, plugging the opening up just to the first knuckle.
Like the rain pouring down outside, so did you as you came, your pussy gushing all over his girth. Swiftly yanking his dick out, he harshly rubbed it through your folds, “there you go,” flicking across your clit and urging more of your juices to squirt out, “there you fucking go,” showering down onto the cool tile floor.
Panting, he spun your jelly-like figure around and kissed your lips fiercely. Scrambling, he fervently plucked you up into his arms, wrapping your shaky legs around his hips as your tongue danced across his own. In a haze, you clung to him like a koala, fuzzily curling your arms around his neck, eternally thankful for his might as he held you secure against his boulder-like body. 
Eyes shut, soft hums escaped your lips and vibrated against his own as you felt his legs begin to move, swiftly exiting out of the kitchen. Fat length still like a rock nudged against you’re your trembling centre, you gently began to rock against it, a decision that caused Frank to suddenly change the destination to where he was carrying you. 
A sharp yelp erupted from your lunges as your back suddenly collided with the leather couch cushions. The shocked squeak swiftly melted into a warm giggle, one he fleetingly echoed as he dipped down to join you, knees resting below your dropped form, your legs folded up at your sides from both the fall, but also the delicious exhaustion that had kicked in. 
Reaching down between your bodies, your form jaggedly jumped as you briefly circled your sore pearl before seizing Frank’s third leg, his clothes still clung to his figure, as did yours, only zippered were undone and fabric desperately pushed aside to free what needed to be freed. Fingers barely meeting as they wrapped around him, you gave him a few generous tugs before guiding the tip back down to your entrance. Mouth agape, you nudged him against your sobbing hole, his brows furrowed in pleasure as he stared down at you intently. 
“There she is,” he smirked down at you, “there’s my fucking dirty girl,” noting the dreamy glint in your eye, “you want some more, huh?”
“Please,” you whined as he kept his hips locked, making your job impossible, “I do, I really, really do,” he then wafted away your grasp and held at the base of his heavy length, “I need it!” you squirmed beneath him as he tapped the weight against your overly sensitive core, your sodden panties still clinging on the sidelines.
“Yeah?” you expected him to tease you, to twist your arm until you said uncle, but no, that wasn’t what he did at all. “This what you need?” he mercilessly slammed back into you, a strangled moan rolling off your tongue to answer his taunting question, “then fucking take it like the good little slut I know you are.”
You were nearly crushed as he fucked you into the couch, though you didn’t care one bit about the odd position when he made you literally melt the way he did. 
Folded in half, face smooched into the cushions, your collective moans echoed throughout the apartment. Hands engulfing your waist, you felt like a ragdoll as he fucked you, balls slapping against you with every primal thrust. Tits nearly spilling out of the delicate neckline of your crumbled dress, Frank fleetingly caught the jiggle, palming it roughly before focusing in on the pebbly nipple poking through the fabric, pinching it harshly and causing your eyes to grow glassy. 
A low growl seeped out of him as he watched you squirm so deliciously. Swatting the soft skin lightly before refastening his hold around your form, he readjusted you and yanked your hips further up off the couch, curving your spine and hauling your hips against him like you were just a little fucktoy, a cocksleave for him to get off with. 
“Where are you going, huh?” you heard him chuckle as you practically dug your face into the sofa, your entire form just uncontrollably curling up from the overwhelming ecstasy, “don’t hide that beautiful face from me,” he uttered adoringly while pounding your puffy pussy into next week, “look me in the eye when I’m fucking ruining you,” and painstakingly, you forced your blissed out features to turn in his direction, your cheek smooshing against the cushions as you hazily blinked up at him, “that’s it,” he towered above you, a smirk blossoming on his lip, “look at you,” he couldn’t help but pick up his speed, slamming into you so hard that you saw the stars themselves, “that’s my good girl.”
His grip dug into you so hard that it left no doubt in your mind about the colourful marks you’d have as a souvenir for the following days. 
“You want me to cum inside you, huh?” he smiled at the way it made you whine, “send you back into the kitchen with it still running down your wobbly legs?” and even though you were positive you wouldn’t be able to stand after this, the vulgar image was still enough to push you over the edge once more, needily nodding for him to join you as you tumbled over. 
Gushing around his fat cock, rumbling groans escaped him as he pumped your trembling and tender cunt full of his hot cum, your own intense waterfall still trickling when he eventually pulled his spent length out. 
Flopping down on the couch beside your own exhausted figure, his head rotated, flashing you his hazy smile. Humming in contentment, your eyes too heavy to stay open too long, your fingers lazily grabbed for him to scoot closer.
Cupping your cheeks softly in his broad hands, one of them stayed as the other brushed down the length of your arm, caressing the goosebumps upon your tingly flesh. Nuzzling his nose against your own, he then pressed a soft kiss to your lips, thumb swiping across your cheekbone as your serene hum washed over him. 
The fingers on your arm slowly wandered over your skin, boldly making their way down your form once more. 
“F-fuck!” your eyes swiftly fluttered open, body jolting, your palm smacked his sturdy chest as his touch swept through the sore and sloppy disarray between your weary thighs.  
“Christ,” he craned his neck to admire your downright swollen cunt, “look at that pretty mess, baby,” he caught some of his own creamy essence slowly leaking out of you and rubbed it into your petals as you squirmed at the overstimulation. 
Dipping his lips down to latch onto the side of your neck, you panted, “Frank, please, it’s-” 
But he interrupted before you could finish the hazy sentence, “what?” purring in between the sloppy hickeys his mouth left in its wake, “is it too much for you? Too good, huh?” you simply let out a whine of confirmation as you felt your body begin to side with him, “you can take it, I know you can,” pornographic soppy sounds found your ears as his long fingers slid inside your sore core, “just listen to that, fuck…” your sensitive walls clung around him like a velvet vice as he stubbornly caressed you.
If someone at that moment asked you what day of the week it was, then your best attempt at an answer would probably be blue, as you didn’t even know what was up and what was down at this point. 
“You think you can squirt for me again, huh?” he kissed your cheek as the tell-tell soppy sound began to echo at his hithering motion, “give me some more sugar?” you suddenly felt his warmth disappear from your side, blinking your sluggish eyes open to see him slide down on the floorboards before you, his coiled fingers all the while rocking daringly within you as he granted himself a front row seat, “a little more dessert before dinner?” 
Pushing your tired legs further apart, the warm smile that bloomed upon his lips tickled your glistening centre, “look at that…” he watched as he fucked the rest of his cum out of you, “fucking beautiful…” 
Glancing up in your direction, he narrowly caught your eye and the intense look that he gave you made it impossible for you to simply let your own close once more. Piercing gaze glued on you, he too noticed your crumbled-up form begin to tremble even further just as he dipped down to kiss that swollen clit of yours.
“Atta girl,” he gently pressed his grin against your puffy pearl. 
Fingers rocketing, he only managed to flick his tongue against you a moment before the floodgates flung open one last time. 
First gripping onto your bucking hips with only one hand, he then departed the one buried deep within you to aid in the cause, holding you steady against his mouth as his tongue successfully slipped in to substitute for his digits. 
Sharp sobs melting into whiny pants, you watched as he finally released the latching hold he had withheld, eyes growing wide as he revealed to you the substance he had caught. 
“Holy shit,” you heard your guttural moan fill the room as he alluringly let your squirt trickle from his lips and back down upon your messy core, “that’s so much!”
“Yeah, it fucking is,” he beamed, pride dripping from his husky tone.
Beard damp and eyes the shape of hearts, you just barely through your overwhelming haze managed to see as he lowered his glossy hand down to enclose around himself. 
“Are you-,” you giggled, incapable of finishing your query. 
