#you can ... love tom .... and also criticise him ....

[saintsenara]

What do you think about Tom Riddle Sr?And your thoughts on Tom Riddle Sr/Merope Gaunt as a ship? I read some of your answers on Merope Gaunt and I just adore your fic 'Enchanter's Nightshade'. I was curious as to what your thoughts are on his canon character, the way that he is treated in fanon and if you have any headcanons on his character

thank you very much for the asks, pal - and i'm sorry that i'd entirely forgotten that i had an answer for the first sitting in my drafts until the second arrived in my inbox...

[thank you also for the very kind shoutout to enchanter's nightshade!]

and i find tom sr. extremely interesting as a character, and he's someone i think quite a lot of compelling stuff can be done with in fanfiction - particularly in how fic writers can take a sledgehammer to how he's treated by the canon narrative...

which - of course - means that there is a trigger warning for a discussion of rape in what follows, which is under the cut.

tom and merope

it's worth starting by emphasising that the series never thinks of tom sr. as a victim. it treats love potions as benign and broadly amusing [the only time we ever see someone under the influence of one - ron in half-blood prince - it's played for laughs], describes merope's drugging of tom sr. as something she would consider "romantic", and never acknowledges that she was his rapist.

[although it is important to point out that the fanon that voldemort's issues with love come from the circumstances of his conception is something jkr never said. and i also think that it's important, when thinking about tom and merope's relationship, to recognise that all the evidence of canon is that she is subjected to incestuous sexual violence at the hands of her brother and/or father - she is an abused teenager with no meaningful understanding of consent or bodily autonomy, and she evidently views her "relationship", as she sees it, with tom as a means of escaping a life which is undeniable, unrelenting misery.]

[which is to say - i find tom and merope interesting as a pairing because of this inherent nuance, tragedy and violence.]

the series also criticises tom sr. for leaving the relationship - in line both with its broader disdain for absent fathers and idealisation of devoted mothers, and with its prioritisation of love-as-suffering and love-as-sacrifice over forms of love which are more self-indulgent. its view is evidently that tom sr. should have gritted his teeth and remained in merope's life in some way or another [maybe not as her husband, but also not as her survivor] in order to have been involved in his son's life.

indeed, it always stands out to me that - when he discussing tom sr. fleeing his abusive relationship - dumbledore refers to merope as "merope riddle". emphasising that the two were married underscores the fact that the text views tom sr. as straightforwardly unadmirable - a husband and father who abandoned his family.

[and he gets his comeuppance. i think it's worth noting that the narrative isn't sympathetic at all about his death - the opening chapter of goblet of fire, where voldemort's murder of the riddles is described, states plainly that nobody likes them - and he finds himself unable to outrun the son he left behind when that son uses his bones in his resurrection ritual... the subtext is clear: abandoning your son was the wrong move, and since good people - like james and lily - don't abandon their son even after their deaths, tom sr. is therefore a bad person.]

that both dumbledore and harry see him like this makes sense within their watsonian characterisations. harry has - as he says when lupin tries to walk out on the pregnant tonks - the view that parents should never abandon their children unless they have literally no choice, which is a perfectly understandable opinion for an orphan who lost their parents in such traumatic circumstances to hold [he also takes a very dim view on merope for dying]. dumbledore, who recognises the dangerous paths overwhelming desire can lead one down, sees himself in merope, and is therefore less willing to examine the cruelty of her actions.

voldemort also thinks of him in this vein - his view of his father, expressed during his resurrection scene in goblet of fire, is that he abandoned merope [with whom he had a consensual relationship] in a fit of pique when she confessed to him that she was a witch. voldemort thinks of his father as a deadbeat who left him to rot - and the series never takes issue with him holding this view, even as it works to prove many of the other things he believes about himself, magic, and power wrong.

tom and voldemort

the role tom sr. plays in voldemort's narrative arc, then, is pretty much unconnected to his experiences at merope's hands - he is not considered by the text to be a warning about the corrosive, oppressive, violent potential of using magic against muggles which voldemort follows his mother in doing, for example.

his role in his son's arc across the seven-book canon is to underscore that voldemort will never successfully outrun his muggle heritage - the fact that his son has his face and his name [and the fact that dumbledore, and then harry, insist on using this name for him after voldemort sheds it, which is - and we should call it what it is, especially given jkr's stance on such things - deadnaming] serves as a way for the text to criticise and humiliate voldemort, undermining his belief that he's something pure and special [and undermining his pride in his descent from slytherin] by making clear that, when all is said and done, he's just an ordinary man with a muggle father.

and so his death occurs purely to enable this narrative treatment of voldemort. he has to kill his dad - because he's trying to eradicate anything muggle from himself - and so the action becomes all about him. tom is basically just there.

but this is something i really like playing with in my own work. i always end up writing tom sr. as not only physically resembling his son - except for the fact, and i'll die on the hill that this is the canon text's intention, that voldemort has his mother's eyes - but as being the source of his mannerisms and many of his non-childhood-trauma-induced personality traits.

partially this is because i think we might as well take the series' belief that voldemort can't escape the riddle genes and go the whole hog with it.

but it's also because i think it's worth skewering the series' view of voldemort's slytherin heritage as - essentially - dooming him to be incapable of change in either positive or negative directions. the way the gaunts are described in canon - violent, unstable, grandiose etc. - is set up to suggest that voldemort gets these aspects of his personality from them, that - like the parseltongue - being a terrorist with delusions of grandeur is just something the heirs of slytherin are bound to inherit.

but i like idea of these traits coming from the less mystical branch of voldemort's lineage - and his decision to indulge them being nothing more than deliberate choice.

tom riddle sr. character notes and headcanons

which leads us to the question of what tom sr. is like as a character separate from merope and voldemort.

we only see him once in canon - where he's talking in a carrying voice to cecilia about how much land his dad owns and correctly identifying morfin as a danger to society - and he's only mentioned a handful more times: his whirlwind marriage; his return home a few months later, which he explains as him having realised he'd been "hoodwinked"; the fact that he's considered even worse than his "rich, snobbish, and rude" parents by the villagers of little hangleton in the period immediately before his death; and that he dies in his evening clothes with a look of pure terror on his face.

his gravestone in the goblet of fire film has him born in 1905, and i like this [although i push his date of birth back a couple of years in order for him to have finished university when he's attacked by merope] because it enables him to be a stereotypical "bright young thing" - the sort of dissolute aristocrat, untroubled both by his father's victorian morals and by the devastating impact of the first world war on men a decade or so older than him, whose exploits dominate our image of the roaring twenties [or - at least - the roaring twenties in britain]. at the start of 1925, before his life all goes wrong, i like him as idle, profligate, bohemian, constantly partying, a keen user of cocaine, promiscuous, vain, and incredibly rude to his servants, tradesmen, and policemen and so on - spending his days in a whirlwind of hangovers, tennis, elaborate fancy-dress balls, modern novels, dining at his club, and piles of liberated flappers, vile bodies [and jeeves and wooster...] style.

and i do think the idea of him as lazy, convinced of his own brilliance, and complacent [personality traits not helped by an education at eton and oxford - he takes a fourth, the lowest-possible passing classification, on a degree in greats - which he has neither the intellect nor the work ethic to succeed at without the power of daddy's money] offers a really interesting side to him being preyed on by merope.

i like him as someone who thinks of himself as rational, cheerfully irreligious, and far too modern and well-bred to waste his time on the silly superstitions of the boring, ordinary people in the village. him mentioning to cecilia about the stories the villagers tell about morfin can be read as him being condescendingly amused by local folklore surrounding the gaunts - a sort of "would you believe it, one of our gardeners is convinced they're wizards! too, too funny!" vibe - and i really like writing him as someone whose total rejection of the possibility of magic and conviction that the gaunts are just pitiable and disgusting, rather than dangerous [the view of the rest of the village], means that when merope offers him a glass of shimmering water he thinks "why, what a lark!" instead of running.

when he returns home, however, i imagine him as profoundly changed - paranoid, beset by nightmares, increasingly superstitious [voldemort's own rather... catholic leanings being mirrored in his father going full sebastian flyte is delicious to me], unwilling to eat or drink anything he hasn't seen prepared [one of the reasons, perhaps, why the servants at the riddle house dislike him so much], unable to go anywhere near the stables and see the horse he was riding when evil befell him, unwilling to talk to anyone or receive visitors [hence his reputation for being snobbish and rude - the villagers interpret this as him thinking them beneath him], unwilling to spend money or give gifts because he's afraid of unwittingly finding himself ensnared again [giving him a reputation for being rather miserly], and so on.

i like the idea of him becoming incredibly reclusive, losing his interest in the social life he once enjoyed overnight, and spending his days sleeping poorly and staying inside. i imagine his parents being supportive to the best of their ability, but that tom's inability to speak openly what happened to him [he, like his son, doesn't like doctors because he fears they will accuse him of being mad] means they can only do so much. their understanding of tom's marriage is the same as the rest of the village's - that tom consensually slept with merope, she told him she was pregnant, he "did the right thing" and married her, and he then discovered she was lying.

[he knows - of course - that she was pregnant, and he is convinced in his bones that the child will one day find and destroy him...]

tom's obvious post-traumatic stress disorder would undoubtedly have been enough to exempt him from conscription when the second world war broke out - although, of course, his medical unfitness wouldn't have been described in these terms.

and i think it's really interesting to consider how this would be received in the village - especially since the riddles would have gone out of their way to conceal his mental state from the public [hence their performance of the rituals of aristocratic life - including taking their dinner in full evening dress - even after he comes home a changed man]. i really like the idea of the general view being that - unlike the ordinary, hard-working men of little hangleton - tom managed to buy his way out of service [not only in the army but also on the home front], and that, to be quite honest, it was no wonder wounded war-hero frank bryce snapped and killed him.

which is a nice segue into the fact that frank bryce/tom riddle sr. is a concept i've recently become completely convinced by. frank staying in the riddle house after he's eliminated as a suspect in the riddles' deaths is something i find really quite moving - not only because of what it says about the disconnect between the historical memory many brits have of the war and the war's reality that a disabled veteran would find himself with nowhere else to go, but because it must indicate a genuine affection for the riddles which nobody else shared. the garden bringing some comfort to tom sr. on his worst days triggering a solemn, steadfast love for him in frank [requited or not] which endured past his death really compels me.

[and i also think that frank having some deeper connection with tom sr. - rather than just being his gardener - provides a more satisfactory explanation for why voldemort uses him as a horcrux murder than we get in canon. voldemort seeing - in his father's mind or frank's - that the two were entangled in some way would only increase his fury that tom sr. abandoned him and his mother...]

i'm also hugely convinced by the potential of shipping tom sr. with dumbledore. i don't particularly like stories in which voldemort is collected from the orphanage and raised by his father - firstly, because most of the things i find interesting about him are so heavily rooted in his orphanhood, and secondly, because i think that tom sr.'s move would be to place his son as the ward of someone he felt certain he could pay to keep quiet rather than bringing him up himself. but i can see dumbledore becoming aware of a magical child lurking in a london orphanage years earlier than in canon, having some sort of misguided belief that he should track down said child's family, turning up on the doorstep of the riddle house with a sinister toddler glowering in his arms, and insinuating himself into tom sr.'s life in a way which is either very funny or very dark.

cecilia is also an incidental character i'm unjustifiably obsessed with. i like her as tom's casual girlfriend in 1925 - with neither of them imagining for a second that the relationship will ever be serious - who then turns into the only friend from his glamorous set who remains in contact with him when he comes home.

and - i'm afraid to say - the plot-bunny of cecilia deciding to try and unravel the mystery of what's made tom so ill and scouring london orphanages until she discovers tom jr. has now bounced into my head... joining the other tom sr. fic i would pay cash to see, a rebecca-style caper where the second mrs riddle is haunted everywhere she goes by the spectre of merope...

#asks answered #asenora meta #tom riddle sr #merope gaunt

[thetwelfthcrow]

this post is literally for me and like 5 dutch girlies only but i hate viaplay with soooo much of my body and i've been praying for their downfall daily and...

it's been working.

okay context for anyone who cares: ziggo used to own the rights to f1 in the NL. they didn't do a 10/10 job, but they were fun. the interviews are iconic, drivers just liked them, hell i still see clips/gifs with that bright orange ziggo mic every day. sure, jack asked questions that weren't always fitting and may have made drivers uncomfortable from time to time - my biggest annoyance w him - and olav wasn't flawless in his commentary. but they understood the most important thing in the content they made:

f1 is supposed to be entertaining.

i've said before - but that's a whole other post - that stefano domenicali should take this sport more seriously as a sport and that reporters should take it less seriously and see it as entertainment.

ziggo understood that. with formula one cafe before and after each race to talk with fellow dudes about the race: they knew people wanted to be entertained and they did that. there was beer on the table, champagne when max won the championship, they had a special dude to show everyone memes about f1, they had guys that truly understood f1 (former drivers like robert doornbos, giedo van de garde, tom and unfortunately tim coronel and some other dudes who came too rarely for me to remember names) or other types of motorsport (hello jeffrey herlings!) but mostly: they had fun. robert doornbos, guy w great sense of humour but also a big ego lmao, took the piss on host rob kampues who also took the piss on robert doornbos. they just didn't take everything too seriously: they provided entertainment.

now viaplay.

in comes viaplay, start of 2022 season. prices were €10 per month at the time. viaplay was new to everyone: it didn't exist in the NL prior to this. they, aside from f1, also barely had anything on their platform. bit by bit came shows, but, like, nothing too spectacular.

viaplay started off wrong on all accounts. where ziggo f1 cafe was a place with one long table where people sat, beer on the table, a bar in the background and a few people sitting all around (left photo), viaplay's studio looked horribly cold. bright bright lights (a hospital has a more cozy vibe) and the hosts were standing (right photo).

they also got the most humourless people. i mentioned giedo before and, sorry my guy, i've never caught you making a joke before. and christijan alberts - also former f1 driver - is soooo full of himself and also doesn't have a sense of humor. so anyway. i very quickly decided to only use viaplay for the race and turn it on not sooner than the formation lap and not later than 'we're going back to the studio' was even fully said.

eventually, they did move to a table where they sat at but the vibes were still all off. a fridge is warmer. a freezer is warmer. (before anyone comes at me: i like amber ok. she's doing her best. she's been given absolutely shit context to work in. she really rises to the occasion when she's with literally anyone else. that video with max and jos and mika and whatever? she was spicy there. so good. but noooo they but self-centered mansplainer christijan and can't make a joke giedo and ego too big for the room tim coronel next to her. can't expect someone to work when they've got broken tools ok).

they hire commentators who keep literally sucking max's dick in their commentaries. he cannot do anything wrong in their eyes. if he does they blame it on something else. look. olav wasn't objective, but he was just a man with a hobby who got a platform. christijan alberts who literally criticised ziggo for being too subjective about max is literally sitting at that desk in viaplay watching two guys with HORRIBLE voices* talk overly loving about max even when the guy just does his thing. hilarious.

*how! and i really emphasize how!!!! can you hire people with horrible voices when their PRIMARY TASK is to be listened to. why did no one think, huh. these guys are not pleasant to listen to. maybe we should NOT put them in the commentary box.

god i've never in the past year and a half seen, like, a clip from a viaplay interview bc the question was funny or the interviewer joked around. the drivers are funny on their own but when nothing sparks them we'll get the same answer in seven different interviews in the media pen that no one wants. let alone the drivers.

but those are things, like, sure. whatever.

then they added a sponsorship: i think a sports betting place. 'this broadcast was sponsored by' or whatever. i do not pay €10 per month to watch ads. i pay it to be ad free. it's the basis of a subscription.

why would they need ads, you ask?

well viaplay has terrible priorities. as seen before, but they chose one even worse priority.

they sponsor max, prominently.

that decision alone is fine! right. no issues there. but not when you can't really afford it. not at the expense of your subscribers. not when i would personally fund max's sponsorship. i'll buy merch ok! fuck off!

BUT NOW COMES THE FUN PART.

viaplay has been steadily losing subscribers! we love to hear it!

in 2022 they made a €60 million profit. in 2023 they're losing €570 million euros. losing. five hundred and seventy. million. they're firing a quarter of their employees.

gee! i wonder what choices you could make to better prioritise this and to keep bringing quality content you aim for and ---

they decide to rise their subscription prices.

€16 per month. that's a 60% raise (right?). bro.

and! they're cutting off all the other series they had on viaplay and now primarily focus on sport. they're closing their Polish, Canadian US and UK departments (you're not missing anything).

rumours had spread that maybe they'd need to sell the rights to f1 for 2024 but unfortunately they said that wasn't necessary. rn they still have 7 million subscribers. why are you people still subscribed. f1tv is cheaper and even there you can listen to the horrible voices of those two commentators who's names i never bothered to remember.

simplest thing for them would be to stop sponsoring max lmao. but they'll lose literally all relevance then so i doubt they ever will. cancelling and moving onto f1tv was the best decision i ever made. praying for their downfall too. can't wait to see my besties rob kamphues and certified cheater (but at least he's got a sense of humour!) robert doornbos talking about the race and jack plooij joking around with the dudes and olav mol being interrupted in his monologue because max decided to be a little shit again. they were passionate about the sport. everything they did lived and breathed the whole if-you-like-your-work-you'll-never-work-a-day-in-your-life thing. they had fun! jack plooij is a literal dentist who just likes f1 so he somehow rolled into the pit reporter job. rob kamphues is a comedian. they all had their love for f1 in common and were just fanboying on live television and that was fun.

i just miss ziggo man.

#zhalia's lil' chit chat #i'm passionate about viaplays downfall ok #f1 just isn't the same without ziggo. #viaplay #anti viaplay RAGE post

[youlackconviction]

Honestly I disagree with you guys and what makes me uncomfortable isn’t questioning my own opinions - I don’t care enough about Loki to be made uncomfortable by my thoughts on him - but more the fact that a group of people sitting here stewing like this over a few hours of television with most of that stewing rage directed at women is really fucking unsettling. It’s MRA energy.

*sigh*

quick question for you bestie: if you don't care much about LOKI, what are you doing on my blog? cos my blog is literally only serving takes in support of LOKI... 24/7. seems like it'd be boring reading for you, chum

aside from that...

stop treating "women" like we (yes, we, that's right, i am one) are too fragile and precious to receive any kind of negative opinions, feedback, thoughts, or criticism. it's belittling and insulting.

if you look at the proportion of male vs female that have received criticisms on my blog, by my count we are at 11 male to 5 female*. so i'm not really seeing your misogyny point being borne out by any actual evidence? but go off, i guess.

let people have opinions on things. let people like things and let people dislike things.

true facts - i wouldn't give a shit about a character called sylvie existing except that she was used to obliterate a character that i love. i didn't give a shit about a woman named sophia being hired to portray that character until she started saying real-world things that i found arrogant or offensive. even so, i've never endorsed or incited actual harm against her because that's sick disgusting behaviour, but i don't have to pretend to LIKE her or APPROVE of everything that comes out of her mouth. i can say that i think she doesn't have the first clue who LOKI is or what his story is actually about. i can say that i wish she leaves the MCU and her character dies permanently. i can say that i wish she would shut up talking about LOKI - and about tom too - and stick to her own character in interviews. i can say that i didn't find her performance convincing or plausible, and that i fully believe she was a very weak link in an otherwise strong and experienced cast; who apparently only got the role through being kate's bestie from a previous project. yes i understand how connections work in an industry. but i also understand overlooking those connections if your buddy just isn't right for the role. and i've seen more experienced and talented directors (keywords) pass their mates over in favour of a better fit for the project. i wish they'd done it this time too (not that it could have saved the show but maybe i wouldn't hate her character so much if she'd been played differently. we will never know.)

anyhow.

if my "stewing rage" lol unsettles you so much - you're totally welcome to stop reading my takes? like, you're coming at me via anon so i literally have no clue who you even are, it's not as if i'd even notice if you block me? and, if you want to keep reading, you're welcome to do that too? whether you agree with me or not. you can even invite arguments with me about some of my opinions, if that blows your hair back. but seriously... the name-calling is a little weak. if you want to insult me, do your research and pick something that can actually stick. /advice

appendix:

*11 males who have been criticised on my blog mike waldron eric martin taika waititi kevin feige mobius m mobius odin borson thor odinson heimdall fandral hogun volstagg

*5 females who have been criticised on my blog kate herron sophia dimartino sylvie laufeydottir frigga sif

#in defense of loki #shameless loki apologism #marvel hates loki and tom #anon hate

[moonlightdancer26]

"Give me proof"

the proof is literally right there. vyrid defended her bitch of a friend instead of holding her accountable for her hurtful words and had multiple arguments with itsevanffs but she never specified what it was about to "not escalate the deal." No lmao it's because she lost the argument She also said in a tomarry discord server that she got BLOCKED by duplicitywrites when they asked her about what happened. There was no misunderstanding. it was just her seeking drama.

Sooo, let’s see. You’re still anonymous. You’ve managed to reach out to one of vyrid’s friends, call vyrid a bitch, insult me for being friends with her, send another ask gathering supposed proof (gathering proof about someone? How pathetic can you be? 💀), call ANOTHER friend of vyrid’s a bitch, all while STILL remaining anonymous. Can you not comprehend how utterly farcical you look right now? This is genuine fan behaviour, come off anon and have a civil discussion with us, or are you scared?

1. Her friend’s post was a huge misunderstanding, it can certainly be interpreted as rude or harsh, but her friend didn’t mean to hurt any ff authors, they love Tom and wanted to post something for his birthday. If I had seen a post like that about my favourite character posted on their birthday, I’d be like “hey.. tone it down a bit.” But a few really big Tomarry blogs reblogged it and criticised OP for it and since they’re really popular blogs the post got more attention. And because of that, some people were straight up harassing her for it, even if their post came off as a bit unnecessary, that was no reason for countless people to hate on them for it. @vyrid could tell the hate was really getting to her friend, so out of basic human decency (take a few lessons on that topic, will ya?) she decided to defend her friend and CLARIFY what they actually meant. I distinctly remember Vivi herself telling me that it was a “50/50 post” (meaning that it can be interpreted as mean) or something along those lines. Her friend was genuinely scared when they saw how many popular blogs were reblogging their post. It would’ve been better if they made a somewhat less negative post about Tommy on his 96th birthday, but there was no reason for them to receive that much hate for it.

2. “had multiple fights with itsevanffs” Where the hell are you getting the “multiple” from? It was just that one time, which merely consisted of perfunctory back-and-forth’s. She DMed them and tried to discuss the situation with her friend’s post as civilly as she could. Did you go through every screenshot and post they’ve ever interacted through? I wouldn’t think so (unless you actually are as insane as you seem), so don’t act like you’ve grasped every single possible ounce of information there is to know about this incident just by lurking in the shadows like a coward.