Cock, once again, hard and throbbing in his fist, he chuckled, “how could I not be?”  kissing your tender inner thigh as you continued to laugh.
“You are not going anywhere near there again,” you lightheartedly warned as your palm shot down to shield yourself. 
“Hm,” he raised himself up from his knees, “I can work with that,” blissed-out smile still plastered upon his gruff features, “what do you want, huh?” his strong legs then caused the couch to dip on either side of your form, “you want me to give you a show?” gazing at you longingly as he now hovered above you, “you sure gave me one.”
“Maybe you can repay the favour…” your nails dug into his meaty thighs, urging him to crawl up so far that his knees were fastened on either side of your shoulder, his girth blocking your eye line to his gorgeous face. 
“Yeah?” he slowly jerked himself mere millimetres from your features, “you want me to make your face as messy as your pussy? Give you a mouthful of cum?” his other hand dipping down to lovingly comb your matted hair as his offer triggered a warm giggle to flow from your chest obscured beneath his perched hips. 
“I love you,” your starry eyes gazing up at him crinkled from your bliss as you snuck your tongue out and swiped it across the prominent vein running along the underside of him. 
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© 2023 thyme-in-a-bubble 
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lloydfrontera · 5 months
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wait lmao what I didn't know there was such a skip. I'm sorry this is comedy to me. so you're telling me they have this crazy ass dimension-jumping shenanigans with Javier tearing up as he finally finds Lloyd, his best friend, the most important person in his life, while it's a mutual statement for the both of them, and then we get no dialogue. and skip to Lloyd getting shoved into a hetero romance with no build up. sorry I can't believe this is real. this sounds like a joke and I choose to treat is as such. this is the most hilarious ending and the marriage now feels even more out of place hdufiskaoa9o
OH MY FUCKING GOD RIGHT?!?!?!! it is weird isn't it???? i'm not being crazy for feeling like it's a weird ass choice??? i felt like i was going insane!! i swear to god i felt like i was being gaslighted when i read it!!! there was no way that was the ending!! there was no way that ch 401 ended with one of the most romantic and heartfelt scenes i have ever read and then the next chapter just????? did a time skip where none of that was acknowledged and lloyd was just fucking married off to alicia??? completely off-screen if i may add!
i made a post about it before but i simply need to rant all over again oh my god
general warning for spoilers because i'm about to dissect the entire novel through a llojavi lens
AGAIN. SPOILERS WARNING FOR THE ENDING OF TGED.
i literally cannot express how much of a mid fuck it is when you realize that lloyd and javier's relationship is very much Thee Slowburn of tged. like. this is an indisputable fact. even if you don't think there's anything romantic between them, which, holy fuck that's such a fucking reach one must be really be in denial to not see it but whatever, even then you simply cannot argue that their relationship isn't the most important one in the entire story.
javier is the very first person lloyd talks to in the first chapter. he's the first person that welcomes him into his new life. he's the one he has to work the hardest to endear himself to. he's the one he spends the most time with. he's the one that follows him around literally everywhere he goes.
from the very beginning their relationship is given a special attention that few other things get in the plot.
through the entire story we get constant moments of them getting to know each other as people and getting closer as a result. they're constantly in each other's thoughts, which is very natural as they're in each other's company almost 24/7. it is actually hard to find a chapter where they not talking to each other or at the very least together. i cannot emphasize enough how,,, enmeshed and entangled they are with one another as characters. i mean it when i say they are a set do not separate them.
it takes lloyd 222 chapters to even admit to himself that javier is his friend and that he wants to keep him safe not because he's the protagonist of the story or useful to him or anything like that but simply because he cares for him and doesn't want him to die. because, and i quote, 'he thought he'd always be with javier for the rest of his life. just like now, he thought they'd spend all their time together moving forward. and like they always did, they'd be by each other's side during hard times. happy moments. relaxed days. they'd share all these moments as they exchanged insults and corny jokes, growing old as a lazy lord of a fiefdom and his knight. lloyd always thought so. the thought just came naturally, without much effort from him, much like breathing. lloyd believed that javier would always remain by his side as that was how it had been until now.' (ch222) <- actual textual quote. btw. if you even care.
and then. it takes javier 320 chapters, a hundred chapters more, to realize that he cares about lloyd much more than a knight cares about his lord's son. because he, and once again i quote, 'is [his] true master in [his] heart. lloyd was his friend. and now, javier wanted to protect lloyd. he would sincerely protect him with everything he had.' <- this is, if i may add some context, said as javier is fighting against a goddamn angel, literally heaven's will, to protect lloyd. after figuring out lloyd is a fake. that he's been lying to javier for several years about almost everything including who he is. and yet. this is what javier feels for him.
they are the definition of a slowburn. it takes them this long to even admit they are friends. and this is with us getting to see them together almost every chapter of the way. we get to see every step of the way. we see their relationship develop with all manner of detail.
and then. when you think you cannot get even more dramatic about them. guess what the major conflict of the plot is. guess fucking what the last obstacle for the story to get a happy ending is.
let me set the scene for you:
lloyd has just finished the jewel of truth, the artifact that will get him the answer he seeks on how to stop the restoration of fate, how he can stop destiny from making the original events of the novel come true and destroy everything he has worked and kill everyone he loves. he has javier at his side, who rushed to join him underwater to make sure he was safe and sound while using it, and he can't help but fondly think how lucky he is to have javier, who is loyal and true and has never abandoned him.
a quote of lloyd's thoughts in this scene:
That’s why, you bastard. I’m going to take care of you until the very end. Once I, your wise and older friend, solve the restoration of destiny problem, you’re going to enjoy the rest of your life by my side in peace. [...] He smiled at Javier and thought to himself. You’re my only friend, Javier. I couldn’t have overcome all the obstacles in front of me without your help. So, my trustworthy and reliable comrade, stick with me until I become a lazy lord and you become my personal guard. I hope we will be able to grow old together… -ch 327
as you can see. he's once again planning on spending the rest of his life with javier. canonically. not even an interpretation this is straight up textual i cannot emphasize enough
and then. the jewel of truth gives him the answer. how to stop the restoration of fate. it's very easy. very simple solution in fact.
either lloyd or javier have to die or otherwise vanish from existence.
that's it. there can only be one protagonist in the world and because of everything lloyd has done he's now being acknowledged by fate as the protagonist of the story along with javier. which cannot stand.
so that's the only thing stopping lloyd from getting his happy ending. he just,,, has to either kill his best friend or kill himself.
let me rephrase this from a narrative perspective: the major conflict of the story is now lloyd facing either the choice of letting everything he's achieved and everyone he loves be destroyed. losing his best friend, the person he cares the most about and has been developing an extremely close relationship through the entire plot. or dying himself.
lloyd of course then spends the rest of the plot trying to find a way to avoid having to die. that's literally what the rest of the novel is about. lloyd trying by all means possible seeking a way to not having to die. because at no point, does he ever consider letting javier die in his place even an option. he doesn't want to die of course, but he never saw javier sacrificing himself as the solution to that problem.
the entire conflict of the last part of the novel is lloyd finding a way for him and javier to be able to remain together without either of them having to sacrifice their lives for the other.
he doesn't succeed.
they end up in a battle down in hell where both of them try to give for one another leading to this absolutely delightful parallel
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so fucking tasty oh my god i still go crazy when i see this set of illustrations actually
lloyd wins btw. he gets to sacrifice his life for javier. to javier's absolute heartbreak.
but lloyd doesn't die. he does end up stuck in korea tho, a place he would've rather died than go back to, so he has that going on for him. he's back in his goshiwon, absolutely heartbroken and without knowing what to do.
and then we end up with that scene. javier at his doorstep, having crossed dimensions, tearing up as he sees him and tells him how much he's missed him, looking at him with this face:
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now. let's pause here. let's take a moment. take in everything i've just explained. everything that has happened to get to this point.
be honest with me. what would you say is the most natural way the story can progress from here.
take into account all that i have recounted and that i skipped so many other things of the same nature so we wouldn't be here all day.
what do you as a reader would expect to happen next
well, i'll tell you:
cut to black we're now an unspecified amount of time later lloyd has already had all the important conversations we've been waiting to see the entire time off screen and is now preparing himself for his wedding to alicia that we will also not get to see by the way
and you know what the funniest thing is. you know what is the cherry on top.
fucking guess who's the last person we see him talk with.
guess who's the person he ends the novel sharing a smile with.