3. “but she never specified what it was about to "not escalate the deal."” ..sorry she didn’t reveal every detail of “tHe DrAmA” publicly so others could see it and possibly escalate it?? “no lmao it's because she lost the argument” Do you even know what all these supposed multiple fights were about? Were you involved in any way? No? So mind your own fucking business.

4. “She also said in a tomarry discord server that she got BLOCKED by duplicitywrites when they asked her about what happened.” Because.. that’s what happened?? The members of the server saw what was happening and asked her about it, and she told them. Did she lie? 💀

5. “There was no misunderstanding.” So you’re telling me the Tomarry stan who loves Tom Riddle with all of their heart was purposefully hating on something related to him and completely meant to hurt other fans and writers? Mhm, makes total sense. I trust your words SO much, Anonymous Person With Too Much Free Time.

6. “it was just her seeking drama.” Seeking drama? She was literally defending her friend, her friend was being hated on by countless blogs for something they didn’t mean to come off as bad. And she went out of her way to privately message one of the people “involved” to reiterate what her friend meant. What else was she supposed to do? Some of us are actually good friends, anon. 💀

7. Also.. even if what you’ve said is true… @vyrid is a real person? Vyrid has actual feelings? Vyrid is a living, breathing person who is allowed one mistake. She obviously isn’t the token of all that is good and pure, but she has a heart. You’re a little too bold considering you’re an anon who’s checked out my blog at least four times.

8. Additionally, you never addressed what I wrote the previous time: How do you even know I followed her? She posted about it and I reblogged it, are you just stalking our blogs because you’re a pathetic coward hiding behind their computer with no life? 🤔 I still have the same questions, how do you even know about this? Do you follow Vivi, or even me? Or do you simply check her blog consistently each time you open tumblr to see if there’s “any news”?

Can you answer all these statements whilst not being anonymous, can you do that or are you a pussy?

@halfblood-princes-crown I’m tagging you here too cause you NEED to see anon’s fangirling 💀

#imagine thinking you can come into my inbox and insult my friends #yeah you won’t get away with that #don’t bother me or any of my friends again you asshole <3 #ask #asks

[thisisjustmefangirling]

Merlin rewatch, 1x06 : “A remedy to cure all ills”

This time I haven’t really taken notes while I was watching, so instead I’ll criticise the episode by talking about the characters.

Gaius : 

This episode is really good to bring up with more depth what happened during the Great Purge, and Gaius’ attitude and morals, both back then and during this episode, and lemme tell you, that man is shady.

He apparently stood by and let Uther murder people exactly like him, who were using magic.

We’ve already seen that he can still do a bit of magic, like when he used a spell for the antidote to the poison Merlin drank to save Arthur’s life; here he tries to use magic again, to attack Edwin, and fails. His magic does not manifest.

It’s really interesting to see that Edwin, before even trying to kill Uther, starts by discrediting Gaius, getting him kicked out of his position of physician. Of course, it allows Edwin to get closer to Uther so he can poison and kill him, but being a physician is almost all that Gaius has in life; except for Merlin.

And here lies my biggest issue : Gaius confesses to Merlin that Merlin is like a son to him. But he also says, in another scene, that he refuses to choose between Uther and Merlin. So Gaius loves Uther (a tyrant, murderer, who committed genocide) as much as he loves sweet Merlin ? Yes, at this point, Merlin has been in his life only for a few months (I guess), and he’s served Uther all his life. 

Gaius even asks Merlin to save Uther’s life by risking his own, using magic to remove the magical insects from Uther’s brain.

The fact he goes to visit the Great dragon, discusses Merlin’s destiny, and discusses the past with Geoffrey shows how much of his past he’s buried but still keeps in mind.

I never thought anything of Gaius when I was a teenager watching the show for the first time. He was the mentor, the father figure, the Yoda, the Dumbledore. But since then I’ve realised how shady Dumbledore and him are, and I can’t wait to rewatch more episodes and criticise him even more.

Arthur : 

Arthur has no important role in this episode, he is mostly anxious to save Morgana, insisting that Edwin be heard and examines her; and then he’s in a panic when his father seems to be suffering from the same evil as Morgana. This episode shows how much he cares about his family.

My favourite scene is when he’s in his chambers with Merlin, who’s pacing, thinking about Morgana.

“Merlin. You’re making me anxious”.

“But I’m not worried”.

“Then stop. Pacing.”

They spend time together. By the fire. In the evening. Sweet.

Merlin : 

Merlin shows he cares about Morgana and once again wants to use magic to save her, which shows he hasn’t really learnt from what happened when he saved Tom and Gwen was accused of witchcraft. He’s still rather young and innocent, wants to do what is right. He’s fascinated by Edwin’s equipment, and thrilled when he can show off his magic without fear.

Edwin was right about one thing : Merlin’s gift should not be hidden but practiced, encouraged, celebrated, and he needs someone to teach him. Sadly, Gaius won’t be a very good teacher. Except for the lies. Merlin will learn from Gaius that he must lie.

Gaius is good for Merlin as a father figure, because it’s true that Merlin has the fire and recklessness of youth and must be reined in sometimes.

In this episode, he murders Edwin with an axe, by reversing the spell Edwin used against him to animate the object. It sounded rather gruesome. 

Plot hole : they never mention finding Edwin’s body with an axe in it ? Do they, what, think he disappeared ?

Gwen :

Gwen is very sweet to Morgana, and also not blind. She doesn’t trust Edwin, clearly, and wants to stay by Morgana’s side. Adorable.

Morgana : 

If people could stop targeting her to use her to their ends, that would be lovely, thanks.

Edwin :

Damn dude you were clever and sort of right about this but also wrong because Morgana was innocent, and your parents were practicing DARK magic ? I pity you for seeing your parents burn, though.

#bbc merlin #merlin rewatch #bbc merlin season one

[semper-legens]

50. The Last Confession of Thomas Hawkins, by Antonia Hodgson

Owned: No, library Page count: 371 My summary: Thomas Hawkins is in trouble. He’s in a cart, on his way to Tyburn to hang for murder. As he’s paraded through the streets to the jeering of the crowd, he’s hoping for a royal pardon. Days earlier, he was summoned to the chambers of the Queen to perform a job for her. A job that became so much more complicated when his hated neighbour was murdered - and the prime suspect was Tom himself. But with only moments remaining before that noose tightens around his neck, Tom begins to suspect that he’s not going to get out of this one... My rating: 5/5 My commentary:

Back to this series! And I'm still loving it. There's just something about the Georgian setting that I absolutely adore. I know the 18th and the 19th century are not actually that far removed, but after the slew of historical novels set in the late Victorian period, seeing literally anything else feels like a breath of fresh air. Which is helped by how well-researched the setting was! I didn't come across anything that jibed with my historical knowledge (though 18th century England is not my forte) and it's clear that the author is a huge nerd for the 18th century. She includes a bibliography and some historical notes detailing the real people who show up in this novel, and the real inspirations she was drawing from in order to create this narrative. And it's very welcome, because I am enamoured with this series.

Oh, Thomas Hawkins. You really are the fucked up little man of my heart. After his release from the notorious Marshalsea, Tom moved with Kitty to Sam Fleet's old shop, selling certain literature to interested (and discreet) gentlemen. But he's bored. He longs for adventure, and gets it when he accepts a deal from James Fleet to do some work for him. Which leads him to an audience with the Queen. Yeah, Tom's in over his head, and it's worse news yet - his neighbour, who he was seen very publicly threatening, has been murdered. And he's the most likely suspect. Tom has to work fast to both find a solution to the Queen's problems and his own before he's charged with murder. This is a character at his best when he's most desperate, and we definitely see him pushed to the edge here. I like that Tom has realistic reactions to things - he's not Superman, when he gets chained to a wall by his wrists he's in pain, he makes bad choices and bad judgement calls, he gets himself into more trouble than he can talk his way out of. He's a very full, very flawed person, and that's interesting! I do have to criticise, though, that Kitty feels more of an accessory for Tom than a character in her own right, though Tom's attempts to shield her from trouble and his paternalistic attitude are shown as flaws of his character, so the narrative is at least addressing it.

The actual plot here takes two strands - one, court intrigue as the King's mistress is having some problems with her husband demanding money, and two, the aforementioned murder. Tom has to find a solution to the first and solve the second before too long, because it's only the Queen's favour that's keeping him alive. Obviously, the stakes are high, and Tom gets increasingly frantic as time goes on. His enemies keep piling up, and his friends are few. And the mystery itself is intriguing. The house was locked, so who could have killed the neighbour? There were four people in the house - a maid, his son, his daughter, and his apprentice, all of whom had good motivation. But there's also a hidden passage between Tom's home and the neighbour's, which Tom is desperate not to let anyone find out. Everyone is a suspect, but there are more twists and turns than meets the eye in this mystery. I won't spoil it, but it kept me guessing straight up to the end. By contrast, the courtly plot is a lot simpler, and mostly consists of Tom being put in Situations by fate itself, almost. Not that this isn't just as fun to read. Poor guy.

Look, I'm just going to admit it. I have a morbid fascination with the history of executions - I'm English, my country hasn't had the death penalty for as long as I've been alive, and I am deeply interested both with how such a thing worked historically and attitudes around it today. This book revolves around Tom being hanged for murder. He's on his way to the gallows in the book's opening, and each part begins with a new stage of his journey, as he begins to panic that he won't be reprieved after all. And he isn't. Only through Kitty bribing the hangman was he saved - he was hanged until unconscious, but cut down before he could die. The slow march to the gallows, and Tom's changing mood throughout, makes for grippingly tense reading. It's a foregone conclusion that he will be convicted of murder, but will he live to tell the tale? Adding to that is the fact that the account we are reading was written by Tom in the condemned cell just before his execution, which then picks up after he survives. It's a clever narrative device that really adds to the experience. The stages in bringing Tom to the gallows, apparently authentic, are interesting - the pageantry on display as Tom is paraded through the streets, chained in a cart, and ritualistically offered wine before finally arriving at Tyburn, really shows that the point of such a penalty was to display those convicted of crimes moreso than actual punishment. It's interesting, if terrible.

Next up, still in the realm of history, and the story of a reviled king.

#The Last Confession of Thomas Hawkins #Antonia Hodgson #bookblr #book blog #book blogging #5

[viviennes-tears]

The affair (Tom Hiddleston, X reader & Original female character one shot)

18+ blog: It is YOUR responsibility, as a reader, to think about the content that you consume at your own discretion.

Prompt requested by MTR222: Can you write Tom having an affair please?

A/N: Thank you to MTR222 for being so patient and understanding whilst waiting for me to write your prompt. Sorry it took so long, but I hope it doesn't disappoint, and thank you for helping me work through some details for the prompt.

Also prompts haven't been reopened yet. This one was actually requested last year before the temporary closure, however I will let you know when prompt requests are to be reopened soon.

~

Summary: Ever since Tom and yourself said "I do" it opened the floodgates to all of your problems. What would normally be considered as little marital spats between a couple wasn't what is going on between the two of you. It feels beyond that by this point. It doesn't help when you're constantly criticising him and getting under his skin. Only the bitter cloud is lifted when you catch Tom having an affair with another woman in the bed you share with him.

Warnings: Adultery, smut, unprotected sex, rough sex, dirty talk, criticism, failing marriage, divorce and strong language 

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

"I asked you to do one thing and you couldn't even do that!" You screeched in Tom's face.

"No, you didn't! All you said to me this morning was that you had a meeting!" Tom shouted back defensively.

"Yeah, then I asked you to pick my Dad up from the airport!" You threw your hands up with exasperation.

"Well if you did then it must have been while I was in the shower or something?! He then ran his fingers through his hair, as he took a deep breath to compose himself, and his jaw twitched while he tried to bite his tongue from saying anything he might regret. You just huffed and crossed your arms over your chest. Evidently you're still very angry with him.

These arguments between you are getting beyond just little spats that married couples have, because no matter what Tom did or didn't do you criticised him, irritably getting under his skin constantly. Every little thing you said hurt him deeply, it's like for some unknown reason to him that you're creating a wedge between you, no matter how hard he tries to get on your good side. Also it was clear to both of you that marriage was a problem, maybe even THE problem. Sure you both had disagreements in the past whilst you were only dating, but not long after saying "I do" was when the bigger issues started brewing. Hell even your honeymoon wasn't as spectacular as either of you imagined it to be.

"Welcome, Mrs Hiddleston to our very own private party!" Tom said suggestively, while he stood in the middle of the living room area, and he held his arms out to exaggerate his excitement with how luxurious the honeymoon suite is.

"Wow!" You gasp with amazement in your eyes. The door slightly bangs to a close behind you, as you lean back onto it, as you're taken back by how lovely the suite is. You hadn't even seen everything...yet.

"Ehehe, only the best for you my darling." He says and approaches you quickly to kiss you on the lips. Instantly you wrap your arms around his neck and melt into the kiss.

KNOCK, KNOCK!

"What's that?" You ask with a slight panic to your voice.

"I ordered us some champagne and strawberries...you know like in Pretty Woman." He hastily answers the door before you can say anything, but you move to the side to allow the waiter entry.

The waiter wheels the little trolley into the room once the door is opened, as he greets you both with a friendly voice, and a matching smile too. He leaves the trolley over by the bar as instructed by Tom. Tom then tips the waiter before he leaves and places a 'do not disturb' sign over the handle once he's gone. Next Tom is grinning from ear to ear as he's at the bar pouring the champagne into the glasses. Although you've barely moved away from your spot near the door, as you're too busy mulling over Tom's choice of words.

"For you..." He says handing you a glass, but you don't take it. "What's wrong, love?" He asks, as his eyebrows knit together with concern in his beautiful blue eyes.

"Just thinking..." You reply with a shrug.

"About something naughty, perhaps?" Tom licks his lips and playfully bites his bottom lip in anticipation of your reply.

"No...what did you mean by, like in Pretty Woman? She was a prostitute, Tom!" You say, anger bubbling to the surface.

"Sssh, keep your voice down! Honestly this is our honeymoon, we don't want people getting the wrong impression with that kind of language!" He whispers firmly.

"What did you mean by it, Tom?" You repeat and cross your arms over your chest.

"Nothing! I ordered the champagne and the strawberries, that's all."

Despite Tom's poor choice of wording on your first night, it turned out to be the least worst thing to happen whilst on your honeymoon. Throughout the entire trip to Hawaii the pair of you bickered and spent a lot of time apart, rather than sightseeing together and making love repeatedly as planned. In fact the worst part was Tom talking to another woman at the hotel's outside bar. He said he'd wait for you there while you finished getting ready, yet you didn't expect him to be laughing and chatting up some slut when you arrived. You managed to muster a fake smile when he introduced you to her when you walked up. Although throughout dinner you gave him the silent treatment and drank a little too much to dumb the pain from seeing him with HER. Even though he tried to coax you out of your reserved state with different tactics, none seemed to work on you though. Not even when he moved his chair around the table to be closer to you, where you were in better reach, so he could run his hand along your bare thigh and squeeze it. You just slapped it away when his hand got dangerously too high, but you unleash your wrath upon him once back at the suite.

Eventually Tom treaded lightly towards you and tried to bury the hatchet by coaxing you to make up with him by kissing the corners of your mouth. However when he tried to really kiss you on the lips you pushed him away with all your might.

"Tom! This is not the time, I'm mad at you! I asked you to pick my Dad up before I left for work!" You chastised him for even trying to make such an intimate move on you at a time like this.

"Fuck sake, Y/N! You didn't ask me to pick him up! But I'll go get him now just to make you happy!" He snapped back and then grabbed the car keys off the coffee table.

"Don't bother, I'll get him! You'll only drive to the wrong airport or something!" You snatched the car keys and stormed out. The front door banged shut behind you as you left.

"FUCK!" Tom yelled and knocked over a lamp in frustration. The bulb smashed upon impact with the wooden floorboards.

Shortly after you left Tom began to pace up and down the length of the living room until he calmed down somewhat. When he finally stopped his pacing he grabbed his phone from the table that the lamp had once occupied too and then he typed out a text.

"I need to see you," it said.

"Did she say something?" Came the knowing reply after a few minutes of him impatiently waiting.

"Yeah...please come over 🥺 She'll be gone for a couple of hours at least." He begged.

"I'll be right over 😘"

Keira always knew when you had a fight and she'd always rush to his side to comfort him. He was grateful to have her in his life, because she kept him grounded and made him feel as though he wasn't a waste of space. She genuinely cared for him and reassured him of any seeds of doubts that you sowed into his brain. She makes him happy.

Of course you know Keira and considered her as a friend ever since you met her at a mutual friend's birthday party. Although you have no idea exactly how close Tom and her actually are, nor the amount of times he's turned to her for comfort, just like he's doing now.

Once Tom saw headlights he headed outside and rushed over to pull Keira into his arms tightly. He inhaled her familiar and comforting scent, as she reached up on her tippy-toes and held him back just as tight. It pained her every time she saw his sad little face on the verge of tears after the fights. She couldn't understand why you treated him the way you do, she thought you were lucky to be married to such a sweet and caring man. Nor could she understand how last time you turned the argument from Tom forgetting to do the laundry to making it about his 'bad sexual performance in bed'. It was a complete 180 turn and that night Keira proved his doubts, claiming he was the best sex she's ever had, she also came repeatedly around his cock with his name escaping her lips in a pleasured cry.

"Come, my love." Keira said softly, after pulling away and caressing his cheek lovingly, then she took him by the hand and led him back inside.

As soon as the door was closed behind them Tom pushed Keira against it, caging her there with his firm and lean body, leaning his head down and his soft lips crashing against hers. Clearly he wants to forget for a while. The kiss was heated and hungry almost as if he was going to consume her completely. She groaned into his mouth which allowed him to deepen the kiss further, his tongue fighting for control over her own, while his fingers stroked her sides under her top.

"Tommy..."

"Hush, darling, no talking. Not now." Tom growled warningly with his finger over her slightly parted lips.

Which so happened to be what Tom said the very same night that they began this whole love affair at the Golden Globes a year ago.

"Hush, darling, no talking. Not now." Tom growled warningly, as his head lent down to her, his lips inches away from hers.

Without another word spoken Tom's lips crashed against Keira's. The kiss was fierce and hungry, while his fingers stroked the exposed skin on her sides through the cutouts in her dress, and she held tightly onto his suit lapels. As he then deepened the kiss she moaned into his mouth giving him the opportunity to slip his tongue past her red painted lips. Their tongues danced around inside her mouth and both craved the taste of the other. Once their lips parted Keira panted heavily with her head resting on the wall of the secluded and dimly lit area backstage. Tom then began to attack her neck, peppering it with kisses and little nips. As he did so she wrapped her arms around his neck, she began massaging the nape with one hand, and brushing her fingers of her other hand through his curls simultaneously. Neither of them had planned to sneak off like this, but they'd been feeling a deep attraction for some time now, an attraction that they could no longer deny to the other. So this seemed like the perfect time for him to be alone with her. He needed the space from you, as tonight was meant to be about his possible win, and not your sour face after a petty argument before arriving for the ceremony. He needed her badly, he needed to feel loved for a change, as evident in the bulge in his tightening trousers, which she could feel pressed against her heated core.

Tom couldn't keep his hands to himself as the fire blazed inside his belly and her wanton moans spurred him on too. As he continued to kiss her swollen red lips roughly, and pawed at every inch of her clothed body with greed, he felt like he would cum in his trousers like an embarrassed teenager if he didn't have her right now.

"Fuck, Keira!" He growled, as their lips parted again.

He then reached for his belt to unblock it and undo his trousers before pushing them and his boxers down just enough for his manhood to spring free. He looked like a man who's possessed as he scooped her up into his arms and her back pressed firmly back on the wall. His eyes never left hers as she remained silent, as his hands lifted the hem of her dress, and then he pushed her knickers to the side before he plundered into her cave.

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

Later

You sigh as you lean against the door. Your entire body is aching after the day you've had and the car ride with your Dad was no picnic either. When you managed to push off and away from the door you ascended the stairs, but when you got to the top you heard a strange strangled grunt. Your eyebrow furrowed with confusion and curiously you opened your bedroom door to investigate. Instantly upon opening the door your jaw dropped, however you clasped a hand over your mouth, as you saw Tom's strong back glistening with sweat while he's balls deep inside another woman from behind. For whatever reason you were glued to the spot watching him mercilessly pound in and out of her, with his hands possessively holding her hips, his fingers sure to leave marks on her delicate skin. She mewled like you never experienced when Tom slept with you. It seemed as though he was different with her, more animalistic, more needy or that he was more domineeringly sexy.

"Ahh...FUCK...oh, yes...ahh..." Tom cried with a throaty groan.

"Oh g-god...Tommy! Ahhh...I-I gonna..."

"N-not yet...ugh...fuck...you can take more." He then starts stimulating her clit roughly in time with his thrusts.

That's when the trance of you watching the pair going at it finally broke. Tears sprung from your eyes and began to stain your cheeks, as you closed the door with a soft click, neither of them had heard you though as they were finally coming undone with his permission. All you could do was get out of there. So you ran out to the car and then you were speeding down the road. Your tears were obstructing your view and your body was shaking, albeit you didn't care, you needed to distance yourself from what you'd just witnessed. Your husband fucking some other woman behind your back.

"How could he? How could he sleep with someone else in our bed? How long has he been seeing her? She sounded...familiar?" You thought and your bottom lip quivered, as you couldn't stop crying and your eyes were puffy too from rubbing them so much.

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

A few days later

You've been avoiding Tom's calls and texts since you caught him in your bed with another woman. This space was what you needed to be able to go through your thoughts and do what's best for yourself. You needed out of this crumbling mess of a marriage. Now you have actually face him to get it over with. Also you feel anxious and your palms are a little sweaty as you park the car on the driveway, with a continued matura in your mind reminding you that you need to do this. You need to get him to sign the divorce papers.

After stepping out of the car with the divorce papers in hand you stare at the outside of the place you once called home, it made you feel worse, almost sickening to be back so soon. You took a shaky deep breath in an attempt to collect yourself together, before slowly making it to the front door, and letting yourself inside.

"Darling?" Came Tom's voice suddenly, as his head popped out from around the kitchen door. "Y/N, you're home! Where have you been?! I've been trying to get hold of you! No one would tell me where you were or let me talk to you. I've been so worried." He says with genuine concern and he tries to hug you, but you step back before he can.

"Don't...don't touch me." You manage to say with a lump forming in your throat.

"Y/N, talk to me, please. I know we had a fight, but we need to talk." He pleads with puppy dog eyes.