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yeah. Yeah.
i really don't know what else to say. i don't know how else to explain how insane this feels. how incredibly dissonant it comes across. i don't want to use the worse gaslighting like this but it's the closest word i can find to describe what it feels like. i feel like i'm being told something is happening when i can see with my own eyes it is not. or rather that i'm seeing something happen and i'm being told that no it is not and that i'm making it up.
i don't know what bk moon was going for. i really don't. especially when this is what he has to say about chapter 401 aka the chapter with javier coming to find lloyd in korea
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clearly he feels very strongly about this scene too. it's the one he's been wanting to show the most, he must have analyzed it from every angle possible, must have put special care to get across what he wanted to convey with it.
so why does it feel like the last true chapter of the novel is meant to,,, undercut the feeling of it?? it almost feels as if the last chapter is telling us 'yeah yeah those two are extremely devoted to each other and would and have given their lives for one another and plan on growing old at each other's sides but don't worry :) it's nothing more than them being pals :) just two guys being really good friends :) see, lloyd is even getting married to a woman that's his real happy ending he's not gay or anything :)'
and this is not me saying that two friends cannot be devoted to each other. absolutely not of course friends can love each other platonically and that be more than enough to justify their devotion to one another.
but. it feels weird when the entire novel is dedicated to building up the relationship between lloyd and javier, taking so much time to make us really feel like their relationship is growing at a realistic pace, take almost 3/4 of the novel to even make them come to terms with how much they care for one another, spend actual years following their development,,, and then make lloyd just marry someone else. someone the novel really didn't spend enough time with to justify him developing feels for her.
this is not a diss against alicia i have nothing against her i just don't... buy that lloyd developed romantic feelings for her. much less that he acted on them that easily.
this is a man who took 222 chapters and several years in-universe to even accept that javier, the person he spent all day with, with whom he spoke almost every single day, who he had risked his life for and had been saved by several times at that point, was even his friend.
and now i'm expected to believe he's in love with someone else who, by comparison, he meets a couple of times and spends a little amount of time with.
well. i don't! it's not in character, it wasn't properly built up in the text and truthfully they don't have enough chemistry to make up for it.
i don't know what happened there. i don't know why bk moon decided to add a romance when the novel didn't need it. i don't know why he chose to make it happen between two characters that didn't have a relationship as deep as the one he spent the entire novel building up and promoting as the most important one. which may i add was between his two protagonists. y'know. the ones the novel is supposed to be centered around.
i don't know. i don't know what happened. i don't know if it was censorship, last minute panic, fear of opposition or rejection or actual obliviousness to what he had written looked like, i simply do not know.
i really hope it wasn't homophobia tho that would absolutely suck lmao
but uh. yeah. i do think the ending is very funny when you put it like that askhdsjkfds
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can you explain why you dont believe the titanic switch conspiracy theory? didnt they find a propeller with "olympic" written on it amongst the wreckage?
i feel like the phrase "you just activated my trap card" applies here but i have also never watched yu-gi-oh so dont fully know the correct use of that. anyway whats the text limit on a tumblr post because i think i might hit it with this response.
before we begin (if you wanna join me on this fucking journey), ill just drop some useful sources on the topic:
olympic & titanic - an analysis of the robin gardiner conspiracy theory dissertation by mark chirnside in july 2006
titanic or olympic: which ship sank? by steve hall and bruce beveridge
olympic & titanic: the truth behind the conspiracy by steve hall and bruce beveridge
with that shipkeeping housekeeping out of the way, lets jump into it after the cut
so hands up, how many people knew that this theory originated in a book from 1995?
yeah, its a pretty modern theory considering titanic sank in 1912. the theory originated in the riddle of the titanic by robin gardiner and dan van der dat.
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and the theory argues that the ships were switched and titanic (actually olympic) was deliberately sank as part of an insurance scam. now they didnt do this at all for shits and giggles. instead, the theory posits that the navy enquiry that followed the 1911 collision between hms hawke and olympic was biased which meant white star line couldnt recover the costs of repair from lloyds (the insurance company), and therefore, they wrote olmpic off as too damaged to be repaired, lied about the amount of damage, switched the ships and sank olympic disguised as titanic to recover some costs.
far-fetched? oh definitely and it gets worse, but ill leave that til later in this gargantuan response because its really fucking funny.
(seriously, i recommend you read til the end or just skip to the part where i start talking about the sinking itself because fam, gardiners theory gets wild )
according to van der dat, who is a dutch journalist and naval history writer with an incredibly dutch name, gardiner had wrote the manuscript after researching the titanic for however many years and sent it to his literary agent. this agent had previously worked with van der dat and so sent it to him to double-check the information by going back to the original sources. he then rewrote the book with line-by-line consultation with gardiner.
and would you like to hear a quote from van der dat regarding the theory? i think you would:
"the publishers were disillusioned when the theory did not stand up"
he also, in correspondence with titanic author and researcher paul lee, called it "bilge" which is a fun ship joke alongside calling the theory bullshit.
anyway, the publishers went ahead with the book anyway because fuck integrity, i guess... thats kinda harsh considering this first book (oh yeah, theres more) was praised for stellar research and for being balanced, and the final chapter of the book literally acknowledges that the wreck has titanics shipyard number (401) on it, hence disproving the theory.
in 1997, it was published in the us under the name the titanic conspiracy - cover-ups and mysteries of the worlds most famous sea disaster, and it sold like sliced bread in 1928 because 1997 was titanic fever, baby!
unsurprisingly, gardiner's following books (titanic: the ship that never sank? in 1998; the history of the white star line in 2001; the great titanic conspiracy in 2010) were a lot less well-received and were not co-authored by van der dat.
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"but wait, kai!" you might shout if youre up to date with issues of the times from 1914, "what about raymond asquith's comments? he was junior counsel for the board of trade at the sinking inquiry!"
and i would say, what about it? the letter asquith wrote to the times was a sarcastic letter in response to a prior stance taken by the paper.
yes, he said "the architect, the owner, and the captain to repair their desperate fortunes by sinking the ship and sharing the insurance money" but said letter also included the phrase "manipulating dummy icebergs".
if were taking sarcastic or satirical responses outside of their original contexts as serious quotes, then i guess i need to cancel my dropout subscription since the company holds the opinion that oj simpson is innocent.
and while were here, that single deathbed confession from james fenton is not evidence of anything. his name is not on any crew lists or survivor lists, and not a single payment was ever claimed by a crewman called james fenton. he was not on board the titanic and his claims hold no weight.