"Y-you...can start by telling me who you've been sleeping with behind my back." Your head hangs low, as you wrap your arms around yourself, the envelope in your hand slightly crumpling in the progress.

His eyebrows frown with a nervous chuckle escaping his lips. "I haven't slept with anyone. How could you accuse me of such a thing, an affair of all things!" The crack in his voice was how he always sounded when he was lying, even without it you knew he was lying. You'd seen them.

"How could I!? How could YOU!?" You say bitterly, courage taking hold of you as your body straightened. "I know you're lying, Tom, I saw you! I saw you...I saw you having sex with HER in our bed. After I picked up my Dad from the airport I endured a lecture from him about our marriage.....I defended you, because I loved you...when I got home I saw you with HER. Who is she, Tom?!"

The game was up as evident on his face. He had been caught and whatever he says would only confirm the guilt which was now written on his face. Tom sighed regretfully with his face looking as though it had aged by a few years within the last 5.5 seconds.

"I-I never intended to hurt you. I loved you too...just marriage...," he shakes his head dismissively, "marriage hasn't been kind to us. At least it hasn't been kind to me." He stuffs his hands into his jeans' pockets. "Keira..."

"Keira..." You parroted as it slowly dawned on you that you knew the voice crying his name. "Keira! How-how long?!" You say sniffling while trying to fight back your tears.

"For a year." He confirms easily, and you shake your head dismissively at how easy it was for him to say, also a sudden need to be seated snicks in. So you do to fight away the dizziness and your tears begin to roll down your cheeks. "I never wanted you to find out this way...," he kneels in front of you and he tries to hold your hands, but you pull them out of reach.

"Are you sure?! Because why would you invite her over after our fight, and then sleep with her in our bed, unless you wanted to be caught?!"

"I didn't!" Tom snaps back, but quickly realises that raising his voice won't help. Next he stands to give you a bit of breathing space as you continue to cry. "I...we've been unhappy for a long time and I can't take back what I did." He sighs again. "I did love you, Y/N, so much at one time...yet it's like marriage changed us. You hurt me first..."

"You're right...we haven't been happy....I used to be a lot of fun. Our marriage sucked the life out of me, Tom. I-I want a divorce." You say and finally bring attention to the envelope that housed the divorce papers inside. His eyes direct down to the envelope you're playing with in your hands before you settle it down on the coffee table.

"So...it's over?" Tom asks rhetorically with his own tears forming.

He wasn't lying about loving you, nor about worrying about where you'd been, he isn't a monster, even though you still had yet to divulge that information. However, it was clear that you won't tell him, he didn't need to know, because in a few short moments it would be officially none of his business anyway.

Tom soon gathers enough strength to sign the papers nonetheless he signed with a shaky hand. Once the divorce papers were signed and sealed he handed them back to you. This is it. You were just a chapter in his life and not an entire book.

Tom Hiddleston Masterlist

Source: @viviennes-tears​

#the affair #tom hiddleston #one shot #prompt request #smut #tom hiddleston/reader #Tom Hiddleston/Original Female Character #viviennes-tears

[kaiserkeller]

since you're kind of the klaus expert here, what is klaus like as a person? is he as angelic as he appears?

i love this question!!

i would say that, overall, he is a genuinely lovely person. he comes across to me as patient, kind, and generous. and the greatest part is, he hasn’t changed as he’s gotten older. i find that quite a few famous people either get grumpier as they get older (will i get chastised if i dare say ringo?), or they mellow out more (mike nesmith). klaus appears pretty similar across the board. i can tell that he is all these qualities because he takes time out for people — attending Beatlesfest, doing interviews for tv and magazines, making his work accessible through books — and he’s happy answering the same questions over and over again. i know i couldn’t put up with it lol. the fact that he has also kept friends for decades (like gibson kemp, mike d'abo (his soulmate) and tom mcguinness) shows he appreciates the people in his life.

but, of course, he’s human. he’s said things that have disappointed me. but i think that’s normal, and i actually quite like seeing the flaws in someone, you can judge their overall character so much better. he’s admitted himself firstly that he’s a very stubborn person, and so i imagine he’s not the nicest person to be feuding with (there were a few periods of time where he and astrid did not speak, for example). he also tends to see some things, especially regarding his old friends whom he feels loyal to, through rose-tinted glasses. he has described john and nilsson taking hard drugs and wanting to smash places up and hurt people as “a bit of fun”, which, i think we can all say, is not. he had decided when he wanted to be with rita coolidge that she was to give up her career completely if they were to be together, which i HATE, and i’m glad she dumped him straight after hahaha. he still fails to see anything wrong with phil spector, even though he used to actually bring guns into the studio and get intoxicated. same with eric clapton, he’s never criticised him. he’s very yoko apologetic; i don’t mind yoko myself now but she is definitely no angel.

weirdly, he does apparently take issue with manfred mann (musician), but i don’t know why. manfred is a blunt, slightly abrasive person at times and i can see how he could rub people up the wrong way, but he liked him a lot in the 60s. but that’s the only supposed dislike i know of. and the fact that i’m not even sure how real it is shows the extent of his good nature i’d say.

#there are probably a few more things that i haven’t agreed with in the past but i can’t think off the top of my head #even these criticisms are just mostly situations where he needed to be more analytical #he sees many things from one perspective #but i suppose that IS loyalty #i’m glad you asked me this question :))) #klaus voormann #ask

[fcb-mv33]

Sorry if you don’t care about this kind of thing but I like your take on things and I need to say it somewhere. Like you may not agree with me but I am curious of your take on Mclaren.

I don’t think Mclaren are trying to sabotage Daniel in anyway. I want to make that clear as I don’t see how it would benefit them to do so. However, I have issue with how they represent Daniel online sometimes. Like Daniel apparently had issues with the rear of his car during yesterdays race… but this is only mentioned after the end of the race and on the Mclaren app. Most people don’t seem to know this or have only learnt it after someone mentioned this. I get every team has a favourite or number 1 driver, but that doesn’t mean defend one driver and not the other - obviously we could see Lando was sick and they explained it, but literally no mention of Daniel’s issue. It bothers me more especially with the amount of abuse I’m seeing him now get. after imola was disgusting and it seems to only be getting worse for what I’ve seen. And then they have the deleted tweet which, I don’t think was meant to come across badly, was in poor taste (not sure if you saw it, but it was a where’s Waldo thing but with Daniel but when he was behind Lando and out of points… considering the deleted it, they realised how in poor taste it was).

I’d like to point out, I do like Lando (my favourite British driver) and I have nothing against him, it’s more about the team rather than him.

I also don’t think he’s gelling with Mclaren - at least not that Tom guy from what the radio messages show who he needs to so maybe he needs a new race engineer… - so while I’d love Daniel to keep driving in f1 cause he’s a good driver, I’d rather he retire or go to another team than try and stay with them (likely he won’t after 2023 anyway considering Zak really wants an American f1 driver by the way its reported and he talked about it…). Just needed to say that somewhere as most people who criticise Mclaren on here are immediately assumed to be of the opinion that “mclaren hates Daniel” which isn’t try - some people just have genuine questions about some of there actions.

Ohh okay I like this!! I will be v honest i don’t get overly involved with the drama at other teams, im a Red Bull girl they are who I’ll defend but I have been seeing the drama surrounding Mclaren.

So personally I agree, they aren’t sabotaging Daniel BUT they are also not giving him good strategies. I mean his strategy in Miami was laughable and also his quali strategies make v much no sense. I don’t like the little comments being made about Daniel from Andreas which there has apparently been a few little bad comments made. I didn’t even know Daniel had issues with the car and the fact they waited till the end to let people know is ridiculous. I have seen the abuse Daniel gets, its vile and awful and people need to realize there is only so much he can do with a car he isn’t vibing with.

I do like Lando and like you he is my favorite British driver, I think he is the driver in the team who is getting the preferred strategies ONLY because last season he really excelled in that car. I don’t like Tom at all, I don’t think he is in anyway a good engineer for Daniel but I think Daniel feels somewhat good at Mclaren and I genuinely would not see the point of them sabotaging Daniel. Every single team has a number 1 and number 2, with Mclaren they aren’t wanting Daniel out if the points each weekend…and yes maybe they are giving Lando the number 1 preferred strategies but it means nothing to them if Daniel cant get in the points, so I couldn’t see why they would sabotage him?? But they aren’t giving him good ones…and I really don’t know why unless it just them genuinely fucking up….

Honestly I think next season is Daniels last,…I don’t know where he could go and who would want him…

#anon💜 #sorry I was at work lol #also sorry its long #also I will answer anything #don’t be sorry🧡🧡 #i don’t like Zak at all #but I don’t think they would #spend all this money #just for Daniel to be outta the points #at this point Daniel is the no.2 #so Lando gets the better strategies #but they aren’t sabotaging Daniel #just not doing great #lots of love honey🧡🧡

[bellmo15-blog]

Everything Wrong With BellmoTheGreat Vol 2

-The fact that both this and the original journal were inspired by Cinema’s Sins. Specifically, there videos on Everything Wrong With… THEMSELVES! Because no movie, or person, is without sin. +1

-And speaking of Cinema Sins because I really can’t think of a better time to bring this up, I actually use to love them! Not just them but any other channel that was basically just Cinema Sins but for gaming. You know, ones like Dartigan, Charrii5, GCN, those sorts of people. Normally I’m all for people enjoying what they want but me liking these channels in particular was a sin. +2

-There’s a lot of reasons I stopped watching these channels, from the constant scene manipulation to playing dumb to make things look like they don’t make sense to repeating sins to making bad pop culture references that aren’t sins of what they were sinning to acting like “the books don’t matter” to constantly contradicting themselves (they will sin a movie/game for not explaining anything but then turn around and sin it FOR explaining two much) or in the case of stuff like Cinema Sins Harry Potter videos saying some REALLY creepy stuff like “Hermine isn’t old enough to be hot yet.” (Yes, they ACTUALLY said that in almost all their HP videos, go watch them if you don’t believe me) to thinking they can get away with it because they write themselves of as “satire” as if satire can’t still be criticised and those channels STILL putting actual criticisms in there videos. +3

-That being said, I haven’t been watching channels like Th3Birdman and others like him that do Everything Wrong With videos on Everything Wrong With videos and well, this journal IS an Everything Wrong With on myself so… I guess I can’t really escape this type of content. +4

-I’m still white! But not so white that I don’t know what New Growth means. +5

-I’m 27 years old but I have more than 22 years of gaming experience. Hey, some of us don’t just come out of the womb knowing how to hold a controller. Sometimes we wait until we get a Playstation 2 for Christmas of 2000 before we do. +6

-I was a Playstation kid for most of the 2000’s. Yes, I did have a Gameboy Advanced, Wii and DS but most of my time was spent on either my Playstation 2, Playstation 3 or Playstation Portable. +7

-I had a Playstation 3 over an Xbox 360 and I am not ashamed of that! +8

-I once played a train conductor in my High Schools performance of Goodnight Mister Tom in the beginning of the performance where Willie’s mother sends him off to live with Tom on the train despite that opening never once happening in the original book our play was based on. Trust me, we had to read the book in school, I know! +9

-One time I was asked to help sell beer at a local footy game despite not liking either football or beer. +10

-Also, I’m an Australian who doesn’t enjoy or watch the footy. Yes, that’s a sin! +11

-Inkling Michael exists! +12

-Inkling Michael: Hey screw you! I’m beautiful! Take a sin off for me! -11

-Shiver is my favourite Splatoon girl behind Marina. Yeah you heard me Frye fans who get salty that Shiver has won almost every Splatfest in Splatoon 3 so far! +12

-Hate makes me stronger. Actually, hate makes ALL of us stronger! No really, what a lot of people don’t realize it that prior to dislikes being removed from Youtube they still technically counted as likes and leaving negative comments on a post was usually enough to get that post trending. Hate really does make us all stronger! We are all collectively like the Sith in a Star Wars movie. +13

-The reason review scores don’t have any value to me is actually because it’s pointless to give a score to something that will be subjective to everyone who experiences that! +14

-Same with arguing over what game “deserves” Game of the Year. To me Game of the Year is nothing more than a meaningless title that holds no real value yet everyone is always so determined to lable what they think is the best game of that year period ignoring the fact that again, we all have different tastes and what you consider to be Game of the Year won’t be someone else’s favourite. There’s a good reason I stopped taking this saying very seriously after the 2020 Game Awards where everyone collectively overreacted to The Last of Us Part 2 winning. +15

-I went to my local Pizza Hut once, got sick and had to go to the bathroom and then a few days later the place closed down. I didn’t even put in a complaint or anything, it just happened! So yeah, to everyone in my town who’s sad over that you can blame me for it, kinda. +16

-I have Autism. And despite what some people still think it doesn’t make you stupid. But I still have it so… +17

-Those who think I don’t read any of the source material a game is based on are going to be even more disappointed when I tell them… yeah actually your right. Most of the time at least. +18

-No actually, can I just take this opportunity to vent for a second about something? The books DO fucking matter! The Witcher games would not exist if the books didn’t exist. The Batman Arkham games would not exist if the Batman comics did not exist! Every single Star Wars game ever would not exist if the Star Wars movies didn’t exist! The Simpsons Hit and Run would not exist if the Simpsons Show didn’t exist! Kingdom Hearts would not exist if Disney didn’t! This isn’t really a sin on myself or anything, I just wanted to vent about this because people genuinely think that the source material something is based on “doesn’t matter” or that they need to consult a book just to understand it while also ignoring that these adaptations are just that! Adaptations of already existing stories and characters! And even then, most adaptations you don’t ALWAYS have to consult a book thanks to a little thing you might have heard of called “show don’t tell!” Jesus Fucking Christ, media literacy really IS dead if people say that the books “don’t matter!”

-Prior to Sony removing the option to share videos and clips to Twitter via PS5 I had to censor my swear words even though I don’t have any problem with swear words. Why? Because Sony made it so that it stops you from sharing anything if your post includes a swear. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve had to do this! +19

-I’ve managed to piss off both Star Wars fans and Pokemon fans even though I love both those things. +20

-I’ve gotten 2 pics of my sona hypnotized and coiled by Kaa but not one pic of me with Miia or Alice. +21

-I don’t understand Roman Numerals. Or at least I don’t understand ones up to VI. +22

-You can usually tell just how much of a franchsie I actually know just based on how I write some of the descriptions to my commissions. “Junko from Danganropa in an interesting suit designed around the funny bear man from the same series.” HIS NAME IS FUCKING MONOKUMO YOU UNCULTURED SWINE! +23

-Somehow some of the best friends I’ve made in the past 5 years have been artists, some of whom I’ve commissioned several times, yet the most I’ve ever done in terms of actual art is a couple of sketches done on my 3DS that I did in like five minutes. +24

-Someone once tried to insult me on Facebook by calling me a Trump Supporter even though A) They were replying to a comment I made that had nothing to do with Donald Trump, B) I’m not even American and C) Fuck Donald Trump! +25

-Yeah no, I still don’t like Spec Ops The Line. Sorry! +125

-I tweet like a normal weirdo which is clearly an act. +126

-I actually, unironically enjoy Sonic and The Black Knight! It’s a pain to play sometimes if you’re playing this on actual hardware like I do because of the motion controls but I actually have fun with this game. I haven’t played Sonic and the Secret Rings yet but I’m willing to bet I’d enjoy that two. And not just because one of the characters in it is an admittedly really cute genie girl. +127

-Everyone thinks I have a massive love for Shantae which… yeah, I do! Obviously, I’ve made that pretty clear in the past, but in reality, EVERYONE has a massive love for Shantae. +128

-The only Paper Mario game I’ve ever played and have still played was Super Paper Mario. +129

-The Nohrian path in Fire Emblem Fates will forever be superior to the Hoshidens. And let me stop you right there, it’s NOT purely because of Camilla! She’s only a bonus reason. +120

-I once sold my Wii U copies of Mario Kart 8 and Pokken Tournament just because I was getting the Switch versions. Yes, that IS a sin because why the fuck would I do that as someone who’s a Wii U defender! (I DID get those versions back eventually though.) +131

-I have WAY to many games that I’ve brought but have never played! Tearaway, all the Little Big Planet games, the first two Infamous games, Astral Chain, Tokyo Mirage Sessions, Zombi U, the list goes on. +132

-I actually enjoy Detroit: Become Human and Heavy Rain. I still yet to finish Beyond Two Souls and Fahrenheit though. +133

-I’ve failed the Wrong Side of the Tracks mission in Grand Theft Auto San Andreas so much at this point that I can’t even be bothered to do that mission the legitimate way anymore! I always just park the bike on a specific roof, get off and jump onto the train to bust some caps in those gangsters’ asses. +134

-I’m sort of still a brony. Not as much as I use to be in the mid 2010’s but I still have a love for this show. +135

-I still believe that the haters of something can be way, WAY worse than the people who enjoy a thing. There’s a dam good reason I was proud to be a brony for most of the 2010s. +136

-I only got into Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared because of Red Guy. He is my spirit animal! +137

-I was enjoying Little Which Academia up to the point where I was spoiled about a pretty big plot twist around one of the characters via a meme! While I was six episodes in! I have yet to continue watching it because of that meme! +138

-I’ve never made a video game therefor I should probably just shut the fuck up. +139

Sin Total: 139 Sentence: Dante makes it into a Smash Game! (But it’s the 2013 reboot Dante!)

[munsonsduchess]

So I watched Make Up last night with the lovely Eddie Sluts and I have some thoughts. They’re not cohesive by any means just my own ramblings from watching the movie. Spoilers below if you haven’t seen it.

So Tom and Ruth have been together for three years as Ruth tells us. Since they were fifteen which makes them eighteen in the movie.

Jade asks if Tom is Ruth’s first boyfriend and she says yes. Which I infer means that Ruth wasn’t aware of her feelings towards women until she met Jade who is aware of her own and picks something up in Ruth (despite her knowing that Ruth is in a relationship and presumably knowing Tom well enough if she’s worked at the site for a year).

I won’t criticise Ruth for not knowing she’s attracted to women. We hear that Tom has been trying to get her to come to site with him for a while but Ruth’s parents haven’t allowed it (perhaps because they’re overprotective or strict) but now that she’s eighteen she can do what she likes. So perhaps because of these overprotective or strict parents Ruth hasn’t been able to do any sort of self discovery.

I will however criticise Ruth (although perhaps I shouldn’t given previous assertions of strict or overprotective parents) for thinking that she wasn’t coming to site to work with her partner but for a lovely little holiday. As Tom himself states “I’m sorry it doesn’t feel like we’re on holiday all the time”

Speaking of Tom. I don’t believe he’s innocent in all of this, there was the kiss mark on his mirror, the red hair on his clothes. While the red head might not be someone who lives or works on site but could be someone local to the area the site is located. So there is certainly someone who came by the caravan and placed that kiss on the mirror.

Honestly the whole thing feels like miscommunication. Like if they’d just spoken to one and other things would be better, asking questions about the kiss on the mirror, did Ruth really want to be here? Not to mention having to manually get yourself going because you don’t feel turned on by your partner or becoming flaccid when your partner attempts to give you head also presumably because you don’t feel turned on.

Then again they are eighteen and eighteen year olds are stupid. I know I was at that age. Still don’t feel smart tbh at 33.

Also. This isn’t a critique of the characters but of the film itself. There was so much that could have been done with the thriller elements of the movie but fell flat, I would really have liked to have seen more of that.

#make up #make up 2019 #make up movie #make up film #duchess.txt

[saintsenara]

the velveteen rabbit mrs cole & tom riddle general | 3.2k words

‘i don’t want you,’ he says, dark eyes bleary, tongue full of pus. ‘leave me alone.’

‘well, i’m what you’re getting,’ i say to him.

‘you ain’t worth having.’

‘and, yet, here i am.’

a boy has scarlet fever and wants his mother. he gets mrs cole instead.

this piece was written for week two of @ladiesofhpfest, which focuses on mothers [you can find the masterlist of the week's fics here].

author's notes under the cut

motherhood is one of the key themes of the harry potter series, but it’s often handled in a way i find quite reductive. in particular, the marian symbolism of lily potter means that all other mothers are found wanting beside her - the series understands motherly love as it understands all other love: as something whose nobility comes through sacrifice and suffering [as we see in its treatment of alice longbottom and nymphadora tonks, who it thinks did the right thing for their children].

mothers whose affection for their children is self-indulgent [petunia dursley, pre-deathly hallows narcissa malfoy], selfish [the more negative aspects of molly weasley’s characterisation], subordinate to their own concerns [kendra dumbledore], or lacking in affection [walburga black] get a bad showing across the seven-book canon. similarly, childless women either get forced into a quasi-maternal role [such as by being a teacher at a boarding school] or become one of the many female characters who are portrayed as lacking some fundamental capacity for tenderness [rita skeeter, dolores umbridge, bellatrix lestrange].

but one particularly interesting mother whose relationship with her child is criticised by the text is merope gaunt.

and by this, i don’t mean that merope is criticised for how she became a mother - indeed, the text is remarkably dismissive of what happens to tom riddle sr. at her hands - but that she is implicitly criticised by both harry and dumbledore in half-blood prince for failing to stay alive for her son, with the subtext of their conversation being that witches are able to prevent themselves dying in childbirth and that merope just didn’t have the heart to make the effort.

i have always loathed this. i hate the implication that "muggle" ways of dying are things magical people are immune to - not least because it directly supports the views of blood-supremacists that wizards and muggles are essentially different species, which the series otherwise thinks it doesn’t agree with - and i hate the fact that the idea that merope "chose" to die inadvertently confirms her son’s belief that death is weak or shameful. childbirth was historically - and, indeed, still is - extremely dangerous, and plenty of witches must have died alongside muggle women, all of them hoping they could live to raise their children.

indeed, this is what mrs cole tells us in this story: that merope wanted to live.

mrs cole - who, here, is an irishwoman in london, which gives her her own additional otherness to go alongside being childless - is one of those incidental characters i’m unjustifiably obsessed with.

i read a lot of voldemort-centric things, and she often ends up shouldering a sizeable portion of the blame for his obvious childhood trauma. to some extent, i can see why - she’s drunk in the middle of the day when there are dozens of children in her care, she treats examples of voldemort’s emotional damage [especially him learning as a baby that crying was futile] as nothing more than amusing gossip - but i also think that focusing criticism on her is unfair.

instead, i wanted to have a look at her as a woman doing her best to be a surrogate mother to an extremely messed up child, but never quite being able to succeed owing to the pressures she’s under.

because, after all, love is something which also requires resources. it requires time to invest into the child; it requires the caregiver to have the mental and physical capacity to provide the child the attention they need; it requires the child to be warm and fed and clothed and the caregiver to not have to worry about those things; it requires the child to feel safe enough to be childish. mrs cole loves her charges innately, but it’s not always possible for her to spare the time or energy to make that love all-encompassing.

and that isn’t her fault. the failure of the state in tom riddle’s life isn’t given a lot of space in canon. the harry potter series emphasises the value of individual - rather than collective - choice as its central theme and, even when the wizarding state is criticised for something, that criticism is often aimed at one person [such as cornelius fudge in order of the phoenix] rather than at the systems which have enabled them.

but it is a matter of fact that orphanages cannot provide children with the support they need because they’re not set up to do so. the wool’s of the velveteen rabbit is underfunded and overcrowded - like institutions worldwide - and mrs cole spends all her time trying to get her charges through the day unscathed. state figures - such as the doctor who will not work for free [this being before the invention of the nhs] or the member of parliament who ignores letters or the magistrates ["beaks"] who fail to understand that stealing is an expression of the orphans’ fundamental trauma - let down the children at every turn.

including one particular child: tom riddle, whose complicated relationship both to his mother and to mrs cole is examined here through the lens of childhood illness. 

i’m wedded to the idea that tom was quite a sickly child. he is described in canon in terms which suggest that he’s somewhat physically fragile, and it provides an explanation for why he becomes so obsessed with magic if physical strength is a power that other children have over him. it also provides some more insight into his fear of death - after all, you’d want to live forever too if you knew you’d be dying as a child with only a woman you hate and who can’t give you the love and affection you need sitting at your bedside.