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now, my go-to explanation as to why i dont believe the switch theory is that their insurance scam would have lost them money and they would know that it would have lost them money.
see, it cost white star (which was a subsidiary of the international mercantile marine) £1.5million/$7.5million to build titanic and they insured it by lloyds (you can check their records on their website) for £1million/$5million.
you dont have to be good at maths to see a problem here.
they didnt just not insure the rest; it was self-insured by imm's insurance fund, but that still means theyd have lost £500,000/$2.5million on the sunken ship.
this whole insurance thing was established by uh the united states senate inquiry report:
"the vessel fully equipped, cost £1,500,000 sterling, or about $7,500,000. at the time of the accident the vessel carried insurance of £1,000,000 sterling or about $5,000,000, the remaining risk being carried by the company's insurance fund."
oh and the £1,000,009 insurance was announced in the daily mirror on 16th april 1912
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and the insurance scam seemingly thought up by someones whose first and only introduction to maths was golf isnt the only way white star would have lost money on this.
after the sinking, olympic was temporarily pulled from service to increase safety measures like adding more lifeboats. obviously, a logical move made by a company with a brand new, safer ship on their hands who were desperate for any money they can make.
white star also halted construction of britannic, titanics other sister ship, in order to alter the design and make it safer. this costs quite a bit of money and is, again, an odd choice for a company apparently desperate for money.
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and hey, question for you guys: if you were alive in 1913 and needed to cross the atlantic, would you
a) choose the near identical sister ship of that ship that sank last year and was the deadliest sinking of a ship at that time
or
b) choose any other option such as the lusitania or the mauretania or the ss france or the ss imperator
personally id take my chances with option a, idk about you
yeah so the point im making here is that the sinking of the titanic was what the kids say
a marketing disaster
it was the loss of the newest flagship on its maiden fucking voyage and it had been touted as "practically unsinkable". maybe just maybe people wouldnt feel that comfortable getting on a white star line ship after that.
i dont have any figures for you because reading through a detailed account of white stars history just is not on my to-do list, but that doesnt even matter. what matters is that its clearly a massive risk and who the fuck is taking that risk?
as titanic author, senan molony states:
"one doesnt need to compare designs and count portholes - a moments serious consideration of the reputational risk involved - individually and collectively - is all that is required to end any entertainment of the notion"
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anyway, you guys wanna compare designs and count portholes? yeah? okay, here we go!
may i present a non-exhaustive list of differences between the ships:
olympics wheelhouse was curved; titanics was flat
titanic was 4 inches longer
the porthole arrangements on shelter deck c were different
on b deck, olympic had a 1st class promenade; titanic had 2 private verandahs and suites (put a pin in this by the way, it comes back in the best of ways)
titanic had additional cabins on promenade deck a
olympics promenade was open all the way along; on titanic, the forward half of the 1st class promenade on a-deck was enclosed with retractable glass screens
on titanic, the forward bridge wings aft docking bridge on the stern extended over the ships side by a couple of feet; this would not be true for olympic until the 1912/13 refit
the officers deck house was pushed out more on titanic
the iron gates of the elevators were different between the ships and this is evident in the wreck itself
their propellers had different pitches and hence not interchangeable (pitch is a theoretical concept which is like the distance a propeller would move if it turned once through something solid, yeah i dont know either)
the wireless cabin had an outside window on olympic, but not titanic
further, it was placed on the port side of the officers deck house on olympic but amidship on titanic
they had different air vent arrangements around the funnels
white star line cut the ships names into the shell-plating at the bow and stern, four feet high and a ½ inch deep
now, please, close your eyes, take a deep breath and consider how much money it would cost to switch just the list above. now compare all of that to the -£500,000/$2.5million youre losing in the insurance scam.
truly, a spend less on candles situation.
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and while we're here, shall we quickly talk about how much hush money white star would be paying to silence everyone about this since its apparently an illegal insurance scam.
not to make another non-exhaustive list but heres just who i can think of that youd have to silence:
the 15,000 workers employed directly by the shipyard
the 20,000+ workers in support services or sub contractors
any permanent or casual staff at the belfast dock and harbour comission
all of the officers and crew who came directly from olympic onto titanic such as the captain or stewardess violet jessop (puppet history fans rise up) who interestingly remarked on how improved titanic was compared to olympic
any staff at white star, imm and harland & wolff (where she was built) who would be in the know such as designers
passengers who had previously sailed on olympic who then sailed on titanic
just like anyone in belfast who walked past while the ships were docked together
olympics wreckers: thomas wards & sons who kept huge loose-leaf ledgers for each ships. the one for olympic was 72 pages long and funnily enough olympics yard number and builders I'd frequently appear in it, as seen below
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bob ballard who was the one who found titanic. hes known as a very honest man and didnt even claim salvage rights on titanic because he assumed everyone else would also recognise it was a gravesite. he also said "i think it is the titanic at the bottom of the ocean"
every other explorer or researcher like james fucking cameron or us navy consultant and titanic wreck explorer, parks stephenson
its been estimated likely over 60,000 people were involved in just the building of titanic. this was ⅕ of belfasts population and ⅓ of the working population. heres a photo of them leaving olympic at the end of the day
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now maybe im just a fool, but that looks like a lot of people you need to silence, and unless white star were blackmailing them or idk fucking killing them i guess, thats a lot of hush money just in the photo above.
i mean, theres also the claim, from noted liar james fenton, that the surviving crew were forced to sign the official secrets act of 1911, but that act was about espionage that benefits the enemy military so im not sure how this is relevant to the switch, and also, again, the guy was never on the ship.
are you perhaps starting to get the picture as to why i dont believe the conspiracy theory because im still going.
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okay so as established, if the ships were switched, there would have clearly been a lot of work that would need to be done to switch the ships.
and i only mentioned some of the structural differences, i didnt get into the aesthetic differences like the floor tiles and carpeting being different colours, or how the lounge furniture in each ship having the ship name on them.
mind you, this is what titanic looked like (in the foreground) when olympic was first docked next to her:
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this was taken around october 11. olympic docked next to titanic on october 7th for repairs after that whole catastrophic collision.
now how much time do you think it was before olympic sailed away? mind you, titanic has already been launched at this point and just needs to be fitted-out, and that normally takes around 4 to 6 months?
oh, what was that? 44 days? why, kid, youre going somewhere. it was 44 days exactly!
now, i dont think i need to get into the fact that the dock only had 1 crane (which you needed to install and uninstall funnels and machinery) that physically couldnt reach olympic unless she was moved or how olympic was painted white for her launch and then painted black and that the white paint would get exposed in rough weather so the same would have to be applied to titanic so it would look convincingly like olympic.
i mean, you have that information now, but im hoping just by the words "44 days", you might get how off the wall insane it is to suggest white star was able to switch the ships so well no one noticed for decades in 44 fucking days.
"wait kai, youre forgetting that they were docked together again!" you shout, "after olympic threw a propeller, they were docked together from march 1st to march 7th 1912"
and i dont know dude, im pretty sure white star cant warp space time so i really dont know what eight extra days is gonna do.
i hate to strawman but man, the late robin gardiner would have won a gold medal in scarecrow hide and seek.
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lets also take a quick detour into the idea that olympics repairs were so expensive.
without getting into gardiners claims about the damage because theres no evidence of it and as mark chirnside states "there are no credible sources indicating that the damage to olympic was worse than reported at the time - and indeed ample sworn expert testimony to the contrary", lets just quickly go over some financial stuff.
during the case, it was unofficially estimated that the damage didnt exceed $125,000. imm, by including lost passenger receipts, wanted to claim for as high as $750,000, but they lost that case.
during the year 1911, imms surplus profit was $822,062. so weve got:
750,000 > 822,062
now as we might remember from key stage 1 maths, the bigger number eats the smaller number, aka, their surplus profit covered the costs of repair.
aka, no ill-advised insurance scam needed.
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"thousands of people in belfast would have seen the switch operation - and yet there is not one word in the papers of reporters or photographers rushing out to find out what was happening."