[the title of the piece is, of course, taken from the horrifying 1922 children’s book of the same name, in which a velveteen toy rabbit is burned to ashes after its owner has scarlet fever, but everything is alright for some reason.]

#asenora fics #mrs cole #tom riddle #and his horrible childhood #the velveteen rabbit #mrs cole is trying her best #but he remains a mammy's boy very much in want of a mammy #ladies of hp fest

[petnews2day]

Gavin Williamson had too many enemies

New Post has been published on https://petnews2day.com/pet-industry-news/pet-travel-news/gavin-williamson-had-too-many-enemies/

Gavin Williamson had too many enemies

This article is an on-site version of our Inside Politics newsletter. Sign up here to get the newsletter sent straight to your inbox every weekday.

Good morning. The biggest political story in the democratic world today are the US midterms, which you can follow on our liveblog and by subscribing to Swamp Notes.

Here in Westminster, Gavin Williamson has become the first minister to resign from Rishi Sunak’s government in a blow to the new prime minister’s prestige. Some thoughts on that below.

Inside Politics is edited by Abby Wallace today. Follow Stephen on Twitter @stephenkb and please send gossip, thoughts and feedback to [email protected].

To Gav and to fold

Gavin Williamson has quit the government for a simple reason: too many enemies. Most of those enemies were Williamson’s, acquired during his long time as both an “official” parliamentary fixer — as David Cameron’s parliamentary private secretary and Theresa May’s chief whip — and as an “unofficial” one, as Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak’s parliamentary wrangler during their leadership bids in 2019 and 2022 respectively.

One, Wendy Morton lodged a formal complaint about his behaviour. While details of his sweary WhatsApp exchange with Morton ended up in the Times, another, Nicky Morgan, criticised Williamson on TalkTV, saying it was “completely credible” that Williamson had threatened another female MP with details about her private life.

Williamson’s own former deputy during his time as chief whip, Anne Milton, gave an interview with Channel 4 detailing his love of “salacious gossip”. A former civil servant from his time at the Ministry of Defence told the Guardian’s Pippa Crerar that Williamson had told them to “slit your throat” and to “jump out of the window”.

It’s not hard to work out why Williamson has resigned, declaring that the allegations swirling around him are a “distraction” from the good work of the government. A big part of the problem for him is that he was just good enough at the grubby bit of the job of chief whip to have made a great number of enemies, but not good enough at the grubby bit of the job to have scared people into complete silence.

But the other person with too many enemies is Williamson’s former boss, Rishi Sunak. The other person to have gone on the record about Williamson’s excesses is Jake Berry, who Sunak sacked as party chair and who went on the record both on the details of the Williamson-Morton complaint, as well as on Suella Braverman’s security breach. During the first Conservative leadership election of 2022, Berry said of Sunak “he says one thing and does another” and he is, thus far, the most vocal of Sunak’s backbench critics.

Why did Sunak appoint him in the first place? In large part, Williamson was appointed for the same reason Mark Harper (former chief whip, now transport secretary) and Andrew Mitchell (former chief whip, now international development minister) are there, and for the same reason faction leaders such as Tom Tugendhat and Johnny Mercer are still there. Sunak leads a fractious party and needs all the help he can get. He also needs as few well-organised opponents on the backbenches as possible. The big question isn’t “why did Sunak appoint Williamson?” it’s “why on earth didn’t he find space for Morton and for Berry?”

That said, much of the briefing and manoeuvring against Sunak is incredibly self-destructive: whatever his limitations as a politician (and recent events have done nothing to weaken Janan Ganesh’s persuasive verdict on our new prime minister as far as I am concerned) he remains the Conservative party’s best remaining hope of winning — or, indeed, surviving — the next election. It remains to be seen if the Conservative party’s instinct for self-preservation is strong enough for enough of the party to remember that.

Shameless self-promotion

In my column this week, I’ve written about something UK equalities law gets right and asked: what exactly is an ethnic minority, anyway?

Now try this

David Butler, the eminent academic and in many ways the father of psephology — the modern study of elections — has died at 98, his biographer Michael Crick has reported. If you grew up in the 1960s, 1970s or the 1980s he will have been a regular on television on election night.

In addition to his huge contribution to the field of public understanding of politics, Butler was a very kind man, who very graciously made time for spoddy young journalists with any number of tedious questions.

I know I usually put something non-political in this slot, but today I recommend watching Sixty Years of Swing, the BBC’s documentary about election night programming, which features some wonderful archive footage of Butler.

Top stories today

UK ministers accused of failing to tackle benefits fraud | “Fraud and error” led the government to overpay 7.6 per cent of all benefits, excluding the state pension, in 2021-22, according to a report by the House of Commons public accounts committee. The committee criticised ministers for failing to explain the sustained rise in fraud and to compensate almost 250,000 people for underpayments of the state pension.

UK plans to scrap EU laws suffer setback | A plan by ministers to review or repeal all EU laws on the UK statute book by the end of 2023 has suffered another setback after the discovery of 1,400 additional pieces of legislation. Rishi Sunak had started scaling back plans to axe EU legislation from Britain’s statute book in 100 days. Now, ministers have discovered that instead of 2,400 EU laws to review or repeal, officials may have to trawl through 3,800.

Truss’s pet project to be axed | Plans for low-tax investment zones to boost UK economic growth previously set out by Liz Truss are due to be cut by Jeremy Hunt in next week’s Autumn Budget, according to Whitehall insiders. Although no decision had been made, insiders said levelling-up secretary Michael Gove had instead lobbied for the zones to be replaced by a revamped urban regeneration policy.

Dublin calls for DUP to compromise | Ireland’s foreign minister Simon Coveney said talks between the UK and EU to resolve a dispute over post-Brexit trading arrangements for Northern Ireland cannot “revolve around” demands by the Democratic Unionist party. The pro-UK party has paralysed Northern Ireland’s political institutions over objections to the protocol.

UK university staff to stage ‘biggest ever’ strike | Staff at 150 UK universities will strike over pay and pensions this month in what unions have warned will be the largest ever co-ordinated industrial action to hit higher education, with more than 70,000 staff set to walk out.

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#Pet Travel News

[youlackconviction]

*exaggerated sigh* here’s a link to the rest of the post, do what you want with it (they weren’t kidding when they warned it was LONG, and no i didn’t read it all)

the only reason i’m posting about this is because of one remark they made:

and honestly?

i’m just so... absolutely sick to death and beyond of people who DON’T share my views on something, telling me WHY I DO.

i don’t try to tell these people why they LIKE the series, or LIKE sylvie, or LIKE her with LOKI. so why the hell do they insist on trying to lay my thoughts out for me - when so many of the ones who think like i do about it have gone to such exhaustive lengths to explain it, very carefully.

1) NO, i don’t give a fuck about fictional “self”cest. that’s literally a fantasy concept that cannot exist in our universe. so why would it concern me in the slightest if someone wrote a made up story where that impossible event takes place? i literally don’t give a shit about that fandom trope as a storyline -

EXCEPT where it is used to criticise gender diverse people with the bizarre and harmful claim that "fucking themselves” is the reason a person wishes to depart from their assigned birth gender. that dehumanises and fetishises trans and fluid people.

the show drifted a little close to that accusation with mobius screaming at LOKI that he was an “incredible seismic narcissist” for “falling for himself”. even though the show was also super clear that she wasn’t LOKI, she was nothing like him, she was amazing and he was shit actually so how could it be self-love? except somehow it teaches him to love himself? um... kissing yourself is not what self-love means, showrunners. fucking hell.

2) NO, i also don’t give a fuck about lokius. can these people even imagine confronting an IRL person who admits to disliking a specific woman, and presenting this argument to them? “you only hate her because you wish her boyfriend was fucking a man instead of her!” and actually, i ALSO can’t stand mobius, because of the abusive way he treated LOKI. mobius is nowhere near good enough for him, and i absolutely don’t ship them either.

what’s fascinating to me is that they never quote our actual most common arguments against the sylki ship and then attempt to dismantle them or show them to be on false ground. is it because they simply can’t? that the arguments are so reasonable and watertight, that to argue against them would make them look unbalanced, misinformed, and creepy? i don’t know, but until i see it happen, i might as well assume that.

in bullet point form, my own reasons for disliking sylvie:

she’s rude, obnoxious, and aggressive, all the time

she has no personality, just a set of bullying tropes

she never misses an opportunity to belittle or mock LOKI

she doesn’t support him, build him up

she isn’t kind to him, shows no empathy

she’s verbally abusive and physically abusive

she thinks that trauma is an olympic event that she won

she’s emotionally manipulative

she’s ungrateful and selfish

she doesn’t listen, just insists she knows best

she’s one-dimensional and poorly written

the weak plot framing sets her up to be admired but it just backfires

the writers nuked LOKI to make her look better

her actor comes across as too arrogant and dismissive of tom

her acting itself is incredibly average and inconsistent

there are more... *gestures at my entire blog* in there somewhere lol. anyhow... yeh. that. and i’m not even gonna insist that series fans DNI cos guess what, i don’t care if you reblog this and try to argue with it. be my guest, just don’t get mad if i reply to your arguments with my own.

#in defense of loki #loki deserves better #marvel hates loki and tom

[duskholland]

!

#i don’t wanna talk abt the tom + mask thing anymore ! #i’m not ignoring your asks but ppl are already arguing in my asks about it + i’m really not up to it today :((( <3 #pls be safe + pls practice social distancing even if you are outside #?? also !! #you can support tom/whoever + still find some of their behaviour problematic/questionable #no one is trying to cancel him lmao we’re pointing out the absence of his mask is a bad thing #pls reevaluate your relationship w someone that doesn’t know you + use ur common sense #bc some of what i am reading is so ridiculous i can’t #you can ... love tom .... and also criticise him .... #ok ! that’s all ! love to you + pls stay safe

[nellygwyn]

I thought I would share some portraits/info about notable black men and women who worked and lived in Georgian Britain. This is not an extensive list by any means, and for some figures, portraits are unavailable:

1. Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797) was a writer, abolitionist and former slave. Born into what would become southern Nigeria, he was initially sold into slavery and taken to the Caribbean as a child, but would be sold at least twice more before he bought his freedom in 1766. He decided to settle in London and became involved in the British abolitionist movement in the 1780s. His first-hand account of the horrors of slavery 'The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano' was published in 1789 and it really drove home the horrors of slavery to the general British public. He also worked tirelessly to support freed slaves like himself who experienced racism and inequality living in Britain's cities. He was a leading member of the Sons of Africa, an abolitionist group, whose members were primarily freed black men (the Sons of Africa has been called the first black political organisation in British history). He married an English woman, Susannah, and when he died in 1797, he left his fortune of roughly £73,000 to his daughter, Joanna. Equiano's World is a great online resource for those interested in his life, his work, and his writings.

2. Ignatius Sancho (1729-1780) was a bit of a jack-of-all-trades (he's described as an actor, composer, writer, abolitionist, man-of-letters, and socialite - truly the perfect 18th century gentleman). He was born in the Middle Passage on a slave ship. His mother died not long after they arrived in Venezuela and his father apparently took his own life rather than become a slave. Sancho's owner gave the boy to three sisters living in London c. 1730s (presumably as a sort of pet/servant) but whilst living with them, his wit and intellect impressed the 2nd Duke of Montagu who decided to finance his education. This was the start of Sancho's literary and intellectual career and his association with the elite of London society saw him ascend. He struck up a correspondence with the writer, Laurence Sterne, in the 1760s: Sancho wrote to press Sterne to throw his intellecrual weight behind the cause of abolition. He became active in the early British abolitionist movement and be counted many well-known Georgians amongst his acquaintance. He was also the first black man known to have voted in a British election. He married a West Indian woman and in 1774, opened a grocer's shop in London, that attempted to sell goods that were not produced by slave labour. Despite his popularity in Georgian society, he still recounts many instances of racist abuse he faced on the streets of London in his diaries. He reflected that, although Britain was undoubtedly his home and he had done a lot for the country, he was 'only a lodger and hardly that' in London. His letters, which include discussions of domestic subjects as well as political issues, can be read here.

3. Francis 'Frank' Barber (1742-1801) was born a slave on a sugar plantation in Jamaica. His owner, Richard Bathurst, brought Frank to England when Frank turned 15 and decided to send him to school. The Bathursts knew the writer, Samuel Johnson, and this is how Barber and the famous writer first met (Barber briefly worked as Johnson's valet and found him an outspoken opponent of the slave trade). Richard Bathurst gave Frank his freedom when he died and Frank immediately signed up for the navy (where he apparently developed a taste for smoking pipes). In 1760, he returned permanently to England and decided to work as Samuel Johnson's servant. Johnson paid for Frank to have an expensive education and this meant Frank was able to help Johnson revise his most famous work, 'Dictionary of the English Language.' When Johnson died in 1784, he made Frank his residual heir, bequeathing him around £9000 a year (for which Johnson was criticised in the press - it was thought to be far too much), an expensive gold watch, and most of Johnson's books and papers. Johnson also encouraged Frank to move to Lichfield (where Johnson had been born) after he died: Frank duly did this and opened a draper's shop and a school with his new wife. There, he spent his time 'in fishing, cultivating a few potatoes, and a little reading' until his death in 1801. His descendants still live at a farm in Litchfield today. A biography of Frank can be purchased here. Moreover, here is a plaque erected on the railings outside of Samuel Johnson's house in Gough Square, London, to commemorate Johnson and Barber's friendship.

4. Dido Elizabeth Belle (1764-1801) was born to Maria Belle, a slave living in the West Indies. Her father was Sir John Lindsay, a British naval officer. After Dido's mother's death, Sir John took Dido to England and left her in the care of his uncle, Lord Mansfield. Dido was raised by Lord Mansfield and his wife alongside her cousin, Elizabeth Murray (the two became as close as sisters) and was, more or less, a member of the family. Mansfield was unfortunately criticised for the care and love he evidently felt for his niece - she was educated in most of the accomplishments expected of a young lady at the time, and in later life, she would use this education to act as Lord Mansfield's literary assistant. Mansfield was Lord Chief Justice of England during this period and, in 1772, it was he who ruled that slavery had no precedent in common law in England and had never been authorised. This was a significant win for the abolitionists, and was brought about no doubt in part because of Mansfield's closeness with his great-niece. Before Mansfield died in 1793, he reiterated Dido's freedom (and her right to be free) in his will and made her an heiress by leaving her an annuity. Here is a link to purchase Paula Byrne's biography of Dido, as well as a link to the film about her life (starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Dido).

5. Ottobah Cugoano (1757-sometime after 1791) was born in present-day Ghana and sold into slavery at the age of thirteen. He worked on a plantation in Grenada until 1772, when he was purchased by a British merchant who took him to England, freed him, and paid for his education. Ottobah was employed as a servant by the artists Maria and Richard Cosway in 1784, and his intellect and charisma appealed to their high-society friends. Along with Olaudah Equiano, Ottobah was one of the leading members of the Sons of Africa and a staunch abolitionist. In 1786, he was able to rescue Henry Devane, a free black man living in London who had been kidnapped with the intention of being returned to slavery in the West Indies. In 1787, Ottobah wrote 'Thoughts And Sentiments On The Evil & Wicked Traffic Of The Slavery & Commerce Of The Human Species,' attacking slavery from a moral and Christian stand-point. It became a key text in the British abolition movement, and Ottobah sent a copy to many of England's most influential people. You can read the text here.

6. Ann Duck (1717-1744) was a sex worker, thief and highwaywoman. Her father, John Duck, was black and a teacher of swordmanship in Cheam, Surrey. He married a white woman, Ann Brough, in London c. 1717. One of Ann's brothers, John, was a crew-member of the ill-fated HMS Wager and was apparently sold into slavery after the ship wrecked off the coast of Chile on account of his race. Ann, meanwhile, would be arrested and brought to trial at least nineteen times over the course of her lifetime for various crimes, including petty theft and highway robbery. She was an established member of the Black Boy Alley Gang in Clerkenwell by 1742, and also quite frequently engaged in sex work. In 1744, she was given a guilty verdict at the Old Bailey after being arrested for a robbery: her trial probably wasn't fair as a man named John Forfar was paid off for assisting in her arrest and punishment. She was hanged at Tyburn in 1744. Some have argued that her race appears to have been irrelevant and she experienced no prejudice, but I am inclined to disagree. You can read the transcript of one of Ann Duck's trials (one that resulted in a Not Guilty verdict) here. Also worth noting that Ann Duck is the inspiration behind the character Violet Cross in the TV show 'Harlots.'

7. Bill Richmond (1763-1829) was a prize winning bare-knuckle boxer of the late 18th and early 19th century. He was born a slave in New York (then part of British America) but moved permanently to England in 1777 where he was most likely freed and received an education. His career as a boxer really took of in the early 19th century, and he took on all the prize fighters of the time, including Tom Cribb and the African American fighter, Tom Molineaux. Richmond was a sporting hero, as well as fashionable in his style and incredibly intelligent, making him something of a celebrity and a pseudo-gentleman in his time. He also opened a boxing academy and gave boxing lessons to gentlemen and aristocrats. He would ultimately settle in York to apprentice as a cabinet-maker. Unfortunately, in Yorkshire, he was subject to a lot of racism and insults based on the fact he had married a white woman. You can watch a Channel 4 documentary on Richmond here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

8. William Davidson (1781-1820) was the illegitimate son of the Attorney General of Jamaica and a slave woman. He was sent to Glasgow in Scotland to study law at the age of 14 and from this period until 1819, he moved around Britain and had a number of careers. Following the Peterloo Massacre in 1819, Davidson began to take a serious interest in radical politics, joining several societies in order to read radical and republican texts. He also became a Spencean (radical political group) through his friendship with Arthur Thistlewood and would quickly rise to become a leading member of the group. In 1820, a government provocateur tricked Davidson and other Spenceans, into being drawn into a plot to kill the Earl of Harrowby and other government cabinet officers as they dined at Harrowby's house on the 23rd February. This plot would become known as the Cato Street Conspiracy (named thus because Davidson and the other Spenceans hid in a hayloft in Cato Street whilst they waited to launch their plan). Unfortunately, this was a government set up and eleven men, including Davidson, were arrested and charged with treason. Davidson was one of five of the conspirators to not have his sentence commuted to transportation and was instead sentenced to death. He was hanged and beheaded outside of Newgate Prison in 1820. There is a book about the Cato Street Conspiracy here.

9. Ukawsaw Gronniosaw (1705-1775) was born in the Kingdom of Bornu, now in modern day Nigeria. As the favourite grandson of the king of Zaara, he was a prince. Unfortunately, at the age of 15, he was sold into slavery, passing first to a Dutch captain, then to an American, and then finally to a Calvinist minister named Theodorus Frelinghuysen living in New Jersey. Frelinghuysen educated Gronniosaw and would eventually free him on his deathbed but Gronniosaw later recounted that when he had pleaded with Frelinghuysen to let him return to his family in Bornu, Frelinghuysen refused. Gronniosaw also remembered that he had attempted suicide in his depression. After being freed, Gronniosaw set his sights on travelling to Britain, mainly to meet others who shared his new-found Christian faith. He enlisted in the British army in the West Indies to raise money for his trip, and once he had obtained his discharge, he travelled to England, specifically Portsmouth. For most of his time in England, his financial situation was up and down and he would move from city to city depending on circumstances. He married an English weaver named Betty, and the pair were often helped out financially by Quakers. He began to write his life-story in early 1772 and it would be published later that year (under his adopted anglicised name, James Albert), the first ever work written by an African man to be published in Britain. It was an instant bestseller, no doubt contributing to a rising anti-slavery mood. He is buried in St Oswald's Church, Chester: his grave can still be visited today. His autobiography, A Narrative of the Most Remarkable Particulars in the Life of James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, an African Prince, as Related by Himself, can be read here.

10. Mary Prince (1788-sometime after 1833) was born into slavery in Bermuda. She was passed between several owners, all of whom very severely mistreated her. Her final owner, John Adams Wood, took Mary to England in 1828, after she requested to be able to travel as the family's servant. Mary knew that it was illegal to transport slaves out of England and thus refused to accompany Adams Wood and his family back to the West Indies. Her main issue, however, was that her husband was still in Antigua: if she returned, she would be back in enslavement, but if she did not, she might never see her husband again. She contacted the Anti-Slavery Society who attempted to help her in any way they could. They found her work (so she could support herself), tried tirelessly to convince Adams Wood to free her, and petitioned parliament to bring her husband to England. Mary successfully remained in England but it is not known whether she was ever reunited with her husband. In 1831, Mary published The History of Mary Prince, an autobiographical account of her experiences as a slave and the first work written by a black woman to be published in England. Unlike other slave narratives, that had been popular and successful in stoking some anti-slavery sentiment, it is believed that Mary's narrative ultimately clinched the goal of convincing the general British population of the necessity of abolishing slavery. Liverpool's Museum of Slavery credits Mary as playing a crucial role in abolition. You can read her narrative here. It is an incredibly powerful read. Mary writes that hearing slavers talk about her and other men and women at a slave market in Bermuda 'felt like cayenne pepper into the fresh wounds of our hearts.'

#18th century history #georgian britain #black history #olaudah equiano #ignatius sancho #francis barber #dido elizabeth belle #ottonah cugoano #ann duck #bill richmond #william davidson #uksawsaw gronniosaw #mary prince