-dr paul lee
so this is the section where i ask how did no one fucking notice?
no one on titanic, who had previously sailed on olympic, ever said anything about the switch other than one guy who was literally not on the ship at any point.
no one who has ever explored the wreck or done research on it has definitively stated it was olympic. rather, they have definitively stated otherwise.
for example, what remains of the base on the wheelhouse shows it to be straight and not curved, and as you might remember: titanics wheelhouse was heterosexual straight and olympics was curved.
(id be impressed if you did remember)
also, as parks stephenson has stated:
"weve got actual high def images of this wreck. ive seen with my own eyes. weve identified the name titanic on the port bow"
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its difficult to make out but its there; the name is on the fucking ship.
also, as you might remember, titanics b-deck was different to olympics. the 2 suites there were nicknamed the "millionaire suites" and jim cameron has used rovs to go inside of them.
funnily enough, robin gardiner has gone on the record saying that these suites didnt exist so make of that what you will.
and further, no one noticed anything about olympic even though she sailed for 24 more years. theres no written record of anything, theres nothing in the board of trade reports, theres no photographic proof and theres not even fucking hearsay.
she served as a damn troopship in ww1, youd figure someone would figure it out as all of her fittings were ripped out.
but no, theres nothing.
as i mentioned above, olympic was scrapped in 1935, but some of her fittings were auctioned off and still exist today. and these have the number 400 on them because that was her shipyard number. titanics was 401 and the wreck reflects this also:
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the wooden parts are from olympic; the other has been salvaged from titanics wreck.
theres even the famous myth that olympic or olympus as one person told me is written on the propeller at the bottom of the ocean. its not, but you can see the number 401 written on it:
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and while were disproving myths about the name olympic being on the titanic, the story about olympic being engraved on titanics lifeboats is also false:
theres no written testimony, no sketches and no photographs of this.
white star didnt engrave names onto lifeboats, the names were on metal plates that were screwed on
do you really think they did all of this work but just didnt fucking swap the lifeboats? if theyre this stupid, how did it take until 1995 for someone to figure it out?
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we can also discuss the stupid olympic room thing while were here. see theres a maritime superstition that changing the name on a ship is bad luck and obviously, if youre swapping the ships, youre changing the names.
so to... get around this? cheat luck? outsmart superstition? i dont fucking know, to take a detour to avoid this, white star named a room "the olympic room."
i cannot find any evidence at all that this room ever existed. its not in the design plans or the blueprints, and no passenger or crew has ever said it existed, so im pretty sure the room just didnt exist.
and even if it did exist, titanic was in the olympic class of ships. thats what olympic, titanic and britannic were. its not weird to have an olympic room on an olympic class ship. i mean it is weird in this case since the room didnt exist, but you get my point.
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and heres some quickfire myths and falsehoods
the myth about the 14 vs 16 bow portholes is also a false. yes, titanic had 14 portholes on launch but an extra 2 were added before her maiden voyage so yes, the ship photographed departing southampton with 16 bow portholes is the titanic, and do you really think it would take 83 years to figure this out if it was this easy?
similarly, titanic did have evenly spaced b-deck windows on launch, but then the extra verandahs and suites were added so the window configuration was altered, so that photograph is off the titanic.
the idea that titanic had a 2 degree list to port like the olympic before her is evidence of the switch theory is, to borrow a word from dan van der dat, bilge. plenty of ships at the time and now have minor lists. the one on titanic was only recorded by 2 passengers and we know that the list was related to coal consumption. it means nothing.
jp morgan (owner of imm) did not cancel last minute. as mark baber points out on encyclopedia titanica, it was announced in the new york times that hed be in venice on april 23. at that time, transatlantic voyages took at least 5 days so it would at least be a 10 day round trip and likely not give him time to get to venice for the opening of a store of whatever it was.
also, j bruce ismays wife and kids also didnt cancel last minute. theyd already decided to go on holiday to wales rather than sail on titanic.
addendum to that point: if ismay knew it was going to be sank deliberately and so warned his wife, why would he get on board himself? further, why would harland and wolff designer thomas andrews (who did not survive by the way) get on board?
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and we're finally at my favourite part of this entire mess: the sinking itself.
see, a deliberate sinking doesnt really make sense for titanic because the conditions under which she sank has led to the descriptor "freak sinking."
these are: a new moon meaning less light, unusually calm ocean that disallowed lookouts to watch for foam as waves hit any icebergs, ice having drifted further south than normal for that time of year, and a sideways glancing blow that breached more watertight compartments than the ship could handle and stay afloat.
and idk dude, is there not an easier way? like maybe some light arson. just call it an accidental fire that got out of control and led to the ship being a write-off, this isnt difficult.
but you see gardiner has an answer to this, and i am laughing as im typing this, he claims that:
titanic didnt hit an iceberg, it hit an imm rescue ship.
thats right, this guy fully says titanic didnt hit an iceberg. apparently it hit another ship and NO ONE FUCKING NOTICED
i mean we have testimony from survivors but fuck them i guess.
he claims that as titanic was apparently a "steel double-hulled vessel" so an iceberg simply couldnt inflict so much damage.
yeah titanic wasnt double-hulled. she had a double bottom, but it was only after titanic that shipbuilders were like ah maybe full double hulls arent an unnecessary expense after all.
theres also the issue of uh no evidence of this rescue ship ever existing? at all? i dont know where it came from, i dont know where it went, and who fucking knows, maybe it was called the rms cotton eyed joe.
yeah so weve got a theory riddled with problems and im just gonna introduce some more problems with this theory as gardiner has also alleged that:
the original plan was to open the seacocks and slowly flood the ship, but this was interrupted by titanic hitting another ship
1) titanic didnt have seacocks? and 2) was the rest of it a coincidence then? i think its meant to be a coincidence.
i believe his theory is alleging that the crew on titanic would open the seacocks that didnt exist to flood the ship slowly, and that the imm rescue ship that also didnt exist was in the area in advance to help evacuate passengers, alongside other ships such as the ss californian.
this is that ship that was like 10 miles away or something and didnt respond to titanics distress signals. according to gardiner, they were expecting a rendezvous with titanic according to the "original plan", but never received it.
instead, they saw the rockets of the fabled imm rescue ship and helped them instead.
this is fucking stupid.
i cant be charitable here, its a fucking stupid theory. i mean, that imm ship did not exist, and also californian is a ridiculous choice for a rescue ship. her capacity was 47 passengers and 55 crew; there were more than 2200 people on board titanic.
to counteract this argument, gardiner alleges carpathia was also in on the scheme as a rescue ship. she, at least, had capacity for the passengers, but theres also several problems with this too.
for one, it was fucking 50 miles away and famously arrived several hours after the sinking even though the captain had her running at top speed to get there.
for two, carpathia was owned by cunard, white stars rival. was their rival line in on the insurance scam??? how much money did they have to pay cunard for this????? why? just why?
do you understand why i dont believe it? please tell me you understand. i need you to understand. i need you to tell me that you understand that the guy who created this conspiracy claimed titanic didnt hit an iceberg.
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nightowl1556 · 3 months
Text
Redemption Arc Therapy Incorrect Quotes #401
Amity: Poison is a magic transmutation potion that turns people into corpses.
Hunter: This knife is actually a magic wand.
Amity: Meet me in the Denny’s parking lot for a witches duel.
Hunter: *cocks gun* Magic missile.
Varian: What the fuck is wrong with you people?
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study-with-aura · 3 months
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Monday, February 5, 2024
It is good to be back and posting again after my semi-weekend break. I type semi- because I did post in response to a few messages. However, I did take a break from my intensive studying this weekend, and only kept up with reading and Duolingo.
I do hope everyone has a lovely week and practices self-care daily and when needed throughout the day.
Tasks Completed:
Geometry - Learned about polyhedrons + identified parts of solids + identified solids + identified nets of solids + practice
Lit and Comp II - Copied Unit 17 vocabulary + read chapter 11 of Emma by Jane Austen + read "A Hunger Artist" by Franz Kafka + completed an online story diagram + created an antagonist and conflict for the short story I'm writing (the library has their flash fiction competition coming up, so I'll use this story for that more than likely)
Spanish 2 - Listened to a story in Spanish + reviewed vocabulary
Bible I - Read Deuteronomy 29-30
World History - Wrote an essay explaining how the rise of the Young Turks, the Russo-Japanese War, and the Boxer Rebellion are tied to nationalism
Biology with Lab - Made food chains with an online simulation + continued doing research on my endangered animal (saola)
Foundations - Read more on patience + completed Lumosity daily brain workout + read about special occasion speeches + defined different types of special occasion speeches + chose a type of special occasion speech for my speech assignment (I went with inspirational, and I want to do an inspirational speech for the younger girls in our Girl Scout troop)
Piano - Practiced for one hour
Khan Academy - None today (already assigned)
CLEP - Completed Module 8.5-8.6 lecture videos
Duolingo - Completed at least one lesson each in Spanish, French, and Chinese
Reading - Read pages 356-401 of House of Marionne by J. Elle and finished the book
Chores - Cleaned windows in my bedroom and in the study + took the trash and recycling out
Activities of the Day:
Volunteer for 2 hours at the library
Ballet
Contemporary
Journal/Mindfulness
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What I’m Grateful for Today:
I am grateful for the opportunity to give back to my community.
Quote of the Day:
Hope can be bruised and battered. It can be forced underground and even rendered unconscious, but hope cannot be killed.
-UnSouled, Neal Shusterman
🎧Romance, Op.1/4 - Ossip Gabrilowitsch
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hollowed-theory-hall · 3 months
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Dumbledore is a Manipulative Piece of Shit: Part 2/?
The second installment in one one of my favorite subjects when it comes to Harry Potter theories. And this time:
Fidelius Charms, Secret Keepers, and Sirius Black's Trial
So, in my former post in this series, I mentioned I had more to say about the question of why would Dumbledore want Sirius to be arrested and placed in Azkaban? How could I even make this claim that Dumbledore planned Sirius' fall?
Well, here we are, me and my collection of book qutes:
Exhibit 1: He planned for Harry to go to the Dursleys
‘Give Harry ter me, Hagrid, I’m his godfather, I’ll look after him —’ Ha! But I’d had me orders from Dumbledore, an’ I told Black no, Dumbledore said Harry was ter go ter his aunt an’ uncle’s. Black argued, but in the end he gave in. Told me ter take his motorbike ter get Harry there. ‘I won’t need it anymore,’ he says. “I shoulda known there was somethin’ fishy goin’ on then. He loved that motorbike, what was he givin’ it ter me for? Why wouldn’ he need it anymore? Fact was, it was too easy ter trace.
(Prisoner of Azkaban, page 206)
I quoted this already, but this is very damning evidence. It means Dumbledore planned for Harry to live with the Dursleys completely disregarding Sirius, even when he wasn't guilty.
"But wait!" You might cry, "he thought Sirius was the secret keeper so the moment he knew James and Lily died he figured he was guilty"
That could explain it, well, except...
Exebit 2: Dumbledore Knew Sirius was Innocent
He didn't think Sirius was a threat:
“Hagrid,” said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. “At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?” “Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir,” said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. “Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I’ve got him, sir.” “No problems, were there?”
(Philosopher's Stone, page 13)
He shows no concern over Hagrid meeting Sirius, nor is he worried Sirius would go after Harry (considering he left him on the doorstep of the Dursleys. Outside. In November. Merlin, Dumbledore's awful)
Throughout Prisoner of Azkaban, Dumbledore knew Sirius was innocent before Harry and Hermione told him. In Prisoner of Azkaban, after Harry and Hermione reveal everything they learned about Sirius in the shack to Dumbledore in the Hospital Wing, he believes them immediately. He does not ask for proof. He does not question them further. No, just their word is enough:
“But you believe us.” “Yes, I do,” said Dumbledore quietly. “But I have no power to make other men see the truth, or to overrule the Minister of Magic. . . .
(Prisoner of Azkaban, page 393)
Dumbledore is lying here twice. Once, because he always knew Sirius was innocent and always planned to send Harry and Hermione to save him. and twice because at this point in the books he is the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot — the highest court and legislative body in magical Britain — and he doesn't have the power to get Sirius a trial?
And how do I know he always planned to send them back in time? Well, when Harry and Hermione do go back in time, there are two interesting occurrences I'd like to mention:
They were still ten feet away from the forest, in plain view of Hagrid’s back door. “One moment, please, Macnair,” came Dumbledore’s voice. “You need to sign too.” The footsteps stopped.
(Prisoner of Azkaban, page 401)
“Where is it?” said the reedy voice of the Committee member. “Where is the beast?” “It was tied here!” said the executioner furiously. “I saw it! Just here!” “How extraordinary,” said Dumbledore. There was a note of amusement in his voice.
(Prisoner of Azkaban, page 402)
Both these scenes happen during the hours Harry and Hermione went back to. And, due to how time travel works in Harry Potter, you don't really change anything when you go back in time because you already went back in time, so everything happens the same.
The fact Dumbledore is aware of Harry and Hermione time traveling earlier in the day before he told them to do so and even helps them suggests he always planned this. He always planned for them to set Sirius and Buckbeak free. Which is why he never worried for either.
So Dumbledore knew Sirius was innocent, which actually leads nicely to a big question:
Who cast the Fidelius Charm?
Let's start by collecting all we know about how the Fidelius Charm works. I explained this in the first post as well, but I'll give an overview here anyway.
As Professor Flitwick says:
"an immensely complex spell ... involving the magical concealment of a secret inside a living soul. The information is hidden inside the chosen person, or Secret-Keeper, and is henceforth impossible to find -- unless, of course, the Secret-Keeper chooses to divulge it." 
(Prisoner of Azkaban, page 205)
The Fidelius Charm was a complex spell that sealed a phrase, a secret within a person. As I already covered, the phrase that hid the Potters included only James and Lily, as Harry was yet to be born. We also know for certain Peter Pettigrew was the Secret Keeper. But we are left with a very important question— who cast the spell?
Peter Pettigrew wasn't known as the most talented wizard and we are supposed to believe he succeded in casting a complex and advanced spell like the Fidelius Charm to a satisfactory level under the pressure of already being a spy?
“Pettigrew . . . that fat little boy who was always tagging around after them at Hogwarts?” said Madam Rosmerta. “Hero-worshipped Black and Potter,” said Professor McGonagall. “Never quite in their league, talent-wise. I was often rather sharp with him. You can imagine how I — how I regret that now. . . .” She sounded as though she had a sudden head cold.
(Prisoner of Azkaban, page 207)
Professor McGonagall blew her nose and said thickly, “Stupid boy . . . foolish boy . . . he was always hopeless at dueling . . . should have left it to the Ministry. . . .”
(Prisoner of Azkaban, page 208)
No, I don't think that's likely. I think someone else must have cast the spell. And who could it be if not Dumbledore— the man who offered the use of the spell in the first place and who we know continues using it years later?
“Naturally,” said Professor McGonagall. “James Potter told Dumbledore that Black would die rather than tell where they were, that Black was planning to go into hiding himself . . . and yet, Dumbledore remained worried. I remember him offering to be the Potters’ Secret-Keeper himself.” “He suspected Black?” gasped Madam Rosmerta. “He was sure that somebody close to the Potters had been keeping You-Know-Who informed of their movements,” said Professor McGonagall darkly.
(Prisoner of Azkaban, page 205)
It means Dumbledore was in on the plan for the beginning, at least, according to what he told to McGonagall.
"Dumbledore's Secret-Keeper for the Order, you know -- nobody can find Headquarters unless he tells them personally where it is" 
(Order of the Phoenix, page 115)
We know Dumbledore cast the spell on Grimmauld Place and was the Secret-Keeper for it.
Even if Dumbledore wasn't the Secret-Keeper...
There was evidence Sirius is innocent...
Prior Incantato can be cast on wands to show an echo of the last spell they cast. It was so easy to prove Sirius' wand didn't cast a spell. This seems to be a known ministry procedure as Amos Diggory has shown.
“Prior Incantato!” roared Mr. Diggory. Harry heard Hermione gasp, horrified, as a gigantic serpent-tongued skull erupted from the point where the two wands met, but it was a mere shadow of the green skull high above them; it looked as though it were made of thick gray smoke: the ghost of a spell.
(Goblet of Fire, page 136)
Furthermore, a Blasting Curse just doesn't work like that. It would not leave a cleanly cut-off finger. It is described as exploding the target, so the crater Sirius was found in matched, but if Pettigrew was blasted with it, nothing would have been found of him — definitely not a finger and bloody cloths that would've burned.
Not to mention Dumbledore is an accomplished Legilemanse. It's impossible to believe he could've seen Sirius and not know he wasn't the Secret Keeper even if he didn't cast the Fidelius Charm himself.
Exhibit 3: Sirius Didn't Have a Trial Because of Dumbledore
Sirius says in Goblet of Fire:
“Oh I know Crouch all right,” he [Sirius] said quietly. “He was the one who gave the order for me to be sent to Azkaban — without a trial.”
(Goblet of Fire, page 526)
Meaning Sirius has never gotten a trial. To him, he was shipped off to Azkaban without even being questioned. I don't think Sirius knows Dumbledore always knew of his innocence.
“It is your turn to listen, and I beg you will not interrupt me, because there is very little time,” he [Dumbledore] said quietly. “There is not a shred of proof to support Black’s story, except your word — and the word of two thirteen-year-old wizards will not convince anybody. A street full of eyewitnesses swore they saw Sirius murder Pettigrew. I myself gave evidence to the Ministry that Sirius had been the Potters’ Secret-Keeper.”
(Prisoner of Azkaban, page 405)
So Sirius may never had a trial, but Dumbledore has given evidence against him, at his own admission. Most likely he went straight to Crouch and put the final nail in the coffin to throw Sirius to the Dementors.
And again, Dumbledore is Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Fudge is hanging off his every word, and this man — arguably the most politically powerful figure in the British Wizarding world during the end of the First Wizarding War and Prisoner of Azkaban — can't get an innocent, falsely imprisoned man a trial? A man who's an heir to a fortune of an old and noble wizarding family? Who are you kidding, Dumbledore?
But why would he do that?
Because a weapon with no ties is a better martyr. Because Harry is more likely to be willing to die without a real support network. And yes, Dumbledore knew he'd need Harry to die since day one. Dumbledore, at least, suspected Harry was a Horcrux, and knew he'd need him malleable and controllable when the right time comes.
“Is that where —?” whispered Professor McGonagall. “Yes,” said Dumbledore. “He’ll have that scar forever.” “Couldn’t you do something about it, Dumbledore?” “Even if I could, I wouldn’t. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground..."
(Philosopher's Stone, page 14)
"Scars can come in handy" — What an odd phrase Dumbledore. .
So, he knew, or at least, suspected Harry had a Horcrux in his scar, and when Chamber of Secrets came around:
“You can speak Parseltongue, Harry,” said Dumbledore calmly, “because Lord Voldemort — who is the last remaining descendant of Salazar Slytherin — can speak Parseltongue. Unless I’m much mistaken, he transferred some of his own powers to you the night he gave you that scar. Not something he intended to do, I’m sure. . . .” “Voldemort put a bit of himself in me?” Harry said, thunderstruck. “It certainly seems so.”
(Chamber of Secrets, page 299)
He knew for sure.
Harry's life since that Prophecy was made about two months before he was born was tailored for Dumbledore's ultimate plan to end Voldemort. Sirius being sent to Azkaban was part of what needed to be accomplished to get him off the board and put Harry in the position Dumbeldore needed him in.
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indigosfindings · 4 months
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things that didn't make it into the poinsettia video
in interviews paul ecke iii keeps making baffling comparisons to other industries/corporations like intel and the auto industry ("All they have to do is make good cars that don't break down. Mine is a far more complicated business.")
this site claims that juan balme assigned the scientific name euphorbia pulcherrima in the 1600s (binomial species names were pioneered in the 1750s)
one article claims that the aztec winter festival that used poinsettias is "fiesta de la veintena" ("festival of the 20th"????) (again one must assume that this is. not the precolonial name). this (shockingly) does not seem to be the name of an actual event. it seems like they just googled "aztec festival" and found something about the festivals on the 20th (i.e. last) days of the aztec months (cf. "la fiesta de la veintena de quecholli"--ie the festival of the 20th of quecholli) and decided to just... roll with it and assume nobody would fact-check or want further details??
wikipedia's citation for the claim about the legend of pepita/maria (reference 29 on the poinsettia page at the time of writing) is this article, which. literally does not mention the legend at all
i went through juan balme giraud's bibliography (incidentally a couple articles in that list seem to be nonextant save for being cited in other publications) and there sure is no mention of poinsettias, but he did write about how hawthorn tea makes you piss hard
im obsessed with this vox video on the history of poinsettias where they parrot the claim that franciscan friars grew poinsettias for nativity scenes and illlustrate this by. showing a nativity painting and having poinsettias manifest around it. because there are no actual depictions of the friars doing this. because it isnt true
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according to wikipedia "Nothing is known about pollination in wild poinsettias" (wiki's source) which makes the "grew through a crack in willdenow's greenhouse" thing even funnier
quote from paul ecke iii re declining sales of poinsettias: "I know people’s 401(k)s are 201(k)s now. But if I can go buy a poinsettia for $10 or $20 and it makes me feel good at Christmas -- that’s worth it." he's so ANNOYING
multiple sources (incl. the university of illinois poinsettia history page) call william prescott a "horticulturist" or "botanist". He Wasn't One,
multiple articles say that poinsettias are the REASON red and green are the christmas colours. hello???
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tmsource · 1 year
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sharry-arry-odd · 1 year
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They said, You wouldn't. It would be nuclear war. I said, I'd do anything. You know I would. Cows exhibit mourning behaviour for other cows.
Nona the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir
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Narnia Incorrect Quotes 401/?
Edmund: Susan taught me to think before I act
Edmund: So if I beat the shit out of you, rest assured that I thought about it and am confident of my decision
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pbpsbff · 21 days
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20 Questions (for fanfic writers)
got tagged by @fieldsofview :)) (and probably someone else. i have a draft of this from november. oops.)
1. how many works do you have on ao3? 47 as of yesterday:)
2. what's your total ao3 word count? 190,927
3. what fandoms do you write for? i've bounced around a lot of fandoms since i was like, 10, but since august 2022 i've been strictly writing for mcu spider-man (technically more leaning toward irondad, but. u know). with this in mind however, i have a couple 9-1-1 wips and am about one bad day away from writing big time rush fanfiction
4. top five fics by kudos: Peter Parker's Guide to: Texting, Twitter, and Tony Stark (2,110 kudos)
Everything's Coming Up Potatoes (439 kudos)
Is That a Potato in Your Pants, or Are You Just Happy to See Me? (422 kudos)
If You Give a Guy a Potato, He's Going to Ask You on a Date (401 kudos)
be mean to me (if you need to be mean) (331 kudos)
5. do you respond to comments?
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...
i try my best. i genuinely have no idea how it's gotten this bad (if i ignore your comment please don't take it personally—i forgor)
6. what is your fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? oh god i don't have anything w/ a sad ending posted LOL i'm too much of a sucker for a happy ending. (i do have mcd in my drafts tho!!!)
maybe 15. There It Is Again, That Funny Feeling? It's more of a hopeful ending, but considering the context of the story entirely, it's pretty sad.
7. what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? every single fic in the series All's Fair in Love and Potatoes. this series is my happy place amongst all the death and despair on my account
8. do you get hate on fics? besides the hate i receive from sapoteylx? no
9. do you write smut i do! it'll never see the light of day but i do!
10. craziest crossover: i hate crossovers sorry guys. on my old ao3 tho i wrote a heathers au hamilton fic and that's probably the closest i'll ever get to one (unless we're counting r&r? since it's technically twd universe?) also this one time (i was 11. keep this in mind) i read a fic that was tagged jacob sartorius/bob duncan and i think about it daily
11. have you ever had a fic stolen? i hope not???
12. have you ever had a fic translated? NO but that would be so cool. i have some regular commenters that tend to comment in spanish and i'm always wondering if it would be easier for them if i had it translated but i only speak engish. idk fic translators are gods gift to writers i fear
13. have you ever co-written a fic before? i cowrote a hamilton chatfic in 2018. next question
14. all time favorite ship? every peter parker ship ever (excluding all the minor/adult ones). big sambucky and pepperony fan too tho
15. what's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will? i have this wip that's like, peter agrees to go undercover for a mission because they need info from some big bad guy and peter is obviously the least recognizable of the bunch, but he gets kidnapped and all that good stuff. idk if i'll ever get around to finish it, because it's like 9 planned chapters and that is SO ambitious for me.
also my cellist!peter au? i've been trying to write it but the words haven't come to me idk
16. what are your writing strengths? ooooo i think i'm good at realistic dialogue and character dynamics—i have spent hours of my life on fandomwiki looking at different character's quotes and watching videos of their interaction with other characters because that's something so important to me.
i think i'm good at balancing angst and humor too?? idk the walking dead really shaped my writing style because u can have a silly scene and then 2 seconds later someone is dead on the floor. hope to carry that vibe through everything i do.
17. what are your writing weaknesses? i am so bad at describing settings and character actions. i can always see the scene in my mind but on paper it turns into they are at a house. peter sits down in the chair, and is sad. and it gets to a point where i just give up on trying to fix it
18. thoughts on dialogue in another language? ough if i ever write dialogue in another language i'll be consulting someone who speaks said language (which is what i actually have done!!!! i have a fic coming out soon w a spanish title and i asked aster-argent for help:)). or doing the thing people do where they just put the text in italics and write ," he said in spanish or some shit.
idk for the most part i stay away from it (ignoring the throwaway, casada harley joke i make in my parkner series) because at the end of the day i am a white girl who learned how to count to 10 in spanish because of dora and took 3 years of german.
19. first fandom you wrote in? ok so. i was 11 and on quotev, writing a chatfic about the bands twenty one pilots, panic at the disco, my chemical romance, and fall out boy. the fic is still up and it makes me nauseous to think about
i think technically i had an ldshadowlady fic out on wattpad before that but it was a blatant ripoff of another fic so. i don't count it
20. favorite fic you've written? i think this answer changes every day, and will change when i get my next group of fics out, but as of right now—
i'll put down my roots when i'm dead i'm just so proud of it idk. first time i've ever really met a deadline and probably the most passionate i'd been about getting a fic out since r&r began? i just love the whole thing.
Is Close the Closest Star? this one is definitely a tie with the several other angst oneshots i put out around the same time, but idk something about this fic is so special to me. it's like 6 months old and i know my writing's improved since then, but i'll always go back and reread
okok last one sorry ur making me pick my favorite child. Unrotting Your Insides, Unrooting Your Limbs i am such a sucker for recovery fics sorry. i've written several fics about bulimia but this is my fav because it's just. so soft.
tags
oh god i don't have enough writer friends uhhh @norahdevore. if u have not done this already. i am holding a gun to your head and making you do this (and anyone else reading this. please guys)
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lloydfrontera · 1 month
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what are your favorite moments in tged? ❤
ooohh i already answered this a while ago actually!
how about i give you some of my favorite quotes instead :D?? these are not in order and they are not nearly all of them but <333 this is already way too long <333 and i can't choose between all of them <33
I never, ever thought once about life without Master Lloyd, not even right now. -Ch 400
"If I have to really choose between you and me for this to end once and for all, I choose to banish myself from this world." -Ch 399
You’re my only friend, Javier. I couldn’t have overcome all the obstacles in front of me without your help. So, my trustworthy and reliable comrade, stick with me until I become a lazy lord and you become my personal guard. I hope we will be able to grow old together… -Ch 327
Lloyd felt reassured by Javier's presence as he gazed at him. He could not have gotten this far without the knight. Therefore, he did not want to lose Javier and hoped they would keep bickering with each other for eternity. -Ch 361
So stop being a crybaby about your own death. You're not going to die, and I'm going to ensure it. Even it really comes our way, I will die in your place instead. I am willing to. -Ch 384
Javier had already become his best friend. There was no one else he would be able to trust as much as him even if they always bickered with each other. Lloyd refused to lose him before he could find another solution. -Ch 367
I want to tell you everything, Lloyd... But I have no clue as to how I should talk to or ask you about this. I already see you as my precious son. I am grateful for you. [...] Unable to distract his mind he simply reached out and tightly grabbed Lloyd's hand. He hoped his unspoken feelings and thoughts would be conveyed to his son: Whatever you do, whatever you hide, you are my precious son that I will always be thankful for. -Ch 333
Javier could see from his eyes that Master Lloyd was rejoicing. Not only because he had reached a new level in swordsmanship but also because he was safe. Javier felt pure Joy in Lloyd. And the feeling was mutual for Javier. I am glad that you are safe, Master Lloyd. There was no need to speak it out loud. Just a silly joke was enough. Javier's desire to protect Lloyd, and Lloyd's heart to cherish and worry about Javier. -Ch 225
"Yes, I see," the baron said as he gazed at Lloyd. "Um, but why are you looking at me like that?" "Whew, how should I say it? I just think that I am blessed to have you as my son." -Ch 122
also i just realized that i absolutely lied i do have three moments that are my absolute favorites and you will Know why
I want to protect him. Lloyd is my true master in my heart. Lloyd was his friend. And now, Javier wanted to protect Lloyd. He would sincerely protect him with everything he had. -Ch 320
He thought he'd always be with Javier for the rest of his life. Just like now, he thought they'd spend all their time together moving forward. And like they always did, they'd be by each other's side during hard times. Happy moments. Relaxed days. They'd share all these moments as they exchanged insults and corny jokes, growing old as a lazy lord of a fiefdom and his knight. Lloyd always thought so. The thought just came naturally, without much effort from him, much like breathing. Lloyd believed that Javier would always remain by his side as that was how it had been until now. -Ch 222
And he was there. The man that I missed so much, because of the realization I could never get to see him again, was standing right outside the door. He was looking straight at me through teary eyes, with a hint of joy on his face. "... I missed you so much, Master Lloyd," said Javier with a huge, tearful smile. -Ch 401
i'm not predictable what are you talking about
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